Observations from MSC Seaside Yacht Club

[Dr. Cocktail]

24 minutes ago, JAGR said:

 

 

Finally, yo can go to a hardware store and replace the bolt with a longer one to open the jaw even more.  A friend of ours who sails on a different cruise line swears by that method on the bulky chaises he encounters.

I think we have a winner!

[JAGR]

He's a mechanical engineer!  It was either a bolt or duct tape for him.  EE's like to look at more creative solutions!  Servo motors, linear activators/thrusters and robotic gripping!😁

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

Don't have pictures, but the universal clamp opens up to an internal opening of 1/5".  We use towels with the angry bird clips to hole them in place, and those have a jaw opening of about 1".  The legs of the side tables are a little under 1.25" (taper toward the base) so the clamp can go there

 

I assume you meant 1.5"

[JAGR]

57 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

I assume you meant 1.5"

Yes, but fat fingers on a small keyboard didn't catch my meaning!  Thanks for correcting me!😂

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

Yes, but fat fingers on a small keyboard didn't catch my meaning!  Thanks for correcting me!😂

 

It was either that, or you have a unique ability to judge fifths of an inch [which I couldn't do to save my life!]

[Hoofy7]

Wow! What an informative and well thought out trip report. My first YC experience is coming in December 2019, but on the Divina. Any suggestions on preferred waiters or butlers? I loved my Aurea whirlpool suite on the Seaside in February. We only ate at specialty restaurants after one subpar main dining room experience. Hopefully the Divina YC restaurant will be more appealing? I am not a wine snob by any means and mainly drink frozen fruity drinks. Will the drink package that comes with YC suites be adequate or should I upgrade? Thanks in advance for any and all help. I am a smoker, but have never and would never smoke on my balcony. Is there a smoking area within YC part of the ship outside somewhere? 

[rattanchair]

Dear Hoof,  Was on the Divina December 2018. I can only speak to one of your questions with the greatest authority. Dining was for us the most important aspect of the cruise experience. We were so impressed with our waiter in the YC Le Muse that we booked several more YC Seaside cruises. He told us he was stationed on the Seaside originally and preferred  the Seaside to the Divina for its American guests (Tips?).... He was a very genial and very attentive waiter , a little stocky, Honduran named Manuel. He made all the difference in the world. We were so impressed with his service that we tipped him $200. He would stand several tables away from us just watching attentively, rushing over to fill water or wine glasses. Best waiter we have ever had in over 100 cruises on any cruise line. He made us feel that we were part of the 'Leisure Class'.

Edited July 29, 2019 by rattanchair
additional info

[Hoofy7]

1 hour ago, rattanchair said:

Dear Hoof,  Was on the Divina December 2018. I can only speak to one of your questions with the greatest authority. Dining was for us the most important aspect of the cruise experience. We were so impressed with our waiter in the YC Le Muse that we booked several more YC Seaside cruises. He told us he was stationed on the Seaside originally and preferred  the Seaside to the Divina for its American guests (Tips?).... He was a very genial and very attentive waiter , a little stocky, Honduran named Manuel. He made all the difference in the world. We were so impressed with his service that we tipped him $200. He would stand several tables away from us just watching attentively, rushing over to fill water or wine glasses. Best waiter we have ever had in over 100 cruises on any cruise line. He made us feel that we were part of the 'Leisure Class'.

Thank you! I will look for Manuel if he’s still there. I tipped well on the Seaside and even though I only had Aurea experience ( whirlpool suite) , I never had to wait for any service that mattered to me. The bar waiters remember who tips and my glass was never empty. I was actually surprised by how few people tipped. I left money daily for my cabin steward and my mini bar had the exact drinks each of us liked and snacks replenished twice a day and I had sometimes 10 clean beach towels at a time in my room! Lol Whenever I required a hand pay in the casino, I tipped $100 and the attendant was shocked. I tell everyone that is concerned about the service and short staffing complaints on MSC, that a tip, even a few dollars, goes a long way into making your experience exactly what you hoped it would be. 

[rattanchair]

16 hours ago, Hoofy7 said:

Thank you! I will look for Manuel if he’s still there. I tipped well on the Seaside and even though I only had Aurea experience ( whirlpool suite) , I never had to wait for any service that mattered to me. The bar waiters remember who tips and my glass was never empty. I was actually surprised by how few people tipped. I left money daily for my cabin steward and my mini bar had the exact drinks each of us liked and snacks replenished twice a day and I had sometimes 10 clean beach towels at a time in my room! Lol Whenever I required a hand pay in the casino, I tipped $100 and the attendant was shocked. I tell everyone that is concerned about the service and short staffing complaints on MSC, that a tip, even a few dollars, goes a long way into making your experience exactly what you hoped it would be. 

