JamieLogical's Live from the MSC Meraviglia 10/25

[JamieLogical]

13 minutes ago, buffet24 said:

Hi Jamie,

Back to the question for WiFi access...  How do they give you the sign-on code?  Do they give you a slip of paper with all the codes (one per device purchased) listed?   And I assume they will give this to you when you check-in at Brooklyn?

 

You connect to the Meraviglia HOTSPOT network and then go to login.mscwifi.com in your web browser. There you put in your first and last name and DOB and then it connects you. Once you have logged in on a device, that device is "locked in" as one of your devices and you cannot switch off of it.

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by JamieLogical

[JamieLogical]

8 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You connect to the Meraviglia HOTSPOT network and then go to login.mscwifi.com in your web browser. There you put in your first and last name and DOB and then it connects you. Once you have logged in on a device, that device is "locked in" as one of your devices and you cannot switch off of it.

 

 

If you go to Ocean Cay, you have to disconnect from the ship wifi, connect to the island wifi, and login to login.mscwifi.com again and you should be good to go.

 

You don't need to put your phone in airplane mode like on some other cruise lines, but you may want to if you are worried about getting charged for roaming or international data by your cell service.

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by JamieLogical

[buffet24]

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

If you go to Ocean Cay, you have to disconnect from the ship wifi, connect to the island wifi, and login to login.mscwifi.com again and you should be good to go.

Thank you ma'am!  😉

[buffet24]

Serenity!!!  😉 

 

 

[Essiesmom]

I think the reason they have separate Wi-Fi on Ocean Cay is they have it there for the live in/on staff.  You may notice there is a sort of condo complex.  Unlike some of the private islands they do not take all the food on for the buffet and food trucks.  EM

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

They are the "Long Island Iced Tea" of mimosas, so exercise caution.

 Sounds like it would taste sweet.  I am pretty sure that I prefer the Long Island. 

[JamieLogical]

11 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 Sounds like it would taste sweet.  I am pretty sure that I prefer the Long Island. 

 

The Prosecco makes it fairly dry tasting.

[JamieLogical]

Yesterday was our port stop in Miami. We were scheduled to arrive in port at 7:00 am and depart at midnight. Whatever storm we had been attempting to avoid by missing Ocean Cay and Nassau, we definitely caught part of it  Wednesday night into yesterday morning, because it was some of the roughest seas I have ever experienced. Twice I woke up from almost being thrown out of my bed. I could hear the shuttering and banging of the stabilizers working overtime all night and it made for some very challenging sleep. All night it was “shutter, shutter, shutter, bang!” And that’s not even mentioning the pretty extreme rocking motion.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, we received instructions on Wednesday night for the immigration procedure. Because we had visited a foreign port and then visited a US port, we were required to go through immigration by US Customs & Border Patrol. I had to go through this on my Canada & New England cruise in September because, on that cruise, we went to Saint John, New Brunswick and then back to Portland, Maine. In that case, the had CBP agents come on board the ship and set up in the Carousel Lounge. Every passenger had to pass through the Lounge and facial recognition before ANY passenger was allowed to get off the ship. This made for some unhappy campers who were anxious to get off the ship for their tours and exploration, but at least we could all wait in the comfort of our staterooms, enjoy the buffet, and hang out at the bars until the announcement was made that we were clear to disembark.

 

For Miami, things worked very differently. In this case, they required everyone to get OFF of the ship and wouldn’t let anyone back on until it had been cleared. The plan was, if you were planning to stay off the ship, they called deck numbers two at a time, beginning at 8:00. The people from those decks were to go down to Deck 6 and exit the ship to go through immigration inside the cruise terminal we had docked at. They would then not be allowed back onto the ship until everyone had gone through immigration, which wasn’t supposed to be a big deal for those people, since they were leaving the ship anyway.

 

In reality, it didn’t quite work that way. While the printed instructions left in our rooms explained all that and said that people who did NOT intend to stay off the ship should meet in the Broadway Theater at 9:30, that was never mentioned in any of the announcements. So a LOT of people thought they HAD to get off when their deck was called and then ended up waiting in the terminal for hours.

