Georgia_Peaches

Nope, you are not the only one who is curious. If we took 12 suitcases I'm certain I'd have nothing left in my closet. LOL

We are also in 1116 (your suite) in March. Will be interested in your feedback on the state of the suite when you travel. Hopefully the suite issues with 1118 are contained...although I hate it for @postnobills The last time we sailed in suite 1116 on Silhouette I found the room to be quite hot at night. They brought in a fan for me which helped some. I'm hoping that was an isolated incident as well.

Noted..thank you. Although, I would definitely blame DH.

not even in the casino?

My goodness your week FLEW by...just like ours! Enjoyed your observations from the poop deck. Safe travels.

I think you must be right regarding the separate a/c unit. Your cabin was just around the corner from ours last week with only one cabin in between. It was the one in between who had their door open all the time. I must say that the ONE night we slept comfortably (the neighbors must have forgotten to open their door) I actually needed covers. This tells me the A/C has the ability to work. We were in 16030.

You beat me too it. We are in a RS in March and was wondering the same thing. At those rates, everything should be in top working order. Frankly, at any rate, the offerings of the room category should work...it's what we pay for.

Yikes! Do you mind sharing your suite number? and how was the A/C? Or maybe you didn't need it being in Alaska. I just returned from a MSC cruise and it was wonderful except for the A/C in the room at night. BTW...we are in a RS in March.

Totally agree. Could have even been a test market sort of thing. I also caught a 3 PM mini opera, which was quite an experience. Not sure I have enough culture to sit through a whole thing but the 3 pm performance was nice.

Ahh, I see. Thank you.

Awe this is great news! So glad you enjoyed your vacation. Wondering about the window covering. I'm picturing a tarp 😊 but I'm guessing it's the part that would have been behind the drapery?...not pretty, but I guess functional?

Great! We are on the same page. Looking forward to your impressions. Thank you!

I recommend you hit them all! My favorite is the World Class bar and the martini bar…

We will be on Solstice in March 2023 for a Mexican Riviera cruise. I’m really excited that Celebrity has finally added this itinerary but have read some negative reviews lately regarding general appearance (public spaces looking tired), declining standard of service, food not up to par…you know, the usual gripes. I generally take those things with a grain of salt knowing that satisfied customers don’t leave reviews as often as those who are dissatisfied. Just looking for opinions and feedback from current or recent Solstice travelers.

There were none last Thursday either. However, they did have crab legs cracked lengthwise which was a nice treat because I never bother with them. Too much work for too little reward IMO. But it was nice to have them already cracked and ready to eat. I will be interested to hear if they offer lobster rolls on the private island day...

Our cruise on seashore last week had a comedian. He was in the theater at 3pm. We were involved in a wine tasting at that time so didn’t catch his act. I was surprised to see one in the line up. Perhaps they were trying to cater to the Americans by putting him in the 3 pm time slot.

We were in 16030 when she was assigned to us.

Couldn’t agree more about Ana Lisa. We were blessed to have her last week. A true gem!

Oh Goodness! You're right, us newbies don't know the difference. So sorry to learn things are not up to per usual standard.

Shucks! I'm sorry you had to upgrade. We were able to get youtube music with no problem at all on the regular package. Maybe we were using during off peak hours.

CC won't let me mention the name of the TA I use but if you send me a personal message, I'd be happy to share. pipercatandjane at g mail dot com . This amount is pretty typical of the one I use.

Yes, I do recall a small sign that stated the A/C would turn off when the balcony door was open but I don't think that sign explained how the prolonged open door impacts other rooms. I could be wrong on that...wish I had taken a picture. Additionally, if the sign wasn't in multiple languages, it could go unnoticed or misunderstood. DH and I discussed the point you make regarding steps management should have taken under the circumstances and we agree, they should have spoken to the guests. That said, the warm room did not ruin our vacation or taint my overall favor of the cruise or MSC...

Perhaps one of the downsides of not using the app was that we missed any indication of an Italian Night. There was a white night themed party but I don't recall anything specific to Italian night. Maybe it was when we ate in the Butcher's cut? There were Italian dishes available on the YC menu every night, though...mostly in the form of a risotto. We had a wonderful duck ragout one evening!

