How is the food on Seaside specifically the YC ? Switching from X

[riredsox]

1 minute ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Can't answer your question.  I am not a smoker.  Really don't pay much attention to this.  I remember nothing when I was on the Pool Deck/Grill area that was of any significance notice as to smokers.  

Thank you!  Good to hear!  So looking forward to our cruises.

[rkacruiser]

6 minutes ago, riredsox said:

Thank you!  Good to hear!  So looking forward to our cruises.

 

As a first time MSC guest and surely in YC on Meraviglia, there wasn't much I would have changed from that cruise.  Such a ship offers so many different entertainment opportunities and experiences:  it can be overwhelming, I suppose for a new cruiser.

 

As a YC guest, I was pleased that when I showed my cruise card to a bartender or steward outside the YC, usually, such recognition made a difference.  Even gaining entrance to the Theater for a show where I had not made reservations:  "come right on in" was the crew member's response.   

 

[alyssamma]

 

1 hour ago, riredsox said:

Hi, first time MSC cruiser after 37 Celebrity cruises.  How is the smoking at the pool and the outdoor YC grill?   Are you able to get away from it?  We are doing B2B in Sept on the Seaside. Did a suite on the Celebrity Edge and loved it but have always wanted to try the MSC YC!

 

See what I said above in response to a similar comment...

10 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Not sure about the non-YC areas, but this is definitely not true for YC area. No smoking by the grill, pool, and where tables are set out. Otherwise, half of the rest of the deck is for smoking.

 

As for smoking on balconies, at least in the YC, I didn't notice any. It may, of course, vary from cruise to cruise.

[psmarkle]

We've sailed Seaside YC 2x in a row and are about 1 month out from 3x.  I can say I truly enjoyed the food on both cruises, so far.  We did not eat outside of the YC except for our complimentary Black Card dinner.  For me, if I did not see anything on the menu I desired, I just ordered the every day Filet Mignon which I found exceptional all 3 times I ordered it!

 

Try the YC restaurant for lunch as well, very nice selection.  For breakfast, we pretty much ate at the poolside buffet and they nailed my eggs benedict every morning!

[faddymaher]

19 hours ago, diesel1973 said:

Doesn't make sense to me to have to pay extra to get a satisfying cruise. Had a Fantastica balcony which was comparable in price to a RC cruise or X. If you check on my past posts my cruise on Seaside was the worst cruise ever. Was excited to cruise on new ship but boy was I mistaken. My neighbors just returned from a cruise on the Meraviglia and compared to their cruise on Seaside last year was horrible. Not traveling in YC is no excuse for having a terrible cruise in other rooms on their ships.

Just returned from Cruise on Seaside and found it appalling, I agree not travelling on YC is no excuse for having a terrible experience, the food was mediocre at best, compared it to cafeteria lunches, presentation was mediocre and found it unattable, ended up at the caffeteria, just ate salads and veg all week.

The ship is understaffed, long waits to be served at bars, twice we ended up leaving, thank god we didn't opt for the drink parquage, way over priced and imposed on all members of the same booking.

Had Fantastica balcony room, my sheets weren't changed, we asked for early dinner on booking ( due my husband medical condition, he can hardly stay up past 21h00) and english speaking table and programs, had a 21h15 table, with french gusts and programs in French, were told I could get some in english at customer service desks.

Shows we not good, same paquage everynight just changed decor and costumed, like the BEERPROV though but at 22h30

I travel the same cruise liner in the mediteranean and only had 5 stars to give on all fronts

Will surelly not travel with them again

[CGTNORMANDIE]

1 hour ago, faddymaher said:

Just returned from Cruise on Seaside and found it appalling, I agree not travelling on YC is no excuse for having a terrible experience, the food was mediocre at best, compared it to cafeteria lunches, presentation was mediocre and found it unattable, ended up at the caffeteria, just ate salads and veg all week.

The ship is understaffed, long waits to be served at bars, twice we ended up leaving, thank god we didn't opt for the drink parquage, way over priced and imposed on all members of the same booking.

Had Fantastica balcony room, my sheets weren't changed, we asked for early dinner on booking ( due my husband medical condition, he can hardly stay up past 21h00) and english speaking table and programs, had a 21h15 table, with french gusts and programs in French, were told I could get some in english at customer service desks.

Shows we not good, same paquage everynight just changed decor and costumed, like the BEERPROV though but at 22h30

I travel the same cruise liner in the mediteranean and only had 5 stars to give on all fronts

Will surelly not travel with them again

Sorry you had a bad experience.  I find it strange that thousands of other pax had a perfectly delightful time on the same cruise.  Perhaps you need to start your own post that relates to your “appalling” cruise.  I can understand your frustration to vent but this is the wrong forum for you since it centers on the Yacht Club experience.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critics.

