An insanely detailed Seaside Yacht Club Review!

[Dr. Cocktail]

I recently sailed on the beautiful MSC Seaside in the Yacht Club with my partner and two friends. We sailed in an exterior suite while our friends had an interior “suite”.

 

Boarding: A hot mess

 

The new Terminal in Miami has a beautiful, curved driveway that goes to the main entrance. Too bad that security has closed this off so that they drop you off well past said entrance. In fact, if you take UBER, they drop you off even further. No problem as the stevedores are there to take your bags.

 

However - the location of the Yacht Club Tent? You guessed right - immediately next to the main entrance. Therefore, Yacht Club passengers actually have to drag their bags the furthest to board. Once there, the shoreside “butlers” guide you through security and up to the VIP check-in.

 

Continental Drift is faster than this process. In fact, we sat there for half-an-hour watching general boarding begin as the two ladies checked in a dozen or so passengers. MSC - are you reading this? It would be far more efficient to check Yacht Club in with everyone else in the fast moving general line and then move those guests to the VIP lounge.

 

We walked on ourselves and as I had studied the deck map, guided us to the forward elevators.

We went to the Yacht Club and were greeted by the Yacht Club manager - one of the few times that we saw him all week.

 

There was a general din as people lined up to speak to the Concierge, register their credit cards and reserve dinner with Luigi. As we knew what to do, we did what we had to but our friends commented on how NO information was provided. They really were, “WT#?!”

They flat-out told me/asked me: “This is supposed to be luxurious?”.

 

I don’t want to do a running comparison but in The Haven, the Concierge welcomes you and then tells you when your room will be ready, where and when you can have lunch and outlines the features of the Haven.

 

We then went to the Top Sail, had the first of many (many)(like, a lot) of cocktails and settled in.

I also was pleased to see that my good friend Nick (Nicholas Feuillatte) was on board and over the week, we had a lot of pleasant times together.

 

Our first lunch was excellent (lots of hugs and laughs with Arthur) and all was now good.

 

Accomodations

 

Our first impression was excellent - extremely large, plush, a restful (if a bit too brown) colour scheme and TONS of storage. Loved the self-lighting closets. We took two suitcases and could have easily unpacked a third.

 

The lighting was good but I would have liked a dimmer or switch that provided more options.

 

While we never watch TV, for those who do it is mounted in an awkward position for either the sitting area or the bed. It would be better to have it on a moveable mount. As it is now, the mounting apparatus made a lot of noise during the night with the ship moving as much as it did.

 

As others have commented, Seaside does move a lot. I don’t know if its because of her intrinsic design or because the Caribbean has been unusually windy these past few months.

 

The bathroom was huge, dripping in marble with tons of storage and a fantastic, glass walled walk-in shower with a rainshower head.

 

My only quibble was that the shower door opened into the room - easier for getting in but one always seemed to get a ton of water on the floor afterwards.

 

Still - an elegant, spacious and comfortable space.

 

Interior Design: a mixed bag

 

The interior design was interesting as while the decor was quite striking, the size and placement of rooms was far from ideal.

 

I loved the colours, surfaces and textures and the recurring motif of slashed and angular lines.

 

Unfortunately, many of the spaces were too large or too small for the needs that they served. As an example, people were literally overflowing in the Piazza Grande which was one of the few lounges to offer live music (more on that later) The spaces around the atrium such as the Champagne Bar, however, felt like they were in the middle of a shopping mall. The walkways bisected the areas removing any intimacy with people constantly walking by.

 

The entrance to the theater appeared to be an afterthought with a couple of zigs after the elevator lobby. There was no space for those who were waiting for the following show.

 

As the MSC ships become ever larger, they really must focus and concentrate on passenger movement and flow and where people are likely to go. While I’m not a fan of the overall product, this is an area that Royal Caribbean excels at.

 

Entertainment

 

I always divide entertainment into two categories - mainstage and lounges.

 

We enjoyed the almost nightly 10:30 “recitals” with soprano, tenor, violinist and pianist. While it wasn’t necessary Conservatory quality, it was a great addition to “usual” cruise ship offerings.

 

We only saw one show, Timeless, that was the usual MSC drug-induced, hallucinatory craziness. Time travel, Micheal Jackson and the American National Anthem. Why? Dunno.

 

The Yacht Club had very good performers but there were extremely looooooooooong breaks between performances.

