New to MSC- Just booked World America YC

[3smithboys]

We have never sailed MSC before and have sailed primarily on Carnival. We are teachers in our early 50’s and can only travel during school vacations, mostly in the summer when our vacations align. We already have an extended family cruise booked for summer ‘25 on the Mardi Gras, so…..
 

We just booked a cruise on World America for July 2026 in YC in an interior cabin. We actually heard about it from a post over on the Carnival board, which lead me to read a fabulous review over here…and being the spontaneous people we are… we booked it! I know the ship hasn’t sailed yet, but I’d love any information/tips you can give to make the experience better! 

[rrraydon]

9 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

We have never sailed MSC before and have sailed primarily on Carnival. We are teachers in our early 50’s and can only travel during school vacations, mostly in the summer when our vacations align. We already have an extended family cruise booked for summer ‘25 on the Mardi Gras, so…..
 

We just booked a cruise on World America for July 2026 in YC in an interior cabin. We actually heard about it from a post over on the Carnival board, which lead me to read a fabulous review over here…and being the spontaneous people we are… we booked it! I know the ship hasn’t sailed yet, but I’d love any information/tips you can give to make the experience better! 

My first MSC cruise was this year, I had a fantastic time on the Magnifica. So much so I booked a few more over the summer and enjoyed each one of them.

 

I also read about the YC experience here on CC and booked the YC on Seaside for next year and the YC on World America for next November. I'm very excited to try the YC experience!

 

My next MSC cruise isn't until April on the Meraviglia. Thus far I've only sailed on the Magnifica, I hope I have the same great experience on the Meraviglia.

 

Have a great time on your cruise!

[cellfree]

27 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

We have never sailed MSC before and have sailed primarily on Carnival. We are teachers in our early 50’s and can only travel during school vacations, mostly in the summer when our vacations align. We already have an extended family cruise booked for summer ‘25 on the Mardi Gras, so…..
 

We just booked a cruise on World America for July 2026 in YC in an interior cabin. We actually heard about it from a post over on the Carnival board, which lead me to read a fabulous review over here…and being the spontaneous people we are… we booked it! I know the ship hasn’t sailed yet, but I’d love any information/tips you can give to make the experience better! 

Yeah for you, glad you did it and got a YC Interior, they sell out fast, (best not to promote them - ha), I have read that MSC originally added a few Interiors in the YC thinking couples in Balconies would book the Interiors for their kids, they never realized they would be such a hit with adults. You can do a “status match,” using either your Hotel status or Cruise Line status, info is somewhere on the website, then add it to your Booking, you may need to call MSC once you are assigned a status to get it added. You should be able to get a 5%+5% discount applied as well as $50 OBC per person as you are booking so far out. There is a chart on website that details this. 

Edited September 12 by cellfree
added info

[3smithboys]

10 minutes ago, cellfree said:

Yeah for you, glad you did it and got a YC Interior, they sell out fast, (best not to promote them - ha), I have read that MSC originally added a few Interiors in the YC thinking couples in Balconies would book the Interiors for their kids, they never realized they would be such a hit with adults. You can do a “status match,” using either your Hotel status or Cruise Line status, info is somewhere on the website, then add it to your Booking, you may need to call MSC once you are assigned a status to get it added.

Thanks for your suggestion to look at YC! Do you mean status match as a Gold on Carnival or Marriott where we are Titanium Elite? They might give us credit for this?

[Two Wheels Only]

2 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

Thanks for your suggestion to look at YC! Do you mean status match as a Gold on Carnival or Marriott where we are Titanium Elite? They might give us credit for this?

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club

 

Edited September 12 by Two Wheels Only

[pirate4me2]

I was also a primarily Carnival cruiser until I tried YC on MSC last year. I fell in love with it, and went again last week, with 4 more YC cruises on the books! I actually have WA booked for next May and next November, and I’ll probably do

a live review, so keep an eye out here. There are also a lot of other good reviewers on the board that may be able to provide some info once she starts sailing next year. 

[cellfree]

14 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

Thanks for your suggestion to look at YC! Do you mean status match as a Gold on Carnival or Marriott where we are Titanium Elite? They might give us credit for this?

Husband matched (several years ago) his Marriott Lifetime Platinum and got Diamond (highest level) with MSC. So I would suggest using your Marriott status. Gold on Carnival will match low. Both you and spouse need to apply separately.

