We sailed in the Yacht Club in January 2020 is it still as great?

[Nashna]

We were blown away by our experience in the Yacht Club on Divina in January 2020.  We have raved about it since then and have been looking for an opportunity to sail in YC.  We are booked on a New England, Canada, October Mera cruise sailing in the YC.  Now, friends are considering going with us because of the itinerary and they are intrigued by what we have told them regarding the YC experience.  Recent YC passengers...how is it now?  Is it as good as it was?  Any changes?  

[Georgia_Peaches]

My only frame of reference for the YC comes from my 2 sailings in 2022...and both were wonderful!  We sailed both Meraviglia and Seashore and loved both for different reasons.  I had an issue with my cabin being too warm at night on Seashore that never got figured out.  To that end, I was not all too pleased with the room....or should I say, the neighbor who was sleeping with their balcony door open at night.  To remedy the situation, we booked an interior room on Meraviglia and each night was blissfully cool.  Other than that, we enjoyed the amenities and services very much.  DH and I were usually the only one dancing in the evenings in the lounge before dinner.  On the last night on Seashore, several of the waitstaff joined us on the dance floor for a final spin.  It was a lot of fun and so spontaneous.

[Two Wheels Only]

45 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I had an issue with my cabin being too warm at night on Seashore that never got figured out.  To that end, I was not all too pleased with the room....or should I say, the neighbor who was sleeping with their balcony door open at night.

 

The way that ship A/C systems are, the neighbor keeping the balcony door open could cause a problem for you no matter the ship. You can't really ding Seashore for that. 

 

I've never sailed Divina but have sailed on ships that were built after Divina. I enjoyed them all and I have Seascape coming up soon. I'm jumping back on Seashore again before Seascape but those 2 are practically the same. I enjoyed Meraviglia more than I thought that I would but I put the Sea___ ships ahead of Meraviglia.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

19 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

You can't really ding Seashore for that. 

Not meaning to ding the ship for the warm cabin...definitely a balcony door issue.  I wish the concierge would have perhaps said something to the neighbor but they didn't.   Still a great cruise.

[B_A_H]

I was on a 7 day Divina in January.  The ship was in excellent shape and YC was wonderful.  The food in Muse ran from good to exceptional (especially the meat dishes) and the service was just about perfect.  Embarkation and debarkation were both incredibly fast and efficient.  All my experiences were positive. 

[Seas2mountains]

We were on Divina last month. We really enjoyed the YC experience and will cruise in YC again later this year. As mentioned, the service in Le Muse was almost perfect. We’d definitely cruise Divina again because of Le Muse and One Pool and the service we received there. 

[hamrag]

17 hours ago, Nashna said:

We were blown away by our experience in the Yacht Club on Divina in January 2020.  We have raved about it since then and have been looking for an opportunity to sail in YC.  We are booked on a New England, Canada, October Mera cruise sailing in the YC.  Now, friends are considering going with us because of the itinerary and they are intrigued by what we have told them regarding the YC experience.  Recent YC passengers...how is it now?  Is it as good as it was?  Any changes?  

Having sailed 3 YC between Sept 2018 and Dec 2019, then 4 YC post-Covid we would say no it is not as good. Service is not so slick, restaurant managers not on top of their game and therefore waiter service is variable. The one thing that is still superb is Concierge.

 

Pricing has gone skyward and, for us at least, we would only bite at an acceptable price point. The YC areas remain superb and overall we'd say what was a 5 star service has slipped to 4/4.5 stars overall. For us though, the things that really matter to us are still there.

 

Do understand though that every cruiseline is struggling to achieve pre-Covid service levels, so MSC Yacht Club struggles too.

Edited February 18, 2023 by hamrag

[Nashna]

We have been watching the YC pricing and noticed that it has come down a bit on our sailing.  It could be that MSC YC now has to compete with Explora.  Explora pricing for a 9-day Canada/New England cruise is about $3500.00 more than our Mera 11-day sailing.  

 

We recently sailed on Celebrity, and the downgraded experience has us returning to MSC.  

[Rfemle]

Just curious which Celebrity ship and room/class did you sail in?

[jules815]

We were on Seaside January 2019 and Meraviglia in October 2021, both in YC. We really enjoyed our first YC experience on Seaside, and our cruise on Meraviglia was outstanding in every way. In fact, probably our best cruise to date. (It may have been that there were under 800 passengers on the entire ship that week.)

 

Interesting you say that you felt Celebrity experience was downgraded. Why's that? (Before YC, we really liked Celebrity.)

[lcpagejr]

On 2/18/2023 at 10:31 AM, hamrag said:

Having sailed 3 YC between Sept 2018 and Dec 2019, then 4 YC post-Covid we would say no it is not as good. Service is not so slick, restaurant managers not on top of their game and therefore waiter service is variable. The one thing that is still superb is Concierge.

