Seaside Yacht Club Review and More Feb 3-10 sailing

We are in our early 40's with three boys ages 9, 9, 8. We love to cruise all lines! My boys have been on 14 cruises! We are from Texas.

Will start with the room and add more details regarding other things/experiences on Seaside Feb 3rd through 10th sailing.

Yacht Club Room: Cabin 18024 yacht club deluxe handicap room. It was more spacious then I thought it would be. The bunk bed worked out fine. Sofa bed at the bottom with a top bunk. The balcony door was loud as the flap for the ramp has to come down every time you go in/out of the door. The balcony was huge. They gave us three loungers with 2 chairs on the balcony. The large vanity mirror is on the left of the sofa but the outlets are on the right of the sofa where the TV is located and no mirror. Even the light switch to the vanity mirror that is to the left of the sofa is located on the right side of the sofa where the tv is. ODD! I had to do my hair using the selfie camera on my iPad. I suppose i could have done it in the bathroom but with five of us...someone was always showering after me. Storage was fine for us. We made it work but I do always bring hangers and storage organizers. The walls are magnetic...bring hooks. Bathroom: No shower door just a curtain...I was put off by that but it is a handicap room...so I understand at the same time. Water drains well and my boys did not get the entire bathroom wet like I thought they would. They give you two robes and slippers. Towels are plush...with usual toiletries provided (body wash, lotion, soap, shower cap). I liked the new feature of "do not disturb light or make up room light that you can push and housekeeping will know what you need based on the light that is on outside your cabin. I really wish they had larger cabins for five in Yacht club that was not a handicap room.

Thanks for the review. Do you have any pictures? I would love to see how the bedding is set up for 5. I have not seen any pics yet anywhere.

I do have pictures...we just got back and i will try to get them on here soon.

Cabin 180024: One more note to my above review....we were able to fit 5 large bags (3 rolling duffle bags, a large suitcase, garment bag) and a small carry on bag under the bed.

Kids (9,9,8): We only noticed one other child in the yacht club. My kids were not able to make lots of friends because of the language barrier. Trust me...I have very social boys who are not shy. Usually my boys LOVE the kids clubs on cruise ships. They were bored every time they went to the club. My boys are very active and there was a lot of lego time and movie time in their club. They did not have as many planned activities as other cruise line kids clubs. Not enough freeze tag, gaga ball, etc. It just wasn't for my boys. Having said that they entertained themselves with other activities around the ship. They enjoyed the ping pong tables, foosball table, etc. Good thing is they were allowed to check themselves in/out of the club...which brings me to....

My boys are very responsible. We allow our boys to go back to the room to change clothes, chill out for an hour or two (usually they are playing games on iPads), use the bathroom, etc. They are not neglected and left in the room for hours on end with out us keeping close tabs on them. We were approached by housekeeping because our 9 year old (10 next month) was in the room by himself. She told us that it was MSC's policy that kids under the age of 12 could not be in the room by themselves. When my son went to back to the cabin to use the bathroom she told him (before approaching us) and stayed in there with him until he left. Housekeeping and I guess her boss approached us and told us it was unsafe because we have a balcony. I was pretty upset about all this. MSC allows this age group to check themselves in/out of the kids club but they are not allowed to go back to the room? My kids have been on 14 cruises on different lines and we have never heard of anything like this. At first I thought it was her misunderstanding of the policy but when she approached us with her "boss" I was really upset. The next day my husband and I were going back to the cabin and he said someone in a different outfit was standing at the door while she cleaned....my husband didn't get a good look...it could have been her assistant...or someone making sure our kids were not in there alone..not sure?

