**Live** MSC Seascape 9/21-9/28 & 9/28-10/5 Caribbean Cruise

[jcpc]

11 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I didn't realize they had an espresso maker at the martini bar.  Thanks for the tip!

Usually, the bartender will run to Al Bacio and get the fresh espresso to make the drink.  Plus, if you're a "regular" at the Martini Bar and drink espresso martinis, they usually will make sure they have a few "paper cups full of espresso" there at the Martini Bar waiting for you!

[DaKahuna]

A Public Service Announcement - -

 

A heads up for iPhone owners.  Do not do an update on your iPhone OS while cruising.  I noted yesterday when I upgraded to the latest 18.1 Public Beta what after downloading and installing the new iOS, my phone was no longer in airplane mode.  It seems that when the iOS restarts it does not keep the same settings you had before you upgraded and enables Cellular.

 

This was verified by one other person I have spoke with on this cruise. 

 

[DaKahuna]

5 minutes ago, jcpc said:

Usually, the bartender will run to Al Bacio and get the fresh espresso to make the drink.  Plus, if you're a "regular" at the Martini Bar and drink espresso martinis, they usually will make sure they have a few "paper cups full of espresso" there at the Martini Bar waiting for you!

 

 Ah -  Thank you for that information.  I will be sure and let the bartenders know on my next sailing.  

 

 One thing about MSC - they have the best coffee we have experienced at sea.  I drink primarily Americanos’ and even without the Bailey’s the coffee taste great. 

 

 I believe that ever bar I have visited so far on this ship has had it’s own espresso machine.  I have not stopped in the Champagne & Wine Bar yet but the four others I have visited all had espresso machines.

 

[Best Cat Mom]

35 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I believe that ever bar I have visited so far on this ship has had it’s own espresso machine.

This is a common occurrence in Italy. The place one goes for coffee in the morning is called a "bar." I recall my aunt hearing my cousin -- who was in the US Air Force and stationed at Aviano in Italy -- say he was in a bar in the morning and totally not understanding. A bar in Italy = a café in the US.

[Cjkfree]

51 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 

 One thing about MSC - they have the best coffee we have experienced at sea.  I drink primarily Americanos’ and even without the Bailey’s the coffee taste great. 

 

 

As an Americano and cappuccino drinker this makes me very happy.  The positive reviews of the espresso martini are also exciting.  I never loved the pre-mixed ones at Celebrity’s Martini Bar.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

who was in the US Air Force and stationed at Aviano in Italy -- say he was in a bar in the morning and totally not understanding.

 

 Well, if he had been in the Navy like me it would have been a real bar with a real drink and not a cafe with coffee.  

 

49 minutes ago, Cjkfree said:

I never loved the pre-mixed ones at Celebrity’s Martini Bar.

 

Acutually the Martini bar on Millennium is where I had my first espresso martinis and that got me hooked.  The ones here on Seascape are definitely different.  They are more frothy where as the ones of Millennium were dark with a thin layer of froth on the top to float the beans. 

 

Edited Monday at 10:10 PM by DaKahuna

[Cjkfree]

Our favorite bartender from our Virgin Voyages sailing told us the foamy/frothy layer comes from shaking the martini juuuust right. Pre-mixed versions didn’t get the same vigorous shaking, thus the thin layer. 

[jcpc]

Plus you can always ask any bartender to “fine tune” your espresso martini to your liking (i.e., no Baileys is my preference!).  

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, jcpc said:

Plus you can always ask any bartender to “fine tune” your espresso martini to your liking (i.e., no Baileys is my preference!).  

 

I do not think I have ever had Bailey’s in an espresso martinis. 

I just finished one and I guarantee there was zero Bailey’s.  Unfortunately I neglected to get a photo. 

 

I will try and do better tomorrow.  They are now on my daily drink list. 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

My apologies before I start for the absolute lack of food porn for this evenings dinner.  I was so caught up in removing the shrimp from the shell and the meat from the shell for the mussels and clams, that I neglected to get a before picture.  Also my DW started eating her main course as soon as it arrived so she was half way through before I started 🙂

 

Dinner was in the YC Restaurant.  

 

We both started with the French Style Salad and because neither of us are big fans to French dressing we asked for ranch dressing instead. 

