CruisinShips

What I am learning from posts in this thread is that you only need the "ship in a ship" scenario with main-stream lines as opposed to the luxury lines. I am also learning MSC YC might not be as bad as I was thinking. Again, the most negative thing I have read about it is related to when you walk out of the YC area, you are entering a more crowded, lower end feeling megaship experience. Perhaps it has to do with which MSC ship you're on. Lots of good input in this thread.

I am really surprised to see the positive comments about MSC Yacht Club. I haven't tried it yet, but I have watched tons of youtube reviews and have read many reviews/comparisons, and almost all said similar things...the YC experience is very good on some ships, food is below that of Celebrity, and if you leave the YC area, you feel like you're on a packed Carnival cruise ship. If this is not what some of you have found, then I'd love to be wrong. Are there certain MSC ships to focus on for the better experience?

VERY informative and potentially helpful. Thank you.

Unless it's changed, it's basically just a bigger cabin and access to a quiet little concierge area with finger foods. No dedicated restaurant or deck as far as I recall.

Thanks, thoughtful response. Budget-wise we typically stay in Celebrity suites, and prefer to go on 7-10 day cruises...some of the more luxury lines are for longer periods and tend to price us out. So, yes, I guess my options are as limited as I thought they were...unless anyone else has any options that haven't been mentioned.

Oh...gee...never thought of that lol. 😉

NOT just from a suite standpoint, but I'm referring to the overall Retreat experience. Butlers, dedicated restaurant, dedicated lounge, dedicated sun deck. I get that other cruise lines offer suites and upscale amenities, but most don't offer those things I mentioned. I know some will say MSC Yacht Club, but IMO it just doesn't match up. Others may say NCL's Haven, but same answer. RCL's suite class on Oasis ships? Maybe close, I guess, but a step or two below. So what am I missing?

Enjoying this thread....thank you!

THANK GOD someone asked this very important question!

I in no way mean for that to replace "Live from" type posts, and I meant to add that. This would be for things like "On the Eclipse right now the ____ show is great". Or for people who are about to board to ask current cruisers questions.

Port intensive cruises, particularly in Alaska, are more about the locale than the ship anyway. I might have a different opinion if you were taking a Caribbean cruise, but without knowing your kids, I'm guessing they will have a great cruise.

respectfully submitted... It might be interesting to have a pinned running post for each Celebrity ship, where people can continually update the respective ship thread with live updates and commentary relative to their current experiences. I know we can always search for specific info via ship name, but I thought it might be nice to have a running thread that is always current. Just a thought.

Were you on the early October Eclipse sailing? We were on that one (San Pedro, Santa Barbara, SF, Catalina, Ensenada, San Diego). Enjoyed that itinerary very much. As I recall, there was an impact to the amount of time in SF, which was OK with us as we have been there several times.

I was on the Eclipse last October on a coastal California itinerary. The wifi in our cabin was pretty horrible, and I switched to my ATT cell service whenever we were docked (at a US port). No international charges doing that either.

Interesting. I have always had AT&T and have never been charged for usage while in Miami or Fort Lauderdale aboard the ship on over a dozen cruises I have been on. Including my most recent one in February (Port Everglades). I wonder how ATT would know you're even on a ship while docked....