Yacht Club versus more prestigious cruise line

[lovemycruisetoo]

We first sailed YC in Oct 2019 when we heard about it and its cost compared to the Haven and just absolutely loved it. 
Having been NCL Haven guests for many cruises, the NCL experience turned out to be no where near the new MSC’s YC experience.  So now we only book MSC YC and have 7 upcoming cruises booked. NCL out priced their loyal guests, too bad for them. IMO. 

[Hlitner]

8 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

There were fights at the pool deck, a passenger drowned, and several incidents of bullying because of significant overcrowding on the pool deck. I witnessed eight incidents of supervisors reprimanding crew members who were generally kind and overworked.  I usually give four and five star reviews but this was unreal. I never witnessed these sorts of things on any of my other cruises. 

 

 

Not good, and we thought this only happened on Carnival (where the Coast Guard had to go out to a ship and intervene) and RCI.  On the other hand, we never saw anything like this inside the "civilized Yacht Club.  But I will tell you a secret.  One morning, when we were in the YC on the Divina, somebody left the outdoor gate (on the pool deck near the buffet) ajar!  Within minutes, the "riff raff" started pouring through the gap to take a peek.  Several of our trusty crew were quickly on the job, commenting, "we have interlopers!"   As an experienced YC cruiser I simply smiles, kept reading my newspaper, and sipping my fresh squeezed OJ.  What horrors.

 

Speaking on fresh squeezed OJ, we still remember when Celebrity had that for anyone at breakfast for no extra charge.  In fact, in the LIdo they had a cool squeezing machine where you could watch loads of fresh oranges being squeezed.  Now!  Do not even make me laugh.

 

Hank

[Markanddonna]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Not good, and we thought this only happened on Carnival (where the Coast Guard had to go out to a ship and intervene) and RCI.  On the other hand, we never saw anything like this inside the "civilized Yacht Club.  But I will tell you a secret.  One morning, when we were in the YC on the Divina, somebody left the outdoor gate (on the pool deck near the buffet) ajar!  Within minutes, the "riff raff" started pouring through the gap to take a peek.  Several of our trusty crew were quickly on the job, commenting, "we have interlopers!"   As an experienced YC cruiser I simply smiles, kept reading my newspaper, and sipping my fresh squeezed OJ.  What horrors.

 

Speaking on fresh squeezed OJ, we still remember when Celebrity had that for anyone at breakfast for no extra charge.  In fact, in the LIdo they had a cool squeezing machine where you could watch loads of fresh oranges being squeezed.  Now!  Do not even make me laugh.

 

Hank

I have come to the conclusion that I am more of a historian and adventurer (who is also a writer) than a cruise lover. I don't particularly enjoy cruising as we rarely drink and I don't enjoy laying in the sun. Meeting interesting people on my way, reading, and nice meals as I go to a wonderful historical site is my goal. Cruising is usually just a nice way of getting to where I really want to go, usually in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, or Israel. I doubt we will venture south of North America any more because that isn't my area of interest. We have been to most of the  Caribbean islands, Central America and some of South America. I just was escaping the cold midwest and that was accomplished. Our next cruises are back in Europe and then a transpacific. My husband is the same. As a person who lives a minimalistic and generally contented life, the upscale experience is lost on me. Know thyself is most applicable here.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Markanddonna

[no1talks]

18 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

"Meeting interesting people on my way, reading, and nice meals as I go to a wonderful historical site is my goal."

Azamara may be a good fit for you. Have you given them a go?

Smaller ships for more diverse port opportunities.

Ships dedicated to expedition cruising.
"Drawing room" libraries for the bibliophiles.

An included  AzAmazing Evenings℠ experience on all non-transatlantic cruises of seven days (or more) duration.

More time in port on one-day visits and overnighting in port is more common, too.

Of course, Azamara is on the pricier side. 😒

[J0Y0US]

Maybe you are talking about different rooms but no ship within a ship comes close to the Yacht Club pricing. 

[hamrag]

15 hours ago, mafig said:

Did the OP really mean NCL when he said "prestigious"?

 

I like the Haven also, , but NCL  is NOT a prestigious cruise line.

 

Actually the OP did not say that, rather the term used was NCL is more prestigious than MSC. You may disagree in that assessment, but that is what was stated! 

