mnpurple

Great report! I've been planning on booking Eden for our cruise and wondered is any of the sales had better pricing there. I've only seen 5% off so far. I think it will be our one splurge for our cruise because everything looks really good.

The Carbonara looks delicious! I asked the Chef on Euribia to make Amatriciana and it was so wonderful! We were only expecting one portion for me, but of course, they made two. He was a wonderful chef. The best of our three YC cruises.

It will be wonderful! Our first MSC cruise was Seaview in YC with almost the same itinerary. We stopped at Malta and not Palma. After being on Divina and Euribia, I think Seaview is my favorite. We didn't explore too much outside YC because being port heavy, we made the most of stops. Our kids however, enjoyed the night life and partying with the young Italians they met!

There really is nothing better than a cruise sunset! Enjoy it all

Enjoying your report. Greece is on our list. What a wonderful relationship you two have! 

While on Euribia, we were told by the concierge that we could not use the non-refundable OBC in the casino. That however proved to be wrong. We tried anyway and started out with a small amount. Lucky for me, I won on a couple spins! We then went back a few more times to continue getting our OBC, which we also use for extra gratuities.

My husband and I were on Euribia in YC in March on the Northern Europe route. I did a somewhat live you should have found when searching. Let me know if you have any questions, but not sure I'd be able to answer about too much outside YC.

When I told my server on Divina I liked a tiramisu with rum in it, he brought me a very large shot of rum to pour over it. I gleefully poured it over and enjoyed it, although not quite the same.

That is so beautiful. I'm still sad we weren't able to dock there on our cruise. I don't love the heat, but LOVE the ocean, so sitting outside with that view would be amazing for me. 

I keep looking at upcoming cruises on Seascape because of you and @Best Cat Mom. My desire to travel a lot means I need to hold back on some things. However, there is a window of time when I could "squeeze" something in at the end of an already planned visit to Florida. Who wants to be stuck in snowy Minnesota if I can avoid it!

Yes, it is always a bit awkward when I stare at their chest to try to read the name tag or pull out my glasses and it's even more obvious. Even if I ask, I need to process by reading too. DH and I are both terrible with names.

It all looks so wonderful! Our first experience was Seaview (assuming a sister ship) and that room was very nice and spacious, which was maybe why when we went to Divina I was a little let down. Although then after being on Euribia, I realized the size of the actual lounge and dining room made that part feel more cozy. 

@Georgia_Peaches FYI, the AC in the inside YC room on Euribia was terrible and never something that was resolved. The only saving grace was in Northern Europe, the weather was still pretty cool. If we had been in the Caribbean, I probably would have been adamant about a room-change.

@MonsterJoe This is what the terms of the Amex Platinum say regarding the travel insurance:

"If you purchase a round trip entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason cancels or interrupts your trip, Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance^‡ can help reimburse your non-refundable expenses purchased with the same Eligible Card, up to $10,000 per trip and up to $20,000 per Eligible Card per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply.^*
*Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.^‡"

There is also a trip delay section.  My trouble is that I spread some of the spending around on a few travel cards, so I'm not sure if it would work well. We have a yearly Allianz policy too.

@zitsky None of our cruises had repeated ports. Caribbean was an 11-day, the Med and Northern Europe were 8 days.

17 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

mnpurple, please explain. Does MSC not allow guests in Europe to simply leave the ship in port and return with their ID? And what is “ferry style”?

As @RichYak said, people can start or end their cruise at any of the ports along the route. I can only speak to being in yacht club, and never saw it as an issue. First cruise we embarked in Naples fairly early on the re-start. Not a big deal, other than the port operated on their "own" schedule. We embarked this past March in Southampton, which was a breeze. There are ports that are busier than others, but getting on an off to visit a port was really no different than when we've been on Caribbean cruises.  I would say our cruises on NCL were far worse returning to ship after visiting a port, even when we were in the Haven.

It may have been an offer for those new to Rakuten. I cleared my cache and was logged out and I somehow created a new account (I have a couple Emails and forgot which one I used for this) and that was when I was getting some very good offers. I got 15% from Target and saw a 14% for Hoka shoes, which I had just purchased a few days earlier for my daughter in nursing school!

