psmarkle
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Posts posted by psmarkle
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Here's a link to a youtube video on the new Seaside YC menus I posted back in mid-July. Pretty accurate depiction based on my 27 Jul cruise in the YC.
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Frank808: I agree with you...7 days is just a tease, right? We've done an 11-day Hawaiian and a 12-day Australian/New Zealand cruise and DW commented that on day 7 of both cruises, she could really see a difference in my demeanor for the better! Just a few more years to go before I'm completely retired and ready to go!
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A small addendum to my trip review as I was going through some vacay stuff last night. One of the perks of going to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet is you will receive a free group photo in your room about 2 days later. This time, Capt Massa hand wrote a thank you note on the back of the photo! Talk about a little touch to have a big impact, I'm amazed a ship's Capt would take that time to personally pen a "Thank You." The meet and greet should be one of your "must do" items, IMO.
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11 hours ago, CRUISEDEALER said:
What time could you disembark? Can you walk off with your luggage? We have an 11:00 am flight.
Our butler escorted us from our room in the YC at 8am. By 8:30am we were pulling out of the Terminal G parking garage...one of the easiest disembarkations we've experienced!
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8 minutes ago, Sundiego said:
Wow... so surprised to read this! We sailed Seaside YC last October and have an upcoming YC booked on the Meraviglia using our 30% casino discount. Casino dept firmly told my T/A that no other discounts could be stacked with the 30% casino discount. Perhaps you said, so apologies if I overlooked it, but was your "30% cruise" priced and booked onboard or after you returned home?
Thanks for the reply and for the awesome review!
Denise
Yes, booked onboard on Friday evening. She told us the Voyager's 5% is the only discount that can be added to the Casino discount as I was trying to get her to also apply our 10% military discount 😉
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On our recent cruise, we tipped $125, in line with what you did.
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We just sailed in #16015, it's very quiet in the hallway. If you move to 16009, I believe Lezle will be your Butler...he's great!
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Last year in San Juan, we did our very first Segway Tour and loved it. You can cover a lot more territory that way. We booked directly with the vendor (I believe we found it through Tripadvisor). We spent the first 20 minutes learning to ride a Segway (Sister-in-law was shooting lasers from her eyes at me, but she hung in there!), then we took off. You wear headphones through which the tour guide narrates your tour. Learned a lot, to include how to ride a Segway!
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20 hours ago, Russ_MT said:
Does YC have reserved Front Row seats or did your butler reserve them specifically for you?
The YC reserved seating is only the back 2 rows, center section. However, Lezle would come get us at 8:15pm and take us down front where the seats either side of center (those are marked for Handicap, but some cruisers took them anyway :-( ) were always open when we got there. They are first come-first serve.
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5 hours ago, dexddd said:
Dawn doesn't have a Haven. It does have suites but no Haven categories.
You are so correct...my memory failed me on that one! It was the Jade out of Tampa. Good catch!
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4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:
Superb review, so detailed, cleverly written, incredibly informative. This is one of the best cruise reviews I've ever read. Thank you for taking the time to mention everything, and especially your shout outs to the crew. Wow. It's almost like I was there. We will be going on our first YC experience later this year (on a different MSC ship, however). We loved the Seaside, even though we were "only" in the Aurea experience it still felt like pampering. Thank you again for such a spectacular review!
You are most welcome...and thanks for the very kind words!
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3 hours ago, mnocket said:
I'd love to go with the "clean polo shirt" option for elegant night. I know dress codes have pretty much become just suggestions, but I wonder if you felt out of place?
Not at all. In fact, on our cruise, fewer people were dressed to the nines than those who were dressed nice, but casual. I never felt out of place either elegant night, but this a personal choice to make. Does make packing pretty easy, though!
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19 minutes ago, mafig said:
Thank you for your review. I really enjoyed reading it.
We're trying to decide on our next cruise. We've been on Divina and Seaside in the YC and were interested in Meraviglia. However, we've never been in The Haven and do want to try that. You have been in Haven, haven't you? How does it compare to the Yacht Club? Would you ever go back to the Haven?
