nattie

They said it applied to everyone. Not advertised ANYWHERE as far as I know. My friend told me (while we were walking to the muster station) and she was informed by her butler. I have questioned the muster station personnel and they have also confimed "one guest per stateroom".

We have decided to give MSC a try for a short cruise with a group of friends. For background: we are seasoned cruisers, have tried almost all mass market lines (Carnival, RCI, NCL, Princess, Celebrity) and are Elite on Princess, which is our preferred line. We chose to sail in Yacht Club to compare that experience to what we have had on our last NCL cruise in Haven and in Penthouse Suite on Enchanted Princess. Since we were sailing during spring break, price point for our YC suite was quite high, and frankly I was underwhelmed by the experience. There were some issues that I am not happy about but can overlook (elevators, food choices, emergency drill, etc.), but the breaking point was SERVICE. When one is paying almost $1K/night to sail in YC one expects good service at least in designated YC area. I have never before been on a cruise where I have to go to the bar itself to get a drink, there was no lounge/deck service to speak of. I timed myself sitting in a lounge for 35 minutes waiting for someone to stop by and offer to get me a beverage – NOPE, and that was YC lounge. But I digress, lets start from the beginning – pre cruise and embarkation: Don’t bother with any forms or requests, they do not make it to the ship, including medical related requests (CPAP equipment and allergy info in my case). Embarkation was very painless (arrived around 11 am) with a separate YC check in area and even luggage drop off area. I liked the personal service of getting checked in while sipping champagne as well as small group escort directly to YC area. Felt very well taken care of at the time! Our room was ready almost immediately and we went directly there. YC Deluxe Grand Suite 19011: Our stateroom was nothing to write home about – slightly larger than Princess’s Mini-Suite for the living area with a lot of space wasted on a walk in closet. I think they would have been better off converting that closet into a separate bedroom with 2 bunks (ala 2 bedroom suite in NCL Haven), now that would have been a fab room! There was only one large TV in between the couch area and the bed, which made TV viewing weird from any sleeping surface. Not that there was much to see. Unlike Princess and NCL, all the movies were extra. One major win for MSC was the bathroom – great shower area and I personally loved all the storage cubbies. Another side note was that my friend booked exactly the same category, but ended up in completely different room – they had WAY more living room space, but no walk in closet. Almost forgot! Balcony is large, but there were no balcony furniture to enjoy it! No loungers or table, just two uncushioned chairs with footrests. After dropping off our things we went to explore the ship and grab a lunch: YC area – major props to MSC here. I loved everything about YC area set up – plenty of space for everyone, large pool, two hot tubs, large lounge area and nice restaurant with great views. During the day part of the bar area on YC sun deck was used as buffet with decent choices, not as extensive as regular buffet, but one would not go hungry! You really felt like you are on your own cruiseship while on YC sundeck, MUCH better than Haven’s tiny pool area. We were always able to find unoccupied cabana any time we ventured out there. Ship itself – I found Seashore to be easy to navigate and clever in design, however my travelmates did not like the design at all finding it “cramped”. If you have a chance, watch one of the walkthrough youtube videos and you would have no issues with navigating the ship. I was specifically impressed with how well MSC handled the smoking issue – I have not smelled smoke once! Princess and NCL both should take note. Side note ELEVATORS – here the verdict was quite unanimous, everyone HATED them. I am actually quite familiar with the system MSC is using, we have the same one in our office building, so I did not anticipate having any issues. Was I ever wrong! MAJOR miss by MSC was removing all of the indicators of where elevators are actually going from the elevator lobby, ie you follow the instructions on how to call the elevator and just stand there with no indication of what is happening. Moreover, there is no “ding” when elevator arrives, so it is super easy to miss it if you are not parked right in front of the door. I feel that just by putting a regular current floor indicator and “ding” back, a lot of issues could be resolved. At least one wouldn’t feel like nothing is happening after you call the elevator! Next, safety drill. Another MAJOR miss. Nowhere was it explained that only ONE person per cabin needs to go and get checked in at the muster station after watching the video. That resulted in majorly clogged stairways for absolutely no