Question about service in YC

[verodoodle]

Many people have written about their over the top experience in the YC.   We had a good time on the last cruise in the YC but can't say anything was over the top.  We have another cruise coming up in Jan, so looking to see what others consider to be over the top?

 

Thanks

 

[hamrag]

14 minutes ago, verodoodle said:

Many people have written about their over the top experience in the YC.   We had a good time on the last cruise in the YC but can't say anything was over the top.  We have another cruise coming up in Jan, so looking to see what others consider to be over the top?

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes, I have read such comments recently, and they surprised me. Our experience on both Meraviglia and Preziosa was that the service was generally efficient, gracious and proportionate....never 'over the top' as we do not like being overly cossetted and would definitely have noticed, had that been the case.

[Captain-John]

We hardly had any dealings with our butler, Bruce, on our Meraviglia cruise. He appeared twice, once to escort us off in Russia (to the front of the immigration queue, which was welcome), and also in the TSL on the second last day to say he would escort us off at disembarkation.

 

Occasionally he was serving drinks in the TSL but apart from that we hardly engaged. Although, I'm sure had we required anything he would have obliged. Truthfully I think our assistant butler did the most for us, as he cleaned the room every day and also delivered the room service orders etc.

Edited May 20, 2019 by Captain-John

[Toofarfromthesea]

9 hours ago, verodoodle said:

Many people have written about their over the top experience in the YC.   We had a good time on the last cruise in the YC but can't say anything was over the top.  We have another cruise coming up in Jan, so looking to see what others consider to be over the top?

 

Thanks

 

 

I was just on the 4/27 sailing out of Kiel for the 14 day version of the Baltic/Fiords cruise in Meraviglia's Yacht Club.  I thought that except for the better cabin and closer proximity of the restaurant, the YC experience was much better on my Divina Med cruise last September.  I didn't think the training of the butlers was up to snuff in the lounge, and I thought that both the menus and execution of the food were a step down from Muse.  And I had the filet mignon off the everyday menu a few times, and twice in the Butcher's Cut, and despite always ordering it medium rare I got everything from medium well to blood rare.  They need to either buy the grill men instant read thermometers or teach them how to judge doneness by touch.  I NEVER send food back, but twice I had to send steaks back because they were just too rare to eat.

[Capricruiser]

12 hours ago, Captain-John said:

We hardly had any dealings with our butler, Bruce, on our Meraviglia cruise. He appeared twice, once to escort us off in Russia (to the front of the immigration queue, which was welcome), and also in the TSL on the second last day to say he would escort us off at disembarkation.

 

Occasionally he was serving drinks in the TSL but apart from that we hardly engaged. Although, I'm sure had we required anything he would have obliged. Truthfully I think our assistant butler did the most for us, as he cleaned the room every day and also delivered the room service orders etc.

If your butler was Bruce Mitchell from Madagascar, we had him on the Fantasia in late 2017 and he was outstanding.  My wife had an accident on board which required a wheelchair for a few days.  Bruce was always available and pushed that chair all over the ship.  A really fine fellow.  Generally it's the assistant butler you see the most of because he's the one that cleans the cabin every day.  In any case out butlers have always been great on all our YC cruises.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Capricruiser

[Captain-John]

2 hours ago, Capricruiser said:

If your butler was Bruce Mitchell from Madagascar, we had him on the Fantasia in late 2017 and he was outstanding.  My wife had an accident on board which required a wheelchair for a few days.  Bruce was always available and pushed that chair all over the ship.  A really fine fellow.  Generally it's the assistant butler you see the most of because he's the one that cleans the cabin every day.  In any case out butlers have always been great on all our YC cruises.

 

Yes, it's the same Bruce. He was very nice indeed and I'm sure if we did ask him for anything he would have happily obliged. We just couldn't think of anything he could do that we couldn't or didn't want to do ourselves.

 

He provided a welcome escort off the ship in Russia, and a couple of other bits and bobs but we didn't really utilise the butler service at all otherwise. Sounds like he did a great job for you and your wife. :D 

[BermudaBound2014]

My experience exactly. The butlers were fine, but really nothing more than glorified room stewards. In fact, we hardly saw our butler Fredrick. I would not describe our service experience in YC on MSC as over the top. For example, our butlers at Sandals Resorts actually insisted on ironing all our clothes lol.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice and all, but if you want truly over the top butlers, you really need to select a vacation package that is at a much higher price point. Y

Edited May 21, 2019 by BermudaBound2014

[verodoodle]

Thanks for all the replies, 

We have 30 cruises behind us and all clean the state room twice a day and cook 3 meals a day. So that's not over the top, I receive that with any cabin level on any line.  We had trouble getting the drinks we ordered in the YC or having a butler swing back by.  We had to argue on the first day to get the time we wanted for dinner, which we had read on CC could happen.  It was also the worst check in we have ever had, next time I will walk on myself when I get my room key.  We only saw our butler 2 -3 times all week, not an issue as the room was clean but not over the top.  We did enjoy the ship within a ship, lots of space on the pool deck and lounge but again that's not over the top service

 

We have enjoyed all our cruises and and do not look for the negatives.  We read cruisecritic for information to help us make decisions on cabins, excursions and any other tips so after reading many comments of over the top service we felt maybe we were missing something. 

