MSC is making a splash in the American cruise market with advertising, a state of the art cruise terminal in Miami, and beautiful ships sailing from popular cruise ports. Let’s not forget about the prices, either. MSC leads the way in value and is a great introduction for first time cruisers who want to to try cruising but are nervous about spending a lot of money and are concerned about the reputation of Carnival. An MSC cruise may be exactly what you’re looking. If you’re not familiar with MSC Yacht Club, it’s a private section of the ship with exclusive amenities. I sailed “regular MSC” in 2023 (read about my experience here,) and we just had our annual Super Bowl cruise in the Yacht Club. Now that I’ve experienced it, here are 5 things you’ll love about Yacht Club.
Embarkation: Yacht Club Style
Usually embarkation day is chaos. Leave your luggage with porters, stand in line waiting to go through security, stand in line waiting to confirm documents, stand in line waiting to get on the ship, and once onboard, wait in line for lunch at the buffet, then walk in circles trying to find an open table. It reminds me of trying to find a parking spot anywhere in NYC. However, with Yacht Club, you walk up to the purple tent, an employee takes your bags, another employee escorts you inside where you walk to the front of the security line where you put your things through the scanner and walk through the metal detector.
Once past security, you are escorted to a small waiting room where they check your documents and give you a card (used to get into private Yacht Club areas, your suite, work the YC elevators, shopping, and of course, getting on and off the ship). Then a butler escorts you through the crowd, past the line of people waiting to board the ship, and up to the private area. Ready for lunch? No problem, you can grab snacks at the Top Sail Lounge, grab lunch at the private restaurant (Le Muse on Divina), or at The One on deck 18.
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Yacht Club Exclusive Food Options
Continuing with the topic of food, you’ll have plenty of options in Yacht Club. Each ship has it’s own options for the main dining (Divina has Le Muse) and they don’t require reservations or formal seating times. The schedule and menu are available in the MSC app, and you can go at your convenience. If you’ve ever done specialty dining on another cruise line, the Yacht Club restaurant delivers that type of experience. Not crowded or noisy (except when they’re singing happy birthday!), exceptional service, and good food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yacht Club also has a buffet/grill on the sun deck that serves breakfast and lunch.
MSC Yacht Club: Ship Within A Ship
What, exactly, does that mean? I mentioned private areas onboard the ship. Let me expand on that. Each MSC ship has areas that are only accessible with a Yacht Club key card. I mentioned the restaurants, but there’s also a lounge, pool area, and solarium. The important thing about these areas is the lack of crowds and the noise that comes with them.
If you’ve ever been on a cruise and been frustrated by the number of people fighting for chairs around the pool, pushing and shoving at the bar, kids being kids, and the constant thump, thump, thump of the bass coming from a DJ or musician, the Yacht Club is for you. On Divina there’s only around 148 guests in YC so it’s quiet, no waiting at the bar, and live music throughout the day in the Top Sail Lounge makes the entire experience peaceful.
All Included In Yacht Club
Two of my biggest frustrations with MSC are eliminated in the Yacht Club. Included in the price of your YC reservation is the Premium Extra drink package and WiFi for 2 devices per guest. I’ll begin with the convenience of the drink package. Bartenders in any of the Yacht Club bars never asked for our card (at the time of my sailing in early February 2025 there was no limit to the number of drinks, however beginning April 1, 2025 there will be a 15 drink per day (6am – 6am) per person limit) so I’m guessing that will change.
The big win for me was the inclusion of WiFi for 2 devices per person. Unlike most other cruise lines, MSC pairs their WiFi to a specific device which means if the first thing you connect to the WiFi is your cell phone, that’s the only device that will work, there is no switching. That may not be a big selling point for you, but if, like me, you plan to do some work on a laptop or download a book on your e-reader you’d be out of luck unless you paid extra for WiFi on another device. Having two devices included made this cruise much better for me and I think it’s a pretty big deal for most people.
Yacht Club Butler and Concierge Team
By far my favorite benefit of being in Yacht Club was our butler Jesse (and all his co-butlers who helped when he was unavailable). From the moment you step under the purple canopy at the port you are under the care of a butler and the Yacht Club Concierge team. Need a reservation in a specialty restaurant? An escort to the Yacht Club section of a show? Have a question about… Anything? The Yacht Club team is available to assist you. No need to visit the customer service desk with 3,000 other people, stroll up to the concierge desk and whatever you need will be taken care of.
MSC is growing in the United States due to their advertising, attractive pricing, and amazingly beautiful ships; not to mention a beautiful private island and great itineraries. I’ve only scratched the surface of the how great it is, and trust me, experiencing MSC in the Yacht Club with all it’s benefits and amenities is worth the expense. In fact now that I’ve experienced it, I wouldn’t even consider sailing MSC without being in Yacht Club — it’s that good.