 

Fortunately, I had actually read the instructions and even though I did plan to get off the ship later in the day, I decided to hang out with the not-leaving-the-ship crowd. So, when they called my Deck (I am Deck 14 and they called the highest decks first), I ignored them and proceeded to take my time typing my blog, showering, and dressing. I did decide to dress for going off the ship and packed up my hat, sunscreen, etc. in case I decided to stay off the ship by the time this was all done. Very glad I made that choice!

 

At 9:15, I left my cabin to go down to the theater where all the people staying on the ship were gathered. Apparently, they had people on excursions gathered there earlier in the morning, but they had all already disembarked so the remainder were people who planned to stay on the ship. Initially, I thought the plan might be to actually bring border agents onboard to process people like that had in the Carousel Lounge last month, but that was not the case.

 

9:30 came and went and we were all still just sitting there with no information. No one was telling us what to do or what to expect. Just after 10:00, an officer finally came in and shouted that it was time for us to go. We all lined up in the aisles and up the stairs and were led off the ship VERY VERY slowly. These were not spry, young, individuals. These were all people on scooters or in wheelchairs or with walking canes who had decided they did not have the physical stamina for a day in Miami and that’s why they were staying on the ship. So, the climb up the stairs and out the gangway was a slow one. Eventually, someone came and told us we could use the gangway on the aft of the ship if we were willing to walk that far. The handful of us who WERE young and spry quickly jumped out of the line and headed to the back of the ship.

 

At this point, I was kind of expecting this to work like a B2B, which I have done in the Port fo Miami before, where the CBP bring the facial recognition machines into the hallway where the gangways connect to the ship. Nope, they treated this exactly like a real disembarkation process. We had to walk through the terminal, down the escalator, through the giant baggage claim area, through the CBP are, and out the doors onto the sidewalk. From there, they were directing the people who were staying with the ship to loop back around the outside of the building to the main boarding entrance. This was when I was very happy to have brought all of my stuff with me for going ashore because I did NOT want to have to go through all of that again to get off the ship later!

 

At this point, it was roughly 10:30 and I was trying to assess what to do, so I stood out on the curb and texted with my solo crew. Ray was already out and about, having disembarked when her deck was called along with mine at 8:00 am. Ed had, unfortunately, disembarked with his deck, not realizing he could have waited in the theater, so he had already been sitting in the terminal for two hours, desperate to get back onboard and go back to sleep, because he hadn’t slept at all. Cheree and Jen were heading to a museum and garden.

 

My only real goal in life was to acquire a decent Cuban sandwich. I had Googled “best Cuban sandwich in Miami” the night before and settled on a place called Old’s Havana, but they didn’t open for lunch until 11:00. I decided to go ahead and take a Lyft to Little Havana and walk around for a bit until they opened. I have to say, Little Havana is pretty cool. The murals and artwork and bright colors are all very interesting. I saw the coolest-looking McDonald’s I’ve ever seen. I saw several chickens roaming the streets, which definitely reminded me of being on a Caribbean island. I walked past the restaurant I intended to eat at, but they were still setting up so I kept walking some more.

 

Eventually, I decided to head back to the Domino Park next to the restaurant and loiter there until the restaurant opened. They seemed to be filming something there, as there was a film crew with two professional cameramen there. I checked my phone and saw that Ray had texted that she arrived in Little Havana, so I was typing a text back to her when I heard someone calling my name from behind me. Ray was right there, sitting on a park bench. Apparently, she had signed up for a walking tour of Little Havana but got the time wrong. She thought she needed to be there at 11:30, but actually, it wasn’t until 12:30, so she had time to kill.

 

I told her I was having lunch right around the corner and she decided to join me. The restaurant was super cute, as was our pregnant waitress, who was very friendly. I started out with a Rasberryto and scoped out the menu, even though I knew my plan was to just get the Cuban sandwich. The waitress recommended several of their most popular dishes (Cuban Sandwich wasn’t actually one of them), and Ray decided to go with the popular half-chicken. I read the descriptions of all the sandwiches and ended up deciding to go with the Frita Cubano, which wasn’t at all a traditional Cuban sandwich but just sounded too good for me to pass up.

