Currently on Seascape - Here's my thoughts so far as an MSC Newbie!

[Valpacino]

Hi Everyone,

 

I've been lurking on here a while picking up excellent tips & comments from many an experienced cruiser.  These have been invaluable in helping us pick our annual much needed break from the daily grind of work!  With this in mind I wanted to give a something back & share what we've experienced so far as we're half way through our cruise on the Seascape, currently sitting in a grey & rainy Costa Maya.  I will do my very best to try & be informative and if I can answer any questions, I'll do my best.  But first a little about us .......

 

DH & I are originally from the UK.  We are in our early 50's.  We used to cruise in the 90's & in to the 00's with NCL & then Royal Caribbean when we lived & worked in the UK.  We loved cruising.  Then in the early 00's we moved to SW Florida & started a new life and built our own business.  We are now fortunate that we can take 1 week off per year to vacation so have returned to the cruising community.  We recommenced our cruising life on the Celebrity Edge back in 2019 which we enjoyed.  We then went back on the Edge in 2021 in the midst of the pandemic restrictions and had what we considered our best cruise experience so far.  The level of service & the quality of the food offering was just incredible.  The fact there was less than 1,000 on board had much to do with it I believe and I appreciate that was a different time, not to be repeated (we all hope!).  We returned last year to Celebrity on the Beyond and for the first time upgraded to The Retreat.  I have to say it was a mixed experience.  Whilst The Retreat area was beautiful, it was packed & the staff seemed under trained & inexperienced.  It was not to the quality of our trip the previous year on the Edge.  That mixed experience led us to explore other operators & thanks to the detailed posts from far more seasoned cruisers than us (shout out to Morpheus, GenX, Essiesmom!) we took the plunge and booked MSC Seascape Yacht Club for the sailing that left on 29th October 2023.

 

When we lived in the UK DH & I were both in the food business (I was in manufacturing and was lucky enough to travel globally for my job & eat in some phenomenal restaurants and stay in great hotels).  When we moved to SW FL we set up & built a business around hospitality which we currently own & manage day to day (one thing about the hospitality business is it never ever stops!).  I only mention this to try & give some context to our work experience.  I think we're pretty fair & open to the challenges of being involved in guest hospitality.  I'll do my best to convey what we've experienced so far to add to the chat about the MSC experience from the Yacht Club perspective.   

[Valpacino]

Day 1 - Embarkation.  Embarkation was pretty simple for Yacht Club in our experience.  I'm so glad I read the forums here & found out about the white tents - we had no idea what to look for!  Maybe it was me; I do not recall getting any check in instructions specifically directing you to look for the white tents as the area to head for if Yacht Club when setting down at the port.  We had a taxi from SW FL so it was 2.5 hrs across the Alley to the port area.  Drop down was easy, we had our cases tagged within a couple of minutes & a butler walked us on & past the queues to a side room set aside for Yacht Club checking in.  Check in was pretty swift and then we were asked to wait about 5 or so minutes for a 'group' to form.  Once we got to about 14 people, another butler appeared & walked us on.  I'd say from portside to our room took about 12-15 minutes tops which was great.  All the staff we encountered were friendly, warm & courteous throughout the check in procedure.  So far so good & a nice start to our adventure!

 

I have to dash now as getting ready to head to Top Sail Lounge for a pre dinner drink & then we're going to try Butcher's Cut tonight to see how that stacks up.  I will continue tomorrow on our experience so far.

[joeyancho]

We are on the Seascape,  Yacht Club in one month.  Our 2nd MSC cruise but first in YC.  So I will be following closely.  Have fun.

