VV 5 Night Versus 4 Night MSC Seashore Yacht Club...Which do you pick?

[aimcat]

So let me just get this out there right off the top....my fiance and I are 40 and 41 right wingers....however, we are open minded and people of other cultures, race, gender, etc do not bother us nor does your sexual preference. I know VV seems more edgy and I feel like this will need to be known, LOL. So with that being said on top of that we have only ever done Carnival and Royal. 

Last year we had the worst cruise ever but here we are giving it a go again. So I almost booked Yacht Club - its 4 nights (yes that is the only time to work with right now because of work - a shorter cruise) and goes to ocean cay and nassau. Yacht club seems great for us to separate from all the crowds and have some more private amenities. 

The next choice is the 5 night VV - which goes to better ports like DR and Cozumel etc. However this is just in a standard terrace or maybe XL terrace room. VV seems very untraditional so not sure we would like that. Need some help! Which do you do? 

[cantgetin]

I'd go VV for a zillion reasons.  But in fairness, I've only done long cruises on VV and understand that shorter cruises are more "party atmosphere."  I'm quite conservative.  That's not a problem on VV if you are not going to be offended by others.  Frankly, I've never seen any PDA or clothing on VV that I haven't seen on Disney Cruise Line.  I have memories of formal night on Disney when my daughter at about age 10 said, "Mom, you can see her (fill in blank).  Sure, you'll see hand holding and a peck on the cheek on VV, but people know when to take it to the cabin.  The Diva entertainment can be a lot of fun, somewhat depending on who the Diva is.

We are fine in a Sea Terrace, and the hammock is amazing--we bought one for home!

My only concern for you is length of cruise, and I have the same concern for my sister and BIL.  Shorter = more rowdy crowd.    VV costs have increased way too much. But the MSC you are considering sounds awful to me!

[Freelancer3]

I have done one 7 day MSC yacht club and multiple 7 day plus VV cruise.  MSC yacht club is the only way I would cruise again on MSC. The Yacht Club had one specialty restaurant. private pool, bar, butler, etc. The internet was terrible. It is a more traditional european style cruise. 

 

With VV, we always cruise a Terrace, usually midship. 

 

I would choose VV everytime for the multiple specialty-style restaurants, casual atmosphere, better internet, no children, and  one extra day.

 

 

[aimcat]

18 minutes ago, Freelancer3 said:

I have done one 7 day MSC yacht club and multiple 7 day plus VV cruise.  MSC yacht club is the only way I would cruise again on MSC. The Yacht Club had one specialty restaurant. private pool, bar, butler, etc. The internet was terrible. It is a more traditional european style cruise. 

 

With VV, we always cruise a Terrace, usually midship. 

 

I would choose VV everytime for the multiple specialty-style restaurants, casual atmosphere, better internet, no children, and  one extra day.

 

 

When you say traditional European cruise do you mean different than say RC or Carnival? 

[Freelancer3]

You might see a bit more European decor, wine and food. 2 hour dinners is not uncommon. 

 

RC and Carnival are US based and cater everything toward a US market place.

 

Personally, I enjoy European / Italian flair, but I still much prefer VV. 

Edited January 19 by Freelancer3

[cantgetin]

The best thing about VV is the total absence of kids.  Specifically, no one running up and down halls screaming, no one punching all the elevator buttons, trashing the beverage station, stealing from host carts, or invading adult only areas.

I don't hate kids.  I have negative feelings toward the 10% of parents who don't supervise their kids and allow them to run wild.  I agree that most of the kids on Disney or Royal are not a problem, but enough have never had proper parenting and are unsupervised on board to make a problem for some of us who'd like to not deal with their antics.

[aimcat]

2 hours ago, cantgetin said:

The best thing about VV is the total absence of kids.  Specifically, no one running up and down halls screaming, no one punching all the elevator buttons, trashing the beverage station, stealing from host carts, or invading adult only areas.

I don't hate kids.  I have negative feelings toward the 10% of parents who don't supervise their kids and allow them to run wild.  I agree that most of the kids on Disney or Royal are not a problem, but enough have never had proper parenting and are unsupervised on board to make a problem for some of us who'd like to not deal with their antics.

I agree with all of what you said. We are childless couple by choice. The only difference in what you said is that I do hate kids.....LOL kidding....maybe...

[neverendingcruising]

If you hate kids there’s truly nothing like it so I’d say it’s worth at least one go. It only takes one poorly behaved child to ruin a moment or an entire voyage so having zero without it being a snooze fest like the other 18+ lines designed for really old people is something to behold. I think overall product is different enough that it’s not for everybody, so you may not be lifetime fans but for a short trip I think it’s worth a try. They have also toned down some of the risqué parts a little bit, but if you aren’t easily offended you’ll be fine. 
 

if you are easily offended, definitely do not go to Miss Behave! 

