Yacht Club Changes

[Captain-John]

Here's an idea - instead of sneaking rum-runners full of booze ONTO the ship - why not take an empty one, and a funnel?

 

As they've removed the miniatures from the mini bar - why not just go up to the actual bar, as many times as you like (because you can), take the glass back to your cabin and tip it into the rum-runner (or equivalent) via the funnel. Rinse and repeat. You'd have a full colostomy bag (I mean, rum-runner!) by the end of the trip. Serves as two fingers up to MSC for removing the miniatures from the mini-bar, and you get a litre of booze for the cupboard back home. Plus you can still drink onboard. They'd never know?! Even better, wrap the rum-runner in a pool towel or similar, to soak up any leakage, and have the bonus of a linen souvenir too.

 

It's up to you, the reader, as to how far you think my tongue is pressed into my cheek!  The scale goes from 'all the way' to 'not at all, you're dead serious, John.' 😏

 

 

 

[Beamafar]

... especially with only having 10 steps to get there, Cap'n!   😂

 

(cont'd from my previous post lol)

Edited November 12, 2019 by Beamafar

[slei15]

6 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

Here's an idea - instead of sneaking rum-runners full of booze ONTO the ship - why not take an empty one, and a funnel?

 

As they've removed the miniatures from the mini bar - why not just go up to the actual bar, as many times as you like (because you can), take the glass back to your cabin and tip it into the rum-runner (or equivalent) via the funnel. Rinse and repeat. You'd have a full colostomy bag (I mean, rum-runner!) by the end of the trip. Serves as two fingers up to MSC for removing the miniatures from the mini-bar, and you get a litre of booze for the cupboard back home. Plus you can still drink onboard. They'd never know?! Even better, wrap the rum-runner in a pool towel or similar, to soak up any leakage, and have the bonus of a linen souvenir too.

 

It's up to you, the reader, as to how far you think my tongue is pressed into my cheek!  The scale goes from 'all the way' to 'not at all, you're dead serious, John.' 😏

 

 

 

You have just given me a great idea for my next cruise! Off to Amazon to buy some rum runners, and then start prepping to order some "neat" drinks! 

[Captain-John]

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

... especially with only having 10 steps to get there, Cap'n!   😂

 

Indeed!

 

1 minute ago, slei15 said:

You have just given me a great idea for my next cruise! Off to Amazon to buy some rum runners, and then start prepping to order some "neat" drinks! 

 

Excellent. How long before MSC declare bankruptcy? 😁

[DCGuy64]

10 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

Here's an idea - instead of sneaking rum-runners full of booze ONTO the ship - why not take an empty one, and a funnel?

 

As they've removed the miniatures from the mini bar - why not just go up to the actual bar, as many times as you like (because you can), take the glass back to your cabin and tip it into the rum-runner (or equivalent) via the funnel. Rinse and repeat. You'd have a full colostomy bag (I mean, rum-runner!) by the end of the trip. Serves as two fingers up to MSC for removing the miniatures from the mini-bar, and you get a litre of booze for the cupboard back home. Plus you can still drink onboard. They'd never know?! Even better, wrap the rum-runner in a pool towel or similar, to soak up any leakage, and have the bonus of a linen souvenir too.

 

It's up to you, the reader, as to how far you think my tongue is pressed into my cheek!  The scale goes from 'all the way' to 'not at all, you're dead serious, John.' 😏

 

 

 

 Why stop there? I'm thinking of renting a truck and paying the wait staff to offload as many bottles of fine liquor as I can upon disembarkation. After all, I paid for it, it's mine! (and we've paid for Premium +, I intend to get my money's worth)

[slei15]

1 minute ago, Captain-John said:

Excellent. How long before MSC declare bankruptcy? 😁

Lucky for MSC my next one is on Celebrity over Christmas, so they will be the first victims! 😀 But come March 2020, my last one with the old deluxe package on MSC, watch out!!!

[bluefish17]

I have to admit that the last 2 YC cruises we were on, I never opened the bottle of prosecco on ice in our cabin and didnt take it home either. Didnt matter to me whether Id already paid for it. I assume they just put them on ice the next week.

[nednrom]

7 minutes ago, bluefish17 said:

I have to admit that the last 2 YC cruises we were on, I never opened the bottle of prosecco on ice in our cabin and didnt take it home either. Didnt matter to me whether Id already paid for it. I assume they just put them on ice the next week.

