Seaside 12.08.18 with mom live-ish

[Até]

It is a little complicated, YC before November 12 basically had the Deluxe package and that is what MSC still says you have.  Even then there were some inconsistencies with what YC people were allowed, like NF champagne and 30% off special wine bottles.  Currently MSC is in limbo as to what drinks YC will get, it started as Premium Plus, but after realizing they could be handing out a lot of very expensive drinks that was pulled back.  Currently new YC bookings get their own undefined package that includes the mini bar,  but is probably closer to the Premium package.

 

Anyone in YC with the old "Deluxe" package seem to be still getting gelato, but Venchi drinks are inconsistent.  The Top Sail menu CoffeeGoddess posted earlier show the Gins included as:  Tangueray No10, Bombay Saphire, Beefeater and Gordon's.  The other ones listed in the Connoisseur's section that have a price are officially not included: Hendrick's and Aviation.  Where the inconsistency lies is that on the Deluxe package comparison chart Hendrick's is specifically listed as included, it also used to be on the old YC included list.  As to the other drinks in the Connoisseur's section, yes they are less than the $13 Deluxe limit, but just look at those prices like you are paying the difference.  You will most likely be charged if you order any of the others.  Having said all this, you will find some bartenders/waiters/butlers either don't know official policy or don't care.  CoffeeGoddess got Hendrick's no charge and got 30% off a bottle at the Champagne bar, I was refused the 30% but good for her.  Back in January I got Patrón Añejo and Don Julio Reposaso so I'm okay.  If you really can't chance them giving you a hard time about Hendrick's, bring a copy of the attached comparison chart with you.

2018 Drink Package Comparison Guide with Drinks On Us (Version2).pdf

Edited December 11, 2018 by Até

[shayb1182]

2 hours ago, jules815 said:

 

For a few months now I've been reading along with all of these changes to the drinks packages.  Our cruise isn't until next month, so I've been sort of sitting back and watching, hoping it would all sort itself out.  I'm more confused now than ever.

 

I just pulled up our reservation for our Seaside YC cruise on 1/12, and clicked on the link to add drink packages.  "Premium" is anything up to $12. 

 

Premium Plus is "Unlimited consumption of all drinks by the glass, with no price limit! Enjoy the finest beverages available, and the freedom to quench your thirst however, whenever and wherever you like! Drinks and food from the minibar and the room service menu and drinks from theme bar menus are all included as well. This offer also entitles you to a 30% discount on bottles of wine and champagne from our wine lists. You can order your drinks in all onboard bars, as well as the self-service buffet and restaurants, including the speciality restaurants."

 

They are currently trying to up-sell YC guests on board to Premium Plus.  (A passenger was told by a YC bartender, it would be an additional $16 or $17 per day to upgrade.)  Does that mean that YC has Premium?

 

This is where it gets confusing.  I'm using Gin as a reference, because my husband drinks Hendricks.  On the list of gins that aren't included on the YC menu, the ones showing a dollar amount, NONE of those are over $12.  So why would you want to upsell to Premium Plus?  "Premium" is listed as anything up to $12.

 

What is it that's included in the YC?  If it's "Premium," (up to $12), why are there spirits on the "for a charge" section of the Top Sail menu that are under $12?  

 

And why would we want to upgrade to Premium Plus?  Do we need that for mini-bar and room service to be included?  Or is that automatically included for YC?

 

Is Premium Plus really virtually anything?  Can you drink unlimited Moet by the glass?  Why would we want to upgrade from whatever we have now, which, btw, we still have no idea what that is because it changes daily (is it the old Deluxe that we were told we had when we booked??), to the Premium Plus??

 

And if you read all the way to the bottom of the Premium Plus description, it clearly states that ice cream menu items are NOT included.  So it looks like gelato at Venchi is no longer included, no matter which package you purchase, even if it's Premium +.  (Yet there are some people on board who aren't being charged for gelato.)  

 

I hope when we board on 1/12, there will be someone in the YC who can clarify all of this.  And I would really like to know why would we want to upgrade to Premium Plus?  Is it really virtually ANYTHING??  What does that mean??

 

Sorry for beating a dead horse.  Haven't even sailed with MSC yet and already frustrated.  

 

 

 

We are on the 1/12 cruise too and booked back in July.  I called MSC today after reading through these threads and they said if you booked before 11/12 you get the old drink package that includes the Venchi drinks, gelato, and all drinks except for the super premium.  Hopefully they don't do a bait and switch in the next month.  Especially when you already pay a premium for the Yacht Club.

