Seaside - YC - January 12, 2019

[helenb]

Good to know, thank you! I don't suppose you have a picture?

[gimletgal]

[helenb]

That looks like the same shaded areas that were present on our June cruise. There was no shade near the pool?

[jules815]

14 minutes ago, helenb said:

That looks like the same shaded areas that were present on our June cruise. There was no shade near the pool?

Not really.  Although the row of raised loungers at the one end of the pool were always in the shade while we were there.

 

 

[mmpgoodtogo]

18 hours ago, jules815 said:

 Throughout the week we received different treats in our stateroom in the evening at turn-down.  Macaroons, etc.  We think some of these were because of the Black status we matched to.

We also revived treats, macarons and chocolate covered strawberries and we were matched to gold.  So maybe it is just a YC thing in general?

[psmarkle]

Enjoying this thread...5 of us sailed the YC back in July and doing it again this July for Western Caribbean.  I've now completed 30 cruises, and the MSC Seaside in the YC has been my favorite, hands down!  We're normally big NCL cruisers either in suites or The Haven, and our MSC cruise in the YC was just about 1/2 the price of our last Haven cruise on NCL.  I found the service to be exceptional starting from the greeting at the embarkation tent to getting escorted by all the crowds and right to customs for disembarkation! I am looking fwd to MSC expanding their presence in North America so we can enjoy different sailings.

 

Couple of unique things I remember:

- You cannot go from front to back on Deck 16, which is where several specialty restaurants are. Once we remembered that, it was no problem to either go to Deck 15 or 18 to get where we wanted to go

 

- I thought the quality of the nightly shows was exceptional!  There was 1 night I didn't quite care for the theme of the show, but they're only 30-40 mins long, so didn't bother me much.  The Michael Jackson impersonator is a definite must-see!

 

- Had to learn to let the waiters/butlers bring beverages to us, even a bottle of water at the YC pool.  One of them explained they get in trouble if their bosses see a passenger getting their own drinks!  In the evenings as we were getting ready for dinner, I'd walk to the YC lounge and order cocktails then return to our room.  A few minutes later, a butler showed up with our drinks on a silver tray and placed them in our room. Pampered!!

 

- I enjoyed the YC pool area so much, I forgot to enjoy the free thermal spa access. My wife and sister-in-law did.  I did walk through it on embarkation day and made a real snowball in the snow room...how cool!

 

- With exception of our free Black Card meal, we ate all our meals in the YC restaurant.  If I didn't find anything on the daily menu to my liking, I just ordered the filet mignon...great every time! The lobster tail night, they were overcooked, but I didn't complain as my waiter brought me 3 of them and I ate them all!

 

- We'll be staying on the ship this time when we return to Nassau.  Been there more times than I can recount.  Don't like the hasseling by the tour vendors at the port and find the streets of Nassau unusually dirty.

[lcpagejr]

16 hours ago, helenb said:

That looks like the same shaded areas that were present on our June cruise. There was no shade near the pool?

 No...Only immediate shade would be by bar area ...however the 2 side areas are only steps away

[jules815]

1 hour ago, psmarkle said:

Enjoying this thread...5 of us sailed the YC back in July and doing it again this July for Western Caribbean.  I've now completed 30 cruises, and the MSC Seaside in the YC has been my favorite, hands down!  We're normally big NCL cruisers either in suites or The Haven, and our MSC cruise in the YC was just about 1/2 the price of our last Haven cruise on NCL.  I found the service to be exceptional starting from the greeting at the embarkation tent to getting escorted by all the crowds and right to customs for disembarkation! I am looking fwd to MSC expanding their presence in North America so we can enjoy different sailings.

 

Couple of unique things I remember:

- You cannot go from front to back on Deck 16, which is where several specialty restaurants are. Once we remembered that, it was no problem to either go to Deck 15 or 18 to get where we wanted to go.  Correct!  Our room was on 18, so we found it easy to cut through the Jungle Pool area.  The layout isn't a negative thing, it's just different.

