LIVE from 9/13 Bellissima and 9/21 Seaview - 7nt Med cruises - Yacht Club

[Zephyr173]

Looking forward to your reviews.  I love the food porn!

[WonderMan3]

So we woke up this morning pretty well rested. The bed at our hotel was very comfortable. We were pretty exhausted by the time we went to bed after a long day of travel with minimal sleep on the flight. If I had any complaint about sleeping at this hotel it’s that there was a good amount of noise outside through the night until almost 5am. It sounded like people going or coming from nightclubs based on the screaming and hollering going on at times. I wear earplugs at night so it didn’t disturb me. I only noticed the noise when going to the bathroom at one point. Light sleepers might take issue with this.

 

We woke up around 8 this morning and headed down to breakfast around 9:30. Breakfast was not included with our rate but it was only 19 Euro per person for their full breakfast buffet which had ample choices of hot and cold items including a made to order egg station. After breakfast we went back to the room to pack up. (I needed to totally repack my bag after TSA went through it and upended everything.) Check out wasn’t until noon but I wanted to get to the ship before noon. The bellman who took our bags from our room was able to grab us a taxi out front of the hotel. It cost about 16 Euro to get to the cruise port. 

 

Arriving at the port around 11:30 it was not that busy. A port worker met us right at the taxi and took our luggage. He recognized it saying Yacht Club on our tags and directed us over to a tent that was designated for Yacht Club guests. He turned the bags over to an MSC staff member who took our cruise documents and passports and added special Yacht Club tags to our bags before sending them on to the port crew. She then escorted us inside the terminal. I assume she would’ve prioritized us through the security line but there was hardly anyone in front of us so it wasn’t necessary. She guided us to an area within the terminal sectioned off for Yacht Club guests where we had a seat and had a selection of snacks and beverages to choose from. Our escort came back within 5 minutes with our passports and cruise docs and told the staff members near us that we were free to board whenever we wanted. We were ready to go so one of the staff members escorted us and another couple onto the ship. Once entering the ship we had to go through another security check, this time verifying our passports and cruise docs and then on to the final checkpoint where they took our cruise docs and snapped a photo for security. We were not given key cards as they are waiting for you in your cabin. This whole check-in process took around 15-20 minutes from the point we arrived and was possibly the most relaxed check-in we’ve ever experienced.

 

Our escort brought us to the Yacht Club lounge and left us in the hands of the head concierge whose name escapes me at the moment. He sat us down and gave us an introduction to Yacht Club and the services available to us. He offered us a glass of champagne or juice while we sat there. Our first impressions of the Yacht Club experience were very positive. 

[WonderMan3]

Just wanted to share a quick side note flashing back to our flight on Level that I remembered after finding this item that I had taken with me. One of the other things they give you in Premium Economy is a cute comfort pack. The items are stored in a clear reusable water bottle. You get a pair of socks, pencil, hand sanitizer, eye mask, toothbrush, toothpaste and ear plugs. 

[merdon]

Your hotel looks wonderful. I may have to consider it for our pre-cruise stay in Barcelona.

[WonderMan3]

Following our introduction in the Yacht Club lounge, one of the staff members came down and asked us what our preferred time would be to dine at the Yacht Club Restaurant for dinner and whether we wanted a window seat or not. We asked for a window seat and to dine at 7pm, at least for this first night.  One of the butlers then came by and escorted us to our cabin. We are in cabin 15010. The butler showed us around the cabin and explained some things. She was not our assigned butler though. She said we would meet him later. It was actually nice to see a female butler for once. I saw another when we were sitting in the lounge. In my 10 cruises in Celebrity Suite class I have never actually seen any female butlers.

 

The cabin is comfortably spaced. Feels a bit smaller than Celebrity’s Sky Suite on S-class. I’ve shared photos below. Some things we like so far..the USB ports in the lamps on either side of the bed which means we can each charge our phones at night without having to use an outlet across the room...having a mini bar with free access that can be refreshed daily...having a pillow menu to choose from...the giant full-length mirror...having both American and European outlets...having a shower without a tub. Some things we don’t like so far...the balcony only has one footrest for two chairs and no table...the closet is a bit tight on space for us (of course we are on a two cruise trip so it wouldn’t have been so bad for a 7 nighter)...the room service breakfast appears to have no hot egg dishes or bacon. Minor complaints though. I think we’ll be happy in this cabin.

