euromaster

On all our sailings on MSC Yacht Club we've always had the premium drink package included.  I don't see those words "premium" in the blurbs for the YC now but rather "unlimited drinks".  Can you confirm the drink package in YC is still the premium drink package up to $12.  Secondly what is the cost if you upgrade to "premium plus". 

We were loyal Celebrity cruisers having reached elite status. Travelled aqua class on all the S class ships as well on the Summit. When MSC Seaside came along I said I'd give it a try since I had travelled NCL Haven and wanted to compare that to MSC's Yacht Club. The initial reviews for MSC Seaside...mostly negative...made me pause and consider cancelling. Well I didn't cancel...and like some others have said here MSC Yacht Club blew me away. It's far superior to aqua class on Celebrity and the price is not that much greater. Celebrity needs to come up with something comparable to a Yacht Club or they are going to see a lot of defections in the coming years. NCL Haven is too expensive....but MSC YC far outstrips anything Celebrity is currently offering.

All you ever wanted to know about the lavender fields:

http://www.moveyouralps.com/routes-d...de-la-lavande/

http://www.avignon-tourisme.com/dive...urs-170-2.html

https://www.routard.com/mag_week_end...la_lavande.htm

https://www.bestjobersblog.com/les-3...e-en-provence/

 

And, yes, rent a car. We have also dropped off rental cars at the Avignon TGV station. As Hank suggests this will give you maximum time to see the fields. Have you bought your TGV tickets yet out of Marseille? If not, consider this option of renting a car in Marseille and returning it in Avignon. The train station is somewhat out of town and easy to get to.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Avignon+-+Gare+TGV/@43.9218903,4.7814703,11.92z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x12b5ebded31ecb69:0x4c2fa7a50b1d2128!8m2!3d43.9227769!4d4.7847888?hl=en

Thanks for the wonderful info. I was considering renting a car in Marseille and returning it in Avignon. No I haven't purchased my TGV tickets yet. Avignon looks closer to the lavender fields and I won't have to hassle with Marseille traffic.

We will be disembarking in Marseille next June and want to see the lavender fields. Our ship disembarks at 0800 and we will need to be back in Marseille by 1700 to catch the TGV to Paris. The 9 hour bus tours will probably not fit our time constraints. First question: where are the lavender fields? Luberon? Second how to get there considering our time constraints? Tour bus? Private tour? Rent a car? Train? Bus? Taxi? Third question: cost? Thanks!!

Have done Aqua on Silhouette, Equinox, Summit and Reflection. Recently did YC on Seaside. While YC is pricier than Aqua....it blows Aqua "out of the water"....and the price is not that much greater. I had the same question being elite on X but totally impressed with Seaside YC. Can't vouch for the experience on the rest of the ship....but if you go YC....you won't be disappointed.

We are cruising on the Seaside from Miami. I have a car rental. Can we drop off our luggage but not check-in so I can return the car rental...and then check-in later in the day. Or do we have to check-in when we drop off our luggage?

Seaside's Trio Dining for $89pp gives you Butcher's Cut and Ocean Cay which is just fine....but the third restaurant is Roy Yamaguchi's Asian Market....but if I read it correctly there are 3 distinct Roy restaurants aboard...first a sushi restaurant , a separate teppanyaki restaurant and a third restaurant Pan Asian. And the blurb for trio dining only talks about sushi. I don't eat sushi or like it. Does that mean you can only eat in the sushi restaurant? Second question: can you buy the trio onboard. Third question: buying onboard I can use my onboard credit but if I buy it pre-cruise I must pay with a credit card, correct? There's my trio of questions.

We were on the same cruise in Haven and also had Seka as our butler.....but hardly used her. If I knew she was as good as it appears I would have maybe figured out how to use her more. We never do room service and never do dinner in our room so I really can't figure out how to use a butler as good as Seka. Let me know....so next time I'll make better use of a top-notch butler. For us, it's just easier to walk the few steps to the bar and Haven dining room. We thought the food and service in the Haven dining room was great...and the Haven bartender was also great....I can't believe I forgot his name already. Kumar?

I don't think I'll cancel....but the bad reviews have given me pause for thought. The bad reviews have certainly tempered my excitement...and i don't blame people writing those bad reviews...and i don't just chalk it up to maiden voyage kinks. There are too many consistent reviews with the same problems...understaffing, smells, elevator breakdowns, long waits, cold food, etc. That's especially troublesome when everyone raves about the beauty of the ship. Hopefully the kinks get worked out in the next couple of weeks.....let's get on the ball management!!

As the OP name of "cruisefoodie" implies...you know a little something about food.... and want to hear from someone onboard about the quality of the food and the service....especially with the many negative reviews complaining about the food. I also would like to hear from someone with a more discriminating palate as to the quality. A number of cruiselines built their reputation on the quality of the food...Celebrity and Oceania come to mind...so telling me "food is subjective" tells me nothing. I'm interested in hearing from someone with some food knowledge and someone who can compare the food on MSC to other cruiselines they've travelled. That would be very helpful.

Really? Management should prohibit bad reviews? So of the 10,000 people who have cruised in the first two weeks, you would seriously worry about the 0.25% who complain. Perhaps you have not read seweein's review.

I think considering the extensive photos she provides as actual evidence along with pages and pages of balanced commentary should carry FAR more weight that a paragraph which basically says it sucked, yet tells me nothing. Admiral and sidari have also posted lengthy reviews which while containing some negatives, conclude with the fact that they had a good time and that the were many positives to their experience.

