Mrs_Tiki

Here are photos of the mini bar info. We requested a bottle of Chardonnay, but have not yet received. We are not picky about wine. I only drink Chardonnay and had Kendall Jackson on Seashore, which I would consider equivalent to the Elegance Chard on Ascent. DH has enjoyed Honig Sauvignon Blanc. DH will conduct additional research on reds. Stay tuned!

I will add that to my packing list. However, I can’t find an electrical outlet in the bath, so it will be a battery nightlight, if there is such a thing!

Dedicated Spaces: (point to Seashore) Although we enjoyed Ascent's Retreat Lounge, Sundeck, and Luminae, this trip made us very aware of the distance and flights of stairs between our Sky Suite near the aft elevators and the Retreat dedicated spaces. Here on Seashore, we really love having our cabin steps away from the YC facilities that encompass four levels on the bow of the ship. It really is a ship within a ship. The two-level Topsail Lounge and Restaurant is a lovely space. The bar is consistently staffed, which was not the case for us on Ascent. The bar has 9 stools for those who enjoy sitting at the bar and also includes a fancy coffee setup for Cappuchinos, Lattes, etc., as well a wide variety of small plates appropriate to the time of day. On Ascent, we never seemed to make it to the Retreat Lounge when the snacks were out! For me, the sundeck areas are a push. On Ascent, we never had an issue finding loungers. People in Retreat seemed really decent about vacating loungers and cabanas when they left the area. And the expanded area and extra hot tub (vs. Edge and Apex) felt very spacious. I am not sure the weather will allow us to enjoy this area fully on the Seashore this week, but another plus is a more robust outdoor grill/buffet area serving breakfast and lunch. Much more selection than on Ascent sundeck. Suites: (tie) The decor or the suites is another area of contrast between the two ships. We prefer Ascent's soothing, light colors, but also find Seashore's elegant dark gray palette attractive. We absolutely loved the sea-facing bed and bathroom mirror/window in our Sky Suite on Ascent but also like the somewhat separate living area in our suite on Seashore. Beds are subjective - we love a firm mattress, so Ascent wins here for us. But those liking a softer sleep would probably like Seashore's comfy bed. Each suite had wins and losses on functionality. The Seashore bathroom lacks the separate toilet are and tub/shower combo that we had on Ascent, but the shower is much easier to enter, and the adjustable handheld shower wand works better for me than the one on Ascent. However, we really miss the subtle nightlight that we had on Ascent, which allowed us to use the facilities during the night without disturbing one another. On Seashore, there is no nightlight, and the light switch is outside the door, which is awkward for nighttime trips. On Seashore, the vanity is outside the bathroom, which makes it easier for two people to get ready at once. (I had to bring a small fan on Ascent, because the bathroom vanity gets so hot - but that could just be me!) Time to exercise off some of this food! Speaking of food, I think it makes sense to cover food and beverage next. Please let me know if you have any specific ??? about either of the ships.

