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

[morpheusofthesea]

10 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

We would have enjoyed meeting the two of you.

The pleasure will be all mine. I left a little something for you with @Best Cat Mom. Pretend we are with you all on this next leg of your adventure and raise a toast "To us. And who's better than us? Damn few. And they're all dead." Robert Burns

[MonsterJoe]

15 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

@Best Cat Mom  That time has arrived.  I am making my last post before powering down this last computer and then taking my fully packed backpack upstairs to join our luggage as it awaits to be packed in our car.  

 

 We plan to leave for our hotel in about an hour and get settled in before having a leisurely dinner and getting a good night's sleep.  Our flight to Miami boards tomorrow at 0820 with a scheduled departure time of 0900.  

 

 I think I'll hold off on starting my live review until tomorrow once we reach our hotel in Miami. 

 

@morpheusofthesea  It's a shame that despite what I am positive was a very strenuous effort on the part of BCM, BCD, and their friend, we were unable to convince you and your DW to hang around for another week.  We would have enjoyed meeting the two of you.  Maybe on some future cruise.  

 

 

Excited for you - you've been drooling for this all summer. 🙂

[morpheusofthesea]

4 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

you've been drooling for this all summer

I think that "drooling" is a poor word to use knowing our ages. It may be visually accurate but it shows little compassion from a simpatico like yourself. We will chalk it up to your youth and inexperience dealing with old fogies.

 

[Best Cat Mom]

On 9/17/2024 at 10:35 PM, MonsterJoe said:

On our sailing, Felipe was there most nights...Bernard just a couple

So far, I believe we've have Bernard in TSL every night except the one with Felipe.

[Best Cat Mom]

On 9/17/2024 at 8:03 PM, rrraydon said:

You mentioned a choice of a bottle of liquor, does this amenity come with booking YC or is this amenity as a result of a loyalty status (Diamond)?

@DaKahunawas correct in his answer. You choose from the liquors in the Minibar menu for one free bottle if you are in a regular YC inside or deluxe suite. You get nearly a dozen free bottles when you are in the Owner's or Royal YC suites. You get a bottle of prosecco if you are Diamond. If you're Diamond and YC, they are stacked. If you are in YC, you can sometimes get a bottle that is not on the list from your butler -- people have reported both getting something not on the list and not getting anything but the ones on the list. Asking nicely usually gets the best results, but I hesitate to say that it always does. Give it a try! 🙂

Edited 8 hours ago by Best Cat Mom

[Best Cat Mom]

22 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

You did not happen to try the Udon Noodles did you?

Being GF likely means that I cannot have them. I do not ever recall being told that I could. Rice noodles are usually the only ones okay for me and I don't think they have ever had those in YC. 😞

[Best Cat Mom]

21 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Please let them know that Georgia Peaches will be on board in November and would like this concoction as well!

I believe Kassandra will be gone by November. If I'm remembering correctly, she is moving to World America in October for its drydock period. Many of the crew here will be going there as well.

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

We plan to leave for our hotel in about an hour and get settled in before having a leisurely dinner and getting a good night's sleep.  Our flight to Miami boards tomorrow at 0820 with a scheduled departure time of 0900.

Safe travels * 2! Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday. We have @morpheusofthesea's package for you in our cabin. AND it is safely unopened, and I feel fairly confident it will remain so until you arrive. 😁

Edited 7 hours ago by Best Cat Mom

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 3 - Puerto Plata

 

We had our usual coffee and Baileys in the cabin and watched from the balcony as we sailed into Puerto Plata. When the captain spoke after we docked, he joked that "we only had to stop to ask for directions twice."

 

We went to breakfast and started with our usual 2 mimosas and 2 cappuccini. BCD had the same as yesterday -- eggs Benedict without the English muffin and crispy bacon -- while I had an egg white ham and cheese omelette: 

 

We had pre-booked a half-day excursion:

 

The tickets said to be in the theater at 9:05am, but our YC instructions said to meet in TSL 15 minutes prior to the time on the tickets. Once we were in TSL, it seemed that the tours were departing a bit behind schedule. They called tours in groups of 4 or 5 for the first few. Our was called in the third or fourth group. A butler escorted 8 or so of us off ship as a group and led us to a gathering area where the tour guide was waiting. He soon escorted us to the bus. The tour began just around 9:30am.

