MSC Seascape 5/7 – 5/14 – Yacht Club Room 16022

[no1talks]

18 minutes ago, Bead Pirate said:

The posted sign in the casino indicates 35K for a YC 3-5 nights, 55K for 10 nights.

 

The Pirate night was just by invitation to the casino invitees.

 

For comparison purposes DH ended up with ~57K and DW ended up with ~38K.

Hard to believe, but a year ago, 1200 points was good enough for 30% off a room up to and including YC deluxe. Only one voucher was needed for the room, not per passenger. One could easily save a few grand on a YC cruise.

[go.without.you]

On 5/16/2023 at 2:09 PM, Bead Pirate said:

Dinner was Duck and Chicken Terrine for DW and Fried Vegetable Dim Sum Dumplings for DH.

You found a duck and then ate duck! Oh, the irony! Love love LOVE your crocheted ducks!

[MsTabbyKats]

2 hours ago, no1talks said:

Hard to believe, but a year ago, 1200 points was good enough for 30% off a room up to and including YC deluxe. Only one voucher was needed for the room, not per passenger. One could easily save a few grand on a YC cruise.

I got the 10% voucher....but even if I called the casino line and got the discount, my TA gave me more.  He tried to add it on, but no luck.

 

Oh well, at least I didn't lose too much getting those points...lol.

[mackfam]

9 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

The posted sign in the casino indicates 35K for a YC 3-5 nights, 55K for 10 nights.

I have no idea what this means in terms of how much time or money you have to spend in the casino to achieve this number of points.

[Bead Pirate]

MSC Seascape 5/7 – 5/14 – Yacht Club Room 16022 – Day 4

A lot is going on today, DH has a few conference calls and DW is off to the spa for 80 minutes of massage.

 

Maronette came to check on DH early as she noted he was not with DW when Gustie walked her to the Spa. She brought the usual 4 doughnuts and a pitcher of orange juice.

 

We are having a deck party on 20 this evening from 5:30 till 8:30 and have been cautioned to “save room for some great food”.  We need to be in the casino at 5 in our pirate costumes for the parade and then DH plays in the finals of the slot tournament. We plan to skip formal dinner and eat at the deck party this evening.

 

When DW returned from the spa we went down to Top Sail Lounge to catch up on the newspapers from the morning and have a bloody Mary. We actually prefer bloody Caesars, but MSC does not stock Clamato Juice (I will bring a 6 pack with me as we sail in the future).

 

Luch was Forest Mushroom Cappuccino for us both. DW is a fan (dare I say an expert) when it comes to Mushroom Soup. She swears by the soup in Chops on Royal and has amazed me when she shares that this soup beats Chops! We both had Battered Fish & Chips (and they were very nicely prepared and delicious).

 

 

 

We decided on dessert today! DW had a cheese selection and DH got a Tuti Frutti Ice Cream with fruit marinated in rum.

 

 

 

Time is flying and we are off to the casino for the costume parade. Gusti walked us all through the Yacht Club so that the team could all get a gander (and a laugh) at our attire. They had a great turnout of around 125 people in costume.  We got lucky again and won top 10 as a couple (although I would have given the nod to some other very creative couples). Won $250 in Free Play!

 

 

Next up is the slot tournament finals and DH came in 4^th place and won $2,500!

 

 

We turned around to hurry back upstairs and of course Gusti was right there and got us back to the cabin for a change of clothes and off to deck 20 for the festivities.

 

This is the first time I have noticed any presence of the full customers of the Yacht Club. Would not call it a crowd but it was well attended. We had a DJ and plenty of food options. Some lively dancing was noted.

 

 

We closed the Top Sail on 16 down around 12:30 with Caroline and Bernard (the duo had the night off), Went by to see William and explained that we were headed to bed early tonight. No need for pizza!

Alarm set for 9 AM,

[Hutcha]

This has to be one of the best, most detailed reviews I have ever read. Thank you.

 

I'm on the seascape, first MSC cruise, in September. My room is is on 16, but the other side of the ship. Gusti sounds amazing. I wonder if others can comment on the level of service received from him. Especially if they were on the same cruise as you.

 

I  love your tipping method, and I'm sure it plays into the level of service that you received. My only change would be to the aspect of tipping the asst and night butler the same as your main butler. Personally, I think I'll try this method on my cruise, but I'll cut the amount in half for the other two.

 

Looking forward to the rest....

 

p.s. My only tip for improving the review would be to see if you can attach higher resolution pictures.

[Bead Pirate]

33 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

This has to be one of the best, most detailed reviews I have ever read. Thank you.

 

I'm on the seascape, first MSC cruise, in September. My room is is on 16, but the other side of the ship. Gusti sounds amazing. I wonder if others can comment on the level of service received from him. Especially if they were on the same cruise as you.

 

I  love your tipping method, and I'm sure it plays into the level of service that you received. My only change would be to the aspect of tipping the asst and night butler the same as your main butler. Personally, I think I'll try this method on my cruise, but I'll cut the amount in half for the other two.

 

Looking forward to the rest....

 

p.s. My only tip for improving the review would be to see if you can attach higher resolution pictures.

 Gusti gets to go home to his two children (a boy and a girl) on Sunday 5/21. He is very excited to be spending time with them again!