Note: if you don't think it appropriate to post on the X board about other cruise lines, please jump ship now! At the request of a few CC friends - @mac_tlc and others - I will attempt to compare the MSC Yacht Club product with X's Retreat for the benefit of those thinking of sailing in MSC Yacht Club. DH and I disembarked Ascent yesterday after a lovely cruise with @mac_tlc @Irishredhead21 @billc23. Sorry that we did not get to meet @Texed and @danceswithphones. We have been on several X cruises since 2002, most recently 5 E-class cruises since the post-COVID. The recent astronomic Retreat pricing and decreased levels of service caused us to look at other alternatives. We cruised MSC Seascape last spring and Seabourn Odyssey last fall. My intention here is to provide a real-time comparison, acknowledging that things are "fluid" on X now under the new CEO's leadership. Cliff Notes version of this comparison: for me, it's a push at this point. Given MSC's lower price point, I would book Yacht Club in the future unless I could find a bargain on E-class Retreat. Ships: (point to Ascent) Both are lovely in different ways. Ascent's decor is more subdued, and Seashore is glitz and glam with endless expanses of marble, chrome, and crystal staircases. But the winning factor for Ascent is that we enjoyed all areas of the ship and on Seashore we don't plan to leave Yacht Club. Another factor is the number of pax. The ships are of similar tonnage, but Seashore carries approximately 2,000 more passengers without a commensurate increase in crew. Embarkation: (point to Ascent) Port Everglades Terminal 25's separate entrance and lounge for Retreat passengers definitely wins here. Once through the "magic door" around 11:00 last week, we definitely experienced an elevated experience. However, we noted that there were no lines waiting to enter the general boarding area. There must have been a dozen staff waiting to check us in. One point of difference - once you leave the Retreat Lounge, you rejoin the general boarding line, but it was a leisurely, uncrowded walk up the gangway and onto the ship. YC attempts to create a similar experience at Terminal 10 at Port Canaveral but is limited by the facility. Arriving at 12:30 yesterday, we were able to bypass a line of approximately 500 people waiting to enter the terminal and proceed to the YC tent. After verifying our name and cabin number, we were grouped with two other couples, and a port employee walked us to the front of the line. Once through security, we were handed off to another escort who took us to a cordoned off check-in for the YC within the giant terminal. Check-in was completed quickly, and after a celebratory sip of champagne, a butler stopped the main boarding line to escort us onto the ship. Even with a butler leading, it felt like a crush of people, and there were many snarky comments (and hand gestures!) when he led us to the front of a line to go through the card readers. Although I know we paid for this privilege, I am a "rules girl" and felt uncomfortable breaking the line on multiple occasions. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the special treatment. You could really feel the extra passenger load on Seashore during the embarkation process! I need to attend to some work for now but will return with a comparison of the dedicated spaces for Retreat/YC and our suite later!

Re: Butlers, Retreat Hosts, part 12,587,352 @mac_tlc, our experience was exactly opposite of yours. We had the same Head Butler (Edwin) as @Texed, and he was awesome. We saw him at least once a day, and he brought us a fruit and cheese plate every afternoon at 5:00 per our request. On the other hand, our Retreat Host (not naming names) was adequate, but nothing special. I do appreciate her bringing extra ice at each service so that DH could ice his knee. However, we sent a bag of laundry and had to follow up with her several times to get it back 2.5 days later. She did seem to try hard, but always seemed overwhelmed and out of breath. The Retreat Concierge team assisted me with WiFi, but we had no other substantive interaction. So, opposite experience with the Butler and Retreat Host, but exact same bottom line. Not the experience that we had on prior cruises in the Retreat. We will continue to follow pricing but will be looking at other options rather than sticking with X exclusively.

@mac_tlc, great to see you and DW as well! I am about to start a thread comparing the two experiences. Spoiler alert ~ we are enjoying Seashore more than our prior MSC experience on Seascape and may be drifting into @GenerationX's camp.....

Do you know what time the “make-up” drill was held? DH is having mobility issues, and we would like to ask permission if he may substitute the later drill.

Thank you for this very positive review!looking forward to sailing Ascent next week!

After saying we were one and done on MSC Yacht Club, we find ourselves considering adding a 4-night on the MSC Seashore to our upcoming cruise on X Ascent. The price of 4 nights in a Yacht Club Suite was less than half of the fare to continue our Ascent cruise for 7 more days in Aqua. (Retreat is sold out.)

Oh my gosh, same with our young daughter on a Norwegian cruise in 2002! The crew member assigned to our muster station was one of the dancers, and I so appreciated that he helped her make her way to the nearest restroom, but it was ugly! We did our best to isolate, but still passed the bug around our 6-person traveling party.

Thank you for this very thorough review, gives great insight on VV vs. X!

DH and I are in the Retreat on Ascent in a couple of weeks. Can anyone provide the shoreside concierge phone number and/or email for Ascent?

I would love to know this, too! We are on Ascent in two weeks, will report back on our experience.

