**LIVE** from the MSC Seascape: A Family's Experience in the Yacht Club – 7-Night Western Caribbean – March 23-30, 2024

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

To those of you following along, thank you!

 

I'm still planning to write reviews for the items below... Please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to add to this list:

 

- Pools

- Staff

- Stateroom

- Casino (updated from first review)

- Entertainment (beyond the main theater)

 

In addition - I'm considering doing a night or two in the MDR on the Seashore just to be able to compare things since I know the majority of us don't sail in the YC (though it seems to be a skewed sample here on CC sometimes).

 

If there's anything you guys want me to cover or questions you have, let me know.

 

Part of this for me as well as it helps me remember what we experienced, which will be fun to look back on someday (I have an older CC account from where I was planning our very first cruise on our honeymoon 11+ years ago and it was neat to rediscover that recently).

[DisneyJen]

@FamilyAtSea.travel Hoping you and your beautiful family have a wonderful day on Ocean Cay🏝️

 

@DJ's DH and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary (I was a child bride 😆) on Meraviglia in May. Sounds like you and your DW have found the key to marriage success.

 

Thanks again for taking time out of your family vacation to post.

 

Looking forward to your solo trip report next week as @DJ's DH encourages me once a year to do a solo trip.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

8 minutes ago, DisneyJen said:

@FamilyAtSea.travel Hoping you and your beautiful family have a wonderful day on Ocean Cay🏝️

 

@DJ's DH and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary (I was a child bride 😆) on Meraviglia in May. Sounds like you and your DW have found the key to marriage success.

 

Thanks again for taking time out of your family vacation to post.

 

Looking forward to your solo trip report next week as @DJ's DH encourages me once a year to do a solo trip.

Thank you!

 

This will be my first solo cruise and I'm pretty extroverted, so I'm hoping I can make some friends to potentially hang out with some on the cruise, but I'll make the most of it no matter what.

 

Congrats on 40 years!!

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I'm getting my morning workout in on a stationary bike as I write this and I'm happy to report the gym isn't as busy this morning. My personal goal was to workout every day on this trip and so far I've made good on this

"Whenever I feel the need to take some exercise, I lie down until the feeling goes away." Winston Churchill     I tend to listen to my betters.

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Part of this for me as well as it helps me remember what we experienced, which will be fun to look back on someday

OR "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read (on a cruise)."Oscar Wilde

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Ocean Cay Update:

 

I'm disappointed to share that they just announced, nearly 4 hours after our original time to disembark, that they are bailing on Ocean Cay today... It's a beautiful day outside, but I'm guessing there must be too much wind.

 

We won't get to experience our YC cabana in the MSC paradise today, but we'll make the most of things onboard.

 

One of those things where you know there's a risk of disrupted itineraries on a cruise ship, and you just have to get past the frustration so you can get on with enjoying your day as quickly as possible!

Edited March 29 by FamilyAtSea.travel

[no1talks]

26 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

 

"We won't get to experience our YC cabana in the MSC paradise today."

 

At least you can still have the Ocean Cay YC lunch, since that menu is served in YC instead, so the prepped food isn't wasted.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Just now, no1talks said:

 

At least you can still have the Ocean Cay YC lunch, since that menu is served in YC instead, so the prepped food isn't wasted.

Guess we better make our way there now!

[no1talks]

Just now, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Guess we better make our way there now!

 

Watch, now that I mentioned it, the policy will have been changed. 🤪

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

11 minutes ago, no1talks said:

 

Watch, now that I mentioned it, the policy will have been changed. 🤪

I'm assuming this is the Ocean Cay YC menu?

 

I'm thinking I'll go with the Lobster Roll.

 

[no1talks]

1 minute ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I'm assuming this is the Ocean Cay YC menu?

 

I'm thinking I'll go with the Lobster Roll.

 

Yes! The lobster roll is very popular, though some New Englanders turn up their noses a bit.

