momofmab

Same. Our week was relaxing and overall enjoyable but most definitely not a GenX level experience. I'm glad I tried MSC's suite product and may be interested at some point in trying YC on one of their smaller ships, just to compare.

We interact on all our cruises. We find some staff to be receptive to that and others not and we adjust accordingly. From our observation on our YC cruise a few weeks ago, there were those who received extra special attention (and they weren't European - actually many of the Europeans on our cruise seemed to keep to themselves - again, just my observation). The few things we asked for, we received, so that was not an issue. Not hating on YC at all, we feel it was a good overall value for the price paid. We just never received the extra special attention that some other reviewers rave about no matter what YC they are in. Someone above mentioned it being a concern on an upcoming cruise, so I shared our experience. It could have just been our luck of the draw with our butler - who knows?

So, yes - I agree with you. I commented on another thread that our YC was experience was nowhere near the level that some of the YC regulars review on here - and I did notice on our cruise that at least one group of YC regulars who we spoke to briefly on board, seemed to get the VIP treatment. Maybe MSC monitors cruise review boards and has a list of those who submit regular positive reviews?

I think you just have to decide what factors in the cruise experience are important to you. I read every review I could find on YC before our first trip and 97% of the grievances weren't issues that would be on my radar. I booked YC (and in the past, have booked suites) mostly for the room size, a dedicated restaurant and in the case of YC, a dedicated pool area. I couldn't care less about being escorted around by a butler except during embark/debark, rarely use the concierge and don't need to deep dive on the resume of the sommelier. We had a great week with only rub being on the hit or miss food in the YC restaurant (loved the pool buffet for breakfast & lunch though). Food is subjective, obviously, but I do think MSC needs to tweak the experience in their restaurant.

I agree with you about most of the YC food (we were on Seascape in early December). My husband gave it a C- to a D. The "always available" YC filets looked like they had been dragged behind the ship (although we had great filet in Butcher's Cut), and the grey, mushy eggplant & pepper mixture that they seemed to serve as the side vegetable of choice was a head-scratcher. My husband tried Grandma's Chocolate Cake and wondered aloud whether Grandma was perhaps under the weather when she made that cake. I stuck with the pasta feature most nights, which was mostly good. We are anxious to try the Retreat product and will continue to search for a palatable fare. I appreciate your review & pictures and will add Summit on my list of X ships to consider.

He doesn't like any fancy tweaks to his Italian food (but wouldn't be caught dead in an Olive Garden). One night in YC, I had the pasta with duck bolognaise. The duck threw him for a loop and he chose another entree. After trying my dish, he ended up liking the duck 🤦‍♀️ He's an enigma for sure!

He's always been happy with the food on NCL, RCCL and X. He's not a foodie and doesn't like fancy ingredients. A meat & potatoes guy who's also 100% Italian, so he's very critical of that cuisine in particular.

I agree. I was surprised by the behavior of some of the non-YC guests who attempted to bypass the velvet rope and jump over the back of the seats to get into the rows. After the first night, we elected to find our own seats closer to the stage. During our sailing, I never witnessed a "sold out" crowd in the theatre (and of course people felt free to come and go at their whim during the performances).

I don't, but it is quite large. As you enter and walk in straight ahead, there is a 4-drawer built in dresser with shelves above. To your right is a large hanging rack with plenty of hangers and above that is another long storage shelf (we kept our shoes up there). It was big enough to store our suitcases in there as well. My only wish was that the closet door would stay propped open - so I would recommend maybe bringing a door stop if you want to keep it open.

We were in 19005 and had very minor deck noise on one morning only. OP- I agree 100% with the rudeness in theatre. It's like nothing I've ever experienced at sea or on land! People talking loudly and carrying on normal conversation as if they were in a sports bar instead of a performance. Whole rows of people getting up in the middle and leaving (sit in the back if you think you might leave mid-show), parents letting kids run amok. It was hard to enjoy any performance with all the activity going on off-stage.