 

After I finished my raspberry mojito, I ordered the Mojo-Mango. I would say that the mojitos were a little on the weak side alcohol-wise, but they tasted great. At one point, the bartender lined up about 40 glasses on the bar and prepped all of them with sugar, lime, and mint, so he could make 40 mojitos conveyor-belt style.

 

Our food came and we were both in heaven. My sandwich was sooooo good. Just thinking about it right now, I wish I had it in front of me again. Ray could not stop eating her chicken and ate almost the whole thing while forgoing her sides of a salad and fried plantains. As we were eating, Ray got a text from her tour guide to “come hungry” to the tour, as they would be trying a variety of local foods! Whelp, that wasn’t happening!

 

When we were halfway through our food, Ed texted that they had finally started letting people back on the ship! This had to be a little after 11:30? He later said that once they started letting people onboard, everyone headed to the buffet as they were murderously hangry and the buffet was closed! There was no food out. Can you imagine just waiting in the terminal with no food or beverage for three hours, most people having skipped or missed breakfast, and then you get back onboard and there is still no food?

 

After lunch, I needed to walk it off a little so I headed down the street in the direction I hadn’t been yet. Ray waited at the Domino Park for her tour to start. I stopped in a couple of little galleries and walked to the end of what I considered to be the Little Havana district, then I headed back to where I had started and summoned a Lyft.

 

Once back at the terminal, I had to go through security, just like a regular embarkation day. At least I didn’t have to stop at the check-in desks. Then it was up the escalator and all the way through the terminal and up the gangway back onto the ship.

 

I chatted with a couple of people at Edge for a minute and then headed back up to my room for a much-needed nap. After my nap, I went down to Edge and had some coffee, then back to my room to chat with my husband on the phone for a while. Then I just kind of wandered around on my own. Ed was still asleep and everyone else was still off the ship. I spent a little time at the Champagne Bar, a little time at Edge, a little time at the Meraviglia Lounge, and some time at the buffet having my afternoon snack.

 

Eventually, Cheree texted that she was back on the ship. Ray had come back after her three-hour walking tour and gone to the spa to relax her sore feet and legs. Ed was finally awake. So we all ended up at Edge for a while before dinner. I introduced my friends (and all of the Edge bartenders) to the Alabama Slammer. I had four different ones from three different bartenders and they all ended up different, but drinkable.

 

Dinner in the MDR was Mediterranean Night, so I had some lamb meatballs stuffed with feta, some legume soup, some Mediterranean Lamb Couscous, and the (very Mediterranean) red velvet cake. We were all exhausted after dinner so we all headed to bed. We talked about wanting to see the sail away from Miami since none of us had ever seen a nighttime sail away there. But the ship wasn’t leaving until midnight. Several of us decided to set our alarms to watch it. Lucky for me, I had my own balcony to watch from. Everyone else had to go out on deck. I don’t know if any of them actually made it yet. I groggily and reluctantly dragged myself out of bed when my alarm went off. Fortunately, the engines started up at midnight on the dot and I didn’t have to wait long for us to start moving. I bet they were in a hurry so they could open the casino!!! I got a lot of pictures. None of them turned out as well as I would have liked, as it really was incredibly beautiful.

 

Oh! We sailed past the new MSC terminal that is being built. I can’t really tell how much longer it will be for them to finish it, but they did at least have the glass going up now. The parking garage looked pretty much done. It didn’t look like they had much done on the inside yet.

 

Day's Drinks:

Rasberryto from Old's Havana

Moji-Mango from Old's Havana

Americano w/ Bailey's from Edge

Blueberry Lavender Sparkler x2 from Champagne Bar

Alabama Slammer x4 from Edge

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by JamieLogical

[JamieLogical]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by JamieLogical

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

The nighttime sail away from Miami is definitely beautiful! We luckily had a 10pm sail away in May.

