Freespir8
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Posts posted by Freespir8
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What toiletries do they provide in the YC and what is the brand?
The brand is their own MED brand. Same fragrance that is piped throughout the ship. I love it and it makes everything smell so good! I. Always buy a few diffusers in the gift shop to bring home with me. I have it sitting in my closet and bathroom right now.
They provide shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion.
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Is it required that you wear something now? Is this a new policy? I have had a lot of massages and been offered the panties but always choose to just go without. Most massages are done that way so just curious if this is now the new expectation?
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Not challenging your experience but i must say that i didn’t have 1 bad experience - cabin door, YC door, order drinks on outside, was great for the waterpark, priority elevators. All good here. I would really hate to see them disappear. Just my opinion and experience.
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This was our experience as well. We loved it and would have paid for it if it wasn’t already included in YC.
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Is it possible to see if they can switch you to a flight out of Miami instead? Since they changed the flight there usually is wiggle room for switching airports. Since Miami is do much closer, it might be an easier flight to make.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I always love to read a longer review. I know many will appreciate your insight regarding the Bella experience and that you don’t have to be in YC to enjoy MSC.
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Nicely written review! I really appreciated how you fairly listed the things you liked and the things you didn’t and why. I am sorry MSC ultimately wasn’t for you.
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Both you and your sister have a great time!
Thank you so much Linda! Can’t wait...only two more sleeps and then we will be heading to Miami. Hopefully we will see each other again on MSC. :)
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Thank you so much for taking the time to write this while you are on vacation! Great reading!!
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Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a well balanced review. Loved your attitude about everything and so happy that you discovered cruising too. We fell in love with it and even when we try to book a land based vacation, we always seem to end up on a cruise instead. We will be on Seaside this Saturday and have two more booked and one with Meraviglia. I have found the only way to get over the depression of leaving one cruise,is to book another.
Annie
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Have a great time! The day before boarding is almost as good as the actual day of boarding. All of the pre-cruise excitement and butterflies. Enjoy! That will be us next week!
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We were able to use OBC from MSC to pay our gratuities last year on Divina.
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Thanks for your review! I appreciate the detailed information and balanced approach.
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Thanks for the pictures and the live review! I think the buffet set up for dinner looks lovely. Nice and intimate. I guess it’s all a matter of preference.
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Had Surfer package and really only used MSC for Me App. Mostly had phone turned off, but still got this today on monthly bill. We were very careful almost to a fault. But still..
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Sorry you got a bill but glad it wasn’t a crazy amount! I have heard horror stories on that!
Normally, if there is a data charge it means that WiFi or internet was not connected or turned on. I turn off all data while I am cruising even if I believe that I am “safe” and won’t have service. That way, the only way I can connect is to actually use WiFi. There are a lot of apps that run behind the scene that are pretty “sneaky” that way. :) I hope the rest of your cruise was great!
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This is a wonderful review. Thank you for taking the time to share it. We will be in Yacht Club in just under 90 days!! So excited.
QUESTION: is it true that Yacht Club passengers cannot dine in any of the ships MDR's?? So if hubby and I wanted to change up our dining plans on any day we can only use the Specialty restaurants and/or buffets, right?
EDIT: NEVERMIND....Sorry....my question is already answered here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55297468&postcount=23
I know your question was answered but I wanted to agree that the restaurant in YC is just like a specialty restaurant. We had access to a specialty restaurant through our black card perks and we chose not to use it since the food in YC was so good. The Maitre D even said it wasn’t necessary to go anywhere else and we found that to be the case. :)
Annie
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Great review! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. So happy to hear you had a wonderful time.
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Never pack 10 pairs of shoes when I wore the same 2 pairs all week.
Omg I did this on my first 2 cruises...and some were high heels! You would have thought I learned from the first cruise but nope...had to do it again before I realized a) I won’t ever use those, not even “just in case” and b) I can barely walk in heels on land, what made me think I could possibly do it while on a rolling ship?!?
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Thank you for the compliment! I see you're also from CA, same as Jim Zim. Nice to see some Cali folks like the crunch of Italian pizza. :D
Ahhh...you reminded me to change my profile. We used to be from Northern CA but moved to Northern Idaho last year. We were ready for a change and so glad we did. That might explain the pizza. ;)
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A topic that has been making the rounds recently on Cruise Critic is whether the MSC Seaside is truly an American ship or a European one. MSC made it clear from the beginning that this ship would mark a departure from the past, in the sense that a ship would be designed and built to sail from a US port instead of being "imported" from Europe to do duty this side of the Atlantic. A number of posters, both those who have already sailed on the Seaside, as well as those who have not, have expressed disappointment that the ship doesn't deliver what MSC promised it would. I have to say, if I had read the marketing and promotional material in a certain way, I'd be disappointed, too. (NB: I haven't been on the ship yet, either, as our sailing isn't for another 8 months) Articles such as this one MSC SEASIDE do give the impression that MSC is treating this vessel as more Americanized from the start. But note I said "more" American, not 100%. The article I referenced says things like "In a sign of MSC's seriousness about pushing into the North American market, Seaside will be christened in Miami — the first time an MSC ship has been christened in North America. It's also the first MSC ship with an English word in its name." It also says this:"Still, while international in flavor, Seaside's on-board offerings will have elements that will be familiar to North Americans such as a Pan-Asian restaurant by celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi.