[floridian1]

20 minutes ago, shayb1182 said:

We are on the 1/12 cruise too and booked back in July.  I called MSC today after reading through these threads and they said if you booked before 11/12 you get the old drink package that includes the Venchi drinks, gelato, and all drinks except for the super premium.  Hopefully they don't do a bait and switch in the next month.  Especially when you already pay a premium for the Yacht Club.

I want to believe them ...but I'm having a hard time when the other live report posted an image from the YC concierge of a sign that says Venchi is NOT included. That's not a good sign at all.i bet 90% of the YC cabins cruising this week were booked before the 11/12 change, yet they have that sign up.

Edited December 11, 2018 by floridian1

[shayb1182]

3 minutes ago, floridian1 said:

I want to believe them ...but I'm having a hard time when the other live report posted an image from the YC concierge of a sign that says Venchi is NOT included. That's not a good sign at all.i bet 90% of the YC cabins cruising this week were booked before the 11/12 change yes they have thay sign up.

This is true. hopefully they can get there act together.

[xcell]

How do you they know when you booked?  Do you get a special sticker?  Just asking...

[CoffeeGoddess]

8 hours ago, Até said:

CoffeeGoddess got Hendrick's no charge and got 30% off a bottle at the Champagne bar, I was refused the 30% but good for her.

 

Here's the funny thing about that 30%. I first asked if I would get a discount and the bartender Oksana(?) said no but that she would give me 10% discount. When I ordered it later with Mr. Professional I didn't ask and he told me I got a 30%.  It really is a bit of a mess. 

 

There's a sign in YC saying that extra charges apply at Venchi but every drink and gelato I ordered has been covered. They really need to get their act together on this.

Edited December 12, 2018 by CoffeeGoddess

[floridian1]

I'm glad you're not being charged for venchi..enjoy! And thank you for the live reports.

[Até]

3 hours ago, xcell said:

How do you they know when you booked?

Your drink package is printed on your cruise card.  It's easy for them to see with DOU, Classic, Deluxe, Easy, Premium, etc...  It will be interesting in YC as they had their own code.  I guess there will be two different YC codes, one for bookings before Nov 12 and one for after.

[CoffeeGoddess]

I don't actually have anything on my card excapt under experience it says Yacht Club.

[Até]

I think the old YC package was F&F:YCE, printed above your name.  The other drink packages use three digit numbers, and that ID number at the bottom of your card also tells things to the crew.

[CoffeeGoddess]

15 hours ago, Até said:

I think the old YC package was F&F:YCE, printed above your name.  The other drink packages use three digit numbers, and that ID number at the bottom of your card also tells things to the crew.

 

Okay,  yeah the F&F:YCE is above my name.

[Selion]

On 12/11/2018 at 2:40 PM, floridian1 said:

I want to believe them ...but I'm having a hard time when the other live report posted an image from the YC concierge of a sign that says Venchi is NOT included. That's not a good sign at all.i bet 90% of the YC cabins cruising this week were booked before the 11/12 change, yet they have that sign up.

 

That sign was up during our 11/24 Seaside cruise.

 

We did not pay for any drinks, gelato, and crepes at Venchi bars.  However, past performances do not guarantee future results.

[floridian1]

22 minutes ago, Selion said:

 

That sign was up during our 11/24 Seaside cruise.

 

We did not pay for any drinks, gelato, and crepes at Venchi bars.  However, past performances do not guarantee future results.

I'm glad you didn't have to pay..how terribly confusing.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Well we were just delayed over an hour and a half because two people left their minor children on the ship and hadn't returned.   they finally showed up about 10 minutes after the captain named and shamed them.

 

On another note, accessibility for mobility impared cruisers is not good. I plan ro take some pictures and post my full thoughts when I get back but suffice to say they do not have automatic door openers for any restrooms marked with a handicap sign.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Mom ran over my big toe with her scooter backing out of an elevator. The medical people are really nice and didn't charge for cleaning it and bandaging. I'll probably lose the nail but I'll have to see how it looks tomorrow.  I still plan to soilder on and attend the pub crawl we set up on the Meet & Greet tonight.

[kodesthemoose]

Yikes about the toe!!  Hoping for a speedy recovery! Thank you for sharing your experience so far.

[CoffeeGoddess]

They just brought a tour group into the Topsail Lounge. They all had the MSC excursion stickers on and were led by a guide. Which is pissing me off a little right now because the concierge just told me this morning that we couldn't do the cabins on the cabin crawl here in the Yacht Club because it would be disruptive.  I will be telling them that.