Yes, we last sailed the Norwegian Dawn (after renovations) in the Haven and did enjoy it. NCL's newer/larger ships do have a separate restaurant for the Haven, but their other ships do not. They used Cagney's Steakhouse for breakfast and lunch for Haven guests and it was the same menu for the week. There are more involved threads on this board comparing Haven vs YC, but the biggest difference for me is the pricing. Literally almost 2X more for the Haven (in pure $$ terms, this last cruise on Seaside was $5,500 less than comparable sailing on NCL). The Haven is a good product, we just enjoy the more pampered feel of the YC, personally.
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19 hours ago, Hlitner said:
We would disagree with the OP when it comes to Robert Mondavi Private Selection in the YC. Those wines generally sell for around $10 - $12 (retail price) and are a very basic low cost product. We would expect better in the YC and were surprised when we saw a similar wine on the Divina (Yacht Club). In fact, on the Divina they once tried to pour some Mondavi Woodbridge wine until we made it clear we expected better options. While we are not wine snobs, for the prices paid to be in the Yacht Club we simply expected better.
Hank
Yessir, I do understand where you're coming from. I actually drink Trader Joe's Boxed Wine, so the Mondavi is a big step up for me! However, I do understand your perspective as the wine is in the $10 category.
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7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:
Thanks for this detailed and very helpful review. We are sailing in the YC on Seaview next month for our first MSC experience, and this gives me a good taste of what the ship part of that trip will be like.
However we will be in the Mediterranean. Do you have any experience [or hearsay] about what we may find different? For example, is the medium=medium-rare steak thing common across MSC ships or would it depend on the Executive Chef on a particular sailing? Or, are there any names of top-star servers we should seek on in the Seaview YC? Stuff like that. Thanks!!!
Host: my apologies, I do not have any insight on the Seaview, but I'd search for Seaview on this forum and read those reviews. The steak medium=medium rare is going to vary by sailings. I did not have to do that last year on the Seaside. On past cruises on other ships, I usually ordered rare=medium rare, so this was a switch in strategy for me.
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B2B? When I grow up, I wanna be just like you! A few more years until I retire and become a cruise critic regular poster on my 3-4 cruises a year (maybe 5 if I can convince DW, perhaps?)! Excited for you!
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Just now, Amercury said:
Many thanks for the review, our first MSC/YC experience awaits us in Feb 2020! We have been RCCL cruisers up to this point and are excited to switch things up a bit. Again, thanks for the detailed info it's greatly appreciated😀
Dear friend, get ready to be totally pampered in the YC. Everything may not be perfect, but you will enjoy the luxury lifestyle experience!!
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26 minutes ago, DiamondDiva said:
Thanks for the great review! We are on Meraviglia in YC in February and I learned a lot of information from you.
Tho we have been on 30+ cruises, this is our first time on MSC. There seem to be several changes from what I originally read a few months ago, when we were booking, but do not think the changes will really be a concern. Looking forward to the new experience. You have been a big help!
Alas, the week of our Spring Break is the week the Meraviglia sails back to Europe. Was really hoping to sail on her! The YC is a far better experience than the Haven on NCL. The Haven is great, it's just the YC is a lot more individual customer focused, IMO, at about 1/2 the price. What's not to love about that!
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37 minutes ago, rattanchair said:
Dear PS, You did not disappoint!!! I read each line to DW and she said she just experienced a second week on board. Thank you.
And thanks to you, sir, for your postings while onboard! I truly enjoy this cruise critic community!
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2 minutes ago, sheilb4 said:
What a super informative review, Thank you!
Am hoping Lezle will be there in October? Did he mention when he goes on vacation? He was my butler this past May and was indeed great, so hoping I get lucky and have him again. The Ninja I think was Anna?
What suite # were you?
Thanks again for refreshing my prior memories. Am counting the days until I’m back on her again. 🙂
Pretty sure he will be there in Oct. We were in Cabin 16015, and have booked same cabin again for April. Great location right across the hall from the YC bathrooms on Deck 16 which came in handy with 3 girls getting ready at the same time!
