Today is the day!!! 😁 Sailing on the Seaside

[Beachin2]

50 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I don’t recall meeting a Laura and John. There are a few John’s in the YC though, including my husband. Speaking of dh, he’s currently eating the seafood pasta, which he says is very good. I’m not a huge seafood lover so from todays seafood buffet I had cod and salad. He also liked the seafood salad. 

They can be casino rats at times.  Figuring no report is a good report!  Enjoy the sail back to PC.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

27 minutes ago, Beachin2 said:

They can be casino rats at times.  Figuring no report is a good report!  Enjoy the sail back to PC.

Aw!  We don’t gamble. We just left the pool deck for our balcony after frying for several hours. We haven’t left the YC much, outside of going to the theater, Venchi for gelato, shopping, hair salon 3 times, and just a quick ship tour. We never even used the thermal spa. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Final day:  I always hate the last day of a cruise. While I want to make the most of it, in the back of my mind I know it’s almost over. 
 

We didn’t see any interlopers at the seafood buffet today. I was looking after reading about them on here. Honestly, it seemed like we saw the same people over and over all week. I believe they said there were 184 YC guests on this cruise. I don’t know how many is typical. 
 

Tonight for dinner, I asked for the garlic and olive oil pasta from the MDR with a piece of grilled chicken and they were happy to oblige. It was good. My husband ordered the lasagna. He said it wasn’t very warm and he didn’t care for it. He thought maybe it got cold waiting for them to custom make my pasta. Maybe he’s correct. Our friend got it too, hers was hot and she said it was delicious. Tastes vary. We both ordered the lemon delight for dessert. It was the worst thing I tried on the ship. I was full so I didn’t care, otherwise I would have asked for something else. Service was excellent all week. P
 

We went to Michael Jackson show tonight.  It was really good and they got a standing ovation. 
 

Final thoughts:  Sad to say goodbye to our new friends and to get off tomorrow, but we had a terrific cruise!  I think we need to keep this MSC yacht club a secret to keep prices reasonable!  The only negative either of us could think of was the pillows and beds weren’t to our liking. We still managed to sleep well every night, it was just hard to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. We do have a very expensive mattress at home so our expectations are high. The service was above and beyond anything we expected. I do wonder why they call them “butlers”. They were really just cabin stewards that would occasionally escort you places on the ship. Not even our own cabin steward. For instance, we would all wait at the concierge desk for some butler to escort us to the theater. If we needed anything we called the concierge. He set up my hair appointments and took our room service orders. The only thing our butler did was take our clothes that needed pressed and placed them in our closet when finished and cleaned our suite. This isn’t a complaint, just an observation. I guess I assumed the butler and cabin steward would be two separate people. Perhaps it’s different with an upper level suite. Don’t get me wrong, our every need was taken care of!  We love MSC and very much look forward to our next cruise with them!  They made me feel like a princess for the week. 

[momofmab]

Thanks for giving your thoughts as a YC first-timer.  Glad you enjoyed your week!

[morpheusofthesea]

7 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

They were really just cabin stewards that would occasionally escort you places on the ship. Not even our own cabin steward.

Here is an example. There are two ways one has to go on tour. One can congregate in the Top Sail Lounge (or as in your case the concierge lobby) and wait for a 'group' to be taken down the elevator to the gangway by an available butler. The problem with this method is there is ALWAYS some inconsiderate fellow guest holding up the group. But if one has a GOOD personal butler who takes the time to 'inquire' what ones plans are the night before and finds out one has a tour the next morning versus one that 'enquires' in a general way. The one that 'enquires' will direct one to the TSL (or concierge lobby). The one that 'inquires' will offer to meet one at the appointed time at ones cabin for a personal escort down to the bus or private car.

[morpheusofthesea]

8 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I guess I assumed the butler and cabin steward would be two separate people

They are two separate people. You will just have to take another YC cruise to get the 'full' experience on another ship.  Did you ever reveal that this was your first YC experience to any of the staff? Or it it just a staffing shortage?

Edited July 2, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Mark_T]

26 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

They are two separate people.