Edited September 12 by cellfree

[cellfree]

3 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

I was also a primarily Carnival cruiser until I tried YC on MSC last year. I fell in love with it, and went again last week, with 4 more YC cruises on the books! I actually have WA booked for next May and next November, and I’ll probably do

a live review, so keep an eye out here. There are also a lot of other good reviewers on the board that may be able to provide some info once she starts sailing next year. 

I believe it was your most recent “live” that encouraged @3smithboys to book MSC and the YC. 

[3smithboys]

18 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

I was also a primarily Carnival cruiser until I tried YC on MSC last year. I fell in love with it, and went again last week, with 4 more YC cruises on the books! I actually have WA booked for next May and next November, and I’ll probably do

a live review, so keep an eye out here. There are also a lot of other good reviewers on the board that may be able to provide some info once she starts sailing next year. 

 

14 minutes ago, cellfree said:

I believe it was your most recent “live” that encouraged @3smithboys to book MSC and the YC. 

It was both of you! Cellfree was talking about it and lead me to pirate4me2’s thread… I read through that, which convinced me to go to DH with the info! He didn’t need much convincing... 

 

I will definitely keep an eye out for that review. What is the private island like, especially with YC access?

[cellfree]

Ocean Cay - the best - walking pathways, beaches, bars, food trucks, buffet - YC has its own beach (a little rocky) and its own sit down restaurant - but whether YC or not Ocean Cay is wonderful.

[rrraydon]

Ocean Cay is by far better than both Half Moon Cay and Royal's CoCo Cay, IMO.

[cellfree]

@3smithboys, out of curiosity, were there many YC Interior Cabins available on World America in 2026? Looks like there are only 11 Interiors unless I am reading it wrong. 

Edited September 12 by cellfree
added info

[3smithboys]

10 minutes ago, cellfree said:

@3smithboys, out of curiosity, were there many YC Interior Cabins available on World America in 2026? Looks like there are only 11 Interiors unless I am reading it wrong. 

There were definitely several available. There were 4 on deck 15 and I think 3 on 16. We picked 15. Hopefully, it was a good choice. We are more familiar with Carnival ship deck plans. I tried looking at them, and it looked like cabins above & below (or empty/crew space.) 

 

The same cabins seemed to be available on both the Eastern and Western 7 day cruises. I also looked at a few dates and the same cabins popped up. We picked the Eastern because we wanted those stops a bit more.
 

We wanted to go back to San Juan because we’ve only gone 1x and it was right after the riots, and things didn’t feel right. We were with our 3 boys and did a quick walk around and got back on the ship. 

[pirate4me2]

1 hour ago, 3smithboys said:

 

It was both of you! Cellfree was talking about it and lead me to pirate4me2’s thread… I read through that, which convinced me to go to DH with the info! He didn’t need much convincing... 

 

I will definitely keep an eye out for that review. What is the private island like, especially with YC access?

Ocean Cay is hands down better than HMC in my opinion. Your drink package works on the island, and the island itself is gorgeous. So many beach choices! I personally love Bimini Beach or the lagoon (both are near the YC area), but DH loves the waves of the YC beach. The lighthouse show at night is cool, and they have a nighttime beach party too. 

[Best Cat Mom]

11 hours ago, 3smithboys said:

Do you mean status match as a Gold on Carnival or Marriott where we are Titanium Elite?

I used my Marriott Titanium Elite and matched to Diamond. You should each use your highest status overall, not just cruise line status. 

[cellfree]

@3smithboys, yes whoever is Titanium Elite with Marriott use that (not gold with Carnival). You do your match and your spouse's match separately.

[ocdb8r]

My suggestion would be to read up on the World Europa YC posts and watch for posts from the early World American cruises.  We have done YC on several ships and there were a few things on World Europa that were not ideal (and I specifically have concerns about cruising year-round in the Caribbean).  Chief amongst these is that the outdoor grill and pool area were not configured very well and are prone to heating up very quickly.  In Europe this can be an issue during some of the peak summer months, but most of the time it can be coped with.  I am concerned in the Caribbean (absent some sort of modifications) this will be problematic. This also may be something we were overly sensitive to as this area has always been one of the highlights for our YC experience (we love having a mellow pool deck area to relax which also offers great bar and food service....and outdoor/ocean view breakfasts).  There were a couple of very hot days where we actually had our breakfast moved to our balcony because it was just too uncomfortable at the Grill.