 

We had chose this tour specifically for the rum tasting and it did not disappoint. We tasted 6 rums before 11am. We liked this Puerto Plata tour!

 

Our bus drove past Pink street and Umbrella Street, two other things that we'd heard about and wanted to see. When the bus stopped to allow a walking tour, we opted to remain on the bus since it was so hot. I believe that the group actually walked on Pink Street and Umbrella Street, based on what we heard from others in the group later. After about an hour or so, the tour guide came back to retrieve us for an air conditioned attraction.

 

The last stop was a nice scenic overlook. We had seen it from our balcony when the ship first arrived and we were pleased to have a better look around there.

 

The tour lasted about an hour longer than advertised, even taking into account the slight delay in getting started. When 1:30pm passed and we realized that we'd missed TS lunch, we at least hoped that we'd make it back by 3pm to eat at the One Pool buffet.

 

The tour bus dropped us at the outer perimeter of the port shopping area. We began power-walking towards the pier. Of course, the path is designed to take you past many shops before you arrive to the pier. Then we had a long walk down the pier, as we'd back in upon arrival and YC was at the far end of the pier.

 

While we'd been able to stay fairly cool during the tour, the walk back had us feeling sweaty and uncomfortable. We did make it to the One Pool just in time, though. As we entered the buffet line, they closed the ropes behind us and I was reminded of some lyrics from the Don Henley song All She Wants to Do is Dance:

 

"We barely made the airport, we were the last plane out."

 

We ordered 2 cheeseburgers with fries and went to find a table out of the sun. There were plenty of available tables on the port side, forward of the bow, an area that has a canopy that provides some shade, depending on the location of the sun in the sky.

 

The burgers were the best we've had on any MSC ship -- very thick, with chopped onions and garlic inside. Over the course of the meal, BCD had 3 bottles of Heineken and I had 2 glasses of champagne. Both were icy cold and very welcome.

 

We retreated to the cabin for air conditioning therapy at just after 4pm.

 

We hung out there until dinner. We ordered a few rounds of champagne and double Woodford rocks with Coke Zero.

 

We finally made it to TS for dinner at 8:30pm, rejuvenated but not quite as hungry because of our late lunch. We ordered our usual champagne and scanned the menu.

 

Dinner menu:

 

 

We couldn't decide between several starters that are our favorites so we had mostly starters to make up a lighter meal than usual, with both of us ordering identical courses.

 

We started with seafood salad and champagne. We switched to a light French Gamay for the rest of the courses:

 

Next up was the vitello tonnato starter, followed by a Niçoise salad starter for each of us and oyster risotto to share. Unfortunately, our brains never even thought about taking pictures of the food. These are items we've had before and they were all prepared exactly as expected. If anyone really wants to see one of them, I can go back to our other threads and try to find an image. Just ask!

 

Tonight Felipe was the entertainment in TSL. @MonsterJoe had told us that Felipe was excellent and not to be missed. We listened to him earlier during our dinner and enjoyed his music, but we were just too wiped out from our day to wait in TSL for him to begin another set.

 

We retired to the cabin to sleep off the tiresome day.

 

PS: Here is the menu for TS lunch that we missed...

 

 

Day 4 in San Juan is next...

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

The pleasure will be all mine. I left a little something for you with @Best Cat Mom. Pretend we are with you all on this next leg of your adventure and raise a toast "To us. And who's better than us? Damn few. And they're all dead." Robert Burns

 

 Thank you so very much for the gift.  I will make sure it goes to good use.  

 

‘ Here’s to me, here’s to you, friends tried and true.

May we never disagree but if we do … here’s to you!’

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

Excited for you - you've been drooling for this all summer. 🙂

 

Thank you.  

 

 You are not the only one drooling.  I am just excited to be back on the open sea. Although this itinerary has very few sea days, it will be good to just lay back and enjoy what may come. 

