Author Archives: kjgilhooly

MSC Seaside – Day 4 St Thomas

6:00am – Who booked an excursion the day after a port stop that lasted until 1am? We staggered out of bed, showered and headed for our 8am meeting. I missed my morning coffee since Virginia settled for a protein bar instead of going to the buffet for breakfast where she could have gotten me coffee.
8:00am Off to the buses. St Thomas doesn’t have buses, it has vans with open sides and bench seats. Also, very treacherous steps, especially when they are wet. It was raining, one of the first times we’ve ever had rain in the Caribbean.
MSC has one nice (and useful) bonus for their excursions – if it looks like rain, they give everyone a poncho as you check in. By poncho, I mean a trash bag with arm holes. I have not tried one yet, because “one size fits all” usually means “except you.” Still, it’s a nice touch. It also helps you find people from your ship at tour stops – just look for people in ill-fitting blue trash bags.
Onto the excursion – a scenic drive with a visit to Magen’s Beach and shopping. Our driver’s name was Francis. We had to know this because there were a bunch of red buses, so the way you find your bus is by knowing your driver. Finally saw Magen’s Beach, “one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world according to National Geographic.” (We were told that a lot.)
Francis must have had a lot of old farts on his tour because he repeated everything twice. Everything. Twice.
This continued even after the first two rows of the bus started repeating the repetitions. “I think this beach was in National Geographic.” “Isn’t it one of the most beautiful beaches in the world?”
Lighten up, Francis.
There were beautiful views of clouds and fog all the way up the mountain.
9:00am We went to Mountain Top, the second-highest point on St Thomas (and the one with a very expansive gift shop) which gave a wonderful view of the tops of the clouds. The gift shop is world famous for its banana daiquiri. World famous for its banana daiquiri, the gift shop is on the second highest point on St Thomas.

While I was taking photos between rain clouds, Virginia was finding dog clothes. That’s how big the souvenir store is – they have pet clothes. I got myself a hat to help keep the rain off, so naturally the rain immediately stopped.
9:30am On the way down from the Mountain Top (which is the second highest point on St Thomas), we paused to look at the clouds blocking our view of Water Island, “the smallest of the US Virgin Islands.” I give Francis props for having the humor (and the balls) to stop at a photo stop that was completely fogged in. Well played, Sir.
After the mountain, we spent two hours at Magens Bay, “one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world, according to National Geographic.” Virginia was feeling shaky, so we hit the restaurant. They were serving breakfast, which I found hilarious. I’m not sure why – I just think a burger stand on a beach (even one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world, according to National Geographic) shouldn’t have separate services. Virginia wanted a cheeseburger and had to settle for an egg, ham and cheese sandwich. I will be forever grateful to this place, because although the waitress/cashier/runner seemed a wee bit stressed (“Customers? On a day a ship is in port?”), she had coffee. Blissful coffee. Wonderful coffee. OK, it was caffeine and I needed it.
After Virginia had breakfast, she felt guilty about taking up a table, so we had a Johnny Cake with ham and cheese, and I had more coffee.

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.

I still can’t believe there isn’t a coffee pot in the cabin on the ship.

Are you going to finish that Johnny Cake?

There were birds everywhere, so we cleared off our table so they wouldn’t attack us.
We never made it into the water. There is something quite relaxing about watching people trying to have a day’s worth of fun in an hour, while enjoying coffee.
Looking down across the bay, I remember thinking, “This must be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.” I’m not sure who would rank something like that.
After the beach break, it was back to town for shopping. Virginia was so tired she didn’t want to shop. This is a miracle on the order of the loaves and fishes. So, we wandered down the street to catch the shuttle boat that would return us to the ship.
1:00pm We joined the mob waiting for the boat. In the Caribbean, “return you to the ship” means “take you to the opposite end of the shopping strip mall conveniently located parallel to the dock.”
The boat ride was quick but I realized one of the advantages of traveling an international cruise line is that on a water taxi, diesel fuel and marine exhaust are not the most annoying smells. Aftershave and cologne are.
1:30pm Safely off the water taxi. Able to breathe again. Virginia needed a restroom. I know from experience that this needs to be played delicately, since we will be spending money in whatever establishment she pees in. (It’s like dogs marking their territory.) As God was smiling on me today, the two closest places were a sushi restaurant (never happening) and The Tap and Still (“Beer, Booze and Burgers.”)
The Tap and Still received two of the two votes in our group and was elected as the bathroom. As Virginia fled to make a deposit, I had a Captain Morgan & Ginger Ale, because I didn’t want to appear rude.

Captain & Ginger


Virginia came back and ordered Club Soda, so I was glad one of us was being really polite and taking full advantage of the facilities. In fact, I had another Captain & Ginger just to make sure everyone was happy.
This may be the time to mention that MSC doesn’t seem to have any Ginger Ale onboard, so I wasn’t really drinking, I was stocking up for the rest of the week.
We ordered lunch – which required us to fill out our own order blank. We turned it in (to the same bartender who made our drinks) and she handed it back because I hadn’t specified any toppings for my Patty Melt and all the toppings were included.
I had failed ordering.
I selected grilled onions, since they should be there, anyway, and grilled mushrooms because they sounded good.
It was. It was an excellent bar burger and fries.

I began to worry about the number of drinks I was having, so I ordered the locally brewed IPA. Very tasty.