[Nunagoras]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Argh!  I think that anyone who cruises long enough will get one voyage with less desirable ship mates.  We have rarely had problems with shipmates, but in Dec 2021 we cruised on the Enchanted Princess for back to back 7 day cruises (in the Caribbean).  The first 7 days had DW and I laughing about the old saying, "they must have been raised by wolves."  We are talking "wife beater" shirts and backward ball caps in the MDR.  We finally saw a few turned away from the MDR (on a dressy night) but that was rare.  The 2nd week it was like a whole different world with mostly pleasant folks who had a little fashion sense and also knew how to complete a sentence.

 

On MSC, we have only met fascinating folks in the YC.  It is a very international line, so in the YC we interacted with folks from many European countries and made a few good friends.  Outside of the YC we met quite a few folks and most were enjoyable.  But we are seniors and tend to hang with other older passengers.  We did not meet anyone who we would call "rude or overbearing" but that is luck of the draw.

 

Having cruised on 16 cruise lines (the 17th will happen in September) friends have often asked us on which line we have met the best shipmates.  We normally say it is more about the itinerary and lenght of cruise than the cruise line.  The folks you meet on a 70 day HAL cruise and much different than what you meet on a 7 day HAL cruise.  But if we had to choose a specific cruise line where we have consistently met interesting folks it would be Seabourn.  One theory is that on a luxury line, folks do not feel they have anything to prove or need to impress anyone (many of these folks are actually quite impressive) so folks are just nice.

 

Hank

 

Hank

That's it exactly, but sometimes a less than stellar experience may to mark our turning point, especially if it is our first one. If my 5th MSC cruise had been my first, surely I wouldn't have 8 now under my belt, 7 of them on MSC. Surely, those "wolves" that entered in Copenhagen for my last 2 days on the ship have had their impact... But again: A bad crowd is something that rarely a mainstream cruise line can entirely to avoid. They can at most to discourage those crowds to appear with measures like the current limitation on the drinks packages on the shorter cruises, but they can't entirely to avoid them. If a bad crowd enters, the ship will need to just deal with it for the duration of said cruise, and the other fellow cruisers would need to endure. Some ships will to be better than others on doing so. My one was just average at that... But again: If all my other cruises were so good, why not to try again? Chances are that said crowd was just a single occurrence... Yes, it fortunately was!...

[JAGR]

On 2/8/2023 at 10:46 AM, Markanddonna said:

I have been in the Haven, but never the Yacht Club. I can't understand why anyone would book an MSC cruise when you can get a wonderful experience on a more prestigious cruise line for at least the same cost. Even though you are isolated from the riff raff (that includes me) an MSC passenger still has to endure the inferior MSC experience. I've priced it out and think perhaps others haven't done their research!

I've been following the thread and your growing disappointment with MSC, and reference to other "prestigious" lines.  It's hard to delineate exactly what lines are truly prestigious, since so much of it is based on personal preference.  The title is also subject to shifting, based on one's latest cruise experience. I think that shift is evident in your latest experience.  Assuming you earned Diamond status, you have cruised MSC more than recently.  You must have liked some of those experiences in order continue sailing with them.  It seems like you have reached your breaking point with MSC, and I can understand that.  I would offer my observations on the "MSC Brand" experience.  Since you are from Westerville, let me use a local reference:  Kroger Company.  In this area of the Columbus metropolitan area, we have four Korger's that serve the market.  Even though they are all Kroger stores, they are not alike.  Not sure what part of town you live in, but here is my rundown of the stores.  First is Maxtown Rd.  This is bright, well staffed and serves an upscale market.  You can tell that because not only do the carts roll freely and straight, many are computerized to allow customers to scan and buy their food without contact with a cashier.  They have a large Starbucks, a liquor store and large wine shop (with sampling counter), and actual workers (!!!) behind the deli and meat and seafood counters. This Kroger is the  Flagship store (think Europa or Euriba), and is the equivelant of the Yacht Club. Further west, you have Kroger Polaris. It is a  larger Kroger store, well stocked, with a liquor store and sometimes staff areas like the bakery, deli, meat/seafood with real workers, and many of the carts have all four wheels and work. It markets upscale apartment and condo residents.  This is the Kroger Aurea experience store (Seaside).  In the southeast of Westerville is the Schrock Road Kroger's. In its day, it was considered a destination store (think Fantasia, the first YC ship), but is now a weather-worn former grand dame.  Staffing levels are low, and they are usually going on break when you approach them with a question, and stocking levels are not complete.  It gets the job done, but could have been so much better.  Carts are in short supply and getting through the aisles requires determination.  This Kroger's is Fantastica class.  Finally, there is Worthington Centre.  Despite the quaint English spelling of center, this is Kroger's Bella experience.  Shelves are barren, staff hide in the back room, and people fight over the last can of creamed corn.  This Kroger should rest in peace with MSC's Monterey and Patricia.  Just remember, don't paint MSC or Kroger with one brush.  😊