I was a first time YC guest on the December 2nd cruise and agree with your comments on embarkation. Very awkward to have to keep up with the butler, who is cutting the line in a very confined space with a group of 12 people. The people we were budging past were not happy. I felt a bit like Cersei from the Game of Thrones scene..."Shame! Shame!..." I know some will proudly hold their heads high (because they paid to cut the line), but its not my jam. Thankfully, disembarkation was less awkward because we were going against the long line of non-YC passengers, so it didn't look like we were cutting. YC food for us was hit or miss. I stuck with the pasta dishes and found those to be very good. My husband has simple food tastes and was not able to find much that he liked during the week other than the made-to-order items on the pool deck buffet. We also had difficulty getting coffee after our dinner in a timely manner. Unfortunately, even though we found the YC facilities and staff to be awesome during our cruise, the food issue will likely keep my husband from another MSC cruise. We also missed taking advantage of the whole ship as the few times we ventured out of YC, we didn't enjoy the crowds.

My dh grumbled about the dinner portion size as well, so he got into the habit of pregaming with pizza - problem solved (hey, it's his waistline!) I loved the Tiramisu! Had it twice!

Following! I was on for the 12/2 sailing. Hope you have a great time, and the weather improves! We got lucky and had excellent weather for our whole week. They put the wreaths on the doors during our sailing. I loved all the subtle holiday decorations in YC. I'm always interested in the perspectives of first-time YC'ers (which we were as well).

We were just in Grand Cayman last week on Seascape. We decided not to deal with the tenders (even though we were in YC and had priority). While soaking up the sun on the pool deck, we heard tender numbers being called all the way up until at least 1:30 pm. We kept thinking that has to be the last number and they would call another. Keep that in mind if booking a private excursion. I have no idea how tender numbers are assigned.

Yes - this was my issue as well. I think our muster station was in the theatre because that's where our cards were scanned and we paraded through it, but it didn't say that anywhere - there was just a "C" on our card. We were on X this past January and I remember also having to go have my card scanned at a restaurant but it wasn't an "everyone all at once" scenario. I seem to recall them giving you a range of time to get it done by. I'm glad they let your husband stay behind. I was worried about a few people that I saw trying to navigate the stairs.

I agree with you about the muster drill! That's something they really need to work on! As I was going from Deck 19 down to Deck 7, with 5,000 people, I wondered how smoothly this would go in an actual emergency. My guess is not well.

I drank the Danzante at dinner all week! Loved the daily boxes of treats and the nightly chocolates! Enjoy your cruise!

Another slight disappointment was that the concierge had no pull in getting us a same-day seat at Hola. This sounds snooty, I know, but in our experience in suites on other lines, specialty restaurants would hold a couple of tables for suite guests that the concierge could obtain. Obviously they can't handle a party of 12, but two people for lunch? We've had concierges in land hotels get difficult restaurant reservations, tickets, etc., so this made me wonder what the YC concierge can do. Another minor, completely superficial "miss" were the shops on board. I rarely buy anything (to clarify, on a cruise ship) but nothing even warranted a walk-about except that I did peruse the perfume and cosmetic shop but quickly left because I felt like the staff person was tracking me. I don't know if they have a problem with shoplifting, but I felt like she was eyeballing me too much. Finally, the YC beach at Ocean Cay. How they looked at that beautiful island and stuck a pin in the area that they did and claim it for their suite passengers is a mystery. To be clear, the island is gorgeous and the other beaches, most of which surround calm, easy-entry lagoons, are amazing as well. The YC beach is on the ocean, which was very rough when we were there and the beach walking up to it is full of large pieces of coral, so it's a bit hard to navigate. We watched a gentleman fall trying to get out of the surf and had to be helped by the lifeguard. The lunch at the YC restaurant was very good (lobster roll - YUMMY!) but there's only one, single bathroom, resulting in long lines. They do have a restroom trailer somewhat nearby but the lack of restrooms for suite guests in the suite beach/restaurant area is a head-scratcher. Ocean Cay was beautiful and I loved how they had food trucks and bars positioned throughout. One of the nicest cruise-owned islands that we've been to. Disembarking from YC was super easy. Off the ship in minutes. Being escorted past the seemingly endless line of non-YC'ers waiting to get off, made the cost of the YC instantly worth it! A couple of other things I just remembered: -Can confirm that all-day nibbles are back in the YC lounge -Nuts and Toblerone bar in the suite but no Pringles (I did see cans of Pringles for sale in the Duty Free shop on board) -Don't miss the high tea in YC! I missed it and will forever regret it! -They have a very limited "sundries" on board (meds, deodorant, shaving, shampoo, that kind of stuff). I had to ask where it was because I was curious to see what they had, and it's just a couple of small shelves in the back of the Duty Free, so don't forget anything. -We didn't book any MSC-sponsored excursions so I can't speak on those. All in all, a fun, relaxing cruise. While I would consider MSC YC again, we will likely gravitate toward some other lines that we are curious to try. Overall, I believe YC is a good value for the price point. LMK if anyone has any questions (spoiler alert - I don't know who the YC sommelier is 😉)