 

MSC appears to be a bit more technologically advanced than some of the other cruise lines with their Zoe device in the cabin which appears to be like Amazon’s Alexa and the wrist medallions they give you with your key card that have the exact same functionality. I don’t think we’ll be bothering with Zoe though and I prefer to just use my key card as I hate wearing anything on my wrist. Might change my mind for when visiting the pool.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Love the pics!  I know you've only just boarded but was wondering if you have seen any Coke products or is it just Pepsi?  I saw what looked to be Pepsi products in the mini fridge.

[Zephyr173]

If need be, you can ask that your minibar be refreshed more than once daily.  You can also request your butler to restock with your favourite drinks or snacks.

[WonderMan3]

7 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Love the pics!  I know you've only just boarded but was wondering if you have seen any Coke products or is it just Pepsi?  I saw what looked to be Pepsi products in the mini fridge.

 

We rarely drink soda so haven’t noticed yet. Will try and see over the next few days.

[WonderMan3]

After getting our introduction to our cabin we decided to go have lunch at the Yacht Club dining room. The dining room is lovely with spectacular views out of the front of the ship. Getting a window seat was no issue as the restaurant was only about 25% full at the time we arrived around 12:30pm. My only complaint about the layout would be that all the tables of two are set up vertically towards the front of the ship which means that only one person gets the view. It would’ve made more sense to position them horizontally like Celebrity does at Tuscan Grill, so that both people can get a view. The lunch menu was a bit unappealing for both Mike and I. He couldn’t find a starter he liked so he just settled on the pork dish. I started with a Caesar salad and then had the burger. Mike liked his pork and it looked good too. My salad was bland; it wasn’t a Caesar like I’m used to with the dressing all mixed up with the lettuce, cheese, etc. There was just some very bland Caesar dressing drizzled over the salad. The burger was totally underwhelming. It and the French fires looked and tasted like they had just come out of the main buffet. We skipped having dessert as nothing sounded appealing. Service was nothing special. The moment we sat down, the server and assistant were on top of us asking for a drink order and then bringing a bread basket and then the server quickly back again to take the order before we’d barely started to read the menu. I always appreciate prompt service but this was just too rushed. For the rest of the meal, the server was just robotic with no personality. Overall not a great first impression of Yacht Club dining. Afterward we took a walk up to Deck 19 as Mike wanted to smoke (YC has one designated smoking area on the starboard side at the back of the YC area.). While up there we walked by the YC outdoor grill and wished we had eaten there for lunch instead as we saw a number of things that we would’ve liked that also looked better than the lunch we had. We will definitely be stopping back at the grill for lunch this week.

[WonderMan3]

Here is some of the paperwork in our cabin upon arrival including the Daily Program, Room Service info and notice about our Cirque du Soleil order.

[WonderMan3]

After Mike finished his smoke we went down to the concierge desk to look into confirming dates and times for our Cirque du Soleil shows, specialty restaurants and spa massages we had pre-booked. The card in our room had directed us to go to the Carousel Lounge to confirm the Cirque shows but Raj the concierge said that he could set them up for us. We set it up to see both of the shows for the cocktail version only not the dinner and show, with one booked for Sunday night and the other for Tuesday night at 10pm. Raj said we were to come to the concierge desk about 10 minutes before our reserved time and there would be an escort to take us to our reserved seats at the show. We next reserved specialty restaurants. Raj was able to confirm all our days and times with no issue at all. We reserved Butcher’s Cut for Saturday night for our free Black Card member meal, Atelier Bistrot for Monday night and Hola Tapas for Wednesday night. For the spa reservations he said we had to go to the spa directly to confirm days and times. Raj concluded his assistance by helping us set up our WiFi accounts. We had pre-purchased the unlimited WiFi. It’s been working great so far. Much better speed than on Celebrity. Raj was extremely helpful and answered any and all questions without pause. 

 

We headed to the spa next. The entrance area was swarming with staff members flagging down any passers-by to try and get them to come in and make appointments. When we told one of the ladies we already had reserved she escorted us to the reception desk so she could set up our days and times. She tried to get us to book an appointment for today but we declined. I wanted our massages on the first day we are going to stay onboard, on Monday when the ship is in Naples. She confirmed us with no issue. I then inquired about the Thermal Spa and she said that as Yacht Club guests we had free access any day at anytime and did not need to make a reservation. She recommended visiting before our massages to help us feel

more relaxed. 

