MSC Yacht Club

[Captain-John]

5 minutes ago, SeaSunset22 said:

At one stage with the wine I had a sarcastic comment from a waiter of "oh do we have some sort of wine expert here !? " to which I replied "no, I just know what I like and what I don't without having to taste a little bit !!" 

🤯🤯🤯🤯

[DCGuy64]

Just now, Captain-John said:

🤯🤯🤯🤯

Someone please tell me that comment was made in jest. Otherwise, wow. 

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, WorldTraveler151208 said:

The quality at YC Restaurant is very high. Italian flavors dominate, so if you like Italian cuisine you'll probably be delighted. Service in both the YC lounge and restaurant is of a high standard and they are usually fast enough. Also drinks are high quality unlike many all inclusive hotels.  I love tea, which is why I value daily High Tea Service in the Top Sail Lounge, which is an elegant tea at five o’clock served by a butler in white gloves (in the English style). Personally, I think the crew in the Yacht Club really always does their best and the service is usually great. It looks differently in other bars and restaurants, outside the YC area. Unfortunately, it is usually crowded there and you have to wait a bit for the waiter. That's why I recommend enjoying the personalized, 5-star Yacht Club service inside the private area, especially during days at sea, when the ship is full.

Thank you kindly, WorldTraveler. Yes, as a matter of fact, Italian cuisine is my #1 favorite, so we should be in luck. But what really piqued my interest is the mention of High Tea. Now, if you tell me they serve legit clotted cream & strawberry jam, I may faint. 😵 Cheers! 

[SirWolf]

3 hours ago, WorldTraveler151208 said:

The quality at YC Restaurant is very high. Italian flavors dominate, so if you like Italian cuisine you'll probably be delighted. Service in both the YC lounge and restaurant is of a high standard and they are usually fast enough. Also drinks are high quality unlike many all inclusive hotels.  I love tea, which is why I value daily High Tea Service in the Top Sail Lounge, which is an elegant tea at five o’clock served by a butler in white gloves (in the English style). Personally, I think the crew in the Yacht Club really always does their best and the service is usually great.

Not my experience on MSC Meraviglia (Baltic Sea cruise in September 2019).

- Dinner was 4 out of 7 nights sub-par with lukewarm or very bad (chewy) meat.

- Italian made Tiramisu is different compared to Vanilla-Creme-Style Tiramisu on Meraviglia.

- No butter knifes is not a “good” service.

- No olive oil but trays for olive oil on the table.

- No second glass of wine... sorry that is not “good” service either.

- No high tea in YC lounge , no butler in white gloves present and not even carts for elegant tea set up.

Food quality and Service in YC on Meraviglia has declined compared to Seaview (2018) and Bellissima (2019).

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

On the seaside YC 8/31. Absolutely met resistance on wine requests. Asked for a glass of the livio pinot grigio at lunch Sunday 9/1. The waiter tried to pour me the open bottle of dansante pinot grigio, I passed and said I would go without. A short while later the maitre'd showed up with the bottle of livio and poured for our table and next table. It is on the YC wine menu. At the Top sail lounge later that day I, met same resistance. Bartender looked at me like he had never hear the name before, even though it is on the menu. Offered me the open bottle of pinot grigio and I passed. He said don't look at the label and poured me a taste of a white. Took a sip and I didn't like, so I walked away without any wine. Didn't like the dasante, he would not get me the livio and poured me a taste of chardonnay not to my liking. For me pinot grigio and chardonnay at not really interchangeable. At dinner same night I was poured a glass of mirassou pinot noir, not to my liking. Asked for a glass of the Louis Jadot, on the YC menu. The waiter did bring and said would have available each night. There is no consistency between the Dining Room and the Top Sail Lounge, connected by a set of stairs. Upon commenting the next day to the bartender I didn't like the taste of the chardonnay he had poured me yesterday, ( Clos du bois) his response, it is one of our best sellers. As to say, your palate is wrong. Eventually, by midweek, the restaurant had both the livio available at lunch and the louis jadot available dinner. The TSL not so much. Each time I would make the request for the livio pinot grigio or the louis jadot pinot noir, he would look at what was already open, look at me, look at the menu and act confused. It was tiresome. The restaurant seemed to figure it out, not the TSL. Good luck to all.

 

I'm thinking that – for the first time in over 20 cruises – we may cancel the automatic tips so that we can give to only those who provide a 'yacht club' experience.  I know that stiffs the poor folks behind the scenes, but it's the only way I can think of to make sure that bartender doesn't get any.

