October 2025, Day 4

Day 3 –

It was so nice to finally be on the ship and have a good night’s sleep.

We woke up late and I didn’t matter as this was a sea day.

Unfortunately, it was cold (60), windy and a light rain so Ed could not eat breakfast out on the deck.

Also, sitting later on the deck did not happen as the sky never turned nice enough.

Ed had a light breakfast in the room and pretty soon it was time to go for lunch.

We ate lunch in the Yacht Club (YC) dining and it was delightful.

Then it was time to go to casino and play for a bit.  This ship is really a European ship and there are very few Americans onboard.  The Americans go for the newer MSC ships, like the ones we have been on.  For instance, we have not set next to someone whose English is their first language at the blackjack table.  We have yet to sit it at a blackjack table where someone other than us spoke English!  The same for dinner.

After walking around for a bit, it was time to go back to the cabin and get ready for the evening.

We had a Butler escort us to the show and the seats that were reserved for us.

The show which was a very good production show with all kinds of performers.

Then we went to dinner and had the usual great dinner and we hope that you like the pictures.

As is the usual routine, we closed out the evening in the Casino and went to bed.

Tomorrow is our first land stop, Corfu, Greece which is Corfu, an island off Greece’s northwest coast in the Ionian Sea where we have never been.

Night for now.

 

                                              Breakfast waffle fromthe Pool Deck

                                      This is the Breakfast Buffett on the Pool Deck

                                                           Going to dinner

                                                            Beef Carpaccio - 3 servings at once!

                                                      A different style Lamb for Barb

 

 

October – 2026 Cruise - Day 1 - 2 - 3

We drove to OHare by Hertz who had a great fast new check in system.

Then we pulled the age card at the airport checking in and it was a very smart move

A kid brought 2 of the wheelers, loaded our carry on and he took care of putting the bags through security screening. We basically did not have to lift anything and went right through security and in another 1/2 hours got to the gate.  We were the very last gate on a long concourse.

After being able to board first, we got to our seats which were not in first but the next level. A big tv and the seats laid down nicely at a great angle They were on the right-side of the plane with only 2 seats

They serve wine right away which was a great start.

Then a really nice meal as you can see from the attached menu. They even had Baileys for Barb.

The flight was a 7 1/2-hour flight and we arrived in London at 10:33 their time

They took us by wheelchairs, a long way to get to the gate before we boarded our flight from London to Istanbul, which was only three hours.  London is a huge airport certainly more spread out that O’Hare.

We arrived in Istanbul right on time and took a car to the hotel, which was 45 minutes away.

The hotel was amazing and we found out that it had been built in the 14^th century.   It had been a hospital, a school, and other things before being converted to a hotel.   Very, very nice and had a huge breakfast on the 4^th floor rooftop.

We arrived at about 8:00pm so after unpacking, we went out and walked around, found a found street-food spot for a fish wrap, grilled right there, and went to bed.

In the morinng we had breakfast on the rooftop – a huge spread.  Since we were up early, we went for a walk in the morning around the streets of the hotel, a very busy city, at rush hour.  Lots of cars, etc. and people waking in a hurry.

Then we took a car to the cruise port and were able board the ship, the MSC Fantasia quickly.

They took us and our carry-ons by Yacht Club Butler up to the Yacht Club Lounge where the Concierge met us and briefed us on the cruise and the ship. 

The Yacht Club is a ship within a ship and there were only 75 cabins and about 125 people staying here.  This is a smaller ship with only 1,637 cabins.

The ship was scheduled to leave Istanbul at 11:53pm so most of the people were off the ship touring Istanbul.

What was amazing is that the verry first office we saw when he took us to the Yacht Club was the Director Camelina, the highest-ranking officer.  We had been with her in the Caribbean and she is wonderful.  Big hugs all around.

Then our Butler took us to the cabin and it was maybe the best cabin we have ever had on any cruise ship.

The only was to describe it is old-world elegance!  Lots of polished wood, and no plastic!   

We had lunch, unpacked, walked around, rested, and basically had an uninventable day; however, we were on the ship enjoying.

We dressed for the evening and the show.

We were taken to the show, which was a Sand Artist and music which was fun and then we went to dinner. 

After a wonderful dinner, we walked around the main part of the ship, stopping to listen to music before finally going to bed.

The ship sailed after midnight and while the casino opened then, we did not go.

Night from the Mediterranean heading for Corfu, Greece, our first stop.

Night.

ps - I will upload videos later tonight

Lunch in the Dinning Room

Lunch in the Dining Room

Bringing us to our room

Out for dinner

Dinner Menu

Dinner Menu

Barb's Lamb Shank!

Part of the breakfast on the Pool Deck

Last Day - MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 10 – Friday, March 23

Sorry we took so long to do the blog.  On the last night, we finally went to bed after a very busy day at 2:45am!

As we were up late the night before, Ed finally made it to the pool deck at 9:30am and it was a beautiful day – in the 80’s with some wind.

Barb joined him soon and we were out in the sun until it was time to eat at 1:00pm with our friends.

We left them early as there was qualifying for a slot tournament at 2:30pm, which Ed entered and didn’t not qualify.

At 3:00pm, David joined Ed for the 8^th session of blackjack we played on the cruise.

After that we sadly packed and then it was time for our last dinner for this cruise with our friends.  We all did pick an early January cruise for 2026 for us to all schedules and meet again.

