IT'S ANOTHER HOLIDAY ROAD

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Paphillyguy said:

They did not have this on our mid June sailing but did in December.  Glad to see it is back

Yes, we were on that cruise. Thought the same when we did not see any. Most would say that the lobster availability is more important than passenger counts.

[Seadweller001]

On 7/13/2022 at 10:17 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Our butler brought us our paper this morning and asked if we planned on having lunch at Ocean House when we get to Ocean Cay. Told butler not to worry about us, that we planned on having lunch on the ship. With 300 YCers /70 children felt it would be too crowded. Butler mentioned that swimming in the net guarded beach area, rays and baby sharks have gotten in.

We saw the two sand sharks last visit.  They are not that small. Supposedly if you ignore them they wont attack you but seeing them near me made me nervous.  I wonder why they keep them in the netted lagoon?  We saw one large stingray.   

[morpheusofthesea]

Technical glitch must be fixed, one show tonight of "Coast to Coast". Last night Jazz Quartet had their popular, well attended, standing room only "Frank Sinatra" Tribute with singer Bruno Vicenza. Arriving at Ocean Cay, no drama of 4 attempts. Must be better time of year.

[morpheusofthesea]

Jellyfish are vacuumed from the swimming areas of Ocean Cay. Heard there are going to be just as many on board next week.27 B2Bers  in YC. Our OC reception.Pirate rules posted at closest  Ocean Cay Bar to ship.Proximity of ship to first bar

[morpheusofthesea]

Just when one thought it was safe to get back in the water . From our balcony the view looks very safe. Nothing ominous swimming below the surface.

[morpheusofthesea]

Perimeter patrol.

[morpheusofthesea]

Today's onboard special at Kaito Sushi "All you can eat" for $29 plus 15% service charge. One other caveat....One is limited to  45 minutes of dining time (I suppose a trip to the powder room counts as part of the 45 minutes).

 

[morpheusofthesea]

The Madison theatre shows are streamed on channel 5 stateroom TV.

[morpheusofthesea]

Got off the ship at Ocean Cay to walk around and purchase a couple of MSC logo tote bags not found on the ship. Had a bit of rain that blew over. Decided not to take the trolley over to Ocean House. This cruise every cabana was booked at Ocean House for today. We opted to eat at Hola Taco on the ship. Discovered that Diamond club members get a complimentary meal at a specialty restaurant when the waitress asked for our room number. DW signed for the meal, I tipped $10 cash. We felt that the buffet at the One Pool deck was still too wet to sit out comfortably.

   Got back off the ship to walk around a bit more. Stopped a couple of young ladies asking if they were the talented dancers on board ? Turns out they were. Only one is American. They all train in Italy. While on the ship they are not allowed to speak with passengers. Replacements are also trained in Italy.

[morpheusofthesea]

Back home. Had a wonderful week onboard the MSC Seashore. Already looking forward to our next Seashore cruise. 'Heard' a couple of interesting rumors. First speaking to the porter transporting DW's suitcases to the Parking Garage D across from Carnival Terminal that if the cruise line is not providing a shuttlebus from the terminal to the parking garage, then the porters are obligated to bring the passenger to the parking garage. When we were on Celebrity at Port Everglades the porters just took us out of the terminal and dumped the bags at the curb in front of the terminal and I had to retrieve the car from the parking garage, go back to terminal and lift her bags into the car. Much better porter service Port of Miami. Next we were told that Carnival is the fastest at getting passengers off their ships by 8:30, "They don't mess around." Virgin Voyages is the worst, they can't start letting new passengers board until 1 pm.

  Now the interesting rumor. "Everything is up in the air" stated Mr. Balla to us this morning.  Two weeks ago he and his team were to open the new Seascape. Now ? His team (they call him "The Director"), are saying it 'might be' that The Director is up for a promotion to Hotel Director and which ship ? Spoke to Yannis two weeks ago (he is present Hotel Director on the Seashore who has left to open the new Seascape. Will try to find out more in two weeks.

[mafig]

You stated that the YC was full and had lots of kids also.  Did this impact your enjoyment in any way?

[alohayall]

Thanks for letting us cruise with you.  
 

Vacuuming jellyfish is an interesting concept - and a great relief for swimmers. 
 

Was your Diamond complimentary specialty dining a second free meal thIs week, or were you just not aware of this perk?  It’s one of the reasons I did a Status Match ☺️

[morpheusofthesea]

25 minutes ago, alohayall said:

Was your Diamond complimentary specialty dining a second free meal thIs week, or were you just not aware of this perk?  It’s one of the reasons I did a Status Match ☺️

DW and I have found the YC restaurant just perfect enough for us that we forget about all the specialty dining on board. The Diamond status perk came in handy this cruise with our decision to not go over to the ever popular and crowded Ocean House for lunch. We were advised that the lunch at OH would open early at 11:15 in anticipation of this over crowded venue this cruise (we are early diners). We had such a good meal at Hola Tacos that we will definitely be adding this venue every time we sail now. Sitting down the waitress took our room number and immediately explained our Diamond benefit and that perhaps suggested we not waste it for just a lunch, and that we should perhaps book a dinner at Butcher's Cut. We thanked her for the 'heads up' and said we take all our meals with Chef Lisa in the YC restaurant. Appears the entire ship has great respect for this 'little' lady.

   I have often joked about the food on board ships. Food is a personal, deep-seated idiosyncrasy peculiar to each individual. Would it be farfetched to imagine that the same chef is rotating from one kitchen to another, in a confined space as a cruise ship, in response to more anticipated bookings in one venue from another; cooking on similar hardware the same seafood, chicken, meats only presented differently? Perception is reality. The buffet appears to be a free for all, but take the same entrees and put them on a dressed plate with colorful garnish, served in moments by an attentive waiter grinding pepper, grading cheese, and topping up your glass of wine….viola … an upcharge!

