P2l

On 9/2/2024 at 10:42 PM, Essiesmom said:

I have not sailed MSC from within Europe, but do find that folks from Europe who sail the ships on our side of the pond dress a bit better in general than we do.  There will be an Elegant night, but it is not necessary to take formal wear, though some will.  There will also be a White Night, and lots of people take white outfits for that.

From my recent experience, the White Night is the one that most people make the special effort for. I chose to wear a tux for elegant night, but I think I was the only non crew on the entire ship that did! So long as you have something other than board shorts & flip-flops for main dining rooms of an evening, dress how you feel comfortable.

Worst we had was blustery, but never unusable. The assistant butler ensured the furniture was securely tied in the evening, as did we if we used it again after we got in at the end of the night (not uncommon, as the balcony is great for looking at the sky).

On 8/23/2024 at 4:52 PM, Simon1902 said:

Is there a lunch menu for the Sun deck? We board Europa tomorrow in Marseille. We have done Seaview twice in YC and I really liked the lunchtime grill buffet on there. Will take some getting used to having to order from a menu.

How was your cruise? Did you get to the Speakeasy?

We had lunch up there. We sat at a table and pretty soon someone came with a menu. Not sure if breakfast would be served up there, but I don't see why not. The gazebos might not be up, depending on timing. 

I guess it varies from cruise to cruise - we were a family of four and had no issues with the busyness in the Grill. NB They did have a seating area on the sundeck as well where they also served food from the Grill and had gazebos to provide shade. This might be in response to feedback?

Whilst others in the family would have liked a buffet, personally I'm with morpheusofthesea on this; not only for hygienic reason, but also because when one has paid for a premium for service it seems churlish to spurn it by serving oneself!

Correct, no under 18s. Our two under 18s were happy to stay in the cabin. Quite right too, since we had a duplex whirlpool (16003), needed to get our money’s worth!

We met a couple in there who’d got them from a bartender in the Gin Project, who they’d engaged in conversation. The chap didn’t normally like gin, but the bartender took it as a challenge to find one he did like. 
 

As we didn’t go to many bars we might have cheated a little and asked our butler, Kevin, for a hint.

NB it’s worth doing but be aware it’s not covered by the drinks package, so quickly gets expensive.

Oh if you make it to the Speakeasy, please check if Her Majesty is still where we hid her!

Alas today we disembarked. Though I considered stowing away in a lifeboat. 
 

There’s lots of bars that look very nice, and we hardly had chance to sample a fraction. Good to do on White Night, as the rest of the ship makes a big effort for that. We asked the concierge which days were which dress code, as it made dining planning easier. 

Well, we’re back in Blighty and I have to say, we missed our butler as soon as we got to the airport. Should’ve taken a leaf out of that other documentary, the one where the penguins took over the ship, and sailed ourselves home. Our flight made the steerage buffet seem positively civilised.

Very sad to say our “Poseidon Adventure” is over. 
 

PS @morpheusofthesea @scamper, I did ask the captain re the best strategy in the Poseidon scenario. He seemed a bit bemused, as if (worryingly) he didn’t know, or possibly he thought it a stupid question!

Yes it’s a menu. If you really feel the urge to go to a buffet, you can always go to the steerage buffet. Or, alternatively, hurl yourself overboard. Out of the two options, I’d recommend the latter!

Actually, it is worth walking through the steerage buffet once, just to remind oneself why one travels in Yacht Club. 

There is but alas I didn’t photograph it. 

You can’t really see it in the photo, but they have all the dishes on display, so whilst you can’t serve yourself, you can browse. 

The tables are all small,  but I’m sure the staff would happily put 4 tables together. 
 

One thing we didn’t realise is the breakfast start time varies quite significantly depending on the port arrival time. 
 

RS looks to have the best privacy of the large suites. Note there are 2 RS layouts depending which deck, as pointed out in another recent thread. 

Quite blustery there this morning. Oddly, pool deck is less so. 

@jumbo16

A couple of well positioned complementary towels placed on the upper balcony rail helps to screen the hot tub a little, and screen the upper balcony from a ship docked in front. The rear of the upper balcony is completely screened, but the access is of course unscreened. At night, whether or not the neighbours have their deck lights on makes a big difference. 

Overall though I’d agree, for a premium suite it’s is too public. Even the Owners Suite doesn’t seem much better.

YC Dining
Is there enough seats for all of the YC guests, or will some be forced to the buffet overflow where a reservation is needed? Or wait for a long time to get in.

We generally eat early. The only time we’ve seen YC restaurant anywhere approaching full was when we hit breakfast at the busy time. We’ve also eaten in La Brasserie 3x, because the kids liked it. Caveat we were always early, but it was nearly empty every time. It’s a la carte table service, not buffet, and YC exclusive in the evening though not in YC enclave.

Side observation: White night seems a bigger thing than gala (“elegant”) night, but it seemed more enthusiastically adopted outside YC. 

Air conditioning in the TSL, some report that it's not enough to keep it cool

In Malta this afternoon, the sun was directly on the YC glass. I’d say the AC can’t cope with that, I was sweating. 

Lounge snacks are not available 'buffet style' and instead are brought on a tiered stand with fewer choices then other YC that have the station
Probably true. But staff attentive and soooo much food. High tea today in TSL was not well advertised, and thus sparse attendence. Struggled to eat dinner afterwards. 

Hot Tub and Pool on YC deck
Some are saying the pool way too small for the number in YC, that it is over crowded, over the limit in hot tub (number of people). Sea days they said it was unusable
Sometimes it can be busy, other times empty. We have a hot tub on our balcony that hardly ever gets crowded! Deck area seems sufficient and Lanai deck at rear of YC is hardly used. Except by us.

Another aside, I’m writing this from the inside pool area - it’s really quiet late evening/night and open until 11pm. 

Shows
No more reserved seating for Yacht Club guests in theatre, how does that work? 
In theatre there is reserved seating.  In the Panorama Lounge it’s not reserved, but YC can come and go as they please. Basically they never allocate to capacity. It is worth getting their early for busy shows. 

SPA area
Overcrowded and overbooked, can't handle the number of guests

Only been once, and it was busy. Probably picked a bad time, after everyone was back from ShoreEx. Not much in the way of seating/lying/hanging space, but facilities themselves were varied and not too overcrowded. If I went again I’d try to predict a quieter time. 
 

We don’t have another YC experience to compare it against, but we would happily do WE or WA again. Albeit I spoiled the family with the Duplex Whirlpool suite, so they might not accept less in future. Compared to our only other experience, Britannia Club on Cunard Queen Mary 2, the food and dining service was much much better in the latter. But for a family the WE has so much more, an, for adults as well, the ship has lots of places to go and things to do. It doesn’t feel too crowded as long as you avoid the obvious (eg steerage buffet). 
 

Not a buffet, yes breakfast served, and also our favoured breakfast location. I’ll try to remember to take a picture of the menu tomorrow. It’s similar to the YC restaurant. 

12 hours ago, Fissues said:

Speakeasy? I see the gin. 

Yes. But there is now something discretely hidden in the hidden bar. One can see it if one looks closely in the right place. 

Her Majesty is now in residence. 

Another pic showing overhang. 

Just spotted some interlopers being ejected from YC pool deck. Probably trying to steal our cookies. Staff challenged them and asked to see their cards.