 

It wasn't the YC but did the same thing on another cruiseline with 2 bottles of red wine.

[grandgeezer]

29 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

 

Indeed!

 

 

Excellent. How long before MSC declare bankruptcy? 😁

Take a look at their 2018 annual report and see how lame this comment really is. In fact they have $11.4 billion pounds committed to new ships between 2019-2027.

[Captain-John]

Just now, grandgeezer said:

Take a look at their 2018 annual report and see how lame this comment really is. In fact they have $11.4 billion pounds committed to new ships between 2019-2027.

 

Well I wouldn't quite describe my comment, made in jest, as 'lame' but thank you for pointing out the financial strength of MSC. Makes it seem even more ludicrous they're cutting back on Pringles and miniatures, eh?

 

As it seems I have to spell it out - I was making fun of the fact that, if everyone did take an empty container, and fill it with drinks from the bar, and take it home, it would end up costing MSC more than they anticipate. Of course I didn't really think it would bankrupt the company.

 

Tempers are frayed on this thread, for sure!! 😂

 

 

[floridian1]

They can keep the pringles and mini liquors- what I really want is free jean philippe chocolate drinks. LOVED the Venchi bar on Seaside.

Edited November 12, 2019 by floridian1

[mnocket]

So much speculation about "abuse" being the reason for the change.  I may be completely wrong, but I suspect the reality is there is a normal distribution regarding mini-bar usage.  Sure there are some who abuse it - but there are others who barely use it. and a whole bunch who lie somewhere in the middle.  One of the nice things about " all-inclusive luxury" is having almost everything you desire available to you without hassle. You might not avail yourself of all that is available - or even the majority of what's available, but it's nice to know that if you want it - it's there.  

  

  

I'm sure MSC's pricing model takes into consideration how much of what is used by how many. That's essential for  pricing and also re-provisioning the ship on turnaround day.  So the question here is ....  has abuse of the mini-bar risen so dramatically that MSC is faced with the choice of either raising fares or charging for mini-bar use?  I suspect not, but I really don't know.  All I can say it that looking across most every mainstream cruise line I see example after example of the erosion of service and quality - my favorite example is Princess replacing steak on their every-day menu with a hamburger.  I really don't see this trend as a response to customer behavior, but as a response to market studies and knowledge of what changes the customer will bear. 

[GratefulRIC]

3 hours ago, frank808 said:

If you are able to, please tell Lezle "HI" from his Hawaii friends Hunter and Frank.  We will be seeing him onboard this coming June.  We already requested him to have him assigned as our butler.  Thanks

Will do. He said he was going home not sure how to read whether he is coming back. Great gentleman, great service.
 

Oh and we don’t give a good god darn about the Pringle’s. Don’t touch the Butlers, one pool bar and grill,  Aurea spa included, priority lines, topsail lounge, YC restaurant,  gelato, venchi, pax to space ratio, concierge, Isabelle in the topsail lounge, I’m sure I’m forgetting some things that more than make up for the minibar and Pringle’s. 

[Beamafar]

4 minutes ago, GratefulRIC said:

Don’t touch the Butlers, one pool bar and grill,  Aurea spa included, priority lines, topsail lounge ...

 

Unfortunately for us, the ambiance in TSL on both Seaview (September last) and Meraviglia (the last 3 weeks) was destroyed by the loudness of the "entertainment".  I don't intend to derail this thread with detail.  I'll be commenting on my own thread about our Mera experiences.

[GratefulRIC]

6 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

Unfortunately for us, the ambiance in TSL on both Seaview (September last) and Meraviglia (the last 3 weeks) was destroyed by the loudness of the "entertainment".  I don't intend to derail this thread with detail.  I'll be commenting on my own thread about our Mera experiences.

Yes I should have mentioned we coming from the Seaside perspective. 

[frank808]

52 minutes ago, GratefulRIC said:

Will do. He said he was going home not sure how to read whether he is coming back. Great gentleman, great service.
 

Oh and we don’t give a good god darn about the Pringle’s. Don’t touch the Butlers, one pool bar and grill,  Aurea spa included, priority lines, topsail lounge, YC restaurant,  gelato, venchi, pax to space ratio, concierge, Isabelle in the topsail lounge, I’m sure I’m forgetting some things that more than make up for the minibar and Pringle’s. 

