heatherb1958

At least you enquired , I always say if you don't ask you don't get . Have an amazing time regardless. For future reference when booking cruises if you haven't paid the final balance already sometimes it is worth cancelling a cruise and lose the deposit and rebook if the price drop is so significant but you have to be aware you will more than likely lose any promotions on the original booking . We booked a cruise recently , not MSC , the day after we booked the cruiseline's new promotion was free upgraded drinks packages on the one we paid for , a crystal ball would have been handy then 😆.

In all our MSC cruises we have never had a problem changing our table even when on Bella experience but we like to eat early so maybe that helps . I immediately go and check on boarding day to see if we like the location , politely speak with the Maitre D and ask for a change if available if we don't. As an aside I think it is funny that in MSC's current media promotions they are actually showing the table we sat at for a week last September on Virtuosa , a table for 2 by a round window with fabulous views 😆.

Did you have an invite to an embarkation day lunch for mini suite guests ? The video on YouTube showed an invitation which I guess was in the cabin on arrival.

We have been on Iona already in a regular balcony and knew all about avoiding deck 8 as we had seen those already for ourselves as a promenade viewer 😆. We said we wouldn't go on Iona again but fell for a deal 😄 . I have been watching all the YouTube videos I can find and came across one that mentioned an embarkation day get together for top tier peninsular members , we are not , suites and mini conservatory suites, never seen anything about this before . The video was posted April 22. What have folks experiences been of this for those who have travelled in a mini conservatory suite ? I know things can change before we sail but am curious .

As other posters have said Ventura and Azura are exactly the same in layout . Also exactly the same on older Princess ships too as they are the same design/layout . Gets very confusing , I forget which cruiseline I am on 😆

I saw that deal and we were tempted but have just splurged on other cruises for later in the year in suites , not MSC, so decided to keep the pennies 😄. There have been some amazing deals with cruiselines just lately 😎. We have cruised in Bella insides , you'll be fine , we have also had one of those Bella steel fronted balconies, 12019, on Virtuosa and it was lovely and private . Well done on the upgraded result though 👏, look forward to your review, throughly enjoyed your last one .

I have seen most of the Carousel lounge shows on Meraviglia class ships. Here in the UK they had been selling them for half price on the cruise planner so it was worth it . No to the bowling and simulators, we have not used them .

@ready2cruzagain - good sound advice which I agree wholeheartedly with. More than 15 years ago when we were on an RCI ship docked next to an MSC ship we liked the look of I was put off trying MSC because a friend told me you had to pay for water at dinner ! , I was gobsmacked. Fast forward to when Status match was introduced and RCI's pricing getting ridiculous we tried MSC out of Barcelona and have never looked back . Yes at the time in Feb 2017 you did have to pay for water at dinner but MSC in their wisdom trying to break the UK market introduced free tea,coffee and water at lunch and dinner in the MDR . Love everything about MSC from the ships, entertainment , and even the food 😍.

In January on Grandiosa , our first time in YC , our Butler found us in the TSL to escort us to Butcher's Cut. I still had a large amount of wine left in my glass and rather than leave it was about to take it with me . Our Butler said it wasn't allowed to take it to Butcher's Cut so I asked him to put it in our cabin . While we were being seated in BC the butler spoke with the manager , came back to me and reconfirmed you cannot take drinks from elsewhere into the restaurant. People can have different experiences on the same ship , that is always a given.

This information is incorrect, if you try to deposit cash at Guest services they will more than likely redirect you to a kiosk machine . Been there , done that. @surfjock27 - depositing cash at a kiosk machine and retrieving any credit balance is the most simplest thing . We have done several cruises with MSC on multiple ships and have a cash account every time . There is no need to do it as soon as you board , just wait for a quiet moment . You can top up the account as you go along if needed at the machine too. Any credit balance can be retrieved on the last evening or last morning from the machine . We usually do it as we go to bed on the last evening. Our last trip was B2B on Grandiosa in YC out of Barcelona in Jan/Feb so the YC Concierge did the actual cash for us but like I say so simple to do at the kiosk machine . One word of warning , deposit the currency the ship is using onboard . MSC onboard prices are Euros, Dollars or Sterling depending on where they are sailing from . If you use a different one to what is onboard you will get a rubbish exchange rate , fell foul for that one last Autumn only because we thought they were still using Sterling and had reverted back to Euros for our sailing .

Loved our visit to Rotterdam in September 2019 from Preziosa. I walked to the market hall and cube houses , you can pay to go in one , very cheap about €4 , absolutely mind boggling but stunning .

