Seaside Review - Yacht Club 4/7-4/14 - We liked new and different!

Background

My husband and I are both 45 years old with 2 older teenagers. The teenagers stayed home this time and we sailed on the Seaside in the Yacht Club from Sat, 4/7– Sat, 4/14. What an interesting and great trip we had! We have been lucky to sail several times each on NCL (including Haven and non-Haven), Celebrity, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess (just one time and our least favorite). We don’t really have brand loyalty; it comes down to price and itinerary. We also don’t mind new or different so we were very eager to try a new cruise line.

Pre-Cruise

We live in Pennsylvania and could not wait to get to warmer weather as we had several snow storms in March through early April. We flew from Philly to Miami the Friday before on American Airlines, a mid-afternoon flight, so late enough that we were not hurried that day. Best to start the relaxation as early as possible! Mostly we fly the same day as the cruise so this was a treat. Took a taxi to the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel, which was maybe $35ish (can’t fully recall). The hotel is pricey, but to us, it was worth it. It was very nice, close to the port, and I liked there was a restaurant where you can order a full dinner and breakfast. We had a bay view room and enjoyed seeing 5 cruise ships lined up in the morning. In addition to the Seaside, there was the Carnival Glory and Vista, NCL Escape,and the Celebrity Equinox.

Saturday morning, we planned to take a taxi to the port around 11 AM,but there were none out front for a couple of minutes so the bellman coordinated a quick shuttle for multiple couples for $7/pp. Sold! We were outside the lobby for less than 5 minutes and off we went. I knew the port was close, but didn’t realize it was right around the corner from the hotel. Offloading the other 3 couples to their own cruise lines took about 10 minutes. It was interesting that each of the 4 couples were going to a different cruise line. We were then dropped off at the MSC terminal.

Embarkation and more up next!

Thanks for sharing this. Looking forward to more

~Brian

Looking forward to hearing more about the Yacht Club experience, thanks!

Embarkation

I have to tell you, it was hard for us to find the Yacht Club white tent. There are a lot of white tents outside the terminal. We were dropped off at the far end of the terminal, which is the opposite end of where the Yacht Club tent was. We just walked back through all the disembarked passengers until we came to the tent. I was in my state of euphoria because our vacation was starting so it didn’t really bother me.

There were 3 butlers at the tent, plus a terminal porter. The butlers filled out the luggage stickers and the porter put them on. Seemed like a lot of people to do a single task…We left our luggage there, waited about 5 minutes for a couple of other passengers, and then a butler escorted us through the terminal to the Yacht Club lounge. At the door of the lounge,the butler took everyone’s ID and boarding documentation for check-in. There were two desks handling check-in. You could immediately go to a refreshment table and be served ‘still/natural’ water, sparkling water, wine, orange juice,and a variety of chocolates and other pastries/goodies. I was mentally jumping up and down, clapping my hands. It was such a pleasant greeting.

The employees handling check-in called out your name when it was your turn. Took about 5 minutes. You received your key card, wrist band (that you can put on/take off anytime and is water resistant) and the Daily Planner for that day. Right after, a butler escorted us onto the ship and directly to the Yacht Club, specifically to the Concierge Desk on deck 16. There were about 8 of us in the escorted group. The 2 Concierges spoke with each family briefly and you handed them your key card. They checked to see if your room was ready. Fortunately our room was ready, but there were others that were not. They provided a rundown on how to reserve show times on the interactive screens or the MSC app. I suggest reserving all of your shows on the 1st day for the whole week. We waited until the 2nd day to do this and all the show times on the 1st night were booked solid. Also informed us the Top Sail Lounge was on the same deck, the restaurant was on deck 18 (no deck 17) and the Top Sail sun deck and grill was on deck 19. All forward and very close together – so nice! While we were waiting for our turn with the Concierge, I went over to the nearby kiosk and applied a credit card for our account. Very easy, took less than a minute. The restaurant hostess also came by and asked if we had a preferred dinner time. If we did, we could have the same table with the same wait staff. We chose 6 PM and it turned out to be a great decision for us. We were not locked into that time, though. Overall, a good embarkation experience.

Next Up – Yacht Club Deluxe Suite with Balcony, Stateroom 18022

Looking forward to the rest.

Good morning:

We are boarding MSC in ten days. I have a problem with walking more than a short distance and with stairs/ramp climbing. In airports and while boarding ships I use a wheelchair. We are booked in YC and in searching I cannot determine from reading posts if it will be a challenge to get onto the ship and up to 16. Will they provide a wheelchair and someone to push it just until we get to our destination on the ship?

