MSC YC vs Celebrity Retreat: A comparison

[KKB]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

Tami, who often posts on the Celebrity board, is currently on board MSC in YC and went out of her way to indicate that she is having the opposite experience.

 

I'm glad!

It was SO odd...especially 2 different demographics onboard!

[mahdnc]

Thanks for posting your comparison review.  Interesting.

[Stem to Stern]

28 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Tami, who often posts on the Celebrity board, is currently on board MSC in YC and went out of her way to indicate that she is having the opposite experience.

 

Friendly fellow passengers really can make a world of difference.  But I have never really encountered rude passengers on any cruise ever.  We are all on vacation for crying out loud.  How crabby could anyone possibly be?  And, if Tami is on board Seascape after having to wait to embark so late in the day after the tragic accident, and she is finding everyone to be pleasant, then that is wonderful.  Of course, she is sailing in the Yacht Club, right?  If she is hanging exclusively in the Yacht Club, maybe she is encountering a higher level of social refinement amongst the passengers she is regular coming face-to-face with?  

[Stem to Stern]

36 minutes ago, KKB said:

I'm glad!

It was SO odd...especially 2 different demographics onboard!

Sorry, but which two different demographics are you referring to?

[prmssk]

3 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Friendly fellow passengers really can make a world of difference.  But I have never really encountered rude passengers on any cruise ever.

I did a B2B on a different cruise line last year.  Week one was full of friendly and great passengers.  Week two brought in so many rude passengers I thought I had been transported to a different time and place.  I really felt bad for the crew dealing with them and can vividly recall the relief on a crew member's face when he saw me second in line to get coffee one morning as he knew I would be a friendly face after serving the man in front of me who behaved so rudely.

 

Fortunately, I have not experienced anything even close to that on any of my other cruises.  But it did make me realize how passenger makeup can change from cruise to cruise to create such a different vibe.

[KKB]

6 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Sorry, but which two different demographics are you referring to?

Caribbean was a lot of S. Americans & Americans.

Europe was mostly Germans as we were out of Hamburg.

[Stem to Stern]

3 minutes ago, KKB said:

Caribbean was a lot of S. Americans & Americans.

Europe was mostly Germans as we were out of Hamburg.

Gotcha.  Thanks for clarifying.  Even in Europe my Celebrity fellow passengers were mostly from USA, Canada, UK, and a few from down under.  I guess I lucked out with a well-rounded bunch every time.  You made a comment about the odd activities and entertainment on board.  Would you mind elaborating?  Just asking because Seascape in December will be my first time on MSC.  Thank you!

[KKB]

6 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Gotcha.  Thanks for clarifying.  Even in Europe my Celebrity fellow passengers were mostly from USA, Canada, UK, and a few from down under.  I guess I lucked out with a well-rounded bunch every time.  You made a comment about the odd activities and entertainment on board.  Would you mind elaborating?  Just asking because Seascape in December will be my first time on MSC.  Thank you!

LOTS of dance lessons.

Trivia was ok on Divina in Feb...Music trivia was BAD in May... in several ways

Since it was cool in Europe..."pool games" we done in lounges...somehow that feels odd.

Shows we very "meh" on both cruises. Vocalists were quite good.

Honestly I did VERY few activities & normally I do A LOT on a ship.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by KKB

[Stem to Stern]

2 minutes ago, KKB said:

LOTS of dance lessons.

LOLOL.  Absolutely no use for those here.  Celebrity has archery and paper airplanes.  No need for those either.  I am happy if there is a pool, a bar, a buffet, and friendly fellow passengers. 😄

 

3 minutes ago, KKB said:

Since it was cool in Europe..."pool games" we done in lounges...somehow that feels odd.

I would not call this odd.  I would call it utterly and extraordinarily BIZARRE.

[KKB]

8 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

LOLOL.  Absolutely no use for those here.  Celebrity has archery and paper airplanes.  No need for those either.  I am happy if there is a pool, a bar, a buffet, and friendly fellow passengers. 😄

 

Yeah but Celebrity throws in GOOD trivia & gameshows too (can you tell I'm a fan?)

100% about the rest.

On Divina--not enough loungers...people pulled them EVERYWHERE--no respect for area for people to walk around the deck. 

Friendliest passengers--CANADIANS & Midwesterners 😉

[Stem to Stern]

12 minutes ago, KKB said:

Yeah but Celebrity throws in GOOD trivia & gameshows too (can you tell I'm a fan?)

100% about the rest.

LOLOL.

12 minutes ago, KKB said:

On Divina--not enough loungers...people pulled them EVERYWHERE--no respect for area for people to walk around the deck. 

Uh-hummm and at the other end of the spectrum...

On a recent sailing I was politely informed by one young Celebrity pool butler that me plucking the end table from one seating arrangement to use between our pair of end-table-less loungers was not proper pool deck etiquette.  I do cherish cruise lines that believe in at least one end table for every two pool loungers.

19 minutes ago, KKB said:

Friendliest passengers--CANADIANS & Midwesterners

True that.  I lurve them Canadians.  They know how to engage.

By the way I was born in Michigan.

