Live from MSC Grandiosa Yacht Club on January 13-20th 2023 Spain, France. Italy & Malta.

[ConnieTact]

Boarding was smooth. A little hiccup as a family from Ukraine checked in ahead of us but didn’t speak English so it took a while longer. All YC staff are lovely so far. 
We have enjoyed a tasty lunch & then a few bites at the afternoon tea on the sun deck. 
Just did the straight forward drill and now testing out the offering at Champagne bar for @claireruth

its a tough job- but someone has to do it! 😅🍾🥂

[ConnieTact]

[ConnieTact]

Sail out from Barcelona- now!

[ConnieTact]

Really enjoyed food again tonight. Great service too! 

[Ljdoc]

Hi Connie,

 

I hope you enjoy the cruise. Having never done Yacht Club it would be good to know why you feel it is so much better and potentially a few photos too. 
 

Have a great trip.  

[ConnieTact]

16 hours ago, Ljdoc said:

Hi Connie,

 

I hope you enjoy the cruise. Having never done Yacht Club it would be good to know why you feel it is so much better and potentially a few photos too. 
 

Have a great trip.  

I think the main thing about YC is the service level. 
We discussed this over lunch today and my husband said, “Well, it’s a bit like going to Butlins when you visit the rest of the ship, but when you’ve had enough, you can escape and step into yacht Club with the serenity of a top hotel. You don’t have that choice if you ‘re not in YC!” I think he put it well!

There are some aspects that may be wasted on some people though. For example, today we were escorted off the ship, outside to our coach for our excursion.
One of my fellow YC guests was sighing in the lift, while we waited for someone to catch up, and he mumbled under his breath, “I’m sure I can find my own coach!” So, for some, it may feel odd to be ‘buttled’ around! 
We liked it though as this meant, we could sit at the front and were there before the crowds. We exited by a different gangway too. We thought this was great. Especially when we arrived back, walked straight back the same way at the front of the ship and made it back in time for lunch. If we had been in standard cabin, we would have had to board at the back, and also queue to get on, and maybe miss lunch in the main restaurant.

 

[ConnieTact]

We paid extra to see both shows in the Carousel Lounge because we have greatly enjoyed the ones we have seen on Virtuosa. It was good and we’re glad we went. You get a free cocktail and they were okay too. Here’s some snaps. This one was called ‘Sweet’. front row seats for us as we were YC so a great view. Having said that, it is a round stage and most people should get a good view of all the activity on it!

[ConnieTact]

Our excursion today was the 4 hour ‘Aix-en-Provence’. Our guide, Oliver, was excellent and his commentary was interesting. He spoke on the coach and also during our walk around the small historic town centre. We then had free time and visited a cafe, the flower market to buy flowers for our room, another food market where we bought honey and Lavender bags for our cat carers and lastly a street market where I bought a pretty tablecloth. We pre-booked our excursions and thought this one was worth it. if it was not on a Saturday it wouldn’t have been so good as the main market is weekly and only open on that day.

[ConnieTact]

Tonight we were delighted to find Roberto in the Masters if the Sea British pub. He was one of our favourites on Preziosa in 2019!

His voice is great & he is a hugely talented guitarist. We were up & dancing before the end! 

[ConnieTact]

Also, there was a Space party tonight. 

[ConnieTact]

On 1/9/2023 at 3:33 PM, claireruth said:

I know, and since we'll be off the ship most days and there's just one sea day that makes it hard to decide which to get.  We like wine and cocktails generally, so I'm mostly curious about prices of those to determine which drink package would be best.  We also have a total of $400 onboard credit, so we could also use that towards drinks instead of buying a package.

Here’s the drinks list from Masters if the Sea Pub. I was happy they served me champagne last night! Here’s the list @claireruth

[kernow]

15 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

I think the main thing about YC is the service level. 
We discussed this over lunch today and my husband said, “Well, it’s a bit like going to Butlins when you visit the rest of the ship, but when you’ve had enough, you can escape and step into yacht Club with the serenity of a top hotel. You don’t have that choice if you ‘re not in YC!” I think he put it well!

 

 

I think you've summed it up perfectly, we feel exactly the same. 

 

I love being out and about around the rest of the ship but once you walk through those glass doors it's like aaaah, relax😀.

[ConnieTact]

1 minute ago, kernow said:

I think you've summed it up perfectly, we feel exactly the same. 

 

I love being out and about around the rest of the ship but once you walk through those glass doors it's like aaaah, relax😀.

……and pick up a few sweet treats from the Top Sail Lounge & a nightcap! 
The contrast from the full-on loud party to the tranquility of YC is remarkable and welcome every time! 

[ConnieTact]

Today we have arrived in Genoa. We are having a relaxing start to our Sunday with breakfast in our room. Then we will explore by ourselves. We have been to Genoa before and enjoy the walk into town along the seafront. Photos to follow!

