Liveish from World Europa - YC Owner's Suite by a Star Class cruiser

[alistairg]

Hi Everyone,

 

We usually cruise with RCI and have loved our last three cruises in Star Class. We had never cruised on MSC, we had a couple of cancelled cruises on the Virtuosa due to COVID.

 

I was a little apprehensive to book YC on MSC, but we liked the look of the MSC World europa and the Dubai cruise was an interesting change from the Med, especially the opportunity to see Saudi Arabia first hand.

 

Just for comparison we paid around $20,000 for 6 people in a two bed aqua suite on the Wonder of the Seas cruising from Rome in October 2022 and we paid $11,000 for three people in the MSC Owner's Suite and $3200 for a further two people in a YC inside suite. Plus around $400 in service charges which are included in Star Class. This included a 10% Voyagers discount. So it was somewhat cheaper than Star Class. I checked and the prices are similar on the Europa for October 23 in the Med to the cruise we are currently on.

 

Pre cruise - 

 

1. Check in was not as easy on MSC. The website kept saying that you couldn't check in without filling out a health questionnaire, but it wasn't on the website. Eventually I figured a way around it and printed it out.

 

2. There is no pre cruise contact from MSC re drinks in your cabin and restaurant bookings, you need to do this onboard.

 

3. You cannot prebook shows and restaurants on MSC (at least not on this cruise). I like to be organised.

 

4. MSC provided absolutely zero information about the Saudi Visa requirement pre cruise. I only knew how to apply by checking online.

 

Boarding -

 

Fast and straightforward, pretty much the same as Star Class with a butler helping you to your room. Only slight difference is that it was not our butler.

 

The Ship -

 

The ship is lovely and modern. Differences may well be a matter of taste. Passing comments from my cruise mates. We miss the lovely art from RCI ships and things feel a little tighter on the Europa. There seem to be more bottlenecks such as the doors to the boardwalk are which are a lot smaller. There are a lot of mirrors on this ship.

 

The Rooms -

 

See pictures

 

The Owner's Suite is a spectacular room, which is much better decorated than the Aqua suite on the Oasis class, more akin to a RS on RCI. The Aqua suite has slightly cheap feeling bathrooms for a suite on RCI, this room has a fabulous bathroom.

 

However, it only has one bathroom. Considering the size of the room and the expectation that groups might well hang out in the lounge a guest WC would make a big difference. It would be great if MSC had more multi room suites, we stayed in the four bed villa on the Harmony which was a fantastic room. We thought the lack of extra bathroom would be a pain and it has proven to be so.

 

The inside YC cabin is pretty tight, but we knew that it would only be used for sleeping and we would hang out in the Owner's suite.

 

There is no crockery/cutlery in this room which would be handy. But of course you cannot order restaurant food to the room in the YC. It seems that for the Owner's suite with it very large table this benefit should be included.

 

The hot tub is very large and I wish RCI added hot tubs to a few more rooms. It is slightly odd though in that it doesn't have seats formed into the base, I struggled not to float off the bottom. At least it works though. When we were on the Harmony it did not work and they had to refill it every day with warm water.

 

The TV selection is very poor on MSC here, only English news channels.

 

Included WiFi is the basic package on MSC. I had to pay E60 to upgrade someone to surf and stream so we could watch Netflix etc. There is also no option to attach devices to the TV on this ship as we have had on RCI.

 

MSC uses SES for WiFi. The speed seems the same (2-4MB) on both packages. The basic package just blocks Netflix etc (Youtube seems to work). However I have watched Netflix and Sky Go via VPN and they worked fine at the speed available.

 

Butler vs Genie

 

Our butler is very accommodating and seems very eager to help. He has unpacked one person's bag, arranged for snacks in the room, stocked our fridge etc. He has escorted us around the ship and generally been very good.

 

The Genie just has more personal service and less people to look after. The drinks we asked for when we first got on the ship didn't appear until six hours later and a reminder. The genie for the inside cabin seemed very put out to be asked to separate the beds, but it was done by bedtime.

 

The concierge desk has been very helpful and efficient.

 

Restaurants/Food

 

YC Restaurant

 

I actually decided to wait to write this until after the first night as the YC restaurant was a disaster.

 

I suspect it was busier than usual on the first night and we ate at 730ish which is the busiest time. We normally eat early.