 

The lounge entertainment is a definite step down from Divina … there are far fewer small lounges and there really wasn’t a lot happening. What is such a refreshing change from much of the industry on Divina is all that live entertainment

 

A telling change is in the Daily on Seaside - Divina would have a list of the various live events happening whereas Seaside doesn’t for the likely reason that there isn’t that much happening. Any event with live performers was ridiculously overcrowded as there was so little to choose from.

 

Cleanliness

 

I made this a separate category as this is the first ship I’ve been on where it has to be a category. Seaside uses many mirrors and reflective surfaces and many were covered in fingerprints and smudges. We were surprised at how sparkling the Yacht Club wasn’t. The Yacht Club elevator was always one gigantic smear. You NEVER saw anyone cleaning the staircases, elevators or glass walls and mirrors. It’s obvious that they just have really cut back on maintenance staff.

 

Dining

 

The food in the Yacht Club Dining Room, with one or two exceptions, was miles above that served on Divina. Much higher quality ingredients and far better preparation.

 

We dined at all of the specialty restaurants. We bought a dining package but then frequently went off script and paid the difference.

 

We had a superb lunch at Bistrot La Boheme. We were the only patrons present but the food (prefab pate notwithstanding…) was superb. Hot, fresh and great.

 

Butchers Cut was an enjoyable train wreck. Disorganized, loud and chaotic but with excellent food when it finally arrived. Portions were ridiculously large and dinner took over 2 and a half hours.

 

Roys was excellent - while not necessarily as excellent as one of their land based restaurants, pretty darn good for a cruise ship with one notable exception (details below!)

 

Ocean Cay was ….stupendous. Like, jaw-droppingly good. The decor was contemporary elegant and there were only 7 tables being served.

 

The meal package includes starter, main and dessert. We asked if we could have two starters and skip dessert and the initial answer was no but after checking with the Specialty Restaurant Manager, an exception was made.

 

I’m going into overdetail here because it was so superb. We started with the Crab Sampler (cold) that consisted of about 246 pounds (OK, I exaggerate here) of simple but beautiful crab legs and claws. This was followed by a dozen oysters (ridiculously generous) and finally perfectly prepared sea bass.

 

A meal like this on land would easily cost between one and two hundred dollars per person without alcohol.

 

The generally available wines and liquors in the Yacht Club and elsewhere were excellent …. FAR superior to what is provided in the Haven on NCL. I literally (and embarrassingly) went through a LOT of bottles of Nicholas Feuillatte.

 

To Smell or Not to Smell, That is the Question

 

The general tone on these boards about *ahem* “the smell” on these boards can roughly be translated to: “you stink”, “NO, YOU STINK”!

 

I was so excited to go on Seaside that I boarded completely forgot the issue. Now, I am not one to sit still and frequently go for walks to simply enjoy the ship and people watch. I am frequently accompanied by the Cocktail-of-my-choice and can be readily identified by my Golden-retriever-like happy face and big smile. Let’s just say, I love being on ships!

 

On the second day I was doing my rounds and walked by the Forest Aquaventure Park and literally stopped dead in my tracks. I was immediately transported back almost 50 years to Northern Ontario where my parents and I would go to their friend’s cottage and spend a week.

In those days, we would walk the path to the outhouse or privy when nature called.

 

Imagine if an outhouse exploded inside a tent. It was truly vile.

 

I turned on my heel and raced back to find my partner.

 

Now, as anyone in a long-time relationship knows, if you smell something truly terrible, you MUST find your spouse and make them smell said object. He was happily relaxing in the Yacht Club when I told him we HAD to go for a walk. After a bit of protest, he accompanied me and reached the same spot when/where his jaw dropped.

 

Now, anyone watching would have wondered who the two lunatics were as we were laughing hysterically, generally saying: “that’s the worst thing I ever smelled, Oh, that’s horrible, I heard it was bad but I didn’t think it was that bad”. We continued laughing and went back for more restorative beverages.

 

Over the course of the week, the odour would ebb and flow there and in the atrium, our friend’s inside Yacht Club Suite and most glaringly, at Roy’s.

 

My were on our way to dinner at Roy’s when I ran into Robert, the Specialty Restaurant Manager who we know from Divina. Everyone went ahead while I caught up with him.

 

When I got to our table, everyone had a wry smile and appeared to be waiting for me.

I asked: “what’s going on”, sat down and said: “holy &@^@&^” - it smelled like we were have dinner inside The Bowel Reconstruction Unit. Our friends wanted to leave but I wanted to speak to a staff member first. At that moment, the sommelier stopped by and asked if everything was ok. I leaned in and stated in sotto voce: “everything’s great but there seems to be an odour problem”. He became immediately serious and asked if we would move to the back of the restaurant. I said “of course” and the back corner was much less odiferously challenging.