 

[dgparent]

11 hours ago, psmarkle said:

We've sailed Seaside YC 2x in a row and are about 1 month out from 3x.  I can say I truly enjoyed the food on both cruises, so far.  We did not eat outside of the YC except for our complimentary Black Card dinner.  For me, if I did not see anything on the menu I desired, I just ordered the every day Filet Mignon which I found exceptional all 3 times I ordered it!

 

Try the YC restaurant for lunch as well, very nice selection.  For breakfast, we pretty much ate at the poolside buffet and they nailed my eggs benedict every morning!

Thanks for this, I love Filet Mignon, has to be something pretty special on the menu for me not to order it. And thanks to everyone for the responses makes me feel better about my choice to sail MSC over X we almost did a couple of years ago but at that time the free drinks were only in the YC area I think and also the YC was sold out when we tried booking.

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, psmarkle said:

We did not eat outside of the YC except for our complimentary Black Card dinner.

 

Other than Pizza, I dined only in the YC Restaurant or Room Service.  I did not use my complimentary Black Card dinner.  Only a limited menu was available for such use and those menus did not appeal.  Should I have used the Black Card perk?  (I was very satisfied with my dining experience in the YC Restaurant.)

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, psmarkle said:

Try the YC restaurant for lunch as well, very nice selection.  For breakfast, we pretty much ate at the poolside buffet and they nailed my eggs benedict every morning!

 

Yes, lunch was always great.  I did not dine at the poolside buffet very much; never thought about asking the Chef to prepare eggs benedict.  

[WonderMan3]

15 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Sorry you had a bad experience.  I find it strange that thousands of other pax had a perfectly delightful time on the same cruise.  Perhaps you need to start your own post that relates to your “appalling” cruise.  I can understand your frustration to vent but this is the wrong forum for you since it centers on the Yacht Club experience.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critics.

 

There is no reason to be so dismissive of someone’s viewpoint that differs from yours. If you have had good experiences on MSC that’s great. This person did not. And there are plenty of other negative reviews if you scroll through this whole forum. Everyone has a different perspective. Sometimes people have lower expectations when it comes to service and food than others and can put up with or ignore things that other people with higher expectations find irritating. 

[capriccio]

OP - we were on our first MSC cruise in January in a YC cabin on the Meraviglia.  We greatly enjoyed our meals, especially dinners.  DH and I eat mostly a Mediterranean diet (something we grew accustomed to when we lived in Rome for 5 years and Athens for 3 well before that diet became popular in the States) and always found something delicious on the dinner menus.  Others have mentioned the wonderful risottos; they also serve homemade pastas and great fish dishes.  While the risottos and pastas usually appear in the entree section of the menu, we had no problem asking for 'appetizer' size portions for our first course (which often came out entree size) and then followed with fish or meat.  Enjoy your cruise!

[Seadweller001]

We switched from X to MSC YC.  We eat steaks at home, burgers but not Italian food so we really enjoyed eating in the Le Muse.  The pizza is great, lasagna like homemade and we enjoyed every meal.   We booked 4 YC European cruises due to this great experience.

[faddymaher]

21 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Sorry you had a bad experience.  I find it strange that thousands of other pax had a perfectly delightful time on the same cruise.  Perhaps you need to start your own post that relates to your “appalling” cruise.  I can understand your frustration to vent but this is the wrong forum for you since it centers on the Yacht Club experience.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critics.

 

Not all critics are good critics and depend on one's experience, the subject of this post was How is the food on Seaside, especially YC, which implies opinions on both. I am glad that the YC food experience was delightfull, which angers me even more, as it implies they had the means to serve good quality meals just chose not to or to reserved that experience for YC exclusively. Like I said, used the same cruiser in the mediteranean and only had 5 stars to give on all front, especially dinning experience, it was absolutly great.

I did convey my remarks to custumer service while on board, and a delightfull girl advisce me to keep using MSC for mediteranean cruises but as far as the Caribean was concerned, to try an other cruiser, that says it all ...

[diesel1973]

9 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

There is no reason to be so dismissive of someone’s viewpoint that differs from yours. If you have had good experiences on MSC that’s great. This person did not. And there are plenty of other negative reviews if you scroll through this whole forum. Everyone has a different perspective. Sometimes people have lower expectations when it comes to service and food than others and can put up with or ignore things that other people with higher expectations find irritating. 

Thanks for your response to her as she gave a similar response to my post. 