Dear Hoof,  You are so RIGHT ! 

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 hour ago, rattanchair said:

Dear Hoof,  You are so RIGHT ! 

My partner and I are in our early to mid 50's and are self admittedly "adequate" tippers. (I mean, we are Canadian .....)

 

After our first MSC cruise on Divina, we didn't know who to start with and who to finish with in the dining room.  Yes, we had the famous Arthur but it was amazing how fabulous everyone else was. We basically emptied our wallets and preyed there was a bank machine!

 

On our first time on Seaside, the expanded size and scale made it next to next to impossible to tip everyone we made contact with so we just tipped those who we saw the most. For our next trip, while it may sound tacky to some, the very thick stash of dollar bills did the trick. From the boys who set up our cushions to the bartender who only served us twice - they were taken care of at the time of service. As we basically always had the same wait staff, we tipped them at the end as well as our cabin staff.

 

It is quite fascinating how a smile, a few words and a few dollars act as service inducements....

Edited July 30, 2019 by Dr. Cocktail

[rattanchair]

2 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

My partner and I are in our early to mid 50's and are self admittedly "adequate" tippers. (I mean, we are Canadian .....)

 

After our first MSC cruise on Divina, we didn't know who to start with and who to finish with in the dining room.  Yes, we had the famous Arthur but it was amazing how fabulous everyone else was. We basically emptied our wallets and preyed there was a bank machine!

 

On our first time on Seaside, the expanded size and scale made it next to next to impossible to tip everyone we made contact with so we just tipped those who we saw the most. For our next trip, while it may sound tacky to some, the very thick stash of dollar bills did the trick. From the boys who set up our cushions to the bartender who only served us twice - they were taken care of at the time of service. As we basically always had the same wait staff, we tipped them at the end as well as our cabin staff.

 

It is quite fascinating how a smile, a few words and a few dollars act as service inducements....

Dear Dr.,  You and Hoof are my kind of people. It would be our pleasure to share a bottle or two of Dom P should we ever meet; on us.  We never tipped so much as on this Seaside cruise $1050. Vishnu, our butler, we tipped $400 for the week. We did this on our final night when he stopped by to escort us to dinner. When he returned to our cabin to escort us to the final show (Michael Jackson),  he said to us placing his hands together, thanking the god within us all," you tipped me so much!" I said to him we have never experienced such service in our lives and we want to show you our appreciation. So we feel good, we thought it might not be enough.

Edited July 30, 2019 by rattanchair
additional info

[Hoofy7]

Would love to meet you! Hopefully one day our trips will line up! When you think about how much these employees sacrifice to be there for our vacations, like being away from their families for months, tipping should be expected. It is not though. I can’t believe how cheap so many passengers are. The ones who even try and get their mandatory gratuities remover at the end of a cruise! That’s shameful in my opinion. When I am onboard, I am putting money into slot machines along with so many others. I tip the waiter $5 for each drink or a few $1’s if I don’t have a lot of change. Then notice the ladies beside me playing $25 a spin and not giving a penny to their waiter. I’ll never understand that. Now I always leave my cabin steward $200 at the end of our cruise, but I leave a daily tip when I have any request as well. I see so many complaints about service, but if these people had taken the initiative to tip initially, I guarantee they wouldn’t have had a complaint. If you can afford to cruise, you most certainly can afford to acknowledge those who serve you with a gratuity. I do the same thing in Las Vegas. I’m really looking forward to YC this December! 

[rattanchair]

1 minute ago, Hoofy7 said:

Would love to meet you! Hopefully one day our trips will line up! When you think about how much these employees sacrifice to be there for our vacations, like being away from their families for months, tipping should be expected. It is not though. I can’t believe how cheap so many passengers are. The ones who even try and get their mandatory gratuities remover at the end of a cruise! That’s shameful in my opinion. When I am onboard, I am putting money into slot machines along with so many others. I tip the waiter $5 for each drink or a few $1’s if I don’t have a lot of change. Then notice the ladies beside me playing $25 a spin and not giving a penny to their waiter. I’ll never understand that. Now I always leave my cabin steward $200 at the end of our cruise, but I leave a daily tip when I have any request as well. I see so many complaints about service, but if these people had taken the initiative to tip initially, I guarantee they wouldn’t have had a complaint. If you can afford to cruise, you most certainly can afford to acknowledge those who serve you with a gratuity. I do the same thing in Las Vegas. I’m really looking forward to YC this December! 