 

To clarify, this was only over a week ago so yes, there are still some serious problems. You can check my signature … ships always have different mystery smells and unpleasant odours but nothing like this.

 

I really feel it is related to the ship’s speed and wind conditions. This may be while some encounter “the Force” and others don’t. Hopefully, a solution will be found in the coming weeks or months.

 

Spa and Gym

 

A 100% complete and utter First World disaster.

 

The gym appears to be huge but with the number of passengers (and frankly, active passengers from Europe) the gym is not nearly large enough by half. Many of the cardio machines are not working and there are no sign-up sheets for equipment so it’s a free-for-all when one becomes available.

 

Towels must be signed out (ridiculous) and there are no disinfectant wipes for the equipment available - just two (2)(deux)(due) spray bottles with paper towel (ridiculous and unsanitary).

 

The garbage cans were overflowing and during one workout, no one went to clean up the spilled cup of coffee sprayed over the gym floor.

 

One must sign into the spa depending on who’s manning the desk. Ridiculous again.

 

They then give you one Dollar Tree towel that you MUST return to get your key card back.

 

The change room accomplishes a miracle … while NOT providing you with towels, the floor is still covered with used towels and is messy and dirty.

 

Now, anyone using the spa has already “paid” in one way or another …. Just give us some *($^&*#&$&* towels!

 

The spa itself is dark with puddles of water everywhere. The therapy pool has many hidden levels - they should set up a second therapy pool to take care of the injuries you will get from using the first pool. The area is filled with rattan loungers in every corner - as if you wanted to lie in that dark, dank and unpleasant environment to relax.

 

MSC - please - board Breakaway/Getaway/Escape and walk through the spa and see how it’s done with lots of towels, coffee, tea, filtered and flavoured waters and tons of heated lounge chairs. Oh, and NCL has towels. Have I mentioned that yet?

 

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Crew

 

I can honestly say that in a 7 night cruise, I never encountered a single staff member who didn’t smile, laugh or ask how I was doing. Just lovely people. Now, I am a firm believer in how an ounce of honey is worth a pound of vinegar so crew may respond to that. Or, they’re just great in any case!

 

Summary

 

So, the ship sorta’ smells and isn’t the cleanest, the entertainment is lacking and the spa sucks.

 

Would I go back?

 

In a heartbeat.

 

The crew are working hard, the ship is beautiful, the suites are excellent, the food is great but there are definitely problems.

 

For a ship that was only 10 weeks old and is not only a prototype for MSC but for the entire industry, however, they are doing a fine job. The true test will be in the coming months to see whether they can wrestle all of the problems under control.

 

For the Yacht Club, the value is unbelievable and unmatched in the industry.

 

I had actually booked three (!) Seaside Yacht Club cruises because of the great deals available and the increasingly insane prices in The Haven.

 

I plan on going on each and every one!

[mafig]

Enjoyed your review, very much.

A few questions:

 

Embarkation. I don't understand. When we were on Divina we were brought to a room, registered, had wine/champagne and then a butler brought us to the YC. I don't think we even saw the other passengers, so we wouldn't have known if they were moving faster than us or not. How is this different? BTW, who's Luigi.?

 

Were you Black Card?

We are. We might just do one specialty.

If you had to choose just one, which one would it be?

 

What about the pool area? How was it? Crowded?

 

Casino?

 

Thanks again.

We're on her in July.

 

:D

Edited March 3, 2018 by mafig

[Booboochase]

Dr. Cocktail, that was by far the most entertaining, hilarious, informative review I have ever read. Thank You!! Can I just say, I hope you are on our cruise in Jan of 2019 in the Yacht Club! Bravo.

Cheers!

[eroller]

Really enjoyed the review! Too bad about your boarding experience. Ours was pretty quick and it really made you feel special, as we were escorted all the way from dropping off the luggage up to the YC, where we were introduced to one of the Concierges who explained everything, and then a butler took us to our cabin. It was really nice and I have to say far superior to what we experienced in the Haven where we had to wait in long security lines along with everyone else.

 

I was also lucky enough not to encounter any smells, enjoyed the spa more than you, found the ship to be quite clean, but found the food much less appetizing than you. Mediocre at best.

 

Two things we certainly agree upon, I would return in a heartbeat and I do feel the YC is one of the best bargains and values in cruising right now.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts, in an entertaining way!