[benjaminnicholas]

Getting a stop in Miami was a blessing for this New Yorker.

 

I could get a decent bagel and nova.  And I did.

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, benjaminnicholas said:

Getting a stop in Miami was a blessing for this New Yorker.

 

I could get a decent bagel and nova.  And I did.

 

Are you saying the bagels on the ship are not 'decent?'

 

[benjaminnicholas]

3 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Are you saying the bagels on the ship are not 'decent?'

 

 

Nope.  They're off.  Nowhere near a good bagel.

 

I Ubered out to Wynnwood to a favorite deli and brought back six to keep me happy for the remainder of this cruise.

[joeyancho]

34 minutes ago, benjaminnicholas said:

 

Nope.  They're off.  Nowhere near a good bagel.

 

I Ubered out to Wynnwood to a favorite deli and brought back six to keep me happy for the remainder of this cruise.

Well done mate.  Did you get a schmear?

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, benjaminnicholas said:

 

Nope.  They're off.  Nowhere near a good bagel.

 

I Ubered out to Wynnwood to a favorite deli and brought back six to keep me happy for the remainder of this cruise.

 

Not at all familiar with Miami as we have only sailed from there once before.  

I enjoy a good bagel but not sure my taste is refined enough to know a really good one vs just a good one vs a normal one.  Toast it, throw some crunchy peanut butter or cream cheese on it and I'm good. 

 

 

[buffet24]

Hi Jamie, what guidelines do MSC suggest for gratuities for your room steward/dining staff/others?   Also, I know tipping is personal... but what do all you guys generally follow when tipping *above* the required gratuities as extras?

[benjaminnicholas]

8 hours ago, joeyancho said:

Well done mate.  Did you get a schmear?

 

No.  

 

As a old New Yorker, I got it with Nova, fresh onion and capers.

 

I don't schmear my salmon.

 

[gizfish]

3 hours ago, buffet24 said:

Hi Jamie, what guidelines do MSC suggest for gratuities for your room steward/dining staff/others?   Also, I know tipping is personal... but what do all you guys generally follow when tipping *above* the required gratuities as extras?

MSC actually discourages tipping individual staff.  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/before-you-go/service-charges. 

[buffet24]

4 hours ago, gizfish said:

MSC actually discourages tipping individual staff.  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/before-you-go/service-charges. 

Interesting!  Thank you!

[Anastas617]

On 10/27/2023 at 9:35 AM, JamieLogical said:

Yesterday was a sea day as we raced down toward Port Canaveral. Fortunately, the seas were pretty calm, because we were moving quickly. I woke up to the knock on my door for my 8:00 am room service breakfast delivery. I got to take full advantage of my wonderful balcony, listening to and watching the wake as I sat out there drinking my coffee and working on typing up my live blog. The balcony makes it almost worth the 160 steps to/from the elevator and sleeping on a couch!

 

Eventually, I needed to cut off my blogging so I could go inside and take a shower so I could go down to Edge and get some drinks. My first experience showering in my tub was interesting. I hadn’t really realized how high the edge of the tub was, but it is actually quite high. Anyone with knee problems or mobility issues might have a real challenge getting in and out. There is also no grab bar on the side where you enter, so there isn’t really anything to try to hold onto except for the wall. The is one grab bar, but it is low and across from the entrance to the tub, so you can’t really reach it from outside the tub. Once in the tub, being short would be a real advantage, though. I am 5’6” and I probably have about six or seven inches of head clearance in there when standing up. Someone over 6’ would have to crouch down. The other weird thing is the half door the shower has it swings outward to make the opening into the shower wider, but it hits against the toilet, so doesn’t open all the way. That was fine for me as I still had plenty of space to get in. But what is weird about it is that it leaves quite a large gap for water to just spray out onto the floor when it is “closed.”  I had to turn the shower head towards the wall rather than have it spray straight out into the center of the tub because water was getting onto the floor. It was nice having a lot of room in there compared to one of the tube showers at least.