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6 hours ago, mafig said:
Looking forward to your review, psmarkle.
Review just posted "My Opus on the MSC Seaside Yacht Club, Jul 27-3 Aug"
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Day 7, Nassau: Again, we’ve been to Nassau many, many, many times, so we opted to remain on the ship. We really enjoy having the ship to ourselves when in port. We originally planned to spend it in the Thermal Spa, which we had yet to visit, but, alas, we ended up poolside with a Mai Tai/Moscow Mules/non-alcoholic Pina Coladas instead. This now makes 2 years in a row I have yet to take advantage of the free Thermal Spa access accorded to YC guests. Oh well. Woke up to go for my morning coffee stroll and found 3 Casino Rewards envelopes on our door for our 30% discount off a future cruise…nice. Lezle was working the Topsail Lounge this morning when I stopped by to look at the breakfast snacks they were offering. He mentioned, “you got your discount letter with $50 on it, right?” I’m not surprised he knew all that since he’s the one who probably put it on our door. While we were chatting about the casino, he pointed to a couple having coffee saying they got a free cruise (more on them when I talk about disembarkation). I normally cruise NCL and book my cruises through their Casinos At Sea department where I get a free inside room then pay to upgrade to the Haven. This was my first experience with MSC’s Casino Dept and it seems more generous, at least in my limited experience. Their offers also seemed to be based on time in the casino playing as DW and DSIL just play penny slots. My DW will go a whole week on $100, and she still got a 30% discount letter.
On Board Future Cruise Booking: Since I did not use this last year, I do not know if this is a change to their program, but now MSC is offering OBC if you book a future cruise while onboard. For YC reservations, you gt $200 obc which will make enough casino money to make DW feel like she’s on Rodeo Drive! Plus, they automatically transfer the reservation to your travel agent on record for your current cruise, so I should get around $600 more OBC for next year’s cruise, I think. Now, I will say, MSC is definitely raising prices as a Spring Break cruise before discounts (4 people, YC Deluxe Suite) was approx. $9K and next Summer was a little over $8K. Using both the Casino 30% discount stacked with our Voyager’s Club 5% discount, I booked for next April on the Seaside again (we love this ship and crew), and it came out to just about the same price we paid for this cruise using just our 10% Military Discount…yikes!
Tonight’s dinner pics are still stuck in e-tron purgatory on my laptop as I used the GoPro to take the pictures. We also handed out tip envelopes tonight, I’ll talk more on that in a few. As previously stated, tonight’s show was a full 30 minutes of Michael Jackson songs and dancing…high energy, especially sitting in the front row. Lezle took us down about 8:05pm as he knew it would fill up quickly. It was nice being escorted folks waiting in line to get in right down to the front row 😊 Then came the dreaded luggage drag to the hallway before midnight ☹ Checked with the concierge and gave her a few more $$ to keep our account at $0 then went to the Lounge to chill while DW and DSIL went for one last hurrah at the casino. I did remind them we had to get up at 6am the next morning, sooooo, they only stayed out until 2am because the casino kicked them out. Seriously, where do these two get their stamina from???
Tipping: This has got to be one of the most personal topics on a cruise right up there with your personal opinion of the food! On Wed, our account showed 4 charges of $87.50 to cover the week’s automatic gratuities. We still choose to tip above this as this $$ makes a difference in the lives of these very hard-working crew members. Interesting note in talks with both Lezle and Vishnu (both butlers) about being on the Seaside next year, they both emphatically said they are staying on the Seaside. They explained that although it’s more work serving in the North America market than a European cruise, Americans tip much more than other nationalities so they can send more home to their families (their words, not mine so don’t pile on me). We chose to give additional tips to our butler Lezle, Wall Ninja (seriously, what was her name???), Andrei and Christian, a little to the Concierge Eva, the Topsail Lounge bartender (his name is Sagar Kaup, tell him the guy who likes “The CEO martini” says hello!), one of the butlers who always worked the Topsail Lounge at night ( his name is Sonal Chari), and Vishnu (even though he wasn’t our butler, he still helped Lezle take care of us in first-class fashion). Amounts are subjective, but we gave out an equal amount in additional tips as our automatic gratuities for the amazing service we received from the YC Staff! I will say, Wall Ninja found us Friday night and couldn’t stop shaking our hands and thanking us for the extra tips…group hugs.
