kelly94942

Back at the Top Sail lounge for a sail-away cocktail.  A couple of interesting things we learned: 

• The shops (at least the MSC Shop) doesn’t open until 6:30 PM.  We have a coupon we are hoping to use to buy the cruise ship model Geoff gets on each new ship we sail, and it’s only good the first day.  We’ll pop by there after dinner.
• As everyone seems to agree, the muster process on MSC is ridiculous.  Having everyone going up and down the stairs at the same time is hot and crowded.  Thankfully we had our super cool neck fans (lol) that I bought us.  Those did help with the air flow, but the overall process still isn’t great.
• The walls, at least in our suite, aren’t magnetic for the most part.  It’s not a huge issue for us by any means, but I do bring magnetic hooks and clips, so I’m having to work within the limited amounts of magnetic space that exist.

We met our butler, Ram, and he is great!  He asked about how we wanted our minibar stocked and if we want a daily newspaper.  We also told him that we had a reservation for Butcher’s Cut tomorrow night, and he said he would escort us there.  He mentioned the name of the junior butler as well, but I can’t recall it and haven’t yet met him.

I snagged the map dress that @GenerationX always wears for a steal on Amazon, and I must say that I’ve had so many comments on it!  People love it.  I got a chuckle when one man said to me “I won’t point out on your dress where I’m from….” 😀

Greetings from the Top Sail lounge!  It’s just before noon in Miami and we’re comfortably boarded with welcome drinks.  Our flight from Dallas to Miami last night was uneventful (the best type of flight!).  We slept well, went to CVS for water for Geoff’s CPAP, and then Ubered over to the cruise terminal.  I’ve read that it can be a little awkward cutting in big lines during embarkation and debarkation, and that was indeed the case.  The 6 of us who embarked together all commented about it, hopefully that can be improved somewhat when the new terminal opens.  Not a big deal at all though.  The other thing that I read is that it tends to run warm on MSC ships because they’re European, and I’ve indeed found that to be the case so far.  We packed handheld fans, but they’re in our checked luggage.  For future cruises I will make sure that’s in my carry on!

18 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Curious how internet cooperates for you on board.

Or if you need to upgrade to their better plan.

 

 

We are also wondering about the internet!  We're going to try what's included with YC and upgrade if needed!  @morpheusofthesea was super helpful and told us it was $140 total (for 4 devices) to upgrade for the week on a recent sailing.  So we'll see what happens and will report back on internet for sure.

39 minutes ago, Dgshooter said:

Looking forward to your review. We will be boarding the Seascape the day you get back. Will you be in the YC?

 

 

Yes we will!

Hi everyone!  I wanted to introduce myself and share that I’m planning to do a live review of my upcoming cruise on Seascape.

A bit about me and my travel companion:

I’m Kelly – a 40-something mom from the North Texas area.  That’s Dallas, not Amarillo.  Yes, I know Amarillo is further north!  By day I work in the healthcare industry.  I’ve been on a handful of cruises before, this will be my first on MSC, my first suite, my first cruise with only my husband (that sounds weird), and my first attempt at a live review.

Each of my previous cruises has been with my husband AND my parents.  My parents are avid cruisers who cruise about 1/3 of the year and have for each of the past 5 or 6 non-COVID years.  For one cruise, we had my sister along for the ride and on our most recent cruise we had our then-4 year old (she’s 5 now).  For this one, we’re taking our first kid free trip while our daughter is safely at home in kindergarten under the watchful eyes of my sister, parents, and in-laws!

I love Cruise Critic and I’m hopeful that I can be as helpful with this live review as others have been for me in my trip planning.

Currently I have no real allegiance to any cruise line, looking forward to seeing if MSC changes that at all.

My husband, @StonePayload (aka Geoff), is a 30-something dad (yes, he’s younger than me) who also works in the healthcare industry.  Coincidentally, he also lives in North Texas.  Ha.  He plans to participate in this live review along with me.  Hopefully the added element of competition will help YOU the follower as we try to out-post each other with helpful content!

So far on the pre-cruise checklist we’ve booked all the necessary travel, secured care for the kiddo, and ordered a few new travel goodies.  Turns out, it’s pretty easy to travel kid-free.  I don’t think Geoff’s going to require plane snacks and activities that I need to be well prepared for!  Or will he…..!!

We also saw about “Cruising Ducks” on YouTube, so we bought some ducks and tags.  We’re going to try to hide and seek some ducks while aboard as well.  We love Geocaching (although admittedly we haven’t done much since our daughter was born) and this seems somewhat similar.  Beyond that we’re looking forward to eating, drinking, reading, and playing games.

Yay!  I hopped onto CC looking for this specifically - I figured you would be posting right about now!

