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

[lgdesign]

29 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

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.

Ah, yes... I've seen that door in the past.  Love the stealthy exit option.  Muchas gracias!

[lgdesign]

56 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

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!

 

And thanks for the "heads up" 😉 re: potential head bashing! Love me a good short cut.

Edited Monday at 10:01 PM by lgdesign

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day in Miami continues…

 

Our room was ready just about 11:30am. We chose to finish our drinks and then went to our stateroom at 12:11pm. We met our Butler Jeetoo and Assistant Butler Yogesh right away as they were hovering in the corridor awaiting guests to arrive.

 

We reviewed our pillow choices (2 Oxygen), our newspaper (Wall Street Journal) and liquor choice (Bombay Sapphire). Then we asked for a standing order of coffee and Baileys for 8:30am every morning, some extra bath towels daily, and Heineken and Coke Zero in the fridge.

 

We thanked him and told him we were expecting 4 suitcases and would soon be going up to the restaurant for lunch.

 

We took a few minutes to explore our cabin. It was a bit different than the one on the Seascape's sister ship Seaside, though it still had the 2 cabinets for clothes storage vs. the walk-in closet we love on Divina. This cabin is wider than either of those though and wide enough for a little bench at the foot of the bed and an extra chair across from the love seat. The width of the room extends to the balcony. I think two loungers could easily fit out there, if one desired to have them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More about our first day coming up…

[Best Cat Mom]

Oops, forgot the balcony...

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

10 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

The width of the room extends to the balcony. I think two loungers could easily fit out there, if one desired to have them.

 

 The balcony also looks deeper than the one that we had on Divina.  

 

 From the pictures I have seen, the main difference between the YC1 and the YCP is the walk in closet and I think the love seat may be wider in the YCP.  

 

 

[DaKahuna]

We are pretty sure that we are going to be using the two restaurant dining package we purchased, Kaito Teppanyaki and Butcher's Cut, during lunch instead of dinner.  In looking at the MSC website all I can find is that neither appear to be open for lunch every day.  I assume that means that we'll have to do these at lunch on sea days.  If you hear anything different would you please let us know.  We plan to make those reservations as soon as we can after we arrive in the TSL. 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

I assume that means that we'll have to do these at lunch on sea days.  If you hear anything different would you please let us know.

Today was a port day and none were open for lunch:

 

Yesterday was a sea day and they were indeed open:

 

You can either have your butler help you when you get into TSL on embarkation day or, if you don't meet him right away, have the Concierge Desk help you.

[DaKahuna]

12 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

You can either have your butler help you when you get into TSL on embarkation day or, if you don't meet him right away, have the Concierge Desk help you.

 

 This was our plan.  I am thinking Teppanyaki on Day 2 and Butcher's Cut on Day 6 but the boss has the final say.  Otherwise, if we do dinner, I was thinking day 3 and day 5. 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

4 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 This was our plan.  I am thinking Teppanyaki on Day 2 and Butcher's Cut on Day 6 but the boss has the final say.  Otherwise, if we do dinner, I was thinking day 3 and day 5. 

 

Can the Diamond meal be used at lunch?

[Georgia_Peaches]

duplicate post. 

Edited Tuesday at 12:54 AM by Georgia_Peaches

[Georgia_Peaches]

@Best Cat Mom your stateroom 

 looks lovely. I hesitate to ask but how’s the a/c in the room?  Our room on Seashore was HOT and regardless of my pestering, it never seemed to get corrected. 

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can the Diamond meal be used at lunch?

 

 I do not know.  We are not Diamond yet, we'll receive enough points on the first leg of our B2B but I have been told that, unlike Celebrity, MSC may not give us the status for the 2nd leg,  

 

 Hopefully someone who is Diamond like @JamieLogical can answer your question.

 

[JamieLogical]

26 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can the Diamond meal be used at lunch?

 

I can't imagine why it couldn't be! 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can the Diamond meal be used at lunch?

We used it for lunch in Butchers Cut on a sea day last December on the Seascape.

[billc23]

13 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can the Diamond meal be used at lunch?

Yes, at least on my sailing in July on the Seascape. 

[Best Cat Mom]

14 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

The balcony also looks deeper than the one that we had on Divina

Yes, I think so too -- so we have wider and deeper. But that sea is still just as beautiful. 🙂

[Best Cat Mom]

14 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Can the Diamond meal be used at lunch?

Yes and we usually do Butcher's Cut for lunch. Time it right and you can have lamb for lunch and dinner one day. 🙂

 

[Best Cat Mom]

14 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I am thinking Teppanyaki on Day 2 and Butcher's Cut on Day 6 but the boss has the final say.

Port day again today (San Juan) and no specialty restaurants open for lunch. One of the breakfast servers mentioned to us today that Nassau was a short stop -- maybe half a day? -- so that day will be sort of a test of the theory for when they are open for lunch.

[Best Cat Mom]

14 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

how’s the a/c in the room?

So far, so good. We've never had any real issues with AC on any MSC ship, though BCD always wants it colder. I wouldn't mind colder so we can sleep with more than the top sheet at night, but it is not uncomfortable like that. I prefer to snuggle under the comforter and that is really not doable, at least not all night long.

[mnpurple]

It all looks so wonderful! Our first experience was Seaview (assuming a sister ship) and that room was very nice and spacious, which was maybe why when we went to Divina I was a little let down. Although then after being on Euribia, I realized the size of the actual lounge and dining room made that part feel more cozy. 

