Views From The Hammock: A Seaside Story

[stp_mmh5]

21 minutes ago, luv2sailAgain said:

So true! I already tried it. We sailed to Alaska on Ovation of the Seas in a Grand Suite in June 2022. I found a July BARGAIN on Allure in a balcony for 8 days to the ABC Islands. Seriously, I couldn't have stayed at the Days Inn for 8 nights any cheaper. I am a teacher and have to sail when prices are high. So, I was over the moon. But after that suite experience,. . . It was fun and I really enjoyed Curacao. But it was not the same at all without the "suite" life.

 

If we do go during spring break, it will be on the Seashore. So I am off to read your review of that ship!

 

BTW You guys are moving to Alaska?? How exciting! It is sooo beautiful! Before the kids came along, my husband and I lived in St. Croix for a bit. It was an experience I'll never forget. I was glad to come home though, but it is a great story to tell! I hope you guys love it!!

We met another couple onboard this week who were frequent cruisers on Royal and Celebrity in suites. They loved the YC so much they booked two more onboard in the free space they had. They said it's no comparison. 

 

Alaska is going to be an adventure for sure. We're not cold weather people so that's going to be an adjustment. St Croix is a dream retirement for us and we're finally going to visit on the Virgin cruise later this year.

 

And the Seashore review is good too. Better than the Seascape because I actually finished that one lol.

 

 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

7 minutes ago, stp_mmh5 said:

We met another couple onboard this week who were frequent cruisers on Royal and Celebrity in suites. They loved the YC so much they booked two more onboard in the free space they had. They said it's no comparison. 

 

Alaska is going to be an adventure for sure. We're not cold weather people so that's going to be an adjustment. St Croix is a dream retirement for us and we're finally going to visit on the Virgin cruise later this year.

 

And the Seashore review is good too. Better than the Seascape because I actually finished that one lol.

 

 

They thought the yacht club was better than the retreat?

[stp_mmh5]

 

In an effort to successfully conclude this today before life quickly gets in the way, I'll keep the sea day story as brief as I can, and for a bonus I'll throw in todays adventures as well.

 

Sea Day 2.

 

Another slow start for us. The usual run of coffee and light treats, followed by a pool deck breakfast.  Macon had found the Veteran's Get-together in the Daily and she made sure we went. Not because I particularly wanted to go, but it's the best cake served on any MSC ship. For anyone who has served or is serving, it is a nice event. It's usually led by a senior member of the cruise staff who was prior military and they do a round the room quick introduction. Then drinks, snacks and cake is provided. Afterwards the room is open for mingling. 

 

Once we had our fill of cake and socialization, Macon stocked up on her guilty pleasure of the Valentino bags for sale since they were all on sale.  From there we went back to the lounge for drinks. We asked Raj about the amazing seafood extravaganza as it hadn't happened yet nor have we heard anything. Raj said that it should be going on today, so he call the YC chef to confirm. He confirmed that it would be at 1200 sharp. Fantastic. Just another highlight we've been excited for all week and were a little jealous reading about the one on Seascape happening. Since we were at the concierge, I also inquired about a last minute lava stone massage since that was the special. Raj works some magic with the spa and gets one booked for 2:30.

 

We walk around until extravaganza time and go to town. All the classics are there, oysters on the half shell, shrimp, salmon, lobster tails (even better than the other night) sooo much good stuff.

 

After lunch we kill time until the spa, spend almost two hours there then get ready for dinner. During dinner, we sail mostly around a massive storm blowing off the coast near Miami. Makes for some great scenery and a major talking point amongst the tables and the staff.

 

After dinner we go down to the Starwalker show. I am not the biggest MJ fan, but have always heard great things about the show. It did not disappoint at all, and was the best show by far we've seen on MSC. After dinner was a short spin the through the casino for some last minute fun. Neither us nor the casino came out ahead, so we consider that a success in its own right. We then went back to lounge for our final night caps with some of our onboard friends, put out our luggage and then called it a night.

 

In the morning we leisurely took our time getting up, did our final idiot checks in the room, got one last round of coffees and then went up for our final breakfast. Everything was great and it's always sad to leave such awesome folks and food.

 

Debarkation was a breeze at close to 9. We made one final stop at concierge to verify an incorrect charge was fixed, then off we went. All smiles from us, and hearing a lot of happy comments from the other guests walking down the gangway with us, which is always a wonderful thing to hear.

