psmarkle

Sorry I didn't work on this yesterday. Had the day off, so it was wrapping presents all day. Seriously, how much crap can we put under that tree!? 😲

I take $1K for gambling and I start w/ a $500 buy-in. Never had to go back into the safe for the other half. I usu play $20-$35 per hand, depending on the game I'm playing. For example, 3-card poker I play $15 ante. If I get good cards, then I bet the other $15 on the hand. The Ultimate Texas Hold "Em that I learned this cruise is a little different as there are 4 separate entry points for betting, but that will be anywhere from $15-$50 total bet/hand. Hit my 1,200 points on night #3. I started a thread on the 30% back before the cruise...some good info in there. When booking the YC, it works out to about $3K off the cruise fare, so even if I lose the $1k, I'm still coming out ahead.

Day 5, Costa Maya. Thanksgiving Day for us Americans! Now, I had researched on here and other trip boards about best places in Costa Maya. Our last time to this port (pre-covid), we did a Mayan pyramids tour. So, this time I found a kite surfing school associated with an eco-friendly beach club, Hayhu. Now, we were supposed to visit this port on our third trip on the Seaside back in 2020 when covid shut everything down. The owners are from Paraguay and e-mailed us that it would take some time to refund our deposit. We told them, no problem, keep it as they could probably use the $$ since their business got shut down. We were scheduled to try again in April 2021, but that cruise also got canceled. For this cruise, I dug up the old e-mails and got in touch with them...they said they will still apply our deposit from 2 years ago! What great folks! We've done all the touristy beach clubs (Mr Sancho's in Cozumel, 7-mile beach, etc), so I wanted to try something away from the crowds and Hayhu checked off all the boxes! We booked the VIP deck, but really didn't need to. Plenty of chairs and everyone treated like VIPs! Our private deck had it's own bathroom, plenty of shade, and a $300 food/beverage credit which we did not completely use despite ordering many, many Dos Equis beers and lots of food! The guac was awesome, so we ordered a second batch! The day before our arrival, the kite surfing instructor e-mailed us to say the forecast was for little wind, so he canceled our lessons. Well, when the rain storms rolled in (3 times while we were there), there sure was plenty of wind then! Hayhu is a very relaxing, quite place. I've posted more on the Costa Maya port message board on Cruisecritic. Here are some pics of a little slice of paradise...

For the evening, some dinner pics below. Funny thing, I don't remember what some of the dishes were, but they must have been good as we had eaten most of them before remembering to take some pics! The crew also started decorating for Christmas which was a nice touch. After the show and boogie time on the promenade, went back to work in the casino! Was a profitable evening!

Apologies for not having pics of this evening's meal. I can assure you there was a filet mignon involved, though! At the casino, I switched from 3-card poker as I was slowly losing $$, and moved over to Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. The group at the table were awesome in teaching me how to play, and since I was the only person tipping the waiter, my Grey Goose Cosmo never got empty...which can be dangerous!~ LOL(but Ocifer, I'm not as think as you drunk I am!) Once I changed games, so did my luck. Start of a streak of wining some every night, and I hit my 1,200 points for the 30% off letter! So, Day 4, Sea Day! DW and I hit the thermal spa right after breakfast. Did not take any pics, but it's a very nice area with a wide selection of treatments available. For YC, they asked us to wear our robes from the cabin, if possible. Maybe for ID purposes, but we did just walk right up, got a locker key, and were on our way, no other questions! Didn't even ask our room #. My fav is the ice room where I did make a couple of snowballs and tossed them at the wall...it's the kid in me 🙂 Afterwards, went to the YC pool deck and spent the day. I do like the pool deck area better than the Seaside and Seashore where there is little shade. As you can see in the pics, the Mera has tinted glass awnings, so it helps keep you from getting pink! Again, we were told the YC was full, but it sure never felt like it. I did take a pic of the main pool deck around 9:30am...it wasn't totally full, but when we went for pizza at the buffet for lunch, the place was completely packed! Get there early, I guess.

My apologies, I do not recall the name of the YC Director, but know we had great service the whole week! Did not meet the Hotel Director.