[Two Wheels Only]

I'll be on the ship in 3 months.....I have no idea of what to expect. :o

 

 

....but I promise to give a review when I get back. :D

[lcpagejr]

Enjoyed your review..... Question...What time did you arrive at the pier/terminal?? I'm getting the impression early afternoon based on the crowds you mentioned.

 

Thanks

[Clarea]

Terrific review, thanks much!

[spidybabe]

Enjoyed reading this very much. We seemed to have faired a little better on our sailing. Easy boarding (not yc, but black card/casino guest). We felt so bad for the crew that we saw constantly cleaning all the glass and chrome(beautiful but so hard to keep fingerprintless- I like that word).

We loved all the shows, and wished we had more time at Butcher's Cut. Glad we never encountered the smell, but spent alot of time in the casino. Agree, all the staff was wonderful-must be extremely difficult to get everybody working as a team, and they were doing a fantastic job.

We are sailing again in April, hoping again for no smells and terrific staff.

Thanks again for your review-great reading

Safe sailing

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

[Keith1010]

This is an excellent review/report.

 

Keith

[Dr. Cocktail]

Enjoyed your review, very much.

A few questions:

 

Embarkation. I don't understand. When we were on Divina we were brought to a room, registered, had wine/champagne and then a butler brought us to the YC. I don't think we even saw the other passengers, so we wouldn't have known if they were moving faster than us or not. How is this different? BTW, who's Luigi.?

 

No one was available to take us right onto the ship. They took us as far as the gangway. Luigi is the Maitred'

Were you Black Card? Yes

We are. We might just do one specialty.

If you had to choose just one, which one would it be? No question - Ocean Cay

 

What about the pool area? How was it? Crowded? Crowded but always chairs available

Casino? That's that place where they take your money and hold it for safekeeping? Sorry - wouldn't know!

 

Thanks again.

We're on her in July.

 

 

:D

 

Totally my pleasure - I'm looking for positive changes this fall!

[Dr. Cocktail]

Really enjoyed the review! Too bad about your boarding experience. Ours was pretty quick and it really made you feel special, as we were escorted all the way from dropping off the luggage up to the YC, where we were introduced to one of the Concierges who explained everything, and then a butler took us to our cabin. It was really nice and I have to say far superior to what we experienced in the Haven where we had to wait in long security lines along with everyone else.

 

I was also lucky enough not to encounter any smells, enjoyed the spa more than you, found the ship to be quite clean, but found the food much less appetizing than you. Mediocre at best.

 

Two things we certainly agree upon, I would return in a heartbeat and I do feel the YC is one of the best bargains and values in cruising right now.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts, in an entertaining way!

 

Thanks for your nice comments! I think that they were aware that they had kept us waiting for so long so they just wanted us on board. It would have been an even longer wait to get someone who could take us right up.

 

I also feel that at present, every week will present a different experience as there appears to be a certain lack of consistency. Now, of course, we're all different but it's more than that. We both appear to have large and varied experiences on different ships. We were on Eurodam 8 weeks before Seaside and MSC's food compared extremely favourably. Many discussed the lobster tails available at The One Grill and how dried out everything was. No tails on our cruise but all the different cuts of chicken, lamb and fish grilled to perfection.

 

Again, likely teething pains.

[Dr. Cocktail]

Enjoyed your review..... Question...What time did you arrive at the pier/terminal?? I'm getting the impression early afternoon based on the crowds you mentioned.

 

Thanks

 

We got there before 11 am ... that's why we were so frustrated. We were among the first to arrive only to see general boarding begin while we were waiting....

[Dr. Cocktail]

Booboochase, Clarea, spidybabe,Keith1010 - Thanks!

[lmcgrail]

Loved your review. Mark and I enjoyed meeting you on the Hurricane Irma Divina cruise. We both laughed about you going to get your partner so they could smell the odor as well. This is something we would most certainly do.

 

We are booked in November on Seaside so we have a ways to go; hopefully some of these "features" will be resolved by them. Any chance one of your next 3 Seaside cruises is Nov 10?

 

Lori

[tcneal]

Thanks for the review. This is one of the most well balanced reviews that I have read.

[tcneal]

We got there before 11 am ... that's why we were so frustrated. We were among the first to arrive only to see general boarding begin while we were waiting....

 

Boarding seems like one of the few (very few) areas where non-YC is getting better reviews than YC cabins. Most are reporting general boarding is very quick whereas a few have reported YC boarding as a little slow. With the increased number of YC rooms on the Seaside, I wonder if they have increased on number of staff at check-in?

