mica178

Have you joined the FB group for your cruise? I know that there were meets ups planned (I missed ours because the rain delayed our boarding).

For the 7 day cruise I was on, the seafood buffet was the last full day (the seaday).

Paradisus Playa del Carmen is a favorite. Atelier at Playa Mujeres used to have a family section called Estudio, but they shut that down, which is too bad as they had the BEST kid's club. Majestic Elegance in Playa Mujeres was pretty good, although their premium product is adults only.

You can definitely be in shorts and a tee shirt at the TSL.

The white outfits varied. I wore a black and white patterned dress. There were people in shorts and a tank top, especially at the main party. Many of the YC guests did not wear white but still attended the white party. On non-gala nights, pretty much anything goes. My husband and son definitely went wearing shorts and a tee shirt a few nights, although my preference was for them to wear at least a polo with khaki shorts. (I mean, the waiters were in tails!) My daughter and I wore dresses most nights, but on the casual nights, they were ordinary sundresses. Jeans and a nice top would be perfect!

So, parting thoughts now that we're a day off the Seaside. We had a nice vacation. My kids loved the novelty of the cruiseship. We received excellent service from pretty much everyone in YC. The kids club was great for my 5 year old, but my 7 year old didn't love it. The drinks were fine. The cooked food was very good, although temperature was occasionally an issue. The visual appearance of the Seaside was beautiful, and while our deluxe YC balcony cabin was small (to us), it was very functional and stylish. The beds were comfortable, and the shower's water pressure was surprisingly excellent. We've travelled to a bunch of similarly priced AI resorts in Mexico, where we also get excellent service. I'd say that the food on the cruise ship was about on par with higher end AI food, although on MSC, you get Italian food, and at the AI, it's Mexican food, so it's a preference thing. The fruits are better at an AI, where they can get the seasonal, local fruit. On MSC, most of the fruit was underripe melon and pineapple, presumably chosen to last the duration of the 7 day cruise. At an AI, the fruity drink mixers are also fresh fruit (fresh passion fruit margarita with chili pepper rim? While sitting in the pool at the poolside bar? Yes please). Most of the fruit drink mixers on MSC were pre-made and not fresh, and therefore not as varied or tasty. My son was disappointed not to be able to have fresh mango during our cruise. I will say that the wines served on MSC were much better than what I've had at any AI. While cruises go to several cities for a few hours, when we go to an AI, we get to stay in that community for several days. Granted, we often do not leave the AI, but then again, many people do not leave the ship. We had some a couple great excursions in Roatan and Costa Maya. And we didn't mind getting out into the town of Cozumel, although we didn't love the dolphin excursion. However, when we go to an AI in Cancun, we can take a longer excursion without worrying about an all-aboard time. On the other hand, cruiseship kids clubs allowed us to leave the kids there for the day if we wanted to go on shore alone, whereas most AI kids clubs do not allow both parents to leave the resort without the kid. There are pluses and minuses to both. I think while my kids still enjoy kids clubs and don't want to do museum hopping, we'll continue with the convenience vacationing of cruises and AIs, depending on location, weather, and deals.

I called MSC again today, and apparently they outsource their lost and found to Chargerback.com. So the claim has been filed, my fingers are crossed. The monetary value of the missing items isn't huge, and I got the duffle bag for free more than a decade ago. But if this service works, I'll still be thrilled.

Arnold is the best! I had Alexis, and he was fine, not great. But I interacted with Arnold daily, and he was the adopted favorite of pretty much everyone I knew in YC. During the YC cocktail party, he got the most cheers compared to anyone else, including the captain and YC director.

Just arrived home... and realized we left a duffle bag full of dirty laundry at the port. And there I was, thinking about how easy disembarking was. We remembered the rolling bags, and forgot the laundry duffle. Probably not a huge deal if we never recover it (mostly kid clothing, socks and underwear), but add to my reentry back into the real world tomorrow- sorting through the responsibility chain of a bag that likely made it off the ship and is now wandering around a port. I already tried MSC CS, but it is only open on weekdays.

Last night. We ate dinner at the YC restaurant, left before dessert to see the MJ tribute (totally worth it! ) and returned to YC for dessert. Am now FB friends with the Maitre'd. I don't remember who complained about the food on Italian night, but we thought it was good, especially the osso buco. The sommelier brought us a lovely 2009 Super Tuscan. The kids are distraught to leave their new friends. They had a great time this week!

So smart to start the day before, despite the short erice. We came in from Tampa, and I wish DH had agreed to do a night in Orlando or Cocoa Beach beforehand. The day we leave for vacation is so chaotic and stressful (all due to DH's procrastination), why ruin the first cruise day?

Today is our last day. Very sad. Last night was the white party. I'd say at least a third of YC guests did not wear white to dinner. There was a YC only white party at 9pm. Fancy wines were flowing (my butler found us and poured me a glass of Oberon), and they had loud music and fancy snacks. We did go to check out the main white party by the 16th deck pool. It was a lot crazier, much more wild outfits, and more modern music. Not really my thing, but if it is, that's where you should go.

Trivia is one of the times we venture out of YC. It is held at a (unfortunately) closed bar on the 7th floor, and there are participants of all ages. Depending on the day, the trivia isn't particularly well attended, so your 14 year old might do quite well. We rarely place at trivia back home, but on MSC, trivia is set at approximately the 5th grade level.

Oh! My son and I did the racing waterside yesterday. The slide on the right is much faster, so I picked the one on the left so he could 'win.' It was very fun and had almost no wait, unlike the bigger slide that always has a 20 minute wait in an area that weirdly traps in the heat.

Last night, I went to see Peter Punk. It was better than expected. I will definitely try to make it to the MJ show tomorrow. Today, we were on Cozumel. We slept in a bit before heading to Chankanaab for the Dolphin Encounter. I would not recommend it. It is way overbooked, and the experience is very canned. We hadn't really planned on spending time at the park beyond the encounter. The buffet is inferior to what we have in YC. We did sit at a roadside bar for a beer, though. I had promised my son a coconut, and as we left our taxi, there was a bar with a pile of fresh coconuts. The quoted us $5 for the coconut, but our whole bill for the coconut, 2 cold beers, and a soda for my daughter was only $7. Also, the kid behind the bar very nicely dug out all the coconut meat for my son after he drank half the juice (he also saved the rest of the juice in a glass). I highly recommend the place as I watched them grind up fresh mint and lime in a molcajete for mojitos. They clearly car about the product they put out. The bar is called Miami, and it is close to the port MSC uses. We did back to back trivia this afternoon at the Haven bar. DH won the visual trivia, so he has won two games to my one. I will have to try harder tomorrow (last day!?! How did the time fly so quickly?) Tonight is the white party. We are excited.

They had a baby sloth for the kids, and a handful of adult ones for us adults

A couple thoughts about my ventures out of YC. The kiddie pool needs chairs. And more places to keep towels and clothing to keep them dry. I'd prefer to stick to the YC pool, but my kiddos wanted water slides. Also, I'm not sure if the Fun Pass was worth it. The bowling was in poor shape. We did the 4D game, and at least a couple guns were broken. Only a couple arcade games are included with the Fun Pass. I checked out the buffet on 16 today. The pizza was good. The kids were happy to have soft serve ice cream. But the other food was not good. I had stale tortilla chips with tasteless salsa. Yuck.

We are at Roatan. We booked the Zip n Dip excursion directly with the Victor Bodden group. It left an hour after the ship docked, so 8am. Eek! The concierge recommended that we be ready to leave YC no later than 7:30. Thankfully, Roatan's peir is not the zoo that Costa Maya's is. Also, few people were exiting the boat before 8, so we walked right off without needing a butler escorted. If you want to do extensive ziplining and also hold a sloth, go with Bodden! I thought the excursion was very high quality. The tour price is low, but be aware that they only accept pristine USD, and every worker there really depends on tips, so bring a lot of cash! I didn't see a MSC excursion with sloths. We ended up starving after seeing the animals, so we skipped the beach part and went back to the boat early with some HOTS passengers, who had a much earlier departure time. Toatan only has a few streets, and those around the port become completely congested if two mega ships are in port at the same time. As we crept along in traffic, we saw lots of RCCL passengers running along the road, trying to make their 12:30pm all aboard. Some RCCL excursion must have been stuck in traffic as the ship didn't leave until 50 minutes after the stated departure time.

Sorry! She is 5 (and a half, she'll have you know).

We booked a private photography session for after dinner last night. 45 minutes, he met us at the YC and picked locations throughout the ship to take family photos. My daughter insisted on matching outfits. I'm a little dubious about the skill of our photographer (his poses seemed too scripted), but we won't see the pictures until later today. I'm hoping for at least a few good ones to use for this year's Christmas card.

Lunch at Nohoch Cay restaurant, courtesy of my son. DH caught nothing on the same trip.

Costa Maya Day We had plans to do an independent excursion with a vendor I used 11 years ago. The Western Caribbean Fly Fishing School also does reef fishing excursions, and we planned on doing their fish2dish. On the day of, my daughter declared she didn't want to fish, so we sent DH and son off, and we waited at the Nohoch Cay beach. The sand was white, and water the perfect temperature, and drinks were icy. My son caught 9 fish, which the restaurant fried up and served us for lunch. My kids usually hate fish, but they loved eating freshly caught fish. Otherwise, the port was so hot with a lot of walking. Our butler escorted us all the way to the shopping mall, which was very considerate given the heat and also the concomitant docking of the Harmony of the Seas.