Many thanks for any assistance,

Jennie

They will absolutely help, there is dedicated wheelchair assistance for boarding and disembarking. Go to the YC tent when you get dropped off at the pier and they will take care of everything.

You might consider renting a motorized scooter for the cruise, most use an outfit called special needs at sea, they drop it off and pick it up, very reasonable.

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Good morning:

We are boarding MSC in ten days. I have a problem with walking more than a short distance and with stairs/ramp climbing. In airports and while boarding ships I use a wheelchair. We are booked in YC and in searching I cannot determine from reading posts if it will be a challenge to get onto the ship and up to 16. Will they provide a wheelchair and someone to push it just until we get to our destination on the ship?

Many thanks for any assistance,

Jennie

Jennie - If by chance you booked one of the two handicap balcony cabins (category YC1) in the Yacht Club, could you take photos of the bathroom and post them? I have YC1 18024 in November for my 90-year-old mother. Thanks in advance.

And definitely rent a scooter from http://www.specialneedsatsea.com. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself and anyone traveling with you. Having them push your wheelchair around the ship gets very old very fast and does not allow for either person to have an independent time during the trip.

Jennie - If by chance you booked one of the two handicap balcony cabins (category YC1) in the Yacht Club, could you take photos of the bathroom and post them? I have YC1 18024 in November for my 90-year-old mother. Thanks in advance.

 

And definitely rent a scooter from http://www.specialneedsatsea.com. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself and anyone traveling with you. Having them push your wheelchair around the ship gets very old very fast and does not allow for either person to have an independent time during the trip.

Are you saying that you were not able to see any shows? If so, that's too bad.

Looking forward to the rest of your review.:)

Looking forward to your review! Seaside YC in Jan 2019.

Are you saying that you were not able to see any shows? If so, that's too bad.

 

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.:)

Hi Mafig, just the 1st night we couldn't see a show because they were booked. I knew we could try to enter 5 minutes before the show, but we didn't do that. We booked shows for the rest of the cruise on the 2nd day, but only ended up going to one of them, which was very good.

Jennie - If by chance you booked one of the two handicap balcony cabins (category YC1) in the Yacht Club, could you take photos of the bathroom and post them? I have YC1 18024 in November for my 90-year-old mother. Thanks in advance.

 

And definitely rent a scooter from www.specialneedsatsea.com. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself and anyone traveling with you. Having them push your wheelchair around the ship gets very old very fast and does not allow for either person to have an independent time during the trip.

Hi LadyVol1, since we were right next door to 18024, I can at least tell you the room's balcony is glorious. We could see partially into it, but not too much. Lots of space, chairs, and if I remember correctly, half covered from the sun. We could really only see each other if we're both at the balcony railing.

Yacht Club Deluxe Suite with Balcony – Stateroom 18022

From reading many reviews across multiple cruise lines, I have the feeling that my husband and I are in the minority in that the stateroom is very important to us. I’ve read so many times that ‘it didn’t matter that the room was cramped, or that there was little storage because we were hardly in the room.’ We love staterooms with space, amenities, an open bathroom, a balcony and stateroom 18022 had it all. On vacation, I like to read, leisurely surf the internet, take naps as well as experience the ship activities and do shore excursions. So…for the former activities, we like a comfy room.

Room Steward and Butler

Our room steward, Ana Lisa, was awesome. We didn’t meet her until Sunday morning and she was sooo apologetic, which was unnecessary to us, but nice,because she had stocked our room well. We did meet our butler, Jee (his name is longer, but goes by Jee) on the 1st day and he explained that he and Ana Lisa work as a team, which was true. For instance, on the 2nd day Ana Lisa asked if we needed anything and we asked for some Stella Artois beer in the mini fridge/bar and she said sure, she’ll let Jee know. She didn’t refer us to Jee to ask, which I liked.

I must be easily pleased because I was enthralled by the towel animals Ana Lisa made each night. Some I had never seen before because they were so small, like 6 inches tall…a mouse, bird, koala and teddy bear, all made out of wash clothes. Sometimes she would attach a note telling us to enjoy the port the next day. She also used the long fabric runner that is on the bed to make a star and heart two of the nights. Having enjoyed several cruise lines, a lot of them very similar, I liked the surprises. We also enjoyed the nightly chocolates.