reason. Plus, what about other people in the cabin, don’t they need to know where the muster station is? Moving on to the food. That and entertainment are very subjective areas, so I am just going to list my thoughts here. We have tried all of the options: buffets (regular and YC), restaurant (YC) and 2 specialty restaurants. My personal opinion about MSC food was that it is stuck in the middle between trying to appease American and European tastes while succeeding in neither. I ‘ll separate the experiences. First, buffet – I did not mind the layout and there was always place to sit, however there was no drink service despite laughable “call button” that was on your table. Why even bother putting it there? My son reported that pizza was great and apparently burgers and fries were decent too, even though they were not made to order. All other food choices were strange at best and inedible at worst. I actually look forward to trying South Asian dishes on cruises since chefs are normally from that part of the world – what was available on MSC was not good. Also, whats up with 2 types of chili available everyday? Just why? Lines for soft serve were so long that no one in our group bothered and I did not like even one dessert in the buffet (unheard of for me). Next, restaurant – YC restaurant menu changed daily (plus when compared to Haven), but choices were just meh and the food was under seasoned to our taste. Overall not awful, but service wise not great either. Lastly, specialty restaurants. We tried Butchers cut and Sushi. Service in both was atrocious. We have almost finished our unlimited sushi before one in our party was even served her a la carte order (40 minutes in). Butchers Cut almost ended in disaster. My son has walnut allergy, it only is severe enough if he eats walnuts and he is fine with everything else. That information was submitted to MSC on a health form prior to the cruise. After being seated in Butcher’s cut, bread sacks were passed around (bread is served in a sack, so you cant really see what is in there). We sat around for about 20 min before finally starting to order. My son asks the waiter to remove walnuts from his salad since he is allergic, at that point the waiter deadpans “you have been eating walnut bread”. Apparently the bread sacks had walnut bread in them. So my son rushes back to our stateroom to take his meds, barely makes it in time not to need an epipen and we continue with dinner. NO ONE, not the waiter, nor manager or ANYONE from the MSC staff comes over to check if he is OK or how did allergen exposure turn out. I did not need them to comp my meal (it was free as Diamond status anyways) or do anything, but someone should have checked on him out of simple courtesy. That meal could have easily ended in medical center visit. Entertainment, again very subjective area. We loved the production show (rock opera?), walked out on the guest entertainer (not good) and enjoyed karaoke in one of the lounges nightly. I really liked the Cabaret Lounge concept and changing entertainment there. We also watched Love and Marriage show (both Princess and NCL do it way better) and participated in trivia games (I won one). In my personal opinion, while some of entertainment team was great, the cruise director was not the best and he was very hard to understand at times. I did enjoy the white party on the deck way more than same one on all other cruises – doing songs from “around the world” was a great touch! This has been a ridiculously long review already! To wrap this up, disembarkation was a breeze. It did help that we were matched into Diamond and had an extra hour in the stateroom vs getting kicked out at 7 am. As I have stated previously my biggest issue with this cruise was lack of service, especially bar service. I can probably deal with no lounge area service (don’t want to, but whatever), BUT when I schlep to the bar to order my Aperol Spritz and bartender looks like I am making him eat lemons, it’s a problem. Bartenders in most of the bars were downright rude, ignored customers (happened to both everyone in my party, granted we are not 20 something ladies) and generally treated cruisers like they were nuisance. Not a feeling you want your customer base to walk away with. One bright spot was Venchi bar – great specialty coffee and friendly service. By far the worst was sports bar. Closing notes – we had everything that was supposed to be in the minibar, including tobleron and pringles. I drank my weight (probably more) in Aperol Spritzes, they were delicious! I was underwhelmed by the Aurea Spa, but others in my party liked it (I much prefer NCL’s set up). To sum up – I liked the ship and MSC’s product in general (I believe food will change to adapt to cruising region eventually), BUT the service is what sunk this cruise for me. MSC needs to train their stuff better in terms of service levels American customers expect. Additionally, I am not a litigious person but the incident with my son could have easily ended up as a lawsuit.

