chrisgp999

That may be the case with this pair's most recent video. About two years ago they were told to stop recording the Marketplace Buffet serving area on the Virtuosa. Reason for this action by MSC were not documented.

To the best of my knowledge, there has been no "banning of filming" by MSC. There have been two occasions, on two different MSC ships where one pair of vloggers were told to cease and desist video recording for some yet to be documented reason. There are plenty of MSC review videos on You Tube, including several by the hotel director on the Seaview.

My concern is that "the largest MSC Yacht Club in the North American market" means greatest number of YC passengers without a comparable increase in YC area and staff. I've adopted a wait and see posture regarding a booking on the WORLD AMERICA.

The above is an untrue generalization. My past three MSC cruises have require minimal, but some, interaction with MSC customer service. Calls were answered promptly and the problem/issue/request addressed immediately. I'll concede that others may have encountered different experiences but to state that "nothing" has happened is an overly broad statement.

I've always had to call MSC customer service to get the 5% (or sometimes 5%+5% special promo) applied. Never had any problems with this method. The calls were always answered promptly and the discount applied immediately.

Apologize for the following typos. Was trying to multi-task. "Both were OK" 'or like Radar O'Reilly from MASH

2020 cruise on the Meraviglia and 2024 cruise on the Seascape we tipped our butlers $200. Both wereK and took good care of us. They both seemed a little too reserved (introverted). On our 2022 Meraviglia, Leslie was our butler. I truly believe he was psychic. He correctly anticipated our wants/needs/desires almost before we did. When we didn't need him, he was invisible. When we needed something he was like a genie popping out of a lamp, or lie Radar O'Reilly from MASH. He was "politely" assertive when the situation warranted same. We tipped him $400 and to this day, I think we undertipped him.

Further testimony on the existence of interlopers. One afternoon on that same cruise I was in the YC area, walking past the entrance doors on deck 18. A woman, outside theYC was frantically knocking on the entrance doors cruise card in her hand. It was not the blue YC card with the gold lotus emblem we all know so well. I looked at her, pointed to my YC wrist band, shook my head NO, and walked away. She was not happy with me.

When we were on the Seascape in February, there were random scans of cruise cards and/or wrist bands in the TSL and YC restaurant. Wait staff claimed this was to track the food and drink orders. Spoke with the Maitre d" about this. He mentioned that a scan of one group of patrons in the YC restaurant revealed that their cabin was on deck 14. They were obviously in the wrong restaurant. DW and I were not upset or insulted by these "ID" checks.

DW and I were on the February 17 ,2024 Seascape cruise. It Mustafa's first week on board as YC director. He literally boarded the ship the same day as we did. When we entered the TSL on embarkation day, we noticed something was "off". The service level was not what up to MSC YC standards. Two days into our cruise, we found it necessary to discuss our concerns with Mustafa. We identified two specific problems; service/staffing problems in one of the YC venues, and, an equipment/amenities issue in another venue. The service/staffing issue was fixed Immediately, as in within the hour. From thereon, service was exceptional, even by Yacht Club standards. We assumed the equipment/amenities issue was something that could not be fixed while at sea. We were wrong. This issue was fixed by the following day. Later that following day I bumped into Mustafa. When he saw me coming, he had a huge grin on his face. I thanked him and asked him how he could fix the equipment in the middle of the ocean. He answered with a smile "I have my sources". He is a true gentleman and outstanding manager and YC director. I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect Mustafa replaced a previous YC director who let staff and service deteriorate. BTW, Mustafa comp'd DW and I with a free dinner at Butchers Cut for the issues we reported.

There is more to the Ben and David saga than what is being presented here. About two years ago MSC asked these guys to stop recording in the buffet on the Virtuosa.