sbcs5390

Might not be worth it especially if waiting means you lose any Memorial Day sale advantage. Mine took about two days and my parents’ were overnight.

Happened 4/22 on Meraviglia and there were plenty. No, you can’t count on it - but I think odds are still good. The ship was otherwise quite full.

It's so crazy how variable it is. Now I am again feeling happy I didn't try my Marriott Titanium instead of Celebrity Elite. So sorry you are stuck in MSC's confusion.

I thought maybe that was why you were seeing 4.something% - because it ends up being 9.75% in total. I suppose if you've booked far enough out, it doesn't hurt to ask. All the details are right the MSC site under the VC benefits, so it's fairly black and white. Maybe the price drop was actually the first 5%?

YC can be very reasonable - and in some cases can net out to less than Aurea when you consider the inclusions and premium YC food - no need for specialties, etc. so "most expensive" not always the case. The real bargain is booking a YC inside - being in the lap of luxury you don't miss the balcony. You can also often upgrade to YC balcony onboard if there's availability for a very reasonable amount.

They are usually pretty quick. Because you're within final payment, it's a good idea to wait for the 5% as you'd probably only get it as OBC if you make payment. You'll have an awesome time - I did YC on 4/22 - the NYC debut - and was blown away.

Perhaps those are the ones that aren't free, delicate concierge didn't want to say...

I think Denise and the other female were great. Vishnu and Michael (the two males) tended to frustrate me. Marcelo the head butler was also very helpful I found.

All VC members get 5%. Because you’re more than six months out, you get another 5% after that. So it ends up being 9.75%. If you were at 9 months, you’d have gotten extra OBC of $50 also. 12 months gets you double points.

I was surprised when I walked past the spa on day 1 and asked that they said YC needed reservations. They said the concierge will handle it. I went up and the concierge set it up for after dinner. I think after the first day it got warm enough that I focused on the YC pool deck. On a day in the afternoon it started raining and I called the Concierge after I finished work and asked her to call and see if I could come by right now. She called back and said they didn’t answer. She said it would probably be fine to just go down. As I waited at the counter where you get your locker key, the man who had given me the key the other day recognized me. Although he appeared to be scheduling a massage for someone, he held up the locker key and gestured for me to come forward. I would have been fine waiting as there were several spa staff all busy with people. We didn’t have to leave key cards as collateral. In the end I didn’t use it a lot since the sun was nice and it needed a bit more upkeep.

I think you both make good points. I do totally concede that I fell in love with YC on Meraviglia, which has a more purpose-built space and am making my comparison with Solstice, which is probably more akin to a ship like Davina. I was also on the first sailing from the new home port of NYC, and it is likely that MSC was putting their best foot forward. I would certainly give an Edge-class Retreat experience a try before I totally write it off.

Thanks for posting. You mention a new YC director. Who is that? Sounds like Craig is headed home on vacation. I hope he’ll come back to the Meraviglia as I enjoyed having him in April and am coming back in October with family.

Best bet is to submit a status match rather than using an empty VC account. Then they’ll have some points in there. to answer OP, yes, I did this and so have my parents.

Yes - it was a bit unfortunate. Separate, but we were also left to our own with everyone else during the B2B process, even though the Retreat staff saw and greeted us sitting outside MC in the Ensemble with the broader B2B group. The situation was very poorly handled as the Captain’s Club host elected not to go off the ship as had been her duty - she left a junior GSO alone and with the large group and so no one was “bringing up the rear”. Fortunately once we got back inside the terminal and at security, Suites Manager was looking for us but throughout the process (which unlike FLL, involved a walk outside and around the terminal building) the GSO was running ahead and leaving several disabled in the dust. Only for us all to then have to wait for ship to be cleared for reboarding. The concierge later apologized and explained that the ship “didn’t allow them” to help with Retreat guests in B2B - even though we were moving from SS to RS second week and should have been escorted on - their words, not mine! Plus they’d seen my mom’s abilities all week and should have known to step in - or offer a wheelchair, it wasn’t their first week in the homeport. Conversely, I lazed about in the TSL on my disembarking morning and noticed the YC B2Bers being gathered by the YC staff to go clear US CBP after we left. This was Solstice in San Pedro LA. (incidentally, on the same cruise because of physical fatigue stemming from these issues, Suites Manager went with shore excursions tickets to be canceled and her colleague the shore ex manager said that although the tour met the next day at 9:30, cancellation was 24 h before arrival in port (even though at tender) and thus then at 7:10 A.M., she was 10 minutes late. They played with us all day asking us to check back and at closing time the shore ex manager decided to allow us to cancel. I asked him - what about overnight ports? - with no response. I didn’t feel like we were treated royally! For some of these reasons I feel MSC’s a bit more consistent in that you can be expected to be escorted from the lounge to anywhere you want to go. The customization of a separate daily program for the suites, with customized hours for your facilities is awesome. For instance, the hours when future cruise consultant is in YC is printed, not the broader desk hours. There is also only a separate YC disembark letter - on X I received the general one with a small addendum for the retreat.

