Celebrity Retreat vs MSC Yacht Club: A Live Perspective

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

We're currently sailing in the Retreat on the Celebrity Equinox (day 8 of 9 total at the moment) and we sailed in the Yacht Club on both the MSC Seascape and MSC Seashore in March-April so both are still very recent experiences.

 

We cruise often for a young family (8 and 9 year old kids, sailing 6-8x/year), but for this cruise it is just my wife and I (thank you grandparents!).

 

Some things to preface this post:

 

• We're not brand loyal to any cruise line. Over the next 12 months, we have sailings booked on the following ships:
  • Norwegian Encore (Alaska)
  • Sun Princess
  • Royal Icon of the Seas
  • Disney Treasure (new ship being released next March)
  • MSC World America (new ship being released next April)
  • Norwegian Aqua (new ship being released next spring)
  • Carnival Jubilee
  • Celebrity (TBD at the Future Cruises desk later today/tomorrow)
     
• I'm aware that the Retreat on Edge-class ships are a better experience than on an older ship like the Equinox.

 

Rather than a single, very long post, I'll break the categories up into their own posts.

 

So with those things out of the way, let's get down to business!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

OUR ROOMS:

 

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Celebrity Equinox: 

 

We're currently sailing in an Aqua Sky Suite that had a price of $11k for 9 days (after port fees and taxes), broken down, that's a rate of $1,222/night.

 

In addition to the typical Retreat Amenities, this also included access to the Persian Garden thermal spa + fitness classes and some fitness items in our room that we haven't used.

 

The room is slightly larger than a standard balcony room and the extra space has been nice, but we're not the type to really care about our room so extra space isn't a big selling point for us.

 

 

 

 

MSC Seascape/Seashore:

 

The two ships we sailed on MSC are nearly identical so moving forward I'll simply refer to MSC Seascape, but understand we actually sailed on both side-by-side.

 

The price for both of these sailings was $7k (after taxes and fees), or $1k/night...roughly 20% cheaper than our sailing on the Equinox.

 

We were in a Deluxe Suite in the Yacht Club. This was a similar room to the Aqua Sky Suite we're currently sailing in.

 

 

 

 

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The main differentiating points between the rooms are listed below:

 

• As the Seascape is a newer ship, the room had a more modern design and amenities (we don't care too much about the design beyond the first impressions, but it has no impact on our sleep/showering...the main things we use our room for).
   
• Our SS on Deck 12 of the Equinox had an overhang directly over the balcony - one way to look at this is that you get shade, but another is that you don't get much sunlight and it impacts sight lines. We rarely use our balcony so this didn't really impact us either way, so this is simply a data point. (picture of overhang below for reference)
   
• The SS on the Equinox has a bathroom with shower that has a half glass enclosure toward the front + shower curtain on toward the back. This means less light but hasn't been a big deal. The Seascape had a standing shower w/ glass enclosure.
   
• On the Seascape, we had a button we could press that would trigger a light outside the room to show our room steward when we were requesting room service (or requesting they Do Not Disturb). On the Equinox you use a door magnet instead.
   
• The Equinox does not require a room card to be inserted to use lights/power in the room, but the Seascape did (and if you left a key in the door when you left, the steward would remove it).
   
• The only power outlets available in our SS on the Equinox are by mirror across from the bed + in the bathroom. On the Seascape, one side of the bed (but not both) had a USB-A outlet + a wireless charging pad in addition to the outlets.

 

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Advantage: Seascape (but the Equinox rooms don't fall far behind)

 

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Picture of the balcony overhang above our room on Deck 12.

 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Retreat Lounge:

 

Perhaps it is unfair to compare the Retreat Lounge (RL moving forward) to the TSL (TSL moving foward) on a newer ship, but there's really no comparison between the two, detailed below.

 

Pictures of both spaces can be found at the bottom of the post.

 

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Aesthetics:

 

• • The TSL is a big open space with large windows that overlook the forward of the ship so you can watch as you sail on the open seas with the Yacht Club Restaurant upstairs and a crystal staircase connecting the two spaces.
  • The RL is a space with no windows (it has some false windows with lights behind them to give the illusion of sunlight, but no real windows). The bar is also much smaller than the bar in the TSL w/ less comfortable seating. 