At this point, I had successfully completed both tiers of the Tap and the Still. Virginia had another Club Soda because she was still rocking the “Too Cool to Drink” look. Nobody believes it in the islands.
We wandered down the street to the ship and passed Islands in the Sun – a boutique (an expensive souvenir stand) run by a lovely Indian gentleman. Virginia bought two dresses but didn’t get sucked into the high-quality, discount jewelry. She’s losing her touch, or he’s losing his.
Then, it was back to the ship, where we realized we only had two hours until dinner.
4:00pm Virginia was thirsty so she ordered water from room service. The boutique may have been cheaper. I know the drinks at lunch were.
Virginia is napping while I’m documenting. If I nap, I will forget this. That’s how good the IPA was.
I just had one of the Coke Zeroes. Mainly because I wanted to feel rich.
6:00pm Time for old folks’ dinner at the Butcher’s Cut steakhouse . Our waitress was the same woman who helped us book our dinners right after we boarded. Much bonding ensued.
The wall into the steakhouse is Asti Spumante bottles, which is interesting since it’s not on the wine list. Virginia saw the bottles and remembered her sister and (late) brother-in-law drinking it early in their relationship and requested a glass (I had to ask her the reason it was special because I didn’t know the story.) The sommelier apologized and said it wasn’t on the wine line, and suggested something similar. Virginia said it was a sentimental choice, and it had to be Asti, but to just skip it. She said it was surprising it wasn’t available since there was a wall of bottles entering the steakhouse. At that point, the sommelier said, “I don’t have it on the wine list, but it’s in the bar, so I’ll just get it for you.”
This at long last is how you solve a customer request. Tell them where it isn’t, tell them where it is, and make it appear.
So, after dinner, we each had a glass of Asti Spumante and toasted my sister-in-law and her late husband.
Virginia told me the story of them having it their wedding reception or on a date or some important date. She finally texted her sister for the story and it turns out two of her sisters drank it in Italy on vacation. So, celebrating a marriage, getting hammered on vacation. It’s the thought that counts.
What counts for me is the steakhouse team made it happen. The steaks were good, too.
8:30pm We had reservations for the show but skipped it. Long days and nights are catching up with us.
Back in the room, we found our invitation to the MSC Voyagers Club Black Party, perhaps another chance to drink with the Captain. We also found two MSC ball caps on our bed, which must be our Voyages Club gift (in addition to the chocolate ships.)
10:30pm We’re doing 9 knots. Somebody is trying to make 100 nautical miles take a long time.
10:45pm (prediction – it’s actually 9:45pm now) Tonight is the Country-Western party and Virginia got me a Texas flag shirt to wear. I wore the shirt to dinner because we’re going to be asleep before the party starts. In fact, Virginia’s snoring is distracting me while I’m writing this.
Random Notes: We got a statement for our minibar consumption. I think we’re supposed to do the forms but I never have. The minibar has never been refilled and it’s now clogged with the room service drinks we’ve ordered. I guess the Coke Zero we requested from our room steward will never arrive. At least he’s providing ice now.
There is a Kleenex holder in the bathroom that has never been filled. I’m not sure why it’s there. Maybe Europeans never sneeze.

MSC Seaside – Day 3 Evening in San Juan

12:35am We finally got Room Service. I called again and they gave me the answer to set up a callback – which was a couple minutes later. We’ll see what we get. We’ll be ordering breakfast before we crash.
9:15am Waiting for breakfast delivery between 9:30am and 10:00am. It looks like a beautiful day outside. We still have hours before we hit port this evening.

Morning View

10:10am Room Service delivered the Continental Breakfast items but none of the hot items (i. e. all the stuff a diabetic eats.) I got a call from Room Service after the server left that said American breakfast is not available after 9:30am – which was the time I ordered it. I’m pretty sure this is not documented anywhere. THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. I don’t like “unwritten rules.” Also, if you miss a half-hour window by ten minutes, then not having food ready is on you. The order should have been prepared while the galley was open. Also, if we can get other food (sandwiches) from Room Service and the buffet is open now, don’t tell me the galley is “closed.”
This is the issue that may cancel our Christmas cruise because Virginia is on medication that requires she take it with food within two hours of waking up which is a logistical nightmare if it takes an hour to get ready to go anywhere, especially on days with early excursions. With food means high protein and low carb for diabetics. On Norwegian, I just pay the $7.95 for hot food and get room service.
It is a tremendous pain in the ass traveling with a diabetic but it is also a fact of life and one that should not be foreign to a cruise line, especially one that is trying to break into the American market. We still don’t have anyone that understands what a Sharps container is and now the breakfast issue. If we can’t get hot food (protein, please) before a morning excursion, that’s going to pretty much kill our mornings.
I find Virginia’s food issues unreasonable at times, but they’re not unusual. Anyone on this medication needs food within two hours and if they’re diabetic, they should avoid carbs. Sure, we could shower and go to the buffet (or not shower, like some), but we’re on vacation and if you offer a service, it should work. If the galley shuts down at 9:30am and the order is supposed to be delivered between 9:30am and 10:00am, the galley can prepare it before it closes.
A couple of other strange (to Americans, perhaps) things: my coffee has sugar available but no cream. The rye bread we ordered is just that – bread. Not toast. I picked it up and thought, “European hotel breakfast buffet.” Unfortunately, there isn’t a wire toaster in the room. There’s also nothing for the bread: butter, jam – but I think that’s ordered separately, and since Virginia expected me to make a bacon sandwich (had the bacon arrived), she probably left it out.
11:00am i started my own Sharps container crusade. I called Guest Services, which is really the front desk, said, “I don’t know if I need to speak to you or medical, but my wife is diabetic and needs a Sharps container for her needles” (keywords to trigger an “a-ha!” moment underlined.) I was promised a call back.
I don’t like triage systems, even though I worked in them at IBM for years. If you need multiple levels to answer a simple request, the training (or experience) is lacking. When I started doing technical support, I was level one at best. Within a couple of months if experience, I was level two, and by the time I got moved to another team, I was answering questions that we had sent straight to the lab when I started. I’m not a genius – my whole team did this. We just took good notes and the same types of questions repeated until you had the answer internalized. The MSC Seaside has been home-ported in Miami for over a year. Even if we assume nobody in Europe has diabetes, somebody sailing from Miami has needed a Sharps container before.
1:15pm No callback yet. When Virginia gets out of the shower (lazy day), I may most on down to medical. Still five hours until our excursion!
2:30pm Late lunch in the buffet. Many of the people eating with us were just st the pool, or are going there next. Or, they just like showing their boobs. Caved and tried the “real food” and the cheeseburgers are actually really good.

