Alternative to Celebrity

Yes, it is a good price for internet for 12 nights. I'd really prefer that some nominal charge for internet be made, rather than giving it to the whole ship for free. Regent does that, and it doesn't work most of the time. That is a good price for laundry too. I haven't booked the cruise because my TA is out of pocket for the next week or so, and I like working with a TA. It was just a N. European cruise I investigated to see if MSC YC was a good deal or not. I didn't want to rely totally on my experience of over four years ago, because things change. In this case, they seem to have changed for the better.

Yes, it is a good price for internet for 12 nights. I'd really prefer that some nominal charge for internet be made, rather than giving it to the whole ship for free. Regent does that, and it doesn't work most of the time. That is a good price for laundry too. I haven't booked the cruise because my TA is out of pocket for the next week or so, and I like working with a TA. It was just a N. European cruise I investigated to see if MSC YC was a good deal or not. I didn't want to rely totally on my experience of over four years ago, because things change. In this case, they seem to have changed for the better.

I’ll be really interested to read Linda’s review on MSC YC when she’s sailed later in the year, and Grandgeezer’s take too as it could be another option to put into our pot ;).

I’ll be really interested to read Linda’s review on MSC YC when she’s sailed later in the year, and Grandgeezer’s take too as it could be another option to put into our pot ;).

I'm sailing in less than a month, so hang in there!

I don't think the comment about room service is accurate either. I've heard rave reviews about room service pizza, which wouldn't be so rave if it were served cold.

I was the one who made the comment about room service being only cold food. As I said above, I called MSC this morning and discovered that is no longer the case. I based my original statement on a 2014 YC cruise on the Divinia. The "cold room service" statement was true then, but not now. I am so accustomed to cruise lines cutting services, or jacking up prices sky high, that I originally presumed this was still the case. I apologize, and congratulate MSC for making improvements.

Word must be out on MSC Seaside Yacht Club Suites. I have so much faith in our Seaside cruise next week, I was looking for something in the January to April time frame. Lowest price I could find is over $400 p.p. higher than what we paid for next week. Who knows, maybe by the time we finish our cruise, we determine it's worth the money. Still over $600 p.p. less than a Sky Suite on the Equinox for the same time frame.

The price increases on the Seaside YC may be seasonal. This thread motivated me to look at some YC cruises and I noticed that some identical cruises here higher than others, apparently due to the time of the year. Also, I don't believe that the Sky Suite comes with all the perks of Celebrity and Royal suites, and not all the perks of the YC. One perk of the YC (and those higher Celebrity suites) is priority boarding and disembarkation. With the size of the ships in question, I don't leave home without this perk!

The price increases on the Seaside YC may be seasonal. This thread motivated me to look at some YC cruises and I noticed that some identical cruises here higher than others, apparently due to the time of the year. Also, I don't believe that the Sky Suite comes with all the perks of Celebrity and Royal suites, and not all the perks of the YC. One perk of the YC (and those higher Celebrity suites) is priority boarding and disembarkation. With the size of the ships in question, I don't leave home without this perk!

The reason people are comparing Yacht Club suites to sky suites on Celebrity is that the room size is roughly comparable. The perks in YC are far surperior. You don't really get good suite perks on Celebrity unless you book a royal suite or the penthouse. And you still do not have the ship within a ship concept (until Edge). See my previous comment about having to fight our way through hordes of people from the penthouse to Michael's Club in order to enjoy priority disembarcation. My understanding is that on MSC you simply let your butler know when you wish to disembark. You are then escorted to the head of the line.

And what is the smoking policy? Sounds as if you know and would save us working through a ton of website documents that try not to make it clear so those bothered by extensive smoking wont go, or those that do smoke won’t understand the restrictions.

 

Please explain. I’m teaching a class on Travel and have found it difficult to pin down the various Line smoking policies and I us posts by helpful cruisecritic members to assist.

 

Den

The killer for us is they allow smoking in the Top Sail lounge !

Word must be out on MSC Seaside Yacht Club Suites. I have so much faith in our Seaside cruise next week, I was looking for something in the January to April time frame. Lowest price I could find is over $400 p.p. higher than what we paid for next week. Who knows, maybe by the time we finish our cruise, we determine it's worth the money. Still over $600 p.p. less than a Sky Suite on the Equinox for the same time frame.

