Best Cat Mom

Day 5 - Aruba

When we read that Le Muse closed a half hour earlier today, at 8:30am, we figured that was because were arriving early to Aruba at 7am.

Instead of getting up at our usual time for breakfast, we decided to sleep in. We changed our Baileys and coffee to be delivered an hour later at 8:30am and planned to eat up on the One Pool deck, which is open until 10am.

At 8:42am, they called Mike Echo over the public address system (PA). Most of you probably know that Mike Echo is ship code for Medical Emergency. I said to BCD that at least we were in port and that could be a good thing for whoever was in cabin 9012 this morning.

We arrived at the One Pool deck at 9:45am and ordered 2 coconut rums with orange juice. No mimosas you say? Well, it was very windy and we were concerned about tall glasses so...

BCD helped himself to the buffet:

I ordered an egg white omelet with bacon and cheese and grabbed some bacon from the buffet:

I think that they must expect more Americans at the pool buffet since the omelets there are more "American style" than in Le Muse. Le Muse seems to be European style, which is fine too. The styles are different and we like them both.

We walked back to the room and BCD used the Pano (panoramic) setting on this iPhone to take this image of the port:

By around 11am, we were back in TSL enjoying an espresso martini and a Woodford Reserve. We chatted with crew and they commented that they enjoy the sailings in North America the most because the passengers tend to be more friendly and talkative. They said that in Europe the guests treated crew more like servants. We were a bit disheartened to hear that perspective.

There have been lots of crew drills this morning. Over the PA we've heard about fires on board, orders to abandon ship and other various disasters -- all just drills thankfully. They do announce that these are drills but if you've missed the beginning of the announcement, it might not be obvious at first.

I asked about the ME this morning, hoping that it was part of the drill as well. Unfortunately, we found out that it was a true ME.

We also found out that Rudy expects to be off Divina in June. He's not certain where he'll be when he returns in ~September but he does believe he'll be in the Caribbean.

Day 5 lunch coming next...

Just now, Fogfog said:

How did your sailing go?

We had Ryan and Susmita in Le Muse as well a few sailings before yours

It is going great! 🙂

Antonio is still chef in Le Muse. We have Glenn and Ryan for our server team and Dwi and Richard for our butler team. We're on until 18 April. Today we're in Colon, Panama.

On 4/11/2024 at 8:16 PM, Cathy in Boston said:

how nice it was to meet you!

It was great to meet the two of you as well. I'm so glad you're enjoying YC as much as we are. It's nice to know that we're not exaggerating how good this cruise has been. Sometimes I worry that we overlook all the "misses" that others wind up pointing out. I've never thought that we're easy to please, but reading some reviews makes me wonder if maybe we are.

Just now, Dock B said:

PS: got any photos from the auto garage yet?!?

I was perplexed by the PS. Then BCD kinda nudged me and reminded me of the cars he's been building. How could I forget? Mi dispiace!!

He's made 4 so far and given away 3 of them. Now he is working a Gen 3 design with a bigger body. I will post an image when he deems his design ready for the public. 😉

Meanwhile, here are the cars BCD completed after we returned home with the remaining supplies from our transatlantic:

Just now, Dock B said:

Our cabin is 2 doors aft from yours, 15026. Anything we need to know about the location (noise, interlopers…anything positive or not-so-positive).

Here is the plan for deck 15 on Divina:

I think your room is in a great location. Your bed and bathroom will be on the left when you enter the cabin, if that matters to you. This is our preferred configuration, though we've had Future Cruise Consultants tell us that most people prefer the bed on the right. The crew accesses the area to maintain the cabins (sheets, towels, etc.) via a door at the area marked in yellow. We've never heard any noise from that doorway, rest assured. The path marked in red will take you from the public elevators (on the left) to the entrance to YC across from cabin 15030 to the entrance to the TSL (all the way to the right). You can also enter TSL via the blue path through the Concierge Area. We like to pass by the concierges and say hi several times a day. If we ever need their assistance, I like that we've established a sorta happy relationship with them in advance.

Hope that helps. And enjoy your cruise -- buon viaggio!

