Love this! I am also a TA. Where we stand apart, we ONLY book MSC and Explora. We have an exclusive partnership with them and most assuredly know their ships, experiences, etc. inside and out! Always happy to help out in anyway!
I think you are doing it right. Specialize in something and know as much as you can. If you try to do it all it can be tough especially if you are doing it part time. And MSC has a lot of quirks 😂😂😂
@@Taste-Try-Travel@Taste-Try-Travel That's why I contend that MSC is for travelers, not tourists. Tourists want the same experience but in different places. Travelers are open to new experiences, new cultures, new cuisines, etc. Like the wonderfully gloriously delightful quirky entertainment that we love! MSC used to have Eataly Restaurants on board that we loved. But, we watched US guests lose their minds not getting butter with their bread - they served it with lovely oil and dipping spices. The US remains the greatest experiment in governance the world has ever seen. But, we make sure do produce a lot of tourists.
Your not alone I am a MSC fanatic as well and I also feel that they don't get enough press and they are a lot better than many cruise lines : Great Show guys , love the details :)
I ran into the same problem where I went through a recommended cruise agent and after doing some homework myself cuz things didn't seem right after I had completely paid for a cruise excursions drink packages. Everything I found I could have booked the same cruise myself for $400 less. Never use one again. The internet makes it just as easy to do it myself. Also, me and my wife are getting ready to plan our first MSC cruise only because of you two. Your insight into them is amazing. Don't get a lot of it from other people. Don't get a lot of positive feedback from them on most vlogs I've seen but I think you guys show the true nature of the company other than just the things that go wrong
Hey there. Thank you for having an open mind with MSC right along with us. They aren’t perfect and neither are the other cruise lines. But they do have a special way to make a great vacation!! So sorry to hear you had issues with a travel agent… something we hate to hear 😢 We hope you have a wonderful time onboard and we would love to hear how it goes!
All things being equal, so you recommend using a travel agent to book rather than just doing it directly online? I was thinking there would be an advantage for the cruise line for you not using a travel agent… If you don’t use a travel agent, how does one book Cancellation insurance?
Love MSC podcast day! We were gonna do the YC Exclusive beach excursion at Hayhu in Costa Maya, decided to spend a little more and book directly through Hayhu and glad we did! One family on our cruise booked it via MSC and it got canceled due to minimum number of participants not being met. Hayhu was AMAZING can definitely see why MSC is offering it as a YC exclusive as the resort can handle possibly 100 people max, one of if not the best experience we had in all of Mexico. Highly recommend booking it to anyone if stopping in Costa Maya. Look forward to seeing how the YC Exclusives evolve over time MSC is really trying hard to evolve their product at a time when others are making cuts in onboard experience. As far as travel agents are concerned we are extremely happy with ours, they at minimum match MSC’s website pricing, usually come in a couple dollars cheaper, where they shine is OBC, we get 10% OBC which is often 3-400 dollars more than what we’d normally get from MSC while retaining the OBC MSC offers Voyager Club members.
So I hadn’t heard about Hayhu so looked it up… wow I can see how that would be a great day. Something I’m going to add to our list of must dos!! Thanks for sharing ❤️❤️❤️
We have done Hayhu as well on our own and reserved one of the 2 balcony suites...worth it!! Came with a $300 food/drink credit and we tried our hardest to use it, but just couldn't eat that much! Their guac rocks!! Will definitely go back next time we are in that port. Only disappointment was the cancellation of our kite surfing lesson due to lack of winds forecasted, but can't control that. Great excursion and definitely an exclusive feel.
@@petemarkle9680 unfortunately when we went the balcony suites were already reserved so we wound up with one of the ones on the lower level, as compensation we got $350 credit as opposed to $300. Honestly the suite was so nice we didn’t feel like we missed out much, looking forward to going back next year!
