MSC Yacht Club

[WorldTraveler151208]

Hello,

I would like to ask, what do you think about the enlarged Yacht Club aboard the MSC Seashore?

For clarification MSC Seashore will be an enlarged version of Seaside-class, currently under construction at Fincantieri, which will be delivered in early 2021. On the deck plans of the ship, it can be seen that the Yacht Club will have 131 cabins. On the existing ships of this class (Seaside and Seaview) there were only 86 cabins.  Unfortunately, it looks like the amenities will not be changed. Top Sail Lounge and YC restaurant are the same size as on Saeside. 

 

I am a fan of MSC Yacht Club, because the service and quality are sensational, often better than on typically luxury cruise ships.  I am sad that MSC Cruises thinks only about rapid development and becomes a cheap line, going on quantity, not quality. In my opinion, the big Yacht Club on the Seashore is a great example of this. I think that it will be impossible to maintain a high level of service,  uncrowded space and a family atmosphere with an additional 100 guests and that is the essence of the Yacht Club.

 

I am very curious to find out about the opinions of other MSC and MSC Yacht Club fans.

[Beamafar]

We were in YC on Seaview a couple of weeks ago ... for us, MSC is going in the wrong direction when it comes to YC.  We did not like YC on Seaview and can't wait to get back onboard in Meraviglia's YC, which we loved.

[dmccadden]

Just wondering what about the Seaview YC did you not like?  I have been on Divina and Seaside YC and liked the Seaside better.  I have nopt been on Meravigola yet, but aren't there more YC cabin on that Ship.  It would seen that it would be more crowded.  Just curious.

[Captain-John]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We were in YC on Seaview a couple of weeks ago ... for us, MSC is going in the wrong direction when it comes to YC.  We did not like YC on Seaview and can't wait to get back onboard in Meraviglia's YC, which we loved.

 

Bea - would also love to hear your thoughts on where it fell down. Appreciate you have been extremely busy (and I hope DH is fully recovered now!).

 

I thought the design of the Seaview YC (and design of the Seaview Spa) would be plus points in her favour over Meraviglia or the Fantasia-class. Not putting words in your month, but I have a feeling it's service/soft product quality that's the issue rather than design and layout?

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

We sailed with Bea and her DH on the Seaview. 

 

We have been on 12 cruises in the MSC Yacht Club and have sailed on all classes of ships that have the YC. The Seaside Class is spectacular and the design is in many ways awesome. That's not the problem. The problem is that MSC keep adding more cabins to the enclave on their newest and biggest ships. Sadly the service is more rushed and stressful because of more passengers. MSC don't have enough staff to serve the passengers they should in the YC. This was very evident on our last cruise on the Seaview. Sometimes it was chaos on the One Pool Deck. Lack of routines and staff made this cruise the worst cruise in YC I've ever had. We even had to wait one hour to be seated in the restaurant one evening. Never happened before. They also have very loud live music in the Top Sail Lounge and it goes all the way up the restaurant. The waiters on the pooldeck tend to stick around the bar and grill area and very seldom the ventured to the front of the pooldeck to ask if we needed something. No gelato service on the pooldeck as we had on the Preziosa in February in the Caribbean. Don't get me wrong, we had a great cruise but MSC really need to improve their service in YC and food offerings in the YC restaurant. The portions are so small and the menu very limited. So limited that one waiter advised us to go to one of the Speciality Restaurants one evening. This cruise on the Seaview was many steps down from our experience on the Preziosa in February, which was wonderful. So for the moment we will stay away from both the Meraviglia Class and the Seaside Class and stick to the smaller Fantasia Class where the YC is much more personal in a quieter and more relaxed environment.

[Captain-John]

Thank you, NC73. So disappointing to hear the service was below par, as well as the food etc. I must say - on reflection, the food on Meravaglia was not amazing (although better than standard MSC fare).

 

Hour long waits for a table - not on. Loud music - not on - the complete antithesis to the whole YC experience and ambiance. I would not take kindly to being advised I'd be better off in a  speciality restaurant!!

Unless they increase staffing levels I don't how they will manage on YC-only ships going forward.

 

Looking forward to boarding Preziosa in a few weeks and hope it still offers the type of experience you enjoyed earlier in the year.

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, Captain-John said:

 

Bea - would also love to hear your thoughts on where it fell down. Appreciate you have been extremely busy (and I hope DH is fully recovered now!).

 

I thought the design of the Seaview YC (and design of the Seaview Spa) would be plus points in her favour over Meraviglia or the Fantasia-class. Not putting words in your month, but I have a feeling it's service/soft product quality that's the issue rather than design and layout?

