MSC and those negative reviews. (Seascape YC)

[jules815]

My husband and I have sailed twice with MSC. 2019 on Seaside in the YC, and Meraviglia in 2021, also in the YC. Loved both of those cruises, loved the YC, yada yada. Two different ship styles, but enjoyed them both very much. I recently booked a week on Seascape for September and then a few days later saw our stateroom (19003) was available for the following week, so we booked a second week turning it into a B2B. 

 

Part of our evening tv routine lately has been watching cruise vloggers on YouTube. Last night we were so excited to see there was a new one, a tour of Seascape by a cruiser staying in the YC. "That's our ship...and he's in YC! Yay!" Well, as my daughters would say, this guy was "on one." He really didn't like MSC at all. He was touring the ship and complaining about everything. "The ceilings are too low...and I'm not even a tall man." "The food in the buffet is mediocre." "Why are we eating in the buffet when we're spending so much more to stay in the YC?" "The service and food quality in the YC is so bad, we're eating in the dining room and buffet."  Seriously. This guy was walking thru the ship and barely had a nice thing to say about any area at all. He even found fault with the Bridge of Sighs. Wasn't wide enough??  

 

I've read negative reviews of other ships here as well and still had a great time, but gotta admit, watching this YouTube video has me a wee bit worried. My husband on the other hand says we're going to have a great time, this guy's nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Markanddonna]

I think most aspects of MSC ships are just fine but the Yacht club is another world and those who stay there should always preface their comments. I have been in YC once but prefer to cruise more frequently and don't want to pay those prices.

 

There are many cutbacks if you are not in the YC. However, the crew and the look of the ship are great. The food outside of YC is really mediocre. I've never eaten so many burgers on a cruise! You won't starve is a good summary.  They have also moved away from an Italian flair to more Hispanic. 

[Mdraes]

I’m confident that you will have a great time in the YC on the Seascape. I was also worried about the negative reviews posted about MSC and specifically the Seaside and Seascape.  My wife and I just got back from a B2B deluxe balcony on deck 12, fantastica experience.  The only thing I would do different is book 2 separate cruises because I could have upgraded to the Aurea experience for the second week.  The repetitive shows in the theatre weren’t much of a problem for us since it allowed us to check out the shows in La Cabare Rouge and we found these to be better for us.

 

We found the buffet food comparable to other large ship cruise lines, specifically Royal and Norwegian. We love a good cheese pizza and theirs was really good.  I find that the people that complain the most are not willing to discover the timing of the operations of the ship with the passengers that are onboard that week.  We don’t like packed and lines so we checked the hours of operation for what we wanted and adjusted our schedule accordingly.  We personally loved sleeping in, grabbing a quick lunch, going to the port to shop, come back for early dinner and then go to the shows and be back for late night pizza and tea at 10.

 

We are early diners and the service at the 5:15 time slot in the MDR was amazing and the food was good. Again comparable to other large cruise lines. The food in the Butchers Cut was very good. When you book B2B you get a 30% off coupon for a la carte dining and I would spring for that definitely. Then go to the dining room in the YC for dessert (but I’m cheap to a fault).

Edited February 2, 2023 by Mdraes

[PTC DAWG]

 

• •  

Just off Meraviglia this past Sunday..7 day cruise...Deck 16 in the YC....all I can say is wow.  

 

I have never had better service.  YC director said we had around 180 out of 230 or so guests.  Butler and Assistant Butler were very helpful.  

 

Service in the Top Sail lounge was great.  Same in the dining room.  Same on the topmost pool deck.  The breakfast and lunch buffet's there were very nice...

 

I have sailed MSC once before the shutdown on Seaside, non YC.  This experience was totally different.  

 

I thought the price was reasonable for the standard YC balcony.  

 

All in all, Wife and I had a great time. 

[JT1962]

Many of the negative reviews I see appear to be from people who are only looking for problems and have a general negative attitude. I have been on 4 MSC cruises in the past year for a total of 33 days (Meraviglia & Divina) and enjoyed them. I was not in YC and thought the food, service and entertainment were equivalent to or better than Carnival and Royal Caribbean. MSC isn’t perfect, but for the price, especially solo, it’s a great value that you can’t get on land or another cruise line.

