Mitico

At port, at least in US, porters are not employed by the cruise line. And yes, they expect tips.

Some of these guys were really rude, and for us, non US citizens but Europeans, asking in a rude way for tips often results in the opposite

We had a lovely old man (Louis) who escorted us on board that we tipped seperately (we were the only ones by the way). He was such a sweet man and we hoped he would be our butler during the trip. Unfortunately he stayed at the cruiseterminal in Miami.....

One question: what was the norm, both in the YC and around the ship, concerning getting drinks at the bars and in restaurants? Did people tend to cash tip as they ordered? Were there receipts or chits to sign with each order? In the YC, did people tend to tip extra to those working in that area? And, if they do, was it as the cruise went along, or at the end?

That are 5 questions, but I can try to answer them too for you ;)

As a YC member you can drink everywhere on the ship, just show them your cabincard. We were told not to tip seperate because every day your board account is charged for service fee (12,50 USD per person). You are free to tip anyone you want, we gave the young guy some tip because he was cleaning the hallway from our rooms the whole day, including our cabin 2 times a day!

Nobody asked for a tip, only when checking in at the cruisterminal in Miami there was a rude person that persisted in getting tips and was waving with a pile of dollarbills when we entered the ship.

OK .................... I should have qualified it - no socket for hairdryer use.

Okay, I see.... Didn't know there was a difference in sockets for hairdryer use, my bad. :rolleyes:

No sockets in the bathroom.

On the contrary, there is a socket in the bathroom. We didn't use it, but I'm 100% sure there was one for using a razor f.e.

Great review, and exactly the same what we have experienced during the same cruise! We also went the 5th of August and also booked MSC Yacht Club. In one word: FANTASTIC!

I didn't register on CruiseCritic before we went cruising, but seeing reviews of the same cruise we've made triggered me to register and follow this board as of now.

This MSC cruise was our first and definitely not our last! Our 2 kids (16 and 18 y/o) were totally flabbergasted and had a very good time during this 8 day Caribbean Cruise

We are planning to do our next Cruise on the MSC Seaside and looking forward to all experiences when it starts sailing.