Live Seascape YC (10/21-10/28): The one where we left the kid at home

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

So bottom line, she did not feel obligated to take any responsibility for having smuggled an unauthorized item on the ship that cause the issue?  

 

 

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

And hanging the dress from the sprinkler?  EM

She felt no responsibility for the the incident. 

 

She also felt that the head of security and the hotel director treated her rudely when they paid no attention to her complaints of missed dinner, ruined electronic and clothing and being placed in an interior cabin for the last night.

 

As the cabin was flooded and all bedding, carpeting and maybe some furniture would need to be replaced, the cabin probably was out of service for at least the next trip .

[mizzoufinal4]

The snacks tables…. This is how they have been all week. Snackgate 2023… 🤣

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

And hanging the dress from the sprinkler?  EM

 

You mean that thing in the ceiling with the warning sign not to hang anything from it? 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, StonePayload said:

 

 

have you noticed whether ping pong tables were available all day (with the equipment)? My DH and DS live to play ping pong on cruises. My research showed that Seascape may have limited ping pong hours during the day...

[bhughey]

54 minutes ago, mizzoufinal4 said:

The snacks tables…. This is how they have been all week. Snackgate 2023… 🤣

Rats. Next week will be our first time in YC and I'm already missing something I never knew I could have! 

 

Question re: the buffet, is there an afternoon snack selection or is it open for meal times only? 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, mizzoufinal4 said:

My daughter got charged for soft serve ice cream yesterday from the jungle pool.  I went to the concierge to ask about it because I thought it was a mistake and was told that the soft serve is not included

that's correct. It's only included with the minor's drink package. And, apparently, once a day for about an hour in the afternoon it's free for all.

[DaKahuna]

7 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's correct. It's only included with the minor's drink package. And, apparently, once a day for about an hour in the afternoon it's free for all.

 

 Interesting - so two things come to mind (1) does your daughter not get the minor's drink package being in the YC?  and (2) I am amazed that soft serve ice cream is not free for everyone anyway.

 

[SpareBrew]

3 hours ago, StonePayload said:

I forgot to mention- yesterday I asked for a glass of chocolate milk.  My family understands that I am a big kid that loves the stuff, and I had a craving. I had run back to the room, so my wife tried to order it for me.  For the first attempt, I got a glass of hot chocolate with some ice cubes in it.  This was a bit odd, but ok.  For the second attempt, I went up to the bar to explain how to make it.  Turned out pretty good actually!  It’s nice having access to the full bar, because I got to add Bailey’s to it.  That was pretty awesome.

When we were on Seascape, I asked our butler for two small glasses of Bailey's each night so I could add ice to it before going to bed as a nightcap for DH and I.  The next evening we got a whole bottle!  Nice touch!

[paddy1112]

This week even the VIP function for the elevators does work for us.

Last week it didn‘t.

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, mizzoufinal4 said:

The snacks tables…. This is how they have been all week. Snackgate 2023… 🤣

😡

[CarolnLarry]

5 hours ago, kelly94942 said:

 

We asked Ram about this this morning - he indeed has those cabins (he has through 43) and will be here until June!  He said he has some guests returning that will be on deck 16, and he’s going to be their butler as well.  I told him that’s a lot of work, and he said it’s only 2 floors!

Thanks for the info, can't wait to see him again.

[kelly94942]

1 hour ago, paddy1112 said:

This week even the VIP function for the elevators does work for us.

Last week it didn‘t.

 

Not working for us!  We have tried multiple times of day, different days, and both of our cards.  We’ll keep trying.

[kelly94942]

17 hours ago, flaca0604 said:

One question, is the cabin door magnetic?  We love to decorate our door and want to make sure it is magnetic.

 

It is magnetic, but won’t hold much.  For instance, I can put a thumbtack magnet (I have magnets that look like thumbtacks, they just have magnets instead of… tacks) on it and it will hold up fine.  But if I put a clip magnet with the daily program on it, it will slide down/off.  The inside of the door (facing the room) seems to have a stronger hold than the hallway facing side.  But I think that if you’re doing one of those large flat magnets, that would be totally fine, or just be sure to bring several magnets to hold up your decorations.

[kelly94942]

13 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

Would you please ask in the Yacht Club how many staff are assigned there? I want to bring them some Halloween Candy. Asked them to include their kitchen staff.

