Best Cat Mom

Seaside has this as well. (We had made friends with someone who had this provided on Seaside. We were able to reserve non-RS/OS cabanas at the YC Concierge Desk for no charge.)

It really depends on who the YC director is. Exactly! We had missed the 'regular' YC shuttle once by just a few seconds and the YC Director took us by golf cart for an "us only" ride back to the ship. We were in a standard YC1 Deluxe Suite, not an RS or OS.

On embarkation day, the main YC restaurant is open for seated dining. You should peruse the menu that is displayed in Top Sail Lounge and see if the items are of interest to you. We love the beef tournedos on the first day's lunch -- it's a filet mignon lunch portion and we never want to miss it.

I understand that everyone has their own likes and dislikes. For example, I know a lot of people like the flavor of pumpkin, but the pumpkin risotto on Day 5 is something we would NEVER, EVER order. However, we do love the vitello tonnato and duck breast on that day's menu. As for Day 3, the beef tartare is a no-to-be-missed item for us. Love it and the quail eggs that come with it. In fact, Glenn brought me an accompanying side dish of extra quail eggs on one of our cruises. Me, being the brat that I am, asked something like, "Who has the tiny hands to shell all those quail eggs?" Keep in mind that you could have a starter that intrigues you in the Top Sail Restaurant and then go to your specialty dinner. Or ask them to save you some for the next day. The excellent service makes it so that you can probably have it all! 🙂

We usually have lunch so we don't miss a Yacht Club dinner. If we time it right, i can have lamb for both lunch and dinner. 🙂

Oberon is a Cabernet Sauvignon, kinda heavy on the tannins. NF is Nicolas Feuillatte champagne (French, so 'real' champagne). If they run out of NF, they bump up to a better brand, so drink up! 😁

We usually pick one time as our "usual" once we see the closing time for YC restaurant breakfast. Then, on days when things need to change, we'll stop by the concierge desk on the way back to the room after our rounds of nightcaps and give them an adjusted time for the next morning. They've always been able to accommodate.

That's me every morning when the coffee and Baileys arrives -- but that does not stop the standing order, of course. (And on Divina, the walk-in closet works equally well!)

This has happened to BCD many times. He always tries to "warn me" that he is not alone as he opens the stateroom door.

We find that the NF is very helpful while perusing the menu to decide upon food and then the corresponding wine. 🙂

Plus some Kahlua or Amaretto -- or both! 😁

Always the most difficult part of leaving for a cruise, but also the greatest part of coming home!

Thanks for the perspective. I guess we'll stick with the land holidays that we're accustomed to in Europe. A river cruise really seemed like an easier itinerary, with none of the intense planning that I've had to do in the past. We're not land tours people (and is probably obvious from what I've mentioned so far). I guess my days of planning are not quite done yet. LOL Luckily, most hotels will have staff to help coordinate transfers, etc. Thanks again!!

Ah, yes -- we also enjoy the YC restaurant. And pizza in the cabin is a rite of passage in YC. Thanks!! 🙂

@morpheusofthesea Have you ever had dinner in your suite? I know that MSC states that they won't do this and definitely won't do course-by-course dining (ala NCL Haven) but I thought that perhaps this was something you might have successfully tried, especially having YC crew that knows you so well.

I clearly have to do more research. Grazie, danke, and thank you so much!! 😁

Are you able to dine in your cabin with course-by-course Butler service on most river cruise lines? That might take care of us most evenings instead of the cattle call that the dining room sounds to be. 😞 PS: I think this question belongs in another thread. My apologies...

I really appreciate your perspective. We have a wonderful "home" for ocean cruises in MSC Yacht Club. The experience is full on Italy -- our favorite holiday place. And the flexibility to be alone and romantic or engaged with others is always there. We're of the Italian mindset for dinner -- late. We usually start around 8pm and end around 10:30pm for two courses. If river cruises only have one seating, do they accommodate European styles? I know that in Spain even 8pm is early for dinner.

Hi all -- I've just stopped in here because my spouse and I are "river cruise curious." This thread seemed a good one to acquaint myself with the topic. I like to read negative reviews to see if the comments will matter to us -- a good barometer for how we might feel, if you will. I'm wondering about this particular comment, which I did see repeated several times in this thread. Years ago, we feared that river cruising would not be for us since the vessels are smaller and it's not as easy to "blend in." We travel for the adventure of exploring new spaces and the romantic aspect of traveling together. We prefer to spend meals alone together to talk "amongst ourselves." I fear that from the comments on this thread, we'll have a tough time on any river cruise, regardless of cruise company, of obtaining a table for two. It's not that we aren't social. We'll chat with plenty of folks during various times of the day. But when it's time to dine, we just like holding hands and having a romantic meal together. PS: We take about 2.5 hours to have a 2-course meal, with lots of pauses for conversation and consumption of adult beverages. Am I nuts to even consider a river cruise??

We learn something more each time -- this is my best reason to book another and another and another... 😁

Do you mean a Cruise Concierge? If you're not onboard yet, that Cruise Concierge is a sort of travel agent/special MSC booking agent -- they are not the YC concierge staff from the ship. Some folks use Cruise Concierges to book their cruises and add-on items instead of booking themselves on the MSC website or using their own personal travel agent. There is no extra cost to the traveler and those Cruise Concierges do provide a personal service. We used one for our first post-Covid cruise and he was very attentive. He gave us his direct phone number and was super responsive to all our needs.

We rarely leave the ship in the Caribbean these days and in the past have usually purchased any excursions before we boarded. The few times we found an excursion we wanted to join once we were onboard, we would speak with the concierge to purchase it. Your butler probably could assist as well, but they're just going to with the concierge, so we skip the middle person when possible. We find that we interact just as frequently with the concierge staff as with our butler (and all the butlers). They are all there for you so choose whichever you prefer. 😉

Sometimes it's not so much what you request but what you discuss. If there were questions about an upcoming event on board, ask. If you have questions about a port -- where to go, how to just roam around by yourself -- ask. The butler has probably been there a bunch of times and can share what they know -- or what their crew mates have told them. We also always try to ask them how their day is going. It's rare that they don't say all is good, but we've found that they like to be treated as 'people' and not 'help.' It is the same way we chat with the YC concierges, bartenders, hosts in the restaurant, etc. When they get to know you better, they know what to talk to you about, what to recommend you don't miss, etc. They are your ticket to the best cruise you can have. Enjoy!

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. 🙂

We really like Divina. We think the smaller scale of the YC gives a nice intimate feeling. We're back on her in October of 2025 for a transatlantic from Lisbon. Meanwhile, we've got Seascape and Seaside before that. I think we'll be happy to be on Divina again. Hope you enjoy her too!