We have been on for hubby's birthday, he hates fuss . I never chased up his 'perk' , didn't say a word to our dining room waiters all week but low and behold on hubby's birthday night they all gathered round, sang Happy birthday with masks on and presented his cake . I asked the waiter how they knew and he said they get a list of all Diamond members whose birthday it is , easy . So long as your birthday is while you are onboard your cake will be presented at your table . You may wish to make enquiries if you 1) are not eating in the MDR at all or 2) going to a speciality restaurant on birthday night . Have a great birthday cruise .

You definitely can use your Premium package in speciality restaurants, did it ourselves on Grandiosa end of Jan this year. What you can't do is take a drink into the restaurant from elsewhere , they don't like it. Problem you have here for example is if there is a wine you like in one bar and the restaurant doesn't serve it e.g. L'Atelier bar was the only place serving Whispering Angel rose , my go to wine, we went to Butcher's Cut .

I know this is an old resurrected thread but my input is Meraviglia was the first ship in the class , maybe some bright spark said " hey, why don't we make some guests happy and give them that space as a bigger balcony? " 😆. As each ship comes out tweaks are made , we have been on all the ships in that class in the order they came out , we definitely prefer the slightly larger Grandiosa and Virtuosa over Meraviglia and Bellissima due to the added venue of L'Atelier bar on the Galleria .

😆, you obviously take everything to cover all eventualities including the kitchen sink 😆 😆 🤣. No, we only ever have one case each plus a carry on , never overpack.

The weather on the day is a big deciding factor for us . We left City Terminal at last call and walked to Ocean terminal last year via the Starbucks across from the Red funnel ferry office . It was a beautiful day and sat for a while with a coffee . By the time we got to Ocean terminal check in was open .

All you need to do is e.mail CC with what you want to change your username too , so long as it isn't a name already taken it will be done for you. I and a friend changed ours years ago, mine was just a digit and hers was a complete new name , no problem in either case . Good luck

For a few years now, even before you know what , some cruiselines would ask for your dessert choice when ordering your starter and main . It saves time especially if you are dining in a freedom/My time/ dine my way restaurant. If you don't know what you want at the start of your meal you can still order from the menu later . It isn't a big deal .

One drink only included with admission , you pick it up on the way in , a choice of 3 , one non alcoholic and 2 with spirits. When we were on Meraviglia in Feb 2019 there was a technical issue with one of the shows , we sat there waiting more than 30 mins when they decided to cancel .There were plenty of drinks still available on the display so hubbie just went and helped himself 😆 🤣.

Hi Connie, we are back from our 2 weeks in YC on Grandiosa . We met Marcelle at check in and she escorted us on to the ship 😆. I said "hi" to her for you 😆. Wish we had had her as our butler as the one we did have , not going to mention his name, was a bit miserable. He was always attentive and wanting to escort us everywhere but rarely had a smile . I will give him his due though , on the last day we weren't disembarking until 1pm as we had a hotel for the night . We had breakfast on the pool deck , butler came to find us and asked what time would we like to disembark , I had already stashed our one big suitcase and 2 carryons on the trolley next to the Concierge desk . He came and found us at 1pm , took control of our luggage and escorted us off the ship, through the terminal and towards the taxi rank, nope we were getting the port bus , he took us to the bus stop where a bus was coming in and loaded it onto the bus for us !! . We found the butler side of YC a bit too much , when getting a drink from the bar ' to go ' for our cabin the offer of delivering it made me panic, I had visions of hubby being caught off guard in his undies 😆 🤣 😂.

If there is only £400 difference per person I would definitely go for it . We were firm and polite with our butler , he just kept on saying it was part of his job. We would find ourselves taking a different route out of YC to avoid having to make contact at the desk 😆. Seaview is a lovely ship and Christmas onboard would be extra special.

