titangas

Seaside this past summer.

My first MSC cruise was in the YC on the Seashore in December 2020. On the final night of the cruise, we had a real emergency, A young man/boy committed suicide by jumping off a balcony on the 18th floor and landed on the deck 8 promenade. Everything in that case was handled professionally and efficiently given the horrific situation. I have sailed 2 YC cruises since.

Just got off of Seaside today - I will say that the service on that ship was incredible. I have been on Seashore and Meraviglia too, all in the YC. I would rank #1 Seashore, #2 Meraviglia and #3 Seaside. The number one reason for the Seashore is the Topsail and YC restaurant. While the Seaside has that also, I think there are some definite layout flaws that were fixed on the 2 newer ships. I loved the large hot tub on the YC pool deck on Seaside it was 2 small round ones and a lot of wasted space. Because of the location of Specialty restaurants to navigate to the back of ship you have to go up or down a deck from 16, them back up or down to 16 if you want the hit buffet for pizza or soft serve. It also felt more open on the Seashore on the public space decks especially on the front half casino area. I loved the Meraviglia and the promenade, just prefer the connected topsail lounge and restaurant on the Seashore, and the pool deck layout.

We are on Seaside now, Wife and I are booked in 2 different cabins to get Voyagers discount in both rooms but both are in YC so no experience shenanigans going on. But my wife and son just switched bracelets to get into the rooms they are in. Very simple if swapping bands for just that reason.

Thanks for keeping up us all updated, from a fellow NC teacher. We are leaving on Seaside non Sunday 7/2. It will be DW and my third Yacht Club cruise (Seashore 2021 and Meraviglia this past April). We loved both ships for different reasons, will be interesting to see how the Seaside compares to the revised Seashore version. We have 3 YC cabins - taking my DD and husband, my son and father in law. Will be first cruise for FIL, this is why taking short cruise, he has been resistant but we know he will love. In over 20 cruises have never been on one less than 5 nights. Can’t wait. Interesting note I have gotten several upgrade emails for the Royal Suite for all 3 rooms. Another one this morning. $1400 per person - no thanks!

Nope, I just undressed and laid down with the towel over me. This is the first I have even heard of this policy.

On both of my MSC cruises, December 2021 on Seashore and April 2023 on Meraviglia - I did not wear anything for massages.

You do not need to have the Butler escort you but they definitely will. The YC wristband gets you past the scanners for reservations and then you really could just choose any seat you want. The YC section is in the back left side with a walkway in front, so we sat in the front row of that section every time and had plenty of leg room. Craig the YC director told me the working on signing Lorraine to a contract to work the ships, looks like that may have happened.

We definitely liked and enjoyed the Rock show. The song selection was right to our taste too. We felt the main female lead singer was a step beneath some of the other performers in the show and the weak spot. Like I said though I don’t regret paying $24, just think $34 for a show that long when there are other entertainment options at no cost is a little steep. Especially if the free drink does not matter when you have the drink plan. Also with any live performance sometimes there is an off night, we are all human. That may have been the case with the female lead.

Even if that is the case, you could easily have pizza delivered to your room and then bring it with you into the Topsail area. I did see people bring down food from the buffet who did not want to eat outside.

We did do one Carousel lounge show, 2 were offered a Houdini one and a Rock one. I prepaid $12 for the Rock one. It was $18 to book on the ship and definitely not worth $36 for 2, but at $24 it got us into a different area of the ship for a while. Definitively just okay and not a must do by any means. Other entertainment around the ship. Topsail had its usual piano player. There was a sax player in the Sky Lounge who was pretty good. A woman singer with an electric guitar who played mostly in the atrium, a band playing in one of the open lounges, and a singer with an acoustic guitar in the Pub. We did walk past the main pool one evening and there was Some Latin music being played up there by a duo. All were decent but times have changed and they all use an iPad with a backing track that they sing and play over instead of a truly “live” show. We did to Trivia in the pub one night and won, only to find out that it was progressive over many nights and we were not going to tie ourselves up going to that area night after night. They also did trivia in the Topsail in YC at least once that we played, not sure if it is was more than once. Winners received a bottle of Prosecco. We do not gamble so no input on the casino other than it smelled pretty bad of smoke when we had to walk through it to the Carousel lounge. Didn’t notice a smoke smell anywhere else.

