MSC Yacht Club/Celebrity Retreat and Ocean Cay

[RosieRoo]

I tried to search this, but could not find the information I was looking for.  I know a lot of MSC cruisers have also sailed on Celebrity so I’m looking for some advice.  Looking at a fall sailing and have a choice between sailing on Celebrity Equinox in a SkySuite or on the Divina in the YC. We’ve sailed Divina previously, but not in the YC. We’ve also been on Equinox before they added the Retreat. The pricing is almost identical, both come with free drinks. Celebrity offers tips and internet plus a substantial OBC, but Divina goes to Ocean Cay which I understand is quite nice and has a private beach for YC. If you’ve experienced suites on both or been to Ocean Cay would you please give your opinion?  Thanks. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I've sailed suites on both, although my MSC YC experience is on the Seaside.  Not sure how it's structured on Divina.  Hopefully someone will come along who has firsthand experience with Divina.

 

That being said, the suite dining room on Equinox blows the YC dining room out of the water, both for food and service.  This is YC's weak point.  Not that their food is bad, but it's inconsistent as is the service.  Food and service on Equinox is over the top, particularly service.  My tablemates came back after their specialty restaurant experience on the Equinox and said they felt they had wasted $50/pp on the experience.  Not that it was bad, but that the experience in Luminae was equal to it and was included in the fare.  I've been to that specialty restaurant previously, and I agreed with them.

 

Drinks and internet are included on both, so that's a draw.  You'll have to pay gratuities on Divina.

 

The YC pool deck, at least on Seaside, is far superior to Equinox's Retreat area.  Equinox has no pool, no shade, and food service has to come from afar.  It's not accessible by elevator.  Seaside has a pool, hot tubs, some shade, and food service on site.  And you don't have to climb stairs to get there.  Lovely area.  The suite lounge on Seaside is awesome.  It's at the front of the ship with glorious 180 degree views.  Wonderful live entertainment.  Butlers falling all over themselves to wait on you.  The suite lounge on Equinox is small, has no windows, and very little service.  A person could die of thirst in there waiting for a drink.  No contest.

 

Ocean Cay is indeed beautiful.  You don't mention where the Equinox is going or how important beaches are to you.  I live in Florida, so I don't cruise for the beaches.  Ocean Cay was not finished when we stopped there, we were only the second ship to do so.  Once it's fully built out, it will probably be great.  There's only one restroom in the YC pavilion, which was a problem.  The pavilion itself is gorgeous.

 

Hope this helps and hope someone who has actually cruised YC on Divina can come along to give you specifics on that ship.  Happy cruising!

[RosieRoo]

Thank you for your detailed reply. We’ve been on Equinox in suites before so I’m familiar with Luminae.  I agree with you about Michael’s Club though. It’s a small dark place, not very inviting. I have read reviews about the new Retreat deck and that it’s extremely hot up there and there’s no bar so that doesn’t seem very attractive. We’re elite plus, but that doesn’t really mean much now that they include everything. 
 

The Equinox is doing southern Caribbean. Having cruised a lot, we have been to every one of the islands so the experience is what is important this time. We’re from the frozen north so the idea of a private beach with its own restaurant and bar is very attractive. I’ve seen pictures of the island and it looks very nice. 
 

As I said, the pricing is very comparable other than the OBC.  I think the cabins on Celebrity are much larger than those in the YC. I think that seems to be the only drawback I can see.  
 

We have also sailed in the Haven on NCL. It seems the YC compares more with that than anything on the Equinox. 
 

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. 

[Two Wheels Only]

24 minutes ago, RosieRoo said:

 I have read reviews about the new Retreat deck and that it’s extremely hot up there and there’s no bar so that doesn’t seem very attractive.

 

 

The Retreat on Equinox...isn't much...

 

 

If I was going "X - Retreat", it would be on EDGE or APEX. 

[RosieRoo]

Thanks for sharing. Doesn’t seem like an area I would spend much time in. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

Had decent experience of both although not been to Ocean Cay.

 

Ocean goes look extremely nice however in reality it’s a beach day.

