MSC Seascape...What are added perks of booking a YC Owner's Suite? Besides bigger space...

[scamper]

54 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I found it quite convenient a I could ask the Concierge Desk to watch the pot of hot water I got for my wife's tea when I found it necessary to make use of that facility on the way back to the room from the bar in the lounge with the pot of hot water.

Why not do your business and then get the hot water?

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, scamper said:

Why not do your business and then get the hot water?

 

 It's usually the one or two drinks at the bar while getting the hot water that causes the urge. 

 

[AZLuxTraveler]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:29 AM, DaKahuna said:

@Georgia_Peaches  Unlike Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, MSC does not appear to create a 'class difference' between occupants of their suites.  The perks of the higher end suites with MSC appears, from my research, to be more about the accommodations than specialized services outside the yacht club, e.g. free specialty dining.  

Not sure if i completely agree. You definitely get more perks in Yacht Club with their top suites like Royal or Owners. On my last cruise, my butler showed me a few perks that would make other YC passengers give me the evil eye 🙂 First they took me to a private cabana that was always reserved just for me and introduced me to a private bartender that only serves these suites while I want to relax in that area.

Then they had a private Golf cart that was just for these two suites, right outside the ship, that would take us to and from the island, where we didn't have to wait in a line with other YC members. In my suite, they had 10 full-size bottles of premium alcohol (not the mini bar nonsense that everyone gets) plus another 10 bottles of mineral/premium water. 

I could order from the main dining room from my suite, again a perk I was told was only available for Owners & Royal. And every day I came into my cabin to a huge basket of fresh fruit.

There were a few other amazing details I'll skip for now but probably the best story I got was when I went a bit late to their YC Breakfast Dining...

I don't remember why but their Breakfast, in the main dining, ended at 10am and I was there 45min late (I'll blame this on the stocked bar I raided the night before)...In front of me was a couple that was having a really bad argument with the attendant there, who kept telling them how sorry he was but the Breakfast has been closed for 45min. They were getting really irate when I noticed the Maitre'd come out from the dining room. He began to explain to them that there is no way for them to come inside as the breakfast has been closed for some time now and there are no exceptions...As they were yelling obscenities at him, he noticed that I was standing behind them focused on my phone. At which point he shouted out "Mr Alex sir! Are you looking to have breakfast in the dining room this morning?"...I told him, "Yeah, if it's not a problem". He replied "Absolutely, right this way sir", and proceeded to open the locked door for me to walk in...The lady from the couple that was in front of me shouted out "what in the f was that?" and the Maitre'd responded "Oh, he's VIP"...Perhaps YMMV on some of these, especially the last one but this trip was definitely another level of YC, I had no idea existed.

[no1talks]

11 minutes ago, AZLuxTraveler said:

"The lady from the couple that was in front of me shouted out, 'What in the f was that?' and the Maitre'd responded, 'Oh, he's VIP.'"

"All MSC Yacht Clubbers are equal, but some MSC Yacht Clubbers are more equal than others."
- Geo. Orwell, when asked why he preferred to cruise with Seabourn. 

[TheBeardedCruiser]

2 hours ago, AZLuxTraveler said:

In front of me was a couple that was having a really bad argument with the attendant there, who kept telling them how sorry he was but the Breakfast has been closed for 45min. They were getting really irate when I noticed the Maitre'd come out from the dining room. He began to explain to them that there is no way for them to come inside as the breakfast has been closed for some time now and there are no exceptions...As they were yelling obscenities at him, he noticed that I was standing behind them focused on my phone. At which point he shouted out "Mr Alex sir! Are you looking to have breakfast in the dining room this morning?"...I told him, "Yeah, if it's not a problem". He replied "Absolutely, right this way sir", and proceeded to open the locked door for me to walk in...The lady from the couple that was in front of me shouted out "what in the f was that?" and the Maitre'd responded "Oh, he's VIP"...Perhaps YMMV on some of these, especially the last one but this trip was definitely another level of YC, I had no idea existed.

Something tells me that this couple had argued with them before. Burn enough bridges and you'll live a lonely island life!

 

I've lived by the saying that you do unto others as you want done unto you. You'd be amazed how much I've gotten away with just by being nice to people! To clarify, I don't do it for the perks! I do it because it's just the right thing to do.

[AZLuxTraveler]

1 hour ago, TheBeardedCruiser said:

Something tells me that this couple had argued with them before. Burn enough bridges and you'll live a lonely island life!

