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

[Valpacino]

On Day 6 the rain did stop by it was blowing a gale and the wind was so strong we could not dock at Ocean Cay as the captain declared the approach too dangerous to attempt.  We'd been hunkering down in our cabins for the past 2 days so braved Deck 20 in the morning to get some sea air.  The lovely crew came over with multiple towels and swaddled us like babys to keep us warm as the wind howled around us.  They even tucked my feet in!  They made the best of a not so great day weather-wise.  

[Valpacino]

As I bring our time on the Seascape to a close, here are some miscellaneous observations/comments:

 

Elevators - The override system seemed to work for us about 60% of the time.  To be fair we only ventured outside of YC about 7-8 times & had mixed success with the overridge function.  When it worked, it was great.

 

We didn't go to any shows.  We seemed to be always either in a bar or restaurant during show time.  We did talk to some guests who went to the Elton John tribute show.  They said he was fantastic.  

 

The YC lounge is a great space to hang out for tea & coffee and cocktails pre/after dinner.  They had a young guy from Brazil playing piano or guitar and singing along during the evenings.  He was very good and we enjoyed him very much.

 

The overall nationality guest mix in YC for our trip was US.  There were a few Europeans but really not many at all.  There were 2 children under 12 & about 3-4 teenagers.  They were all impeccably behaved.  Apparently the week before it was full of kids in YC and not quite so well behaved according to one of our preferred servers.

 

In your cabin there is a little panel right by the front door where you press a button to either make up your cabin or do not disturb.  This triggers a light system outside your door so to show the butler or room steward room status.  Nice and easy to use and I appreciated not having the old fashioned tag to hang on the door.

 

I visited the spa twice for a couple of paid treatments (massage & reflexology) along with one of our traveling companions.  The spa space is absolutely beautiful and far superior to anything I've experienced at Celebrity Edge class.  Whilst waiting for my appointment slot I spotted multiple 'interlopers' trying to access the spa area.  My understanding is this area & the various thermal rooms are free of charge to YC and Aurea guests.  Everyone else has to pay a fee to acces the thermal rooms and other rooms.  There were a lot of people meandering into the lobby area which is pretty open to the access corridor with no 'barrier' & heading down the corridor towards the thermal rooms, only to be chased & stopped by one of the spa staff & questioned (politely by the way) on where they were going.  It must be quite tiresome for the spa staff to police this open lobby.  I truly felt for them!

 

Interlopers in YC - I know this is a topic of much discussion!  I am pleased to say we did not see any interlopers at any time in the YC area or pool deck.  That being said there were 3 days when the pool deck was unusable due to weather conditions so not conducive to encourage interlopers!  We did once get challenged at YC Concierge when we came through one evening after someone held the door open so we didn't use our cards for access.  I have no problem with being asked to verify our status by crew.  It was done in a polite manner & was pleased to see they were checking guests accessing the area!

[Valpacino]

Final thoughts - I really think overall MSC are doing a great job for the price point.  I would not sail in the 'gen pop' area but I totally understand why it's popular.  It's a good price for families and this seemed to make up the majority of the gen pop guests.  We saw multiple generations in large groups having a great time and so they should be!  We are a mature couple that seeks quiet and relaxation, hence why YC was our choice for this trip.  The MSC gen pop experience would be too noisy and busy for us but if you're a family, it is probably ideal.  If you want calm and great service and can pay the rate, it's worth upgrading to YC.

 

The YC cabins are lovely.  The walk in closet an absolute bonus.  The beds are comfortable, the linens are nice quality.  The blackout curtains keep the room dark.  I do not have a bad word to say about the accommodations.

 

The YC area from the lounge on Deck 16, to the restaurant space on 18 and to the 2 deck areas (19 & 20) are lovely open spaces with multiple lounging/seating areas.  They were never crowded or noisy.  You could always get a seat or lounger.  The YC was supposedly at full capacity but it never felt crowded.  It actually felt more like half full all the time, even on a sea day.  We loved that and this was far superior compared to The Retreat experience where we struggled to find loungers by 11am on sea days and seating in the restaurant at 8pm.