 

Hi Cap'n ... we're now 2 weeks home so I'm hoping to get back to sharing my overall views of the cruise soon.  Right now, I'm enjoying our Indian Summer  😜 Plus, we have some follow-up stuff to attend to as a result of DH's illness.  He's doing great, now, thanks, and our focus is firmly on our upcoming cruise on Meraviglia and ensuring that, if he does have an underlying condition, he'll be sorted with treatment, etc, before we go.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

@Captain-John I really hope MSC take this seriously and offer the YC as it should be, also on their largest ships and their new builds in the future. I'm a bit disappointed after this cruise I'm afraid. That's the first time ever after so many wonderful cruises in the YC. They must improve the menus in the restaurant and get enough staff to offer the guests the fine service that they are renowned for in the YC. I really don't hope that this cruise was a result of cutbacks. Then they have a problem. On a positive note, our assistant butler, the concierge and the staff in the restaurant where excellent. Together with our company from Ireland and the weather they made us a great cruise 👍 Have a wonderful cruise on the Preziosa 😀

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, dmccadden said:

Just wondering what about the Seaview YC did you not like? 

 

I intend to expand on it on the thread I started a couple of weeks back.  A short answer here would be less than kind to our overall experience onboard - which was fantastic.

[Até]

While I do prefer the Seaside class YC over Fantasia class I think Seashore will have problems.  OP is correct about the 50% increase in cabins.  The Top Sail lounge is the same size as Seaside class, the YC restaurant has been extended further out over the Top Sail lounge to accommodate more tables, galley size looks the same.  From looking at the ship model the One Pool deck will be a little larger as it now extends over all YC cabins, on Seaside class part of the Top 19 is above some of the YC.  Overall I feel Seashore will be a significantly more crowded YC than Seaside class and have no plans to book it until reading multiple reports.  Unfortunately the World Class YC looks even more dire.

[Haworth]

Interesting topic, we have sailed both the older style YC ships and the Seaside class twice, but not Meraviglia, our preference is the older style, as the top sail lounge seems to flow better, be a little quieter and the service at a higher level, we even enjoy the walk to and from the restaurant.

 

We will be on Fantasia next month and trust that the standards will be up to those in the past.

[mafig]

Please educate me.  Doesn't Meraviglia also have more cabins in the Yacht Club?  When I last looked at the deck plans, I seem to recall 4 decks of YC suites.  

Also, is Mera considered a Seaside-class ship?

💗

[Até]

2 minutes ago, mafig said:

Please educate me.  Doesn't Meraviglia also have more cabins in the Yacht Club?  When I last looked at the deck plans, I seem to recall 4 decks of YC suites.  

Also, is Mera considered a Seaside-class ship?

Meraviglia and Seaside are very different ships.  I think MV YC has like 115 cabins and SS has 85, don't quote me those are quick guesstimates.  MV also has a smaller One Pool deck than SS because the MV YC is more vertical and SS is more horizontal.  I do have concerns that I won't like MV as much, but we're long past final payment and will be seeing for ourselves.  I was glad to see Beamafar say she preferred MV to Seaview.

[CruisingFox27]

We're doing a sort of B2B on Meraviglia and Seaside YC in the coming weeks, it's certainly going to be interesting to compare the two and with our previous Fantasia YC experiences.

 

I have to say that I have a degree of apprehension that the YC experience will not be as good as we've experienced in the past.

[Captain-John]

17 minutes ago, Até said:

Meraviglia and Seaside are very different ships.  I think MV YC has like 115 cabins and SS has 85, don't quote me those are quick guesstimates.  MV also has a smaller One Pool deck than SS because the MV YC is more vertical and SS is more horizontal.  I do have concerns that I won't like MV as much, but we're long past final payment and will be seeing for ourselves.  I was glad to see Beamafar say she preferred MV to Seaview.

 

That's quite a large difference in cabin numbers. I must say - on MV, even at 'peak' (7-8.30 range) dining times, we never had more than a 5 minute wait to get a table and didn't feel the YC was crowded at all. Given the much lesser number of cabins on SS/SV, I would have thought the service would have been better - but it seems staffing numbers are also reduced.

 

The only time they really struggled, service wise on MV, was on the last sea day, when it was foggy outside and a bit chilly. The barman was very ratty, no doubt in part down to the pressure of having a full lounge. They didn't call in for extra help and it took 20-30 minutes to get two drinks served.

[Beamafar]

I'll explain (very briefly - and hope that I don't leave a completely negative impression!  I will have more to say and will expand on my own thread).

@Captain-John  the main issue was actually with the design/layout of Seaview (I'll stick with YC for now and stay on topic  - for a change 🙄)  We really disliked the Top Sail Lounge/Restaurant set-up and much prefer the more intimate settings of both venues on Meraviglia.  As Norwegian Cruiser has stated, the singer in the evenings was much too loud and it was difficult to have a conversation over it;  this also impacted the enjoyment of dinner in the restaurant.