Ok thanks.  He should be going home in a couple months.  He did tell us that he would be back by June 2020 for our next cruise with him.  But assignments and dates change.  Hopefully he can confirm that he will be back.

 

We actually enjoyed the pringles and nuts for late night snacks. We never touch any of the liquids except water in the mini fridge.  Hope we still get the mini fridge on Seaside in 7 months.  Going to see about the gelato and crepes also.  Not a big deal as we only had about 4 gelato and 2 crepes each over the span of two weeks.  But as someone else mentioned, I paid for an all inclusive experience and do not want to be nickle and dimed.  Will see what changes MSC will bring to YC and if their negatives out weight the positives, will take cruise $$$$ elsewhere.

[vulcan1971]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

Unfortunately for us, the ambiance in TSL on both Seaview (September last) and Meraviglia (the last 3 weeks) was destroyed by the loudness of the "entertainment".  I don't intend to derail this thread with detail.  I'll be commenting on my own thread about our Mera experiences.

 

Please post links to the threads... I would love to read your thoughts.

[phissy]

I want to chime in with my dissatisfaction with MSC, if they change YC amenities without any notice. I agree that when booking YC , amenities listed at that time should be included when sailing. They honored this with the changes in the drink packages. I think they should consider how much more they are charging now for YC than before. We are paying 3 times what we did for our first YC Cruise. Still happy with product but if MSC starts behaving like the “others” , what a sad day.

[gmbhardy]

52 minutes ago, phissy said:

I want to chime in with my dissatisfaction with MSC, if they change YC amenities without any notice. I agree that when booking YC , amenities listed at that time should be included when sailing. They honored this with the changes in the drink packages. I think they should consider how much more they are charging now for YC than before. We are paying 3 times what we did for our first YC Cruise. Still happy with product but if MSC starts behaving like the “others” , what a sad day.

 

👍👍👍

[Mrs Soap]

Personally, I think if they reduce inclusions it should not affect those who have already booked....and if it does there should be an act of good will involved even a small amount of OBC.

 I totally get we are talking about some Pringle’s and grog you can get at any bar but I think if you pay for a product you should receive what you thought you were buying, even as silly as Pringle’s! Otherwise it’s Pandora’s box IMO

[Beamafar]

5 hours ago, vulcan1971 said:

 

Please post links to the threads... I would love to read your thoughts.

 

Here ya go:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2703975-meraviglia-new-york-canada-miami-octnov-19/

 

[LadySpoilt]

12 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

Unfortunately for us, the ambiance in TSL on both Seaview (September last) and Meraviglia (the last 3 weeks) was destroyed by the loudness of the "entertainment".  I don't intend to derail this thread with detail.  I'll be commenting on my own thread about our Mera experiences.

Beamafar, we had the same experience recently on the Seaside. While the entertainers were very good, the loudness was quite often quite annoying and almost made you dread seeing them there!  We enjoy background music but often the vocals and music were often so loud that you could not carry on a conversation (even sitting pretty far away).  That was one of the few complaints we had and we did discuss it with the manager of the YC.

[gmbhardy]

3 hours ago, LadySpoilt said:

Beamafar, we had the same experience recently on the Seaside. While the entertainers were very good, the loudness was quite often quite annoying and almost made you dread seeing them there!  We enjoy background music but often the vocals and music were often so loud that you could not carry on a conversation (even sitting pretty far away).  That was one of the few complaints we had and we did discuss it with the manager of the YC.

 

We were on the Seaside last month. We thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and didn’t find it loud at all. The duo in the TSL are really very good and at times we would have preferred them to be a little louder. Funny how people can have the same experience but interpret it so differently.

[DCGuy64]

We paid for the Premium+ package based in part on the menus kindly supplied by @Beamafar. Thanks, Bea! Now, if we find it difficult for the YC bar to serve us what we paid for, I'll be bringing this to the attention of the maître d', the bar manager, guest services, the concierge, our butler and even the captain if necessary.

[hamrag]

6 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

We paid for the Premium+ package based in part on the menus kindly supplied by @Beamafar. Thanks, Bea! Now, if we find it difficult for the YC bar to serve us what we paid for, I'll be bringing this to the attention of the maître d', the bar manager, guest services, the concierge, our butler and even the captain if necessary.

If you do that, just keep an eye out on the bar staff when your drinks are being poured........😉