OBSERVATIONS FROM THE POOP DECK JUNE 2024

[morpheusofthesea]

At tonights Island Party we ran into this character on the One Pool Deck under the stars.

[morpheusofthesea]

A 18 second clip of tonight's Chora Theatre performance Young at Heart.

[no1talks]

8 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Thanks. You have an uncanny ability to put the important things back into the proper perspective.

Comme ci, comme ça. So much cruise stuff is without objective merit, ultimately being important or unimportant to the individual.

[morpheusofthesea]

@Corriegr, I spoke with Carol the lead singer of the BB Jazz Quartet in the Loft Cafe this evening and wrote down their schedule for the rest of this week. Wed & Thurs 6:00, 7:15, 8:30, 9:15.   Fri one performance 9:30 pm.

[no1talks]

14 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

At tonights Island Party we ran into this character on the One Pool Deck under the stars.

What, no Fu Manchu 'stache???

[morpheusofthesea]

8 minutes ago, no1talks said:

Comme ci, comme ça. So much cruise stuff is without objective merit, ultimately being important or unimportant to the individual.

Different strokes for different folks.

[morpheusofthesea]

5 minutes ago, no1talks said:

What, no Fu Manchu 'stache???

Those are reserved for his commanding officer, affectionately called 'Skipper'.

Edited June 19 by morpheusofthesea

[no1talks]

20 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"Those are reserved for his commanding officer, affectionately called 'Skipper'."

[morpheusofthesea]

13 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@morpheusofthesea i was wondering if I could beg a favor and ask you if you could take a minute or three and locate and post a copy of the wine list for the YC Restaurant on Seascape?  Interested in what wines are being offered by the glass as well as by the bottle.  

 

Thank  you sir !!

 

 

I have 2 more videos that will not upload because they are over 2 minutes each and display every bottle that the ship carries. It is extensive and in the video the waiter mentions several times that the sommelier gives a "considerable' discount to those not on these wine lists. Will post when I get home with better internet.

[morpheusofthesea]

The Yacht Club staff are very proud of their position in the MSC family as the top of the heap, A number 1, cream of the crop, darling of the cruise line, creme de la creme of all the Yacht Clubs is Seascape Yacht Club.

[no1talks]

14 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"...creme de la creme of all the Yacht Clubs is Seascape Yacht Club."

 

The unfortunate issue, as reflected by years of YC cruise anecdotes, is it takes very little in the way of staffing changes to diminish the YC quality in any given ship.

 

A chef is switched.

A rookie bartender is off his game.

A disengaged director lets things slip.

 

MSC is, whether charming or maddening, consistently inconsistent.

 

Fortunately, even if a given YC is off its game, things are usually still very enjoyable.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

51 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

The Yacht Club staff are very proud of their position in the MSC family as the top of the heap, A number 1, cream of the crop, darling of the cruise line, creme de la creme of all the Yacht Clubs is Seascape Yacht Club.

I wonder if the Seascape's position at the top will change with the World America.

 

I'm very much looking forward to our experience on that ship!

[perakcruiser]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I have 2 more videos that will not upload because they are over 2 minutes each and display every bottle that the ship carries. It is extensive and in the video the waiter mentions several times that the sommelier gives a "considerable' discount to those not on these wine lists. Will post when I get home with better internet.

Looking forward to this also.

 

The wine list is pretty exciting, but I am very surprised how "non-italian" it is. On my only Caribbean cruise the wine list was 80% Italian. But that was when the ship was based in Havana, so they stocked everything from Europe probably. 

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I have 2 more videos that will not upload because they are over 2 minutes each and display every bottle that the ship carries. It is extensive and in the video the waiter mentions several times that the sommelier gives a "considerable' discount to those not on these wine lists. Will post when I get home with better internet.

 

 Thank you very much.  This list is quite more extensive than the one we were presented with on Divina, although I was able to get some of these wines.  

 Divina did not have a sommelier in the YC restaurant, Le Muse, and that makes a difference. 

