Aldri_CA

My sister-in-law booked a mani/pedi on board for the first day and it cost her $200. She said it was just okay, but not worth the price.

I pre-purchased a 60 min bali message for approx $77, and on board it was $150. The massage was great.

I would highly recommend pre-purchasing spa services, and booking ASAP once you get on board.

There are in-port specials as mentioned above, but you have to have the massage while the ship is in port and that means you may not have as much time on shore as you (may) want. They were also (In most cases) not as good a deal as pre-booking.

We played the tables almost nightly on the Seaside and I never got a single whiff of smoke. I can't speak to the slots though as we didn't play.

Thank you for this really comprehensive and in-depth review. Also, the Virgo in me loved how you organized, compartmentalized and laid out the review ... excellent!

 

We're in a similar situation to you, having achieved Diamond+ on Royal, and then having been taken aback by how much their fares were going up.

 

Last year, we tried MSC for the first time, cruising on the Divina in YC and really enjoyed it. And now, we're just a brief 2.5 months (after a long year's wait!) to our cruise in YC on the Seaside. Your review was spot on in touching on lots of the areas we were wondering about.

 

One quick question though ... can you remember, on embarkation day, about when your luggage was delivered to your cabin? That was one element on the Divina that we were a little disappointed in, and we're hoping that the Seaside experience will be a little more efficient.

 

Thanks again and nice to hear how much you enjoyed your cruise! :D

Thanks so much for your kind words! I just tried to write the kind of review I was looking for when doing my research.

Regarding the luggage... We boarded at around 12pm and our rooms were ready right away so we deposited our carry-ons and went off to explore the ship. Luggage arrived sometime between 12:30pm and 3;30pm (when we returned to the room to rest a bit and unpack before the muster).

Great review...

 

For the Black Card free specialty restaurants -- did you entire family go?

 

We have 4 Black cards in the room -- do we all get one specialty restaurants? Or just the 1st two in the cabin....

The whole family (6 of us) went, and we were all black cards staying in 3 different cabins. I can't imagine that if you are staying 4 black cards to a room that they would exclude you. Just tell them all 4 of you are black card when you are seated, and it shouldn't be a problem. Always safe to double check on board, though.

Thanks for your great review of Seaside YC.

 

We've also sailed quite a bit with RC, and most recently with Celebrity, which we also love. We'll be on Seaside in the YC in January and can't wait. Also did the Diamond to Black status match. Always fun to try a new ship/line.

You will love it! It will be different, but in a good way (in my opinion). I likened the Seaside to a bit more upbeat and international version of Celebrity, with an added bonus of the YC. I'm excited for you!

On Seaside in July I would say that was no formal High Tea as you might see on Cunard, Princess, or HAL. There were very nice light canapes and sweets. The bartender is always ready to prepare any beverage, whether it be teas/coffees/champagne/whatever. The butlers are all European trained, so they can do whatever you like. I am certain they could prepare a High Tea presentation. The seating in the Topsail Lounge is lounge type seating, so you will not be seated at a regular restaurant table.

 

Dennis

 

Sent from my QTASUN1 using Tapatalk

My sister and I were shocked and delighted at the wonderful high teas on Carnival Magic. Those macarrons!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Last time we were on the seaside a lot of people said the tea was excellent. If I remember correctly tea was at 3:00.

 

4 more weeks for us and we can't wait!!

Celebrity does a great high tea as well, though it is not offered every day (and may have a charge, I can't recall).

Perhaps Seaside paused the formal high tea in the top sail lounge over the summer and will resume it again in September once kids are back in school and there are less families staying in the YC. I do remember reading reports of the formal high tea on Seaside somewhere on these boards.

So how is the High Tea in the YC Lounge?