[PROCRUISE]

On 6/28/2023 at 4:48 PM, George C said:

We book celebrity a lot , always suites from sky to penthouse, did MSc yacht club just before Covid shutdown everything, we had no chaos boarding at all . I would say yacht club cabins are similar to sky suites. Loved the entertainment in yacht club lounge which could be heard from restaurant one floor above. Butler was far superior on yacht club he would escort you to shows and off the ship . Captain spent a lot of time there and had a couple pleasant conversations with him . Private island suite area again was far superior to celebrity they had waiter service to bring your food and drink , I thought rest of entertainment was equal to celebrity and there outside area which served lunch was excellent, pool was about 6 ft deep never crowded . I will be definitely look forward to booking them again. They also gave me a ten percent discount on cruise since I am a veteran, never got anything like that from celebrity.

As long as you or your Celebrity cruise planner or your TA has placed your DD-214 on file with X, we always get $100 military/veteran discount pp. Just rechecked and we received it for our upcoming December and February cruises since we're both veterans.

[KKB]

10 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

LOLOL.

Uh-hummm and at the other end of the spectrum...

On a recent sailing I was politely informed by one young Celebrity pool butler that me plucking the end table from one seating arrangement to use between our pair of end-table-less loungers was not proper pool deck etiquette.  I do cherish cruise lines that believe in at least one end table for every two pool loungers.

True that.  I lurve them Canadians.  They know how to engage.

By the way I was born in Michigan.

100% on the pool tables--clearly you were dealing with a power hungry pool attendant....

 

I KNEW we got each other...Nebraska here. Befriended a guy from Illinois on Divina & we shared our frustrations to each other about passenger behavior...

[Stem to Stern]

4 minutes ago, KKB said:

clearly you were dealing with a power hungry pool attendant....

Either this or he was fearful for any backlash for not maintaining the seating arrangements EXACTLY as the training video represented.  But who knows?

[mahdnc]

20 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

LOLOL.

Uh-hummm and at the other end of the spectrum...

On a recent sailing I was politely informed by one young Celebrity pool butler that me plucking the end table from one seating arrangement to use between our pair of end-table-less loungers was not proper pool deck etiquette.  I do cherish cruise lines that believe in at least one end table for every two pool loungers.

True that.  I lurve them Canadians.  They know how to engage.

By the way I was born in Michigan.

 

You didn't say, "that's ok, I was saving these two end tables and these two loungers for later"

[Stem to Stern]

OK please do not get me going any further, but...

My ideal "Resort at Sea" does not involve placing my fresh icy cold beverage directly on the sun's-surface-hot pool deck next to my flip flops and my end-table-less pool lounger.

[perakcruiser]

20 hours ago, miched said:

I am not complaining about the price match.   I am only posting to let others know and think about when booking if you think that a “sale” may be coming.     When I booked I didn’t ask about being price match as I am use to sailing on Celebrity and other cruise lines that did a price match. 

This is something very US special. Celebrity is not doing a price match on the European market. Also the deposits are never completely refundable no matter how far in advance you cancel.

 

Actually when you book MSC or the other Europeans be prepared for crazy price movement in all directions. 

 

20 hours ago, miched said:

if you read the reviews of MSC you will read a lot of things that people complain about having to pay extra for, some are and some are not in the Yacht Club.    As I wrote I can only go by what they wrote as I haven’t been on MSC 

I am cruising MSC since 2011 and Celebrity also since 2011. Always "normal" cabins, no YC (sadly), no Retreat. I my opinion it is completely false that these two cruise lines "nickel dime for many things that you would expect to be included". This is a ridiculous complaint. As I said before, there is one difference, on Celeb (and most others) the water in the MDR is free, on MSC you (or better said some nationalities) have to pay (small amount, we are talking about around 3$ for a bottle of water). On the other side the excursions are much more expensive with Celeb. 

 

20 hours ago, miched said:

I booked the Yacht Club and it is only for 3 nights.  If there is a charge for something and I want it I will pay for it.

As your drinks are included I can guarantee that you will not find any charge that surprises you. First time cruisers may be surprised that they have to pay for massages at the spa, excursions or speciality restaurants 😄 

[chisoxfan]

10 hours ago, KKB said:

OK...after about 30 cruises, tried MSC in Feb (NOT YC)

Wasn't a fan--tried again in May. Even less of a fan now.

 

We did Retreat on Beyond in April. Really enjoyed it but would have to get a similar deal as we got on that one to do it again--nothing was so much better to pay a huge premium for.

 

Would I try MSC again if we did YC? 

Maybe, if the price was right.

But I found the passengers to be rude on both sailings (one in Caribbean & one in Europe...)--which is an issue that many reviewers point out.

And the activities & entertainment were, well, odd.

 

I agree with above poster about Celebrity shows--EXCEPT Eclass. Those are on another level.

 

Although our experience on MSC was YC and limited we fully agree that the rest of the ship (although new and beautiful Seaside) was uninspiring to us and we agreed we would not take a MSC cruise unless in YC. Specialty dining quality and entertainment was disappointing to us. Probably our only YC 'knock' was that we did not enjoy the rest of the ship which sounds terrible but one can really spend the majority of their cruise in YC for a week and have (as we did) a wonderful experience.