Best Cat Mom

Perhaps that is a strategy? 😉

Interesting question. We've had it rain briefly while we were at the OC restaurant; lunch just continued through the rain in that case. We've not had the experience where it's actively raining as we dock in the morning. I guess it might be up to the YC Director at that point. If you are in the restaurant having breakfast and rain is in the forecast, you could ask them yourself of the plans for that day.

I should also add that if OC is missed at the last minute -- say because of high winds that prevent docking -- the YC menu on the ship that day for lunch will be the "usual" OC lunch menu. This means that you will not miss out on the lobster roll and other great menu items that are usually exclusive to lunch at OC. Since the supplies are ready, they will use them on the ship and prepare the same menu. We missed OC on one sailing and found that the OC menu tasted just as good on the ship. 🙂

If the ship doesn't stop at Ocean Cay, lunch will be in the regular YC dining room. If the ship stops at OC, the YC dining room staff all move to the OC restaurant, bringing the supplies from the ship to the island for the full lunch menu, and the YC dining room on the ship is closed.

When you are at Ocean Cay, it is open on the island in the YC area, not on the ship.

Isn't it interesting how non-YC cruisers don't realize that the YC guests are all pretty much known by the YC staff within the first day? They just don't realize how personal the service is in YC and that's why they think they can just blend in. Thank goodness the "interlopers" did not make too much of a fuss when asked to leave. Breakfast is too early to deal with that kind of stress, though mimosas can always help.

If someone is on a B2B, they can just show the last keycard for a discount. 😉 Enjoy your cruise!

We reserved the meal right at the venue one afternoon. They asked for the cabin number at booking I believe. When we dined, they never asked to see anything from my spouse. Maybe I could've had anyone at the table with me and they would not have known? Or maybe they checked the image in their system for my cabinmate? Nothing was ever said. I would say that you shouldn't let the person with you start thanking you loudly for bringing them along, especially in earshot of the server or host. 😉

No idea. We did not carry the cards except when leaving the ship. Maybe someone else has tried? On the ships where there is only a card, the monitors are not interactive -- I think because only 'smart' ships have both the wristbands and the interactive monitors. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

We did not try that since those monitors are in public, but you probably can. We would always check with our YC concierge instead.

One advantage to the wristband is that you can stop at any of the monitors around the ship and see your own personal schedule. It's very helpful if you have a dinner reservation or spa appointment and can't remember the exact time -- you can check without going back to your cabin to look for the paperwork and you don't need to carry your phone around to have access to the app.

Thanks so much! 🙂

We're on Seaside in early September. Do you know the names of the current YC director and YC restaurant manager? And if they'll still be on in September? Seaside was our first MSC cruise back in 2018 and we're looking forward to enjoying a return visit. Back then, we tried YC for an alternative to NCL Haven. We liked that first MSC YC cruise so much that we sold all of our CruiseNext NCL certificates when we got home. MSC YC is all we book now. 🙂 (This is our first cruise with that great TA you recommended. Thanks again!)

When we couldn't stop at Ocean Cay due to high winds in February, they still had the lobster roll (and the rest of the regular OC menu) in YC that day for lunch. Seems that since they prep it all in advance, it's the lunch of the day no matter where YC serves lunch. We learned this from the YC staff who were waiting to unload all the supplies onto OC. They were already down at the exit point waiting while the ship made several tries to dock. When the captain decided that we'd have to skip the stop entirely, they simply brought everything back to the YC restaurant and lunch proceeded as planned, just in a different place. So don't worry about missing the lobster roll if the ship misses OC. 🙂

You will likely need to vacate the cabin in the morning and take your luggage with you. We were in YC so the concierge held all our luggage until we were ready for our butler to walk us off in the afternoon. You might want to check with your butler/room attendant for options to store your items until you're ready to disembark if you don't want to keep everything with you that morning. Enjoy the extra time on board -- it can feel like a whole extra day if you leave a few hours after lunch. 🙂

When on a ship with people embarking and disembarking at multiple ports, the disembarking passengers don't have to leave the ship early so there won't be a big "push" by them to get in line. When we disembarked in Genoa, we stayed on the ship until after 2pm. Our hotel check in wasn't until 3pm so we had breakfast and lunch on the ship and left in the afternoon.

Remember that it is 3 courses -- so you can omit the dessert course if you want and have an appetizer, salad and main course for your 3. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! 🙂

We loved their risotto and always ordered that as a third main dish to share. Don't be shy about asking for lobster or scallops to accompany your filet or maybe Oscar style. You're in YC. 🙂

Chances are that if you order a filet several nights your server will ask you what they could do different in the preparation for you. That's what YC is all about. And that's why we LOVE it! 🙂

Sounds like you've got some people moving on it so that's good. And great that you had at least the one meal there. Good luck on getting some more if needed. Enjoy YC! 🙂

Chase him! You've got a free meal from status matching, right? Between him and the YC Director, they have to come up with some type of solution. There are probably dozens of other passengers in the same situation, and likely some in YC. They have got to figure out something here.

Enjoy! I just booked us a cruise for September on Seaside. Our first MSC cruise was back in 2018 on Seaside in YC when the ship was only a few months old. We loved both the ship and the service and we've been exclusively cruising MSC YC ever since. We're looking forward to seeing it again now that it has been able to settle in. In 2018, we had Alesandro as our YC Director; he was swapped out in the last few days of our cruise as he was only there to get things started. Guiseppe (Pepe) was the YC maitre d'/restaurant manager. And those were the days of the infamous YC server Arthur, who was quite the presence every meal. I saw that you're having some atypical difficulties dining in Butcher's Cut. I hope that you've been able to speak with the YC Director to voice your concerns and have some alternate accommodations made to allow you to enjoy that menu. If you get a chance, can you tell us the name of current YC Director and (maybe) when their time on Seaside ends? Thanks!

Similar situation with international flights. Depending on where you are departing, some will only offer champagne and not mixed drinks. Also depends on whether you are in true "first class" or just business class. I prefer the cruise lines and air carriers that absorb all those costs for you (or better explained, include it in your fare). 🙂

What does 3 hours equal in points? Or better yet, how does one know how many points they are accumulating? Is it by time spent at various types of play, money lost, etc.? We are not big gamblers but we do spend time in the casino when we need some extra cash for tips. How would we know if we are on the verge of some type of reward and we should keep at it for a little while longer?

If the tables are still in the same basic set up, there are several two tops in a row that can be put together for large parties as well -- I think you could seat 10 or 12 people that way.