So the nitpicky "miss" or "needs improvement" stuff: The YC seating in the theatre: this is merely the last 2-3 rows in the back of the theatre (some seats are blocked by giant posts). It is not marked for YC other than a velvet rope at one end or the row and the poor butler who draws the small straw and has the duty of checking for YC wrist bands and shoeing out the non-YC interlopers. On the night that we utilized this seating, non-YC'ers were bypassing the rope and jumping over the backs of the seats to get in the rows. The poor butler had to run from one row to another to get them out (this was also our first experience with seeing some interesting behavior outside of the YC). On other mainstream lines, the reserved suite seating is in a much more desirable location and is clearly and properly designated as reserved suite seating. When we gave this feedback to the concierge, he did not receive it well and quickly shut us down by telling us to "put it on the survey". Not that he could have done anything about it in that moment, but he could have been more pleasant in his reply. I will, as he suggested, "put it on my survey". On subsequent trips to the theatre, we opted to find our own seats, closer to the stage. The theatre seems a bit small for the size of the ship. It's only one story as opposed to the multi-story theatres on other big ships. On the subject of the entertainment, it was also hit or miss. They seem to shy away from big production numbers and instead do shorter mixes of comedy, music and some theatrical stuff. The descriptions in the daily planner were rather vague, so each night was somewhat of a surprise. I would rate MSC at the end of the list behind X, NCL & RCL for quality entertainment. That said, we don't book a ship based on entertainment so if we happen to be pleasantly surprised by great entertainment, then YAY! YC restaurant food choices, specifically the "Classic Favorites": Ok, food is subjective, this we know. I also know that my husband is a "meat & potatoes" guy - not a fancy ingredient food lover. I knew this going in but felt confident in the always available "classics" that I saw on the dinner menus (plus, he had his beloved YC buffet for breakfast & lunch, so we'd be ok, right?) Well, the classics need some tweaking, IMO. The grilled chicken breast was a naked breast, no seasoning or sauce, with a side of fries and the "filet" I would give a "C" to, in terms of quality - it was a very thin filet and was served with an odd mixture of grilled eggplant and peppers, and was always overcooked. Some cc reviewers have said "No need to go to Butcher's Cut because filet is always available in the YC restaurant!" to them I would say, "nay-nay". The filets served in Butcher's Cut are incredible and not at all comparable to the filets in YC. My husband had the YC filet several times and it was the same experience. Thankfully, we did go to Butcher's cut. I just think they need to do better on some of the classics and the side items they offer with it. It would also be nice to see a classic Cesear salad be on the "always available" menu. For my experience, I almost always went with the pasta selection on the YC menu (because they make their own pasta, duh!) and it was incredible every time.

More "Greats" This cannot be overstated enough - how wonderful all of the YC staff are! Friendly, talkative and always asking if everything is good and offering to provide service. The lounge and restaurant staff were amazing, the pool staff - everyone went above and beyond during our week. Our butler was very nice and met with us on the first day to square all of the mini bar and room requests on the email questionnaire that everyone fills out and sends, but MSC never receives or circulates. We are not high maintenance and didn't need to be escorted anywhere, so while appreciated having a butler there if we needed him, we didn't end up seeing him very often except in passing, when he would stop and ask us how we were doing and if we needed anything. Our assistant butler kept our cabin clean and well stocked. The YC staff clearly work very hard to enhance our experience but I never saw it reflected on their faces or in their attitudes (except for once, at the concierge desk, which I will mention later). The other YC guests who we met were a very friendly and amiable group. Obviously we didn't meet everyone but those that we did were super nice! Several who were also on their first MSC/YC cruise and had the same overall impressions that we did. I would say that YC had a fairly even mixture of Americans and guests from other countries. It's pretty cool to be surrounded by so many languages other than English - it really gave more of a feeling of being in a foreign country rather than a US-based cruise ship. Not many young kids, as this was a week that most would be in school. Stay tuned for "Needs Improvement" stuff...

