tarheelmjfan

Interesting discussion... we're willing to pay extra for a better experience, but we need to see value in it. DH & I would be willing to pay as much as $5/person for a full room service breakfast menu or $10/person to order room service from the MDR at lunch or dinner. We'd also love to be able to order RS from the specialty restaurants & pay extra for delivery. Having this option would actually give Princess a step up on the other lines, when we're booking a cruise. (I realize suites offer this perk, but that would be the only reason we'd book a suite. It's not really worth it to us.) OTOH, $3 for the very limited room service breakfast menu they currently have is ridiculous. I don't think it would be worth it to us.

I'm not surprised those who stack onboard credits aren't upset with the extra charges. After all, they're not paying for it. If Princess ever decides to stop allowing stacking, those same people will probably be yelling loudest. ;) Like some others here I'm really surprised they still allow so many OBCs to combine, so it may just be a matter of time. For those who are able to stack them, I hope not. People rarely care about changes that don't really affect them. Eventually there will be a change that does, so it's a good idea to try to see things from other's perspective.

We did the balcony dinner once, balcony breakfast 3 times, & Chef's Table all on the same cruise. We felt they were all worth it. Honestly, we weren't as impressed with the food at the CT as many people are. The other guests we shared the experience with was what made it most memorable. Without them, we wouldn't have thought the food & tour alone warranted the fee. We've had much better meals & weren't tempted to try for another night. The balcony dinner was served in courses, but our server was very chatty. He hung around most of the time ruining our plans for a romantic meal, but we enjoyed talking to him. I think he was homesick. He talked about his home a lot. ;) The balcony breakfast was all delivered at once, so we could take our time & enjoy the experience. We actually preferred that. We would have done the balcony dinner a few more times, if they would have allowed us to vary the menu. We were told no substitutions. They did allow my DH to vary the breakfast menu, so we partook of that a few times.

After having a beach tote stolen, we don't carry much to the beach. What we do carry, DH will usually stick it in or under (for flip flops) a shoe. Unfortunately, we learning the hard way that it's too easy to grab the handles of a beach bag & run. The containers that hang around your neck are a good idea. Some of them aren't completely water tight though. When we need to carry money or a CC, I put the cards & money in a ziplock bag, then in the container.

Well we are the melting pot so it takes all kinds.

 

You must have a devil of a time to ask every resturant you have any sort of bacon product to say, and can you make my bacon raw please. : D As bacon is served, unless its the canadian bacon on the egg mcmuffin, in the standard and proper American crispy style.

Maybe, there's misunderstanding on my part. :confused: Frying bacon so the fat isn't completely raw, but still partially limp, is how I eat & am often served bacon. When it's so crispy that it snaps to the touch, it's too done for many of us. Are we calling both styles crispy? If so, I agree that's American bacon. If not, it's individual preference & perhaps some regions or families prefer a common cooking consistency.

American & European bacon often appear to be a different cut of meat. Theirs has less fat, which would be preferable to me, but hard to find in the US. That's the biggest difference I've noticed in the great bacon debate. :D

Posted here because the original bacon thread is closed...

 

The non-American bacon lovers seem to think that bacon is eaten with a fork, it's a finger food. As such it must be crispy so it doesn't fall limp and yes, it will go flying across the table if you try to spear it. Do you eat crackers with a fork?

 

As far as the health concerns...crisp bacon is better for you because all of the fat has melted away. On the buffet, I find most the bacon isn't fried enough; i.e. not crisp enough; i.e. not American enough. : D

Now, I see you all are fanning the flames & feeding into misconceptions. ;) No wonder there's so much back & forth. Buffet bacon in the US is often not crispy (cooked, yes; crispy, no). That's the only way I can eat it. I do see people pushing it all around looking for bacon that's falling to pieces due to being fried too long (or too long, IMO). Other places cook it crispy, so some of us just eat sausage. Regardless, how we prepare &/or eat our bacon is one thing we're still free to choose in the US. :p There's no universal, American style.