We never saw the high tea being served, though I think because we were never in the lounge at the ~4pm serving time. The little croissant sandwiches and other small bite selections in the Top Sail Lounge were excellent between 12pm-4pm, so if that is any indicator of the quality of the high tea I think you should be in good hands. There is also always a large selection of teas available in the Lounge should you desire it.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. The Top Sail Lounge was my favorite spot also. Bob

So relaxing.

Thanks for the excellent review! We are black match also (from NCL Haven) and looking forward to our b2b YC on Seaside in December!

 

~Denise

We all said "one week is not enough to fully enjoy the ship," so I'm jealous of your B2B - enjoy!

Excellent Review. My husband and I are sailing for the second time in the yacht club at the end of the month. We truly enjoy the experience there.

Enjoy!!

Thanks so much for the well balanced and honest review and i agree YC is the way to go and much cheaper than RCL, but the prices are increasing rapidly .

Fingers crossed they stay within the reasonable range, as the experience is truly one of the best at sea (amongst the mainstream/ non-luxury lines).

The "dinner for large groups" seems to still be a work in progress in the YC restaurant. I watched them convert tables to accommodate a large family then break it down after they left. Sometimes, Pepe would just split the family (adults or kids) to avoid the fuss. Some guests want to be in the center. Some prefer the windows. There doesn't seem to be anything set in stone and the restaurant tries to accommodate guests from week to week.

 

 

We were a group of 4 and usually ate near the window for breakfast and near the center (overlooking the lounge) for dinner. By day 3, they knew where to put us and our waiter even though we would show up at different times during the week.

It's not ideal, but understandable -- especially as we were a larger group. However, it something that I hope they can make work a little better on future ships, though it is not at the top of our list of "issues" (for lack of better word).

Wow!!!!

 

I am glad that my meager posts on our cruise were going to continue to be representative of the YC experience. You have in spades captured our overall impressions.

 

I trust you have done as we have and booked every available YC cabins on any itinerary that interests you for the next two years. :-)

 

Dennis

 

Sent from my QTASUN1 using Tapatalk

Two years?....pfffttt

 

Some of us are looking at 2020 and beyond plus waiting to book the World Class ship....whatever it will be called. ;p

The discussions have been had... it's such an incredible deal that it's no surprise it's becoming very difficult to book.

Thanks for sharing. We will be on this ship on the 15th, also in Yacht Club. Appreciated your comments and the way you organized your posts. Again, thanks for your review.

 

Katy

Enjoy! She is a magnificent ship.

Thank you for your very comprehensive and balanced review. I hope you all had a wonderful time.

 

Regarding your YIN cabins, do they now have two armed chairs? Or a chair and a stool?

We had two armed chairs and a small table, no stool. I don't recall what the "regular" YIN 16035 or the accessible 18026 had.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am very interested as I am in YC on Seaside in May after several NCL Haven cruices. I got the black match too.

 

I am excited!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You're going to have an amazing time! It was a very special experience, though I cannot speak to how it will compare to NCL's Haven (though many on this board can and have, with most leaning towards preference for the YC).

Ship/Other Miscellaneous

The ship is gorgeous. I was worried I would miss a promenade, as that is one of my personal minuses for Celebrity, but I found that the way Seaside is laid out and designed meant that I did not miss the promenade at all. Each venue is unique and looks totally different, and that helps the ship feel larger.

Venchi’s gelato was incredible, as were the drinks. We had the infamous free crepes, which are very good. We also tried the waffles, and my personal recommendation is to skip them as they were not that great. All was included for YC.

The Seaview Lounge had a nightly jazz quartet who was STELLAR. Jada, the singer, was incredible, and the band played very well. We were there nightly, and the bartender there (Elvis) deserves a special shout-out.

The Casino has lowered minimum bets to $5 from the original $10 as reported when Seaside first sailed. My brother and SIL played enough in the casino to earn their 30% off future cruise voucher, but the rest of us spent less time there.

