So many cruisers contact me saying
they are getting frustrated, because more cruise lines are closing
areas of their ships and making them only available to a select group of passengers
in what lines call “ships-within-ships”, with exotic names like “The Retreat”,
“The Haven” and “The Yacht Club”. These are eye-wateringly expensive, starting
at $800 /£700 per cabin per night, making them out of reach for most cruisers. But curiosity
got to me, so I raided some savings and booked myself in the Yacht Club on MSC Virtuosa on a
7-night Norwegian Fjords cruise to see what’s their ship-within-a-ship is all about - and
if you’ve got the cash if it’s worth it. Here’s what I discovered. The Yacht Club covered several decks high up in
the front of the ship. My cruise card granted me access through big sliding glass doors on
Deck 16. Inside were all the Yacht Club cabins, a Guest Services / Concierge desk, the Top
Sail Lounge and bar with snacks all day, afternoon tea and live music in
the evenings, the MSC Yacht Club Restaurant with open seated dining for
all meals and dedicated menu and kitchen, and a large deck with plunge pool, hot tubs,
bar, and a grill serving breakfast and lunch. But I also got added perks including the premium
drinks package, two devices streaming internet, a butler, pillow menu, welcome bottle of
Prosecco and chocolates, daily canapes, and treats, access to the Spa’s thermal
suite and some other perks I’ll come to which helped me navigate around the
crowds and lines around the ship. Unlike other line’s ship-within-ships,
Yacht Club was not only suites. This means that there are some even more
affordable ways to get into their ship-within-a-ship versus other lines. It had
15 inside cabins alongside two Royal Suites, eight duplex suites and 77 deluxe
verandahs, which is what I booked. This cabin was probably size wise
more like a mini-suite on many large and mid-sized ships. Though comparable
in size to suites I have stayed in on smaller ship luxury lines like Seabourn,
Silversea and Regent Seven Seas. The décor was neutral, although rather
brown with a good-sized bathroom. It did not have well-known branded toiletries like
on other luxury suites but just dispensers in the shower labelled “body wash” and “shampoo”. One big plus was the cabins are well
away from noisy and busy venues, and my cabin was incredibly quiet. I would say
my cabin is one of the quietest I have had on any cruise ever! As the ship was modern and
new, even the air conditioning was very quiet. As the Yacht Club is in the front of the ship and
high up, the restaurant had incredible views out the vast windows. I had the most gorgeous scenes
of the Norwegian Fjords from my table there. So far, I’m sure you’re thinking this mostly
sounds exotic and wonderful. But let me talk about some other sides to the ship-within-ship
experience that raised more doubts. MSC ships are big. MSC Virtuosa, when full, has 6,300 passengers. It is a
jam-packed, boisterous, and noisy all over. One big plus the Yacht Club gave me was
a less busy and calmer place to escape the manic-ness of the ship. It felt like
stepping out of a whirlwind of activity and noise into an immediately more sedate
and quieter space without hordes of people. Although it was not totally quiet,
and it wasn't just an adult space. MSC is a family friendly line,
and so although there were 102 cabins in Yacht Club, which means
202 people at double occupancy, because most of those have sofa beds, there
could be 70 to a hundred kids in there. My sailing was not in school holidays,
so there were only a handful of families, but they still did often take over the small pool, run around during afternoon tea and
moan, cry and basically be kids at meals. Secondly, although it's supposed
to be an exclusive area, clearly some people staying in
the Yacht Club were travelling with friends and family who weren't in the
Yacht Club and so would bring guests in, mostly heading to the deck, but sometimes in
the lounge. A blind eye was turned to this. I do feel though an even bigger Yacht Club plus was all the things designed
to get me around the crowds. For example, check-in was incredible
considering many thousands had to be checked in. On the day I embarked, I could check
in at 10:00am. So early! There was a dedicated spot to hand in my suitcase before
being whisked past the lines for security, then shown to a special seated check
in area where I was offered drinks and snacks while checked in at my seat before being
escorted by a butler to the Yacht Club lounge. I was in that lounge about 18 minutes
after pulling up at the terminal. Another was avoiding the crowds for excursions.