 

 

For our mains My DW selected the Grilled Chicken Breast from the everyday menu and I chose the Ligurian Cioppino for my main.  (Not pictured).

 

After consulting with our sommelier I went with a California Pinot Noir for the wine to accompany my main.  I started with the champagne as I have done at every evening meal. 

 

 

Here are tonight’s menu’s. 

 

 

 

For dessert we both chose the Caribbean Rum Cake — it was delicious. 

 

 

After dinner we went to browse the shops onboard and I tempted fate at the bubble roulette table.  The house won all my hard earned dollars tonight.   

 

We then decided that the grand foyer was a little too ‘lively and loud’ for our taste (they were paying YMCA by the village people over the sound system) and proceeded to the TSL.

 

In the TSL we relaxed and enjoyed the sounds of Bernard on the guitar and vocals before eventually being joined by @Best Cat Mom and BCD.  We had a couple of rounds of adult beverages before deciding to call it quits around midnight. 

 

Tomorrow we are due in Puerto Plata around 0800 but my DW and I have no plans beyond going ashore, window shopping in the port area and possibly buying something (I have a specific Dominican Republic Rum I will be looking for) at the shops in the port area before we return to the air conditioned comfort of the ship.  I am still undecided as to whether I will try the Lazy River or not.  Not a big fan of the sun and am unsure where I will be able to secure my personal belongings that cannot get wet. 

 

[DaKahuna]

I do not believe any words are needed. 

 

 

 

 

[mnpurple]

There really is nothing better than a cruise sunset! Enjoy it all

[DaKahuna]

Good afternoon (or it will be in 8 minutes)  from Puerto Plata, or as I prefer to call it ‘PUERTO SWEATTA’ (more on that later).

 

We went up for breakfast this morning and were surprised to see that @Best Cat Mom and her husband, BCD had arrived earlier than us.   Anyway, we were quickly seated and placed our breakfast order. 

 

We both decided to have hot tea with honey and lemon. 

 

My DW order the ham, cheese, and onion omelette with an English Muffin.

 

 

 

 

I had the Eggs Benedict, without the sauce, and a side order of ham.  I asked for Tabasco sauce again and this time was provided a brand new extra large bottle of Tabasco. 

 

 

After breakfast we went back to our room and made preparations for going ashore (hats, sunscreen, etc..).  After that we proceeded down to the TSL where we picked up a bottle of cold water and then were escorted to the security checkpoint at the gangway.  The only people ahead of us was two other couples from the YC who were also with our escort.  

 

The gangway we used is near the bow of the ship, the same as the YC.  The port is at the stren of the ship so we walked almost the entire length of the ship leaving headed to Taino Bay.  Good news is that we were in the ship’s shadow the entire way.  Bad news is that once we left the ships shadow it was in full sunlight until we got to the shops.  The ship was providing free four person shuttles from the ship to the Duty Free enclosure but there was a long line of people so we walked.  We spent about an hour browsing the small shops at Taino Bay going in and out of the sunlight.  At one point my wife was behind me and noticed the back of my neck was soaking wet with sweat.  I had to stop so she could take some Kleenex and dry my neck.  Five minutes later she did it again, rinse and repeat until we got back to the Duty Free shop.  At this point I had already decided we were taking the little free shuttle back to the ship so we climbed in with another couple and had a quick ride back.  Walked almost the length of the ship to the forward gangway were we were the only people in line to re-board.  

 

Now we are cooling off in the room and will be headed to the YC Restaurant for lunch shortly.  I am looking forward to that glass of champagne already.  

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Some pictures of Taino Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by DaKahuna

[morpheusofthesea]

This happens once in one's lifetime. A rare photo inadvertently capturing the most elusive creature in the world, Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, poking her head out of the water to see you taking a photo of the sunset.

[DaKahuna]

We had lunch onboard  

 

My wife had the Caesar salad with chicken and a glass of Moscato

 

I had the L’Olivo Salad and a glass of champagne.

 

 

 

For our main courses my wife had a cheeseburger, without the cheese

 

 

I had the pan fried sea bass with a nice chianti 

 

 

 

We decided to skip dessert and venture into General Population and seek out kunch at the Market Place Buffet fully expecting most people to be ashore -  boy were we wrong.  

