Todd320

Currently on the MSC Seaside and it does not disappoint. We are in the YC and really like the ship with in a ship concept. So far everything has been as advertised or better, they spoil you rotten.

What is refreshing is the diversity of the age group, a lot of young couples and families onboard.

We have not been put off by the European flavor the cruise and have not observed any aloof or rude behavior by the crew.

For us the food venues along with the selection, availability and quality has been just fine.

Entertainment onboard is on par.

We do miss the laundry and internet that Princess offers.

For those thinking about giving MSC a try I would recommend it.

4 devices can be logged in at the same time. But watch your usage!

 

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Does the log in screen have a count down from 6GB

Apparently you didn't read my postings and understand what I wrote. I did take it up with MSC and on the ship. I did get served mixed drinks in the MDR. You may think I am in the minority, however, people use this forum to inform others of their experiences, good or bad. People do read and interpret the written word differently. I stand by my interpretation. It does not state that mixed drinks are not served in the MDR.If it did, then it's resolved. I do have a legal background and read as things are written. Not read into things that are implied

 

This is like the dress code issue. Everyone had their opinion. Thank you!

I agree the description is written poorly and implies that mixed drinks would be severed in the dining room. Im a black and white person and the written policy is gray. I'm with you on this but at the same time it is not that big a deal to me.

Disclamer, we are going on our first MSC in 7 days.

No need to carry food into the Top Sail Lounge, Todd. There's a small buffet stocked all day with nibbles, snacks and small sandwiches.

Thanks, I realize that but sounds very limited. The ship has a nice variety and maybe pizza or some other sandwich would be nice. It was always nice to have that option in the Princess sanctuary or to bring it to a bar. Again this stuff is so minor. More importantly, I do better when I know the rules whether written or not.

Again thanks for all responding. When your about to try a new cruise line for a first time CC provides such valuable information along with a rich variety of opinions.

Cruise lines all have strengths and weakness. However, for me I like to know ahead of time what the weaknesses may be so I'm not so disappointed with my expectations, which may have lingering affects with my mood on the ship. I do better if I know ahead of time. A sample of minor short comings for me on MSC, is the restrictive towel policy (don't want to keep track of) or the reported fact that you cannot carry food into the Top Sail lounge.

Like some other posters have reported we normally don't get off the ship in the Caribbean because the ship is our real destination. The simple things of smiles and pleasantries exchanged on the ship with crew members are important to us.

We are loyal to Princess and have many future cruises booked with but at the same time are excited to try something different.

We will hold our opinion on MSC since our first YC experience is coming up in a couple of months on the Divina.

Hank

You don't have to tell us about Princess stuff because we cruise them a lot... 50 to 85 days a season almost exclusively on the Royal. I have seen your seen your screen name a lot on the princess boards and I assume we have been on some of the same cruises even though we have not met.

We really like Princess, the experience has become so comfortable for us. However we are excited to try something new. MSC looks intriguing. I will post on here our thoughts of the cruise.

You got a great deal Todd. I saw the inside prices yesterday and you saved about $600 over last years quote for the same cabin...plus your discount on top and OBC!! Have a great cruise.;)

Thanks.... Maybe we will run into each other.:)

I want to thank everyone who responded.

We pulled the trigger today and booked the 6 Oct, Seaside, interior YC. MSC landslide was great expediting our Black match over the phone. I think we got a decent fare with 19,2% off and $100 OBC for the cabin.

Thanks Again

Mine is back to normal.

One plus is that now my drink package is showing up in the personalzer like it should and not just the Travel Summary.

The crew have absolutely no way of telling that someone with a Black cruisecard has status-matched or earned the points from sailing MSC - unless the passenger tells them it's only their first MSC cruise. The Cruise Consultant may (or may not) know - I'm not sure if that information is available to him/her.

That was the answer I was hoping for. Thanks again.

There is a review thread currently that the OP is reminded during the cruise that they are Black status matched and not real Black.

How do they know and has that been your experience?

Todd ... I haven't sailed on Princess, but I have sailed in YC on 4 different MSC ships, plus, we're both Black Card members, earning our points through sailing with MSC.

Thank you so much for taking the time to type a lengthy response. Greatly appreciated!

You are welcome! And I agree with CTGNORMANDIE based on what I’ve read about YC suites. I’ve sailed both Royal & Grand Class mini-suite as well as Grand class full suite. (Haven't done Club Class mini as don’t really get much more for the additional price than perks that come with elite status.) The Sabatini’s breakfast is wonderful but I think we’ll get far more bang for the buck on MSC. I have a mini booked on Sky but am very actively looking for more MSC YC cruises.