[rkacruiser]

Somewhere in the literature about YC that I have read, I recall that the Butlers will unpack and re-pack luggage.  Is this true?  Packing--OK, maybe.  But, unpacking?  (Where in the heck did he/she put my underwear?)

[Beamafar]

It is offered as part of the service but you have to be in the cabin at the time (so no problems around not knowing where they've put everything).

 

They'll also polish your shoes, should you wish it.

 

Service in YC is only OTT if you want it to be;  in other words, they'll run around doing everything that you request.  However, most people tend to do things for themselves and, overall, the butlers will take a back seat to that.  Some will insist on carrying your drinks and/or snacks from TSL to your cabin if they see you attempting to do it;  others will leave you to it.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Beamafar

[vtgumby]

12 hours ago, verodoodle said:

Thanks for all the replies, 

We have 30 cruises behind us and all clean the state room twice a day and cook 3 meals a day. So that's not over the top, I receive that with any cabin level on any line.  We had trouble getting the drinks we ordered in the YC or having a butler swing back by.  We had to argue on the first day to get the time we wanted for dinner, which we had read on CC could happen.  It was also the worst check in we have ever had, next time I will walk on myself when I get my room key.  We only saw our butler 2 -3 times all week, not an issue as the room was clean but not over the top.  We did enjoy the ship within a ship, lots of space on the pool deck and lounge but again that's not over the top service

 

We have enjoyed all our cruises and and do not look for the negatives.  We read cruisecritic for information to help us make decisions on cabins, excursions and any other tips so after reading many comments of over the top service we felt maybe we were missing something. 

I agree with you, not over the top EXCEPT in their desire to do it and then it becomes over the top. Our experience on Preziosa in April for 21 days was their rush to tray up snacks or drinks to bring to our table as if we couldn't carry a plate or glass ourselves and we found that to be over the top in a negative way. We let them know we were quite self sufficient, thanks but no thanks, and it didn't stop which is where I was annoyed. I get that you've been 'trained' to do this but if the customer says no then that should be it but it simply wasn't, a constant issue for three weeks and it got tiring.

We saw our butler daily (we only did morning service) and he had 16 cabins with two juniors so they all cleaned the rooms, it was wonderful for the daily 'hi, how are you' which you could see they weren't used to, having people ask THEM how their day/week/month was going so I think they're there if you need them but not if you don't. We like interacting with crew, its interesting to find out about their lives, their countries, etc plus after being in the restaurant biz forever its nice when customers show interest in the people serving them.

To close, service for us was not over the top good but certainly they were there, ready to please for the most part. I found service at the sundeck to be average at best, hot and cold and one day I timed it for the fun of it and saw servers every 30 minutes so that isn't exactly present but we had no issues going to the bar, ordering and then often told to go sit and they'd bring it (which they did) but for YC experience, no bar walk should be needed, just saying.

🙂

[Hlitner]

Sometimes I wonder what some folks expect, when on a ship.  We have been on many cruises (stopped counting after the first 100) over forty+ years.  This past Nov-Dec we tried the Divina in the YC and you can put DW and I into the category of finding service in the YC over the top :).   Our cabin was always kept spotless and our Butler and his two assistants did an excellent job without ever disturbing us while we were in the cabin.   One day, DW ran into our Butler just outside the cabin and asked him if it were possible to keep a few Diet Cokes in our cabin fridge.  He immediately dropped what he was doing and was back in 30 seconds with a few cans.  If we had a question how to get to a certain place on the ship somebody would offer to take us!  When we went into the Top Sail lounge there was usually a waiter following us to our table to immediately take the order.  

 

As to the comment about sundeck service, this is actually a tough issue for the crew.  Too much service is seen as intrusive by many folks (including both DW and me).  When we are sitting in a chair, listening to our own music, and reading...we do not want to be interrupted by a crew member asking, "is there anything I can do for you?"  On the other hand, if we do want something it should be a simple matter of getting somebodies "eye" and this was generally not a problem.  