 

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Location:

 

•  MSC's Yacht Club is a ship-in-a-ship concept, which means everything is located together in a single area of the ship that YC guests have exclusive access to. This was especially nice because while my wife would be getting ready for dinner in the evenings, I could easily walk from our stateroom to the TSL to grab a drink while I waited for her to get ready. Once she joined me, we could simply ascend the crystal staircase directly from the TSL to the YC Restaurant. The TSL also includes an outdoor seating space at the forward of the ship that was extremely nice.
• Conversely, on the Equinox, our room is on Deck 12, the Retreat Lounge is on Deck 5, and Luminae is on Deck 3 w/ no outdoor seating (or even windows since it's not on the exterior edge of the ship). (Blu is actually much more conveniently located in proximity to the RL as they're both connected to the Ensemble Lounge on Deck 5)

 

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Entertainment:

 

• • The TSL has live entertainment each evening with some truly fantastic lounge music. We really enjoyed listening to this before grabbing dinner or while grabbing a night cap before calling it a night.
  • The Retreat Lounge has no live music which there's no excuse for. There isn't anything structurally that would prevent this, this is simply Celebrity being cheap.

 

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Bar Service:

 

• The TSL typically had two different bartenders working vs. a single bartender in the RL, meaning we more often had to wait for a drink in the RL.
• Additionally, the TSL has an espresso machine so they can make my favorite cruise drink, a Salted Caramel Espresso Martini. (the only place they can make this on the Equinox is at Cafe Al Bacio and they had a different recipe that isn't nearly as good)
  • An interesting note here - we met a bartender up at the Sky Lounge on the Equinox who worked in the YC on MSC for many years and he claims to have been the one to bring that drink to MSC...if true, I wish he'd bring it to Celebrity as well!

 

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Advantage: MSC (and it isn't close)

 

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Retreat Lounge Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Top Sail Lounge Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

[cbfb]

Loving this comparison. Thanks for posting and sharing pictures as well. 

[Lena11033]

Thanks for posting the comparison.

I've done Retreat once but don't think I'd do it unless E class now just because of the YC experience

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Service:

 

There's a variety of different types of service to consider here so hopefully I can do them justice here to provide a worthy comparison.

 

There's a lot to compare here, so I'm going to break these up into their own posts to keep any individual post from getting too long.

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Butlers:

 

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First an important note for those of you sailing in Sky Suites:

 

Celebrity fans will be happy to know they have officially brought back personal butler service to the Sky Suites vs. the team-approach they tried (and failed with).

 

Our butler told us Celebrity really dropped the ball when trying to implement this change:

 

• She went from covering 15 rooms/sailing to 45 rooms/sailing shared with one other butler.
• When they were implementing this team-approach, many people had their contracts terminated and this was not handled well. They tried to move as many people into different roles vs. terminating their contracts but she refused and was ultimately able to keep her job as a butler.

 

She currently is managing 22 rooms (vs the previous 15) but in exchange, she no longer has to handle laundry and some other duties she used to previously so she feels she can provide service to 22 rooms just as effectively as she was able to provide to 15 rooms previously since she has less job duties assigned to her.

 

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Something else to note here is that Celebrity recently implemented some changes to the Retreat, one of which is supposed to be the ability to communicate with your butler via "Butler Chat". They way they advertised this service made it sound like something that would be built into the X app, but really it's just a phone number you can text via WhatApp. 

 

She said when they did this, they also changed from satellite phones where guests could reach her to a cellphone with wifi access. However, often the internet doesn't work and as a result people are unable to reach her (even via the room phone), which has led to many upset guests.

 

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Moving past those items, we've received excellent service from our butlers in the both the Retreat and the Yacht Club.

 

We don't really need anything from the butler which I would imagine makes things a challenge at times for them to provide that extra personal attention, since we don't need anything.

 

With that said, I'll share some of the personal touches we received from each:

 

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Celebrity Retreat: 

 

• • We've founded special treats in our room on each night of our sailing (fruit & cheese plates, bottles of wine, chocolate covered strawberries, etc). 
• Of the 8 days on this sailing so far, we've had at least one personal interaction with our butler last 3-5 minutes each day. 
• When she learned we'd be taking the ferry to Portofino while in Santa Margherita, she recommended we take the bus instead of the ferry one way as we'll get some different views. She was also able to tell us exactly where to find the bus (we ultimately didn't take her advice, but it was nice that she was able to provide this perspective).

