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

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 8 concludes…

 

We arrived to dinner and champagne helped us to get through the reading portion of the evening:

 

 

For our starters, we continued sipping champagne with the sea scallops. Can you guess which one is mine?

 

For our entrées, we both chose the tuna and mine needed no alterations:

We shared the leek and clam risotto:

Rodin poured a Côtes du Rhône for us to enjoy with the tuna:

We finished our dinner and descended to TSL to find @DaKahuna at the bar. We chatted with him for two rounds of adult beverages before retiring to our cabins to take advantage of an extra hour of sleep tonight from changing the clocks back one hour.

 

Day 9 is next…

[no1talks]

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

...waiting for what we were told was one lone straggler to disembark.

Oh, if only one could give such a dawdler a Bronson finger-gun. 😆 
(Very inadvisable, these days.)

[morpheusofthesea]

10 minutes ago, no1talks said:

Oh, if only one could give such a dawdler a Bronson finger-gun. 😆 
(Very inadvisable, these days.)

Are you an optometrist ?

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 9 - Sea Day

 

Overnight, clocks were set back an hour, giving us all one additional hour of sleep. Interestingly, the crew describes this as "losing an hour" which is not the best translation. There was general confusion amongst guests both last evening and this morning.

 

We woke feeling refreshed and had our usual coffee and Baileys in the cabin. The ocean was so very smooth this morning, the smoothest we've seen so far on this cruise.

 

Making our way to the TS restaurant, we ordered our usual 2 cappuccini and 2 mimosas. This morning BCD ordered assorted meats and cheeses and made himself some breakfast sandwiches for breakfast along with some sliced pineapple. Edgar offered me two Nutella GF croissants that nearly brought me to tears. I needed a second cappuccino to have with my two 6-minute soft-boiled eggs. Edgar also gave me a bag of GF cookies for the cabin. He is one of those stellar MSC employees who stand out amongst a lot of other great people.

 

Afterwards, we situated ourselves in TSL where YC Director Dani was circulating. I commented to him how smooth today's ocean appeared:

 

He said yes, but we had a chance of encountering some weather coming soon. Being on holiday, we had barely glanced at any regional weather. We were lucky if we checked the temperature at each port stop. We happily told him that he had our full permission to change course as needed. He actually sounded a bit serious and after he left, we checked our phones and discovered a tropical storm brewing in the western Caribbean.

 

This is why when the captain announced at 12:05pm that we'd be revising our course, we were not surprised. We'd be altering toward port and navigating back to the eastern Caribbean for the remainder of our cruise. Grand Turk would be our port tomorrow instead of Jamaica and the next day we would return to Puerto Plata instead of Grand Cayman. We did have an excursion at Grand Cayman, as it was to be our first time there. They had explained that excursions would be credited to our on board account. I had hoped we'd find an excursion at Grand Turk, since that was also a new port for us. They did a pretty good job of finding 6 or so excursions at the last minute, but none appealed to us. Looks like we'll not have any excursions for the remainder of this cruise, which is not a problem for us since the ship is mostly the destination for us already.

 

Here's the formal announcement placed in our stateroom:

 

Day 9 continues...

[no1talks]

12 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Are you an optometrist ?

No. I am also not an architect 😉, just a cinephile.

[morpheusofthesea]

9 minutes ago, no1talks said:

No. I am also not an architect 😉, just a cinephile.

I'd say more like cine eros, than cine-philia.

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 9 Lunch...

 

We presented ourselves to the TS restaurant for lunch and glanced at the menu with champagne in hand:

 

 

We both chose to start with the ham and mozzarella:

 

BCD selected the pasta with veal sauce for his entrée:

 

I opted for the pork chop, as I did last week:

 

We paired our meal with the DOCG chianti that we had liked from dinner last week:

 

After lunch, we returned to TSL and found @DaKahuna there with the same idea of afternoon refreshments so we chatted for a bit.

 

Day 9 continues…

[morpheusofthesea]

16 minutes ago, no1talks said:

I am also not an architect

I was just thinking that reading your posts is like visiting my eye doctor. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I have a magnifying glass now by my laptop.

[no1talks]

13 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I was just thinking that reading your posts is like visiting my eye doctor.

Oh, that...

Just a small writer's eccentricity to indicate a sub rosa addendum, just for us CCers.

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 9 concludes with Gala Night Dinner…

 

We spent the afternoon in TSL. The captain's reception was set to begin in there at 5pm. Tonight was the Gala dinner and folks began arriving for the reception already dressed up for dinner, most in very dressy outfits. There were a few people in shorts and T-shirts. We were still in casual clothes because it was way too early for our dinner. We could imagine others dressed casually might be so because of the same reason.