You can get the best of both worlds if you book yourself and then can transfer to a travel agent and get the additional perks they may be able to offer
Exactly! We booked our upcoming April 2025 cruise while onboard in April 2024. Got $300 in obc for booking onboard (Yacht Club) + Voyagers + booking 9 months or more in advance. Then transferred to our TA who's agency gives an automatic 10% obc of the cruise price. So, all-in-all, we have $775 in obc for our upcoming cruise for the 2 of us which we use for automatic gratuities and casino $$.
I like the idea of excursions that are curated for YC members. Although I would have to say that we would avoid anything too upitty / stuffy. We are all about fun and adventures. Not pretentiousness.
Glad someone has a podcast on MSC. I have 2 8 days cruise coming up in the Yatch Club. I research this my myself and then have my TA agent book the cruise. I still get the same benefits and sometimes the TA can get me additional OB credit or a better cabin. Also if you Need additional assistance with your Booking a TA can better handle it rather then you waiting on hold. Also has Yatch Club cruises cost more than 4k, I use a credit card that gives me 5x points when using a TA , which translates to over 20,000 points . Which are worth $200.
What a dream… 28 days in YC. So happy for you! Yes it is a huge help to actually know what you want. Great tip about credit card points… almost like extra OBC!!
No YC exclusive excursions posted yet for our transatlantic in April 2025. Thinking it may still be a bit early. We don't expect our TA to know/remember everything, but he/she should know how to research and provide requested information in a decent amount of time. Most importantly, if our TA promises something, we expect him/her to follow through and follow up. Great podcast yet again!!!!
Agree… follow up with requests is the best way to know that they are a good seasoned agent. Thanks for letting us know about excursions. It will probably take a bit to completely roll out ❤️
I thank you for the coffee mug call out. I will be in your neck of the mountains soon, going to Biltmore again, love the gardens and wine tastings. I had a travel agent try to charge me a research fee, didn't get my business. Poor Pistachio locked out and stuck with Kitty
I have the perfume one on my Seaview cruise in November 2025! It’s like 400-450$ per person (I have it in local currency) But you have to scroll all the way down in the detailed description to see that it’s a YC exclusive one, it’s not very visibly stated.
We went in yacht club on the seashore this month, and a cabana was $475. There were some yacht club excursions priced per room. They were anywhere between $850 per room to $1000 per room. There were also a few excursions priced at $200 per person for yacht club guests.
Hello Beth and Chris. Always enjoy listening to your UA-cam/podcasts. You are always so informative while being absolutely hilarious. We did yacht club on the seascape in May. I think we would really enjoy YC excursions. We also booked World America for next May. Can you link the site that you referenced. Keep up the great work. 😊
I had a quick look at the MSC Yacht Club excursions page and the initial feeling I get is that it's not much different from the excursions already available, except I would expect there to be smaller groups and the price be higher. My initial hope was that there would be new exciting excursions that I would be enticed to go on, but with most things these days, it's a rebranding/relabelling/reshuffling exercise to generate some more revenue. The best excursions I've ever had were the ones where I get off the ship by myself and explore on my own.
Yeah we feel the same way. Our own adventures are sometimes the best. I will say that in Europe where MSC has been for a long time, the excursions look much more interesting than in US. It might take some time for them to explore more options here.
My fiance’ and I was going to maybe book msc yacht club and was curious about how to add excursions and specialty restaurants on the site before the trip
Hi there. Once you book, you can download the MSC app and log in with your booking number. There will be options there to book specialty restaurants, excursions (YC excursions will be listed there too) and other options 😊😊
Hey guys, love the channel... we booked a yacht club excursion in november... sun cay private villa in bahamas... up to 4 guests.... $599... hope this helps....