[fabnfortysomething]

9 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Day 1 - Embarkation.  Embarkation was pretty simple for Yacht Club in our experience.  I'm so glad I read the forums here & found out about the white tents - we had no idea what to look for!  Maybe it was me; I do not recall getting any check in instructions specifically directing you to look for the white tents as the area to head for if Yacht Club when setting down at the port.  We had a taxi from SW FL so it was 2.5 hrs across the Alley to the port area.  Drop down was easy, we had our cases tagged within a couple of minutes & a butler walked us on & past the queues to a side room set aside for Yacht Club checking in.  Check in was pretty swift and then we were asked to wait about 5 or so minutes for a 'group' to form.  Once we got to about 14 people, another butler appeared & walked us on.  I'd say from portside to our room took about 12-15 minutes tops which was great.  All the staff we encountered were friendly, warm & courteous throughout the check in procedure.  So far so good & a nice start to our adventure!

 

I have to dash now as getting ready to head to Top Sail Lounge for a pre dinner drink & then we're going to try Butcher's Cut tonight to see how that stacks up.  I will continue tomorrow on our experience so far.

did you take advabtage of status match or would it not make much difference as you are in Yacht club?

[Valpacino]

Hi Fabnfortysomething, We did not take advantage of the status match as it didn't make any difference to our status.  We've cruised 3 times on Celebrity since re-starting our cruise adventures in 2019.  We were on the lowest tier according to Celebrity so it didn't make any difference to MSC from what I could gather.  If I'm wrong or I've missed something on this, please jump in!

[morpheusofthesea]

7 minutes ago, Valpacino said:

If I'm wrong or I've missed something on this, please jump in!

You will be happier if you didn't know.

[Valpacino]

Observations on the cabin:  We are up on Deck 19 in an even numbered cabin towards the front of the boat.  The cabin is wonderful &, in our opinion, superior to a sky suite.  It's spacious with excellent storage options.  The walk in closet is very spacious and an excellent design addition to the cabin.  The bed is very comfortable and extremely similar in quality to Celebrity's sky suite beds.  The bathroom is a fair size & the shower + water pressure in said shower is excellent.  I agree with a fellow poster's observations the shower gel etc. is watered down but I have no issue with that.  The room is decorated in dark tones with thick curtains/blackout curtains so excellent for people who are light sensitive as the room remains dark when the curtains are closed.  The only negative I could say is come around 6.30 am you are going to hear the sun beds being moved about & set up for the day on the pool deck directly above you.  This was not an issue for us as we usually wake up about 6.15 am but if you like to sleep in, you may want to consider earplugs.

 

We like the generous supplies provided for the room.  Never used a Nespresso machine before so had to google how that worked as there was no explanation card in the room.  We soon got the hang of it & once you know what to do it's pretty easy to use.  Our room is kept well stocked with large bottles of Italian branded fizzy water, Nespresso pods, milk for tea (we had to ask the Butler for that and he duly re-appeared promptly with what we asked for).  At night I appreciate the Butler places a clean glass + small bottle of spring water by the bed, set on a paper coaster.  To me it just feels like they've considered your needs & anticipated what you may want as you retire for the evening.  We've also been treated through the week with various selections of Venchi chocolates which has been a nice additional touch instead of the usual 'chocolate square on the pillow'.  Overall we feel the Deluxe suits on MSC are definitely superior to the Sky Suites on Celebrity & a step up in quality.

[mcoler181]

16 minutes ago, Valpacino said:

If I'm wrong or I've missed something on this, please jump in!

You may have, we had points from 2 x RCCL cruises, lowest tier I think and we got 10% off cruise fare plus $100 OBC

 

 

[Valpacino]

The internet quality:  We're on the 2 devices per person that was included in the Suite package.  We both have our cell phones + a lap top for work purposes.  We've found when out on the balcony we cannot get any wifi on our devices but it's usually fine in the room.  I've not had the issues DH has had on connecting & not sure why that is.  We're both on Android on a T-Mobile package.  His has gone in & out when in the cabin whereas mine has been fine.  Overall if you want to stream content, we feel you'd need to upgrade to the top package available or subscribe to Starlink if you were cruising for a while to get the wifi quality you really want.

