Live from the Seaside April 7, 2018

[A&L_Ont]

I was getting worried Maureen, I though you were going to pull a Cozumel on us. Nice to see you back. The resort looked great and ship has quite the trunk.

[maureencruiser]

It was all good though because I loved your chest burster deviled eggs. :)

 

:hearteyes::hearteyes: I had to go back to see what you were talking about, they DO look like chest bursters! :'):')

[maureencruiser]

Looks beautiful there! Is that the $90 day pass with transportation included?

 

Yes, it was lovely. I would definitely go back.

[maureencruiser]

I LOVE your drinking shirt!!

I know, I am a pillow snob

 

;);) If Tyrion dies, we riot, right? ;);)

 

Chocolate snobs, pillow snobs....I told y'all I'm a cruiser for the people! :'):')

[maureencruiser]

I was getting worried Maureen, I though you were going to pull a Cozumel on us. Nice to see you back. The resort looked great and ship has quite the trunk.

 

Cozumel is tomorrow, pray for me...

[GOLDENBONNY]

Great review. :hearteyes: Is room service free?

[GOLDENBONNY]

 

 

Chocolate Cuban cigars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow not cheap at all. Did you try it? is it good? would you remember how much those books with chocolate cost?

[Booboochase]

Tyrion? Dying? NoNoNoNoNo!!!! Impossible. Last man standing!

Thanks for the info on Jamaica - always great to have ideas on how to spend the day!

[sandpiper35]

So, hello everyone! I survived Jamaica!! Were you worried about me?

 

Were we worried about you? Nah, but we were ready to send bail money!

 

You know, in case you had too much fun in Jamaica Man! . LOL.

 

My wife and I love your posts, we check during the day for new ones, keep them coming.

 

Cheers.

[sandpiper35]

Cozumel is tomorrow, pray for me...

 

May your anchor be tight

your cork be loose

your rum be spiced

And your compass be true.

 

Cheers.

[maureencruiser]

Great review. :hearteyes: Is room service free?

 

Between 11pm and 6am, there is a 3.50 fee, in addition to your usual tip.

[maureencruiser]

Wow not cheap at all. Did you try it? is it good? would you remember how much those books with chocolate cost?

 

I din't try it, I'm guessing that's Euros per 100gm? 100gm is 3 and 1/2 ounces, I have no idea what the exchange rate is, assuming you're in the US? When I had the deluxe package, it included chocolates, I came home with a bunch... I'll check the price of the books.

[maureencruiser]

Tyrion? Dying? NoNoNoNoNo!!!! Impossible. Last man standing!

Thanks for the info on Jamaica - always great to have ideas on how to spend the day!

 

Half-man standing! If he does, let's hope he goes out the way he always planned to...;p;p

[maureencruiser]

Were we worried about you? Nah, but we were ready to send bail money!

 

Sandpiper, Weren't we on the Divina together? You live in Miami, right?

[maureencruiser]

May your anchor be tight

your cork be loose

your rum be spiced

And your compass be true.

 

Cheers.

 

Thanks! I have videos of the last time I was in Cozumel, I did the Cozumel Bar Hop, should I share those? :'):'):')

[maureencruiser]

All right, so, when I went to bed last night, I had a few thoughts about Grand Cayman. I didn't have anything planned and it is a tender port.

 

I'm "wearing my drinking shirt" Monday and Wednesday, so, perhaps Tuesday would be a good day to sleep in, catch up on my review.

 

I thought about buying some Tortuga Rum Cakes, but, there is literally no room in my suitcase for that.

 

I had told a few people I'd try to mail them postcards, the ship does NOT sell postage, like other ships I've been on.

 

So, I figured I could bring my addresses with me off the ship, pick up some postcards, stamps, and mail them off.

 

And, for my female friends back home, I thought I'd go to Big Black Dick's and see if I could find some t-shirts proclaiming I love Big Black Dick's, (the apostrophe is important here). :')

 

So, I googled mailing postcards from Grand Cayman, trying to find a post office, etc. All I found was people talking about going to Hell and mailing them. I knew I didn't want to pay to go to Hell. :evilsmile:

 

So, I googled Big Black Dick's. I did NOT find any information about a rum store on Grand Cayman! What I did find left me t̶h̶r̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶ ̶ ̶d̶e̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶ ̶ ̶e̶n̶t̶h̶r̶a̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ horrified. ;);)

 

Four hours later, I turned off the computer and went to bed. :'):')

[sandpiper35]

 

Sandpiper, Weren't we on the Divina together? You live in Miami, right?

 

Guilty! Yes we sailed with you last year in the Divina. We were in the Cruise Critic meeting.

 

This year you got ahead of us, we do not sail until May.

 

Enjoy the cruise, tell us all about the good thing to come.

 

Cheers.

[maureencruiser]

So, even though I had priority tendering, my plan was to sleep in, get off the ship at my leisure, ask folks in the shops about stamps.

 

At 7:30, I was awoken (is that a word?) by the sound of them calling the first tenders. Around 9, I finally rolled out of bed.

 

First order of business- on Divina, I was able to preorder an embarkation photo for $10. I like having those because they have the ship, the date, the ports visited, etc.

 

When I tried to preorder here, what they offered was $30. :o

 

 

So, I figured I'd wait and see what was available once I got on the ship.

 

 

So, this is what they do. They print three embarkation photos and bring them to your cabin. If you want them, they're $30 for all three and include a free picture of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want them, you sign for them and keep them. If you don't want them, you send them back with your steward.

 

 

I decided to save that money to use for Butcher's Cut and maybe see if I can get one picture for like $15 or so?

 

 

Off to breakfast I went, they were still calling tenders. The Freedom of the Seas was in port with us.