ETA: I don't know how anyone could confuse Canadian bacon with regular bacon, but I guess it's possible. :confused:

This bacon debate is hilarious. I'm an American who despises crispy bacon. No one in my family will eat it. From the sounds of these thread, we must all be posers. Apparently, real Americans only eat crispy bacon. :p On the contrary, many Americans won't eat bacon that's been fried beyond recognition.

Here's a link to the YC bar list used on our cruise.

The first three pages are the all inclusive selection , the remaining pages, the connoiseur's list, are at an extra cost. The prices are in euros

 

 

 

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=1cdc327c72a4c6d9#cid=1CDC327C72A4C6D9&id=1CDC327C72A4C6D9%211230&v=3

 

 

 

Pete

Thanks, I'll check it out & show DH.

I actually hope the YC food is better than NCL specialty resturants, some were good, some excellent, some OK. None were bad.

Me too! If the prices for YC don't go up substantially, it could end up being a bargain for us. That is dependent on how good Le Muse & the other YC food is though. If we feel we need to dine in the specialty restaurants for superior food, a regular balcony would probably make more sense.

Next, if money is no problem, then the more you spend, like on Princess, and RCL Oasis class, (about double the Divina), will net you better food in the specialty restaurants, but not elsewhere!: eek:

 

Money's always a problem, but we're willing to spend it for above average food. :p

Check out my review of my Yacht Club cruise, in the Med, with loads of images including YC menus and food pictures, But do bear in mind this was before she was "Americanised" for the USA market. i.e No Eataly diner.

 

It is a long review, and includes two short videos , one of the suite and one a snapshot of a big production show, along with 30+ images and a link to another 30+ images from areas other than the YC.

 

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=4472

 

 

Hope you take the time to read the relevant parts (the ports of call section won't be relevant) and find it useful.

 

 

Pete

Excellent review! If you don't mind me asking, what spirits are included for YC guests. I'm a wine drinker (sparkling, riesling, or pinot grigio). DH will also drink wine, but likes an occasional cocktail. I'm wondering how much more we could expect to spend on things not included in YC. FWIW, I'm surprised to see that the mini bar is included. That's a nice perk.

Divina will be returning to Europe in April for the summer. I'm not sure when they will release the 2015 fall and winter schedule.

Since we were only on a short 3 day cruise, we didn't partake in any of the specialty restaurants. We had dinner at LeMuse, the Yacht Club dining room, and the food was fantastic!! The Alaskan king crab salad, the risotto, and the cooked to perfection filet were all incredible. I wished I would have saved room for desert because I have heard the tiramisu is to die for!!

When it comes to drinks, you can get practically anything you want with some exceptions of course. They free pour in the Yacht Club, so you'll be guaranteed a tasty cocktail. They ran out of St. Germain though,,my girlfriend loves their Elderflower fizz.

That sounds great. I think you all have convinced us to book when the new itineraries are released. :D

MSC might not be your ticket - but that's ok. You're doing the right thing by researching and knowing your hot-buttons. Some make it a must that a ship has a Promenade :). It's just me - but I don't care, but if the fitness center is not up to snuff - I'd knock the ship right out of contention. Then there are those that have itinerary as a first cut - I'm usually in that group. But, after this last winter up north - anything warm will do. For us, I love the Musica itineraries, flexible as to port entry (we're still working, so schedule is important), don't care a whit about it being a Euro based ship, but can't deal with it not having flexible dining. Love classical ensembles - MSC has that, but they're not always there on Celebrity anymore (and Celebrity used to put them in a small lounge where they could be enjoyed). Everyone has their own thing that is important.

 

We personally hate announcements by the CD. It's a tie - Celebrity and MSC - very few announcements- but pleasantly surprised by NCL on our last cruise (very little upsell, but it was a European Holylands cruise. Actually, that cruise was our favorite trip out of many, many trips around the world.) As cruisers, we're definitely itinerary driven.

 

Breakfast - if you're absolute hot button is having a hot breakfast delivered to your regular verandah suite - look elsewhere. You would have to ask others on this board if it's possible in YC. And, if you went with Oceania (that I originally recommended for a foodie) you'd have to be in at least concierge. But, if having mortadella on a breakfast buffet rather than cooked to order omelets and waffles you might be on the right track.