 

Some YCers love getting a burger with a dollop of the lobster salad on it. YMMV on that one.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Welp - a kid got sick in the YC pool so they have to drain things and refill.

 

We discussed possibly going to the Jungle Pool, but decided to just be patient instead.

 

I think I'll work on my next review while we wait.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

The Pools of the MSC Seascape

 

We usually don't spend any time in the pools when we cruise because we have a pool at home and my wife runs a swim school in the summers, but we decided this cruise we would at least experience each pool onboard once.

 

We enjoyed this more than I thought we would as it was a challenge and the kids had fun with it.

 

Our review of each follows:

 

---

 

YC Pool

 

This is the pool where we spent the most time - both because it was less crowded (though still crowded as you can see in the picture), but also because my kids said the water was the least salty and the warmest.

 

Unfortunately (as I just mentioned in my previous post), a kid threw up in the pool today so it's currently closed, but that's not on MSC (fortunately it wasn't my kid, but it could have been any of ours).

 

None of the pools on the Seascape are very large, but this one seems the most adequate given the number of people onboard.

 

 

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Jungle Pool

 

This pool is best described as what would happen if a regular pool and the Rainforest Cafe had a baby.

 

The pool has been the most popular on the cruise and for good reason - the retractable roof overhead means that no matter whether it is sunny or cold outside, the Jungle Pool is comfortable at all times. 

 

The pool itself is on Deck 16 but there's an area on Deck 18 that overlooks the pool and has:

 

- (3) ping pong tables

- (3) foosball tables

- (1) shuffleboard table

- (1) pool table

 

Balls/accessories for each can be grabbed at the Meeting Point booth that is setup in the far center wall, near the Doremi Kids Club entrance.

 

The lounge chairs were full at pretty much all times (to be expected), as were the two hot tubs.

 

Note: They say the hot tubs have an 8-person maximum capacity, but this wasn't always strictly enforced (though when it was, they were good about kicking out the people who had been in the tub the longest).

 

 

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Marina Pool: 

 

This is the main pool out on deck 18 at the aft of the ship.

 

It has 6 beds that overhang the pool that are definitely the prime spots (3 on each side) + lounge chairs all over the surrounding the pool, both on decks 16 and 18. There are also bars just outside the ship on both decks as well.

 

This pool was incredibly crowded when the weather was nice, to the point where it wouldn't have even been enjoyable for most of us, even if you had a lounge chair.

 

There's a large digital screen here playing music and movies that you can enjoy out here as well.

 

It also includes two hot tubs.

 

 

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Pirate's Cove AquaPark:

 

This is the area that has the pool slides and trails on the upper level. Unfortunately when we were here, the trails up top were closed for some reason, but we loved the slides.

 

The slide that uses the tube is easily the best slide of all. Not only is it the fastest, there are lights inside the closed tube + it's playing music. When you get to the bottom, you shoot out the end and depending on your size, you either lose momentum pretty quickly, or if you're Daddy-sized like me, you can keep momentum all the way until the end of the available runway.

 

 

 

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Infinity Bridge Hot Tubs:

 

There are twin "hot" tubs on both sides of deck 8 overlooking the ocean. They are large and have a great view, but I've placed "hot" in quotes because none of the hot tubs on the Seascape are very hot... There's slightly cooler than the temperature I'd use when drawing one of my kids a bath (back when they used to take baths).

 

 

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Infinity Pools

 

At the aft of Deck 8, are two twin Infinity pools. These are fairly small, but they do have a great view overlooking the aft of the ship with the added bonus of the beautiful sounds of the ocean you're leaving behind.

 

These also have lounge chairs along the edge that allow you to rest your feet in the pools as you relax.

 

These are in an adults-only section so my kids didn't get to enjoy these, but I did for just a moment (to check the box to say we did them).

 

There's also a bar at the aft to grab a drink + a gelato bar to grab some ice cream (the kids are welcome here from what I saw).

 

One of the drawbacks here is that one of the smoking sections is just off to the side so you can smell the smoke from some areas of these pools.

