MouseBerry

In IT business there is an old style two step design process

1. Think about how to srew up a system totally

2. Then invert the solution or go the oposite direction

This might end up in a functional solution. But MSC missed the 2nd step apparently.

Some rules are specific to the ship, but in this case it is specific to the country. Splendida was Italy, Crostia and Greece. If Splendida would call in Spain or France nobody would be allowed to do excursionson their own currently.

When does this apply? Next winter season? In German markets a drink package is never explicitly mentioned for YC. If this would be true for YC then i would expect lower base fare and I‘m free to decide on higher drink packages. Just imagine one is not into drinks or booze and had to pay for such things and no choice.

I don‘t see such a downgrade as a bad thing per se, it depends on the whole package and the total price. You know excursions are not included in YC. With Viking you get excursions included if you like it or not. I have no problem with unbundleing if it is not a hidden price increase.

cheer

MouseBerry

Every good cruise comes with some pre-cruise activities😃

Rules are not the same. Rules can be different by Cruise Company and location and change  constantly over time. MSC has this special safety bubble concept which is unique currently.

Currently MSC allowes individuell excursions based on port of call an local situation, but not pre-cruise. You will get the information on board and valid for the specific cruise only.

If you are looking for the good old cruising times you have to wait. Not sure it will get to „status ante quo“ at all.

MSC is allowed to operate cruises from UK as well, which is outside EU, but not outside of Europe. And normalised on population (new Covid cases in 7days per 100.000) UK is worse than US.

Yes, that's another way to pack the YC. If not enough bids they upgrade people for free or should I say rather promotion reasons. That's how we were "hooked" to YC since 2016 when we got a free upgrade.

But MSC should be aware:  even we are hooked we are not stupid. We have a simple rule: 300€ per person per day is our YC balcony max. limit (to the US people this is included fees and taxes). If it cost more then we look for other cruise lines (we tried Oceania and this is a all YC ship). This means usually we only sail in YC with Voyager Selection discounts as the regular prices are beyond what we pay for YC. This Sept. we try 2 sailings in YC. If we get the impression that YC experience has been eroded, we will lower our price limit which might result in "we are out". 

MSC will respect capacity limitations for the whole ships.

But YC will be filled up, packed, crammed to max. capacity as this generates more revenue and there is no regulation on capacity.

Who ever hoped about any under-utilization of YC due to COVID might be disappointed.

Hi,

thanks for the review. Did you take afternoon tea service? If so how was it?

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

MSC might collect upgrade bids even they have no vacancies at all. Just to ensure full YC paid in case of late cancellations. And the upgrade bid value is not only based on the category but rather on the actual price you have paid.

I have booked a 7 night Baltic Sea cruise on the Seaview in early Sept. YC inside 1100€ pp (total). Now I got this upgrade mail which requested a min of 100€ for a YC deluxe balcony. The max bid value was around 500€. 1100+500€ was pretty much the price for a YC deluxe balcony at the time when I booked my YIN.

I made a bid on the lower side as I never sailed in an inside and want to give it a try. Well in YC I consider the very close TSL as part of my living room😀 Seems to be a perfect match for an inside.

cheers

MouseBerry 

Thank you for sharing your experience and the most up to date info. Very valuable in this strange situation we are right in.

Danke das Du uns hast teilhaben lassen und uns mit brandneuen Informationen versorgt hast. Sehr wertvoll in diesen ungewöhnlichen Zeiten.

cheers

MouseBerry

9 suites per butler sounds reasonable.

Hi,

I'm wondering why 11:00 can be such a common embarkation time. It is mentioned quite often and much less than 12:00, 13:00, 14:00 etc. Would not be a surprise for me if 11:00 is currently just a placeholder. All my upcoming cruises got 11:00 in the very same moment displayed on MSC internet-site. Maybe it will be changed on short/no notice anytime until embarkation. Watch carefully and regularyly your data. Hopefully I'm wrong, but my trust level on MSC IT and org isn't very high.

And I have concerns about this embarkation window thing. I expect to be allowed to embark even when I arrive later than   1 hour after appointed embarkation time. 

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

I thought whats included in YC areas is easy to guess. What's on the YC bar menu without price indication is included. Period.

Problem is that you never know the bar menu details until you are on the ship for sure. Now with not using printed menus, but rather use electronic ones, they could change it very dynamically.

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

to me that's more than poor admin choice. MSC doesn't delivery the product as advertised.

Does anybody know the cabin per butler ratio on the newer ships like Seaview? I read somewhere, but cannot remember where, that on Fantasia-class ships one butler had to take care for 12 cabins. And on newer ships one butler has to take care on much more cabins.

cheers

MouseBerry 

Hi,

if YC is marketed as a premium/luxuray experience I would expect customers shouldn't constantly think about what is included and what I'm allowed to order/drink because I paid it in advance with my fare.

