Review Seaside - 2/3 - 2/10 YC Inside

[RikerKirk]

I sailed once before with MSC, on the Divina in an aft balcony. I mostly sail on NCL and Celebrity because I like the perks the best (drink package) and my favorite cruise was one where I upgraded to the Haven on the Getaway (before the new bidding system).

 

To be honest, I am not rich, I want the champagne treatment at the mixed drink price. When I found out the Seaside would have inside Yacht Club cabins that were basically the same price as balconies, I jumped at the chance. My plan was to mostly stay on the ship and take full advantage of the amenities.

 

I was able to get a status match to Black, so I knew I had a few extra perks coming.

 

I am going to do this review in categories. I feel I am very objective, I can give credit where credit is due, but also have no problem criticizing when it is warranted.

 

EMBARKATION = B+

 

My only complaint is that the Seaside leaves from a dock that does not have its own parking garage, and its quite a walk once you drop your luggage off and park. I did have to drive around the loop twice to see the yacht club tents, but this was somewhat do to the rain and overcast conditions affecting visibility. Other than the walk after I parked while my GF waited at the tent with bags, it went great. Butler checked us in, brought us to waiting room, escorted on ship, no complaints.

 

CABIN = C+

 

Adequate (see next section). Cabin 16023. Bed was obviously new, but already was developing a sag. Colors were drab and finishes were certainly not what I would expect a suite to have. However, I knew this going in and I knew I could live with it. Weird closet layout (sliding door could only slide part way) but enough storage overall for a week cruise. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. Some people complained about TV position on forum, but I actually liked that it swung all the way around.

 

BATHROOM = F

 

This was the very worst bathroom I ever cruised in. I think it only effects the YIN category. The layout of the bathroom produces 2 of the most awkward spaces I have ever seen. One, the sink cabinet angles in front of the toilet, you can literally not sit down on the toilet with your legs out straight, you have to sit at a very uncomfortable angle with your legs aimed out toward the door. Two, the shower is TINY. I am a normal size man (ok, I am chubby), and I almost could not turn in a circle in the shower. We made it work, because we had no choice, but these are serious design flaws.

 

CABIN SERVICE = A

 

Great, friendly stewards, always cleaned quick and did a great job. Fixed a clogged toilet issue inside of an hour for us.

 

YACHT CLUB LOUNGE = A

 

Great service and great drinks. We had afternoon tea here almost every day, drinks before dinner, and always received prompt and very friendly service. Very pleased with how were treated.

 

YACHT CLUB POOL DECK = B-

 

Ok, mixed bag here. Loungers were comfortable and service was good. However, there is a serious problem of shade. There are no umbrellas and almost no places where chairs can be put into shady areas. I took it upon myself to hang some of the cushions on the pillars of an interior dividing wall to make a makeship hut but this should not be required. I am not sure if this is intentional in order to have people spend money for the cabanas, but it could be easily fixed by adding some overhead mesh like they use in the bar area in some of the other areas. Its a giant deck that I only saw get maybe 40% full at peak, so they could devote some space for shade. One other small complaint is I though the buffet here was a bit lacking in choices and I don't like that they stopped serving breakfast items at 10AM.

 

YACHT CLUB RESTAURANT = C+

 

I know food is the most subjective of any category. One positive is the desserts were better that average. The rest was up and down. Bread selection and butter (or whatever that is) had little or no flavor. Most meats were overcooked, had to send back filet twice, and lobster was way over. Risotto and pastas were good and al dente. There were a lot of menu mistakes, pasta and bean soup had no pasta in it, and tortellini came out as ravioli but these mistakes did not ruin the items fortunately. The Haven on NCL had significantly better food, which pains me to type. Service at the restaurant was a solid A however.

 

OTHER FOOD = B

 

We took our black card meal at the Seafood place. Food was average and I am glad I had not paid for it. The one upside was they had actual tasty crusty bread and flavored butter! Why was this not at the YC restaurant? The reason this category gets a B is Venchi, Awesome Gelato, fantastic shakes (I must have had 10 shakes or more in the week), girlfriend loved the sundaes.

 

ENTERTAINMENT = B+

 

We attended every show and most of the music events as well. Great cast, great singers, also nice entertainment around the ship, good places to dance as well. Two negatives. Kids should not be allowed in the nightclub after 10PM, thats just silly, it should be 18+. Because they have to fit 3 shows to accomodate all the passengers, they are short. I much prefer the show being closer to an hour then a half hour, but just nit picking here.

 

DEBARKATION = A

 

This was fantastic. Went to lounge, then escorted to front of line leaving, fastest and easiest I have every got off a ship.

 

 

 

Happy to answer an questions or elaborate on any points as well.

[mafig]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

 

Did you make reservations for the shows? Yourself, or did the Concierge do it for you.

 

Where did you eat breakfast?

 

Did you go to the casino? Was it smoky?

 

How was your butler?

[RikerKirk]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

 

Did you make reservations for the shows? Yourself, or did the Concierge do it for you.

There was an phone app but I had concierge makes the reservations for the week. We saw the 9:30 show and it was rarely full, but the early shows filled up fast I think.

 

Where did you eat breakfast?

Ate a couple of times at the deck buffet. The restaurant stops serving breakfast at 9AM ish so we went there for lunches on some of the days.

 

Did you go to the casino? Was it smoky?

Was not overly smoke the times we were there, which was mostly to walk through and the time I had to gamble to change my OBC left over into cash.

 

How was your butler?

Rarely saw him, but we did not ask for anything that would have required him

[mafig]

Do they still do the daily newspaper delivery?

 

You said you went to the 9:30 show. What time did you have dinner? Wondering if we have dinner at 6 or so if the 8:15 show would be cutting it close, or be OK.

