MSC Seashore YC Marseille->Marseille sept 8

[iwtobek]

Hello all, 

 

Starting a quick review from our (still ongoing) YC cruise on the MSC Seashore starting at Marseille. This was a very-last minute cruise we've decided to book four days before (we took the last YC cabin they were willing to sell, YC immediately disappeared and ship was unable to book on all categories the following day).

 

Pre-cruise 

 

We booked a Deluxe cabin and were surprised we were still given a chance to upsell to a Grand Deluxe or Royal, despite these not being available when we bought our cruise (we would have chosen the Grand Deluxe from the start if we were given the chance). We figured out maybe some cabins allocated to the cruisers in Barcelone could have been left empty, and we could have a slight chance in getting a better cabin. We chosen the lowest bid and, long story short, received an email on embarkation morning saying our offer has been declined.

 

Like always, online check-in was horrible. I could check in DW with no fuss but for some reasons the website did not let me check-in. I do remember the MSC website doesn't accept dashes in city names (and guess if my city name has dashes) so I tried to register with my work address, still to no avail. In the end I tried using the app and it worked straight away — giving an error on the city name but giving me the opportunity to update, what the website didn't do.

 

We didn't get the form asking for our preference of pillows or drink. Anyway since they don't read our answers we probably saved some time not reading the questions.

 

 

Embarkation

 

Terminal was hectic. I expect MSC to turn me down at every occasion and I am still impressed how they manage to deliver. We've seen on the port authority website that the ship was expected to dock around 11:15am, so we decided to come early at 12pm (despite our tickets inviting us to come at 4pm).

 

The ship docked at terminal A, which is the furthest on the pier. After a short wait in line (5 mins) port authorities checked our tickets and we were quickly given the direction of the car park. It happens parking for the terminal A is on the open sun, but the road is open and you can use space of terminal B which is covered — just a bit further away.

 

Then we arrived on the ground floor of the terminal, where you drop your bags, and this is where chaos begin. Line for standby passengers was very long already, but we quickly found the Yacht Club desk though no one was there. Asked the port staff for assistance and they said YC should be coming promptly. Indeed a few minutes later some people showed up. They didn't have an MSC name tag so I asked them if they were YC and said “no YC comes later”. To my surprise two Japanese people asked the same question a few minutes later and they gave a completely different answer: “yes we are YC but please wait a few minutes and we'll begin boarding, we're waiting for a table”. Note that there is no chance I could have got their first answer wrong: these people were NOT working for MSC, they were working for the Marseille cruise terminal, I asked them in French and French is my native language. They just didn't care. And this is just the beginning.

 

A few minutes later, the lines begin moving. Everyone could drop their bag EXCEPT for the YC guests. *****.

 

At some point we were utterly confused so I come inquire again. “We're sorry we're waiting for a table” I was said. “It is expected the table will arrive IN LESS THAN A HOUR.” Emphasis mine. No jokes. They expected us to wait one hour for a TABLE so they could proceed with dropping our bags.

 

My wife said to me “we're YC but we're also Diamond, and it's been a while Diamond guests could proceed to check-in.” Riiiiight this was the good call. I went to the Diamond desk and “hum hello is this the Diamond desk? great, would you mind if, maybe, we as Diamond guests, could drop our bags?” (Up until this point I could sense the confusion) “because it happens we are also Yacht Club guests and the desk refuses to take our bag until maybe one hour.” I almost couldn't finish my sentence and this port employee rushed to the YC guest and very rudely said something along the line of “what are you doing are you letting people drop their bags? — no we're waiting for a bag — you don't need a f***ng table to let people drop their bag you're sitting behind a counter use the f***ng counter and escort them to the YC check-in upstairs.” (Note neither of these employees were working for MSC, it happens only one happened to have a sense a duty.)

 

We were the first guests to drop our bag (slightly unhappy to have to carry them to the bag drop-off point, we expected to drop our bags at the YC location in the terminal but said nothing, at least no one could steal them) and we were escorted upstairs where we could finally meet the MSC YC staff and butlers that helped us with getting a drink, taking a note for the newspaper we wanted, and finally escort us to the ship.

 

 

The ship

 

The MSC Seashore is gorgeous. We've sailed the MSC Grandiosa last year and we definitely prefer that ship. It has less of “cheap Italian decoration” throughout the ship, and more of “mid-upscale hotel touches”. The cabin is nicer, while we lose the open wardrobe corridor next to the bathroom, we gain a bigger bathroom and the cabin has enough storage anyway. The color inside the cabin is nicer, Grandiosa had a share of green that was itching to the eye, Seashore is using a go-away-gray color you certainly won't remember in any of the “good sense” or “bad sense”.