We are really comfortable on Princess but are excited to try MSC. We usually book mini suite M108/107 on the Royal which has the mega balcony which you could play badminton on. Looking at the Princess mini suite equivalent, YC deluxe suite, the physical cabin it's self doesn't impress us. We are hoping that the extra you pay for the YC expereince will wow us. It's nice to try new things.

We have fifty some days book on the Royal Princess this winter that we are excited about.

I’m elite on Princess and sailing Seaside in YC on MSC for the 1st time in about 12 weeks.

Hope this helps a bit!

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!

We just started researching today. I finally cleared my schedule for Oct. but the Princess cruise we wanted is sold out.

For those who are elite on Princess and have sailed MSC/Yacht Club I have a couple or so questions.

We are elite on Princess and are thinking about trying MSC (Seaside). If matching to black on MSC, how does that compare to elite on Princess? It appears no laundry and no internet on MSC. It talks about specialty dinning "menu tasting" what ever that means on MSC as one of the few tangible perks that elite does not offer except for maybe some fruit.

As far as the Yacht Club goes are the drinks include at bars through the ship. I get confused when I keep reading the description. Also how does the sanctuary on Princess compare to the special layout area on MSC for the Yacht Club.

Princess has been having a problem with their web site.

 

Like a few others, we have free gratuities on our next cruise. It shows up on our Travel Summary but under Payment & Credits it is asking us to pre-pay gratuities.

It appears it would of let us buy the drink package as if we didn't have it. Thats over 4K for the two of us. It's nice to see it in print under Travel Summary.

Thanks Again.

For some that wasn't showing in reservations, you can click on your travel summary and it will show on that document. Between the two, one should work.

Thanks.... It is in the Travel Summary.

Thanks but as I posted it does not show up there.

We have the Premier Beverage package from a Sip & Sail booked for a February cruise. I can not find it listed in our Personalizer for that cruise. Should it be listed and if so where? It is not under "Purchases and Reservations" or "Onboard Credits for this Booking".

Thanks

I believe May 16th is the next release date.

Thank you for the heads up.

I would have sworn I never would book club class. But the Royal is moving to the West Coast, and I've booked a club class cabin! This is entirely due to it being one of the forward, corner minis on Marina. Love being high in the ship and forward, and the price wasn't all that bad.

We end up in club class because of the unique cabins of M107/108 on the Royal/Regal. The two room setup of the cabin which includes a picture window not to mention the mega deck is the reason we in up in club class.

What is the major stumbling block. Is it that they cannot get the signals to transmit throughout the entire ship with a high degree of integrity and reliability that is needed?

It does, according to the Captains Circle ambassador on Caribbean Princess in March, 2017. I doubt she was lying, as she explained the entire Fast Track Elite program to me. And Princess is part of Carnival Corp.

You can also buy your way in to elite status buy spending a lot of money (thousands) at the spa.

Not exactly true in all cases. By the second day of my last two cruises the bartenders in both Skywalker's and Wheelhouse knew my card number so I didn't have to present my card. Other servers and other venues did ask for my card but the bartender's themselves knew my number. :D

We are used to having the drink package and now we have transitioned to non drink package cruises except for a few Sip & Sail cruises that we have left. Regardless of if you have the package or not, once the bartenders or servers get to know you and your number then from that point you can keep the card in the pocket for your favorite venues. You gain nothing from having the package as far as convince or camraderie amogst bartenders. Our last two 10 day cruises we drank as much as we wanted and still came out ahead, about 50% of what the PBP costs. One convince we found by not having the PBP is that you can buy drinks for others which you can not do with the PBP. The other convince for not having the PBP is that you don't have the feeling of trying to get your monies worth out of the PBP. Not only for health reasons but sometimes drinking becomes a lot of work.

The PBP doesn't include can sodas or big bottles of water. With the price increase and more restrictions it is not cost effective for us.

We actually bought the PBP's on two 10 day cruises this winter and did not buy them for our last two cruises this season. We only had a bar bill of $600 total( did not hold back) on each cruise, so we saved $700 a cruise by not getting the PMP. We have several cruises left with the old sip & sail and that is the only way we would do it going forward. That assumes they will run the promotion again and in the same way (no increase fares ).