momofmab

Yep, and MSC YC still has a lot of wiggle room, price-wise, when compared to suites on the other mass-market lines, who don't show any signs of a price adjustment. We used to cruise in suites exclusively pre-Haven/Retreat/Star Class but are not willing to pay the going rates. We have the luxury of cruising whenever we want (and can get to the FL ports fairly easily), so we try to choose less popular (less kid) weeks.

I agree with this. We went from Beyond in an IV cabin to the YC on MSC. While I would sail again on Celebrity in a non-suite category, I would not sail on MSC in anything other than YC.

I believe you. We too saw a large generational family with young children on our last night in the YC restaurant. We cruised during a week when there were very few (maybe one?) children in YC. We were out and about and, on the pool deck each day, stayed onboard for all but one port and got to know most of our fellow YC'ers by sight, if not by chatting. Had never seen this family (they took up a pretty big table), especially not the children. Our thought is that grandma & grandpa were YC guests and somehow wrangled the rest of the fam into the YC restaurant for the final night's festivities.

One of the shortcomings of MSC (for us) was the level of entertainment when compared to other lines we've been on. It sounds like Prima has already surpassed in that area. We loved everything about our first time in YC (sounds like they've fixed the muster drill chaos on the Sea ships.) The one big negative was that we did not enjoy our time outside of YC. If one doesn't mind staying in YC for most of the time, it's a winner - but for us, we missed being able to enjoy the rest of the ship.

I think one of MSC's biggest obstacles is consistency in the service and product across the ships (at least within the size categories, such as the "Sea" ships). In the past couple of days alone, I've read several different versions of the safety drill process for YC quests that were different from my experience in YC on Seascape (and one of the negatives on my list). I was also lured to MSC (YC) by the great experiences of the very talented "Live" thread writers. While I don't question their experiences whatsoever, mine was nowhere near those levels, and it has caused me to be convinced that MSC follows this board and makes a big effort to "wine & dine" those that sing their praises. My cruise in YC was fine, but not at level that others on CC have experienced. I suppose it was a good value for the price, but with those prices creeping upward, I would likely choose to sail in "gen-pop" on other lines where I felt the overall experience was better.

Food is subjective, but we didn't love the YC restaurant either (except for the pasta dishes, which were all excellent & the Tiramisu dessert!) Getting coffee after dinner to have with dessert, took forever. We did like the YC poolside buffet for breakfast & lunch. We tried the YC restaurant for breakfast one morning and even though our order was promptly taken, our food never arrived (despite those around us, who arrived later, getting their food). We said something and they apologized but our food still didn't come out (apparently, they were struggling that morning with scrambling eggs). My husband wished they had a poolside dinner buffet as well (he dislikes the wait time in between courses. He's not a big fancy dinner service guy.)

We had a lifeguard on the YC beach for our cruise. It's rough over there as it opens up to the ocean (an older gentleman had to be helped up after he fell in the surf and couldn't get up). I would not be comfortable with my kids swimming over there, unsupervised by me. They do have some kind of a netting/buoy contraption up to keep swimmers from heading out to sea but I'm not sure how well that works. Other non-YC swimming areas on the island are much better, IMO.

This jumped out at me. Does this mean that you didn't have to join the masses for the official muster drill and parade down endless flights of stairs with 5000 other passengers to swipe your card on deck 7, and fight to get an elevator back up? Our muster drill on Seascape was a big negative for our first YC experience. It would be great if they made this change.

I agree that it seems to be exacerbated by wind & sea conditions and speed of the ship. We were in an midship concierge IV (I think deck 10 or 11) on Beyond in Jan 2023. Very calm seas for the first 6 days, Captain Kate was cruising nice & easy - no banging. On the last night, she was trying to outrun some bad weather on the way back - the ship was travelling at a higher rate of speed, there was a stiff wind and the seas were rolling more than they had. That last night sounded like someone was outside our cabin, repeatedly banging a sledgehammer against the wall. If I had to listen to that for the entire cruise, I would not be happy. It's great that there are some who brush off the banging and are fine with having to sleep with all kinds of noise-altering gear, sleeping meds and white noise contraptions (maybe their cruise was free?) but for those who spend a hard-earned dollar and take precious vacation time, I don't think it's too much to ask not to have sledgehammer banging in one's cabin. I loved everything about my Beyond cruise (save for the last night), but unless I could 100% vet that a particular cabin did not have noise in various types of weather conditions, I will not be back on Beyond until they solve that issue.

There aren't a lot of shaded areas on the YC deck. Depending on the time of day and the way the ship is facing, one can usually find some areas that are somewhat shaded by the structures on deck. There is a raised lounge area located at one end of the pool that is shaded for certain hours of the day. The best time to score a pergola is on port days when most people are off the ship (even those aren't completely shaded). In my opinion, the coffee drinks in Top Sail are better than the in-room Nespresso (although I use a Nespresso for coffee at home). It's an easy walk from most cabins or you can ask your butler to deliver it to you.

We try to do this too, now that we aren't bound to the school vacation weeks anymore. Nonetheless, I was shocked by the full ship (outside of YC) and number of kids for a week that school in the U.S. was in session (this was on Seascape). My impression after cruising MSC was that there will likely never be a week where the ships are not full - based on the cheap pricing (especially outside of YC) and the fact that even the ships that originate from the U.S. seem to attract a large European audience, and their holidays and school vacations differ from the U.S. Because of this, MSC's "Sea" ships are too big & crowded for us (even though we were in YC, we still like to utilize other areas of the ship). If we ever try MSC again, it would be on one of their smaller ships).

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.

Have you or your wife had the filet in the YC restaurant yet? Interested to see what you thought of it. Before sailing in YC on Seascape, I read post after post about how amazing the filet was in YC - no need to waste your money in Butcher's Cut. We found that to be far from the case on our sailing. The YC filet looked like it had been dragged behind the ship (my husband tried it twice), while our meal in Butcher's Cut was superb. My husband also had the chicken breast (which looked exactly like your photo). One of the things I mentioned on my survey was that YC needs to upgrade their veggie sides on the always available classics, from the mushy mess that they currently serve. And some kind of sauce offering for that sad slab of chicken breast would be nice.

We tried it on Beyond, which was our first X cruise. The only benefit we used was the embarkation day lunch, which was fine, but there was a long line and it was crowded. Not sure how many concierge cabins they sell on the average cruise, but it felt like 1/3 of the ship. Wouldn't pay extra for it again but did love our first X cruise!

We like them. It's a clean, climate-controlled area (when the window is up) to watch the sea go by. 100% agree that the chairs are awful (we were on Beyond). It's also nice to have the extra space, which is again, clean and dry. I can see why those who spend a lot of time on regular balconies wouldn't like them though.