Morgsmom

21 hours ago, brucevr6 said:

@RC DancersIf that’s truly what MSC is doing “ adjusting the experience level to reflect what people paid “, it’s surely a poor business model and I would doubt that the company would do that. Cut backs for overall cost cutting maybe. One reason for allowing upgrades is to give people a taste of the heightened experience hoping to attract a new customer to that experience. If they don’t see a big difference in the level of service or the environment in general, they probably won’t consider booking YC for future cruises. To assume that most people who upgrade are “ cheaping out “ rather than just testing the waters is a bad assumption, imho. 

I say with a wee bit of jest : "have you even followed the MSC business model?"  That's exactly what they are doing.  

So, let's imagine at YC at 70% capacity with every cabin paying $5k.  

Or 100% capacity but 30% of the cabins are at $2.5K ($1500 base fare + $1000 upgrade). 

Cruise lines (and Hotels) look at average revenue per cabin.  In the latter case the average guest is contributing far less so, in their mind, are entitled to less overall services.  Despite the fact that overall revenue is higher, the average is lower.

They can also use the large percentage of upgraders to test the waters on REMOVING services these guests never knew existed - the pringles/ seafood buffet/etc.  AND STILL get the data to see if they've done just enough to get them to book again in YC.  

At this point and two equally disappointing YC experiences in a row we are discussing cancelling an upcoming Euribia trip.  Not in the mood for more cutbacks. 🤷‍♀️

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

With Onil as my butler and Arthur in the YC dining room, I am trusting that I will not have a bad time. Thanks for your candid observation!

Now that’s amazing!  Fantastic team in the Mera right now. 

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

It's also half the price!

Exactly!  👍🏼 

57 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Rather have the Voyager discount than a candy bar.

Or the Voyager OBC that used to come with every booking 😜

1 hour ago, Cruzan Sparky said:

My wife and I were in the yacht club in December when you were there.  We commented to each other about the similarities in our experiences.

 

Very disappointed to see that things have not become better.  Is the same Yacht Club Director there?

 

Still grocery store wine! Yikes.  You think being in yacht club you could get a wine that retails for about $20 a bottle.  

 

Hopefully your butler was better this time.  We did not see ours until the night of Day 2.

New Director - her name is Melinda, she's from Italy and was very engaged with the crew & guests.

Yes, on the grocery store wine 😲- even when we called for a specific name we saw them pour something different.  It was delivered as "here is your red wine" and precious husband would ask if it was what we ordered... Nope.  There's no need for this in YC, in my opinion.

Our butler team (butler & asst) was quite lovely.  They did nothing EXTRAORDINARY, but they performed their duties very well and unobtrusively which was good enough!  

54 minutes ago, Av8tor said:

Not sure if you can do that directly. However, you can add that OBC to a casino machine and then close it out to get cold, hard cash to use for tips or just fatten your wallet!

Just did that yesterday.  Easy Peasy.

18 minutes ago, GPPhilly said:

I wonder if these cut backs are for the shorter sailings or for all.  

As far as the "parties" I was told it was due to it being a 4 night sailing, though we had BOTH Diamond and YC "meet the captain and butler team" on the same 4 nighter on the same Seashore 9 weeks ago.

Oh, for the itinerary, our time at Ocean Cay was cut short due to a diesel engine issue.  Not the first time for this vessel.  So we lost the overnight and ½ day portion and made our way directly to Nassau.  For that we were each given $50 in OBC which I cashed out at the casino.  (Thank you cruise critic for the helpful suggestion).

What else to say… we went to Butcher’s Cut for our Diamond Club meal. – it was delicious as always.  We were surprised that they removed Teppanyaki as an option.  The first of the “removals” to be encountered, but not the last.

Back in YC I asked on day 2 about the room snacks – according to the head Concierge they had received word from “HR” that there would be no more starting this sailing.  I did not inquire as to whether this impacted only certain sailings of so many days or not because I was too busy crying to myself (just kidding) about that precious Toberlone bar.  Now before y’all say “just to to the sundries store and buy some.”  That’s not the point.  The point is they keep removing things.  No more Voyager’s Club trinket.  There was no Diamond “party”, just a general Voyager’s Club.  No Captain’s meeting in Top Sail.  NO welcome prosecco in cabin.