 

The other less than ideal issue was the ratio of YC space to YC passenger seems lower (due to more YC cabins) on the World Europa.  This never made us feel "uncomfortable" but it was noticed compared to the other classes of ships we sailed (Seashore/Meraviglia).  There were some complaints about getting a table in the YC restaurant, but we were always seated in a reasonable amount of time AND we understand a second YC meal venue was added (near the back of the ship) to alleviate these concerns.

[asctony]

17 hours ago, 3smithboys said:

There were definitely several available. There were 4 on deck 15 and I think 3 on 16. We picked 15. Hopefully, it was a good choice. 

 

 

 

Did you notice on World America Deck 21, 20 they have Inside Cabins 1R2 in the YC area that are not YIN?

Yet they have YIN cabins on Deck 15 and 16.

 

It doesn't make any sense to me on why they would do that. 

 

 

[3smithboys]

34 minutes ago, asctony said:

Did you notice on World America Deck 21, 20 they have Inside Cabins 1R2 in the YC area that are not YIN?

Yet they have YIN cabins on Deck 15 and 16.

 

It doesn't make any sense to me on why they would do that. 

 

 

Can you please explain to me what those codes mean… are the cabins on deck 20/21 better than the ones on 15/16? We chose as best we could looking at deck plans, and we were offered anything other than 15/16. I was trying to make sure there didn’t seem to be anything noisy above or below. We usually stay midship; however, YC seems to be all forward. We are fine with it because we don’t have a problem with motion sickness.

 

ok, I looked it up.. I guess you are asking me if I am wondering why a YC interior room was on 15/16 and not on 20/21.. I had no clue until you mentioned it because I had no idea what I was looking at! But now that you mention it and seeing where the YC area is located, it seems strange indeed! 

Edited September 12 by 3smithboys

[asctony]

35 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

Can you please explain to me what those codes mean… are the cabins on deck 20/21 better than the ones on 15/16? We chose as best we could looking at deck plans, and we were offered anything other than 15/16. I was trying to make sure there didn’t seem to be anything noisy above or below. We usually stay midship; however, YC seems to be all forward. We are fine with it because we don’t have a problem with motion sickness.

 

ok, I looked it up.. I guess you are asking me if I am wondering why a YC interior room was on 15/16 and not on 20/21.. I had no clue until you mentioned it because I had no idea what I was looking at! But now that you mention it and seeing where the YC area is located, it seems strange indeed! 

I really want looking for you to give me an answer. Just trying to resurface the Non-YC CABINS in the YC area and YC Cabins outside the YC area.

Totally confusing & NO SENSE.

 

Glad you got something out of my post.

Happy Cruising!

[Essiesmom]

Perhaps they intended those cabins to be YC, but then decided that would be too many…so switched to regular insides.  EM

[asctony]

Just now, Essiesmom said:

Perhaps they intended those cabins to be YC, but then decided that would be too many…so switched to regular insides.  EM

Personally, don't think that was a smart move on MSC. 

 

WILL NON YC guests be able to use the YC elevator?

Why have 7 YIN CABINS on Deck 15 & 16 instead of using that space\cabins on Deck 21 as YIN?

 

I know we  will not be able to answer that. However, will people trying to book a YIN get confused when they see those cabins on Decks 15 & 16 as YIN?

Only time will tell.

[chrisgp999]

1 hour ago, asctony said:

Did you notice on World America Deck 21, 20 they have Inside Cabins 1R2 in the YC area that are not YIN?

Yet they have YIN cabins on Deck 15 and 16.

 

It doesn't make any sense to me on why they would do that. 

 

 

Those cabins on decks 21 and 22 are not in the Yacht Club, the are adjacent to the Yacht Club.  There is no access from these cabins to the Yacht Club area.

[3smithboys]

Can anyone give me insight into the specialty dining experience on MSC? Is it worth it if you are in YC? On Carnival we always book the Teppanyaki and sometimes the steakhouse and book those ahead of time. It doesn’t seem like that is a possibility. Also, I saw there is a specialty dining package. Is it worth it.

[asctony]

33 minutes ago, chrisgp999 said:

Those cabins on decks 21 and 22 are not in the Yacht Club, the are adjacent to the Yacht Club.  There is no access from these cabins to the Yacht Club area.

Thank you. I knew that.

 

My point which apparently people miss is:

NON-YC CABINS in YC area & YC CABINS on Deck 15 & 16 whereas YC area is on Deck 21, above Decks 15 & 16.