2cruiseluvrs

MSCDIVINA - I was wondering if you would help me negotiate my cable TV bill... ? Just asking 🙂

NFERR - I think you are a lot like my father, which is totally fine. The YC is not his speed either, and he likes to be out and about, especially to people-watch. So it's all good. It's nice that a cruise ship has so much to offer for different folks with a wide variety of interests. If I ever meet you on a boat, NFERR, I will be happy to sit and chat with you one afternoon.

HANK - You are inspiring me to be a little more adventurous. And you're right, there are plenty of drinks I don't buy at home because of their cost... So the Yacht Club is the perfect place to give them all a go. Thanks!

JOYOUS - I've been a Tito's person as of late. On my last cruise it flowed all day long! Whereas my better half sticks to the mojitos. You'll definitely be happy with the "free" drinks that are included in Yacht Club.

JOYOUS - You can order as much of anything as you want off the menu in the Top Sail Restaurant. Two of this. Three of that. Nine of those... etc. It's all yours for the taking. Including drinks! I may be mistaken, but the ONLY thing that you may not be able to order for "free" at dinner or at the bar(s) is the ultra-high extra-premium liquor... you know, the whiskey or vodka that comes in a $200 bottle kind of stuff.

I don't see how they can argue with their own documents that state you have a Yacht Club experience, 97716752

PHISSY & MSCDIVINA - Wow that sounds aweful. Sorry you went through that, and continue to go through that.

MSCDIVINA2016 - Sorry to hear about your struggles with MSC. Not sure how that would have happened that you were taken out of YC to be put on deck 8 for the same price? Somehow I feel like I read about this somewhere else on this board. What led up to this madness, and then how did the switcheroo happen? I think we are all curious now!! Mind if I take a guess? Purely a guess here, but I think you were in an oceanview room on some other floor, and then you bid a certain amount of money to get into Yacht Club. I think they accepted your offer, and THEN in the middle of the night, they took someone else's money for the YC, put those new customers in your room, and used the "fine print of the upgrade offer" to then move you out to a balcony room that would have cost what you had ultimately paid including the upgrade fee. So they say, "We reserve the right to accept and reject the offer, and also to move customers around to a room that matches their total investment." Am I right?

BLUE TICK - The inconsistency is baffling. If a person was in charge of the Yacht Club branding, wouldn't they want it to be consistent from ship to ship and port to port? I am wondering if the Port of Miami has new no-alcohol rule, because those drinks are not being sold and therefore not being taxed, etc.

Makes you wonder if it is covid-related, ship-specific, a problem with inventory at that moment, or just a matter of "let's slowly remove benefits until there is enough grumbling."

NUNAGORAS - You are correct, and my math was simply in getting into a Yacht Club interior room. As said a couple of times above, the math does not work out if you are looking at anything larger or better than interior. And of course, as said, if you don't want the drink package, and you don't like the Thermal Area, it does not make financial sense. My math was simply that if a couple were in any non-Yacht Club stateroom, and they buy drinks, and they buy the Thermal Package, it MIGHT make sense for some people to modify to a Yacht Club interior room, to take advantage of the big list of YC amenities. But again, that comes down to personal preferences and certainly staying in a regular Balcony is quite nice.

BAC513 - Thanks for this comment. As a matter of fact, just this past week I called MSC Customer Service to bring up this very issue. Basically their YC web page "inclusions" section says you get Premium Internet, unlimited for 2 devices. But then you look through the rest of the general website and the only two internet packages offered for sale are "Browse" and the better "Browse and Stream." I asked Customer Service, "So of those two choices, which would you consider to be the PREMIUM -- wouldn't it be the better of the two?" And the gal contacted management to inquire. She got back on the line and told me to print out the screen shots. She told me that the premium was indeed the better "browse and stream" -- and I asked her to send that to me in writing, and she refused, citing a lack of ability to email me. So I asked for names and took these notes, which I will take on my trip along with the printed screenshots. I called and spoke to Casey D., Customer Service on July 27th at 10:30 a.m. and she says her colleagues confirm that the "Premium Package" is the same as the "Browse and Stream Cruise Package", per Jennifer B. in management. I also sent an email to our previous YC Director and encouraged him to pass it along to the powers that be... to help clear up confusion for guests. THIS IS WHAT THE YACHT CLUB PAGE SHOWS AS A BENEFIT: AND THESE ARE THE ONLY TWO INTERNET PACKAGES FOR SALE TO PASSENGERS: So, what YC calls Premium and Unlimited in their marketing, should be the better of the two available packages, right?

DEAR EVERYBODY ON EARTH - Do not ever be the guy that demands Dom Perignon when you are simply waiting to get processed to go on board. Wow, what a jerk! Hey JAGR, great story and a nightmare scenario. Thanks for sharing. If we can all avoid being "that guy" then life (and all of our cruises) will be that much better.

JAGR - Thank you SO MUCH for adding this valuable insight. Our last YC cruise was 2019 and surely things have changed a bit thanks to COVID, and no double some of the experiences vary by ship just a bit. I think that between my original list and your great supplements / edits, a person can get a real valuable view on potentially booking themselves into the Yacht Club, and that overall it is just different. Maybe some good advice to a passenger is to print out the list(s) and highlight the items they are most interested in, then take that list to the concierge on DAY ONE, to see what the current / actual situation is on that ship at that time, then plan accordingly. Thanks again for chiming in and adding what you know.