 

Two of our group are gluten free. We had mentioned this to the butler but it had not made its way to the restaurant. The waiter was very put out by this and then decided that the assistant manager had to serve us. He had quite an unpleasant manner, noticed by every single one of our party. The poor assistant manager had way too much to do and was almost sprinting between tables. This made it very hard to ask for anything as whoever you spoke to seemed to run away almost as soon as you took a breath. It also seemed to mean that we didn't really have a waiter of our own. They were insistent that my wife and her sister had to pick food for the next day if eating gluten free. They did this but then we decided to eat in another restaurant. It is very good from a food safety point of view, but we way prefer RCI just showing what food has gluten in it on the menu and choosing this way.

 

 I took a picture of the table half way through the meal. We were served water from plastic bottles that were just left on the table. My empty Coke can was not removed and wine glasses were left on the table for people not drinking. It was a mess. I would actually say it was the worst service we have ever had on any cruise ever. One person felt that they seemed very new and that was the reason, then remembered we have sailed on multiple almost new RCI ships with no such issues.

 

The food itself was fine to good, although the menu seems a bit restricted. There is too much seafood and pasta/risotto, although I knew that from menus I had seen on line. Many nights have just one meat option plus the always available beef fillet.

 

Breakfast, however, has been very good and much more relaxed the past two days. Almost identical to eating in CK on the Oasis class.

 

KaitoTeppanyaki

 

This was extremely good value for money, much cheaper than on other lines. E24-E39 including a fish and meat course and sushi taster. The amount of food was less than on RCI, but tbh the mount of food is almost obscene on RCI. Service was extremely good. We might well go back. There was bit less theatre about it than on RCI, but at around half the price it was a great deal.

 

The one negative was that they didn't have any Asian beers at all.

 

HOLA! Tacos & Cantina

 

This is what pushed me over the edge to writing this.

 

We ordered various tacos, machos, burritos etc. The food and service were generally good.

 

However, one person ordered two pork tacos and felt they each tasted strange after one bite. I had one and my wife had the other. I was sure the one I had tasted of lamb and the one my wife had looked like beef which she doesn't eat. We also had these funded which has chorizo in it and the chorizo tasted more like hot dog to me.

 

After much discussion I called over the waiter and asked if the pork dishes were not pork. He said, ah yes, they had removed the pork to keep the kitchen halal. I was absolutely appalled that they would do this but not change the menu. What if people don't eat lamb or beef. We called over the manager and he said that the waiter should have told us, but I am not convinced that they weren't trying to keep it quiet. I said the chorizo didn't taste right, it tasted more like sausage. He said it was beef chorizo!

 

I asked that the misdescribed foods be taken off the bill, which they did with no argument, but very strenuously pointed out that the menus should be reprinted with the correct listings. I was very unhappy about having someone else religion imposed on me. I wouldn't want this happening with any religion. Stupidly, as the menus have not been reprinted and they are not advertising what they have done, I doubt anyone would be taking advantage of the halal kitchen anyway.

 

Conclusion

 

I didn't expect it to be as good as Star Class and it is not, but it is a fair amount cheaper. We could pay to eat in specialty restaurants every night to make the price and experience more similar.

 

For me I would probably swap the nicer room for better service and I feel that considering the difference in price between an OS/RS and a YC inside, they might offer those rooms something more. To be fair, the butler has been doing a good job.

 

The YC restaurant dinner was a massive let down, I will report back to see if it is better next time.

 

I am quite annoyed about the change to the pork in the taco restaurant and will probably escalate my complaint.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by alistairg

[EMc&DrS]

Honest and fair review--thank you. Unfortunately, the pics won't open.

[alistairg]

Thanks, I changed the pics to JPEGs, hopefully they work now.

[EMc&DrS]

4 minutes ago, alistairg said:

Thanks, I changed the pics to JPEGs, hopefully they work now.

Yes they do. Beautiful bathroom!!

[B_A_H]

Well, that's not good.  I'm going on a World Europa med cruise out of Barcelona in May and have been looking for reviews; especially YC.

 

Almost all of the reviews, mostly on YouTube, have been from Brits and Europeans.  The general theme has been disorganization, overstressed staff, running out of things, and some not favorable comments about the behavior of the Middle Easterner's that make up a large portion of the guests.  

 

I'm hoping when the World Europa transitions to the med in April it finds its mojo.  That dining room pic with plastic water bottles and empty Coke cans certainly doesn't shout "luxury," does it?  My January Divina cruise was nothing like that.  Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino were served from glass bottles and kept chilled in nearby ice buckets for when the waitstaff needed to do refills.  