Maybe now is a good time to get an account if anyone is hoping to book. Sorry if I got anyones hopes up.

I just went into the MSC site and Rakuten says it is offering 11.5% cash back if anyone is ready to make a booking. It is only normally 2%.

On one of our second cruises we were in the Haven. Maybe I was naive and we were lounging on a pool day, but I noticed a few chairs that had towels, but were unoccupied for a long time. I wanted to move and just assumed they were done and left their towels, so I moved to those chairs, not even thinking they would come back.  They did come back and she was trying to say how they were her chairs. I had no idea.

I guess if we need chairs and see they have been vacant for more than 30 mins, I'll remove towels and now "play dumb".  Although, I don't even need to be right next to the pool, so hopefully when we sail there will be other areas to get chairs.

24 minutes ago, RichYak said:

MSC will be my first choice for US sailings to Bermuda, Bahamas, Caribbean. Not so much in Europe where they sail ferry style with guests embarking and disembarking in each port. I feel like that would annoy me.

We sailed in the Med and Northern Europe. The embark/debark didn't bother us at all. With one exception, we met a super nice couple from Germany that we would have enjoyed for the entirety of our cruise, but they debarked only a few days in.  We were with our family group in the Med, so didn't really mingle with others, so just didn't notice that.  The whole process at ports in the Caribbean was more cumbersome and we didn't feel we had the priority advertised by YC.

We seem to be the opposite of many here. We're trying Celebrity for the first time and as my DH says, "gen pop", after our last three cruises on MSC in YC. So, I was wondering the same thing as the OP. We will be on a transatlantic on the Apex and it looks to be a beautiful ship with nice restaurant options, so I think we'll enjoy the ship overall. We love the Topsail lounge and having the respite away from the crowds, but figure we should be able to find somewhere to avoid the masses when we need it.  We like to enjoy the hot tubs regularly, so that could be an issue.  The price was in the end what made the decision for me. We end in Barcelona and will do another month+ on land in Spain and Portugal, so the $$ will be used for more travel. We also booked concierge, so I think we can board a little earlier and I added premium beverages so we can enjoy whatever we'd like without worrying.

Because we are not quite independently wealthy, but want to live semi-retired and enjoy more travel, we give and take on the added luxuries. I'm not sure if sailing MSC again, YC is something we would give up though!

Love the sunglass story! I might need to find some "special" sunglasses for our travels. Sounds like it's a great vacation!

Thanks for bumping this up. It is interesting to see the exact "obstructed view" our room will have.

Really enjoying your reports. We enjoyed Hola on Euribia and the drinks were quite good. We just ordered ala carte, but so much food. I had to laugh about the room service prosciutto and cheese being a big pile, that is so true. It is a favorite, but everything could be cut in half and there would still be too much.

Did you say four more cruises, wow! That's awesome!

I've seen the burgers and hot dogs too. I always think when I'm traveling it's fun to try other things.

We have no more YC cruises booked, but are trying Celebrity in a "regular" cabin. I'm hoping after being in YC we can adjust our expectations a bit without some of the personalized service. I'm sure it will be great and I'm looking forward to something new.  It's always fun to read everyones experiences though. Thanks for sharing!

1 hour ago, MonsterJoe said:

Oh - yesterday I had some made to order scallops on the pool deck for a later lunch/snack. They were cooked perfectly!

How did you even know they were available? I've had the pasta of the day they've made and freshly made fries, but never saw anything like that. It sounds pretty great!

What a wonderful trip and review! My husband and I have begun traveling more and this looks like a great way to begin in Asia. I guess it will have to wait after our next big trip which is transatlantic to Spain and then land over to Portugal. There are so many wonderful places, it is hard to decide!

Please tell me more about sour dough ice cream, that sounds intriguing! Did it taste yeasty?

I also love how you and your sister are traveling with your Mom. I'll admit I'm envious as my Mom passed when I was young. My kids to enjoy traveling with me, so I appreciate that time as they get older and have lives of their own.