 

Pricing has gone skyward and, for us at least, we would only bite at an acceptable price point. The YC areas remain superb and overall we'd say what was a 5 star service has slipped to 4/4.5 stars overall. For us though, the things that really matter to us are still there.

 

Do understand though that every cruiseline is struggling to achieve pre-Covid service levels, so MSC Yacht Club struggles too.

Not  sure what pricing you are seeing.... But last month I booked a Thanksgiving cruise in YC Deluxe Suite on Seascape in low 2's pp. Compared to Celebrity, NCL, etc for a "ship within ship" experience...this is an absolute bargainand matched what I paid in 2018 when we first tried YC 

[Avatar345]

1 hour ago, lcpagejr said:

Not  sure what pricing you are seeing.... But last month I booked a Thanksgiving cruise in YC Deluxe Suite on Seascape in low 2's pp. Compared to Celebrity, NCL, etc for a "ship within ship" experience...this is an absolute bargainand matched what I paid in 2018 when we first tried YC 

 

Are you talking low 2's pp as ~$200+ pp/day, or low 2's as in $2,000+ pp for the 7-day sailing?

 

One is more of a bargain than the other :)

[lcpagejr]

On 2/19/2023 at 12:00 PM, Avatar345 said:

 

Are you talking low 2's pp as ~$200+ pp/day, or low 2's as in $2,000+ pp for the 7-day sailing?

 

One is more of a bargain than the other 🙂

The later.... For YC...low $2000's pp for a week in high/holiday sailings is a bargain 

[Nashna]

On 2/19/2023 at 9:31 AM, Rfemle said:

Just curious which Celebrity ship and room/class did you sail in?

A 7-day Apex and an 11-day on  Edge in January 2023.  The Retreat was sold out for both sailings.  We sailed in a Sunset Veranda.  We have done Aqua in the past but chose to have a large veranda over the infinity balcony.  We had sailed Apex in January 2022, so our comparison was recent.  We absolutely enjoyed the entertainment on both ships.  Captain Tsos was fantastic on the Edge.  Where X has really gone down is in the poor food choices and quality.  They did not offer filet mignon; lobster was tiny and $9.95 for a second one, tilapia over swordfish, no more prime rib, and the sirloin steaks were thin. Room service continental breakfast was complimentary anything else was $9.95.  Bar service was slow as they were understaffed...I counted three in the packed theatre.   We ate in the specialty restaurant to get prime rib, and it was tough... not prime or choice.  The prime rib was perfectly cooked, it was just a cheap cut.   We had planned a 2024 cruise on The Beyond but cancelled that one and booked Oceania instead.  Celebrity made these changes on January 1st, 2023.  From the numerous complaints we heard onboard and on CC, Celebrity has a problem.  

[Rfemle]

1 hour ago, Nashna said:

A 7-day Apex and an 11-day on  Edge in January 2023.  The Retreat was sold out for both sailings.  We sailed in a Sunset Veranda.  We have done Aqua in the past but chose to have a large veranda over the infinity balcony.  We had sailed Apex in January 2022, so our comparison was recent.  We absolutely enjoyed the entertainment on both ships.  Captain Tsos was fantastic on the Edge.  Where X has really gone down is in the poor food choices and quality.  They did not offer filet mignon; lobster was tiny and $9.95 for a second one, tilapia over swordfish, no more prime rib, and the sirloin steaks were thin. Room service continental breakfast was complimentary anything else was $9.95.  Bar service was slow as they were understaffed...I counted three in the packed theatre.   We ate in the specialty restaurant to get prime rib, and it was tough... not prime or choice.  The prime rib was perfectly cooked, it was just a cheap cut.   We had planned a 2024 cruise on The Beyond but cancelled that one and booked Oceania instead.  Celebrity made these changes on January 1st, 2023.  From the numerous complaints we heard onboard and on CC, Celebrity has a problem.  

Thank you for the information.  We did Celebrity Summit July 22 to Bermuda, Aqua class balcony once the price dropped, primarily so we would have the private blu restaurant.  My wife likes foodie food and I like dining room food, Blu allowed you to order from either menu and did a great job with her gluten free request.  MDR had waiting lines, blu you went when you wanted to for Breakfast and dinner.  Shows not so great but ok, Coffee bar and lounging areas great, would sail Celebrity again if things have not gone downhill as you described.  Going to give MSC try in November for Bermuda trip in YC.

YC pricing with an inside room is 2-4K less than most Haven rooms on NCL.  We have sailed a number of times in Haven and love it, but the price can be extremely high depending on ship.  So far MSC YC seems to be much like the Haven on Prima, completely enclosed.  Where other Havens are not completely enclosed.  Right now with crowds and supply issues a ship within a ship is the only way we will travel,