Day 8, Disembarkation ☹: This is an area where MSC Yacht Club excels! Easiest disembarkation, just like last year. They cruise daily requests you exit your room by 7:30am, but Lezle said no problem for 8am for us. Talk about slight miscommunications (in a good way), we got ourselves up at 6am, up to the YC Restaurant for one last round of fresh eggs benedict by 7am, back in the room for final potty breaks and one last check of the room for any items, and we were ready at 7:55am when Lezle came knocking on our door at 8am. He thought he was escorting us up for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised when we said we were done and ready to walk off the ship!
Lezle grabbed another couple waiting at the Concierge desk and took us to the elevator for one final, priority service ride down. He walked us past all the lines of pax waiting to disembark and dropped us at the security/card scan area. Hugs all around. I chatted with the other YC couple disembarking with us, and recognized they were the ones Lezle pointed out on Friday as receiving a free cruise through the casino. Talk about different experiences/perspectives on what makes your cruise. He explained they were on a free cruise this time and paid to upgrade to the Yacht Club to try it out. He said they would not do that again, thought the food was lousy/steaks well done, the best meal they had was Friday night when they chose to eat in the MDR, and it wasn’t worth the extra money. (queue the awkward silence here…). I chuckled and tried to lighten the mood while waiting in the security line and said, “well, any meal I don’t have to cook and clean up is a great meal to me ?lol?”
YC luggage is the closest to the baggage area exit in the VIP section (signs hanging from the ceiling). Remembering the cluster of pax waiting to depart when we arrived to embark a week ago, I immediately asked a luggage porter to assist us with our bags. He took us all the way to the G Terminal parking garage, cutting around the throngs of folks, and even took our bags right to our land yacht and loaded them for us. I gave him a $40 tip for the great service and loading our bags for us. Pulled out of the garage and paid our $154 for parking and we were off to MIA airport to drop off DSIL and it was only 8:30am…nice disembarkation and a good way to end another great MSC Seaside cruise in the Yacht Club! We already have plans to be back again.
I know this was a loooong review, but hope I’ve managed to share some details, tips, good ideas that will help make your cruise a more enjoyable one. I learned so much from these Cruise Critic boards and am glad to have the opportunity to give back. Holler if you have any further questions!
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Pics from Thursday's dinner (Day 6, At Sea):
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Day 5, Cozumel: Will keep it short here, did not get off the ship again for the next 3 days and loved it! Had the YC area to ourselves almost. We all hung around the pool, soduku puzzles, Mai Tai’s, French fries from the buffet (they cook them in fresh batches), etc. Serious relaxation time. Usual late afternoon naps, family game time in the YC Lounge before dinner. Tonight we had crab cakes (very good), duck breast (cooked just right!), ravioli (really good!), and sea bass (was OK, not bad, but not exceptional). I did not care for my lentil soup appetizer, but that was just my taste. Front row seats at the show, DW and DSIL head to the casino and DD and I go for shopping, gelato, and late night pizza before she turned in and I drifted over to the casino around midnight. This was the evening the casino rep was going around letting us know we qualified for the 30% discount off our next cruise…sweet!