Small Glass


This is why I’m dehydrated on cruises. This is the free drinks glass. Seriously, can’t you have decent-sized glasses? All the free drinks are watered down anyway. I know I’m supposed to get my steps in, but my dentist has larger spit cups. (For the record, this is the same cup and “drink” machine as Norwegian.)
3:15pm Went to go ask Medical for a Sharps container. Went down to 4 and stepped out onto what looked like I-95 (the cruise ship version.) There were people out of uniform but they all had name tags, so rather than risk the brig for trespassing, I decided to go up to deck 5 and walk to the forward elevators. Deck 5 is where Guest Services is, and it was before the forward elevators. I stopped at Guest Services since it was there. I told Carmen my wife was diabetic and needed a Sharps container for her needles. Carmen said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. What’s the room?” She called someone on the phone, repeated the request, hung up and said, “One will be delivered.” Now, we wait.
4:30pm Feels like we’re docked. Our excursion meets at 6pm so we still have some time to kill. This is good, since we both forgot to charge our camera batteries.
Just had the arrival announcement in multiple languages. Pretty sure by the end of the list, they’re saying, “Look outside. Figure it out.” This is the first time I can think of where people without excursions are free to disembark and we have an excursion that won’t leave for ninety minutes. It’s also the first port call where the All Aboard time is tomorrow – 12:30am, to be exact.
5:00pm I’m glad we’re still in the room since we just got a call about the Sharps container. Carmen called and reintroduced herself (remember what I said about taking ownership?) and said that she spoke with Housekeeping and they don’t have any left, and Medical doesn’t have any, either. This does not solve the problem, but it a) says it’s Housekeeping’s problem, so our room steward should know what one is, b) closes the issue with an answer that is not optimal but reasonable, c) says she tried multiple departments before calling me back and d) throws Housekeeping under the bus, which is useful for her protection when I write a complaint.
Since I had her on the phone, I asked if we could take our portable Sharps container (yes, we’ve had one all along but it will be full before the end of the cruise) to Medical and have them empty it. She said she’d check and call me back. Two minutes later, the phone rang. Carmen said we can dump our waste at Medical or we could leave it out for Housekeeping and they could take it down and return it. Since Marc doesn’t know what a Sharps container is, I’ll think we’ll do it ourselves. I also know if anything else comes up, I’m going to Carmen. Time to get ready to visit Bacardi.
5:45pm Checked in for the excursion. Have our official nerd stickers. There are multiple excursions, so they need numbers, otherwise the stickers would just say, “Tourist” or “Victim”.
6:15pm Off to Casa Bacardi. Before boarding the bus, we got our first decent view of the MSC Seaside, our floating home away from home this week.

An Evening in San Juan: We crossed off a bunch of my bucket list tonight. Visit the Bacardi distillery. Check. Have a bartender comp me a drink after the bar was closed. Check. (OK, I may have done that before. Tip early, tip big.) Spend over $100 at Walgreens without buying Virginia’s drugs. Check. (It took a Walgreens with souvenirs.) Do shots with the waiter at Senor Frogs. Check. See a ship after dark without watching it sail away. Check. Our first evening in a Caribbean port.

Random Notes: This is an interesting port call. We will be at the pilot station at 4pm (per the Daily Program which has navigation notes [I love this]) and we’re scheduled to arrive in port at 5pm. Our excursion meets at 6pm. We’re in port until 1am – all aboard is 12:30am. This is the first evening we’ve spent on an island in the Caribbean.
Nobody has said anything about time zones. I’m pretty sure our ports are Atlantic time and we’re on Eastern time. This either means we’re staying on ship’s time the entire voyage (I think Royal does this) or they will tell people as we disembark for excursions tomorrow. Norwegian adjusts the clocks at 2am the day of the change or the day of the first port.
There doesn’t seem to be any way to hear announcements in the cabin. Most are the Cruise Director plugging the day’s activities (the Captain doesn’t seem to do daily status/weather/location announcements, I guess because so much is covered on the Daily Program), but it doesn’t mean I don’t try to listen to them, without running into the hallway.
On reflection, the piece that is missing in the service is something I trained my team at IBM on years ago – it doesn’t matter if you solve the problem on the first call, what matters is that the customer thinks you care about him and his problem. I would tell people “I will fix it” before I was sure anything was broken. I’m not getting that here. I see getting passed to someone else because “it’s not my problem.” It is as soon as I asked you, and it remains your problem until you get someone else to take ownership. If you want delighted customers, you follow up even after someone else takes ownership to make sure it’s fixed.
Virginia asked for the Cokes in the minibar to be replaced with Coke Zero. Our room steward has no idea what she’s talking about but I think he has no idea how to make it happen. Some other team preps the kits for the minibar and it’s standardized. Marc has no idea how to go against this, and I think he’s afraid to try. Someone above him puts efficiency above satisfaction. That’s an issue.
I’m beginning to understand some of the loud complaints I used to think were rather petty.