[Linda the Book Lover]

3 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thank you kindly, WorldTraveler. Yes, as a matter of fact, Italian cuisine is my #1 favorite, so we should be in luck. But what really piqued my interest is the mention of High Tea. Now, if you tell me they serve legit clotted cream & strawberry jam, I may faint. 😵 Cheers! 

I have to add my two cents and say my friend and I enjoyed high tea. While our husbands laughed at us from another table we loved every minute of it. Get ready to faint! I felt blessed that I mentioned my love of Risotto at the very beginning and that sometimes I would rather have that than the main offering. I had wonderful Risotto every night and I was thrilled.

[WorldTraveler151208]

9 hours ago, SirWolf said:

Not my experience on MSC Meraviglia (Baltic Sea cruise in September 2019).

- Dinner was 4 out of 7 nights sub-par with lukewarm or very bad (chewy) meat.

- Italian made Tiramisu is different compared to Vanilla-Creme-Style Tiramisu on Meraviglia.

- No butter knifes is not a “good” service.

- No olive oil but trays for olive oil on the table.

- No second glass of wine... sorry that is not “good” service either.

- No high tea in YC lounge , no butler in white gloves present and not even carts for elegant tea set up.

Food quality and Service in YC on Meraviglia has declined compared to Seaview (2018) and Bellissima (2019).

I realize YC is not the same on new, larger MSC ships. I was very excited about the new YC on Meraviglia and unfortunately it was the first time when YC extremely disappointed me. Service is really much worse on Meraviglia, but despite that on my Meraviglia cruise (Norway, July 2019) High Tea was alright as well as butter knives were always in their place. I believe your criticism is not unfounded and I am sad to see what is happening at MSC.

Still, I have had wonderful cruises on all Fantasia Class ships, including Preziosa and I still recommend them.

[Beamafar]

16 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thank you kindly, WorldTraveler. Yes, as a matter of fact, Italian cuisine is my #1 favorite, so we should be in luck. But what really piqued my interest is the mention of High Tea. Now, if you tell me they serve legit clotted cream & strawberry jam, I may faint. 😵 Cheers! 

 

I'm afraid you only get MSC's version of afternoon tea, DCG ... no scones with clotted cream & strawberry jam, I'm afraid!  It's still a very nice experience, with tiny sandwiches and dainty sweet things offered.  If I get around to doing it one afternoon, I'll post some pics for you.

[Toofarfromthesea]

21 hours ago, WorldTraveler151208 said:

The quality at YC Restaurant is very high. Italian flavors dominate, so if you like Italian cuisine you'll probably be delighted. Service in both the YC lounge and restaurant is of a high standard and they are usually fast enough. Also drinks are high quality unlike many all inclusive hotels.  I love tea, which is why I value daily High Tea Service in the Top Sail Lounge, which is an elegant tea at five o’clock served by a butler in white gloves (in the English style). Personally, I think the crew in the Yacht Club really always does their best and the service is usually great. It looks differently in other bars and restaurants, outside the YC area. Unfortunately, it is usually crowded there and you have to wait a bit for the waiter. That's why I recommend enjoying the personalized, 5-star Yacht Club service inside the private area, especially during days at sea, when the ship is full.

 

This was not even remotely the case on my YC Baltic/Fjords cruise just last April/May on Meraviglia.  The menu was not Italian, and the service was very lacking in both the TSL and the restaurant.  Many of the crew had attitude, including my butler.  To the point that the other housekeeping staff hated working with him.  TSL serving staff, including some of the butlers were poorly trained and suffered with tunnel vision and an inability to multitask, e.g. taking a drink order after clearing a nearby table.  

My YC cruise on Divina in the Western Med last year was closer to what you describe.  But not nearly as perfect as your experience seems to have been.

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

5 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

I'm afraid you only get MSC's version of afternoon tea, DCG ... no scones with clotted cream & strawberry jam, I'm afraid!  It's still a very nice experience, with tiny sandwiches and dainty sweet things offered.  If I get around to doing it one afternoon, I'll post some pics for you.

 

And all of the items they give you are straight off the little TSL buffet.  It is cute, but the Ritz it is not.

