APDMOM

A Little Delayed: I know I said my goal was to be done by today. If you know me, and have followed my previous "Views", I rarely extend my own deadline. Unforeseen circumstances at work have interrupted my cruise report. So, it will be a little delayed. My new goal is to finish by Friday night. I have more cabin pictures for 10129 and 14137 to post, as well as ship pictures and my overall impression of Seascape. Thank you for 'hanging in there'. 🙂

Cabin/stateroom pictures: TIP: Book a balcony 10-03 and forward if you want a more quiet space. We were disappointed that there was public seating below our balcony. There was a large family gathering that was very loud past midnight on day 2 below our balcony. If it had repeated, I would have called guest services, because it really interfered with our sleep. Even so, during the week, you could hear music from deck 8 on our balcony. In the cooler air, you could sometimes hear every word a person said while they sat on deck 8. It was not the ideal space to enjoy the sound of the ocean. Stateroom 10125: TIP: There is a soft chair and table under the vanity. The table is handy to use for room service or to place on the balcony for "desk space". TIP: The over-the-door shoe hanger is a lifesaver for me. It is a great way to save counter space and to organize those necessities we use daily. I don't travel without it anymore. On MSC, storage is limited compared with other ships we have been on, so it is even more helpful on these ships. TIP: Place a rag on the rack to keep your razor from slipping off the soap rack. I was happy to see an extra mirror in the bathroom, but it is only a magnifying mirror, so it does not help to do your hair in the back. So, TIP: I do pack a small mirror to fix the back of my unruly hair. 🤣 TIP: Your seapass card drives the power in the room. We were hoping to charge my camera batteries while we were out, but that plug did not work without the card. So, there is another reason the wrist bands are handy. You can negotiate the ship with just the wrist band while your card assists to charge camera batteries 🙂 TIP: If you don't need turn down service at night, put on the 'Do not disturb" button. If you need your room made, push the 'Make Up Room' button. It just makes it easier for your room steward to get to know your schedule, or to know when you are ready for the room to be made (aka dressed appropriately or out). Additional shelves for books - never used these, but if you have good ideas of how to use them, please share... : The temperature control was quite good. TIP: There is a USB charger by the bed... yay!!! One thing that MSC got right on this ship. The Mini-Fridge - other than on RCL ships, this is actually a fridge. Things stayed cold, not just cool like in the wine-coolers on RCL ships. We were able to keep chocolate milk quite chilled in here. The content: Pricing for items in the mini-fridge: Plugs: Euro, US, and USB:

Our Disembarkation Experience: After much debate, we decided to do the self-assist walk off. We had breakfast at 7 in the Marketplace. It was crowded but not a bad experience. We still found our favorite breakfast items, a clean table together, and silverware 😄 DH had eaten at 6 AM, so he patiently waited for us in the Casino with our luggage. I have to also give him a 'shout out' for his patience with my propensity to get side-tracked by the 📸 Self-assist was cleared to leave the ship around 7:25 AM. We were still finishing up breakfast, but at our assigned time of 7:45AM, we made our way to deck 6 for the disembarkation. TIP: If you are self-assist, go to the left lane for disembarkation. We fell into the right side at first. Fortunately, our activities friend from South Africa let us know we could go to the left if we have all our luggage. Quickest debarkation ever. We were in our car by 8 AM. Now, getting out of the garage was another story. The machines to pay by the elevator were out of service. The mechanical gate that is supposed to keep people from leaving without paying was broken and remained in the upright position. Despite the fact that NOBODY tried to drive off without paying, they held us hostage and did not allow payments for a long time. They finally gave up on the gate and allowed us to pay after 20 minutes of waiting. Wow, Miami, really? LOL! Final view of MSC Seascape as we are waiting in line to pay for parking (We were still on the road over an hour before our luggage tag time, so we were happy to be ahead of schedule):

Final Sunrise from the Ship:

Miami Views in the Early Morning:

I love arriving early when we can see some ships sail in. 🙂

My View: Day 8 - Miami

I will be back with our experience leaving the ship in Miami, some more ship pictures, and some final thoughts & tips. ❤️⛴️

Debarkation Information: (I will share our experience later)

Daily Program: Day 7 - At Sea

My View: End of Day 7 - At Sea A favorite view

Evening Show: The 'world' premiere of the show put on by the activities staff This was an entertaining show - not put on by professionals - just the activities staff having fun. There were some great special effects and the show was enjoyable enough. IMG_4938.MOV

That Cruise Graveyard... Look at the suitcase tombstones At least the moon is smiling down on us:

Final Sunset at Sea...at least until May, unless we win the lottery : 😄

Dinner in Main Dining - Last Sea Day Man, I really started slacking toward the end. This time I have food pictures but no picture of the menu. I will try my best to guess at the names of the dishes 😂 Asparagus Soup with Tapioca (Very good!) Linguini with Clams: (A little too strong of a fishy taste for me but it was a new dish I tried) BBQ with Mac and Cheese: (Very good) Spicy Shrimp with rice: (Not very spicy, but very good)

Lunch: Final Sea Day: The Grilled Grouper was the absolute best meal I had all week. Sorry, no food pictures this time.

Views of Other Ships at Sea: Some Carnival Ship (too hazy to read, but I am sure someone here can recognize the class): Grandeur of the Seas and MSC Divina: Explorer of the Seas:

Our final day marked a last visit to the Thermal Area, a last visit or 2 to Venci, a sea day lunch in the main diningroom, our last visit for dinner to our fantastic waiters, Jayrald and Pedro, and planning our best option to disembark for the "long" drive back home (~5.5 hours). My View: Venci With our onboard credits and cheap pricing of the cruise, we allowed ourselves a daily visit to Venci. Sometimes even twice! Venci Menu: The Chocolate martini is like drinking straight chocolate - I loved it: Our Favorite was the Cremino Gelato Shake: Some of our other splurges this week - Coffee Nougatine and more gelato shakes: Views of Venci - they were working on Easter Decorations:

My View: Day 7 - At Sea

That is it for now... I will try to post our final Sea Day experience tomorrow, with additional ship pictures. Thank you for 'cruising' along 🙂

Daily Planner: Day 6 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic:

My Favorite View: End of day 6: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

White Party: As you can probably tell, this was the night for the White Party. I love how the whole atrium turns 'white' as the crowds gather for the White Party. Unfortunately, this crowd did not get into it as much as on Seaside in 2019...

Evening Views: We already decided we want to return to this port and do an excursion to see more of the area. It is simply beautiful. TIP: There is a shuttle service to the downtown shopping area for $20 (return). It runs on a schedule. I will post that handout later. TIP: If you don't have a balcony facing the port in Taino Bay, find a spot on that side of the ship on deck 8, 16, or 18. We had quite the send-off by the locals. Leaving Beyond Behind:

Dinner in the Marketplace: We decided to eat dinner in the Marketplace, as the main menu did not have anything that looked like a 'must have' to use. Some of our selections in the Marketplace: This Vegetable Soup was delicious. In fact, I have not tried any soup on MSC that I did not like: "Toffee" Apples with Chocolate: