MandyMooToo

We didn’t have issue walking the stairs but it seemed that many were unhappy and did the drill today.

On Ocean Cay, beautiful facilities and great weather. Lunch at Ocean House was lobster rolls and crème caramel. Drinks are…okay but lunch was very good. Shuttle stops running at 3:30 but we can remain on the island until about 11:30pm.

I think it was deck 6.

Docked at Ocean Cay today. Weather looks promising so far, hot and partly cloudy. We are having coffee and a small snack before meeting our butler to get off the ship and explore the island. Lots of little choices for breakfast or snacks. The YC dining room is open for a full breakfast or Top Sail lounge for the small snacks and excellent lattes.

The shower has a rain fall shower head, it is a good size too, and a hand sprayer. It is, like most cruise ship showers, still on the small side but the shape is good. I haven’t tried to shave my legs in it yet so don’t know how well that will go over, lol, but I can report back!

To pick up where I left off, we headed to the YC pool area and took a look around. It was raining so we didn’t stay out very long but the whole area looks nice and well maintained. The hot tub has warm water, not super hot but not cool/luke warm at all and the buffet looks great. Due to the nasty weather we made our way back to the Top Sail lounge and commenced to drinking and chatting. Made some friends there and had dinner together before going to the casino for a bit (our friends enjoy the casino, we may spend $20 or so there and then we’re out). Watched some people play at the table for a little while and then we headed to our cabin to unwind before bed. So as I said in a reply earlier, not much to complain about so far. We met our butler, Juan Carlos, shortly before the muster drill and he was very nice. The guest services staff in the YC have been hard at work and were also quite friendly. Many, many people lining up with questions, complaints and or requests. We asked about the internet and upgrading and went ahead and paid the fee ($40 for both phones for the whole cruise) but it didn’t really help. Guest Services said we could stream and upload pics and such with the upgrade but I’m finding it isn’t much better than what we had. Pictures don’t send at all and we have yet to be able to download pics that the other couple in our group sent while exploring the ship themselves. Not a huge issue but still disappointing as other lines have much better internet. We also have not been able to cast to our TV, though we were allegedly supposed to be able to. The butler said we needed an HDMI cable, lol. We like to watch TV before bed to unwind and sometimes when we get ready for dinner so this is a bummer, but again, not a major issue. As for the request form we filled out ahead of time, it was useless, just as most people posted here, ha ha. We had a bottle of red wine in our cabin, I don’t like any reds except a sweet Merlot, so I asked that it be traded out. Juan Carlos said that’s what we asked for and I said no, we asked for the bottle of vodka. He said we could trade the red for white if he could get it so we said fine and he was able to swap them out. Not getting the vodka is whatever but really, why have us fill out a form if no one uses it? Pillows weren’t as requested either but the bedding is nice and comfortable regardless. A couple of things about the food. I read so many complaints about how terrible the food is on this ship but we have had a great dining experience so far. Lunch entree was very good, appetizer was not to my liking, and the dessert was good too. At dinner we all had excellent meals and though the staff sometimes gets drink orders wrong, they did a terrific job of keep the six of us refilled and happy. The snack on Top Sail were also really, really good. I don’t know if a complaint on the food at dinner aside from the chocolate cake, it was very dry, you almost had to take a drink with every bite. But the rest was delicious. One more thought before I retire for the rest of the night, butler service seems to have been hit or miss in the comments here and on social media but so far so good for us. Juan Carlos came to our cabin and went over lots of small details and asked if there was anything else we needed. He left his card and suggested we pick a time to disembark at the first port stop so he could escort us off the ship. We did so and I will report back as to how it went. A few photos of our YC interior cabin as someone in another thread asked what the layout was.

So far it has been great! A few minor things that we haven’t been pleased with but overall, not much to complain about. Our group of four is contemplating booking a 7 night if service and such continues to be top notch!

For muster drill we had to be in our cabins at 3:45pm and were then instructed to watch the video. After the video an announcement was made to call a number and then take out cards to the designated muster station. We are able bodied so no big deal but there was a lot of complaining about having to take the stairs and go to a MS so far down. Our cabin is on deck 16 and our muster station was in the casino on deck 7. But it was fairly quick to get there and get scanned.

Lined up outside their terminal at blue YC tent to drop off luggage and checkin. Waited a decent amount of time but there was a group of 15 checking in together so that probably added to the wait. After dropping luggage we were directed to the security line and then to the YC checkin area. We checked in with docs at a podium and then signed in at the YC waiting area. After another ten or 15 minutes we were called up to do the real checkin and get wristbands, etc. Our pictures were taken again and we had to turn in the health forms and show our passports again. Afterward we waited to board. There was not a lot of direction so many people were coming into the waiting area and not signing in so their check ins were pushed back even further. After a good 20-30 minutes we saw several people leaving the waiting area and boarding. No one had said anything so I got up and asked and was told we could get in line to board (we had been told someone would call us up when it was time to board). Boarding was fairly quick and we made it YC where we were greeted with drinks and snacks. A crew member came around and went over the YC benefits and told us we could go to lunch (YC dining room or pool deck buffet). We chose the dining room and had a terrific lunch. I failed to take pics of the food but the filet was perfect! Our cabins were ready at 1:30 so we dropped off our stuff and all our luggage was waiting for us there. We are off to the YC pool area! More to come!