 

There are 152 YC staterooms on World Europa which translate to 304 people at double occupancy.  The Seascape has 131 (262), the Virtuosa has 103 (206), and the Divina 69 (138).  Maybe when it comes to YC bigger isn't better? I guess I'll find out soon enough. 

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Thank you very much for doing a live report from the MSC World Europa. I'm very interested to hear how your fellow travellers gluten free experience is going , especially in the Yacht Club Restaurant and on the Pooldeck Lunch Buffet. Are there descent alternatives for breakfast ?

 

I'm booked in the Yacht Club onboard the Seascape from Miami and have notified MSC through a special needs form. They have confirmed that it's noted in my booking. 

 

Have a great cruise 👌💯

[Two Wheels Only]

There are 2 different configurations/renderings for the Owner's Suite on World Europa based on the MSC site. There was some confusion as to which was which because the MSC site had the rendering for the OS on deck 16 paired to the virtual tour on deck 18 and the rendering for deck 18 paired to the virtual tour on deck 16. 

 

Which deck are you on?  It looks like you have the larger bathroom/larger bedroom configuration (16002?). 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Two Wheels Only

[alistairg]

34 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Which deck are you on?  It looks like you have the larger bathroom/larger bedroom configuration (16002?). 

Yes, I figured out the renderings were wrong from the deck plan. We wanted the larger room, smaller deck as we spend more time inside.

 

39 minutes ago, Norwegian Cruiser 73 said:

I'm very interested to hear how your fellow travellers gluten free experience is going , especially in the Yacht Club Restaurant and on the Pooldeck Lunch Buffet.

 

The YC restaurant requires you to pick food from a gluten free menu the night/morning before dinner. This is not very convenient, but does ensure you are unlikely to get cross contaminated food.

 

Menus do not show allergens at all which I find quite annoying. I understand if you have a life threatening allergy, but most people with gluten sensitivity get a sore stomach.

 

Not tried the pool deck lunch buffet.

 

Kaito Teppanyaki did a fantastic job making gluten free sushi and teppanyaki first before cooking for everyone else. Taco restaurant was also not a problem gluten wise.

 

Bit farcical to worry about allergies then serve you entirely different meat to what was ordered in the taco restaurant. My wife has not eaten lamb since she was a small child and wasn't planning to eat any.

 

Multiple issues of things not being available. Asian beer, protein shakes, ice cream shakes. Very top of the menu in the sweet shop says ask for vegan ice cream. We asked, there was none. Also almost no Diet Coke, mainly Coke Zero which is not the same thing. No blenders for frozen drinks on Sir Bani Yas Island.

 

No area for snacks in the YC lounge on the Europa.

 

Life would be made much easier if they marked what was available in the drinks package and what was not. Having to constantly ask is annoying. At the smoothie bar everything would be included price wise, but some things are and some things are not.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by alistairg

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Thank you very much for your valuable information 😀 Then it is like before in the YC restaurant, I need to order the night before.

 

Very strange that they don't have space for snacks in the Top Sail Lounge,  all the other ships in the fleet with YC have that. Another question if you have time, do they offer GF bread/alternatives for breakfast in the YC Restaurant ? All other cruiselines I have sailed with show their menus with allergies.

 

I'm glad to hear that the speciality restaurants offer GF alternatives 👍😀

[alistairg]

Sorry, my wife now informs me that they told her that GF was at your own risk in the Taco restaurant and indeed her stomach is now rock hard, so there was gluten in something. We had hoped the corn tacos would be GF. It was probably them or the corn chips. I got to the restaurant five minutes late and missed the discussion.

 

18 minutes ago, Norwegian Cruiser 73 said:

Another question if you have time, do they offer GF bread/alternatives for breakfast in the YC Restaurant ?

 

They offered GF bread for dinner, but we didn't try it. We haven't asked at breakfast time, I was wondering if they had GF pastries and will ask.

 

They have delivered GF biscuits to our cabin. They are a bit hard, but at least they have the option. See below.