Edited February 9, 2023 by JAGR

[jules815]

15 hours ago, lovemycruisetoo said:

We first sailed YC in Oct 2019 when we heard about it and its cost compared to the Haven and just absolutely loved it. 
Having been NCL Haven guests for many cruises, the NCL experience turned out to be no where near the new MSC’s YC experience.  So now we only book MSC YC and have 7 upcoming cruises booked. NCL out priced their loyal guests, too bad for them. IMO. 

We found out about MSC YC while doing research on NCL Haven. We had sailed in suites on RC and X and were curious about the ship within a ship concept. Sailed YC on Seaside in early 2019 and loved everything about it. Since then we've also sailed on Meraviglia and loved that cruise as well. Just booked a B2B on Seascape for September. We'll be celebrating my husband finally reaching full retirement age. 

 

We still haven't sailed on the smaller prestigious lines, although I do have my eye on a 10-day on Azamara in December. We still enjoy exploring the big ships though. Lots to see, great people watching. The YC though, when the ship is your destination, really can't be beat. 

[Markanddonna]

The problem with this type of forum is that one is not able to express themselves in real time. I never insinuated NCL is a prestigious cruise line. It runs in the pack of RCL and HAL. I had a great 12 day cruise on NCL from Rome to Haifa in November, 2022 where the food was quite good and my fellow passengers were lovely.  I had a recent RCL TA in May that was also about the best cruise I have ever taken. I've been on nine MSC cruises now and this one ranks as the lowest. Our first on the Divina about 6-7 years ago was lovely in every respect, so it isn't the physical structure of the ship. Actually, our MSC experience started to deteriorate right around the start of the pandemic with significant overcrowding on the Seaview.

 

I just read the lastest two Divina reviews and they were very much like my assessment. Here is what a Yacht Club person, who was on our cruise, stated:

 

 

Yacht Club is wonderful in every way, but the second you step outside of it to the main bars there is no service most of the time or bars are closed.

The buffet is HORRIBLE. Packed to the brim, people are elbowing and shoving and cutting lines and taking up a 10 person table with just the one person. We have 5 adults and 2 small children and had to shove into a booth made for 4. It is like survival mode in these main areas. No one cares about anything but themselves and there is not enough room to support the passenger count.

There is insufficient deck chairs for the sunbathers, and you are tripping over the people laying on the ground, behind a door or on the stairs. Absolute insanity.

I went to the gym one day in an attempt to run because there is no running/walking track onboard. I attempted for about 20 mins to fight my way onto a treadmill and eventually decided it was not worth it. People were spending half an hour on the treadmill slowly walking. Which you can literally do anywhere on the ship. What you can't do anywhere is run.

If you'd like to see a show or a performance, get ready to fight for a seat.

So in summation, Yacht Club is serene perfection, but you are trapped in the small space and so it is a waste. If you wish to actually use the rest of the boat, it is not worth it.

[styles27]

21 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

 

I'm doing a YCI in April for 8 nights; the cost was a few dollars less than a 7 night gurantee balcony on NCL to Bermuda....same week. 

What I'd like to know is why anyone would pay Haven prices and get so much less than the YC?

 

I’ve been pricing cruises for April for the last few weeks.

On every single occasion MSC was less expensive by hundreds of dollars than RCCL, HAL, Celebrity, Carnival and NCL. 
 

In this economy people are trying to save money so how can they fail with this pricing? 
 