[Cloud9 Bob]

For me it’s a no brainer, definitely VV. First off, no kids. I cannot speak highly enough about this perk. Better food. Better ports. I won’t even get off the ship in Nassau anymore. I’d rather enjoy the lack of crowds on the ship. Definitely see Bimini and try to make it to the Dolphin House. Mr Saunders is a unique, eccentric man and when he’s gone, the world will have lost a unique artist. That’s my .02 cents.

[CineGraphic]

If you're uptight, I'd avoid events like Bingo with the Diva, Miss Behave Show, and Salty Trivia. They can be loaded with all sorts of double entendre. As for being right-wingers or left-wingers, we never discuss politics with strangers, especially when cruising. The vibe on board tends to be all about acceptance and respect.

[aimcat]

9 hours ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

For me it’s a no brainer, definitely VV. First off, no kids. I cannot speak highly enough about this perk. Better food. Better ports. I won’t even get off the ship in Nassau anymore. I’d rather enjoy the lack of crowds on the ship. Definitely see Bimini and try to make it to the Dolphin House. Mr Saunders is a unique, eccentric man and when he’s gone, the world will have lost a unique artist. That’s my .02 cents.

Would you expect a ton of kids regardless here in the next week or 2nd week of Feb? 

[cantgetin]

6 hours ago, aimcat said:

Would you expect a ton of kids regardless here in the next week or 2nd week of Feb? 

I would not expect "a ton" of kids on other lines--the first half of Feb was one of our chosen cruise times on other lines for that reason.  But there are always kids in all age groups. You'll get homeschoolers and parents who decide to take the week for the better prices.  These are also prime weeks for infants and toddlers, but they are rarely a problem.   The third week in Feb is AWFUL--that's now being called "President's Week" and many private schools take the whole week off as "winter break" (because you know, they didn't just get back from Christmas).  

[Cloud9 Bob]

What she said  ^

[hotsauce126]

3 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I would not expect "a ton" of kids on other lines--the first half of Feb was one of our chosen cruise times on other lines for that reason.  But there are always kids in all age groups. You'll get homeschoolers and parents who decide to take the week for the better prices.  These are also prime weeks for infants and toddlers, but they are rarely a problem.   The third week in Feb is AWFUL--that's now being called "President's Week" and many private schools take the whole week off as "winter break" (because you know, they didn't just get back from Christmas).  

Yeah my last RCCL cruise this past February had way, way more kids than I expected and I wasn't alone. Somebody else commented about it in the facebook group for the cruise and some lady was going off on everybody saying they should know that kids in New England have a break in February as if that's common knowledge to the rest of the country and those without kids

[lisabucsfan1]

17 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

As for being right-wingers or left-wingers, we never discuss politics with strangers, especially when cruising. The vibe on board tends to be all about acceptance and respect.

Exactly. Not sure why political leaning has a thing to do with a vacation. Especially if the OP is as accepting as the post indicates. 

[herdfans4]

We have done Carnival, Disney, RCI, MSC and VV in the past.  In the last year, we did VV, MSC, and Carnival and have loved every single one.  Each cruise has a different vibe.  I agree with the above person who stated they would never do MSC outside yacht club (though we have never done that we did see what was available on our three MSC yacht club trips and it was not great outside the bubble).  We are not fans of shows on carnival and MSC and just avoid those.  VV shows are fun but I don't like the reservation system for shows and dinners and feeling that I have to constantly stay on my phone to look manage those.  All this to say it depends on the cruise you are looking for. 

 

If you are looking for the most laid back cruise with little planning required and feeling of being pampered and catered to around the clock then we love MSC for this.  The yacht club is nice in that you just show up to dinner or lunch whenever and there is a table ready for you. we honestly loved the yacht club food.  Even my 20 something kids enjoyed yacht clubs laid back feel.  (there were only 2 younger well behaved kids on all the sailings we have done with MSC and one of ours was during summer.  we were on the younger side and we are upper 40s).  The butlers are awesome and we loved the lounge in the evening with singer/piano player and drink service with nice snacks.  also the ocean cay yacht club area had a very nice restaurant and service on the beach.  the beaches around the island are really nice too and not over crowded.

 

If you are looking for more activity and entertainment the go with VV.  Their entertainment staff are fun and interactive with guest and seem genuinely happy. There seems to be something fun going on that you can choose to participate in or not but again some of this takes more planning and reservations.  The food on VV is better in that there are more options  but the planning that it takes to go to dinner is a little frustrating.  would be great if you could just show up and get a pager/beeper and then hang at a bar until time.  Really hate having to have everything planned and booked so much eg. if I am enjoying a conversation with new friends at the pool or bar hate to cut it short to make a reservation that was made months ahead of cruise.  The drinks on VV are miles above other lines and are way more consistent from bar to bar as compared to other lines.  The private area on bimini is nice but we liked MSC ocean cay for overall experience (only missing a pool)

[c-boy]

20 hours ago, herdfans4 said:

The drinks on VV are miles above other lines and are way more consistent from bar to bar as compared to other lines.

 👍  Now that is music to my ears.