Yacht Club Interior-Yes Please!

[MsTabbyKats]

We just got back from the Meraviglia, Yacht Club Interior.

Day of embarkation was awful, in terms of the weather.  And there was chaos at the terminal.  But as soon as I found the YC entrance, I was hooked.  Instead of standing on an unending line of confused people, we were guided to the YC lounge, offered snacks and then taken on the ship.  We met our butler who showed us to the cabin, and then off to lunch.

 

The whole "YC Thing" was to make life easy for DH (he's 88 and had major surgery a couple of months ago).  We aren't drinkers and I'm really not a "dining room" person on any cruiseline.

 

The service was unbelievably excellent.  The YC facilities were wonderful. No lines, no crowds.

My husband was completely spoiled by this trip.  Unlimited bottles of water and cappuccino on demand!  Pizza service by the pool etc.  The servers knew to bring him his prunes at the breakfast buffet....  He was getting a "wine education" and trying all colors and types.  My big splurge was having coke with my pizza.

 

For sure, we will never sail MSC out of YC again.  I think this may have spoiled it for me on other lines too.

 

Other points:

Entertainment...excellent.  The only shows I didn't like were "The Conjurers"....but I'm not that into magic etc anyway.

Lorraine Crosby did an extra show for the YC.  She was wonderful...at 61...she sang "the oldies" for us.

Casino (that's my thing)....didn't do as bad as expected. A bit annoyed...I got a 10% off a future cruise, but not good for YC.

Food...in general YC dining room food was better than other dining room food, but just not my thing.  I did like the poolside breakfast and lunch buffets.  My husband loved the freshly grilled fish.  Actually...he ate more on this cruise than any other cruise.  Double lobster tails...double entrees at almost every meal (doctor wants him to gain wait).

Cabin...compact but large enough.  I've been in smaller.  The storage space was more than adequate for us, but we travel lite.  If you bring an ensemble for every day, the closet space may not be ample.

 

On a scale of 1-10.....I rate this a 10.  My husband would go off chart and rate it a 20!

 

I am so happy I took the plunge for YC and I want to that everyone on this board who encouaged me.

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by MsTabbyKats

[karmamule]

Even without taking the low price into account the service, facilities and amenities of Yacht Club are top notch. When you DO take into account how much lower the fares are compared to Celebrity Retreat, RCL Sky class or above, or NCL Haven it's quite amazing.

 

We had a great time in the Retreat on Celebrity Apex but when it came time to book again we got 14 days in a YC Deluxe Grand Suite on the Seascape for less than 7 days in a similar cabin in the Retreat on the Beyond.

[sammee]

I'm going May 14. I put in a bid of YC balcony. I wasn't interested in YC at first, but seeing it's going to be a full sailing, it appeals to me more. We were on Divina back in August and loved it so much, here we are waiting to board out of NY. I thought about putting a bid on interior, but I really need to have some sunlight coming in the room or I'll sleep just alittle too good.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Casino (that's my thing)....didn't do as bad as expected. A bit annoyed...I got a 10% off a future cruise, but not good for YC.

Was hoping you would post about your YC experience as I remember your post a while back asking about YCI.  I agree, it's just great!  As for the casino voucher, they changed this a few months ago.  When we were on Meraviglia back in November I earned a 30% off voucher and immediately booked another YCI for this August.  Shortly after they changed it to disallow YC bookings using the voucher.  I suppose you could book the highest Aurea category and then upgrade but I don't even know if that would do anything price-wise.  It's too bad they changed it.  All that to say, I'm so glad you and your DH enjoyed your cruise!

[mnpurple]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise! Is there an extra chair or two in the room? We are booked in a YCI on the Euribia (not even sailing yet, but same class ship) in March and I was curious if there would be room. Our daughters had an inside last year on Seaview, but I barely got to see it. I'll have to ask them too, but it's finals week!

[MsTabbyKats]

6 minutes ago, mnpurple said:

Sounds like a wonderful cruise! Is there an extra chair or two in the room? We are booked in a YCI on the Euribia (not even sailing yet, but same class ship) in March and I was curious if there would be room. Our daughters had an inside last year on Seaview, but I barely got to see it. I'll have to ask them too, but it's finals week!

