Just back from Seaside Yacht Club

[Fredric22]

We got back yesterday from the 12/15 Western Caribbean sailing.  On the whole, the cruise was excellent.  We have been on this ship back in March and there have definitely been some improvements and also some things that have changed for the worse. 

 

Improvements: 

• Dining room food in the YC restaurant: Excellent!  The food as improved since March and there is a brand new menu in place (implemented 3 weeks ago).  The quality of the beef and lamb dishes has greatly improved and the fish and pasta dishes remain at excellent quality.  The lunches in the YC restaurant were also top notch.  Sometimes the lunch entrees were better than the dinner ones!! 
• There are now lounge chairs underneath the shaded area.  They have obviously taken the feedback and listened to it to make an easy improvement. 
• There are now 2 rows of seats reserved for YC guests in the main theater every night.  This was a very nice touch! 
• Service in the YC continues to be very good.  The Maitre'd and the YC restaurant hostess were VERY friendly and accommodating.  We had no issues having the same table and wait staff every evening. 

 

Negatives: 

• The lunch buffet on the YC pool deck has been severely downgraded.  No more thick strip steaks, lamb chops, lobster, etc.  They now have a rotating carving station and a selection of the same grilled chicken, salmon, and thin steaks every day.  The vegetables (mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables) remain the same every day.  They do still have a fresh pasta station, but the selection has been limited and now consists of only a few different sauce varieties.   The food was OK, but the variety is severely lacking.  After a few days of the same lunch food, we started going to the YC restaurant for lunch instead where the menu and food was fantastic.  I really hope they start offering at least a bit more of a variety outside.  I would be happy even if they offered one or two entrees from the main buffet lunch.  
• The YC pool area looked very...messy.  The pool attendants no longer put towels on the chairs (you have to go to the table to get a towel) and for some reason they keep the seat cushions standing up.  Also, on multiple days there were no towels and the pool attendants were trying to call to get towels brought up to the YC.  Maybe it was just an off week, but I think they need some help keeping the YC pool looking like a proper 5 star venue. 

 

Also, regarding the drink package.. I was not asked once to pay for any drink I ordered or a gelato.  Overall this was a really great cruise.  After 2 times in YC on Seaside we will probably try something else for our next trip, but we will be back on MSC in October for the Canada cruise on the Meraviglia.  If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them!

 

 

[jules815]

Thank you for your review.

 

Glad to hear you had a nice time in the YC.  We're sailing Seaside YC in about 3 weeks, and couldn't be more excited!

 

 

[mafig]

Happy to hear about the reserved seating in the theater.  

I hope this means we don't have to make reservations, that we can just show up for whatever show time is most convenient.

[LorraineP]

1 hour ago, Fredric22 said:

We got back yesterday from the 12/15 Western Caribbean sailing.  On the whole, the cruise was excellent.  We have been on this ship back in March and there have definitely been some improvements and also some things that have changed for the worse. 

 

Improvements: 

• Dining room food in the YC restaurant: Excellent!  The food as improved since March and there is a brand new menu in place (implemented 3 weeks ago).  The quality of the beef and lamb dishes has greatly improved and the fish and pasta dishes remain at excellent quality.  The lunches in the YC restaurant were also top notch.  Sometimes the lunch entrees were better than the dinner ones!! 
• There are now lounge chairs underneath the shaded area.  They have obviously taken the feedback and listened to it to make an easy improvement. 
• There are now 2 rows of seats reserved for YC guests in the main theater every night.  This was a very nice touch! 
• Service in the YC continues to be very good.  The Maitre'd and the YC restaurant hostess were VERY friendly and accommodating.  We had no issues having the same table and wait staff every evening. 

 

Negatives: 

• The lunch buffet on the YC pool deck has been severely downgraded.  No more thick strip steaks, lamb chops, lobster, etc.  They now have a rotating carving station and a selection of the same grilled chicken, salmon, and thin steaks every day.  The vegetables (mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables) remain the same every day.  They do still have a fresh pasta station, but the selection has been limited and now consists of only a few different sauce varieties.   The food was OK, but the variety is severely lacking.  After a few days of the same lunch food, we started going to the YC restaurant for lunch instead where the menu and food was fantastic.  I really hope they start offering at least a bit more of a variety outside.  I would be happy even if they offered one or two entrees from the main buffet lunch.  
• The YC pool area looked very...messy.  The pool attendants no longer put towels on the chairs (you have to go to the table to get a towel) and for some reason they keep the seat cushions standing up.  Also, on multiple days there were no towels and the pool attendants were trying to call to get towels brought up to the YC.  Maybe it was just an off week, but I think they need some help keeping the YC pool looking like a proper 5 star venue. 

