To Yacht Club or not to Yacht Club? That is the question!

[Katgoesonholiday]

Next year is a landmark year for my husband and I - its our 15th wedding anniversary and we both turn 40 over the course of the year. So we are treating ourselves to two weeks away from our darling children, travelling to the other side of the world from NZ to Europe, and are planning to take our first cruise! Its very very exciting!

 

We have talked about the Yacht Club and it appeals massively to us from the perspective of not having fixed meal times, having more quiet facilities (sailing during summer holiday break) and just the general top quality of it all (my husband travels a lot for his job and is used to all the top tier treatment as part of his elite status on airlines and hotels and I am very willing to get used to a bit of luxury).

 

However, I have to admit to feeling a little intimidated by it. We watched the promo video with its polished and glittering couples swanning through in designer wear. Then we watched another which had actual travellers in the yacht club and there was a plethora of suits and jewellery and very very dressy dresses.

 

We are just an ordinary couple with a taste for fine things. I am a full time mother of three young boys and have two other boys who live with us for schooling. Whilst I make a point of always dressing nicely, most of my wardrobe is reflective of this fact and heavily features shorts, slacks, skirts and t-shirts and blouses. I've only got a handful of dresses and only two of those could be classed as particularly 'smart'. I don't want to spend the extra on the Yacht Club and then feel like I need to go out and spend more so I don't look like the poor cousin who snuck in the back door.

 

What are peoples experiences of this?

 

And as a bonus question, do you think MSC will be re-offering the recent upgrade to Yacht Club for suite passengers for that period? *waits for members to pull out their crystal balls*

[ulek]

Don´t hesitate. Go in Yatch Club and you will have a wonderful Cruise. You don´t need to wear expensive outfits in Yatch Club. You can look on our Cruises on my homepage.

[Miss JAD]

I would do the yacht club if I were you. We are booked to do the yacht club in February and like you this will be our 15 year anniversary as well. I wanted something special for this year and thought that since you get the privacy and the free drinks in yacht club it would be worth it. Since you are on holidays when there may be more children travelling, then the yacht club will the way to go.

 

Like you I don't have upscale clothes and I am not worried about this at all. We are just going to relax and to enjoy some of the finer things. I also don't have any interest in interacting with pretentious people so I am hoping that there are some down to earth people like us.

[Skier52]

There is just no contest! Go Yacht club and really enjoy it, I know I did and like you we are just ordinary folk; empty nesters now. I'm a retired laboratory worker and my OH is a primary school teacher. The only dressing up we do is I wear a DJ on formal nights and my OH has a couple of cocktail dresses that she has had for years, other than that we are very casual dressers.My DJ was bought in a sale for less than £75 about 10 years ago.

you can read my review on our experience on this link

 

 

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=4472

 

 

Don't even consider not doing it

 

 

Pete

Edited November 5, 2013 by Skier52

[Typhoon1]

It is a special occasion.

 

Do something special to make it memorable.

[mrstrod]

The videos you see on the webpage are not a true representation of what yacht club passengers will look like.... They will look just like you.

As on any cruise you will find those who enjoy dressing up all the time and then you will find those who like to be casual all the time. The majority of people find their happy medium.

 

That being put to bed.....

BOOK THE YACHT CLUB!!!!

It's a special occasion and you will love it! I cruised in Europe this past may with my 13 year old daughter and we booked in the yacht club, it was by far the best cruise experience we had ever had! SO much so that the whole family is booked in the Yacht Club again on the Divina November 23rd.

[spirit8]

I had some concerns about dressing and the other folks in the YC. Having just come. Off the Preziosa, see review and daily reviews, there really was no concerns afterwards. many English speaking. While folks did not have price tags on it seemed that the YC was down home folks whether they had money or not. in MSC ads I am really noticing the word 'refined' and for me that fits.

 

Hope you give yourselves treats and I could certainly recommend buying spa packages to enhance the experiences.

 

Eleanod

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Don't even consider it. Go for the Yacht Club. It's a haven on the massive mega liners in the Fantasia class of MSC Cruises. Lot's of space, great service, excellent food and not at least quietness. If you wanna join the party, just leave the Yacht Club and enjoy the rest of the ship when you want:)

 

And the passengers, just like you and me, ordinary people:)

[Danbee46]

I couldn't agree more with the above posters. My wife and I are booked in the YC for the 3/15 sailing and we can't wait. After wearing a tie and jacket to work for many years I am now retired and living a casual life. When I retired almost 6 years ago I vowed to never again wear a jacket and tie. I suppose I will on formal nights but expect to be very casually dressed at all other times.

[fp60]

Next year is a landmark year for my husband and I - its our 15th wedding anniversary and we both turn 40 over the course of the year. So we are treating ourselves to two weeks away from our darling children, travelling to the other side of the world from NZ to Europe, and are planning to take our first cruise! Its very very exciting!

