Yacht Club vs. Haven

[tigger89]

Hey tigger: We're on that sailing in the YC. Hope to see you there!!:)

 

Really looking forward to it there are 9 of us travelling so I am sure you will be able to pick us out all our cabins are on deck 15.

 

Judith

[Fredric22]

Has anyone noticed the significant price increase in Yacht Club cabins this week? Every sailing I price out on Divina, the YC is 4-5K per person! I hope this is just a temporary test to see how much they can get for these cabins. I can understand 2-3K but over 4K+ seems a bit ridiculous.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Introduction:

 

We just got back from a cruise on the Divina. We booked the Yacht Club YC2 suite which has a living room, separate bedroom, walk-in closet and bathroom with both shower and bath. This was our first cruise on MSC. Prior to MSC, we have been regular NCL passengers usually in Haven suites. Since it appears MSC is targeting NCL, this review compares the ship within a ship areas of each cruise line. Last year we sailed on the Breakaway in a Haven family suite which compares in size and layout to the Divina's YC2 suite. Since both ships are approximately two years old, there is a good basis for comparison of each company's suites.

 

Price: MSC Divina won this category hands down. We paid $6,000 for the YC2 for four travelers. A similar Haven family suite at the time we made the reservation was $9,000+. Also, the Divina Yacht club included free drinks and free minibar in the Yacht club and also free drinks at dinner in Le Muse the Yacht club restaurant.

 

Room: The YC2 does not include a balcony. It is at the front of the ship and has wall to wall windows. Your view if basically the same as the captain's which is directly one deck above your room. We did miss the balcony, but the YC2 pool and lounge area is bigger than NCL's Haven and we had no problem getting space on deck 18. The rest of the room was more spacious than the NCL family suite. Overall I would give a slight edge to the Divina in this category.

 

Amenities: In addition to the drinks mentioned above, the Top Sail lounge is a very large lounge on deck 15 which served casual breakfast, and was always stocked during the day with small bites for snacking or a light lunch. NCL's lounge was much smaller and with few amenities including no free drinks. NCL did have their Haven restaurant in the same location as the lounge. Le Muse, the Yacht Club restaurant was at the opposite end of the ship. We did not mind the walk as we try to stay active during the cruise anyway to burn some of the calories. However, if you don't like traveling cross ship every day to the exclusive club restaurant, NCL is a better choice. One other amenity on the Divina that was very cool, was the daily delivery of a fully bound copy of the newspaper of your choice. Everything consider, we liked the amenities of the Yacht club better than the Haven.

 

Food: The Divina does not have freestyle dining. We dined at Le Muse every night. We missed trying other restaurants on the ship. The two pay restaurants on board were basically ghost towns most of the time. While the food on the Divina was excellent, I would give this catagory to NCL based on the variety of choices available to guests. Our butler indicated MSC's new ships will have free style dining, and will locate Le Muse to the front of the ship where the other Yacht club facilities exist.

 

Entertainment: The Divina had the best entertainment of any ship we have sailed. Opera, a Michael Jackson tribute, dancers, jugglers, aerialists, contortionists, you name it the Divina had it. On NCL, we saw Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor. Both are good shows, but once you have seen those two shows, there is very little entertainment left in the Main Theater. Entertainment goes to MSC by a wide margin.

 

Fitness: NCL's fitness center was about twice as large as the Divina's. Both venues had new equipment and classes of all types. However, the Divina's center was often crowded compared to the Breakaway's center. We did not use the spa on either ship. The fitness catagory belongs to NCL.

 

Recreation: This section of the Breakaway excels. My daughter and I did the ropes course twice, and is was unlike anything available on other ships. The water park was also excellent and lines were very short. Even the mini-golf was pretty fun for a cruise ship. The Divina has one water slide and the usually sports court, but nothing comparable to the Breakaway's offerings. This catagory goes hands down to NCL.

 

Embarking and Disembarking: Both ships are good in this area, but the Divina embarkation was the best we experienced. Unlike NCL, you never stand in any general boarding or security lines. You drive up to the Yacht Club canopy and the butler's take it from there. We were on the ship in 15 minutes which included all I.D. cards, room keys, accounting, etc. Disembarking on both ships was quick. MSC wins this category.

 

Service: The Divina has been maligned in several reviews regarding service. We did not experience this issue, and that includes service outside the Yacht Club. We try to be nice to the staff, as most have very difficult jobs, and the staff was pleasant in return. We had a few issues early on the cruise with our room, and they were resolved quickly. On the Breakaway, it appeared either the staff was new and still working on delivering reasonable service, or there was not sufficient staff for a ship of this size. The Divina wins the service category.

 

Conclusion: This was the best cruise we have experienced on any ship. The service and amenities were great value for money when compared with NCL's Haven. This is not to say the Haven is a bad experience. Anytime you sail in the suite section of any ship, you are likely to have a good cruise. However, when considering the price differential, the suite amenities and the overall experience, I would sail MSC again over a similar offering from NCL.

 

 

Thank you for review . It was a surprise for me that NCL don't even provide free drinks in Haven :eek:.