Part 3 - Entertainment The main theatre shows I thought were much better than the ones we saw on the Seashore. None of them were Cirque type shows and were all pretty entertaining. There was a new lead dancer from somewhere in South America was fantastic. They had one show called “One Day More” that focused on songs from Broadway shows including Les Mis, Phantom, West Side Story, Cats, Oklahoma that was pretty good. The singer that did “On My Own” from Les Mis was incredible. The last night show was called “Journey” which featured music from around the world was my least favorite but entertaining none the less. There was a Rock and Roll show, 70s and 80’s show and I forget the overall theme of the first night but it was good. There was a special performer on our cruise. Lorraine Crosby who was the female vocalist on Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell 2 album and Grammy winner did shows on 2 nights in the theatre. We went to first one but did the Carousel Lounge show in the other. She did a PRIVATE show in the Top Sail lounge for YC guests. I spoke to Craig the YC Director and he said it was a pretty big deal and that they had never done something like that before. She was an amazing singer and did a wide range of covers from Meatloaf, Queen, Adele, and many other well know songs.

There were 2 US style outlets on the left side of the mirror and 2 European (Italian 2 round plug) style on the right side. There was an outlet in the bathroom as well. We had pizza delivered to the pool deck once and to the room once. It was delivered to us by the cabin steward both times. In the pool deck, he even Unboxed it and plated the slices for us. I did not see anyone do it to Topsail but am 99% sure it would not be an issue. There are snacks in Topsail all day long.

Part 2 Cabin 16008 Great quiet location, short walk to Concierge area and Topsail, stairs to YC dining room and elevator to the pool deck. Bathroom was small, but we survived for a week with no issue. There is a waste basket under the sink attached to the cabinet door. Our room was serviced twice a day and I never saw the cabin steward or Jr Butler by our room. Closet space: Only one closet with 2 drawers, a shelf across the top and hanging space. We each took a drawer for underwear, pjs, socks etc. We folded all shorts, t shirts across the top. We overpacked and did not wear half of our clothes and it all fit fine, Tip: my wife brought a lot of clothes on hangers. The thinner ones allowed for plenty of space to hang stuff, plus not many in the room to start. I had 2 sports coats, 5 pairs of slacks and collared shirts and I have no idea how many dresses/blouses There are no outlets near the bed and only 2 on the desk area. Tip: we have 2 Europe to US plug adapters that we brought which doubled our outlets. One of my adapters has 4 USB ports on the top which was perfect for charging phones, watches and iPads. The hair dryer is in the drawer of the desk, before you call and ask for one if needed. We did not have a Nespresso in the cabin , but asked for one on day 3 and was brought to us quickly. Not much counter space so if you will not use not being in there is probably better. After telling our butler Heither to remove the beer, and that we preferred Coke Zero and Dr. Pepper it was always stocked back to full whenever we returned to the room. We also received outrage bottle of Belvedere and I did get the Newspaper delivered every morning. We are not used to a room so dark, and with our age bathroom trips in the middle of the night are a must, we left the bathroom light on with the door cracked a bit. We had no issues with room temperature. We ordered room service pizza once to the room, on a port day in the late afternoon and we received it in about 15 minutes even though they said they were busy and it could be 45.

The YC dining hours were a little limited. Breakfast was 7am - 9am, but on early port day was 6:30 - 8:30 Lunch 12 - 1:30 and Dinner 6 - 9:00 Buffet - Breakfast started at 7:30 - 10:30? see below, did not find out until like day 5. Lunch 12:30 to 3:00 or 3:30 Dinner - IDK We had one time issue, on the Belize port day, I asked a server what time breakfast was as I knew it was an early arrival and he told me normal time 7am. I should have asked George who fantastic running things there. It turns out we needed to meet at Topsail lounge at 7:25 am, and being that my wife is not an early riser, we figured we would just go the One pool buffet. We went up at about 7:10 to Buffett and it was not opening 7:30 and they would not even let us grab a muffin or something uncovered. Dining room was actually 6:30 and we could have eaten there with no hurry if we knew, so we did go and I expressed my displeasure and we were able to have a quick breakfast there of non cooked items.

