JAGR

That looks like the butlers. I see Onil! I was asking about the captain. Have a great cruise.

Who is the captain? We are on in two weeks. Looking forward to seeing Arthur again in the YC Dining Room!

Hi, Pistol Pete: Loved your review, but I have a question about getting a ride to the terminal. Google Maps is confusing. If I am taking an Uber from my hotel in Prospect Park, can the driver drop me off right at the terminal, by pier 12? It looks like a private road, and I have two pieces of roller luggage. Thanks!

Question on limo/car service drop off at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. When I Google the terminal, it seems there are a couple of places to get dropped off. Does anyone have experience with this port, or any advice? Where should I have the drive drop me off at. I will have two pieces of roller luggage with me. Thanks, John

🤣 Loved this line! What a perfect descriptor!

Can't you take the Coral Way Route Trolley from the port to downtown and then transfer to other trolleys?

Titles are important to the staff assigned to YC. Technically, your assistant butler prefers to be referred to as Junior Butler.

Like many of us who have sailed on MSC more than a few times, I have had my share of less than satisfactory encounters with customer service, Indeed, to many of us, "MSC customer service" is a true oxymoron. When they've done something good, I think they deserve some recognition. My DW went fairly quickly from ill, to cancer diagnosis, to home hospice care. I called to cancel a B2B we had scheduled in March. By the dates of the cruise, both cancellations should have come with 50% of the booking as a penalty. The agent on the phone noted that one sail date was only one day away from a penalty of only loss of the deposit. She worked on it for a minute, and said since it was within one day, she was able to change the cancellation date to the day before, thus costing only the deposit. Very helpful, if only one agent, but I was impressed. The second thing was that the refunded money was posted to my credit card within three days. In a nutshell, MSC can come through with true "customer service."

I believe it changed when they switched to giving one full-size bottle of liquor or wine per room. That's when they also stopped replenishing the snacks, like Pringles and Toblerone.

To be clear, the in-room refrigerators are stocked free of beer, soft drinks/mixers, and water. No more mini bottles of liquor.

Maybe not quite "wherever you like." They do frown on bringing your pizza into the Top Sail lounge. Anywhere else, yes.

Yes, it is US dollars, and gratuity/service charge is not included.

Vegetarian and kid's menu:

You can book on board. Here is the basic menu:

I believe you are right on both counts! I assume you are talking about Seaside, back in the day! I really did enjoy that ship a few times in 2018. Had Vishnu as Butler on one sailing, and almost always had Arthur as waiter.

Thanks! That was my point! You originally said, " 2 hours ago, DaKahuna said: Looking at our February 11 Divina sailing, the Thermal Area Couple Cruise Pass -- 11 Day is $341 per adult; the single pass is $227 per day. (My emphasis!)

Onil especially! Meteoric rise from Pool Guard/Attendant to Jr. Butler to Butler in a few short years; all the while with an ever-present smile and sincere desire to provide outstanding service! I would add Arnold, From YC Lounge Butler to regular Butler extraordinaire within a year!

Could you re-check that? I find it hard to believe: A couple's pass for 11 days is $341 each, or $31 per person/per day, and a one-night stand is $227 per person/per day!

Just curious, and it may be semantics or Explora Journeys terminology, but you mentioned a room stewardess. In YC terms, that would be the Junior Butler, correct? The reason I ask is that on our first YC sailing, it was stressed to us that Junior Butler was a coveted title that the holder was very proud to own.

At least your chart spells Meraviglia correctly! In all seriousness, it would be interesting to somehow carve out the passenger-facing crew numbers for comparison. I do think that they cutting across the board, but I'm wondering how much efficiency measures have reduced the number of behind-the-scenes crew totals (e.g., automation advances with laundry, number of engineering support personnel for machine and motor preventive maintenance, less dependence on communications personnel, etc.). It may not be all that significant, but there are differences between Seashore/Seascape and Seaside/Seaside.

No, that option is gone.

So glad you had a great time! We have enjoyed all of our sailings on MSC (all YC). Having lived for some time in Wisconsin for grad school, we found that the only thing missing at MSC bars is that they don't have dice cups and so do not know how to do Shake of The Day! 😁

That may be the difference. All our MSC cruises have been out of US ports to the Caribbean, and not out of Caribbean ports. Maybe MSC has different suppliers or policies for ships originating in Caribbean ports.

Yes. you can even use the casino to convert OBC into cash.

Well, judging by your title, there is no "poop deck" on Explora Journeys! 😉 Have a great time, and happy holidays to you both!