jules815

Have a great cruise! 

I know how exciting cruise day is. 

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Their 'hands are tied' (figuratively)

I look forward to hearing all about your next cruise. Is it Seascape you're on again?

3 hours ago, styles27 said:

We recently saw that one as well. It’s such a sad story for someone who was so full of sunshine. 

So full of sunshine! I imagine his job was very stressful though. 

14 hours ago, styles27 said:

Thought I would share this heartfelt obituary for a man who touched so many lives in his short life. May he rest in the most glorious peace. 
 

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/gene-young-obituary?id=48175792

My husband and I just re-watched one of those Amazing Cruise Ships shows on one of the cable channels (NatGeo?) featuring an MSC ship and Gene was the cruise director. 

He was so young.

On 3/1/2023 at 10:28 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

One time he was even threatened by a guest with physical violence had it not been for a retired Miami police captain coming to his aid.

  Interlopers are only part of the problem. It is the family and friends that put up a fight.

What?! OMG

This post has me second guessing whether or not we made the right decision to book a B2B on the Seascape for September. 

I had no idea that the remaining One Pool cabanas were first come first serve. (We don't mind paying.). When did that change? 

On 3/1/2023 at 1:33 PM, phissy said:

Perhaps you are thinking of this gentleman…

Is that Robbie? I thought he was from Scotland.

3 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

The problem with any B2B cruise is finding varied entertainment venues. The acts are repeated not just weekly but nightly. The menus, though repeated weekly as well, one loves repeated favorites the following week. The attention one receives in the Yacht Club is what one remembers long after the cruise. We thought upon hearing about a once favorite butler, room steward, or cruise director now gone would mean our time on board would not live up to our past experiences. Au contraire. Just as fine, full of enthusiasm and smiles.

Are you on for a B2B?  

In the two cruises we've done in the YC, I don't think we've ever seen anyone appear to be over served.  

We enjoy some cocktails throughout the day when we're cruising, and we would never drink like that at home, but it isn't a "we paid for it, drink up!" situation either.

My husband and I have cruised many times with RC, Celebrity, a couple of times with Carnival and most recently with MSC in their YC.

Found out yesterday that we're invited to a wedding in Fort Lauderdale in April 2024. Thinking as long as we're down there already...

Looking for a ship that sails on Sunday from Fort Lauderdale or Miami and our options are Princess, RC and Carnival. Even though it's been a few years since we've sailed with them, we're still a little burned out with RC's eastern/western routes. I don't think my husband would be interested in Carnival again, but their itinerary looks nice, very similar to the Caribbean Princess itinerary. We watch a lot of YouTube bloggers about cruising and have been wanting to give Princess a try and this seems like the perfect time.

We're in our early 60's, recently retired, and a few years ago when the nest became empty, started sailing in suites. Can someone explain the differences between a mini suite and a full suite? (Mini like a Jr. on RC?) I was doing a mock booking and toward the end of a reservation there were 3 options for add-ons, which included different levels of drink packages and dining. It looked like the one in the middle would suit us best. Can someone explain that in a little more detail? Are drinks not included with a full suite and no matter what category room you select, you choose one of those add-ons while booking? Not even 100% sure we'd book a suite.

Also, your thoughts on this ship? Can you tell me a little bit about it?

Thanks in advance for the info. 

Julie

12 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

The show tonight in the Chora Theater was a ventriloquist with his muppet who did a nice job saying most of his lines in five languages.

  Went back to the Cabaret Rouge. The band is back as backup for Samulous the MC. Different songs and another male vocalist and the French vocalist/ violinist did some great French standards. DW just brought it to my attention that the new acts in the Cabaret Rouge are the singers that one sees in the Chora Theatre production shows doing their own ‘thing’. Great move on someone’s part.

Is Cabaret Rouge another theater? Are reservations required for the shows?

2 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

It might be because of me guys.  When they were comp’d in YC  I used to have a Choc Martini #2 daily. Maybe two! Those things are amazing. A discount would be nice if they could even take 25% off. 
 

anyway try the Choco Martini #2. Worth the cost. 