 

We then spent the day around Cocoa Beach, staying at the 4 Points.  Nice enough hotel, although it is showing a little wear and tear. Great mini-golf place a block over and a phenomenal Poké place a block the other direction.  We then went beer hopping and rocket watching, and watched as the Seaside sailed on by without us.  Now a massive thunderstorm is blowing through, giving us quite the light show and knocked out power up and down the street. Tomorrow we pick up the pups and hit the long, long road to Alaska.

 

Final thoughts

 

Like all MSC ships, Seaside is beautiful. The layout is a little more choppy on the upper decks, but we found the lower decks easier to navigate.

 

Overall, the second best YC experience we have had. Our time Divina has still been the best, but we have also yet to have anything close to a bad experience.

 

Seaside was probably the smoothest ship we've been on. Even during the heavy thunderstorm yesterday. I could tell the ship had a slight list to starboard, but steady as a rock otherwise. The only real rocking we felt was at dock in Costa Maya. Or during the bus Hop tour, but I'm pretty sure that was just tequila.

 

One would think after however many years of cruise ship building and design, someone would figure out a good way to get some solid sound insulation between the pool deck and the cabins.  Luckily we end up as earlyish risers (630), but hearing the deck chairs get reset every morning could be annoying for some. Bad side, light sleepers might get woken up early. Plus side, the lounge has the best coffee and that's a solid excuse to get some.

 

Just one last touch on the temperature discussion: the places it seemed to vary the most include the YC lounge, restaurant, deck 19 stairwell to One Pool, and the casino. It would range from uncomfortable to unbearable depending on your sensitivity to heat and humidity. 

 

Thanks all for sticking with it to the end. We can't wait for our next MSC cruise, even though we're going to branch out and try Virgin Voyages later this year.

 

Seas as smooth as glass. And as blinding in the sun.

 

I can't believe anyone could ever tire of a view like this.

 

I'm not a cake person, but this cake rocks. Do recommend for anyone who goes to these types of events.

 

This view. Also the Zipline was a blast.

 

I don't know why it's a called a wake. It's more like a lullaby. I always want to sleep peacefully in hammock to that view and sound.

 

Rosato Mio in the YC. Macon converted at least 5 fellow passengers to this drink. She doesn't like sharing much, but figured the more people who drink, the more likely they'll keep it in stock. Suparta made them the best this week. A double of Ramazzotti Rosato, ice, top with only prosecco and garnish with mint. The cherry is an imposter, but I personally didn't mind it.

 

Raw bar at the extravaganza

 

Carving station today was turkey

 

The offerings. Minus a few as they were bringing out fresh stuff.

 

A very happy third plate

 

Oceans, sunsets, and food are 98% of the photos I have on my phone.

 

Afternoon tea was a single day event and I think just about all 190 guests came to it.

 

Our favorite tea choice.

Tasty Treat Tower

 

Caprese. Quick crack of salt across the top for perfection.

 

Mixed fried seafood. As if we didn't have enough at lunch.

 

Beef carpaccio

 

Minestrone. Top three soup of the week.

 

During dinner the storm made this perfect cloud frame around the Miami skyline. Everyone was taking photos as we went by.

 

Veal Ossobucco. Melt in the mouth perfection.

 

Lasagna Bolognese. It's been a miss times past, but it was a hit tonight.  Full of flavor and cooked excellently.

 

Lemon Delight Cake. Goes great with limoncello. Although, I think the someone on the kitchen was trying to tell me something...

 

Sunset overload. 

 

Followed by a sunrise trilogy.

 

One last breakfast for good measure.

Uhhh Raj?! Arnold!? You guys are leaving us!!!

 

This rocket excursion is cool, but I can't believe the ship just left us like that.

 

 

 

[stp_mmh5]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

They thought the yacht club was better than the retreat?

They definitely responded that they felt it was better quality, service, and food for any suites they have sailed. They primarily sail Royal Caribbean suites and made it abundantly clear that Yacht Club has blown them away and made them converts. 

[Giskard]

Great review thanks! We have just booked an back to back repositioning cruise on Seaside to the deep Southern Caribbean so excited, 6d to get to Martinque and then a 7 day exotic from Guadelope!

