Is The Yacht Club worth it ?

[B_A_H]

This is kind of a meaning of life question.  Cruise lines and experiences come in all shapes and sizes.  A seven day Caribbean cruise can cost as little as $300 per person to almost $5,000; sometimes on the same ship.  

 

The person paying $300 for an inside cabin and rationing their on board expenditure to spend as little as possible thinks they are getting the best deal.  The person paying $5,000 wants the extra features, attention, and specialness that comes with booking a suite. Neither is right or wrong. 

 

A bunch of us swear by YC and are repeaters. An equal or larger amount think it's a waste of money.  If you think paying as much as twice the cost over a non-YC cabin is worth it to get the YC benefits then you should go for it.  I don't know if the subjective opinion of strangers is really going to help your decision making very much.  

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

13 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

This is kind of a meaning of life question.  Cruise lines and experiences come in all shapes and sizes.  A seven day Caribbean cruise can cost as little as $300 per person to almost $5,000; sometimes on the same ship.  

 

The person paying $300 for an inside cabin and rationing their on board expenditure to spend as little as possible thinks they are getting the best deal.  The person paying $5,000 wants the extra features, attention, and specialness that comes with booking a suite. Neither is right or wrong. 

 

A bunch of us swear by YC and are repeaters. An equal or larger amount think it's a waste of money.  If you think paying as much as twice the cost over a non-YC cabin is worth it to get the YC benefits then you should go for it.  I don't know if the subjective opinion of strangers is really going to help your decision making very much.  

 

 

Excellent point, very subjective for sure. 
 

I’ll add, that in my experience, if you can’t afford to going forward (or just don’t think you would want to) don’t do it the first time. 🙂

Edited February 28, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[Gatordad1967]

11 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

This is kind of a meaning of life question.  Cruise lines and experiences come in all shapes and sizes.  A seven day Caribbean cruise can cost as little as $300 per person to almost $5,000; sometimes on the same ship.  

 

The person paying $300 for an inside cabin and rationing their on board expenditure to spend as little as possible thinks they are getting the best deal.  The person paying $5,000 wants the extra features, attention, and specialness that comes with booking a suite. Neither is right or wrong. 

 

A bunch of us swear by YC and are repeaters. An equal or larger amount think it's a waste of money.  If you think paying as much as twice the cost over a non-YC cabin is worth it to get the YC benefits then you should go for it.  I don't know if the subjective opinion of strangers is really going to help your decision making very much.  

 

 

bingo

[horseymike]

1 hour ago, mvh said:

Bottom line, no matter where you cabin is, your still just on a cruise. To me they are all just cheap getaways to crappy islands that you've seen a million times. There is nothing in the Caribbean worth visiting. I'm bald and I still get asked to have my hair braided. It is just an easy cheap way to get some warmth in the winter. Save your money and take a real vacation to Hawaii or Europe.  I've done both Haven and Yacht club and they were marginal at best better than a basic balcony room. Too many wannabees that think they are a higher class than the rest of the ship.  Never again. 

Would you please pass the Grey Poupon ? 🤣

[Oxo]

Just priced out my 2 B2B April 2023 cruises on the Seascape. We both have drink and wifi pkgs. 

Here are the results for Category YC1 and BR2.

YC1 $5,802 w/OBC $200

BR2 $2,009 w/OBC $350

YC1 +$3,793 w/$150 less OBC

 

YC1 $5,698 w/OBC $200

BR2 $2,006.00 w/OBC $350

YC1 +$3,692 w/$150 less OBC

 

Total YC1 cost for the 14 days more than the BR2 is:

 

YC1 $11,500 w/OBC $400

BR2  $4,015 w/OBC $700

         $7,785 when adding in less OBC for YC1 of $300.

 

That is almost 4 more cruises for 2 people. 

We all have choices. Your money and your choice. 

Happy Cruising!

[horseymike]

53 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

This is kind of a meaning of life question.  Cruise lines and experiences come in all shapes and sizes.  A seven day Caribbean cruise can cost as little as $300 per person to almost $5,000; sometimes on the same ship.  

 

The person paying $300 for an inside cabin and rationing their on board expenditure to spend as little as possible thinks they are getting the best deal.  The person paying $5,000 wants the extra features, attention, and specialness that comes with booking a suite. Neither is right or wrong. 

 

A bunch of us swear by YC and are repeaters. An equal or larger amount think it's a waste of money.  If you think paying as much as twice the cost over a non-YC cabin is worth it to get the YC benefits then you should go for it.  I don't know if the subjective opinion of strangers is really going to help your decision making very much.  