 

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MSC Yacht Club:

 

• There were canapés in our room on some evenings but they were never as good as what we've received in our room on the Equinox.
• One nice (though totally unnecessary) thing the butlers on MSC do is to provide escorts both off the ship while at port + to the theater for the shows in the evenings.
  • We typically don't use the elevators while we cruise (have to work off those drinks!) but the elevators on the Seascape are poorly implemented and often have long waits...the escorts are nice because the butlers can get priority elevator service which is usually much quicker (though at peak times, even their priority elevator calls don't work).

 

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Advantage: Celebrity

 

These are pretty close overall since they're very similar in terms of the service they're providing. I'm also ignoring our personal feelings toward which butler we liked more on a personal level to focus on the service itself. 

 

With that said - I'm giving Celebrity the advantage here because of the very nice treats they provide + the extra knowledge they have of the ports (not just the ship itself). Some of you that care more about escort services may give MSC the advantage, but that's not something we really care about.

 

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[Lena11033]

Question, did you ask for the treats in the afternoon? 

Curious as my experience in Feb in the Retreat was completely different. My butler never offered much or bring snacks unless I called for room service, YC I had snacks every day without asking.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Concierge Service:

 

The service provided by the Concierge team in the Retreat vs the Yacht Club are pretty similar but there are some differences.

 

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Location:

 

• Celebrity: The "home base" for the concierges on the Equinox are a stand on the right side just after entering the Retreat Lounge on Deck 5. This is a small stand similar to what you'd see at the front of a stage as somebody is speaking at a conference.
• MSC: In the Yacht Club, the Concierge team has a larger space dedicated to the Concierge team as you enter the YC from Deck 16. 
• Overall: Functionally the locations serve the same purpose, but what it has meant from a practicality standpoint is that in the YC, I'd just walk down a floor and talk to somebody (or you can use the elevator dedicated to the YC that only goes to Decks 16-20...no 17 on MSC). With Celebrity, I typically call since it's a much longer journey from Deck 12 to Deck 5. 

 

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Service: 

 

• Celebrity: The Concierge team on the Equinox is staffed by two people and they seem to work opposite shifts to provide staffing during as much of the day as possible. This means more times than not when I've called, nobody has answered (and sometimes it forwards to Guest Services). 
  • Anecdotal Story: There was one moment earlier in the cruise when I want to speak with the Concierge in person in the Retreat Lounge but nobody was there when I got there. The bartender was working and he said she was up on the Retreat Sun Deck. So I made my way up to Deck 16 to talk to her (again, we don't use the elevators for the most part). However, when I made it to Deck 16, I was told she'd gone down to the Retreat Lounge...I'm 41 and workout often, but this would have been even more frustrating if I was at a different stage of life. 
  • Anecdotal Story 2: There's a known IT issue with the new phone system in use on the Equinox using cellphones w/ wifi vs. satellite phones where if you call and they're on another call (or they don't currently have a wifi signal), on your room phone it simply says, "invalid extension" instead of going to voicemail or forwarding to somebody else. The Concierge explained they're aware of the issue but there's currently no fix in place. The good news is they see the missed call so they can call back. This was frustrating the first time it happened but now I know what to expect so it's less of an issue.
     
• MSC: The Concierge desk on MSC was staffed around the clock, typically by two Concierges, but sometimes more than that + the YC Director at moments as well. On embarkation day, in addition to having a fully staffed Concierge Desk, they also bring in somebody from the restaurant team to handle reservations + the same thing from the spa team. There was never a time when I called/stopped by that somebody wasn't there to answer.
  • Anecdotal Story: I expressed a couple frustrations from the Celebrity Concierge service so it's only fair I share the same with MSC. On embarkation day, somebody from the Spa team who was helping during these peak hours made a reservation for a couples massage for us telling us the Kids Club would be open for our kids at that time but she would double-check to make sure...well, she didn't double-check and didn't tell anybody, and so we couldn't do our couples massage when we received the schedule that evening in the Daily Planner and it was scheduled for the first Sea Day, so it was completely full by the time we realized the conflict so we had to postpone until the 2nd Sea Day at the end of the cruise...so in short - it's nice they bring in the extra help during embarkation, but they don't have the same level of overall knowlege (vs their specific area of specialty) or the overall customer-service mindset (by failing to check to ensure they gave us the right information). 