Yes...one chair. 

[DCGuy64]

Thank you very much for the great, and positive, review. We're booked in a YIN for next January on the Seashore. It's only a 4 day cruise, just a quick getaway, but we plan to indulge ourselves (again) in the Yacht Club. I'm so glad you and hubby enjoyed it. I remember your mentioning his health issues and I'm so pleased you were able to sail in the YC. Hopefully the food helped him gain the weight you said his Dr recommended.

[MsTabbyKats]

One thing to add:

It's true...no sunlight in the interior cabin.  But, I called this "the Yacht Club Shuttle"...a small elevator within the YC that only serviced the YC.  The wait was never more than 15 seconds, and the ride was never more than 5 seconds.  So, literally, I could leave my cabin and be in the fresh air within a minute.

 

My only complaint is the YC beach at Ocean Cay.  There's another "rockless beach" right across the road.  They might think about relocating the lifeguard and chairs to that beach, because the YC Beach was almost useless.

[sbcs5390]

So glad you had a nice time. I was on the 4/22 cruise solo in YC to test it out for a future family cruise. I also have family members with mobility issues and know the “YC shuttle” will be great for them. We are going back on 10/25 - have to apologize as we snagged the last two YINs!

[jules815]

4 hours ago, karmamule said:

Even without taking the low price into account the service, facilities and amenities of Yacht Club are top notch. When you DO take into account how much lower the fares are compared to Celebrity Retreat, RCL Sky class or above, or NCL Haven it's quite amazing.

 

We had a great time in the Retreat on Celebrity Apex but when it came time to book again we got 14 days in a YC Deluxe Grand Suite on the Seascape for less than 7 days in a similar cabin in the Retreat on the Beyond.

Couldn't agree more with your post. We've sailed in suites on several RC ships as well as Celebrity (pre Retreat). None of those cruises compare to the YC experience. We currently have a B2B on Seascape in a YC Grand coming up in September. Was looking at Celebrity Retreat, but as far as I'm concerned they've outpaced themselves to us anyway. I know people are paying those prices, but why would we when we can do 2 weeks in YC? (We have a transatlantic next year on Celebrity Ascent and got a good deal in a Sunset Veranda room. I keep looking at prices to possibly upgrade to a Sky Suite (not interested in Aqua or Concierge), and currently it's over 7k to upgrade. To us that's just ridiculous.)

[jules815]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

One thing to add:

It's true...no sunlight in the interior cabin.  But, I called this "the Yacht Club Shuttle"...a small elevator within the YC that only serviced the YC.  The wait was never more than 15 seconds, and the ride was never more than 5 seconds.  So, literally, I could leave my cabin and be in the fresh air within a minute.

 

My only complaint is the YC beach at Ocean Cay.  There's another "rockless beach" right across the road.  They might think about relocating the lifeguard and chairs to that beach, because the YC Beach was almost useless.

I'm so happy you had a good time and loved the Yacht Club experience. I agree with you 100% about that YC beach. Surprised they haven't done something with it by now.

[tweakes]

6 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Was hoping you would post about your YC experience as I remember your post a while back asking about YCI.  I agree, it's just great!  As for the casino voucher, they changed this a few months ago.  When we were on Meraviglia back in November I earned a 30% off voucher and immediately booked another YCI for this August.  Shortly after they changed it to disallow YC bookings using the voucher.  I suppose you could book the highest Aurea category and then upgrade but I don't even know if that would do anything price-wise.  It's too bad they changed it.  All that to say, I'm so glad you and your DH enjoyed your cruise!

I was told no to using my 30% voucher as well over the phone. I emailed the casino and they immediately accepted it - I sail on the Grandiosa is 3 weeks! Just in case anyone has any leftover 30% vouchers lying around. It is worth using them!

[Georgia_Peaches]

11 minutes ago, tweakes said:

I was told no to using my 30% voucher as well over the phone. I emailed the casino and they immediately accepted it - I sail on the Grandiosa is 3 weeks! Just in case anyone has any leftover 30% vouchers lying around. It is worth using them!

Holy Cow!  That's awesome and great news!  Just goes to show that there is never any harm in asking!

