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I Try Out Cruising In A Controversial Ship-Within-A-Ship
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Jan 28, 2025
I test out cruising in Yacht Club, a limited access “ship-within-a-ship” on MSC Cruises, to see if it really is better than cruising as a “regular” passenger and if it is worth paying the premium for the experience and the perks. For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers * Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
so many Cruisers are contacting me
0:02
saying they're getting really frustrated
0:04
because so many areas on cruise ships
0:06
are being closed making them only
0:08
available to select group of passengers
0:10
and what the lines are calling ships
0:12
within ships and throwing exotic names
0:14
at them like the retreat The Haven and
0:17
the yacht club
0:18
these are eye-wateringly expensive
0:21
starting at 800 700 pounds per cabin per
0:24
night making them out of reach for most
0:26
cruises but curiosity got to me so
0:28
raided some savings and booked myself in
0:30
the yacht club on Embassy virtuosa on a
0:33
seven night Norwegian fjords cruise to
0:35
see what their ship within a ship is all
0:37
about and if you've got the cash if it's
0:40
actually worth it here's what I
0:43
discovered now the yacht club I
0:45
discovered covered several decks high up
0:47
in the front of the ship my cruise card
0:49
granted me access through these big
0:51
sliding glass doors on Deck 16 inside
0:54
were all the yacht club cabins a guest
0:56
services concierge desk the top sell
0:59
lounge and bar with snacks all day
1:01
afternoon tea and live music in the
1:04
evenings the MSC Yacht Club restaurant
1:06
with open seeded dining for all meals
1:09
and a dedicated menu and kitchen by the
1:11
way a large Deck with plunge pool hot
1:14
tubs bar and a grill serving breakfast
1:16
and lunch but
1:18
I also got added perks including premium
1:22
drinks package two devices streaming
1:25
internet a butler a pillow menu a
1:27
welcome bottle of Prosecco and
1:29
chocolates uh daily canapes and various
1:32
treats access to the Spa's thermal suite
1:35
and some other perks that I'll come to
1:37
which actually helped me navigate my way
1:40
around the crowds and the lines around
1:42
the ship which are pretty important now
1:45
unlike other lines shipped within the
1:46
ships your Club has a big difference
1:48
it's not only sweets this means there
1:52
are even some more affordable ways to
1:54
get into this ship within a ship versus
1:56
other lines it had 15 inside cabins
1:59
alongside as you'd expect two Royal
2:01
Suites eight duplex Suites and 77 Deluxe
2:05
Verandas which is what I had booked now
2:07
this cabin was probably the size wise
2:10
more like a mini Suite or many large and
2:13
mid-sized ships that I've been on though
2:15
it was probably comparable in size to
2:17
Suites I've stayed in on small smaller
2:19
shift luxury lines like Seaborn silver C
2:21
and region 17. so not a massive kind of
2:24
cabin more of a big Veranda cabin the
2:26
decor was fairly neutral was probably a
2:28
little bit Brown had a good sized
2:30
bathroom it didn't have well-known brand
2:32
atologies that you'd expect in a premium
2:34
place but it just had dispensers for
2:36
example in the shower which was labeled
2:38
body wash and shampoo no fancy brand
2:40
names one big plus was the cabins are
2:44
well away from noisy and busy venues and
2:47
my cabin was incredibly quiet I would
2:49
say my cabin is probably one of the
2:51
quietest if not the quietest I have had
2:54
on any Cruise ever because the ship is
2:56
so modern and new even the air
2:58
conditioning was very quiet so that was
3:01
a big plus now as the yacht club is in
3:03
the front of the ship and high up the
3:06
restaurant had incredible views out of
3:08
the vast windows I had the most gorgeous
3:10
scenes of the Norwegian fjords sitting
3:13
at my table in the restaurant
3:15
so far I'm sure you're thinking this
3:18
mostly sounds pretty exotic and rather
3:21
wonderful but let me now talk about some
3:23
other sides to the ship within a ship
3:25
experience it raised more doubts and
3:28
issues MSC ships are big MSC virtuosa
3:32
when full has 6 300 passengers it's a
3:35
jam-packed boisterous and noisy ship all
3:38
over the place one big plus the yacht
3:40
club gave me was a less busy and a more
3:43
calm place to escape the manicness of
3:45
the ship it felt like stepping out of a
3:48
whirlwind of activity and noise into an
3:51
immediately more sedate and a quieter
3:53
space without hordes of people packed in
3:55
although it was not totally quiet uh
3:58
because it wasn't just actually an adult
3:59
space only MSC is unashamedly
4:04
family-friendly line and so though for
4:06
example there's 102 cabins in yacht club
4:08
which means about 202 people a double
4:10
occupancy because most of those have
4:12
sofa beds and so on they could be 70 to
4:14
even 100 Kids in there at really peak
4:17