 

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Advantage: MSC

 

The Concierge team has been excellent on the Equinox and we're happy with them. However, between their IT issues, the suboptimal location of their desk, and having a smaller team, their excellent attitudes and knowledge, is not enough to make up for those other issues.

Edited June 11 by FamilyAtSea.travel

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

10 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

Question, did you ask for the treats in the afternoon? 

Curious as my experience in Feb in the Retreat was completely different. My butler never offered much or bring snacks unless I called for room service, YC I had snacks every day without asking.

No, we've never asked for the treats...the closest we've come to asking for them is when she asked if we'd prefer a cheese plate or strawberries that evening.

 

I guess this is one of those things where different butlers may provide a different level of service.

[Lena11033]

Just now, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

No, we've never asked for the treats...the closest we've come to asking for them is when she asked if we'd prefer a cheese plate or strawberries that evening.

 

I guess this is one of those things where different butlers may provide a different level of service.

 

Thanks for confirming. Yeah I had the impression with mine it was sort of in the middle, I mean he wasn't bad just didn't ask for things but he was also at the end of his contract so probably wanted to go home 

[1Virgo]

Thank you for taking the time to post. The “side by side” comparisons are things we ve wanted to know

Since loungers are being removed from Celebrity balconies, may I ask what they have on MSC. We like spending time and relaxing on our balcony

 

Thank you

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Leadership - Retreat Manager vs Yacht Club Director:

 

This is one category where I'm actually going to provide a 3-way comparison because the YC Director on one of the two MSC ships was much better than the other, so I think that's helpful perspective.

 

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• Celebrity: We met the Retreat Manager, Richard, in the Retreat space prior to boarding the ship on embarkation day but haven't seen him a single other time through 8 days on the ship. This is perhaps the most disappointing thing about the entire experience simply because the YC Directors did such a great job of making the experience in the YC even better. The Equinox has less Retreat rooms than the Seascape or Seashore and with only one person in this position on each ship, it's surprising he has not been more present...we asked to speak with him one time and were never able to (fortunately the Concierge team got us sorted).
   
• MSC Seashore: Melania was the YC Director when we were on the Seashore in April and she was very friendly and did a good job of engaging us for a few minutes each day, but I had a single issue I brought her which she never resolved. (there was a baby in the room beside ours crying for a couple hours each night keeping me up and I asked for ear plugs, which I was told they didn't have but she'd look into it...which she never did and never heard about things again).
   
• MSC Seascape: Mustafa is the YC Director on the Seascape, and he is the single greatest brand ambassador we've ever encountered on any cruise line. We ran into a couple issues and people here on CC encouraged me to reach out to express my concern vs. just accepting it. Upon doing so, Mustafa asked us to give him a few hours to look into it and he would circle back. His response was so incredible and over the top, that we'll forever be impressed by him. He came and found us in the Top Sail Lounge that evening and sat down and talked to my wife and I (and our kids) very personally to apologize and offering remedies for both of the issues we experienced. Then, in addition to an apology and a remedy, he then motioned for one of his team members to walk up. They brought us two bags full of gifts for my children, a personal note for each of them, and he even gave us a cabana at Ocean Cay later in the cruise (that port ended up being cancelled, but the gesture still stands).

 

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Advantage: MSC (and again...it's not even close)...It's shocking to me that we've yet to have a conversation with the Retreat Manager (Richard) beyond 15 seconds when we were boarding the ship.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

5 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

Thank you for taking the time to post. The “side by side” comparisons are things we ve wanted to know

Since loungers are being removed from Celebrity balconies, may I ask what they have on MSC. We like spending time and relaxing on our balcony

 

Thank you

 

Our balcony on the Equinox has 1 lounger + 2 chairs and a table.

 

On both MSC ships it was only 2 chairs + a table. 

[billc23]

I really appreciate that you are doing a live from and this comparison review at the same time. It is great that you are keeping them separate. Thank for taking the time out of your vacation!

Edited June 11 by billc23

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

For what it's worth - writing this I realized Richard was supposed to follow up with us earlier in the week (as mentioned) but never did. 

 

I stopped by the Concierge desk in the Retreat Lounge and asked to speak with him but was told all they could do was schedule an appointment. 