On my 7 night and first time, I didn’t do any specialties and didn’t miss it. The YC menu is interesting. There are always available like an excellent filet mignon without feeling like you’re asking for a special favor. Conversely, lots of folks are happy to pay for the Butchers’ Cut restaurant if not in YC because they can get a filet there (amongst other things). In most cases with the limited menus in specialities, I think I would feel like I was paying to get a lesser meal. YC restaurant is reportedly happy to oblige with other items with a day’s notice usually. Next MSC cruise is 11 nights and I don’t think I really feel a desire to book specialties - if I did it would be on the repeat days. I am curious about Hola!, the Mexican place which people seem to like. I might do that on a rainy day lunch when the pool grille restaurant isn’t an option but still it is $18 I don’t really need to spend. On both X and MSC, I prefer not having a schedule on vacation (open seating) and with specialties for dinner, you feel like you’re on a schedule due to the reservation time.

Unfortunately in my experience on X I found if you are on an early excursion you have to go to the theater. Escort from Retreat was only for DIY or if you had a late tour and could meet on the pier. My mom is mobility impaired and it was a lot of walking to the theater, then the able-bodied group rushes down the stairs to gangway, then we walk back at least half the length of the ship again to the gangway. All this despite me asking ShoreEx for a heads up, and we were left in the dust. Thanks for clarifying how it worked on yours. I do think this still a substantial improvement - as we had a lot of trouble on multiple X cruises and couldn’t find a good way around the Big Theater Wait in many cases. Especially the case with tender ports, but also in docked ports too. In most cases with X we were very aft so the trek to the theater (which we wouldn’t otherwise go to) was particularly onerous.

You can go to the concierge desk and usually in the pre show time there’s a butler heading that way or one will be called for you. Or you can take yourself and one of the butlers (or cruise staff) will be manning the velvet rope in the theater. Only bizarre thing is no drinks allowed in main theater. There is an aft theater (a la Royal’s 270 or Celebrity’s Eden without the restaurant) where they do theater in the round, cirque style shows. For that one there is a separate line (helpful first time to have butler show you) but you want to be there for 7:30 doors for 8:00 show as there’s no YC area - you just get first choice of where you want to be. I also can not emphasize enough how wonderful the grill on the YC deck is. Besides the salad bar and buffet, every one of my lunches I chose from the grilled to order items: scallops, prawns, wonderful steaks. The buffet was awesome often with shrimp, an Indian dish, ribs, wings, veggies, rice, etc. and all high quality. This is open about 12-3 everyday, even in port. I see people get so excited about the very limited lunch menu on X ships that have a retreat deck, because Luminae is closed on port days and at least they can get something that isn’t the buffet or going to sushi. Here, both are open even on port days. Only exception is it’s the grill only, no lunch restaurant, on Ocean Cay because almost all the staff have gone off to serve you on the private island at the restaurant and private beach, which is simply amazing. I also enjoyed late breakfast at the grill. Two eggs cooked to order - or lots and lots of buffet choices. I don’t really eat breakfast so only went once. Plus, afternoon tea at the grill, too… There was live entertainment in the top sail lounge each night at the piano. Captain, HD, Chief Eng came up second day in morning for a reception with all and toast to the cruise. Butler (not even mine) nearly admonished me to have a seat and she’d bring me all the food items. Then mine came by to dote on me and it was great chance to ask him for a couple things I needed. This happens in YC a lot because the staff are seemingly everywhere. Captain came around to greet each person individually. YC director also hosted a fun trivia! I didn’t take an excursion but reportedly they escort you to your seat on your bus, rather than on X where you are left to fend for yourself in the theater with everyone, if you are mobility impaired or not. On Ocean Cay of course the “YC limousine” stretch golf cart takes you out to the YC beach. Plus the concierge desk functions as your guest services and has more capability than in my experience the concierge in Michael’s Club/the Retreat. There were also dedicated hours to meet a future cruise consultant - no appt needed, although offered if the standard hours didn’t suit you - in the top sail lounge. I have to emphasize also that the lounge butlers are actually is squeegeeing each table as people get up in the TSL! I also loved having a Nespresso and cups - which is in every suite, but on X only PH and usually RS though not always. I’ll add more as I think of it!

