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2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

All departments involved on the Jewel were contacted and interviewed. 
 

If you are ever on an NCL ship and encounter poor service, poor quality food, issues with the cabin or anything please report and ensure your concerns are documented. Having the documentation from the ship definitely helped us reach a satisfactory resolution.

Thank you for sharing your struggles to finally get satisfaction after your trials!  Congrats on your success! 

Forgive me for being dense, but could you be more specific regarding the "documentation" you refer to?  Was this simply an accurate list/diary you kept of the problems and the staff members you spoke with (along with dates and what was discussed) as you tried to get things resolved?

Thanks in advance.

56 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

It's not really a secret door in the literal or fun sense - it's primarily used as a service door that exits out at the sinks...but it helps me avoid people, so I'm a fan of it.  If you are tall...be careful of that exit sign...I have cut on my forehead still healing!

And thanks for the "heads up" 😉 re: potential head bashing! Love me a good short cut.

29 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

It is by the forward-most cabin on both sides of the ship and opens into TSL. It's a convenient short cut if your room is forward of the hallway doors that open to the middle corridor. It is also a good way to exit TSL if there is musical entertainment and you don't want to walk right past them.

Ah, yes... I've seen that door in the past.  Love the stealthy exit option.  Muchas gracias!

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

And that secret door is so convenient!

Please reveal the location... I've never stayed on deck 16 (was on deck 19 on the Seashore).

16 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Happy to help you in your planning!

 

We are in a "regular" YC1 Deluxe Suite on Deck 16 (cabin 16010). We like the Starboard side for the views of Ocean Cay when we sail in the Caribbean. For transatlantic sailings, we try to book Port side staterooms.

Too funny... we're 16012!  Great minds thinking alike?  😉

We like that side of the ship for the same reason while in Ocean Cay.  🙂

BON VOYAGE!!!

Following eagerly as we're doing 14 days B2B in November.  Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

What type YC cabin are you booked in?

20 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

No problem.... What is more the issue is that you admitted a mistake on a forum 😲 you should be banned!!!

Gasp... WHAT was I THINKING?  Perhaps a brief shunning will suffice! 

19 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

There are 2,421 cabins. It carries 1700 crew. If crew were in the 6300 then you'd be saying the max passengers is less than 2 per cabin.

My bad... you are correct!  🥴

12 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

I think 6,500 is a reasonable rounding of 6,334. 

 

 

My point is that there couldn't be 6,500 (or 6,334 for that matter) GUESTS once you take crew into the equation.  The crew is subtracted form the max capacity.

Now, if there were 6,500 GUESTS and NO CREW, that could account for the very poor service.  😳😉😂

5 hours ago, Cruiser98761234 said:

 

On board MSC Virtuosa now, it's best described as Butlins.

 

We have found the cruise to be terrible, waiting up 25-30 minutes to get served at bars, awful buffet food, no sun beds, a real rough crowd on board.

 

We wouldn't dream of cruising with MSC ever again, it's bargain basement, terrible. 
 

The ship has 6500 guests on board, it's probably suited to 3500, it's totally overcrowded. At this level it is so crowded that it is just not enjoyable. There's no seats in bars, often no sun beds, even the entertainment is fully booked up. The restaurants are all fully booked at night, can't even escape the crowds and shoddy food.

 

Most the cruise stops have the ship parked miles from the port, MSC have been charging then £9 a person for a coach to the terminal entrance, such a joke watching decent cruise ships docking in the nearby places. People complaining paying £36 to get to shore then finding cheaper options were in fact available but hidden by MSC.

 

This ship is all about cramming in as many people as possible, and providing rubbish service. 
 

With so many better options out there MSC are ensuring guests simply will not return. Loads of new cruisers are saying never again!

 

Something doesn't make sense here... these are the specs for the Virtuosa.

14 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

This has me seriously looking at the MONTEGO BAY HIGHLIGHTS & ROSE HALL GREAT HOUSE (Code: FMH06)  We've been many times and you can only visit Dunn's so many times.

I'm considering that one as well (if we choose to get off the ship that day).  I'm pretty sure that's one of their regular excursions and not one of the YC exclusives.

10 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Will look into them, but really have to be enticed. Been on too many cruises and have been fooled by descriptions using the words curated, nestled, exotic, unique like Toraja Land, Sulawesi. And one gets there in the back of a truck with wooden benches and no seat belts.

Oh, I totally get it... though the one you describe does sound "unique"... 🤣

Eagerly following every word (as we sail in November on the Seascape B2B)... very much looking forward to hearing more about any exclusive YC excursions you might take. 😀

And I am so sad to know I will miss the amazing Mustafa in November on our B2B.  😪

Thanks to the OP for a wonderful, informative and funny review!

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, but what are the Ocean House dining hours?

14 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I find it to be the most convenient port for us because we can either drive and park there (5.5-hour drive) or do a cheap, direct 45-minute flight. Also, the sail away out of NYC is beautiful! But to each their own!

Sail away out of NYC is spectacular and memorable!

Extra bathroom!

21 minutes ago, At Sea At Peace said:

 

 

We've been on 10 Yacht Club B2B's 2017-2019 (skipped years Covid) and then again March 30th 2024.

 

Without a doubt, and 'not even close,' Mustafa is the best Yacht Club Director that we've ever experienced.  Not even close.  Seriously.

We'll be on the Seascape in November.  Does anyone know if Mustafa will still be there at that time?  Would hate to miss him after all these glowing reports.  🙂

9 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Are we imagining a world where cruise line employees have no idea how to do their job so they turn to random strangers on an Internet forum to tell them what to do?

