Princess Vs MSC

[Raj.K]

Has anyone experienced Princess and MSC? Is there a comparison of the experience of the Yacht Club versus an equivalent or better experience with Princess?

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, Raj.K said:

Has anyone experienced Princess and MSC? Is there a comparison of the experience of the Yacht Club versus an equivalent or better experience with Princess?

I'm pretty sure Princess doesn't have anything comparable to the YC with the exception of a Concierge on Royal class ships.

[capriccio]

We are frequent Princess cruisers and in the past, before 2015, frequently booked full suites (now we book mini-suites).  We loved the extra space in the full suites and the Sabatini's breakfasts.  We were totally unimpressed with the Concierge Lounge on the Royal Princess although I understand that it is more robust now as are inclusions like Club Class.

 

In January 2020 we took our first MSC cruise and, at the recommendation of our TA, booked a Yacht Club cabin.  We loved it.  The cabin wasn't as large as the Princess full suites but the service was fantastic and at times over the top (we really didn't need a butler to accompany us to the theater after the first evening but it was great to be met by one at the gangplank when returning from an excursion and bypass the line).  It truly is a "ship within a ship" experience with the dedicated Yacht Club restaurant, lounge and YC pool grill, plus the dedicated YC beach and restaurant on their private island.  

 

If you decide on MSC, make sure you do a status match before making your reservation.  Our elite Princess status matched MSC's top level.  Also check and see if they still offer military AND civil service (local, state and federal) discounts. We took advantage of the latter since my DH is a retired fed. I will warn you that their website is, in my opinion, horrible.

 

In order to maintain your status match you must take an MSC cruise every three years so we are planning a fall cruise in the Yacht Club.

[skynight]

Discover a ship within a ship through our exclusive MSC Yacht Club, a place where you can savour exclusivity and privacy in a world of choice. A place where you can indulge in the luxury of a private club while enjoying access to a myriad of recreation and entertainment possibilities that the ship has to offer. Lavishly appointed suites, an exclusive 24-hour butler service and a dedicated concierge are just the beginning of these exclusive cruise experiences. Welcome to the MSC Yacht Club, a cruise experience like no other.

There is no special exclusive or private areas for full suite passengers on any Princess ship. No butler service except if staying in a Sky Suite on the Sky, Enchanted or Discovery Princess where there is a butler like service. Princess does have full suites.  There is a concierge lounge on all six Royal Class ships but not on other class ships. Recreation and entertainment on Princess is open to all passengers. There are no exclusive activities for full suite passengers. Full suite passengers can have an exclusive breakfast in one of the specialty dining restaurants Restaurant varies by ship. Full suite passengers can also dine in Club Class dining for lunch (sea days) and dinner. Club Class dining is walk in. Same menu as the regular MDR's but with improved service and one additional dinner menu item. Full suite passengers can also order room service from the full DR menu. Note the meal comes all at one time.

Edited June 28, 2022 by skynight

[LACruiser88]

4 hours ago, capriccio said:

If you decide on MSC, make sure you do a status match before making your reservation.  Our elite Princess status matched MSC's top level. 

That is a smart way to get seasoned cruisers to try them!  I was told recently by someone in the cruise "biz" that MSC is planning on deploying ships to the West Coast in the near future.  

[artb42]

7 hours ago, capriccio said:

We are frequent Princess cruisers and in the past, before 2015, frequently booked full suites (now we book mini-suites).  We loved the extra space in the full suites and the Sabatini's breakfasts.  We were totally unimpressed with the Concierge Lounge on the Royal Princess although I understand that it is more robust now as are inclusions like Club Class.

 

In January 2020 we took our first MSC cruise and, at the recommendation of our TA, booked a Yacht Club cabin.  We loved it.  The cabin wasn't as large as the Princess full suites but the service was fantastic and at times over the top (we really didn't need a butler to accompany us to the theater after the first evening but it was great to be met by one at the gangplank when returning from an excursion and bypass the line).  It truly is a "ship within a ship" experience with the dedicated Yacht Club restaurant, lounge and YC pool grill, plus the dedicated YC beach and restaurant on their private island.  

 

If you decide on MSC, make sure you do a status match before making your reservation.  Our elite Princess status matched MSC's top level.  Also check and see if they still offer military AND civil service (local, state and federal) discounts. We took advantage of the latter since my DH is a retired fed. I will warn you that their website is, in my opinion, horrible.

 

In order to maintain your status match you must take an MSC cruise every three years so we are planning a fall cruise in the Yacht Club.

I will echo everything described above.  We are Elite Princess cruisers and have done full suites there, and we have cruised MSC twice, the second time in a Yacht Club suite.  It was exceptional, we absolutely loved it.
 