Yes, we had champagne chilling in our stateroom on embarkation day and a second bottle was delivered mid week. 😊. the OBC from our TA was refundable but the MSC obc was not. We used it on a few nice bottles of wine and also in the butchers cut. The non refundable obc basically covered the gratuities.

DH and I just finished a 7 night cruise in the Yacht Club on Seashore (August 27 – Sept 3). We are seasoned cruisers but this was our first MSC experience and to say that other reviews had me a little nervous would be an understatement. I’m going to separate this review into glows and grows and I’ll finish with some tips for the newbies. But first the TLDR version: Awesome cruise experience! Yacht Club was head and shoulders above the Haven on NCL and the Suite Life on Celebrity. We have found our new go-to for amazing service coupled with a good value. Food was good and sometimes great! Entertainment was hit and miss. Service in other areas of the ship did not disappoint. Great international clientele kept things interesting as well as educational. We will be back! The numbers: We booked a YC Balcony Suite on deck 16 for $2348 pp. We had an OBC in the amount of $240 from MSC and another $850 OBC from our TA. We flew from ATL to MIA on Delta using Skymiles the night before embarkation and stayed at the Hilton Inn and Suites in Brickell. Room rate was $205 and included breakfast. Room itself was basic, clean, and had awesome A/C. Elevators were ridiculously slow. Brickell was a really nice part of Miami and had lots of great little places for dining. The hotel is only a few blocks from the water and there is a wonderful walkway along the water front where you can see the ships in port. Embarkation/Debarkation: We located the white tent for luggage drop off and were quickly ushered to the YC check in location inside the building. Once in the room I was astounded by the number of people who were waiting to be escorted on the ship. Our check in time was 10 AM and we arrived at 10:45. At the time of our arrival, no passengers were boarding the ship. We checked in and had a seat and waited until noon before all 200 of us were finally allowed to board. The check in room was standing room only. I don’t think this is quite the norm so I inquired as to why it was taking so long to board. I was told that they had difficulty getting to zero count and had to actually have police board the ship to locate the stragglers. At any rate, by noon we were on board and fifteen minutes later we had a drink in hand and a table with a beautiful view in the YC restaurant. Debarkation was smooth. We were escorted by our butler to the exit point of the ship and then made our way to the luggage warehouse and customs line within 15 minutes. It took longer to hail a taxi than it did to exit the ship and clear customs. I think there was some confusion among ground transportation because Seashore arrived at terminal C, which was not expected. Glows: The Seashore is a beautiful ship! Everything sparkled and was impeccably clean. I was awe struck by the opulence and beauty. The countless youtube video tours do not do this ship justice. DH and I especially love the way the ship is laid out so that even at full capacity, we never felt crowded. Drink and bar service was always quick. I had read otherwise so was prepared. You can order at the counter but they prefer to have waitstaff take your order because it gets printed to a ticket after reading your card and actually streamlines the process. I liked the efficiency of the process and I believe this helped the bartenders stay focused on preparing drinks instead of worrying about who was next in line. Elevators…another area of concern preboarding but this was definitely a glow for us. Wait times were at a minimum most of the time and I found that there were several banks of elevators to choose from if there was a little back up. We learned this from our Butler who escorted us around a corner to a more secluded set of elevators on one of our shore days. Both sets were open for anyone to use but the second set around the corner just didn’t seem as busy because they were of the beaten path. Service in the Yacht Club…the best suite level service we’ve ever experienced! We were waited on hand and foot. It was very impressive how quickly everyone learned our names and our drink preferences. Our butler, Ana Lisa was like a genie! She was everywhere all at once and worked tirelessly to ensure we had everything we needed. One evening she literally chased after us just so she could escort us to dinner. We didn’t need an escort but she insisted. YC public areas were excellent. We enjoyed the two hot tubs on the sun deck as well as the plunge pool near the bar and grill. The pool design had a ledge so you could get wet without getting in the pool completely. The seating was plentiful as were the towels, drinks and lunch and snacks. The YC grill as our favorite place for breakfast and lunch. It’s a much condensed version