Day 6, At Sea: Another day on board. As I was enjoying my morning walk with my coffee, the “behind the scenes” tours came through the YC areas. They seemed to be grouped by languages, and I waved at them while the guide was explaining the Yacht Club and what was special about it. Feeling like a zoo animal, I was hoping they would toss some food my way, but, alas, I had to go find the poolside buffet and get the food myself LOL. A difference from last year, today was lobster day and my mouth was watering from the moment I got up…DD and I are serious lobster eaters! So, on Thursdays at noon, the poolside buffet features a seafood buffet with grilled ½ lobster tails, king prawns, fish (and the usual burgers, chicken, minute steaks), and the Maître D’ Paulo does a version of linguine and red clam sauce (I believe he used mussels instead) poolside. The lobster tails were grilled just right, and I put a hurting on them LOL. My critique of this event is they only serve the lobster from 12-1pm, and all the butlers tell their guests to be there before noon. This was the only time the YC felt less-than-exclusive, it got crowded around the pool around 1130. Fortunately, I channeled my old chair hog genes and had us 4 loungers poolside at 10am (with a Mai Tai, I might add 😉). Once the buffet opened, here comes the lines, breaking in line, etc. It just took away from the YC experience, for me anyways. I don’t understand why they limit it from 12-1pm when you have a defined number of YC guests. Why not serve it during regular buffet times of 12-3:30pm?? This way, guests can come up at their leisure? Again, not a show stopper for us, but an area for improvement. Now, they will also be serving lobster in the YC restaurant at dinner, so don’t despair if you don’t get up to the poolside buffet between 12-1pm.
Another leisurely day by the pool (minus the chaotic lunch I just described), afternoon naps, and back to the Topsail lounge for family game time before dinner. Tonight was the second Elegant Night (which means I wore a clean golf shirt LOL) featuring a dish from a 3 Star rated Michelin chef. A Halibut dish. Now watching the videos on the elevator tv’s, it looked really good, so ordered the Halibut and…wait for it…a Lobster Tail! As if the 3 trips to the buffet at lunch didn’t fill my lobster quota for the year! Among our crew, we also had the Beef Tenderloin Rossini (ordered Medium, came out a perfect medium rare like I like), the Roasted Veal Loin (very good), I tried the Foie Gras appetizer (very good, if you enjoy foie gras), and the Asiago Cheese Fritters are a must-have! And, of course, Andrei dropped a plate of Risotto in the middle for all of us to share.
Bowling: Back on Tuesday, DD and I stopped by the Arcade after getting drenched in the Caymans to inquire about bowling reservations. Here’s another difference from last year for the better. The gentlemen told us that all had were midnight slots available the rest of the week. Now, last year, I was waiting in line before 11am for the Arcade desk to open to make bowling reservations for that day and that was all he’d let us do. This year, it appears, maybe they’ve opened up the reservations for the whole week so get there early, perhaps?? Midnight is not a problem for my crew, so I asked him to hook us up for Thursday at midnight. Good luck, he said, there was a cancellation for a 1hour slot at 10:30pm on Thursday, would we like that? Heck yeah, HABU (hook a brother up)! So, tonight, after the show, we changed into casual clothes (I was already there immediately after dinner), grabbed our tennis shoes, and went bowling…or something that looked like bowling…I think. Couple of notes, if you have soft soled shoes (tennis/gym shoes), you do not have to rent shoes. Also, it’s hot in the arcade, dress light. And, they only have XS, SM, M, and L sizes in bowling balls. I have large hands and the L bowling ball would only allow to fit my fingers up to the first knuckle. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty. Most of my throws would involve my thumb getting stuck in the ball which caused it to go airborne halfway down the lane until bouncing two times then (hopefully) striking the pins. We had a lot of laughs this evening, along with the group bowling next to us, at my expense 😊 It was $45 for the lane (for 4 of us) for the first ½ hour, and $40 for the second ½ hour, FYI. Money well spent for all the laughs we enjoyed!
Another run at the casino where I gave some profits back at 3 Card Poker, but not much as I was determined to walk off that ship with their $$ (I took the money and stopped by the concierge and paid my bill down to $0 then put the rest in the safe for the rest of the cruise).
Bunk beds in YC on Seaside?
in MSC Cruises
Posted
Dusting this one off as I now have the same question for our next cruise in April. I was in 16015 this past summer and found the sofa bed not very comfortable, so I'm hoping these mentioned rooms might have the "transformer" bunk bed sofas, by chance?
Anyone have current info on this (hopefully)?