 

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Scoring:

 

I think I reviewed all the pools here... Hopefully I didn't forget any!

 

- YC Pool: 4/5 (still more crowded than I'd like for an exclusive pool area like this)

- Jungle Pool: 3/5

- Marina Pool: 2/5

- Pirate's Cove: 4/5

- Infinity Hot Tubs: 3/5

- Infinity Pools: 3/5

 

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Edited March 29 by FamilyAtSea.travel

[no1talks]

4 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Jungle Pool

 

"This pool is best described as what would happen if a regular pool and the Rainforest Cafe had a baby."

 

You win Cruise Critic today, sir.

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Casino Update

 

For those of you who enjoy table games, below is a list of the tables + limits this week on the Seascape:

 

- Blackjack: $50/$1k

- Blackjack (x2): $10/$500

- Craps: $10

- Baccarat: $50/$1k (I never saw a single person play this the entire week)

- Dream 21: $10/$500

- Three Card Poker: $10/$100

- Ultimate Texas Hold Em: $15/$100

- Roulette (x2): $2/$50

- Automated Roulette: $0.50/$100

 

Also, I confirmed I was wrong about smoking in the table games section... This is definitely NOT allowed.

 

The only smoking section in the casino is a small room near the Sports Bar with ~20 slots. 

Edited March 30 by FamilyAtSea.travel

[Shadow9612]

40 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Also, I confirmed I was wrong about smoking in the table games section... This is definitely NOT allowed.

 

The only smoking section in the casino is a small room near the Sports Bar with ~20 slots. 

Thank you for this information....  I can't really handle smoke, and I like visiting the roulette table on a cruise.  Celebrity has been my go-to for cruising, but I would consider trying elsewhere knowing the casino table area is no smoking.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

16 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

To those of you following along, thank you! Please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to add to this list:

 

- Pools

- Main buffet

 

Would you bother with pools not in the YC? Was there anything you thought worthwhile?

 

Did you try the main buffet besides that first day? (I don't remember if you said you did) Was the YC poolside buffet varied enough to not have to venture to the main?

Edited March 30 by KeepCalmBearOn

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

5 hours ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

 

Would you bother with pools not in the YC? Was there anything you thought worthwhile?

 

Did you try the main buffet besides that first day? (I don't remember if you said you did) Was the YC poolside buffet varied enough to not have to venture to the main?

 

re: Pools

 

If you're in the YC, I don't think there's any real reason to go to the other pools unless you're checking them off the list like we were... They're a lot more chaotic and not any better.

 

The reasons I can think of to go to the other pools:

 

- If you're looking for more of a party vibe, the Marina Pool is a better fit

- If the weather isn't ideal (rain, too cold, etc), the Jungle Pool being indoors is a better option

 

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re: Marketplace Buffet

 

My wife and kids went here for breakfast most mornings and my wife said the sticky bun with walnuts was one of the best things she had food wise on the cruise. 

 

We went here a couple times for lunch as it had more selections than the YC pool buffet and the food was okay. Nothing incredible but it wasn't bad by any means.

 

At dinner the buffet doesn't have as many options as it does as lunch because most people go to the MDRs for dinner.

 

The YC pool buffet was reasonably varied from day-to-day, it just has limited options and my kids didn't always find something they liked. 

[Knicks1130]

9 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Casino Update

 

For those of you who enjoy table games, below is a list of the tables + limits this week on the Seascape:

 

- Blackjack: $50/$1k

- Blackjack (x2): $10/$500

- Craps: $10

- Baccarat: $50/$1k (I never saw a single person play this the entire week)

- Dream 21: $10/$500

- Three Card Poker: $10/$100

- Ultimate Texas Hold Em: $15/$100

- Roulette (x2): $2/$50

- Automated Roulette: $0.50/$100

 

Also, I confirmed I was wrong about smoking in the table games section... This is definitely NOT allowed.

 

The only smoking section in the casino is a small room near the Sports Bar with ~20 slots. 

