Live from MSC Grandiosa Yacht Club on January 13-20th 2023 Spain, France. Italy & Malta.

[hamrag]

13 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

@Hamrag Taxi people were fine with it. I think she saw we were late and wanted to do her best to help. I’d hate her to get into and trouble over her kindness. 
It made up for the wasted time going back to YC to sort bill, and I think this was her intention, so we wouldn’t miss our flight. 
Thanks for your kind words-glad you followed along! 👍

Aaaaah, I overlooked the context even although I had read your bill shambles post. I can relate to that, as we had same recently disembarking in Barbados, but were going to a hotel for a couple of nights so much less a problem for us.

[cruising.mark.uk]

Thank you for a wonderful report, which I have followed from the YC on Virtuosa, which is equally as fantastic.  My wife and I love the YC experience.  

[ConnieTact]

10 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Thank you for a wonderful report, which I have followed from the YC on Virtuosa, which is equally as fantastic.  My wife and I love the YC experience.  

Oh that’s fab! So glad you enjoyed it.

We have been in YC on Virtuosa three times now and booked again for later this year. It’s great when you recognise staff onboard.

Do you think you’ll return to Virtuosa for your next cruise?

 

[cruising.mark.uk]

9 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Oh that’s fab! So glad you enjoyed it.

We have been in YC on Virtuosa three times now and booked again for later this year. It’s great when you recognise staff onboard.

Do you think you’ll return to Virtuosa for your next cruise?

 

Yes, the staff are wonderful.  We will certainly consider Virtuosa again and also Euribia which is coming to the UK for most of this year.  But, we are also looking at World Europa and the ships out of Genoa to keep getting our MSC fix.  When we first found the YC 8 or 9 years ago (on Preziosa, Fantasia and DIvina), the prices were an absolute steal - probably £250 per night total for a YC suite.  Unfortunately, word seems to have got out that the YC is one of the best experiences in the cruising world, demand seems to have surged and - unsurprisingly - prices seem to have risen to match.  We got our current Virtuosa cruise at about £400 per night for the suite, but it seems increasingly difficult to find (balcony) YC suites at less than £500 a night.  Unless you or anyone else who is UK-based knows any secret sources of low YC prices lol?

[kernow]

2 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Yes, the staff are wonderful.  We will certainly consider Virtuosa again and also Euribia which is coming to the UK for most of this year.  But, we are also looking at World Europa and the ships out of Genoa to keep getting our MSC fix.  When we first found the YC 8 or 9 years ago (on Preziosa, Fantasia and DIvina), the prices were an absolute steal - probably £250 per night total for a YC suite.  Unfortunately, word seems to have got out that the YC is one of the best experiences in the cruising world, demand seems to have surged and - unsurprisingly - prices seem to have risen to match.  We got our current Virtuosa cruise at about £400 per night for the suite, but it seems increasingly difficult to find (balcony) YC suites at less than £500 a night.  Unless you or anyone else who is UK-based knows any secret sources of low YC prices lol?

Yes, I think you're right about the prices, too many of us have let the secret out 😁.

[Zolor23]

I was also on this cruise and unfortunately not in YC, so I did not share many of the positive experiences you had - main dining room food was not great most of the time in my opinion and I also didn't love the entertainment, but glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing!

[heatherb1958]

Hi Connie, we are back from our 2 weeks in YC on Grandiosa . We met Marcelle at check in and she escorted us on to the ship 😆.  I said "hi" to her for you 😆.  

Wish we had had her as our butler as the one we did have , not going to mention his name,  was a bit miserable.  He was always attentive and wanting to escort us everywhere but rarely had a smile . 

I will give him his due though , on the last day we weren't disembarking until 1pm as we had a hotel for the night . We had breakfast on the pool deck , butler came to find us and asked what time would  we like to disembark , I had already stashed our one big suitcase and 2 carryons on the trolley next to the Concierge desk . He came and found us at 1pm , took control of our luggage and escorted us off the ship, through the terminal and towards the taxi rank, nope we were getting the port bus , he took us to the bus stop where a bus was coming in and loaded it onto the bus for us !!  . 

We found the butler side of YC a bit too much , when getting a drink from the bar ' to go ' for our cabin the offer of delivering it made me panic, I had visions of hubby being caught off guard in his undies 😆 🤣 😂. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by heatherb1958

[ConnieTact]

On 2/18/2023 at 8:37 PM, heatherb1958 said:

Hi Connie, we are back from our 2 weeks in YC on Grandiosa . We met Marcelle at check in and she escorted us on to the ship 😆.  I said "hi" to her for you 😆.  