[sverigecruiser]

17 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

For example, today we were escorted off the ship, outside to our coach for our excursion.

One of my fellow YC guests was sighing in the lift, while we waited for someone to catch up, and he mumbled under his breath, “I’m sure I can find my own coach!” So, for some, it may feel odd to be ‘buttled’ around! 
We liked it though as this meant, we could sit at the front and were there before the crowds. 

 

I agree with you that it's an excellent perk when it's done the way you explain it but sometimes it isn't. Our experience is that sometimes the YC passengers are escorted to the bus after everyone else and then it's not very good!

[ConnieTact]

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I agree with you that it's an excellent perk when it's done the way you explain it but sometimes it isn't. Our experience is that sometimes the YC passengers are escorted to the bus after everyone else and then it's not very good!

Wow! Yes, that wouldn’t be good. We have two more excursions so I’ll feedback how they go! 

[mnpurple]

Get the Foccaccia in Genoa! You won't regret it!

[ConnieTact]

1 hour ago, mnpurple said:

Get the Foccaccia in Genoa! You won't regret it!

We just got back onboard & are enjoying afternoon tea. We only had a quick walk around the town for an hour and we’re surprised how much it had run down over the last two years.

I wouldn’t eat from any of the shops we passed but we didn’t get into the better part of town! 
it is overcast & drizzly today so that doesn’t help either! 
 

[ConnieTact]

I love the choice of loose leaf teas in the afternoon. Just had a flower based one and may have a pot of an early Grey now!

Although I said I would resist the nibbles- I didn’t! 😅

 

[hamrag]

On 1/14/2023 at 5:20 PM, ConnieTact said:

I think the main thing about YC is the service level. 
We discussed this over lunch today and my husband said, “Well, it’s a bit like going to Butlins when you visit the rest of the ship, but when you’ve had enough, you can escape and step into yacht Club with the serenity of a top hotel. You don’t have that choice if you ‘re not in YC!” I think he put it well!....

 

11 hours ago, kernow said:

I think you've summed it up perfectly, we feel exactly the same. 

 

I love being out and about around the rest of the ship but once you walk through those glass doors it's like aaaah, relax😀.

 

10 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

……and pick up a few sweet treats from the Top Sail Lounge & a nightcap! 
The contrast from the full-on loud party to the tranquility of YC is remarkable and welcome every time! 

Indeed, for us it's all of that and so much more! That said, I do note pricing on most itineraries continues in an upward trajectory and I'm not sure we're willing to pay at these levels!

Edited January 15, 2023 by hamrag

[ConnieTact]

2 hours ago, hamrag said:

 

 

Indeed, for us it's all of that and so much more! That said, I do note pricing on most itineraries continues in an upward trajectory and I'm not sure we're willing to pay at these levels!

I admit I do a search for the best prices and fit in around the results! 😂 Also, although we have experienced Duplex suite & shelled out for a balcony suite, the YC offering is worth even settling for an inside! 

We pack lightly, and use the facilities of the YC more fully if travelling in an inside & consider it worth the extra on a lesser priced sailing. 

The trouble is the more people who review like we do- the more the prices seem to rise! 😅😂

 

[ConnieTact]

We enjoyed tonight’s ‘Rock It!’ Show in main theatre. It had all English sung songs from the likes of Beatles, Police, Elton John, The Beatles, Police, Bob Marley, Doobie Brothers, Stevie wonder Prince, Bon Jovi & AC/DC. 

I couldn’t see if the majority of audience enjoyed but that’s okay- my enjoyment made up for that!

The fabulous selection of songs were all served justice by the talented singers.

[hamrag]

13 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

I admit I do a search for the best prices and fit in around the results! 😂 Also, although we have experienced Duplex suite & shelled out for a balcony suite, the YC offering is worth even settling for an inside! 

We agree entirely re inside, our 7 YC cruises so far have been 2 insides for reason of pricing!

Can you enlighten me please how to search for best prices, without having to go through numerous potential cruises?

[ConnieTact]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

We agree entirely re inside, our 7 YC cruises so far have been 2 insides for reason of pricing!

Can you enlighten me please how to search for best prices, without having to go through numerous potential cruises?

I don’t think I’m doing anything different!
I search on MSC website for Cruise deals- voyagers exclusives.

I use filters to best effect then go to ‘more filters’ & choose MSC Yacht Club on cabin drop down list, Sort by price - Low to high.

[Nunagoras]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

We agree entirely re inside, our 7 YC cruises so far have been 2 insides for reason of pricing!

Can you enlighten me please how to search for best prices, without having to go through numerous potential cruises?

And you can just to pick one of the "biggies" on the TA industry that works well with MSC on your home market. Sometimes there are some interesting deals there...