MSC Seaside – Day 2 Sea Day

8:00am We’re doing 22 knots and it is too early to be awake when we went to bed at 2am, but it’s time to get moving to make the Meet & Greet at 10am. There is no coffee pot in the room! This is a bad time to realize this travesty.
8:30am The shower is smaller than some, but it worked. (We don’t have a handicap room this cruise.) I did not have to “soap the walls and spin”, as one of our friends suggested. I like the towels. Not that fond of the soap gel, but Virginia hasn’t found the bar of soap she’s sure was packed.
Had a Coke from the minibar ($3.75) in lieu of free room coffee. Well played, MSC.
10:00am Attended the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet. Offered orange juice, champagne, Aperol spritz or a vodka martini. The Captain is here, and he led a toast.
He also came and introduced himself. They had a cake. They took a group photo with the senior staff. Summary: I had two Aperol Spritzes. I have a new favorite cruise line. Two things missing: the Captain or the Cruise Director didn’t introduce the other senior staff and we didn’t get a contact card with people’s numbers.
12:00pm Lunch in the buffet. There’s salads, pasta, pizza, soups, sandwiches, veal scallopine and more. Heard Joe Sixpack demand, “Where’s the real food?” Why do others hate Americans so? (Joe – hamburgers and hot dogs are at the grill station. Also, be brave. Veal scallopine is almost like the Salisbury Steak in your TV dinners.)
Virginia needs to stop asking for “Just water.” We’ve bought two bottles of Italian still water so far.
1:00pm Slot Pull. Losing money as a group. Actually, turned $25 each into $32 each. We’re rich! ($450 in, $583 out [big winner gets $39] in about twenty minutes.)
2:00pm Lost all the slot pull winnings. I think it’s nap time.
2:15pm We found two chocolate ships in our room when we returned. This was an MSCism I really thought I had misunderstood. Black Card members get a “gift” each cruise – a chocolate model of the ship. It is literally that – the MSC Seaside in milk chocolate. Maybe they do know diabetics are onboard.

3:00pm Room Service called to see if we were available for a delivery. This is how you knock when the “Do Not Disturb” light is on. The caller thanked me for answering. Waiting to see if the dreaded chocolate-covered strawberries will arrive.
3:15pm It’s the chocolate-covered strawberry delivery. Virginia said the chocolate is good, the strawberries are good, she still hates them together. I’m looking at the chilled bottle of Prosecco and two flutes that accompanied them, and am willing to overlook the strawberries.
Ah, the Europeans. You can’t get ice in a Coke but your chilled Prosecco will be in an ice bucket.
7:30pm Dinner at Roy Yamaguchi’s Pan-Asian Restaurant. The MSC meal plans have separate menu pages in the specialty restaurants, one app, one entree, one dessert. You can substitute any item off the full menu for 50% off, and you can buy anything you want at full price. The Teppanyaki place from last night is also branded as Roy’s place. I expected it to beat Norwegian just because there was a name attached but it didn’t. First course was crab cakes and they were very, very good. Waiting for our Asian filets. The filets here were better than the Wagyu sirloin at Teppanyaki but that may be a chef issue and not a raw materials issue. Pistachio ice cream was amazing.
10:45pm BeerProv comedy show. Improv is only as funny as the audience’s suggestions, but these guys rose above the “hilarious” audience. “What’s a country with a distinctive accent?” “Australia!” “Russia!” “Alabama!” “Chicago!” Find the suggestions that don’t meet the criteria.
Midnight: No towel animal. Trying for room service. No answer. Not the way to end the day.
Formal Night: Seriously, can’t we get rid of dress-up nights? There is the dressed to the nines crowd who look really good, the compromised with the wife gang like me who just look uncomfortable (I had to wear a jacket, and I passed a guy who had to wear a tie. Together, we were dressed up.) Then, there are the people that just ignore it and wear whatever. Plus, some of the women were told “formal” and heard “hookers”, so while mildly entertaining to see (mostly, I’m trying to eat here), it’s not formal – unless filing a formal complaint counts. MSC has a lot more people at least trying than Carnival did, but it’s still a whole lot of extra crap to pack, just so you can spill food on something expensive. The people who like to dress up look good, so let them dress up. The rest of us can’t compete, so let us wear decent clothes without playing dress-up. “No shorts” and “Collared shirts” makes sense to me. Just use my dress code from prep school. The ones that can’t dress that way are in the buffet looking for “real food”, anyway.
An interesting note – since we were dressed, Virginia found a couple of photographers so we could get photos. There don’t seem to be photographers in the restaurants! We were going to do our usual “choking” photo and the photographer hesitated. “Not on formal night. The rest of the time, people act crazy, but they don’t like it on formal night.” Seriously, who was forced to wear a suit as a child and never had therapy?
Random Notes: Virginia overpacked. There are not enough hangers in the closet. Nobody seems to understand the concept of “more hangers.” You would think a cruise line with two formal nights in a week would realize women overpack.
Still trying to find a Sharps container. You would think a cruise line famous for bread, pizza and gelato would be used to catering to diabetics.
I hate the trash can. I know it’s something most people don’t even consider, but this is one of those small three-corner paper/plastic/other trash cans for recycling and the sections are insane. They expect us to produce more plastic waste than anything. On a ship? Where am I going to get plastic waste? We produce Kleenex by the score, I produce empty soda cans, and those slots are full to overflowing. No plastic.
We have discovered the infamous water issue. If you tell the waiter you just want water, they will produce a $5 bottle of still water. They don’t think “cheap bastard” and bring out the tap water like other lines. I read on Cruise Critic that Europeans didn’t get water included with their meals, so maybe they think we’re Europeans. At this rate, Virginia’s water bill is going to be higher than my bar tab.

