Thanksgiving Yacht Club Experience 2019

Well, thanks i found this post, as i was looking forward to becoming a member of a yacht club. I got some friends that are already members, but they have been in there since the foundation of the club. For them everything is ok, while many other people are complaining for different things. I wanted to become a member as recently i became a big yacht, and sailing fan. It was exactly when we were on a holiday in Hawaii. we decided to look for a yacht rentals and take one for a couple of days. Since then i fell in love with them.

Depositing us in the cabin our butler went through all the usual and requested when we wanted to dine, the show time, any tours (not) and ended by saying something we never heard before " Please allow me the chance to escort you everywhere". He then asked at what time we wished to dine that evening. He asked if we would enjoy a cocktail before dinner in the Top Sail Lounge and that it would be his pleasure to pick us up at our cabin at 6pm ( our chosen cocktail time) and escort us down the hall to TSL. At exactly 6pm we heard a light tapping on our door, and were escorted to chairs and table in the TSL, telling us he will return at 6:30 to escort us up the Swarovsky crystal staircase to the YC restaurant. While in the TSL he asked which show time would we prefer and would like to be picked up from our cabin or the TSL, for his privilege to escort us to the theatre to reserved seating.

I may not get to finish, tonight is tip night and the end of this lovely cruise. While I am presently typing from my cabana DW is packing and requested I return at this hour to prepare for dinner. Thank you for your interest and replies.

Nassau is an absolutely beautiful place to view from a cruise ship. It is when you get off and walk around and get close-up that we turned around and high-tailed it back to the ship. This is our very first cruise that we really can not say any port was worth getting off the ship to explore. So that makes the ship and its services so much more important to a cruiser like me.

Allow me to describe the staff service on board the beautiful MSC Seaside. While seated in the Top Sail Lounge you will be approached by a butler within 30 seconds asking you for your drink order. Drink packages are free and included in the Yacht Club. I, coincidentally, quit drinking alcohol and wine 3 weeks ago and have not suffered the slightest from it. Did so because as one ages their body changes and I began breaking out in hives. Dr said it was something I ate, so through the process of elimination I discovered it was not chocolate.The drink package included all the water I could drink. On the NCL Breakaway last summer in the Haven I could and did drink all the wine I wanted included in the suite package, but it cost me $168 for all the water we consumed not included in the beverage package.( my note pad still comes in handy when comparing future cruise ships and lines and reminding me of NCL's 'nickel- and- diming').

Your YC cabin of course comes with a room steward who like to be referred to as assistant butler. The free mini bar comes equipped the way you request. I had 6 bottles of water always present, restocked every day . Requested 6 MSC YC blue towels for our balcony lounges and chairs that were supplied every evening for the following day. Extra regular towels always restocked daily.

YC cabins are staffed by a butler. We were never 'butler' type people until MSC Seaside. (Our butler on the MSC Divina last Christmas was ' missing in action', but that did not bother us and we saved an additional $ tip at the end; butlers are responsible for 10 YC cabins, I guess we did not look the type that tip at the end of a cruise, because we booked the Royal Red Sophia Loren Suite. The suite was too small for 8 bags and was a 'Royal' let down.) But the butler on the Seaside was a shock. He met us immediately when we got on the ship with 3 carry-ons ( in addition to the 8 suitcases)(I think she brings the kitchen sink in one of the bags because I am not allowed to pack and really 'see' all the nonessentials she deems vital)

On the way to our cabin he instructs us on the use of our cabin access cards and the elevator that is priority if one uses it properly. Press the key card against the device below the up/down buttons. the device flashes green and the elevator to your left signals "priority" as it rushes to you with ,many times, people still in it on the way to their decks unaware of what is happening. By pressing the key card against the device all the decks are erased inside the elevator. Step into the elevator press your cabin key against the device inside the elevator and whatever key you press first that is the deck the elevator rushes off to, while everyone that was going down is now going up, frantically pressing every deck key on both sides of the elevator to no avail, no other deck will light up on the key pad until we exit our deck. Neat and hilarious for novices in the YC. A perfect skit for "Candid Camera".

Dear AP, Thank you. That is another point I would like to make about all us reviewers. 99% of us do not post while on board ship and do not bother taking notes while on vacation to report back vital tips for the cruising public. When they get home most forget the real important stuff. So I have for years carried a pocket note pad and 2 pens. Now with the internet and Cruiseline .com I can sit back in my cabana or balcony, depending on the sun and transcribe my notes in just about real time. For years I just took the opportunity to nap away my cruise time while on board. now I stay awake and see more as well.

I am enjoying your daily reviews. Thanks for sharing!

Cruise attire on the MSC Seaside. Yes I know we are all on vacation, but there are limits (or should be) and proper decorum when traveling on premium and luxury line venues., which the Yacht Club definitely is. Here on this cruise, I must say all the ladies are dressed elegantly and attractively day and night. They obviously take their appearance seriously. Many of the 'escorts' are 'something' to behold. It appears they brought the same work cloths they had on while working the streets only leaving at home their cardboard signs. There is no way the photo department can touch up the family photo short of cropping them out.

