**LIVE** from MSC Seascape YC (Yacht Club) - Caribbean & Bahamas from Miami 14 September to 28 September 2024

[MonsterJoe]

5 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Or an Amex Platinum card, which comes with the insurance included as well as the lounge membership, car rental higher status, Uber $150 annual credit, Saks Fifth Avenue $100 annual credit, etc.

This is not important and not worth a vacation derailment...but I am curious to learn more about this. We are Amex Reserve cardholders...but I am not familiar with those travel insurance benefits!  All the others, yes (they pay for the annual fee if you use them all!) I priced out the Amex insurance and I saw Allianz as a better value...but I am happy to learn differently!

[mnpurple]

@MonsterJoe This is what the terms of the Amex Platinum say regarding the travel insurance:

 

"If you purchase a round trip entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason cancels or interrupts your trip, Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance^‡ can help reimburse your non-refundable expenses purchased with the same Eligible Card, up to $10,000 per trip and up to $20,000 per Eligible Card per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply.^*
*Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.^‡"

 

There is also a trip delay section.  My trouble is that I spread some of the spending around on a few travel cards, so I'm not sure if it would work well. We have a yearly Allianz policy too.

Edited Monday at 01:33 AM by mnpurple

[MonsterJoe]

10 minutes ago, mnpurple said:

@MonsterJoe This is what the terms of the Amex Platinum say regarding the travel insurance:

 

"If you purchase a round trip entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason cancels or interrupts your trip, Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance^‡ can help reimburse your non-refundable expenses purchased with the same Eligible Card, up to $10,000 per trip and up to $20,000 per Eligible Card per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply.^*
*Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.^‡"

 

There is also a trip delay section.  My trouble is that I spread some of the spending around on a few travel cards, so I'm not sure if it would work well. We have a yearly Allianz policy too.

Thanks for that!  We spread it around a bit too ..but the Amex is our main travel card. I will put more thought into this before paying our April cruise in full!

[MonsterJoe]

10 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

You can usually find us in TSL. I'm typing and BCD is working on cars. Will trade a car for liquor -- if you're interested. 🙂

 

And no, we did not change rooms. We are happily ensconced in 16010.

A couple doors down from where we were a few weeks ago. I love that spot on the ship. The proximity to top sail is *chef's kiss* especially if you know The secret door!

[DaKahuna]

Our room on Divina was on the same floor as the TSL.  However, for our Seascape cruise we'll be on the 19th floor.  We have to go to the aft YC stairwell, and down for the TSL or up for the pool desk.  I'll definitely be getting in a little more exercise as a result.  😃

 

[Jeal]

The problem with credit card travel insurance as a benefit is that we have yet to find one that covers preexisting conditions. If you know of one that covers preexisting conditions please let me know. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

13 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We arrived a bit early to Atlanta into Terminal A and were pleasantly surprised to find out that our next flight was also in Terminal A

I thought that was you I saw flying over head!  Did you see me waving? 😉

 

13 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

The couple across from us asked if we were going on a cruise and I thought,  do we look like cruise people? Should I be worried?

We also get asked this question...A LOT.  It doesn't help that Mr. Peaches wears his tropical leaf shirt with my face plastered all over it.  He thinks he's being fashionable. 🤦🏻‍♀️  On an upcoming Meraviglia cruise all of the gentlemen in our party of 10 will be wearing one...similar to this...

 

13 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We checked in and received a digital room key while we were on the shuttle so we did not need to stop at the front desk, which was a good thing because there was a huge line at the desk when we got in there from unloading the shuttle.

Wow!  This is the way to go for sure!  Great pics of the room.  Looks nice and refreshed.

 

Really enjoying your review!!

Edited Monday at 12:59 PM by Georgia_Peaches

[DaKahuna]

@Best Cat Mom  How's the weather this cruise?  I looked at Friday and Saturday's forecast for Miami and it 50% or great chance of rain.  Also looked to be a lot of rain in the forecast for the ports of call next week as well.  Oh well, we had not specific plans to leave the ship anyway but it would be nice to get off and stretch our legs walking about the port area. 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

It doesn't help that Mr. Peaches wears his tropical leaf shirt with my face plastered all over it.  He thinks he's being fashionable. 

 

 I think it is quite fashionable.  I don't think I could pull it off as well as he apparently does.  

 

 I will not repeat what the reply I received was when I asked if I could order one like that with my DW's face on it.  

 

Edited Monday at 04:28 PM by DaKahuna

[Best Cat Mom]

5 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

How's the weather this cruise?

So far, sunny and hot -- mid to high 80s.. We saw some lightning last night from the TS restaurant windows but never noticed wet surfaces.

[Best Cat Mom]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Did you see me waving?

Oh, that's what that was! 😁

[Best Cat Mom]

14 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

A couple doors down from where we were a few weeks ago. I love that spot on the ship. The proximity to top sail is *chef's kiss* especially if you know The secret door!

We always try for starboard side on TSL deck, just not the first 4 or so cabins that have the steel balcony wall. And that secret door is so convenient!

[Best Cat Mom]

15 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

This is not important and not worth a vacation derailment...but I am curious to learn more about this.

The Amex Platinum also covers medical emergency evacuation. I'm not positive how much but I think it was around $1M or so.

[Best Cat Mom]

16 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Speaking of the TSL - any chance I could impose on you to see if they have Ron Zacapa 23 stocked?

We'll have to check and report back.

[Best Cat Mom]

16 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

We are looking forward to you report on the evening entertainment.  Who to make sure we don't miss and who, if anyone, we should look for alternative entertainment. 

Bernard was in TSL last night, playing guitar and singing.  He was with us on Divina and remembered us. Very enjoyable!