 

We didn't feel the YC area was any less crowded than Meraviglia (we never found Meraviglia YC crowded at all, despite there being more YC cabins than on other ships.  Perhaps our experience will differ in October/November when we're in cooler climes and everybody is indoors - at least until we reach the Caribbean.  We were in the Med in extremely hot weather, with a port-intensive itinerary when we were last onboard Meraviglia).  We were in YC on Splendida last year and it felt very crowded in TSL when the weather was poor.

 

Anyway ... there were a lot of positives, too, especially the personal attention we received, not just from most of the crew, but especially from the head butler, Rajiv and the YC Director, Alessandro, in relation to DH's situation.  Anything we wanted we were just to ask for!  But, overall, Seaview, itself, just wasn't for us.

[mafig]

28 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

We're doing a sort of B2B on Meraviglia and Seaside YC in the coming weeks, it's certainly going to be interesting to compare the two and with our previous Fantasia YC experiences.

 

I have to say that I have a degree of apprehension that the YC experience will not be as good as we've experienced in the past.

 

I'll be looking forward to your comparison.

 

We were in the YC on Seaside last year and I hope you won't be disappointed in her.  We weren't.👍

[DCGuy64]

8 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I'll explain (very briefly - and hope that I don't leave a completely negative impression!  I will have more to say and will expand on my own thread).

@Captain-John  the main issue was actually with the design/layout of Seaview (I'll stick with YC for now and stay on topic  - for a change 🙄)  We really disliked the Top Sail Lounge/Restaurant set-up and much prefer the more intimate settings of both venues on Meraviglia.  As Norwegian Cruiser has stated, the singer in the evenings was much too loud and it was difficult to have a conversation over it;  this also impacted the enjoyment of dinner in the restaurant.

 

We didn't feel the YC area was any less crowded than Meraviglia (we never found Meraviglia YC crowded at all, despite there being more YC cabins than on other ships.  Perhaps our experience will differ in October/November when we're in cooler climes and everybody is indoors - at least until we reach the Caribbean.  We were in the Med in extremely hot weather, with a port-intensive itinerary when we were last onboard Meraviglia).  We were in YC on Splendida last year and it felt very crowded in TSL when the weather was poor.

 

Anyway ... there were a lot of positives, too, especially the personal attention we received, not just from most of the crew, but especially from the head butler, Rajiv and the YC Director, Alessandro, in relation to DH's situation.  Anything we wanted we were just to ask for!  But, overall, Seaview, itself, just wasn't for us.

Glad to hear DH is doing better, and I hope your upcoming cruise on Meraviglia goes off without a hitch. As we are cruising Meraviglia in December, we hope to gain from your insights, especially any members of staff in the YC who do especially well. 

[Beamafar]

Thanks, DCGuy!  I may report "Live" as it's so much easier in some ways than trying to do it after arriving home (it certainly is for me, anyway).  I'll have internet on the ship, but we'll be in company for the Canada itinerary, so it'll be brief snippets possibly.  Plus, now that DH has given up the cigarettes (Yay!!), I won't have time to myself (which I used to have when he'd go off to have a smoke - that was when I usually did my 'Live' posting).  But if there's anything specific you want to know about, please let me know in advance so I can get the info for you.

[DCGuy64]

20 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Thanks, DCGuy!  I may report "Live" as it's so much easier in some ways than trying to do it after arriving home (it certainly is for me, anyway).  I'll have internet on the ship, but we'll be in company for the Canada itinerary, so it'll be brief snippets possibly.  Plus, now that DH has given up the cigarettes (Yay!!), I won't have time to myself (which I used to have when he'd go off to have a smoke - that was when I usually did my 'Live' posting).  But if there's anything specific you want to know about, please let me know in advance so I can get the info for you.

Good on DH for kicking the habit. (You know the old Mark Twain joke?) I think we'd mainly be interested to know who are the best servers and bartenders in the Yacht Club. I'm tempted to scour the pages here to see who is recommended, but I think someone mentioned that the staff may change when Meraviglia moves from Europe to the Caribbean so the info might be inaccurate. 

[Beamafar]

That might very well be the case!  However, I've seen a photo of the servers in the Champagne Bar (where I intend to spend quite some time enjoying our Prem+ package 😜) on a FB posting and, I believe, it was stated that they would be onboard when Meraviglia goes Stateside.  Anyway, we know one of the servers, so are looking forward to seeing her there!