Waiting on the shuttle to the port now. Reading reports from B2Bs that there are still “hundreds of people in the buffet waiting to get off” so it may be a bit before anyone boards. No worries here, we aren’t in the predicted snow storm at home so we are good!

Hi! Yes, AirTags helped quite a bit this time. We were directed to a long line at the baggage service office but right beside it was the actual baggage claim area. All of the bags were just piled up in the middle of the room. Not in an office, as Delta said. So we went searching with the air tags and found both bags (they were in different piles in different places). It was fine, just slightly stressful. It we made it!

Finally on the second leg of our flight to Orlando (out of ATL this leg). Slight delay as the planes are backed up. Of course they are 😑 I am not a good flyer, ha ha. Bundle of nerves! Especially since I got the notification that our bags were sent ahead of us hours ago. I only fly a couple of times a year so this was not something I am familiar with, and was somewhat concerning, but the Delta gate agent assures me this is a common practice and our bags will be waiting in the baggage office when we arrive. Cross your fingers for me…😳

Based on the responses from my prior post, it seems there is interest in a live review of Seashore. I have the YC included internet package, but may upgrade when we get onboard, so we shall see how well this works! Some basic info about us and this cruise: Travel group of 4, myself, husband and another couple that we have cruised with for years. We are all in our 40s-50s and typically cruise with RCCL (though we have all tried Carnival once or twice). We booked this cruise on a whim due to the price and being curious about MSC. My husband and I are in a YC interior cabin (we prefer interiors for the darkness and because they are usually easy to get low and midship for motion sickness avoidance). Obviously this is our first MSC cruise and we are exited to try something new. We fly out this morning as we always try to go down at least one day ahead, just in case. Ask any questions and I will try to answer them as we go along and I will post our experiences. Thanks for reading 😊

Perfect! We fly down on Saturday so I will start a live review then and any questions anyone has, I will try to answer. I am curious about the internet and if it will be good enough to allow for easy posting and uploading pictures...we shall see. Thanks for the feedback!

16039

So true! I was surprised really. I guess I have/had more faith in my fellow humans, ha ha. We did not make much use of the buffets, for obvious reasons.

Would it be beneficial for anyone if I did a live review of our 4 night cruise on Seashore that leaves this Sunday? We are trying MSC for the first time and settled on an interior YC cabin as we love dark and cool interiors. We normally book on RCCL but have also cruised Carnival a couple of times. I enjoy reading the reviews, especially the lives, but didn't know if there would be any interest or if everyone has had enough of those!

The Cruise Director for Seashore posted (on the social media site that cannot be named) these theme nights for the 4 night cruise earlier today: Glow Party Tropical Night White Party Sunshine (70s and 80s) We are on the sailing leaving Sunday also for our first MSC cruise.

Royal ships still have plenty of hand sanitizer randomly throughout the ship (at elevator banks and entrances to restaurants and main dining) and hand washing stations going into the buffet.

I did see post #12 and I know what you are saying. I was just posting what experiences we have had over the years booking new ships (Allure, Wonder, Icon, whichever). I agree that part of the pricing comes from the changes that have taken pace in the travel industry in general over the last few years, but either way, booking early seems to find the best price. And no, I did not price Star when it as released. We have enjoyed the big ships so far but I want to try out Icon before we book anymore. The older I get, the more I am looking for quiet and chill, not huge and busy, so we shall see!

It seems like, in our experience, that the earlier you book these ships, the better the pricing. We are leaving on an 8 night NYE cruise Saturday on Wonder. An interior cabin (our usual) cost $2958 for the two of us for this cruise. Our Icon sailing for an interior plus in August 2024 (made the day bookings opened) cost us $2535. These sailings have doubled now. Maybe Wonder will come down a bit after Icon launches and so forth.

Port fees and taxes are added upon booking. So when I pay in full I am paying for all of it. I do get that in the cruise contract they can raise or lower port fees as applicable but a raise of that amount was a surprise when the email said it would be much less.

The issue for some is that the cruises were paid in full by the time this came out. Sometimes we wait and keep a small balance owed until final payment, just in case there is a price drop, but for a NYE cruise it was highly unlikely that was going to happen. So after payment in full, we had to pony up an additional $125. I do realize fees go up, heck, cruises have gone up tremendously themselves, but $125 when the email said it would be more like $30 was a shocker. We paid it of course but I find the amount to be high compared to what we were told. And before someone throws in the "if you cannot afford it you shouldn't be cruising" line, we can afford it, we just didn't like having to pay it 😆

I’m really not sure who/what is pushing the amounts higher. Royal was insinuating it was because of the new port in the Bahamas. I can’t remember where I read that at though.

I will say that it’s funny how the email made it seem like we would pay maybe another $30 and it was $125 and some change.