 

 

Hi B A H,

Being as though I have never done the YC or MSC I really do value the opinions of the folks here on Cruise Critic. Over the years I have picked up some very helpful information that has made 

many cruises better for us. 
I truly appreciate the input from those who have boldly gone where I have never I have never gone before.

Thanks and Happy Cruising

 

[horseymike]

Thanks everyone for all your replies.

They help me more than you know when planning future cruises.🚢

[peder]

2 hours ago, KellyCz said:

@pederDo all MSC ships have the 2-bed/2-bath suites? How can I find these?

I believe it's just a handful of the forward-most cabins on the Seaside-class ships (the 2-bedroom grand suite). There are only 3 of these on this class of ship.

[peder]

3 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

One more reason to book the Yacht Club instead of the Haven.

You're not even the 1st person in this thread to have this unoriginal comment. MSC is a family-friendly line (even MSC's luxury line Explora is intended to be family-friendly). Probably not the right tree to be barking up given the company's market positioning.

[B_A_H]

3 hours ago, horseymike said:

I really do value the opinions of the folks here on Cruise Critic.

 

Here's the problem with those opinions.  Not all the "folk"  on Cruise Critic look at the world through the same lens.  One person's "it was exceptional" could easily be another's "it was awful."  It's a problem on all review sites.

 

How do you know the author's opinions you're reading map to your personal needs, wants, values, and expectations?  You don't.  I'll use myself as an example.  I have lots of MSC experience.  There are friends whose requirements are similar to mine.  I'd recommend MSC to them.  Others with different expectations, not so much.  My opinion of MSC is the same in both situations but I'm filtering that opinion knowing the audience.  All the opinions here are unfiltered and you may have nothing in common with the author.  

 

When I'm researching, I look for overall themes in reviews.  If the majority are leaning the same way you can pretty much assume there's some accuracy in what's being said.  The occasional "it was awful" is to be expected.  If the majority of posts lean "awful" you can pretty much expect some degree of awful. Someone new to MSC digesting this forum for the first time should clearly come away with "MSC is different."  There's a huge leaning that way here and it's true.  It behooves them to figure out what's different from reading other's posts to glean how it could affect them personally.  

 

And the timeframe of an experience being opined matters a lot.  With the state of cruising right now, someone reflecting on a pre-Covid experience or an in-Covid experience where occupancy was at 50% doesn't represent the present.  The ships are now packed, staffing is challenged, first time cruisers are at a high, and the cruise lines are cutting back and up-charging to make up for two year's of lost profit.  The best reflection on what to expect is from people posting about experiences over the past six months.  

 

Just food for thought. 

 

Here's something I hope is helpful.  I was on a 7 day Divina cruise in January in YC.  It reinforced for me the value of paying more for YC even though YC prices are rising. I have YC booked on the World Europa in May and Seaview in October based on my Divina cruise.  I canceled non-suite cruises on Apex and Majestic Princess to book those two MSC cruises. 

 

On the Divina, everyone in the non-YC parts of the ship looked happy and I didn't personally witness any major service issues.  But even at 3/4 occupancy the ship felt crowded and less fine tuned than pre-Covid.  I can only imagine what things would have been like at 100+%.  If you read other cruise line's forums here you'll see similar opinions. And Celebrity and Princess are both cutting back heavily in various areas all while charging more.  YC on my Divina sailing was near perfect.  My time away is valuable and, to me, at least for now, YC is almost insurance on the experience I'll receive. I'll report back from the World Europa in May if I see MSC joining the other cruise lines in the race for the bottom. 😉 

 

 

[horseymike]

Thanks for sharing your experience and insight.👍

[sverigecruiser]

7 hours ago, peder said:

You're not even the 1st person in this thread to have this unoriginal comment. MSC is a family-friendly line (even MSC's luxury line Explora is intended to be family-friendly). Probably not the right tree to be barking up given the company's market positioning.

 

I know that I'm not the first to say it but I'm still allowed to say it.

 

I have seen lots of comments about too many children in NCLs Haven and because of that I really love that there are so few cabins made for families in the Yacht Club.

 

Obviously MSC prefer fewer kids in the Yacht Club because if they didn't they should have more large cabins there.

 

It's up to MSC to decide and I'm happy with the decision they have made.

 

 

[dexddd]

16 hours ago, KellyCz said:

@pederDo all MSC ships have the 2-bed/2-bath suites? How can I find these?

Not familiar with non YC rooms.  Mera does have the duplex with two baths which DW and I had recently and she used upstairs and I used downstairs.  Good separation.  We had RS on Mera before with DD and just the one bath.  I do get the issue with MSC not really having family rooms in YC.

