Pizaz

No, the comped player must be present.  The only reason they comp you through the Casino is for your logged / expected play.  If you no-show, they will either be denied boarding or be charged current rates for the room.

Looking for anyone who may have had this situation.  I have a 21-day B2B booking on Preziosa in August (11-day followed by a 10-day).  Both are in YC accommodations but in different rooms / types.  The second leg of the trip, the Concierge had to do a "Ghost Booking" (the passenger is listed as TBD) as the room wanted three individuals and we are traveling as two.  Typically, you would inform the personnel at the Terminal of the Ghost Booking and take care of it then.  Seeing as how my first leg is correct, what will be the correct way to handle the Ghost Booking for the second leg of the trip?  Thank you for any suggestions!

Hard to believe it has only been barely a year since I booked my first MSC and YC experience in March 2023.  Fast forward this addiction has led me to board the same experience on Fantasia, Virtuosa (x2!), and Euribia.  I am now booked for Preziosa in August for the 11-Day Norway itinerary.  I was hoping some may be able to answer a couple questions for me if able:

Casino

Does anyone know the current Host Name?

Reels - Are there any Reel Slots / What types?  DW only really enjoys playing the reels with a preference for the Progressives and the $9 - $45 spin variants.

YC

I am assuming the setup is the same or similar to Fantasia.  Any notable differences?  Oddly enough, me and DW largely enjoyed Fantasia over the newer boats as the YC elevator will take you directly down to the Casino / Theater area which is quite convenient for us.

Additionally, if anyone has any specific tidbits regarding the overall vibe on Preziosa or preference vs others this would be a plus as well.  Love this board and have enjoyed reading of many individual adventures!

Recently completed a Euribia Cruise (7-Day) in February and accumulated 24k points in the casino.  This ended up getting me an up to 10-Day Balcony with 200 Freeplay Certificate.  There is great value in these certs if you are aware of particulars.  Namely there will be blackout fees to certain locations during peak times.  

I ended up using my 10-Day Cert to book an August Norway 11-Day cruise on Preziosa.  Total additional out-of-pocket to upgrade to Yacht club was $3k (the cruise is around $9.5k for YC with no discounts). Had to obviously pay an additional surplus for the 11th day as well. What a lot of people don't realize with Casino Comp Certs is this:  The upgrade cost is the same flat fee whether you are doing a 5-Day or 10-Day cruise.  The deposit as mentioned above is OBC but if you don't want to deposit, upgrading to YC waives any deposit requirement as well.  Use your certificate to its full effect!  A little research goes a long way.

I wear casual Metal shirts every day in Yacht Club and have never been denied dining.  For myself, I am on vacation to not dress up and it has never once been an issue on 4 x cruises over the last year.  Wear what you want yourself based on your perceptions.  I would say it may only be an issue if a Rulebook Andy passenger truly cared about others, but thankfully I have been on cruises surrounded by awesome YC patrons (MSC Virtuosa, Euribia, Fantasia).

On 3/7/2024 at 12:02 PM, Travelbugs2.2 said:

Thank you

do you know what currency they use on board when in UAE?

 

Did Virtuosa out of UAE in Nov/Dec.  It was Euro.

They did not.

Yes,  the app has a messaging service it’s quite useful and easy to use!

For informational purposes, the Casino on MSC Euribia is permanent Non-Smoking effective today.  The casino Host and staff appeared upset and surprised by the move and that it came from Corporate Hotels director.  Bummer, appears to be a testbed.  I know non smokers will applaud but historically gambling and smoking go hand in hand.  Hope they enjoy their penny pinchers min betting moving forward…

Having sailed on Virtuosa twice in YC (Southampton and Abu Dhabi), I can say regardless of the arrival time posted on your ticket, you can board at 1100 no problem.  

We are on the sailing after you on Euribia (16 Feb).  Did this exact itinerary on MSC Virtuosa out of Southampton in March 2023, loved it so much just had to book it again!  Something awesome about it snowing on a cruise ship and chilling in a hot tub during it.  Recommendation for Southampton Hotel - Southampton Harbour Hotel!  It's amazing 🙂 

I will say Yacht Club is indeed that much superior to the Gen Pop experience on the ships.  YC Interior is a cheap option to upgrade.  Like mentioned before, the YC areas of the ship are nice enough where you won't need to spend a lot of time in your cabin and the service / experience completely makes up for it.  While waiting for a drink is rare in the YC (after the Top Sail/Pool Deck staff learned our drinks they were constantly flowed), wait times around the other areas of the ship can be 10 - 20 minutes of standing around jockeying for bar space to gain attention.  Also, if you do gamble, I have found through the hosts, a much more generous Point Comp at the end of the cruise (two times I was given a certificate for a higher room comp than I actually earned through play).  Worth a consideration at the least.