MSC for me app and kids: They charge $18 per child to keep track of them. We purchased this for all three kids and it worked great! Well worth it. We could see exactly where our kids were at all times. My son had an iPod touch and he could track his brothers. It was a great feature and worked excellent. The only complaint was they wanted the tracking device which was in the watch band back at 12:30 the day before debarkation....I called the kids club and requested that we keep it longer so we could track them on the last day. She agreed to let us keep it until 8pm. Not sure if they made an exception because we are in the yacht club? It was nice they let us keep it longer.

msc yacht club vs haven on ncl: I know I will get some heat for comparing the two but I'm gonna :) anyways! We felt like the ambiance was far more luxurious on NCL Haven. The furniture by the pool in the Haven is really nice....we thought it was just okay in the yacht club. Rooms are definitely nicer in the Haven specially with the bathroom showers overlooking the ocean! The yacht club did not WOW us like NCL Haven (all relative). Service for us was better in the Haven. I guess this all depends on your butler. We made some small requests and none were met. I wanted caffeinated coffee pods vs decaf.....nothing until day 5 when I asked again and again.....we asked for a bowl of grapes for my son....nothing.....we asked multiple times for a room service menu....nothing.....we had to ask for pizza to be delivered every night....I had to call every time...no biggie but on NCL the butler just had it waiting for us...which we thought was a nice touch. One night they forgot our pizza all together...then delivered it to the wrong cabin. My boys were in bed and sleeping...I asked them not to bother with it...they came knocking anyways while lights were off and we were sleeping...almost 2 hours later. Having said that we met a passenger on the other side of the yacht club with a different butler and they LOVED their experience. We saw our butler at the beginning once and maybe one more time...that was it.

Butler service on NCL is, well, Butler service. Highly personalized and usual wonderful. They get tipped separately and are not part of the pool. Butlers in the YC are more like regular staff. They do not wow, agree on that!

But the overall experience I would heavily give to YC especially given price difference. And the pool deck has no comparison to the tiny cramped Haven.

Agree Haven rooms are better.

I give the wow factor times many to YC but this is a perfect example of different perspectives and why detailed reviews are so helpful. Your wow is probably true to many others, and one as well.

Jim’s review has been really helpful in making this clear.

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Butler service on NCL is, well, Butler service. Highly personalized and usual wonderful. They get tipped separately and are not part of the pool. Butlers in the YC are more like regular staff. They do not wow, agree on that!

 

But the overall experience I would heavily give to YC especially given price difference. And the pool deck has no comparison to the tiny cramped Haven.

 

Agree Haven rooms are better.

 

I give the wow factor times many to YC but this is a perfect example of different perspectives and why detailed reviews are so helpful. Your wow is probably true to many others, and one as well.

 

Jim’s review has been really helpful in making this clear.

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Sorry to rain on your parade but the butler we had on DIVINA was the best there was. The service we received from the entire staff in the YC was exemplarary.

I guess everyone has different experiences. We have been in the Haven on Escape and the YC on Seaside. The butler on escape didn't give us the time of day. Never was around. Seaside butler always seem to be around and couldn't do enough for us. We felt the pool area and furniture was much better on seaside and a larger area. Haven did have better cabins and there food in the dining room was better then Seaside. Bottom line is, MSC price point for the YC is much better then NCL Haven at least for us.

My YC cabin is on the "odd number " side.... Hopefully we get the more attentive butler...LOL

My YC cabin is on the "odd number " side.... Hopefully we get the more attentive butler...LOL

Haha, That was our side.

Thanks for the review.

Sorry to rain on your parade but the butler we had on DIVINA was the best there was. The service we received from the entire staff in the YC was exemplarary.

That's because the butlers on the Seaside, have nearly twice the work load, thus the service is not the same as on Divina.

I do have pictures...we just got back and i will try to get them on here soon.

 

Kids (9,9,8): We only noticed one other child in the yacht club. My kids were not able to make lots of friends because of the language barrier. Trust me...I have very social boys who are not shy. Usually my boys LOVE the kids clubs on cruise ships. They were bored every time they went to the club. My boys are very active and there was a lot of lego time and movie time in their club. They did not have as many planned activities as other cruise line kids clubs. Not enough freeze tag, gaga ball, etc. It just wasn't for my boys. Having said that they entertained themselves with other activities around the ship. They enjoyed the ping pong tables, foosball table, etc. Good thing is they were allowed to check themselves in/out of the club...which brings me to....

