Review: 2 weeks on the Seascape YC

[Jorhammer]

My wife and I decided to give the YC a try after several trips with NCL. It was our anniversary, Xmas trip and it was wonderful.

 

Embarkation and Disembarkation- Quick and easy on both fronts.

 

Room- Grand Deluxe Suite. Fantastic room, only thing is the pool deck noise with kids running all day and the usual 6am lounger setup. Kids running bother us more since that is a whole day thing. 
 

Food- it varies from good to outstanding. I requested a special dish for our anniversary and it turned out better than you could ever imagine. They made us beef Wellington and it was better than what we had a Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant. 
 

Drinks- zero complaints, mixed drinks were always consistent between our 2 bartenders in the lounge. They never ran out of Macallan, and I tried hard to make them run out….

 

Butler and Jr. Butler- Amazing, exceptional, outstanding, great. Can’t say enough about the 2 guys that took care of us. 
 

Bar, restaurant and Lounge staff- read above cause these people were more like hanging out with friends that would take care of the needs we had. We spent most of our time getting to know them and them getting to know us. They learned our names, likes and dislikes, I know that’s their job, but these people went way beyond of what I was expecting. My philosophy going in was that I would treat the staff as if they were my friends and we were lucky that they reciprocated and treated us the same.

 

Entertainment- was from bad to great. Typical cruise line singers and dancers. The theater shows were decent and entertaining. The comedians were good, but the last one was great. Ken Boyd was his name and his “joke” about how rude Europeans are was spot on. The acts on the Cabaret were meh, except for one. Kasia on the violin was the best show on the ship. On our missed Ocean Cay day she had a 2pm concert on the theater that she got like 4 standing ovations and people were chanting her name at the end. She should be the main act with dancers at least 3 days a week. 
 

Ship- beautiful

 

Elevators- learn to use them. Out of the YC on 16 express will not work. Go to 18-19 and call the elevator for there. When you badge to call it make sure the screen reads VIP7 if it does tap your desired floor, go to that elevator and wait. Might take a minute but doors will open without warning or dings. We used them everyday and had 0 issues. Also, if other YC people are on the same bank and have called the vip, it will not work. Either jump with them on their ride or go to the other bank of elevators and call yours. 
 

Fellow cruisers- There was a common theme with 99% of the Europeans, they are rude AF. Seriously, I’m from the Caribbean and I’ve never seen so many rude people in one place. We only left the YC to go to the theater and cabaret. They show up late to shows, talk all the time. We had to tell a couple to shut the f up cause both were video chatting on their phones while sitting on the stairs of the theater while the show was going. Our Italian neighbor to the left decided it was a good idea to light up a cigar in his balcony and we had to go to the concierge desk to complain. They called him and told him that he needed to stop or get fined. He knew I snitched on him lol. Just one example of many… At least the American, Latinos were good and fun to hang with. 

 

Might be missing some stuff cause to be honest, Europeans aside, the trip was magnificent. YC was worth every cent and we are booked for next year. 
 

 

 

[xcell]

Thanks for your review.

 

Would you mind telling us what room number you were in?   I'm heading out in two weeks, also in a Grand deluxe, so preparing myself for pool chair noises and kids if it is the same deck.

 

Plus, who were your butler and jr butler?

[Jorhammer]

YW!
 

Room 19029 

 

Ram was the butler and Ketut the Jr.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Jorhammer

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, Jorhammer said:

Room 19029 

 

Would you happen to have a photo of the stateroom and the walk-in closet? I'm working on cataloging all of the Grand Deluxe suites on Seashore/Seascape. I have 19032 directly across but I want to put together pictures/video of every one of them exactly as they are on the ship. Not all of the Grands have a walk-in closet so I'm noting the ones that do and the ones that don't. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Two Wheels Only

[Jorhammer]

Can send you some once I download them. As far as I know, All Grands have a walking closet on the seascape. That’s what makes them Grand over the Deluxe. At least that’s what I was told by the MSC future cruise rep. 

