Just off MSC Yacht Club, my thoughts

[Lena11033]

1 minute ago, Cruise a holic said:

The form asks for the Canptains club ID card- don't have one.

I did a screenshot of my 'number' on the website for this

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

8 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

I did a screenshot of my 'number' on the website for this

 

Yes, that's all you need to do.  Your number and your status will show up.

[Mrdell]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

We cannot locate a good TA for MSC.  Also, we tried filling out the form for getting reciprocity from celebrity we are Elite plus.  The form asks for the Canptains club ID card- don't have one.

Same problem here… Our TA refused to deal with them telling us the wait time on hold was unbearable, and a few times final payments were processed twice with long delays to reverse charges to customers credit cards!

[cbfb]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

We cannot locate a good TA for MSC.  Also, we tried filling out the form for getting reciprocity from celebrity we are Elite plus.  The form asks for the Canptains club ID card- don't have one.

Yes all you need is a screenshot. Also be sure to use the highest loyalty membership you have that they accept. My husband is Hilton Diamond level which transferred as a MSC Diamond member. 

[Bill Miller]

Competition is good for the passenger and it helps keep the cruise line somewhat humble.

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

Thanks for your report. I have never cruised with MSC, but I am booked in a Yacht Club stateroom on the MSC Seashore for a four-night cruise in August 2024. After reading a lot of good reports on the Yacht Club, I decided to try it out. 

 

Chuck

Edited December 18, 2023 by seacruise9

[Cruise a holic]

13 hours ago, Mrdell said:

Same problem here… Our TA refused to deal with them telling us the wait time on hold was unbearable, and a few times final payments were processed twice with long delays to reverse charges to customers credit cards!

Maybe I shouldn't sail with that company- Who knows!  We love cruising but the prices are now obscene.

[Mrdell]

17 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Maybe I shouldn't sail with that company- Who knows!  We love cruising but the prices are now obscene.

So unfortunate that their website and customer support is lacking…. We did end up cruising with them, and I must say we really had a very nice time. The ship was beautiful and being a “people person “ we enjoyed talking to the many people that were on board from Europe on our sailing. The theatre shows were not quite as good as Celebrity but in my opinion not a deal breaker.

[PTC DAWG]

I've sailed twice in Yacht Club, quit talking about it.  It's overrated.  🙂

[paulh84]

YC may look great at a price that isn't at Retreat and Haven prices yet but once you step out of the YC confines? No thank you. 

[KKB]

On 12/17/2023 at 5:02 AM, rollie said:

About myself, we have done over 39 Celebrity cruises.  In the last few years we have been able to afford the Retreat.  We really liked the experience on Edge class in the Retreat.  That being said, we feel that Celebrities prices have gone through the roof and the Retreat experience is not the same as it once was.  So, we decided to give MSC Yacht club a try.  I think that the only area that Celebrity still excels is service.  I don't think any other cruise line, other than a luxury brand, can beat Celebrities service.  Luminae food is not what it once was.  The service is still top notch, but quality and choices are not what the once were.  The Retreat sundeck is nice, but the Yacht Club is awesome.  Yacht Club is much bigger than the Retreat sundeck.  I liked the buffet there and had breakfast there everyday..  I was surprised with how good the food quality is in the Yacht Club.  I thought this was an area where Celebrity would still be tops.  Not so.  The lounge is another area that MCS out shines Celebrity.  The bar area is bigger and the whole area is more opulent.  

 

In summary, with the prices Celebrity is now charging for the Retreat, I think I well stick with MSC.

 

I sailed MSC in Feb (Caribbean) & May (Europe)--will never sail them again. (NOT YC)

Numerous Celebrity cruises in 10 years. LOVE Eclass. Tried Retreat on Beyond in April. It was fine but not worth a lot of extra $ (we got a deal--about same as we have paid for balconies)

 

Why? Little about MSC appeals to me. What largely killed it for me is the lack of common courtesy by far too many passengers--on both sailings! (officially 2-B2B cruises, so FOUR sailings).

Now this was not in YC.

(and I read reviews by others saying the same thing...but the prices were so great I had to try. Even free wasn't cheap enough...)

 

But what we realized when we sailed Retreat--we liked it but we are out & about the ship. 

We didn't spend all that much time in the Retreat area.

 

So if you are a person that largely stays in the Retreat/YC area & cabin, I can see the appeal of MSC.