 

We have talked about the Yacht Club and it appeals massively to us from the perspective of not having fixed meal times, having more quiet facilities (sailing during summer holiday break) and just the general top quality of it all (my husband travels a lot for his job and is used to all the top tier treatment as part of his elite status on airlines and hotels and I am very willing to get used to a bit of luxury).

 

However, I have to admit to feeling a little intimidated by it. We watched the promo video with its polished and glittering couples swanning through in designer wear. Then we watched another which had actual travellers in the yacht club and there was a plethora of suits and jewellery and very very dressy dresses.

 

We are just an ordinary couple with a taste for fine things. I am a full time mother of three young boys and have two other boys who live with us for schooling. Whilst I make a point of always dressing nicely, most of my wardrobe is reflective of this fact and heavily features shorts, slacks, skirts and t-shirts and blouses. I've only got a handful of dresses and only two of those could be classed as particularly 'smart'. I don't want to spend the extra on the Yacht Club and then feel like I need to go out and spend more so I don't look like the poor cousin who snuck in the back door.

 

What are peoples experiences of this?

 

And as a bonus question, do you think MSC will be re-offering the recent upgrade to Yacht Club for suite passengers for that period? *waits for members to pull out their crystal balls*

 

 

Sounds to me that you both are special. Do it for yourselves! Who cares who's wearing the latest fashion...

[bltrn]

GO FOR IT!!!!! My DH and I went all out this year and booked a Royal Suite and we are just ordinary folks. Wait 'till they see the Clampetts getting on the ship! YEE HAW!! :eek:

[phider]

We have talked about the Yacht Club and it appeals massively to us from the perspective of not having fixed meal times, having more quiet facilities (sailing during summer holiday break) and just the general top quality of it all (my husband travels a lot for his job and is used to all the top tier treatment as part of his elite status on airlines and hotels and I am very willing to get used to a bit of luxury).

 

However, I have to admit to feeling a little intimidated by it. We watched the promo video with its polished and glittering couples swanning through in designer wear. Then we watched another which had actual travellers in the yacht club and there was a plethora of suits and jewellery and very very dressy dresses.

 

We are just an ordinary couple with a taste for fine things. I am a full time mother of three young boys and have two other boys who live with us for schooling. Whilst I make a point of always dressing nicely, most of my wardrobe is reflective of this fact and heavily features shorts, slacks, skirts and t-shirts and blouses. I've only got a handful of dresses and only two of those could be classed as particularly 'smart'. I don't want to spend the extra on the Yacht Club and then feel like I need to go out and spend more so I don't look like the poor cousin who snuck in the back door.

 

I can understand your intimidation, but I don't think you should put too much into the promo videos or pictures made by the cruise lines.

 

People in that social status/category with wealth to spend on a large closets of designer cloth and accessories don't even cruise the mainstream cruise lines, let alone MSC, lol.

 

Go for the YC - I think you will be surprised with the normalness of the peoples clothing choice, or their means of availability.

 

Philip

[Katgoesonholiday]

We have done it!!!

 

After much thought, discussion, gentle prodding (of my beloved spouse) and a little bit of creative accounting, we have contacted our travel agent and got her to book us into a Yacht Club room!

 

I am SO excited!

[Antonintassie]

Hi I would not worry as a male I travel with a suit which s easy and my wife brings a couple of dresses she can wear during the day or blings them up for evenings .

Just remember Europe can be very hot in summer ( we live in Tasmania which has a similiar climate to NZ) so think about how the weather will be on your port stops

[magpie23]

Hi Kate, congratualations on your forthcoming anniversary and well done booking a room in the Yacht club.We are going on the Preziosa on the 12th July 2014 and have also booked the Yacht club.By the way,we are celebrating our 30th Anniversary on the cruise.We have actually booked room 16002-which is forward of the ship.Does anyone know what these cabins are like?:)

[legion3]

We have decided that for Christmas and my 50 b day that our family will yacht club on the Divina.

 

Very excited and really looking forward to the yc.

 

Looked at the deck 12 yc cabins but think we would rather be on deck 15 for many reasons.

 

Cheers

[alexkrn46]

Personally we like the 16 floor, but our next cruise we could only get a room on the 15 th floor.

[legion3]

Well we booked it :eek:

 

Went ahead with a 15 deck, seemed like with the lounge and kids club and le muse all on the same deck we would prefer just to move between those items easily.

 

Is the library in the club area the only library on ship?

[jdvmd]

We have done it!!!

 

After much thought, discussion, gentle prodding (of my beloved spouse) and a little bit of creative accounting, we have contacted our travel agent and got her to book us into a Yacht Club room!

 

I am SO excited!

Yay! Congratulations!