MSC - Celebrity loyalty program status match

[Mynki]

18 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I did my status match when Elite+ matched to Black.  Basically, the only benefit is a free specialty restaurant dinner.  Maybe the chocolate ship.  We got so much stuff, I'm not sure which of the things attached to the cabin and which were a benefit of being Black.  I believe matching to any other color will still get you the 5% discount on booking cruises.  You must cruise at least once every three years to maintain any status with MSC, so it's not as good a deal as Celebrity's points and status which never expire.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but if Yacht Club prices continue to climb and their itineraries don't improve, I probably won't continue to cruise with them.  Yacht Club is wonderful; I would never even consider cruising in the rest of the ship--far too many passengers.  When YC prices are the same as SS prices on Celebrity, Celebrity will win for me.  The food and service in Luminae are better than the YC restaurant.  I like the whole ship with Celebrity.

 

Thanks. Our friends don't use cruise critic. Long story short they've just returned from a sailing onboard Silhouette in an S2 underneath the OV cafe. The noise was so bad that they were given access to a second cabin on the deck below to sleep in! Apparently there were at least four separate couples all with the same issue. This is particularly unfortunate because when we sailed with them on Eclipse in 2017 they had issues with the plumbing resorting in noise during the night when they were also in a SS. 

Long story short they've heard good things about the YC from people onboard and so are considering trying it as a result. We've been invited along so might give it a go. I spent about an hour researching MSC yesterday. The YC looks nice but I have a few reservations about MSC in general.  

They also appear to have the most complicated beverage package deals of any cruise line, ever! Though that won't apply in the YC I understand. 

Non YC sailings appear ridiculously cheap though and that's a big red flag for me. 

[Mynki]

11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

 

This all makes it very easy to 'test drive' MSC.  But read the MSC forum here before you decide on a ship/cabin/itinerary.  There are huge differences between the Yacht Club and everything else, and between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.  Do your homework.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've noticed different prices for beverage packs depending on the geographical region you are sailing in. And different pricing depending on where you book from too! And extra rules if you book as part of a group compared to X are just a couple of examples. 

Does the embarkation and disembarkation of pax joining and leaving the ship part way through your cruise cause an inconvenience? It would be strange to us as it's more like a ferry service than what I'd consider a 'cruise'. 

And I have to ask, do pax from other EU countries still fail to queue like Brits and Americans etc? 

[G.M.T.]

35 minutes ago, Mynki said:

Does the embarkation and disembarkation of pax joining and leaving the ship part way through your cruise cause an inconvenience? It would be strange to us as it's more like a ferry service than what I'd consider a 'cruise'. 

And I have to ask, do pax from other EU countries still fail to queue like Brits and Americans etc? 

 

Why would it be inconvient if passengers embark and disembark at different ports. It's just like taking a bus, most cruise lines do it in the Med.

 

First off the EU consists of 28 countries, with differnt languages, traditions and cultures.

 

It is justg some passengers want to queue, but from the front and not from the back.

 

[emmas gran]

Hi Mynki unless you want really top shelf liquor there is no need for a beverage page. It’s included in YC.There is a Premium + and  Connoisseur  selection which covers these.

The queuing thing doesn’t come into it if in YC  you have a lift that goes to your floor and YC has separate check in

Liz

[Mynki]

2 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

 

Why would it be inconvient if passengers embark and disembark at different ports. It's just like taking a bus, most cruise lines do it in the Med.

You'd have to ask the people who's reviews I've read on here and elsewhere who claimed it took longer than normal to leave and board the ship due to people embarking and disembarking. The reviews state this was a convenience. 

 

First off the EU consists of 28 countries, with differnt languages, traditions and cultures.

It is justg some passengers want to queue, but from the front and not from the back.

Correct. And those who like to queue from the front and not the back are considered ignorant by others. As you say, different traditions and cultures.... :)

 

 

[Mynki]

2 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

Hi Mynki unless you want really top shelf liquor there is no need for a beverage page. It’s included in YC.There is a Premium + and  Connoisseur  selection which covers these.