 

They also delivered meringues, coconut macaroons and cookies The cookies definitely aren't GF, I don't know about the other things, they would seem like they might be, but are mixed in with gluten containing cookies.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by alistairg

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Thank you very much for your valuable response 👍 😀 Very helpful. GF cruising can be hit or miss but usually it goes quite good 👍 Azamara did this perfect and it remains to be seen how MSC deliver on the Seascape in March. I hope you enjoy your cruise, the ship looks spectacular ✨️ 👌 

[B_A_H]

I looked at MSC for Me and found this interesting.  The same verbiage also applies to all the specialty dining options.  It isn't on MDR options or the buffets.  If they are following halal (or at least trying to) that adds an entirely different dimension for procurement and food preparation.  It certainly explains the "lamb tacos" and the oddities and limitations on the YC menu.  I'd assume things go back to normal once the ship leaves the Middle East.  I used to think a Middle East cruise would be something different and adventurous.  From @alistairg's review and others I've read I think I'll skip it.  Different isn't always good. 😉 

[perakcruiser]

58 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

If they are following halal (or at least trying to) that adds an entirely different dimension for procurement and food preparation.

Sure, but anyway when they buy their food stuff in the middle east there are anyway no haram options. Exept alcohol 😄

 

And even if they bring in pork when coming from an european sailing, they cannot use it anymore, because they would need an extra kitchen separated from the others to prepare. All impossible. 

 

[alistairg]

 

5 hours ago, B_A_H said:

I looked at MSC for Me and found this interesting.  The same verbiage also applies to all the specialty dining options.  It isn't on MDR options or the buffets.  If they are following halal (or at least trying to) that adds an entirely different dimension for procurement and food preparation.  It certainly explains the "lamb tacos" and the oddities and limitations on the YC menu.  I'd assume things go back to normal once the ship leaves the Middle East.  I used to think a Middle East cruise would be something different and adventurous.  From @alistairg's review and others I've read I think I'll skip it.  Different isn't always good. 😉 

 

My MSC and Me has different wording and they seem to have normal bacon in the YC restaurant.

 

Looking at the menus posted in the YC dinner menu thread, the menus are very similar to the recent Seascape and Grandiosa menus. However they have reduced the number of entrees from five to four plus the always available options and the healthy option. So there is one less option here. Pork is on the menu, so that is not the reason for it being shorter.

 

The stupid thing is, if the Taco restaurant is supposed to be halal, no one looking for that would go in with pork on the menu, so the effort is wasted.

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by alistairg

[little britain]

There was crockery/ cutlery/ gasses in one the the drawers in our YC

[little britain]

16 hours ago, B_A_H said:

Well, that's not good.  I'm going on a World Europa med cruise out of Barcelona in May and have been looking for reviews; especially YC.

 

Almost all of the reviews, mostly on YouTube, have been from Brits and Europeans.  The general theme has been disorganization, overstressed staff, running out of things, and some not favorable comments about the behavior of the Middle Easterner's that make up a large portion of the guests.  

 

I'm hoping when the World Europa transitions to the med in April it finds its mojo.  That dining room pic with plastic water bottles and empty Coke cans certainly doesn't shout "luxury," does it?  My January Divina cruise was nothing like that.  Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino were served from glass bottles and kept chilled in nearby ice buckets for when the waitstaff needed to do refills.  

 

I did a Live from… 

 

the water was definitely kept on ice in bottles by our table on our cruise .

 

it is not the Middle East guests who are the issue… it is the Russians.. 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by little britain

[alistairg]

At this precise moment I am really annoyed.

 

When we got on the ship, I asked both the butler and concierge desk if we could see the menus for the week for the YC restaurant so we could plan when to go to the specialty restaurants. I put an enormous amount of time and effort into planning my holidays so that things go as expected and like to have as much information as possible beforehand. I had already looked at the YC menus on here.

 

Both the butler and concierge desk gave me the same answer. We couldn't have the menus for the week as they were subject to change.

 

However, that night I found that once we were on the ship the menus were loaded up to the MSC for Me app. They were not there beforehand, but there is a lot more info available once on the ship. I also could not book specialty restaurants until I got onto the ship.

 

When the butler told us that we couldn't have the menus for the week, I said it was not ideal as we wanted to know when to book the specialty restaurants. Don't worry says he, just tell me 10 minutes before you want to go ands it will be fine. I was somewhat incredulous and said I was worried that they would be booked out, but he said it was not a problem.

 

Having looked at the menus, we decided that we did not like the look of the Thursday night menu in the YC and wanted to go to Butcher's Cut. So we told him this today, Tuesday at 1230, as we went for lunch. We asked for a table for five at 630 on Thursday.

 

He turns up 10 minutes later to tell us that Butcher's Cut is totally booked up at that time and the first table we can have is at 930.

 

I was livid, but bit my tongue and said we would look at the menu and see if we can go a different night.