 

The staff everywhere on the ship, whether YC or gen pop, were wonderful and friendly.  The YC staff were head & shoulders more experienced & attentive than anything we experienced in The Retreat on Celebrity.  As another example of how good they are.  We went for breakfast on Deck 20 on embarkation day in the pouring rain once docked in Miami.  There they were - all waiting again ready to take care of us.  2 Members of the crew came over with the heavy beach towels and wrapped them over our shoulders to keep us warm as we enjoyed our final breakfast.  Kudos to the staff selection & training program for MSC!

 

The embarkation/disembarkation process with your butler by your side is a joy.  No queues to deal with.  I have to say we got a frisson on disembarkation as we strode through the lines, led by the lovely Rakesh, & ropes were lifted for us as we went straight to the front of the lines to get off.  

 

The food offered for breakfast/lunch on Deck 20 on the pool buffet was absolutely fine and did the job.  Our only negative experience was the quality of the food in the evenings in the YC dining room.   What, in our opinion, is the most important meal of the day fell short on the 4 times we ate there.  This is a personal thing I know but as food is extremely important to us, that negative experience has given us pause on whether we'd return again to this ship.  Our 1 week a year for vacation is too important to settle for so so evening dining.  As I said before I don't expect Michelin class food by any stretch but I would expect the offering in YC dining to be comparable with Luminea or a close thing.  It wasn't.

 

So that's my 2 cents for what it's worth.  If anyone has any questions I'll be glad to try & answer best I can.

 

[Mark_T]

14 minutes ago, Valpacino said:

As I said before I don't expect Michelin class food by any stretch but I would expect the offering in YC dining to be comparable with Luminea or a close thing.  It wasn't.

Perhaps the main take-away from your experience is that there is a lot of variability across the fleet and perhaps from cruise to cruise...

 

Our experience on Divina earlier this year was that the YC dining was above Luminae and the steak served there exceeded that served in Butcher's Cut.

 

No issues with speed of service or temperature of food either.

 

I guess we will have a 2nd data point when we return to Divina in February.

 

Thanks for your observations though.

[Fissues]

Nice shoes for the weather! Swimms are great. 

[dexddd]

Sorry the weather wasn't better.

 

We just got off a ten day on Mera.  Very similar YC and pool food experience.  YC dinners were C-. One night we just walked out and went to buffet.  Another three looked at menu and said no.  One of a few lunches ordered lasagna.  It looked like Stouffer's vegi but mostly green beans.  I ate three bites and it was disgusting.

 

Filets were my normal go to in the past.  Three out of seven good, rest could not even eat they were too chewy.

 

While the dinner staff are working hard, I have to think a lot of it is process related on the service end.  I think things are not set up efficiently.  One example, order a drink, staff has to go either down or up to a bar to get.  TSL busy but one bartender and staff queued up waiting.

[loge23]

Interesting take on the YC restaurant and as you have noted, food is always a topic that garners a wide spectrum of opinions. We ate there every night on our 10/22-29 cruise and were very satisfied with our meals. We always ordered from the daily selections, never from the "always available". Some dishes: a Bouillabaisse, Veal Osso Buco, Lamb shank, Surf & turf night (a generous cut of Filet Mignon delivered perfectly as ordered was delish!) - all were very good and certainly on par with our experience at Luminae. Not to counter your appraisal which I don't doubt, but a fair review of our experience.

We did have one specialty restaurant lunch at the Teppanyaki restaurant - good show and good food, but the chef cut the raw beef and raw chicken with the same knife, justifiably upsetting a guest. Everyone lived as far as I know. 

Only made it to breakfast in the DR once - the last day and it was, well...breakfast.

Agree that the lunch buffet should include some of their excellent pizza! Going off to the aft of 16 was like hacking through the jungle in search of food!

 

[Captain-John]

Thanks very much for the very detailed insight. Will you sail MSC YC again?