 

We’d definitely choose Celebrity every time over MSC yacht club.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

12 hours ago, RosieRoo said:

Thank you for your detailed reply. We’ve been on Equinox in suites before so I’m familiar with Luminae.  I agree with you about Michael’s Club though. It’s a small dark place, not very inviting. I have read reviews about the new Retreat deck and that it’s extremely hot up there and there’s no bar so that doesn’t seem very attractive. We’re elite plus, but that doesn’t really mean much now that they include everything. 
 

The Equinox is doing southern Caribbean. Having cruised a lot, we have been to every one of the islands so the experience is what is important this time. We’re from the frozen north so the idea of a private beach with its own restaurant and bar is very attractive. I’ve seen pictures of the island and it looks very nice. 
 

As I said, the pricing is very comparable other than the OBC.  I think the cabins on Celebrity are much larger than those in the YC. I think that seems to be the only drawback I can see.  
 

We have also sailed in the Haven on NCL. It seems the YC compares more with that than anything on the Equinox. 
 

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. 

 

If you're comparing a sky suite to the cabins on YC, then no, they are not much larger.  I would say they are about the same.  Higher level suites on Celebrity are larger.

[Hlitner]

The YC's dining room on the Divina is on the opposite end of the ship (stern) from the YC.  This is a minor issue (assuming you are mobile) but it does involve walking from one end of the ship to the other for meals in the dedicated dining room.   I agree with Happy Cruiser's comments about the quality of cuisine as we have also found the YC's dining room (on the Divina) to be inconsistent.  That being said, we prefer to YC to Celebrity's offerings because the YC gives you an entire dedicated section of the ship.   And I also agree that Michael's is somewhat dark, dreary and not all that inviting.  When Michael's was simply a lounge open to all it was not a very popular place (many cruisers do not even know where it is located).  So X changed it to a dedicated venue for suites and Zenith but it does not even come close to the dedicated Yacht Club  lounge on the Divina which gives you a fantastic forward facing view.   The YC's dedicated sun deck area is also quite large (we never had a problem finding loungers) and there is a buffet area (for breakfast and lunch) at this same location (not sure if the COVID stoppage will result in changes).

 

Hank

[RosieRoo]

Thank you for your input. I knew the restauarant wasn’t inside the Yacht Club. That’s really a minor issue for us. We could use the exercise. Food is certainly a factor, but when we sailed Divina previously we had no problem with the food. We do love Celebrity but the all inclusive factor of the Yacht Club is a big draw. Having a private sun deck with drinks and food right there, a lounge, and a private space at Ocean Cay are all swaying us to MSC. 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, RosieRoo said:

Thank you for your input. I knew the restauarant wasn’t inside the Yacht Club. That’s really a minor issue for us. We could use the exercise. Food is certainly a factor, but when we sailed Divina previously we had no problem with the food. We do love Celebrity but the all inclusive factor of the Yacht Club is a big draw. Having a private sun deck with drinks and food right there, a lounge, and a private space at Ocean Cay are all swaying us to MSC. 

We used to cruise Celebrity a few weeks every year and really loved the cruise line (especially the Solstice Class ships).  But then along came Lisa Lutoff-Perlo with her ideas of changing Celebrity in order to improve the bottom line.  Suddenly we noticed a trend which I called the "death by a thousand cut-backs."  We noticed little things like doing away with free water in Aqua Class, the removal so foot rests on the balcony. big cut-backs in the quality of cuisine, cut-backs in entertainment, etc.  We finally reached a point where we just stopped cruising on X and increased our cruises on other lines.  Then we decided to try MSC's Yacht Club and it was instant love.  We loved everything about the YC except the food which does need some improvement.  But since we found so much to like about the YC we were willing to accept the inconstancy in cuisine and we quickly found ourselves booking more YC cruises.

 

Will we come back to Celebrity?   Perhaps...but not in the near future.  We can book lines like Seabourn for about the same real price (total cost per passenger day) as the suite life on X.  If we want quality cuisine we now look towards the luxury lines or "O."  Celebrity cuisine is now typical mass market food which we can find on any other mass market line.  I guess we would say that Celebrity has lost its "edge"  (pun intended).