Oh wonderful!!!!!! That’s the one I was reading about. It looks like an amazing way to spend the day. I hope you have a fantastic time. If you think about it, let us know how it went 😊
travel agents will charge a fee if they are planning a very extensive trip with lots of moving parts and most will not charge it if you book with them. this helps them from wasting a lot of their time with people who are just window shopping. We get paid on commission and do not get paid unless they book AND travel! Travel agents also provide lots of advice, research, customer service, and customer advocation. There is a big difference between a travel "Professional" and a part time agent.. I make sure my clients get the BEST Value for their trip, not just the cheapest.. I want my clients to come back to me...
Absolutely! It’s important for people to know that there are different types of agents out there. I know the business and agree that there is a huge amount of work that goes into planning a big trip and would happily pay an extra fee to an agent for helping me. I wish more people understand how valuable an agent can be!!!
@@Taste-Try-Travel today for example = I had booked someone for a cruise just 5 days ago and the cruise company came out with a better sale Today! i called the client, told them I could save them $200 if I canceled their booking and re-book since it was booked less than 7 days ago (only way to do it with that line) but I could do it where they got the same cabin and other benefits with no penalty. They jumped on it! I lost about $30 in commission, but my client saved money and now knows I will go to bat for them!
Would you recommend a shore excursion on your first ever cruise if it’s only three or four nights? What about doing the private island of the cruise line?
So we always recommend doing the private island!!! Those are such fun days at the beach. As far as excursions.. you will probably only stop at 1 or 2 spots on a short cruise. If they offer one that looks really great to you then go for it. We typically stay onboard since there is so much to do (or just relax) onboard. You do you 😊😊 Have fun planning!!
@@Taste-Try-Travel I got certified at 65. Haven 82 dives in the two years before Covid. I love it. Messed up my rotator cup and got put on blood thinners so I haven’t gone in awhile. It makes Freeport a much better visit for sure.
I've had no luck getting YC excursions to show up. When I look up excursions for our upcoming cruise they offer the same ones for regular and YC. I really need some help to find these.
So we won our upgrade and for the first several weeks, no YC excursions were showing. Then a couple came thru. They are listed in with the regular ones, you just have to look closely or better yet, look at the $$$ If they aren’t coming up in your app, you might want to call MSC and find out how else you can look at them. For our Seascape this month, there are only 2 so maybe not all are loaded in either
I have a Yacht Club coming up on the World America, and I cannot see the difference on the website to book specifically the Yacht Club excursions. If fact, my cruise won't even show up on the app yet, just website.
Funny… ours doesn’t pull up yet either. The YC excursions say YC Exclusive in the title. Someone else said not all had been loaded yet so maybe they are working on it 🤔🤔🤔
good morning , my question is DoesYacht club do solo / single cruisers rate ? watch you guys im so wanting to go on yacht club , but im a solo traveler ,, Thanks
@@Jj-lo3zx exactly what the comment said you pay double. If you can get the inside YC suite, the price is a little better. They are usually the first to go since they are the best price to get you into YC 😁😁😁
Solo senior traveler here, just returned from 4 day cruise in YC. I booked an interior cabin and it came at a significant savings from a balcony cabin. Same great service, same amenities, and had plenty of room for me as a solo traveler. Do not believe there is a solo rate but worth the money for me because I did not have to fight the very large crowds. Have already booked a future cruise in YC interior room and can’t wait.
Love this! I am also a TA. Where we stand apart, we ONLY book MSC and Explora. We have an exclusive partnership with them and most assuredly know their ships, experiences, etc. inside and out! Always happy to help out in anyway!
I think you are doing it right. Specialize in something and know as much as you can. If you try to do it all it can be tough especially if you are doing it part time.
And MSC has a lot of quirks 😂😂😂
@@Taste-Try-Travel@Taste-Try-Travel That's why I contend that MSC is for travelers, not tourists. Tourists want the same experience but in different places. Travelers are open to new experiences, new cultures, new cuisines, etc. Like the wonderfully gloriously delightful quirky entertainment that we love! MSC used to have Eataly Restaurants on board that we loved. But, we watched US guests lose their minds not getting butter with their bread - they served it with lovely oil and dipping spices. The US remains the greatest experiment in governance the world has ever seen. But, we make sure do produce a lot of tourists.