 

We also have a letter to take to a head waiter, who is the boyfriend of one of the butlers in TSL on Seaview.  We had told her that we would be going on Mera and, when she said that her boyfriend was working there, I told her to write a letter (they're so much more special and intimate, aren't they?!) and we'd give it to him.  I hope it'll be a lovely surprise for him.  😊

 

Anyway ... I'll report on my findings re the crew and whether any stand out.  As for DH ... he got enough of a health scare to cause him to give up smoking - 2 weeks off today, but is struggling at times.

 

ETA ... not sure about the Mark Twain joke.  🤔

Edited September 19, 2019 by Beamafar

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

That might very well be the case!  However, I've seen a photo of the servers in the Champagne Bar (where I intend to spend quite some time enjoying our Prem+ package 😜) on a FB posting and, I believe, it was stated that they would be onboard when Meraviglia goes Stateside.  Anyway, we know one of the servers, so are looking forward to seeing her there!

 

We also have a letter to take to a head waiter, who is the boyfriend of one of the butlers in TSL on Seaview.  We had told her that we would be going on Mera and, when she said that her boyfriend was working there, I told her to write a letter (they're so much more special and intimate, aren't they?!) and we'd give it to him.  I hope it'll be a lovely surprise for him.  😊

 

Anyway ... I'll report on my findings re the crew and whether any stand out.  As for DH ... he got enough of a health scare to cause him to give up smoking - 2 weeks off today, but is struggling at times.

 

ETA ... not sure about the Mark Twain joke.  🤔

That's great. What a nice gesture to offer to deliver a (love?) letter to her bf. 😚

The Mark Twain quote is something like this: "quitting tobacco is easy; I've done it hundreds of times." 😂

[WorldTraveler151208]

6 hours ago, Até said:

While I do prefer the Seaside class YC over Fantasia class I think Seashore will have problems.  OP is correct about the 50% increase in cabins.  The Top Sail lounge is the same size as Seaside class, the YC restaurant has been extended further out over the Top Sail lounge to accommodate more tables, galley size looks the same.  From looking at the ship model the One Pool deck will be a little larger as it now extends over all YC cabins, on Seaside class part of the Top 19 is above some of the YC.  Overall I feel Seashore will be a significantly more crowded YC than Seaside class and have no plans to book it until reading multiple reports.  Unfortunately the World Class YC looks even more dire.

I absolutely agree with your opinion about the World-Class. On the ship's model it looks like the Yacht Club will be located on 6 decks. That means there will be about 70 cabins only on one side. After adding the front and the interior cabins, they will probably reach around 180 YC staterooms, which will probably be a huge failure. And by the way, creating YC Interior cabins was not a good idea either. How can they offer an ordinary, tiny interior cabin as a YC suite?

I really hope that MSC will not make the mistake from Seashore again on the World-Class ships and that they will think through the size of the Yacht Club. I hope that they will return to the old concept of the YC from Fantasia-Class, which was so perfectly created.

[mnocket]

7 hours ago, Norwegian Cruiser 73 said:

@Captain-John I really hope MSC take this seriously and offer the YC as it should be, also on their largest ships and their new builds in the future. I'm a bit disappointed after this cruise I'm afraid. That's the first time ever after so many wonderful cruises in the YC. They must improve the menus in the restaurant and get enough staff to offer the guests the fine service that they are renowned for in the YC. I really don't hope that this cruise was a result of cutbacks. Then they have a problem. On a positive note, our assistant butler, the concierge and the staff in the restaurant where excellent. Together with our company from Ireland and the weather they made us a great cruise 👍 Have a wonderful cruise on the Preziosa 😀

@Norwegian Cruiser 73 Off topic, but I think you may have some good advice.

I am writing this from the Seaside Yacht  Club. I booked this cruise because I wanted to try MSC and the Yacht Club before deciding on a cruise line for a Norwegian fjords cruise in 2021.  My thinking was that the Top Sail Lounge would provide a perfect, less crowded viewing area for this scenic cruise.  As a trial run, this cruise has sold me on the Yacht  Club for warm weather itineraries (I love the pool area and service). I'm not so sure I would like the Yacht Club as much on a colder itinerary as I find the experience elsewhere on the ship to be too crowded.  What would be your recommendation of cruise lines for sailing the fjords?  Yacht Club would be perfect if the rest of the ship wasn't so darn crowded.

[Formula280SS]

11 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We were in YC on Seaview a couple of weeks ago ... for us, MSC is going in the wrong direction when it comes to YC.  We did not like YC on Seaview and can't wait to get back onboard in Meraviglia's YC, which we loved.

 

Always follow your comments.

 

We've cruised YC B2B's Divina and Seaside and really enjoyed the YC.  We see some comments re: Meraviglia's YC that are not so uplifting and we are booked for 2 B2B's (December and March).

 

In short, could you do a 'punch list of what to expect that is different on Meraviglia that you liked?

 

Thank you.