[floridian1]

Was the excursion a ship tour or were these people allowed to use the YC areas?

[CoffeeGoddess]

42 minutes ago, floridian1 said:

Was the excursion a ship tour or were these people allowed to use the YC areas?

 

It was their behind-the-scenes tour so they couldn't use anything. However, the YC director did tell me that they do sell day passes that include access to the restaurant after I told him of my displeasure that our group wasn't allowed to access to the cabins.

 

Now, the other cabin said they normally just snuck people in and didn't ask permission, so they'll probably get the group in there anyways. 

[jules815]

18 hours ago, CoffeeGoddess said:

Mom ran over my big toe with her scooter backing out of an elevator. The medical people are really nice and didn't charge for cleaning it and bandaging. I'll probably lose the nail but I'll have to see how it looks tomorrow.  I still plan to soilder on and attend the pub crawl we set up on the Meet & Greet tonight.

 

Oh no!  So sorry to hear about your toe!  

 

 

[CoffeeGoddess]

On 12/13/2018 at 10:51 AM, floridian1 said:

Was the excursion a ship tour or were these people allowed to use the YC areas?

 

It was their behind-the-scenes tour so they couldn't use anything. However, the YC director did tell me that they do sell day passes that include access to the restaurant after I told him of my displeasure that our group wasn't allowed to access to the cabins.

 

Now, the other cabin said they normally just snuck people in and didn't ask permission, so they'll probably get the group in there anyways. 

[CoffeeGoddess]

In Nassau for ouf last day and I'm enjoying a brew at Pirate Republic. I'm then going to do something I have never done on a cruise . . . . go into Senor Frogs.  

 

Just a reminder I'm posting pictures on my Instagram as goddessocoffee.  I'll post some more here when I get home.

[mnocket]

On 12/13/2018 at 9:45 AM, CoffeeGoddess said:

 

However, the YC director did tell me that they do sell day passes that include access to the restaurant

Wow.  I never knew they sold day passes to the YC.  What do day passes cost and do they limit the number sold?

[CoffeeGoddess]

14 hours ago, mnocket said:

Wow.  I never knew they sold day passes to the YC.  What do day passes cost and do they limit the number sold?

 

I didn't ask.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Back home with an aching toe and the cruise crud.  I'll probably finish this up with some pictures of the menus and other things in the next couple of days since I'm feeling so crappy but here are my general impressions.

 

Overall it's a very pretty ship with a horrible layout. Even when I was able to escape mom I really didn't have an urge to wander around the ship like I did on the others I've been on. With them having venues in the walking area it was a pain to get from one area to the next sometimes. The closed off venues and a lot of the bars didn't have service until later in the afternoon on sea days.

 

The two buffets, while a good idea in theory they were not used very well in practice. I never did actually make it the small one on 16 even though it was on our floor. Basically because you couldn't get to it easily. The specialty restaurants were forward and right off the YC and elevators but there was no way to get past them to the rest of the deck.  The smaller buffet was also only open for breakfast and lunch and closed for dinner. But the larger buffet on 8 only had one side, the front, and part of the back area open during dinner so it was pretty packed on occasion. There also wasn't as much variety on the buffet as I was used to with Norwegian, dinner in particular.

 

I really didn't care too much for their thermal suite. It was too closely packed on the inside and actually pretty dark.  While they did have an exterior area that had loungers and a hot tub, there was no place to sit inside to look out except in the waiting area. The exterior area was totally exposed to the upper decks, as you can see in some of my pictures on Instagram and when I'll post them here. I did like that they had loungers in their salt room as opposed to that horribly uncomfortable bench in NCL's salt room.

 

I didn't even like their waterfront area because the majority of it had high glass walls that went well above the railings instead of stopping at them.  Only back on the aft did they they come down to normal railing height. it also felt very underutilized since even though a couple of venues backed up to it they did not have any outside bars except at the buffet. I really liked the aft pool area but didn't get out there much since it was a pain to get to it from the front.

 

The Yacht Club area was great and where we spent most of our time. It did take a little long sometimes to get a drink since they didn't want you ordering from the bar tenders and waiting for your drink unless you were sitting at the bar. That's basically my only complaint.  Service was otherwise great and I enjoyed trying the little snacks they had out in the Lounge and some of the grill items for lunch and breakfast instead of doing the restaurant. 

 

If I had been traveling alone I probably would  have spent more time in the Champagne Bar and up at Wine and Cocktails (Welcome Bar).  Those were the two places with the types of friendly, bantering bartenders I was used to.