Hear, Hear !!

[nikkiw60]

On 7/30/2019 at 12:26 AM, Hoofy7 said:

Wow! What an informative and well thought out trip report. My first YC experience is coming in December 2019, but on the Divina. Any suggestions on preferred waiters or butlers? I loved my Aurea whirlpool suite on the Seaside in February. We only ate at specialty restaurants after one subpar main dining room experience. Hopefully the Divina YC restaurant will be more appealing? I am not a wine snob by any means and mainly drink frozen fruity drinks. Will the drink package that comes with YC suites be adequate or should I upgrade? Thanks in advance for any and all help. I am a smoker, but have never and would never smoke on my balcony. Is there a smoking area within YC part of the ship outside somewhere? 

Michael from Mexico in the Top Sail Lounge was lovely also a lady called Sodhevi she has a very serious face but is lovely and friendly! But be careful if she realises you drink whisky...

 

[max996]

Good review. We enjoyed that same suite during my family's cruise from June 29 - July 6th 2019. Vishnu was absolutely fantastic! So was Eva - she worked the Concierge desk in the Yacht Club during our sailing. We found there was nothing she couldn't do for us on that ship, and between the two of them they made our vacation extra special. We've' sailed in Divina's Royal Suite as well, and there is really no comparison between the two.

Our three daughters shared the suite next door (16029) and we were able to keep the partition between the two decks open all week so that the kids could use the hot tub on occasion instead knocking on the door. We really like MSC Cruises and are looking forward to our cruise aboard Meraviglia when she arrives in the U.S. The only thing I "hated" about this cruise was that Ocean Cay, MSC'c private island in the Caribbean, wasn't open for us. But we will get to call on that port on our next voyage.

[rattanchair]

1 hour ago, max996 said:

Good review. We enjoyed that same suite during my family's cruise from June 29 - July 6th 2019. Vishnu was absolutely fantastic! So was Eva - she worked the Concierge desk in the Yacht Club during our sailing. We found there was nothing she couldn't do for us on that ship, and between the two of them they made our vacation extra special. We've' sailed in Divina's Royal Suite as well, and there is really no comparison between the two.

Our three daughters shared the suite next door (16029) and we were able to keep the partition between the two decks open all week so that the kids could use the hot tub on occasion instead knocking on the door. We really like MSC Cruises and are looking forward to our cruise aboard Meraviglia when she arrives in the U.S. The only thing I "hated" about this cruise was that Ocean Cay, MSC'c private island in the Caribbean, wasn't open for us. But we will get to call on that port on our next voyage.

Dear Max,  Your posts about the Divina and the Seaside YC Royal Suites helped us 'pull the trigger ' on booking with MSC. Thank you for all your postings ! I could have never have posted my observations in 'real' time in the Royal Suite on Divina, there was absolutely no wifi when I sat on the balcony. I could type day and night from the RS on Seaside.

Edited July 31, 2019 by rattanchair
additional info

[Nashna]

On 7/28/2019 at 4:59 AM, Serial Tequila said:

 

Diamond, I did find this on Amazon

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Sport-Brella-Versa-Brella-Position-Umbrella-Universal/dp/B00HPMJCW8/ref=pd_sbs_200_3/261-4426429-3045619?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00HPMJCW8&pd_rd_r=dc21ee72-d05b-4b20-a7f9-ee54c9d25f96&pd_rd_w=2rJwg&pd_rd_wg=o5ohm&pf_rd_p=15756fbb-4ceb-4379-9d2c-7af36daab01e&pf_rd_r=YWDT34RW1E1MCF8XXTPF&refRID=YWDT34RW1E1MCF8XXTPF

We love our sport-brella-versa's and bring them with us on every cruise.   While they don't cover everything, they do protect us from those hot sun rays.  They fit into our luggage and weigh very little.    

[rattanchair]

6 hours ago, rattanchair said:

Dear Max,  Your posts about the Divina and the Seaside YC Royal Suites helped us 'pull the trigger ' on booking with MSC. Thank you for all your postings ! I could have never have posted my observations in 'real' time in the Royal Suite on Divina, there was absolutely no wifi when I sat on the balcony. I could type day and night from the RS on Seaside.

Also I recall trying to find a shaded spot on the YC pool deck. The grill area had shade but it is intended for meals, the area forward of the grill afforded us shade, so we moved a couple of lounge chairs there, but again no wifi. The only other tables with umbrellas were the smoking tables.  The Divina was very nice, but not as nice as the Seaside, for the amenities that we are looking for.