 

As far as food complaints, food is obviously subjective and what one person loves, another one hates. Banquet / cafeteria quality is about the best you can expect at the buffets and main dining rooms on most ships now due to the number of passengers. It’s almost impossible to serve 5 Star cuisine at the perfect temperature to 3.000-5,000 people three times a day. I’ve never had what I would consider an inedible meal on any cruise. Everything has not always been perfect, but the “there was nothing to eat” or “everything was horrible” comments are over the top and not true, from my experience.

Edited February 2, 2023 by JT1962

[L1211]

7 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

 

 

• •  

 

Just off Meraviglia this past Sunday..7 day cruise...Deck 16 in the YC....all I can say is wow.  

 

I have never had better service.  YC director said we had around 180 out of 230 or so guests.  Butler and Assistant Butler were very helpful.  

 

Service in the Top Sail lounge was great.  Same in the dining room.  Same on the topmost pool deck.  The breakfast and lunch buffet's there were very nice...

 

I have sailed MSC once before the shutdown on Seaside, non YC.  This experience was totally different.  

 

I thought the price was reasonable for the standard YC balcony.  

 

All in all, Wife and I had a great time. 

Love hearing this!!  Thank you for sharing!  Would love to hear about your favorite - experience, food, entertainment, etc!!
 

I’m with the OP, watch a lot of YouTube cruise videos and the Mera seems to be particularly highlighted in a negative way-  slow embarkation, being out of what you need when you need it (cups, plates, ice, silverware, tea, juice in buffet, drink mix or specific alcohol in bars), long lines in bars and buffet, rude guests and staff - it goes on and on… I have not, however, seen a bad YC review!  Hopeful…

[sabres431]

1 hour ago, jules815 said:

My husband and I have sailed twice with MSC. 2019 on Seaside in the YC, and Meraviglia in 2021, also in the YC. Loved both of those cruises, loved the YC, yada yada. Two different ship styles, but enjoyed them both very much. I recently booked a week on Seascape for September and then a few days later saw our stateroom (19003) was available for the following week, so we booked a second week turning it into a B2B. 

 

Part of our evening tv routine lately has been watching cruise vloggers on YouTube. Last night we were so excited to see there was a new one, a tour of Seascape by a cruiser staying in the YC. "That's our ship...and he's in YC! Yay!" Well, as my daughters would say, this guy was "on one." He really didn't like MSC at all. He was touring the ship and complaining about everything. "The ceilings are too low...and I'm not even a tall man." "The food in the buffet is mediocre." "Why are we eating in the buffet when we're spending so much more to stay in the YC?" "The service and food quality in the YC is so bad, we're eating in the dining room and buffet."  Seriously. This guy was walking thru the ship and barely had a nice thing to say about any area at all. He even found fault with the Bridge of Sighs. Wasn't wide enough??  

 

I've read negative reviews of other ships here as well and still had a great time, but gotta admit, watching this YouTube video has me a wee bit worried. My husband on the other hand says we're going to have a great time, this guy's nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will make sure to come back from our cruise on 3/26 will a glowing review of 19003 for you. 🙂  We cruised on Divina in 2018 in YC and loved it.  Everything is subjective, but if someone thinks buffet/MDR food is better than YC food, then there is probably something wrong with their taste buds.  Personally, any food that I don't have to cook is good food 😄

[PTC DAWG]

45 minutes ago, L1211 said:

Love hearing this!!  Thank you for sharing!  Would love to hear about your favorite - experience, food, entertainment, etc!!
 

I’m with the OP, watch a lot of YouTube cruise videos and the Mera seems to be particularly highlighted in a negative way-  slow embarkation, being out of what you need when you need it (cups, plates, ice, silverware, tea, juice in buffet, drink mix or specific alcohol in bars), long lines in bars and buffet, rude guests and staff - it goes on and on… I have not, however, seen a bad YC review!  Hopeful…

The Wife and I especially liked the breakfast/lunch on the uppermost pool deck.  It was basically made to order....always a different main meat every day they were carving....lots of side dishes for lunch.  

 

Nice entertainment in the Lounge in the evening.  Our room may have been 15 steps to the bar...good and bad 🙂 We ventured out in the evenings to see what was going on. Don't forget to ask the Concierge for late night pizza if you want it, they will bring it right to your room.  We asked for and received a bottle of Belvedere Vodka in our room, with any mixers we wanted..

 

A Butler escorted groups of about 6 to two different shows in the Carousel, not sure if the Seaside Class has that venue.  The main theater had a separate entrance and seating area for YC guests...we went there twice...

