Seascape - 10 Sep 2023 - First Time MSC - Yacht Club Review

[Hutcha]

Hi all. I debated whether or not to do a "live" review, but in the end decided that I didn't want to take time away from the cruise. I'm taking this cruise with my beautiful wife Carly @Hutchswife and our 21 year old son. This is a delayed HS graduation present (covid) and 21st B-day present. He had a friend coming along, but they couldn't make it, so they were a no show. We are in a YC Deluxe suite, and our son is in a YC Interior.

 

Post Covid, this will be our 5th cruise in 18 months. In order, a NCL Haven (wife and I), a RCL Star class (family of 7), a Celebrity balcony (wife and another couple), another RCL Star (family of 7), and now this one. We have a OV balcony coming up in March, on the Icon, and (spoiler alert) will probably book two more MSC cruise. One in 24 and 25. I plan on doing another post on the differences in the "luxury" offerings of the different lines, so I'll stay away from that here.

 

Starting with embarkation. We got to the port at 10:30, and found the Yacht Club tent as soon as we entered the drop off area. Dropped our bags and were escorted to the YC check in area. Check-in was quick, but we sat there for about 30 mins before being moved to a roped off area in the main terminal. Once there, we were served beverages and snacks. Non YC guests were seated right across from us, and it was a little uncomfortable as they stared at us while we were being served. We sat there for about another 15-20 mins and were then escorted up to the Topsail lounge. After about 30 mins there, we were told that our room was ready and we were escorted there.

 

 

 

We settled into our room, took a quick look around the ship, and then proceeded to go to the YC restaurant for lunch.

 

 

 

[no1talks]

57 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

"He had a friend coming along, but they couldn't make it, so they were a no show."

Was there any adjustment to the fare, since your son was then a single in a double-occupancy cabin?

[Hutcha]

7 minutes ago, no1talks said:

Was there any adjustment to the fare, since your son was then a single in a double-occupancy cabin?

No, I was nervous about that, but they just deleted the extra. I still need to check on the service charge.

[Bgwest]

Following.

Thank you. 

[no1talks]

3 hours ago, Hutcha said:

"Non YC guests were seated right across from us, and it was a little uncomfortable as they stared at us while we were being served."

 

Please don't feel uncomfortable.

 

MSC doesn't check the U.S. Social Register or Burke's Peerage before they will sell Yacht Club accommodation to someone.

 

Anyone who has the money can be in YC, even if they are of generally modest means and save for it over time.

[Hutcha]

First impressions....

 

This is the week after Labor Day, so school is back in session. All of the rooms are booked on the ship, and there are 4800 passengers on board. There may be a few hundred kids on board. Most are under six. In YC, I see maybe 5 or 6 families with minors in the YC.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say that 50% of the passengers are from international destinations (mostly Europe), 30% are US, and 15% are Canadian.

 

The ship is beautiful, but the layout is difficult to navigate. Lots of dead ends, where you'd think traffic would normally flow. Weird flows, like walking from the main atrium, on 5 where guest reception is, through the photo area, only to come to an area where you are forced to take the stairs up to 6. If you want to stay on 5, you have go from reception down a long hallway of cabins, to make it to the front. I'd hate to have one of those cabins.

 

There are a lot of pools, and even more hot tubs. The bad part is that they all close down by 10 or 11 at night. They really need to leave some hot tubs open for the late night crowd.

 

The main buffet. The crowds are real. Not only do you need to wait for a table, at peak times, you then have to wait in line at the different stations. It gets very congested. The selection of food is probably the best that I've seen. Lots of choices, and definitely geared towards an international crowd.

 

There is no need to leave YC. I could spend the entire week in the enclave, and be happy.

[no1talks]

21 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

The main buffet. The crowds are real. Not only do you need to wait for a table, at peak times, you then have to wait in line at the different stations.

 

For every post reporting a sea of humanity at an MSC buffet, there seems to be a post reporting a crowded front buffet AND a very underutilized back buffet.

 

I wonder how often the crowds are self-inflicted.

[Hutcha]

We watched the sail away from the infinity pools, at the back of the ship. They were not too crowded. I think most were probably at the marina pool for the sail away party.

 

 

 

After taking a break in our room, we got ready for dinner at the YC. The YC seems smaller than I had imagined from the pictures and video. The lounge was never crowded, but the restaurant was usually pretty full and noisy.

 

Normally not a tomato soup fan. Followed the previous reviews, and it was a 5/5

 

These were just ok. A little dry. 3/5

 

Risotto with clams. Too fishy for us. One bite and done. 2/5 

 

Filet 5/5

 

Veal chop 5/5

 

Coconut pasticcio dacquoise 5/5. Carrot cake consistency.

[Hutcha]

45 minutes ago, no1talks said:

 

For every post reporting a sea of humanity at an MSC buffet, there seems to be a post reporting a crowded front buffet AND a very underutilized back buffet.

 

I wonder how often the crowds are self-inflicted.

 

You are correct. If you go to the back, it is not as crowded. It is still the worst that I have seen. For us, it's normal to have to seek out a table, however that's just the beginning. If one holds a table, while the other grabs their plate, by the time the second is back with their food, the first is finished.

