LIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE Celebrity Summit Retreat & Seascape Yacht Club 12/9-21/2023 ~ 1st MSC vs Farewell (?) X Suite Experience

[JaneRetired]

13 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Evidently I drank up the rest of my prefered Chopin vodka upon boarding.  When we returned to The Retreat Lounge in the evening there was no more available, so I settled for Belvedere in my Lemon Drop Martini.  I will continue with hard liquor since I refuse to pay $2 a glass extra to drink newly priced $19 glasses of wine such as Conundrum.

Evening snacks in The Retreat Lounge….

 

Conundrum costs about $20 per bottle in my local California grocery stores (Vons/Safeway/Ralphs) and about $25 per bottle at Bevmo. It's fine as a inexpensive grocery store wine. 

[Dolebludger]

Right. No objection to a up-charge for premium and expensive wines, if properly defined. But an up-charge for “grocery store” wine? Just “no”! 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

40 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Right. No objection to a up-charge for premium and expensive wines, if properly defined. But an up-charge for “grocery store” wine? Just “no”! 

First world problems 🤣

[hcat]

14 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Evidently I drank up the rest of my prefered Chopin vodka upon boarding.  When we returned to The Retreat Lounge in the evening there was no more available, so I settled for Belvedere in my Lemon Drop Martini.  I will continue with hard liquor since I refuse to pay $2 a glass extra to drink newly priced $19 glasses of wine such as Conundrum.

Evening snacks in The Retreat Lounge….

 

looks great! 

 

Too bad no.one told us about that when we had a Suite on Beyond....and that was when we had the "But-in Butler!"

 

One time I passed through to ask a question and discovered a nice bkfast spead there, again no one told us about that either.  We hung out in that lounge when we boarded but not much thereafter.. it was kind of sterile.  Outdoor area was much nicer..and more fun!

[hcat]

18 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

First world problems 🤣

at  a high mark up!

[George C]

MSC used to sell a super upgraded liquor package it was 17 extra a day but included everything sold by the glass including Johnny Walker Blue and some 21 year old single malt scotch, XO cognac and really good champagne but I read they no longer have that option, I definitely over indulged that cruise.

[miched]

4 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

My sentiments

Valen and Brian are doing a fantastic job on the accommodation end of things.  Of course, they have no control over Kelly Hoppen’s interior design  fails choosing aesthectic over functionality.😂😂😂

 

Besides the chair not being able to fit under the desk.  The drawers are very shallow.   
 

She also eliminated all of the shelves in the Bathroom   
 

And this was our balcony furniture in a SS on the Summit.   The SS is now classified as a AQ SS  it is a SS.  It has an angled balcony making it larger.   The SS also is larger in length by a few feet. It is Cabin 6132
 

Happy cruising  🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

[raudacruise]

I see the Punishment Chairs on your balcony.  Not very inviting.

[Dolebludger]

You know, that furniture doesn’t look very comfortable. Is it?

[Stem to Stern]

29 minutes ago, miched said:

The drawers are very shallow.   
 

She also eliminated all of the shelves in the Bathroom   
 

And this was our balcony furniture in a SS on the Summit.

Oh please don’t get me started.

 

Desk drawers have deceivingly larger face fronts than the actual drawer innards themselves.

 

No grab bars in the bathtub/shower to assist with making the giant leap in not to mention with showering in rough seas.  But we all know that has been addressed here on numerous occasions.

 

Pitch black in the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I could go on.  First world problems.

 

Our verandah furniture is not the grade school chairs in the photo you shared.  We will give our verandah furniture a comfort test in port tomorrow when the weather is calmer.

 

[Stem to Stern]

5 hours ago, lola2013 said:

Good morning Paul,

Apex was amazing…disembarked yesterday 🥲.  I waved as we sailed past Miami on 12/9!  I’m ready for this Summit review.  Down to 109 days until we sail on Silhouette 🚢.

Bon Voyage,

Susan

So glad you enjoyed Apex last week.  Looking forward to hearing all about it when we meet up in April.  Our first Edge-class sailing is not until September on Beyond.

[Stem to Stern]

2 hours ago, MACruisers said:

 

I’m sorry, but $19 a glass for Cherry Tart is absolutely ridiculous!  That stuff is so terrible, on day one, after all of the pleasantries we tell the sommelier that we do not want Cherry Tart ever.

 

I tried it once.  I did not care for it.  So, there goes another line on the wine list I can’t consider as an option.

[Stem to Stern]

20 hours ago, tnm6217 said:

I'll be on Summit in just under a month. Can you let me know who the Concierges are on your sailing? Is Rafael still the Maitre d' in Luminae?

The Retreat Concierges are Eve and Mudit.  I’ll try the Luminae maitre d’ again.  I think his name is Serdar.  I hope I got it right this time.

