Always available items in YC

[DaKahuna]

22 hours ago, RichYak said:

 

I'm a Celebrity Retreat refugee sailing MSC YC for the first time in March. Thank you both for your comments.

 

Same, except our sailing on MSC Divina is in February. 

 

[DaKahuna]

22 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We had the cabin next to the Penthouse suite on Millennium, meaning we shared their butler. eam It was a very disappointing experience. 

 

22 hours ago, DisneyJen said:

 

We had the same experience on Summit!

 

We have that cabin on our upcoming Millennium sailing in May of 2024.  Now that the Butler's have been replaced by a "team" it will be interesting to see how that works out.  I just want to make sure I get my afternoon shrimp cocktail and crackers and cheese plate !  

 

[DisneyJen]

Will be interested in your experiences on MSC and X @DaKahuna.

 

 

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

I just want to make sure I get my afternoon shrimp cocktail and crackers and cheese plate !

By most accounts, you have to order these from room service now in Celebrity Sky Suites.

[bphman]

Hey JAGR.  I certainly got your I-O quote.  G-O. B-U-C-K-S!  We will be sailing for the Penn State game.  Hoping to catch some of it on board.  I'll record it but seeing it live beats seeing a replay when you know the outcome.  Needles to say, we are concerned about Penn State and that school up North.

 

[DisneyJen]

 

12 minutes ago, bphman said:

Hey JAGR.  I certainly got your I-O quote.  G-O. B-U-C-K-S!  We will be sailing for the Penn State game.  Hoping to catch some of it on board.  I'll record it but seeing it live beats seeing a replay when you know the outcome.  Needles to say, we are concerned about Penn State and that school up North.

 

 

@JAGR and @bphman ... the best thing about the B1G Ten ( or whatever number it is this week🏈) is the cordiality of the fans ... except for those Rutgers fans. Seeing a game in East Rutherford was the scariest game of our lives and we've been to all the B1G stadiums for football except Ohio State.

 

Trying to keep us on topic 🍾

 

Wondering how the beverage package works in the YC,

 

When we sail on X in the Retreat we are used to having Grand Mimosas with our room service  breakfast.  Our butler usually delivers a chilled bottle of Champers (not sparkling white or prosecco), fresh OJ and Grand Marnier.

 

The recipe for a Grand Mimosa, first served at The Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1925:

 

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) Grand Marnier

1 bottle Champagne

1½ cups orange juice

6 orange slices, for garnish

 

Wondering of there would be a charge for any of the ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

7 hours ago, DisneyJen said:

Will be interested in your experiences on MSC and X @DaKahuna.

 

 

 My signature contains links to my X cruises since the post COVID restart.  I am sure I’ll be doing a live review of our May Millennium sailing. 
Our February Divina cruise will be our first MSC cruise. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by DaKahuna

[DaKahuna]

Does MSC do hot water pots in YC staterooms or only coffee makers?  My DW and I both enjoy tea more than coffee and would like to have a hot water or tea kettle in the room. 

[CruisingFox27]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Does MSC do hot water pots in YC staterooms or only coffee makers?  My DW and I both enjoy tea more than coffee and would like to have a hot water or tea kettle in the room. 

Only the coffee machines, as far as I'm aware. No kettles, unless sailing from Southampton. You can just call the butler and request tea or a pot of hot water at anytime, though. 

[DaKahuna]

15 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Only the coffee machines, as far as I'm aware. No kettles, unless sailing from Southampton. You can just call the butler and request tea or a pot of hot water at anytime, though. 

 

Thank you.  Was hoping to avoid having to call the butler.  Might just be easier to walk down the hall to the Top Sail Lounge and get hot water from there. 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Might just be easier to walk down the hall to the Top Sail Lounge and get hot water from there.

Chances are that a butler will insist on bringing it your room. They like to service. 🙂

[ashleyriley]

We have been NCL Haven fans for years. We still are, but wanted to try Celebrity Retreat and MSC Yacht Club. In a couple of months, we will be in a Royal Suite on the Beyond, then a couple of months later a Deluxe Suite on the Seashore. It will be interesting to compare the three cruise lines in terms of food, entertainment and service. This thread has me really looking forward to the MSC cruise in the Yacht club. 

[Beamafar]

7 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Thank you.  Was hoping to avoid having to call the butler.  Might just be easier to walk down the hall to the Top Sail Lounge and get hot water from there. 

 

There’s no service in TSL before 6am.  The night butler is usually around (or on) the concierge desk. 

[DisneyJen]

It looks like gratuities aren't included on MSC YC.

 

When we have done suites (X, Seabourn, SeaDream) gratuities were included and we always add extra to those who have gone above beyond or to the crew welfare fund.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by DisneyJen

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, Beamafar said:

There’s no service in TSL before 6am.  The night butler is usually around (or on) the concierge desk. 

 

Thank you.  We normally make tea in the mornings between breakfast and lunch and afternoons before dinner.  It's more of a 'when the mood strikes us' as something that happens same time everyday. 

 We both are the types that can function 100% without morning coffee and or tea. 

 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, DisneyJen said:

It looks like gratuities aren't included on MSC YC.

 

When we have done suites (X, Seabourn, SeaDream) gratuities were included and we always add extra to those who have gone above beyond or to the crew welfare fund.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

I also just noticed that and I do not see anyway to pre-pay gratuities on their website.  So my assumption is that gratuities will be charged daily to our onboard account.  This is how Royal Caribbean has been for us when sailing in their Grand Suites and how it will be in Celebrity suites going forward. 