Our only YC experience was Divina in April, we have cruised a lot including 3 small specialty cruises and would say while it didn't necessarily surpass our best experience it did hold it's own (Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia is really hard to beat)

[kelleherdl]

Thanks for including the SpaceX launch. When we check in folks we try to remind guests that MSC has arranged a special fireworks display for their sail away that day. 😀. Yesterday’s launch was special Father’s Day display. 😀

[Bgwest]

Well done, sir. 
Great review!!

[GPPhilly]

I love the Butter Chicken on MSC

[stp_mmh5]

15 hours ago, Giskard said:

Great review thanks! We have just booked an back to back repositioning cruise on Seaside to the deep Southern Caribbean so excited, 6d to get to Martinque and then a 7 day exotic from Guadelope!

Our only YC experience was Divina in April, we have cruised a lot including 3 small specialty cruises and would say while it didn't necessarily surpass our best experience it did hold it's own (Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia is really hard to beat)

That sounds like an awesome trip and I would love to try that super Southern route someday. 

 

Also on our bucket list are the small luxury/boutique lines. We're considering Paul Gauguin if time and budget allow for it for a future anniversary. But also are so many other seemingly great options, we're just not sure if we are in the targeted clientele. Maybe we'll be like a fine wine, we'll age a little then try the more posh lines.

[stp_mmh5]

5 hours ago, kelleherdl said:

Thanks for including the SpaceX launch. When we check in folks we try to remind guests that MSC has arranged a special fireworks display for their sail away that day. 😀. Yesterday’s launch was special Father’s Day display. 😀

I always love watching the rockets going up. I made a comment that while watching it from the port was awesome, the best view would've been from the bridge of sighs or the YC pool deck for sure.

 

2 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Well done, sir. 
Great review!!

Thanks for reading along and enjoying it.

 

9 minutes ago, GPPhilly said:

I love the Butter Chicken on MSC

I want their recipe for it because it is always awesome. I might honestly order that as a dish for every meal next time

[pirate4me2]

Thank you so much for this review! We sail MSC for the first time in August, and I cannot wait! 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 hour ago, GPPhilly said:

I love the Butter Chicken on MSC

 

1 hour ago, stp_mmh5 said:

 

 

I want their recipe for it because it is always awesome. I might honestly order that as a dish for every meal next time

How would you describe the butter chicken?  

[GPPhilly]

1 hour ago, stp_mmh5 said:

I always love watching the rockets going up. I made a comment that while watching it from the port was awesome, the best view would've been from the bridge of sighs or the YC pool deck for sure.

 

Thanks for reading along and enjoying it.

 

I want their recipe for it because it is always awesome. I might honestly order that as a dish for every meal next time

On my first MSC cruise in Dec 2021 on the Seashore, we had an awesome waiter Jason and one night I asked him how the butter chicken was.  He said it was excellent and he also today me that he felt the YC had the best Indian dishes.  So I decided to get it and it really was outstanding and it has been consistently good on my 3 other MSC cruise.  

[stp_mmh5]

7 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 

How would you describe the butter chicken?  

I had much time to think about this while driving today and the best answer I came up with was "Perfection in my mouth".

 

However that really doesn't help so I thought more about it. It's harder to describe the dish from memory, but I'll give it a go.

 

Starting with the rice. It's a nice white rice with some light seasoning in it. Basmati rice? Not sure the actual grains used. 

 

The toasted wedges are insanely thin and light to the touch with a satisfying crunch to them.  They are super useful as an edible spoon for taking a bite of the rice with the sauce on it.

 

The chicken is thin and super moist. Cuts pretty easily with a fork.

 

The brown sauce/gravy over it is full of spices like yellow curry, maybe some combination of clove/cardamom/star anise/cinnamon and I'm sure a few other mild go-to Indian spices. I am not a huge of fan of spicy, burn the mouth types, and this definitely doesn't do any of that. Just straight flavors that blend together in a fantastic way. Also it's thicker like a chunky gravy, but not as heavy on the palate. 

 

Hope that helps set some sort of idea of what to expect. If it doesn't help at all, just ask your waiter for a better description.

 

And I don't think I mentioned our waiters for the week, but Manuel, Frenkniel (spelling might be off) and Jean were an awesome team. They have the section by the windows on the left (port) side of the dining room. We made sure to sit with them all week.

[stp_mmh5]

7 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

Thank you so much for this review! We sail MSC for the first time in August, and I cannot wait! 

You are welcome. MSC has been great for us, both in and out of the YC. I have always been able to find something great to eat and something fun to do. Go in with a La Vita Dolce (The Sweet Life) mindset and its going to be a good time. 