Yes! My husband loved those. 

Well it turns out that MSC won't work for us because we'll need to sail on a Sunday. Looking at other options and leaning towards a 6-day on Caribbean Princess. It would be a new line for us with a couple of new ports as well.

Thanks for your replies. I had a feeling it had changed. 

Just found out we're being invited to a wedding in Ft. Lauderdale in April 2024. Thinking as long as we're down there, might be nice to do a cruise as well. 

We'll be on Seascape in September. Does MSC offer incentives for booking on board like RC does? Not sure if it would be worth waiting or if we should secure a room now.

Are the drinks and specialty coffees on board at the Venchi chocolate shop still available at no charge for YC?

On 1/8/2023 at 5:08 PM, ConnieTact said:

A busy day packing today! We are actually travelling without big cases so we can avoid checking in luggage and make our travel more smooth. 
We managed to do this for a 2 and a half weeks on our last cruise but we weren’t in YC for that cruise!
I was inspired by another YC guest who just travelled everywhere with a small case and decided to give it a go! It went well and did mean we avoided risking losing luggage and was a lot lighter for us to handle. 
Only trouble is -there’s someone who wants to sneak in as an extra bit of luggage……!!! 😻🧳

What a beautiful kitty!  Love the eyes! I see you use packing cubes too. They are a game changer for sure.

I think it's great that some of you use the packing and unpacking service.  I use packing cubes and unpacking doesn't take too long. I usually have my husband pop the arrival bubbly and drink it while unpacking. I do the clothes, and my husband is in charge of electronics, setting up the safe, etc. Funny how after all the cruises we've taken, we both go into auto unpacking mode and get it done quickly.

53 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Went to the bar and inquired what are the available Champagnes in the YC package.. Answer "Whatever is available at the moment." Sometimes Moet, sometimes Pommery, Today Monopole.

Great. Thank you!

1 minute ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Just as JAGR says, 'you can always take what he says  'to the bank'. Just don't misspell a word.

   We waited seated in the terminal lounge in the YC section when just after 11:30 am the zero count as completed and the B2Bs were processed and allowed back on board just in front of us.

Is that were the YC B2B's wait? The YC lounge in the terminal? Our September cruise is a B2B. We've done a couple of B2B's on RC, and it's been a while so I don't remember everything about it. I do remember the entire process didn't take too long. 

27 minutes ago, lhlm75 said:

Im on the MSC MERAVIGLIA 

We've been on Meraviglia in the YC and it was a lovely cruise. 

Sitting here in Chicagoland looking out my window at the snow on the ground. Feeling butterflies just reading about your boarding experience because I know what a great feeling that is and wishing we didn't have to wait until September. 

Can you find out what bubbly is included with the now YC package? When we were on Meraviglia in 2021, we had lots of OBC and did the upgrade. (I understand now there's no upgrade available.) With that upgrade we were able to drink Moet in the lounge and dining room. There was a Moet Rose' that was quite tasty. 

We were on Seaside January 2019 and Meraviglia in October 2021, both in YC. We really enjoyed our first YC experience on Seaside, and our cruise on Meraviglia was outstanding in every way. In fact, probably our best cruise to date. (It may have been that there were under 800 passengers on the entire ship that week.)

Interesting you say that you felt Celebrity experience was downgraded. Why's that? (Before YC, we really liked Celebrity.)

Looking forward to your review as well. We'll be on Seascape in September. 

Hope you have a great cruise.

On 2/15/2023 at 9:56 AM, L1211 said:

I’m wondering if the school holiday schedule truly matters. My Facebook group is mostly 1) first time cruisers and 2) parents taking kids out of school to cruise…. What could go wrong???  

If you're looking to avoid sailings full of kids, we've found September, the week following US Labor Day when schools are just going back in session, to be a good time. Unfortunately smack dab in the middle of hurricane season, but we've had nothing but beautiful weather when we've cruised during that month.