of the Market Café but had everything we could want on any given day. On the second sea day they provided a seafood extravaganza and it was delicious. Cook to order shrimp, scallops, and calamari were just a few of the offerings. There was always a carving station plus the requisite burgers and dogs for the Americans. We didn’t try either but they looked very good. Our YC stateroom was very nicely appointed and offered plenty of space for two. Our room attendant was efficient and kept us supplied with fresh towels and ice…we never had to ask. One thing that I really loved about the room was the darkening drapes….they were awesome at keeping out the light and the heat of the day. Private island….in a word, stunning! Once again, so well laid out that it never felt crowded. The YC area was a little rocky in the sand and requires water shoes if you want to walk in the water. Grows: Our stateroom was often very warm…even after taking the issue to the YC director. They made every effort to keep the room cool but we learned that a neighbor was sleeping with their balcony door open which was throwing off the A/C for an entire group of suites. My guess is that the neighbors weren’t aware of the impact of the open door. To this, I would suggest a small plaque on the door explaining the importance of keeping the door closed. Of course, it would have to be in several languages. Another option would be to put this information in the notes of the daily planner. IDK but there has to be a way to inform passengers of this phenomena. Theater entertainment…we enjoyed most of the shows and found MSC did a nice job of catering to a variety of audiences. The problem here was that MSC ushers did not prevent late comers from entering the theater after a show had started. This meant that late arrivals were a constant stream and were passing in front of those already seated in order to get an empty seat. Many, many times our viewing was interrupted by having to get up to allow others to pass. If the ushers won’t stop people from entering after the start of the show, they should at least make space for them to remain near the top of the stairs in a holding area to prevent such disruptions. After three nights of this, we opted for other entertainment venues in lieu of the theater shows. The APP…we didn’t use it because I didn’t want to carry my phone everywhere. Therefore, it would be nice if menus were posted so that we could see them without asking for a paper version…this is something we did every day in the YC…ask to see a paper menu. Casino…though not big gamblers, we do enjoy spending a little time in the casino after dinner. The casino was small (for such a big ship) and the slot games were unrecognizable. Perhaps because they cater to the European market but I didn’t really enjoy the casino. Aurea thermal area…we only went once which is so a-typical. We found the thermal area to be too dark and cavernous for our liking. We did enjoy the therapy pool but that was about it. I’m glad it was included in the YC price and not something for which we paid extra. Lighting in general…though there isn’t much that can be done now, it is of note that much of the lighting in the cabin and in public areas is done by intense little puck lights that are very bright and very hot. Sitting under one of them in the casino put off a tremendous amount of heat that I had to move. The same was true in our cabin. For this reason, we kept the lights off most of the time. Hints for newbies… 1. We found the WiFi to be quite adequate for our needs and I’ve read lots of reviews to the contrary. On the cruise card you are given a wifi code and a web address to register that code and set up an account. If you don’t take those steps you won’t have wifi access even if the wifi icon is on your home screen. After day 2 of seeing the icon but not having the service, I finally went to www.mscwifi.com to set up my account. Once I did that, things worked perfectly. I could even stream one of my podcasts and get a little music from youtube. 2. The credit card activation card kiosks are located on decks 5 and 6. They were quick and easy to use. I was concerned about this but that was unnecessary. 3. There is a wine cellar next to the specialty restaurants. It is a very under utilized space but has some great wines available to try and you can self-serve with the swipe of your card. There is only one wine sommelier on the ship. He was extremely knowledgeable and recommended some great wines. Over all…we absolutely loved the ship and the MSC product. We enjoyed the food, though it has been heavily criticized. We had a great meal in the Butcher’s Cut! We went the ala carte route and it was a little pricey but so delicious. The YC restaurant food was good and sometimes great. We certainly didn’t go hungry. We met some great people on this trip and I have to say, the international vibe was right up our alley! I’m not sure when our next cruise will be, but I know it will be with MSC.