[Dr. Cocktail]

Boarding seems like one of the few (very few) areas where non-YC is getting better reviews than YC cabins. Most are reporting general boarding is very quick whereas a few have reported YC boarding as a little slow. With the increased number of YC rooms on the Seaside, I wonder if they have increased on number of staff at check-in?

 

Big "NO!"

[Dr. Cocktail]

Loved your review. Mark and I enjoyed meeting you on the Hurricane Irma Divina cruise. We both laughed about you going to get your partner so they could smell the odor as well. This is something we would most certainly do.

 

We are booked in November on Seaside so we have a ways to go; hopefully some of these "features" will be resolved by them. Any chance one of your next 3 Seaside cruises is Nov 10?

 

Lori

 

So nice to hear from you!!!!

 

Actually, I have two booked... the first was one of three! Sorry ... not on board in November.....

 

I read some of Mark's comments on other threads ... it's interesting that you didn't encounter any smell issues. In the foreseeable future, each sailing will have its own surprises!

[Linda the Book Lover]

I loved your review and had a good laugh while reading. Your descriptions are wonderful.

[Formula280SS]

On Seaside now for a B2B. Some early thoughts (and also glad we actually got to Miami and made the first departure).

 

Comments

 

I recently sailed on the beautiful MSC Seaside in the Yacht Club with my partner and two friends. We sailed in an exterior suite while our friends had an interior “suite”.

 

Boarding: A hot mess

 

The new Terminal in Miami has a beautiful, curved driveway that goes to the main entrance. Too bad that security has closed this off so that they drop you off well past said entrance. In fact, if you take UBER, they drop you off even further. No problem as the stevedores are there to take your bags.

Yep, totally confused the heck out of our GoAirport driver; who took our bags all the way the curb.

However - the location of the Yacht Club Tent? You guessed right - immediately next to the main entrance. Therefore, Yacht Club passengers actually have to drag their bags the furthest to board. Once there, the shoreside “butlers” guide you through security and up to the VIP check-in.

Yep, YC people arrive as early as 9:30. Couple of port employees smoking behind the area, no YC staff at all. We were told by a MSC porter (very nice) who worked the YC that it didn't open until 10:30. That's OK, but they showed up at 10:30 and then had to set up and try to get started. Three young (very nice) men were barely 20. Compared to Divina YC, it was really not well done outside.

After entering with the first small group, the terminal screener for the YC group was overwhelmed.

Continental Drift is faster than this process. In fact, we sat there for half-an-hour watching general boarding begin as the two ladies checked in a dozen or so passengers. MSC - are you reading this? It would be far more efficient to check Yacht Club in with everyone else in the fast moving general line and then move those guests to the VIP lounge.

YC butlers told us to wait after security for everyone in our group; the port security told us not to wait but to proceed.

The YC lounge was really nice. It was not set up, the first couple of butlers (shore-side only, they don't go on the ship) had to set up the beverage and apps station after the first groups had arrived.

There was 1 lady processing the passports for the first half hour.

We walked on ourselves and as I had studied the deck map, guided us to the forward elevators.

We went to the Yacht Club and were greeted by the Yacht Club manager - one of the few times that we saw him all week.

As a group, went to the YC concierge for brief chat.

There was a general din as people lined up to speak to the Concierge, register their credit cards and reserve dinner with Luigi. As we knew what to do, we did what we had to but our friends commented on how NO information was provided. They really were, “WT#?!”

They flat-out told me/asked me: “This is supposed to be luxurious?”.

Understaffed for this particular day. Lot's of issues with APP, had to delete and redownload in order to book shows.

I don’t want to do a running comparison but in The Haven, the Concierge welcomes you and then tells you when your room will be ready, where and when you can have lunch and outlines the features of the Haven.

Agreed.

We then went to the Top Sail, had the first of many (many)(like, a lot) of cocktails and settled in.

I also was pleased to see that my good friend Nick (Nicholas Feuillatte) was on board and over the week, we had a lot of pleasant times together.

Absolutely stunning venue, the best at sea IMO.

Our first lunch was excellent (lots of hugs and laughs with Arthur) and all was now good.

Yep, so good was our filet and sea bass (skin on) we never need dinner. Arthur still a blast, Mario NOT on the ship.

Accomodations

 

Our first impression was excellent - extremely large, plush, a restful (if a bit too brown) colour scheme and TONS of storage. Loved the self-lighting closets. We took two suitcases and could have easily unpacked a third.

Agreed.

The lighting was good but I would have liked a dimmer or switch that provided more options.

