talljules1

5 minutes ago, Selion said:

 

Different countries; different currencies; different values.

 

 

That said, just randomly selected a YC1 in Nov 2023 in the Med, it was $2889/person for 7-nights.  That comes out to $412.71pppd. 

Yup - I did think about the currency conversion - but there's quite a difference in size between a YC1 and a Duplex. 

13 minutes ago, Selion said:

YC used to be bargain compared to NCL Haven, when MSC Voyagers Club can have up to 20% off on cruise fares.  Nowadays, at about $400/day/person in YC1 it's not a bargain anymore.  For YC/Haven costs, I'd rather book on Viking for the much quieter small ship experience.

 

My next cruise is booked in an Aurea cabin for a week in the Mediterranean.  I've been waiting for Viking's promos that give free air and category upgrades for this fall.  That would make the Viking cruise around $430/day/person with air included.  When that happens, we'll cancel on MSC and book Viking.  It's a no brainer for us to go with Viking instead of MSC, Yacht Club or not.

I'm a bit puzzled at the notion of $400 pp pd for a YC1 - mostly because we got our YC Duplex for £342 pp pd for June this year.

I totally get the comments re YC vs non-YC and the buffet. The difference is stark. We've so far done 1 MSC YC cruise. In the YC, it was wonderful. Outside, it was loud, crowded, chaotic. We had a couple of 'excursions' where we went outside the YC to look around the ship. It felt like visiting a zoo. We went to the buffet once and thought it awful. (We enjoyed the food in YC but watch out for savoury macarons in the YC lounge, which can come as a surprise!) After that first cruise with them we both felt we would happily cruise with MSC again, but we'd never consider sailing with them outside the YC. (Now, when we made that judgement we were not generally in the sweet suite life. Now we are, we definitely wouldn't go in MSC outside the YC.)

This, perhaps, is the difference between MSC and X. If you're in the retreat on X, the rest of the ship is still nice (and quite elegant). But the retreat is far less segregated from the rest of the ship, especially on S-Class ships such as Silhouette. 

We've sailed on NCL and I would say that was my least favourite cruise ship - I thought it was just ugly, and the food was very hit and miss (with more misses than hits). That said, we met lots of lovely people on that cruise, and that made it a great cruise.  

It is the interesting thing for us - we have no interest in the onboard activities and never go to the shows. I might spend a bit of time in the casino but OH hates it. What we do both love is spending time chatting with people we meet on holiday - so it is the other people we meet that makes our cruise. We've very rarely met people we couldn't get on with on any line. I used to worry about it, but now know we will always meet people to chit chat with.

I wouldn't particularly consider NCL prestigious. 

We've sailed in the Retreat on Celebrity, and in MSC YC. For June this year we compared 2 cruises - 1 week on Celebrity in Sky Suite with 2 weeks on MSC in YC Duplex. MSC is cheaper. So, twice as much cruise, great itinerary (both were sailing from Southampton). MSC does the ship within a ship concept better. So, we're sailing in the YC this summer.

Thanks all! That's super! At the moment haven't settled on a season. As we've cruised Norway on larger ships, that's always been May-September. We've seen the Northern Lights before, but if I can persuade my OH, a Sept-Apr trip might be a winner. I"m sure we'd both be fine with short stops at ports (we don't always get off now at ports!) and we're good at making our own entertainment - we never bother with ship entertainment, preferring to chat to other passengers.

Yup, we know alcohol (and everything else, really) is expensive in Norway, that's why we'd like a beverage package if possible. We'd be looking at a suite.

Sounds like there is lots more for me to look into. I hadn't got very far with H's website, but I will persevere!

Hi all

We love Norway, but we've never done a cruise with Hurtigruten. We've done the more touristy ones with Celebrity, NCL and MSC (as per signature). I'd love to go further north.

I can cope if answers to the following questions is "no", but wonder:

1. Does Hurtigruten offer drinks/beverage packages? (I'm guessing no?)

2. What is there to do on board? (We generally eschew on board entertainment but wonder what there is to do in the evenings?)