[rattanchair]

On 7/29/2019 at 7:26 PM, Hoofy7 said:

Wow! What an informative and well thought out trip report. My first YC experience is coming in December 2019, but on the Divina. Any suggestions on preferred waiters or butlers? I loved my Aurea whirlpool suite on the Seaside in February. We only ate at specialty restaurants after one subpar main dining room experience. Hopefully the Divina YC restaurant will be more appealing? I am not a wine snob by any means and mainly drink frozen fruity drinks. Will the drink package that comes with YC suites be adequate or should I upgrade? Thanks in advance for any and all help. I am a smoker, but have never and would never smoke on my balcony. Is there a smoking area within YC part of the ship outside somewhere? 

Dear Hoof,  In recalling looking for shade and wifi and YC pool deck, there were some nice tables with umbrellas with ash trays. I would consider these tables as 'prime real estate' on the YC pool deck. I even thought about buying a cigar, lighting up and going on line, though I never smoked, just to covet the shade.

Edited July 31, 2019 by rattanchair
additional info

[Hoofy7]

If there is a table out in the deck that I can smoke at I’m a happy camper. Lol My favorite thing to do is get up by 5am and get coffee and sit outside and smoke before the family wakes up for the day. I will probably buy the WiFi package, but I believe someone else other than you was saying in response to your post that they couldn’t find shade or WiFi? I’m fine with or without WiFi but usually buy it just to check on things at home. I love the sun and don’t mind sitting without shade either. I’m pretty easy to please. 😉 The thoughts on Divina were disheartening, but I read the same things about the Seaside and had an amazing cruise in February on her.  

Edited August 1, 2019 by Hoofy7

[rattanchair]

On 7/29/2019 at 1:37 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I know the feeling. When we first booked Seaside back in 2016, we couldn't get the Royal Suite because it was sold out during the dates that we could go. I have 2 kids in school so matching school breaks with cruises is a challenge. When I have the school schedule, MSC is slow in releasing dates. When I have future MSC dates, the school is slow in releasing the future school schedule. 

 

Keep checking. I got lucky. The MSC site (back then) had a "backdoor" that I found that I could access before the future dates were officially released. I actually booked a Royal Suite for a date that hadn't been released yet. They fixed that hole a while ago but I still look around to see if I can get through. 

Dear TWO, The Royal suite is available today for Thanksgiving 2019.

[Two Wheels Only]

9 hours ago, rattanchair said:

Dear TWO, The Royal suite is available today for Thanksgiving 2019.

 

I appreciate the effort but I have to work that week. Even if I was off, we usually visit family for the NOV/DEC holidays. 

 

Now, if I could convince the families to book a cruise for next year.....

[EMc&DrS]

Just getting the chance to read your review.  We were in that same suite last September, and it was nice to relive that great week again through your review.  We, too, were so happy to have Vishnu as our butler.  He had been our butler on Divina the summer before on a B2B, so it was like a reunion having him again on Seaside.  (We had a butler on Celebrity once that creeped us out---after a few days with Vishnu, you feel like he is part of the family!)

 

We loved the balcony, especially the two loungers positioned as seen in the pic.  What a breeze!  One night we accidentally fell asleep out there...until a rain shower woke us up around 2 AM.  Good times...

 

Trying YC on Meraviglia in November.  The RS was available, but it was $3K more than we paid for the RS on Seaside last year, so we opted for a regular YC room this time.  Just hoping we recognize some familiar faces among the staff.  Will miss Vishnu...and Arthur!

 

[Dr. Cocktail]

On 7/30/2019 at 5:14 PM, rattanchair said:

Dear Dr.,  You and Hoof are my kind of people. It would be our pleasure to share a bottle or two of Dom P should we ever meet; on us.  We never tipped so much as on this Seaside cruise $1050. Vishnu, our butler, we tipped $400 for the week. We did this on our final night when he stopped by to escort us to dinner. When he returned to our cabin to escort us to the final show (Michael Jackson),  he said to us placing his hands together, thanking the god within us all," you tipped me so much!" I said to him we have never experienced such service in our lives and we want to show you our appreciation. So we feel good, we thought it might not be enough.

Looking forward to crossing paths one day!

 

It gets tiresome telling friends or chatting with clients about MSC and how great the YC is only to be met with incredulous looks. It would be better for all involved if I just said "it's as bad as you think"!

[Beardface]

1 hour ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

It gets tiresome telling friends or chatting with clients about MSC and how great the YC is only to be met with incredulous looks. It would be better for all involved if I just said "it's as bad as you think"!

 

Just forward them this article - The MSC Seaside is the Ship to Beat in 2018.