MSC Seaside – Embarkation Day

Editor’s Note: I will have to update this as I go.

10am It’s almost time for our next cruise adventure to begin, although the adventure began yesterday, as we always fly in the day before. We flew American to Ft Lauderdale to save a little money, and flying AA always reminds me why we should take Southwest. There was nothing bad, it’s just not particularly pleasant.

The real adventure started last Friday, when Luggage Forward picked up our bags. They will deliver them to the ship today. Luggage Forward was mentioned by MSC in their packing guide. They pick up your luggage at you house, ship it UPS to the port, and deliver it to the ship. Going home, it’s reversed. It’s UPS Ground, I think, because they want a week on either side of the cruise for shipping. So, if you have a little extra cash and you don’t want to schlep your bags around, it’s an alternative.

Of course, this means our carry-ons are overpacked, so we have clothes if the bags don’t arrive.

We’re at the Intercontinental Miami, one of my favorite hotels – and one we haven’t visited in nine years, because service at this level isn’t cheap. It’s worth it, but it’s not an “every time” hotel. We generally just book the best deal we can find that doesn’t have a number or “Quality” in the title, but this is a special cruise.

Since our last stay, they added a service so amazing that every hotel should have it – there is a phone number to text with your requests or issues. Virginia forgot her toothbrush, so we texted that we needed a toothbrush, and a few minutes later, one of the bellmen delivered three kits with a toothbrush, toothpaste and a flosser. I texted this morning to add my Rewards number to the room. We’ll check that later but I got a “No problem” response.

We had dinner in Toro Toro, the Latin steakhouse in the hotel. Fabulous food, fabulous service. Again, not the cheapest meal in Miami, but worth it. I may have found my new “last meal” request.

We’re trying to get organized and then it’s off to the port to board the ship and hopefully see our luggage.

2pm On board and fed. Boarding was amazingly quick. “Black card” shortens all lines. MSC takes high-level loyalty customers seriously. MSC Black Card kicks the crap out of Norwegian Platinum Plus for boarding.

Lunch was in the buffet. It was busy, but we found seats pretty quickly.
I thought the pizza was good, Virginia said it was not the transcendent experience she was lead to believe. I said most of the people writing those reviews think Dominos is good pizza.

In the middle of lunch, I got an email from Luggage Forward that said our bags have been delivered. We’re not sure where, but there are no bags in the hall, so I’m not panicking yet.

Staff has been unbelievably helpful. We have had a bunch of people on the upsell hunt, but if you just smile and say, “No, thanks”, that’s the end of it.

I was going to cave and get the Easy Drinks package for me because I can do $200 worth of drinks in a week – and would rather have it paid off, but you have to get it for everyone in the room. Virginia doesn’t drink that much, so I passed. The staff member looked disappointed, which was sweet.

We did ask one of the specialty restaurant team to help us book the Steakhouse and Teppanyaki and she booked them, told us there was a discount for Teppanyaki if we went tonight, explained that we get a free dinner (from a special menu) as Black Card members, and mentioned you can order anything you want at a discount if you don’t want to order from the limited free menu.

Someone said the Blue Angels were in town and an F-16 (I think – May be an F-18 but it didn’t stay long) just flew over the ship, so that rumor may be true. Fighter jets are loud.
The Cruise Critic Meet & Greet invitation was in the cabin. We met Marc, our room steward, as we were entering. He had robes for us. Our slippers were already in the room.

The MSC Seaside is like the later Norwegian ships – there’s a slot for your keycard by the door which is the master power switch. (I hate these.) It also lights a signal outside so the steward knows you’re in the room – which means I can’t just use my hotel key from The Intercontinental or he’ll never know we’re gone. There’s also a switch to light “Make up the Room” and one for “Do Not Disturb.”

The MSC app is great. We booked all our shows sitting in the atrium before we went to lunch. Our daily planner online shows all our dining, our excursions and our shows.
The Behind The Scenes tour is Thursday morning. We’re booked.

There are no chocolate-covered strawberries but there is a fruit basket. That’s a step up.

3:45pm The luggage has arrived!

3:55pm Seven Dwarves and Snow White aka the General Alarm. It actually sounded before the Muster Drill. This may be because it takes five minutes to say “That was the General Alarm” in multiple languages.

5:30pm Dinner at Teppanyaki was fun, and it was not crowded, as predicted this afternoon. Very tasty. I would do it again. This may be the only specialty restaurant we paid full price to visit, and you get a 20% discount on embarkation evening. However, we paid for the Wagyu sirloin with scallops and lobster and I was not blown away. It was good, but it was not the Wagyu beef I have had at other restaurants (at a much higher price.) Good, not life-altering.

9:30pm We found a letter from the Captain that said he had been told we didn’t attend the muster drill. We did. Here’s a few failures I will document for him: we arrived at the muster station before the staff (which happens when you want to use the elevators which are cut off before the drill.) We heard a staff member tell another couple, “This is Station H [our station] – just sit anywhere.” Nothing about checking in, scanning cards or anything. I thought this was strange, but just because Norwegian and Carnival need it doesn’t mean everyone does. The General Alarm sounded five minutes before muster, so my first thought was it was a very unfortunately timed emergency and my second thought was, “Maybe this way, people will be here on time.” Nobody ever said we needed to prove we were there, but I figured they do a cabin scan, so that must be how they know.