 

- I thought the quality of the nightly shows was exceptional!  There was 1 night I didn't quite care for the theme of the show, but they're only 30-40 mins long, so didn't bother me much.  The Michael Jackson impersonator is a definite must-see!  We never even went to a show.  Our butler asked us about the Michael Jackson show on the evening it was happening.  It seemed like, even with no reservation, he could have gotten us in.  Next time I'll be better about making some reservations.

 

- Had to learn to let the waiters/butlers bring beverages to us, even a bottle of water at the YC pool.  One of them explained they get in trouble if their bosses see a passenger getting their own drinks!  In the evenings as we were getting ready for dinner, I'd walk to the YC lounge and order cocktails then return to our room.  A few minutes later, a butler showed up with our drinks on a silver tray and placed them in our room. Pampered!!  I believe this!  There were a couple of times, once by the pool and once in the lounge, Alessandro (sp??) was walking thru and asked us if we wanted a drink.  We hadn't been sitting there very long either time, but he went over to a butler and got their attention.

 

- I enjoyed the YC pool area so much, I forgot to enjoy the free thermal spa access. My wife and sister-in-law did.  I did walk through it on embarkation day and made a real snowball in the snow room...how cool!  Same!  Never even saw the thermal area, but we did spend a lot of time by the YC pool.  So nice to get a lounger near the pool with no problem at all, and then get lunch there at our leisure.  The One Pool area made the week for us.  It's fantastic.

 

- With exception of our free Black Card meal, we ate all our meals in the YC restaurant.  If I didn't find anything on the daily menu to my liking, I just ordered the filet mignon...great every time! The lobster tail night, they were overcooked, but I didn't complain as my waiter brought me 3 of them and I ate them all!  We never even used our complimentary Black Card meal.  7-days went by too fast!  I forgot to mention, the Prime Rib I had in the YC was the best I've ever had in my life!  I rarely order it, because it's usually so fatty, with a small amount of meat, either too rare, or well done.  It was perfect.  

 

- We'll be staying on the ship this time when we return to Nassau.  Been there more times than I can recount.  Don't like the hasseling by the tour vendors at the port and find the streets of Nassau unusually dirty.  (We actually got off the ship this time in Nassau.  Haven't done that since 2009, and it hasn't changed.  My husband got new hips in 2018, so he was eager to go for a walk in ports, just to do something, because now he can, pain free.)  It's what we did after an early breakfast, and were back on board in about an hour so we could go to the pool.

 

 

[Cruisergal1208]

7 hours ago, mmpgoodtogo said:

We also revived treats, macarons and chocolate covered strawberries and we were matched to gold.  So maybe it is just a YC thing in general?

Some of the special treats come on elegant nights and others as perks of status. All are much appreciated!!

[cmdchiefthom]

Jules815,  I've been waiting to read a review like this and appreciate the time you spent writing your review and answering questions about the Yacht Club. My wife and I know what you mean about hitting retirement and having more time enjoy longer cruises.  When we both retired in 2013, we booked aboard the NCL Gem for three weeks B2B in the Eastern Med!  Since then, we've only scheduled one 7 day cruise, and it happens to be our upcoming stay in the YC on the Seaside. We also have two weeks booked aboard the Seaside in March of 2020.  Thanks so much for your post!

[dexddd]

On 1/10/2019 at 6:42 PM, jvsnana said:

Jules...following along too!  We will board on the 19th when you are getting off.

Hope you have a wonderful time!

Did you sneak that one in?

 

How was the trip?

[jvsnana]

On 1/31/2019 at 4:33 AM, dexddd said:

Did you sneak that one in?

 

How was the trip?

Just got home and LOVED the Seaside Yacht Club!  Can't wait for our 22 day Meraviglia cruise in October.

When are you on the Seaside again?

 

[Hobby3333]

Have they changed shows?  We sailed last July and again this July.