We did the red wine tasting with Martin on the last sea day, the ship’s sommelier, and though pricey ($100) it was excellent and well done. We met Martin on the first night, as my parents are wine lovers, and he brought us a new bottle for dinner every night outside of what is available on the YC menu (my parents opted to pay for these additional wines, though if S/O and I were sailing solo we would’ve been more than content with the wines selected by the YC sommelier for the dinners). Martin is an advanced Sommelier and is studying for his Master’s level now (if anyone has seen the documentary “Somm” on Netflix, this will tell you something about the impressive level of knowledge required to achieve these designations).

We did Butcher’s Cut for our complimentary Black Card dinner. We could only choose Butcher’s Cut or Ocean Cay for the complimentary dinner (no teppanyaki or sushi), and we could only choose a 6pm or 9pm dining time – which we found frustrating as it was different from what was originally reported or promised. The food was excellent and much better than the steakhouse on Royal (in our opinion). We also opted to do teppanyaki as a paid dinner, and we loved the experience and food.

The Aurea Spa’s Thermal Area that is included for YC guests really is spectacular, and was never too busy or crowded in the 2-3 times we went in. I also pre-purchased a Bali sports massage before we sailed for $77, and on board it was $155 – so definitely worth pre-purchasing. It was a great massage, and there isn’t really the same amount of pushing to purchase products at the end as you may find on other lines.

Overall experience compared to Royal Caribbean (Diamond Status)

Overall, we LOVED the MSC Yacht Club and would hands down do it again. Would we solely cruise in YC and not Royal? No. The value of MSC YC is incredible, and if available and the itinerary is identical we would probably opt for the YC. If there is no YC available, we would probably do Royal Caribbean – but again it would depend on itinerary, ship, price, circumstances.

I will say that the included drink package for YC and the spacious lounge by far beats the Diamond Lounge and happy hour drinks. There is really no comparison. The freedom of being able to try different cocktails, or have a drink here or there as needed is much better than going to 1 specific location and drinking bar rail drinks for 3 hours just because they are free. Not that there is anything wrong with the Diamond Lounge or happy hour (and I would be part of the outcry if this happened), but the YC experience is just SOO much better and simply a night and day experience.

Thanks so much for reading along! If anyone has any other questions I can answer, let me know.

The Yacht Club Experience:

One word: wow. Just, wow. We had high expectations going in because of all that we’ve read on these boards, and I was a little worried that the experience wouldn’t actually live up to what I had built up in my head. But somehow, the YC managed to exceed them.

S/O and I rarely saw our butler, Victor, though any request we called for was completed promptly (different pillow, stocking extra bottles of water in the room, tea delivery, etc.). This was his last week on board, so this may have affected his efforts a bit (purely speculation). We did tip him a small amount at the end of the cruise (this is on top of the daily service charge). Our room attendant was a very energetic and lovely woman whose name we unfortunately never got. She was always smiling and greeting us, was always around and working hard, and our room was always cleaned promptly and efficiently. We tipped her a small amount halfway through the cruise and another small amount again at the end.

Top Sail Lounge

The lounge is spectacular, spacious, and beautiful. The snacks served throughout the day are great (my favourite selection is between lunch and dinner, and the sushi options before dinner), the butlers serving the lounge are awesome (special mention to Olena who is wonderful), and the bartenders always have a smile on their faces. There are more than enough drink options, including the Nicholas Feuillatte Champagne which isn’t on the menu but if you ask for “Champagne” and not prosecco or sparkling wine, they will bring it. Note: it is just mediocre champagne, so do not expect a top-shelf champagne taste. But, still, no complaints! I drank it happily every day, though my mom actually preferred the prosecco. The live music was such a great touch, and we spent many hours relaxing in the lounge and enjoying the views and the peace.

I must admit that I was a little hesitant about how much I would actually utilize the lounge before we sailed. I continuously read on these forums about how peaceful and tranquil it is, and how nice it was to “get away” from the hustle and bustle of the ship. I have never been afraid of big ships, or felt crowded. In fact, Oasis and Allure are some of my most favourite ships, and I love to try all the activities a ship has to offer.