 

Guess all I'm saying is keep doing your due diligence and find the right ship. It may be Celebrity and it may be MSC. Or, it may be another line.

Thanks for the feedback. :) I know what you mean about the right fit for each individual. Some of the things you consider a deal breaker doesn't matter to us. (We're with you on the announcements though. ;)) The reverse could be true. That doesn't make one of us right & the other wrong. This is why I hate the "food snob" comments. We're not snobs. Far from it. Quality food just happens to be our hot button. As you said, everyone has one. There just not always the same.

We're beginning to think MSC YC may be a good fit for us, if the food is as good as some reviews say & we can tone down the special treatment. It appears the butler & concierge feed off the guests personalities & won't be an issue. Now, for the food. :D Since pasta & seafood just happens to be my favorite foods, along with desserts & bread, we may have a winner. Quality would be the only concern.

BTW, I'm so jealous that you were able to visit the Holy Land. ;) That's my dream cruise. Someday, I'll get there, if the Lord's willing.

More questions...

How far in advance does MSC release their schedule? I can't seem to find anything for the fall of 2015 & later for Divina.

Also, how does Yacht Club's dedicated restaurant compare to the specialty restaurants for quality? What alcoholic beverages are included for YC guests? DH & I have been discussing the possibility of booking YC, & it may be a great deal for us. On our last cruise, our onboard account was over $2,600. All but maybe $500 of it was for food & wine/champagne. :o Those "for a fee" balcony breakfasts & dinners, Chef's Table, & specialty restaurants add up. :eek:

You can not have the butler escort you. They are there to help, if you don't want the help you don't have to partake.

 

We did a cruise on NCL and never once ate in the MDR or Buffet. A different specialty every night. La Cucina and LeBistro twice.

We had no regrets as the MDR menu never appealed to us and the lines to get in seemed long often.

 

Some were better than others.

That's definitely the way to do NCL. My one cruise with them was on a sister trip & my sisters weren't interested in paying extra for food. Sadly, it was my only cruise that I didn't look forward to meals. If my immediate sailed with them, we wouldn't make that mistake.

PS: We moved here from Tampa, so we're sort of neighbors. :) DH did a lot of work in Bradenton.

Tarheel, we stayed in the Yacht Club on Divina last week. I can assure you we were never escorted to the restaurant. Our butler Jonathan, escorted us on to the ship during embarkation, escorted us off the ship for shore excursions, and then off the ship for debarkation. He was relatively transparent unless we requested something. We are simple people who just choose to stay in the Yacht Club for the all inclusiveness of it, the other perks are just a bonus.

That's good to hear. It sounds like we're like minded people. I hope you can offer feedback for my questions above.

I've been reading more about Yacht Club & I'm not sure that's for us. The food & bar set up sound nice. Other aspects of staying in that area aren't quite as appealing. One review said the butler escorted them to dinner making the other guests step aside to let them pass. I would feel horrible, if that happened to us. The way I see it I have no more right to that space than they do. We're still considering it for a cruise next fall. We'll just ask the butler, concierge, etc. to tone down the special treatment, if it becomes an issue.

LOL! It was a comparison with MSC and Norwegian back then - our only other cruise experience at that time. Did it on the board, rather than a review.

 

It is funny though, I still lurk on the MSC board 5 years later! Great board! The bacon thread has been my absolute all time favorite on cruise critic! We cruise where we see relative value and are not tied to any cruise line.

 

To OP, all I can say is MSC is closer to Celebrity than NCL is! Is the North American exec still the guy that cut his teeth at Celebrity.

Thanks for the feedback. I would hope the food is better than NCLs. :eek: That's really the only problem I had with them, except for the pathetic glacier they took us to. That wasn't their fault though. My sister booked the cruise & chose a less than desirable itinerary. If we take another NCL cruise, we'll be eating in a specialty restaurant for every meal possible.