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by DaKahuna

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Being GF likely means that I cannot have them. I do not ever recall being told that I could. Rice noodles are usually the only ones okay for me and I don't think they have ever had those in YC. 😞

 

 We have already been informed that they are the same spaghetti like noodles that were served on Divina.  She will not be ordering that.  We both prefer the thick white udon noodles.  We do prefer egg noodles with Pho though. 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Safe travels * 2! Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday. We have @morpheusofthesea's package for you in our cabin. AND it is safely unopened, and I feel fairly confident it will remain so until you arrive. 😁

 

 We are here in the hotel and have been for about an hour now.  Car is parked in the underground garage.  

 

 I thank you for the safekeeping of my present from @morpheusofthesea and will treat you to the beverage of your choice in the TSL Saturday.  🤣

 

[DaKahuna]

@Best Cat Mom I really liking the variety of wines you have been showing.  Are you picking these from a list or are they recommendations from your sommelier?  One of the reason I like to cruise is to experience different wines and was a little disappointed in the offerings on Divina until I found out that I could ask for something other than the standard wines they waiters brought us.  

 

 

[DaKahuna]

32 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We had chose this tour specifically for the rum tasting and it did not disappoint. We tasted 6 rums before 11am. We liked this Puerto Plata tour!

 

 

 Did you make any purchases to bring back with you?  

 

 I will see if I can talk my DW into taking this tour.  

 

[Best Cat Mom]

3 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I really liking the variety of wines you have been showing.  Are you picking these from a list or are they recommendations from your sommelier?

The dinner wines are coming from the sommelier's recommendation. At lunch (and breakfast haha), we just suggest a grape variety that we think will go well.

 

Divina did not have a sommelier -- I think because they are a smaller YC. Two of the times we were on there, the maî·tre d' Maurizio -- a former somm in Napa -- would come up with some really good suggestions for us. It didn't hurt that we would talk about different grapes and wines so he came to understand our tastes, especially on our second sailing with him.

[Best Cat Mom]

49 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Did you make any purchases to bring back with you?

We seriously considered it but ultimately decided to not. We really enjoyed this tour and tasting. We had done a Bacardí tour in San Juan that was only a tour and no tasting that had been disappointing. It was a beautiful campus so we enjoyed the time there, but we really had wanted a tasting too. Mission accomplished this time.

[kluv2cruz]

On 9/18/2024 at 12:42 PM, Best Cat Mom said:

Holiday Coffee, which is a drink we invented at home. BCD was only too happy to teach Kassandra how to make it. It is one shot of espresso, one shot of Baileys, one shot of Kahlua, and one shot of coconut rum, shaken and poured over ice in a high ball glass.

Yum!

[DaKahuna]

@Best Cat Mom If you are up to a slight modification to your Holiday Coffee, which I am anxious to try.  Ask Kassandra to substitute Franjelico for the Coconut rum.  

 

 Ah the numerous ways to enjoy Bailey’s and coffee. Speaking of which, I wonder if I could get an Affogato for dessert?  It is an Italian cruise line after all. 

 

[MonsterJoe]

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

@Best Cat Mom If you are up to a slight modification to your Holiday Coffee, which I am anxious to try.  Ask Kassandra to substitute Franjelico for the Coconut rum.  

 

 Ah the numerous ways to enjoy Bailey’s and coffee. Speaking of which, I wonder if I could get an Affogato for dessert?  It is an Italian cruise line after all. 

 

I am positive that you could, just maybe don't ask for it on the first night 🙂

I haven't thought about Franjelico in forever - do they have it on board?

[MonsterJoe]

@Best Cat Mom I am curious to learn how your experience with Jeeto has been.  

You may or may not remember from my live thread that we had him a few weeks ago.

[SirWolf]

The omelette looks a little bit .. let’s say “minimalistic” .. decorating a breakfast plate in YC with a half cherry tomato.

They could put a little effort into the presentation of the food.. take 2 half cherry tomatoes and turn the omelette 180degrees to make a smiley face.

The photo could be used for training purposes for “Quality Control Fails” in YC galley.