However, I really did love the peacefulness and spaciousness of the lounge and the feeling of “escape” from the rest of the ship (not that the rest of the ship ever felt too crowded, but it was a nice option to have and I utilized it more than I thought I would).

Restaurant

The restaurant was beautiful, with ocean views at every table. We had the same table every night, with Renato and Kailash (not sure of the exact spelling) as our waiter and assistant waiter, who both did a great job. Giuseppe (Pepe), the Maitre’D, was exceptional. Unfortunately for everyone else, our week was his last week of his contract and he left the ship with us for a well-earned break. He did not know when he was coming back or to what ship, only that he will of course return to MSC. I do not know who his replacement is.

The menu changed every night, and the YC Sommelier has different wines available every night to accompany the menu options. These wine choices are not simply what is available on the included YC wine menu, but are (usually) different and off-menu and are always delicious (IMO).

However, the restaurant is one of the few places I think that MSC has room to improve (for lack of better word). I have 3 main complaints – or, complaint isn’t even the right word. I have 3 things I wish were a bit different.

The first is food quality: while I absolutely LOVED the food options, smaller portions, and lightness (read: less greasy or heavy) of the food (and preferred these qualities of MSC’s food over Royal and Celebrity’s), I feel like the food ingredient quality and/or preparation could be improved. There were some dishes that were good, but others that I wanted to love but I really didn’t like (such as the seafood salad – I am a big fan of seafood, but the seafood salad tasted like it was old and not fresh and very rubbery and chewy and fishy in a bad way, and the Hawaiian tuna poke – one of my favourite foods generally, except here the tuna tasted like it came from a can and was almost full cooked and just odd). I will note that the lobster on the second formal night was the best lobster I’ve ever had at sea (not rubbery or overcooked at all), and the escargot was much lighter but just as tasty as Royal’s. Overall, I love the concept of the dishes and the portion sizes and I do not want this to change, I just wish the quality of the ingredients sourced would be higher (and maybe some recipe upgrades).

The second room for improvement, is the “open concept” dining time (full disclosure: I am not sure how to practically fix this one, and it is so trivial that it’s not a real issue at all, but it is being said nonetheless): on the first day, Pepe came to us and asked what time we would like to eat dinner. We said we didn’t really know, but probably 7 or 7:30pm. He said “that is not possible, you can only come at 6pm or 8pm.” The reason, he said, was that as we were a group of 6, there were only a few tables that could accommodate us. He could not kick out a table halfway through their dinner just to accommodate our table at 7pm, so therefore we had to either eat earlier or later. While this meant that “anytime dining” wasn’t really anytime, we understood that it was a logistical concern and really not a big deal in the grand scheme. We opted to eat at 8pm, and didn’t mind the wait due to the abundance of food in the YC and throughout the ship.

The third is lack of food options between the end of breakfast and start of lunch. The YC dining room’s breakfast ends at 9:30am and the Deck 19 grill ends at 10am (but actually ends by 9:30am or 9:45am as we came once at 9:50am and they had cleared half the options away already). Lunch does not begin in the YC dining room until 12pm or 12:30pm (I forget) and the same for the grill. This means that if you are not an early riser on vacations, the YC has no dining options. Even the Lounge only has sweet pastries between breakfast and lunch.

Pool Deck and Grill

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend as much time here as we planned. The Grill’s breakfast and lunch choices are superb, as reported here, if you schedule your eating time according to their hours (not hard to do). We only spent 1 afternoon at the pool, which was our last port day (Nassau) where we opted not to get off the ship and enjoy one final day in the YC instead. It was wonderful, and you do not need to bring your beach towels from the room up with you as once you select your plushy lounger, a pool attendant magically appears with 2 towels for you and arranges them on the chair. The pool servers bring a constant supply of drinks, and there are no complaints to be had.