[Valpacino]

We did get $100 OBC when we booked the trip.  I think it was just part of the offer at the time for Yacht Club.  Have to say when we booked the Beyond in Fall 2021 for Fall 2022 trip, we did it on board & they gave us $800 OBC for booking a sky suite in the midst of a pandemic.  Those were the days ....... !

[morpheusofthesea]

53 minutes ago, Valpacino said:

Have to say when we booked the Beyond in Fall 2021 for Fall 2022 trip, we did it on board & they gave us $800 OBC for booking a sky suite in the midst of a pandemic.  Those were the days ....... !

Yes indeed. Those were the days. In that year we started with the Celebrity Sky Suite, then tried the Celebrity Suite (which I found the best storage, room to dance, just right balcony for a lounger). Then DW wanted to try Royal Suite (bigger, but not better) Not much room on the balcony and the concierge/host/butler would not supply me with a 'cushioned' lounger for my long hours typing away my "Observations". Then DW suggested that the Penthouse would have a bigger balcony (more of a veranda) , but such wasted space both inside (baby grand piano and dance floor) and outside on veranda. Then MSC began sailing again. We had tried and loved the the Royal Red suite on the Divina ( well I did with all the enlarged photos of Sophia Loren on the walls, especially the bedroom one). But not enough storage space for DW and no shade/pergolas on the One Pool deck and the solid bulkhead made for no ocean view on the balcony. The Seaside we fell in love with. We enjoyed the Celebrity Edge much more than the Celebrity Beyond, but will not go back any time soon as long as we have MSC Yacht Club.

Edited November 2, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Scottdalfonso]

Thank you for this, we are booked for  this ship next year, we are loyal RC cruisers, (we will have 5 under our belts by the time we do the Seascape cruise)  and this will be our first non Royal cruise. We are currently booked "fantastica" in an OV balcony, but the more and more I read, I feel like we may upgrade to YC eventually.  The one thing I can tell you, we are only the first tier status on RC, but punching in the number gave us a number for MSC, which we then used and it saved us about $100 pp when we were booking on the site. So that was something, for sure. 

[Valpacino]

One observation about the bathroom.  I really wish the magnifying make up mirror lit up (it doesn't).  Next time I would bring a traveling make up mirror that lights up.

[Valpacino]

Day 1:  After embarkation we headed up to the Yacht Club Pool Deck (Deck 20) for lunch.  It's a buffet affair with a decent choice of 'make your own salad', fresh fruit, carving station of the day (it may have been pork that day), fries & a bread selection.  There is then a hot section featuring mash potato, maybe a rice dish. A few proteins such as swordfish, seabass, roast chicken etc.  There were also a couple of dishes of roasted vegetables. Finally there is always a burger made to order, a pasta dish of the day (it was a ravioli dish on Day 1) & a Hot Dog made to order (2 small sausages in a hot dog bun).  I had a caeser salad & lamp chops and some fries.  The lamb chops were delicious.  Nicely cooked & very tender.  The caeser dressing was quite thin & not very creamy.  The fries were of the thinner variety & just ok.  I think the problem is trying to keep them hot.  That's very difficult on an outdoor buffet so unless it's a fresh batch just put up, the fries are going to be on the colder side.  On Day 2 they served up steak fries which were much thicker & much better.  Yesterday they went back to the thin fries which were cold again.  Desserts were a selection of small cakes such as carrot cake, chocolate cake etc.  I was too full to try them so can't comment on the quality of those. 

 

Service from both the team behind the counter & the servers walking the deck is friendly & helpful.  We've found a server we very much like and have shown our appreciation with frequent tipping when served by them.  I know it can be a controversial topic here but we find it really does help with the overall experience if you give the staff a little extra to get what you want.  Day 2 was a sea day so the pool deck was busy.  With a 'full to capacity' Yacht Club, our preferred server took care of us, even when the bar area was packed with people trying to get served.  We simply caught their eye & we were taken care of promptly with minimal wait or fuss.