No your eyesight is excellent. Any YC review is TBD. There is another thread where there is some confusion about who sailed in the YC and who didn't. Once thats all sorted out I'm sure that review will be helpful in some way.

Thanks, I'll look for that thread.

ETA: I see it's the review I was looking for. There's just not a link in his/her signature. I'll wait for you all to work things out, then read it. :p

We usually have 2-3 dinners in specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

On the Divina we tired one of the two (The Galaxy and Eataly & Ristorante Italia) and decided to skip the second one.

 

"Specialty Pizza" is a separate venue.

I agree, junk food like pizza and burgers is not what we consider cruise ship food.

 

Le Muse is a dedicated dining room for Yacht Club guests.

That's a higher level that matches specialty restaurants on other ships.

 

Menus and photos of all these venues will be in my MSC Divina review.

I'm sure it's right in front of me, but I don't see a Divina review. What am I missing?

Have you iven mucu consideration to dropping cruise holidays in favor of land holidays? At least, some of the time. We mix both, and what you have described as your ideaibis not likely to be in any cruise ship (especially the food),

 

Please note that I'm not bashing cruises. We love them. But fibe dining is far easier and more reliably located on land than at sea,

Thanks for the suggestion. We do usually take one or two, one week or less, land vacations a year, but have found ourselves gravitating toward cruising more as we get older. I'm in my mid 40s, but have back & knee problems. I'm just no longer able to walk around a city all day. On cruises, we get off for a little while to see the highlights, then head back to the ship to relax. I think we were the only couple on our Panama Canal cruise who were happy they wouldn't let us off in Panama due to political unrest & skipped Grand Cayman due to weather. :p At this point in our lives, we'd be happy with a 14 day cruise to nowhere. :D As I said earlier, a balcony to relax on & above avg. food is all we need to have a fantastic vacation.

Actually you might be on the right track with MSC. You personally may be more happy in a Yacht Club - haven't been there, done that. Talk to those that have done it on this board. I've only lurked on this board after doing a MSC cruise about 5 years ago (Med) and enjoyed it. Personally, I think MSC is an underrated value. However, Celebrity is our go-to line (our sticking point is open seating dining - it's a must have). Oceania has always been on our hit list (trying it for first time) because it ticks all our boxes - DH hates the ties on vacation. But, YC would tick our boxes - it's open seating, and I haven't seen a bad review yet. But I'm finding the itineraries I desire are only on Musica - no YC on that ship.

I know it's been a few years, but how did MSC compare with X? Celebrity is also our cruise line of choice. We're mostly concerned with food quality & variety & we do enjoy the opportunity to dress nicely, including formal wear.

We usually have 2-3 dinners in specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

On the Divina we tired one of the two (The Galaxy and Eataly & Ristorante Italia) and decided to skip the second one.

 

"Specialty Pizza" is a separate venue.

I agree, junk food like pizza and burgers is not what we consider cruise ship food.

 

Le Muse is a dedicated dining room for Yacht Club guests.

That's a higher level that matches specialty restaurants on other ships.

 

Menus and photos of all these venues will be in my MSC Divina review.

Thanks for the reply. I'll check out your review.

You might also check out Oceania. Positions itself between the all inclusive luxury lines and the mass markets. Specialties and all non-alcoholic beverages are included in price, as are taxes and port charges. Known as the "foodie" cruise line. No formal nights, no suit and ties required - it's country club casual. It's not known for it's entertainment however.

Thanks, I'll look into Oceania. Though, we do enjoy dressing up & don't have many opportunities to do so. That's one reason I continued researching MSC. It seems to be one of the more formal lines.

When I read what you and DH enjoy and want from your cruise, hear Crystal, Windstar, Regent, etc as cruise lines that you should be considering. I'm not being snotty - it's simply that they offer what you want without all the activities and entertainment, etc you don't want. I simply suspect it's a better fit.