 

Also, regarding the drink package.. I was not asked once to pay for any drink I ordered or a gelato.  Overall this was a really great cruise.  After 2 times in YC on Seaside we will probably try something else for our next trip, but we will be back on MSC in October for the Canada cruise on the Meraviglia.  If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them!

 

 

Where are the reserved seating in theater for YC located?

[gotta cruise again]

12 minutes ago, mafig said:

Happy to hear about the reserved seating in the theater.  

I hope this means we don't have to make reservations, that we can just show up for whatever show time is most convenient.

 

You DO still have to make reservations for the shows but it can be possible to swap times; we did this one time last week. As you enter the theatre, there are still folks standing at the doors scanning cards/bracelets to make sure those entering have reservations for that time period.

 

Best way to access the YC reserved theater seats is to enter on deck 7, starboard side. You’ll then see a butler standing at the last two rows of the second section from the right. (there are 5 sections with the two most outer ones being narrow and a center section: YC seats in section between most middle & most outer sections).

[sptrout]

We were on the Seaside just prior to the OP and I agree with most of the points listed, but this was our first MSC cruise so I cannot compare our cruise to previous Seaside cruises. The YC inside lunches were much better than the Grill, but we did eat there a couple times for some reason that I cannot now remember why. The meat for both lunch and dinner in the main YC restaurant were very good and I had beef nearly every night. Always ordered medium rare, that was properly prepared, and served that way. We usually took the waiters recommendations and he was on target every time. Any time that we hesitated on choosing between multiple items he always said "no problem" I will bring both. We heard "no problem" on every request that we made, never have heard that short phrase so many times. Excellent service any place in the YC. I did make them think for a minute when I asked for a no alcohol wine (which I was not even sure existed), but they found three bottles just for me. And to my surprise, they actually tasted very good. The brand name in case anyone is interested is "Fre" and is available here at home, just about a mile down the street (I had no idea until I searched for locations on "Fre's" website).

 

As has been mentioned in earlier Seaside posts, the food was served a little too cool to my liking; no burned mouths LOL. But, most meals were served at a reasonable temperature, only the soups needed a little more heat.

 

For the theater seating I kind of disagree that the YC reserved section was all that great; just the very back rows of one section. After a couple nights in the nosebleed section, we just seated ourselves closer to the stage. I think the bad location was just to keep the non-YC passengers from complaining if the YC had really goods seats sectioned off.

 

Otherwise one of our best cruises, better IMO than the Sky Suites/Club Suites that we have booked the last several Celebrity and Princess cruises. Actually, the Princess suites of similar size are nowhere near either the YC or the Sky Suites, and we paid about the same for all of them.

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Am considering giving MCS Yacht Club a try as have seen on some NCL boards that it has a better all around product than their Haven.  Was wondering if you could outline the Yacht Club experience as it relates:

• embarkation/debarkation
• butler experience
• YC private areas
• any additional perks you enjoyed

Thank you so much! 

[sptrout]

58 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Am considering giving MCS Yacht Club a try as have seen on some NCL boards that it has a better all around product than their Haven.  Was wondering if you could outline the Yacht Club experience as it relates:

• embarkation/debarkation
• butler experience
• YC private areas
• any additional perks you enjoyed

Thank you so much! 

1

 

A team of butlers meets you at the street near the entrance to the main terminal. From that point on you just follow their lead until you are on board and in the YC area. Very quick and without having to fight the crowds inside the main terminal. Disembarkation is the reverse, you meet your butler in the YC and he/she escorts you off the ship if your depart before the all-call for self-disembark passengers. We did not know this and we did not meet our butler until after the self-disembark passengers had been getting off the ship for several minutes. Even with this error on our part, the butler guided us past all the lines on the ship to the checkout person, then on to Customs and Immigration. Very quick, just a few minutes from ship to taxi.

 

The butler, and in our case, his lady assist were available all the time and easy to find. Never had a reason to complain about the service.'

 

The YC private areas are very large and could easily handle many more passengers than those in the YC. Very nice and very much a quiet get away from the large crowded areas in the rest of the ship. Actually, other than going to the spa, theater, or specialty restaurants there not much reason to ever leave the YC.

 

Hard to pick which perk we enjoyed the most. The spa comes to mind, but really for me it just the great feeling that I had being in the YC and enjoying the "ship-in-a-ship" concept.

 

 

[xcell]

Any one know if the Zipline was included or do you have to purchase the fun package?

