Dinner YC Question

[Chade5772]

If you are in the YC how easy is it to get a table for 2 in YC dining room? Do you have to wait much longer?

[lcpagejr]

No problem at all....

[Hlitner]

On the Divina we never waited more then 30 seconds :).  Most of the tables in Le Muse were 2-tops. We were never asked (in 21 days) if we wanted to share...as this is not the practice in the YC.  In fact, if you want to dine with other folks it is probably best to make prior arrangements (like meeting them in the Top Sail Lounge before you walk to Le Muse).  If you show-up at Le Muse as a small group who wants to dine together, you will be quickly accommodated as long as there is an available table.

 

Hank

[hamrag]

9 hours ago, Chade5772 said:

If you are in the YC how easy is it to get a table for 2 in YC dining room? Do you have to wait much longer?

 

This is the norm, so never an issue.

[Beamafar]

At embarkation, you'll be asked to indicate a preference for the time you'd prefer to dine;  the asst m'D will ensure that there will be a table available for you at that time.  However, should you turn up outside of that time, you may have to wait for a table to become available, especially if it's at the most popular time slot.  There are not enough tables in the restaurant to facilitate all YC guests at the one time, hence they like for you to have a regular time slot.

[hamrag]

5 hours ago, Beamafar said:

At embarkation, you'll be asked to indicate a preference for the time you'd prefer to dine;  the asst m'D will ensure that there will be a table available for you at that time.  However, should you turn up outside of that time, you may have to wait for a table to become available, especially if it's at the most popular time slot.  There are not enough tables in the restaurant to facilitate all YC guests at the one time, hence they like for you to have a regular time slot.

 

On Meraviglia we were never asked for a preferred dining time. We always went sometime during the most popular time window (7.30 - 8.30pm), and on one occasion only on 19 nights we were asked to head to the top sail lounge for 15 minutes....5 minutes later we were called, and escorted to the dining room.

[Beamafar]

2 minutes ago, hamrag said:

 

On Meraviglia we were never asked for a preferred dining time. We always went sometime during the most popular time window (7.30 - 8.30pm), and on one occasion only on 19 nights we were asked to head to the top sail lounge for 15 minutes....5 minutes later we were called, and escorted to the dining room.

 

That's highly unusual, HR.  They usually offer time slots such as 6.30pm/7pm/7.30pm etc .. 

 

There was a time when you'd have the same table every evening if you kept to the time you'd indicated.  (We always dine at one of the earliest slots, so it was easy to organise).  However, when we were on Meraviglia on her first Med itinerary, we were 'dissuaded' from sitting at the same table each evening.

 

When we were on Divina in 2015 we went later than normal to the restaurant.  There was a group of 4 people ahead of us at the entrance;  the asst m'D was telling them they would have to wait for a table as he didn't have one available for them just yet.  Turns out they had embarked that day and had indicated that they wanted to dine early, but then came later than they'd said, so the (asst) m'D was basically sending them a message.  I apologised to him for our late arrival, but he brushed it aside and said it wasn't a problem, but that he didn't have our regular table available.  He did have another table for 2 which he directed us to.

[hamrag]

20 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

That's highly unusual, HR.  They usually offer time slots such as 6.30pm/7pm/7.30pm etc .. 

 

 

Will be interesting to see what happens in the Preziosa YC dining room next month, Meraviglia has been our only YC experience to date.

[Captain-John]

1 minute ago, hamrag said:

 

Will be interesting to see what happens in the Preziosa YC dining room next month, Meraviglia has been our only YC experience to date.

 

I think I mentioned this to you before, but we're also doing Meraviglia (May) followed by Preziosa (October) in the YC. I had the feeling I had booked these the 'wrong' way around, as Meraviglia is newer, has larger YC cabins, the spa is superior and doesn't have the walk to the YC dining room as on Preziosa (to name a few differences).

 

I'd be very interested to see your perspective and 'back to back' comparison, although I do appreciate we are fortunate to even be in a position to make a comparison at all and the differences will almost certainly be first world problems. I expect the service and quality of food/drinks to be the same. To further confuse the experiences, we have the old style drinks package (better?) in October but the newer package (worse?) when we sail in May.

