Yacht Club Experience from 3/24 Seaside Cruise

I thought I would summarize my experience in the Yacht Club from our 3/24/18 cruise. I contemplated doing a full review…but after reading several (i.e. Fishguru) from the same cruise which pretty much mirrored our experience… I thought I would just highlight our Yacht Club experience since we spent almost all of our cruise in this area.

Background

My wife and I have cruised approximately 20 times….Started in the 90’s and this became a annual family vacation with my three children and eventually moved to just a cruise for my wife and I. We have cruised on most of the main cruiselines with Carnival being the line we have frequented the most.We took our 8 year old grandson with us and this was his 2nd cruise.Our cabin category of choice is Balcony and we just took a cruise on Carnival Vista this past November and stayed in a Havana cabin. We thoroughly enjoyed this experience as the Havana pool/bar area is restricted to Havana cabin passengers until 7pm daily. This solitude and relaxful atmosphere was wonderful as we no longer had to deal with a crowded ship. To us this was heaven…little did we know it was just a prelude to what we were about to experience on Seaside in Yacht Club.

Embarkation

We arrived at the port around 11am. Went to the “tent area”and immediately I could see it wasn’t very organized. I saw a porter and then I saw several MSC employees in butler suits. I gave our bags to the porter then went up to the table. Got checked in and then saw the porter getting tags for our bags eventhough our original tags were already on bag….It just seemed awkward. Eventually a Butler took our group of about 10 people through security and eventually to the Yacht Club waiting room. This was a very nice room which had complimentary beverages and snacks. The Butler took our documents and handed them to a customer service rep and said they would call our name when it was our turn. We got a glass of champagne and waited and waited and waited…..it was obvious they were not processing the documents in the order received. However we just sat there and enjoyed another glass of Champagne. Eventually we were called up and given our cards and watches and had our picture taken.Butler then escorted us through the crowds and on board the ship. Up to concierge area of yacht Club where we received a brief overview and they checked if our room was ready. Then we walked to our room and our vacation was under way. I will say the Embarkation process was the only area we felt needed improvement…but when it’s the first thing you encounter, some doubt enters your mind if this is just the beginning of a disorganized cruise!!

There is a bank card kiosk in concierge area which allows you to register your credit card. Also, make sure you leverage the Concierge.We made the mistake of seeing the crowd registering their children when we boarded…so we assumed we needed to also go down there into the maze of people…which we did. Only to find out the Concierge would have given us the Children watch/band. However you must still go to kids club to register your children in the club…concierge won’t help you there. Lesson learned.

Cabin

We had cabin #18011 (YC1) Balcony Suite. We loved the cabin.It was laid out perfectly and the largest we’ve ever stayed in. My grandson had his own sleeping area (Sofa made into a full sized bed)…plenty of storage. 50”TV and plenty of outlets. Balcony was wider due to the width of our room. The best part of the cabin was the bathroom. Amazing granite/marble tops and shower…plenty of storage and the largest shower with a bench and a fully enclosed glass door we’ve ever had! It was larger than my shower at home!!

Cabin was very convenient(once you exited the Yacht Club area) to the Jungle Pool area which lead to the Water Park and kids Club. This worked out perfectly for us and my grandson.

Yacht Club Area

Beautiful décor and well laid out. We loved the Top Sail lounge and the front views. You could enter the Dining Room from the stairs leading up from Top Sail or from walking down Deck 18 directly into dining room.

The Pool/Sun deck was very nice. And broken into 2 sections. Pool was close to bar and food area separated by tables on both sides and loungers leading to front of ship where there was 2 jacuzzis and more seating and loungers, It was windy throughout our cruise….but you still could find a protected area. Yes it was sunny but the side areas provided some shade as well as by the Bar. They had cabanas you could rent. $99 on Sea Days and $59 on Port Days. Did not see many people using them. The Yacht Club Open deck area is very large and at best maybe half full even on Sea Days.

Dining Room/Pool Grill

We ate all our dinners in the Dining Room and our breakfast and lunch at the Pool Grill. On our last sea day we ate breakfast at the Marketplace buffet since we slept in and breakfast was just ending in Pool Grill area. We found the food to be very good in the Dining Room and exceptional at the Pool Grill. The pool Grill always had food out from 7am through 6pm. Whether it was breakfast, lunch, or late afternoon snacks…it was a varied selection, including a carving section and a customized pasta dish, and always excellent. The Top Sail lounge had food out throughout the day and late evening. Mostly continental for breakfast and finger foods and snacks through out day and evening

Staff

The Yacht Club staff was amazing!! Everyone from pool attendant to the Butler were so accommodating, friendly and eager to please.Our Butler (Victor) was amazing. He seemed to be everywhere whether it be in Pool/Grill/Bar area, our cabin area, concierge area, etc He couldn’t do enough for us and was always checking on us. One example… My wife is a wine drinker and Victor insured she had a bottle of wine in our cabin (even though he’s only supposed to bring glasses of wine) which we fit in our refridgerator and allowed my wife to have a glass at her convenience. Our waiter in the Dining Room (Irwin) was fantastic and a lot of fun….and lastly our room steward (Alexis) was wonderful. He customized towel animals for my grandson and was so accommodating. Concierge staff always had a smile on their face and were very patient with passenger needs. Bar staff were friendly and professional….Bottom line Top notch service.