 

Vanilla soft serve and an oatmeal raisin cookie for her
 

vanilla-chocolate swirl and a peanut butter cookie for me.

 

 

Soft serve is something I do not believe is available in the Yacht Club. 
 

Since we were already there, I just had to checkout the Bridge of Sughs

 

 

 

 

Remember earlier when I mentioned the long walk on the pier in the sun?

 

[DaKahuna]

7 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, poking her head out of the water to see you taking a photo of the sunset.

 

It’s actually a channel marker buoy but thanks for the laugh !!

 

[Bgwest]

On 9/22/2024 at 8:07 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

They have one in the RS &OS.

Can you elaborate, please?

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

It’s actually a channel marker buoy

Are you sure ? This could be really big . Like a Bigfoot sighting.

[morpheusofthesea]

10 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Can you elaborate, please?

I misinterpreted. The upper crust calls it a luggage valet.

[DaKahuna]

After roaming about the ship post lunch we retired to our cabin where I caught up on some other CC boards and topics before heading to the TSL for a couple of refreshments while my DW took a nap.  The walking about in the hot sun today took it toll on her.  I came back to the room around 1745 and work her up at 1800 to start getting ready for dinner.  Tonight’s dinner was excellent,  

 

WE both had an order of the spring rolls, and I also had the crab cake.  The spring rolls were okay,  We both prefer our springs rolls made with diced vegetables versus a paste like bend of vegetables which these seem to be composed of.  

 

 

Now we live in Virginia which is close enough to the People’s Republic of Maryland that we know a good crab cake when we taste one.  Well, MSC are not bad but as I said in my Divina revive, Maryland has nothing to worry about with regards to their title of having the best crab cakes.  Don’t get me wrong, it was not bad but it did not have the flavor or texture of an authentic Maryland Crab cake. 

 

 

 

For our entree my DW ordered the Pork Tenderloin 

 

 

And I ordered the beef short ribs.

 

 

i let me eyes overload my stomach and also ordered the Lobster Bauletti for us to share 

 

 

All of the good was delicious and my DW cleared her plate but I could not finish all of my beef nor did we eat off of the Bauletti although I ought both tasted excellent. 

 

My wife passed on wine tonight but I started with my usual glass of champagne and paired my beef with a nice Malbec. 

 

For our dessert we could not resist the Apple Strudel.  Instead of the white creame, my DW went with vanilla ice cream 

 

 

 

I ordered my strudel with the tiramisu ice cream but looks like I neglected to get a picture. 

Just imagine the above vanillin with chunks of chocolate bits belended in with it. 

 

After dinner we went to the casino and sacrificed more of our children’s inheritance to over casino overloads. 

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

We left the casino and head back to the TSL expecting to relax to the the soft music we had enjoyed during dinner.  Unbeknownst to us the Tropical Party scheduled for 2030 at The One Pool had moved to the TSL due to rain.  We managed to to find a table for two along the other rim and enjoyed the over loud but energetic music,  AFter the party was over, I escorted my DW back to our room and then went and joined our friends @Best Cat Mom and BCD in the TSL for a night cap before we call decided to call it a night around 0030. 

 

I have some video’s that I may or may not post later of the crew and guest dancing the night away.  Needless to say I wish I had taken my ear plugs with me.  We enjoyed the beat of the music a lot, just not the volume.   

Okay, I admit we over over the hump and loud boisterous music does not do much other than get our toes tapping and us plugging our ears with our fingers.  I guess we are officially ‘old fogies’ now.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Mommapadraig]

You all sound like you are having a wonderful time! Lobster Bauletti? I don’t remember seeing that one the menu!

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Mommapadraig said:

You all sound like you are having a wonderful time! Lobster Bauletti? I don’t remember seeing that one the menu!

 

It’s on this menu.  Not sure how often the menu’s change but it was a very good tasting dish. 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Good morning.  Today is a second and last full day at sea.  We are just relaxing in the room waiting for my DW’s room service breakfast to arrive.  After she gets settled, I am headed to breakfast.  

 

We are trying an experiment this morning.  I wrote in items that were not on the menu, e.g. scrambled eggs, apple juice, etc.  to see if we can get those instead of just the fixed menu shown on the order form.