 

I asked the concierge this morning and didn’t get a great answer.  He said between the 12 head butlers, 12 assistants, and the concierge staff, there are about 30.  But of course that didn’t include Top Sail, The One Pool, or dining/kitchen staff.  I wonder if a safe assumption would be to quadruple that number to cover those other 3 areas?  I can also try to ask again later in the cruise and see if I can get a better answer.  🙂  He also said there are about 300 people in YC this cruise.

[Keys Kathy]

29 minutes ago, kelly94942 said:

 

I asked the concierge this morning and didn’t get a great answer.  He said between the 12 head butlers, 12 assistants, and the concierge staff, there are about 30.  But of course that didn’t include Top Sail, The One Pool, or dining/kitchen staff.  I wonder if a safe assumption would be to quadruple that number to cover those other 3 areas?  I can also try to ask again later in the cruise and see if I can get a better answer.  🙂  He also said there are about 300 people in YC this cruise.

Thanks so much for the info. I will bring about 120 pcs of candy for Yacht Club people. I also have 20 cruising ducks and the Conch Republic Flag for our door.

[gmbhardy]

44 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

Thanks so much for the info. I will bring about 120 pcs of candy for Yacht Club people. I also have 20 cruising ducks and the Conch Republic Flag for our door.

So you will be on the cruise next week, I see. Any chance you’re doing a B2B?

[Keys Kathy]

1 hour ago, gmbhardy said:

So you will be on the cruise next week, I see. Any chance you’re doing a B2B?

No, only on the 29th. 

[Two Wheels Only]

12 hours ago, Homosassa said:

There was a thread here on the MSC several years ago written by a woman about her family's travail in getting ready for dinner on the last night. They were in a balcony cabin.

 

Sorry for the hijack but I remember that one, too....

 

 

[Homosassa]

11 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Sorry for the hijack but I remember that one, too....

 

 

Glad you found it.

 

I guess I remember the story as the dress was hanging from the ceiling. That was probably my interpretation because of the inconsistencies in her story such as hanging the dress from a rack above the TV (what rack?) and then saying it was hung by the balcony door  or the fact that the sprinkler head was located above the middle of the bed and yet her husband was tall enough to hit it when placing the dress on the bed.

 

The thread was "cleaned" before closing as it was much longer and the inconsistencies kept appearing.

 

Let's not hijack the thread any further (LOL- dress code and the chain mail dress incident).

Edited October 26, 2023 by Homosassa

[Falckon]

10 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Let's not hijack the thread any further (LOL- dress code and the chain mail dress incident).

Apparently, your hijack has ruined a very informative thread.

[StonePayload]

Just now, Falckon said:

Apparently, your hijack has ruined a very informative thread.

 

not hijacked, we promise!  We were quite lazy today reading by the pool.  We will be back tomorrow with more updates and answered questions!!

[Homosassa]

12 hours ago, StonePayload said:

 

not hijacked, we promise!  We were quite lazy today reading by the pool.  We will be back tomorrow with more updates and answered questions!!

I have to give credit to anyone who voluntarily interrupts their vacation to "work" on a live review.

 

 

[raino144]

I’m cruising this week and can only hat tip @StonePayload and @kelly94942. Mega contributions. 

[Cashsmoney]

On 10/25/2023 at 11:35 AM, paddy1112 said:

This week even the VIP function for the elevators does work for us.

Last week it didn‘t.

What’s the VIP function?

[Cashsmoney]

On 10/24/2023 at 12:11 PM, StonePayload said:

We rejoin our intrepid Caribbean explorers as they awake bright and early, ready to take on the adventures that await at Ocean Cay. 

 

Not. 

 

We rolled out of bed around 9 am or so, after having slept in later than we thought we would.  Not having a 5 year old kid as an alarm clock does wonders for your sleep.  I also blame the time difference.  

 

This was the view off our balcony this morning:

 

We got up and got dressed for some breakfast at the buffet on the top deck.  Here is yet another example of us not being able to miss an omelet bar. (Omelet not pictured.  It was gone too fast)

 

 

We were treated to an excellent view of Ocean Cay from our seats on deck 20.

 

We went back to our room, and changed into swimsuits for the day, and headed out of the ship.  We did not get the butler escort off the ship, as we were late enough departing that there wasn’t a crowd at all. 

 

I love standing on the pier next to these giant ships.  The scale is always so amazing to me.