Other

An interesting point that I would like to bring up re: children in the YC: I have seen the threads about the concern with too many children in the YC and “tainting” the experience as it supposedly has for the Haven on NCL. I will admit that there more children in the YC on our sailing than I expected (at least 10 families), with most children being between the ages of toddlers and approximately 12, and some teenagers. However, these children were, for the most part, very well behaved. I never saw or heard any issues at dinners, and while there were times when some of them were running around 1 couch and playing in one of the corners of the YC, there was never any screeching or tantrums or disruptive behaviour of any kind. The YC lounge is also VERY spacious and therefore this did not dampen the spirit. If anything, it helped liven up the mood at times. I am not a fan of out of control kids or parents who ignore when their children act up, but I never saw any of this and there were no issues of any kind. Just kids being happy kids in a good way.

I will say, however, that when discussing our experience with the concierge team, I inquired if there were more than the usual number of families in the YC on board. They confirmed there was, and that MSC tries to keep the total number of children in the YC at no more than 50 at a time. While this isn’t a formal policy or rule, they want to minimize the possibility of tainting the experience for those looking for the peace and quiet while also allowing those who wish to enjoy the YC experience with the whole family balance.

I also want to highlight that the 30% off bottles of wine and champagne is NO LONGER INCLUDED for YC members. We were told that the YC now has its own “drink package” in the system which is equivalent to the Deluxe package, minus the 30% off bottles of wine (so the loophole is now closed). All the bartenders know about this as well.

Embarkation/Disembarkation:

Embarkation is so smooth. We arrived for 12pm as we had read on here if you arrive too early they may not be ready/fully organized.

When you arrive, you report to the MSC White Tent beside the regular passenger luggage drop (make sure to tell the regular porters who pounce on your bags as soon as you get out of the cab that you’re Yacht Club and they’ll leave you be), the shoreside butlers take your luggage and re-tag it, and another butler takes your carry on and wheels it inside past all the lines, to the front of the security line, and into the YC waiting area. You hand over your passports and documents, take your photo, and sit down and relax while the shoreside butler serves you a glass of prosecco and offers you a selection of treats. Once the glass is drank and your ship cards and bracelets are acquired, a ship butler collects you and leads you onboard (we were taken on with another family of 4, for a total group of 10). You are weaved through the crowds in the atrium and the music and excitement, to the elevators and up to the YC enclave. The concierge was busy with another group when we arrived so we were escorted to the lounge where another member of the concierge team and the YC Director Luigi came and introduced themselves and told us all about the YC, what is included, how it works, etc. Giuseppe (Pepe) came by to tell us about the dining room, and we ordered some welcome drinks. Excellent, excellent, excellent start to the trip.

Disembarkation is very relaxed: you must be out of your room by 7:15am, and the dining room is open for breakfast. Once you’re ready to leave, you just let your butler know and they escort you past the lines to the end of the ship. Some of our group left at 9am, another at 9:45am, and me and S/O stayed until the very end when all had to be off the ship (around 10:30am).

Cabins:

We had three Inside YC (YIN) rooms: 18031, 18026, 16035. We are not ones to spend any time in our staterooms during a cruise, aside from sleeping and showering, preferring to be out and about exploring the ship. We will of course take a balcony cabin or larger if the price is right or similar, but in this case we thought we’d try out the YC before dishing out an extra $1000 per cabin on an extra few feet of cabin space and balcony that would be barely used.

It’s interesting to note that our three YIN rooms were all different: 18026 was an accessible room occupied by my parents (by luck of the draw. They do not need an accessible room, and we did not select the rooms as we booked the last 3 remaining), 18031 was occupied by S/O and I and is slightly larger than most YIN’s due to the additional L-shaped hallway, and 16035 is your standard YIN room.