 

After I showered and dressed, I packed up my laptop and took it down to Edge with me so I could have some drinks while finishing my blog. Cheree and Ray were already there having a couple of drinks after their MDR breakfast. It sounded like their breakfast experience wasn’t very good. They struggled to get coffee and then creamer for their coffee.

 

They didn’t stay long at Edge, as both were off to do other things. I worked on my blog and had two Mimosa Blossoms and two Mimosas. I have learned that if I order Mimosa Blossoms from the roving servers, they ALWAYS get it wrong and put it in as just a normal mimosa. For a Mimosa Blossom, I have to go up to the bar and order it myself.

 

Seats started to become scarce as I sat there at my table for three by myself, so twice I had couples ask if they could sit there for a bit and once a couple just sat there without even acknowledging my existence. The first couple was Italian and didn’t seem ti to speak any English, but they were very friendly towards me with their smiles and mannerisms and tone of voice at least.

 

The second couple was the one that didn’t say boo to me. They were American and were just complaining about the lack of seating generally and only sat there for about two minutes because they were trying to hear the musical act that was performing down in the Infinity Bar Area and they couldn’t hear it over all the people talking in Edge.

 

The third couple was a really lovely couple, Larry and Gail, who had been married for 59 years. I helped her get her phone on the wifi so she could use the app to check the dailies and menus. They showed me pictures of their grandkids. We talked about my job as I was trying to get a little work done at that point. It was very very nice.

 

By this time, Cheree had come back and we were planning to go to Kaito Sushi for lunch. I ran back to my room (no mean feat!) to drop off my laptop and then met Cheree and Ray back at Edge. We told Ted where we were and he joined us. No one had heard from Ed all morning.

 

We headed up to Kaito where we ordered way more food than we needed to for lunch. I had the Samurai Tempura roll and I ordered some saki for Ted to try because he had never had it. I ordered cold saki, but they brought it hot. Ted was pretty turned off by the temperature.

 

Lunch service was a little slow, but it was all good. We all tried each other's food and shared some stuff and certainly had plenty to eat! After lunch, it was time for a nap, so I headed back to my room. Once back at my room, I saw I had a message on my room phone. It was Ed. He wasn’t able to send or receive any texts on his cell phone, so that was why we hadn’t heard from him. I told him the others were going to the FB meet & greet at 2:30 (this was about 2:10) and then all of us were going to the CC Meet & Greet at 4:30.

 

I set my alarm for 4:15 and crashed hard. When my alarm went off, I was pretty groggy, but I mustered the energy to put myself together and head up to the Sky Lounge. When I got there, several of my solo crew were already there along with a handful of other CC members. It wasn’t as chaotic as the solo meet-up the night before, but there was in fact a solo meeting scheduled in there at 5:00. I am not sure how/why since the daily said the solo meet-up was in Brass Anchor again. The one in Sky Lounge was hosted, there was free prosecco, and there was a big chocolate cake, that I wasn’t quite able to get a photo of before it was all cut up.

 

I met a few new people and it was a nice time. It was Gala Night, so several people came to the event dressed up since they had early dining times and wouldn’t be able to change in between. So, it was a fun mix of dress for sure! We also got a great view of the beautiful sunset from the Sky Lounge.

 

Once things started winding down, my solo crew decided they all wanted to see my weird Studio Balcony, so we took a little excursion to my room. They all agreed the bathroom situation was weird and Ray decided she was going to ask the room steward to make her couch up the same as mine because she had the same issue with her pull-out blocking her closet in her inside Studio. We then headed down to the Champagne Bar for some Blueberry Lavender Sparklers. I only stayed for one round, as I needed to have my dinner early. The Bills game was starting at 8:15 and our dining time was 8:30, so I was going to have to miss the Gala Night. Instead, I headed to Hola! To have a quiet dinner by myself. I had no trouble getting a table and service was super quick because there was hardly anyone there. I guess everyone went to the MDR for their lobster.