I completely understand that there’s an economic impact to each of these and that there is some bean counter rubbing their little fingers together overseas, but at some point they have to stop taking things away especially with loyal guests who know what it used to be like pre-pandemic when MSC was doing everything it could to get into the US market.

A happy surprise was the “Cocktail Bar” (yes, that’s the name) on 8 aft near the specialty dining restaurants.  It is open limited hours but boy can they make a drink.  This was about as 100% degrees difference than the craziness in the Uptown Lounge when karaoke was going on.  That had the feel of a frat party with 20 somethings drinking their faces off on the lowest beverage package drinks.   No, thank you, I’ll just mosey on out.    

It's just interesting to see the evolution from what was once an unknown line to one that is broadening their reach so much with many people taking their first ever cruise due to really low prices.   

MSC Seashore – 2/25 – 2/29/24

Well I’m freshly off the Seashore, a 4 nighter from Pt Canaveral.  Happy to share my experiences.

For background, it was DH and Myself in a yacht club interior cabin (booked into, not upgraded).  We are Diamond level and have sailed in all experience levels.  We booked this one ages ago.  I try to find weeks that I think are not going to be crowded – nope!  The ship was 100% full and boy could you feel it.

Embarkation – can you say HOT mess express.  So when I was on the ship in December the line into the parking lot at 10:15am was an hour long and people were getting heated.  We decided to go early and were at the lot by 9am – oopsie, doopsie.  The powers that be decided that the lot was going to stay locked until 11am.  You heard that right, 11am.   Hubby dropped me off at YC tent with our suitcases and I got to chatting with a porter – she had that I smoke a pack of unfiltered cigs every day kind of voice and walked around with $10 bills sticking out of her fingers as a “suggestion.” Clearly a colorful character but one with the inside scoop.  She said that MSC has been bringing in the shoreside employees an hour later to save on labor… hum… interesting. 

Fast forward to the terminal.  Previous YC cruisers at Port Canaveral know of the little waiting area for YC which had friendly attendants, a desk to check in, snacks, etc.  Nope.  Gone.  Now there is a large area – due to the fact that larger ships are coming in, however it’s a free for all.  The check in folks walk around yelling your cabin number in a bingo like fashion and then come to you to check you in while seated.  It was wholly inefficient and odd (I mean I don’t publicly announce what cabin I am, especially if I was traveling solo as I often do.)  On the snack – nope, no more (insert frown).

After that mess getting on the ship was easy and we were in Topsail by 11:45.  Our room was ready so we quickly unpacked. 

Yes, believe everything you read about not having enough storage space in a YC inside cabin. It’s half a closet and half as many shelves.  Very poorly designed.  (And, no, we didn’t overpack)  Unfortunately and much to my chagrin there were no Pringles, nor Toblerone, nor mixed nuts, nor anything in the cabin.  Ok, I think, it’s the first day, maybe they have not gotten their allotment yet….

Lunch in the dining room was efficient, but dear goodness can they please change up the menus.   Same ole, same ole.  I almost wonder if they make it boring and repetitive so that people don’t order multiple courses. 

Topsail lounge is always nice, however, we encountered the same issues as in the past.  First, the new cocktail menu is extensive and 99% of the time they don’t have the ingredients needed to make the cocktail.  Examples include elderflower tonic water, dehydrated papaya, etc.  All well and good until you want the drink.  MSC, please don’t let some mixologist come up with something the bars cannot reasonably make.  Everyone (or maybe just us?) in Topsail is already semi-high maintenance and probably “calls” their top shelf drinks already. 

Issue number two is the mysterious running out of the better bottles of wine on the wine by the glass list.  This one makes me smack my head.  No, I’m not drinking your $5 bottles of bottles of wine when you have other ones listed.  There are 1000’s of bottles around this ship; please find some.  (Rant over)

The ship itself – GORGEOUS, very clean.  I’m not a fan of the layout preferring the Meraviglia class and the promenade, but the ship is well maintained.

I used the thermal spa once but for some reason when I was there there were only men in at the time and I didn’t feel comfortable.  Not sure why but just didn’t.  There were also fully clothed people walking through on a self guided tour (?) opening saunas and rooms and just sticking their heads in.  Very odd.  It is a nice thermal area, though.