 

I guess it's just a difference in the approach - in the YC, the Director is there to be the face of MSC and to provide a special experience to guests.

 

On Celebrity I'm guessing Richard's role is to manage a team and not be customer-facing.

[39august]

I don't understand your statement no windows in Luminae. Been there several times and there is one whole wall of windows. We always take a table by the window. 

[DaKahuna]

8 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

On Celebrity I'm guessing Richard's role is to manage a team and not be customer-facing.

 

 We've had a few interactions with the Retreat Manager on various ships, but nothing like the ones we have had with the YC Director on MSC.   We've seen and spoken to the Retreat Director in the Lounge as well as at Retreat events such as Sail In or Sail Away on the helipad.  

 

 However, on Divina Giuseppe (or Pepe as he liked to be called) was every where almost all the time and his approach was very similar to that your experienced with Mustafa.  From walking around the YC and all hours, walking through the YC Restaurant, being at the One Pool for hours and hours, as well as being around the gangway on port days you could not miss him.   He would pull YC guest he recognized out of lines and personally escort them to the front of the line, or have one the butler's do it.   We mentioned, in passing, something that had surprised us and he actually took the time to sit down and explain the situation to us.   It really is a night and day difference in the roles between the two cruise lines. 

 

[DaKahuna]

6 minutes ago, 39august said:

I don't understand your statement no windows in Luminae. Been there several times and there is one whole wall of windows. We always take a table by the window. 

 

 That is because he made that comment about the Retreat Lounge (RL) and not about Luminae.  He has not compared Luminae and the YC Restaurant yet.  

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

30 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 That is because he made that comment about the Retreat Lounge (RL) and not about Luminae.  He has not compared Luminae and the YC Restaurant yet.  

 

Thank you - that's exactly what I was about to go check...to see if I put the wrong name or if he read it wrong, since I haven't reviewed Luminae yet!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

35 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We've had a few interactions with the Retreat Manager on various ships, but nothing like the ones we have had with the YC Director on MSC.   We've seen and spoken to the Retreat Director in the Lounge as well as at Retreat events such as Sail In or Sail Away on the helipad.  

 

I finally caught up with Richard (Retreat Manager) and what he told me was essentially what you just described.

 

There are times he makes himself available (i.e. the Sail Away event), but that isn't the same thing as actively seeking guests out like the YC Directors do.

 

He essentially said the same thing everybody else does on here (and elsewhere digitally)...the Retreat is a far superior experience on Edge-class ships and they're doing the best they can on the older ships.

[kr00t0n]

Given the YC is designed to be the way it is, whereas the Retreat on Solstice class ships are retro-fitted, wouldn't it be more fair to compare YC to the Edge-class Retreat experience?

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 hour ago, 1Virgo said:

Thank you for taking the time to post. The “side by side” comparisons are things we ve wanted to know

Since loungers are being removed from Celebrity balconies, may I ask what they have on MSC. We like spending time and relaxing on our balcony

 

Thank you

I went and pulled video screenshots for you to show you exactly what both ships have! 

 

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Celebrity Equinox 

 

The lounger here is kind of a half lounger with a stool that aligns with the end of it as you can see. 

 

 

 

 

 

+ a table and chairs:

 

 

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MSC Seascape (+ Seashore)

 

Much more basic offerings (though you may be able to ask the to bring a lounger).

 

Edited June 11 by FamilyAtSea.travel

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

10 minutes ago, kr00t0n said:

Given the YC is designed to be the way it is, whereas the Retreat on Solstice class ships are retro-fitted, wouldn't it be more fair to compare YC to the Edge-class Retreat experience?

Yes, but I'm not on an Edge-class ship to do that. I'm pretty sure I said that in the very first few sentences of the original post. 

 

I'm sure I'll provide that comparison at some point. 

 

We are doing a Vista Suite on the Sun Princess over Thanksgiving... Very excited to do that review as that room is $20,400 for the week vs $7k. Curious to see what extra value you get for that extra $13k.

[PTC DAWG]

Fair review, it fairly matches up with my experiences on the YC and Retreat, albeit that was on the Ascent.  I found the retreat lounge to be like a Dr’s office waiting room..not for me at all. 

 

i agree totally about Mustafa and his professionalism.