no1talks

1 hour ago, dmc94 said:

"Oh that's perfect. Thank you very much."

No later than one day before the stop at OC. Also, let you butler in on the plan because most of the YC staff will be working the YC portion of the island. Your butler's island assignment may place him or her in a position to look out for your dietary interests. 😉

10 minutes ago, AC Stew said:

"Of course, that could happen, but I doubt that it would be in sufficient numbers to entail an epidemic of lounger abuse!"

Except when the furniture breaks and somebody whines about getting hurt. 

Rather than having the requisite guts to make examples of a few offenders and let word spread about the dire consequences, the poltroon's path has been chosen: Take away the furniture.

Eventually, there will be a fee attached to the return of these chairs to offset the breakages caused by cruisers who were raised by wolves.

 

36 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

"Will that include the snazzy socks?"

No. The next cruise is Barbados and vicinity and those socks are strictly non-tropical. No worries, though.

18 minutes ago, Mutzi S. said:

"These were all very nice golf shorts."

That being the case, I guess I'll bring a few pairs of plus-fours on the next cruise. 😆

35 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

"I was told that the passengers in the X cabins with loungers used them irresponsibly."

"Irresponsibly?" Goodess, what could they possibly mean??

2 hours ago, Notch8 said:

"Another thread has the menu but here it is again"

I noticed this menu does not have the $12 24-layer Venchi chocolate cake. I suppose a dessert that pricey was an immediate flop. Unfortunate, but understandable.

Maybe it will survive on other ships' brunch menus.

56 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

"All items on the menu are complimentary apart from the drinks."

Wow, I expected the opposite for YCers: Foods like the Venchi cake and lobster Benedict would retain the menu upcharge and beverages would not be charged due to YC's drink package. 

44 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

"The brunch is indicated in the YC daily planner."

The announcement mentions "a complimentary offering." No mention of some items being an additional charge, however.

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

"The only demographic i know that would hoard fruit are Asians. It's very specific cultural thing for Asians from a wide variety of countries."

OMG! It all makes sense now.

In this famous picture, Premier Zhou Enlai wasn't disdainful of President Nixon's overtures towards China; he was distracted.

It was the fruit, all along! 🍐🍊🍏

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

"...compelled you to book the cruise in the first place."

In our case, it was an evening visit from a rather dapper Romanian TA.

1 hour ago, Fissues said:

"I saw one carrying a 3 lb. Ball of Mozzarella back to the cabin!"

Well, in my defense, it did look like it could use some sun.

10 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"Just fortify any wine with 80 to 100 proof liquor will pass as kosher."

18 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

"If it is on more ships...I wonder if they'll post it in the YC daily planner?"

 

I suspect the typical YC maître d' would be mortified at the thought of losing breakfast traffic to the MDR. I'd wager an offer would be made to prepare a brunch menu item in the YC, if I mentioned we would be trying the MDR brunch the next day.

However, on the World ships, I daresay the possible reduction of YC breakfast traffic on sea days would be welcome.

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

"...and the balconies tacked on."

Better engineering than "tacked on," I hope. 😆

5 minutes ago, ajoneen said:

"I gave her the facts and she agreed that MSC CS had not handled the situation correctly and that the individuals involved will receive retraining."

The retraining...

17 minutes ago, peder said:

And ya know, I'd argue that the Explora 1 is the largest YC.

Except only one of the three categories of rooms receives butler service.

Explora focuses on speciality dining venues, rather than one general menu. This makes it harder to establish special dining requests than in YC. One can have the same server team for all your dinners in YC, which makes standing requests easy.

So, rather different from Yacht Club, really.

9 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

No snacks openly available in the Top Sail Lounge, no breakfast or lunch buffet at the One Bar, loungers filling up like they do at the gen pop pools, people having to wait 30-60 minutes for a table in the YC restaurant (I have never had to wait for a table in many YC cruises), Butlers stretched much thinner, etc. I have had nothing but great experiences on the "older" ships I have sailed and have no desire to try something new at a much higher price point, just to be disappointed.

This is terrible news. 😵

4 minutes ago, GA Dave said:

"Way too many special services, amentities, etc. have been lost on World Europa due to the increased size of the YC."

Please elaborate. I'm curious about specific changes because I've not read about anything other than the unfavorable passenger-to-space ratio in World Europa's YC. (Which is bad enough, of course.) Thanks in advance.

6 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

"Italian time plus Island time? Not a guarantee, not even close. LOL"

That could result in a delay so long that Doc Brown will be the returning captain!

9 hours ago, SailorfromBrazil said:

"...quote for a YCB on a similar 14 nights"

 

Similar?

I really like MSC and YC, but I like them a bit less with each cut they make, so I'm not making this post as big hater of the product. Other than the cruises all being 14-nights and Florida closed-loop itineraries, they are not similar at all.

The Seashore cruise you cited is just a 7-day cruise repeated, doubling-back to Cozumel and Costa Maya, with the difference of Nassau during the 1st week and a 2nd day at Ocean Cay during the 2nd, instead of just one during the 1st. Why pay for the repetition?

The World America itinerary doesn't repeat ports, except for Ocean Cay of course. However, everyone booking YC on World America should keep in mind her sister ship, World Europa, has 152 cabins in YC. Seascape has 131 and there has been no significant increase across all the Europa YC venues to accommodate the increased passenger count. One may be paying top dollar (by MSC standards) for an elevated but crowded World America YC experience. We'll have to see what the first cruisers report.

However, the Silver Shadow cruise I cited has no risk of being crowded and she's making unrepeated calls to places MSC visits only from their cruises that embark from the Leeward Islands (if visited at all). So add the cost of roundtrip airfare from/to Miami if you want to make an apples-to-apples comparison of island itineraries.

Ultimately, anyone who wants to spend more on a cruise and enjoy more than the basic "three hots and a cot" needs to decide what is really necessary for their included amenities and how much extra they are willing to pay. They also need to be content paying for extras they don't care about, because pretty much any premium/luxury cruise will include stuff one doesn't want, but still pays for.

9 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"The cockroaches were humungous, and stood their ground and would attack instead of scurry and hide."

Yes, in Mexico las cucarachas are quite formidable. However, I have had gotten excellent results by offering them American cigarettes to leave me alone.

8 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

"...made a trip to Mexico to the Cabana in Cuernavaca."

When you arrived, was it reserved for @morpheusofthesea and did it already have deck towels woven into the ceiling? No cabana (or cabaña) is outside his sphere of influence! 😆

On 5/13/2024 at 8:51 PM, Anastas617 said:

"...I was on Vegas boards a lot and I would get frustrated that whenever people would ask 'Would you stay at Flamingo or Harrah's?' and you would get quite a few 'Don't stay there, stay at Wynn or Bellagio' completely ignoring that the asker was looking at budget hotels."

The funny thing about Vegas is if you wait long enough, the properties that were once a big splurge and big deal become "affordable" stays. (I'm looking at you, Luxor.) 😆

11 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"Silversea doesn't do closed loop from South Florida."

They do, but not many. One has to search diligently or put a TA on the task.

7 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

And did I say I couldn’t enjoy either if I had to dress up??  And I guess some people are stating if they have to dress up they will ‘politely’ decide not to cruise on a particular line. 

You seem very defensive.

After all, you brought up the point by implying a difference between a cruise and a wedding, as a means of refuting an implied double-standard held by those who will dress up for a wedding, but not a cruise.

However, a cruise and a wedding may not be so different. It is not all that unusual for couples to combine a wedding or vow renewal with a cruise

Do you always see yourself as the specific subject of an observation made to indicate a non-specific portion of the cruising population?