If you are one who is more likely to be out & about the ship--MSC may not be for you.

[GT38]

On 12/17/2023 at 6:02 AM, rollie said:

About myself, we have done over 39 Celebrity cruises.  In the last few years we have been able to afford the Retreat.  We really liked the experience on Edge class in the Retreat.  That being said, we feel that Celebrities prices have gone through the roof and the Retreat experience is not the same as it once was.  So, we decided to give MSC Yacht club a try.  I think that the only area that Celebrity still excels is service.  I don't think any other cruise line, other than a luxury brand, can beat Celebrities service.  Luminae food is not what it once was.  The service is still top notch, but quality and choices are not what the once were.  The Retreat sundeck is nice, but the Yacht Club is awesome.  Yacht Club is much bigger than the Retreat sundeck.  I liked the buffet there and had breakfast there everyday..  I was surprised with how good the food quality is in the Yacht Club.  I thought this was an area where Celebrity would still be tops.  Not so.  The lounge is another area that MCS out shines Celebrity.  The bar area is bigger and the whole area is more opulent.  

 

In summary, with the prices Celebrity is now charging for the Retreat, I think I well stick with MSC.

 

  Totally agree.  I've been on over 70 cruises on 12 cruise lines including Silver Seas, Oceania, and Windstar.  The MSC Yacht Club is the best bang for the buck.

[cruise47]

Suite guests received outstanding all around services and perks. But what about the ordinary MSC cruisers? How are they treated?

[billc23]

1 hour ago, paulh84 said:

YC may look great at a price that isn't at Retreat and Haven prices yet but once you step out of the YC confines? No thank you. 

That is why I want to try it when bringing family along. The old folks stay put in YC while the kid/grand kids have fun on the ship. I'm in for January 2025.

[George C]

15 minutes ago, GT38 said:

  Totally agree.  I've been on over 70 cruises on 12 cruise lines including Silver Seas, Oceania, and Windstar.  The MSC Yacht Club is the best bang for the buck.

Totally agree we have done more than 70 cruises , travel agent just called me , we are on seaside again next December, 2700 each for balcony including drink package WiFi and OBC , this time we are on deck 16 same as dining room. They gave us a ten percent discount since I am a veteran. We normally book rccl suites and celebrity suites.

[asctony]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

I sailed MSC in Feb (Caribbean) & May (Europe)--will never sail them again. (NOT YC)

Numerous Celebrity cruises in 10 years. LOVE Eclass. Tried Retreat on Beyond in April. It was fine but not worth a lot of extra $ (we got a deal--about same as we have paid for balconies)

 

Why? Little about MSC appeals to me. What largely killed it for me is the lack of common courtesy by far too many passengers--on both sailings! (officially 2-B2B cruises, so FOUR sailings).

Now this was not in YC.

(and I read reviews by others saying the same thing...but the prices were so great I had to try. Even free wasn't cheap enough...)

 

But what we realized when we sailed Retreat--we liked it but we are out & about the ship. 

We didn't spend all that much time in the Retreat area.

 

So if you are a person that largely stays in the Retreat/YC area & cabin, I can see the appeal of MSC.

If you are one who is more likely to be out & about the ship--MSC may not be for you.

What did you find that was so bad about the ship once you left the YC? TIA

[KKB]

Just now, asctony said:

What did you find that was so bad about the ship once you left the YC? TIA

Shows were not great.

Trivia is a bit exasperating in 5 languages (hey, I get why they do it & understand)

Not a lot of other activities.

Food was not great. (tho pizza? BEST AT SEA)

At the prices I got, I MIGHT return if these were the biggest issues. 

 

But it was the plethora of rude passengers--pulling lounge chairs anywhere on deck so that it is a maze to walk around ANYWHERE on sun decks; ramming people in back w/ buffet trays; physically moving other people's children aside; no regard for common courtesy regarding lines, etc. These were not one time incidents--they were observed over & over. 

It was stunning.

Most confusing was the SAME behavior on sailings in 2 very different locations.

 

Crew fantastic as on all ships.

 

[asctony]

33 minutes ago, KKB said:

Shows were not great.

Trivia is a bit exasperating in 5 languages (hey, I get why they do it & understand)

Not a lot of other activities.

Food was not great. (tho pizza? BEST AT SEA)

At the prices I got, I MIGHT return if these were the biggest issues. 