Still figuring out.

While we never watch TV, for those who do it is mounted in an awkward position for either the sitting area or the bed. It would be better to have it on a moveable mount. As it is now, the mounting apparatus made a lot of noise during the night with the ship moving as much as it did.

We'll never watch the TV, but you're right about the mount.

As others have commented, Seaside does move a lot. I don’t know if its because of her intrinsic design or because the Caribbean has been unusually windy these past few months.

Haven't noticed that, however, we've big navigational change due to pressure systems and waves to avoid.

The bathroom was huge, dripping in marble with tons of storage and a fantastic, glass walled walk-in shower with a rainshower head.

DW and I believe the best design, construction and decor at sea.

My only quibble was that the shower door opened into the room - easier for getting in but one always seemed to get a ton of water on the floor afterwards.

Yep.

Still - an elegant, spacious and comfortable space.

Yep.

Interior Design: a mixed bag

 

The interior design was interesting as while the decor was quite striking, the size and placement of rooms was far from ideal.

We love it.

I loved the colours, surfaces and textures and the recurring motif of slashed and angular lines.

Yep.

Unfortunately, many of the spaces were too large or too small for the needs that they served. As an example, people were literally overflowing in the Piazza Grande which was one of the few lounges to offer live music (more on that later) The spaces around the atrium such as the Champagne Bar, however, felt like they were in the middle of a shopping mall. The walkways bisected the areas removing any intimacy with people constantly walking by.

Went out a couple of times to get a feel for the ship, a zoo out there. The have so many more quality bar venues compared to Divina it is amazing. The Atrium is really unique.

The entrance to the theater appeared to be an afterthought with a couple of zigs after the elevator lobby. There was no space for those who were waiting for the following show.

Yep.

As the MSC ships become ever larger, they really must focus and concentrate on passenger movement and flow and where people are likely to go. While I’m not a fan of the overall product, this is an area that Royal Caribbean excels at.

Yep, the toughest to navigate for sure.

Entertainment (None Yet)

 

I always divide entertainment into two categories - mainstage and lounges.

 

We enjoyed the almost nightly 10:30 “recitals” with soprano, tenor, violinist and pianist. While it wasn’t necessary Conservatory quality, it was a great addition to “usual” cruise ship offerings.

 

We only saw one show, Timeless, that was the usual MSC drug-induced, hallucinatory craziness. Time travel, Micheal Jackson and the American National Anthem. Why? Dunno.

 

The Yacht Club had very good performers but there were extremely looooooooooong breaks between performances.

 

The lounge entertainment is a definite step down from Divina … there are far fewer small lounges and there really wasn’t a lot happening. What is such a refreshing change from much of the industry on Divina is all that live entertainment

 

A telling change is in the Daily on Seaside - Divina would have a list of the various live events happening whereas Seaside doesn’t for the likely reason that there isn’t that much happening. Any event with live performers was ridiculously overcrowded as there was so little to choose from.

 

Cleanliness

 

I made this a separate category as this is the first ship I’ve been on where it has to be a category. Seaside uses many mirrors and reflective surfaces and many were covered in fingerprints and smudges. We were surprised at how sparkling the Yacht Club wasn’t. The Yacht Club elevator was always one gigantic smear. You NEVER saw anyone cleaning the staircases, elevators or glass walls and mirrors. It’s obvious that they just have really cut back on maintenance staff.

In the YC, we've seen none of such. Outside, "big time" yep.

Dining

 

The food in the Yacht Club Dining Room, with one or two exceptions, was miles above that served on Divina. Much higher quality ingredients and far better preparation.

It's insane what they will do for you if you ask.

We dined at all of the specialty restaurants. We bought a dining package but then frequently went off script and paid the difference.

 

We had a superb lunch at Bistrot La Boheme. We were the only patrons present but the food (prefab pate notwithstanding…) was superb. Hot, fresh and great.

 

Butchers Cut was an enjoyable train wreck. Disorganized, loud and chaotic but with excellent food when it finally arrived. Portions were ridiculously large and dinner took over 2 and a half hours.

 

Roys was excellent - while not necessarily as excellent as one of their land based restaurants, pretty darn good for a cruise ship with one notable exception (details below!)

Giving it a try tonight, "elegant night."

Ocean Cay was ….stupendous. Like, jaw-droppingly good. The decor was contemporary elegant and there were only 7 tables being served.

Giving it a try Wednesday.

The meal package includes starter, main and dessert. We asked if we could have two starters and skip dessert and the initial answer was no but after checking with the Specialty Restaurant Manager, an exception was made.