 

I have looked at the menu and really really don't like the Thursday night YC menu. I am extremely conflicted, the butler seems nice and is doing is best, but we literally had a conversation where I said I was worried about the restaurants being fully booked and he said not to worry about it, it would not be a problem.

 

We also went back to the smoothie bar to get protein shakes and were told that they wouldn't have any until we get back to Dubai. Seems very strange as we only left Dubai on Saturday night and they said they had none on Monday night.

 

I also passed some other passengers trying to buy a drink from a bar where the bartender was busy behind the bar. He told them it was closed, they asked when it would be open and he responded with "when I am ready" which I found quite rude and unhelpful.

 

On the positive side, breakfast in the YC was again very good. I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and the salmon I thought was very good quality.

 

There has been no repeat of the plastic bottles of water incident.

 

Waiting staff continue to seem very disorganised. Bizarrely it sometimes seem as if they have too many staff with multiple different staff offering you bread, drinks etc. It would run more smoothly if they kept maybe two people to each table.

 

We asked what GF berad and pastry offerings they had at breakfast,. They brought out everything they had which seems like a good way to do it. There was bread and rolls, the same biscuits we have in the room and little cakes.

 

I have uploaded today's GF menus. My wife had the soup at lunch which was very tasty, and the fish which was quite bland.

 

One disappointment is they don't list any GF desserts at all. Some desserts are naturally GF but not listed on the menu e.g most flavours of ice cream or creme brûlée.  I think they should have one actual GF dessert listed each day.

[alistairg]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

There was crockery/ cutlery/ gasses in one the the drawers in our YC

We have cups/mugs/saucers and spoons for tea and coffee, but nothing else.

[alistairg]

Actually there is a single plate and cutlery with the fruit bowl.  We have taken a some stuff from room service and put it away in the cupboard to have it later.

 

I have been to the concierge re the restaurant booking and left it with them. I have suggested the option of having it in the room.

Edited February 14, 2023 by alistairg

[alistairg]

They have come through and fixed the restaurant issue. I think the service has got better as they have got used to us.

 

Service very good in the YC tonight. It did seem that the previous issues were very much first night issues.

 

People not that excited by the GF menus, the preference is to have things from the main menu and remove items with obvious gluten in them.

 

Great selection of GF treats in the room tonight.

 

 

[little britain]

Perhaps the OP is enjoying himself too much to continue posting….🤷‍♀️

[auntsally]

We board Europa tomorrow morning, with a week in YC, hoping that all this is an isolated experience 🤞we sailed on a similar cruise on MSC Bellissima and YC was everything we’d hoped for 

[little britain]

6 hours ago, auntsally said:

We board Europa tomorrow morning, with a week in YC, hoping that all this is an isolated experience 🤞we sailed on a similar cruise on MSC Bellissima and YC was everything we’d hoped for 

If you read my review ⬆️ we had a far different experience… but we are pretty low maintenance! 

[misztercruizer]

Great review, Alistairg! We are looking forward to the Europa 5/12/23 trip from Barcelona.

B_A_H are you going this same date? 

    Has anyone been stayed in owners suite 16002?

 Can't find any "actual" pictures on line only  cabin 18001...

Thanks

 

[B_A_H]

On 2/18/2023 at 4:36 AM, misztercruizer said:

Great review, Alistairg! We are looking forward to the Europa 5/12/23 trip from Barcelona.

B_A_H are you going this same date? 

    Has anyone been stayed in owners suite 16002?

 Can't find any "actual" pictures on line only  cabin 18001...

Thanks

 

Hi @misztercruizer.  I am on the 5/12 sailing with you.  We'll have to share info so we can connect onboard.  I see you're from Georgia, I'm from Louisiana. 

 

I'm really hoping YC normalizes when the ship starts it's first Mediterranean season. Its first Med cruise is 4/11 so they'll have a month to find their groove before we board. Ours is the 5th sailing from Barcelona. 

 

Some of the things @alistairg and @little britain have shared aren't particularly positive and seem very un-YC like.  I'm hoping some of the anomalies are based on the market and whose sailing. Someone mentioned the Russian passengers as being particularly disruptive.  There are a ton of YouTube reviews posted in Russian; more than any other language.  It appears when the West was cutoff to upper income Russians, the UAE and particularly Dubai have become their new go to for high end vacations and to buy Western luxury goods. Certainly not something to be concerned about on sailings from EU ports where I'd imagine the majority of passengers will be Europeans and Brits.