+1 Thank you very much for your efforts to keeps us informed. They are greatly appreciated!

Princess lets you in the room immediately, but they do request that you just drop off your luggage. We normally pop in, drop luggage and go explore.

Sorry for confusion! We have 16027 (my friend, 4 ppl) and 19011 (me, 3 ppl). I'll post pics after we sail.

Forgot to add that the pic @Two Wheels Only posted was what I was expecting from the stateroom to begin with. I have never had a sofa count as "double berth" on a cruise. Live and learn I guess.

Thank you @Two Wheels Only! We are both in Yach Club. Unfortunately at this point it is fully sold out, so no way to change the cabin assignment. I belive both cabins we have booked are in Grand Deluxe category.

Thank you everyone! It is so confusing to me, as i have 19027 which is listed as the same as 16011, but accomodates only 3 people. On my previous cruises 4th person automatically meant the bunk bed, so I guess MSC has a different set up. Will it be possible to get a rollaway bed?

I have never sailed MSC and assumed that cabin that rates for up to 5 people would have a Pullman and a sofa bed, as in all my previous experiences. Does it actually have a Pullman? MSc rep says no.

Thank you!

A bit of a side quest sorry, but how do I go about requesting the extension cord and distilled water for CPAP on MSC?

Thank you everyone!

Hello! This is my first time on MSC, so apologies if this has been answered before. We have a YC cabin, but our friends were not able to get one (sold out) and were not able to get an upgrade either :(. Can we (YC) join our Aurea friends for dinner in the regular dining room? Or our only options to eat together are buffet and specialty restaurants? Also, would we (YC) have access to Aurea area on deck 19?

We have tried Haven 2 bedroom and Princess Penthouse (HUGE difference depending on ship here) and are looking forward to our first MSC cruise. We liked the Haven experience overall, especially the 2 bedroom suite. We disliked the ship (Breakaway), anything outside of Haven area and having to carry the cruise card with you everywhere. On Princess, suites not on the Regal class ships are waste of money IMHO. On the Regal class they have a suite lounge that makes all the difference. Looking forward to trying MSC next month!

We are sailing on MSC for the first time in March. After paying my final payment, I was going to pre-book a spa appointment since MSC says that they are at 40% discount for pre-booking. Available spa menu seems very limited in terms of variety, ie only massages and mani pedi are avaialble. Is this all they offer or are there more options on board? I normally book a combo treatment with facial, massage and seaweed wrap.

I don’t think so. They give whatever is included in their highest tier (Diamond) which is only 15% off laundry, but they have other perks Elite on PCL doesn’t. Namely, discount on cruise fare, spa appt and 40% in shops. We have not sailed yet, so I really don’t know if the benefits are actually worth it.

We have been on most major cruise lines, ended up loving Princess the most and have been somewhat loyal to the brand lately. We do venture to other lines (did NCL and Carnival last year, trying MSC next year for the first time), but nothing beats the feeling of stepping on Royal Class ship (our favorite class) for us. Just an FYI, MSC matches status (one of the reasons we decided to try them), so Elite on Princess will be matched to the highest level on MSC.

Thank you everyone for responding! We already get complimentary laundry, not express though and mini-bar as well as separate line at Customer service. Unfortunately Diamond is the only one doing Japan, otherwise we would have booked Royal class ship in a heartbeat. We have previously been on Emerald, Ruby and Caribbean from that class of ships and are OK with them, but not favorite by any means. I would take Coral or any Royal class ship over any Grand ship.

Thank you for reminding me of this! Totally forgot about special breakfast for Suites.

We have sailed on Enchanted this summer in the aft Penthouse and loved most of the experience, except for being aft because constant vibrations were very annoying. LOVED the suite lounge and would not hesitate to book a suite on a Royal class ship. Our next Princess cruise is on Diamond Princess and I can get a Reserve mini-suite (for dining perks) for half a price of the suite. What suite benefits might I be missing that will make the extra $$$ worth it for us? We are all Elite, so already get laundry and mini bar set up.

Did this actually work for you? I bought one and it did not fit the medallion. I ended up purchasing princess bracelet for pick up at the port and it worked out great.

I buy Plus for my teen for the wi-fi, tips and deserts/juices/mocktails/soda. Princess bartenders actually make delicious mocktails! I would honestly compare regular fare plus cost of soda package/wifi package/tips to Plus fare. For us it is a no brainer to get Plus every time because we do end up using all the packages and it is actually cheaper than getting ala carte offerings. Math could be different for you.

I much prefer new layout of Princess Live on Discovery and (hopefully) Enchanted! So much easier to find seats, BUT it does lose the "TV show audience" feel a bit. You are absolutely right, finding a seat in Princess Live on Regal is not easy!

I think your question was answered already in terms of what is available (4tpax cabin will have a pullman bed vs just sofa). We were on Discovery last year and had a mini on Riviera with pullman bed. It was NOT a Reserve Class mini. Please remember that mini suites on Royal class ships generally have miniscule balconies with rare exceptions.

Is the lack of seating an early show thing? We are Elite and have been on several cruises since restart. I have NEVER had an issue with no seating available. Granted, we prefer to seat in the back closer to the exits and we always go to late shows. Usually get there about 20 min before, no issues.