We got back last week from a fantastic cruise on the Meraviglia. This was our second cruise with MSC and 16th overall. We have previously sailed RCCL, Carnival, Disney, NCL, and Celebrity. The cruise was just my wife and I (mid 50’s) and we stayed in a YC inside room. This was actually our first cruise ever in an inside stateroom and only third without a balcony. We were a little hesitant going in but would stay in a YC inside again in a heartbeat. The lounge was right around the corner and easily served as our living room if we wanted it to. Embarkation: It was a snap. We arrived at PC at about 10:30, there were 3 groups in the YC check in area when we arrived, and after checking in did not wait long for a butler to escort us to the YC. Our room was ready and we were lounging by the pool well before noon. Since we were in our bathing suits we decided just to eat at the Pool deck buffet, they had some uncooked shrimp, scallops and calamari that they grilled up for me right on the spot. We enjoyed having the area mostly to ourselves all afternoon and stayed until we had to go get ready for the safety drill. Food: Overall was fantastic. My wife had 1 dish that she did not care for all cruise. I had a steak that I ordered medium rare that was cooked entirely through. It turned out to be not a cook issue, but the server thought I said medium well. Had a perfect steak within about 10 minutes after I brought to waiters attention. We never ate dinner anywhere but the YC restaurant. Outside of Ocean Cay, embarkation day and 1 other day on an excursion, we had lunch in YC restaurant. Wife is not a breakfast eater, so I ate in main buffet once to check out, pool buffet once and the YC restaurant every other day. Eggs Benedict were cooked perfectly every time but I found the hollandaise sauce to lack flavor, that was my biggest food complaint. Service was fantastic, never waited for a table and the YC was sold out. I will continue this tomorrow and break down different categories thoughts like entertainment, ship etc. I have tons of pics but I can’t figure out how to add

YC is similar to Haven, but in my experience better. It is a ship within a ship and you never really need to leave it you do not want. You will have a separate dining room for YC that serves all 3 meals, only sailed YC on MSC but most reports much better than Main Dining. There is an exclusive lounge for drinks, lite snacks and live music., piano player in the evenings. You will have your own pool deck with bar, small buffet - with plenty of space and loungers. Butler will escort you to shows of you wish and there is reserved seating for YC guests. Mini Bar in room included and stocked Daily, Access to a concierge that will assist with bookings in spa, specialty restaurants, excursions etc.

For my upcoming 7 night cruise, it says $182 per adult for alcohol free package.

We sailed the Seashore in Dec 2021, the Yacht Club upgrade was ridiculously good. We loved the YC, so much booked a YC inside on Meraviglia in April, even though never sailed in an inside and only our first 2 cruises ever were not balconies. Just got the upgrade email, I have been watching prices and YC is pretty open with available room. The minimum bid to upgrade from YC inside to YC Deluxe was about $400 in total cheaper than the best price I could have paid. We put the minimum bid in and wait and see,

This topic has me confused. I have sailed MSC twice in the last 13 months out of Florida. Both cruises I registered my card online before the cruise for onboard account. I did not have to go to any kiosk or desk during either cruise.

I can second that the Bone Marrow in Butcher’s Cut is heavenly and to die for.

There is a place on all cruises for those who prefer not dress to a certain expectation for meals. It is called the Buffet.

I try to stay out of these tipping threads usually. We took our first cruise in 1992, 30 years ago and tipping was most certainly how the employees made the bulk of their income and it was definitely an expectation of the guests to do so. This was also the case for the majority of the cruises we have taken over the years. The first time I saw a DSC on an NCL cruise I was little surprised but certainly understood the rationale behind it. MSC makes it perfectly clear that tipping is not necessary or expected. Their employees do make a living wage and their income isn’t relying on tips. Americans in general are way too obsessed with tipping, I used to think that you should tip for a lot of things growing up in NY that I now shake my head at since moving down south where tipping is not as much a part of the culture. When traveling I think best practice is the respecting of the culture and norms of your destination. That goes both ways whether you are used to tipping or not for certain things. That is part of being an informed traveler.