... on our cruise last month it felt like we had two butlers as his assistant was not only taking care of our suite and producing those wonderful towel animals, but he was also volunteering to assist with anything and everything the butler does as well, so he was definitely keeping our butler on his toes 🙂

 

Just the right level of service though, with the little treats left in the suite in the evening and one or other of them always seeming to be around at all times.

Edited July 2, 2023 by Mark_T

[NCteacherlovescruising]

45 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Here is an example. There are two ways one has to go on tour. One can congregate in the Top Sail Lounge (or as in your case the concierge lobby) and wait for a 'group' to be taken down the elevator to the gangway by an available butler. The problem with this method is there is ALWAYS some inconsiderate fellow guest holding up the group. But if one has a GOOD personal butler who takes the time to 'inquire' what ones plans are the night before and finds out one has a tour the next morning versus one that 'enquires' in a general way. The one that 'enquires' will direct one to the TSL (or concierge lobby). The one that 'inquires' will offer to meet one at the appointed time at ones cabin for a personal escort down to the bus or private car.

Ours never offered to do anything, except when I asked him about our clothes that needed pressed he bagged them and whisked them away. We didn’t do any ship tours, nor did he ever ask what our plans were. He gave us a card on the first day with the number for the concierge and told us to call him if we needed anything, which is what we did.  
 

15 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

They are two separate people. You will just have to take another YC cruise to get the 'full' experience on another ship.  Did you ever reveal that this was your first YC experience to any of the staff? Or it it just a staffing shortage?

The two men that introduced themselves as our butler and junior butler were the same two that cleaned our cabin daily. We did mention it was our first time sailing with MSC. They didn’t appear short staffed. We never waited to be assisted for anything on the ship. Our favorite server/butler (recently promoted but not assigned cabins yet) was Arnold from the Philippians. He always came to help us as soon as we entered Top Sail Lounge and insisted on carrying our glasses to our cabins one day when we decided to go back there to drink them. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

... on our cruise last month it felt like we had two butlers as his assistant was not only taking care of our suite and producing those wonderful towel animals, but he was also volunteering to assist with anything and everything the butler does as well, so he was definitely keeping out butler on his toes 🙂

 

Just the right level of service though, with the little treats left in the suite in the evening and one or other of them always seeming to be around at all times.

We saw our junior butler a lot more than our butler. They did leave us treats every night but we never ate them so I’m surprised they didn’t stop. We didn’t get any towel animals. 

[Mark_T]

Just now, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We saw our junior butler a lot more than our butler. They did leave us treats every night but we never ate them so I’m surprised they didn’t stop. We didn’t get any towel animals. 

I think we benefitted from the much smaller Yacht Club on Divina, but it sounds like you've had great service in Yacht Club in general, so perhaps next time it is worth talking to your butler over things like the 'treats', just let them know what you would appreciate, or just let them know you don't want anything at all.

 

 

[mackfam]

9 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I think we need to keep this MSC yacht club a secret to keep prices reasonable!

^^^Unfortunately the secret is already out but we should all agree to downplay how great it is to try to stem the rising costs. Since I took my first YC cruise last year prices have increased dramatically but now I’m well and truly hooked and just booked my 6th YC cruise yesterday!

[miched]

Curious about your bed.  Do you have one of these?

 

https://www.hastens.com/us/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwISlBhD6ARIsAESAmp6G6z5UTBmiNklJTjZy8xWyShL5vJr3c3A4jxeHl67vLNf0V5eL3XcaAn4gEALw_wcB

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by miched

[Stem to Stern]

22 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Nachi Cocom

Well isn't this a wonderful discovery.  Your recommendation looks utterly serene.  Was it crowded?  Did you just grab a taxi to get there?  How much was cab fare?

[NCteacherlovescruising]

8 minutes ago, miched said:

Curious about your bed.  Do you have one of these?

 

https://www.hastens.com/us/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwISlBhD6ARIsAESAmp6G6z5UTBmiNklJTjZy8xWyShL5vJr3c3A4jxeHl67vLNf0V5eL3XcaAn4gEALw_wcB

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

No. Lol

2 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Well isn't this a wonderful discovery.  Your recommendation looks utterly serene.  Was it crowded?  Did you just grab a taxi to get there?  How much was cab fare?

