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

[no1talks]

9 minutes ago, Dock B said:

Or, Mercuric Martini

Mercuric Martini.
Mercuric nitrate.
Does it really matter, Hatter? (IYKYK.)

[Dock B]

@Best Cat Mom I’m wondering if BCD could create a golden car that has silver touches, much like an automobile has chrome trim? 
 

Thank you for including photos of the car show too!

 

DW and I are enjoying your trip reports—thank you.

[Dock B]

Pizza topic: one of the best meals we’ve ever had in YC was pizza delivered and we enjoyed it while consuming a full bottle of NF champagne! Of course, we added dessert snacks from the TSL.

 

If you’ve never had pizza and champagne before, consider it!

[DaKahuna]

Walking back to my room at 0030 from the TSL I encountered one of the night time butlers with not one but two pizzas headed to one of the cabins on our passage way.  

 

I love MSC’s pizza but I don’t think even I could eat pizza this late at a night. 

 

 

[morpheusofthesea]

9 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

And the reason was...Black dries the fastest.  EM

https://www.pfonline.com/articles/henry-ford-is-still-right-when-it-comes-to-color

[Best Cat Mom]

15 hours ago, 3smithboys said:

I don’t think we will be able to do 3 sit down meals a day every day.

Remember that you can do combos of meals. If there is a starter you like on the YC restaurant menu, have that first and then go to the pool buffet for your mains. Or have some stuff at the pool and then a pizza in the room. Or have everything everywhere one day. The restaurant closes first, then the pool buffet and pizza is available the most hours each day. No FOMO here!

[Best Cat Mom]

17 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Rodin is the sommelier currently. He also has a protégé that started a few days ago. I think his name is Anakin

@DaKahuna got us on this one. We are not Star Wars aficionados so we did not understand the name significance and had no idea that he was kidding with us. He came clean last night after we learned from Rodin that the correct name is Edison.

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 11 concludes…

 

We found the spa on Deck 8 and scheduled a couples massage for the afternoon of Day 13 when we are in Nassau. We have had these couples massages on previous MSC cruises, but not the last few, so we are really looking forward to it!

 

!
We interrupt this *Live* for a temporary esoteric little tidbit for those who like manicures.

 

I was getting concerned with my shellac manicure. It has been two weeks since I did my nails last and they were not looking their best. I am very particular with how I do my nails and also like to keep them looking not too shabby. I allowed a nail tech in the spa to give me a manicure, since I did not bring my supplies to do them myself. I was very apprehensive but all turned out well. I can highly recommend Rachel on Seascape for a gel manicure on natural nails to anyone interested in this service. And it was only $46 -- $12 for the shellac removal and $34 for the new polish. They have CND Shellac products, though not all of the CND colors. I use Red Baroness at home and chose Decadence, which was close enough to match my toes.

 

Okay, we will now resume regular *Live* thread activities.
!

 

We returned to TSL for the rest of the afternoon, including sail away. We did not hear any announcements with guests' names, so it seems everyone got themselves back to the ship successfully today.

 

It was still too early for dinner so we left the YC enclave to visit the casino. Though it was only a bit after the opening time of 7:30pm, we found it a bit smoky already. We transferred some funds from our cabin OBC to our casino account, played a few rounds of slots and cashed out. We'll need to do this several more times to accrue the monies we need to fill all those tip envelopes on Friday.

 

Tonight was the White Party in YC, which coincides with White Night on the ship. The YC party starts at 8:30pm on the One Pool deck. We usually miss most of it because we eat so late. We decided to eat a bit earlier so maybe we could catch more of the party.