 

I’m going into overdetail here because it was so superb. We started with the Crab Sampler (cold) that consisted of about 246 pounds (OK, I exaggerate here) of simple but beautiful crab legs and claws. This was followed by a dozen oysters (ridiculously generous) and finally perfectly prepared sea bass.

Nice.

A meal like this on land would easily cost between one and two hundred dollars per person without alcohol.

 

The generally available wines and liquors in the Yacht Club and elsewhere were excellent …. FAR superior to what is provided in the Haven on NCL. I literally (and embarrassingly) went through a LOT of bottles of Nicholas Feuillatte.

Yep.

To Smell or Not to Smell, That is the Question

 

The general tone on these boards about *ahem* “the smell” on these boards can roughly be translated to: “you stink”, “NO, YOU STINK”!

 

I was so excited to go on Seaside that I boarded completely forgot the issue. Now, I am not one to sit still and frequently go for walks to simply enjoy the ship and people watch. I am frequently accompanied by the Cocktail-of-my-choice and can be readily identified by my Golden-retriever-like happy face and big smile. Let’s just say, I love being on ships!

As our first YC group board and walked by the Atrium (I believe on 8) it was horrendous for about 75 feet. Really, really awful.

On the second day I was doing my rounds and walked by the Forest Aquaventure Park and literally stopped dead in my tracks. I was immediately transported back almost 50 years to Northern Ontario where my parents and I would go to their friend’s cottage and spend a week.

In those days, we would walk the path to the outhouse or privy when nature called.

Yep.

Imagine if an outhouse exploded inside a tent. It was truly vile.

Yep, a 10 out of 10 for unacceptable.

I turned on my heel and raced back to find my partner.

 

Now, as anyone in a long-time relationship knows, if you smell something truly terrible, you MUST find your spouse and make them smell said object. He was happily relaxing in the Yacht Club when I told him we HAD to go for a walk. After a bit of protest, he accompanied me and reached the same spot when/where his jaw dropped.

 

Now, anyone watching would have wondered who the two lunatics were as we were laughing hysterically, generally saying: “that’s the worst thing I ever smelled, Oh, that’s horrible, I heard it was bad but I didn’t think it was that bad”. We continued laughing and went back for more restorative beverages.

 

Over the course of the week, the odour would ebb and flow there and in the atrium, our friend’s inside Yacht Club Suite and most glaringly, at Roy’s.

We encountered a 3 out of 10 on 8 on the way down steps to muster station in casino.

Lounging in the YC pool, shielded by the forward deck, we frequently got a down draft of a 2 out of 10 sewer odor.

My were on our way to dinner at Roy’s when I ran into Robert, the Specialty Restaurant Manager who we know from Divina. Everyone went ahead while I caught up with him.

 

When I got to our table, everyone had a wry smile and appeared to be waiting for me.

I asked: “what’s going on”, sat down and said: “holy &@^@&^” - it smelled like we were have dinner inside The Bowel Reconstruction Unit. Our friends wanted to leave but I wanted to speak to a staff member first. At that moment, the sommelier stopped by and asked if everything was ok. I leaned in and stated in sotto voce: “everything’s great but there seems to be an odour problem”. He became immediately serious and asked if we would move to the back of the restaurant. I said “of course” and the back corner was much less odiferously challenging.

 

To clarify, this was only over a week ago so yes, there are still some serious problems. You can check my signature … ships always have different mystery smells and unpleasant odours but nothing like this.

 

I really feel it is related to the ship’s speed and wind conditions. This may be while some encounter “the Force” and others don’t. Hopefully, a solution will be found in the coming weeks or months.

Using the YC interior stairway from 16 to 19, mid morning, it was awful when I went down to the stateroom. When I returned, massive wind/blowers/fans were on and all of the door were open.

Spa and Gym

 

A 100% complete and utter First World disaster.

 

The gym appears to be huge but with the number of passengers (and frankly, active passengers from Europe) the gym is not nearly large enough by half. Many of the cardio machines are not working and there are no sign-up sheets for equipment so it’s a free-for-all when one becomes available.

 

Towels must be signed out (ridiculous) and there are no disinfectant wipes for the equipment available - just two (2)(deux)(due) spray bottles with paper towel (ridiculous and unsanitary).

 

The garbage cans were overflowing and during one workout, no one went to clean up the spilled cup of coffee sprayed over the gym floor.

 

One must sign into the spa depending on who’s manning the desk. Ridiculous again.