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, Captain-John said:

 

... To further confuse the experiences, we have the old style drinks package (better?) in October but the newer package (worse?) when we sail in May.

 

Now that's ... something, Cap'n!   😓  😜

[kelleherdl]

23 minutes ago, hamrag said:

 

Will be interesting to see what happens in the Preziosa YC dining room next month, Meraviglia has been our only YC experience to date.

Hamrag.  We will be on the Preziosa in YC for 14 days next month.  16 Feb on.  Are you on during this time?

 

Dennis

[Hlitner]

8 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

That's highly unusual, HR.  They usually offer time slots such as 6.30pm/7pm/7.30pm etc .. 

 

There was a time when you'd have the same table every evening if you kept to the time you'd indicated.  (We always dine at one of the earliest slots, so it was easy to organise).  However, when we were on Meraviglia on her first Med itinerary, we were 'dissuaded' from sitting at the same table each evening.

 

When we were on Divina in 2015 we went later than normal to the restaurant.  There was a group of 4 people ahead of us at the entrance;  the asst m'D was telling them they would have to wait for a table as he didn't have one available for them just yet.  Turns out they had embarked that day and had indicated that they wanted to dine early, but then came later than they'd said, so the (asst) m'D was basically sending them a message.  I apologised to him for our late arrival, but he brushed it aside and said it wasn't a problem, but that he didn't have our regular table available.  He did have another table for 2 which he directed us to.

We recently spent 21 days in the Divina YC and there was no such thing as "time slots" or even reservations for Le  Muse.  One simply went to Le Muse whenever they pleased (during the normal opening hours) and were quickly seated.  If there was any delay, it was a matter of a very few short minutes.    There also was no such thing as a "regular table" although the few larger family groups would often have the same table because there were few larger tables.  For the 2-4 tops, folks would routinely get different tables each night based on what was available.  There was some attempt by the Maitre'd to keep us with the same waiter, but even this was not a hard/fast rule.

 

Hank

[phissy]

Has the Drink Package changed on YC sailings??    We booked our cruise last year and will be sailing in March.

I see mention of Old Drink Package and New Drink Package.   I guess I have" missed a meeting".

[Beamafar]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We recently spent 21 days in the Divina YC and there was no such thing as "time slots" or even reservations for Le  Muse.  One simply went to Le Muse whenever they pleased (during the normal opening hours) and were quickly seated.  If there was any delay, it was a matter of a very few short minutes.    There also was no such thing as a "regular table" although the few larger family groups would often have the same table because there were few larger tables.  For the 2-4 tops, folks would routinely get different tables each night based on what was available.  There was some attempt by the Maitre'd to keep us with the same waiter, but even this was not a hard/fast rule.

 

Hank

 

As with most things on MSC, YMMV is often important to include in posts.  We were on Splendida for 28 nights last April and were asked to designate a preferred time for dining!

 

I shared that anecdote to alert others about a situation that we experienced.  It depends on the m'D onboard and/or the YC asst m'D what way the restaurant is run.  We've done 5 YC cruises to date on 4 different ships and have experienced 5 different YC asst m'Ds with very different ways of doing things.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

4 hours ago, phissy said:

Has the Drink Package changed on YC sailings??    We booked our cruise last year and will be sailing in March.

I see mention of Old Drink Package and New Drink Package.   I guess I have" missed a meeting".

 

The all-inclusive drinks packages have changed (they've been streamlined, re-named and now have the same names across the fleet, unlike before.  They are now: Easy, Premium and Premium+.  There are plenty of posts on the forum on the subject.

 

If you have booked before the change, you will get the package that existed at the time of your booking which, in your case, is the Deluxe package.  Reports are that bookings made since the change will have the Premium package included.

[CruisingFox27]

On our Preziosa TA last Nov/Dec we were asked to specify a preferred dining time, we regularly had to wait a good few minutes to be seated even if we arrived at our preferred time and did not have the same specific set table. We were seated at the same few tables, in the same area with the same 2 teams of wait staff each night though.

 

Aside from a party of 4 who dined early and were seated near the side to accommodate a wheelchair and an Italian family of 6 who appeared to be 'well connected', no-one had the same table each night.