I assume 10/500 BJ was CSM and 6:5… was the 50/100 from a 6/8 deck regular shoe, 3:2?

 

Based on your play… did you earn more or less points for the week? 
 

trying to figure out my bankroll (on SC in two weeks sailing on casino YC certificate).  Thanks for a great review

Edited March 30 by Knicks1130

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

25 minutes ago, Knicks1130 said:

I assume 10/500 BJ was CSM and 6:5… was the 50/100 from a 6/8 deck regular shoe, 3:2?

 

Based on your play… did you earn more or less points for the week? 
 

trying to figure out my bankroll (on SC in two weeks sailing on casino YC certificate).  Thanks for a great review

I didn't think to check the shoes/shufflers but I board the Seashore tomorrow so I'll take a closer look since they're sister ships with what should be identical setups.

 

I did pretty well on the table games (primarily roulette and craps), but the slots were the worst I've ever seen.

 

I didn't see anybody win more than $500 on a slot the entire week and our personal biggest win was $250 (on a $8.80 spin... Usually around $3/spin).

 

I spoke with Lucky, the Casino Host, on the ship and she apologized but I know there's nothing she can do about how tight the slots are set.

 

I'm not going to play the slots on the Seashore...I set a casino budget for our cruises, but I prefer to lose my money a bit more slowly than we did this cruise 😝

[DisneyJen]

20 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

This pool is best described as what would happen if a regular pool and the Rainforest Cafe had a baby.

Oh the imagery!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

I'm heading out to board the Seashore shortly, but still have some things I want to write about from the Seascape, so here we go.

 

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YC Staff

 

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YC Director - Mustafa

 

I've already told you guys just how amazing Mustafa was, but I'm just circling back here to let you know that same excellence continued all the way until the very end.

 

When we didn't take him up on his offer of a free specialty dinner or excursion, he took it upon himself to book us a YC Cabana on Ocean Cay. 

 

When the port call for Ocean Cay was canceled, he reached out to the YC Director on the Seashore (Mel) that I'm about to board, to see if she could get me at YC Cabana... He said it as a full sailing so he's not sure what happened, but I appreciate the gesture in any case.

 

He also saw us at the Future Cruise desk booking a future cruise (MSC World America in May 2025) and stopped by to tell the lady helping us to double our onboard credit for the sailing (he called it the "Turkish double hospitality discount" 😝).

 

He was absolutely incredible, and it will be hard for any future YC Director to outdo him. 

 

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YC Butler - Roberto

 

For those of you that have been fortunate enough to sail in the Yacht Club, you know just how special a good butler can make your experience.

 

Well, I'm happy to report, we got the best of the best!

 

Roberto was amazing throughout the entire cruise, and we all feel so blessed that we had the opportunity to get to know him over the past week.

 

We aren't the type that really needs a whole lot, so I wasn't sure how much we would even use a butler, but Roberto did a fantastic job of anticipating our needs throughout the seven days.

 

He even went as far as learning my typical workout routine, so if he had something he needed to share with me, he would catch me on the way back from the gym to let me know.

 

Since I'm doing a side-by-side, he let me know on day one to give him my laundry and day 6, so he can make sure he had it back for me on day 7. He then caught me on the way back from the gym on day 6 and told me, "I knew you'd be coming back from the gym around now so I was waiting! I wanted to remind you to give me your laundry so I can make sure I have it done for you in time."

 

He said they typically have around nine rooms each, but they were down a couple butlers and so he had 15 on our sailing, but you never would have known at based on the level of service.

 

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Top Sail Lounge Bartenders

 

We were served by three different bartenders in the TSL, and 2 of the 3 were fantastic (Wayan and Nitesh). The third of those bartenders just didn't seem very happy, but I'm sure it is tough having to show up with the smile on your face everyday when you work 7 days a week. I hope whatever she's going through, she gets through to the other side and finds her joy.

 

Wayan was probably our favorite bartender of all time, and we will truly miss him. 