Wish we had had her as our butler as the one we did have , not going to mention his name,  was a bit miserable.  He was always attentive and wanting to escort us everywhere but rarely had a smile . 

I will give him his due though , on the last day we weren't disembarking until 1pm as we had a hotel for the night . We had breakfast on the pool deck , butler came to find us and asked what time would  we like to disembark , I had already stashed our one big suitcase and 2 carryons on the trolley next to the Concierge desk . He came and found us at 1pm , took control of our luggage and escorted us off the ship, through the terminal and towards the taxi rank, nope we were getting the port bus , he took us to the bus stop where a bus was coming in and loaded it onto the bus for us !!  . 

We found the butler side of YC a bit too much , when getting a drink from the bar ' to go ' for our cabin the offer of delivering it made me panic, I had visions of hubby being caught off guard in his undies 😆 🤣 😂. 

Great news Heather! So glad you enjoyed your time in YC. Yes, butlers vary a lot. We had a really bad one once but mostly had good experiences. 
I know what you mean about them carrying the drinks to your cabin! I was once told, “madam, let him do his job!” So I did. As far as husbands off guard in his pants-what the butler saw indeed! 😅😂 I’m sure they’ve seen it all before! 
Good to know you can have a late check out. I’ll get a later flight next time! 😜
 

[jules815]

On 1/8/2023 at 5:08 PM, ConnieTact said:

A busy day packing today! We are actually travelling without big cases so we can avoid checking in luggage and make our travel more smooth. 
We managed to do this for a 2 and a half weeks on our last cruise but we weren’t in YC for that cruise!
I was inspired by another YC guest who just travelled everywhere with a small case and decided to give it a go! It went well and did mean we avoided risking losing luggage and was a lot lighter for us to handle. 
Only trouble is -there’s someone who wants to sneak in as an extra bit of luggage……!!! 😻🧳

What a beautiful kitty!  Love the eyes! I see you use packing cubes too. They are a game changer for sure.

[ConnieTact]

17 minutes ago, jules815 said:

What a beautiful kitty!  Love the eyes! I see you use packing cubes too. They are a game changer for sure.

Thanks for your kind words- Ziggy certainly is beautiful in looks and character too! 
He has over 7,000 followers on Insta! 😻😂

Packing cubes are the best! I keep trying to convince my friend to get them but so far he has only said he may buy them to shut me up! 😅

[kkmdh]

Thank you so much for the shots of the drink menus!  So helpful as we are tyring to plan ahead for our departure on March 10th!

[LiquidWu]

On 1/14/2023 at 6:34 PM, ConnieTact said:

We paid extra to see both shows in the Carousel Lounge because we have greatly enjoyed the ones we have seen on Virtuosa. It was good and we’re glad we went.

Thank you very much for the great, informative blog. Would you please be so kind and would add how much it costs to see the show?

[insidecabin]

On 1/18/2023 at 6:42 PM, ConnieTact said:

I have just spoken to the Future Cruise consultant who is here in the YC in the early evening. I asked the question for you and she told me that if you want to be sure of availability and if you want a certain level of cabin then to book now is the best way. Having said that she would love to sell you the cruise once you’re onboard but the closer the cruise is the less likely it is you’ll get exactly what you want.

I am booking another while onboard, and will pay the same price that I found by searching on Voyagers deals on the MSC website. What she said she can add, is extra onboard credit, flexibility to change cruise, up to one month and double voyager points.

I said that the last perk means nothing to me because we are already both top status.

I said I have 23,000 apart from this cruise so I am a diamond more than twice over! 💎💎😅

She said she is feeding back that loyal customers, such as us, deserve even more perks. I suggested free laundry as we get that with NCL. She suggested I add this to my feedback questionnaire as the YC director really scrutinises these and will act on comments. I said this was very good. I love a responsive company and so far I have found MSC to be great at picking up suggestions through customers feedback.

So, hopefully, there may be more loyalty levels in the future! You heard it here first! 😂⭐️

I think they need to up the game on board.

UK TAs are doing 10%-15% in addition to the Voyager discounts(5%+5%6m+), double points is a standard for 12m+ bookings.

Anything not bella has one change.
People have been reporting that if you phone MSC they give extra discounts over the web rates.

 

For some trips cabin availability does drop I have been finding YC insides are often just not available

There is definitely room in the program for more convenience perks, we have been getting used to laundry on a few  lines even the wash and fold is useful to cut the packing for the longer trips.
Princess top tier is unlimited(also a suite perk) 

Given they still status match to Diamond, "double diamond" could be a good level to add some benefits.  

