Celebrity Retreat vs MSC Yacht Club

[RichYak]

11 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

A bit off topic. sorry.

Observation: we were berthed on Ascent next to an MSC ship in St Kitts..odd looking vessel.  The passengers seemed to be large family groups..compared to couples,  small groups, singles and many fewer kids on X..

 

We'll stick with X ..had a great cruise. Not a  big fan of the Retreat but MSC ships are way too huge for us 

I would rather not sail outside either Retreat or Yacht Club. But I agree X has a much less kid friendly vibe. 

[Dolebludger]

Yes, we have cruised Silversea, Paul Gauguin, and Regent.  Regent is sort of our go-to line. We’ve cruised it more times than I can count. There are kids on Regent, and they don’t bother us a bit sometimes Regent even has kids sail free promotions. There ships are very spacious in public areas. zero crowds. The only thing that might be a problem for the kids is that Regent has fewer specialized children’s programs than, say, Disney. But if your kids would enjoy cruising on the ocean and visiting the port countries, they’d be fine. We’ve encountered kids on Regent who really enjoyed it. We took our grand daughter  (12 years old) on a Regent Alaska cruise last summer and she loved it.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

2 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Yes, we have cruised Silversea, Paul Gauguin, and Regent.  Regent is sort of our go-to line. We’ve cruised it more times than I can count. There are kids on Regent, and they don’t bother us a bit sometimes Regent even has kids sail free promotions. There ships are very spacious in public areas. zero crowds. The only thing that might be a problem for the kids is that Regent has fewer specialized children’s programs than, say, Disney. But if your kids would enjoy cruising on the ocean and visiting the port countries, they’d be fine. We’ve encountered kids on Regent who really enjoyed it. We took our grand daughter  (12 years old) on a Regent Alaska cruise last summer and she loved it.

I'll look into it. Fortunately my kids are very well-behaved, but I think it would probably be boring for them vs a bigger ship with slides, an arcade, and lots of kids.

 

We did take them on the Ascent over Christmas and they loved it (especially the kids club), but Celebrity did a good job on that sailing of providing activities for the kids.

 

Interesting side note there - the staff in the kids club told me during holiday cruises there are 6-700 kids on the ship, but when it's not a holiday it's only 10-20.

 

We decided we would only sail Celebrity (with our kids) if during a holiday, but if I didn't want to be around kids I would do just the opposite. 

[Jeremiah1212]

3 hours ago, Cruising89143 said:

Agree. Found the exact same issue on the Norwegian Bliss. Once outside of the Haven, it was a madhouse. 

 

There a similar starkness on both NCL and MSC when going from suite areas to non-suite areas. What I do like about Celebrity is that the Retreat areas are significantly more congruent with the rest of the ship. If I was content with sticking to the confines of YC (or even Retreat for that matter) that's the one scenario where I would consider an Oceania/Azamara/Regent alternative even though you're probably giving up some real estate in terms of cabin size. 

 

Aside from that the aesthetic of MSC ships in general isn't for me. Reminds me too much of a 1980's shopping mall.

 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

There a similar starkness on both NCL and MSC when going from suite areas to non-suite areas. What I do like about Celebrity is that the Retreat areas are significantly more congruent with the rest of the ship. If I was content with sticking to the confines of YC (or even Retreat for that matter) that's the one scenario where I would consider an Oceania/Azamara/Regent alternative even though you're probably giving up some real estate in terms of cabin size. 

 

Aside from that the aesthetic of MSC ships in general isn't for me. Reminds me too much of a 1980's shopping mall.

 

 

Man, you must've had some fancier shopping malls than I did 😝

 

My shopping malls most definitely did not have crystal staircases and scaled down Times Square digital displays, but my teen self in the 90s wishes we did!

[Whinenowine]

18 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

If I was content with sticking to the confines of YC (or even Retreat for that matter) that's the one scenario where I would consider an Oceania/Azamara/Regent alternative even though you're probably giving up some real estate in terms of cabin size. 

 

Actually I'm not sure that's true anymore--at least not consistently so.  I was also to book a Regent cruise on their newest ship for later this year in a cabin larger than a Celelbrity SS, with a balcony 2x the size of a SS and with many more benefits...all for less money (more than $100pp/pd less).  If I went down a cabin size on Regent the savings would be even greater.  Go figure!

 

[mahasamatman]

19 hours ago, CruisematicVA said:

Have you sailed on any of the luxury lines?

 

Silversea is significantly better than Retreat in all respects except price - though Celebrity is doing its best to close that gap.

[sonnycruises]

On 2/17/2024 at 5:16 AM, PTC DAWG said:

I wish people would quit talking up the YC…it’s not good people, trust me.  🙂

Its half the price!

[George C]

Can’t wait for my next MSc yacht club , I will be saving about 3k for the two of us , prices for celebrity suites are nuts and service and food has declined. I have done 9 celebrity cruises all in suites but majority of our future cruises will be yacht club and maybe some rccl suites

[NMTraveller]

I was wondering where many of the Celebrity regulars went ...

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

23 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

As it is for us.....

 

But before my status match expires I have to try it so I don't wonder what it is like.

 

 

mac_tlc

Oh I like it for sure..just manage your expectations when you venture out..it’s not as bad as some let on.  2 YC sailings so far, another booked next Jan.

[PTC DAWG]

20 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Well it is nicer than trailer trash. 

 

I've never sailed Carnival or MSC but often hear the term Carnival 2.0

YC. is very nice..I say give it a shot if it ever works out.