21 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Please tell Hubert that John misses his New Fashioned !

I showed Hubert your post and he was flattered. 🙂

Day 5 Daily Programs:

Day 4 conclusion...

After an enjoyable afternoon in TSL, we returned to the cabin to change for dinner. We've only had one non-casual dress day per MSC since boarding; that was the first Gala night. We still like to change our clothes for dinner and usually dress up, though we do occasionally dress more "business casual" for dinner. We've done that once so far on this cruise, with probably 2 more total for the 11 dinners. We have joked that we would LOVE to know how unsophisticated does our attire have to be for the photographers to leave us alone. Dodging them on deck 7 could be a new Olympic event.

We arrived in Le Muse around 8pm. Champagne and menus were forced upon us and we accepted just to be polite.

For our starters, we both chose one of our favorites -- beef tartare. We dove into them so fast that no pictures were taken, though.

For our mains, we both ordered the short ribs. We are not lovers of the pumpkin flavor, so we did not want the risotto. Instead we asked Glenn -- and he said yes! -- if we could have a plate of the truffle mashed potatoes (those scoops are not ice cream).

We had Oberon cabernet sauvignon to accompany the main course and Ryan graciously left the bottle on our table:

We indulged in some of our favorite coconut ice cream with Kahlua for dessert at Ryan's suggestion. (He can be a bad influence -- and we gladly allow it!)

After dinner, we enjoyed 2 rounds of Hubert's libations in TSL. When we arrived back in the room, we found some goodies:

Day 5 is Aruba...

Day 4 -- Sea Day

We set the clocks back one hour last night so we lost an hour of sleep. But we soldiered on, and still had the coffee and Baileys delivered at 7:30am. Holidays can be so challenging!

When we walked to the aft on deck 15 to Le Muse, we were shocked at how windy it was today. Whitecaps were on the ocean but we'd seen them other days and never had quite this much wind. We did not make it to the restaurant walking outside and had to duck in just after the pool to walk the rest of the way inside.

We each had a mimosa and a cappuccino:

BCD had eggs benedict with 5 slices of crispy bacon:

I had 2 six-minute eggs with grilled ham:

We returned to our cabin and it had already been serviced. Richard is a wonderful junior butler. He is so efficient. Our bathroom always smells like it has be thoroughly disinfected.

For anyone who is considering our 15022 cabin, one thing to note is that our balcony can only be opened to join with the balcony on our left. To the right is a small passthrough but it does not go all the way to the floor of the balcony.

Left side of 15022 balcony:

Right side of 15022 balcony:

The "cannot open to the right" situation seems to coincide with the emergency door in the corridor to the right just outside of our cabin:

This does not matter at all to us, but I'm pointing it out in case someone wants to open that balcony. It is not at all indicated on the floor plan and could be an unwanted surprise:

Once we collected my laptop and BCD's car supplies from the cabin, we headed back to TSL for some quiet time.

Before we knew it, lunchtime was upon us. We walked (inside) back to Le Muse to accept some champagne and do some reading:

I started with the pea soup:

BCD opted for a chicken caesar salad:

Then he moved on to a Heineken and a burger with extra onion rings:

When BCD orders a Heineken, they always request a cruise card to go the Garden Bar to "purchase" it for us. There is no charge, of course, but I guess the bar needs a cruise card to record the cabin number and reduce it from inventory. They usually get more than one at a "just in case." They know my BCD pretty well by now.

I chose to have merlot with pork:

I had not had the pork -- called "pork feather" on the menu, must be one of those weird translations, like when we see "shrimps" on menus in Venice -- previously. It was a really nice Asian glaze that I was pleasantly surprised to be GF. I'm so used to having my preparations with no sauce, no dressing, no pizazz but not this time. 🙂

Day 4 conclusion coming next...

12 minutes ago, NYHartChapp said:

We’re boarding Divina for the sixth time next week for our first transatlantic crossing.