 

Leaving the spa we wandered around the ship for a bit and were impressed by the design of the various venues. We checked out the casino which we plan on spending a lot of time in and saw lots of machines we like to play. Returning to the cabin, our luggage was delivered shortly after. We each unpacked and there was just enough room exactly between the two closets and various shelves and drawers for all our stuff. We had to leave again at 4:45pm for the lifeboat drill. Our station was on deck 6 in the theater. Only those who boarded today in Barcelona had to attend. The theater wound up only half full which made me think not a tremendous number of people got onboard today. The drill was pretty much a waste of time. You just watched staff show how to put on the life jackets and then we’re directed to watch a safety video back in your cabin. I

believe the reason for this was because they would have to go over all the details 5 times in all the different languages spoken (English, Italian, German, French, Spanish) and it would take too long.

 

Back to the cabin we went after the drill. I met our butler Jhonny on the way. He basically just wanted to know if we needed anything. I asked him for an extra bar of soap and confirmed that the mini-bar could be refreshed as needed. I also asked him why there were no eggs on the room service breakfast menu and if they could be written in on the order. He said no that eggs were not allowed to be served in guest rooms. When I asked why he said due to sanitation issues, whatever that means. Odd as I’ve never encountered this with any other cruise line. There doesn’t seem to be a lot that these butlers do. You don’t order room service through them although they do deliver it. You don’t book any shows or restaurants with them. All he seems to do beyond delivering your food orders is refresh the mini-bar and bring ice. He referenced cleaning the room twice a day so I’m not clear if he is also our room attendant as he did not mention or even introduce me to a room attendant like other cruise lines. He was pleasant enough but I’m not expecting to interact with him much.

 

We decided to head up to Deck 19 to watch the sailaway from Barcelona. We ordered some drinks and I grabbed a slice of a cherry tart from the grill area. The bartender didn’t even ask for our room keys or medallions so I guess they assume that anyone in Yacht Club is supposed to be there. This was the most number of people I’d seen in the Yacht Club all day today. It was very pleasant sitting up there. Will definitely be planning on more time there this week.

[kathynorth]

Thank you for this detailed review!

[KikisDad]

Great start. Looking forward to seeing these cruises.

[maggieq]

Adam,

 

so so happy you are doing another review.  We haven’t cruised on MSC so very interested in your thoughts.  We go back and forth now between celebrity and oasis class on Rccl (for entertainment).  Looking forward to your thoughts on the shows. 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your vacation to do this. 

[Von & John]

Following from the Celebrity CC Side - will be interesting to learn more about MSC...

We love Barcelona & cruising from there!!!

We generally spend a few days on both sides of a Barcelona Cruise.

One of our favorite day trips is to Cava Country...

Cheers to a fantastic stay in Barcelona & Cruise

[calicakes]

My wife and I are considering a European cruise on X in 2021( Iberian Peninsula) so following a long.  How was the cherry tart?  I'm a baker, desserts are important to me.  I don't like any of the desserts in the oceanview cafe on X. 

[Sandy1975]

Nice to read your review. Im coming from the X side and we have been curious about the Yatch Club experience. 

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, calicakes said:

My wife and I are considering a European cruise on X in 2021( Iberian Peninsula) so following a long.  How was the cherry tart?  I'm a baker, desserts are important to me.  I don't like any of the desserts in the oceanview cafe on X. 

 

It was good!

[WonderMan3]

So after sailaway we headed back to the cabin, running into two men named Frank and Joe from NYC. They had been escorted onto the ship the same time as us. Turns out they are on this cruise through a casino promotional offer as well. They also had experiences with NCL’s casino program and The Haven like we have. They were trying MSC our as they had getting a bit dissatisfied with NCL with cutbacks and higher prices kind of like we were with Celebrity. 

 

We got back to the cabin only to hear a loud whistling coming from our balcony door. It was shut tight but the strong wind outside was still making it through and causing the noise. This was surprising on a new ship. We kept opening and closing it multiple times and finally got it to set right and go quiet of course right as the butler came by so we couldn’t show him. He took note and asked us to tell him if we hear it again.

