di T

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

They varied quite a bit but some were a little fancy for my taste. I'm happy with some cold cuts, cheese & crackers.... LOL

 

Some of the canapes would include smoked salmon, shrimp etc... You get the idea.

 

A server would come around with a tray and you just pointed to the ones you wanted. Unlike the buffet style in the Diamond Lounge on Royal.

Yea I remember those nibbles,Hubby would say no thanks it will spoil our dinner! But I always grabbed a couple especially the ones with the cheese lol

We got a discount on booking yacht club for seniors think 10% this is the Uk and only booked a few days ago.No mention of the champagne etc. But happy with the senior discount as wasn’t aware of it.

On 10/26/2023 at 9:33 AM, cruisestitch said:

A little further update. I filled out my form to give extra tip to the waiter, assistant, waiter, and room steward, and I took it to guest relations. I was just going to drop it off, but the man there said, wait I need to show you each person’s picture to make sure we have the right employee, because sometimes two waiters have the same name. So he looked up their employee numbers and showed me their pictures to confirm that I had the right person.

 

 

We had a similar experience on our last cruises, the guy at reception showed a photo of the staff member we wanted to give to, but never found out if he got it.Hopefully he did but on our second part of the b2b we gave out the extras with cash, so we knew the staff we wanted to tip extra received it.

What were the pupu’s? 

Booked a b2b on Equinox in the med for next June have been on all Solstice class many times and the price was reasonable. Just last week I booked a 12 night med cruise on Ascent for September it will be a first on this class, it was quite a bit more expensive but excited to try the new ship! We will follow that cruise with a 7 night on MSC yacht club which board same day as we get off the Ascent, again a first time experience.Im sure we will have a great time on all 3 ships.But have a soft spot for Solstice ships and Equinox along with Reflection are favourites.Whatever ship you choose I’m sure you will enjoy I think the Mediterranean is the most beautiful cruise itinerary.Also Ascent visits Sardinia which is the only port we haven’t visited in that area.

Oceania, and future cruise on MSC in Yacht club

17 hours ago, scouseronline said:

We were recently on a b2b in Greece on the Infinity, 1st week we were Aqua, but no availability in Aqua for the 2nd week. 

1st week - Food in Blu was very good, enjoyed every meal we ordered and the staff were amazing

2nd week - MDR - We sailed the Infinity less than a year earlier and we noticed major changes in the quality of the MDR food, it was so bad that we ended up (along with many other passengers) going to the buffet to eat on quite a few nights, which is something we hardly ever did on past sailings.  I noticed that they had really improved the dinner buffet food , this makes me wonder if they were intentionally trying to steer guests away from the service in the MDR to a self serve option ? (Reminds me of supermarkets and the trend toward self serve checkouts)   

This is exactly my thoughts too. Our b2b on Reflection a ship we have sailed a lot and 4 times since the startup! Spent most nights in the buffet as MDR menu was lacking, Never have we ate in the buffet in the evening before and must say the offerings there were mostly good.The buffet was really busy so I assume we were not the only ones disappointed with food in the main dinning room.

17 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

UK bookings should all include gratuities regardless of the method of booking.

 

We booked one via the MSC website and one onboard, both in YC and both have gratuities included...

Thankyou for the info

On 10/14/2023 at 5:13 PM, insidecabin said:

Worth checking UK prices they include the gratuities(and taxes).

 

Also worth checking for non YC as the promotion is premium drinks(no WiFi) on all cabins when available.

Do they include gratuities when you book through a travel agent?

On 10/16/2023 at 1:14 AM, Stem to Stern said:

I say go for it!  In a couple of months we will be giving MSC Yacht Club a try for the first time on board Seascape back to back/side by side with The Retreat on board Celebrity Summit.  I may try a live thread on the Celebrity board.  Most of our cruising history is with Celebrity ranging from regular verandah to Sky Suite.  Booked the Summit portion of the trip first about a year and half out.  Friends convinced us when they shared the deal they got on a Sky Suite.  I love the Revolutionized Summit.  Added the Seascape segment about nine months out after reading about Yacht Club on a couple of live threads.  Then, we realized the back to back opportunity.  We never would and are not overpaying for The Retreat, but the 5 nights in a Sky Suite on Summit was slightly more money than the 7 nights in a Yacht Club Interior on Seascape with what I foresee as being far better amenities included in MSC Yacht Club.  This is DH’s first test cruise without a verandah, but I think he will survive.  We find we make little use of it anyway.  I wish you loads of enjoyment on Ascent.  The Edge-class ships look stunning.  We won’t try one of these (Beyond) until 2024 in a Sunset Verandah.  I dragged my feet on booking Edge-class since I refuse to book an Infinite Verandah.  Cheers!

Well I went and booked! The original plan was Yacht club followed by Ascent ,but the inside Yacht club stateroom on the first leg was sold out..So I decided to book Ascent first followed by inside Yacht club there were two cabins left so I booked! Just means I’ll get flights to Rome and back from Barcelona add a wee stay each side so will be away just over 3 weeks.Looking forward to first time Edge class and first time MSC Yacht club! 

On 10/16/2023 at 5:51 AM, trinitygirl said:

I tried to have this discount applied to my upcoming B2B cruise but it does not apply to the UK/AU/NZ markets.

Ah that makes sense, on our recent b2b booked in the Uk we were told no discount! But we have had discounts in the past when booking through our agent in the states.