 

 

 

 

Ah, Freedom, you may have taken my ACL, but you'll never take my Freedom! :')

 

 

And, a Holland America ship, the Nieuw Something? Amsterdam?

 

 

 

My usual breakfast, supplemented by Pain du Chocolat.

 

 

I'd forgotten, MSC has such wonderful pain!

[cmdchiefthom]

Great review, and I just love your photos!!!!:D

[sidari]

Maureen ... What you describe with the photos is also done with the Gala night photo taken with the Caption, you cannot just buy the photo as is comes in a folder with a ship picture.

[maureencruiser]

After breakfast, I went to the Billiards Room to drop off my answer to the question of the day. I know what number Europeans are superstitious about and it's not 13... ;)

 

This took me through the Haven Lounge, which was the gathering point for the tenders and this was not a happy bunch.

 

 

This was after three hours of tendering, it was 10:30! All aboard was 3:30!

 

I decided then and there to skip Grand Cayman and work on my review instead. It wasn't worth it to mail a few postcards.

 

I wanted to get out of Maria's way, so, I set up shop in the Sports Bar, next to a Bill Russell signed basketball. :hearteyes:

 

 

Speaking of Russell, is it just me or should the middle spot, the one that is slightly higher than the others in the top row, go to the team with the most NBA titles or the team with the second most? :mad:

 

 

 

Hummmmmph!!

[maureencruiser]

A couple funny things happened while I was set up in there.

 

I guess because I was sitting there with my laptop, people kept asking if I was giving out tender tickets. :')

 

Yes, me with no uniform, no name tag, I'm in charge of the tenders. No wonder it was such a cluster!

 

Speaking of cluster, I don't even want to know what kind of free for all it was getting back to the ship. :rolleyes:

 

One lady who asked for a tender ticket, came back to tell me she had gotten her arm stuck in varnish on the railing! :')

 

I thought maybe it was where I was sitting that made them all think I was in charge, so, I changed my seat. But, that seat was too high.

 

So, I changed it again, but, that was too close to the windows, there was too much glare. I was like Goldilocks, trying to find the perfect seat.

 

So, I went back to where I started, my third seat change in less than a minute and it was just right. :halo:

 

After a while, I decided to get lunch, so, I dropped my stuff off at my (clean) cabin.

 

I came off the elevator and walked into the buffet.

 

 

What fresh Hell is this?

 

 

What kind of torture chamber is this? And, most importantly, I don't smell pizza at all!

[kelmac]

Hey M,

 

Excellent review -- love the photos! Speaking of photos, I see almost zero difference between your inside cabin and the one we had in the Yacht Club. I think they list different square foot numbers to make it seem like you get more in YC, but I would guess they are identical. We disembarked the Seaside a week and half ago -- first time for us and it was wonderful. You are a very funny person -- keep it up!

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

 

[maureencruiser]

At lunch, I took pictures of the buffet bar menu for the man asking about Cokes.

 

Oops, I cut it off a little, but, it's $5 something for a beer.

 

 

The wine list, if you're on the basic, you can't get wine in a bottle, notice the asterisks.

 

 

And, what you really wanted, the sodas.

 

 

And, bear in mind, you pay for soda, but, things like iced tea, lemonade, flavored water, milk are free.

 

We've got pillow snobs, chocolate snobs, any tea snobs out there?

 

 

You've heard of two fisted drinking, how about three fisted?

 

 

And, while we're looking at it, let's talk about this little son of a nutcracker.

 

 

The first day, at lunch, I pressed it, no one came, I thirsted to death. Actually, I waved someone down, the old fashioned way, they lectured me on pushing the button, I told them I did, they tried it themselves and admitted it was broken.

 

That night, at dinner, I pressed it, no one came. I didn't want to get the lecture, so, I started pushing all the possible buttons, call, quick call, MSC, the circle, everything except cancel.

 

A bar waitress arrived and she was pissed. I"M HERE.... she said, angrily. I had already finished my meal, so, I told her I pushed it once, nobody came, that's when I started pushing all the buttons.

 

I'm not trying to make anybody mad or be pushy, I'd just like to get a drink while I'm eating, not after.

 

She simmered down, took my order, but, interestingly, was NOT the one to bring me my drink. I think she was still mad. I've told everybody it should light up when you push the right button, so, you know your request has been sent and they all agreed it would make more sense that way.

 

Sunday, at the buffet, I waved a lady down, she took my order then told me next time to push the button.

 

Sunday night, no one came. The lady who was mad the day before wandered by and I told her I pushed the button and no one came. Yeah, she said, it doesn't work well and then waiters like me get mad.

 

Just now, at lunch, I pushed the button, there were five bar waiters that I could see in my section and no one came. I had the drink menu open on the table, my card laying on top of it and nobody would wait on me.

 

I finally waved one down and ordered and you'll never guess what he told me to do next time.

 

MSC, perfect the technology or stop lecturing your customers that they're not doing it right. You're losing sales because you won't let people just order drinks.

 

Oh, and if you think I could avoid all this by just walking up to the bar myself, nope. When you do that, the bartender calls a waiter over and he takes your order. While you're standing there, watching your pizza get cold.

[cruzingambler]

Maureen,

 

I am absolutely loving your review!! We sail in 32 days, woohoo! Reading your review makes it much harder to wait. It's so fun to see your pictures and I love your humor:) We have the deluxe drinking package and knowing the chocolate is included in the package made me take a second and third look at your chocolate pictures...We were on the Divina 2 years ago & fell in love with their Pizza and the separate restaurant, it was one of the best deals on board. They had a Wine guy that gave presentations and you could sign up for a wine making class and take home the bottle of wine you created, do they have one like this on the Seaside...it was so special and we love going to the wine tastings. I can't wait to hear more...you are Awesome and you lifted my spirits today...Thank You