 

They then give you one Dollar Tree towel that you MUST return to get your key card back.

 

The change room accomplishes a miracle … while NOT providing you with towels, the floor is still covered with used towels and is messy and dirty.

 

Now, anyone using the spa has already “paid” in one way or another …. Just give us some *($^&*#&$&* towels!

 

The spa itself is dark with puddles of water everywhere. The therapy pool has many hidden levels - they should set up a second therapy pool to take care of the injuries you will get from using the first pool. The area is filled with rattan loungers in every corner - as if you wanted to lie in that dark, dank and unpleasant environment to relax.

 

MSC - please - board Breakaway/Getaway/Escape and walk through the spa and see how it’s done with lots of towels, coffee, tea, filtered and flavoured waters and tons of heated lounge chairs. Oh, and NCL has towels. Have I mentioned that yet?

Yep. Experienced with NCL Spa makes every other line we've cruised simply look comparable horrible.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Crew

 

I can honestly say that in a 7 night cruise, I never encountered a single staff member who didn’t smile, laugh or ask how I was doing. Just lovely people. Now, I am a firm believer in how an ounce of honey is worth a pound of vinegar so crew may respond to that. Or, they’re just great in any case!

So far, one of the nicest crews we've have in quite a while.

Summary

 

So, the ship sorta’ smells and isn’t the cleanest, the entertainment is lacking and the spa sucks.

 

Would I go back?

 

In a heartbeat.

Yep, we're booked.

The crew are working hard, the ship is beautiful, the suites are excellent, the food is great but there are definitely problems.

 

For a ship that was only 10 weeks old and is not only a prototype for MSC but for the entire industry, however, they are doing a fine job. The true test will be in the coming months to see whether they can wrestle all of the problems under control.

Yep.

For the Yacht Club, the value is unbelievable and unmatched in the industry.

Yep, met some TA's who've been blown away by the YC venues, food and service "already."

I had actually booked three (!) Seaside Yacht Club cruises because of the great deals available and the increasingly insane prices in The Haven.

NCL has over-priced the Haven IMO, and the bidding leads to less pre-books. Also, simply not the same 'venues as the YC. Not even close, IMO.

I plan on going on each and every one!

[spidybabe]

We were on the Divina in Sept during hurricane Irma too

 

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[Booboochase]

Concerning Seaside...I'm a bit of a freak about planning...can anyone offer suggestions on which deck is better for YC? Currently booked on 16, starboard. There's a cabin left on 18, port.

[mafig]

On Seaside now for a B2B. Some early thoughts (and also glad we actually got to Miami and made the first departure).

 

Comments

 

 

Oh, geez.

Sorry and upset to hear that there are smells and odors in the Yacht Club too. Won't cancel, of course, but not happy at all.:mad:

Fix this, MSC!

[Formula280SS]

Oh, geez.

Sorry and upset to hear that there are smells and odors in the Yacht Club too. Won't cancel, of course, but not happy at all.:mad:

Fix this, MSC!

 

We believe with high certainty that the smell at the pool in YC was because of where we were lounging; right in front (glassed off but open on top) from the heavy wood doors that lead to the inside YC stairway 'where the issue really was. IMO, in addition to people coming and going, they (MSC) opened all of the doors to 'vent the stairway and we happened to be lounging the closest to the door. How it got in the stairway inside the YC in the first place, we have no idea (but also, nothing compared to the boarding Atrium walk by experience; that really was very bad).

 

As a side note, the grill at the YC pool has been putting such great product that the YC restaurant for lunch is noticeably less attended than what we experienced on Divina.

 

Oddly, after having enough sun for first day at sea, and in the YC lounge near the port side on widow couch and table having a coffee, a touch of the smell. We moved to Starboard. ;)

[sjbdtz]

Enjoyed reading this very much. We seemed to have faired a little better on our sailing. Easy boarding (not yc, but black card/casino guest). We felt so bad for the crew that we saw constantly cleaning all the glass and chrome(beautiful but so hard to keep fingerprintless- I like that word).

We loved all the shows, and wished we had more time at Butcher's Cut. Glad we never encountered the smell, but spent alot of time in the casino. Agree, all the staff was wonderful-must be extremely difficult to get everybody working as a team, and they were doing a fantastic job.

We are sailing again in April, hoping again for no smells and terrific staff.

Thanks again for your review-great reading

Safe sailing

 

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Spidybabe, did they do a CAS-match too? I never even thought of asking about becoming an invited guest. Did you have to call a different number?

 

Thanks,

Stephen

 

 

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