I will say Yacht Club is indeed that much superior to the Gen Pop experience on the ships.  YC Interior is a cheap option to upgrade.  Like mentioned before, the YC areas of the ship are nice enough where you won't need to spend a lot of time in your cabin and the service / experience completely makes up for it.  While waiting for a drink is rare in the YC (after the Top Sail/Pool Deck staff learned our drinks they were constantly flowed), wait times around the other areas of the ship can be 10 - 20 minutes of standing around jockeying for bar space to gain attention.  Also, if you do gamble, I have found through the hosts, a much more generous Point Comp at the end of the cruise (two times I was given a certificate for a higher room comp than I actually earned through play).  Worth a consideration at the least.

First off, beautiful Ship!  I will be boarding on the 27 November after the Grand Prix chaos.  Half-board is breakfast and dinner.  

I treat MSC with the mindset of the YC beats any other cruise lines experience I have had (RCCL, Norwegian).  BUT, the steerage is like a Carnival cruise experience on steroids.  So much fun though!

Tip what you can afford.  If you think the minimum auto-gratuities shows your appreciation level.  Stick with that and no harm done.  Most in YC tip for above and beyond service.  Depending on sail length (5 - 14 days) it is quite normal to tip your Favorite bartender, Waiter/Junior Waiter, Butler/Assistant, Casino Host (always amazing to me!) $100 or equivalent each.  BUT again always emphasis tip what you want based on your own culture / feelings regarding the act.  Although you will have amazing service, I can promise that tipping early especially in the casino will vastly improve your experience.

The YC concierge worked magic to get us booked for a Reindeer wildlife excursion in Helsinki which I slacked and waited to the point it was sold out.  Not sure if I just got lucky, but they said they would do their best and that night I had the tickets appear in my cabin 🙂.

The Metro Train is also a good option.  I chose this when I departed Southampton and took a quick cap ride to the Southampton Metro Station.  Two-hour ride and the upgrade for better seating etc. is nominal.  

I had this issue earlier in the year.  The issue ended up stemming to my CASINO account was not linked properly to my Voyagers account (One had my middle name, the other did not).  Once this was corrected over two weeks of e-mails, they linked correctly and they added the additional 5% to my OBC.  Since then, I have booked three cruises for boy 30% and Free Room + Upgrade Add-on's with no issues regarding the 5% applied directly.

18 hours ago, Preziosa said:

Did They anything outside in the Yacht Club

Negative.  This was the only downfall of the cold weather sailing.  The bar and One Pool area buffet was closed during the sailing I did.  What WAS nice is if you can stand the cold, I had the whole deck to myself to include hot tub as others thought I was insane apparently...

I did the sailing out of Southampton last early March on Virtuosa.  I loved it so much I booked the February on Euribia with the same itinerary.  The ship was not crowded and there is something fun about sitting in a hot tub during snow on a ship while they do their Polar Bear celebration thing...  Also, Euro's are crazy and were jumping in the pool at 40 degree Fehrenheit weather.  Night-time will be quite frigid especially with winds, but I found it quite refreshing when stepping outside for a smoke.  As far as rooms, this will be a preference, I chose to skimp out and just get a YC Interior as the balcony did not appease me given the season.  Give it a chance!

YCI over balcony all day and it is not even close.  Do it one time and you won't do anything else...

My Gala Night Shirt...  They literally could not care less.

On MSC Virtuosa, I asked day one if there would be any strict dress code (Yacht Club).  My butler informed they literally did not care as long as I wore shoes.  My take is on vacation is I don't dress up; my daily attire was shorts/pants and a t-shirt pretty much at all times.  Not sure if this is the same with MDR but in YC they literally couldn't care less.  Not that it would matter, but the Casino also did not care.

6 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I would like to do this as well. Would you mind shedding some light on how they priced the YC as it relates to the free cruise voucher?  Did the simply subtract the value of the voucher from the YC category you selected?  Or something else. 
 

At this point my “free” cruise has cost me more than my current cruise in the YC so I’m not sure how much more I’d want to pay. 

Of course.  My upcoming sailing is MSC Fantasia in August out of Kiel, Germany.  I contacted the MSC Casino number on my voucher and asked if the Free Room was upgradable to which they confirmed.  To upgrade from the Sea View to YC Deluxe Balcony was a flat $3k which I paid then ad the booking was made/confirmed. 

To the earlier person who mentioned having to request the paper, I actually didn't even know of the Casino perks my entire trip in March.  I know the Casino host on MSC Virtuosa was a fun and engaging individual who checked on me a lot after a couple days of gaming.  Great conversation and while in the Casino, they kept drinks flowing to me and were all great conversationalists.  I was packed and ready to go the night before disembarkation and after stepping out for some late night drinks came back to the free cruise voucher along with a sweet note from the Casino host on it thanking me for the conversations throughout the cruise.  If I had not gotten the folder and free cruise voucher, I would have never known about it, so perhaps there I was fortunate...