 

I think we are going to see many changes post COVID so we will wait and see who improves and who declines.  Having cruised on 15 lines (the 16th line if booked) we have no loyalty to anything other then quality and value.  We do hope that Celebrity returns to the quality that built their brand but suspect that it will not happen as long as "LLP" is at the helm.   As a stockholder we do wish LLP well in her attempts to improve profitability,  but it is going to take some quality improvements to bring us back aboard.

 

As to MSC, we are very excited about the brand and hope to see more improvements.  We also eagerly await the launching of the new smaller YC vessels.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[RosieRoo]

Hank,

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I’m hoping we all get back to doing what we love sometime in the near future. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

At one point, it was mentioned that YC had poached an F&B guy from Celebrity to fix its restaurant operations.  Of course, then came the great shutdown, so who knows what is actually happening.  In my view, if they fix the restaurant operations and come up with some decent itineraries out of the US besides 7-night Caribbeans, they will be unstoppable.  Everything else about the YC product is clearly superior to what Celebrity is currently offering in their suites.  They really get the ship within a ship concept.  Love those daily free newspapers!  And the snax at no charge in the room.  I think their cabin design is quite intelligent, at least on the Seaside.  None of that Hoppencrap nonfunctional design.  No terrible high tub wall to climb over like in SSs on Celebrity.  Love their showers!

Edited January 13, 2021 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[Norwich Cruiser]

As Hlitner correctly said for the prices both MSC are charging for there yacht club “ experience “ where the food can sometimes be mediocre and Celebrity for there suites a better deal and for what’s included is in our humble opinions Seabourn.

[peace4pt]

My 2 adult daughters and I travelled on the MSC Divina YC to Ocean Cay in March 2020 (we made it home just before the COVID shutdown!) Our room (16032) was one of the “larger” YC suites and on the perfect side for viewing the island festivities. While not bad we did not appreciate the crowded walk to the dedicated YC restaurant for dinners; we frequently opted for the food and beverage offerings in the YC lounge, in-room dining and YC poolside. The Ocean Cay YC experience was great... starting with a tram to the dedicated YC area and pavilion, a nice building with shaded and air conditioned areas, plenty of food and drink offerings, a restroom facility (only one but there is a very decent port-a-potty nearby), nice loungers, umbrellas, and towels on the YC private beach. Yes, we found the YC beach a little “rocky” with coral bits, not the typical soft, powdery, sandy Caribbean beaches you may be accustomed to, but you have access to all the other beaches and there were several that met that expectation. MSC’s Ocean Cay Marine Reserve is still a young project so on our visit the island did not offer a lot of shaded trees and the snorkeling wasn’t spectacular (although the water is clear there just wasn’t a lot of marine life near the shore. I understand there are wonderful guided snorkeling expeditions offered). We also enjoyed the ease of shopping (added to you ship account or cash only at the Bahamian market) and visiting the other bars and restaurants on island as YC “perks” carry over to the island. The evening parade was fun and very lively! We returned to the ship and were able to watch the lighthouse show and sail-away from our room’s private balcony. 
I look forward to another YC Ocean Cay visit soon! All the best fellow travelers.

[Fogfog]

Agree with everything @HappyCruiser6143 wrote

 

Can say we did a B2B and were at Ocean Cay twice Feb 2020

The OC YC pavilion is pretty--yet small.

So meal service was slow..and the food was being cooked in a trailer nearby. It may be built out more as that was Feb 2020

The restroom option was 1 in the pavilion or a nearby trailer

YC beach is lovely and the water is refreshing. 

 

Ocean Cay is a beach experience/ water sport.

And it looks like MSC will be doing an overnight there so the beach thing needs to be important to you in this regard

 

Celebrity tends to have more interesting itineraries.. though that was pre covid.

 

 

 

 

[RosieRoo]

Thank you for all your great responses. We’ve been to all the islands several times so for this trip it’s more about the ship experience than the ports of call. I’ve read the private sun deck on Equinox is hot, has no shade, no food and no bar so that doesn’t seem like any comparison to the One Pool area on Divina. We like Luminae, but are not early risers so we never seem to make breakfast there. We’ve been to the private beach on Labadee with RCCL, so the private beach at Ocean Cay was of interest. We like the beach, but not the huge crowds usually found there.
Thanks again for taking the time to offer your thoughts. It’s greatly appreciated.