 

We've found the bar staff on Deck 20 to be decent at mixing a cocktail.  This was a big difference to our experience on the Beyond Retreat Pool Deck.  I recall about 1 day in on our last trip on the Beyond we decided to try a cocktail off the menu.  It was so poor it had no taste at all of what it should have had.  Thinking we'd chosen wrong, we chose something else.  Same experience.  Absolutely awful with no flavor of what it should have been.  In the end we gave up both eating & drinking on the Retreat pool deck as we found the quality poor & the staff inexperienced.  We've not found that here & had the opposite experience of much better food & drink offering on the Yacht Club Pool Deck.

 

One other observation about the YC Pool Deck.  Despite being at full capacity there are plenty of loungers and you can always get a spot.  It never feels crowded, unlike The Retreat which last year on the Beyond was so packed we struggled to secure loungers on sea days.  The only negative about the YC Pool Deck is the lack of shade which other posters have discussed.  When it's hot you can fry up there (DH got burnt on his first day at sea, despite applying factor 50!).  

 

Insider tip as shown to us by our preferred server on the pool deck.  If standing on the deck with back to the bar area, head to the area to the left of the doors to the elevators.  There is a 'wall' to the right of this area with huge vents blasting out cold air - I guess from the AC system in the ship or something like that?  Not sure what it is but I can tell you it brings great relief to turn a sun lounger around & face in to said cold air being blasted at you when it's full sun & no shade!

 

Overall our view is the YC Pool Deck, including Deck 19 with the solarium, is better than the Retreat on the Edge class ships. It's spacious, never feels crowded, it's calm & not noisy.  You can always get a seat or a lounger & the food & drink offering is better.  MSC Seascape wins on this one for us.

 

[thesnoopster2]

4 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Hi Fabnfortysomething, We did not take advantage of the status match as it didn't make any difference to our status.  We've cruised 3 times on Celebrity since re-starting our cruise adventures in 2019.  We were on the lowest tier according to Celebrity so it didn't make any difference to MSC from what I could gather.  If I'm wrong or I've missed something on this, please jump in!

 

Don't forget that they don't just match other cruise lines.  They match hotel, airlines, ect.  They matched my Gold status with Marriot.  That bumped me up to the second level and I earn points at a faster place. I'm doing my second MSC this weekend and I will be Gold status with them on cruise #3.

[loge23]

Hello Valpacino! We were on last week, also in the YC, but on the much quieter 16th deck (also quite convenient to the Top Sail).

We enjoyed the very international passenger consist, having met nice folks from several European countries. Apparently, this week and last are school break weeks in Western Europe so there were several families aboard with well-behaved children. We too found the YC experience well on par with Celebrity's Retreat class, as well as Oceania and Viking Ocean in terms of service and food (obviously very different in terms of ship size!)

In the YC restaurant, we found the left side a better option for service, particularly with Yves & Mr. Mundoo from Mauritius - very professional!

No complaints here - we had a wonderful time and everything onboard the YC was very nice.

One humorous observation from my lovely spouse: The YC was like staying in a mansion next to a public housing project (the rest of the very crowded, rowdy ship)!

That said, try to make your way to the rear of deck 16 for some of the best pizza on the high seas!

Enjoy your cruise and thank you for posting your impressions!

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by loge23
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[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

Thank you for this, we are booked for  this ship next year, We are currently booked "fantastica" in an OV balcony

bolo for my review after our Thanksgiving sailing in the same class. 🙂 I'll be very thorough and fair.

[paddy1112]

We also were on on the ship the last two weeks enjoying the YC.

First week was most americans in YC. Second week was mostly europeans,

Service was fantastic, even without tipping all the time like some of you here.

We also spend quiet a time in the rest of the ship enjoying all then different bars.   