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

 

The all-inclusive drinks packages have changed (they've been streamlined, re-named and now have the same names across the fleet, unlike before.  They are now: Easy, Premium and Premium+.  There are plenty of posts on the forum on the subject.

 

If you have booked before the change, you will get the package that existed at the time of your booking which, in your case, is the Deluxe package.  Reports are that bookings made since the change will have the Premium package included.

 

Do you think that the staff on Divina will agree with me if I say that I shall get what's included in the Deluxe package? If yes, how do I know what that is now when the menues are changed?

 

MSC in Sweden has told me that no package is included but drinks are included! I know but what's included!!!!

[Beamafar]

I have the same problem with our upcoming cruise next week, SC.  We have the Deluxe package (which is the same as what YC guests who booked before last Nov get).  I've no idea what's included now.  We've never done a US-based cruise where there was a price limit;  having the asterisks against items on the menu was a much clearer indication of what was included (or not).  Plus, prices have increased but no-one seems to be able to state that the limit has increased.

 

If I can get a definitive answer next week, I'll report back.   However, there's no YC on Armonia so it still won't answer your specific question.

[hamrag]

15 hours ago, Captain-John said:

 

I think I mentioned this to you before, but we're also doing Meraviglia (May) followed by Preziosa (October) in the YC. I had the feeling I had booked these the 'wrong' way around, as Meraviglia is newer, has larger YC cabins, the spa is superior and doesn't have the walk to the YC dining room as on Preziosa (to name a few differences).

 

I'd be very interested to see your perspective and 'back to back' comparison, although I do appreciate we are fortunate to even be in a position to make a comparison at all and the differences will almost certainly be first world problems. I expect the service and quality of food/drinks to be the same. To further confuse the experiences, we have the old style drinks package (better?) in October but the newer package (worse?) when we sail in May.

 

I shall indeed report, honestly my experiences and reflections, for sure!

[hamrag]

15 hours ago, kelleherdl said:

Hamrag.  We will be on the Preziosa in YC for 14 days next month.  16 Feb on.  Are you on during this time?

 

Dennis

 

 We embark in Barbados, and our dates are 5th through 19th.

[hamrag]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We recently spent 21 days in the Divina YC and there was no such thing as "time slots" or even reservations for Le  Muse.  One simply went to Le Muse whenever they pleased (during the normal opening hours) and were quickly seated.  If there was any delay, it was a matter of a very few short minutes.    There also was no such thing as a "regular table" although the few larger family groups would often have the same table because there were few larger tables.  For the 2-4 tops, folks would routinely get different tables each night based on what was available.  There was some attempt by the Maitre'd to keep us with the same waiter, but even this was not a hard/fast rule.

 

Hank

 

That was our experience precisely, on Meraviglia and the other couples we befriended had no 'time slot' either! We ate as a group of 4 and 6 on three separate occasions, and there was no difficulty at all and true flexibility re time.

[Satelliteforall]

We were on the same cruise as CruisingFox and could notice similar things. Being well connected with the Maitre D’ is always a plus, but when you’re flexible concerning the wait staff  and/or the table (most couples did prefer the smaller tables at the window) you will get seated immediately.

[kelleherdl]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

 

 We embark in Barbados, and our dates are 5th through 19th.

Well let's meet for a beer on the 16th or 17th. We embark in Fort de France on the 16th.

 

Dennis

Edited January 18, 2019 by kelleherdl

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

I have the same problem with our upcoming cruise next week, SC.  We have the Deluxe package (which is the same as what YC guests who booked before last Nov get).  I've no idea what's included now.  We've never done a US-based cruise where there was a price limit;  having the asterisks against items on the menu was a much clearer indication of what was included (or not).  Plus, prices have increased but no-one seems to be able to state that the limit has increased.

 

If I can get a definitive answer next week, I'll report back.   However, there's no YC on Armonia so it still won't answer your specific question.

 

The most important question is: Do you get any Champagne with the deluxe package?

[CruisingFox27]

We had Champagne in Dec, I made a point of ordering some, just for research purposes you understand 😉