 

But it was the plethora of rude passengers--pulling lounge chairs anywhere on deck so that it is a maze to walk around ANYWHERE on sun decks; ramming people in back w/ buffet trays; physically moving other people's children aside; no regard for common courtesy regarding lines, etc. These were not one time incidents--they were observed over & over. 

It was stunning.

Most confusing was the SAME behavior on sailings in 2 very different locations.

 

Crew fantastic as on all ships.

 

I have been on many MSC ships since Jan 2006. I must agree with you.

Food - lowest of all cruise lines.

Guests - very inconsiderate.

Ships - beautiful & clean

Prices - excellent

Service - good

MSC is really making a big splash with ask their new ships.

Thanks! 

[talljules1]

We did an MSC YC cruise on Virtuosa earlier this year (in a Duplex suite), 3 Sky Suite cruises (S and E class ships) with Celebrity last year, and this week we're off in a Royal Suite on an M Class ship.

 

Our impression was that MSC is excellent value in the YC. We would not sail with them outside the YC, but we really enjoyed our cruise. The service was great. The food was perhaps not quite as good, but we had superb service in restaurants and bars - and enjoyed having the rest of the ship to explore if we wanted to. We did spend most of our time in the YC, though!  Like that the YC restaurant and grill are open on port days as well as sea days. We'd happily sail with them again, and think they give X a run for their money.  We booked with a TA, and had no issues either with that or with the app/website. Despite being in the second largest cabin on the ship, our 2 week cruise cost less than 1 week in a sky suite (and comes with more perks than a sky suite) sailing at the same time of year from the same port.  MSC's excursions were also good.

[Whinenowine]

On 12/17/2023 at 2:39 PM, Dolebludger said:

Actually, price considered, the Retreat is not a competitor of the YC. The Retreat has become a competitor of Silversea and Regent, price wise, and is losing badly IMHO.

Amen, brother.  

[Essiesmom]

I have sailed MSC six times, four different ships, not in YC.  I find it no different than any other mass market line for those of us Below the Salt.  I liked the shows.  I’m a people watcher, so I chose to move around the ship.  I just got off 10 days on Seashore yesterday.  New for this cruise was the ability to access the boarding pass in the app.  I think some of the customer service issues come from it being a European line.  My theory is that Europeans book what they want, and do not seek to make myriad changes…add this package, change cabins, add another person, change dates.  Just my opinion.  My last cruise in June on Summit was not a success.  Booking late, I had select dining.  I had no opportunity to book dining time in the app, so even a shared table took an hour to seat.  After three nights I ended up in the buffet.  Buffet is great for breakfast and lunch, but for dinner, nearly half is closed, and absolutely nothing on the MDR menu is available there.  EM

[kr00t0n]

I've not experienced MSC myself, but going from people's posts I get the feeling that the experience between the YC and normal passengers is far closer to the class segregation that people often complain about, whereas the general experience on Celebrity is roughly the same for non-Retreat guests as Retreat guests.

As in, you NEED to be in YC for MSC to be good, but Celebrity it good both in and out of The Retreat.

[jean87510]

On 12/17/2023 at 10:29 AM, rollie said:

We were on the Seashore out of Port Canaveral for a 3 day cruise.  The cruise was full with about 4000 guests.  We've only been in Sky Suites on Celebrity, and we had a Deluxe Suite on the Seashore, a comparable cabin.  Storage and balcony were superior on MCS, but cabin outlets were much better on Celebrity.  The bathroom was better on Celebrity.  The sundeck on MSC was by far the most enjoyable part of the cruise.

 

Rollie

It seems that particular ship was struggling in YC based on some recent reports.  

We will be on the MSC Divina YC in 9 days.  I'm looking forward to the experience as I just started booking the suite areas on RCCL and need comparisons.

Edited December 19, 2023 by jean87510

[CruisinShips]

Finding this thread to be very interesting.  I am wondering though why there aren't more mentions of Oceania as an alternative.  It seems to be a go-to line for many people I know who prefer the more upscale experience akin to Silversea or Regent.

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, CruisinShips said:

Finding this thread to be very interesting.  I am wondering though why there aren't more mentions of Oceania as an alternative.  It seems to be a go-to line for many people I know who prefer the more upscale experience akin to Silversea or Regent.

MSC Yacht Club is quite a bit less expensive than Oceania in my experience. Additionally, you are talking comparing a small ship to a large ship which won’t be the same experience.