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Wow, just wow. If that had been a first cruise in YC for some passengers, I could see how it might also be their last. 😞 How long was the cruise?

The Fantasia-class ships have an adults only pool aft called the Garden Pool. The bar in that area is called the Garden Bar and is also adults only.

We've rarely seen anyone in YC "over-served." I believe that YC guests, while they may always have a drink in hand, are a more refined (not sure if that is the correct word to reflect my feelings, but I'm using it!) crowd and more to our liking. We initially tried MSC YC because we were not pleased with NCL's Haven. Due to Haven having the same restaurant menu every day and no Haven dinner in the smaller ships, we had always eaten in the specialty restaurants. We tired of seeing flip flops and cargo shorts at dinner in those specialty restaurants, especially the nights when we were in suits and dresses. YC gives us the atmosphere that we prefer.

We were just on Divina in Oct 2022 and Jan/Feb 2023 and the YC library is intact. It is behind the concierge desk, across from the booth seating. We sailed Fantasia pre-Covid but the library was in the same location back then.

I know from our own cruises that Fantasia and Divina both have libraries in the Yacht Club.

This has been our experience as well. Butcher's Cut entrees in the YC restaurant with "special" bottles of wine hand-selected by the maitre d'/sommelier, all adult beverages regardless of price in the Top Sail lounge, unlimited mini-bar replenishment, etc. -- basically anything you ask for that will make your holiday all the more enjoyable -- are all quite available in YC with no additional charges. The service and extras are definitely still there but are usually not obvious to anyone except the recipients. We have no issues with YC or their European-style of impeccable (and nearly invisible) service. 🙂

Thanks @morpheusofthesea for the clarification. Since MSC YC does not keep track of how many non-Venchi beverages are consumed before sail away, I consider that one more advantage over NCL Haven. 🙂

So why no charges for alcohol before initial departure? Someone must be covering -- or is the situation somehow different and no taxes are due on those drinks? (Not trying to be difficult, just truly curious.) Please let us know if you discover an answer, @morpheusofthesea

Interesting that you brought this up. I recall this being true for our NCL Haven cruises. I had expected it then, from knowing that was the usual practice. It is similar to why on some international flights departing US airports the PDB (pre-departure beverage) can be a bit restricted. We have never experienced the added tax in our MSC YC cruises though and did not even consider why until you just mentioned it. I wouldn't mind knowing if MSC is (maybe) covering this for us.

We prefer YC to Haven for a variety of reasons, one of the biggest ones being that the YC lunch and dinner menu change each day. You can also ask for made to order items whenever you wish. (You may get your requests the same day or a subsequent day, depending on the complexity of the dish and availability of ingredients.) If you want Butcher's Cut meats instead of going to the BC venue, you can likely have them cooked in YC instead of that day's menu items -- or even in addition to the menu items. We especially liked this when we wanted to pair an item with the YC's daily risotto offering. Also, YC tends to have less children than we experienced in the Haven. This may not matter to some, but for us it was a big benefit.

Hi phissy -- We were on that Divina cruise with you. We never noticed the set up in the Lounge; must have been because we sat on the other side. I'm surprised that the future cruise consultant did not address it. I recall that particular TA boasting about how they'd wind up tipping ~$1K overall on the 13-day cruise. I recall it because at the time my husband and I said to each other, "Well, so will we. So what? No need to advertise it." LOL We did not see the waving of money either. Was that at the One Pool? How absurd!

Where did this list originate? My Marriott Titanium Elite/Lifetime matched to Diamond in ~2018 (not Silver, which is listed in the table). I do believe that match results were higher years ago than they are now.

We sail in YC and we request coffee with Bailey's each morning. We love start our day by drinking them on the balcony as we sail into a port. 🙂

We've sailed YC several times and I never recall seeing a non-alcoholic champagne (back when they had printed menus). You could have a spritz of soda water and juice in a flute as a decent alternative.