3. Is vaping/smoking allowed on board (we don't mind having to go outside, of course)

4. Generally speaking, on the cruises that take you up into the arctic, how much time do you get in ports (and is it the case as in places like Geiranger, Flam, Alesund, Molde, etc) that you can get off and wander on your own?

5. What is the food like? (We eat almost anything, but I am gluten free out of necessity, and I loathe beetroot. Pretty much everything else is OK)

6. We can easily deal with layers, but do we need cold weather gear, or is it provided?

7. In general, what is the experience/atmosphere like on board?

8. We like to meet people on our trips. Will we feel isolated as English speakers?

Any other hints/tips much appreciated. We'd likely be looking to book the largest room we could get. I get that these are smaller ships.

Hello all

We're off to Iceland and Norway in June.  One of our ports is Stornoway, and so far it is the only port with no excursions showing on MSC's website. I'm mindful it might just be too far out from the cruise. (Specialty dining, shows and laundry also not yet showing)

Has anyone been to Stornoway on an MSC who can shed some light on what sorts of excursions might become available?

Cheers!

On 1/23/2023 at 5:53 PM, Av8tor said:

The 10 & 20 item package details both say the "item allowance must be used all together in a single delivery. Multiple deliveries are not accepted."  If you put items in on Tuesday AND Thursday you used 2 packages in their eyes...

That's useful to know. At the moment, laundry packages are not showing up on MSC site for our cruise in June. But when they do, I will buy multiple smaller packages for our 14 day cruise.

On 1/25/2023 at 1:27 PM, Mdraes said:

My wife and I are on a 14 day cruise on the Seascape and the laundry package has been a nightmare. We were ready to send our 40 items only to be told that there is another form for the laundry package. We’ll it’s the 11th day of our cruise and we have yet to receive the forms for the two laundry packages we purchased. I’m wearing the t shirts that I bought while visiting the ports we first went to.  Not impressed at all with the cabin service at MSC for regular passengers.

I'd be at the YC concierge desk, not moving until they gave me the necessary forms.

On 6/27/2022 at 1:03 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

I know it's a stupid question....but what does it mean I can change?  Cabins on my sailing, switch to another sailing, add someone....this statement is open to interpretation!

That's a good question! We've already changed our cabin via our TA from a YC Balcony suite to a Duplex via our TA (who has been on the lookout since we made the booking, because this is the room we really wanted). Does this count as the 1 free change?

Sorry, I realise this is a bit niche.

On Celebrity we can get (admittedly not very good IMO) gluten free pizza from the buffet. 

I see posts here and on other social media re how good the pizza is on MSC. And we've had amazing gluten free pizza in Rome. 

I also am aware that one can order GF pizza via room service.

My question is - do they do GF pizza (either in the buffet, or room service, or both!)

It is not a deal breaker (we are booked, paid and increasingly stupidly excited for our cruise) - I am just trying to set my expectations.  If it makes a difference (and I am not sure it would), we're in a YC Duplex.

Cheers!

Excellent - thanks all!

oooo - and how do they do muster drill now?  Do you have to go watch a presentation at your station, or do you watch something on your room TV and then go sign in at your muster station? (And do you have to take life jackets?)

Hi all

A few random questions. We're sailing on Virtuosa out of Southampton in June in YC.

1. Are the movies on the TV in the room included, or are the pay per view? If the latter, any idea how much? Are there TV channels in English?

2. Does anyone have a recent YC room service menu?

3. Do they have clamato on the ship? (If my memory of our last YC cruise is right, the answer is no)

(None of these things are deal breakers - which is good because we have paid our final balance lol - am just curious)

11 minutes ago, talljules1 said:

And it turns out it is still cheaper than a shorter cruise in a sky suite on Celebrity.

It's cruising on MANY LEVELS hehehehehe

1 hour ago, talljules1 said:

Whooop! And today our TA, who has been watching availabilities closely, has managed to upgrade us to a YC Duplex suite.

And it turns out it is still cheaper than a shorter cruise in a sky suite on Celebrity.

On 1/13/2023 at 2:06 AM, talljules1 said:

We've done both - and doing both again this year. 