[Valpacino]

Good question Captain-John!  I have to say I'm a bit mixed about it due to the food experience in the evenings.  I'm one of those people who lives to eat, not eats to live!  It's my one vice & passion in life.  Having a so so or low quality evening meal when on vacation is what's holding me back at the moment if I'm honest.  Everything else we absolutely loved about MSC Seascape.  I've even looked at other ships in the MSC fleet to see if something else may fit the bill & sample another experience but I'm only pulling up Seascape as my option for Fall 2024.  My issue is we can only vacation in a very small window every year during the last weekend in October until about the second week in November due to our business pressures.  We can't travel in the summer or in the really active hurricane season, nor can we travel leading up/during Thanksgiving.  So our window of when we can travel is tight.  We also don't have time to fly anywhere to pick up a ship as we can only be gone 5-7 days max.  We live in SW FL so to drive to Port Canaveral which is well over 4 hrs away is not ideal.  It's bad enough trying to get in to crazy Miami!  I have no desire to do less than 5 days & end up on a 'booze cruise' type ship.  I also love the ship within a ship concept & now we've experienced that type of cruise with X & MSC, I don't want to return to 'gen pop'!  It probably sounds very picky & I'm being a bit awkward but unfortunately, as a business owner, we have certain operational pressures we have to adhere to which tightly controls what we can do as a vacation.

 

I totally agree with Mark-T's observation that there seems to be variable standards across the fleet.  The couple we chatted to who had sailed MSC 5-7 times said they had a much better dining room experience on the Divinia than the Seascape.  But the Seascape Lasagna was superior to the Virtuosa so there definitely seems to be disparity in quality at play.

 

Thank you Dexddd for your insights in to your experience on the Mera.  I agree regarding maybe the issues are due to process & set up.  I have no idea if my hunch is right but I'm assuming the kitchen servicing the YC dining room is not close by and, dare I say, dedicated just to that area?  It just took an awful long time to get anything whether it was breakfast or dinner & I noted the staff constantly up & down the stairs when getting drinks.  It must drive them nuts. 

 

Thank you Loge23 for your input.  We did try some daily selections as I agree this is usually where the better items are on a menu & tends to show off the kitchen's skills a bit better (or not!).  We tried the Duck & Chicken Terrine.  It was dry & tasteless.  The Vitello Tonnato was decent.  The Asparagus in Tarragon Sauce 3 of our party left.  It was dreadful.  The Chicken Kiev was a bit dry & just not very garlicky.  My DH sampled the Egg Fettucini with the Porcini along with a Lobster Tail.  He took 2 bites & pushed it away.  The pasta was overly salty & the Lobster Tail was tough & rubbery.  The Herbed Gravadlax app came with a potato patty.  I assumed this would be warm, almost like a warm blini.  I was wrong.  It was cold & I believe supposed to be served like that.  A cold potato cake is not that pleasant to eat for my taste.  The Tiramisu was not set & very liquidy.  We took one mouthful & left that also.  The best thing by DH ate all week in the YC dining room was the Indian Butter Chicken on the healthy menu!  He did enjoy that but overall, after a few nights of not liking what we were being served drove us off to Butchers Cut.  

 

Lastly I agree that heading off to Marketplace Buffet was a bit like hacking through a jungle!  We went about 2pm on the 1 day we did it & it was busy but manage-able.  I can't imagine what it must be like at 12 noon which I imagine is a peak time for the masses to rush in!

[GOLDENBONNY]

On 11/3/2023 at 8:31 AM, Valpacino said:

MSC do the right thing & reschedule you when you're 'ship shape' again

Why would they do it? Right thing is to buy insurance 

[DaKahuna]

On 11/5/2023 at 9:34 AM, Valpacino said:

 