[Georgia_Peaches]

21 hours ago, peder said:

during embarkation, we actually saw folks in the Yacht Club room waiting for butlers, while we zipped up to the ship quickly).

This is not the norm though. (And I believe Aurea gets priority boarding too, no?)

 

In my YC experience there has been standing room only in the main holding area as passengers wait for their boarding time. While being escorted past all the lines and up the escalators to board, I had to keep my eyes down so as to not make eye contact with impatient passengers wondering why we were “so special”. For us, that’s just it. The YC experience makes you feel special, pampered, taken care of. Totally worth the price as it relates to my cruising budget and cruising style. I will say that whenever we went to the Aurea areas (sun deck) it was very quiet and had a nice set up as well. If I wasn’t able to go YC this would be my next (and final) choice. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

 

17 hours ago, mvh said:

Bottom line, no matter where you cabin is, your still just on a cruise. To me they are all just cheap getaways to crappy islands that you've seen a million times. There is nothing in the Caribbean worth visiting. I'm bald and I still get asked to have my hair braided. It is just a easy cheap way to get some warmth in the winter. Save your money and take a real vacation to Hawaii or Europe.  I've done both Haven and Yacht club and they were marginal at best better than a basic balcony room. Too many wannabees that think they are a higher class than the rest of the ship.  Never again. 

Wow!  Personally, I have no desire to go to Hawaii. Have lived in Europe. It’s unfortunate you have not found something to appreciate about the “crappy” Caribbean islands like their beauty, the people, the culture of the hard working islanders who cater to the whims of tourists just to eek out a living. I bet the person who offered to braid your bald head would have bent over backwards to find you a head of hair. Anyway, to each their own. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[Nashna]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

This is not the norm though. (And I believe Aurea gets priority boarding too, no?)

 

In my YC experience there has been standing room only in the main holding area as passengers wait for their boarding time. While being escorted past all the lines and up the escalators to board, I had to keep my eyes down so as to not make eye contact with impatient passengers wondering why we were “so special”. For us, that’s just it. The YC experience makes you feel special, pampered, taken care of. Totally worth the price as it relates to my cruising budget and cruising style. I will say that whenever we went to the Aurea areas (sun deck) it was very quiet and had a nice set up as well. If I wasn’t able to go YC this would be my next (and final) choice. 

My first MSC Cruise was in a one-bedroom Aurea suite on Divina in January 2020.  We followed that sailing with the 7-Day cruise in YC. I was very glad that we sailed in Aurea first.  We were able to sit in a special section pre-boarding.  Embarkation was delayed by 45 minutes, so we had plenty of time to watch butlers escorting passengers.  Once YC passengers boarded, there was a mad dash from passengers rushing to board.  We did not have priority as no one was checking.  Our room was spacious, with a large wrap-around deck, a comfy couch and chair, and a picture window.  Our room steward was great.  We dined in a special section of the MDR and had fantastic service.  The Matre de stopped by to visit each night. On most mornings, we ate breakfast in the regular MDR, as the Aurea section was only offered during dinner.  What a difference!  The breakfast service was basic as the wait staff did the bare minimum.  The Aurea sundeck was nice.  However, it was very windy, and we did not spend much time there. We preferred to sit by the pool.  We went to guest relations several times inquiring as to our B2B when we would transfer to the YC. We never got a definite answer, just that we were not to worry. We were instructed to leave our luggage in our stateroom.  We arrived at guest relations with our carryons and were told to have a seat, and that they would call our butler.  He arrived within five minutes and proceeded to take our carryons, give us our new boarding passes, and escort us up to the Yacht Club.  When he heard that we had not had breakfast, he escorted us across the ship to the YC restaurant.   When we returned from breakfast, our room was ready, and the pampering began.   We were blown away by the difference in how we were treated throughout the ship when we used our YC card.  The Aurea experience was great. The Aurea stateroom was twice the size of the YC.  However, we didn't get the extra service that the YC provides.  

[peder]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

This is not the norm though. (And I believe Aurea gets priority boarding too, no?)

 

In my YC experience there has been standing room only in the main holding area as passengers wait for their boarding time. While being escorted past all the lines and up the escalators to board, I had to keep my eyes down so as to not make eye contact with impatient passengers wondering why we were “so special”. For us, that’s just it. The YC experience makes you feel special, pampered, taken care of. Totally worth the price as it relates to my cruising budget and cruising style. I will say that whenever we went to the Aurea areas (sun deck) it was very quiet and had a nice set up as well. If I wasn’t able to go YC this would be my next (and final) choice. 