Review continued.... On to the "Great": The ship is shiny and new, very modern design with lots of black & white marble, crystals, polished chrome, glass & mirrors (the floors do get slippery when wet, so beware). The Yacht Club area is stunning! I loved the lounge and how it was open to the YC restaurant above. Comfortable seating and tastefully decorated, neither the lounge nor the restaurant ever seemed crowded despite a pretty full YC sailing (or so we were told by our butler). The nightly entertainment in the lounge was a perfect addition to drinks and dinner - not overwhelming so that we could still have a conversation. We were even treated to one of the YC guests who took a turn on the piano a couple of times - great fun! The YC pool area was wonderful! Very large with many loungers. A big enough pool and a couple of large hot tubs. Not much shade, as others have attested but depending on the time of day, you can find smatterings of shade. In the morning, the loungers on the risen area by the pool are shaded and some of the loungers on the side of ship where the sun has not yet hit, are shaded. There are also the unreserved cabanas, which have a woven roof and fabric sides that you can put down to block some of the sun. If there was a breeze, the sun was tolerable. I appreciated not having to get up before dawn to reserve a lounger! By maybe 11am on the first sea day it was pretty full, but it is a pretty big area with not only loungers and cabanas, but also tables & chairs and these double-bed-looking loungers that didn't look like they were adjustable, but rather more of a sleeping/sunbathing option. The padded loungers were in good condition and very comfortable. During the week I saw the staff changing out the lounge covers, so they must get washed or replaced. It was clean up there and the staff never let dishes or glasses pile up anywhere. Service at the pool was ok (better on sea days when they had extra staff on hand). I will say that if you chose to go up to the bar and get a drink, they immediately asked where you were sitting, and would bring the drink to you. Once they knew where you were, they were good at coming around to ask if you wanted anything else. Another "great" was the YC pool buffet for breakfast & lunch. My husband, bless his heart, LOVES a buffet - anything where he can have his food on a plate in 5 minutes or less, so he was in Heaven! I am less of a buffet person (it's an ongoing struggle in our 33-year marriage, every time we choose a place to eat out, but I digress), BUT I was very impressed with the lunch offerings in particular. Many fish, chicken and pork selections, a great variety of salads and side items, and they would also make burgers and hot dogs to order. The only thing that could have improved it was a pizza oven! (continued...)