But YC isn't actually such an experience. It tries, but often fails, to be cost-wise attractive. And from a marketing perspective it makes sense to not put things in the package which drives cost and not all customers want to use it. But if only EasyPlus would be included, I don't see enough differentiation to other expereinces. So my guess is PremExtra will be included in the future. 

For that reason I'm fine with the fact that the drinks available for YC are limited. But I would expect:

- MSC should make it clear and consistent what is included (maybe with regional variations, but not variatons by ship nor by day of the cruise nor by waiter nor by pther criteria)

- MSC should allow to upgrade drink packages for YC in advance, not only while on the ship

I called MSC because I want to upgrade to PremPlus, but this is possible on the ship only. Why? Not customer oriented.

By the way: I read somewhere it is possible to buy a drink packages, and maybe this applies to upgrades as well, not only the first day of the cruise but rather the first 3 days. Is this true?

This would allow me to try some fancy drinks and decide afterwards to buy the upgrade.

Just a side note: If service in YC gets worse and possibility to make excursion, this would made me a "frustation drinker". Which means drink a lot fine drinks🙂 

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

price is one aspect. I was always wondering how some cruises can be offered for more or less the same price as my first cruise in 2009 on MSC.

My experience is: the product has declined. Standard MSC cruise is not the same as 10 years before and YC is not the same as when it started. Price changes are visible. Changes in the product are tangible only if you are actually on a cruise or if you have good infos from others.

If food in YC is not much better than MDR. If servcie is not much better. And if YC areas are going to be crowded, then I try to book MSC standard cruises for 100-120€ per night, book a drink package and some special dining option.

When I hear that ships are capacity limited to 70%, but YC is loaded for 100% (and more) while the "keep distance" rule applies to YC as well, then I would say: a bad move MSC.

Still plan to figure out the facts on my own and booked 2 YC cruises in Sept.🙂

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

just a question: are lunch menu items served at the pool deck as well? I assumed this will be served in the YC restaurant only, and pool deck has a pool grill with specific items.

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

260 pax in YC. If this is true it is a quite high load. Considering there are 86 YC suites this means in average >3 people per cabin. Never experienced such a high occupation in YC.

Do the Covid-19 restrictions of distancing and blocked seats in TSL and Pooldeck develop any kind of problem. For me the most important aspect of YC is the absence of any crowding, louncher hogs and fighting for a seat.

In particular on sea days this could be critical.

By the way: does anybody know if YC guests are allowed to use the aurea area on the topdeck?  If so it could be used as an overflow area for YC.

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

dinner looks to me more like MDR standard, well MDR standard a few years ago. Maybe it tastes better. Desert looks really good.

Breakfast offerings seems pretty much like MDR with the addition of the freshly squeezed juices. I would be perfectly fine with the offerings  as long as they have some varieties of berries which I used to have with my oat meal.

That breakfast offerings in YC is very close to MDR is well known, but the better service should make the difference. 

Any info about capacity utilisation of the whole ship and YC?

I guess it is primary holiday season around europe and expect high load, but I don‘t know if there are capacity restriction due to covid-19.

And the lost Visby excursion is a no go. At least they should offer one free excursion of your choice. I mean bad things happen and nobody is perfect, but how MSC handles such situations is what matters.

enjoy your cruise

MouseBerry

Have a nice trip. If time and connection permits please keep us informed.

I‘m booked for the same trip on Sept. 4th. Never sailed on the Seaside-class ships.

YC on Splendida was one of my favourite experience so far.

And just for to compare the two ship classes I plan to do a Splendida YC one week after the Seaview.

cheers

MouseBerry

Hi,

I‘m desperate seeking the option to do excursions on my own as this us what i did 98% during all my cruises. But I guess the simple answer is no, not possible to leave the bubble.

Whether you are vaccinated doesn‘t matter.

I hope this will change until Sept. , but I have no high hopes.

Actually everybody should book other cruiselines which follow the vac people only, but unfortunately I like MSC style very much. I guess I have to take the bitter pill.

Did you get a booking confirmation when you booked the cruise?

In Getmany we get one and in the confirmation is a description what you have booked (e.g. YC experience) and there is a description regarding what in included.

We know the description is not as accurate as we would expect. E.g. it is not described which drink package is included. But at least it is documented that I‘m allowed to use any bar and restaurant of the ship snd thete is an unlimited amount of a selection of freedrinks.

In Germany this description gets the status of a contract and cannot be changed without notice and compensation. Should be international law.

I guess your contact at MSC was a standard experienced and informed person. I.e. withoutconfirmation from another party and info from an avtual cruise i don‘t belive it is true.

Does that mean your booking mess has been sorted?

Hi,

not sure when they will assign they boarding time. Maybe it is already assigned based on cabin location. But they will reveal the boarding time to you with the docs.