[Jorhammer]

Room pics… sorry I thought the wife had taken one inside the closet. We are booked a year from now on 19013.

42 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Would you happen to have a photo of the stateroom and the walk-in closet? I'm working on cataloging all of the Grand Deluxe suites on Seashore/Seascape. I have 19032 directly across but I want to put together pictures/video of every one of them exactly as they are on the ship. Not all of the Grands have a walk-in closet so I'm noting the ones that do and the ones that don't. 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Jorhammer

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Jorhammer said:

As far as I know, All Grands have a walking closet on the seascape. That’s what makes them Grand over the Deluxe. At least that’s what I was told by the MSC future cruise rep. 

 

It's MOST, not all. That's why I started making the lists. Some Grands (in addition to the wheelchair accessible ones) do not have a walk-in closet (18018/18019, for ex.). 

 

1 hour ago, Jorhammer said:

We are booked a year from now on 19013.

 

 

19013 does have a walk-in closet. 👍

[Jorhammer]

Ah… marketing skills were good on the one I talked to. What I’ve been finding interesting is that people treat MSC like they are a Carnival type of cheap. After spending 2 weeks, it’s more NCL to me. Yes, gen pop can have cheap fares but YC is not a cheap experience. Between fare and tips for 2 weeks we paid a bit over 12k. That’s not counting airfare and ground transportation. Wife and I travel quite a bit, usually we do 3 vacations a year. What we experience and saw was not a cheap cruise. MSC moves all its cargo, moves the goods and that’s how we get cheap fares. we had very high expectations and they were met easily.

 

[Two Wheels Only]

42 minutes ago, Jorhammer said:

After spending 2 weeks, it’s more NCL to me.

 

Yacht Club prices have risen for the most part but are still less than what NCL asks for the Haven. NCL has also raised prices so MSC still has the ability to offer a comparable product (Yacht Club vs Haven) for less. 

 

It takes some work and a bit of luck to find a really good price on Yacht Club but it can be done. 

[jjjct]

2 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Yacht Club prices have risen for the most part but are still less than what NCL asks for the Haven. NCL has also raised prices so MSC still has the ability to offer a comparable product (Yacht Club vs Haven) for less. 

 

It takes some work and a bit of luck to find a really good price on Yacht Club but it can be done. 

Doing our 1st YC in March, hope it is as good or equal to our 3 haven experiences. We really like the NCL's theater shows, what is your thoughts in comparison to MSC?

[xcell]

13 minutes ago, jjjct said:

Doing our 1st YC in March, hope it is as good or equal to our 3 haven experiences. We really like the NCL's theater shows, what is your thoughts in comparison to MSC?

There's a reason the shows are short...

 

With that being said, like the food, entertainment is subjective....

 

But I have to say, I prefer shows on RCCL and NCL more than MSC.  Comedy was best on NCL, RCCL and then MSC (in that order).

 

I have not seen Seascape's entertainment, so I cannot comment, but I wasn't impressed with the Seaside, Seashore or Grandiosa.

[Jorhammer]

On the Seascape is the same group that performs the musical shows. Of the 4 singers the only good one is the brunette. Dancers are good and the acrobats are good. 
 

From our view, this is not a Vegas production. It’s more local theater, and since we don’t have to pay extra, it was entertaining and it filled some time before dinner. 
 

The 3 comedians we saw were funny, but it was all the same cruise toilet jokes, or the why my race is better than your race jokes, which gets old after a while. 

On the Cabaret, now that’s a gamble of who can be worse than the other. TK, the host is brutal to listen to. Bella, the resident singer does the same bland and tone deaf routine every time she comes out. We saw Cosmic Riot, cheerleaders trying to get Europeans hyped up, didn’t work. They had the acrobats from the theater show and that was good. Kasia the violinist was the best. 
 

all subjective since we all like different things.

 

in the end it was entertainment and we found ways to entertain ourselves by being very judgy lol

 

[momofmab]

On 12/17/2023 at 10:47 AM, xcell said:

Thanks for your review.