We booked Boston to Bermuda since we don’t have to fly to the ship 04/07/2023 in a Club Balcony suite. 
 

This 7 day cruise on NCL Pearl is costing hundreds of dollars more than our 14 day Divina cruise cost over New Years. We had drinks included on MSC we do not on NCL. 
 

My hope is that everyone chooses MSC that week so the ship won’t be full 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

[styles27]

17 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

My past 17 days has convinced me that MSC is not a cruise line that appeals to me. We are very pleased with lines like RCL, Celebrity, NCL, and HAL and have had two cruises with them this past year. MSC started out as a nice experience several years ago but no longer. This was our worst cruise by far, mostly because of my fellow passengers.. The crew was great, but the passengers were rude and overbearing. We had lovely tablemates and met some other nice folks but this was not good.

 

You sound exactly how I did after 14 days on Divina in January. 
 

The low MSC pricing is attracting people that do not know how to behave. Add in unlimited booze and it’s not a fun experience at all. 

I completely understand and agree with your feelings on this. 
 

It took me and my husband a few weeks to decompress after our cruise…that’s never happened to us before in 40+ cruises. 

My husband flat out refused to book another MSC cruise when I showed him the pricing on this April cruise. He said he would rather pay almost double for half the days than give MSC another chance right now. 
 

For you guys who don’t believe/understand what the OP (and me) are saying I hope you never have a cruise like we did, but if you do you’ll know what we’re talking about. 
 

It is very hard to let things go when it’s multiple incidents every single time you leave your room. 
 

They made the “party” crowd on Carnival look like monks. 
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it here, I feel very sorry for the crew on Divina who have to deal with people like this 

 

[KennyFla]

33 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

 

 

 

Yacht Club is wonderful in every way, but the second you step outside of it to the main bars there is no service most of the time or bars are closed.

The buffet is HORRIBLE. Packed to the brim, people are elbowing and shoving and cutting lines and taking up a 10 person table with just the one person. We have 5 adults and 2 small children and had to shove into a booth made for 4. It is like survival mode in these main areas. No one cares about anything but themselves and there is not enough room to support the passenger count.

There is insufficient deck chairs for the sunbathers, and you are tripping over the people laying on the ground, behind a door or on the stairs. Absolute insanity.

I went to the gym one day in an attempt to run because there is no running/walking track onboard. I attempted for about 20 mins to fight my way onto a treadmill and eventually decided it was not worth it. People were spending half an hour on the treadmill slowly walking. Which you can literally do anywhere on the ship. What you can't do anywhere is run.

If you'd like to see a show or a performance, get ready to fight for a seat.

So in summation, Yacht Club is serene perfection, but you are trapped in the small space and so it is a waste. If you wish to actually use the rest of the boat, it is not worth it.

Seems like the problem is the crowds.  MSC is the cheapest line to cruise (right now), and people had not been able to cruise for basically 2 years.  Plus the cruise lines took a schlacking because of the shutdowns, so they are trying to get people on board.  It is more that the cruise fare, who cruises and spends NO additional money?

 

Not sure there is an easy answer here, the large buffet, shows, slides etc are there because of the crowds.  If the ship was just the YC, you would not have those things.

 

 

 

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

59 minutes ago, styles27 said:

...

They made the “party” crowd on Carnival look like monks. 
...

 

 

Yikes !

[Selion]

YC used to be bargain compared to NCL Haven, when MSC Voyagers Club can have up to 20% off on cruise fares.  Nowadays, at about $400/day/person in YC1 it's not a bargain anymore.  For YC/Haven costs, I'd rather book on Viking for the much quieter small ship experience.

 

My next cruise is booked in an Aurea cabin for a week in the Mediterranean.  I've been waiting for Viking's promos that give free air and category upgrades for this fall.  That would make the Viking cruise around $430/day/person with air included.  When that happens, we'll cancel on MSC and book Viking.  It's a no brainer for us to go with Viking instead of MSC, Yacht Club or not.

[styles27]

7 minutes ago, Selion said:

YC used to be bargain compared to NCL Haven, when MSC Voyagers Club can have up to 20% off on cruise fares.  Nowadays, at about $400/day/person in YC1 it's not a bargain anymore.  For YC/Haven costs, I'd rather book on Viking for the much quieter small ship experience.