Instead of having to join hundreds of people meeting to depart, I waited in the Yacht Club
lounge. Once the tour bus was ready to depart, a butler would then whisk me down through security
right out to the bus or port side departure. And Yacht Club guests got priority, for example
in Flam we were led right to the front of the many hundreds queuing for the scenic train, and
so got to board first and choose the best seats. In Olden I was led by a butler right to the shuttle bus to the Loen
Skylift and boarded that first. Seeing shows in the theatre also meant skipping crowds and lines. As the MSC Virtuosa
theatre holds fewer than 1,000 people, they ran three shows a night and regular
travellers had to book, and some were sold out. And guests also had to wait in long
lines even if booked to get scanned in. But there was a dedicated Yacht Club seating
area, meaning no booking and I could also get whisked down by a butler past the lines
if I wanted to. So sold out shows like the crew talent show and Opera shows anyone
in Yacht Club wanting to see those could. For the Cirque du Soleil style shows in
the Carousel Lounge, again we Yacht Club guests were escorted down by a butler, past the
lines and got to choose our seat before others. The Yacht Club Concierge desk meant no waiting
in the often-long lines at Guest Services too. The lounge and bar meant no fighting to find
a seat in the other bars or waiting ages to get a drink. In the Yacht Club lounge there
was always spaces to sit and live music too. Dining also offered a way around crowds.
Non-Yacht Club guests were allocated one of the three dining times (5:30pm, 7:30pm or 9:30pm)
with few options for anytime dining or changing those times. It was busy and hectic in the main
dining rooms with tables tightly packed together. Yacht Club was open breakfast, lunch and dinner
and open seated dining. So, I could go any time I wanted, and could have a table by myself or
chose to sit with others I met if I wanted. On the Yacht Club deck, they served
buffet-style breakfast and lunch, so no need to battle the crowds in
the very popular Marketplace buffet. On disembarkation day I could meet in the lounge
and the minute the ship was cleared, we could get off as our bags were taken off first. Again, I was
whisked down by a butler, jumped the queues. The ship was cleared at 6:30am and I was in a taxi
heading to the train station within 15 minutes. For me, probably the biggest plus
of the Yacht Club was how it helped avoid the downsides of the crowds
and lines on this big resort ship. In fact, some of the premium and
pampering aspects that I expect were going to be the highlights
were less so. Let me explain. I have cruised on some “high-end” lines
in the past, like with Celebrity Retreat suite experience, Cunard Queens Grill
and on luxury lines like Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas. Many asked me during and
after if Yacht Club was that kind of experience. It missed in two striking ways. First, the service and attention to detail was
pretty good but varied, erratic at times and wasn't very personal or personalised. Something
the more luxury high-end lines are masters at. So even though I was on there for a week, the
concierge or rest of the crew in Yacht Club never greeted me by name, which is the norm
on those other lines. Many on the desk didn't even always greet me and I had
to fight to attract attention at times. The butler service was erratic and seemed to vary
based on who people had rather than be consistent. I clearly though did have a less optimal
experience as my butler disappeared for a couple of days off ill and was not substituted or covered
by another butler leaving it to my cabin steward. I did not find the overall service in
the restaurant or across the Yacht Club matched a high-end line, but it was
faster than across the ship overall. Another example of how the promise and reality did
not match was I was sent a beautiful email before the cruise, asking me to submit all my preferences
including the type of pillow, mini bar items, and what daily newspaper I wanted delivered.
They paid no attention to it. And I heard several people going to the concierge and asking,
"Whatever happened to these specific requests?”. Second, I though the food was good and enjoyed
it, and Yacht Club had a different menu to the main dining room. But I did not find it as
elevated as on other more premium lines in their equivalent restaurants like Queens Grill
or Celebrity Luminae. Though to be fair those also charge way more, so I feel that I
had to considered this when assessing. I was concerned at my very first meal,
which was lunch on embarkation day, as the salad looked very basic and had lettuce
that looked wilted and brown at the edges. However, over the week I found the
Yacht Club ingredients were good, and the menus had a decent choice
with good pasta especially, though probably lacked some of the finesse
and flair on more premium lines. However, I always found dishes that appealed and after
that initial reservation no other issues. The gala night dinner menu with Beef
Wellington was the highlight of the week, and I do think that the Chocolate Volcano
cake dessert, which many lines get wrong, was probably the best I have had at sea. The Yacht Club was good value for what it is
and I decided that for anyone that wants the benefits of the buzz and excitement of a big
ship with ability to dip into water parks, rope climbing, production shows and so on,
but want to be able to escape the noise and the hustle and the bustle and have ways of
mitigating the crowds, the Yacht Club is a plus. For me though, it was not enough as
MSC itself had issues that I think you need to also consider. So, watch
this video where I dive into all of that starting with the biggest
misconception about the line.