18035 was huge and the bathroom was spectacular. It was lucky that my parents got this one as this made their special cruise even more special. S/O and I didn’t mind the small YIN space, which felt like an average inside room aside from the added hallway. This hallway provided additional hooks for hanging sweaters or other pieces of clothing, and just gave an extra added feeling of “space” to the room. Our only complaint was the bathroom. It really is as small as others here have noted, and the lack of marble is noticeable when every other bathroom in YC (including public ones near the Lounge) have it. The lack of marble is by NO means a deal breaker, or something that we thought about beyond the first day, but something I thought I would mention.

My S/O, who is 6 foot 3, hated the toilet due to its position meaning his knees would hit into the sink and he’d have to sit at an angle or go use a public facility. He also had to perform some gymnastics while using the tiny shower, but he said it’s only marginally smaller than the one on Oasis of the Seas’ balcony cabin and was annoying but not the end of the world.

We had two chairs and a table, the TV swung out and we were able to watch it from the bed, and we had enough room to store our clothing in the drawers and closet. One hint (that I discovered from these boards): packing cubes. They really help with packing, and they really help keep things organized when you don’t have a ton of storage space on a ship. Our suitcases fit under the bed no problem.

The bed was, hands down, the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on at sea. It was the typical two beds pushed together that you will find on any Royal or Celebrity cruise, but for some reason it seemed to be larger than normal. The pillows are also great, and though they don’t have a formal pillow menu in the YC anymore they do mention in the welcome letter that other pillows are available if needed. I love very firm pillows and requested one, and it was waiting for me when I returned to the room for bed on the first night. It was perfect.

There was a bottle of prosecco and a bowl of fruit waiting for us when we arrived, and another bottle of prosecco was delivered the next day (presumably for our black card status). In addition to the nightly Venchi chocolate left on our pillows (a throwback to the good old days of cruising, pre-clawbacks), we had something left in our room almost nightly: chocolate covered strawberries, selection of cookies, macarons, and so on. We had the black card chocolate ships delivered before the invitation to the black card party.

These boards have been so instrumental in helping us planour cruise, that I am adding my review to the mix in hopes of passing oninformation that could be helpful to others! Apologies for the length, though Ihave split it into sections to help break it down. The background section isquite long, but I know some people are interested in how MSC is growing andreasons why experienced cruisers are interested in trying it. If you only careto read about the actual on-ship experience, skip to my next post “Embarkation”and read onward.

Background:

We sailed as a group of 6, consisting of my parents (60years young), my brother and sister in law (mid 30s), me and S/O (late 20s).Growing up, my parents loved to travel and cruises were their favourite way tosee the world. My brother and I were very fortunate that our parents brought uson their travels, and the love of cruising has followed us into adulthood. SILand S/O are new to cruising, and this was only their second cruise ever (firstwas on Oasis of the Seas with us back in July 2016).

In April 2017, my brother and I were discussing what to giftour parents who were both celebrating a milestone birthday in 2018. We decidedwe wanted to give back and thank them for taking us travelling with them, andwe wanted to surprise them with a cruise on us as a gift. S/O and I also liveon the other side of the country, so this trip would double as a nice way tospend time as a family outside of the normal major holiday seasons.

Our family’s cruising adventure began back in the 90s withCarnival. It was an excellent entryway into cruising, and we were immediatelyhooked. As kids, we didn’t really care which line we sailed with as any cruisewith a pool and a kids club with friends to be made was fun enough for us.After a few years with Carnival though, my parents wanted to explore the otherlines to compare the differences. We progressed to a Princess cruise in theearly 2000s and then “discovered” Royal Caribbean and the rest was history forus. Royal was our perfect balance of activities, large and modern ships, upbeatlife on the ship while maintaining a more sense of elegance than we found onCarnival.