Seaday, cont. It has been so hot, so decided to eat lunch at the YC restaurant. I highly recommend the Parma ham and truffle mozzarella app, and the housemade pasta with veal and olives was lovely, so long as you love olives. I dropped my son off at the kids club, and we tried to find the unhosted trivia listed in the planner, but no one knew anything about it. So we went back to rest until the afternoon trivia, which did occur as described. I didn't win this time. Bummer. Afterwards, we checked out the thermal spa, which was kind of cool. The dressing rooms use your bracelet as keys for the lockers, which is neat. Also, the salt room might be the best room because of its low humidity and comfortable temperature. Just my bias. This was the elegant night, which meant dressing up for my daughter. She had already bragged up her dress to all of her honorary grandmothers. It also meant lobster! In the YC, a lobster order included two decent sized tails, which were perfectly cooked. Definitely the best lobster I've had at sea or at an AI. I tried the beef Rossini, which was cooked to a proper medium rare and had good foie Gras and truffle flavor but wasn't nearly as good as the lobster. We shared an okay Super Tuscan, but the sommelier promised to make Bordeaux available for future dinners. Yay! The escargot app was tasty, although my son freaked out over the appearance of snails. He did like trying my crepes Suzette, but the kids both preferred the chocolate cake for dessert. My husband found the wine cellar on the 16th floor and is threatening to buy several bottles to bring home. At least those as mementos that he can share!

Hi again! Today was a sea day. I woke up early with my son, and we ate at the YC restaurant. That is the way to go, if you are up before 9. The buffet is nice, but I am leery of eating seafood that is under the sun. I had the kippers and scrambled eggs and coffee. All lovely. My son had an omelet and sausage and the excellent fresh squeezed orange juice. We then sat on our balcony and enjoyed the early morning warmth. My daughter woke up a bit later and agreed to have a small breakfast at the buffet. We went swimming at the YC pool, but we were reminded that there was a mid-morning YC cocktail party. We went to that at the request of some of the more outgoing butlers. There were tons of mixed sparkling drinks (try the Hugo!) and some tasty canapés. The captain stopped by too. Afterwards. We went swimming again, and my daughter became everyone's honorary granddaughter in YC. Everyone we've spoken with in YC is super friendly. I don't know if we are just lucky with this cohort, or if this is the typical YC clientele. But my kids never want to leave!

Good morning! We are at sea today after spending yesterday at Ocean Cay. Yesterday was fun! We all slept in a bit. My son and I had breakfast at the grill. He loved the fresh squeezed orange juice. I ordered a cafe con leche and ended up with a Frappuccino. It was unexpected but delicious. After that, he requested to go to kids club, so I dropped him off. At that point, my daughter woke up. We were too late for breakfast, so she had a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Ah, vacation life. We went swimming in the empty YC pools. Then she too asked to go to kids club. Both kids agreed that they wanted to eat lunch with the kids club rather than go onto Ocean Cay. So, kid free, I went to wake up DH, and we went to the concierge to get escorted to the YC tram pick up point. We met another couple on our schedule and ended up eating lunch with them at the Ocean House restaurant. The food was solid. I had the crab ceviche, which was nice and light. Then I had the lobster roll. It was no New England lobster roll, but it was tasty. The staff was attentive and kept us in cold drinks. But it was HOT. Fans only do so much at an open air restaurant in July. We returned to the boat to cool off and rest. We attended the afternoon trivia, and I won! I now have a funky MSC packable shopping bag and a card holder with MSC lanyard. After that, I collected the kids to go bowling. We had no problem making the reservation on the first day, other than waiting in the long line of people signing up for fun passes. I had thought I booked an hour, but they only made a 30 minute reservation. They only charged me for the 30 minutes, though, and honestly, other than the novelty of bowling on a ship, it wasn't great. There are no bowling shoes, and the balls and lanes are in rough shape. Currently, only lane #2 has functional bumpers, if you are bowling with kids. Reservations are by time, not by game or player. We decoded on an early dinner and headed to the YC restaurant. I had the asparagus with tarragon sauce and the cioppino. The food was fine, but portions were small. I had a lovely pilot grigio that was perfectly chilled. For dessert, I had a glass of port, the cheese plate, and the rum cake. I thought the cheese plate was fine and tasted nice with the ruby port. The lighthouse show was cute, but it was too hot to want to be outside to listen to the coordinating music. The kids went back to the kids club for a bit, and we walked around. Then we called it an early night.