 

I had my usual Chipotle Carnitas Taco and the “Small” Nachos and a Classic Margarita of course. It was way too much food, but I did my best. It was all delicious.

 

I finished dinner very quickly and I planned to get a water from the Edge bar and head up to my room to change and relax a bit before the game. But my whole solo crew was hanging out at Edge before going back to change for their late dinner and flagged me down, so I hung out with them for a bit until they all had to go their separate ways to change.

 

I headed back up to my room and realized I had left the Do Not Disturb light on all day after my nap, so the room steward had just left my Daily on my door. I changed into my Bills shirt and jeans and put on the Make Up Room light in hopes it wasn’t too late for my room steward to come and do my turndown service.

 

It was still a bit early for the game, so I headed to the casino. I sat down at one machine and won $28 on my first spin. I continued to play that machine for a bit and won another $22 from the bonus game, but wasn’t really making much progress. I cashed out a tiny bit ahead on that machine and decided to try another machine I had never played before. I had seen a woman making decent money on a machine of the same type, so I thought I would give it a try. On my first spin, I won $217! I did two more spins after that but cashed out over $200 ahead for the evening after only about 15 minutes of playing.

 

I headed over to the Brass Anchor to watch the game. I ended up sitting next to a German couple who were HUGE American Football fans. The husband played for his college’s American Football team and they had season passes to their town’s local American Football team. They weren’t fans of any one specific NFL team, so they agreed to cheer for the Bills with me until they had to go to dinner.

 

A couple from California sat on the other side of me at the bar and they were big Bills fans, because the husband, Warren, had grown up in Buffalo. I had a great time chatting with them as well, right up until the point where my full glass of Vodka Ginger Ale slipped out of my hand, spilled all over Warren, and the glass shattered all over the floor. It was a disaster and I felt SOOOOOO bad. They didn’t have the drink package so I told them the drinks were on me for the rest of the game and they were very good sports about it. I am glad they had changed out of their Gala Night attire into their Bills t-shirts and jeans at least! And at least it wasn’t red wine or something that would stain.

 

At one point in the 4th quarter, I really needed to use the restroom and of course, THAT was the exact time all my solo crew had finished dinner and came looking for me. I ran into Cheree and Ray heading into the bathroom as I was heading out. They went down to the silent disco and Ed and Ted hung out with me in Brass Anchor for the rest of the game. Ted knows nothing about football AT ALL, so I was trying to explain it to him as the last quarter was coming to an end. I had had practice earlier trying to explain American Football to one of the servers at the bar. He was definitely eager to learn at least.

 

After the game ended and the Bills won, I went down to the Meraviglia Lounge where everyone was dancing, but I couldn’t really hang. I danced one song with Ed who is an excellent dancer and then Ray and I headed up to the buffet for a late-night snack. I had a couple of slices of pizza and then it was off to bed!

 

Day's Drink:

 

Mimosa Blossom from Edge

Mimosa from Edge

Mimosa Blossom from Edge

Mimosa from Edge

Saki from Kaito Sushi x2

Americano w/ Baileys from Sky Lounge

Prosecco x2 from Sky Lounge

Blueberry Lavender Sparkler from Champagne Bar

Classic Margarita from Hola!

Vodka Ginger Ale x5 from Brass Anchor

I'm in the midst of writing up my thoughts from my Grandiosa cruise last week. I also had a studio balcony and I absolutely hated the bathroom, particularly that tub/shower. I really thought I was going to injure myself getting out a couple of times. I preferred my studio interior on Meraviglia, though I did spend a bit of time on the balcony and enjoyed having the ability to look outside. (Interestingly, my couch bed did not actually fold out. I think it could become bunk beds though I had no reason to ask).

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, Anastas617 said:

I'm in the midst of writing up my thoughts from my Grandiosa cruise last week. I also had a studio balcony and I absolutely hated the bathroom, particularly that tub/shower. I really thought I was going to injure myself getting out a couple of times. I preferred my studio interior on Meraviglia, though I did spend a bit of time on the balcony and enjoyed having the ability to look outside. (Interestingly, my couch bed did not actually fold out. I think it could become bunk beds though I had no reason to ask).