[Sundiego]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Am considering giving MCS Yacht Club a try as have seen on some NCL boards that it has a better all around product than their Haven.  Was wondering if you could outline the Yacht Club experience as it relates:

• embarkation/debarkation
• butler experience
• YC private areas
• any additional perks you enjoyed

Thank you so much! 

 

Georgia_Peaches, Yacht Club is by far the superior product! But one thing I did miss about NCL's butler service, when we ordered breakfast, they would "sneak in" at the requested time and set up a full table with our breakfast and then sneak back out while I was still under the covers, bed-head and all lol. We cruised with 3 other couples in the YC and everyone found the breakfast room service barely adequate. But it's just a small hiccup in an otherwise wonderful experience.

 

5 minutes ago, xcell said:

Any one know if the Zipline was included or do you have to purchase the fun package?

 

Zipline used to be free for YC but no longer. Sorry!

Edited December 24, 2018 by Sundiego

[Two Wheels Only]

4 hours ago, Sundiego said:

We cruised with 3 other couples in the YC and everyone found the breakfast room service barely adequate.

 

We had great experiences with room service breakfast....even when I forgot to pre-order and made my order at 5am. 

 

We actually ordered more than needed and it was never a problem. We also ordered a few items from the Yacht Club restaurant that weren't on the room service menu. Everything was delivered and set up by 2 butlers. 

Edited December 24, 2018 by Two Wheels Only

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thank you for the information.  I spent the better part of an evening researching the Seaside and have also put a temporary hold on a YC suite.  Final payment for the spring break itinerary is 12/29.  So the dilemma is whether or not to keep our reservation on the Edge for the same time frame (final payment is 12/26) or cancel it and go with Seaside.  Both ships offer mixed reviews...but MSC is $1700 cheaper and offers $325 OBC while Edge has $1025 OBC.  I guess a discussion for a different thread...but again, thank you for the feedback!

[kelleherdl]

Keep the Seaside YC.  Based on our experience it's a no-brainer.

 

Dennis

[hamrag]

3 minutes ago, kelleherdl said:

Keep the Seaside YC.  Based on our experience it's a no-brainer.

 

Dennis

 

No, I say release it for someone who knows for sure they want to have it!!

[Captain-John]

23 hours ago, Fredric22 said:

We got back yesterday from the 12/15 Western Caribbean sailing.  On the whole, the cruise was excellent.  We have been on this ship back in March and there have definitely been some improvements and also some things that have changed for the worse. 

 

Improvements: 

• Dining room food in the YC restaurant: Excellent!  The food as improved since March and there is a brand new menu in place (implemented 3 weeks ago).  The quality of the beef and lamb dishes has greatly improved and the fish and pasta dishes remain at excellent quality.  The lunches in the YC restaurant were also top notch.  Sometimes the lunch entrees were better than the dinner ones!! 

 

 

 

 

Thanks very much for your thoughts and insight.

 

I wonder if it's too much to hope for - but is the food improvement fleet wide? I somehow doubt it - I do believe MSC would target a particular market with a bit of extra effort, and let everyone else have the 'slops', in order to increase market share and improve reviews etc.

 

P.S - I know the YC food isn't awful at the moment. But if there's a noticeable improvement on Seaside, I'd definitely like there to be elsewhere in the fleet.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by Captain-John

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

21 hours ago, sptrout said:

Excellent service any place in the YC. I did make them think for a minute when I asked for a no alcohol wine (which I was not even sure existed), but they found three bottles just for me. And to my surprise, they actually tasted very good. The brand name in case anyone is interested is "Fre" and is available here at home, just about a mile down the street (I had no idea until I searched for locations on "Fre's" website).

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting.  I asked for no alcohol wine and they looked at me like I had 3 heads.  Needless to say, they did not produce it.  This was in October.  Maybe they've figured this out?  Celebrity serves excellent no alcohol wines, same brand as mentioned above.

[Fredric22]

23 hours ago, Captain-John said:

 

 

Thanks very much for your thoughts and insight.

 

I wonder if it's too much to hope for - but is the food improvement fleet wide? I somehow doubt it - I do believe MSC would target a particular market with a bit of extra effort, and let everyone else have the 'slops', in order to increase market share and improve reviews etc.

 

P.S - I know the YC food isn't awful at the moment. But if there's a noticeable improvement on Seaside, I'd definitely like there to be elsewhere in the fleet.