 

The YC card carries some cache at bars around the ship for sure.

 

Oh yeah, don't for get to visit the spa...some cool things in there..and hot too.  Don't forget the slides.  

 

Embarkation and Disembarkation were a breeze.  Went to the white YC tent outside the terminal..escorted to YC check in area...goodies waiting there.  Then escorted to the lounge prior to rooms being ready..then the fun started.

 

Butler walked us off the ship to the front of the line for disembarkation...did I feel bad. No.  

 

IF someone can't enjoy this treatment and service, they are in need of therapy.  

 

As a total aside note, my Wife and I are regular cruisers on Celebrity.  I really only missed the Sunset/Martini Bar atmosphere. Never in a suite on Celebrity....only Aqua.  IF we were not in YC, I would prefer Celebrity...we are 59 and 57 if that helps.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[pcrum]

I honestly do not understand the negative reviews of MSC.  We did a short 3-night cruise on Divina over Labor Day weekend last year.  It was a last minute booking and they were the only line available out of our home port of Port Canaveral.  After reading such horrible reviews, we went into the cruise saying, "it's for 3 nights, how bad can it be?"  Well, we loved the cruise, loved the staff, and loved the food.  We were not in the YC, but in a Fantastica balcony.  We loved it so much that we booked a longer 10-day cruise for this coming Sept. while on board.  The private island, Ocean Cay, is really beautiful.  YC has it's own area on the island, but we were fine with "the masses".  We upgraded our drinks package and I enjoyed Nicolas Feuillatte champagne throughout the cruise.  The drinks package even works on the private island.  

 

We also just took our first Celebrity cruise in December.  Loved Celebrity too, but I think the entertainment on MSC was a bit better.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by pcrum

[jules815]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

 

 

• •  

 

Just off Meraviglia this past Sunday..7 day cruise...Deck 16 in the YC....all I can say is wow.  

 

I have never had better service.  YC director said we had around 180 out of 230 or so guests.  Butler and Assistant Butler were very helpful.  

 

Service in the Top Sail lounge was great.  Same in the dining room.  Same on the topmost pool deck.  The breakfast and lunch buffet's there were very nice...

 

I have sailed MSC once before the shutdown on Seaside, non YC.  This experience was totally different.  

 

I thought the price was reasonable for the standard YC balcony.  

 

All in all, Wife and I had a great time. 

 

LOVED Meraviglia too! We had actually booked another cruise on Seaside, then covid happened and that cruise got canceled and rebooked a couple of times. Then they changed ships on us and I was worried I wouldn't like Mera as much as Seaside, but we absolutely loved it. We were also on deck 16, 16001, all the way at the front next to the lounge. 

[jules815]

1 hour ago, sabres431 said:

I will make sure to come back from our cruise on 3/26 will a glowing review of 19003 for you. 🙂  We cruised on Divina in 2018 in YC and loved it.  Everything is subjective, but if someone thinks buffet/MDR food is better than YC food, then there is probably something wrong with their taste buds.  Personally, any food that I don't have to cook is good food 😄

Thank you! I look forward to your review!

Just remembered another thing he said about YC which was not ever our experience on Seaside or Meraviglia. He was walking around the pool deck and pointed out the buffet. He said something like "they offer breakfast and lunch at the poolside buffet, but they choose not to eat there because they don't offer very much." That wasn't our experience on either ship we've sailed on. We had breakfast out there several mornings and I know I'm not imagining the made to order omelets we had, or all the other food on the buffet. We had lunch poolside on Mira and Seaside almost every day and there was so much food to choose from, including really good burgers with grilled onions. (My husband and I would split a burger every day in addition to all the other food. I know, bad, but we're on vacation.)

[jules815]

31 minutes ago, pcrum said:

I honestly do not understand the negative reviews of MSC.  We did a short 3-night cruise on Divina over Labor Day weekend last year.  It was a last minute booking and they were the only line available out of our home port of Port Canaveral.  After reading such horrible reviews, we went into the cruise saying, "it's for 3 nights, how bad can it be?"  Well, we loved the cruise, loved the staff, and loved the food.  We were not in the YC, but in a Fantastica balcony.  We loved it so much that we booked a longer 10-day cruise for this coming Sept. while on board.  The private island, Ocean Cay, is really beautiful.  YC has it's own area on the island, but we were fine with "the masses".  We upgraded our drinks package and I enjoyed Nicolas Feuillatte champagne throughout the cruise.  The drinks package even works on the private island.  