After boogie-ing down, I hit the casino, or "go to work time" to start earning points for another 30% off coupon for next summer's Greek islands cruise on the Divina. I introduced myself to the pit boss and told him I was after that 30% off letter, he replied, "no problem, we'll make sure you get there!" Earned it by night #3 playing 3-card poker and then Ultimate Texas Hold Em. Next stop...Ocean Cay! But first, hit the gym at 6am when they open. It's how I started every morning. On MSC, they actually have a barbell rack, which is rare on ships. Got to do my squats and the ceiling was just high enough to do clean & jerks as well, so I was very happy not to have to fight for any of the machines! There were 2 rowing machines which used for my cardio. Nice not to get on that treadmill! OK, Ocean Cay! The previous day, I stopped by the YC concierge and asked about getting Cabana #5 at the YC beach. It's close to Ocean House and access to the water. He had us down for Cabana #2, at the end of the beach area and far from Ocean House. Not a big problem, we'll make it work, I told the concierge. More on that in a minute. Now, when we sailed the Seashore back in April, Captain DePalma turned the ship around and backed us all the way down the channel and docked. Was fun to watch and I was very impressed with the driving of the boat! This time, we sailed straight in and I learned there was enough room to turn the ship around and then dock. Cool! Get up early to watch the process, I enjoyed it! (plus I was already up to hit the gym). Now, I had booked the jet ski excursion online a while back. It sells out daily, so FYI if that's something you're wanting to do. Back in April, it was canceled due to winds and rough water, so we wanted to try again this cruise. However, we did not get our time slots until last night when I noticed we were at 12:30. Umm, it's a 1.5 hour excursion, and lunch at Ocean House is only 12-2pm. Our butler, Mark Anthony, escorted us off the ship and walked us to the excursion booth. I explained our time slot dilemma and was told they were completely booked for the day, but we could get a refund if we wanted. Bummed out, Mark Anthony solved the problem. He told us to ask our YC Beach butler...they have 1-2 Butlers assigned to servicing the Cabanas...to place our food order at the end of the lunch time and have it delivered to our cabana so it would be waiting for us after jet skiing. Worked out great! The food was waiting for us contained in giant bento boxes...the fries were still hot, nice! I recommend ordering the Ocean House salad and then 2 lobster rolls. I then take the lobster and putting it on top of the salad and skipping the rolls. The charred octopus is also done well, so venture out a little! Even though there 4.600 people sailing and the YC was full, finding beach chairs at the YC beach was not an issue. Be warned, you should wear water shoes as the first 10-15ft into the water is rocky. Now, we took the YC Golf Cart to Ocean House and told the attendant we reserved Cabana #2 based off what the Concierge told me. Well, what a nice surprise to find out we had been switched to my request of Cabana #5 🙂 It's the little things! Cabana #5 view below... This was a very relaxing day! Our cabana came with 4 floats/rafts which were put to good use to hold our drinks on while in the water LOL Also had a filled cooler with bottles of water and a chilled bottle of prosecco waiting for us! Not sure if the prosecco is standard, but we slurped it down while it was still chilled!

Almost forgot the desserts...the apple crumble was the best one! After dinner, we hit the show. I found the entertainment fresh and well performed. You didn't have to read into the theme to figure out what was going on. Although you're supposed to make reservations for the show, we just showed them our YC wrist bands and were sent right through. There is an upper level section roped off for YC guests, but I like to go down to the first row to be up close to the performance. After the show, we headed out to the promenade where they would have some sort of music and dancing. We worked up a sweat out there almost every night! The best part was having actual dancers spaced out in the crowds showing everyone the dance moves, so even I busted a move out there! What fun it was!

Our first day was a visit to Nassau. Now, we've been here sooo many times, we just stay on the ship and enjoy all the amenities while everyone is in town. Now, having said that, the British Colonial Hilton is walking distance from the pier and makes a nice day at the beach. We previously booked a day beach pass here that comes with a food/beverage credit and have enjoyed ourselves fully. Now, we stayed on board and totally enjoyed the YC pool area to mostly ourselves along with great drink service 🙂 It was also a great day to enjoy the water slides with zero waiting!

Departure time! Then, time for dinner! Scallops for appie's...seriously good! Pumpkin raviolis, clam risotto for the table, and, of course, my filet mignon...on point! Also ordered a side of fries to go with my steak.