Your response was a bit nicer than what mine would have been .Evidently before I make a post on this forum I need to check with her to be sure it meets her criteria and get her permission to post!!!

[jules815]

Sailing on Seaside in April, again in the YC.  My husband and I were just talking about breakfasts on board, and I don't think we ever had breakfast up at the pool.  Do they make eggs cooked to order?  How about an omelet?  

 

We usually have breakfast around 8am.  Would I be able to get a bloody Mary or Mimosa up there that early?

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by jules815

[riredsox]

5 hours ago, faddymaher said:

Not all critics are good critics and depend on one's experience, the subject of this post was How is the food on Seaside, especially YC, which implies opinions on both. I am glad that the YC food experience was delightfull, which angers me even more, as it implies they had the means to serve good quality meals just chose not to or to reserved that experience for YC exclusively. Like I said, used the same cruiser in the mediteranean and only had 5 stars to give on all front, especially dinning experience, it was absolutly great.

I did convey my remarks to custumer service while on board, and a delightfull girl advisce me to keep using MSC for mediteranean cruises but as far as the Caribean was concerned, to try an other cruiser, that says it all ...

Unfortunately I think they ruined the food experience in an attempt to ‘Americanize’ it.  The European food service should have been kept so that we can experience something different as opposed to the other US based ships.  Still looking forward to my Sept cruises!

[TrinaLC]

On 2/28/2020 at 8:12 PM, riredsox said:

Hi, first time MSC cruiser after 37 Celebrity cruises.  How is the smoking at the pool and the outdoor YC grill?   Are you able to get away from it?  We are doing B2B in Sept on the Seaside. Did a suite on the Celebrity Edge and loved it but have always wanted to try the MSC YC!

 
You can easily avoid the smoke. It is limited to one small area. In all honestly, I think they give too much real estate to smokers but it seems that the Europeans and South Americans at least on the ship have a much higher rate of smoking and expect to be accommodated. 

 

But other than being annoyed that some areas are occupied by smokers you can totally avoid the smoke. 

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, jules815 said:

Sailing on Seaside in April, again in the YC.  My husband and I were just talking about breakfasts on board, and I don't think we ever had breakfast up at the pool.  Do they make eggs cooked to order?  How about an omelet?  

 

We usually have breakfast around 8am.  Would I be able to get a bloody Mary or Mimosa up there that early?

 

 

On Meraviglia, the YC Pool Grill food service continued until 10:30 A.M.  Seaside ought to be the same or close to it.  Eggs cooked to order?  Yes.  Eggs Benedict were available.  A wide array of other breakfast items were available:  sauteed mushrooms, broiled tomatoes, American and English Bacon (if I recall correctly about the English Bacon).  I am sure that the Chef could prepare an omelet to your order.

 

Missing?  The selection of breakfast pastries and bread which were more limited than I would have liked.

 

Bloody Mary or Mimosa?  The Bar will be open.

Edited March 2, 2020 by rkacruiser

[cathep]

Celebrity was our preferred line before we sailed the Seaside last year.  We had the Aurea package and dined in the MDR.  We all felt the food was comparable to Celebrity, and the food was one of the reasons we'd preferred Celebrity.  The pasta and risotto were incredible.  That extends to the gluten-free pastas for me.  We loved the buffet as well.

 

We've cruised with our kids (teenagers now) on Royal, too.  They feel like MSC is a great blend of the fun features on Royal and the food and European feel of Celebrity.  We're booked for YC in the upcoming cruise.  But we'd cruise again on the Aurea package.  

[psmarkle]

On 3/1/2020 at 10:35 AM, jules815 said:

Sailing on Seaside in April, again in the YC.  My husband and I were just talking about breakfasts on board, and I don't think we ever had breakfast up at the pool.  Do they make eggs cooked to order?  How about an omelet?  

 

We usually have breakfast around 8am.  Would I be able to get a bloody Mary or Mimosa up there that early?

 

Yes, I would ask for eggs benedict at the poolside grill and the cook was always happy to make them.  Freshly made, english muffins hot and crispy off the grill, then topped with the poached eggs and canadian bacon, sauce and delivered right to my table.  Found it better than the YC dining room since it was grill-to-table pronto. Omelets should not be a problem either.

 

And, yes, on the drinks...or so I heard from a friend LOL

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, cathep said:

The pasta and risotto were incredible. 

 

The pasta dishes that I ordered in the YC Restaurant were delicious.  I particularly enjoyed the Veal pasta entree during my first evening's dinner.

 

The risotto's?  There were many variations of them on the menus and I always found something else that I thought sounded better than a "rice" dish.  Based on what I have learned during my cruise--and since--I think I missed a "goody" that I would have enjoyed.