I asked Jee one day if the expresso machine in the room can make hot tea. It can’t, but he immediately offered to bring me a cup of tea and asked if I like to have it in the morning, which I do. He asked what time and from the next morning forward he delivered a 2 cup pot of hot tea, hot cream, sugars, coffee for my husband, orange juice and pastries at 8 AM. We didn’t ask for the coffee, juice, etc, but he previously asked my husband about coffee. I have to say, it was so nice to wake up leisurely and enjoy the continental breakfast, sometimes on the balcony. By the way, the Top Sail lounge includes a HUGE bar offering, but it also includes water bottles, coffee products, soft drinks, and hot tea. On the last night,I felt like a cup of tea so I walked a minute to the Top Sail lounge, put in an order with a butler and he delivered a tray to our room 5 minutes later. I was going to wait for it, but he insisted on delivering it. More on the Top Sail Lounge later.

A note about the butlers…I felt all were well-chosen for that role and well-trained. Definitely kudos to MSC on that! We’ve experienced butlers at Sandals resorts (a joke) and in the NCL Haven, which are pretty good. I felt the MSC butlers were the perfect combination of approachable and professional. They took their positions seriously.

Bed

The bed was queen size, which is the first time I’ve ever seen queen size on a ship. It’s usually king size. I liked the queen size because it’s the same as we have at home. I did not care for the huge indentation down the middle of the bed. It didn’t start out that way, but each night it was like the Red Sea parting. Either my husband or I would roll into it each night. Still was comfy, liked the bedding.

Bathroom

The bathroom was one of the best we’ve seen on a ship. It was long and narrow,but still spacious. One sink with a really long counter and mirror, which I preferred over storing toiletries on multiple shelves. They did have the shelves, too. My husband and I could fit in there together if he wanted to brush his teeth and I needed to put on make-up, etc. The shower (and the whole bathroom) was marbled tile with a good size bench in the shower. There was the rain forest shower head, plus an adjustable nozzle. The water got HOT and it would also change temperatures often. It was a sizable shower, probably could hold two fit people if you were inclined. It was kept stocked with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion tubes. I normally bring all our own supplies, but didn’t this time, and it was all good.

Amenities

I liked that you could order a daily newspaper in whichever language and it was hanging on your doorknob each morning. My husband made fun of me for ordering USA Today because he didn’t think we would read it, but alas he enjoyed it every morning. I felts somewhat bad because they print them on the ship, including having our name on them, and they’re pretty big, but I got over it.

The TV was nice and big, although we did use it only to look up our account and we rented the movie Dunkirk late one night. $8 to rent. We peeked at the live channels and I thought it was a good lineup compared to other cruise lines. The TV was to the left of the bed, but we didn’t have any issues watching the movie. Again, if you are inclined, they have ‘adult’ movies to rent.

I did the 20 item laundry package for $35. Our butler collected it one day and returned it clean the next day. I had filled out the 20 item option with name and cabin #, but did not list the individual inventory. Jee said he would do it for us. I momentarily cringed at that thought, but persevered. He was so accommodating. I’ve had laundry returned on other lines where everything white or a light color came back gray. Not MSC, it looked and smelled really good.

The room had a huge fruit bowl,including apples, kiwis, bananas, pears and plums and a bottle sparkling wine, plus a big glass bottle of water. The mini bar came with a Heineken, Bud, and a Corona, smaller water bottles, an orange fruit juice, soft drinks and a couple snacks, mostly nuts. The small alcohol bottles were whiskey, gin and vodka. You could drink/eat any of this or swap it out. Other than asking for the Stellas, we keep it stocked with a couple of smaller water bottles for the shore excursions.

Balcony

We both enjoyed the balcony. Good size, with two chairs and a small table between them. Could see into other balconies and vice versa. My husband was slightly bothered by that, but it didn’t prevent him from going out there everyday. Very clean.

Closets/Storage

If I remember correctly, there were 2 double closets: one containing the safe (which was very small) and pull out deep drawers and the other side contained hangers, bathrobes and slippers. The other double was all hangers with two cubbie shelves at the bottom. They also had additional shelving near the closets, but some had a door and some didn’t. I found that kind of odd. There was also some pull out shallow shelving. I put up 3 magnetic hooks on the wall to hang a hoodie and damp bathing suits. There were also hooks on the inside bathroom door and a shower line.