We brought Divina back from Europe just 5 months ago for our first transatlantic crossing. We had a great time. As far as I know right now, there are only a few YC staff who won't be on for your cruise -- Hubert in TSL and Susmita, Assistant Server in Le Muse. If I find out about any others, I can let you know. We definitely recommend Glenn and Ryan for your server team in Le Muse. We had them for the crossing and for this cruise and they will take great care of you. Of course, there are many other teams that work just as well. You'll get to know most of the servers since they rotate around for breakfast and lunch.

Day 4 Daily Program:

The Welcome Back party for Voyagers Club is today:

More on Day 4 to come...

Oops -- Day 3 Daily Programs first...

Plus a time change:

Now Day 4 can begin...

Day 3 continues...

We went up to the One Pool Deck to watch the final approach to the James Bond pier (thanks @Essiesmom!). BCD taught the bartenders there how to make a Dirty Girl Scout, a minty drink we like that is a grown-up liquid version of America's popular Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie. We've also heard the drink called a Girl Scout Cookie.

Combine 1 shot each of Baileys, Kahlua, coconut rum and crème de menthe. Shake with ice and serve in a high ball glass.

One Pool bar only had mint syrup so they substituted that for the crème de menthe. Also, they don't have glass up there so they put it in their biggest plastic cup:

The drinks were pretty good, but would have been better with real crème de menthe. Nice and refreshing since I like mint. And I like alcohol.

We went back to TSL and it was quite crowded with people waiting to be escorted down to their excursions. Rudy told us that ~80 people out of the ~140 people in YC for this sailing were going out today. We were surprised that there are ~140 guests in YC because it has never really seemed crowded here. We also heard that there are just under 4K on the entire ship for this voyage. Again, when we've been walking around -- mostly to and from Le Muse -- it has not seemed too crowded overall.

We did notice that there are lots more YC people having lunch in Le Muse than we've experienced before. Seems like there are not as many pool people in YC.

By around 11am, all the excursionists (is that a word?) had departed TSL and all was peaceful. We went to Le Muse just a few minutes after noon and it was nearly empty compared to the day before.

We had champagne and examined the menus:

BCD started with the wellness salad:

I had the duck legs, since I wanted to finish the full duck after having the breast the night before:

For his main, BCD ordered fish and chips with Heineken:

I was tempted to ask for another serving of the duck (it was very good), but stuck with the shrimp caesar salad I had originally ordered and continued with champagne:

For dessert, we went back up to the One Pool bar and had another round of Dirty Girl Scouts.

We went back to TSL to relax in the air conditioning and found a few very loud guests at the bar complaining to each other about MSC. We tried to tune them out at a table not near the bar, but some words stuck out -- casino and Carnival most notably. It's too bad that they're not having a great time, but it also is too bad that they're not talking to someone in YC management that can help them (or at least try to help them) have a better time.

By around 4pm, the bar area was empty and people returning from excursions had started trickling back in to TSL. We had 2 rounds of Woodford Reserves and shiraz and then went back to the cabin to dress for dinner. We watched the ship pull away from the pier and then walked to Le Muse.

We sipped champagne as we decided what to order:

I intended to have the cioppino so I ordered some gluten free (GF) bread for the first time on this cruise. Since I've been GF, I usually only order bread when I know that I have a dish with a lot of sauce to make the bread more palatable. GF bread is just "okay," especially to a former bread lover like me.

We both started with a favorite of ours, the vitello tonnato, and had more champagne to accompany it:

We switched to a pinot noir to accompany our mains:

I enjoyed the cioppino:

BCD ordered salmon off the Classic Favorites section of the menu, which Glenn graciously skinned for him tableside:

And we shared the oyster risotto (from the Deliciously Healthy section of the menu, but we would have ordered it even it was labelled unhealthy LOL):

We proceeded to TSL for some nightcaps. Tonight, we wanted to try the Espresso Martini, which we had seen someone order in TSL in the afternoon. Here's an action shot of Hubert preparing them:

We started with 1 round of those and decided that we really liked them. They were not too sweet, but had a nice punch of caffeine. We thought those would be helpful during those afternoons in TSL when we were sleepy from our busy days on the ship (busy? yeah, right). Then we had 2 rounds of our usual sidecars and old fashioneds and called it a night.

Here's a sidecar moving into the on deck circle:

Day 4 coming next...