[Hutcha]

At dinner, we mentioned to the maître d, Arthur, that we had not yet seen our butler. He said he would call him right away. Still didn't see him so we stopped at the concierge after dinner to ask. They called and told us to have a seat. After a few minutes, he showed up. We went to our room with him to ask about a couple of things. Pillows, our bottle of alcohol, and the mini fridge. We tipped him $50 right there, hopping to set the expectation that good service for the week would be rewarded. This was my first time tipping someone ahead of time. Excluding running into him randomly in the topsail lounge or up at the pool, we saw him 2 other times during the week. Once when he dropped our laundry off, and another when he was looking for us, because he thought we left our excursion tickets in the room. We're not high maintenance, but we did expect him to at least make his services known to us. What he could do, how to reach him, and so on. Once, in the topsail, we were looking to be escorted to the tender. They asked who our butler was, and then called him. We left after about 10 mins and made it on our own. My wife is convinced that he still does not know that she is in one of his rooms. He'll look at her and smile, but never engages when they pass each other.

 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, Hutcha said:

We left after about 10 mins and made it on our own. My wife is convinced that he still does not know that she is in one of his rooms. He'll look at her and smile, but never engages when they pass each other.

Not a good butler. Can you tell us all his/her name, so when any of us board we can avoid getting him/her in the future?

[CarolnLarry]

Yeah I want to know his name also as I will ask for another butler if I ever have him on my next cruise 2 Dec  What deck are ou on?

[Dgshooter]

Thanks for the review! We'll be sailing on her the end of next month. Love planning my meals ahead of time.

[lcpagejr]

Enjoying.... We are on Seascape in YC Thanksgiving week....your level of detail is perfect!  Thx

[Fighterone]

18 hours ago, Hutcha said:

At dinner, we mentioned to the maître d, Arthur, that we had not yet seen our butler. He said he would call him right away. Still didn't see him so we stopped at the concierge after dinner to ask. They called and told us to have a seat. After a few minutes, he showed up. We went to our room with him to ask about a couple of things. Pillows, our bottle of alcohol, and the mini fridge. We tipped him $50 right there, hopping to set the expectation that good service for the week would be rewarded. This was my first time tipping someone ahead of time. Excluding running into him randomly in the topsail lounge or up at the pool, we saw him 2 other times during the week. Once when he dropped our laundry off, and another when he was looking for us, because he thought we left our excursion tickets in the room. We're not high maintenance, but we did expect him to at least make his services known to us. What he could do, how to reach him, and so on. Once, in the topsail, we were looking to be escorted to the tender. They asked who our butler was, and then called him. We left after about 10 mins and made it on our own. My wife is convinced that he still does not know that she is in one of his rooms. He'll look at her and smile, but never engages when they pass each other.

 

This is most depressing and not the type of service we would expect. Was he new? Would love to know what suites he works. Looking forward to seeing Arthur. He is fabulous, isn't he?

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by Fighterone

[Fighterone]

16 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Not a good butler. Can you tell us all his/her name, so when any of us board we can avoid getting him/her in the future?

Agree and yes, I'd love to know what suites he was working. 

 

[KittyCruz]

Enjoying and following along we are sailing yc late November

[xcell]

On 9/16/2023 at 3:00 PM, no1talks said:

 

Please don't feel uncomfortable.

 

MSC doesn't check the U.S. Social Register or Burke's Peerage before they will sell Yacht Club accommodation to someone.

 

Anyone who has the money can be in YC, even if they are of generally modest means and save for it over time.

Lol-- wait till you have to walk by them at disembarkation --although, you will never see them again, so big whoop.   Actually, the only other time is during ports, when the butler brings you through the crowd, stops the line, etc...  I just tell my kids not to look anyone in the eye...  Enjoy the YC!

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, xcell said:

not to look anyone in the eye... 

No touch, no talk, no eye contact!

[Hutcha]

On 9/16/2023 at 9:04 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

Not a good butler. Can you tell us all his/her name, so when any of us board we can avoid getting him/her in the future?

I'd rather not out him totally here. He was pretty young, so he probably is on the newer side. If I didn't have my expectations set high, from so many great reviews like yours, I probably would have been content. We did hear one family, in the hallway, telling him how wonderful he was. I also could have pulled him aside, on day 2 or 3, and told him he wasn't meeting my expectations. I will say that I was on 16, port side. 

 

It's been a long travel day. I'll try to knock out some more tomorrow.

 

[morpheusofthesea]

6 hours ago, Hutcha said:

I also could have pulled him aside, on day 2 or 3, and told him he wasn't meeting my expectations.

My DW leaves notes, actually a list of 2-3 items each day in the cabin before we leave in the morning. Found this helps.

[Hutcha]

The daily from the first day

 

Daily 0910.pdf

Edited September 19, 2023 by Hutcha

[Hutcha]

 

Pics from the embarkation lunch buffet.

 

[Hutcha]

After dinner we went to the show in the main theater. Tonight was Imagine Ocean. It was both our favorite and least favorite of the cruise. In other words, it was the only production show we saw. I knew what to expect going into this cruise. Singing and dancing, with an implied story line. This isn't our cup of tea, but we gave it a try. The male lead was a great singer. The female lead was good. The acrobats were entertaining. The cast members running through the audience, dress in unitards and carrying fish puppets, was a bit over the top.

 

The show was fine, it just didn't inspire us to make sure we made a different show later in the week. I'm not sure where the Yacht Club seating was. Would have been nice to have someone to point that out to us.

 

[Hutcha]