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

First speaking to the porter transporting DW's suitcases to the Parking Garage D across from Carnival Terminal that if the cruise line is not providing a shuttlebus from the terminal to the parking garage, then the porters are obligated to bring the passenger to the parking garage.

 

Our last 4 cruise from POM (NCL & MSC), the porters did exactly that. Our porter did the same at Port Canaveral. I expect it at this point.

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, mafig said:

You stated that the YC was full and had lots of kids also.  Did this impact your enjoyment in any way?

Not enough to go to the concierge and complain. Once I did leave the cabin and walk up the stairs to the cabin above me to investigate the racket. The door was closed and there sounded like a couple of unsupervised children jumping off the bed and hitting the floor. Had it continued I would have called our butler to investigate, it soon abated. The parents might have returned, and it was the middle of the afternoon and I remember using a bed as a trampoline 65 years ago.

[JAGR]

48 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Not enough to go to the concierge and complain. Once I did leave the cabin and walk up the stairs to the cabin above me to investigate the racket. The door was closed and there sounded like a couple of unsupervised children jumping off the bed and hitting the floor. Had it continued I would have called our butler to investigate, it soon abated. The parents might have returned, and it was the middle of the afternoon and I remember using a bed as a trampoline 65 years ago.

What??? You were not in RS this last sailing?  Oh, the humanity of your plight! 😉😢

[mafig]

Did you get notified what benefits you were entitled to with your Diamond status?  How?

 

(Our last cruise on MSC we were Black, but I do not recall how we were made aware of our "freebies.")

[JAGR]

30 minutes ago, mafig said:

Did you get notified what benefits you were entitled to with your Diamond status?  How?

 

(Our last cruise on MSC we were Black, but I do not recall how we were made aware of our "freebies.")

It's on the MSC site under Voyager's Club.

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club

 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

What??? You were not in RS this last sailing?  Oh, the humanity of your plight! 😉😢

What gives you, of all people, the impression we were not in a Royal Suite ? 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

What??? You were not in RS this last sailing?  Oh, the humanity of your plight! 😉😢

We were in Royal Suite #16026, Deck 16, I walked up to investigate #18026 (no deck 17). You must be thinking of our February and March cruise postings from the Owners Suites on deck 19.

[JAGR]

Just now, morpheusofthesea said:

What gives you, of all people, the impression we were not in a Royal Suite ? 

Actually meant your Owner's Suite on 19.  But i did rule out RS also, because you said you went up a floor to "the cabin above" yours to investigate the noise.  Cabins above the Royals are Handicapped, so I assumed that they are limited to two people it is highly unlikely that they are "jumpers."

[JAGR]

3 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

We were in Royal Suite #16026, Deck 16, I walked up to investigate #18026 (no deck 17). You must be thinking of our February and March cruise postings from the Owners Suites on deck 19.

I was indeed. Just surprised there would bed jumping in 18026.

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by JAGR

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, mafig said:

Did you get notified what benefits you were entitled to with your Diamond status?  How?

 

(Our last cruise on MSC we were Black, but I do not recall how we were made aware of our "freebies.")

Actually we had an exceptional butler that anticipated and then exceeded our expectations. (Also I made a print out of JAGR's link before we left on the cruise). After this cruise we feel guilty booking any other ship due solely to the treatment we experienced from the entire YC staff. We were dumbfounded this morning hearing that this "A" team which was scheduled to open the new Seascape is now 'up in the air'. Will hopefully know more in two weeks when we return to the same suite for another one week cruise. (Hopefully return).

Edited July 16, 2022 by morpheusofthesea

[morpheusofthesea]

The problem with tipping in advance is basing your tip on the assumption that the service provider will be your service provider for the entire trip. Did not know our maitre d' was a 'temp' or waiter is repositioned to another venue, or steward is quarantined. Find tipping invaluable in the beginning for tour guides and bus drivers. I tip the same whether the gratuities are included or not included. The gratuities, DSC (discretionary service charges) are the $$ going to all those 'behind the scenes' like chefs and those cleaning the railings, etc that one would not tip or come 'in contact with'. I find tipping those I come in contact with very easy. I just put myself in the role of the service provider providing me the service and the amount I think I am worth for the service I provided. I generally tip myself $100-$200, one time I was only worth $20 for the weeks cruise.

   MSC is one of the few cruise lines that actually posts what the base pay is for each position. The DSC goes directly to the base pay. Tips, on the other hand, can be distributed throughout the staff and crew, if left to the 'front office' or using non-refundable OBC and designating to whom one wishes it to go to (but no one is 100% sure it goes 100% to the person designated, unless one directly gives cash $$ to that service provider.

[morpheusofthesea]

Since we travel in the Yacht Club we see no reason to dine anywhere else. We request the same waiter/ assistant for the entire week. We tip in the YC restaurant as if it were any fine restaurant on land. If we were to go to the "Pancake House" for breakfast we would tip $5 for a breakfast for two. Lunch at "Gianni's Italian Restaurant", $10 for two. Dinner at the "New York Prime", $20 for two. (Just as a rule of thumb). Since sometimes our waiters are delegated to other duties on port days we tip the relief waiter these amounts after the meal. So it rounds out to $200 for each waiter/assistant for the 7 day cruise. The sommelier, in our case, should not 'suffer' because DW and I drink only bottled water so we tip them $20 for their effort. On the pool deck your personal butler can be elusive (attending to the other 12 cabin prima donnas, like ourselves) so the pool attendants are instrumental to ones enjoyment on the one pool deck, (a pocket of $5's is advised and does 'miracles'). 

  Sometimes one just has to 'prime the pump' in order to get the water to start flowing in the right direction.