Possible Reason why Seashore and Seascape seem understaffed.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

10 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I cannot answer your question since our upcoming SS cruise will be our first with that line.  But, we are regular Seabourn cruisers and are very comfortable with the smaller luxury line vessels.  For many years we had booked 14-21 days in MSC Yacht Club between our Thanksgiving and Christmas.  These are all  MSC 7 day cruises (back to backs or back to back to backs) to the usual Caribbean ports...most of which we do not even bother to get off the ship.  But this year when we looked at the pricing of MSCs 14 day cruise (to the same old places where we have little interest) we noticed that the Silver Shadow had a true 14 day cruise (not a back to back) for less money.  That is a no-brainer.  

 

What don't we embrace in MSC's Yacht Club is the cuisine...which we find good but nothing special.  That being said, we still like the YC and will likely be back sometime in the future.  Meanwhile we look forward to being on a SS ship with fewer than 400 passengers as opposed to 4000+ on MSC.

 

Hank

 

I'm going to have a good comparison of the YC vs "steerage" coming up as I'll be on the Seascape in the YC with my wife and kids on the March 23 sailing and then I'll be in a gen pop interior room solo on the Seashore for the March 31 sailing (I have to be back in Florida the following week for an industry tradeshow so it made sense).

 

The way MSC does 14-day cruises in the Caribbean really doesn't make sense. I hope for the people who do those they don't repeat the menus and shows, or that would really detract from things. 

 

I believe being on two different ships, I'll see different shows even if the menu is the same (though it won't be since I'll be in the MDR for the second cruise).

 

I considered doing the Divina the second week but I was told it was a much older and less impressive ship (and it was the same exact itinerary), so I decided to do what's essentially the same (nicer) ship with a slightly different itinerary. 

 

This was an interesting thread to read. I'm 40 and have young kids, so I'm in a different place in life than you guys, but I appreciated the perspectives.

Edited January 29 by CruisematicVA

[Hlitner]

6 minutes ago, CruisematicVA said:

 

I'm going to have a good comparison of the YC vs "steerage" coming up as I'll be on the Seascape in the YC with my wife and kids on the March 23 sailing and then I'll be in a gen pop interior room solo on the Seashore for the March 31 sailing (I have to be back in Florida the following week for an industry tradeshow so it made sense).

 

The way MSC does 14-day cruises in the Caribbean really doesn't make sense. I hope for the people who do those they don't repeat the menus and shows, or that would really detract from things. 

 

I believe being on two different ships, I'll see different shows even if the menu is the same (though it won't be since I'll be in the MDR for the second cruise).

 

I considered doing the Divina the second week but I was told it was a much older and less impressive ship (and it was the same exact itinerary), so I decided to do what's essentially the same (nicer) ship with a slightly different itinerary. 

 

This was an interesting thread to read. I'm 40 and have young kids, so I'm in a different place in life than you guys, but I appreciated the perspectives.

Funny thing is we really do like the smaller YC venue on the Divina.  It is a bit of a pain since the YC dining room is all the way aft, but we still enjoyed our two cruises on the Divina.  We it agree that the MSC Caribbean itineraries are near awful, but having cruised on those waters for 50 years (and also spent time on the islands) the itinerary is not a deal breaker.  But with SS not only offering a better itinerary (with islands like Guadeloupe and Martinique) but having a true 14 day cruise (with no wasted turn-around day at Miami) it was a done deal once I spotted the cruise.  

 

The thing about MSC is that they have done little to improve their Caribbean offerings since they first started cruising in those waters.  The only attraction for us is Ocean Cay, since DW and I are happy to have a simple beach day.  

 

Hank

 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

6 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Funny thing is we really do like the smaller YC venue on the Divina.  It is a bit of a pain since the YC dining room is all the way aft, but we still enjoyed our two cruises on the Divina.  We it agree that the MSC Caribbean itineraries are near awful, but having cruised on those waters for 50 years (and also spent time on the islands) the itinerary is not a deal breaker.  But with SS not only offering a better itinerary (with islands like Guadeloupe and Martinique) but having a true 14 day cruise (with no wasted turn-around day at Miami) it was a done deal once I spotted the cruise.  

 

The thing about MSC is that they have done little to improve their Caribbean offerings since they first started cruising in those waters.  The only attraction for us is Ocean Cay, since DW and I are happy to have a simple beach day.  

 

Hank

 

 

I haven't cruised nearly as many times as you but even we're beginning to grow tired of the Caribbean and are starting to put more value in the ship than the ports, since we've done most of the Caribbean ports multiple times. 

 

We are doing a 9-day Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity in June and we're on the Icon in December, so some hopefully good cruises coming up. 

 

I don't remember if it was you or somebody else who said it, but somebody hit the nail on the head... We can sail in YC for the same price as a balcony on Royal. If we couldn't, we wouldn't even consider MSC, but YC is still a good value for the right itineraries. 

[Hlitner]

11 minutes ago, CruisematicVA said:

I haven't cruised nearly as many times as you but even we're beginning to grow tired of the Caribbean and are starting to put more value in the ship than the ports, since we've done most of the Caribbean ports multiple times. 

 

We are doing a 9-day Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity in June and we're on the Icon in December, so some hopefully good cruises coming up. 

 

I don't remember if it was you or somebody else who said it, but somebody hit the nail on the head... We can sail in YC for the same price as a balcony on Royal. If we couldn't, we wouldn't even consider MSC, but YC is still a good value for the right itineraries. 

We did not say it and have not cruised on RCI for nearly 20 years (at one time it was our favorite cruise line).  We do agree that the MSC YC is a good value for high quality short Caribbean cruises.    

 

Love the Med and still think it is one of the best places in the world for shorter (less than 14 day) cruises.

 

Hank

[deliver42]

We've done the YC on the Seashore and the Divina, and definitely prefer the Divina, but we're booked on the Seascape for 2025 because it will be in Galveston, and we can drive to the port.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

7 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

We've done the YC on the Seashore and the Divina, and definitely prefer the Divina, but we're booked on the Seascape for 2025 because it will be in Galveston, and we can drive to the port.

What do you prefer about the Divina vs. the Seashore?

 

Now I'm wondering if I should perhaps switch that cruise to the Divina.