Cruise pricing is extremely seasonal. Anytime between Sept and mid Dec will be the least expensive time to cruise (with the exception of Thanksgiving week). January (after New Years Eve) is also relatively inexpensive. Once you get into Feb., March and April you are dealing with school winter breaks and college spring breaks, which drive up prices. Historically you can get some good cruise prices the first week of May, but after that schools start getting out in different parts of the country, which drives the price up again. Hope this helps you figure out when to look for good pricing :)

The killer for us is they allow smoking in the Top Sail lounge !

Do they?

Not in the US.

We were just on Seaside. No smoking in the TopSail Lounge.

And it wasn't that there were no smokers on our cruise. Outside of the lounge we saw smokers trying to light their cigarettes in the wind. There were only one or two at any given time, but I remember thinking "I'm glad I don't smoke anymore."

I've been seriously considering trying MSC Yacht Club on the Seaside. In reading reviews of MSC it seems that the non-YC experience falls well below Celebrity's (lots of food complaints, 10 min waits at bars to get a drink, etc.). It has me wondering how well this "ship within a ship" concept will work for me. I'm sure I'll enjoy time spent within the YC, but I want to enjoy the whole ship as well and I'm concerned that time spent outside the YC will be less than enjoyable. Am I overreacting to the poor reviews? Any insights from Celebrity cruisers who have sailed YC? Thanks.

Having cruised MSC in a regular balcony room and in the YC, I can tell you there is no comparison. We have usually cruised Regent of Silverseas in the past. Of course, in the non YC part of MSC, the cruise was far inferior to those other cruise lines. In the YC, there were many factors we liked better, and for a much lower price than those lux lines.Food in the YC restaurant was on a par with those other lines, and there are fewer lines and crowds in the YC than those lux lines. Also, I must comment on Celebrity Royal suite cruising. We found it to be about the same price as those lux lines, but with a suite 2.5X larger, which we greatly appreciated.

I've been seriously considering trying MSC Yacht Club on the Seaside. In reading reviews of MSC it seems that the non-YC experience falls well below Celebrity's (lots of food complaints, 10 min waits at bars to get a drink, etc.). It has me wondering how well this "ship within a ship" concept will work for me. I'm sure I'll enjoy time spent within the YC, but I want to enjoy the whole ship as well and I'm concerned that time spent outside the YC will be less than enjoyable. Am I overreacting to the poor reviews? Any insights from Celebrity cruisers who have sailed YC? Thanks.

Just to your point we sailed on NCL Breakaway. We were in the Haven, a ship within a ship concept. But when we left the Haven to go to speciality restaurants and enjoy the rest of the ship it was horrible so crowded- so if you really want peace and quiet- you are probably best to stay in the yacht club. Never had a problem on Celebrity or with Oasis class Royal ships.

I also have read poor reviews for MCS. Not sure if MSC would be for me.

 

I also have read poor reviews for MCS. Not sure if MSC would be for me.

That's fine.

We enjoy Celebrity.

Have recently discovered MSC.

Go on the MSC boards. We are now trying our very best to keep MSC's Yacht Club our "secret."

MSC's Yacht Club is terrible.:evilsmile:

I’ll be really interested to read Linda’s review on MSC YC when she’s sailed later in the year, and Grandgeezer’s take too as it could be another option to put into our pot ;).

Good morning Jenny! Just to let you know and it’s a bit far out but DH and I are doing MSC Yacht Club next September around the Baltic’s. First cruise ever with MSC but they recognised our Elite status with Celebrity and immediately we were Black in Voyager Club and got nearly 10% off the price. So I’ll let you know how it goes but definitely one to consider. How did you find Princess?Can’t believe it’s nearly two years since our Asian adventure! Hope you and the family are well. Happy Cruising [emoji3][emoji3]

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That's fine.

We enjoy Celebrity.

Have recently discovered MSC.

Go on the MSC boards. We are now trying our very best to keep MSC's Yacht Club our "secret."