 

They are quite different from each other. MSC does the ship within a ship concept much better. The YC lounge is larger than the retreat lounge on S-class ships. We've had good service in both. The food in YC on Preziosa was perhaps not as quite as good as on Celebrity, but it was fine in the YC and we enjoyed it. Perhaps the difference is that outside of the YC, as others have said, the ship is more crowded and rowdy. We vowed we wouldn't sail MSC outside the YC - non YC MSC doesn't compare to non-retreat X.

 

We've met lovely people on both lines (and that's important to us).

 

A Deluxe balcony stateroom in YC on Virtuosa is about the same size as a sky suite (but has a shower rather than bath, but also has a walk in wardrobe), and unlike the sky suite, comes with an included minibar and a bottle of spirits and daily newspapers. We will miss the laundry that would come with our Elite+ status. However, MSC YC is MUCH cheaper than the Retreat, so it doesn't matter.  You get premium drinks, wifi and gratuities included in both retreat and YC. We compared a week in the retreat with a fortnight in YC, and MSC was still cheaper - it also has a great itinerary. So, we're sailing MSC YC in the Summer to Iceland and Norway.

Whooop! And today our TA, who has been watching availabilities closely, has managed to upgrade us to a YC Duplex suite.

Worth noting, however, that sometimes when they say they haven't got something it is not true. Had this in the retreat lounge on Silhouette. Hubby wanted Highland Park whisky and bartender said there was none on board. Well, we did a behind the scenes ship tour that included the provisioning areas, and there were loads of bottles of it on the shelf. We took a photo, showed the bartender and lo and behold he was able to get his preferred drink.

10 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

On our Edge sailing last April there were very few premium wines available by the glass--many on the list, but few in stock.  At Fine Cut the wine list was handed to me and the first THREE selections I ordered weren't available.  Each time the Somm tried to steer me towards purchasing a full bottle. But all I wanted was a glass or two--frustrated, I ended up just getting a martini.

 

Outside of Fine Cut and Luminae I felt like I knew more than the Somms, which is never a good thing.  Felt like many of them were not yet fully trained up.  Our cruise was only 40% full but many of the Somms seemed stretched to their limit.  To avoid a repeat while on the Millie in August we just BYOB'd--better wines and certainty of availability. 

Indeed. On our Beyond sailing last year in the Med, we couldn't get a New Zealand Sauv Blanc at all. Supply issues apparently. They should have gone to any of my local supermarkets. Fortunately, no issue re that on either of our Silhouette sailings last year.

Thank you for this wonderful and helpful review. It is certainly making me think we made the right choice for our summer cruise. We were choosing between a week on Silhouette in a RS or a fortnight in YC on MSC Virtuosa.  MSC won - twice the length of cruise, excellent itinerary (we love Iceland and Norway and our cruise takes us to both!) and much cheaper.  We've been in the YC once before (Preziosa) but the Virtuosa will be the biggest ship we've sailed on by far. Good to know the food is good and the service still attentive.  Looking forward to our cruise!  (We have a RS at Christmas on the Infinity to look forward to as well).

On 1/17/2023 at 7:52 PM, GenerationX said:

About last night’s dinner:

 

I was very worried about food on MSC based on the reviews I’d read pre-cruise.  

 

Based on the meals I’ve had thus far, I’m far less concerned that I’m risking waisting away to nothing by trying a new cruise line.

 

The MSC version of Red and Gen X that I met at lunch invited me to join them for dinner.  We rendezvoused in the lounge for a pre dinner cocktail around 5:30 then headed to dinner a little after 6.  Well, actually, I should say their smiling, white gloved butler arrived at our lounge table at 6 and let us know he’d be waiting at the concierge desk to escort us to dinner whenever we were ready.

 

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the pretense of a butler walking me around the ship, but I will say, at that time the bars and lounges you walk through to get to the suite restaurant from the inside of the ship were very busy and it did help having a well dressed butler at the front parting the seas of humanity for us.  It also seemed that the butler’s priority elevator key card worked even during a peak time when ours didn’t, so it was nice not to have to wait long or be crowded in on getting the elevators to the restaurant.