[Giskard]

8 hours ago, stp_mmh5 said:

Also on our bucket list are the small luxury/boutique lines. We're considering Paul Gauguin if time and budget allow for it for a future anniversary.

It was our first "luxury" and small ship experience for our 25yr wedding anniversary and my 45bday 🙂 we were actually pretty worried about the ship being too small and too many "older" people but it turned out there were a lot of young couples honeymooning or like us doing an anniversary trip. It ended up being perfect. I must say though that we waited a few more years before we did the next small ship and then more years before we tried YC in April of this year. It has definitely been a progression for us. In between we've enjoyed our Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity cruises each had their own pluses and minuses as well as lots of land based trips as well. We love to travel and really aren't tied to one cruise line, one place, etc. Just want to keep experiencing the world.

 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 hour ago, stp_mmh5 said:

I had much time to think about this while driving today and the best answer I came up with was "Perfection in my mouth".

 

However that really doesn't help so I thought more about it. It's harder to describe the dish from memory, but I'll give it a go.

 

Starting with the rice. It's a nice white rice with some light seasoning in it. Basmati rice? Not sure the actual grains used. 

 

The toasted wedges are insanely thin and light to the touch with a satisfying crunch to them.  They are super useful as an edible spoon for taking a bite of the rice with the sauce on it.

 

The chicken is thin and super moist. Cuts pretty easily with a fork.

 

The brown sauce/gravy over it is full of spices like yellow curry, maybe some combination of clove/cardamom/star anise/cinnamon and I'm sure a few other mild go-to Indian spices. I am not a huge of fan of spicy, burn the mouth types, and this definitely doesn't do any of that. Just straight flavors that blend together in a fantastic way. Also it's thicker like a chunky gravy, but not as heavy on the palate. 

 

Hope that helps set some sort of idea of what to expect. If it doesn't help at all, just ask your waiter for a better description.

 

And I don't think I mentioned our waiters for the week, but Manuel, Frenkniel (spelling might be off) and Jean were an awesome team. They have the section by the windows on the left (port) side of the dining room. We made sure to sit with them all week.

I don’t eat rice but I could probably just tell them I didn’t want it. I do like cauliflower rice but I doubt they have it. 

[stp_mmh5]

8 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I don’t eat rice but I could probably just tell them I didn’t want it. I do like cauliflower rice but I doubt they have it. 

Just let them know in advance and they may be able to accommodate that. I don't believe j have seen cauliflower rice as a menu item before, but that doesn't mean they might not have some prepped somewhere on the ship or be able to make it for you.  Or you can always request a different side of choice. As I overheard Manuel say to other groups "I won't tell you no, I will find a way to make you happy". 

[Mark_T]

12 hours ago, stp_mmh5 said:

and I'm sure a few other mild go-to Indian spices. I am not a huge of fan of spicy, burn the mouth types, and this definitely doesn't do any of that.

Doing so well up to that point... 🙂

 

I'm not a fan of spice just for the burn alone, that isn't enjoyable, but there are so many great variations both regional and level of spice, that it is a disappointment to only see butter chicken on the menu.

 

We will have to have a chat with our waiter next time and see what can be done about that....

[stp_mmh5]

2 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

Doing so well up to that point... 🙂

 

I'm not a fan of spice just for the burn alone, that isn't enjoyable, but there are so many great variations both regional and level of spice, that it is a disappointment to only see butter chicken on the menu.

 

We will have to have a chat with our waiter next time and see what can be done about that....

We didn't get photos of the menus, but have noticed over the course of the last 3 MSC cruises more and more Indian dishes have been added to the regular menu. Many are vegetarian dishes and all smelled wonderful when ordered around us. 

 

Of course you can always ask for the chefs special too!

[Mark_T]

Just now, stp_mmh5 said:

We didn't get photos of the menus, but have noticed over the course of the last 3 MSC cruises more and more Indian dishes have been added to the regular menu. Many are vegetarian dishes and all smelled wonderful when ordered around us.

I did have a couple of the vegetarian options, but also sadly lacking in any spice.

 

I'll see what can be achieved next time with a little notice.

[Bgwest]

On 6/13/2023 at 4:47 PM, stp_mmh5 said:

if anyone knows the story behind this pylon?

 

 

It's the.......you know.......the thing...........