[resstation]

Thank you for review . It was a surprise for me that NCL don't even provide free drinks in Haven :eek:.

 

I agree. I thought they were included.

 

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[RSLeesburg]

Thanks for review. We are considering Divina and YC. I was curious about the pool in YC - how big is it? Was it crowded? We would be traveling with a 5 y/o, just eying to see if it would be fine for him, or if we would need to go out to main pool area.

 

 

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[Cruisergal1208]

Thanks for review. We are considering Divina and YC. I was curious about the pool in YC - how big is it? Was it crowded? We would be traveling with a 5 y/o, just eying to see if it would be fine for him, or if we would need to go out to main pool area.

 

 

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The pool isn't as big as the others on the ship. The 5y/o may have more fun in the pool on deck 14, just outside the entrance to YC on 15. The YC pool was never crowded when we were there.

[RSLeesburg]

The pool isn't as big as the others on the ship. The 5y/o may have more fun in the pool on deck 14, just outside the entrance to YC on 15. The YC pool was never crowded when we were there.

 

 

Thanks. I know he would want to spend time on the water slide :). Trying to talk my wife into another cruise for next year...lol.

 

It looks like the family suites are all without balconies - is that true?

 

 

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[Cruisergal1208]

Thanks. I know he would want to spend time on the water slide :). Trying to talk my wife into another cruise for next year...lol.

 

It looks like the family suites are all without balconies - is that true?

 

 

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Those with two rooms on deck 12 I think have no balcony.

[RSLeesburg]

Those with two rooms on deck 12 I think have no balcony.

 

 

Ah...gotcha. Thanks.

 

 

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[Shippy]

Has anyone noticed the significant price increase in Yacht Club cabins this week? Every sailing I price out on Divina, the YC is 4-5K per person! I hope this is just a temporary test to see how much they can get for these cabins. I can understand 2-3K but over 4K+ seems a bit ridiculous.

 

kind of like the airlines..

We booked our YC3 a few months ago for next March for 2 people.....$2,000 each !

[Shippy]

Those with two rooms on deck 12 I think have no balcony.

 

I thought I would but didn't. The floor to ceiling windows are fabulous. Left the drapes open at night & watched as the sun came up from bed.

Booked a YC3 cabin for next March. Has the balcony but the trade off is a smaller cabin. Bathroom half the size as yc2. Also, even though still 2 seperate rooms , they are a bit smaller. dressing table area in the bedroom instead of seperate.

BUT BOTH CATAGORIES ARE FABULOUS !

[Mikesa1721]

[/img]

Thanks for review. We are considering Divina and YC. I was curious about the pool in YC - how big is it? Was it crowded? We would be traveling with a 5 y/o, just eying to see if it would be fine for him, or if we would need to go out to main pool area.

 

 

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Here's a few of pics from the Pool in the Yacht Club

 

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Edited September 1, 2014 by Mikesa1721

[RSLeesburg]

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Here's a few of pics from the Pool in the Yacht Club

 

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Awesome! Thanks for these.

 

 

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[adavidw]

Mike, can you please find out the butler for 15029 and if they will be there in November? Thanks a lot.

 

My in-laws were in 15029 last week, and their butler's name was Putra (sp?). I don't have any idea if he'd still be there in November, but they said he was awesome, just came out of nowhere anytime they'd even think of needing someone.

 

On the opposite end, if anyone has 12001 booked, the butler for that room, Rai, leaves much to be desired. On top of that, the room still has a few unresolved plumbing problems and a shower that leaks a lot. Hopefully they can fix it soon.

[Mikesa1721]

My in-laws were in 15029 last week, and their butler's name was Putra (sp?). I don't have any idea if he'd still be there in November, but they said he was awesome, just came out of nowhere anytime they'd even think of needing someone.

 

On the opposite end, if anyone has 12001 booked, the butler for that room, Rai, leaves much to be desired. On top of that, the room still has a few unresolved plumbing problems and a shower that leaks a lot. Hopefully they can fix it soon.

 

Putra is awesome!!!! All of the butlers work double duty either in the Top Sail Lounge, The One Bar and Pool, or servicing their assigned staterooms. We would see Putra up at the One Bar quite often and he was fun to interact with,,always asked where "madam" was,,love all the butlers and our junior butler "Deve"!!!

Edited September 1, 2014 by Mikesa1721

[Cruisergal1208]

[quote name='adavidw']My in-laws were in 15029 last week, and their butler's name was Putra (sp?). I don't have any idea if he'd still be there in November, but they said he was awesome, just came out of nowhere anytime they'd even think of needing someone.

On the opposite end, if anyone has 12001 booked, the butler for that room, Rai, leaves much to be desired. On top of that, the room still has a few unresolved plumbing problems and a shower that leaks a lot. Hopefully they can fix it soon.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for replying. I think they move the butlers around from time to time but we will be on the lookout for Putra. We are hoping our favorite from the Top Sail will be back on board by Nov., Vasant. He was in charge of putting out the food in the Top Sail.