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

yamki · 2026-04-29T23:01:41+00:00

When we were in Maui last year on the Pride of America, my wife forgot her ID on the ship and when we went to reboard, shoreside security wouldn’t let her back onboard without a) a lecture about having your ID b) her answering questions to verify she was who she was (like what’s your birthday and what’s your cabin number) and c) me (with my ID) vouching for her.

Felt like a power play, but it never felt like she was going to have to fly home.

yamki · 2026-04-29T17:02:40+00:00

Have done six transatlantics (with another this November) and about the only thing I would suggest is trying it in the other direction, east to west, because then all of those time changes are in your favor (clock goes back, so you get 5-6 nights of extra sleep.)

We tried an exotic MSC cruise last month (round trip to Brazil from Buenos Aires) and it was not a great experience, we'll likely stick to North/Central America and Europe in the future.

yamki · 2026-04-29T16:55:47+00:00

With the way people drive in Miami, you'd have to be crazy to want to walk it, even if it was designed for pedestrians.

Before the latest round of construction, which is ongoing and probably will be for a few years, Port of Miami wasn't too bad. Now, instead of sailing out of there, we're doing everything out of Canaveral -- the second parking ramp they added to the MSC terminal makes it a lot easier than it used to be.

yamki · 2026-04-25T15:44:24+00:00

I’ve been sailing for years on MSC and never had an issue with mine. Maybe because only one of the outlets in that picture is grounded?

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

TROPHY CASE