 

they could even borrow the beer slogan

 

[insidecabin]

On 1/22/2023 at 7:22 AM, cruising.mark.uk said:

Yes, the staff are wonderful.  We will certainly consider Virtuosa again and also Euribia which is coming to the UK for most of this year.  But, we are also looking at World Europa and the ships out of Genoa to keep getting our MSC fix.  When we first found the YC 8 or 9 years ago (on Preziosa, Fantasia and DIvina), the prices were an absolute steal - probably £250 per night total for a YC suite.  Unfortunately, word seems to have got out that the YC is one of the best experiences in the cruising world, demand seems to have surged and - unsurprisingly - prices seem to have risen to match.  We got our current Virtuosa cruise at about £400 per night for the suite, but it seems increasingly difficult to find (balcony) YC suites at less than £500 a night.  Unless you or anyone else who is UK-based knows any secret sources of low YC prices lol?

I have been doing deep searches for YC on UK site and its not easy to find a deal.

Snagged(2 pax) an YC inside last year at £200pn this year cheapest I found so far was £280pn
ID we can't find one we will just go cheap and cheerful with trips starting at under £140pn with drinks and do more days.

[insidecabin]

Thanks for your review, caught up now, very useful and informative.

[8420PR]

YIN cabins are largely back to pre-pandemic pricing for typical 7 day roundtrips (I'm finding roughly GBP1200pp for 7 days is the best available rate for shoulder and off-season cruises), and for shorter 2 to 3 day repositioning trips MSC have significantly increased prices (I did several for GBP75 per person per night, and they are now at least GBP150pppn).

 

Best YIN price I can find at the moment for a cruise I am interested in is GBP1019pp for 7 days repositioning in Caribbean.   It ends in the French Caribbean, so plenty of flights back to Europe via France (but very limited flights to US).   Still I booked the 6 night cruise (ending in FDF) in a bella inside cabin with the easy drinks package for less than one third of the price of a YIN cabin.  

 

[ConnieTact]

5 hours ago, insidecabin said:

I think they need to up the game on board.

UK TAs are doing 10%-15% in addition to the Voyager discounts(5%+5%6m+), double points is a standard for 12m+ bookings.

Anything not bella has one change.
People have been reporting that if you phone MSC they give extra discounts over the web rates.

 

For some trips cabin availability does drop I have been finding YC insides are often just not available

There is definitely room in the program for more convenience perks, we have been getting used to laundry on a few  lines even the wash and fold is useful to cut the packing for the longer trips.
Princess top tier is unlimited(also a suite perk) 

Given they still status match to Diamond, "double diamond" could be a good level to add some benefits.  

 

they could even borrow the beer slogan

 

Gosh! That’s a long time since I saw that advert….just brilliant! 😂 I think Double Diamond would be excellent! 
Talking if alcohol….I think the Prosecco given as a diamond benefit should be a champagne at that level too. Maybe free entry to the ‘additional’ shows too.

[ConnieTact]

8 hours ago, LiquidWu said:

Thank you very much for the great, informative blog. Would you please be so kind and would add how much it costs to see the show?

I think I paid £9 each ticket before we left. I also think they were selling them onboard for £15 each. You can’t actually book the dates before you get onboard but they can see you have prepaid them. I hope that helps.

[insidecabin]

3 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Gosh! That’s a long time since I saw that advert….just brilliant! 😂 I think Double Diamond would be excellent! 
Talking if alcohol….I think the Prosecco given as a diamond benefit should be a champagne at that level too. Maybe free entry to the ‘additional’ shows too.

I checked our points and would not be double diamond( yet).

 

we status matched and are very happy, will need a few more trips on top of the two booked to get to 20k from around 15k.

[LiquidWu]

On 2/21/2023 at 7:17 PM, ConnieTact said:

I think I paid £9 each ticket before we left. I also think they were selling them onboard for £15 each. You can’t actually book the dates before you get onboard but they can see you have prepaid them. I hope that helps.

Thank you very much Connie, that helps me a lot. Thanks to your info I decided to book the shows "Ajedrez" and "Arkymea" in advance (10€). If the savings had not been so high, I would have booked later on board to be more flexible.

Edited February 23, 2023 by LiquidWu

[ConnieTact]

28 minutes ago, LiquidWu said:

Thank you very much Connie, that helps me a lot. Thanks to your info I decided to book the shows "Ajedrez" and "Arkymea" in advance (10€). If the savings had not been so high, I would have booked later on board to be more flexible.

I am sure you will enjoy both shows and they seem to run on alternate days so that gives flexibility in itself. I’ve seen the shows more than once and enjoyed them each time. 
If I plan to have a massage or manicure or pedicure onboard I also get these in advance as they are a lot cheaper in advance and include gratuities too. 

[ConnieTact]

Well! Although all loungers were wet from rain…we dried a couple. The sun is very strong!