Your not alone I am a MSC fanatic as well and I also feel that they don't get enough press and they are a lot better than many cruise lines : Great Show guys , love the details :)
Yay… thanks for being on the MSC wagon with us!! Appreciate the love ❤️❤️
I ran into the same problem where I went through a recommended cruise agent and after doing some homework myself cuz things didn't seem right after I had completely paid for a cruise excursions drink packages. Everything I found I could have booked the same cruise myself for $400 less. Never use one again. The internet makes it just as easy to do it myself. Also, me and my wife are getting ready to plan our first MSC cruise only because of you two. Your insight into them is amazing. Don't get a lot of it from other people. Don't get a lot of positive feedback from them on most vlogs I've seen but I think you guys show the true nature of the company other than just the things that go wrong
Hey there. Thank you for having an open mind with MSC right along with us. They aren’t perfect and neither are the other cruise lines. But they do have a special way to make a great vacation!! So sorry to hear you had issues with a travel agent… something we hate to hear 😢
We hope you have a wonderful time onboard and we would love to hear how it goes!
@@Taste-Try-Travel thank 👍 would love to have you 😜 do my next voyage
All things being equal, so you recommend using a travel agent to book rather than just doing it directly online? I was thinking there would be an advantage for the cruise line for you not using a travel agent…
If you don’t use a travel agent, how does one book Cancellation insurance?
Thanks guys this is a great idea. MSC has a lot of work to do with their marketing and web site.
Yes but I think they are trying!
Love MSC podcast day! We were gonna do the YC Exclusive beach excursion at Hayhu in Costa Maya, decided to spend a little more and book directly through Hayhu and glad we did! One family on our cruise booked it via MSC and it got canceled due to minimum number of participants not being met. Hayhu was AMAZING can definitely see why MSC is offering it as a YC exclusive as the resort can handle possibly 100 people max, one of if not the best experience we had in all of Mexico. Highly recommend booking it to anyone if stopping in Costa Maya. Look forward to seeing how the YC Exclusives evolve over time MSC is really trying hard to evolve their product at a time when others are making cuts in onboard experience. As far as travel agents are concerned we are extremely happy with ours, they at minimum match MSC’s website pricing, usually come in a couple dollars cheaper, where they shine is OBC, we get 10% OBC which is often 3-400 dollars more than what we’d normally get from MSC while retaining the OBC MSC offers Voyager Club members.
So I hadn’t heard about Hayhu so looked it up… wow I can see how that would be a great day. Something I’m going to add to our list of must dos!! Thanks for sharing ❤️❤️❤️
We have done Hayhu as well on our own and reserved one of the 2 balcony suites...worth it!! Came with a $300 food/drink credit and we tried our hardest to use it, but just couldn't eat that much! Their guac rocks!! Will definitely go back next time we are in that port. Only disappointment was the cancellation of our kite surfing lesson due to lack of winds forecasted, but can't control that. Great excursion and definitely an exclusive feel.
@@petemarkle9680 unfortunately when we went the balcony suites were already reserved so we wound up with one of the ones on the lower level, as compensation we got $350 credit as opposed to $300. Honestly the suite was so nice we didn’t feel like we missed out much, looking forward to going back next year!
You can get the best of both worlds if you book yourself and then can transfer to a travel agent and get the additional perks they may be able to offer
Yes great idea!! Another great way is to book while you are onboard so you can get everything you want and then OBC on top of that.
Exactly! We booked our upcoming April 2025 cruise while onboard in April 2024. Got $300 in obc for booking onboard (Yacht Club) + Voyagers + booking 9 months or more in advance. Then transferred to our TA who's agency gives an automatic 10% obc of the cruise price. So, all-in-all, we have $775 in obc for our upcoming cruise for the 2 of us which we use for automatic gratuities and casino $$.