times now marcelling was not within the
4:20
school holidays so there were only a
4:22
handful of families but they still did
4:24
often kind of take over the small pool
4:26
the kids would run around during
4:28
afternoon tea they would moan and cry
4:30
basically kind of big kids at meals
4:32
which did wind some people up I probably
4:35
unnecessarily since it's a family line
4:37
secondly although it's supposed to be an
4:39
exclusive area clearly people staying in
4:41
the yacht club were traveling with
4:42
friends and family who weren't in the
4:44
yacht club and so would bring guests in
4:46
mostly heading up to the deck but
4:49
sometimes also in the lounge and a blind
4:51
eye was basically turned to this in my
4:53
experience I do feel though an even
4:56
bigger Yacht Club Plus was all the
4:59
things designed to get me around those
5:02
crowds on the ship for example
5:04
check-in was incredible considering the
5:08
many thousands of people that they kind
5:09
of have to check in uh to board the ship
5:12
on the day I embarked I could check in
5:15
at 10 A.M 10 a.m so early there was a
5:18
dedicated spot to Hand by suitcase in
5:21
before I was then whisked past the lines
5:23
for security I was shown again escorted
5:26
to a special seated check-in area where
5:28
I was offered drinks and snacks whilst
5:30
checked in at my seat then I was
5:32
escorted and whisked by a butler right
5:34
straight through up to the yacht club
5:36
Lounge I was in that Lounge I would say
5:39
probably 18 minutes at the most after
5:40
pulling up at the terminal
5:43
another was avoiding the crowds for
5:45
excursions instead of having to join
5:48
hundreds and hundreds of people meeting
5:50
in the various venues to depart I just
5:53
had to wait in the yacht club Lounge
5:54
once the tour bus was actually ready to
5:56
depart a battle would then whiskey down
5:59
through security right out to the bus or
6:02
the port side departure and your Club
6:05
guests got priority for example in flam
6:09
we were LED right at the front of the
6:11
many hundreds of people queuing for the
6:13
scenic train so we got to board it first
6:15
we get got to choose the very best seats
6:17
in Alden for example I was led by Butler
6:20
right up to the shuttle bus to the learn
6:22
Skylift I boarded that first so I was
6:25
able to give great seed off really fast
6:26
and onto the Skylift quickly seeing
6:28
shows in the theater also meant skipping
6:31
crowds and lines now as the MSC virtuosa
6:33
theater holds way fewer than a thousand
6:36
people they ran three shows every night
6:38
and so your kind of regular Travelers
6:40
had to book and so some of the shows got
6:42
sold out so guests also still had to
6:45
wait in long lines even if they'd booked
6:46
to get scanned into the theater but
6:49
there was a dedicated Yacht Club seating
6:52
area meaning no booking and I could also
6:55
get whisked down if I want to buy battle
6:57
I passed all those lines if I wanted to
6:59
so even sold out shows for everybody
7:01
else like the talent show the opera
7:03
shows anybody in your Club wanted to see
7:06
those absolutely could without booking
7:09
for the Cirque du Soleil style shows in
7:12
the Carousel Lounge again we Yacht Club
7:14
guests were escorted down by Butler past
7:17
the lines and we got to choose our seat
7:19
before the other passengers did
7:22
the art Club concierge desk also was
7:25
meant there was no waiting in the
7:27
afternoon long lines of guest services
7:28
too so that was really good
7:30
the lounge and bar meant no fighting in
7:33
the evenings to find a seat in the other
7:34
bars which were always busy or waiting
7:36
for ages to get a drink which could
7:38
happen in the other bars in The Yacht
7:39
Club Lounge it was always space to sit
7:42
and there was also live music performed
7:44
there too in the evenings dining also
7:46
offered a way around the crowds none
7:48
Yacht Club guests were allocated one of
7:51
the three dining times 5 30 7 30 or 9 30
7:53
PM few options for Anytime dining or
7:56
even changing the time you're allocated
7:58
it was busy and hectic in the main
8:00
dining rooms tables tightly packed
8:02
together in the yacht club it was open
8:05
for breakfast lunch and dinner it was
8:07
open seated dining so I could go anytime
8:10
I wanted when it was open I could have a
8:12
table by myself or I could choose to sit
8:13
with others if I met other people if I
8:15
wanted to so lots of flexibility on the
8:18
yacht club deck they served buffet style
8:21
breakfast and lunch so again there was
8:23
no need to battle the many crowds in the
8:25
very popular Marketplace Buffet on this
8:28
embarkation day I could meet the lounge
8:30
and and the minute the ship was cleared
8:33
we Yacht Club guests could get off
8:35
because our bags were taken off first
8:37
again I was whisked down by Butler
8:39
jumped the cues the ship was cleared by
8:41
the way at 6 30 a.m I was in a taxi
8:44
heading to the train station to head
8:45
home within 15 minutes for me probably
8:49