We liked the room and location and would definitely choose it again. Next up: The Yacht Club Restaurant and Top Sail Lounge

Thank you for the details! Keep going! We are listening. :)

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Thanks so much. To clarify, I can walk short distances and walking around the ship is okay because there are always places to sit and rest. Sometimes I use a cane. It's just that at airports and getting onto a ship means a long, long distance and that just won't work for me. We usually don't get off the ship because of the long piers and the fact that we've already been to most of the ports in our younger, more agile days. My husband, Richard, has a weak hip and uses a cane.

I appreciate your advice and confirmation that there will be someone there to help. It's our first time on MSC and in anything like the YC. We've been on about 30 cruises. Probably in the future I'll have the give in and rent that scooter.

Respectfully,

Jennie

Jennie - If by chance you booked one of the two handicap balcony cabins (category YC1) in the Yacht Club, could you take photos of the bathroom and post them? I have YC1 18024 in November for my 90-year-old mother. Thanks in advance.

 

And definitely rent a scooter from www.specialneedsatsea.com. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself and anyone traveling with you. Having them push your wheelchair around the ship gets very old very fast and does not allow for either person to have an independent time during the trip.

Excited to read the rest of your review! Counting down...t minus 24 days!!!!

Eagerly following along. We will be on Seaside in less than 30 days. Can't wait !!!:D:D

The Yacht Club Restaurant

We enjoyed the restaurant immensely, a highlight of our trip. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, regardless of whether it is a sea or port day. There are plenty of tables for 2, 4 and bigger. We are not foodies and don’t prefer seafood, as a frame of reference. The menus are in 5 languages, I think. Once your waiter/hostess understands your language, they will turn the menu to the appropriate language before handing it to you.

The dinner dress was mainly resort casual, although there were a couple of nice shorts in there. On Elegant Nights, which were the 1st sea day and on Thursday night (port day), the dress was a mix of resort casual and dressier. Several men in suits and women in ‘dressy’ dresses (if that makes sense, not necessarily cocktail dresses or evening gowns).

We sat at a window table for 2 for both breakfast and dinner. We ate lunches mainly in port. Phillip was our head waiter and ‘President’ Lyndon was his assistant, both from the Philippines. They were FABULOUS and the perfect pair. Phillip was more reserved, sometimes giving baleful looks at Lyndon’s more showy displays, i.e. when he would elaborately open a bottle of water, bring a drink, or remove crumbs from the table. It was all very entertaining and you could tell they’ve worked together for a while. Don’t get me wrong, Phillip was very friendly and had a good sense of humor. This was the first time in many cruises that we tipped the wait staff extra in addition to the regular gratuities. All of our meals (service and food) were superb!

Breakfast

6:30 –9:30 AM daily, I believe. Everything was sit-down. If you’ve been in the NCL Haven, they have a mini buffet that guests can get fruit, pastries, juice, etc. That was not the case here, which was OK with us. Lyndon always came around 2+ times with the pastry tray, asked if we wanted water and/or juice. Sometimes there was confusion with hot tea and coffee because several wait staff would ask and they would presume that someone else was getting it so we had to ask again.

The breakfast menu was well rounded. We ate a lot of eggs with side items, all cooked to perfection. Funny about the toast. It always came out ahead of the entrée. I think they treated it like ‘bread’ that should be enjoyed beforehand. The pancakes were fresh, thin and delish! For anyone interested, the french toast has raisins in it. Also, I ordered a waffle one morning and Phillip looked at me so seriously and said ‘I do not recommend the waffles as they come out of a box. I suggest trying the pancakes.’ So that’s what I did. For all the great food that the restaurant served, we were surprised the waffles were not made fresh.

Dinner

5:45 PM to 9:15 (possibly 9:30 PM). We typically arrived between 5:45 – 6:00 PM and it was a perfect time as sometimes we caught the sail away from the port, the sunset around 7ish, and it was less crowded. For us, MSC had the best main restaurant food out of all lines we’ve sailed. We found the portions to be a good size, nicely decorated and delicious. The menus changed nightly (as did the lunch menus, I think), offered several dinner selections plus entrees that were available every night. I love Caesar salads and MSC did not disappoint…a robust salad with lots of dressing (with pepper already included), croutons and parmesan strips. So good! You could also get it with anchovies, shrimp, or chicken. My husband tried every salad and said all were excellent.