We tried breakfast twice in the YC dining room.  I am afraid this was not so good.  We tried it on  We ordered our tea and coffee & breakfast selection & sat back and waited. And waited.  And waited a bit more.  Tea and coffee eventually arrived but it was lukewarm.  I reckon it took about 20-25 minutes to get the breakfast items served.  DH had the MSC express breakfast.  I ordered a selection of the fishes on offer with toast.  Absolutely nothing wrong with the food & quality but again the hot items were lukewarm.  The staff were friendly and courteous.  I just don't know why it took so long to get everything in a dining room that was less than a third full & why it was not that hot?  It was not a one off either.  On Day 4 it was raining with high winds so we took to the YC dining room again for breakfast.  This time we got there about 8.50 am.  It was exactly the same experience.  Took a long time to get items delivered & when they arrived, the hot items were lukewarm.  Also we noted if you ordered coffee, they didn't come back & ask if you wanted more or check if you needed a top up.  It was a disappointing experience on both occasions and after the second experience of slow service, we ended up braving the wind & rain for the remainder of the cruise & head for Deck 20 for breakfast.  

 

 I have to ask if you (1) sent the drink / food back because of the incorrect tempreture, (2) said anything to anyone regarding the luke warm drink and food?  

 

 It's hard for them to know something is wrong if no one says anything.   I believe we would have sent back the drink / food and if not corrected, said something to someone in authority.  

 

[DaKahuna]

On 11/5/2023 at 12:11 PM, Mark_T said:

 

Our experience on Divina earlier this year was that the YC dining was above Luminae and the steak served there exceeded that served in Butcher's Cut.

 

No issues with speed of service or temperature of food either.

 

 

 That is our hope as well Mark.  Looking forward to meeting you in person over a couple of adult beverages. 

 

[Valpacino]

Hi DaKahuna, Thank you for the question.  On Day 1 we let it slide, believing it was a hiccup as the kitchen/staff settled in to a new cruise.  We'd experienced the same thing on X Beyond with Day 1 being pretty disorganized on the food front so wasn't overly fazed by it.  On Day 2 evening meal 3 of 4 of our party left their entrees due to taste/quality. I ate mine but it was different to what everyone else had.  When the staff came to clear the entrees away they asked was everything ok.  Members of our party said, in a polite fashion, they didn't really like what they had.  We also ordered the Tiramisu that evening.  We left that also.  Again the server came to clear & asked "Did you not like it?" seeing it had been left and we said no we didn't.  Maybe we were being overly generous in thinking it was just a blip & things would smooth out a bit.  On Day 3 we ate with another couple on board who were MSC regulars with 5-7 cruises under their belt on various ships.  We mentioned to them we thought service had been a bit slow & the food quality a bit disappointing in the YC dining room.  They said they agreed and it was not the same as they'd experienced on other ships.  They also told us they'd already spoken to someone in authority in the dining room and they felt whilst it seemed they now had more staff hovering around them & watching them a bit more once something had been said, they had not seen a change in the overall experience in the dining room to match what they'd experienced elsewhere.  So on hearing this it kind of felt to us this was how it was.  I hope that answers your question.

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Hi DaKahuna, Thank you for the question.  On Day 1 we let it slide, believing it was a hiccup as the kitchen/staff settled in to a new cruise.  We'd experienced the same thing on X Beyond with Day 1 being pretty disorganized on the food front so wasn't overly fazed by it.  On Day 2 evening meal 3 of 4 of our party left their entrees due to taste/quality. I ate mine but it was different to what everyone else had.  When the staff came to clear the entrees away they asked was everything ok.  Members of our party said, in a polite fashion, they didn't really like what they had.  We also ordered the Tiramisu that evening.  We left that also.  Again the server came to clear & asked "Did you not like it?" seeing it had been left and we said no we didn't.  Maybe we were being overly generous in thinking it was just a blip & things would smooth out a bit.  On Day 3 we ate with another couple on board who were MSC regulars with 5-7 cruises under their belt on various ships.  We mentioned to them we thought service had been a bit slow & the food quality a bit disappointing in the YC dining room.  They said they agreed and it was not the same as they'd experienced on other ships.  They also told us they'd already spoken to someone in authority in the dining room and they felt whilst it seemed they now had more staff hovering around them & watching them a bit more once something had been said, they had not seen a change in the overall experience in the dining room to match what they'd experienced elsewhere.  So on hearing this it kind of felt to us this was how it was.  I hope that answers your question.

 

Thank you.  That did answer my question very well. 
 