I like the idea of excursions that are curated for YC members. Although I would have to say that we would avoid anything too upitty / stuffy. We are all about fun and adventures. Not pretentiousness.
Yep right there with you!!! How about we do one together!!??!!
I think that is a great idea!! 🤪😍
Glad someone has a podcast on MSC. I have 2 8 days cruise coming up in the Yatch Club. I research this my myself and then have my TA agent book the cruise. I still get the same benefits and sometimes the TA can get me additional OB credit or a better cabin. Also if you
Need additional assistance with your Booking a TA can better handle it rather then you waiting on hold. Also has Yatch Club cruises cost more than 4k, I use a credit card that gives me 5x points when using a TA , which translates to over 20,000 points . Which are worth $200.
What a dream… 28 days in YC. So happy for you! Yes it is a huge help to actually know what you want. Great tip about credit card points… almost like extra OBC!!
No YC exclusive excursions posted yet for our transatlantic in April 2025. Thinking it may still be a bit early.
We don't expect our TA to know/remember everything, but he/she should know how to research and provide requested information in a decent amount of time.
Most importantly, if our TA promises something, we expect him/her to follow through and follow up.
Great podcast yet again!!!!
Agree… follow up with requests is the best way to know that they are a good seasoned agent.
Thanks for letting us know about excursions. It will probably take a bit to completely roll out ❤️
I thank you for the coffee mug call out. I will be in your neck of the mountains soon, going to Biltmore again, love the gardens and wine tastings.
I had a travel agent try to charge me a research fee, didn't get my business.
Poor Pistachio locked out and stuck with Kitty
A day at Biltmore sounds amazing!! Have a great time ❤️❤️❤️
I have the perfume one on my Seaview cruise in November 2025!
It’s like 400-450$ per person (I have it in local currency)
But you have to scroll all the way down in the detailed description to see that it’s a YC exclusive one, it’s not very visibly stated.
Oh perfect thank you for sharing!! A bit high but something special might be worth it 😊😊
We went in yacht club on the seashore this month, and a cabana was $475. There were some yacht club excursions priced per room. They were anywhere between $850 per room to $1000 per room. There were also a few excursions priced at $200 per person for yacht club guests.
Wow a little high then I thought they would be… yikes. Thanks for sharing ❤️
Hello Beth and Chris. Always enjoy listening to your UA-cam/podcasts. You are always so informative while being absolutely hilarious.
We did yacht club on the seascape in May. I think we would really enjoy YC excursions. We also booked World America for next May. Can you link the site that you referenced.
Keep up the great work. 😊
www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise/excursions/msc-yacht-club-excursions
Hi there… happy you enjoy our banter and sense of humor ❤️❤️❤️
I had a quick look at the MSC Yacht Club excursions page and the initial feeling I get is that it's not much different from the excursions already available, except I would expect there to be smaller groups and the price be higher. My initial hope was that there would be new exciting excursions that I would be enticed to go on, but with most things these days, it's a rebranding/relabelling/reshuffling exercise to generate some more revenue. The best excursions I've ever had were the ones where I get off the ship by myself and explore on my own.
Yeah we feel the same way. Our own adventures are sometimes the best.
I will say that in Europe where MSC has been for a long time, the excursions look much more interesting than in US. It might take some time for them to explore more options here.
My fiance’ and I was going to maybe book msc yacht club and was curious about how to add excursions and specialty restaurants on the site before the trip
Hi there. Once you book, you can download the MSC app and log in with your booking number. There will be options there to book specialty restaurants, excursions (YC excursions will be listed there too) and other options 😊😊
Chris is too 😂 funny lmao
👉😌👈
Hey guys, love the channel... we booked a yacht club excursion in november... sun cay private villa in bahamas... up to 4 guests.... $599... hope this helps....
