sbcs5390

Thank you for sharing the news about Ted, @JamieLogical. He was such a nice person and I'm happy I got to meet him. 

6 hours ago, NJsharon said:

 

I will be doing a comp cruise though, so that perk doesn't help me too much.  😞

 

They give you the equivalent points when matching so you get a jump start on diamond.  Definitely worth doing. YC is superb if you go that way. 

On 3/26/2024 at 12:46 PM, HappyInVan said:

I would recommend the Butchers Cut. Excellent fillet mignon and 4 tasty sauces.

How did the filet mignon compare there to in the YC, if you tried both? 

19 minutes ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

We will be on in May. Can you tell us more about Arthur and Aron. (We adored Rudolph last July.)

And you mentioned Chef Lisa too. Details would be great. thanks.

Any other current Meraviglia info (how long is Arthur there?) would be great. I heard there is a female YC director who just started! 

Single elevator starts on 14. 

Thanks, all. We are booking adjacent suites for our party. Does anyone have anecdotal experience with the balcony dividers being opened up once onboard or being denied? 

1 minute ago, spinnaker2 said:

You need to figure out your direction, i.e., which way you are sailing for sun exposure. For example on a crossing, you would get sun in the morning on the port side, with afternoon sun on the starboard side. 

I love deck 5. Close to the water! And pretty stable. But i would chose something midship. Too close to the bow and it may get a bit bumpy!

Thanks to the three of you (@billc23 and @Lois R too) unfortunately in the time we were considering the most-midship Deck 5 one got swiped by someone else. So might be in 510 but I guess that shouldn't be too too bad. This cruise has about half the time in one direction and half in the other so it is pretty equal. On other ships I have sought ought balconies with a little overhead exposure (sometimes half and half, which is optimal!) rather than another balcony right on top but I don't think there really are any like that on SS or at least this class of ship. I am sure we'll be really happy either way. 

On 2/19/2023 at 9:53 PM, CruisinPashmina said:

My favorite cabins are on Deck 5…..very convenient location.

I will be in one on the Muse sailing around Japan in April. And I can’t wait!

We are booking our first Silversea cruise on Silver Moon. Are the deck 5 ones more "sheltered" than the Deck 6 ones? We love a sunny balcony. It's hard to tell when looking at photos of the side of the ship. 

I'm keeping a look out online but in need of these to finish my collection after just short of 40 cruises: 

Carnival Triumph

Celebrity Galaxy

Empress of the Seas (I sailed on her as EoTS but would take a Nordic Empress too)

bcshell@gmail.com in case I don't see here

On 2/11/2024 at 1:44 PM, oceans.calling said:

OMG. Have just met the fabulous Arthur. He couldn’t do enough for us and so thrilled he’ll be with us on our two April cruises. What a treat he is. 

This will be such a great improvement. So excited. Thank you!

On 2/2/2024 at 6:00 PM, oceans.calling said:

Not sure if it’s the same Arthur you’re talking about but heard today he will be joining Meraviglia 2/4 to replace George. Hugh still YC Director. 

Hopefully someone sailing with Arthur this cruise can let us know how long he’ll be on. We’re on 4/7 and hope he’s still around! 

46 minutes ago, mackfam said:

We were on the Mera in November and Hugh was quite visible in the TSL and on the pool deck during our week. We were able to have a nice chat with him early in the week. 
Later in the week, whenever we saw him, he seemed to be having lengthy conversations with guests who had complaints

That’s great - I know quite a few folks from the Oct cruises mentioned it on their surveys, including myself, so he must have adjusted his priorities as a result. 

On 1/12/2023 at 1:31 PM, Denise and Paul said:

I saw on their website it had jumped from $20 to $40 per person since my last visit before covid.  Wasn't sure if it was worth $80 per couple in our group.  Now that I know for sure that is the rate, I may look for something else.  The property was not in that great of shape, and the bathroom was dark, dank, and not that clean.  Food was good, but you couldn't even use the pool.  For that much money, I hope we can do better.  Looking for suggestions.