And BTW, what they serve is Afternoon Tea, not High Tea which, ironically, is a lesser tea than Afternoon Tea.  (I know you said afternoon tea, which is correct, but others persist in calling it high tea, which kind of makes them look a little foolish to Brits)

"Though these terms are often used interchangeably, they are actually distinctly different. High tea is not a fancy tea, as many people assume. Delectable scones, tea sandwiches, and cakes are the hallmark of an afternoon tea, which is served in midafternoon. ... Think of it as a light supper served with tea."

https://www.teatimemagazine.com/high-tea-vs-afternoon-tea/

There is also a Cream Tea, which is lighter still than High Tea.
 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Toofarfromthesea

[Shippy]

I really miss the YC2 category on Seaside. We always got that cabin on Divina.

Giant with large living room and separate bedroom. 

I did not mind it was on a separate floor.

I think that cabin is on the Seaside but with a different category that has no yacht club access.

Now your only hope for a large cabin is a YC3.

 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, goodoldan said:

Lines like Regent offer a much more homogeneous product that is best suited to the people in the Yacht Club, Haven, etc today... while the mass market cruise lines might deliver a better product by abandoning the "ship within a ship" concept and paying attention to what ought to be their core competency... one that they fail at so often by trying to be too many things to too many different types of customers.

 

Regent SS wouldn't be a good fit for me nor for my family. We have 2 young children so things such as water-slides, go-karts, zip-lines, etc. appeal to us but we also like the "ship within a ship" concept of the Haven/Yacht Club for the service and exclusivity.

 

Large ship + exclusive enclave works for us. Virgin (obviously) wouldn't work for us. I don't even think that Celebrity's Retreat would work for us since the rest of the ship doesn't have what the large ships have as far as water parks, rock climbing, etc. 

 

I don't think that any line is perfect for everyone. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[CGTNORMANDIE]

13 hours ago, Shippy said:

I really miss the YC2 category on Seaside. We always got that cabin on Divina.

Giant with large living room and separate bedroom. 

I did not mind it was on a separate floor.

I think that cabin is on the Seaside but with a different category that has no yacht club access.

Now your only hope for a large cabin is a YC3.

 

 

The 12001 on Divina is the best!  To bad there are not more of them.  Lately they have been putting on big prices for that Suite...too bad.  It was a great alternative to a YC.  

[WorldTraveler151208]

I have another question. Despite so many times in the YC, I have never checked it yet. Does anyone know if YC guests have access to the Aurea sun deck? I know that it would make no sense to go to the Aurea sun deck when you have access to YC, but I ask out of curiosity.

[SeaSunset22]

3 minutes ago, WorldTraveler151208 said:

I have another question. Despite so many times in the YC, I have never checked it yet. Does anyone know if YC guests have access to the Aurea sun deck? I know that it would make no sense to go to the Aurea sun deck when you have access to YC, but I ask out of curiosity.

Yes, I can confirm they do have access. We accidentally went there when new and finding our way around the ship. We were told no problem and stay and have drink !

[frank808]

On 9/19/2019 at 4:32 AM, 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.

So it seems Alessandro has moved from Seaside to Seaview? 

 

On Seaside it never felt crowded at all in any YC venue.  At least compared to the suite lounge on Oasis class ships.  Really interesting that you felt Meraviglia felt less crowded than Seaview.  Could it be because of the European itineraries(seaview) vs caribbean itinerary (seaside)?

[Beamafar]

4 hours ago, frank808 said:

On Seaside it never felt crowded at all in any YC venue.  ... Really interesting that you felt Meraviglia felt less crowded than Seaview.  Could it be because of the European itineraries(seaview) vs caribbean itinerary (seaside)?

 

You may have mis-read what I said, Frank.  I said that Seaview didn't feel any less crowded than Meraviglia - something that had been said before on the forum that Seaview (or Seaside - can't remember) WAS less crowded than Mera.  I actually said that Mera YC didn't feel crowded at all - ergo, neither did Seaview.

 

It is assumed that YC on Mera would be more crowded due to the number of cabins, which is greater than on Seaside/Seaview - we didn't find that to be the case.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Beamafar

[frank808]

Ok thanks.  I was wondering why YC would be so crowded compared to Meraviglia considering Mera has more YC cabins.

45 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

You may have mis-read what I said, Frank.  I said that Seaview didn't feel any less crowded than Meraviglia - something that had been said before on the forum that Seaview (or Seaside - can't remember) WAS less crowded than Mera.  I actually said that Mera YC didn't feel crowded at all - ergo, neither did Seaview.

 

It is assumed that YC on Mera would be more crowded due to the number of cabins, which is greater than on Seaside/Seaview - we didn't find that to be the case.

Ok thanks.  I was wondering why seaview YC would be so crowded compared to Meraviglia considering Mera has more YC cabins.