Then we got the letter.

So, I called Guest Services and said we were in fact at the Muster Drill. They said just ignore the letter. I asked if we were supposed to sign in somewhere and they said, “Yes.” I said, “Nobody told us.” They said, “Just ignore the letter.”

This freaks me out a little bit. We’ve had a lot of Norwegian cruises and there is a muster station lead whose main job seems to be reminding people to sign in. Why doesn’t MSC do this? There were two people who mimed to the Cruise Director’s life jacket instructions in multiple languages. That was it.

If there is an emergency, I’m pretty sure there are going to be some drownings, because nobody was paying attention but me.

So, everything’s great but safety. Hmm.

9:45pm Timeless – the first night’s show was very interesting. Lots of different acts loosely tied together. Virginia was impressed. I was thinking a drama graduate called all of his classmates, said “Bring whatever script you’re working on, and let’s workshop it.” Entertaining.

10:30pm Slots are tight, and you can charge it to your room. Danger, Will Robinson!

11:30pm Just realized room service goes to a limited menu at 11pm. Sandwiches and pizza, basically. Well, the buffet is open 22 hours a day. We’re off.

Midnight: Buffet is down to cold cuts, salads (pasta, potato, chicken), desserts and pizza. The buffet bar is open. Great for drunks, not as much for diabetics.

Pretty sure the iced tea I just had was being brewed while Sophia Loren was christening the ship.

Random Thoughts: The other passengers are a mix of ages and nationalities. Most are extremely elevator-challenged. Here’s a public service announcement: People. If the door is still open, stop pressing Up. The elevator you didn’t fit into has to leave first.
Here, like other mega ships, if you need to go up and all the elevators are full, go down to go up.

If this is an Italian line based in Switzerland, catering to Europeans, shouldn’t the hamburgers and hot dogs be labeled as Ethnic food?

One Thing To Do On A Cruise

There are a lot of lists of “things to do on a cruise” and most of them suggest taking advantage of everything a modern cruise ship can offer – food, entertainment, activities, and so forth. I wanted to talk about the most important thing I do on every cruise.

I remember I’m on a ship.

It’s easy to forget, with all the food and entertainment and activities, but you are onboard an ocean-going vessel, sailing (well, using diesel-electric) across one or more of the Seven Seas.

According to the Galveston Immigration Database, my maternal grandparents and their children sailed on the Lucie from Europe (the port of Bremen) to a new home in Texas in 1854. It took them seventy days to cross the Atlantic, and then sail across the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston to disembark.

My paternal grandfather sailed from England (after leaving Ireland) to a new home in the US (first New York, later Rhode Island) on the Caronia in 1913, although I’m still trying to confirm this. Who knew Patrick was a popular name in Ireland?

Why does this matter? It matters to me because both of my parents are descended from people who decided it was time to find another place to become whomever they were destined to become, and they had to take a ship to do so.

So, I try to take at least a little time each cruise to sit on the balcony, look at the ocean, and remember that I’m not the first sailor in the family, although I may be the first with a balcony.

Ships are the reason I’m here. A cruise ship is a far cry from the Lucie or the Caronia, but it is still a ship, and we’re crossing the ocean, even if we’re just island-hopping.

So, on your next cruise, take a few minutes to remember you’re on a cruise. Most ships today are floating hotels, but they are moving you from port to port. It’s easy to forget there’s an ocean under you. Take some time. Watch it go by.

Planning Time

It’s almost time for our next cruise – our first on MSC Cruises – and we’re beginning to realize how much we ended up taking for granted by sailing the same line most of the time. (This is cruise #20 for us, with one on Carnival and eighteen on Norwegian.)
It’s almost like starting from scratch, but it’s really not because there are so many preconceived notions. Time to learn how to cruise all over again.
The preconceived notions cause questions which are probably strange to a new cruiser:

  • Why can’t I get my eDocs when they were emailed to my wife?
  • What do you mean you don’t give them a credit card at check-in?
  • Why are the port times weird (see below)?
  • Do you need to bring life jackets to muster?
  • Is there a behind the scenes tour?
  • Are there photos with the Captain?
  • Is there a mini golf course?
  • How do the different experiences work?

Between the MSC Cruises site, Cruise Critic and Facebook, we have some of these answered, but we shall see, since online answers are not always reality.
Packing is different: MSC has a formal night. Actually, there may be two. We’ve never had a formal night. It’s not that we don’t dress up at all on cruises, it’s just it hasn’t been pre-defined.
While I was contending with packing a jacket (no ties!), we discovered MSC doesn’t just do formal nights. They also have theme nights. Let’s see, so far we’ve heard about:

  • Italian night (which may just be in the main dining room)
  • White Party (which may be a late-night party like on Norwegian)
  • 70s Night (party)
  • Pirate Night (unclear – may be a rumor)