 

 

We found the white tent that would have allowed us to catch a cart to the yacht club section of the islands and also found a line of others waiting for the cart to arrive.  It was early in the day, and not too hot yet, so we decided just to walk to the beach instead.  It was a nice and easy walk for us over relatively flat terrain.  Couple pictures that we took along the way:

 

 

 

 

We got very lucky and say a family leaving just as we were arriving, and managed to snag a couple of loungers that were under a group of umbrellas.  Good shade for me!

 

While hanging on the beach, a couple of people kayaking by decided they were going to attempt to beach themselves.  The lifeguard quickly shoed them away.  I guess people are trying all kinds of different ways to get into the yacht club areas!

 

After sitting for a while, Kelly decided she wanted to give the full face snorkels that we purchased a try, and off she went!

 

 

i joined her shortly after.  Word of warning here - beach shoes or swim shoes are an absolute must for this beach.  Sand has been pulled away from the beach, and left a large number of rocks.  I think only 1 or 2 people that attempted to walk across these rocks without swim shoes made it.  

 

Snorkeling was nice.  We saw a couple fish.  After a little bit we took the snorkels off, and just hung out in the water for a while.  It was very pleasant.  After a little while I remembered that I left my wallet in my pocket.  Now everything was very soaked through.  Especially the AirTag that i keep in my wallet.  Electronics and sea water are a great mix.  I am sure that can only go well!

 

About 12:45 or so we headed up to lunch.  Being the elite blogger/reviewer that I am, I was absolutely sure to leave my phone (and therefore, camera) in the bag on the lounger.  Oops.  Hopefully Kelly will be willing to share the pictures of the food with you.  I have none.

 

We didn’t order any of the appetizers, and instead decided to split three entrees between the two of us.  We ordered the lobster roll, burger, and carne asada.  I thought the flavor of the lobster roll was good, but would have loved to have the roll stuffed just a little bit more.  Neither of us are huge fans of roast meet being served cold, so the carne asada was just ok.  The burger however, was amazing.  I really enjoyed the sauce they put on there.  Next time, I might try what others have suggested, and order the burger with the lobster roll topping on it.  That sounds excellent.  

 

After lunch, we went back to our chairs for a bit, and then decided to head back to the ship.  It was about 1:45 when we walked up to the area where the cart picks up for the ride back to the ship, and this was also the lone sore spot for our day at Ocean Cay.  They had one, very small, cart running people back to the ship.  Round trip took about 20 minutes.  There was no line organization at the pickup point, just a lot of very grumpy yacht club people waiting for a ride.  Every time a cart arrived, a lot of the people would just rush the cart and leap into the seats.  After about 45 minutes, I broke down and we did the same.  As I was sliding over to get allow Kelly into the cart as well, another lady misjudged her landing zone and ended up sitting in my lap.  She jumped out, and was able to sit next to the driver. 

 

MSC - you need to figure this one out.  More carts on the island, with designated routes.  And a better organized waiting area.  I was fully expecting this chaos to happen, and it was still very disappointing.

 

We made it back pretty uneventfully, and headed up to our room to change into regular clothes.  It was now that we discovered that Ram had decorated our room for my birthday!  This was an amazing touch, and definitely made the day more special.  

 

We went to Top Sail to hang out for a while (it was deserted…), and watch the happenings on the island from the starboard side.  

 

 

After we departed around 5:00, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. Along the way, i stopped and snapped a quick picture of the menu in the yacht club restaurant for the night:

 

 

 

This time, getting ready was eventful.  I must have jinxed myself yesterday when I mentioned it.  While I was in the shower, suddenly the lights go out.  Pressure in the shower is still going, so I didn’t think the whole ship lost power.  Kelly had her hair dryer stop working, and she scrambled to look through the door peephole to see if there was power out there.  Turns out there was.  I finished up my shower in the dark.  After finishing, I discovered that Kelly’s key card was not seated properly in the room key card detector thing, and the room assumed that nobody was in the room, so turned all the lights off.  We replaced her card with mine, and everything came back on.  

 

We finished getting ready, and then headed for dinner.

 

I think someone failed when placing the YC area on the Ocean Cay. Most of the island’s beaches are beautiful, and then they put the YC area the farthest away at the worst beach. Then don’t provide enough transportation. They could have put that area almost anywhere else and it would have been better.