To be fair, these used to be aurea suites and not YC. YC is now a bonus for these. And they are the very small exception - everything else besides these couple suites are in the complex, in great contrast to Celebrity ships.

The personal hotspot feature on most phones works by creating a wifi network to share a cellular signal. It doesn’t work to share wifi. There are some third party apps to do this, and it might be built in on some Windows or Mac computers, but again that defeats the purpose because you want to be out and about on ship with your phone, not your laptop.

Correct, it’s tied to the MAC address of your device to prevent sharing. There’s not really any easy way around it. I didn’t try it on MSC, but in Celebrity I was able to plug my iPhone into my Mac via USB-C and share the connection that way. Might work on MSC but it’s inconvenient and I can’t remember in which direction I shared the connection. I think on Celebrity it was laptop sharing to iPhone, which isn’t too useful when you want the iPhone to work the rest of the time you’re walking around an MSC ship.

I did not bring a jacket this last cruise (Meraviglia, NYC, 4/22) and didn't feel out of place. Did polos and short sleeve tropical type shirts.

No, non-ref for YC. But you get a free change in date with no fee.

Next YC cruise I’m going to ask the butler to leave chips at night for the post-bar snack in my cabin 😋 they’re so good but sometimes too lazy to go up to TSL!

I was going to say this too. I've had decent experiences doing this, but the ship's hands are really tied until the ship sets sail and so the rack rate prevails. When doing so, I did not get the points associated with the new cabin, and paid on my oboard account for the upgrade cost. Another time, we were doing a B2B and wanted to upgrade my Mom onboard but of course they could not guarantee someone else would not book "her" room for the second cruise during the first cruise and then she'd have had to have moved cabins.

Here is the form: https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match A couple things to know: 1) Officially, it's "once and done" so you have one shot to submit information from one program to match. 2) You can only submit one program. 3) MSC doesn't publish the tables of what matches to what, so you have to go by word of mouth to know what your best avenue is. 4) They do match hotel programs as well. 5) They are not always consistent so there's no guarantees you'll get the same. For instance, I had read that Marriott Titanium was going to Gold, so I just did my Celebrity Elite. Now more recently I saw someone with Marriott Titanium got Diamond. I missed out on the awesome Celebrity/RCL -> Azamara -> MSC hack described above. 6) The good news is - with Yacht Club your status doesn't matter much. Lots of Diamond members in YC leave their free specialty meal on the table because it's just not worth it when YC is right there and so excellent. 7) They issue you the number of points equal to the prior level. For instance, upon my gold status match, I was issued 4,300 points. You also get 100 points for confirming your contact info before each cruise. 8 ) You earn extra points for being in YC, like Captains' Club. A weeklong cruise is 1,500 points. You also earn points for onboard spend (although mine haven't appeared yet from my 4/22 cruise). You also get double points if you book more than a year out, and if you book onboard - I don't know if these are additive, i.e., quadruple points for onboard booking >1 year out, but I doubt it. Long story short, I'll be Diamond anyway after my next cruise because it's a longer one, earning me 2,000 points * 2 and getting me to the 10,000 points needed for Diamond. I see getting to Diamond level as insurance that if I ever take a regular MSC cruise outside of YC, it won't be as bad (priority boarding, free specialty meal, etc.), but none of the Diamond benefits really matter when you're in YC. 9) MSC requires you to cruise once every three years or you lose your status. Kind of annoying as I had a 19 year gap on Celebrity and it picked up where I left off with them. I want to come back and write a broader post about my experience on MSC a couple weeks ago in response to your question - which was incredible - as someone who's been on Celebrity (a lot, from insides to RS), Royal, Carnival, NCL, HAL, Cunard, Oceania, and Crystal. Summary version is: just canceled 3 Celebrity cruises to come back to YC with family after really enjoying my first time. The value is tremendous. I had a particularly awful experience with Oceania that I should also write about one day.