It’s like every night has a theme. That’s exhausting to me. I would like to wear a Hawaiian shirt and slacks and call it good.
Now, what’s exhausting to me was a shopping occasion for my beloved wife. I decided since I usually wear a Hawaiian shirt in the evenings, I needed to find an Italian-themed Hawaiian shirt for the Little Italy celebrations because I can wear that any time. I found a pizza Hawaiian shirt. So, that’s a good sign.
We finally got excursions booked for all the ports this week. MSC excursions seem cheaper than Norwegian excursions. We probably could have just wandered on our own, because we’ve been to many of the ports before, but we decided to find a tour to take us where we were planning to go, anyway.
I was updating our TripIt itinerary with our newly-booked excursions when I realized there are no start times for the excursions listed. There is a length of time in the description, but no start time. We get the start time when we get our tickets onboard. For those of us who like planning, this is a bit disconcerting. I know they won’t leave before we get into port, and they’ll be done before the ship leaves, but not knowing the exact time is freaking me out a bit. I’m not sure why, since finding out onboard is plenty of time, but it just does.
The port times are different than most – but I like them, mostly. We leave Miami late (I think), and the first port is San Juan, Puerto Rico (a new port for us). There’s a sea day, and then most of the next day because we get into port at 5pm. We leave at 1am the next morning. I don’t think we’ve ever had an evening in port before. (Update: Norwegian actually arrives in San Juan about the same time. It’s 922 nautical miles in just over two days – about 19 knots average speed.)
It’s a short sail from Puerto Rico to St Thomas, our next call. I would say “overnight”, but we leave at 1am. We get twelve hours in St Thomas, which is an extended day, compared to most port calls. So, we should have time to wander after the excursion.
After St Thomas, we head to St Maarten, but it’s a short day – we arrive at 7am and leave port at 2pm. So, a good day to take a ship’s excursion, so the ship will wait if you’re late.
We then have a sea day and a little more, since we arrive in our final port of Nassau at noon and sail at 7pm.
So, it looks like MSC sails based on minimal time between ports and Norwegian sails for consistent time in port. With Norwegian, I would expect two sea days to Puerto Rico, with an arrival at 7am or so the third day. I think getting in the night before and having an evening in port will be an interesting change.
I have to find the distances between ports and calculate average speeds required, given the time available. I think Norwegian tends to cruise more slowly (less fuel) to arrive in the morning. MSC Cruises is born of one of the world’s largest shipping companies. I assume they make schedules based on time required, not speed. Also, getting in at strange times means other ships may have left already and it may help with port costs.
I will be watching our speed as we go. My GPS app tracks speed as well as location.
This will be interesting. I still think the greatest challenge will be not assuming we know how everything works because not everything is the same from cruise line to cruise line.

Passports

Another never-ending battle for cruisers – do you need a passport to take a cruise? The answer is: it depends.

If you are on a closed-loop cruise, where you depart and return to the same US port (and you are a US citizen), then technically, you can travel with an official copy of your birth certificate (proves citizenship) and a State-issued photo ID (proves identity.) A passport proves both citizenship and identity, so if you have a passport, it’s all you need

(You’ll need your birth certificate to get your passport. After that, put your birth certificate back in the safe deposit box.)

Most Caribbean cruises are closed-loop, and that’s where a lot of people start, so they just assume you don’t need a passport to cruise. You don’t need one, but only in that one specific case. If the cruise is not closed-loop (say, a Transatlantic from Miami to Barcelona or a Panama Canal cruise from Florida to California), you need a passport. If you want to fly to a resort on a Caribbean island or travel elsewhere internationally, you need a passport.

You usually have to show your passport whenever you enter a foreign country, and when you return to the US. However, when you’re on a cruise, the cruise line provides immigration agents in each of the ports with a manifest – a list of all passengers – before the ship arrives in port. The ship checks passengers off (you swipe your ship card) and back on (swiping the card again), and immigration accepts their count. Why? On a ship, unlike a plane, passengers will usually arrive and depart the same day, and the ship tracks them. Also, cruises produce buckets of tourist revenue for countries that depend on tourism, so the system is easier.

That said, we have been asked for our passports before returning to the ship. Once. In nineteen cruises.

Here’s why I think a passport is a good (and necessary) investment:

  • If you leave the country on anything other than a closed-loop cruise, you need a passport.
  • If you have to fly back to the US (say, you missed your ship or have a medical emergency), you really need one because a birth certificate and drivers license don’t work at the airport. Neither does crying. Also, the most expensive way to acquire a passport is in an emergency, in a foreign port.
  • If you’re going to cruise more than once, the cost per trip starts going down – a passport covers ten years of cruise (and other) vacations.

If you never think you’ll do anything than the one three-day cruise to the Bahamas, then maybe a passport isn’t really necessary. Just don’t get sick, don’t get arrested, and don’t miss the ship!

If you’re never going to do more than one three-day cruise to the Bahamas, I would say you might want to get a sense of adventure first – then, get a passport!

Quick Seasick Cure

(Thanks to my brother-in-law, career Navy and tugboat Captain):
If you start feeling queasy at sea, go outside on an open deck, get some fresh air, and look at the horizon.
Ginger can also help – if you don’t have any ginger, drink ginger ale.

Insurance

I wrote an opinion piece on this earlier. This is designed to be factual.
Do you need insurance? Yes.
Do you have to buy trip insurance? It depends. Some people swear their credit card provides trip coverage. (Read the fine print.) Some think nothing could go wrong. Some wait until they get home and threaten to sue the cruise line.
Think of all the things that could happen.

  • Get sick before the trip.
  • Lose your job before the trip.
  • Get sent out of town on business the week of the trip.
  • You miss your flight.
  • Your flight is canceled.
  • Plane to the port is late.
  • Arrive late to the port.
  • Get sick on the trip.
  • Pass away on the cruise.
  • A close family member passes away while you’re cruising.
  • Miss the ship at a port.
  • Miss the flight home.

