karmamule

Our first cruise with VV is almost here. We have some new PJs to bring and intend to go. Whether or not we actually go, still to be determined! 😁 We'll have flown in the day before so should be well rested (although I'm always a light sleeper the night before a cruise), and are not doing the grog walk beforehand, so I'm setting the odds at 75% that we do go.

Another nice thing about the in-room bar for mega rockstars is they will get in touch with you a few weeks before the cruise and ask if you want to customize it with specific liquors or brands.

Yes bar tabs are flexible. Whether you're buying a drink for yourself or someone else it doesn't matter.

Oooo, we almost made the same mistake for our upcoming cruise (under 3 weeks to go!). We normally like to book dinner as early as possible, and are going to the Wake our first night, but because I love watching sail away outside that's the one night we've booked a later dinner so with luck we'll be far enough out that it'll be a nice skyline view.

I've called them twice and gotten that twice, so no excess surveys sent so far.

Exactly the same experience for me as well. The rep had lots of energy and was very personable, and also effective at getting things done. Very good first impression of VV service regarding our first voyage with them!

We could have eaten there but chose to eat in the restaurant

The beach to the right of the YC restaurant is a bit rockier than most but we still felt it was perfectly fine and we've loved our days lounging there. On our last MSC trip we rented out one of the cabanas. The service for us was slightly more attentive than the general service out amongst the lounge chairs but not enough to really matter. What mattered was just having more comfy furniture, more consistent shade, and and a table to eat at. Not sure if we'd bother again but we didn't feel we wasted our money on it either. (The cabana did include mats and snorkel gear but we were too lazy to use them. If you would use them you'd also save the rental price for those by getting a cabana)

We've always been able to use our YC drinks package at any specialty restaurant on Seaside, Meraviglia, and Seashore *except* for Hola Tacos on Seashore (back in January of 2022). Alcoholic drinks there were not covered by our drinks package which we found very annoying. Hopefully that was a test change that they roll back because it goes against the whole prepaid simplicity of a drinks package.

When we were on the Meraviglia in the YC our room initially had a bit of a sewage smell too. We told our butler and he had maintenance come and fix it, and things were fine after that. As this was our first 14 day cruise we were very happy they could do something about it! It was due to a small panel near the toilet that provided access behind the wall and it wasn't properly sealed and the smell was coming in from that.

Our last MSC trip was in a Royal Suite on MSC Seashore and it was an excellent room and I hope you both enjoy your trip as much as we did ours! That 14 day we've booked on the Seascape will be a nice 7 days western / 7 days eastern itinerary with 2 days in Ocean Cay, which we love. All the other ports are 'been there done that' so many times. We'll probably be ship-centric except for Ocean Cay and San Juan, which we always enjoy.

The Edge Villa was spectacular, our favorite cabin of all time. However we still prefer the YC restaurant's food over Luminae, and the YC lounge, restaurant space, and pool deck plus buffet were better than the Retreat's equivalent areas as well. Being in an "upper suite" on an Edge class ship you'd also have all specialty restaurants included in your room charge and they were all excellent. But, yeah, that price. We just booked a 14 day YC cruise in a Deluxe Grand suite on the Seascape and it is literally 1/2 the cost that our 7 day Celebrity cruise was.

We've had a retreat suite on Celebrity, a Haven suite on NCL, and a sky-class suite on RCL. All were lovely experiences, but our 3 cruises in MSC's Yacht Club were still our favorites. Our Celebrity sailing is neck and neck with MSC (it was in an Edge Villa on the Apex), but if you factor in MSC being a fraction of the price that breaks the tie. The "ship-within-a-ship" facilities are the most comprehensive and enjoyable and the butler service / YC staff are top notch as well. Their rooms may not be quite as lavish as some of the alternatives but the overall experience is still superb. Absolutely worth a try IMO!

Do they show anywhere on the web site when your 'expiration date' is? I think our next cruise has been booked before that happens but would like to double check. UPDATE: Never mind, I just answered my own question: I saw their info that it expires 3 years after your last cruise, and our last cruise was in 2022 and our next is in 2024 so we're all set.