 

Right, on the Meraviglia Plus ships, the beds in the Studio Balconies convert to bunk beds, because that makes perfect sense for rooms sold specifically to solo cruisers!

[JamieLogical]

Yesterday was a sea day. It was another night of rough seas overnight, but not quite as bad as the night we came into Miami. I got my room service delivered pretty late (by my choice) and took a long time to type up my full blog about Miami, so I wasn’t showered and dressed and out of the room until just after 10:00.

 

I headed down to Edge, which was packed. Because of the rough weather, the pools and the bars on the pool decks were closed. Everyone was stuck indoors. I ended up sitting at the bar to order my first mimosa blossom and I spotted Gail and Larry from early in the cruise. Since they couldn’t get a table either, they sat down next to me and we chatted. I mentioned I hadn’t seen them in a while and it turned out they had gotten pretty sick after our Cozumel stop. Apparently, they did a tubing excursion that wasn’t what they had expected it to be and it really wore them out.

 

Eventually, Larry spotted a table opening up and made a mad dash for it. I had hoped I would be of some help, being young and spry, but the bar stools in Edge weigh about 285 pounds, and I was kind of penned in by them when I tried to get up. Larry got to the table at the same time as another older gentleman and they exchanged a few words I didn’t hear, but Larry ended up with the table.

 

Once we had a table, we defended it with our lives. We took turns using the restroom and our 4th chair was pretty popular. First, Margaret, one of the solo travel agents I have chatted with many times occupied it, and then Cheree joined us. Cheree and I were uninspired by the MDR lunch menu, so we decided we would try to go to Hola! or Kaito. We knew Ray had been having trouble with the wifi all day, so I called her on her room phone to let her know the plan and she decided on Kaito. She had been in the process of showering and changing after her morning spa visit, as we suspected, so she said she would join us when ready.

 

We headed up to Kaito and the maitre’d was a little distressed we didn’t have a reservation, but this being our 3rd visit this cruise, he made room for some returning customers. We got way too much food again and all left completely stuffed. I had the Yaki Soba noodles and the Samurai Tempura roll (my favorite!).

 

After lunch, we were all going to try to go to the FB pub crawl at 2:00. I decided to go back to my room in the interim (it was about 1:30). I made the mistake of laying down for a minute and fell fast asleep. Fortunately, I had set an alarm, so I woke myself up and dragged myself out of my room. Unfortunately, when I got to the Infinity Bar, where the crawl was beginning, the first shot they decided on was an Amaretto Sour, and I hate nuts and nutty things, so I had to pass. That was the death knell for my pub crawl ambitions. I was already feeling nappy and was unsure when we would be moving on to the next bar and if more of the drinks would involve ingredients I disliked, like pretty much anything tropical. This being a cruise ship, the risk of tropical drinks seemed high.

 

So, I called it and went back to my room for a nap. I woke up pretty late and it was almost 5:00 by the time I was back at Edge for my afternoon coffee. Shortly after I sat down, Ray joined me. She had JUST finished the pug crawl! Cheree had ducked out after the third or fourth bar.

 

After a few minutes of sitting at the bar, Ray spotted a table that was opening up and ran for it. She didn’t even take any of her stuff, so I had to run back and forth a couple of times to bring all of our stuff over from the bar. Again, once we had a table, we had to hold onto it for dear life. This time we had a lot of people wanting to steal our chairs, but we had texted Ed and Cheree that we had a table, so we didn’t want to give up our chairs in case they arrived. Ed did come fairly soon after. Oh, I fixed Ray’s wifi for her. Somehow she had gotten completely logged off of login.mscwifi.com so I had to re-enter all of her cabin in birthdate info to get her logged back on.