Thanks for the input. The mass market cruise lines suit us perfectly, if excellent food can be found. As a matter of fact, we've always loved Celebrity. We're open to new experiences, & have tried Princess & NCL, so I thought I'd look into MSC. I've never really looked into the luxury lines. As I mentioned earlier, we'd never even consider a suite on a mass market line, unless that was the only way to assure excellent food. Honestly, we're not the least bit snobby. We don't want to be doted on & treated like we're special, so we'd be paying more than necessary on accommodations to get the quality of food we desire. We'd rather not do that, but would consider it, if we felt forced to. Before trying luxury lines, we'd return to Celebrity hoping their food hasn't gone downhill substantially in the past few years. I keep reading on all the boards about cutbacks & how the food has gone downhill on all lines. Hopefully, it hasn't changed that much.

Thanks for the reply & pictures. I really appreciate it. I've read about a lot of foot traffic in the specialty restaurants, so I'm more concerned about noise level & chaos than décor. Are they generally on the quiet, romantic side?

We're more than happy with the activities on small ships. As a matter of fact, we prefer sitting on our balcony to participating in activities. We may stop by a bar for karaoke or similar an evening or two & see an occasional show, but that would be a busy cruise for us. :D As long as we have a balcony & excellent food, the rest of the ship could be a wasteland as far as we're concerned. :p We're willing to try bigger ships though.

I'll have to do more research on Yacht Club to see if it's a good fit for us. We don't care about exclusive areas, being pampered, or getting special attention. If this is the only way to guarantee the dining experience we prefer, we may be forced to go that route. Although, a regular balcony works for us as far as the cabin itself is concerned.

Thanks again for the reply. :)

We live between Port Everglades & POM. I was browsing the other day for cruises & MSC came up with great prices. Naturally, that caught my attention. ;) I've been on here reading a few days & looked at their site, but I'm still confused about a couple things. :o My DH asked me last night, if I had learned any new info on this cruise line. My reply was that I now know enough to be more confused. :p I have learned that MSC appears to be a more formal line than some of the others (we're Celebrity fans for this reason also). That's a big plus in their favor.

Anyway, DH & my top priority on vacation is excellent food. We like high quality food with a nice atmosphere & don't mind paying extra for it. From my research, I can't tell if the specialty restaurants on MSC are what we're looking for. For example, I was looking at the dining package & it appears one of the specialty restaurants highlights pizza. Am I miss understanding what I'm reading? We like pizza, but don't consider it a nice, vacation dinner. Would someone be kind enough to explain what each of the specialty restaurants are like? (If it matters, we'd be booking Divina.) Also, we enjoy room service on our balcony for breakfast & lunch. It appears the only way to have a nice breakfast or lunch from room service is to book a suite. Is there a way to pay for a nicer meal similar to Princess' Balcony Breakfast? An expanded room service menu is really the only suite perk we'd care about. Booking a regular balcony & paying extra for better food is preferable, if it's possible. DH can run to the buffet & bring back food, but he'd rather not do that every day.

Last question, I checked the MSC site & it appears the fall/winter 2015 schedule isn't released yet. From what I've read here, Divina will be back to POM in November 2015. Is this correct?

While we are picky about food, we're not picky about anything else. I'm sure everything else about the ship would be fine, if the dining options work for us.

Thanks in advance for clearing up the confusion. :)

Yes I paid for a specific cabin and they switched it without my permission hence why I have been upset.

It has taken a lot of my time over the past 18 days and I became very frustrated that no one having accepted their error would allocate me another cabin.

 

HOWEVER I NOW HAVE A BALCONY CABIN ON DECK 13 allocated this evening.

 

Thank you to everyone on cc for their support, I will now enjoy my cruise.

I'm so happy for you. Your patience is admirable. Not only was NCL stringing you along, but you had to come here & answer the same accusing questions several times. You deserve that balcony. :D

That's why my hubby will not be intoxicated! ;) I'm not outgoing enough (even drunk) to raise (or fall!) to that level, however I do get a little silly! I'm ok with that, I will probably never see these people again and as long as I'm not ruining anyone else's fun then I'll have no regrets about having a few! I do get hangovers so I never drink enough to get thoroughly drunk, I just keep a nice buzz going :D I did enough drinking in my misguided youth to know my limits.

