As regular cruisers know, on most ships, there are two very different experiences. There is the standard cruise experience and then there is the upscale ship-within-a-ship experience. It’s a way to get the large ship ports of call and high-quality entertainment with the privacy and pampering of a boutique luxury resort. On an MSC cruise, that upscale experience is called The Yacht Club.
And it is oh so worth the extra expense.
Editor’s Note: The writer was hosted.
What’s So Great About the Yacht Club on MSC?
- 24-hour white glove butler service
- Private pool where there’s ALWAYS an open lounger
- Dedicated restaurant that serves three meals a day
- Exclusive areas on MSC’s private island
- Express elevators for speedy transport
- Larger cabin
- Many extras are included – drinks, wifi, priority embarkation and debarkation and unlimited access to the ship’s thermal spa
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What’s Not So Great About the Yacht Club on MSC?
- It will spoil you for any future cruises in a standard cabin.
MSC’s Yacht Club
A dedicated section of the ship accessible only by “Yacht Club Members” sporting an electronic wristband, the area includes:
- A private lounge serving drinks, snacks and live entertainment throughout the day
- 5-star restaurant
- Sunny, uncrowded pool deck with its own bar
- Large cabins
- Elevated level of service
What’s Included
Most cruise lines sell their trips à la carte, charging one price for the cabin and included dining (the buffet and one or two sit-down restaurants) then upselling for everything else — drinks, wifi and specialty dining. Booking a cabin in the Yacht Club, however, includes:
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- Butler service 24/7. Our butler, Vicente, was always ready to meet our every need, whether it was making dining reservations or ordering lunch on MSC’s private island.
- Private lounge and bar. The elegant Top Sail Lounge offers drinks, specialty coffees and gourmet snacks all day long. We heard some talented performers – reggae singers one night and an accomplished classical pianist the next – during the evening cocktail hour. And the service throughout Top Sail is top-notch.
- Complimentary premium drinks package. Top-shelf wines, cocktails and specialty coffees available in the Yacht Club. The drinks package works throughout the ship, where any drink costing $16 or less is included. Charges over $16 can be billed to your room.
- Unlimited Wifi, We put our phones on airplane mode, connected to the ship’s strong, reliable wifi and never experienced any roaming charges or international calling fees – even on MSC’s private island.
- Priority embarkation and disembarkation. The luxury experience started the minute we arrived at the Port of Miami. We were checked in, walked to a private waiting area, offered champagne, orange juice and snacks, then escorted onto the ship.
- Exclusive pool deck. The best part about the private sundeck, pool and hot tubs? We never had to fight for a lounge chair. This compares to a recent 20-day sail in a standard cabin on a different cruise line where we never, not once, got a lounger on the pool deck. Not even the morning I was out there at 6:30 am.
- Dedicated specialty restaurant. We had two meals at MSC’s specialty restaurants – the Butcher’s Cut steakhouse and Ocean Cay, a seafood restaurant – and one night in the Yacht Club restaurant. The food in the Yacht Club was as good, if not better. An added plus: dining in the Yacht Club restaurant came with that same 5-star Yacht Club service. If I cruise in the MSC Yacht Club again, I would not spring for the specialty restaurants. While the food in the specialty restaurants was very good, I missed the elevated level of service we got in the Yacht Club restaurant. It’s amazing how quickly we got spoiled!
- Unlimited access to the Thermal Spa. The large hot tub, salt room, steam room, sauna and specialty showers are the key to relaxation. We started our trip with a little time in the Thermal Spa followed by a 55-minute Balinese massage. Oh yes!
- Speedy elevator service. Our Yacht Club wristbands allowed us to program the elevators to take us directly to the floor we wanted – a real perk on a crowded ship where the elevators otherwise might stop on every floor.
- Priority seating at shows and excursions. I reserved seats via the MSC app, then found out Vicente was our ticket to the best seat in the house. Yacht Club members have reserved seating at every MSC performance. But don’t be late to the show – the seats are released to non-Yacht Club members five minutes before the show starts.
- Dedicated Yacht-Club-only area on MSC’s private island. We took the experience up a notch with a private cabana on the beach. It came with a cooler filled with water and champagne and Vicente, who served our lunch there. But, most importantly, it offered shade from the intense Bahamian sun. Bring sturdy water shoes with thick soles if you plan to swim off the Yacht Club beach. The shoreline and sea bottom are quite rocky.
SheBuysTravel Tip: If you think the luxury Yacht Club experience would be out of your budget, do the math before you book. Once you add in the cost of wifi, specialty dining and a drinks package – all included in the Yacht Club fee but an extra charge for regular passengers – chances are the cost to book into the Yacht Club is not that much more money, especially when you factor in the peace and pampering, not to mention the ability to grab a pool lounger any time of the day.
Our Yacht Club Cabin
I’ve been on ships where it was a squeeze just to walk between the bed and the desk. Not in the Yacht Club.
There was plenty of room for my husband and me to walk around, from the bedroom area or the sitting area, where Vicente regularly left us treats and champagne.
The room includes:
- A large balcony with two chairs and a café table
- Stocked minibar. Vicente asked what we wanted and then stocked it with our favorites.
- The biggest bathroom and shower I have ever seen on a cruise ship.
- Separate sleeping and sitting areas.
- Lighted closets.
The Yacht Club Restaurant
Located on Deck 17, a stairway up from the private Top Sail Lounge, the restaurant offers laid-back luxury and gourmet dining at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner includes a front-row seat to the Caribbean sunsets.
The full-service menu changes daily with fresh seafood, premium cuts of meat and international specialties taking center stage. I had the chicken Kiev and hubby dined on a tender, rave-worthy filet mignon.
We lingered over coffee and dessert, listening to the pianist and watching the sunset, then headed downstairs for an after-dinner drink before heading to the theater for the evening Broadway-style show.
The Rest of the Ship
While you could stay in the Yacht Club cocoon for the entire trip, you also can partake of other parts of the ship, from the specialty restaurants to the bars to the water slides. Since it was just hubby and me on a 3-day cruise, we stuck to the Yacht Club and the Thermal Spa. But if we had been traveling with kids, a visit to the Deck 20 water slides and a ride on the Robotron would have been required.
One thing not to miss: the nightly entertainment in the Chora Theater. These immensely talented singers and dancers put on two high-energy 30-minute shows a night – at 7:30 and 9:30 pm. Plan dinner so you can make one show or the other.
Is the MSC Yacht Club Worth It?
Emphatically, yes. It combines the amenities of a mega-ship with the serenity of a luxury resort.
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