Hello fellow CC'ers! I'm just back from Seascape (Miami/Cozumel/Grand Cayman/Jamaica/Ocean Cay). I've learned so much from the reviews on here and want to pay it forward with one of my own - from a MSC first-timer perspective. Plus, it seems that the other "Sea" ships get reviewed more often than Seascape. No pics, sorry. I'm a "live in the moment with my own two eyes" person. There was a lot of "great" to this cruise and some "hit-or-miss/needs improvement", which I will highlight below. Overall though, a nice, relaxing cruise. My husband and I are in our mid 50's, recent empty nesters. We cruised heavily when our kids were young and were relegated to the typical crowded U.S. school break weeks. With the kids launched, it's been nice to be able to be flexible about when we travel. We've mostly traveled suite class (Royal, Owner's, Penthouse) on NCL & Royal (although we took a few years break from cruising to accommodate my younger daughter's travel sport schedule, so our suite experience is pre-Haven/Genie). Our most recent cruise, prior to MSC, was in an IV balcony on X's Beyond (also our first time cruising them) and a generational family Christmas cruise in a junior suite on Royal's Brilliance. A note about MSC's "Sea" ships - the "shore", "side" and "scape" names are so similar that after booking, I kept forgetting which one we were actually on. Prior to our cruise, I'm pretty sure I joined the wrong roll calls and FB groups several times. I had to keep reminding myself which "Sea" we were booked on. Even while ON the Seascape (I think that's the one we were on...) and meeting cruisers from other ships in port, who would ask me what ship I was on, I still stumbled - "We're on the Sea....shore/side SCAPE, that's it, SeaSCAPE!" The name struggle was real for me! Having heard so much about the YC experience, we were excited to try it, particularly since it was not much more than the cost of our recent Beyond cruise in a balcony cabin and much less than the Retreat & Haven cruises that I was also looking at (we still want to try those and will continue to search, possibly in vain, for palatable pricing). Also, Seascape is a new ship and we've decided to focus on newer ships only across all the lines we want to travel on). We drove to Miami the day before (about a 9.5 hour drive for us, depending on 95 traffic) and parked in the port garage across from where the ship docked - super easy. Since my husband drives a large truck, they let him park on a big spot on the ground floor (bonus!) Embarkation was easy - there's a YC tent, my husband dropped me and the luggage off and porters were right there to tag the luggage and direct me where to go for YC. You could also bypass the porters and drop your luggage off at the YC luggage tent, where staff will tag it for you. I never mind having to tip the porters who whisk my luggage away for me the minute I step out of my car. Once we entered the YC area, the waiting butlers welcomed us, quickly processed our paperwork, gave us our YC bands, and whisked a group of us onboard. A word about getting onboard that first day as YC'ers: the butlers do push through the llooonnngg line of non-YC embarking cruisers waiting to board to get you to the head of the line. There was some grumbling from the non-YC cruisers along the way. My advice is to keep your sunglasses on, your head down and don't make eye contact 🙃 Once onboard, we were taken up to the Yacht Club and escorted to our cabins. Very easy! Cabin: we were in a grand deluxe balcony on deck 19. Beautiful cabin, large walk-in closet, TONS of storage throughout (almost too much storage for two people - we barely used the two armoires as all of our stuff fit in the closet. A "needs improvement" note on the cabin - I wish that they had more of the cabin lighting on individual switches. Other than the bedside task lighting and the mirror lighting, it was an "all or nothing" with the lights. It would have been nice to have an entrance light by the door that could be turned on separately and if the lights over the small couch could be operated separately. In the mornings, I used the light from the bathroom to see in the cabin and not disturb my still-sleeping husband. Also, only two US plugs that were grouped so close together, it was hard to plug more than one thing in (we did have a non-surge protector multi-use plug with us, which solved the problem). Balcony was large, with 2 chairs and a small table/footstool. While it could accommodate a lounger, I can see why they may cringe when asked to move one from another location and maneuver it down through the Yacht Club common areas and down the halls into a cabin. OK - in an effort not to make this a very long single post, I will go ahead and post and then continue down below in this thread.

I would agree with the “hit or miss” assessment. Again, the staff and facilities are lovely but so far it hasn’t been a “Generation X” experience for us. And we are not high maintenance - no need to be escorted around, we eat what is served to us as long as it’s not raw, etc. I would say that our experiences suite level on NCL (pre Haven) had more of an upmarket feel. Maybe we need to be repeat cruisers? No harm, no foul though - one of our goals as empty nesters is to try cruise lines we’ve never been on. First was Celebrity and now MSC.

Hello. Onboard Seascape now in YC. Did a concierge IV balcony on Beyond last January. While I do love the YC, we haven’t been impressed with our experiences once we leave YC (mostly related to rude passengers). We just had to leave the theatre because so many people were talking so loudly, as if they were out in a bar rather than a performance. The “reserved YC seats” are the last few rows in the back of the theatre, so not great seats compared to reserved suite seats on other lines we’ve done. Didn’t love the muster drill, having to walk down 10 decks and then wait forever for an elevator back up (even when we tried the override). On Beyond, it was much less of a cluster. YC staff has been great and the YC facilities are amazing, we’ve been happy with the room, food, love the pool area, etc. but both my husband and I miss the use of the whole ship and we just don’t care to venture outside YC. Conversely, we loved Beyond, even though we weren’t suite level. The passenger vibe was completely different . So as of our day 2 on MSC, I would vote for non-suite on the Apex, unless you and your family are good with not leaving YC - just my opinion so far.

morpheus - thank you as always for your stellar reviews. We are YC on Seascape in December (first time on MSC). Acknowledging the new warning sign you observed, can you comment on the general level of male fashion in the YC dining room for dinner? Is it mostly pants or are nicer, non-cargo/denim shorts and button-down shirts seen as well? Thank you!