I have a note to myself to contact my TA and see if it is possible to pre-pay and if so I will have him do that when I make the final payment. 

 

[JAGR]

6 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I also just noticed that and I do not see anyway to pre-pay gratuities on their website.  So my assumption is that gratuities will be charged daily to our onboard account.  This is how Royal Caribbean has been for us when sailing in their Grand Suites and how it will be in Celebrity suites going forward. 

I have a note to myself to contact my TA and see if it is possible to pre-pay and if so I will have him do that when I make the final payment. 

 

You can pre-pay, but have to do it over the phone, from our experience.  If you hit YC while in the phone tree on the call, you will generally get through fairly quickly.  As far as posting of the hotel services fee, they usually post on day three for the week (at least from US sailings).  That gives them time to sort through the guest list and know who is in what room.  The charge is for that week or the sailing itself.  It may be posted sooner if the sailing is only a three-trip.

[jcpc]

46 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I also just noticed that and I do not see anyway to pre-pay gratuities on their website.  So my assumption is that gratuities will be charged daily to our onboard account.  This is how Royal Caribbean has been for us when sailing in their Grand Suites and how it will be in Celebrity suites going forward. 

I have a note to myself to contact my TA and see if it is possible to pre-pay and if so I will have him do that when I make the final payment. 

 

I had my travel agent prepay the daily service charge when she made the booking for me.  So I’m sure your agent will have no problem adding the pre-paid service charges to your reservation.  
 

One thing I will note about gratuities.  I was informed on this board that if you tip the main bartender in Top Sail at the end of your sailing he will distribute the money to all the outstanding folks working in Top Sail.  When I sailed Meraviglia last month I asked the bartender and one of the wonderful servers in Top Sail if this was the case.  I was told that they do not share the cash gratuities that they receive directly from guests.  So I made sure to tip each one directly on the last day of the cruise.  The same holds true in the dining room.  I was used to Luminae where most of the time the cash gratuities were shared (I say most of the time because on both Beyond and Edge I was explicitly told they do not share cash tips).  I asked the Restaurant Manager in YC dining room and was told they do not share cash gratuities.  It was easy for us because we had the same waitstaff each night so we tipped those two guys.  There was no need to tip sommelier because our wine and cocktails were served by our waitstaff.  It appeared to me that the sommelier only served guests who purchased wine by the bottle.

[insidecabin]

Worth checking UK prices they include the gratuities(and taxes).

 

Also worth checking for non YC as the promotion is premium drinks(no WiFi) on all cabins when available.

[DaKahuna]

@jcpc  That is very good information.  Thank you. 

 

 We normally tip the waitstaff in the lounge / bars per service and the restaurant waitstaff at the end of the cruise.  If, on the rare occasion that we have multiple waitstaff over the course of the cruise we normally give a cash tip to the maitre'd to be distributed. 

 

Comment regarding the sommelier noted.  We normally drink wine by the glass but ask the sommelier for recommended pairings.  I assume the Le Muse waitstaff can provide wine recommendations. 

 

[jcpc]

12 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Comment regarding the sommelier noted.  We normally drink wine by the glass but ask the sommelier for recommended pairings.  I assume the Le Muse waitstaff can provide wine recommendations. 

 

12 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

@DaKahuna This was our experience on Meraviglia.  Your experience on Divina may be different. 

 

Regarding the waitstaff making wine recommendations.  This definitely was not the case with the waitstaff we had on Meraviglia.  You could definitely tell that they knew nothing about wine and actually very little about basic cocktails too!  I'm guessing that if we had a question about wine, they would have called the sommelier or restaurant manager over to the table. Lucikly, the five of us pretty much knew exactly what we wanted to drink each evening.

[DaKahuna]

Just now, jcpc said:

 

@DaKahuna This was our experience on Meraviglia.  Your experience on Divina may be different. 

 

Regarding the waitstaff making wine recommendations.  This definitely was not the case with the waitstaff we had on Meraviglia.  You could definitely tell that they knew nothing about wine and actually very little about basic cocktails too!  I'm guessing that if we had a question about wine, they would have called the sommelier or restaurant manager over to the table. Lucikly, the five of us pretty much knew exactly what we wanted to drink each evening.

 

 Good to know.  I pretty much know the American wines I like but not very familiar with Italian wines so was hoping to get some help vs drinking chianti with every meal  🙂

 

[DisneyJen]

Thank you all for the terrific feedback!

 

Interesting on the sommelier on MSC YC.

 

@DJ's DH and I are relatively wine savvy but we do enjoy having the sommelier in Luminae pair wines for our meals. Over the years we have been introduced to some interesting wines and vintages.

 

Does anyone know what the house pour champagne is in MSC YC? Real champers not sparkling white or asti 🍾

 

 

 

 

[KittyCruz]

Mozzarella sticks add a little something to the shrimp cocktail and wine diet I had planned for our upcoming YC cruise, thanks for the tip!

[jcpc]

@DisneyJenI think the champagne (or wine or alcohol) that is served in YC may be ship dependent based on what the supplier in a specific geographical area is able to acquire.  For example, the supplier stocking a ship in NY may provide different brands than a supplier in Miami can provide.   That said, one of the guys in our group drank champagne in both Top Sail and the YC restaurant.  I’ll ask him what champagne was served and report back.

Edited October 16, 2023 by jcpc