[Stem to Stern]

On 12/15/2023 at 8:48 PM, George C said:

Not sure if you guys are into wines , curious on wine selection, are you allowed to byob ? 

We are not wine snobs by any means.  Grocery store wines as they have been described previously in the comments on this thread suit me just fine.  I am not sure your wine BYOB question was answered by anyone, but I believe the rule has recently been updated from 2 bottles of wine per adult passenger down to one per adult passenger.  I hope someone will correct me if this is inaccurate.

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, Stem to Stern said:

I am not sure your wine BYOB question was answered by anyone, but I believe the rule has recently been updated from 2 bottles of wine per adult passenger down to one per adult passenger.  I hope someone will correct me if this is inaccurate.

It was two bottles and then it has now gone back to one bottle per qualified passenger. 

 

[Stem to Stern]

As you may have already deduced DH and I are more impressed with our experiences in Luminae so far compared to MSC Yacht Club Restaurant.  YCR was fine, but just not overly impressive, exciting, or delightful.  Hit and miss.  But is Luminae really worth double or triple the price of YC?  Not that I would ever pay those prices.

I did enjoy some wonderfully succulent grilled jumbo shrimp and rack of lamb there, but nothing else really comes to mind.  

Our complimentary specialty dining meal in Butcher’s Cut was quite nice.  Apparently this was there display of special cuts.

Today we met our friends for lunch at 1:15.  Luminae lunch hours today are 12:00 to 1:30.  We met our friends there at 1:15.  The restaurant was not too busy.  I am sure many are enjoy the wave pools and activities up on deck.

Menu

We all shared onion rings and mozzarella sticks.

I had the parsnip soup which was very good.

Then the not-so-petite petite filet.

Shrimp from the po boy for another surf and turf experience.

DH had salmon added to his vegetable stir-fry. I sampled his choice and found it very flavorful.  We all took a pass on dessert.

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Stem to Stern

[DaKahuna]

 The vegetable stir-fry is a favorite of my DW's.  

 I have made a mental not to speak to the Maitre'd on our next Retreat sailing and request some onion rings.  They look delicious.  I bet they went very well with that filet. 

 

[Dolebludger]

Yes, my wife calls that onion ring sauce shown above as “comeback sauce”.it is catsup+mayo+spices. She does it better than any 5 star restaurant I’ve ever been to.

[Ellesor826]

My solution to the ill designed chair dilemma.  

I stacked the chair with the sofa table.  
 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Ellesor826

[DaKahuna]

36 minutes ago, Ellesor826 said:

My solution to the ill designed chair dilemma.  

I stacked the chair with the sofa table.  

 

 I assume you put then chair back when you needed to use the desk? 

 

 We did not find the chair as much of a problem as the sofa table.  The only thing it was good for was a place to put my phone and drink when sitting on the couch.   I'd gladly exchange that for a decent size and height coffee table. 

 

[riredsox]

On 12/16/2023 at 5:18 PM, DaKahuna said:

 Nah, looks almost perfect ..  to quote Cowboy Way ‘knock it’s horns off, wipe it’s nasty @$$ an’ chuck it right down on a plate’  🙂 

lol When I was a bartender I asked my customer how would you like your burger and he leaned over and whispered “light a match, stick it up its @$$ and send it out here”!  I laughed all day.   I have used the line a few times if I have a good feeling about my server.  

[riredsox]

20 hours ago, George C said:

MSC used to sell a super upgraded liquor package it was 17 extra a day but included everything sold by the glass including Johnny Walker Blue and some 21 year old single malt scotch, XO cognac and really good champagne but I read they no longer have that option, I definitely over indulged that cruise.

My friend and I purchased that upgrade on the Divina.  It was the last cruise they were offering it.  It was the best money we spent!  We had Moët mimosas every morning at the delight of the One Pool bartender who always had an open bottle for us.  It was my first MSC cruise!  I had some fancy nightcaps on that cruise!

[George C]

45 minutes ago, riredsox said:

My friend and I purchased that upgrade on the Divina.  It was the last cruise they were offering it.  It was the best money we spent!  We had Moët mimosas every morning at the delight of the One Pool bartender who always had an open bottle for us.  It was my first MSC cruise!  I had some fancy nightcaps on that cruise!

The bartender at the champagne bar became our friend, he would pour us a Moët as soon as he saw us walking towards the bar 😁😁

[Dolebludger]

Is it just me, or do the furnishings in the Sky Suite look a little “Motel 6ish”? I couldn’t tell much about the Yacht Club inside, because it was small with not much in it.

[Tyskie]

@Ellesor826

I Rosie - I've been following @Side-By-Side

Low and behold, who do I see on the Summit 🦩

Hope you all have a fabulous time!

Enjoying all the differences - we were thinking of trying MSC (we're still grounded) .

Merry Christmas 🦩🎄

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Tyskie