We just booked a 14 day on the Seascape. It's not until next February 2024 so lot of time to kill before then. (Though we do have two other cruises in between now and then to keep us distracted 😁) Your posts are a great way to start seeing what's in store for ~ a year from now. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!

We were on the Apex for our first cruise with Celebrity this last October and were very happy with the overall experience. We especially loved Le Grand Bistro for lunch and Eden for dinner. Without past experience on Celebrity to compare it to we can't say if it's better or worse, but when comparing to some other prior cruises on NCL and RCL we felt it was a noticeable step up in terms of ship design, service and food. We have an 11 day Canada/New England coming up this October on the Summit and are looking forward to checking out the smaller Celebrity ship experience next. (And coming up soon in April we'll be trying Virgin Voyages for the first time on the Valiant Lady)

Our first time on VV is coming up, and if our past experience with other cruise lines is any guide then we'll play enough slots to catch their interest and get free room offers in the future. Good to know 5000 points is meaningful, thanks!

Thanks for all the posts, MLJS! We'll be on our first VV cruise on Valiant Lady this April for the 8 day eastern caribbean and every bit of info helps boost our eagerness. 😁

When we were on the Apex recently having lunch at Le Grand Bistro became one of our favorites. It didn't look that expensive though so it might not be worth using one of your 4 specialty dining choices even if they let you, and save those for a more elaborate dinner. Either way, we thought the lunch was delicious.

We were on the Apex a couple weeks ago. We got burgers from Mast Grill a couple times and, while thin, they were fresh and warm and we enjoyed them. Nothing great, but fine for poolside grill. On the other hand, I got a burger at Le Grand Bistro and it was one of the best I've ever had. Absolutely delicious.

We've been in the Haven on NCL Joy, YC on Seaside, Meraviglia, and Seashore, the Retreat on Celebrity Apex, and Aqua Theater Suite (Sky suite category) on RCL Allure and we think Yacht Club is the best experience of the 4. Yacht Club has better public spaces, better restaurant, and better dedicated pool deck. Of the others we almost liked Celebrity's Retreat as much as YC but would still give the edge to YC. Now, as to the rest of the ship, we'd agree that MSC is a mixed bag. On average we like their entertainment options less than other lines, and their buffet and specialty restaurants are not quite as good as the other lines. However, we still find all those things good enough that, combined with all the amenities and wonderful spaces of YC have made for very enjoyable cruises on all 3 MSC trips we've been on. We were on the Celebrity Apex recently and loved the ship, thought the specialty restaurants were fantastic, and the entertainment was better than expected too. If you consider the overall ship experience in addition to the "ship with a ship" areas Celebrity may pull slightly ahead of MSC, but we'd be very happy to go on either line again. Given current prices MSC is definitely the cheaper of these two! We're still rounding out our "tour of the various cruise lines" with an upcoming cruise on Virgin Voyages we are REALLY looking forward to as well after all we've heard. But, yeah we very much do our research and really love the Yacht Club on MSC and think it has some of the best 'bang for your buck' of any higher end suite experience on other mass market or premium lines.

One other thing to keep in mind with upgrades is that no single upgrade lives in isolation. The cruise line (or 3rd party company managing the upgrades) will want to string together a chain of upgrades that make them the most money. Sometimes that can mean someone with a lesser bid will win a cabin because their original cabin is an upgrade for someone else who did bid a lot of money, and the two bids combined will more than make up for the fact that they bid less than someone else.

Back in the 90s I worked near the North End and sometimes we’d go to the original location for Pizzeria Regina and it was always 50/50 whether the pizza would come out burned and mediocre or absolute perfection. They had big bottles of olive oil with bulbs of garlic and other herbs floating in them and you could pour that over your pizza. As I read what I just typed I’m surprised I’m still alive after eating that so frequently. 😄

We’ll be boarding Apex tomorrow and are looking forward to trying the pizza for ourselves! 😊

Despite having been on 3 MSC cruises we've never gone to one of their evening pool deck parties. Looks like we've been missing out! So much fun reading your adventures on the Divina so far. 😀 Oh, and you're in for a treat going to Ocean Cay when you're in the Yacht Club. They have a separate beach and restaurant that are wonderful. Try to catch the lighthouse light show in the early evening if you can!