Seashore Birthday Getaway

[skivoodoo]

Wayne and I are always looking for a reason to go to sea. This trip is to celebrate by birthday! 
 

It’s our 25th cruise. So I guess that makes this our Silver Anniversary of cruising! 4th time in MSC Yacht Club. 1st 3 day. And 1st Interior. 
 

There have been recent reports of boarding issues, but we had a smooth start to our trip. 
Arrived at the port at 10:20 and were seated in the Top Sail lounge by 11:00. 🌹

 

Wayne gave up on alcohol 4 years ago, so we will be reporting on the drinks that may interest the Sober and the sober curious cruisers! 
 

If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to stay in touch and answer along our way. 
 

Feeling relaxed and ready for a few days away from our real world. 
 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by skivoodoo

[skivoodoo]

[dream2cruise]

We got off the ship this morning and debarkation ran about 20-30 minutes ahead of schedule.  It was easy, peasy with no standing in line at all.  We were in group 51 and waited 10 minutes after we were called “early”.  Our bag was lonely for us when we got to the terminal.  Only one other bag was left at the 51 sign when we exited.

 

To contrast, the prior cruise that disembarked December 3rd took longer to disembark so we were delayed in boarding but on the ship by noon with an 11:30 check in time slot.

 

Overall, we were happy with embarkation and disembarkation.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, skivoodoo said:

If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to stay in touch and answer along our way. 

 

If you could get any names of the current YC staff (concierge, butlers, bartenders, etc.), that would be appreciated. 

[Dock B]

Just read this and saw y’all sitting in TS lounge: we are just above where you were sitting, about to have lunch!

 

Will look for y’all and introduce ourselves. 

[skivoodoo]

So happy to meet our fellow cruisers! The staff has been welcoming and the food fresh! 

[JAGR]

Amazing how many different ways they plate the Embarkation Day avocado and hamachi starter!  Yours looks about the most attractive! They must give the chef's a free hand in plating, which is a surprise to me.  At any rate, one of their best starters.

[skivoodoo]

Today started a bit off for us. We slept very well last night and didn’t get to the restaurant as early as normal. We arrived at 9:32 and the restaurant had closed gir breakfast at 9:30. Sigh. We will read our daily next time! 
 

Had good choices at the One Pool buffet but it was windy. Wayne was disappointed as his eggs got very cold quickly. Oh well, I’m sure we will have plenty of time to make up those calories at lunch. 😝

 

 

[skivoodoo]

Wayne has tried a few non alcoholic drinks and gives MSC high marks for trying to mix it up. The coffees and tea in the Yacht Club arrives quickly and hot! Interesting enough the Cappuccino arrived cold at Venci! Odd. 
 

Be warned that the wine selections by the glass in the Yacht Club restaurant are rotated and there isn’t any information or menu about that nights choices. So you may want to grab a glass from the Top Sail before dinner from their menu. 

[skivoodoo]

We worked out later this morning. The gym was busy but we were able to find equipment to get our daily moves in. 
 

Wish list: Kettle bells. A bit more room for yoga mats. 
 

 

[gotta cruise again]

8 hours ago, skivoodoo said:

Be warned that the wine selections by the glass in the Yacht Club restaurant are rotated and there isn’t any information or menu about that nights choices. So you may want to grab a glass from the Top Sail before dinner from their menu. 

 

Here’s what I did today: I used the QRC code found in the back of the YC “Bar List”. This is the drink menu in the TS lounge. 
 

A lot of the “included in drink package” wines are available in the lounge —but not all!! So look at the complete list and you can ask for any of those wines specifically. No guarantee they have them but it’s better than just guessing what to get from the 5 wines (2 white, 2 red, 1 sparkling I think I was the last, without much more info). It worked pretty well tonight. 
 

interestingly, they only carry a Sandemans port in the restaurant & lounge. The sommelier even went to the lounge to see if there was a better port there. There was not. I had the chocolate soufflé tonight and the Sandemans port was fine (or even really good) with it but pretty terrible on its own.

 

So look at the list and make your choice from there. 

 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

13 hours ago, skivoodoo said:

Be warned that the wine selections by the glass in the Yacht Club restaurant are rotated and there isn’t any information or menu about that nights choices. So you may want to grab a glass from the Top Sail before dinner from their menu. 

If there is a specific grape you know you'll want with something you saw would be on the dinner menu, try asking your dinner server for it when at an earlier meal. It'll give them time to get it at a less busy time for them, and have it ready when you get there. 

[skivoodoo]

So we booked another cruise onboard last night. Our future cruise consultant, Buse was very knowledgeable and very customer focused. 
 

Booking on board benefits include the ability to reserve your choice if room, full ability to move cruises and a $200 onboard credit. 
 

Next up, breakfast and Ocean Cay. 

[skivoodoo]

Dinner tonight was awkward. Sat for longer thank normal while a large group monopolized the staff. And then food was cool. 

We’ve had an ongoing conversation about the size of Yacht Club on the newer ships or has cruising service just become meh. Not sure of the answer but we will keep giving it a go! 

[gotta cruise again]

We certainly enjoyed meeting with you two over dinner, lunch, drinks, shopping!!

 

We hope we’ll get to meet up again, whether on a ship or land!

[skivoodoo]

Our last dinner was just awkward. Sat for over 15 minutes with no attention while a large group monopolized the staff. And then the food was cold. Flavor was good but room temp lamb wasn’t on my culinary bingo card. 
 

In Wayne’s quest for non alcoholic drink choices, he did find more bright spots. The Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic was a nice surprise and MSC gives proper attention to their hot tea service. 

We’ve had an ongoing conversation about the service on this cruise. The staff was working hard but didn’t seem as connected to the passengers. There were some bright spots but just seemed like they weren’t in sync yet. We aren’t sure if it is due to the larger size of Yacht Club on these newer ships or has cruising service just become meh.
 

We did decide we will keep giving MSC a go and plan on leaning into the good moments we experience. 

[skivoodoo]

6 hours ago, gotta cruise again said:

We certainly enjoyed meeting with you two over dinner, lunch, drinks, shopping!!

 

We hope we’ll get to meet up again, whether on a ship or land!

We truly enjoyed your company. It’s nice to experience cruising with new friends! Enjoy the rest of your trip snd I hope service smooths out for you!