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

the James Bond pier

Which -- Reynold's or the damaged one?

Day 3 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Our scheduled arrival time to Jamaica was at 10am, a bit later than most ports, so when we woke up to our Baileys and coffee morning room service, we did not have anything to see from our balcony yet.

Our breakfast in Le Muse began with mimosas and due cappuccini:

BCD ordered eggs benedict, with no bread and 5 pieces of crispy bacon (sorry, no picture), and I ordered two 6-minute eggs with mixed berries:

After breakfast, we went up to the One Pool Deck to watch us dock at Ocho Rios. I wasn't sure if we'd be at the undamaged part of the damaged pier as others have reported from recent cruises. We are docked a little to the right of that, at Reynold's Pier. We had to wait for sailaway to get a good picture of the name to accompany these pictures of the area:

Here's the port that was damaged:

Day 3 continues...

Day 2 continues...

We hung out in TSL for the afternoon. Around 4:30pm, we were getting a bit peckish so we took a look at the snacks. We helped ourselves to some sandwiches of parma ham with cream cheese and caprese.

We'd heard that some MSC ships were doing away with the self-serve snacks. Instead, butlers would bring snacks when drinks were ordered. We seemed to have missed that on our last cruises; we have seen the self-serve continue. Ashish was at the bar -- he and Hubert are the only two we've seen behind TSL's bar. We think both are great bartenders, though they each have different takes on different drinks. I encourage everyone to try their favorite drinks from each to see if one is more "your style" than the other before bothering to venture out to non-YC bars. Since drinks, like food, are so subjective, I will leave it at that.

I wanted a heartier red to have with my snacks so I asked Ashish if he had a red zinfandel. I was thinking that would good -- more full-bodied but no tannins. He took a look and offered me a Peter Lehman Shiraz. It's an Australian red wine that we like and we even have a few at home in our cellar, along with other reds from southeastern Australia. We recalled having a Peter Lehman on Seaside a few times too, though I'm not remembering if that one was a Shiraz or a Cabernet Sauvignon, or maybe a Cab-Shiraz blend.

After awhile, we went back to the cabin to get ready for tonight's Gala dinner. We generally prefer to eat late and we take our time. We got into this habit during our many land holidays in Italy. We arrived to the restaurant around 8pm and examined the menus with some champagne, placed in a bucket beside our table for easy access.

BCD started with scallops:

I chose the arugula salad from the Deliciously Healthy offerings (but not because it was healthy, but because I love arugula):

To accompany our mains, we moved to a southeastern Australian shiraz. Here's Ryan presenting the bottle:

BCD had the filet:

I had the duck but substituted the truffle-infused potatoes from the filet dish for the potato puree:

We also shared the risotto:

We ended the meal having butter pecan ice cream with amaretto on top:

We made our way back to TSL around 10:30pm. We had 4 rounds of sidecars and old fashioneds and enjoyed the live music. Returning to the cabin, we found some treats left for us. We couldn't recall what they were from the last cruise, maybe lemon? 

Day 3 in Jamaica is next...

14 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

So Pepe has moved on elsewhere?

Yes, Pepe is now on Preziosa in the Brazil market. We were also surprised by his move, since when we disembarked in Miami in December, he'd said he would see us in April.

I don't think he'll be there long, however. Rudy showed us that Pepe had left his car in the office and then said his luggage was still on board Divina and it would be dropped off in Civitavecchia after the transatlantic back to Europe in a week or two.

Day 2 continues...

I had the Signature Martini during the YC Cocktail party. Wow, what a strong drink! And I am most definitely not a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.

The MSC Signature Martini is amaretto, vodka and licor 43. When they said amaretto and vodka, I was all in. I thought it was quite tasty and looked up licor 43. Still no real answer, but I will not turn down another one in the future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licor_43

We waited until around 12:30pm to stumble, er meander, to Le Muse for lunch. It was more full than we've ever seen before. This YC crowd does not seem to be the One Pool Deck for breakfast and lunch and only dinner in Le Muse type. The window tables were occupied as far back as could be seen from the front and all of the middle tables were occupied while we were there. It was quite windy for this sea day, so that might have been a factor. The noise level was equal to or maybe higher than dinner service.