 

And finally I should mention that most in the YC are paying about $300 per person/day (more in the large suites).  This is less than 1/3 the cost of being on some of ultra luxury lines where the service is not much different then in the YC.  During our 21 days in the YC our only complaint was that things in Le Muse were not always up to our expectations.  

 

Hank

[vtgumby]

I have zero complaints, I agreed with the OP that we don't call it over the top service but that could also be a relative term. I'd like them to stop trying so hard and just be present as needed (done by reading your customers, in our case 21 days) and a walk by on the sundeck on a regular basis is great, watch for the flag from the customer because it is annoying to be awakened by someone asking you for drinks but you can't flag if they're not there, just a saying.

🙂

I noticed it after hearing some people a few tables complain about a 45 min wait and did the timing gig while I read and then started noticing how hot and cold it was with service up there so perhaps they figure it out but again, not top notch service in my mind.

Plus, the gelato guy passed us by TWICE and we were definitely waving, laughing as we waved and watched him go, it just became funny after awhile and we could have yelled out 'hey you' but again, it just became funny.

It certainly won't keep me from YC and honestly, the only way we'd ever sail MSC, so we thoroughly enjoyed the nice service and hoping for less pester in the future, there is a difference between annoying vs enjoyed unobtrusive service (Azamara just popped into mind) and perhaps its a finer line than I previously thought but over the top isn't how I would describe our experience either but full disclosure, I'm in the restaurant biz so I may come in with other thoughts of top notch.

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

If we had a question how to get to a certain place on the ship somebody would offer to take us!  When we went into the Top Sail lounge there was usually a waiter following us to our table to immediately take the order.  

 

That's the kind of experience that I would appreciate for what I am paying.  

[rkacruiser]

11 hours ago, vtgumby said:

t was wonderful for the daily 'hi, how are you' which you could see they weren't used to, having people ask THEM how their day/week/month was going so I think they're there if you need them but not if you don't. We like interacting with crew, its interesting to find out about their lives, their countries, etc plus after being in the restaurant biz forever its nice when customers show interest in the people serving them.

 

Interacting with crew members of a different nationality than me has always been a highlight of my cruising experiences.  

[helen haywood]

I wouldn’t call it over the top but in our experience it was clearly apparent the staff wanted to find out what they possibly could do for you.  My husband would be reading in the smoking section of the pool deck (on the opposite side from the bar) and he said a waiter frequently came by to ask if he wanted anything.  One person could call this intrusive but we thought it was great.

 

I was in Top Sail one morning around 11 writing in my journal and a waiter asked if I wanted anything; I said no thanks.  In two minutes he brought me a glass of the wine I drink.  Again, some would consider that irritating but I didn’t!

 

So I didn’t consider the service over the top...but it was apparent to us that they really wanted to find something to do for us.  Probably they would have been happier if we asked them for something...but in the absence of that they tried to offer service they thought we would like.

[Nimloth]

We were on the Bellissima last month and only saw our butler on the second to last night. We disembarked with a group of passengers and saw our butler then, though he didn't acknowledge us. We didn't give him his tip.

[nikkiw60]

We were on the Divina last week and had Lova from Madagascar as our butler, we saw both him and his assistant Cesaire a few times everyday. After the first day we said we didn’t need escorting to the dining room etc.

I ordered coffee in  the morning and it was usually delivered by one of these 2 promptly. 

In the TSL we would immediately be asked if we wanted a drink and the people in there did tend to know what we wanted mine was usually wrong but I was not going to complain when the Chablis arrived as champagne!

I was on the sun beds once and interestingly no one approached me to see if I wanted anything!

 Also the only time I wasn’t allowed to carry my own plates was the buffet under the stars night.

David in the TSL noticed I was coughing yesterday morning and immediately brought me a glass of water over, and also as we were sat waiting to disembark he came over to me with a bottle of water to take with me!

I have got to say that the staff in the TSL were the best, giving just the right amount of service we wanted.

[Barcelona17]

Well, I don't know if this is exactly Over The Top service, but I had just returned from an excursion to board the Seaside last year and wandered into the crew area. A nice officer asked me where I was headed. I showed him my key card and said the YC. He personally escorted me out of the crew area quite a ways through the public area to an elevator which took me to the YC. Oh, and did I mention the officer was Captain of the ship. We had met earlier at a meet and greet. On the same cruise I had a very poor butler. After making one comment to the concierge i was approached no less than three times by the head butler several times by the conceirge and all of my "butler" needs were taken care of but various other butlers who approached me and were very kind and accommodating.  If not over the top, it was certainly excellent service that adapted to that occasional poor employee.