Nov 20th Seashore Live(ish) review - Retreater goes Yacht Clubbing for 1st time

[Whinenowine]

On 11/26/2023 at 9:34 AM, go.without.you said:

I'm doing Celebrity next month but in Aqua class because Retreat was double the price of aqua.  Their pricing is ridiculous. I did place a move up bid, so we'll see.

Thanks for all your posting this past week--and so sorry the cruise missed on so many important points (for so many CC'ers). Good luck on your move up bid on X.  We're also Retreat cruisers looking for less pricey alternatives. I cannot believe what they are now charging for even basic Sky Suites these days.  But they must be getting those exorbitant prices because the ships continue to fill up!

[Whinenowine]

On 11/24/2023 at 2:29 PM, Rickrick2020 said:

I am a sommelier (level 1) trained by the court of master sommeliers.  The wine in the YC is strictly grocery store offering.  I would say one step above barefoot wine.  The pinot grigio was good, mellow was meh.  $ were not spent by msc on wine. Cozumel Beach club was magnificent.

Yeah, I've not cruised in YC yet, but generally I've been consistently disappointed with the average bottle served on most cruise lines (and even some of the pay-per-bottle wine lists too).  Even in Celebrity Retreat I gave up and just started availing myself of their BYO policy--bringing several nice bottles on board per cruise.

[scamper]

Ever the optimist, look at it this way:  you could have been mixed in with the poor shlubs in steerage.

 

Don't give up on the YC.  I'm willing to bet a future cruise will be better.

[go.without.you]

27 minutes ago, scamper said:

Ever the optimist, look at it this way:  you could have been mixed in with the poor shlubs in steerage.

 

Don't give up on the YC.  I'm willing to bet a future cruise will be better.

I have 2 MSC YC booked for next year. Still deciding whether to keep or cancel.

[mshaines]

Trying MSC on the Seashore for the first time next week.  Will be in the YC.  Any tips for making life a bit better?  My husband and I have both read and seen some pretty terrible reviews, so we're a bit worried about our choice.  

[DaKahuna]

3 minutes ago, mshaines said:

Trying MSC on the Seashore for the first time next week.  Will be in the YC.  Any tips for making life a bit better?  My husband and I have both read and seen some pretty terrible reviews, so we're a bit worried about our choice.  

 

Look here - 

 

[mshaines]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Look here - 

 

I hadn't seen this before.  Thanks! 

[gmbhardy]

On 11/22/2023 at 8:00 PM, go.without.you said:

Ok, thanks for validating my experience. I don't want to come off as a Negative Nancy.

Why would anyone think that.

[jjjct]

On 11/22/2023 at 11:44 AM, JAGR said:

I'm so sorry that @go.without.you and Janelle are having such a rough time of it.  I am hoping that this is a short-term issue with the ships transition from the Med to the Caribbean.  I suspect they did not have a full ship or crew on the TA, and it appears that they did not (or could not) get adequate staffing for the initial Caribbean sailing.  She is scheduled to sail out of here through at least October of 2025, so they had better take action soon.  From a personal greed standpoint, YC must be solved by March 3, 2024. 😝

YES! She will be tip top by then! Only comparing to NCL Haven, any cruise is a great cruise and hope this 1st cruise on MSC will turn into a 2nd.

 

[lcpagejr]

On 12/1/2023 at 10:41 AM, mshaines said:

Trying MSC on the Seashore for the first time next week.  Will be in the YC.  Any tips for making life a bit better?  My husband and I have both read and seen some pretty terrible reviews, so we're a bit worried about our choice.  

Almost impossible to have a a bad experience in Yacht Club. Don't overthink it and just enjoy being spoiled!

[morpheusofthesea]

On 12/1/2023 at 10:41 AM, mshaines said:

Trying MSC on the Seashore for the first time next week.  Will be in the YC.  Any tips for making life a bit better?  My husband and I have both read and seen some pretty terrible reviews, so we're a bit worried about our choice.  

Ho,Ho,Ho !!!  Start tipping early and frequently. Tis the season. Have never heard a bad review from a good tipper.

[psmarkle]

On 11/17/2023 at 9:47 PM, jjjct said:

Looking forward to your experiance on Seashore. We are on our 1st MSC in March 2024. We are NCL loyalist, so trying something new. We will be in the Yacht Club. Looking forward to your live report.

 

 

We are NCL Platinum from back before they divided the levels up. Always booked NCL Haven through the Casinos At Sea until we discovered MSC Yacht Ckub at literally 1/2 the price for a far superior experience!

 

Now MSC Diamond and have only sailed MSC YC and not looking back. Seriously, why would I, for the higher level of service and the value for our $$, MSC has earned our loyalty! Thier casino rewards are also very generous with their 30% off your next cruise. Although I understand they have changed the amount of play required, I'm sure I won't have any problem meeting the requirement 😊

[KennyFla]

On 12/2/2023 at 3:17 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

Ho,Ho,Ho !!!  Start tipping early and frequently. Tis the season. Have never heard a bad review from a good tipper.

Hmmmmmm.   And that’s a bad hmmmmmmm

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, KennyFla said:

Hmmmmmm.   And that’s a bad hmmmmmmm

I should perhaps add that on a cruise line that officially discourages individual tipping, there is certainly no overt expectation from the staff and from my experience no need either, to tip 'early and frequently'...

