Splendida here we come!

[dst87]

I will try and cross-post to the forum while away, but in case I have trouble you can also receive an email subscription on my actual blog. Just go to Duncan Writes – Adventures of a part-time traveller click the 'follow' button at the bottom right of the page, and enter your email address!

 

There will be a series of new posts on the blog for a week starting on Wednesday as Alex and I board MSC Splendida in Southampton for a week-long cruise. This post is a prelude to the main event so I can tell you a bit more and fill you in on our itinerary.

 

MSC Splendida

We booked this trip shortly after getting off our most recent cruise on Celebrity Eclipse in May. Alex and I were looking for a relatively relaxing holiday for later in the year, and we saw a fantastic deal in a Yacht Club stateroom on MSC Splendida with an itinerary that wouldn’t be too busy. I just had to go for it!

 

As many regular readers will know, MSC is not a cruise line I’ve sailed on before. I have certainly heard about them though. They’re a bit like Marmite; people seem to love them or loathe them! My take from this is that I have a cruising experience in store that will be entirely different from anything I’ve experienced previously. Sounds pretty exciting to me!

 

The Yacht Club is MSC’s ship-within-a-ship, an all-suite concept onboard some of their ships. It is similar in that respect to NCL’s Haven. This means that certain areas of the ship are reserved exclusively for Yacht Club guests, offering a quiet and spacious retreat. In MSC’s case, this consists of accommodation, a lounge, and a sun deck spread over the forward fifth(ish) of decks 15, 16, and 18 (there is no deck 17).

 

Although I say Yacht Club is an all-suite concept, the definition of suite might not pass muster to those accustomed to other cruise lines. All but 5 of the 71 suites within Yacht Club are the YC1 category which has a floor area of 26m² to 39m². Quite compact in comparison to some lines’ offerings.

 

Here is a deck plan of the Yacht Club area. Notice that the dedicated Yacht Club restaurant is not in the Yacht Club area, nor are the three, larger, YC2 staterooms which are located on Deck 12.

 

 

We will be in stateroom 15027 (highlighted in red on the above deck plan), which is one of the smaller YC1 staterooms. Most of the YC1 staterooms are this size, so I should be getting a pretty typical Yacht Club experience. Anyway, I won’t say too much more – stay tuned for the stateroom review and tour later in the week, along with more information about the Yacht Club experience.

 

Our Itinerary

Here is the itinerary for the cruise.

 

[b]Day   Port                     Arrival    Departure[/b]

WED   Southampton              --:--      18:00
THU   Zeebrugge, Belgium       09:00      19:00
FRI   Amsterdam, Netherlands   09:00      --:--
SAT   Amsterdam, Netherlands   --:--      09:00
SUN   Hamburg, Germany         07:00      18:30
MON   SEA DAY                  --:--      --:--
TUE   Le Havre, France         08:00      22:00
WED   Southampton              08:00      --:--

 

I won’t go into what we have planned now, so stay tuned to see what we end up doing in each of the ports. Bear in mind I said it was planned as a relaxing trip, so don’t expect too much!

 

Roll on Wednesday. I’ll see you on board!

 

 

Cross-posted from my blog.

Original post here.

[dritan]

HI

I've just recently discovered your blogging website and been enjoying your trip blogs - especially the Anthem of the Seas vlogs :-)

 

I'm returning to MSC in November, which was my first cruise back in 2008 so will be looking forward to reading your experiences on the Splendida.

 

Hope the drive down to Southampton goes smoothly too.

 

Glenda

[riclop]

Enjoy your cruise in the YC.

[Nimloth]

Enjoy your cruise. I will read with interest.

[Beamafar]

I hope you enjoy Splendida, Duncan. It's one of my favourite ships. My first cruise on her was in Yacht Club, too - you'll be spoiled! If there's anything you need, all you do is ask. They do their utmost to make sure you have a wonderful experience.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Beamafar

[vino123]

Will be following along with interest Duncan!

We sail on MSC Fantasia in the Yacht Club for the first time in December so I will be very interested in your experience especially as like us you have enjoyed cruises on Celebrity and Royal.

[Ti2m]

Bon voyage! I think you have a great itinerary and I am looking forward to reading your blog.

 

We do our first MSC cruise on Splendida next month.

 

Timm

[lake5298]

We cruised on Splendida last year, out of Barcelona. Lovely ship.

 

The Yacht Club restaurant is at the stern of the ship - some YC guests were complaining about having a long walk through the "common people" areas...

 

We found the crew friendly and helpful, and loved the Purple Jazz Bar and L'enoteca wine bar where the barman spent a lot of time entertaining us with close-up magic tricks/

 

We're doing the same ports as you next year - on Preziosa - so we are looking forward to reading especially about what you do in the ports.

[ChubbasMummy]

I will try and cross-post to the forum while away, but in case I have trouble you can also receive an email subscription on my actual blog. Just go to Duncan Writes – Adventures of a part-time traveller click the 'follow' button at the bottom right of the page, and enter your email address!

 

I'm signed up!

 

My husband and I are joining this ship next week on the 28th :)