[Dolebludger]

I think the problem when leaving the suite area of a mass market ship has to do with crowded conditions and lines, and not with the presumed educational level, financial status, or intellect of those cruising in the “main ship”, It is not the status of the people there that makes it undesirable, it is the fact that there are too many of them for the space and services provided.,

[timf2001]

I sailed in both an Edge Villa on Celebrity and Yacht Club Duplex on MSC in the past year.  Crowding outside of the Yacht Club on MSC was a serious concern.  It's hard to do a fair comparison though since my Celebrity sailing was well below capacity.  Celebrity is clearly the more upscale experience, from the decor and furnishings around the ship to the quality of the entertainment and excursions.  However, the Yacht Club service was every bit as good, and the private areas had better offerings.  I certainly can't complain when it cost half of what Celebrity did.

[Dolebludger]

Because the YC is priced so far below the retreat, it is difficult (impossible?) to fairly compare them. I believe that MSC has YC on ships that are larger (in terms of number of passengers) than X ships. In our observation, the larger the ship, the more congestion there is in certain public areas. Outside the suite area, we have found X to be a nicer, less crowded experience than MSC. But both are superior to NCL outside the Haven.

[jelayne]

On 2/17/2024 at 2:32 PM, RichYak said:

"Stuck" in Yacht Club? That's a funny word choice. I actually find it appealing that, unlike with the Retreat, you have that choice. I do wish Celebrity hadn't gone with a half-a$$ed approach to the ship within a ship concept. For instance, in the Retreat, if you want a late breakfast or lunch on a port day, you find yourself on Royal 2.0.

Royal 2.0, IME that’s a stretch.  On sea days I have a late breakfast on Celebrity and at 10- 10:30 the Oceanview isn’t crowded, few if any children, quick to get made to order eggs.  But I have not been on a Celebrity cruise that 

to me resembles the madhouse of a Royal cruise with hundreds of kids.  

[hcat]

On 2/17/2024 at 6:21 PM, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

There a similar starkness on both NCL and MSC when going from suite areas to non-suite areas. What I do like about Celebrity is that the Retreat areas are significantly more congruent with the rest of the ship. If I was content with sticking to the confines of YC (or even Retreat for that matter) that's the one scenario where I would consider an Oceania/Azamara/Regent alternative even though you're probably giving up some real estate in terms of cabin size. 

 

Aside from that the aesthetic of MSC ships in general isn't for me. Reminds me too much of a 1980's shopping mall.

 

 

We saw an MSC ship close up in St Kitts the other day ... Massive and ugly.. like an apt barge.  Not crazy about the  bow shape of ASCENT but nothing as bad as the other one!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

6 minutes ago, hcat said:

We saw an MSC ship close up in St Kitts the other day ... Massive and ugly.. like an apt barge.  Not crazy about the  bow shape of ASCENT but nothing as bad as the other one!

Of all the things I care about, the external design of the ship is not one of them.

 

Things that are more important to me:

 

- Service

- Things to do

- Food

- Shows

- Casino

- Cabins

- Atmosphere

- Interior design

...

...

...

- Exterior design of ship 

[paulh84]

I've booked Yacht Club twice, gotten cold feet and cancelled, then rebooked with Celebrity. Every time we're in port next to a Sea-whatever ship I'm glad we canceled MSC. I just don't think it's for us. The chrome and sparkles and mirrors just don't appeal to me and the YC cabins also seem very dark and dated. 

 

In theory I do like the Thermal Spa access that comes with YC. It looks very nice. But if the space is used like people use the Celebrity Thermal Suite, which is to be expected on a Caribbean cruise, then it's not so much of a selling point.

[Cruising89143]

On 2/17/2024 at 2:21 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Well it is nicer than trailer trash. 

 

I've never sailed Carnival or MSC but often hear the term Carnival 2.0

Personally, I don’t think it can get much worse than Carnival. Been there, did that and have no desire or reason to return. Just my two cents. Many love the line and that’s great but not us. 

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

Royal 2.0, IME that’s a stretch.  On sea days I have a late breakfast on Celebrity and at 10- 10:30 the Oceanview isn’t crowded, few if any children, quick to get made to order eggs.  But I have not been on a Celebrity cruise that 

to me resembles the madhouse of a Royal cruise with hundreds of kids.  

Well, that’s nice for you. What I wrote wasn’t hyperbole. My last cruise in August with Celebrity (in Retreat) I had to eat standing up at a high-top in OVC because we couldn’t find 2 seats together. It was a Royal 2.0 madhouse.

[doghog]

2 hours ago, CruisematicVA said:

Of all the things I care about, the external design of the ship is not one of them.

 

Things that are more important to me:

 

- Service

- Things to do

- Food

- Shows

- Casino

- Cabins

- Atmosphere

- Interior design

...

...

...

- Exterior design of ship 

😂

 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

4 minutes ago, doghog said:

😂

 

 

And there's the benchmark for the cutoff on when the exterior design matters 🤪

[momofmab]

On 2/17/2024 at 1:54 PM, Jeremiah1212 said:

The problem with Yacht Club is you’re stuck in Yacht Club. If YC is too sleepy for you, once you pass those doors you find yourself on Carnival 2.0 which is a hard pass for me. 

 

100% 

 

Although the YC is a beautiful, serene oasis, we missed using the whole ship.  Every time we left YC, it was like emerging into a circus.  We'd do a quick lap and walk swiftly back to YC.  Conversely, on X we're fine being in "gen pop" - we've never done Retreat and likely never will with current pricing.  X & MSC in general are completely different products, targeting different audiences.

[ISABELLA]

On 2/17/2024 at 12:44 PM, REDSTRIPETYPE said:

Did I read somewhere that Celebrity Elite status can get free upgrade to the Yacht Club?

We are Elite+ on Celebrity and got our status matched for upcoming YC cruise in December. You will need a proof of your X status.