 

My next cruise is booked in an Aurea cabin for a week in the Mediterranean.  I've been waiting for Viking's promos that give free air and category upgrades for this fall.  That would make the Viking cruise around $430/day/person with air included.  When that happens, we'll cancel on MSC and book Viking.  It's a no brainer for us to go with Viking instead of MSC, Yacht Club or not.

This is how we’re leaning.

If we’re willing to pay $10k for a cruise in the YC but feel we can’t leave the peace and tranquility of the YC (unless we want to deal with the rude pax in the rest of the ship) we may as well start looking at Viking. At least we can enjoy the entire ship. 

I was hoping our experience over New Years was isolated but from what I’m reading here and other social media sites it seems to be becoming more common, at least on Divina. 

[talljules1]

13 minutes ago, Selion said:

YC used to be bargain compared to NCL Haven, when MSC Voyagers Club can have up to 20% off on cruise fares.  Nowadays, at about $400/day/person in YC1 it's not a bargain anymore.  For YC/Haven costs, I'd rather book on Viking for the much quieter small ship experience.

 

My next cruise is booked in an Aurea cabin for a week in the Mediterranean.  I've been waiting for Viking's promos that give free air and category upgrades for this fall.  That would make the Viking cruise around $430/day/person with air included.  When that happens, we'll cancel on MSC and book Viking.  It's a no brainer for us to go with Viking instead of MSC, Yacht Club or not.

I'm a bit puzzled at the notion of $400 pp pd for a YC1 - mostly because we got our YC Duplex for £342 pp pd for June this year.

 

I totally get the comments re YC vs non-YC and the buffet. The difference is stark. We've so far done 1 MSC YC cruise. In the YC, it was wonderful. Outside, it was loud, crowded, chaotic. We had a couple of 'excursions' where we went outside the YC to look around the ship. It felt like visiting a zoo. We went to the buffet once and thought it awful. (We enjoyed the food in YC but watch out for savoury macarons in the YC lounge, which can come as a surprise!) After that first cruise with them we both felt we would happily cruise with MSC again, but we'd never consider sailing with them outside the YC. (Now, when we made that judgement we were not generally in the sweet suite life. Now we are, we definitely wouldn't go in MSC outside the YC.)

 

This, perhaps, is the difference between MSC and X. If you're in the retreat on X, the rest of the ship is still nice (and quite elegant). But the retreat is far less segregated from the rest of the ship, especially on S-Class ships such as Silhouette. 

 

We've sailed on NCL and I would say that was my least favourite cruise ship - I thought it was just ugly, and the food was very hit and miss (with more misses than hits). That said, we met lots of lovely people on that cruise, and that made it a great cruise.  

 

It is the interesting thing for us - we have no interest in the onboard activities and never go to the shows. I might spend a bit of time in the casino but OH hates it. What we do both love is spending time chatting with people we meet on holiday - so it is the other people we meet that makes our cruise. We've very rarely met people we couldn't get on with on any line. I used to worry about it, but now know we will always meet people to chit chat with.

[Selion]

7 minutes ago, styles27 said:

This is how we’re leaning.

If we’re willing to pay $10k for a cruise in the YC but feel we can’t leave the peace and tranquility of the YC (unless we want to deal with the rude pax in the rest of the ship) we may as well start looking at Viking. At least we can enjoy the entire ship. 

I was hoping our experience over New Years was isolated but from what I’m reading here and other social media sites it seems to be becoming more common, at least on Divina. 

While we never had a bad experience on MSC (2 YC and 1 Fantastica), YC just doesn't hold the same "bang for the buck" as it did 4 to 5 years ago.  I'll continue to cruise on MSC, albeit not in YC and probably only in the Caribbean.  With flights getting ever more expensive, free air (cattle class, of course) represents significant savings on the overall costs.

[Selion]

3 minutes ago, talljules1 said:

I'm a bit puzzled at the notion of $400 pp pd for a YC1 - mostly because we got our YC Duplex for £342 pp pd for June this year.

 

Different countries; different currencies; different values.

 

 

That said, just randomly selected a YC1 in Nov 2023 in the Med, it was $2889/person for 7-nights.  That comes out to $412.71pppd. 

