wcook

I’m sure nobody will admit it, but part of the fun of Yacht Club is being able to feel superior to us losers down in steerage. And part of the fun of steerage is being able to feel superior to those dopes up in yacht club spending all that money to cruise on the exact same ship. Just so you can have a butler to unpack your undies*. It’s a win-win arrangement for everybody. Genius. * Note: I don’t actually know what yacht club butlers do or if unpacking luggage is included.

This is the company that thought it a good idea to name ships Seaside, Seashore and Seascape. As I tell people, they are Italian, expect a bit of confusion.

As I’ve said from day one, someday it’s going to be spectacular. Assuming it doesn’t get hit by a hurricane.

James Cameron’s Titanic. Great title to read while cruising around icebergs.

I actually like cruises where they have to do the announcements in many languages. Since it has to be repeated five times, announcements are usually something important. Really cuts down on the 2/$30 t-shirt announcements.

Thanks for the trip report. This quote had me doubly surprised. First that they turn you away. Second, that Birkenstocks are still a thing 🙂

My ideal itinerary Day 1: Aruba 2: Jamaica 3: Bermuda 4: Bahamas 5: Key Largo 6: Montego And of course this little place off the Florida Keys….

Presumably it’s also nice to be able to turn them off when somebody has strong political beliefs and feels a cruise MDR is the appropriate place to share those beliefs.

Kinda depends on where they are cruising from/to.

As a somewhat slovenly guy, I always want a hoodie. For both excess ac and nighttime strolls on deck. Whatever the fashionable equivalent is, you should bring.

I was watching one of them young whippersnapper youtubers and they referred to a 2,000+ passenger ship as small.

I am not a doctor, but I enjoy giving medical advice to strangers on the internet. Do not mix alcohol with benzos. People die from that combo far too frequently. Do not mix alcohol with Ambien. You may end up dancing naked in the aisle of your airplane. Alcohol and Meclizine (Bonine)? Don’t volunteer to steer the ship but otherwise you should be fine. Completely different class of drugs than thevstuff that gets you in trouble.

I feel like the MDR experience is stuck in a time bubble. Yep, there’s stuff that we don’t get in our everyday lives. Escargot. Beef Wellington. Baked Alaska! Singing waiters. The parade of chefs. Napkin twirling. Everybody should experience that. Once. I get the cruise ship dilemma. People expect this stuff. Take it away and they will *****. But little by little that experience is going away and even more cruisers want a more modern experience. And that includes not dining with strangers.

While there are some other choices that you found, MSC offerings in the Caribbean are still a bit weak. Hopefully that will change soon.

These crazy kids today with their “fire.” Sheesh.

Pretty sure flower night and 70’s night are the same thing. Can’t say specifically for the Seashore, but white night and flower night are standard for MSC. Expect galant night in the MDR. Think sparkly. You will never see a more sparkly ship or more sparkly dresses than on MSC. I can honestly say I’ve never had more fun on a ship than on 70’s/flower night. One thing I learned - “Gloria” is actually an Italian song. Laura Brannigan’s version is a cover.

I don’t pay a lot of attention to cabin. If you put me in one and asked if I was on MSC or RCL, the only way I could tell is by color: MSC uses a lot of red, RCL a lot of teal. Cabin attendants on MSC do their jobs and are friendly in terms of saying hello, waving in the hallway, etc. But on my last cruise, I never learned my steward’s names (I’m sure he told me on day one.) On RCL I’ve had cabin stewards that I know not only their names, but their kids names. I’ve had RCL stewards give my mom a big hug and console her when she had a bad day. And I’ve had RCL stewards constantly remind me of how great a job they were doing taking care of me (ie an extra tip and special mention on the survey sure would be nice.)

You can’t pick a cruise to ensure the seas are calmer. When it comes to the ocean, you get what you get. Should be reasonably calm, but as a general rule on a 3/4 day cruise expect at least one period of bumpiness. Good news is there are several drugs that virtually eliminate seasickness. Fear if seasickness is not a reason to avoid cruising. Tons of 3/4 day cruises out of Florida. Most leave out of Port Canaveral, Miami or Ft Lauderdale with 1-2 stops in the Bahamas. The actual cities in the Bahamas aren’t great cruise days so people generally prefer stops at the private island. There are also 4-day cruises, generally out of Tampa but also Miami that visits one of the disneyesc ports in Mexico. Go for it. Have a great time.

There are apps for your phone that can help with all the calculations. Of course your phone also has GPS which is 10x more accurate than the best celestial navigation, but where’s the fun in that?

I (and my soon to be empty wallet) have heard that before.

Because some ships are sailing well under capacity, there are a lot of “bargains” out there for the solo cruiser. There are also some cruises where the base inside cabin fare is so cheap paying 1.7x still works out to be a bargain. Not seeing as many bargains for 2023 as 2022 unfortunately.

MSC’s official rule is you aren’t allowed to bring any beverages on board. No water, soda, beer, absinthe, nothing. There’s probably an exception for baby formula.

Quick tip, if you get paired up with a stranger who makes a bunch of mistakes the first few holes, then starts talking about “making things interesting,” be very very careful. 🙂

Meclizine works great for me, but as you can see different people react differently. Have your friend try things in advance. You could have fun driving them around like a madman trying to get them sick. If you decide to go with either Meclizine or patches, both can usually be bought a lot cheaper from Amazon than your local pharmacy.

I’m not smart enough to know how to do it, but I suspect there’s a way for your nook to piggyback off your laptop’s access.