The production number on the theater was the best of the cruise with some great music and dancing by the ships entertainment cast.

Then dinner as always.  The first dinner and the last dinner on a cruise is always the most elaborate and this dinner was no exception as you will see in the pictures.

After that we all went to the casino where we all had a good night and we had a good casino cruise – not the biggest winnings but a nice win.

The casino has a points system based on your average bet and hours played and we did qualify for a “free” cruise of up to 10 days.  Unlike other cruises, they publish the points need for each type and length of cruse and you know your points each day.

Overall, this cruise, was one of and maybe the best we have every had out of almost 60 cruises and having our friends all together, except for the Freemans (darn) from Virginia made it a very special, fun cruise.

We disembarked at 8:00am with our Butler leading us past literally almost thousands of the 5,800  passengers ready to leave as you only had from 7:30am to 10:00am to vacate the ship.  Their line was very, very long, snaking throughout floor 4, leading to the gangway.

We found our luggage quickly and boarded a van to pick up our rental car.

Since we were flying Allegiant, the closest flight on that day in the afternoon was at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. 

We drove the three hours down the expressway and checked into our flight with about ½ hour to spare, enough time to get a sandwich.

The flight was a 2hr 35 minute non-stop flight and after a gate change and a short delay we flew to Peoria, picked up a rental car and drove to the Bloomington airport.  There we dropped off our rental and took our car home, getting home at 7:30am after stopping at the grocery store and also picking up a pizza.

It was cold and windy so we only took in our two big suitcases and left the rest in the car for Monday morning. 

Thanks for reading our blog and we are now home

                                                       Going out in the afternoon

                                                Packed and going our for the final evening

                                               For a starter, we all ordered 3 beef Capaccio

                                                          Lamb Chops for Barb

          

                                                      Wonderful tasting Chicken for Ed

                                                       Finally a sunday for Ed   

                                                          

MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 9 – Friday, March 21

We woke up to temperatures in the 80’s again and were at Cozumel.

On our last cruise, Barb purchased a manganic bracelet that seemed to really work.

So, we got off the ship to see if we could find one as we tried through Amazon and didn’t get one that seemed to work.  We didn’t find one and we were happy to get back on the ship instead of the madhouse at the pier when 6,000 people are there.

The rest of the day, we sat on the pool deck and have some great sun.

Before dinner we all went to the Sky Louge for drinks for 1/2 hour.

At 7:15, as usual, our Butler took us to the show and it was a production show by the cast of the ship and it was very good.

Next was dinner, of course which was very good

Then it was onto the casino to close out the night.

Tonight we also set our clocks forward as we did last night when we got back to our room at 1:30am.

Tomorrow is a day at sea and then we head for home.

To our family – see you soon!!

                                                            Barb in the slot tournament

                     

                                   

                                                               Going out for the evening

                                           The lunch buffet on the poll deck

MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 8 – Friday, March 20

 We woke up to temperatures in the – and were at Ise de Roatan, Honduras

Since we have been here before and now there is a travel ban to not leave the made-for-ships port area, we stayed on the ship and relaxed with our friends at the pool.

There were no clouds and the temperature was 88, no wind and the feels link temperature were 94!

Just before lunch, we had to go back to our cabin to cool off and that’s a first for any cruise we have ever taken.

Lunch was fun with everyone and we typical take 1 – ½ hours as we are just chatting.\

At 7:20am as is the usual, our butler took us to the theater and tonight it was a magician who was good.

Then of course we had a good dinner and went to the casino before crashing for the evening sometime after 1:00pm.

Tomorrow is our last stop which is Cozumel and we do plan to get off briefly to look for a manganic bracelet which is a replacement for one that was lost.

Night for this blog posting.

                                                             The made for the cruise industry port

                                                          It's white night tonight

MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 7 – Wednesday, March 19

We woke up to temperatures in the low 80’s– and were at sea for the entire day.

Of course we spent the day by the pool just relaxing with our friends and had a wonderful tim, including a long lunch.

The entertainment tonight was a musical production number call The Divas and it was very good.

Then it was up to dinner and the casino.

Nothing more to report and we did nothing!!

Tomorrow, we dock at Roatan, Honduras and we do not plan on getting off the ship.

Night from another wonderful at sea.

Barb and Vera's lamp chops

Barb with hers

                                                         Going out for the evening

MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 6 – Tuesday, March 18

We woke up to temperatures in the high seventies – and were at the cruise lines private island Ocean Cay.

The only problem was that the wind was so strong that we couldn’t dock.  The Captain kept the ship around the island until Noon when he finally gave up and we headed slowly towards that next stop after spending tomorrow at sea.

We had lunch with our friends and then continued sitting out side in the sun.  It was so hot that we could only stay out until 2:45pm when we had to get out of the sun.  This is the first time ever where both of us felt like we were getting overheated it was so hot.

The entertainment tonight was a production number and it was very, very good.

Since we are now out as sea, before dinner we walked around the main areas looking at all of the shops.

We should tell you that our cabin is amazing and maybe1/3 bigger than a cabin on the other cruise lines than we have been on.

The bathroom is also the biggest of all ships we have been on outside of MSC.  The towels are very thick and about 5’ long!

Then of course we had a wonderful dinner and closed out the night, as always in the casino.

Night for now

                                                                Going to walk around the deck

                                                        Relaxing before the evening activities

                                                                 Out for the night

                                                                  Barb's Lobster

                                                                     Ed's Filet