The only thing I would add is that the general ship experience is very different.  MSC is very European, including the passenger mix.  Also a much younger overall pax mix.  I’d say food on Princess is better, MSC is not great, but not bad.

 

You could, if you wanted to, spend 100% of your time in the Yacht Club and be happy as a clam.

[Mike45LC]

I have not yet been on MSC, but I have been warned that I need to do Yacht Club, that the non-Yacht Club passengers are steerage class. 

 

As MSC tries to break into the US market, MSC has had to train its staff on what Americans expect as customer service.

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, Mike45LC said:

I have not yet been on MSC, but I have been warned that I need to do Yacht Club, that the non-Yacht Club passengers are steerage class. 

 

As MSC tries to break into the US market, MSC has had to train its staff on what Americans expect as customer service.

Well, I HAVE been on MSC, and not in Yacht Club.  I guess I am steerage class.  Our first MSC cruise was the three day US inaugural of Divina.  We were in an inside gty, which turned out to be what they now call a junior inside.  It was okay.  We thought the food shaky, but didn’t go hungry.  Two years later we were on Divina again, in a lowest class balcony, and it was quite roomy.  One of the group on that class of ship that has a tub/shower.  In early 2019 we sailed Seaside in a balcony and were quite pleased.  We also sailed on one of their smallest, Armonia and it was a much different experience, much more laid back.  Demographic is at least half non-North American.  They tend to dress more sharply than we are accustomed to seeing, especially the women.  Entertainment was all live, no DJ music.  And most everything is music related, as comedy would be lost on most other nationalities.  EM

[Mike45LC]

Mom, I’m glad to read your review.  I was tempted by the prices MSC was offering, but my vacation time is limited and the dining reviews for “steerage” were pretty bad.  Food is important!!

[Bgees]

On 6/29/2022 at 4:53 AM, Mike45LC said:

Mom, I’m glad to read your review.  I was tempted by the prices MSC was offering, but my vacation time is limited and the dining reviews for “steerage” were pretty bad.  Food is important!!

 

I would agree that the food in the mdrs is not as good as Princess, but, having sailed on many different cruise lines, I am not sure that you are correct when you describe the non Yacht club passengers as 'steerage'. I take it you understand the connotations of that word when describing other passengers?

[beltsbear]

The buffet for regular passengers is worse than Olive Garden.  But the virtuoso was very pretty.  Specially steakhouse dining is NOT as good as princess, but the indo-China place was good. We were yacht club and the dedicated restaurant was excellent.  The perks did really make it a good experience. But yacht club is 3x the price of a comparable princess cruise so it had better be good. 
 

I agree that regular msc passengers get pretty terrible main dining b

Edited July 2, 2022 by beltsbear

[deliver42]

Princess has nothing even close to the Yacht Club.  Private restaurant, pool, lounge and nice to beautiful suites. That being said, if not in the YC, stay with Princess. No comparison

[Ciara01]

I took a weekend msc cruise on Divina in the fall.  It was one of their 1st US sails after Covid.  I had zero expectations.  The food was good, not amazing, but better than average (comparable to Princess).  The private island was awesome!  The Covid protocols made me feel safer than other US vacation options  although the stress of waiting for my pre-cruise pcr was awful.  (Binax is worth the cost to alleviate that stress).  I breakfasted on hand tossed buffet breakfast pizza before leaving the ship, it was that good.  (I almost never waste tummy space on pizza on a cruise.)

 

I was just regular (steerage) class in a balcony, so yacht class would probably be awesome.  

[Av8tor]

On 6/28/2022 at 8:42 AM, capriccio said:

 

 

If you decide on MSC, make sure you do a status match before making your reservation.  Our elite Princess status matched MSC's top level.  

 

In order to maintain your status match you must take an MSC cruise every three years so we are planning a fall cruise in the Yacht Club.

If you're sailing in YC on MSC, does MSC's top tier status reaally matter much?

[capriccio]

11 minutes ago, Av8tor said:

If you're sailing in YC on MSC, does MSC's top tier status reaally matter much?

Status Match at any level 'enrolls' you in Voyagers Club (otherwise you need to have completed 1 cruise to be enrolled) which entitles you to at least 5% off your cruise fare or, in the case of special promos, 10 to 15% off.

 

As far as top tier status perks, the two that I remember are a free tasting menu dinner in one of the specialty restaurants and an invitation to the 'exclusive Diamond Party.'  On our cruise pre-Covid, the captain and almost all the senior staff attended, there were excellent hors d'oeurves and drinks served by wait staff and a beautiful and tasty cake.  It was much more impressive than the Princess version.