Lunch menu:

We had champagne while checking out the menu. I couldn't decide between 2 starters so I had the octopus and seafood salad for my starter and the porchetta for my main. BCD had the porchetta for his starter and the tuna for his main. We continued to drink champagne with the entire meal, since it went so well.

Octopus and seafood salad:

Porchetta:

Tuna steak:

We absolutely loved this lunch. It might be the best one we've ever had, cruise or otherwise.

Day 2 continues next...

Just now, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Are you able to name some of the personnel

LOL I was just working on that now.

 I couldn't get a good snip of our current butler Dwi, or our last butler Elvin. 😞

Here are some images cropped from the YC cocktail party group pictures in case you want to know who is who.

Mehmet, Le Muse maitre' d:

Antonio, Le Muse chef:

Tiziana, YC Director:

Simone, YC Head Concierge:

Rudy, YC Head Butler:

Cruise Director David:

Captain Antonino Sammartano:

I used Microsoft Windows Snipping Tool on these cropped images. Sorry that they all are different sizes.

More about Day 2 coming next...

Day 2 - Sea Day

Today was a sea day. We were sorta awake before the alarm since we gained an hour of sleep because the clocks were turned back an hour over night. We think that the best nights are the ones when you get an extra hour of sleep. That's the main reason we prefer the transatlantic from Europe to North America -- extra hours of sleep every few nights.

We enjoyed the view of the sea with our first morning of butler-delivered coffee and Baileys in the cabin:

Next, off to Le Muse for our first breakfast, starting with mimosas:

The breakfast menu does not change day-to-day, though I'm sure you could make a special request. Usually given enough notice, they are happy to accommodate you.

BCD ordered MSC express with scrambled eggs and 5 slices of crispy bacon. I had an egg white omelet with ham and cheese and extra ham on the side. We both had cappuccinos. (No pictures, my apologies.)

After breakfast, we decided to enjoy some time in TSL. BCD has started working on some cars since various crew members had bestowed a robust amount of champagne corks, wires and foil upon him shortly after we boarded. The lounge was quite relaxing, being able to watch the water and enjoy the sea day. Then the butlers started setting up for the YC cocktail party that we had forgotten was happening at 11am.

The party had a great turnout, and TSL seemed totally full. David, our Cruise Director was the emcee. He introduced the various YC and Le Muse staff, ending with a toast to thank all of us YC guests. There were drinks of champagne, the Signature Cocktail or fruit juices given out in advance. On each table, there were snacks, savory and sweet, potato chips and mixed berries. A piano player and saxophonist supplied music.

More Day 2 to come...

Day 2 - Sea Day

Daily Program and 2 "special" notifications:

More Day 2 to come...

Just now, alserrod said:

is it something like this?

No, but that looks very nice -- something I'd be happy to try.

The MSC soup has the beans pureed smooth and the only ingredient you see is bits of octopus. No chorizo at all, and I don't eat any spicy foods so that is fine for me.

We have always used "chickpea" and "garbanzo beans" interchangeably. We use them at home to make our own hummus.

Just now, mnpurple said:

We were on a similar itinerary a year and a half ago and enjoyed Divina.

I think that we were on that sailing with you. We're on this cruise for the ship, not the ports. We don't have any excursions planned and probably won't even bother going out.

Divina's YC is a nice size, not too big and busy, for us. From what I've read about Euribia and World Europa, the YC public areas are a bit small for all the additional cabins. For the right time and itinerary, we'd still give them a try. But if there is a Fantasia-class ship to choose instead, we'd definitely be looking at those first.

8 hours ago, alserrod said:

Do you have a picture about your Octopus soup?

 

It says "garbanzo octopus soup" and I am not sure if I had understood correctly

So sorry, but I do not have a picture. We're trying to do better at taking pictures, but sometimes we forget.

The soup is a light brown color, from pureed garbanzo beans, with small pieces of octopus mixed in. It's really one of my favorites. Even on a hot day, this hot soup is something I will order.