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21 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Both. We both upgrade to browse and stream for 2 devices each. It came to $70 a piece, but since I waited til the evening of embarkation day to do the upgrading our statement reflected a $63 each for the rest of the week.

Thank you SO much for all of your very helpful content, including this review.  You're inspiring me to consider doing my own live review on my first MSC cruise later this month.

When you say "a piece" here are the pieces people or devices?  LOL.... really what I'm wondering is would the full cost for week be 2 (people) * $70 = $140 or 4 (devices) * $70 = $280.  My intent is for my husband and I to both upgrade 2 devices each for the week.... 4 upgraded devices.  Hope that's clear as mud!

On 1/13/2023 at 6:49 PM, blue_water said:

No real help, but last we knew there were “well-used” lounges but not a good supply. If someone can’t give you current feedback you may want to go to CGB or Long Bay, Beef Island to be safe…

I think you're right - may not be able to go to Brewers Bay without a current report.  We'll see if someone pops in in the next few days!

Hopefully this isn't considered thread hijacking, but I was wondering if the Apex has resistance bands and/or stretching straps.  My husband currently has some PT stretches he's needing to do daily, and just wondering if we need to bring our own equipment!

On 1/12/2023 at 12:43 PM, vacation44 said:

The e-mail address I used is Janice.Laing@stkittsmarriott.com.

 

Janice was AMAZING to work with!!!  Thank you!!!

3 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I paired everything with a bottle of Penner Ash

Making my mouth water thinking of an excellent Oregon Pinot!  I miss living in the Willamette Valley!

15 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I have a Celebrity Suite booked for Gen Z and I’s Solstice cruise in March and my current suite plus seeing Red’s has me strongly considering an aggressive move up bid to a Royal Suite

This is my fear... your review already has me pricing out RS for a cruise this fall (and looking and MSC suites as well).  But I'm afraid I'd never be able to go back..... a slippery slope, for sure!  

On 1/3/2023 at 9:04 PM, blue_water said:

You could just taxi to Brewers Bay to enjoy a beach that still has that old Caribbean vibe with one beach bar and shared rustic restrooms.

Does Brewers Bay also (currently) have chairs available to rent?  My parents will be traveling with us and will be unable to sit directly on the ground on the sand/towel.

Hi there - I'm interested in going to Brewer's Beach,  but I read somewhere that chairs may not be available.  Has anyone been in the past few months and can provide a current report on chair availability?

8 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Glad we reserved months ago for the $39 price.   I contacted the hotel directly and they were quick to reply and very helpful.  We will be going in March 2023.

Can you share how you contacted them?  Did you call 1 869-466-1200 as listed on their website?  

15 hours ago, Cap_D said:

When a required vax, plus testing and masks were still a thing, in April 2022, our 4.5 year old sailed Edge for a first big trip post-pandemic.  We probably had less than 10 kids on the ship despite the Easter holiday.  Our son had a great time.  Definitely not for a child that would want an amusement park, splash paid, or even shuffleboard.  

Great to hear!  We're taking our nearly 5 year old on Apex in a few weeks!  I think she'll have a great time and will definitely be happy with "just" the pool and Kids Club!

On 12/11/2022 at 12:42 PM, atlast95 said:

We had not reserved in advance and paid $49 per person at the Front Desk to receive wrist bands.

 

This is less expensive than I see reserving in advance ($60pp without transportation) - seems like not reserving might be the way to go!

Does anyone know if they ever book up in advance?  Trying to weigh the risk here.

18 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

I thought they were getting rid of the wine packages.  

I saw the same on YouTube a few days ago. 

5 hours ago, Married90 said:

Does anyone know why you can no longer pre-purchase a photo package (either digital or hard print) online ? It disappeared a few weeks ago (as best that I can tell) for both of our upcoming cruises (March and November).

I noticed this also!  Within the past few weeks (maybe even past few days?) I was looking and it seemed like there was a photo package for somewhere between $100-200.  Now I only see the $400+ package you see.  I was planning to purchase the photo package but I won't for $400+.  That's disappointing!

Following along!  I know GenerationX from college and ALWAYS enjoy her stories.  Added bonus this time is that it helps get me ready/excited for my January Apex cruise!  🙂

4 hours ago, Stricks08 said:

Just following up here - we are on day 3 on the Beyond TA so wanted to send you an update on how our 3 year olds are doing.  They’ve been really enjoying it and the crew have been incredible

Thank you so much for this detailed and helpful post!  I'm taking my 4 year year old on Apex in January and this helps me get even more excited!

Thank you all so much for your kind words!

As I have mentioned in the past, I am happy to continue to do additional update on this spreadsheet if/when prices change or there are other updates available!