[sidari]

One, the sink cabinet angles in front of the toilet, you can literally not sit down on the toilet with your legs out straight,

 

 

I believe someone got around that by opening the cupboard door.

[RikerKirk]

Do they still do the daily newspaper delivery?

 

You said you went to the 9:30 show. What time did you have dinner? Wondering if we have dinner at 6 or so if the 8:15 show would be cutting it close, or be OK.

 

 

Its not set dining in YC , we usually ate 715-730ish

 

They still do the newspaper but we did not opt for one.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review , did you notice the depth on the YC pool?

[DCGuy64]

Thanks for your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review!

[cruzers j&n]

Hi RikerKirk,

 

Thanks for your review. I was wondering if you felt a lot of movement in your cabin? I haven’t seen too many complaints about this in other reviews despite YC being in the forward section of the ship. As you can probably guess, this is a biggie for me as I get seasick pretty easily (and yes, I do take along meds but still get ill if seas are rough). Thx and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[bluefish17]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review!

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

[RikerKirk]

Thanks for the review , did you notice the depth on the YC pool?

 

When we boarded, the water in the pool was over the deck line, so it was over 6 feet.

 

Later on, they drained it some and it was under 4 feet.

[RikerKirk]

Hi RikerKirk,

 

Thanks for your review. I was wondering if you felt a lot of movement in your cabin? I haven’t seen too many complaints about this in other reviews despite YC being in the forward section of the ship. As you can probably guess, this is a biggie for me as I get seasick pretty easily (and yes, I do take along meds but still get ill if seas are rough). Thx and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

I found the ship itself had quite a bit of motion for a ship that size in general. My girlfriend had to take my arm often when we were walking to keep herself stable. We mostly stayed in the front of the ship, so I can't speak about how it was toward the back.

[BermudaBound2014]

This is a really good, well balanced review. I feel like nearly all of your grading echo's my experience in the YC on Divina, I can't believe they haven't addressed the shade issue.

 

Can you please comment on the sewer smell?

[RikerKirk]

This is a really good, well balanced review. I feel like nearly all of your grading echo's my experience in the YC on Divina, I can't believe they haven't addressed the shade issue.

 

Can you please comment on the sewer smell?

 

I had read reviews prior to leaving and I was aware of its existence, but I never smelled anything. I can't say whether that was because I was not in the wrong area or they fixed it.

[BermudaBound2014]

I had read reviews prior to leaving and I was aware of its existence, but I never smelled anything. I can't say whether that was because I was not in the wrong area or they fixed it.

 

In the words of Lenard Cohen, Hallelujah!!

 

I

[Projunior]

I enjoyed your review.

 

"...good places to dance as well."

 

Can you elaborate? We will be three couples travelling in May in YC. All of us enjoying dancing of all types, Latin and American, from traditional ballroom to disco. Just cruised HAL's Eurodam last week and the dancing opportunities were horrid. Hoping for a better experience on the Seaside.

 

Thanks.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Soon leaving the Haven for YC and I wondered about Butler and Concierge tipping. Is this done on this ship? In the Haven, there is quite a bit of interaction between them and passengers and most if not all passengers in the Haven tip them. I don't recall seeing this mentioned anywhere.

 

Thanks, I really enjoyed your grading system review.

[mafig]

The butler and the concierge are included in the daily service charge. I know on Norwegian they are not.

 

However, we tipped extra at the end. Don't know if others did or not.

[RikerKirk]

I enjoyed your review.

 

"...good places to dance as well."

 

Can you elaborate? We will be three couples travelling in May in YC. All of us enjoying dancing of all types, Latin and American, from traditional ballroom to disco. Just cruised HAL's Eurodam last week and the dancing opportunities were horrid. Hoping for a better experience on the Seaside.

 

Thanks.

 

The last ship I was on previous was the NCL Escape. That ship had no dedicated nightclub, it was more like a pass through bar area where they had some music off the casino. Had no vibe at all.

 

This ship had the Garage Club, which is a separate nightclub area. A few nights it was packed which really helps the mood. Keep in mind, its a lot of younger adults, but that was ok with us as we like to be around fun people. Also, the back of the ship on deck 7 has a area for an additional DJ and plenty of space to dance, so you can pop from the garage club to the deck and then back into the club in like 30 seconds. We used both, only negative is can get a bit sweaty dancing outside but was still fun.

[RikerKirk]

The butler and the concierge are included in the daily service charge. I know on Norwegian they are not.

 

However, we tipped extra at the end. Don't know if others did or not.

 

I did not tip the concierge or my butler as we hardly used them at all. I used a concierge twice and my butler once the whole trip. I did, however, give an additional tip to my restaurant server, Alessandra, who was wonderful.

[Boschmann]

Can you please comment on the sewer smell?

 

I was on the week of the Jan 27th and Feb 03. The smell was noticeable the first week, but much improved the second. The second week I never smelled it on cabin or atrium decks. I only smelled it once or twice earlier in the week around the Forest aqua park.

[resstation]

Your description of the shower reminded me of the shower in the 2 bedroom suite on the NCL Pride of America. One tiny bathroom and a shower stall that we could barely fit into. To wash our hair and raise our arms up required covering the bathroom floor in an inch of water if we were not incredibly careful. It was definitely an adventure!

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

[jimbob22]

is there a just-for-YC buffet? is it available pretty much all day?

 

Regarding the sewer smell, if someone here (who will be on an upcoming cruise) can wander around on deck 5, that should let us know if it's fixed. It sounded like deck 5 was the worst affected.

[Linda the Book Lover]

The butler and the concierge are included in the daily service charge. I know on Norwegian they are not.

 

However, we tipped extra at the end. Don't know if others did or not.

 

Thanks for the information. We usually budget to add in tips for the (DSC) room steward etc. for the extra care.