Entertainment – ok, I’ll say that they have upped their game for the American audience.  Previously MSC had more, shall we say, eclectic entertainment that was not language based to appeal to a multi-cultural crowd.  For this they had production shows which were almost Broadway level performances.  Hubby even noticed the upgrade.

The downside, however, is the “let’s not correct guests even when they are not following the rules” shenanigans.  People coming in to the theater after the show has started and walking right in front of you doing that “excuse me, excuse me” thing, people bringing drinks in (not allowed on MSC), people videotaping live performances.   The worst was one excuser who scooted by in a wet pool towel.  The cruise line needs to stop such behavior at the door. If the show has started, come back later for the next performance.  If you are wet and straight from the pool, no admittance.  (Rant over, thank you). 

More to come…  Happy to answer any questions

Onil Jay on the Mera is outstanding.  

IMO both are horrible ports.  I'd never again get off in Jamaica.  Too much crime.  (My opinion only). In fact, DH and I won't go on a cruise that includes a port of call in Jamaica.  

16 hours ago, Fishwife2016 said:

Thank you!  I will give them a call tomorrow and see if anything can be done over the phone.

Well technically you cannot attest over the phone NOW that you won't be sick when you cruise in the future.... 😉  The health questionnaire was/is supposed to be filled out right before sailing to attest to your health and exposure risk at the time of sailing.

Just to note that YC Insides are few and far between and booked out months in advance.  Bids for them have not been terribly successful.  As far as the pool areas, they can be crowded or not, depends on ship and sailing. School breaks will be full of kids running around, even in YC

On 2/16/2024 at 12:08 PM, Ryan82 said:

And as for objecting to other languages being spoken... i don't really know where to start. If you want to holiday with people who speak your language, then you should make holiday destination choices based on that.

THIS!!!  Exactly.  You are in Europe; many languages are spoken and honored.  I personally LOVE it.

13 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Definition of terms, please.  

hum... let's go with hooligan 🙂, but I'm talking basketball shorts hiked so low as to see the waist logo on the "under britches", tank top, backwards ball cap... that whole thing.  (Seashore and Meraviglia)  However, on the Divina have also witnessed a gent in linen dress shorts being turned away to go change at dinner. 

Booked Bella IS after final payment for Dec 2023 4 night Seashore, was assigned Balcony the next day.  

Last Feb in Grandiosa (7 night, YC) there was no Lobster

1 hour ago, ColbyBixby said:

Do you see anything other than I'm seeing regarding the rules as stated by MSC? The website says for evening wear it is suggested to adhere to a more polished look. In that they included tailored pants and shorts. Typically, I don't even bring long pants on any beach type vacation. If it's required, I'll participate. If it's merely other people's opinion, I'll stick to my nice button up shirt and khaki shorts. Can you clarify? 

I have seen men refused from YC at dinner for shorts.  But i have also seen thugs with baseball caps allowed.  🤷🏼‍♀️ 

Ah, getting stopped when trying to leave!  They stopped me once for a few dollar CREDIT and asked me to go settle it.  I was like "keep your dang $2 and get me off this ship"! (to note, we were 4+ hours late into port due to an unfortunate event onboard) .

In the case of non refundable shipboard credits, MSC will "take it"

Since these were refunds, they want you to close out and get your credit before getting off.  It's maddening because they do not issue end of cruise statements (like everyone else does) so you can literally get to the final check out scanner and be told to go back... ARGHH...

31 minutes ago, KennyFla said:

Melania is YC Director.  She was great. 

Thank you. The previous YC director was not on his game. But I think he was at the end of his contract 🤷🏼‍♀️ 

You will ALSO need the birth certificate.  Just a driver's license can get him denied boarding.

Regular YC balcony cabin. 

17 hours ago, Até said:

I've always been held to the prices that were in effect at the time of the original booking. 

I have been told the same thing; the price it was when you booked.

On 2/11/2024 at 12:11 AM, Essiesmom said:

I’ve been trolling through cabin pics on cruisedeckplans and have yet to find a YC cabin with a tub. EM

I had a tub in YC on the Divina

Was on the Seashore last month; food was "ok" as I expected.  Not great, but ok.