Unfortunately, it does cause me concern as it seems to say if it starts out bad there is not much chance in improving during the same cruise or am I reading this the wrong way? 
 

[Valpacino]

I'm sorry to cause you concern DaKahuna!  That was never my intention.  When I started this thread I mentioned I was a long time lurker on here & had been helped tremendously by other posters about their experiences & tips of their time with MSC.  I wanted to give something back & share our experience, hoping it may help someone.  I never wanted to cause any consternations!

 

We had a decent breakfast & lunch experience on the YC Pool Deck.  I have no issues with the food there.  That they serve the delicious pizza by the slice would be a great addition seeing as it seems to be a jewel in the crown, so to speak, in the food offering on board.  I am hoping MSC may be monitoring this thread & consider this suggestion.  To keep such a great offering confined to the Marketplace buffet or room service seems to be a bit of an odd move.  Maybe there are operational reasons why this isn't possible?

 

I do feel what we experienced in YC dining room evening meal times was 'that is the way it is & this is our offering' for our sailing.  Morpheus has alluded to inconsistencies during their many trips as per their post on this thread.  It clearly seems it can rely on staffing & who is on board doing the cheffing at the time.  I think maybe we were simply on an 'off' week with regards to the galley staff.  I return to the confirmation from a fellow regular passenger traveling during our sailing that they asserted the offering & service did not compare to previous trips on other MSC ships & when mentioned to senior management in the dining room, little changed.  I feel that Dexddd's observation that the issues we experienced may be operationally led are probably correct with a not so great 'back of house' set up.  The staff are doing their best but if things are not set up efficiently such as traveling long distances from kitchen/beverage to dining room, no matter what a guest says as way of feedback or staff try to compensate will make much of a difference.  JMO.

[mizzoufinal4]

Some of the dining room issues could be due to a new maitre'd starting on your cruise. The MSC famous Arthur left the ship with us on Oct 29th! 

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, Valpacino said:

I'm sorry to cause you concern DaKahuna!  That was never my intention.  When I started this thread I mentioned I was a long time lurker on here & had been helped tremendously by other posters about their experiences & tips of their time with MSC.  I wanted to give something back & share our experience, hoping it may help someone.  I never wanted to cause any consternations!

 

 

And i salute you for doing so. Do assume the blame for my cause of concern.  My cause for concern is not exclusively based on your comments, which are open and honest as they should be, but comments from others as well.  They have been a number of glowing reviews as well but as I said, it just goes to show that like so many other cruise lines inconsistency can happen. 

 

[BeeeJay]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:44 AM, Valpacino said:

 The walk in closet is very spacious and an excellent design addition to the cabin.    Overall we feel the Deluxe suits on MSC are definitely superior to the Sky Suites on Celebrity & a step up in quality.

 

Aren't you in a Grand Suite in Yacht Club if you have a walk-in closet?  Deluxe Suite in YC has balcony, but not walk in closet.

[Valpacino]

Hi BeeJay, I double checked & yes, we had a Grand Suite in YC.  Very nice room & great layout.  There was a ton of storage in addition to the walk in closet.  Nicely decorated with dark tones which made it feel cozy & kept the room dark in the morning which we liked.  A better cabin overall than the Sky Suites in our opinion.  Sky Suits Bathroom is probably a little more spacious but we didn't like the 'tub' you had to climb in to, to shower.  Our bahtroom in the Grand Suite was perfectly good enough with plenty of counter space for your personal stuff.  Water pressure in the shower was excellent also.

[BeeeJay]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:23 AM, Keys Kathy said:

It is nice for me to hear the weather was lousy. I fell Sunday going from our cabin to the YC dining room for lunch. My shoulder is broken so they had us get off the ship. We were still in port. I hope someone got upgraded to our cabin.

 

I have contacted customer service about resuming our trip another time. Hopefully, they will co-operate.

 

Yes they gave it out, I went to ask about it and it was already gone.  Sorry about your fall and hope you are doing well.  Also you missed nothing, that entire 6-day cruise was a complete wash out.