 

We got dressed and headed to dinner around 7:15pm. I didn’t realize that the YC dining room didn’t open until 7, so those seniors who like to dine very early would not like that. As with lunch, the dining room was only about 25% full when we arrived. We were able to get a window table for two easily. Also like lunch we were inundated by the staff from the moment we sat down with hurried introductions, trying to take our water order and then drink order right away, bringing a bread selection and soon after trying to take our dinner order. I think our server Francesco and his assistant Emanuele realized we were feeling a bit rushed and tried to slow the pace a bit. This has been a surprise for me as I always thought that Europeans took their meal time at a much slower pace. Perhaps they assume that since we are American that we want to rush? Anyway, the two servers were very pleasant and more social than our lunch server. They seemed to struggle with English a bit though as they didn’t always understand questions we asked about the menu. But they were sincere and really trying to help so that was appreciated. Ordering drinks was also a little bit of a struggle. Mike wanted a White Russian with Grey Goose and that seemed to confuse them. I ordered a French Martini with Grey Goose which also perplexed them. He came back quickly and said Mike’s was no problem but for me the only martinis they could do were a standard or dirty. I wondered if something was getting lost in translation so I walked with Emanuele down to the bar and surveyed the bottles. I didn’t see Chambord anywhere and when asking the bartender he said they didn’t have any which explains how they could not have done a French Martini. I ordered a mudslide on the rocks directly with the bartender. He thought I wanted a frozen drink so I reiterated on the rocks and we reviewed the ingredients together. It came out just fine, and strong! So I wound up having a couple of them.

 

When reviewing the menu we noticed no everyday items were shown. We asked Francesco and he confirmed they still had them and read us a list. It was salmon, beef filet, chicken, spaghetti  and a couple other items. He advised it would take a little bit longer for those items to be served. Mike wound up getting a small portion of the spaghetti as a starter and then had the thyme and lemon chicken breast. I had a small portion of the lasagnette as a starter and also had the chicken breast. Mike liked his spaghetti and I liked the lasagnette although it was a bit lukewarm. The chicken we both found a bit bland and could’ve used a starch of some sort as a side. We both had room for dessert so Mike had the chocolate duo cake and I had the tiramisu. Both were excellent and the highlights of the meal. The atmosphere in the restaurant was nice as the sun was setting as we dined and there was that fantastic panoramic view out to sea. By the time we left around 8:15pm the restaurant had filled almost to capacity and gotten louder, so dining around 7 seemed like a good plan going forward.

 

After dinner we headed to the casino to play slots. They have a smoking and non-smoking side. You put your key card in the machine to earn points while you play. It’s $2.50 coin in per point. If you earn 9999 points by the end of the cruise you earn a free future cruise. What we liked was that you could charge whatever money you wanted to play with directly to your onboard account. We played for a couple hours but machines were pretty tight. No big wins for us on this first night and we both ended up a bit down.

 

We were back to the room by 11:30 and found a nice little chocolate on our pillow from turndown.

[Von & John]

Can I say Yummmm...

Those desserts & chocolate look amazing

[sn2792]

The balcony looks really narrow. We had a female butler on Celebrity Sillouette in March.

[Essiesmom]

I found the bracelet to be very handy.  I was usually the first into the cabin, so my card went into the slot.  Since I was usually the first out in the morning by several hours, taking my card from the slot would leave my sister in the dark and let the steward think the cabin was empty...or I searched out her card and put in the slot.  So having the bracelet eliminated that situation.  I could do everything with the bracelet except leave the ship (which is generally not recommended on sea days anyway...).  EM

[Zephyr173]

You should certainly not be rushed in the dining room, unless you want to. 

 

I found that service was a bit fast as well.  Be Canadian, we kind of look and sound American to some staff. However, a quick chat with the Maître d’ does the trick.  I also took care to greeting him in either Italian or French to remind our preference for more European/French service. There! Dinner is now a 2-hour affair, just as we like. 

[jmlh]

Thanks so much for posting this review.  We really appreciate the information as we are in Cabin 15012 in November - also departing from Barcelona.  It will  be our first time in Yacht Club so enjoying the preview!

As well, I did not realize I had to pre-book Cirque tickets so will take care of that detail soon.

[ipeeinthepool]

Can you book the Yacht Club on-line?  I've been looking in the Caribbean and every MSC cruise I check doesn't have any YC availability.  Any suggestions?