Desserts were the BEST and there was a rotating selection. Chocolate soufflés, lava cakes, caramel flan, tiramisu, peanut butter pie, cheesecake, apple crumble, sorbets/gelato,fruit/cheeses, etc. I liked that the pies and cheesecakes were not cut in triangles, they were cut in non-traditional shapes adding to the presentation. One night we each had a dessert and also shared a 3 tier tray of petit fours (available every night). They were great.

Phillip and Lyndon always offered either a red or white wine, but I prefer an Amaretto Sour cocktail with dinner and my husband a beer, sometimes wine. After the 1st night, they would automatically bring me a 2nd cocktail (one time a 3rd!) and put a 2nd beer in the ice bucket near our table. One night Lyndon told me the cocktail glasses were really small so he asked the bar tender to make 2 and put it in a bigger glass. Yes, please!

The restaurant (deck 18) looks out over the Top Sail Lounge (deck 16). A couple of nights there was a piano and violinist duo playing during dinner. It was devine!

Maitre d’

After the 1st dinner, I took an instant dislike to the maître d,' Guiseppe. He did not treat the wait staff well and it was very visible, ie. bumping into them repeatedly or snapping his fingers to get their attention. Asking loudly with a mean face why they were doing something. I found it distasteful. In my opinion, he knew the position responsibilities, but executed them poorly. One morning for breakfast he was walking us to a table with menus and then he just wandered off talking to one of the wait staff. We were left with 8 tables in front of us and didn’t know where to sit. So we chose a table and sat, while he had a whole conversation, while holding our menus. Bizarre. When speaking with guests, he would often make hand gestures to the wait staff behind their back. Not bad hand signals, but it demonstrated lack of full attention to his guests.

Aside from the rude Maitre d’, we loved everything about the Yacht Club Restaurant!! Up next, the Top Sail Lounge and Sun Deck/Grill

Giuseppe has really big shoes to fill, his old boss Mario on the Divina is absolutely wonderful. I think he is very nervous new in job, but he also doesn’t have the temperament perhaps.

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Superbly written. I am enjoying it immensely.

I am truly enjoying your review, very well written and informative. Thank you for the attention to detail.

Great review.... I'm on this Saturday! Having done the YC on Divina several times I can't wait to be on Seaside, the review has me ready to board!

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Yacht Club Top Sail Lounge (deck 16)

We enjoyed the lounge area. It was big, spacious and had comfy seating, all surrounded by windows. There is an outdoor seating area that is an extension of the lounge that received the same service as inside. The outdoor seating turned colors at night, which was cool.

The bar itself is large, which you could directly sit at, but I didn’t notice people doing that. They had a HUGE selection of alcohol, hot tea, coffee products, water bottles, soft drinks, etc. There were always butlers on duty to take drink orders around the room. I ordered drinks directly from the bartender, too, and he was very friendly. My husband had a Budweiser bottle one time and the nutrition information on the back was in Arabic. Another interesting find. Speaking of beer, they only had 3 beers on tap, around the whole ship: Heineken, Heineken Light and a beer I can’t remember. My husband enjoys draft beers because he says they are less fizzy (or something like that) than bottles, but he very quickly changed over to bottles and enjoyed them. The beer selection is large.

There was a mini buffet much of the time in the Lounge. I didn’t notice what they had in the mornings, but in the afternoon, they had wrapped chocolates, chocolate pops, cookies (different kinds, all wonderful), dried fruits selection, sushi sometimes and little sandwiches. There were other options that I can’t recall right now.

The Lounge was also the meeting place for excursions and the butlers escorted you off the ship.

Yacht Club Top Sail Sun Deck/Grill (deck 19)

Everyone is accurate that there is no shade on the sun deck where the lounging occurs. Most of the eating areas, though, were in shade. I did not spend a lot of time out here, but when I was there, I did not see any circulating wait staff taking drink orders. Everything was comfortable, though, with clean, padded loungers with small tables. The pool was small, but for the size area, it was perfect. Also had life guards around the ship, a wise investment. We were docked next to a Royal Caribbean ship and they had life guards also.

The grill, and the bar next to the grill, were hopping places. In between these two was a gelato counter. Very convenient, at least for me. Of the 3 places, I only visited the gelato counter. J When I walked past the grill I saw you could get a steak, a STEAK, so it was much more than a hamburger/hot dog grill.

Next Up: Misc Observations about the Ship

Thanks everyone for the comments. I am glad you are enjoying the review. :):):)