It's now a little after 11am when we finally get escorted onboard and taken to the Topsail Lounge for cocktails before going up for lunch. When we cruise, I have my fav cocktail, a Grey Goose Cosmo...and I wasted no time ordering drink #1! As I was waiting for it to arrive, the YC Director is making the rounds. When I introduced ourselves, he said, "Oh, did you get notified about your Upgrade?" Not until we checked in, I replied. He seemed very concerned and said he hoped it was acceptable as there were mechanical problems in our original cabin. No worries, I said, we'll make it work. It made me wonder what exactly went on on the last cruise that the YC Director immediately knew who we were due to our "upgrade??" Now, I will say that I do like the YC area on the Seaside and Seascape better with the open 2-story floorplan. You can have cocktails in the lounge and our waiter would wave to us over the railing of the restaurant when our table was ready. On the Mera, the lounge and restaurant are on 2 floors. Not a big deal, just a preference. Now, being a carnivore, I love my steak! On MSC, the everyday steak in the MDR is a NY Strip, but in the YC, it's filet mignon. Yum-o! Spoiler alert, I had filet mignon every night of the cruise and just sampled a bite of others' dishes. There were some nights where the menu did not appeal to me, but I always had my filet to enjoy, so I am not going to complain about the food at all! So, for our first lunch/meal on board, guess what I got??... Even though it's on the dessert side of the menu, our bunch enjoys the amazing cheeses offered with our bread before the meal. After our waiter learned our preferences, he had it ready for us every night! Speaking of, at lunch, we had Jayson as our waiter and requested to have him as our dinner waiter the rest of the cruise. Well, turns out Jayson did not have a table for 5 in his area, so the first night we had a random waiter that had a larger table. However, the next night and on, the Maitre' D created a 5-person table in Jayson's section just for us. His assistant Latoya, from Jamaica, were absolutely superb. I'd definitely recommend asking for them if you sail on Meraviglia. Jayson also serenades guests during dinner...the YC Director said he was afraid the Dancers/performers were going to hire him away from the YC because he's so talented! I'll have pics of him coming up later in this review!

So, 5 of us piled into the family beast (our Nissan Armada) with our new, soft-sided luggage carrier loaded and hit I-95 southbound on Friday night after work. Since we are still tied to the school calendar, we opted to take 2 days to drive to Port Canaveral for a Sunday departure, then 3 of us flew back the following Sunday while DS's took a few days to drive back since they are currently off from work. The night before the cruise, we stayed at the Hyatt Place in Titusville, FL, since it was only 3,500 points per room, which was worth 4.6 cents per point...a great value! It was 30 mins from the port. Woke up Sunday morning, hit the fitness center for a good sweat session, breakfast w/ DW, and the kids met us in the lobby with their luggage by 9:15 am. Although we had a noon check-in time, we have not had anyone turn us away on our prior cruises, so we arrived at 10am to a line of cars. It was actually quite well organized. The attendants would only let a car past the cones when an unloading spot opened up, unlike the Miami terminals where you could be 3 lines deep to pull up to the terminal. Once we pulled into a spot, a porter met us to assist with our luggage $$. My family went with the luggage to the YC check-in tent while I went and parked the car at the parking garage, which was not far away. A butler came to the YC tent to escort a group of us up an escalator and into the terminal...this was about 10:30 and the terminal was already packed! We got separated from the group in all the chaos, so we scanned around for the YC check-in area. A "most helpful" man tried to tell us we had to go the end of the regular line at which time I explained we were sailing in the Yacht Club. A nearby MSC person overheard us and came and got our group and walked us right past him to the YC check-in area where we were greeted with this... Now, things got interesting at check-in, but first, a view from the YC check-in area into the main terminal. Again, this is approx 10:30. We were informed there were 4,600 passengers on this Thanksgiving cruise and the YC was full, although it never felt like it was full the whole week! As we checked in with the MSC agent at the entrance to the YC check-in area, when we gave our name, she asked, "oh, did you know about your upgrade?" No, I retort, I did not bid on an upgrade and we're already in the YC. I thought maybe we got moved to one of the 2-story YC cabins, by chance? Nope. they explained there were some mechanical problems with our original cabin, 16011, so they moved us into 2 separate 2-person cabins on deck 14 of the YC. The problem with that is our DD is 17, so she cannot be assigned a solo cabin, so they put my wife in 1 cabin, and DD and I in the other. DW not happy about this. I whispered to her that we just play along until after the muster drill, then we swap cabin assignments. Sure enough, that's what we did, and there was no problems the rest of the cruise. Turns out, since both our boys were on deck 15, they used DD's cabin as their hangout location since it was next to our cabin. Although we could have made a fuss over being put in 2 diff cabins, we chose to make it work and had a great cruise after all! More on our cabin "upgrade" when I get to our first drink in the Topsail Lounge!

Have come out ahead on all 3 of our cruises...not by much (I only take $1K for gambling), but still walked off with some of their $$ and the 30% certificate.

It rhymes with cruises-n-"smores".com 😉

If you get a chance, try sailing them in the Yacht Club. It's a completely different world! We just sailed the Mera a month ago with 2 cabins in the YC...amazing cruise!