 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

The wine list is pretty exciting, but I am very surprised how "non-italian" it is.

 

 This is what disappointed me on Divina.  Most of the wines being offered were from California.  I ended up asking specifically if they had an Italian or French wines.  Did get a lovely Chianti a couple of times, but it was not on the printed menu in Le Muse. 

 

[no1talks]

21 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

"Divina did not have a sommelier in the YC restaurant, Le Muse, and that makes a difference."

 

Agreed. I was looking forward to cruising Divina's Colombia-Panama-Costa Rica itinerary in a year or two, but then I learned there is no Sommelier. 

 

My wife and I have fun letting a Somm pick our wines by the glass, as well as apéritif and digestif each dinner. It makes for good conversation and a chance to break out of our usual choices.

 

Now, we'll have to look for other options for those ports.

[morpheusofthesea]

34 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

but it was not on the printed menu in Le Muse

I got the impression that most of what is on board is not on any menu. The problem is as you noted, only the sommelier knows and takes a real interest. If there is no sommelier on board it is as @no1talks astutely observed " it takes very little in the way of staffing changes to diminish the YC quality in any given ship." The wine is here on board, just no one knows where it is and no one cares.

P.S. It behooves the YC guest to make mention to the YC Director how appreciative and important  one is of the sommelier in this instance as I 'heard' some scuttlebutt that our present sommelier may be leaving abruptly and when this happens there may be a problem if another is not found to replace him.

Edited June 19 by morpheusofthesea
P.S.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Y'all are fancier than this country boy. 

 

I enjoy wine but I couldn't tell you the difference between a California wine and an Italian wine.

 

Heck, half the time I don't know what the sommelier is saying, I just know to swish the wine around in the glass, give it a good sniff, and tell him it's good. 

 

Random curiosity but I don't think I've ever seen a female sommelier.... Why is that?

[no1talks]

2 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"The wine is here on board, just no one knows where it is and no one cares."

 

There's an opportunity here for a revenue-generating scavenger hunt, focusing on forgotten wine inventory. 

[morpheusofthesea]

11 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

when this happens there may be a problem if another is not found to replace him.

This is another important topic. Bringing in any new staff takes time to break in. Every time this occurs it is like an inaugural cruise, which everyone loves to hate.

[no1talks]

11 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

"Random curiosity but I don't think I've ever seen a female sommelier.... Why is that?"

 

I cannot speak to MSC's pool of applicants, but in the US, it's probably around 55% sommeliers and 45% sommelières (The feminine form of the title is generally not used in the US, these days.)

Edited June 19 by no1talks

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 minute ago, no1talks said:

 

I cannot speak to MSC's pool of applicants, but in the US, it's probably around 56% sommeliers and 45% sommelières (The feminine form of the title is generally not used in the US, these days.)

I had seen that stat and another that said 68% were male, but I honestly can't ever remember seeing a female sommelières.

 

Obviously they do exist though.

[morpheusofthesea]

15 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

 

Random curiosity but I don't think I've ever seen a female sommelier.

MSC has one of the best. A 20year veteran sommelier named Belinda. I think she is presently on Meraviglia with Maitre d' Arthur.

[morpheusofthesea]

26 minutes ago, no1talks said:

Now, we'll have to look for other options for those ports.

That is still a crapshoot, a risky business, a shot in the dark, a spin of the wheel and an iffy proposition that the chef, butler, room steward, YC director, maitre 'd, hotel director or sommelier will still be there when you sail next week or next year.

[TrinaLC]

On 6/17/2024 at 9:14 AM, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

 

 

I get more annoyed by the family/friends of crew members who get access to the YC, but even that's not because of how they get access, it's simply because they seem to care less about the cultural norms/etiquette in the YC that the rest of us appreciate.

 

Agreed!  We were on one of the Seas and several officers had their families with young kids. They were taking up a great number of the few shady tables, and lingering basically all day.