This is probably not an exhaustive list of what could go wrong. So, the question is – how many of these risks are you willing to take?
Also, consider the insurance source. The least path of resistance is to purchase insurance with your cruise. However, if you’re like us and book your own flights, the cruise line insurance probably won’t cover any problems.
Read the policy. The best policy you could probably get is “cancel for any reason” coverage. If you change your mind, you can get your money back.
Medical insurance will probably cover you out of the country – except Medicare and Medicaid. My corporate Aetna insurance covered all of my (and Virginia’s) misadventures but they considered the ship’s doctor “out of plan”, so the reimbursement was lower.
Yes, I said “reimbursement.” The ship’s medical center charges you cash money to your shipboard account. They’re not going to file with your insurance and bill you the difference. So, be prepared to pay full price onboard. Keep all your receipts! When you get home, file with your health insurance provider, take the receipts and what you reimbursed, and file that with your travel insurance provider. We’ve done this a few times, and have always received 100% of the money back. However, we’ve had medical bills on the ship that were our highest expense by far.
“I can’t afford the insurance.” How did you afford the cruise? More importantly, when the ship sails away in Mexico because your wife spent too much time shopping (or your husband spent too much time drinking), how are going to afford to get home?
Get trip insurance. Visit insuremytrip.com or your favorite broker. Just get it.
For those who are afraid of everything, here are some notes from Virginia’s research for our niece before their first cruise:
There is trip insurance that covers everything, which you can buy directly through an independent insurance company. My research found the most comprehensive plans are offered by Nationwide Insurance.  None of the other plans we have looked at cover as much, especially when it comes to pre-existing conditions and actual situations (both medical and ship related).  
Most plans don’t cover pre-existing conditions.  They have a “Look-back Period”, which varies from 90 or 120 to 180 days.  This means if, for instance, you had to cancel your trip because your Dad had to be hospitalized in an emergency for his COPD, and you decided it was serious enough not to leave, they would look back at HIS medical records for that period of time, and if there was any treatment, change of meds, or anything that indicated this was not an unforeseen outcome, they would not cover your trip cancellation.
Nationwide has a pre-existing condition waiver.  They also cover stuff that surprised me!  If your itinerary gets changed, they actually will compensate you per port.  This is an unusual benefit.
Not many insurance plans cover trip cancellation as well as medical while you are on the trip.  Compared to the coverage we have through the cruise line, they are a little more expensive, but they cover the flights, hotel, etc., rather than only the cruise.  While Virginia was writing this note originally, there was a big discussion about insurance on Cruise Critic, and many people were recommending Nationwide.
This is not a recommendation, since we haven’t used them (yet), but to get a quote and the complete details on the plan, call Nationwide at 877-970-9059.  This is different than their main number.  It is direct to the group that handles travel insurance.

Viking Sky

The Viking Sky is safely in port after a harrowing day at sea.
The ship lost power Saturday in high winds and heavy seas, and drifted dangerously close to shore before regaining enough power to pull away and anchor. After the engines were restarted, she limped (under escort) into port this morning.
A cargo ship in the area diverted to assist, and also lost power. Her crew abandoned ship and were rescued.
While the Sky was trying to regain power, almost half her passengers were airlifted to relative safety on land by helicopter.
Some thoughts:

  • This was a spectacular group effort. The crew managed to stay in position while waiting for help. A ship in the area went to assist. Government services responded quickly. Locals assisted with those plucked off the ship. Norwegians are prepared for bad weather rescues.
  • The Joint Rescue Center and Norwegian emergency services did an amazing job. I’m still doing the math on how five helicopters got over 400 people off a cruise ship in 12 hours or so – plus nine crew from the cargo ship that tried to help.
  • Muster drill is critical. When you see a room full of passengers in life jackets, if you’ve never cruised, you would probably think, “They’re all going to die.” If you’ve cruised enough, you think, “Bet they’re glad they went to muster drill.”
  • There may be a better way to see the Northern Lights than by sea. This was a Northern Lights cruise, which explains why they were sailing as far north as they were this time of year.
  • There’s a reason most cruise lines relocate their ships to Florida for the winter. The weather sucks in the winter, especially in Northern Europe and Scandinavia.
  • Even Hurtigruten (a delivery service as well as a passenger service that sails the Norwegian coast) had held their ships in port. Why did the Viking Sky sail?
  • River cruises and ocean cruises are not the same. For all the older folks onboard who chose the Viking Sky because they had been on a Viking River Cruise, the service may be the same, but the water is different.
  • After years of watching Deadliest Catch, when I heard the crew of the cargo ship was jumping into the water to be rescued, my first thought was, “I hope they have survival suits.” Then I thought, “If your cruise ship goes down in the North Atlantic or the Norwegian Sea, what’s a life jacket going to do for you?”
  • The best news sources for a crisis on a cruise ship are Cruise Critic, Cruise Industry News or social media.
  • It constantly amazes me that in times of crisis, there are still people who think, “I should post a video of this.”
  • The US media didn’t seem very interested in the crisis or ongoing rescue. Part of this was probably the lack of visuals available since TV is a visual medium. However, CNN can talk about Robert Kraft (“rich man caught with hooker”) with only a stock photo, so why not something about a ship with over 900 passengers onboard?
  • The media don’t understand cruises and they don’t care about details. There were not over 1300 passengers onboard, there were 1300 people (passengers and crew.)
  • There is no 24 hour news service in the US anymore, if you need to get news, just go online – and you may want to go offshore, like to the BBC, for example. CNN, Headline News, Fox News all have scheduled programs – not live news. Then, they wonder why their viewers are plummeting.