5 hours ago, agape01 said:

To make things easier, this is the the video
 

 

Thanks that was very interesting, still think I’ll book the yacht club and give it a try! After 60plus cruises of which 50% or more were with Celebrity I am trying different brands.Hubby says just book what you want😂as long as he is paying, would be rude not to lol

25 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Elite Plus will match to Gold. You don't have to book with MSC at all, directly or through a TA, to get a status match. It is an independent process from booking. You just need to complete the form here:

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match

Thanks

2 minutes ago, di T said:

Seaview it’s out of Barcelona which is a port we cruise from a lot! 

Yea we came home from Reflection with the COVID and it was a lot worse than the last time we both had it! But been back 3 weeks so over it now and ready to pack for the next one in just over two weeks😃Life’s good

1 minute ago, emmas gran said:

Hi I’ve done 7 or 8 YC cruises and love it. What ship are you looking at as the older ships have the YC restaurant at the back away from YC facilities, it’s not a big deal but something to be aware of. My most recent trip was Canaries in September and unfortunately I returned home with COVID.

I would not cruise outside YC, I find it a bit hectic. Another thing is MSC tends to treat ports like bus stops with people getting on and off at each port.

Seaview it’s out of Barcelona which is a port we cruise from a lot! 

3 minutes ago, agape01 said:

To make things easier, this is the the video
 

 

Thanks for that I will watch it now! 

Just now, Lena11033 said:

I've done YC. I liked it I did Southampton to Belgium, Germany and Netherlands. I would only sail MSC for YC not the regular rooms because yes it gets really busy in the main area - which I'm ok on my terms not all the time.

 

I haven't done a B2B going MSC/X though

No we haven’t and if I book this it will be a first for MSC for us. In fact although I’ve booked many b2b cruises they have always been on the same  ship and usually staying in the same cabin, I like to put together our trips myself so add hotels in the embarkation ports or at the end of the cruises, book my own flights etc.Did Oceania earlier this year and it was lovely but found the ship a bit too small and the cruise was expensive.

7 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

 No, bit the ever knowledgeable and thorough Gary Bembridge (Tips for Travellers) was recently and did video and posts on it. bottom line, it was decent but the ship as a whole is super crowded and hard to avoid noise, etc. 

Just now, DaKahuna said:

 

Not yet.  We are booked in the YC on MSC Divina in February. 

 

@generation-x Did a review of her YC experience.  I am sure you can find it if you search for her post. 

 

Will have a wee look, thankyou! 

I’m looking at a yacht club cruise for next year followed by a cruise on Accent which we can board from the same port as we disembark MSC,Have never fancied MSC but the Yacht club looks good, anyone with experience of this? Thanks.

Hi thinking of booking yacht club next summer, we are elite plus on Celebrity does anyone know what the status match would be? Also do you have to book direct with MSC to get it? Thanks in advance,Dianne

2 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

They do seem to be offering off-menu choices each night. Tonight was fish and chips.

 

The menu choices were very unappealing to me, so I ended up with a bowl of the chicken soup for my dinner.

 

out of curiosity, and for research, I just went up to the Buffet. It is French night. I spoke to friends who ate there, and they declared it all delicious. I have to say that the menu, and the choices in the Buffet are far exceeding what is available in the main dining room so far.

One night during our b2b last month on Reflection the buffet had a Portuguese theme and that was one of the best meals in 19 nights! Who would have thought the OVC would be better than the MDR a short time ago? Not us for sure, looked on the second cruise for the same offering but alas it did not happen.

13 hours ago, iandjm said:

Exactly the same food being served 2 weeks ago on Silhouette. Dreadful presentation and choice compared to past experiences.  

Same last month on Reflection, still had a lovely time but did not book a future cruise while on the ship for first time in years.

17 hours ago, monakayk said:

Do they still give out free champagne in glasses on embarkation day? If so where is this done? Thanks in advance

Our first 4 cruises after the startup noticed no sparkling wine on boarding but on Septembers b2b there was bottles on most bars for a complementary flute, This was Reflection, and thankfully the cold towels and cool drinks in ports when going back on the ship! I love this.On Oceania in June when it was very hot we weren’t offered this.

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We are talking about the 8 originally Renaissance ships (called R1 - R8).  O and Azamara currently operate these older vessels that all suffer from small cabin bathrooms/showers when compared to most newer vessels.  Since we believe that part of the Premium-Luxury experience includes a comfortable cabin, we have never accepted the “premium” label attached to those vessels by some on CC.  Folks can choose to ignore various shortcomings on their favorite lines, but the facts are simply the facts.

 

Hank

 

Hank, we sailed our first Oceania cruise in June, but it was on one of the R class and we were a bit disappointed the food was a step up from our usual lines, except for the lamb chops in the specialty restaurant they were the worst in 50 + cruises lol. But the shower wow! We are both quite neat but that shower was so small! Looking at the new ship is it Vista?think I like the idea of a slightly bigger ship would not book R class again, but happy to try some of the new brands in the future.

This is our daily routine for breakfast! Hubby only has an espresso and a fruit plate(he goes to the gym most mornings after breakfast) I have smoked salmon or cheese plate brown toast and butter no bagel and a glass of fiz! I don’t do the gym just a walk.round the decks. Love the captains club breakfast!