We did return to Carnival for a Northern European cruise in2008, just to make sure we weren’t overlooking our original beloved line, butthe trip only confirmed our preference of Royal over Carnival. We cruised ourway up to Diamond status with Royal, and dabbled a bit with Celebrity given theElite status match. Celebrity was fabulous, as we loved the food and theelevated sense of luxury and elegance. We did continue to sail both Royal andCelebrity over time (though my parents have long been sailing more oftenwithout my brother and I than with us due to work, etc.).

However, as many others on these boards have noted, over theyears we noticed a decline in quality on Royal consisting of continualclawbacks and increased nickel and diming, along with ever-rising prices. Itwas not enough to deter us from cruising, but it was notable and morepronounced with each cruise.

All this bring us back to 2017, when my brother and I weredeliberating what cruise to purchase as a surprise and gift to my parents.Seeing as this was celebrating a milestone event, we wanted to make it morespecial than a “typical” cruise. We naturally started by looking at a star orsky class suite on Royal, but the prices were astronomical and, in our opinion,unreasonable. We turned to Celebrity andI read much about the Edge on these boards and was excited by the concept.However, the suites on the Edge were also beyond the budget we had set aside,and the 2019 sail date seemed a bit too far off. NCL’s Haven was also verypricey and their boards were full of similar complaints of the cutting back ofservices, increased nickel and diming, and increasing prices that we haveexperienced on Royal.

Then, on the Cruise Critic boards about the Edge, I startedreading more and more mentions about something called “MSC Yacht Club”. I had never heard of MSC or Yacht Club, and Idecided to dig a bit deeper. I found myself on their website watching the YachtClub promo-videos. It seemed exactly like the “special” kind of experience wewere looking for, but I was skeptical as I had never heard of the line andassumed the prices would be on par with Royal’s suite class, NCL’s Haven orCelebrity’s Edge. After scouring these boards for reviews or information aboutthe Yacht Club, I was very impressed with the nearly universal praise and lovethat the experience brings on these boards. I also learned much about thedifferent experiences MSC offers, with Aurea sounding promising as well thoughnot nearly as much as the Yacht Club. Everything seemed great and we startedseriously inquiring about bookings and options.

THEN I saw the prices, and all my suspicions returned. HOWcould a cruise that promises such luxury, exclusivity, all inclusive services,a butler and a private pool be nearly the same price point as a basic RoyalCaribbean balcony cabin? And they will match our Diamond status to MSC’shighest Voyagers Club tier (Black)?! It must be too good to be true.

However, Cruise Critic had never steered me wrong before,and I had no reason to start doubting it now. We took a deep breath and tookthe plunge and secured the last 3 YC Inside cabins on the yet-to-be-finishedMSC Seaside sailing in the last week of August 2018. We revealed the surpriseto my parents in fall 2017, and they were over the moon at preparing for anupcoming family trip – though everyone was curious about this unknown mysteryline and experience.

I have gone into detail about our cruising history as I haveread many reviews on these boards about those who have been loyal to one line,only to try MSC and criticize it for being different from their one and only belovedline. We have explored different lines in the 20+ years we have been cruising,and have had great experiences and some just-ok ones (note the one and onlyPrincess cruise). Though we definitely preferred Royal and Celebrity throughoutthe years, we are not afraid of trying something new and different – it’s alarge part of why we love to travel.

Now, if you’re still with me, on to the actual experience!

The standard package is 3gb shared on maximum of 2 devices. Be sure to turn off all apps that will burn through your usage...MSC for me app doesn’t use this, it is intranet and free onboard for all.

I found the connection good and could watch family sent short videos with audio and had a voip video call...it just used up lots of the package and buffered some.

 

Overall was happy, if you require constant hi-speed connectivity...you might not be fully satisfied cruising.

 

For us, being mainly offline was part of the vacation from life we wanted.

Cheers, enjoy your vacation!

Thank you for the info! Fingers crossed we have the package we need, but no biggie if we don't. It is by no means a deal-breaker, just wondered to know what the options were prior to sailing.