Service here was also good. Not really had the impression of a rowdy ship.

The ship was pretty full both weeks. First week 4950, second 5080.

Here you really value the escort off the ship by a butler.

 

A small disappointment was the exact same menue in YC restaurant in both weeks.

Same for the theater shows, apart from the Elton John show.

 

Overall great time and 5 stars.

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, loge23 said:

One humorous observation from my lovely spouse: The YC was like staying in a mansion next to a public housing project (the rest of the very crowded, rowdy ship)!

Yes. That simply adds to the illusion of a caste system of upper and lower classes which makes the Yacht Club so much more enjoyable. All this will be sort of non-exisistent on MSC's Explora Journeys catering to 900 prima donnas out of 900 passengers versus 330 prima donnas out of 6000 passengers.

[joeyancho]

12 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Yes. That simply adds to the illusion of a caste system of upper and lower classes which makes the Yacht Club so much more enjoyable. All this will be sort of non-exisistent on MSC's Explora Journeys catering to 900 prima donnas out of 900 passengers versus 330 prima donnas out of 6000 passengers.

Joking or jealous??  I really can't tell.  

[Valpacino]

Currently just enjoyed high tea in the YC lounge on Day 5. It's rather busy as weather has deteriorated and is so awful no one can go outside. Captain has made an announcement we may not make Ocean Cay tomorrow as it may be too dangerous to approach the channel to dock due to the weather. I hope it changes as we're curious to see Ocean Cay. I've included a picture of the high tea offering. Overall not a bad way to spend a rainy hour. Oddly for high tea jam was not included with the scones and clotted cream which is the central part of high tea.  We had to request it. It's odd as Tiptree jam is provided at every breakfast so they have it on board.

[paddy1112]

Strange, we got jam and clotted cream both times we had high tea.

May they forgot on your tray unfortunately.

 

Hope you will not miss Ocean Cay as it is fantastic.

[Valpacino]

Afraid it wasn't a miss off on our tray.  There was no jam served anywhere in the lounge at High Tea.  I saw other people asking for it & then saw a butler bring a tray out with about 4 pots on it.  It was only available upon request today.

 

Which arcs us over in to 'Snackgate'!  Previous posters have mentioned the lack of available snacks in the Top Sail Lounge.  It seems they were typically laid out in the designated area for selection but this seems to have ceased.  I can confirm there has been no 'snacks on display' during the late afternoon or in the evening.  You have to request them & they are then bought to the table.  I get it in terms of reducing waste but I guess if previous guests were used to a selection being displayed for personal selection a la The Retreat, that seems to have stopped for now.  We have requested snacks & been given a selection on a 2 tier cake stand + a separate stand for nuts & chips.  Last night we dropped by for a post dinner night cap.  Without prompting our regular server brought over a lovely dish with a very nice selection of at least 7-9 Venchi chocolates which we enjoyed.

 

Whilst addressing what is/is not available this cruise. We were issued with YC watch bands to wear if we didn't want to carry the room card around.  Previous posters had mentioned they were not issued on at least 1 previous voyage.  We did not experience any issues regarding availability of YC watch bands.

[Captain-John]

Thanks for your updates.

 

Regarding the snacks, bringing over a selection is just as wasteful in my view than me selecting what I want from the display area? I might only eat one or two snacks from the cake stand brought to the table.. what happens to the rest?

 

I will really miss this aspect of the lounges. I wasn't too impressed with the offering in NCL Haven earlier this year and was quite looking forward to the YC offering I was used to.

 

Interesting vents to the outside are blasting out cold air too, I'd have thought the opposite if cooling the interior areas but good to know!

 

Enjoying your reports and trust you are enjoying your cruise.

 

[Scottdalfonso]

5 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

bolo for my review after our Thanksgiving sailing in the same class. 🙂 I'll be very thorough and fair.

Awesome..I'll definitely be on the lookout. What deck/room type are you in?