The queuing thing doesn’t come into it if in YC  you have a lift that goes to your floor and YC has separate check in

Liz

 

Thanks. :) 

[diesel1973]

MSC has been changing everything the past year. Black card benefits, status match,drink packages,menus, on and on. I found on my one and last cruise on the Seaside is not to expect what they say you will get, but to accept what they decide to give you,be it right or wrong. Going to GS to dispute anything is a waste of time. I don't believe in paying up front for anything of which you do not know what you are getting, be it cheap or not!

[steamboats]

1 hour ago, Mynki said:

 

Thanks for the reply. I've noticed different prices for beverage packs depending on the geographical region you are sailing in. And different pricing depending on where you book from too! And extra rules if you book as part of a group compared to X are just a couple of examples. 

Does the embarkation and disembarkation of pax joining and leaving the ship part way through your cruise cause an inconvenience? It would be strange to us as it's more like a ferry service than what I'd consider a 'cruise'. 

And I have to ask, do pax from other EU countries still fail to queue like Brits and Americans etc? 

 

YC includes all beverages in the Top Sail Lounge and you have automatically the premium package for the rest of the ship.

 

As YC pax you don´t have to worry about any queues. The butlers guide you onshore and back onboard.

 

For the full YC experience a Seaside class or a Meraviglia class ship are the best choice and those have the Top Sail Lounge and the YC restaurant inside the YC.

 

steamboats

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, Mynki said:

Non YC sailings appear ridiculously cheap though and that's a big red flag for me. 

 

There's a reason for that.  I would not sail MSC except in the Yacht Club.

[Tatka]

2 hours ago, Mynki said:

Non YC sailings appear ridiculously cheap though and that's a big red flag for me.

 

 I can explain how I see it.

 We are non suite people 🙂 , so just like with other companies we stayed in regular cabins (balconies) on both of our sailings on Poesia and Divina out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

 

 We actually took these cruises in hope to experience more or less European style here at home. We traveled in Europe a lot so it was not our first encounter 🙂  . We had more of that on smaller Poesia and less on Divina. We did not sail with MSC after that because we felt that MSC was trying too hard to adjust to our market. And it is OK when it comes to service, however we loved more authentic Italian smaller scale entertainment on Poesia then later on Divina.

 

Both featured great production shows daily ... as I understand it is easier to organize than to translate every sentence of comedian to 5-6 languages (many other things were translated). On Poesia we had great Sicilian guitar duo and amazing Italian tenor of real opera quality. On Divina we had great shows, but singers while also great opera style singers were not Italians and smaller scale entertainment was also not authentic. 

 

Both ships were extremely beautiful... I enjoyed meeting many people from all over Europe.

 

Cons.

I heard that people were saying that food was not great because it was European ... I say it was just not great. 🙂 I am not overly sophisticated eater and I am OK with most of lines, but I think MSC featured the weakest quality of meats. I understand that steaks are not their thing, but just a quality of meat was mediocre and it was mostly tough. I am not a big pasta eater so cannot evaluate this. People seem to like it. 

 

Another thing that I do not see even on complete massmarket like NCL and RCCL... They brought nickle and dimeing to the next level. Often place near beautiful pools looked like a bazaar with everything they brought out of stores to sell. They would also sell(!!!) Nutella crepes by the pool. Sell!!!

 

I've heard that now there are even more things that are not included in the price and for what you are expected to pay additionally. For example on RCCL there are Zip lines. They are free like the most of Royal's sports innovations. MSC advertised Zip lines like like one of great features of their new class Seaside. People were getting on board and discovering that ooops it is $10 per ride or $50 for a week. Actually some other lines like NCL mimicked this behavior later and added race cars with a fee. (Bad example!!!! 😞 )

 

 But yes.. pricing on MSC we experienced was great. We paid something like $600 pp for balconies.

 And from what I heard kids under 11 are free, something to think about.

 We were lucky and at that time 2013, 2014 MSC was not as popular in US so big families with kids were not in a hurry to  book it... and I suppose it is not very cheap to bring many kids overseas, but I can imagine how school off time looks while cruising Mediterranean. 🙂

 

   

 

 

[grandgeezer]

2 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

There's a reason for that.  I would not sail MSC except in the Yacht Club.

Us too. Going back, for the second time this October, for fourteen days, on the Seaside.