[marti2282]

Thanks for taking the time to give us such good info!

 

We are excited for our November cruise! As you drove in to the terminal area, where was the YC tent? Easy to spot?

 

Thanks, Marti

[MsTabbyKats]

Just now, marti2282 said:

Thanks for taking the time to give us such good info!

 

We are excited for our November cruise! As you drove in to the terminal area, where was the YC tent? Easy to spot?

 

Thanks, Marti

Yes...it was just to the left of the main entrance.

[no1talks]

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

"Surprised they haven't done something with it by now."

I seem to recall the esteemed @morpheusofthesea posting pictures of new sand on the YC beach, a year ago or longer. However, weather conditions washed it out, down to the cobblestones, yet again.

If MSC plans on using their island's YC facilities for Explora visits, I'm confident another attempt will be made before those visits commence.

Edited May 9, 2023 by no1talks

[sbcs5390]

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

I'm so happy you had a good time and loved the Yacht Club experience. I agree with you 100% about that YC beach. Surprised they haven't done something with it by now.

Craig (Yacht Club Dir on Meraviglia) mentioned that they have a big project coming up to ready the YC area for larger vessels like World America that will have nearly 500 in YC. He’s seen the plans and described changes to the restaurant (two stories I think?) and more toilets, etc. I didn’t ask but would be surprised if they didn’t clean up the beach again at the same time. 

[KennyFla]

17 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thank you very much for the great, and positive, review. We're booked in a YIN for next January on the Seashore. It's only a 4 day cruise, just a quick getaway, but we plan to indulge ourselves (again) in the Yacht Club. I'm so glad you and hubby enjoyed it. I remember your mentioning his health issues and I'm so pleased you were able to sail in the YC. Hopefully the food helped him gain the weight you said his Dr recommended.

Which cruise in January?  We are on the 18th.

[DCGuy64]

2 hours ago, KennyFla said:

Which cruise in January?  We are on the 18th.

I believe ours is January 14-18.

[KennyFla]

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I believe ours is January 14-18.

Don't drink all the Belvedere Vodka. 🙂

[DCGuy64]

21 minutes ago, KennyFla said:

Don't drink all the Belvedere Vodka. 🙂

I'll stick to champagne. 😉😆

[morpheusofthesea]

13 hours ago, no1talks said:

I seem to recall the esteemed @morpheusofthesea posting pictures of new sand on the YC beach, a year ago or longer. However, weather conditions washed it out, down to the cobblestones, yet again.

If MSC plans on using their island's YC facilities for Explora visits, I'm confident another attempt will be made before those visits commence.

Thank you my fellow Epicurian for your kind word and attention to my "Observations". The question really is, 'should the Yacht Club/ Ocean House area not have the finest manicured, imported soft sand from some exotic faraway paradise? There are no luxury cruise lines advertising 'beaches' to its well-heeled clintele. Family "fun" cruise lines, yes. Besides consider the safest times to wade in the surf.

March to August is sea lice/ jellyfish season.

May to October is seaweed season

February March and August September is red tide season.

So it appears the best time to swim in the Ocean is November December and January.

Presently, no self-respecting "interloper" would even try to sneak into such an unattractive, uninviting YC surf. And what 'fun' is that for our elitist experience ?

  So the answer is YES. We of the YC desperately need a pristine, much desired, most attractive, undefiled, well-groomed, rose colored sandy beach in the world. Something worthy of our "exclusivity".

 What do my other fellow CC ultracrepidarians think?

[TheSoccerCoach]

On 5/8/2023 at 1:38 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

One thing to add:

It's true...no sunlight in the interior cabin.  But, I called this "the Yacht Club Shuttle"...a small elevator within the YC that only serviced the YC.  The wait was never more than 15 seconds, and the ride was never more than 5 seconds.  So, literally, I could leave my cabin and be in the fresh air within a minute.

 

My only complaint is the YC beach at Ocean Cay.  There's another "rockless beach" right across the road.  They might think about relocating the lifeguard and chairs to that beach, because the YC Beach was almost useless.

Agree that YC beach is a wee bit rocky, but if you snorkel, the rocks furthest from Ocean House Restaurant have a plethora of fish! We saw stingrays as well!