Sadly... YES!!!!  Especially the lazier ones.  😉 

And no one said anything about "telling them what to do".  Just that they could mine the "wisdom" (and jokes) of the collective CC community for even more ideas of what to slash next.

1 hour ago, McFins said:

Aren’t you all afraid that you are giving NCL ideas?  😳😂🤣

Yes to this!  Let's please not give the bean counters at NCL any clues as to what to cut next!  🙂

5 hours ago, slidemaster5 said:

 

I was in the weight room on the Gem from 6-7AM along with other regulars and at least that group was placing weights down and didn't drop them. Also, the dumbbells go up to 75lbs, so it is easy to make noises even being gentle.

 

The aerobics room has those thin wooden floors so under that will definitely be noisy. 

 

 

 

After a few days, we just laughed about it.  It wasn't that loud during the early morning hours so perhaps the lifters were being considerate like you.  🙂

Under the fitness center is bad.  On the Jewel, we had aerobics bouncing above us during the day and vowed never again.

But a really cheap price for a spring Alaska cruise had us in the same location on the Pearl and this time weights were being dropped over the bedroom around 9AM in the mornings,  Sounded like they would crash through the ceiling... so we didn't linger in bed. 😉

None of the noise was during usual sleeping hours, but it was still amazing how loud it was and forget about trying to sleep late.

Forgive me for being dense... but I read through this whole thread and am feeling confused as I think I read conflicting information. 

We have traveled in both NCL Haven (most recently) and MSC Yacht Club (years ago with a fall 2024 Seascape coming up).  We have always tipped bar staff and dining staff extra per drink/meal as we go and the butler, concierge (if used) and steward at the end of the cruise.

In the Haven, the butlers and concierge/assistant concierge are not included in the Daily Service Charge (DSC).  Is this also the case on MSC?

Thanks for any clarifications as I'm trying to get up to date on current YC stuff!

16 hours ago, burne318 said:

Long time lurker on this forum and follower of many of your live threads (which are good reads for people to use to prepare for their cruise), but I must set the record straight here.

 

My group of 7 was in the pergola immediately next to you on the cruise last week.  We didn't have a conversation because I am not one to necessarily reach out to strangers to strike up a conversation.  I knew you were to my left, because of your previous post about the way you had your pergola made up, weaving towels in the back slats.  That was a good idea by the way and you probably saw that we copied it.  My wife and 2 kids were on our 3rd YC cruise (Seaside 2020 and Meraviglia 2023).  We were most certainly in the YC.  Cabin 18025 with butler Wayan to be exact.  My sister was solo in 18027 and my two parents were in 18029, both YIN cabins on their first YC experience.  On the first sea day both my dad and I woke up pretty early (6:15am) since our bodies were not on vacation time yet.  We sat in the unoccupied pergola next to yours and had our coffee.  During our coffee, one of the pool attendants (Caran sp?) approached us and asked us "Would you like to sit here everyday?".  We said "Sure, but it's absolutely not a requirement".  Well low and behold, every morning we woke up before breakfast, and Caran showed us to the pergola he made up for us.  He repeated this each day and on the last day we did give him a tip.  So the 7 of us used that pergola and the daybed next to it I would say upwards of 75% of the time from breakfast until dinner.  Did we venture to the waterpark and leave our stuff there?  Sure.  But most of the time someone from our group was hanging out in the pergola.  And we only utilized a single pergola with 3 loungers for 7 people.  I am super conscious about overusing space, so many times there were 4 or 5 of us on the 3 loungers because frankly we didn't need a single lounger for each person, especially small kids.  As a non-OS/RS guest, I certain did not expect to get a pergola each day since they are FCFS, but Caran approached us early in the cruise and definitely earned a tip from our group.

 

As for dinner, we ate exclusively in the YC Restaurant every day at 5:45, with the wonderful Kevin as our waiter.  I was pleased to see that they opened before 6:00.  We are early eaters and were worried that the move from 5:30 to 6:00 was fleetwide.  Like you, I missed the "Deliciously Healthy" section of the menu until day 6, which was a real bummer to realize that was there the whole time.

 

The group of 6 that were in the other two pergolas appeared to be 3 couples.  They sat kitty corner to us at dinner in the YC Restaurant I would say 50% of the time and we saw them plenty of times on the YC Pool Buffet for breakfast.  We didn't really talk to them either until the last sea day when they approached us.  They mentioned they were on their 35+ cruise and their 3rd YC cruise as well.  Now I can't speak for their whole group (since I only chatted with two of the couples), but it did appear they were all staying in YC Cabins.  That said, I didn't talk to all of them so I can't be 100%.

Thank you very much for all the clarifications.

19 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Unfortunately the other pergolas are FCFS. The three pergolas next to mine were chair hogged very early in the mornings by the same group of slackers that just had access to the OnePoolDeck. They were not residing in the YC as they were never in the YC restaurant. This is terrible for those paying for YC and never being able to enjoy all it has to offer. Like non suite Pinnacles on RCCL taking up valuable space in suite venues and we in suites could not reserve even a table for dinner and had to wait because a Pinnacle slip in and took our table.

Aaaah... then you must have been in a RS or an OS and just selected the pergola that you most preferred... sorry I missed that (feeling a little obtuse today). 

Hopefully, we'll score a nice upgrade like we did last time.  I loved having that pergola available and we used it every day.

I completely agree with you about the slackers with access... and the interlopers. So discouraging to see the dilution of an otherwise usually excellent experience for the full fare paying guests.

PS  Love that your DW is an interloper spotting pro.  😉