Oh wonderful!!!!!! That’s the one I was reading about. It looks like an amazing way to spend the day. I hope you have a fantastic time. If you think about it, let us know how it went 😊
travel agents will charge a fee if they are planning a very extensive trip with lots of moving parts and most will not charge it if you book with them. this helps them from wasting a lot of their time with people who are just window shopping. We get paid on commission and do not get paid unless they book AND travel! Travel agents also provide lots of advice, research, customer service, and customer advocation. There is a big difference between a travel "Professional" and a part time agent.. I make sure my clients get the BEST Value for their trip, not just the cheapest.. I want my clients to come back to me...
Absolutely! It’s important for people to know that there are different types of agents out there. I know the business and agree that there is a huge amount of work that goes into planning a big trip and would happily pay an extra fee to an agent for helping me. I wish more people understand how valuable an agent can be!!!
@@Taste-Try-Travel today for example = I had booked someone for a cruise just 5 days ago and the cruise company came out with a better sale Today! i called the client, told them I could save them $200 if I canceled their booking and re-book since it was booked less than 7 days ago (only way to do it with that line) but I could do it where they got the same cabin and other benefits with no penalty. They jumped on it! I lost about $30 in commission, but my client saved money and now knows I will go to bat for them!
Would you recommend a shore excursion on your first ever cruise if it’s only three or four nights? What about doing the private island of the cruise line?
So we always recommend doing the private island!!! Those are such fun days at the beach.
As far as excursions.. you will probably only stop at 1 or 2 spots on a short cruise. If they offer one that looks really great to you then go for it. We typically stay onboard since there is so much to do (or just relax) onboard.
You do you 😊😊
Have fun planning!!
If you scuba with a crowd. Make sure you practice replacing your mask and breather exercises
Do you scuba much? We did Discovery Scuba where you don’t have your be certified and it was so fun!
@@Taste-Try-Travel I got certified at 65. Haven 82 dives in the two years before Covid. I love it. Messed up my rotator cup and got put on blood thinners so I haven’t gone in awhile. It makes Freeport a much better visit for sure.
I've had no luck getting YC excursions to show up. When I look up excursions for our upcoming cruise they offer the same ones for regular and YC. I really need some help to find these.
So we won our upgrade and for the first several weeks, no YC excursions were showing. Then a couple came thru. They are listed in with the regular ones, you just have to look closely or better yet, look at the $$$
If they aren’t coming up in your app, you might want to call MSC and find out how else you can look at them.
For our Seascape this month, there are only 2 so maybe not all are loaded in either
I have a Yacht Club coming up on the World America, and I cannot see the difference on the website to book specifically the Yacht Club excursions. If fact, my cruise won't even show up on the app yet, just website.
Funny… ours doesn’t pull up yet either.
The YC excursions say YC Exclusive in the title. Someone else said not all had been loaded yet so maybe they are working on it 🤔🤔🤔
@@Taste-Try-Travel I would assume so. It is not till May, so I have plenty of time!
good morning , my question is DoesYacht club do solo / single cruisers rate ? watch you guys im so wanting to go on yacht club , but im a solo traveler ,, Thanks
They do solo. Double occupancy rate. So if you don't mind $$ go for it. We love love the Yacht Club. My wife won't go back to the other side
@@Jj-lo3zx exactly what the comment said you pay double. If you can get the inside YC suite, the price is a little better. They are usually the first to go since they are the best price to get you into YC 😁😁😁
Solo senior traveler here, just returned from 4 day cruise in YC. I booked an interior cabin and it came at a significant savings from a balcony cabin. Same great service, same amenities, and had plenty of room for me as a solo traveler. Do not believe there is a solo rate but worth the money for me because I did not have to fight the very large crowds. Have already booked a future cruise in YC interior room and can’t wait.
@@CH-ex4sn thanks for sharing your adventure 😊😊
If the TA charges extra? Doh!
We always use one that doesn’t charge us extra but gets commission from the cruise line
@@Taste-Try-Travel they do need to make a buck. Maybe with the new line item law we’ll see if we pay extra. I don’t think so though