 

 

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Thanks to a very nice lady on my last cruise, I can help you out with the hangover issue. Like you, I didn't drink around my DS, when he was young. He's in college now, but I still don't drink much at home. DH & I were celebrating our 20th anniversary at sea & I could foresee much wine & champagne in my future. :p The only problem is I was terrified I was going to have a hangover every morning for 10 days straight. :eek: I was mostly concerned that I would feel lethargic the entire cruise. Out of desperation, I asked on the roll call for anti-hangover tips & one of the ladies recommended taking 2 blue green algae pills http://www.amazon.com/AMERICAN-HEALTH-Klamath-Shores-Green/dp/B000NJQD2W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399924628&sr=8-2&keywords=blue-green+algae each night before bed. Start taking them a few days, before your cruise. To cover my bases I also took 2 in the morning. I don't know if I needed to, but I wanted to make sure it worked. :o As I suspected, I drunk way more wine & champagne than my fair share & didn't get a hangover once.

I didn't know X did this. How did we miss it? This would be an excellent perk for breakfast & lunch. We enjoy having both on our balcony. A question for those in the know... for dinner is it possible to order room service to a regular, CC or Aqua balcony from a specialty restaurant for dinner? I know the regular fee would be charged, but I'm wondering if it's even possible. DH & I wouldn't take advantage of most of the suite perks, but we're more than willing to pay extra for better food quality.

You, your wife and her boyfriend? Must have been a very interesting cruise : )

 

 

 

Thanks for the laugh. :D DH & I both got a good laugh out of it.

Oh don't misunderstand, there are a lot of us who still prefer a more elegan atmosphere with good food quality. The cruise lines will still provide those choices with the extra cost dinning that will also require a more formal dress code. You only have to read the MDR formal dressing requirements threads to see the change. The discussions on RCCL and Carnival forums are very imformative and entertaining.

 

Burt

We don't mind paying extra for food. On Princess we only went to the MDR on the first formal night on a 10 night cruise. The other evenings we rotated between the 2 specialty restaurants, or booked the ultimate balcony dining & Chef's Table. TBH, we felt these meals were similar to X's MDR of old. They didn't even come close to what we remembered having at X's specialty restaurants. Like I said, it's been several years, since we cruised on X though. I'm hoping X's specialty restaurants now will be at least as good or a little better than the MDR back then. I really wouldn't expect the quality that the specialty restaurants once served. Speaking of the dress code, I thought I read that only Le Bistro required formal dress on formal night. It doesn't sound like the specialty restaurants are all that dressy. Have I misunderstood the posts? We don't want to dress formally every night, but we do like to dress up for dinner nightly.

Too funny about the other two message boards. We've already discounted Carnival completely. Some of the threads there make us think CCL isn't for us. ;)

Americans on vacation think of meals differently. Americans eat to satisfy their hunger pains. They like to get in and get out in less than an hour. And the less dressy, the better. Most other nations, especially Europeans use their evening meals an event for social gatherings with friends and family. They typically enjoy spending a couple hours dinning and like to dress more formally than Americans. So it will be interesting to see how the cruise lines adapt to these arrangements in other parts of the world

 

Burt

That's not true of many Americans. Our #1 priority on vacation is excellent food. We also like dressing up on occasion. That includes my DH & DS. That was the good thing about Celebrity. X offered everything we look for in a vacation, with the added benefit of a moving ocean view. After a disappointing cruise on Mercury several years ago, we took a break from cruising. For our 20th anniversary a year & a half ago, we decided to take another cruise. We spent our honeymoon at sea, so it was the natural choice. We chose itinerary first & went with Princess. The food was not up to par with what we experienced on Celebrity & formal nights were formal in name only. I felt very overdressed. We decided to return to X in the near future, but it appears it's no longer the cruise line we remember. I'm glad I came here to read about the changes to get a better feel for the way things are now. Realistic expectations are important on any vacation. When we sail with X again, we'll know what to expect.