MSC yacht club tailor-made excursions

[karar870]

Going in February whith MSC Meraviglia and are staing in the yatch club for the first time. Wondering if anyone has any experience with msc yacht club tailor-made excursions. How it works, what you can choose from and the cost? Any tips are welcome.

[Linda the Book Lover]

We usually book excursions on our own but I am curious as well.

[Into Cruising]

We were told on the Divina that they no longer do this,  nor do they do the off hours in room shopping.

[marcoigna]

we did do it on the Divina in RIO de Janeiro as we felt a little safer and not wasting anytime. - it was tailor made for us - 

- we told them where we wanted to go in advance, they helped decide a restaurant for lunch - was it economical (no) - we could have gotten the same off the ship for about 1/2 the cost - but no issue, no time wasted and was escorted by our YC butler directly to the driver where we were all introduced - it was a great service, but really not value in certain ports - but for Rio, we felt it was well worth it...

[Into Cruising]

Marcoigna,  When was this?  My experience was in September of 2017

[dexddd]

I know in August 2017 no mention of either to us.

[Teacher42]

Marco you have some the most useful advice we  have encountered on the CC. We thank you for your adroit responses to all our mostly mundane questions. You are quite gracious. My wife was very hesitant taking a tour in these out of the way places. We appreciate that we can safely book a personal tour on board the Divina (in your recommended YC suite). We would have stayed on board in port if not for your post. Thank you.

[TrinaLC]

I think the bet is to look for highly recommended private drivers on Trip Advisors.  Some of these drivers have hundreds of five star reviews. They will meet you close to port with very clear directions. No way the concierge on any given MSC ship will have the expertise to put together a better private tour - think how many ports are visited. 

[Teacher42]

Are we under the misconception that when a passenger books a tour through the cruise line, paying a premium, they are in some way assured a most vetted and safer tour.  A tour they can depend will return them to the ship on time. A tour the cruise lines will stand behind and will not leave port without us. We got this impression watching cable TV's Mighty Ships on MSC"s Divina. The ship impatiently waited for one of "their" tours to return before leaving port. The premium price is well worth a ruined vacation.

[Teacher42]

Another recommendation should you choose a tour NOT through the cruise line is to make sure you get the cruise lines' port agent's telephone number and your passports. You will need both to catch up to the ship in its next port of call.

[hamrag]

11 hours ago, Teacher42 said:

Are we under the misconception that when a passenger books a tour through the cruise line, paying a premium, they are in some way assured a most vetted and safer tour.  A tour they can depend will return them to the ship on time. A tour the cruise lines will stand behind and will not leave port without us. We got this impression watching cable TV's Mighty Ships on MSC"s Divina. The ship impatiently waited for one of "their" tours to return before leaving port. The premium price is well worth a ruined vacation.

The cruiselines trade on this 'ruined vacation' fear factor....to each their own!

[dexddd]

12 hours ago, Teacher42 said:

Are we under the misconception that when a passenger books a tour through the cruise line, paying a premium, they are in some way assured a most vetted and safer tour.  A tour they can depend will return them to the ship on time. A tour the cruise lines will stand behind and will not leave port without us. We got this impression watching cable TV's Mighty Ships on MSC"s Divina. The ship impatiently waited for one of "their" tours to return before leaving port. The premium price is well worth a ruined vacation.

After watching many Mighty Ships they always come up with several calamities.  For the cruise ships they struggle to find any and usually tell of issue with a missing pallet of fruit.