 

We also just took our first Celebrity cruise in December.  Loved Celebrity too, but I think the entertainment on MSC was a bit better.  

On our last cruise we were docked overnight at Ocean Cay. The first day we did the beach and the private YC restaurant, which was very nice. The second day we skipped the beach part and took the YC shuttle to their restaurant for lunch, then walked all around Ocean Cay, stopping for a few drinks at the Lighthouse Bar, which we really liked a lot. In fact, we thought that bar was nicer than anything RC has at either of their private islands, although in fairness, we haven't been to CoCo Cay since the refurb. 

 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, jules815 said:

 

Part of our evening tv routine lately has been watching cruise vloggers on YouTube

That is part of our evening routine as well. We supplement our information gatherings of FB and CC by subscribing to video bloggers on Youtube to get 'the skinny' (The meaning of THE SKINNY is the true information about someone or something that is not known by most people). And when we hear anything reported contrary to our own experiences we UNsubscribe to that vlogger. Noting that anything they reported or will report is to us, in particular, misleading and of no value.

Edited February 2, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Avatar345]

19 minutes ago, pcrum said:

I honestly do not understand the negative reviews of MSC.  We did a short 3-night cruise on Divina over Labor Day weekend last year.  It was a last minute booking and they were the only line available out of our home port of Port Canaveral.  After reading such horrible reviews, we went into the cruise saying, "it's for 3 nights, how bad can it be?"  Well, we loved the cruise, loved the staff, and loved the food.  We were not in the YC, but in a Fantastica balcony.  We loved it so much that we booked a longer 10-day cruise for this coming Sept. while on board.  The private island, Ocean Cay, is really beautiful.  YC has it's own area on the island, but we were fine with "the masses".  We upgraded our drinks package and I enjoyed Nicolas Feuillatte champagne throughout the cruise.  The drinks package even works on the private island.  

 

We also just took our first Celebrity cruise in December.  Loved Celebrity too, but I think the entertainment on MSC was a bit better.  

 

I appreciate you saying what you just did because it speaks to something else I was mulling over - a 3/4 night cruise in January 

 

On the one hand 3-nights seem so abbreviated, but on the other it seems like you guys really enjoyed it. Options are Divina or Magica, Nassau and Ocean Cay or Key West and Ocean Cay. Unless I'm missing something I strongly prefer Key West to Nassau, but that locks me into 3-day. It's also Magica vs Divina and I'm not sure what the opinions are around here on some of those older ships (though they're not even that old by industry standards)

[pcrum]

3 minutes ago, Avatar345 said:

 

I appreciate you saying what you just did because it speaks to something else I was mulling over - a 3/4 night cruise in January 

 

On the one hand 3-nights seem so abbreviated, but on the other it seems like you guys really enjoyed it. Options are Divina or Magica, Nassau and Ocean Cay or Key West and Ocean Cay. Unless I'm missing something I strongly prefer Key West to Nassau, but that locks me into 3-day. It's also Magica vs Divina and I'm not sure what the opinions are around here on some of those older ships (though they're not even that old by industry standards)

Is it MSC Magnifica you are wondering about?  I do not see a MSC ship named Magica.  Our MSC 3-night cruise went to Nassau and Ocean Cay.  We always stay on the ship for any cruise that stops at Nassau.  It's nice to enjoy an emptier ship.  I would definitely sail on Divina again; we loved that ship!

 

We also love Key West.  Our last cruise was on Celebrity Summit and our ports were Key West and Nassau.  I have not read a lot about the Magnifca, but our one MSC experience on the Divina was very good.  So much so that we booked a 10-night cruise on Seaside for this September.

 

 

[Avatar345]

2 minutes ago, pcrum said:

Is it MSC Magnifica you are wondering about?  I do not see a MSC ship named Magica.  Our MSC 3-night cruise went to Nassau and Ocean Cay.  We always stay on the ship for any cruise that stops at Nassau.  It's nice to enjoy an emptier ship.  I would definitely sail on Divina again; we loved that ship!

 

We also love Key West.  Our last cruise was on Celebrity Summit and our ports were Key West and Nassau.  I have not read a lot about the Magnifca, but our one MSC experience on the Divina was very good.  So much so that we booked a 10-night cruise on Seaside for this September.