[talljules1]

5 minutes ago, Selion said:

 

Different countries; different currencies; different values.

 

 

That said, just randomly selected a YC1 in Nov 2023 in the Med, it was $2889/person for 7-nights.  That comes out to $412.71pppd. 

Yup - I did think about the currency conversion - but there's quite a difference in size between a YC1 and a Duplex. 

[Brighton Line]

Prestigious or Mass Market?

I thought in the US Mass Market lines were Carnival, Royal and NCL and MSC is trying to, in the United States, break into the Mass Market umm Market?

Targeting the people who sail Mass Market or those lines. Yes NCL has a ship within a ship concept but that is not where their advertising money is spent. 

Also all have Casinos and again that market, the Casino customer is not the main focus so is the Yacht Club, not the main focus or target audience of MSC in the United States 

[Markanddonna]

The problem with this type of forum is that one is not able to express themselves in real time. I never insinuated NCL is a prestigious cruise line. It runs in the pack of RCL and HAL. I had a great 12 day cruise on NCL from Rome to Haifa in November, 2022 where the food was quite good and my fellow passengers were lovely.  I had a recent RCL TA in May that was also about the best cruise I have ever taken. I've been on nine MSC cruises now and this one ranks as the lowest. Our first on the Divina about 6-7 years ago was lovely in every respect, so it isn't the physical structure of the ship. Actually, our MSC experience started to deteriorate right around the start of the pandemic with significant overcrowding on the Seaview.

2 hours ago, styles27 said:

You sound exactly how I did after 14 days on Divina in January. 
 

The low MSC pricing is attracting people that do not know how to behave. Add in unlimited booze and it’s not a fun experience at all. 

I completely understand and agree with your feelings on this. 
 

It took me and my husband a few weeks to decompress after our cruise…that’s never happened to us before in 40+ cruises. 

My husband flat out refused to book another MSC cruise when I showed him the pricing on this April cruise. He said he would rather pay almost double for half the days than give MSC another chance right now. 
 

For you guys who don’t believe/understand what the OP (and me) are saying I hope you never have a cruise like we did, but if you do you’ll know what we’re talking about. 
 

It is very hard to let things go when it’s multiple incidents every single time you leave your room. 
 

They made the “party” crowd on Carnival look like monks. 
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it here, I feel very sorry for the crew on Divina who have to deal with people like this 

 

Thanks for your support. Some people on Cruise Critic don't believe others' reports but I recall you had a very overcrowded, unpleasant cruise over the holidays.

 

I'm not sure I mentioned it, but I witnessed eight separate incidents of the crew being reprimanded in front of the passengers. Just about every crew member I had contact with were polite, welcoming and hard working. They certainly don't deserve this type of treatment. After three times of the Divina, I am sad for what happened this past month.

[ptuder]

On 2/8/2023 at 10:46 AM, Markanddonna said:

I have been in the Haven, but never the Yacht Club. I can't understand why anyone would book an MSC cruise when you can get a wonderful experience on a more prestigious cruise line for at least the same cost. Even though you are isolated from the riff raff (that includes me) an MSC passenger still has to endure the inferior MSC experience. I've priced it out and think perhaps others haven't done their research!

Since you’ve not been in the YC I think you can’t compare the experience. We have done Haven on NCL multiple times and earned Platinum Plus status. We decided to give MSC YC a try and was very pleased with the MSC product for multiple reasons.  We then went back to Haven for a cruise and really noticed the price increase and reduced offerings compared to YC. Since then have done 2 more YC cruises with 2 more booked. 
 

NCL prices are crazy when MSC offers us a better experience. Improved lounge, improved pool deck and food offerings. Butlers perform better than any NCL butler we have had in the past. Mini bar and drinks in the room, etc. I’ve never had a bad cruise but my last NCL Haven was my least favorite cruise. 
 

Everyone has options and opinions but suggesting an inferior experience for something you’ve never tried is a bit surprising. 

[Morgsmom]

2 hours ago, talljules1 said:

Yup - I did think about the currency conversion - but there's quite a difference in size between a YC1 and a Duplex. 

Did you have 4 pax?  Kids sail free?  

[talljules1]

1 minute ago, Morgsmom said:

Did you have 4 pax?  Kids sail free?  

2 passengers, no kids.