sverigecruiser

4 hours ago, capriccio said:

Almost all the risottos.  

Have you tried the oysterrisotto? It looks grouse but tastes delicious, I think.

I like to match videos but I hate when there is awful music in them!

30 minutes ago, DublinFC said:

I am hoping early June will be bearable while on the excursion(s). Plenty of cold beer will be welcomed to help cool off when back on the ship.

It was almost not bearable on our cruise but the thought of all the beer available on the ship helped a lot!

35 minutes ago, peder said:

 

oh, good to know. Almost everyone has labeled the food situation as more of a hassle and/or taking things away. Yours is the first report I've seen saying it's at least largely equivalent.

 

It was very hot on the sundeck on our cruise but it was a nice outside restaurant. Sit down and they give you a menu to order from. Much better than a buffet, I think.

34 minutes ago, peder said:

 

 

But RE: whirlpools: the Top 20 deck whirlpools are of course shared with Aurea, no?

Yes but on our cruise they were not used much and they are very big.

3 minutes ago, GPPhilly said:

The last 2 trips I have had on the Euribia and the Seaside the daily snacks to grab yourself have disappeared as well.  Now you must ask and you get what is available at that time.   

That's disappointing.

1 hour ago, peder said:

 

However, the small pool, only having one whirlpool? Moving away from small plate snacks + buffet to a made-to-order grill? That's a big step back from the Seashore/Seascape YC experience.

 

There are two large whirlpool on the Top 20 deck just outside the YC on deck 20.

I think that the made-to-order food was very nice so no step back, I think.

24 minutes ago, DublinFC said:

Hahaha nice!

 

We have Pompeii already booked when we arrive in Naples.  Good to know there is a shuttle for Marseille.  

 

My uncle has done this itinerary and said to" get on the busses and go have a look around".  However, he wasn't clear on excursion over provided shuttle lol.  Just trying to get some clarification from the message board cruisers. 

We have the same cruise booked but in July 2025.

We were in Pompeii on a cruiseexcursion last summer, interesting but hot! It was worth doing it but the first beer back onboard tasted very good!

1 hour ago, TheMichael said:

 

From what I understand it's basically background music - are they slipping in some rock or dance bands?

Most of the time it's background music and that's what I want.

Sometimes they are slipping in something else.   

9 hours ago, TheMichael said:

The entertainment offered is the same for all passengers

Not really.

My favorite entertainment on the ship is the music played every night in the Top Sail Lounge.

2 hours ago, mica178 said:

 

I'd rather tell the waiter that everything is fine and send him/her on his/her way than not have an attentive waiter! I hate having to flag waitstaff down because it decreases my enjoyment of the meal to have to focus on that instead of the food or the conversation

Waiters can be attentive without coming to the table every second minute. My experience is that they are very easy to get eyecontact with in the YC when I want and a few seconds later they come to my table and that's what I want.

15 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Yes. There is no right or wrong, just preferences. We, on the other hand, enjoy the 'attention'. We pay extra for it. What we "hate" is paying extra and not getting the extra attention. MSC seems very good at providing both of us a great product.

I think that MSC staff are good at understanding how much attention their customers want. We don't want the extra attention and it seems like they understand that.

7 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Yes. If taken literally. The idiom "every two minutes" means "Very frequently; continually

adverb. (figuratively) Very frequently; continually." Like, "Ever since I appeared on television, the phone has been ringing every five minutes." The waiter came back as soon as I finished the cake. He must have been keeping his eye on my progress. It happens quite often in the YC restaurant as well. I tipped over my ice cream sundae and my waiter was at my side so fast he had to have been watching close by. My DW made mention the super efficient clean up and new ice cream sundae replacement with out turning my head to summon anyone.

But I mean that it's annoying when it happens for real and it does! I hate that!

42 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

 I tipped the waiter $5 and he kept coming back to our table every 2 minutes to see if we wanted another dessert or drink. I am surprised how little it really takes to get superior service on these ships. 

I should really hate if that happened and I should regret tipping. I think that it's superannoying when they come to our table every 2 minutes to see if everything is okay! If something is wrong or I want something more I let them know!

For me that is NOT good service.

11 hours ago, sollyman said:

The butler was fine but did absolutely nothing above what was expected of him. Same goes for the assistant. The room was kept clean and usually made up while we were at breakfast. Other than that we asked for and received nothing over what would be deemed expected.

I think that is exactly what the butler shall do!

He/She shall do what is expected of them. If you ask for nothing, they shall do nothing extra.

7 hours ago, sollyman said:

Unfortunately YC passengers had no priority getting back onboard.

 

 

 

Where and when was that?

We have only been on three MSC cruises so far, two from Barcelona and one from Miami, but we got priority getting back onboard. (Always cut the line at security and most of the time a dedicated door for YC to enter the ship.)

I looked on MSCs Swedish site.

One week on MSC World Europa in July next year, for two:

Fantastica balcony 3350 USD

Aurea balcony 3860 USD

Yacht Club deluxe 7440 USD

On 5/9/2024 at 7:10 PM, codingmunkey said:

 My experience is YC folks are pretty snotty honestly, I met one couple that was nice.  And before people attack me, I am speaking from MY experience only and that experience has been YC people are absolutely the entitled types.

 

 

I understand and respect that that is your experience.

Our experience is different. We have only met nice people in the YC but outside people are often loud and rude.

I guess that people outside the YC sometimes feel that the YC people act entitled when they actually ARE entitled, for example when cutting line at security. It's not rude to cut the line when you are allowed to do it. If someone has paid to skip the line they are allowed to do it without getting rude comments.

We prefer new, big ships.

But we "need" ship within ship so that we still can get outside space and lounge without lots of people. When in MSCs Yacht Club lots of people is only a problem at the end of the cruise, standing in line for a cab!

I can't think of any portcity in the Western Mediterranean with many direct flights from the US.

We prefer to sail from Barcelona.

17 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

That's not mistreatment of Bella and Fantastica guests. It's elevated treatment of Aurea and Yacht Club guests. 

 

If someone is walking through the desert and I hand them a cold 16.9oz bottle of Dasani water, that person shouldn't feel mistreated if I hand a Yacht Club guest a cold 1L bottle of Acqua Panna water.  

I agree with you but many Bella and Fantastica guests still think that it is mistreatment.

I don't care what they say because I have paid extra to be able to cut lines!

On 4/12/2024 at 12:59 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

Yacht Club and Aurea guests get more but that doesn't mean that Bella and Fantastica guests are mistreated 

Many Bella and Fantastica guests feel mistreated when the Yacht Club guests cut the line, especially at security when boarding during the cruise!

On 4/9/2024 at 9:31 AM, Toofarfromthesea said:

Way less expensive.  

And better!