 

My boys are very responsible. We allow our boys to go back to the room to change clothes, chill out for an hour or two (usually they are playing games on iPads), use the bathroom, etc. They are not neglected and left in the room for hours on end with out us keeping close tabs on them. We were approached by housekeeping because our 9 year old (10 next month) was in the room by himself. She told us that it was MSC's policy that kids under the age of 12 could not be in the room by themselves. When my son went to back to the cabin to use the bathroom she told him (before approaching us) and stayed in there with him until he left. Housekeeping and I guess her boss approached us and told us it was unsafe because we have a balcony. I was pretty upset about all this. MSC allows this age group to check themselves in/out of the kids club but they are not allowed to go back to the room? My kids have been on 14 cruises on different lines and we have never heard of anything like this. At first I thought it was her misunderstanding of the policy but when she approached us with her "boss" I was really upset. The next day my husband and I were going back to the cabin and he said someone in a different outfit was standing at the door while she cleaned....my husband didn't get a good look...it could have been her assistant...or someone making sure our kids were not in there alone..not sure?

 

MSC for me app and kids: They charge $18 per child to keep track of them. We purchased this for all three kids and it worked great! Well worth it. We could see exactly where our kids were at all times. My son had an iPod touch and he could track his brothers. It was a great feature and worked excellent. The only complaint was they wanted the tracking device which was in the watch band back at 12:30 the day before debarkation....I called the kids club and requested that we keep it longer so we could track them on the last day. She agreed to let us keep it until 8pm. Not sure if they made an exception because we are in the yacht club? It was nice they let us keep it longer.

Such great info on the kids club, tracking, etc -- thank you! We will be traveling soon with 9 & 11 year olds and I've been wondering if they're going to have fun in this kids club. They are also pretty active and sitting around watching movies isn't their thing. So happy to hear the tracking bracelets are working again!

Thanks for your review!

Waterslides/Zipline: The zipline was free for us since we were in the yacht club. We all did it once and that was enough. Not sure I think its worth the $10 price tag they are charging. The side boarding waterside was free but it was closed for 3 days. They were having some issues with maintenance. We like to use a port day to run the slides....sadly nothing was open. When my boys did ride it they all complained that they kept getting stuck in it and that it wasn't as fun for them as the other slides.

Bowling/XD movie/F1 Simulator: Bowling looked like fun but i can bowl for a lot cheaper then paying $45 hour plus shoe rental. I did let my kids do the XD 4D Movie theater...they LOVED it ($8/ticket for kids and $10 for adults). The kids club took the kids once for free and my kids went there just for that activity. My 9 year olds did the F1 simulator and it was really hard for them. Its not easy to drive and they warned us. They said an 11 year old last time got so frustrated he was crying. I recommended they have a minimum height and age limit on this. One of my boys was upset and frustrated...the other one brushed it off. The f1 should be for adults only.

Basketball court: I didn't know this but apparently guests can reserve the court. My boys told me after we got off the ship. Everytime they went to play it was reserved for pickle ball or soccer. This led to some frustration on their part. They had limited opportunities to play basketball.

Thank you for your review.

Keith

That's because the butlers on the Seaside, have nearly twice the work load, thus the service is not the same as on Divina.

Umm... actually my butler on Divina was a dud too. Saw him maybe 3 times. Glorified room steward really. I know lots of people report excellent butlers, but ours wasn’t one of them.

Also, we were very disappointed with lack of pool side drink service. The butlers (aka nicely dressed waiters) rarely walked the entire deck. If you weren’t sitting by the bar service was very inconsistent.

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Venchi: The coffees/treats are EXCELLENT! My only complaint here was that by day 5 they ran out of the "To Go" cups. Also there is some communication issues among staff....I was told by Venchi that yacht club could make they same stuff...NOT TRUE! After a couple of up/down trips I figured it all out on my own.

Buffets: There are two buffets on this ship. A family friendly one...with nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, salad etc on Deck 16. Then there is the main buffet on Deck 8 (I think). Please keep in mind that this comparison is all relative....we were not impressed with variety. I thought the offerings were just okay here. We noticed the same foods in all the different areas of the ship....even in the yacht club. Not everything...but the breads and some desserts were the same. The salads on their buffets are not as expansive as other ships. Having said that...its all relative and you won't go hungry. Plenty of options...just something we noticed having sailed multiple cruise lines. Service in the buffet areas was great! They have devices at the table that you push for bar service...and they responded! I was impressed by this. They also went around with a trolley offering juice, water etc. MSC is also generous with the variety of juices included at the buffets.