 

Would you mind telling us what room number you were in?   I'm heading out in two weeks, also in a Grand deluxe, so preparing myself for pool chair noises and kids if it is the same deck.

 

Plus, who were your butler and jr butler?

 

We were in 19005 and had very minor deck noise on one morning only.

 

OP- I agree 100% with the rudeness in theatre.  It's like nothing I've ever experienced at sea or on land!  People talking loudly and carrying on normal conversation as if they were in a sports bar instead of a performance.  Whole rows of people getting up in the middle and leaving (sit in the back if you think you might leave mid-show), parents letting kids run amok. It was hard to enjoy any performance with all the activity going on off-stage.  

[Two Wheels Only]

5 hours ago, momofmab said:

We were in 19005 and had very minor deck noise on one morning only.

 

Would you happen to have any photos of the walk-in closet in 19005?

[momofmab]

43 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Would you happen to have any photos of the walk-in closet in 19005?

 

I don't, but it is quite large.  As you enter and walk in straight ahead, there is a 4-drawer built in dresser with shelves above.  To your right is a large hanging rack with plenty of hangers and above that is another long storage shelf (we kept our shoes up there).  It was big enough to store our suitcases in there as well.  My only wish was that the closet door would stay propped open - so I would recommend maybe bringing a door stop if you want to keep it open.

[Two Wheels Only]

27 minutes ago, momofmab said:

My only wish was that the closet door would stay propped open - so I would recommend maybe bringing a door stop if you want to keep it open.

 

The butlers/Jr. butlers have door props to keep doors open. 

 

I only ask for photos for the lists that I'm working on. Since some of the Grands do not have the walk-in, I'm making a list with links to photos/videos of the actual staterooms. I'm pretty sure of which ones have and which ones don't so at this point, I just need the photos to make the hyperlinks. 

[Jorhammer]

11 hours ago, momofmab said:

 

We were in 19005 and had very minor deck noise on one morning only.

 

OP- I agree 100% with the rudeness in theatre.  It's like nothing I've ever experienced at sea or on land!  People talking loudly and carrying on normal conversation as if they were in a sports bar instead of a performance.  Whole rows of people getting up in the middle and leaving (sit in the back if you think you might leave mid-show), parents letting kids run amok. It was hard to enjoy any performance with all the activity going on off-stage.  

MSC should have a cut off for entry to shows and not allow late arrivals. 
 

another thing is moving the YC seats to one of the side seats instead of the last 3 rows in the middle. Reduce the amount of seats to like 40 and don’t remove the ropes when the show starts. 

[momofmab]

13 hours ago, Jorhammer said:

MSC should have a cut off for entry to shows and not allow late arrivals. 
 

another thing is moving the YC seats to one of the side seats instead of the last 3 rows in the middle. Reduce the amount of seats to like 40 and don’t remove the ropes when the show starts. 

 

I agree.  I was surprised by the behavior of some of the non-YC guests who attempted to bypass the velvet rope and jump over the back of the seats to get into the rows.  After the first night, we elected to find our own seats closer to the stage.  During our sailing, I never witnessed a "sold out" crowd in the theatre (and of course people felt free to come and go at their whim during the performances).

[Brighton Line]

2 hours ago, momofmab said:

 (and of course people felt free to come and go at their whim during the performances).

Don't forget the mad rush for the door at the end of the performance before the curtain has even come down while the cast is still taking their bows. 

Forget the CD's post show address, by then there is a backup at the door and lines down the stairs as everyone is exiting. 

[bucfan2]

1 hour ago, Brighton Line said:

Don't forget the mad rush for the door at the end of the performance before the curtain has even come down while the cast is still taking their bows. 

Forget the CD's post show address, by then there is a backup at the door and lines down the stairs as everyone is exiting. 

We generally take one of two paths...sit and wait for the crowd to thin out, or get out of there prior to the CD's post show address.  The latter tends to be our go-to, as we don't need to hear the latest update on events remaining for the evening....if we weren't aware of an event, it's generally nothing we're interest in anyway.

Edited December 20, 2023 by bucfan2