 

For dinner I started with a vegetable dim sum with a yummy Thai sweet and spicy chili sauce. The MSC experts went with steaks for entrees, but I was torn between a marinated scallop entree and a rosemary and sage crusted veal.  Our server offered to make a surf and turf for me so that I didn’t have to decide.  If I see the chef coming through the restaurant at some point  I’m going to stop him and find out what those scallops were marinated with and for how long because they really came out great. Crispy sear on the outside but on the inside, juicy and oh so flavorful.

 

The veal was also very good and a massive serving.  I think our server Rohan was a bit disappointed that I didn’t finish everything on my plate and asked a lot of questions about the veal, like he was concerned I didn’t like it.  I tried to politely explain that I really did enjoy it, I just didn’t want to die that night. 😂

 

After entrees, we picked some cheeses from that much anticipated cheese cart and Rohan plated it with some apricot preserves, dried fruit and honey to accompany them.

 

For dessert, after a delivery of a tray of chocolates which we didn’t order but apparently come standard,  I had what seems like is essentially the Italian version of creme brûlée. I forgot to write down the name, but it took me back to licking the beaters when my grandma made caramel Bundt cake.  My dinner mates had mentioned to the restaurant manager that this is my first MSC cruise and my dessert was served with a welcome message!

 

I just finished lunch in the suite restaurant and am about to put out a few work fires on my veranda while watching the going’s on off the rail in port. When I saw this cruise was docking in Freeport Bahamas instead of Nassau I thought “hmm that’s unique”.   Looking around I think I’ve figured out why. There’s a very small area of touristy shops and a couple of bars/restaurants (including the ever present Senior Frogs) right next to the ship, but otherwise the only development as far as the eye can see is shipping port facilities…and look who seems to be the biggest shipping customer around here…why do I feel like Divina is probably getting a very sweet deal on its docking fees, etc.?

 

After work, time to read myself into an afternoon nap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aha - those are the Bella staterooms LOL

On 1/18/2023 at 3:28 PM, lorimay said:

We were on the Summit right after Christmas and noticed a young adult male in the OVC who came in without a shirt on - not even carrying a shirt. Not at the entrance - all the way in the back, so he must have passed by tons of staff to get there. He stood there for at least five minutes having a conversation with his family party and no staff approached.

 

I'm not sure what happened with him that day, but a couple of days later we saw the same guy in the same place shirtless again. However, this time my husband said he saw a staff member come over and we think he was asked to leave.

 

I was shocked he wasn't turned away at the entrance. But then again (and not trying to start a proper attire in dining room discussion) we did see people in the dining room that probably should have been turned away if Celebrity's rules were actually being followed.

You can enter the buffet from the back, from the upper decks, so missing the front entrance.

4 hours ago, didicruiser said:

Tilapia are bottom feeders. If the area where they are farmed are provided with “good food”, the tilapia is great. However, tilapia eat their poop and others poops from the sea floor.

 

Lobster are bottom feeders too, and some people seem to love them. (Personally, I don't like it)

I have to say, I don't really care WHY X are doing this. What I do care about is getting less than promised when I booked. And I care about and object to being charged more and more for less and less. Degrade the experience, and it means that the value of cruising (for me at least) with this line disappears. We now sail in the Retreat on Celebrity. Their prices are on the up and up, and have reached the point where they now intersect with other premium/luxury lines. If X are not going to offer the level of service we've come to expect, then it will be time to jump ship and go elsewhere.

Yes, I get that the Ts&Cs mean that X can make changes. These changes are going too far. If the food on board is less pleasant than what I can make at home, then it's not worth it for me.

7 hours ago, Cap_D said:

Reminder:  Even for suites Luminae is barely open for lunch, as it is closed on port days.  And, on E-Class, the Eden Cafe is open for lunch 1-2 times per sailing, each for an hour or so.  On some Apex Caribbean 7-day itineraries it's only open once for lunch.  

I think this is a real disappointment in the retreat. OVC and mast grill is a real step down from luminae (and from porch, sushi on 5 etc) for lunch. Yes, there are burgers and sandwiches on the retreat sundeck - they've always tended to be cold, and it is not a great choice when sailing in cold waters.

7 hours ago, TopoChico said:

I certainly hope someone with your high standing in ship society gets first crack at the nicer lifeboats! The aristocracy shouldn’t have to mingle with the rubes. 

Cashmere life jackets in the retreat, dontchknow?