I, for one, am on the other 'not so' extreme. I only wear long slacks and collared shirts for breakfast and lunch in the dining room, jacket and tie every evening and a tuxedo chic nights. I do this out of respect for my fellow passengers, the efforts of the cruise line in providing this elegant venue and of course for my own self-esteem.

In Nassau today, flanked on one side by RCCL Majesty of the Seas and Celebrity Equinox. Was told that there is only room for 4 cruise ships at this dock at one time. Never been on Majesty (probably never will , do not think they have dedicated suite venue like the new Odyssey that is scheduled to come out and we booked for next Thanksgiving). I ask myself the question, "Goldy, how many Thanksgivings have you got left?" Only one problem I can relate to you all in the suite venues of RCCL. There is only ample accommodation when there are very few Non-Suite Pinnacle Passengers on board. They get to pay for the lowest fare cabins and avail themselves of suite venues, crowding out Suite paying passengers ( It happened to us last summer in a Royal Suite with a standing 6:15 dinner reservation, we were asked to wait). Read that the worst time to travel in a suite on any RCCL ship is transatlantic (700 NSPP). They get cheap rates and more points. Why? They already have Pinnacle status. I still do not know the answer to everything.

We stick to the cruise ships that leave and return to South Florida as we feel too old to fly and wife travels with 8 bags for a 1 week cruise.

MSC Seaside is rapidly becoming our favorite ship of choice , YC only. Next, Celebrity Equinox would be our second choice ,only in the Retreat. We are booked in a Concierge suite for summer vacation in June when school lets out and we rebooked this MSC Seaside YC for July.2020 as well. Read a delightful post from a gentleman that prodded me to book as many as we can afford, " I never witnessed a hearse towing a U-Haul", or you can not take it with you.

I have noticed that it is very difficult for cruise lines, with the number of staff per passenger ratio to keep up with 'picking up' after many of its guests with little 'breeding'. How often does one walk down any cabin hallway or general walkway on any ship to find soiled dishes and drink cocktail glasses placed willy-nilly in your path. In the YC venues you will rarely see the same, though I did notice a glass with straw on the teak deck outside the YC Top Sail Lounge just feet from an unoccupied table. So this is not to infer that the YC guest has any more couth, only that there are more staff to accommodate fewer passengers and this glass was over looked by the ever vigilant YC staff.

Since one of us is still teaching (45 years and loving the challenge) we are limited to the same vacation times as the students. Traveling in the more expensive ship venues helps mitigate contact except when out and about exploring the rest of the ship. We have come to discover that the real only downside to cruising are many of the inconsiderate passengers you can not get away from on a ship. For example, there are never enough deck lounge chairs, especially on beautiful, calm seas, slight wind days, when all your fellow passengers get up very early in the morning, placing towels, bags and books on these lounges and then 'disappear' for hours. The 'no saving' chairs on deck policy is ignored by both your inconsiderate fellow passengers and the cruise line. Now in the suite venues we have found there to always be ample deck lounges available. However I must note that during the famous lobster lunch on the YC pool deck on Thursday, the so-called 'upper YC crust' lounging on deck chairs around the pool and grill got up from their lounges to put towels and books on the limited tables available for diners and sat back down on their lounges until they were ready to eat, thus 'saving' a table at the expense of their fellow YC passengers.There simply is no accounting for good manners in the cruising world.

I will go on with my ranting about the foibles of my fellow cruise passengers in my next reply.

Yes, indeed! After over 40 years of cruising around the world, time and good health are the only limiting factors that face us (all of us). We discovered MSC last Christmas on the Divina and we tried the Yacht Club because of all the great reviews. The Seaside just had its 2nd birthday party Nov 28 this week. We read all the negative reviews when it first came out, if you chose the general population cabins.. I remember, fondly, reading one negative reviewer stating "that a he would have had a better time camping out in his garage for the week."

In the YC the experience is one of the best at sea. Of the 5000 passengers, there are 186 YC guests on board for this Thanksgiving cruise. Sure there are too many children, but that is because it is a holiday and MSC priced this holiday lower than Christmas, when I have been told there will be less "little darlings" because of the higher passenger prices. If every bed is taken up in the YC the passenger count would amount to 246 on the Seaside. So far the price for a YC deluxe cabin is half for a comparable cabin on NCL Haven, RCCL Suite Class, or Celebrity's Retreat. Forgive my bias for these not so well-behaved, allowed to run wild, "children" on board cruise ships. We were pushed and shoved at last nights "Michael Jackson" tribute show by "youngsters" racing past us to get front row seats. We were at the head of the line to get in ( a YC perk) and sit in the back row and were still trampled.