Casino: We enjoy blackjack and so we had a great time. $10 tables with happy hours that offer $5 tables for a couple of hours on sea days. Dealers were all very friendly and spoke multiple languages. Bar service came around frequently. Smoking was not a problem...this was the best part! We never smelled like smoke after leaving the casino. No craps table.

Drinks: MSC has some of the best drinks on their menu....quality stuff that is included in the yacht club drink package...which I believe is the premium/deluxe package. MSC wins hands down for drink package inclusiveness! All of their bars had great options! You won't be disappointed. We were able to have sundaes, milkshakes, coffees, gelato....all included. You won't find such a generous package on any other line. Good job MSC!

Passengers: There were some language barriers amongst passengers. There were people from all over the world on this ship! Really thought this was amazing! I enjoyed seeing all the different nationalities/cultures! What you might think is bad manners...is perfectly normal in some cultures...so be understanding and go with the flow! I was impressed with MSC staff...some of them spoke 4 to 5 different languages. At the casino...playing black jack .....the dealers would call out the numbers in different languages for those that didn't speak english. Very impressive!

Thank you for your review! The bit about older kids not allowed to be alone in the room is worrisome. Our 10 and 11 year olds are capable and expected to be able to go back and change clothes or spend an hour there resting. Did they have the "do not disturb" indicator on?

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Yes, We told the boys to start using the do not disturb light when they were in the room. Its a silly policy....I can understand if a child is sleeping alone all night in the cabin....but to go back and forth from the room to use the bathroom, change clothes, or even just chill out...really MSC...if you are so concerned about safety why do you allow children this age to check themselves in/out of the kids club?.......boy you can tell this topic really hits a nerve for me!

I’m still hoping to see photos of 18024, especially the ADA parts to make sure it will work for my mom. I have it booked later this year.

My YC cabin is on the "odd number " side.... Hopefully we get the more attentive butler...LOL

If you are on the odd side of 18 you will probably have VIctor. He is the best! Will do anything possible to make you happy :-)

Thank-you for your review.

Thanks for the review. Do you have any pictures? I would love to see how the bedding is set up for 5. I have not seen any pics yet anywhere.

Ditto! We'll be in the same situation with 5 in a YC room and I'm wondering how they set up the pullman.

Hi:

Did you ever find pictures? We have one of the rooms coming up, and wanted to get an idea of balcony accessibility,and the layout. Thanks

We are in our early 40's with three boys ages 9, 9, 8. We love to cruise all lines! My boys have been on 14 cruises! We are from Texas.

 

Will start with the room and add more details regarding other things/experiences on Seaside Feb 3rd through 10th sailing.

 

Yacht Club Room: Cabin 18024 yacht club deluxe handicap room. It was more spacious then I thought it would be. The bunk bed worked out fine. Sofa bed at the bottom with a top bunk. The balcony door was loud as the flap for the ramp has to come down every time you go in/out of the door. The balcony was huge. They gave us three loungers with 2 chairs on the balcony. The large vanity mirror is on the left of the sofa but the outlets are on the right of the sofa where the TV is located and no mirror. Even the light switch to the vanity mirror that is to the left of the sofa is located on the right side of the sofa where the tv is. ODD! I had to do my hair using the selfie camera on my iPad. I suppose i could have done it in the bathroom but with five of us...someone was always showering after me. Storage was fine for us. We made it work but I do always bring hangers and storage organizers. The walls are magnetic...bring hooks. Bathroom: No shower door just a curtain...I was put off by that but it is a handicap room...so I understand at the same time. Water drains well and my boys did not get the entire bathroom wet like I thought they would. They give you two robes and slippers. Towels are plush...with usual toiletries provided (body wash, lotion, soap, shower cap). I liked the new feature of "do not disturb light or make up room light that you can push and housekeeping will know what you need based on the light that is on outside your cabin. I really wish they had larger cabins for five in Yacht club that was not a handicap room.

If you are on the odd side of 18 you will probably have VIctor. He is the best! Will do anything possible to make you happy :-)

Victor is indeed wonderful as is his assistant Alexis.

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