 

I've lived by the saying that you do unto others as you want done unto you. You'd be amazed how much I've gotten away with just by being nice to people! To clarify, I don't do it for the perks! I do it because it's just the right thing to do.

I agree with you, some people just have a ridiculous sense of entitlement.

I probably paid 4 times more than those people for my cabin and I would have been totally fine if they told me to try another place...The gesture was really nice, but I'm not a celebrity or anything and really didn't care- it's not that big of a deal...I have never seen anyone starve on a cruise. On the contrary, that lady looked like she could use a day of fasting.

[morpheusofthesea]

We like how the staff 'go the extra mile' to differentiate their high end suite guests compared to other cruise lines that group us all together as steerage. MSC's Explora Journeys did as well with their Residences using butlers to introduce us to the General Manager, Maitre d's, concierges, etc to get that extra bit of attention, but still nowhere near the extent of Yacht Clubs (and for 1/4 of the price).

[Moparfiend]

Making a list of these, it does seem most are YMMV

OS/RS Suite perks beyond YC perks
Ignoring Room size/location as that's a given
 

YC General
 - Staff 'go the extra mile' to differentiate their high end suite guests, be nice and get nice service
 

YC Sun Deck
Reserved Private Cabana on YC Sun Deck
 - (YMMV) might be ship specific, Seashore/Seascape have this

In room options for Royal and Owners
  Food
  - Room Service (all YC have this option)
  - Dining in room from YC MDR sounds like a big ole "maybe as a one off, prob not"
   - MSC limits in-room dining to the room service menu and the butler brings all the food at once, no course-by-course service

  Booze
  - All the booze, instead of picking 1 bottle, you get them all
  -- can take them home if you like - (wine bag/box from amazon added to my list)
  -- Might be able to get the Butler to swap out one for another (like Baileys)

 
 Other Drinks - same as all YC

OC Specifics
- Transport 
    Private Golf cart for RS/OS, likely YMMV [Unconfirmed]
- Cabana
   No reserved Cabana on OC

[lahlah57]

8 hours ago, TheBeardedCruiser said:

Something tells me that this couple had argued with them before. Burn enough bridges and you'll live a lonely island life!

 

I've lived by the saying that you do unto others as you want done unto you. You'd be amazed how much I've gotten away with just by being nice to people! To clarify, I don't do it for the perks! I do it because it's just the right thing to do.

I know huh!? What a novel thought to be nice instead of being a "karen" that could keep those doors locked, bolted and sealed with the caution tape!

[Morgsmom]

On 8/22/2024 at 8:15 AM, Moparfiend said:

In room options for Royal and Owners
  Food
  - Room Service (all YC have this option)
  - Dining in room from YC MDR sounds like a big ole "maybe as a one off, prob not"
   - MSC limits in-room dining to the room service menu and the butler brings all the food at once, no course-by-course service

  Booze
  - All the booze, instead of picking 1 bottle, you get them all
  -- can take them home if you like - (wine bag/box from amazon added to my list)
  -- Might be able to get the Butler to swap out one for another (like Baileys)

 

Not that we could ever afford this, but I thought that you could NOT take home the bottles (8 or 10 of them) from the Owner's Suite?  I'd need a whole suitcase just for that 🙂

 

[Morgsmom]

On 6/15/2024 at 1:17 PM, Best Cat Mom said:

. The restroom by the concierge desk is what BCD uses as his half bath. 😉

This is where I SEND my husband, no questions asked. The minute he says "oh, that cappucino is kicking in", I'm kicking him OUT 😉 

[AZLuxTraveler]

13 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Not that we could ever afford this, but I thought that you could NOT take home the bottles (8 or 10 of them) from the Owner's Suite?  I'd need a whole suitcase just for that 🙂

 

The bottles are technically yours. However, you still have to abide by whatever laws of the country you are in before you take them. For example, when I was in UAE and had the Royal Suite, they are super strict there and no alcohol is allowed when coming from the port, not even a Pina colada held in your hand. They literally have scanners for things like this and will confiscate them if found. 

[no1talks]

47 minutes ago, AZLuxTraveler said:

"...they are super strict there and no alcohol is allowed when coming from the port, not even a Pina colada held in your hand."

 

No souse for you!

 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Morgsmom said:

Not that we could ever afford this, but I thought that you could NOT take home the bottles (8 or 10 of them) from the Owner's Suite?  I'd need a whole suitcase just for that 🙂

 

Well with 12 suitcases its an easy task......