 

I was feeling very “blah” so I decided to run up to the buffet for some real food, thinking the chips they served us at the table weren’t cutting it. Ray joined me and literally the second we got up, even though we left all of our stuff right there on the table, some people descended on Ed, trying to take our chairs. We moved quickly so Ed wouldn’t have to fight them off for long. I grabbed two slices of pizza and Ray grabbed some stuff from the grill section and we ate it fast and were back downstairs in under 10 minutes.

 

I was still feeling gross and when I went to use the restroom, it occurred to me that maybe I was a little motion sick. I have never been motion sick on a cruise before because I take Dramamine every morning when cruising. But the relentless rough seas might have been too much for me. So, I ordered a vodka and ginger beer, thinking the ginger might help. It did! I definitely felt better after the first one.

 

Cheree had joined us at some point and Ray left us to take a nap with instructions to call her at 8:15 so she didn’t miss dinner. We hung out at Edge for a long time. I went to the casino for a bit, but lost my budget for not only that day, but our Miami port day, when the casino had been closed the whole time.

 

A little after 8:00, we were keeping an eye on the clock to make sure we called Ray in time for dinner, but she showed up on her own.

 

Somehow MSC decided that this was both White Night and an Elegant Night, so there was a fun mix of clothing. I myself went with White, some people went with Elegant, and a few people did manage to pull off both in white sequined dresses or white dress shirts. Of course, MSC would also choose to serve pasta in red sauce and short ribs on white night as well!

 

I had the goat cheese and pear salad, which I was disappointed to discover was an actual green salad. Not a “salad” like I have had many other times on MSC, where there are some ingredients spread thinly across a plate. I can’t eat raw vegetables, so I just picked out the pears and goat cheese. For my entree, I had the Tagliatelle with Seafood, which I have had many times on MSC and is always excellent. I put my entire napkin across my chest and tucked into my shirt so I wouldn’t get sauced on my white tops. For dessert, I went with the simple cheese plate (sorry I forgot to take a picture!), which included grapes, brie, goat cheese, provolone, and cheddar.

 

The MDR was as packed as I’ve seen it for our late dining time so far this whole cruise. A combination of the sea day, everything outdoors being closed, Elegant Night, and White Night all coming together drove many people to the MDR. There was a family near us with a baby who cried the entire meal and finally, I had enough, so I left while the rest of my group was having dessert to get some relief.

 

I went over to the railing on deck six that overlooked the deck 5 atrium/Infinity Bar as a lot of people were gathered there watching Candice perform and passenger dancing. I was determined to make it to the White Party at 10:20, so I got us a table at Edge and everyone else joined me soon after. We hung out there until it was time for the actual party, which was being held in the Galleria since the weather wouldn’t allow for it to be at the Atmosphere Pool as advertised.

 

We danced HARD to the first several songs and then I was just too hot and sweaty to continue. Ed had already ducked out and went back to Edge. Cheree and Ray were still hanging in there. I just went back to my room to strip off all my sweaty clothes. By this point, I had my second wind, but I had already changed into my pajamas, so I stayed up watching HGTV and ordered room-service pizza. What a disappointment that was! It cost something like $10 with the tip included and it was way worse than the free pizza up at the buffet. I ordered the four cheese and at least one of those four cheeses did not belong on a pizza. I think it must have been some kind of Swiss? Definitely threw off the flavor balance of the whole thing.

 

Oh well, lesson learned! Soon after that disappointment, I went to bed.

 

Day's Drinks:

Double Mimosa Blossom x2 from Edge

Americano w/ Bailey's from Edge

Double Vodka and Ginger Beer x2 from Edge

Blueberry Lavender Sparkler from Champagne Bar

Double Vodka and Ginger Beer from Edge

Absolut Cosmo from Panorama

Blind Russian from Edge

[JamieLogical]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by JamieLogical

[Gold fish]

Jamie, just wondering, because they don’t encourage extra tipping, do tip morning room service?

[JamieLogical]

22 minutes ago, Gold fish said:

Jamie, just wondering, because they don’t encourage extra tipping, do tip morning room service?

 

I don't, because I don't usually carry small bills and it's a different server each morning. If it were the same person, I would tip with a larger bill at the end of the cruise.