 

We arrived to the restaurant before 8pm and it was quite full. We settled in at our table with champagne and menus:

 

 

To start, we both selected the tartare, one of our favorites:

 

We also had asked for more escargot from Gala night, so we had those as well:

 

For his entrée, BCD had the pork:

 

I ordered the short ribs, and Chef Lisa supplied some GF sauce on the side:

 

We descended the staircase from the restaurant to TSL, intending to head up to the pool deck. We saw the seating in TSL had been moved, and crew were saying that they were bringing the White Party to the lounge because it was raining outside. We enjoyed a song or two by Bernard before the DJ began to spin records. Eventually, TSL was packed with guests and crew dancing and partying. We commented to each other that cabins 16001 and 16002 might not be happy, unless they were the partying type as well. (Dani did mention to us while we were in TSL after breakfast the next day that those 2 cabins' guests did indeed complain. What to do? You simply cannot please everyone all the time.)

 

Here's a short video of the party (this is my first time uploading a video, so please let me know if it is not viewable):

 

We lingered after the party and @DaKahuna joined us for some scintillating conversation and excellent drinks by Romano, bartender extraordinaire.

 

We retired late, and expected to sleep in late as well.

 

Day 12 is next…

Edited yesterday at 04:44 PM by Best Cat Mom

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 12 - Sea Day

 

We did indeed awaken late, as expected. We called for coffee and Baileys, quickly prepared for the day and made it to the One Pool buffet for breakfast with barely 10 minutes to spare.

 

We ate at the bar, hoping against hope for some nice breezes since we were at sea. Alas, none were to be found.

 

BCD had some whitefish salad, cucumbers, bacon and croissants. He had a pineapple mimosa and then remembered to have some coconut rum added, coming close to achieving the drink expounded upon by @no1talks.

 

I had an egg white omelette that was simply huge, with bacon and potatoes. For me, one advantage of the pool deck over the restaurant is that I can have breakfast potatoes. The "hockey puck" style of hash browns in the restaurant are not GF, but the ones upstairs are, since they are simply cubed roasted potatoes.

 

 

 

We retreated to the air conditioning comfort of TSL for some refreshing Holiday Coffee.

 

We did find out a tidbit about YC Director Mustafa's departure from MSC. Seems that while he was quite beloved by guests, the crew did not have the same feelings at all. We heard stories about how the guests were always right, apparently at the expense of the crew. They were quite pleased after corporate investigated and ultimately decided that Mustafa had to go.

 

Day 12 continues…

Edited yesterday at 05:00 PM by Best Cat Mom

[no1talks]

16 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We heard stories about how the guests were always right, apparently at the expense of the crew. They were quite pleased after corporate investigated and ultimately decided that Mustafa had to go.

 

It seems easier to find more cruisers than to find more staff, so this update is not surprising.

[DaKahuna]

 

2 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Here's a short video of the party (this is my first time uploading a video, so please let me know if it is not viewable):

you had a much better view of the action than we did.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 07:07 PM by DaKahuna

[LorraineP]

Was that White Party in TSL just for YC cruisers?

[Best Cat Mom]

13 minutes ago, LorraineP said:

Was that White Party in TSL just for YC cruisers?

Ours was just for YC as it was within the YC enclave. I'm sure that there were other events around the ship as well but we hardly venture out so I really can't speak to them. Sorry!

[LorraineP]

24 minutes ago, LorraineP said:

Was that White Party in TSL just for YC cruisers?

 

8 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Ours was just for YC as it was within the YC enclave. I'm sure that there were other events around the ship as well but we hardly venture out so I really can't speak to them. Sorry!

Thank you!

[cellfree]

32 minutes ago, LorraineP said:

Was that White Party in TSL just for YC cruisers?

We have been on 12+ MSC cruises (not YC) and have always had a “white night” and a party somewhere on the ship. 

[morpheusofthesea]

4 minutes ago, cellfree said:

We have been on 12+ MSC cruises (not YC) and have always had a “white night” and a party somewhere on the ship. 

Usually on the Marina Pool decks with all the other dresser uppers.

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 12 continues…

 

We remained in TSL until we were ready for a late lunch. We were not that hungry after our late breakfast.

 

We sipped champagne and were surprised to see a totally different menu than was posted on the MSC for Me app:

 

We realized that this was the menu listed for tomorrow on the app, so we're thinking that today's menu on the app will be the one we receive at lunch tomorrow.