 

 

 

I read that MSC has hired a Celebrity chef to add at least 3 main courses to the YC restaurant menus every night on at least 3 ships (Meraviglia being one of them).  For me the YC food has always been decent, but the area of concern was the quality of beef.  I do think that perhaps Americans may have a higher standard with beef quality and perhaps MSC has responded to those complaints and adjusted accordingly?  I think the pasta and fish dishes across the line are probably of similar quality.  I was so hesitant to order beef and lamb dishes because of my last 3 YC cruises and I was really just so surprised to see how much better they have gotten.  We were thinking of going to Butcher's Cut one night, but it just wasn't necessary!  We did, however, have an EXCELLENT dinner in the Asian Fusion restaurant.  I highly recommend it!! 

[DMH15]

Fredric22, thanks for the optimistic report. Will check it out in May. 

[Captain-John]

3 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

 

I read that MSC has hired a Celebrity chef to add at least 3 main courses to the YC restaurant menus every night on at least 3 ships (Meraviglia being one of them).  For me the YC food has always been decent, but the area of concern was the quality of beef.  I do think that perhaps Americans may have a higher standard with beef quality and perhaps MSC has responded to those complaints and adjusted accordingly?  I think the pasta and fish dishes across the line are probably of similar quality.  I was so hesitant to order beef and lamb dishes because of my last 3 YC cruises and I was really just so surprised to see how much better they have gotten.  We were thinking of going to Butcher's Cut one night, but it just wasn't necessary!  We did, however, have an EXCELLENT dinner in the Asian Fusion restaurant.  I highly recommend it!! 

 

Ah, that's really interesting. I hadn't heard that at all. I'm on Meraviglia in May, so if I don't notice, I'll certainly be asking about it!

 

We are entitled to a speciality meal which I was going to take at Butcher's Cut in any event - will be good to do a comparison between the beef there and the YC beef offerings. 

 

Certainly in Europe MSC love veal and I've never found it to be excellent. The pasta is of course always good, as is the pizza. I don't eat fish at all so wouldn't know about that. The beef is definitely hit or miss - and I don't like their burgers compared to say NCL.

 

The YC standard is definitely a noch higher than MDR at present, so I'd be curious to see if this latest news will push it a notch further again.

 

[Fredric22]

1 minute ago, Captain-John said:

 

Ah, that's really interesting. I hadn't heard that at all. I'm on Meraviglia in May, so if I don't notice, I'll certainly be asking about it!

 

We are entitled to a speciality meal which I was going to take at Butcher's Cut in any event - will be good to do a comparison between the beef there and the YC beef offerings. 

 

Certainly in Europe MSC love veal and I've never found it to be excellent. The pasta is of course always good, as is the pizza. I don't eat fish at all so wouldn't know about that. The beef is definitely hit or miss - and I don't like their burgers compared to say NCL.

 

The YC standard is definitely a noch higher than MDR at present, so I'd be curious to see if this latest news will push it a notch further again.

 

 

MSC put out a press release recently about it. I forget the name of the celebrity chef they are partnering with but it said it would be implemented in the beginning of 2019.  You can probably google it and find it.  I will say the beef entrees in the YC weren't huge, but with all of the various food and courses, I could not eat anything more than what was on the plate.  The filet on MSC has always been decent though and that continued to be very good.  Also, the lobster on the Seaside was the best we have ever had on any cruise.  It was cooked perfectly and quite big!! 

[Captain-John]

2 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

 

MSC put out a press release recently about it. I forget the name of the celebrity chef they are partnering with but it said it would be implemented in the beginning of 2019.  You can probably google it and find it.  I will say the beef entrees in the YC weren't huge, but with all of the various food and courses, I could not eat anything more than what was on the plate.  The filet on MSC has always been decent though and that continued to be very good.  Also, the lobster on the Seaside was the best we have ever had on any cruise.  It was cooked perfectly and quite big!! 

 

Found it! Good spot. Certainly looking forward to it now! We sail Preziosa too, but in October when she's moved out of Northern Europe - hopefully they keep the menu - the wording is a bit ambiguous?

 

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/en-gb/About-MSC/News/MSC-Partners-With-Harald-Wohlfahrt-Chef.aspx

 

"Chef Wohlfahrt will develop a new menu for the private Yacht Club restaurant of MSC Meraviglia, MSC Splendida and MSC Preziosa whilst the ships are in Norther Europe, as well as two different main courses for Elegant Night. Working with MSC Cruises’ own team of talented chefs, Harald Wohlfahrt will complete in-depth, interactive training, passing on his skill and expertise to enable all MSC Cruises’ chefs to recreate his signature dishes on board to the highest possible standards. Chef Wohlfahrt has trained dozens of Michelin starred German chefs, with over 60 Michelin stars between them. The gastronomic delights will be available on board from early 2019 on all ships in the MSC Cruises fleet. "