 

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YC Restaurant Staff

 

Our head waiter was Dominic and our assistant waiter was Jomark, and they were both fantastic. We really liked Jomark and he was great with my kids.

 

The host was a South African gentleman (I've forgotten his name unfortunately), but he was great as well.

 

The Maitre'd was Demir Ercan and he had just boarded the ship for the first time on our sailing, but he was great.

 

The lady who turned us away at Embarkation Day lunch, we never saw again after that first day. I don't know if enough people complained that she got pulled off the floor, or maybe she was just in there helping for the day and then was reassigned elsewhere. I don't wish anything ill for anybody, but I don't know the story there. 

 

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Room Steward - James

 

We didn't really get to know James unfortunately, but he did a good job keeping our room clean and we had no issues there.

 

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Scoring:

 

- YC Director: 5/5

- YC Butler: 5/5

- TSL Bartenders: 4/5

- YC Restaurant Staff: 4/5

- Room Steward: 4/5

- Overall: 4.5/5

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[cruisebeachgirl703]

The YC director really came through for you. Fantastic. Love to hear that he listened. Excellent that you booked May 2025. Enjoy your next week. Keep the review coming!!!

[L1211]

On 3/22/2024 at 5:21 AM, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Good morning Cruise Critics family!

 

After a much too early wake up at 3:45am, we're currently sitting at our airport gate hoping for no delays as we fly into a very rainy (and possibly flooding) Miami.

 

We will be staying the evening at the JW Marriott Turnberry, hoping we will have some patches of sun to enjoy their Tidal Cove Water Park before we board the MSC Seascape tomorrow.

 

This will be our first time in the Yacht Club with our kids (9 and 7), so we're excited to see and share with you guys our experience as a Family at Sea in the Yacht Club onboard the MSC Seascape!

 

We did the Meraviglia in a gen pop balcony cabin last November and then had one of our favorite cruises of all-time aboard the new Celebrity Ascent over Christmas, but this is our first cruise this year.

 

I'll do a solo cruise in the YC on the Seashore next week (March 31 - April 7) and then a short, solo cruise aboard the questionable Margaritaville at Sea Paradise for two days (April 7-9) before I have an industry tradeshow in Orlando following that... Experiencing Margaritaville at Sea immediately following two weeks in the Yacht Club should be quite the experience 🤣

 

Our itinerary for this sailing will be:

 

- Day 1: At Sea

- Day 2: Falmouth, Jamaica (originally Ocho Rios until a Carnival ship took out the pier)

- Day 3: George Town, Grand Cayman

- Day 4: Cozumel, Mexico

- Day 5: At Sea

- Day 6: Ocean Cay

- Day 7: Return to Miami 😔

 

Ocean Cay will be the only new port for us but we have fun excursions planned at each port so we're excited to leave the freezing morning temperatures of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia behind for a week in exchange for 7 days of Western Caribbean bliss!

 

If anybody has any specific information they'd like us to look into during our cruise, ask away and I'll do my best to get you answers.

 

In the meantime - fingers crossed we beat these storms into Miami and there are no delays!

 

Bon Voyage!

 

Cute fam! Thanks for sharing your experience!!

[alserrod]

Hello

First of all, thank you very much for all the information you have been publishing. I would love to continue reading you on future cruises you take. You learn much more from these chronicles than from many pages you visit about cruise things.

I wanted to make a comment that surprised me negatively. You say that because a child got sick and vomited in the YC pool, they had to close it for the entire day.

If a pool has a properly designed water regeneration system (the entire water does not need to be changed but must be able to pass through the filters), the time should be much shorter.

In the pools I go to in summer, the time in the paddling pool is reduced by 30 minutes in cases like this (if a small child vomits or has small feces in the water). It's a long time... but it's only 30 minutes. Enough so that the water has passed through the filters.
Pool staff check the water after 30 minutes and, if correct, let people back in.

That's why I'm surprised that it takes MSC 24 hours