Yacht Club Experience - Divina or Seaview

[Hlitner]

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

With MSC's large number of new ships on order, isn't this likely to be a continuing problem?  They must be adding staff at a very fast pace.  It seems that they are (rationally) focusing on have the best staff in YC [and probably specialty restaurants] – that means the rest of the ship gets a high concentration of newbies.  

Perhaps.   One story we heard, from a crew member, was that many new crew members such as bar tenders and waiters do not get any land-based training before being put on the ships.  So folks early in their first contract are essentially getting on the job training.  Since this info was told to us by a single crew member, we have some degree of skepticism although bar waiters/waitresses at some bars were darn near worthless.   But you make an excellent point.  The cruise line will need several thousand new staff every year as they roll out their new ships.  Where do they get these people?  The staff we met on the Divina were interesting folks, but often had very little experience.  We had contact with quite a few crew members from Mauritius, Honduras,  St Lucia, and the Philippines.   We also met some senior staff  that had been lured away from other cruise lines.  A big challenge for MSC is finding crew members that can handle multiple languages since this cruise line seems to attract a diverse group of passengers from all over the world.  

 

Based on our own experience we would have to agree that the best staff was in the YC.   We cannot think of enough superlatives to describe the YC staff!  We are used to having some great staff on cruise lines, but the YC folks on the Divina exceeded all of our expectations.  As to Le Muse, the waiters all seemed to have lots of experience and the assistants all had a wonderful attitude and were closely supervised.   

 

Since this was our first time on MSC, perhaps we were just lucky.  But after talking to others and reading YC related posts here on CC..we think we experienced the norm.  Whether MSC can maintain that kind of quality in the YC, while keeping prices at or near current levels, remains to be seen.

 

Hank

[CruisingFox27]

All of the YC sailings we've been on, at the buffet by the One Pool you can order burgers and hot dogs etc. The buffet selection is limited though. 

[hamrag]

53 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

All of the YC sailings we've been on, at the buffet by the One Pool you can order burgers and hot dogs etc. The buffet selection is limited though. 

 

Yes, same on Meraviglia....but why anyone would want to order either of those, especially in YC, is beyond my understanding!

[TrinaLC]

We’ve done both and adore both. I personally like the walk to Le Muse on Divina and find the restaurant to be much better (ambiance and food).  But the grill in the pool area wins on Seaside. Honestly, go with the best itinerary and price. You simply cannot go wrong!

[Nymich]

7 hours ago, hamrag said:

 

Yes, same on Meraviglia....but why anyone would want to order either of those, especially in YC, is beyond my understanding!

Americans will order that

[Hlitner]

11 hours ago, hamrag said:

 

Yes, same on Meraviglia....but why anyone would want to order either of those, especially in YC, is beyond my understanding!

Interesting question :).  We spent 21 days in the Divina's YC and often found ourselves at the "One" (relaxing in the sun) at lunchtime.   Unless we wanted to get dressed appropriate for Le Muse (or possibly the Lido) our choice of hot food was pasta, pasta, and pasta.  We had a skilled Italian cook who made pasta every day and they rotated the offerings about every third day.  After a few days,  it would have been nice to have decent well-made cheeseburger :).  There were also a couple of other items on the tiny buffet at the YC, but they never looked exciting.   And by the way, they made a delicious cheeseburger in Le Muse and from our own observation it seemed to be a pretty popular lunch option :).

 

Hank

[Teacher42]

Why eat 'hamburger 'when you  are offered 'filet mignon'? Unless you eat filet every day. Outside the YC you can eat all the hot dogs and hamburgers you want. I guess the guests of the YC expect a little something 'different'. And the world does not revolve solely around American tastes alone, though we might think so. P.S. They had french fries at 'One'.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Teacher42

[Nymich]

2 hours ago, Teacher42 said:

Why eat 'hamburger 'when you  are offered 'filet mignon'? Unless you eat filet every day. Outside the YC you can eat all the hot dogs and hamburgers you want. I guess the guests of the YC expect a little something 'different'. And the world does not revolve solely around American tastes alone, though we might think so. P.S. They had french fries at 'One'.

Settle the difference and serve both filet and burgers and call it  a day!  Really it is to each their own everyone has different taste buds

[graphicguy]

This was a couple of years ago, but I was on the Divina in th YC.  My impressions, with pics...

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2330745-october-15-divina-experience/

[Kmkub]

Thank you so much, everyone.

 

We decided to go on the Divina, on an 11-day. We will be at sea on our actual 10th anniversary. We leave in 360 days! Lol.... I'm not setting up the countdown clock just yet.

 

 

[Teacher42]

 

Thank you so much, everyone.