 

MSC's Yacht Club is terrible.:evilsmile:

Yeah, I've been spending time on the MSC board. The impression I get is that Yacht Club is universally loved, non-YC - not so much. So I've decided to see for myself. I booked an eight day Caribbean cruise in YC for next Sept (yeah I know hurricanes, but I'm more interested in the on-board experience than the ports). I'm doing an Azamara TA next month. It will be interesting to compare an upscale small ship experience with a ship-within-a-ship on a mega-ship. I have no idea which I will prefer.

Just to your point we sailed on NCL Breakaway. We were in the Haven, a ship within a ship concept. But when we left the Haven to go to speciality restaurants and enjoy the rest of the ship it was horrible so crowded- so if you really want peace and quiet- you are probably best to stay in the yacht club. Never had a problem on Celebrity or with Oasis class Royal ships.

 

I also have read poor reviews for MCS. Not sure if MSC would be for me.

See my post above. I've decided to give it a try.

Yeah, I've been spending time on the MSC board. The impression I get is that Yacht Club is universally loved, non-YC - not so much. So I've decided to see for myself. I booked an eight day Caribbean cruise in YC for next Sept (yeah I know hurricanes, but I'm more interested in the on-board experience than the ports). I'm doing an Azamara TA next month. It will be interesting to compare an upscale small ship experience with a ship-within-a-ship on a mega-ship. I have no idea which I will prefer.

I would love to read your comparison.

I know you'll love the YC, but I'd like the comparison to Azamara

What about azamara?

Seems MSC Yacht Club is getting a lot of positive comments. However, when I look at the youtube on the Seaside private restaurant for the yacht club, I see a buffet style table with breakfast offerings. It was mentioned that the breakfast and lunch is served. I'm just confused with youtube. It just does not look like the beautiful Lumanae experience.

I called MSC last week and was assured that served, sit down breakfast and lunch were available in the YC dining room. However, I am waiting for my TA to become available on Sept 25 to check everything out before I book in the YC. The last time we cruised in the YC was in 2014, and I seem to recall being served breakfast and lunch. But things change, so I will post again when my TA checks it out.

Just to your point we sailed on NCL Breakaway. We were in the Haven, a ship within a ship concept. But when we left the Haven to go to speciality restaurants and enjoy the rest of the ship it was horrible so crowded- so if you really want peace and quiet- you are probably best to stay in the yacht club. Never had a problem on Celebrity or with Oasis class Royal ships.

 

I also have read poor reviews for MCS. Not sure if MSC would be for me.

If you can find a cruise line that doesn’t get poor reviews, Celebrity included, let us know. I don’t put much credence in these as everybody has their own opinion. We are all set to try the Yacht Club Suite on the Seaside. We are also trying the Grand Suite on the Allure next month. These will be our first trials of the “suite life”. Celebrity experience in non suites no longer meets our needs and the Celebrity suite prices are way more expensive for what you get.

We liked our Celebrity cruises this year in both celebrity and royal suites. These suites are much larger than what we experienced in the MSC YC. But at a much higher cost. In both X suites and YC, we had separate embarkation and disembarkation. The only difference is on the YC, we had a separate entrance and exit. But w will probably cruise both again,because they were both great.

I called MSC last week and was assured that served, sit down breakfast and lunch were available in the YC dining room. However, I am waiting for my TA to become available on Sept 25 to check everything out before I book in the YC. The last time we cruised in the YC was in 2014, and I seem to recall being served breakfast and lunch. But things change, so I will post again when my TA checks it out.

Take a look at YouTube. Dining room has buffet setup. Not very nice

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Take a look at YouTube. Dining room has buffet setup. Not very nice

 

 

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What ships are you looking at?

We were on Divina and Seaside, both in the Yacht Club.

The Yacht Club restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Additionally.....

There is a buffet for breakfast and lunch poolside.

Solely for Yacht Club guests (at the private Yacht Club pool)

Nothing like this exists on Celebrity (yet).

Again, I don't know what ship you were looking at that "wasn't very nice."

The buffet poolside has lobster (occasionally). We had delicious lamb chops every day and my dh loved the full roast turkey.