For what it is worth, the pool was definitely included in the $40 and the website now makes clear both pools are included with the pass. What did you end up doing during your visit? 

We just booked the May 25 Memorial Day Bermuda cruise. I hadn't realized they were bringing Silhouette to NJ right after the one year with Eclipse. I had been disappointed about Summit leaving, since Eclipse has not been updated. I really enjoyed The Porch and the Lawn Club on Silhouette when I was on her in 2022.

Very tempted by the repo but for my parents especially not having to fly is such a bonus. Among our family we canceled two cabins on Beyond, one B2B on Ascent and rolled it all into something with no flying via FCCs and a rebooking! Lots of great memories on Bermuda cruises for many years, including on Zenith just a few days before 9/11/01. 

Not soon enough! Been looking for them as well.

Could your insurance be responsive on some of the costs like the add-ons, items now lost by MSC, etc. ?

On 10/24/2023 at 6:17 PM, TwoAdriftAtSea said:

I can say that the shrimp cocktail is no longer listed on the menu as a Classis always available choice, and upon request was told its only available certain days in the YC Restaurant for whatever reasons. At least on the Seascape when I inquired as I do enjoy a shrimp cocktail when at sea.. As with all things MSC, YMMV.

Can confirm also on Meraviglia in Oct - my father asked for one night and was told that the waiter “had to check with the chef”!

There were a lot of cut backs in food compared to my April sailing. We raised the issues and wrote about this in the survey. I too found the filet was initially inedible like @dexddd commented. Oil and vinegar disappeared from the tables, now only on request. It got better once I was known as someone who would speak up. Fresh grilled options like scallops to order were only on the pool grill 2 or 3 days out of 11. 

On 11/29/2023 at 2:33 PM, jcpc said:

Giuseppe was the YC Director on the Meraviglia in September.  He was great.  He was everywhere....morning, noon and night.  I swear that man never sleeps.

In vast contrast to Hugh who replaced him and seemed in October to never leave his office but once or twice in the cruise!

Would love to see the plans for more details. 

4 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Is there a kiosk in the YC? 

Yes, it’s right at the YC guest services desk. 

51 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Looking forward to reading more on your thoughts about this.

Boarding Meraviglia for my second YC experience on Wednesday. Will report in!

On 10/13/2023 at 12:08 AM, DaKahuna said:

Does MSC do hot water pots in YC staterooms or only coffee makers?  My DW and I both enjoy tea more than coffee and would like to have a hot water or tea kettle in the room. 

You should ask. I bet a kettle may turn up. The Nespresso will also produce hot water if you don’t put in a pod but might take a couple runs to get the coffee remnants out. 

6 hours ago, actuarian said:

12.0% of the rooms are part of the Retreat. By contrast, on the newest MSC ships (the World Class ships), 5.8% of the rooms are part of the Yacht Club. This makes it almost impossible for X to provide the same level of service in the Retreat as MSC provides in the Yacht Club.

Also, a much smaller fraction of suites on X are “in” the complex on E class. This has a service impact as butlers are scattered all over. I was told by a stateroom attendant I couldn’t have a handtowel for the guest half bathroom in a Royal Suite on X, because they don’t give them enough. The RS was just another room he cleaned to him along with many “regular” rooms. Another time in an aft corner Sky Suite, one butler was responsible for the aft cabins on I believe 8 different decks. He was always running up and down. Of course now they have eliminated dedicated butlers entirely for Sky Suites on X. 
 

I want to spend some more time with this thread as I have a lot of opinions about the Retreat vs. YC experience. YC was leaps and bounds better and a fraction of the cost. 

Who are some of the key staff in the YC? Is Rodwin still on as a butler? 

3 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Our experience in YC has always been that the Captain, and his entourage, visited every table in TSL to exchange words.  It’s disappointing that it seems that sometimes they are only introduced by microphone.  Perhaps that’s a post-Covid thing. 🤔

The Captain on Meraviglia in April 2023 came to every table. I agree, it is a nice touch.