Bit of background. We are a mature couple cruising regularly since 1999 with various lines though mainly RCI . First cruise with MSC was on Splendida Feb 2017 B2B out of Barcelona , been on 7 other MSC ships since in Bella and Fantastica cabins and just returned on Friday from Grandiosa sailing in Yacht club for the very first time . This is my thoughts on our first YC experience . We managed to grab a YC interior doing a B2B in the same cabin for cheaper than a Bella balcony at the time .We had cruised in an inside on Meraviglia so knew what to expect re cabin size wise , had already cruised on Grandiosa so knew the ship plus we had already done a B2B with MSC out of Barcelona so this comparison is as close to comparing apples with apples as you will get 😆. Embarkation:- Arrived on the 27th Jan at 11am, dropped our bags at the YC desk, paperwork checked including vaccination record , bags tagged for collection then taken through security to a YC departure lounge in the terminal where champagne, soft drinks and nibbles were offered. Here we were given our seapass cards , wristbands plus daily paper request was noted. We sat and waited until noon then taken by Marcelle onto the ship upto the TSL and offered more champagne . One of the Concierges came to chat with us and explained some things then we were escorted to our cabin by a lounge butler . Very nice first impressions but our embarkation for the Meraviglia was actually quicker as once we had got through security and picked up our cards at check in we went straight onto the ship sans champagne but I can live without that . Cabin:- The YC cabin 15029 was exactly the same in layout and size as our Meraviglia inside cabin 10130 . YC perks , nespresso machine - I immediately put that under the dresser stool in the gap as it would never be used , this left more space on the dresser top for more important stuff 😆. Med , MSC'S own fragrance , body lotion, shampoo and conditioner were in the bathroom . The stuff in the regular shower dispenser is nice enough and at least there is a separate shampoo and body wash unlike RCI where they only have one dispenser in the regular cabins which could be car wash for all I know . I take my own stuff on any cruiseline to be sure of what I am using . The YC cabin had the addition of a table and 2 chairs leaving a narrow gap at the end of the bed, I bashed my thigh so hard during a night time visit to the bathroom , solution- I put the table against the wall under the TV and pushed the chairs together , no more bumping into furniture . Bedding- YC advertise Egyptian cotton bedding . We had the worst first night's sleep on any cruise we have ever been on due to the bed. At first I thought it was the sheet , it felt rough to the touch like trying to sleep on woodchip wallpaper !! . I lifted up the sheet to find the bed topper full of snags and pulls you could pick with your nails ! How that was not felt by whomever made the bed up needs to use handlotion. It was the early hours when I finally worked out what the problem was, immediately when I saw our butler in the morning I kindly asked for a new topper be put on the bed and if one wasn't available a duvet to be put on top of the existing topper under the sheet . Sleep was fine from the second night . Cabin 15029 is surrounded by corridor , the only noise we heard was when crew arrived for work in the early morning , there is a crew door across the corridor from where our headboard was and they never closed it quietly 😆. Food- food is subjective and we always enjoy the food in the MDR on MSC . I was expecting to be blown away by the YC restaurant but hubby and I were underwhelmed. We enjoyed what we had but didn't feel it was that different to the MDR other than broiled filet mignon available each night in YC. I tried it twice and much preferred the 2 visits we did to Butcher's Cut for our complimentary Voyager club meal. What we really did enjoy was the pool grill for lunch and breakfast , it was the Med in Winter and we were nearly always the only ones there for breakfast , the service was outstanding and eggs made to order were fab . Butler service : This , I believe , is where your YC experience could be absolutely amazing or fall far below expectations. Our cabin butler came to introduce himself and show us what was what around the cabin . He was so serious , felt like we were standing to attention in front of the school head, hardly a smile from him even when we told him hubby's brother lives in Goa where the butler was from. This usually creates a friendly banter but not this time. Our butler would insist on escorting us to any reservations we had on the ship , we politely told him we knew the ship and it was unnecessary. We met the YC director , lovely man from Hungary who referred to the rest of the ship as 'Downtown' , he would ask where were we going when leaving YC , he also insisted on phoning the butler to escort us , I jokingly said I wouldn't mind having a night out with my hubby without a chaperone ! The lounge butlers and our waiters , we sat at the same table for 2 weeks , were all amazing , friendly, chatted , service was outstanding but the butler we could live without . Our cabin would often not be serviced after more than 2 hours had passed, we are not untidy people , changing a couple of towels , emptying the bins , topping up the shampoo and making the bed shouldn't take more than 10 mins. We went to the spa one afternoon and my robe got a bit too wet . I left it on the bathroom floor that night and requested a fresh one . The butler's assistant said it would be laundered and returned the next day , it still hadn't arrived by the afternoon so a trip to the desk was required. Now that we are home and had time to reflect on our experience we would not go out of our way to book YC again, yes we loved the pool grill and the attentive service but we got that when we were elsewhere on the ship anyway and always have when cruising with MSC out of Barcelona . Cruising with MSC out of the UK is a different experience , we have done it several times , YC might be a godsend on those busy itineraries when the whole ship is on an included drinks package with queues at all the bars but for the foreseeable when looking to book again we'll stick to the cheap seats in 'Downtown'.

More than likely promo videos since the ship is now cruising with regular people rather than WAGS from the football 😆.

Enjoying your review so far. I hate those Butchers cut tables on the outside, too many people walking through trying to have a gander at what you are eating !! 😆 🤣. We leave on Thursday for our first YC experience on Grandiosa 😎.

Wow that week went by quickly , safe travels home . Shame about your last night onboard being a let down party wise . I have always found MSC activities staff very engaging and get guests upto dance , maybe it was the last night for many and they were having an early night , we always do on our last night though we have a hotel booked for the night we disembark. Thanks again for taking the time to post all your photos and menus.