[chisoxfan]

Just to throw in. I would agree that YC on MSC is an extraordinary experience highly recommended.

Word of this has apparently spread as prices subjectively have increased and availability decreased.

Ironically it was disappointment with Princess that caused us to cancel a cruise with them and try YC.

That said I would be nervous to try the MSC 'steerage'- while the ships were amazing we were not blown away with the rest of the ship (dining, drinks, entertainment).  Because YC was so great we only spent a few evening hours in the 'back of the ship'.

 

I had their highest tier (Black now Diamond I believe) through a match and outside of some discount opportunities it did not offer much so I wouldn't be too concerned.  It was funny at the time that seasoned 'elite' MSC Cruisers were so upset that MSC was offering free status matches (can't say I blame them) but again not a big deal as most elite status programs do not offer much.

[nattie]

On 6/28/2022 at 11:42 AM, capriccio said:

We are frequent Princess cruisers and in the past, before 2015, frequently booked full suites (now we book mini-suites).  We loved the extra space in the full suites and the Sabatini's breakfasts.  We were totally unimpressed with the Concierge Lounge on the Royal Princess although I understand that it is more robust now as are inclusions like Club Class.

 

In January 2020 we took our first MSC cruise and, at the recommendation of our TA, booked a Yacht Club cabin.  We loved it.  The cabin wasn't as large as the Princess full suites but the service was fantastic and at times over the top (we really didn't need a butler to accompany us to the theater after the first evening but it was great to be met by one at the gangplank when returning from an excursion and bypass the line).  It truly is a "ship within a ship" experience with the dedicated Yacht Club restaurant, lounge and YC pool grill, plus the dedicated YC beach and restaurant on their private island.  

 

If you decide on MSC, make sure you do a status match before making your reservation.  Our elite Princess status matched MSC's top level.  Also check and see if they still offer military AND civil service (local, state and federal) discounts. We took advantage of the latter since my DH is a retired fed. I will warn you that their website is, in my opinion, horrible.

 

In order to maintain your status match you must take an MSC cruise every three years so we are planning a fall cruise in the Yacht Club.

Capriccio, thank you for posting this! We have recently tried NCL's Haven and loved the "ship within ship" concept. We are Elite on Princess so hopefully can status match on MSC too. Was that hard obtain and how do you do you go about this? 

[capriccio]

4 minutes ago, nattie said:

Capriccio, thank you for posting this! We have recently tried NCL's Haven and loved the "ship within ship" concept. We are Elite on Princess so hopefully can status match on MSC too. Was that hard obtain and how do you do you go about this? 

Go to https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match.

 

In 2019 we just submitted copies of one of our Princess key cards that I hadn't thrown out and it was processed within a few days (although I have read complaints on Cruise Critic of the process taking longer).  If you don't have one lying around, after you've logged in I'd make a screen shot of the Home screen since it has this information on the top of the screen:

 

My Princess Home

NAME

Member # XXXXXXXX

Your Captain's Circle level is Elite

XX Cruises Sailed  XXX Total Princess Cruise Days

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

we were several times in MSC YC. Last year two cruises. Our experience is that service and food in particular still good, but not on the same level as a few years ago. E.g. the afternoon tea was very good a few years ago and is very questionable now.

 

YC is a very good experience. But if cost is 3 to 4 times of a regular cruise, the value for money is not very good. For the same cost we could get and prefer Oceania. The whole ship is like the YC and the food is much better.

 

Our first Princess cruise will start Aug 5th. We dont expect any YC level of experience, as the cruise is only 30% cost of YC.

 

cheers

MouseBerry

[rbtan]

There is NO experience like the Yacht Club on Princess. You can have butler service in the larger suites. The Yacht Club also has it's own dedicated restaurant, unlike any suite on Princess. That being said, the standard cabins on Princess are better than those on MSC.

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, rbtan said:

There is NO experience like the Yacht Club on Princess. You can have butler service in the larger suites. The Yacht Club also has it's own dedicated restaurant, unlike any suite on Princess. That being said, the standard cabins on Princess are better than those on MSC.

The question really is, does the Yacht Club, given the pricing, deliver more than Viking,  Oceania etc, as the pricing is similar.

[deliver42]

While the YC is awesome, for the rest of the ship, think of a fancy Carnival cruise.

[Dunk]

On 7/2/2022 at 5:26 AM, deliver42 said:

Princess has nothing even close to the Yacht Club.  Private restaurant, pool, lounge and nice to beautiful suites. That being said, if not in the YC, stay with Princess. No comparison

100 percent agree. I've been in the YC two times, and it's great, but outside of the Yach Club, it's the Italian version of Carnival cruise Line.