Kids Clubs and Activities

My grandson (8) loved the kids club when he went. Since theygive you the schedule for the whole week on embarkation day....we simply chose the activities he had interest in and dropped him off then. Many times he was happy to stay longer once the activity he wanted to do ended. He also enjoyed the 2 parades/songs they performed in front of everyone.... 1st Sea Day by Miami Pool and later in the week in Atrium. Also loved spook night and his face was made up really good by the counselors. There were many kids on this cruise and we were told Kids dinner was filled one night...when my wife asked could he be put on a wait list in case not everyone showed....they asked our cabin # and she realized we were in Yacht Club...and told us to just bring him...LOL I guess some of the Yacht Club status even impacts kids club!! My grandson was happy to join us at dinner most of the cruise and was just happy to play on the Sports Deck and pools when not in the Kids Club

Excursions

Process worked perfectly. Concierge retrieved tickets and they were delivered to our cabin the night before the excursion. We would meet in the Top Sail Lounge and the Butler would escort us to the exit/gangway and we would meet up with our tour/excursion once we exited the ship. I found the prices for the excursions we did to be very reasonable and equal to what I would have paid on my own. Much cheaper than what I paid on other cruiselines. Yacht Club had separate entrance on return to ship and on the one port we tendered (Grand Cayman) a yacht Club employee escorted us to the front of the tendering process. I estimate we passed 150-200 people who were inline waiting.

Impression of Ship

Very impressed with the layout of ship. The outside decks were wide and allowed a lot of outside dining. Miami pool area appeared crowded as did South Beach pool area. The common areas inside the ship (Decks 5-8) were beautifully designed and glitzy. Easy access to casino by inside staircase off of deck 8, the flow of each floor had curves which mad it appear more unique and broken up. The Atrium was beautiful and you always had a outside view. The Sports Bar was huge and had separate seating areas with your own TV as well as a huge screen in main area. Both buffets seemed to flow well and had lots of food options which were equal too and/or exceeded my past cruises. One area they could still improve would be salads…Plenty of vegetables…but not big on lettuce options. Gelato and chocolate are to die for!! Gift shop prices were very reasonable….I couldn’t believe the souvenir prices….so low compared to other cruises. As for the Photo packages…. I would not recommend the 100 picture package. Unless you spend all your time outside of Yacht Club…you would never get your picture taken. During our stay in Yacht Club I only saw a photographer 1 time. That was during Captain Massa’s welcome aboard party. If you want formal pictures….consider the 10 picture package. As I said at the beginning….we pretty much stayed in Yacht Club area. My wife is not a big nighttime person and other than occasionally taking a stroll of the ship me going to Casino and Sports bar during the evening…we did not attend any shows or other bars/lounges.

Disembarkation

Was a breeze. Had a continental breakfast in Top Sail then our Butler (Victor) brought us downstairs to exit point and we sadly left the ship. Yacht Club bags were in their own area and easy to retrieve. I would say the whole process took 20 minutes from leaving Top Sail Lounge.

Final Comments

If I hadn’t booked excursions I would not have used up all our OBC. That’s how all inclusive this experience is.This cruise and Yacht Club experience….exceeded our expectations. Bottom line we were “spoiled”. At the current price point for Yacht Club ,with the high level of service and amenities, I cannot see us cruising another line again. We have already booked for the same time next year and will likely try MSC in the Mediterranean in a couple years….. Feel free to ask any questions!!

Thank you for the review!

Very nice review. I appreciate the attention to detail.

Thank you for your review.

Since you had so many cruises on Carnival, were you status matched? Was it to Black? Did you take advantage of your free specialty restaurant dinner?

Did you go to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle?

Was the casino smoky?

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We were on Divina, also in the Yacht Club, and we also had our luggage tags removed and Yacht Club tags put on at the port. I think this is just their process.;)

Meanwhile, I am waiting impatiently for our YC experience next year. To say I am excited is an understatement.

Thank you for your review.

 

Since you had so many cruises on Carnival, were you status matched? Was it to Black? Did you take advantage of your free specialty restaurant dinner? Yes...we were Platinum on Carnival and matched to Gold. No free specialty dinner at Gold status

 

Did you go to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle? Unfortunately no...but "Fishguru" who also was on this cruise (and who we met) said it was very well attended with ships officers but at an awkward time. He wrote about it in his review.

Was the casino smoky? I did not find the Casino smoky at all....as a matter of fact , except for last night of cruise, it wasn't crowded and I was there several times during days (sea days) and every evening.

 

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We were on Divina, also in the Yacht Club, and we also had our luggage tags removed and Yacht Club tags put on at the port. I think this is just their process.;)

Meanwhile, I am waiting impatiently for our YC experience next year. To say I am excited is an understatement.

Its definitely worth the wait!!!

Thanks for a great review! Looking forward to our YC Experience in September!!

Awesome review! Which deck is better to book a yacht club room?

Is there a kids menu in yacht club restaurant?

Does the butler offer in-room dining?

Thank you for the review!

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Thank you for taking the time to share this with us

~Brian

Awesome review! Which deck is better to book a yacht club room?

 

Is there a kids menu in yacht club restaurant?

 

Does the butler offer in-room dining?

We think Deck 18 is perfect. Never heard a thing above us all week. Very quiet. When you walked out of Yacht Club entrance on deck 18....The jungle pool area was on the other side of the elevators...which lead to the water park/sports court area. This is the area the kids club was. Very convenient to the kids club and water park.

I do not believe there is a physical kids club menu..... But they will bring anything your children want (i.e Chicken Nuggets, Pizza, burgers, Mac and Cheese, etc). They can also order anything off of main menu. They will go out of their way to please.

There is no in room dining service. You can order room service and/or a Pizza for delivery to your cabin.

Thanks for the review and we felt the same way , just great service and very relaxing.