HIKINGPETE - Don't let the FOMO get to you, and don't worry too much about your own trip that you have planned. It's not like the ship is bad, or the non-YC rooms are a waste of time. Not at all. You will still enjoy the ship, the entertainment, the food, the staff, etc. And again, as I originally mentioned, if you only have a couple of drinks during the day, and you'd rarely go to the Thermal Area, then it's really a ton of extra money spent on the Yacht Club that maybe would be better used toward excursions, or a new permanent gift for your household. But all of that said, just look at what your expected costs might be for your planned trip, and then look to see what the costs would be if you booked an interior room in YC. See if it pencils out for you. For me, the interior YC room works, where the bigger better YC rooms (balcony, etc) do not fit my budget at this time.

HIPHIP - Good to know about the 1 hour free Thermal Area pass with Diamond level! RICHARD - Thank you for the reminder about the free same-sex sauna in the gym locker room area on Meraviglia. That reminds me, there is a post on these boards with a link to a spreadsheet that anybody can update. It shows a list of all known cruise ships and what sauna and steam room amenities they offer. You can read the original posts using the box below, or view spreadsheet in full at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ROCmeNSYj_VwCYs3IUjWbrcEomFeqOrvIDUnXG6GLTg/edit#gid=836403675

AUSSIE - The Thermal Area is only open to those who have purchased a pass, or to guests staying in the Aurea Suites or Yacht Club. (The pass is included for those two cabin levels.) On my last cruise, I stayed in Yacht Club and visited the Thermal Area at least twice a day!

AUSSIE - Yes, if you use a Yacht Club Balcony Room in the equation, it doesn't work, usually. The balcony alone adds $1500pp in cost! But it is much bigger and nicer than interior. My math works only for interior rooms ;) However, you never know when you might find that really good deal for a Yacht Club balcony on an off season. For my next cruise, we have an interior cabin -- it will force us to take advantage of the lounge and One Pool deck more often.

I play this song in the car every time we head out for a road trip!

NO1TALKS - Oh, you and your animated GIFs... I love it!!!! When you don't have the words, use a GIF!!

SIRWOLF - The original question from Aussie Jeep was whether or not reservations were necessary to enter the Thermal Suite. MNPurple then commented that indeed reservations WERE necessary on their last cruise on Seaview in May 2022. I think most people would assume that means they are restricting the total number of attendees at any given time. Once you are inside, you could surely go wherever you like. The last time I was in the Thermal Area on Seaside, there were never more than 15 people grand total in the entire suite. And I was wearing a thong. Less is more! Who wants to wear board shorts when they are sweating it all out? You are correct that the Thermal Area is adults only: 18+ --- perhaps the author was suggesting that his "kids" are in fact grown up... the same as my father's kids are in their 40s! In "normal times" the capacity is controlled by a limited number of passes sold, in combination with those included free in the Aurea class or Yacht Club. In "covid times" it sounds like some ships on some voyages require reservations to enter and enjoy. I, for one, am excited to sail on on MSC, in the Yacht Club once again, and spend a LOT of time in the Thermal Area!

RKACRUISER - I hadn't even thought about how high- or low-maintenance a person must be in the Yacht Club. Thanks for bringing that up. I think high-maintenance people are a real pain in the tushy. I am definitely not one of them. Now I am very curious about what your experience was versus your expectation of the butler service. I think there is a point where a passenger can be a real jerk, and disrespectful toward staff including butlers. Just because a person is staying in Yacht Club, it is no excuse to be a demanding idiot, and no reason to treat other human beings like trash, or like "servants!" I think that having a butler in Yacht Club is like having a friendly personal assistant, no different than if you were a CEO of a large company and you had an assistant who really looked after your needs, and was able to take care of things for you as they come up, just to make your CEO life a little easier. If you ask a butler to bring you a bowl of fruit, and she did, and when it arrived you start complaining about the fruit, and commenting how the banana has a brown mark on it... and the orange is not perfect in every way... well, you are a jerk. If you ask to be taken to the theater and the butler shows up in 5 minutes instead of 1 minute, and you yell at the butler for not being faster, then you are a jerk. But in all normal cases, I think the expectation is fine to ask for a drink, ask for a snack, ask for the newspaper from a certain city, ask for help to book an excursion, or ask for a certain type of coffee to be delivered at 6 a.m. In other words, if it would sound fine for a CEO to ask of her assistant, it should be perfectly fine to ask the butler on MSC Yacht Club. And if they seem to repeatedly have problems, it should be fine to bring that to the attention of the Yacht Club Director.

MNPURPLE - Can you expand on that? I mean, did you need to book it on Thursday to enjoy it on Friday? Or could you call them at 9 a.m. and ask for a 10 a.m. reservation? Please share your detailed experience. Very much appreciate it. I will be on Meraviglia in 2023 and I sure hope there aren't restrictions in the thermal area!

AUSSIE - where did you read that they needed to be booked? Are these for specific ships in certain areas of the world? And were they recent articles? I was on a non-MSC cruise in June to Alaska and there were zero restriction in the thermal area. I wonder why MSC would be different.

RKACRUISER - you make a very good point about the butlers and the elevators. I would add that the elevators may be something that is a little out of our control, and things may certainly break or not work their best. However, I would say that if a BUTLER was not doing a very good job, I would very quickly bring it to the attention of the YC Director (there is one assigned to each ship). I hate to be a "Karen who asks for the manager" but in this case, the investment should ensure good service, and I think we have the right to ask for it. Fortunately, I have only had one butler (the same amazing guy both times) and never even had one issue. HEARTH - Yeah, the Haven costs a lot more. I would love to try it, but can't afford it! And if I am not on at least one Yacht Club cruise every three years, call the police because something is wrong!