Notch8

Day 4 (Wednesday)

I had a chance to speak to the cruise director about any changes to Ocean Cay. 1. He confirmed that it is ready so if we miss it will be for another reason. 2. He stated that the biggest improvement is the change to the berth to allow MSC World America to dock. 3. Seakers buffet was apparently enlarged as well. I’ll report out what I observe on Thursday.

I’m currently on the MSC Meraviglia that is scheduled to stop in Ocean Cay on Thursday. I had a chance to speak to the cruise director about any changes. 1. He confirmed that it is ready so if we miss it will be for another reason. 2. He stated that the biggest improvement is the change to the berth to allow MSC World America to dock. 3. Seakers buffet was apparently enlarged as well. I’ll report out what I observe on Thursday.

OK… at the excursion desk they had a display of an UPDATED map of Ocean Cay. They didn’t have printed copies though…. but they did have printed copies of the old map. I took a photo of what appears to be the updated map; compare to the old map. Looks like many of the food trucks are gone. Let’s hope “Seakers Food Court” is larger than it was before. (First one is what I believe is the NEW map; second one the OLD map.)

OK, time for rant, part 2: I decided to get the fresh orange juice before breakfast. So I asked when I entered the dining room where I go to get it. “Bamboo bar.” Ship geography lesson: dining room is near the stern in deck 6. Bamboo bar is near the bow on deck 15. I don’t think there are two locations farther apart than these two. Rant over. I’ll deal with it; it doesn’t ruin my cruise (which has been excellent.) Jim

Sorry I missed this one…. so far I’ve only seen three different types out at a time. Time will tell if this changes. Jim

Brunch is in the main dining room if you want a sit-down meal. Buffet is just like any other ship… mostly breakfast items in the morning then switching to lunch around 11 or so. Jim

Loving it! I was nervous because MSC does things a bit differently, but she’s enjoying the differences! They have been especially attentive to her dietary restrictions; we even had a note in our room upon boarding that they have noted this and informed the dining room staff. That was especially comforting to her! Jim

Day 3 (Tuesday)

Yes ma’am! I certainly did! And may I extend my sincere thanks to you for your previous trip reports! The tips I’ve learned from your reports have made this trip (and the previous one in July) much more enjoyable! Thank you so much for sharing! Sincerely, Jim

Key activities for today included the Master Chef show (Masterchef@sea) and Music Madness game show. Both were a lot of fun. They had some nice prizes for the winners and participants. I haven’t done any trivia games yet so don’t know if they give out prizes for that. They didn’t in July; otherwise I’d have brought home something. Food has been good! Portion sizes are typical cruise ship sizes. I had the steak and eggs for brunch; steak was a small filet and it was great! I liked the brunch as did the folks we shared a table with. (Other than the aforementioned gripe about the fresh pressed orange juice.). Lunch was Hola tacos. We don’t typically do specialty restaurants but decided that the price was reasonable and we weren’t disappointed. Very nice atmosphere, great food, decent price. Tonight was gala night, so lobster for both DW and me. DW and I also ordered a filet entree to split between us and make it a “surf and turf” and weren’t charged the extra $5. Waiter will get a nice tip at the end of the week, for sure! Food quality so far is good; food has been coming out nice and hot. I think it helps that our table is right next to a waiter station… of course, this has its downside too. Fruit quality in the buffet is excellent too. And did I mention that the ice cream is wonderful? 😁 As I write this I’m waiting in the theater for the show “Journey.” Expecting it to be just as enjoyable as when I saw it in July. Jim

Ok… walking from our room to the theater, I passed one of the room stewards who had an armful of boxes of facial tissues. So clearly they are available. I guess they only provide upon request. Jim

We have wash cloths. Jim

Found it. Thanks!

No facial tissues in our room, nor bar soap. Not sure if they have them available. The shower has body wash and shampoo in dispensers; DW and I brought our own. They don’t have a trash bin in the bathroom either… bit of a head-scratcher on that one. Jim

Good luck to OP… hoping that silence is golden!

Yeah… I figured a way to do it. Takes two phones… one to display the QR code, and the other to bring up the list.

Not a rant, but an eye roll…. Anyone see a problem with this?

I grabbed a couple of beer menus from a couple of bars. Hope they have something you like! I see any more I’ll post. Jim

Ok, time for a bit of a rant. If you look at the menu for brunch, it has, in the upper right, a list of drinks. One of which is “fresh pressed orange juice.” So I asked for this (we have drink package) and the server said someone will come around to take drink orders. OK, fine. Drink server informed me that they don’t serve it in the dining room; you have to go to a bar. My reply was “Then don’t put it on the menu!!” I guess he could tell I was irritated so the head waiter came by and took care of it. I got my juice. I’m usually pretty easy going, but - come on; I should be able to order what’s on the menu!!

Day 2 (Monday)

Buffet will stay open. Just nothing in Main Dining Room. Jim

Same menu every day. Another thread has the menu but here it is again:

We will be there Thursday. Looks like times are 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Jim

Day two has begun. We had a very enjoyable day on the ship. Other than explore, we had a light lunch in the buffet, (wasn’t real impressed with the variety. And last time I was on there were cream puffs; they didn’t have any yesterday. However, the ice cream was as good as I remembered it!) enjoyed a great dinner in the Panorama dining room, and saw the show (Wonderville House of Magic.). The show featured four different magicians who each did a couple of tricks. The tricks were mostly familiar ones; no Penn and Teller here. But the show was entertaining. Bring earplugs; the shows are loud. Couple of observations: - Same old safety drill. Maybe a bit more flexible though; watch the video, call the number, and go to muster station. But they said when you were done calling the number you could just go. Eventually they called decks anyway…. I guess for those expecting such. - Brunch is a real thing now. No separate breakfast and lunch except for the day in Nassau. Other port days have breakfast only; sea days have brunch. Brunch hours are 8:00 - 1:30. I think I’m going to like this better. - Library is gone. They put slot machines there, as @JamieLogical noted in another thread. It used to be a calm classy place. Now it adds noise and looks wrong. But MSC is in the business of making money, so I guess they’ll do what they must. - Still two services of the room every day. Today we will enjoy Hola Tacos. Tonight’s show is Journey. I saw this one in July and enjoyed it. NOTE: I’ve posted the dinner menus and am uploading the daily planners on other threads. Let me know if there are any further questions. Jim