 

We decided to go on the Divina, on an 11-day. We will be at sea on our actual 10th anniversary. We leave in 360 days! Lol.... I'm not setting up the countdown clock just yet.

 

 

Hope it is YC.

[Kmkub]

52 minutes ago, Teacher42 said:

Hope it is YC.

Indeed! Very exciting

[Linda the Book Lover]

Have a great time. Go ahead and start the clock I did for two of my cruises. The agony of the wait! LOL

[TrinaLC]

10 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Thank you so much, everyone.

 

We decided to go on the Divina, on an 11-day. We will be at sea on our actual 10th anniversary. We leave in 360 days! Lol.... I'm not setting up the countdown clock just yet.

 

 

I think Divina is our fave after two of each (both YC). Enjoy!

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 1/19/2019 at 1:45 PM, Nymich said:

Americans will order that

 

Sooooo...I recently took a good friend of mine, he’s from England, out to a great steakhouse in the metro Boston area...my treat.  He could take his pick from a fantastic list of steaks...so what did he order?  You guessed it...a cheeseburger!  LOL!  Needless to say, we all had a good laugh.  I believe the hamburger has reached global appeal.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

 

Sooooo...I recently took a good friend of mine, he’s from England, out to a great steakhouse in the metro Boston area...my treat.  He could take his pick from a fantastic list of steaks...so what did he order?  You guessed it...a cheeseburger!  LOL!  Needless to say, we all had a good laugh.  I believe the hamburger has reached global appeal.

One of the more famous (and oldest) steakhouses in the NYC area is a place called Peter Lugers.  It has been around since the late 1800s and is a favorite place among many of NYC's elite and business folks along with lots of tourists.   While one can certainly order some world-class steaks (even at lunch) a very popular entrée is the Luger-Burger with over 1/2 pound of the best ground steak served with fries.  Go to this restaurant at lunch and you would be amazed at how many folks, wearing their $3000+ suits, are gobbling down their burger.

 

Hank

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Thanks Hank,

 

Luger’s is one of the greatest steakhouses in the world as they hand pick and age their prime beef.  And I will bet that many of those tourists and business people are from many different countries.

 

I did have a cheeseburger on Divina (in La Muse) and I have to say it was an outstanding lunch.  The cheeseburger was excellent.  I could have had fillet mingnon everyday but I needed a change and the burger hit the spot.  

[Nymich]

This thread is making me hungry!

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, Nymich said:

This thread is making me hungry!

 

Me too, but def not for junk food!

[Nymich]

1 minute ago, hamrag said:

 

Me too, but def not for junk food!

to each their own I always say...…...

[jody75]

On 1/23/2019 at 10:20 PM, hamrag said:

 

Me too, but def not for junk food!

I note that Haggis has been officially declared a JUNK food.

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, jody75 said:

I note that Haggis has been officially declared a JUNK food.

 

Not clear whether you are a 'junkie' or not!

[Formula280SS]

On 1/16/2019 at 6:26 PM, Kmkub said:

We are planning our first trip on MSC, in the YC. Our 10th is Jan 2020, so really looking for anything between November & February. I was thinking Seaside was the way to go, but now I'm not sure.

 

The YC is going to be THE treat. We've never done suite life, hotel or at sea. Heck, I've never even flown first class! This will be special;  may never get to do this again, or, it will be quite some time.

 

I'd love to hear comparisons. I looked around; lots of comparison threads, but I couldn't find this particular one.

 

Nice problem to have.

 

We tried MSC for the first time on Divina B2B in the Yacht Club in 2017.  It was great.

 

We followed up with MSC for the second time on Seaside B2B in the Yacht Club in 2018.  Stunning upgrade in Yacht Club facilities.  Huge forward lounge, multi-apps and sweets all day and night, outside seating, glass steps to dining right above.  The incredible One Pool venue; seating, bar and grille, hot tubs and service.  Just an awesome club-within-a-club and, at the time, the best 'such value at sea.

 

We're booked again B2B in March 2019, then the same B2B on Meraviglia in December 2019; both B2B's in Yacht Club at reservations quite less than today's prices.  We booked while on Seaside, for us a great value.  We can do B2B's on MSC Seaside for 2-2.5 weeks compared to 1 week in the NCL Haven (Bliss).

 

COMPARISON:

 

If you were to "try" MSC for the Yacht Club and wanted to see where it began at a better rate, we'd say give Divina a try.

 

If you are only going to be able to one, we'd say in our opinion, go Seaside Yacht Club.  Hands down.

 

Note:  The "non-Yacht Club" venues and attractions on Seaside are way above and beyond the "non-Yacht Club" venues and attractions on Divina.

 

Good luck either way.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Formula280SS