 

 

 

Magnifica, right yes - 

 

So it's Magnifica-4 night Nassau and Ocean Cay

Magnifica 3-night Key West and Ocean Cay

Or Divina 3-night Nassau and Ocean Cay

 

...all for roughly the same (low) price. Difficult decision!

[pcrum]

Just now, Avatar345 said:

 

Magnifica, right yes - 

 

So it's Magnifica-4 night Nassau and Ocean Cay

Magnifica 3-night Key West and Ocean Cay

Or Divina 3-night Nassau and Ocean Cay

 

...all for roughly the same (low) price. Difficult decision!

Having never been on the Magnifica, it's hard to say.  I will say that 4 nights is always better than 3 (especially at the same price!), but Nassau is really a throwaway port.  I really wish that cruise lines would stop going there.  But, it is always nice to enjoy an emptier ship!!  

 

I would not hesitate to recommend Divina.  I have read so many positive reviews of Divina on that other site (book of faces).  

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, jules815 said:

 

LOVED Meraviglia too! We had actually booked another cruise on Seaside, then covid happened and that cruise got canceled and rebooked a couple of times. Then they changed ships on us and I was worried I wouldn't like Mera as much as Seaside, but we absolutely loved it. We were also on deck 16, 16001, all the way at the front next to the lounge. 

16005 here..great location no doubt.

[MsTabbyKats]

50 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

16005 here..great location no doubt.

We're gonna be in 16010 (inside) in April.  Only booked YC because "DH WAS having mobility issues".  He's up and running now (ok...he's 88 so not running that fast) but after telling him all the great things that are included, he's really looking forward to it.

Keep the good reviews coming......

 

If anyone has a link to "the complainer" on youtube, please share.

[morpheusofthesea]

"If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit next to me." Alice Roosevelt Longworth

[doones2]

5 hours ago, jules815 said:

My husband and I have sailed twice with MSC. 2019 on Seaside in the YC, and Meraviglia in 2021, also in the YC. Loved both of those cruises, loved the YC, yada yada. Two different ship styles, but enjoyed them both very much. I recently booked a week on Seascape for September and then a few days later saw our stateroom (19003) was available for the following week, so we booked a second week turning it into a B2B. 

 

Part of our evening tv routine lately has been watching cruise vloggers on YouTube. Last night we were so excited to see there was a new one, a tour of Seascape by a cruiser staying in the YC. "That's our ship...and he's in YC! Yay!" Well, as my daughters would say, this guy was "on one." He really didn't like MSC at all. He was touring the ship and complaining about everything. "The ceilings are too low...and I'm not even a tall man." "The food in the buffet is mediocre." "Why are we eating in the buffet when we're spending so much more to stay in the YC?" "The service and food quality in the YC is so bad, we're eating in the dining room and buffet."  Seriously. This guy was walking thru the ship and barely had a nice thing to say about any area at all. He even found fault with the Bridge of Sighs. Wasn't wide enough??  

 

I've read negative reviews of other ships here as well and still had a great time, but gotta admit, watching this YouTube video has me a wee bit worried. My husband on the other hand says we're going to have a great time, this guy's nuts.

 

 

Now you know what us folks who do not sail in the YC feel like.  This is the first time I have seen a bad review for the YC, but see plenty of bad reviews for all everything else but YC.   I have to assume this guy likes nothing about cruising

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jules815]

58 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

We're gonna be in 16010 (inside) in April.  Only booked YC because "DH WAS having mobility issues".  He's up and running now (ok...he's 88 so not running that fast) but after telling him all the great things that are included, he's really looking forward to it.

Keep the good reviews coming......

 

If anyone has a link to "the complainer" on youtube, please share.

 

Here's the first. There are a couple more that were done by the same person that I haven't had a chance to watch yet. If this isn't allowed can a mod delete? He's not a travel agent.

[jules815]

40 minutes ago, doones2 said:

 

I just started watching their other video and he's speaking very favorably of the non-YC dining room. Complaining about the breakfast offerings in the main buffet though. 

[no1talks]

3 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

" 'If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit next to me.' Alice Roosevelt Longworth"

Morph, if we ever know ahead of time that we are to be on the same cruise, me must exchange gifts.

I have already selected yours. 😄

[morpheusofthesea]

9 hours ago, no1talks said:

Morph, if we ever know ahead of time that we are to be on the same cruise, me must exchange gifts.

I have already selected yours. 😄

"Its not the thought that counts"