 

@DaKahuna joined us at our table for the event as the captain introduced most of the senior staff and then all the servers and butlers came down the stairs together. Before the event had begun, the captain circulated and spoke individually with each table of guests. Captain Tuvo, aka Captain Bye-Bye, is very personable and seems to enjoy the social aspects of being a cruise ship captain. In our past experience, these events have been hosted by the Cruise Director and this change was a nice touch.

 

After the event, many people went directly upstairs to dinner. We eventually made our way back to our cabin to change for dinner.

 

At a little after 8pm, we delivered ourselves to the restaurant.

 

Rodin offered us a Spanish Cava instead of our usual champagne:

 

We chatted with him a bit about the differences between cava and champagne and then settled in to re-examine the Gala Night menu:

 

We both chose the snails as our starters, mine with GF bread:

 

 

We continued drinking the cava until our entrées arrived. We had both chosen the surf and turf, though mine came with a GF sauce:

 

 

And we shared the truffle risotto as well:

Rodin brought us a DOC Montalcino that paired well with both the filet and the lobster:

Amazingly, we were not overly stuffed so we ordered dessert. BCD had the Crêpes Suzette:

I had vanilla ice cream with Kahlua:

We adjourned to TSL where we found @DaKahuna at the bar. We happily joined him for a few rounds of drinks and then headed to bed. We would be moving the clocks forward overnight to get back onto eastern Caribbean time and knew that morning would come a little too fast.

 

Day 10 is up next…

[morpheusofthesea]

12 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

The captain's reception was set to begin in there at 5pm. Tonight was the Gala dinner and folks began arriving for the reception already dressed up for dinner, most in very dressy outfits

Yes. The captain's reception used to be held at 11 am and it was not appreciated that guests turned up in bathing attire. 

[no1talks]

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We had both chosen the surf and turf...

 

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

...and it was not appreciated that guests turned up in bathing attire. 

Don't look now, but Cousin Eddie seems to have slid past the maître d' and he likes what BCM and BCD are eating.

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 10 Daily Program...

 

 

 

 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 10 - Grand Turk

 

We began with coffee and Baileys in the room. We had cancelled our standing order so we could potentially sleep in a bit, given that we moved the clocks forward and lost an hour of sleep overnight. Instead, we called when we were up and it was delivered within a few minutes.

 

We were up earlier than we thought so we were able to have breakfast in the TS restaurant. We had thought we might sleep in so long that we'd be eating on the One Pool deck. It is usually a little too hot for us up there, but we were willing to risk the heat for a little more sleep. Luckily, we got both sleep and air conditioning this time.

 

BCD ordered smoked salmon and cream cheese again, having really enjoyed it on Saturday. He also had some pecan tarts, which are his favorite morning pastry:

 

I had two 6-minute eggs and ham. And we again enjoyed 2 cappuccini and 2 mimosas.

 

After breakfast, we planted ourselves in TSL. There were lots of excursion groups this morning. The captain had noted in the morning's announcements that this was the first time Seascape had been to Grand Turk. Lots of crew also seemed eager to go outside today, likely to get those coveted magnets for their quarters. They have so little room in their crew cabins that magnets on the walls are the best souvenirs to demonstrate to their colleagues all the places they've been.

 

Around 11:15am, @DaKahuna and his wife joined us. I suspect that he has been trying to distract me so I don't catch up with my posts here on CC. Nevertheless, I am persevering and am nearly live. 🙂

 

We chatted a bit and then each retired to our cabins.

 

We had a special lunch planned today in TS restaurant. BCD had made a special request for spaghetti carbonara, one of his favorite Italian dishes. We had spoken to Chef Lisa the night before and confirmed that today at lunch would be the time.

 

We began with champagne and examined the menus to chose starters:

 

 

We were surprised to be served 2015 vintage Nicholas Feuillatte:

 

We moved on to a Pinot noir for our meal:

 

To begin, I had duck:

And BCD had the salad:

Then Chef Lisa herself brought us the entrées. They appeared identical even though mine was GF. How's that for a great chef?

 

 

Mine is the second one. I have not had this dish since 2005. It was incredible! Spaghetti carbonara is a classic Italian dish, from the Rome area. I would expect that the ingredients would always be available on an MSC ship, so if you are in YC and you want to give it a try, you could also ask your server for it as a special meal. We gave them a week advance notice, but a day or two can usually suffice.

 

We went back to TSL for a little while, then spent some time in the cabin.

 

Day 10 continues next...

Edited yesterday at 02:46 PM by Best Cat Mom

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 10 concludes…

 

All aboard was at 6:30pm. Just after that time, an announcement was made calling for a few people. If you've taken a cruise or two, you know that means they don't have everyone back on board. A few minutes later another announcement was made calling for only 2 people. Then at just about 6:40pm, the captain spoke to reinforce that his all aboard times were not just a suggestion and to announce that we were dropping the ropes. From his tone, it seemed that we may have left those 2 people on Grand Turk. We had docked on the port side so we could not view the pier during this time. I know in the past, they have retrieved passports for anyone missing the ship and left them with the dock personnel. If we hear more, I will definitely share.