Maybe this will help you, https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Manage-Your-Booking/Internet-Packages.aspx

Do you remember which package you have booked ?

 

 

 

Our internet e-ticket says : ISTPOSN - Internet Steamer Cruise Plus - "Full Internet access including Audio and Video up

to 2500MBs + an esclusive 20% more data (total amount 3000 MBs) " The price was 109 euro.

When we board the MSC Splendida we received the highest internet package : 10GB with connection up to 4 devices.

Thanks for your reply.

We didn't book an internet package, it just came included as a promo at the time of our booking. None of the descriptions there seem to match the description on our e-ticket. I guess we'll just have to wait and see once we get on board, though I would've liked to upgrade if possible before we go to avoid the 20% service charge (for internet :rolleyes: )

Hi all,

We're sailing on the Seaside in a couple of weeks with family, and I have some questions that I haven't been able to find the answers to. Hoping someone here can help me out:

1. We have an internet package included in our YC booking. Our e-tickets call it "ISUPRO - Surfer Cruise: Access to social networks, chat apps, web browsing and emails (No Audio and Video)" -- does anyone know how much internet this includes (GBs) and whether you really are unable to watch videos or any kind of graphics with sound? Parents want to know if they can stream movies or shows (e.g., Netflix) before bed.

2. If video is truly unable to be seen, has anyone had experience with upgrading an included internet package? If so, do we have to pay the full new package price or just the price difference between the original package and new package?

3. Previous cruises we've been on have started doing "ship time" over the last 10 years or so, where the ship continues to stay in the time zone of the departing port (e.g., Miami) rather than switching the 1-2 hour time zones of the different ports. This can make it tricky for booking private tours and we want to know if MSC follows this practice or if they follow the actual time zones (and include reminders in the daily planners to change your clocks before bed).

Thanks for your help!

I've asked before and never was able to find out. I am boarding today and will come back to post a schedule.

 

Sent from my Z982 using Forums mobile app

Fantastic, thank you! Have a great cruise! :)

We're sailing on the Seaside this summer, and I'm wondering if anyone has a copy of the fitness class schedule available? I've tried to search on these boards and haven't found one. Thanks in advance!

I am sailing on the Seaview on the 19th June, and booked from the North American site. I had booked an interior Fantastica cabin and purchased the All-Inc classic drink package. A while later I upgraded myself to Yacht club, which has the classic included. I was refunded the price of the classic package. I later decided to get the Deluxe, and was told there is NO special price to upgrade. You just pay the difference between the two packages. My price that I paid was $182 for the upgrade. I had read that it would cost mosr if you do this on the ship, but don't know how true that is.

As far as I understand, Yacht Club has the deluxe package included - not the classic. There is no need to purchase any additional drink package when sailing in Yacht Club.

He will take you down to deck 4 and to the area you have your card scanned to leave the ship. If there is a crowd you will be brought close to the front and there maybe a small group being processed ahead of you. We always departed mid morning...so the rush was gone...but we did go on 2 MSC excursions and they check you in and give you your excursion sticker in the Top Sail Lounge so again...you miss the crowd! There is not an exclusive exit just for YC.

 

As for returning....MSC does have several tents the long lines walk under....but it does not protect you completely from the Sun during the wait. This is where the YC adds more value...so there is not a long wait. YC does have a priority boarding entrance when you get back to ship

Excellent, thanks for your help!

Thank you both for your replies.

Just to confirm: the butler will take you to the front of the line of the tendering line - not just the area where you begin to line up (e.g., simply escorting you to the back of the line which we can easily do ourselves)? (Of course we will have to wait for the boat to fill up... if YC gave passengers their own private tendering boats, that would be the deal of the century!!).

That's great to hear we get to by-pass the line coming back on the boat. It's never a fun time to wait in the blazing sun after spending so many hours sunbathing on the beach. But, at least there's worse problems to have! ;)