 

(to be continued)

[clydecruiser]

Looking forward to following. We are on her from Port Canaveral in November

[iwtobek]

The Cabin

 

We have a Deluxe YC suite, which is the adequate size for our party of two. Plenty of storage, suitcase fit under the bed. Mattress is very comfy, there is a menu to choose pillows from (but like always be prepared for “oh no we're sorry we're out of this one I'll try to do my best tomorrow when someone leaves.”) 

In addition to the wall-mounted soap/shampoo dispenser, we've also received mini-bottles of body wash, shampoo, conditionner et body lotion (not always, not everyday, and with a greater chance of getting the latter two). As expected for this cabin, there are no sunbeds on the verandah (one could probably fit, not sure about two). The curtain (well, the curtains, as there are two of them) are very very dark and you do not see the light from outside (big plus, not always the case on a cruise ship).

For some reasons the TV is not in front of the bed but between the TV and the sofa. Very weird layout as I suspect while the cabin may accept 4 guests more often than not it does not. Not a dealbreaker (I don't watch TV at home) but a reminder that MSC is not really “upscale” and just pretends to be (neither is this a dealbreaker just nice to be reminded about).

We've got a choice of a complimentary bottle of something, asked for the Champaign, got it delivered a few days later (showing a 0€ charge on the account).

 

Top-Sail Lounge

 

So far we didn't go too often to the Top-Sail Lounge as weather was exceptionally warm for this period of the year so we went to the One Pool deck all the time. Plenty of live musicians playing in the late afternoon.

Minor annoyance with the sweet buffet that was indicated on the daily program at 9pm but never showed up before 10.30pm. “We do this as people ask for the savoury snacks up until late.” Well then that's easy you just change the schedule in the program? Sometimes I wish I'd work here to fix all these many little things that should require almost no effort. 

 

Yacht-Club Restaurant

 

As always on MSC, food is very good. Maybe one “meh” appetizer so far, everything else far above and beyond what other cruise lines offer. The bread is excellent (and again, we're France so we're peculiar about bread service).

Minor annoyance is that you don't have the full wine selection from the top sail lounge. When you drink a wine by the glass the wait staff doesn't have a clue about pairings they just advise you to “pick the one you'll prefer.” Guys I'm on vacation I'd prefer do less of the choosing and more of the drinking.

Another minor annoyance is that they insist of re-filling your glass that's half empty. Again I'm French. Quick tip if some of the wait staff reads this and moves to France get another job: stop doing that. (Promise, no more “I'm French” from me after this.)

 

Elevators Outside the Yacht Club

 

For some reasons my wife could tap her card to the elevators and get a FastPass™ to deck 19. No way to choose a deck — and our cabin is not even on deck 19. I asked the Concierge if this was intentional and if my card could override the elevators as well, but was told “elevators are broken on this ship so they can't do a thing.” Note this was not a junior employee by any mean, as his outfit was distinct from the other crew. Funny choice of word to the very least. Nice to know in Italy you can have a job telling customers your company's property is “broken.”

 

Regarding the elevators themselves, the MSC Seashore feature two banks in the forward and mid sections. THIS DESIGN IS TOTALLY RIGGED. Each bank has 6 elevators, and when you press a button to make a reservation you tell your destination deck. This is so cool. You press a button is says “go take car B”. Except it also says “go take car B, arriving in 50 seconds.” So, everytime it says more than 30 seconds you go the other bank, press a button, and usually there the wait is less. So far my strategy is “if I'm waiting more than 30 seconds I'll go check the other bank which is a ten seconds walk away, either I get one in 20 seconds or less, or I go back to the first bank”. 70% I get an elevator instantly, 20% in ten or twenty seconds. In total I've never waited for an elevator more than 30s using this strategy.

 

BUT and here is why this design is rigged, I'm not the only one who thought about this, and the elevators stop at every other floor with no one stepping in, which makes everyone's journey longer and consume energy for nothing.

 

 

(To be continued.)

[JAGR]

8 hours ago, iwtobek said:

We've got a choice of a complimentary bottle of something, asked for the Champaign, got it delivered a few days later (showing a 0€ charge on the account).

You are French?  Really? 😉

[shmabbies]

I'm on this itinerary, on this ship, in October, so I'm very interested in this thread, no matter where OP is from!  Most interested in port information and disembarkation information.  Also, OP, if you've heard anything good or bad about the paid MSC transfer from airport to ship, would love to hear it (I know you don't have personal experience).  Thanks and have a great time!

[pirate4me2]

We sail Seashore in YC twice next year, so I am very much enjoying this review! Stinks that the elevators are "broke" and that the YC override doesn't work. Sounds similar to my experience on Seaside last month. 

[Heartgrove]

Yes, each embarkation port of a cruise that has multiple embarkations is allocated certain staterooms. One time we wanted to sail from Civitavecchia but we didn't like the choice available. Instead we boarded in Genoa for a better located YC stateroom on the same deck as the Top Sail Lounge.