The Traveling Steve's

Steve (DOS) and I just returned from a wonderful 7 night cruise on the Italian owned and operated MSC Seaside. This was our first time sailing on MSC, and although we had heard mixed reviews about the line, we had an outstanding time with outstanding service as well. We sailed in the exclusive Yacht Club “class” or rather section of the ship. The Yacht Club is a premium ship-within-a-ship concept, that seems to be a new trend for several cruise lines such as NCL, Celebrity, and has always been with traditionally class-oriented Cunard Cruise lines. With the Yacht Club class, you have full access to this huge and beautiful ship, but also have the quiet oasis of retreat in the Yacht Club’s private area, which is wonderful when the main parts of the ship are overwhelmed, i.e. sea days with passengers out and about the decks.

Here are a couple photos I took when we boarded the ship, showing the fancy Swarvoski crystal staircases in the ship’s main lobby (non Yacht Club area), a couple of the ship’s slides, the multilevel lobby stages with ever changing colors forming a backdrop for various entertainers performing there and , and one of the main theater’s production shows.

Entrance to the MSC Yacht Club private Sundeck and Pool area, forward on deck 19.

It’s Sunday night as I write this, so I’m just doing a quick post to let everyone know we had a fantastic time, and arrived home safe and sound this morning with no health or safety issues. One of the things we love about sailing out of Port Canaveral, is it’s only an hour or so drive from our home in the Orlando suburbs.

We were off the ship by 9:30am this morning, and home just after 10:30am. I will write up a more detailed post in a couple days when I’ve had a chance to review all my pics and videos from the trip, but for now I’ll just post a couple pics before I head to bed.

I have a couple follow-up doctor appts tomorrow including my “high altitude test”. I scheduled the “high altitude test” (which checks for your oxygen levels at a simulated airplane cruising altitude) after I had my inflight fainting incident a couple weeks ago flying to Seattle. Hopefully the test will go well, but if not we can at least better prepare before our long flight to Athens and Singapore return starting next month. In the meantime, we have to adjust back to cooking on our own instead of being waited on hand and foot like we were in the Yacht Club!😃

This was our first sailing on MSC, yet alone the Yacht Club, and I can honestly say the “Yacht Club” (YC) really lived up to, and even surpassed its name! While this mega MSC ship was sailing with some 4,300 passengers, the Yacht Club holds a maximum of only 200 passengers, which is less than 5% of the ship’s fellow sailors, so it never felt crowded and offered a very “Country Club-like” feel to it. The Yacht Club area is an exclusive section on the forward part of decks 16, 18, and 19, (there is no deck 17 as it is a suspicious number to the Italians like the US version of number 13) sharing the space with both YC passenger cabins, dedicated YC restaurant, lounge, and sundeck with bar area, pool, whirlpool, and plenty of lounge chairs, and seating area with tables for the breakfast and lunch buffets that are served there daily. (Breakfast and Lunch are also served in the Yacht Club’s Dining room as well.)

I’ll go into much more detail about both the ship as a whole, as well as what makes Yacht Club so extra special, in my next post in a couple days, but suffice it to say, every fellow passenger we spoke to in the Yacht Club (mostly first timers with MSC) said they would never take MSC again without doing the Yacht Club, which DOS and I whole-heartily agree. It really is THAT GOOD! From the mostly all-inclusive fare (tips, shore excursions, spa are extra), the unlimited drinks, wonderful dining options, reserved seating in the production shows (escorted there by your Butler), High Tea, and intimate and Yacht Club only access, it made for a true Yacht-like feel with the service, amenities and generous space.

More to come; I do hope all of the fellow “sailors” we met (a term Virgin Cruises uses for its passengers) had a safe and uneventful trip home, and/or enjoying your post cruise like our Scottish friends going to Disney World, or our French friends who are flying overnight as I write this. It was so nice to meet so many friendly people, and with the two full days at MSC’s private island, it made for one of the most relaxing 7 days cruises we’ve ever taken.

Until next time, Cheers!