the biggest plus of the yacht club was
8:52
how it actually helped me avoid the
8:54
downsides of the crowds skip all the
8:57
lines on this big Resort ship in fact
9:00
some of the premium and the pampering
9:02
aspects that I expected were going to be
9:05
the highlights were actually less so
9:07
rather than these so let me explain a
9:09
little bit around that now I have
9:11
cruised on some high-end lines in the
9:13
past like celebrity Retreat sweets
9:16
Cunard Queen's Grill and even on luxury
9:18
lines like Seabourn and region 70s and
9:21
many people who asked me during and
9:23
after if the yacht club was that kind of
9:27
experience was it that premium now I
9:29
think it missed in two striking ways
9:32
first of all the service and attention
9:35
to detail was pretty good but it was
9:37
varied it was erratic at times and it
9:40
definitely wasn't very personal or
9:42
personalized something that the more
9:44
luxury high-end lines kind of Master
9:46
that's almost their point of difference
9:48
as you were so even though I was on
9:50
there for a week the concierge or the
9:52
rest of the crew in Europe have never
9:53
agreed to me by name which of course is
9:55
the norm on those other lines it's much
9:57
more personal getting to know you many
9:59
on the desk they didn't even greet me
10:01
they sort of didn't make eye contact and
10:03
I had to fight to attract attention at
10:05
times the Butler Service personally I
10:08
found erratic and it seemed to be very
10:10
much varied based on you know who you
10:13
were allocated rather than kind of a
10:14
consistent service now I did have a less
10:16
optimal experience because my partner
10:18
disappeared for a couple of days off ill
10:20
they weren't substituted they weren't
10:22
covered by another Butler So my poor cab
10:24
Institute sort of had to sort of try and
10:25
do some battling duties and all their
10:27
cleaning duties so I didn't find the
10:29
overall service in the restaurant or
10:31
across the yacht club matched the
10:33
high-end line but it was definitely
10:36
faster than across the ship overall so
10:38
it was better than the rest of the ship
10:39
another example of how that kind of
10:41
promise and reality of premiumness did
10:44
not match was I was in a very beautiful
10:45
email before the cruise asking me to
10:48
submit all my preferences like the type
10:50
of pillow the mini bar items what's
10:52
Daily Newspaper I wanted to deliver they
10:54
paid absolutely no attention to it and I
10:57
did see several people going to the
10:58
concierge desk and saying whatever
11:00
happened to those requests we were asked
11:02
to submit and the concierge didn't seem
11:04
to know anything about them secondly I
11:06
thought the food was good and I enjoyed
11:08
it and your Club did have a different
11:10
menu to the main dining room but I did
11:13
not find it as elevated as on other more
11:17
premium lines in their equivalent
11:19
restaurant like Queen's grill or
11:21
celebrity luminai though to be fair
11:23
those also charge dramatically more so I
11:27
feel I had to consider this when really
11:29
assessing kind of the state of the food
11:31
now I was actually concerned at my very
11:34
first meal which was lunch on
11:35
embarkation day because the salad looked
11:37
very kind of basic didn't look very
11:39
attractive and they had lettuce that was
11:40
all kind of wilted and brown on the
11:42
edges however over the week I did find
11:45
that was an exception the yacht club
11:47
ingredients seemed pretty good and the
11:49
menus had a decent Choice a good pasta
11:51
especially that probably lacked some of
11:53
the Finesse and the Flair are more
11:56
premium lines so it was good but it
11:57
wasn't of the same scale I always found
12:00
dishes that appealed and after that
12:02
initial reservation I didn't really have
12:04
any other issues I would say though the
12:06
gala night dinner menu which had beef
12:08
wellington was the highest of the week
12:11
and I do actually think to be fair that
12:13
the chocolate volcano cake dessert which
12:15
many lions get horribly wrong was
12:17
probably the best that I've had at Sea
12:20
the yacht club was good value for what
12:23
it is and I decided that for anybody who
12:26
wants the benefits of the buzz and
12:28
excitement of a big ship with the
12:30
ability to dip into water box rope
12:32
climbing Production shows and so on it
12:34
was good but if they also wanted that
12:37
but wanted to be able to escape the
12:38
noise and the hustle and the bustle and
12:40
her ways of mitigating the crowds then
12:42
the yacht club is a plus but it's not of
12:45
the same scale of other premium lines
12:47
for me though it was not enough because
12:50
MSC itself had issues that I think you
12:52
also need to consider if you're thinking
12:54
of the art lab so watch this video we're
12:56
gonna dive into all of those starting
12:58
with the biggest misconception about Ms
13:00
cruises see you over there
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