 

We always reward excellence at the end of the cruise, never before and still get great service, but you'll never convince those who want to believe that they need to 'pre-tip' to get the service they want... 🙂

[KennyFla]

38 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

I should perhaps add that on a cruise line that officially discourages individual tipping, there is certainly no overt expectation from the staff and from my experience no need either, to tip 'early and frequently'...

 

We always reward excellence at the end of the cruise, never before and still get great service, but you'll never convince those who want to believe that they need to 'pre-tip' to get the service they want... 🙂

My point is that if you are trying to monopolize the staff’s time that is inconsiderate to the other passengers.  We tip extra, but don’t demand special attention 

[morpheusofthesea]

 Tipping in advance was traditionally the way most people used to tip, to insure promptness and most service providers actually respond best to this form of tipping. Especially useful when one is competing for the attention of over-worked short staffed service providers.

I did tip in advance a couple of years ago on a cruise only to discover that the maitre d' was switched a day after I had tipped him. Then we went through 3 different butlers that were taken out of service due to covid and one steward.

On our most recent cruise I met with the maitre d' to express my desires and then asked him if he was going to be our maitre d' for the entire cruise. He assured me he was and to 'express' my 'appreciation' that everything would be as I requested, I tipped him. Just at the moment of his hand and mine clasping an officer approached and witnessed the act. I asked the officer if he had anything to do with the dedicated restaurant and he said he was the manager of all the restaurants. I proceeded to go into my pocket again for another tip 'in kind' when the officer stopped me and said for him it is not necessary. The maitre d' chimed in and said "whenever you feel the urge to tip my boss to give it to me. I will make sure he gets it."

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23748777_The_Social_Norm_of_Tipping_A_Review

[DaKahuna]

 Do they provide envelopes for tipping like other cruise lines or since tipping is "officially discouraged" should one be prepared to bring their own envelopes?  Asking for a friend 🙂 

 

[Mark_T]

46 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 Do they provide envelopes for tipping like other cruise lines or since tipping is "officially discouraged" should one be prepared to bring their own envelopes?  Asking for a friend 🙂 

 

You will have no problems getting envelopes... sorry, your 'friend' will have no problems 🙂

[morpheusofthesea]

45 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 Do they provide envelopes for tipping like other cruise lines or since tipping is "officially discouraged" should one be prepared to bring their own envelopes?  Asking for a friend 🙂 

 

Tell your "friend" I went to the concierge desk and asked them for 'TIP' envelopes and the concierge asked "How many ?" 10 will do it. He counted the envelopes out like he was counting Euros ( there must be a high demand for envelopes ?).

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

tipping is "officially discouraged"

There are so many things that are not only "discouraged" but absolutely indecent, disgusting, filthy, and offensive that are posted but ignored. For example throwing all your trash and soiled dishes out into the hallways. Or smoking in your cabin and balcony. Putting your feet up on the furniture (barefoot or with shoes). Chair hogging. Saving seats in the theatre and lounges. Hanging your laundry out on the balcony. Wearing shorts, tank tops and flip flops or bare feet in the MDR for dinner. Unacceptable behavior to fellow passengers. Not abiding by the arrival times required for smooth embarkation for all. Not following instructions to wait in lounges until tender number is called and instead clogging up the gangway and stairwell.

[jean87510]

18 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

There are so many things that are not only "discouraged" but absolutely indecent, disgusting, filthy, and offensive that are posted but ignored. For example throwing all your trash and soiled dishes out into the hallways. Or smoking in your cabin and balcony. Putting your feet up on the furniture (barefoot or with shoes). Chair hogging. Saving seats in the theatre and lounges. Hanging your laundry out on the balcony. Wearing shorts, tank tops and flip flops or bare feet in the MDR for dinner. Unacceptable behavior to fellow passengers. Not abiding by the arrival times required for smooth embarkation for all. Not following instructions to wait in lounges until tender number is called and instead clogging up the gangway and stairwell.

Most of us know this is unacceptable behavior.  However, I'm trying to see the correlation between asking about tipping envelopes and entitled cruisers.

[morpheusofthesea]

9 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Most of us know this is unacceptable behavior.  However, I'm trying to see the correlation between asking about tipping envelopes and entitled cruisers.

Others are alluding that tipping is also unacceptable behavior, since they bring up a MSC policy of tipping "not recommended".

P.S. As to "entitled cruisers"; they don't tip, they demand.

Edited December 5, 2023 by morpheusofthesea
P.S.

[Mark_T]

8 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Others are alluding that tipping is also unacceptable behavior, since they bring up a MSC policy of tipping "not recommended".

 

No, I did not suggest it was 'unacceptable' merely that it was not a prerequisite to receiving great service onboard.

 

...and specifically there is no need to tip 'early and frequently'.

 

You may feel otherwise and that is fine, but others should not get the impression that it is a requirement.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Mark_T

[Jorhammer]

On 12/2/2023 at 3:17 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

Ho,Ho,Ho !!!  Start tipping early and frequently. Tis the season. Have never heard a bad review from a good tipper.

I’m on the YC right now and I have not had to grease any hands to get the same treatment you rave about. We are being treated as great as the next passenger. I guess we are definitely getting by with personality and looks… jk. From my view there is no need to show appreciation until the end of the cruise, which our butler and jr. butler have earned since the moment we met them.  

[Best Cat Mom]

We too are currently in the YC and receiving exceptional service with no advance tipping. We've not yet encountered a situation where we felt an advance tip would be needed to have proper service, though we are always keeping in mind that the day might come when it would be necessary.