We’ve been there several times and it’s never crowded. An hour beach massage is only like $60 and it was amazing!!  The taxi is $17 for two people, each way. 

[Stem to Stern]

9 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

The only thing our butler did was take our clothes that needed pressed and placed them in our closet when finished and cleaned our suite.

Was there a charge for pressing?

[jules815]

31 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Well isn't this a wonderful discovery.  Your recommendation looks utterly serene.  Was it crowded?  Did you just grab a taxi to get there?  How much was cab fare?

Not the OP, but we've been to Nachi many times. It never gets crowded because they only allow a certain number of guests per day. We always book online prior to our cruise, but one time while sailing on a RC ship we made friends with a couple on board and they were able to get an online reservation the night before we docked in Cozumel.  It really is a nice beach day. Highly recommend.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 hour ago, Stem to Stern said:

Was there a charge for pressing?

With the yacht club you get four items pressed free of charge. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 hours ago, Mark_T said:

I think we benefitted from the much smaller Yacht Club on Divina, but it sounds like you've had great service in Yacht Club in general, so perhaps next time it is worth talking to your butler over things like the 'treats', just let them know what you would appreciate, or just let them know you don't want anything at all.

 

 

Yes, service was outstanding!  I don’t feel like we missed out on anything. 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

The two men that introduced themselves as our butler and junior butler were the same two that cleaned our cabin daily.

This statement seems to suggest that perhaps your cabin steward/junior butler was brand new ? Many times MSC pulls from the ranks of cabin stewards their next butlers. Butlers rarely clean ones cabin though they know exactly how to clean having perhaps been a cabin steward. We had one butler that was always a butler having been a butler at a 5 star hotel for 20 years and just coming to MSC. On our last cruise the ship was short a cabin steward that did not show up, so from the YC One Pool Deck was commandeered a very able and deserving pool attendant to be our cabin steward. The first two days of the cruise all he had to wear was his pool attendant garb with "POOL ATTENDANT" in bold on the back of his t-shirt. By day three he had his brown cabin attendant uniform. Of course our butler was seen helping him out assisting in all the room cleanings and training. Perhaps this was the same in your case, which over tired the butler having to take on double duty and still serving the more 'needy' among us.

Edited July 2, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Mark_T]

11 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Yes, service was outstanding!  I don’t feel like we missed out on anything. 

We were making notes to see if there was anything we missed to make sure we tried it next time.

 

Only thing we didn't see was the formal afternoon tea service with cake stand etc. but not sure if that still happens?

 

We will make more use of room service next time as we only used it once for a pizza delivery (... which was excellent! )

 

 

[Mark_T]

1 minute ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Many times MSC pulls from the ranks of cabin stewards their next butlers.

I do love that about MSC... while talking to the Yacht Club Director we learned that our assistant had been recently promoted from the cabin service team elsewhere on the ship.

 

He really was 150% enthusiastic, and we were happy to pass on to the director that he was doing a fantastic job as of course was our butler. 

[emmas gran]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

With the yacht club you get four items pressed free of charge. 

6 YC cruises and didn’t know this

[jules815]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

With the yacht club you get four items pressed free of charge. 

Good info. I didn't know about his.

My husband and I will be on Seascape in September for 2 weeks and over the past couple of days I've been going thru the storage bins with summer cruise clothes, starting to make lists, etc. I just decided yesterday that I'm not going to agonize over wrinkles anymore while packing. If anything looks particularly bad, I'm just going to send it to be pressed. 

Also plan on doing some things we've never done on a 7-day in the YC. Pizza delivery, book specialty dining a couple of nights, maybe I'll book a massage. I've never even set foot in the spa area on either MSC ship we've sailed on. We've done 2 YC cruises and not once have we done a specialty restaurant because we didn't want to miss out on anything in the YC dining room. We've never used our Diamond perk, etc. 

 

[jules815]

12 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

6 YC cruises and didn’t know this

I didn't either. 😃

[JAGR]

12 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 This isn’t a complaint, just an observation. I guess I assumed the butler and cabin steward would be two separate people. Perhaps it’s different with an upper level suite.

Sorry!  Commented about junior butler before fully reading the thread!

Edited July 2, 2023 by JAGR