 

@Georgia_Peaches FYI, the AC in the inside YC room on Euribia was terrible and never something that was resolved. The only saving grace was in Northern Europe, the weather was still pretty cool. If we had been in the Caribbean, I probably would have been adamant about a room-change.

[Best Cat Mom]

On 9/15/2024 at 8:05 PM, DaKahuna said:

see if they have Ron Zacapa 23 stocked?

We asked Kassandra today and she assured us that they do indeed have the prized Zacapa 23 in stock in YC. 🙂

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day continues...

 

At the Top Sail Restaurant, we were greeted by Marian, the maître d', and Holly, the host, and seated at a nice table with a center ocean-front view. If we were at sea already, we would have had a much better view than the Icon of the Seas aft area.

 

As we were seated, I mentioned that I am gluten free and will need a little help from them. Marian said that he'd make sure that we had the same server team each evening and that they would take excellent care of me. With their assurances, I felt confident that I would likely not be "glutened."

 

We enjoyed a round of champagne to help us absorb the menu.

 

 

As we were making our decisions, we heard a familiar voice greeting us and looked up to see Edgar, a server who took wonderful care of us on our first Divina cruise in Oct 2022. We chatted for a bit, with him glancing frequently over his shoulder to make sure his other guests were not ignored. Seeing this, we commented that we must be far out of his section and maybe he could ask Marian to have us seated in his section at dinner. He excused himself and brought Marian over to our table. We told Marian what a great server Edgar is (like he needed us to do that LOL) and that we wanted to be in his section for dinner each evening. Marian was only too happy to comply. In fact, he said something to the effect of "whatever Edgar wants" leading us to believe that Edgar is one of his best servers. We told Edgar we'd see him later this evening, reminding him that we liked dining late, and he left us to the menus for right then.

 

Then we saw Zuzette (I'm sure I'm misspelling her name as her name tag seemed to have several more letters, but they all pronounced her name as Zuzette/Suzette so I'll type it that way until we are able to read her name tag long enough to get it right). She was a host on our first Divina cruise in October 2022 and then an Assistant Server (black tie, not gold tie which is Server) in January 2023 again on Divina. Two more friendly faces for us, another sign of good things to come!

 

BCD ordered hamachi carpaccio for his starter:

 

I ordered Cobb salad:

 

For our entrees, we both were eager to have the beef tournedos, one of our favorites. In order for mine to be gluten free (GF), it needed to have no sauce:

 

 

We opted for dessert today, which is not common for us especially at lunch. BCD had the Italian trio and I ordered some pineapple and strawberries:

 

 

We went back to the cabin at 2:33pm and all 4 of our bags were there. We proceeded to unpack and then headed to TSL for some refreshments after our (burdensome) task. After a few rounds, we went back to the cabin to change for dinner.

 

Embarkation day concludes next…

[Best Cat Mom]

22 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

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

We finished dinner at nearly 11pm and he had just ended his set. We did really enjoy listening to him from upstairs. We have Bernard again tonight, as we did the day before yesterday. We're hoping that Felipe repeats tomorrow so we can enjoy him from not-so-far-away.

Edited Tuesday at 07:51 PM by Best Cat Mom

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day in Miami concludes...

 

We arrived around 8pm for our first dinner in Top Sail restaurant. Edgar had saved us a nice table for two in his section on the starboard side of the dining room. We met our Assistant Butler, John Ray, this evening. He seems very attentive and is new to us on this sailing.

 

We accepted menus and ordered some bubbles to help us in our decision-making:

 

 

As we awaited our champagne, Edgar had the sommelier, Ronnie John, stop by. (As our trip progresses, I will be able to better verify all the names. I will have to, obviously, before we disembark in order to properly address our tip envelopes.)

 

We are fairly well informed regarding wines in general but when there is a sommelier available, we like to consult them since they are both an expert in wine but also an expert in the wine on their ship. Telling them a bit about your likes and dislikes will allow them to best recommend pairings for each course. There can be many different wines available in YC and they are the best resource for knowing what will work with both the food and your preferences. Don't ever think that you cannot chose something other than what they recommend, however. If you had a wine at a previous meal and you'd really like that one again, do not hesitate to ask for it. Wine, like food, is quite subjective and we all have different pallets.

 

We had a great initial chat with the sommelier and then told him our menu choices. He offered a recommendation for our entrées, and we stayed with our champagne for our starters. Edgar returned to take our order and the sommelier came back a few minutes later with the entrée wine selection. We tasted it, approved and allowed it to breathe whilst we enjoyed the starters.

 

For starters, we both chose the sea scallops, though mine would have the papadum crisp omitted:

 

For his entrée, BCD chose the prime rib:

 

I chose the tuna steak:

 

We shared the risotto "in the middle" of the table:

(The grated cheese in on BCD's half.)

 

The wine was a very nice DOCG Chianti:

 

We shared a plate of Grana Padano for dessert:

 

We were exhausted and maybe a bit overserved so skipped TSL and retired back to the room.

I'll share some images of general information next, before moving on to Day 2…

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We asked Kassandra today and she assured us that they do indeed have the prized Zacapa 23 in stock in YC. 🙂

 

Thank you very much for asking. 

 

 That is Outstanding.  I'll see how well the bartender can make my beloved New Fashioned.  

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:17 PM by DaKahuna