 

There was a small sail away/sunset party on the YC pool deck schedule for 6:20pm, which was announced by a sign on the TSL bar. There had not been a note in the room the evening before, so it seemed a last minute decision. Perhaps Dani had thought a little extra something was in order, maybe because of the itinerary change? Regardless, it was a nice touch.

 

We chose not to attend as the sun was still too high in the sky for us and we could only guess how hot it might be up there. By sail away, the sunset was beginning but we choose to admire it in solitude from our balcony.

 

At around 8:45pm, we finally dragged ourselves to dinner. Our delicious lunch was also quite a heavy one -- and boy, were we glad we'd had that at lunch and not at dinner!

 

We once again had the 2015 vintage champagne while reading the menu:

 

 

We were wondering if they are out of the regular Nicolas Feuillatte and now are serving vintage? We have a few more days on board. Maybe we will deplete that and have to move to Moët & Chandon? One can only hope. And I shall do my best to help the cause!

 

For starters, we both chose the vitello:

Rodin brought us a Tempranillo from Spain that we found surprisingly hearty, yet had virtually no tannins:

The wine went well with the vitello's tuna-anchovy sauce and then did not overpower our entrées. We both chose salmon from the Classic Favorites menu section:

We had a little Grana Padano to wash down the remainder of our wine, then went to TSL to enjoy some music. We saw Mr. and Mrs. @DaKahuna there and joined them for a few rounds of nightcaps and conversation before retiring to bed.

 

Day 11 is next…

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 11 Daily Program...

 

 

 

 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

Time to celebrate -- this thread is now LIVE again!! 🎈

[lahlah57]

On 9/20/2024 at 7:54 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 When we sailed on Divina in February, the Yacht Club tent was the first thing we saw when we turned the corner to head toward the ship.  We had our Lyft driver stop as soon as he could, unloaded our bags and walked the 50 - 75 feet to the YC tent.  We found it very easy. 

 

 

Now just a bit concerned about flying in on Friday the 27th to miami to meet up on Seascape the 28th.

What have you guys heard on your end?

We are leaving this Friday from Cali to meet connection in DFW and then land in miami at 8:30 pm. Oh Lawd!!!

 

 

[DaKahuna]

@Best Cat Mom  please inform BCD that I agree with his assessment of Puerto Plata being “Puerto Hella” but am going to refer to it as ‘Puerto Sweatta’ since he has already coined the other term.  

 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 11 - Puerto Plata

 

We are again in Puerto Plata today. This was the one port where we had an excursion last week so we intend to stay safely ensconced on the ship today. We called for coffee and baileys for sail in. The concierge who answered the phone said that they were wondering what time we'd call. We're just creatures of habit. LOL

 

We were again up early enough for breakfast in the TS restaurant. We started with 2 cappuccini and 2 mimosas but BCD changed it up and had pineapple juice in his.

 

I had two 6-minute soft boiled eggs and grilled ham. Edgar brought me some GF mini fruit pies as well.

 

BCD opted for eggs Benedict without bread, a side of bacon, and a bagel with cream cheese.

 

Good thing we did not want anything else; there was no more room on our table:

 

Then we proceeded to TSL for a couple rounds of Holiday Coffee.

 

As we drank those, I updated CC to bring us back to LIVE and am now celebrating with a champagne!!

 

More to come, but we have to do something worth mentioning. 🙂

[Best Cat Mom]

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

‘Puerto Sweatta’

The Thermal Spa has an ice room, I believe. You may want to spend an hour or two there.

[mnpurple]

The Carbonara looks delicious! I asked the Chef on Euribia to make Amatriciana and it was so wonderful! We were only expecting one portion for me, but of course, they made two. He was a wonderful chef. The best of our three YC cruises.

[no1talks]

25 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

BCD changed it up and had pineapple juice in his.

 

That's almost a Hawaiian Mimosa, which is:

1 oz. coconut rum.

2 oz. pineapple juice.

Top-off with applicable bubbly.

 

Some like to add a bit of grenadine, to sink in the glass for color.

 

I call that version, "...with a good spanking," because, with the grenadine, you get a red bottom.

[Best Cat Mom]

13 minutes ago, no1talks said:

with the grenadine, you get a red bottom

Love it!!

 

@Best cat Dad will have to give this concoction a try... and I believe I must as well.

[Host Jazzbeau]

So how does the 2015 vintage Nicolas Feuillatte compare to the regular NV?