Charla, I was just thinking about you today as we begin the two- week countdown to the Ascent. Wish that you were going to be with us, but I will do my best to share some photos and commentary to help you weather your temporary cruise drought. Tiki_Man and I have come to the same conclusion as you. No more Retreat for us unless prices are reasonable. We have not given up on X entirely, have an Aqua cabin booked on Equinox this spring. But we loved our October cruise on Seabourn and are looking hard at a Med cruise with them in the fall. It’s hard to justify paying X a similar per diem for a Sky Suite when the experience in a standard suite on Seabourn is as good or better! I am sorry to hear that your family suffered a loss this holiday season. All the more reason to hold Jeremy and Gen Z close!

I don’t presume to know what you should do, but I can share that DH and I had a similar dilemma and ended up choosing the Equinox due to the huge difference in cost. Since the re-start, we have had 4 cruises on Edge-class ships, 3 in the Retreat and 1 in AquaClass. We opted for AquaClass on the Equinox rather than the Retreat, because we love Blu on the Solstice-class ships and didn’t find the retro-fitted Retreat areas as appealing as those on the new ships. Just my 2 cents, I am sure you will have a great cruise either way!

I can’t speak to Raw on 5, as DH is not into Asian food, but LBC is our top choice for embarkation day lunch if we are not sailing in the Retreat and able to dine in Luminae. We have never made reservations or had any issues with capacity. Yes, the fee has go up to $30 pp. It is worth it to us to have a served lunch in a calm environment, especially if we have onboard credit to use up.

DH and I have enjoyed sailing Aqua Class on several of the Solstice-class ships. There, we loved Blu’s clean cuisine, and found the placement, decor, and views from the venue on S-class ships most impressive. Being seated next to the windows and having unobstructed views of the water was always a treat! We were lured away from S-class by the excellent Retreat experience on the new E-class ships, but have done one cruise in Aqua on Apex in late 2022 and another in an Aqua Sky Suite on Beyond last spring. We found the food and service in Blu to be comparable to the S-class ships, but the venue somewhat less enjoyable. On Apex (and Edge), the windows look out onto lifeboats. While the lifeboats have been removed on Beyond, the view of deck space is still lacking compared to Blu on S-class. I have heard that outdoor seating has been added on Ascent but will not see it for myself until we board in a few weeks. I agree that you should check out posts here and YouTube videos critiquing the Infinite Veranda design. DH and I liked the feeling of extra space in the cabin, but could understand it would be a disappointment if one were expecting a traditional balcony. We are looking forward to a cruise in Aqua on Equinox later this year. For us, Blu is worth the premium price on S-class, but we would probably not do it again on an E-class ship.

It has not been our experience that Luminae is open on port days. We have often opted for Le Bistro, especially when we have OBC to offset the fee. I think that one of the main dining rooms is open for lunch on port days, as well.

Based on our experiences as recently as April 2023, Retreat guests are not expected to adhere to assigned arrival times and may proceed to the dedicated lounge for check-in upon arrival at the terminal.

I may have used the wrong word - we walked around the perimeter of the island on the footpaths. It would have been quite the adventure in the water!

Hi Paul, Mrs. Tiki (aka Mary) here. I am excited for your live review! DH and I took our first MSC cruise in YC last spring, and I think that one of your ports - Ocean Cay - has the potential to be quite remarkable. Sadly, we had bad weather, and the Ocean House (YC area) was not open. But it looked lovely, and we enjoyed circumnavigating the island for our exercise that day. The landscape is intentionally natural and appealed to me far more than the water park/theme park atmosphere of some other lines’ private islands. Bon voyage! I look forward to following along!

May we join the SS support group?

@mac_tlc, that is a great deal, but we are going to hold off booking any additional X cruises until after our 1/24 Ascent voyage. We want to see for ourselves how service in the Retreat has changed with the new butler team concept.

The only thing that I have found to be consistent about the whole move-up process is its inconsistency.

There seems to be some variation in enforcement of boarding times. When we sailed Apex in November 2022 from Fort Lauderdale, we were herded into roped off queues according to our assigned boarding times and not allowed to enter the building until the prior group had finished checking in. Port employees were checking the times carefully.