We just ended an 11-day cruise on Divina in the Caribbean on Monday. There were only 2 families with children in the YC. One family had 2 and one family had 1. All 3 seemed to be younger than school age. YC was just over half full -- 106 passengers was what we were told. Not sure if any of this will help you since your experience will depend on ship, timing, location and how many cabins are occupied, but I've given you all the data. 🙂

We've sailed several times in YC and tip extra to those who give us exceptional and personal service. We have always recognized our server and assistant in the YC restaurant and our butler and assistant in our stateroom. We've also tipped the YC restaurant maitre de, chef and hostess(es) at times, as well as particular Top Sail butlers and bartenders, and the YC concierges. Envelopes are available via the YC concierges and they are also especially helpful with spelling people's names or helping us identify people who we only know by sight (they have images of all the crew on their computer and that has saved us more than once when we have someone whose name we never are able to catch from their badge).

We have been on Divina out of the US twice, Seaside out of the US and Fantasia out of Genoa. I am GF and all 3 times they did not have GF crusts available. I am happy to report that we ordered regular pizzas and I was able to pull the toppings off the crust and eat them with no adverse affects. I realize that not all GF people would chance this, but if you are not worried about severe reactions, I can report that I did fine. Hope this might help you. PS: It was absolutely delicious each time!!!

You can also ask for specific afternoon treats -- so ask for maybe a cheese plate and red wine if you're getting back from a tour and want something savory. Or if you had something in the Top Sail Lounge on a previous day that you really liked, you could ask for that in the room. Sometimes the hardest part is deciding to what to ask for since they will bring you virtually anything! 🙂

We're also on Divina in YC on Friday, MN. We always ask for coffee and Bailey's. Both on Divina in October and our last pre-pandemic cruise on Fantasia, our butler put the Bailey's in the fridge the night before and brought the coffee in the morning. (The Bailey's would be in a glass with a plastic wrap covering.)

At the port, they verified our newspaper choice -- so clearly someone did receive our answers. Our butler asked us the questions about our bottle of alcohol when he introduced himself, so perhaps he did not receive the email (or received so many that it was easier to ask again). We asked for a bottle of liquor and a bottle of wine. He brought both, though he said that it was not the norm. We figured that the wine was an easy add-on for him, because it might save him from having to bring a few glasses to our cabin during the cruise. The butler did not ask about the pillows so we brought it up to him at the same time as the bottle discussion. We had chosen a special extra firm pillow choice on a previous YC cruise and loved them -- so much so that we tried to find them to purchase for our home. That was an important "selection" to us so we asked him. Not sure if he would have brought it up eventually.

When we were on Fantasia in the Mediterranean in 2019 (pre-Covid times), there was a party by the One Pool on White Night with full dinner buffet and live music, with officers attending and speaking to the YC guests. Not sure if Le Muse was open that night. Our butler was in attendance, but can't recall if our server was there.

On our cruise last week, we used the "Please Make Up Room / Do Not Disturb" card in the slot. Our Assistant Butler even used it a few times after he made up our room. Worked the same as a key card for us.

Our Divina cruise that just ended on Friday had several -- Captain/Officer party in Top Sail, Rum Tasting in Top Sail, Sunset Party at One Pool (this was for a random port, selected where the wind would not be too severe), and Magicians in Top Sail. The YC director is new to MSC and told us that he was trying to be especially "inventive." We were told that not all of the other MSC officers had expected so many events, so I guess he was really going further than most. (Attire was whatever the cruise had that day for each; nothing was different for the YC events.)

Rodwin said about 2000 passengers total for this cruise. Next cruise is nearly full ship-wide and completely full in YC. He said that as a quick 3-day out of Miami, it will be a totally different type of passenger mix and not necessarily in a good way. 😞

John Carlo has been our lunch waiter several times. Never saw him in the evening though. Forgot to mention that Patricia had been the butler who escorted us onto the ship. That's when I first saw her name tag with the butler title. Maybe she is on the verge of being a cabin butler?