 

We don't partake of the other venues so I'll leave those to @morpheusofthesea.

[DaKahuna]

45 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Bernard was in TSL last night, playing guitar and singing.  He was with us on Divina and remembered us. Very enjoyable!

 

 We enjoyed him on Divia but doubt that he remembers us.  Believe it or not, we are both rather quiet and reserved in person.  

 

45 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

 

We don't partake of the other venues so I'll leave those to @morpheusofthesea.

 

 We only went to two shows on Divina and I did not stay very long at the second one.  We really enjoyed just relaxing in the TSL and listening to the entertainment. 

 

 

[lgdesign]

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

And that secret door is so convenient!

 

 

Please reveal the location... I've never stayed on deck 16 (was on deck 19 on the Seashore).

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

@Best Cat Mom  Going to start packing tomorrow -- should I pack a sports coat or suite jacket for Gala night or not?  I normally do not and just go with a dress shirt but Seascape may be a little more formal that Divina was. 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

should I pack a sports coat or suite jacket for Gala night or not?

Based on what we saw last night, I would say that it is not at all necessary. BCD wore a suit and tie and I had on a dress and heels, but that's because we like to dress up. We did eat late (arrived around 8:15pm) so could've missed a lot of people. Never saw a tux, but did see other suits/ties and sports jackets. And there was one sports jacket with jeans. I'd say you would be fine as long as you're not in shorts. They have stated in the programs each day:

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day in Miami

 

We woke up to our 7am alarm and made it downstairs to breakfast at 8:30am. It seemed rather busy so BCD bussed a 4-top to another 4-top that had been used and abandoned. I grabbed us some coffee and juice and silverware/napkins to show that the table was claimed. We enjoyed some made-to-order omelets with typical sides from the buffet offerings. We headed back to the room and packed the few items we'd used.

 

At 10:20am, I ordered an Uber for us. Apparently, our driver was dropping someone off at the same time and the car was there immediately -- never had that happen before and it was a nice surprise.

 

We had seen that there were 3 ships in port this morning: Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC. (We also knew this from the shuttle bus the previous day.)

 

As we approached terminal D where we'd seen online that Seascape awaited us, the back up of cars was visible. We instructed our driver to use the far right lanes that allowed drop off right in front of the YC tent.

 

When we exited our vehicle, there were attendants there to immediately tag our luggage with YC labels. There was also a beverage area for YC guests with water and juices, but we saw regular guests also partaking of the offerings.

 

At 10:50am, the butler appeared at the tent and took us plus one other guest inside to security. By 10:53am, we had passed through security and received our wrist bands and cruise cards in the YC check in area. The butler then led us to the ship entry point -- bypassing an empty YC holding area with more refreshments -- where we showed our cruise cards and proceeded up the gangway ramp to the ship. Halfway up the ramp, the first butler passed us to another butler and that is where we saw our first familiar face. It was James, who we had sailed with on Divina last year. He recognized us immediately and greeted us warmly. Any of you who have been in YC know this feeling, that you're returning to a place where you know that you'll be treated well and almost like family. That first familiar face is the start of a great holiday. 🙂

 

James told us three that we'd stop by the muster station on the way to TSL. We are so pleased that this stop at muster during initial boarding has seemingly become the norm.

 

We showed our cruise cards to the muster station attendant and she asked about the two other people in our cabin. What? There were only two of us. She checked the other guest boarding with us and he also had an additional guest in his cabin. We joked that this must be a new YC benefit -- everyone is given an additional person. 🙂 

 

The attendant told us that these were most likely the people from the last cruise and their names had not yet been removed. We resumed our walking with James to TSL, joking all the while about quickly charging some spa appointments or jewelry shop items to those previous guests' credit cards.

 

At 11:08am, we arrived in TSL to find about 20 people already there. BCD wanders off to the restroom and bartender Kassandra stops him to give him a handful of corks and wires! She remembered him from one of our Divina cruises, but importantly remembered he needed supplies.

 

 

YC Director Dani was circulating and introduced himself to us. This us our first cruise with him, but we've read great things about him here on CC so we felt we were off to a pretty good start so far.

 

Embarkation days continues next...

[SirWolf]

“Pants for gentlemen are mandatory for dinner time.” is a strange requirement.

Traditional Scottish clothing (Kilt) and Arab clothing (Thobe) are perfectly fine for dinner and Gala Night.

[MonsterJoe]

2 hours ago, lgdesign said:

 

 

Please reveal the location... I've never stayed on deck 16 (was on deck 19 on the Seashore).

 

 

 

It's not really a secret door in the literal or fun sense - it's primarily used as a service door that exits out at the sinks...but it helps me avoid people, so I'm a fan of it.  If you are tall...be careful of that exit sign...I have cut on my forehead still healing!

[Best Cat Mom]

2 hours ago, lgdesign said:

Please reveal the location... I've never stayed on deck 16 (was on deck 19 on the Seashore).

It is by the forward-most cabin on both sides of the ship and opens into TSL. It's a convenient short cut if your room is forward of the hallway doors that open to the middle corridor. It is also a good way to exit TSL if there is musical entertainment and you don't want to walk right past them.

[MonsterJoe]

7 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

 It is also a good way to exit TSL if there is musical entertainment and you don't want to walk right past them.

Speaking of that - I hope you've had the opportunity to enjoy Felipe's flamenco guitar - it's really great. He loves to chat - say hi for me!

[Best Cat Mom]

15 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

I hope you've had the opportunity to enjoy Felipe's flamenco guitar - it's really great. He loves to chat - say hi for me!

I see that Felipe Merega is listed tonight. Hope that we aren't too late to see him after dinner.