[Bead Pirate]

MSC Seascape 5/7 – 5/14 – Yacht Club Room 16022 – Day 5

Up early (beat the alarm), opened the door and stuck my head outside and here is Maronette with a tray of doughnuts, our two newspapers and a letter from the casino (both DW and DH qualified for the weekly cruise slot tournament (everyone who is over 10K points by midnight on day 4). So, one more slot tournament on day 6 to attend 😊.

 

It’s a light workday so we went to the Top Sail for some quiet time to read the papers and up to the dining room for breakfast. After breakfast we went back to the room and changed into swimsuits for more pool time.

 

During our walk we asked Gusti to make reservations for the evening at the sushi restaurant for a party of 8. We know so many of the folks who were invited on this cruise for the casino event from other cruise lines and wanted to take some of them to dinner and catch up. Gusti took care of the reservations right away and said he would escort the entire group (4 others were in the Yacht Club as well).

Pool was great (even though it was a little cloudy) and we even grabbed some lunch at the outdoor buffet before we headed back to shower and change.

 

 

 

Met Gustie and went down to deck 8 for sushi, if you have not been here the place is fun. The plates zoom by on a conveyor belt and are color coded, so you know the cost of each dish. At the end of the meal your server just adds up the number of plates at each seat and put it all on one bill. We had a bottle of sake for each person and most folks ate about 5 plates (they are small). DH favorite is the Seared Eel and DW loved the seared Octopus. To our surprise, the casino host appeared at that moment and took care of the bill for everyone. We all chipped in nice cash tips for our server, and I thought he was going to cry 😊. Gusti was there waiting to escort us back.

 

Well, no surprise here as we went to the Top Sail Lounge to hear Bernard and the Duo (and spend time with Caroline). We are working on the Beluga vodka tonight!

 

Closed down the lounge about 12:45 and went by to say hello to William (the night butler). A meat lovers pizza will be ready at 2:30 with a cabernet.

 

No luck at the casino tonight (not for lack of trying), however when we came back to the Yacht Club William reminded us to skip breakfast as the Seafood Extravaganza was going to be served from 12:30 to 3:00 up on deck 20 tomorrow (opps today).

 

There was also a note in the room that High Tea would be served from 3:30 to 4:30.

 

MSC Seascape 5/7 – 5/14 – Yacht Club Room 16022 – Day 6

A very busy last day is on tap to be sure. We got up late (around 11) went to the Top Sail and read our newspapers with a mimosa.

 

Before we knew what was going on it was time to head up to deck 20 for the Seafood Extravaganza. This is really an event that must not be missed. Virtually every manner of seafood has been prepared in several different ways. Of course, there is lobster 3 ways, seafood pastas (delicious), oysters 5 ways, clams, mussels, shrimp, crab, sea bass, amberjack, black drum and the list goes on. The seafood tower is a work of art (well until we all started attacking it). Sorry, we were busy eating oysters so no pics !

 

Went back to the room with Gustie in tow and DW changed clothes for the High Tea. DH decided to stay in the room and enjoy a bottle of wine on the balcony. DW was very impressed with the High Tea Service and Gustie insisted that a plate be brought back to DH.

 

We both headed down to the casino under the watchful eye of Gustie. We both qualified for the final and DW got 5^th and DH got 4^th for a total of $1,300 in free play.

 

We played our free play and thanked our casino hosts, managers, bar tenders, servers, and John for the great time and all of the kindness. I am sure we will meet again but parting is always a melancholy event. DW brought out her last night “goodies” to pass out to the dealers, severs and slot techs. We always travel with about 5 boxes of full-size candy bars and allow the crew to take what they want as deep cleaning is in all of their futures on the last night.

 

Next, we went to Top Sail and repeated the candy bar extravaganza with Bernard, the Duo, Caroline and the bartenders.

 

Finally, repeat the process with the three kind ladies at the concierge desk and Willam.

 

Bags had to be out by 11 PM (Gustie told us later was OK). We needed to be out of the room by 7:30 AM.

 

MSC Seascape 5/7 – 5/14 – Yacht Club Room 16022 – Day 7

Alarm rang at 6:30 AM and we got ready to head down to the Top Sail Lounge. Maronette was waiting for us and walked us down to a table where she brought over pastries and some drinks. Around 8 AM Gustie shows up and sadly shares that our luggage is ready, and we can leave when we want. DW and DH discussed what they would do if we decided not to go 😊.

 

Departure was quick and painless, and we were on the road in 20 minutes after leaving Top Sail.

I will admit there have been cruises where I was ready to get off the ship, this was not one of those cruises. I thought about it on the drive north and the best I can equate it to is when you are a kid and get sent to camp for a couple of weeks in the summer. You don’t want to go and are sure it will not be fun. At the end of the time there you do not want to go home and leave all of your new friends😊.

 Not sure if I mentioned this in the review so I will now. MSC does not have ATM’s on board. If you need cash you should plan ahead and bring what you need.

 

Next up for us is cruise #143 on Wonder of the Sea's on June 4, in one of our very favorite Gran Suites (1780). I hope it eases the post-partum feelings that we have both been having since leaving the wonderful team on the Seascape.

 

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have as great a cruise as we did on this one!