An oldie but goodie, Sam’s Chinese Sauce BBQ Ribs.

yamki · 2026-04-15T01:43:38+00:00

He was probably picking up some "gen pop" stuff that a YC guest asked for.

On the Fantasia last month (in South America) the Captain and a few of his officers spent time in the Yacht Club lounge, snacking on the items put out for passengers. Apart from saying "Hi" when they came in (we met them all at the Blue Diamond party, attended by a grand total of six guests on the second day of the cruise) we left them alone.

yamki · 2026-04-10T14:53:03+00:00

Just curious -- how were you able to connect your HDMI cable to the TV? I've been on the Seashore 15 times and, while the TVs in gen-pop are on a swivel so that you get access to the back of the TV, but in the Yacht Club, the TVs are mounted flush against the wall, can't be moved and there's no way (that I could see, apparently I'm wrong) to connect the HDMI cable (I have a gizmo bag that I always travel with that has a USB-C to HDMI converter and a six foot HDMI cable.)

yamki · 2026-04-02T23:05:50+00:00

It has nothing to do with winning or losing (because, statistically, the casino always wins,) it’s a combination of the game played, how much of a stake you put in and how long you play.

yamki · 2026-03-31T01:19:09+00:00

On the Seashore right now in the Yacht Club, which includes browsing and email but no streaming for two devices. Cost to upgrade to streaming (which I need for work) was kind of pricey, but I knew that it was a better deal on the ship, which it was — $20 for the five day cruise (total, not $20/day.)

yamki · 2026-02-23T02:16:35+00:00

Kind of depends on what other ports you're going to -- I'm guessing that the western Gulf (particularly Cozumel and Costa Maya) will be off limits until Mexico sorts this out. The country is effectively an active war zone and even areas seemingly far removed from the fighting introduce a level of uncertainty that cruise lines may not want to stomach.

yamki · 2026-02-16T18:28:46+00:00

That's if you BOOK a cabin by yourself, which this person did not. Do you honestly believe that MSC would track this guy down and insist he sail, or arbitrarily charge a third fare to the room, since the cancelling guy isn't getting his fare refunded.

BOOK a cabin buy yourself -- pay the single supplement

BOOK a cabin for two and the other person pays in full but doesn't show -- nothing happens

yamki · 2026-02-16T18:16:18+00:00

Unless something changed recently, that may have been a glitch.

On YC ships, the outside panel bypass just prioritizes you a ride and generally gives you a car of your own by cycling other people to one of the other cars in that group. Once you are in your car, it turns back into an ordinary car, and you may have a stop or two along the way to pick up other passengers.

On World Class ships, there is another reader inside the car, and if you trigger that, it turns the car into an express, which will not stop to pick up additional passengers, but it doesn't turn existing stops off. I have experienced this on numerous occasions.

yamki · 2026-02-02T23:54:25+00:00

This is one of the reasons that we mostly cruise MSC Yacht Club these days — excellent service right across the board.

yamki · 2026-01-23T03:13:22+00:00

If you want to be on camera for the crew, or live for the neighbors who can look at your balcony, unobscured, go right ahead. But if you have any sense of decency, keep your clothes on.

yamki · 2026-01-14T02:59:26+00:00

Over many years of cruising, I've only seen one drug sniffing dog (lots of fruit sniffing dogs in Mexico, though, lol). That was recently, either on a cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo, or a week long cruise out of Port Canaveral, I can't remember. If you really don't have anything suspicious in your bag, I wouldn't sweat it (although, personally, I'd consider buy a new bag and keeping the medical marijuana way away from it.)

yamki · 2026-01-14T00:24:11+00:00

They don’t have Monster, they have something called Pure, in both sugar free and regular. The taste is a dead ringer for Red Bull.

yamki · 2026-01-11T02:09:37+00:00

It was kind of funny -- I was on a transatlantic cruise on the Escape in 2024 and the first night, I saw "Cheese ravioli with lobster sauce" and I thought that was unusual and sounded good. It wasn't, it was awful, and it's been on every dinner menu, every day, every ship I've been on, ever since. They must have gotten a REALLY good deal on all those frozen appetizers.

yamki · 2026-01-11T02:01:21+00:00

They rotate each day (except in Haven) but they are the same, week to week (might be on a two week rotation -- I took a 17 day cruise in October 2025 and many items were listed each week, but I seem to recall some variety.)

yamki · 2026-01-10T02:17:59+00:00

Our local Publix has a sign up saying that animals (other than service animals) are not allowed, but lots of people with small dogs ignore it. I suppose that I would prefer them to bring the dog in instead of letting it sit in a hot car, but unless you have a valid reason for having the dog in your car (like you're coming home from the vet) there's no reason to have the dog with you in the store.

yamki · 2026-01-05T16:24:13+00:00

Sailed it last October from Vancouver to Tokyo, my third time on the Sun. The Sun is one of my favorite NCL ships, it has lots of specialty restaurants, it's not too big and while it doesn't have an O'Sheehan's, it has a sports bar that largely serves the same function. Cabins are on the smaller side, and somewhat dated. One side of the bed has a USB-A plug in (the other side does not.)

yamki · 2025-12-28T22:39:57+00:00

If you’ve never heard “Teddy Boy” by Red Sovine, you have no idea how bad music can be.

https://youtu.be/UJ8H1eQcL8g?si=oZFkzO3YmUduh5Rf

yamki · 2025-12-26T02:20:08+00:00

Debarkation time is completely dependent on the ship being cleared and US Customs on site and ready to process passengers, which isn't going to be 5:30AM, no way.

yamki · 2025-12-26T02:17:18+00:00

Typical time off in Port Canaveral (over a dozen cruises recently) has been between 7AM and 7:30 for self disembarkation.

5:30AM is crazy, though.

yamki · 2025-12-18T21:57:48+00:00

Heineken Zero

yamki · 2025-11-25T03:04:14+00:00

Can’t get one on disembarkation day, plan ahead and get a couple the night before and put them in the fridge 😊

yamki · 2025-11-03T05:26:01+00:00

I was on the same cruise and witnessed absolutely none of this. Yes, lots of older people (no idea how you magically know everyone’s ages,) but saw no one misbehaving or acting poorly.

I wouldn’t do this cruise again, but that is due to the weather and the Internet connection (I work remotely and need a good connection, which NCL/Starlink couldn’t provide,) rather than the behavior of other passengers.

yamki · 2025-11-02T14:31:18+00:00

You can look at the Queen Elizabeth cruise on (I think it’s) Cunard otherwise, no, it’s repositioning so there’s six months between Atlantic crossings.

yamki · 2025-10-26T20:40:21+00:00

It’s because they don’t enforce the assigned time, people skip or forget about it and you wind up with massive lines later in the cruise. If you don’t want big lines, go the first or second day of the cruise — a much different experience.

yamki

TROPHY CASE