In all, Seaside will have 11 eateries, including such American-friendly venues as a steakhouse. Other features will include an Aqua Park with four water slides, a ropes course called Adventure Trail and two of the longest zip lines at sea (at 394 feet)." The two cruises I took in Europe on fellow Italian cruise line Costa did not have aqua parks and ziplines, nor did they have Miami-looking 'condo-type' cabins such as those aft on the Seaside.
So I don't think it's fair to say MSC "failed" to deliver on their promises. Furthermore, the article also has this to say about MSC keeping to its European roots, even with this ship: "In contrast to the U.S.-based brands sailing out of Florida to the Caribbean, Seaside will offer a more international experience, in keeping with the company's European roots and global customer base, (MSC Cruises executive director Pierfrancesco) Vago suggests. The company last year drew customers from 193 countries, he says."
So I think it's fair to say that MSC is doing exactly what they promised, that is, to offer an essentially European ship with European stylings, that is somewhat tailored to the expectations of its American customers. Keep in mind that a majority of people sailing on this ship are still non-Americans. It would not be fair to say that MSC promised that this ship was only built for Americans, but rather that it would be based in the US, yet offer a cruise experience largely influenced by its European heritage. Another good read on this ship is from this article http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/florida-cruise-guide/os-msc-seaside-review-20180112-story.html. The title of the article is 'MSC Seaside a MORE American approach for cruise line.' (emphasis mine)
I don't know how many cruisers have experienced something abroad that purported to be American and found something lacking. I've had 'authentic' Mexican food in Tokyo and 'American style steak' in London. Were these offerings precisely the same as at home? No, of course not, and I didn't expect them to be. They were an overseas restaurant's attempt to deliver something American. (Yes, I know Mexican food isn't American, per se, but in the US there is a large contingent of people of Mexican heritage) Or to take another example: have you ever cooked something in the microwave and there's a "serving suggestion" on the outside of the box, yet the finished product doesn't look quite the same? Well, that's how it is in marketing. A cruise line can say "we're going for a more American type of experience," but does that really mean it'll be 100% accurate? Probably not, and that's okay. If it even approximates some things Americans are used to, that's OK. Because at the heart of it all, MSC is still a European company that serves a predominantly European clientele, but they are branching out a bit and offering Americans a bit of a taste of home. And I'm looking forward to my cruise with them.
Nicely said! I hope MSC doesn't lose it's heritage. If I wanted an experience like NCL, I would go on NCL. I want the MSC differences....I like the differences. It's the best of both worlds and not having to fly to Europe to experience it!
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Thank you JimZim for your thorough review! I really enjoyed reading your perspective. I was talking about your review with my husband and although you and I don't share the same preferences, you did such a great job of explaining from your perspective that I understood where you were coming from. I think you are right though about your experience being different if you were in the YC. Although that would not have changed your buffet requirements, you could have easily requested specific things that your prefer and they would have made it happen. I think the comparison of NCL Haven Spa suite isn't an apples to apples comparison. Had you been in the YC then, it would have been. I can see however how MSC may not be right for you as a whole based upon what you are expecting in a cruise line.
We were on the Divina last year in the YC and loved it. Granted, we ate every meal in the YC because it was just that good and we never had a need to go to the buffet because of the food that was already in the YC. I will say that the one thing NCL has on MSC is the size of the suites. We were in a 2 bedroom suite on Divina and the room was beautiful but the standard YC Deluxe rooms are much smaller than the suites on NCL. I get to experience those suites on the Seaside in March. I will let you know how they fare!
Thank you again for taking the time to write this! Love your reviews and your YouTube videos. You were in radio which makes total sense now! I always wondered about your background because your voice is so easy to listen to....now it's all coming together! Can't wait for your next review!
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I agree with the YC. The extra benefits far outweigh the whirlpool tub. You will not be sorry you choose YC. Guaranteed!
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That's pretty unkind and I don't think you read the OP's explanation carefully.
She says "I booked a gurantee hoping They would be able to place me near my parents who were also in a guarantee which was the only thing available fully aware that they may not be able to accommodate that."
It sounds like she was only hoping (not expecting) that she might get near her parents and guarantees were booked as no other options were available.
As a solo, I too can understand not being happy if I paid the supplement for a regular cabin and was placed in a solo cabin. I think that was what upset the OP, not that she didn't "win the lottery" and get a balcony near her parents to start with. The latter is just the end result.
So in a sense, yes, she got a little lucky. But she also got very UNlucky. If a solo room is an upgrade, then I'd like to see them put two adults who booked a guarantee inside in a "lower" category into one of them. :confused:
This exactly. Nicely said. :)
Congratulations OP on getting it all taken care of and enjoy your cruise!
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Does anyone know if an onboard credit from a travel agency should show up on the docs? Just got ours today for March 3. The credit from MSC is showing but not the credit from our TA.
In my experience, the onboard credit has not ever shown on the edocs but is usually on the account once onboard. I usually print the confirmation from my TA that shows the credit, just to be safe. I haven’t ever had to reference it though. You can confirm now with your TA that it will be there once you are on the ship or a quick call to your TA before leaving port should fix any issues if they come up. Enjoy your trip!
Annie
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Congratulations! Enjoy your trip!
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Capitan Bob Cass
in St. Martin/St. Maarten
Posted
You are going to love it! We have been on it twice and plan on going again in November. It still is my favorite excursion of any that I have done on all of my cruises. They used to do a lunch at one of the local restaurants but stopped doing that. I am so glad that they did as there is something so wonderful about eating freshly made sandwiches on the boat in between swimming and enjoying the sun. It was a GREAT change and we can't wait to go back.