MSC World America Eastern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 2

Beverage Tasting Events

I do like my beverage tasting events, and MSC World America offers a few different ones during the cruise. The thing is, not all of them are really “events” in the traditional sense.

Take the Bourbon and Bacon Experience at Elixir, for example. It sounds like something you’d sign up for and attend at a set time, but it’s really just a specialty drink pairing you can order at the bar for $30. The same goes for the Highland Park Experience. 

The Macallan Whisky Experience is different. I did this one back in April, and it’s a real tasting held in a small private room just off the side of Elixir. For $30, it’s actually a pretty good value because you get to sample several pours that would easily cost more than that if you ordered them individually outside the event. 

There’s also a $30 beer tasting, which is held as an actual event at either Masters of the Sea British Pub or the All-Star Sports Bar. 

I signed up for the Macallan tasting again this cruise, but I had to make a choice when I saw that the beer tasting conflicted with a wine tasting I also wanted to attend.

Wine won.

So I’ll be doing the Macallan and wine tastings this time around, and I’ll report back on both once they happen.

One thing to keep in mind with all of these is that none of the tastings are included with a beverage package. They’re all separate, upcharge experiences, so even if you have one of MSC’s drink packages, you’ll still be paying the $30 fee to participate.

Announcements & Cruise Director

I know there are people who specifically plan cruises around when a certain cruise director is onboard. After more than 25 years of cruising, I still don’t understand that concept, but for many a cruiser the cruise director can make or break the trip for them. Why? I have no idea. But it’s definitely a thing.

On MSC World America, the main cruise director since the ship launched has been Eversen Bevelle, better known onboard as “Dr. E.” He joined MSC after working for Carnival Cruise Line and was the cruise director when World America entered service in April 2025. Earlier on, he was introduced as “The Reverend Dr. E,” but somewhere along the way the “Reverend” seems to have disappeared and now it’s simply Dr. E.

And if you’ve sailed with him, you already know exactly what comes next.

Every announcement begins with him singing “good morning,” “good afternoon” or “good evening.” Every. Single. Time.

Annoying? To me, yes. To a lot of passengers, not exacly. Plenty of people absolutely love that kind of cruise-director personality and enjoy having a recognizable voice and presence throughout the day. 

My preferred cruise director is almost invisible. Open the show. Introduce the act. Relay important information when necessary. Show up at an event. That’s enough. I don’t need a running commentary over the public address system every time there’s a gold-by-the-inch sale, bingo session, spa special, art auction or whatever else they’re trying to sell me.

World America has a lot of announcements throughout the day, and some of them are both long and loud. Then, once the English announcement is finished, you get the Spanish version. So the same long announcement comes blaring through the ship all over again.

It’s horrible if you happen to be sitting somewhere trying to enjoy a little peace and quiet.

To be fair, MSC has actually improved this compared when they first started sailing from the United States. Back then announcements weren’t just made in English and Spanish – they were also done in Italian and French, meaning the exact same announcement was repeated four times.

Now we’re down to two, which is certainly better, but when the original announcement already feels like it’s going on forever, hearing it all over again in another language doesn’t exactly make it less intrusive.

This is one of those personal preference things. Some passengers want that very visible, high-energy cruise director and want to hear from them throughout the day. Others, like me, would rather only hear from them when there’s something actually worth saying.

Breakfast on MSC World America

Since it’s a sea day, there are several different options for breakfast besides fighting over bacon at the buffet.  

First, one of the ship’s main dining rooms – Hexagon Restaurant – is serving the “Tour de Brunch” from 8:00am – 1:00pm.

If you’re staying in the Yacht Club, you have two options.  The first is the Yacht Club Grill which has a small breakfast menu that’s served from 8:00am – 10:30am.

The second is the Yacht Club Restaurant which offers a full service breakfast option from 7:30am – 9:30am.