[BeeeJay]

On 11/3/2023 at 10:04 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Interesting. Why on every cruise we have been on the pool guard would not allow any drinks in glass bottle or any thing glass near or in the pool ? Only difference in your cruise and ours is we always docked at Ocean Cay. Where your server reported  the Meraviglia was unable to stop 2-3 days ago. So why antagonize the guests further with enforcing safety rules like glass near the pool ? Would be interesting if any glass drinks are also being allowed as well at the Marina Pool? Or just the YC ?

 

No drinks in either YC or Marina/Infinity pools, quickly enforced in gen pop, slower/spottier enforcement in YC.

[Keys Kathy]

3 hours ago, BeeeJay said:

 

Yes they gave it out, I went to ask about it and it was already gone.  Sorry about your fall and hope you are doing well.  Also you missed nothing, that entire 6-day cruise was a complete wash out.

Wow! How soon did you ask? People don't realize this kind of thing can happen and don't ask. I am glad some got to use it! No wonder they got our luggage to the Lobby so fast.

 

I missed meeting nice people!

[BeeeJay]

On 11/5/2023 at 5:11 PM, Mark_T said:

Perhaps the main take-away from your experience is that there is a lot of variability across the fleet and perhaps from cruise to cruise...

 

Our experience on Divina earlier this year was that the YC dining was above Luminae and the steak served there exceeded that served in Butcher's Cut.

 

No issues with speed of service or temperature of food either.

 

I guess we will have a 2nd data point when we return to Divina in February.

 

Thanks for your observations though.

 

Had 4 yacht club steaks and 2 butcher's cut steaks on Seascape.  Yacht club steaks were all 4 decent filet.  Butcher's cut filet was similar.  Butcher's cut ribeye (upcharge) was far superior.  I heard from others the sirloin and strip steaks in BC were very poor.

 

Similar to the original poster, I found the Yacht Club restaurant uninspiring, but the Pool Deck breakfast, lunch, and tea time buffet outstanding.    

 

I was there the week with 50 kids in yacht club (the week before the bad weather week OP was there) and the pool was a major splash zone that week.  The lifeguard tries to manage it but if there are that many kids they are going to rule the seas so to speak. 

[BeeeJay]

30 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

Wow! How soon did you ask? People don't realize this kind of thing can happen and don't ask. I am glad some got to use it! No wonder they got our luggage to the Lobby so fast.

 

I missed meeting nice people!

 

I asked when I found out the reason for the delay in leaving port.  I was aware there was a fall and someone had to be evacuated, but I never knew yacht club vs gen pop until seeing your post here.    The first two weeks I was on the ship I got an upgrade from Bella Balcony to Yacht Club Deluxe based on a $775 * 2 = $1,550 bid (minimum plus $50) on a Yacht Club Interior.  Effectively a double upgrade.  I cancelled my upgrade bids for subsequent weeks because of the possibility of getting the Yacht Club Interior or something on 19 under the pool deck.  I've  been very happy with the Bella Balcony, but obviously the Yacht Club Deluxe was fantastic, so i went the route of waiting to ask for that specific opening because then you have control of saying yes or no to a specific room.

Edited November 9, 2023 by BeeeJay

[BeeeJay]

On 11/7/2023 at 11:08 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

And i salute you for doing so. Do assume the blame for my cause of concern.  My cause for concern is not exclusively based on your comments, which are open and honest as they should be, but comments from others as well.  They have been a number of glowing reviews as well but as I said, it just goes to show that like so many other cruise lines inconsistency can happen. 

 

 

The YC restaurant wasn't great from 10/15-10/29 either.  Seems like each meal there was either one item forgotten or something else incorrect on the order.   Drinks took a while.  Portion size was small.  I wasn't impressed with the food.  Not bad, just not outstanding.  Most days I just ended up eating a big breakfast and by the time the tea snacks were done I was pretty full and either skipped dinner, ran into gen pop for pizza, or ordered room service.  I also heard similar reviews from others on that and subsequent cruises.  Saw quite a few YC people who were doing specialty restaurants.