 

Having cruised extensively on many lines (including MSC) I know two things. 1) Something will go wrong or not be to my liking sometime on just about every cruise. BUT I won't care, nor mention it to anyone as it is completely normal and unremarkable. 2) somebody on the same cruise will say it is awful, while I am loving it. How many times have I overheard people complaining, or worse yet raising their voices to staff, while I am happy as a clam. I have never been treated poorly by staff on any of my 24 cruises, and part of that is because I never treat them poorly, or complain about policies with which I disagree or food which I don't find as appetizing as I had hoped.

 

If the ship looks good to you in photos, the itinerary works for you, and the price is right for you, by all means go! And lastly, think positively! Pessimists and complainers generally get the experience they expect.

My statement was poorly worded. Sorry. Obviously MSC can't stop people from writing bad reviews....that's not what I meant. What I meant is when you roll out a ship, you better make sure that for the most part it's gonna' be a good cruise experience. Sure there are glitches in all maiden voyages...but what I'm reading doesn't sound like a glitch...but major mismanagement.

I'm rooting for MSC. I need a change from Celebrity where I'm elite and NCL where we've travelled Haven. I want to experience a grand experience in the Yacht Club. I've watched practically every youtube video since November on "sailing into the sun" and the Yacht Club looks fantastic....and I'm still very hopeful that MSC can straighten out the major glitches. But it doesn't speak well judging by the reviews I've read. And time is of the essence. There's a lot of competition in the cruise industry...and a lot of choices. MSC can't afford to roll out a deficient product.

It's tempered my excitement...to a certain degree. Sophia Loren. Fireworks....that great melodic tune on the MSC youtubes....the beautiful ship...,.I went to sleep dreaming of MSC. I just hope they straighten out the problems quickly. We can speculate all we want about glitches on maiden cruises....but we're not on the ship. The people that sailed on the maiden 2 cruises were....so I put a lot of credence in what they say.

The cruiser who just wrote in today and is on the current cruise with a very positive review is encouraging. Hopefully MSC has turned the corner. I'm not cancelling my cruise. I'm still excited about sailing in the Yacht Club with a Celebrity match....but my great excitement for Seaside.....has been tempered. And that disappoints me.

Here's the problem: there are currently 25 reviews of the Seaside as of now on CC. And everyone pans it. There is not a mixture of good and bad....just bad. That's a real cause for concern. We're booked for May and am really looking forward to cruising on Seaside....but unless MSC turns it around quickly..,.the temptation will be to cancel. It's not only the bad reviews....but also the content of the bad reviews. It's a sign of poor management to allow the initial cruises to be panned so badly. That shouldn't happen.

We just sailed the Epic Haven; will be sailing on Breakaway Haven in March and MSC Seaside YC in May so I really appreciate your comparison. And your response to your "cruise critic critic" was also right on. We loved the Haven on the Epic...but that was our first time in Haven....but wasn't crazy about the Epic itself. We also sailed the Getaway steerage class and the design of that ship was so much better than the Epic....so we are excited about the Breakaway...and doubly excited about being in Haven.

Have watched all the Youtube videos on MSC Seaside Yacht Club.....and am quadruply excited to be sailing in YC on Seaside. My perspective so far on Haven vs YC.... they're both great. But your comparison will help me appreciate the differences between the two.

And you really shouldn't have to defend yourself on this board from people who may have their own agenda. I'm a big boy. I can make up my own mind if you're a "homer" for MSC or just trying to help future cruisers in their choices. Clearly you fall into the latter category...and i thank you.

We cruised this past October on NCL on basically the same route Oct 15-22nd. Barcelona-Naples-Rome-Livorno-Cannes-Marseilles-Barcelona. Had absolutely perfect weather 70's and sunny every day...although our tour guide in Cannes told us the weather can be iffy at that time of year. Of course we were on NCL...can't vouch for MSC! Only kidding. I was amazed at how we had such great weather...and luck!! I'm on this board because we also doing an upcoming MSC Seaside Yacht Club cruise...very excited about that!

If you are in Haven, do you have access to Vibe? We will be sailing in Haven but there is no bar on outside deck in Breakaway Haven so I am interested in having access to Vibe to get drinks.

Just sailed on Epic haven and there was a bar in Haven Posh. I've been told there's no such bar in Breakaway Haven Posh. True? If not can you access Vibe and is there a bar in Vibe on the Breakaway?

Temperature late July. Is Air conditioning a necessity in late July or are the nights cool?

Great cruise, Victor Bodden was great in Roatan and Maya Chan Beach Club in Costa Maya was a wonderful place with great food and staff. The owner of Maya Chan was on our ship and was a pleasure to meet.

 

Harvest Caye, well.. I had nothing planned there, and did nothing there, all though was nice to run on solid ground, it was almost a 1 mile loop around the island and beat running on the small track on deck 16.

 

Disembarking... I have been on the getaway and escape and never had a problem, but the horror stories of late had me sacred. Well, I got in line at 8:30 and was in an Uber by 9am. Not sure what all the fuss was about, or maybe they fixed it.

No surprise that you had no problem disembarking....that's because you're "sacred"!

We are planning a northern European cruise with St Petersburg on Sunday. Is it possible to go to a catholic mass in St Petersburg?

Just wonderful pics and review. Thank you. And I have to check the roll call....I think we're on the same cruise as you next January. We're also animal lovers....2 dogs...one a rescue....and beachlovers, too!:)