 

I started with the salmon:

 

BCD chose the burrata:

 

We both selected burgers for our entrées, mine without onion rings:

 

 

And changed from champagne to Oberon cabernet sauvignon with them.

 

As we finished, they were setting up for afternoon tea in TSL so we went back to the cabin for a bit.

 

More on Day 12 next…

[chrisgp999]

On 9/23/2024 at 7:32 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

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

I'm personally glad that they moved this reception to late afternoon on Gala night.  The fact that this will encourage some attendee's to present themselves in formal evening attire, brings back a certain elegance that was slowly slipping away from the YC experience.

[chrisgp999]

On 9/24/2024 at 10:52 AM, DaKahuna said:

@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.  

 

 

 

Puerto Plata was the only port that DW and I really enjoyed on our most recent cruise.  We booked the "DISCOVER PUERTO PLATA TRADITIONS & FLAVOURS" excursion thru MSC.  The excursion started out slow, visiting some gardens to learn about local flora and fauna.  Then a ride to the downtown area to visit the local cathedral.  Then the fun began, visit to a distillery for rum tasting, the a cigar factory for puro tasting, finally a chocolate factory for, you guessed it, chocolate tasting.  Booked this same excursion for our next cruise on the Seaside.  Wish there was a way to skip the flora and fauna part.

[Best Cat Mom]

Day 12 continues...

 

As we returned to TSL for tea, we met @DaKahuna at the entrance. I'll let him tell you the details about his lunch at Butcher's Cut today. Summary: yumm!

 

We are not tea drinkers, but we enjoyed the ritual. Unfortunately, none of the small bites provided were GF so I did not try them and BCD was not interested in them either. I do know that on a previous cruise, they were happy to make me some GF ones for the afternoon tea.

 

After tea, we went to the casino to accumulate some more tip money. On this ship, there are slot machines in the Sports Bar. Since the Sports Bar is non-smoking and enclosed, those slot machines have no smoke smell around them at all. In the casino, there is a small smoking section that is roped off. There is no real barrier to the smoke circulating, but areas further away from the smoking section have less smoke smell. I would imagine any smoke smell will depend on exactly how many people have been smoking lately in that small smoking section.

 

There is also a small room adjacent to the Sports Bar entrance that is fully enclosed and smoking is permitted. We did not enter that area, but I can imagine it is pretty smoky in there.

 

After withdrawing a decent amount of our OBC, we returned to TSL for some pre-dinner drinks. I had a glass of Peter Lehman Shiraz and BCD had a double Woodford Reserve with Coke Zero.

 

Day 12 concludes next…

[Best Cat Mom]

21 hours ago, Dock B said:

I’m wondering if BCD could create a golden car that has silver touches, much like an automobile has chrome trim? 

Sorry for the delayed response here. He has created one and we were trying to find an image to share. Unfortunately, we did not find one. He has also created black/gold and blue/gold combinations on other cruises:

[Stem to Stern]

I’m three pages in and don’t want to put this down, but I will have to finish catching up later.  Great trip report!!😁

[lahlah57]

6 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Usually on the Marina Pool decks with all the other dresser uppers.

Class nothing but class! 

[no1talks]

35 minutes ago, lahlah57 said:

Class nothing but class! 

That's the late Geoffrey Hughes as "Oslo" on Keeping Up Appearances.

Here's a picture of an actual MSC, rest-of-the-ship white party. I studied the picture as best I could, but I couldn't find a single guy wearing a W-B shirt. In fact, Some of them are better attired than schlubs I've seen in Yacht Club.

Seems like they are having a very good time.


(© 2024 Life Well Cruised)

Edited 18 hours ago by no1talks

[JAGR]

21 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

For me, one advantage of the pool deck over the restaurant is that I can have breakfast potatoes. The "hockey puck" style of hash browns in the restaurant are not GF, but the ones upstairs are, since they are simply cubed roasted potatoes.

My preference for potatoes is actually the ranchero potatoes in the dining room versus the hash browns (When you call them "hockey pucks,' your are being too kind! 😉).