[phissy]

I actually bought a small suitcase in a port . I realized there was no way I could fit anymore in my already full suitcases. 
Worked great.😊

[Gordoncruickshank]

On 8/22/2024 at 1:15 PM, Moparfiend said:

Making a list of these, it does seem most are YMMV

OS/RS Suite perks beyond YC perks
Ignoring Room size/location as that's a given
 

YC General
 - Staff 'go the extra mile' to differentiate their high end suite guests, be nice and get nice service
 

YC Sun Deck
Reserved Private Cabana on YC Sun Deck
 - (YMMV) might be ship specific, Seashore/Seascape have this

In room options for Royal and Owners
  Food
  - Room Service (all YC have this option)
  - Dining in room from YC MDR sounds like a big ole "maybe as a one off, prob not"
   - MSC limits in-room dining to the room service menu and the butler brings all the food at once, no course-by-course service

  Booze
  - All the booze, instead of picking 1 bottle, you get them all
  -- can take them home if you like - (wine bag/box from amazon added to my list)
  -- Might be able to get the Butler to swap out one for another (like Baileys)

 
 Other Drinks - same as all YC

OC Specifics
- Transport 
    Private Golf cart for RS/OS, likely YMMV [Unconfirmed]
- Cabana
   No reserved Cabana on OC

We have only done one MSC cruise about 4 years ago in a RS on Preziosa but I do not recall being offered any bottles of alcohol then. We are on Seascape in February for b2b in a RS and just trying to find out what to expect.

[morpheusofthesea]

It's a common dilemma as noted by the late and great Yogi Berra "The towels are so thick I could hardly close my suitcase."

[chrisgp999]

12 hours ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

We have only done one MSC cruise about 4 years ago in a RS on Preziosa but I do not recall being offered any bottles of alcohol then. We are on Seascape in February for b2b in a RS and just trying to find out what to expect.

Our most recent RS cruise on the Seascape, the was large selection of various adult beverages on a shelf just to the left of the entry door.  Our butler waved his hand across the entire shelf and told us to help our selves, no added charge.  We have family members that, upon hearing a statement  like that, would have immediately run out and purchased an additional full-size suit case.

[KittyCruz]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:29 AM, DaKahuna said:

 

 We had the YC1 Deluxe Suite on our Divina cruise in February and it was just fine.  This September we are on Seascape and have the YCP Grand Suite booked.   Either of those are just fine with us, we just pick what's available at the time we book. 

 

@DaKahuna - we'll be in the deluxe suite next March so it looks like I'll need to go back and look for your reviews/posts to get some tips.

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, KittyCruz said:

we'll be in the deluxe suite next March

We were also in the YC Deluxe Suite on our April Divina cruise. It's more than enough for 2 people, in our opinion. The Divina's YC1 has a walk-in closet so we consider it better than the same YC1 on Seaside, which does not have a walk-in. And the closet has a motion-activated light. If you require a nightlight, it can serve for that purpose if you leave the door open at night. 🙂

[AZLuxTraveler]

I am planning another Owners Suite in two months but this time on World Europa. Not sure what to expect on this one yet but I'll report back if they offer anything extra. 

[mmeg29]

16 hours ago, AZLuxTraveler said:

I am planning another Owners Suite in two months but this time on World Europa. Not sure what to expect on this one yet but I'll report back if they offer anything extra. 

Traveling alone 😔 unexpectedly in owners suite mid September.  If I notice anything I will let you know. 😀.  We have traveled RS on Seaside and Meraviglia and we thought the staff did fo the extra mile (well not our butler in Seaside) due to the suite.  We traveled with others both times and there definitely was a difference.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 hours ago, mmeg29 said:

Traveling alone 😔 unexpectedly in owners suite mid September.

Sorry to hear that. Here’s wishing you an enjoyable cruise despite whatever may have caused such a change of plans. 

[TheBeardedCruiser]

15 hours ago, mmeg29 said:

Traveling alone 😔 unexpectedly in owners suite mid September.  If I notice anything I will let you know. 😀.  We have traveled RS on Seaside and Meraviglia and we thought the staff did fo the extra mile (well not our butler in Seaside) due to the suite.  We traveled with others both times and there definitely was a difference.  

I'm sorry to hear that circumstances have altered your plans! I hope that you have a wonderful cruise and meet some friendly people onboard!

[Bgwest]

It seems odd to me that the balcony in the OS (65 ft² ) is so much smaller than the RS (355 ft²). Also, while the forward facing view of the OS is really nice, I've found the balconies in forward facing cabins to be pretty well useless while at sea.  That said, never been in an OS. Do they have something in place that effectively blocks the wind to the point of making the balcony habitable on sea days?