Right, I personally would not consider Bella or Fantastica given the crowd levels I saw on the Seascape. For me the question isn't whether YC is worth it over Bella or Fantastica, it's more of a question of the value compared to Aurea, which has exclusive areas, priority embarkation, and of course, larger rooms.

 

Basically, they market Aurea as a "Lite" version of Yacht Club, but then the staterooms tend to be unique and larger in Aurea, so it's not just that Aurea is "lesser" it's actually a set of trade-offs. The net effect is that MSC probably leaves revenue on the table by selling Aurea as a separate tier instead of simply combining the two (and they already converted the Duplex suites on the Meraviglia class of ships to Yacht Club, so there's some evidence that MSC felt they had an incorrect supply mix).

[davy jones]

On 2/28/2023 at 10:41 AM, Oxo said:

Fully understand your position!

Now for the other side of the coin. 

 

We are Seniors.

We liked to join in with the rest of the crowd to meet people from around the world on each cruise.

We don't mind waiting our turn.

We don't put towels on chairs to become a chair hog at any time.

We don't arrive an hour early for a show and never have.

We don't need a butler to unpack or escort us as we capable of doing so on our own.

We try to be self sufficient.

 

We would rather cruise more times than just the cost of 1 YC cruise.

We find the staff very friendly to all and even know us by name and our drink after the first couple of days.

 

I guess each person has:

'Different strokes for different folks.'

 

Enjoy your cruise regardless of category! Happy Cruising!

 

I often wonder why people pay so much for an "exclusive" experience on a mainstream line when there are premium lines that provide an superior experience at the same cost (or less).  After all, when you leave the cocoon, it's still a mainstream ship.

 

But:  To each his or her own.

 

I must say that we are much like you and have never sailed on those experiences on any line.  The pool areas are too crowded and noisy for us.  We are independent and tend to avoid the crowds.  We are also  shade seekers.  We are good at finding quieter shady spots away from the pool area that are not favored by chair hogs.  We can also get all of the relaxation and solitude that we want on our balcony.

 

That said, the current status of cruising has led us to wonder if we need to go a YC type experience to get pre pandemic levels of "standard" cuisine, service, and staffing.

 

.

 

 

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, davy jones said:

I often wonder why people pay so much for an "exclusive" experience on a mainstream line when there are premium lines that provide an superior experience at the same cost (or less).  After all, when you leave the cocoon, it's still a mainstream ship.

 

But:  To each his or her own.

 

 

 

I think that paying for Haven or Yacht Club give me the best of both. I get a more exklusive experience AND the mainstream experience.

 

When I have tried to research, which isn't easy because some of the premium lines can't really be researched, I have found that normally the premium lines often cost much more.

 

Many premium lines also have very few roundtrips which is what i prefer.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, davy jones said:

I often wonder why people pay so much for an "exclusive" experience on a mainstream line when there are premium lines that provide an superior experience at the same cost (or less).  After all, when you leave the cocoon, it's still a mainstream ship.

 

But:  To each his or her own.

 

We have 2 children who aren't even teens, yet. The premium lines won't have the water-slides, bumper cars, go-karts, etc. that the mainstream lines have. 

 

Going Haven/Yacht Club works best for us.

 

Suite Neighborhood on Icon OTS (RCCL) is also a possibility that I'm researching mainly because I want to experience the ship.  

 

Celebrity Retreat (Edge Class with the goofy Tragic Carpet) and Explora Journeys are a "maybe" for us in the future. 

[hamrag]

20 hours ago, peder said:

Right, I personally would not consider Bella or Fantastica given the crowd levels I saw on the Seascape. For me the question isn't whether YC is worth it over Bella or Fantastica, it's more of a question of the value compared to Aurea, which has exclusive areas, priority embarkation, and of course, larger rooms.

 

Basically, they market Aurea as a "Lite" version of Yacht Club, but then the staterooms tend to be unique and larger in Aurea, so it's not just that Aurea is "lesser" it's actually a set of trade-offs. The net effect is that MSC probably leaves revenue on the table by selling Aurea as a separate tier instead of simply combining the two (and they already converted the Duplex suites on the Meraviglia class of ships to Yacht Club, so there's some evidence that MSC felt they had an incorrect supply mix).

Very well written, and a genuine question for those ships who have a lovely exclusive Aurea sundeck and bar (next to the YC pooldeck area). I think all the 'Seaxxxxxx' named ships have that, certainly the Aurea 'sundeck' area on Virtuosia and Grandiosa is very poor, with no dedicated bar or service!