Don't know if I'll get in deep doo-doo on here, but it rhymes with cruises-n- "smores" 😁

I haven't figured out how to DM yet (I'm "vintage"), but the TA we currently use gives 10% back of commissionable fare (not taxes and port fees) as OBC, no questions asked. Our Thanksgiving cruise in the YC, 2 cabins, $650 obc!

We sailed Mera out of PC for Thanksgiving, 20-27 Nov. They do not check your boarding times. We got to the port at 10 am and it was crowded already. Full ship with 4,600 passengers on this sailing (note: YC Director said it was considered full because they have decks 10 & 11 blocked off for COVID quarantine use). Took us a total of 1 hour to get on board, but that was from unloading our luggage, me parking the SUV and walking back, then getting escorted up to the YC boarding area in the terminal (they changed our cabin, so check-in took a little longer), then finally on board.

Yes, for reasons I'll explain in my review soon, we got moved from our original YC deluxe into 2 YC deluxe that only hold 2 people. My DD and myself in 1 and DW right next door. Talked with the YC Concierge, and he confirmed that we both got the Diamond perks since we were in 2 different cabins. However, we never used them as we truly enjoyed the YC restaurant where I had the Filet Mignon every night!

I think we use the same agency. This last cruise, we got $400 on our 3-person cabin and $250 on our 2-person cabin, both in the YC. I have yet to find an agency outside of this one who can beat that, and I've tried several. I let them know up front what I'm looking for, so I don't feel bad if I do not continue to book with them.

OK, sorry it's taken a week, but work has been busy after the holidays! OK, here's my thoughts, we loved this place...so peaceful! However, based on your comments about a smaller group, I'd skip the VIP pkg, but would get there early. We had an 0930 pickup from our pier which was a different pier than the other cruise ships. We were the first guests there for the day and had a great reception by the staff before being escorted up to our VIP deck. Now, there were 4 of us and the deck was most accommodating. Having said that, we had a $300 food/drink credit that came with the VIP experience and we only used $230 of it despite our best efforts to drink it all away LOL!! So, if you are a smaller party, I'd skip the VIP deck and go regular admission. Now, the place did fill up within 90 mins-to 2 hrs after we arrived, so I'd get there early to pick your spot. For lunch, we had the guacamole for appetizer...order exztra chips...it was made fresh on the premises and was so good, we ordered a second batch! We then ordered the $140 grilled meat platter...OMG, so good and so much! We actually did not finish it all! Definitely order it, though! DW loved the beef short ribs as the best. Our kids went out on the 2 sea kayaks, even in the rain showers while DW and I huddled in our private bathroom with all our stuff to keep it dry. Everyone else sought shelter in the main house. As for the kite surfing, the Instructor e-mailed us the day before saying the forecast was for minimal winds, so he canceled our lessons. Well, with the storms that rolled in, there was ample wind for everybody! No worries, we'll try again next port visit. At the end, they will give you your bill with a credit card price and a discounted cash price. I brought plenty of cash and instead of $492 balance due, it was $451...I like those kind of deals! We also put $120 in the tip jar at the bar...well worth the very attentive service we enjoyed. So, yes, if we cruise back to Costa Maya, we're going back to Hayhu again! So relaxing, great service, great food, enjoyable beach day!!

Also no fee at the tables, either. This is a great perk vs other lines I've played on that do charge the 3% fee (or they used to, haven't sailed them since I discovered MSC!).

Yes, this is our third YC cruise booked with the 30% casino voucher + 5% Voyagers Club. You have to reach 1200 points to earn the voucher. On slot machines, it will tell you how many points you have earned. I play 3 Card Poker and just ask the dealer for my points total. Once I hit 1200, I throttle back my playing, if any more at all. Interesting note, on our last cruise on the Seashore in April, a fellow player and I were discussing the discount. He got a free inside cabin offer from the Casino Dept. He then paid to upgrade all the way to the YC. We did some rough cocktail napkin math, and it seemed the 30% discount was the better deal for booking the YC. YMMV, but food for thought.

Boarding in a couple of hours! Sunday, 20 Nov 22. I failed to do a complete review back in April, but aspire to contribute on this cruise. Can't wait to see the white YC tent and those golden luggage tags!! It's the little things 🙃

YC all the way! For us, a group of 4 on most cruises, it works out to around $3K off the cruise. You can also stack your Voyager's Club 5% discount with it! Instead, of $9,600'ish for a YC1 cabin, we paid right at $6,500 for a group of 4. Then, with the big box travel agency we use, they give a 10% back of the cruise fare as obc, so that more than covers our gratuities and DW's casino $$! Boarding in a couple of hours!!