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Terre

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About Me

  • Location
    Charlotte, NC
  • Interests
    cruising - is there anything else?
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Carnival; Royal Caribbean; Celebrity; Princess
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Greek Isles; Southern Caribbean; Hawaii; Alaska; Mexican Riveria, Bermuda

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  1. Was on Seashore a couple of weeks ago. It's beautiful! Don't know if anything was added, but we did stop there for one whole and part of the next.
  2. I have been on other ships much older in those rough seas with nothing more than the hangers clanging in the closet. They can't blame this on rough seas!
  3. We have been on older ships going to Bermuda and the Southern Caribbean, both of which are in some very rough seas for two days going and coming back. The only noise we heard in our cabins on those cruises was the hangers clanging in the closet. This creaking and clicking in our cabin on Beyond was all day and night only going to Eastern Caribbean, no rough seas...it can't be blamed on rough seas. If you pressed against the walls or ceiling, the creaking stopped in that spot. Everyone we talked to n our December cruise who had the same problem were also in an Infinite Veranda. We are going on Beyond again in May with a group of neighbors, but we have booked a Sunset Balcony. I will let you know if there is any creaking in this cabin.
  4. It was cheaper. This place was so organized, loaded and unloaded our car for us, but basically it was cheaper. Research it and pick what works best for you. I can't remember the price but my husband chose it after reading about it and some others. This shuttle took right to the door for MSC's terminal on embarkation day, and was right around the corner when we came out on debarkation day. It is very convenient.
  5. Go to guest services. On our December cruise we read that a lady complained and got moved plus a future cruises credit. Someone else said they fixed his cabin from creaking We didn't complain but should have.
  6. Thank you. I may be labeling them wrong since I saw no kids and any. On the 8th deck I believe is where the two pools are side by side, and then there is one smaller on another deck; sorry I don't remember the deck number. If you can look at the deck plans, you may be able to tell. I know this doesn't te you much.
  7. Yes, at exactly 7:30 (19:00), reservations open for the next day's shows. I would assume that if you want the next night's 9:00 p.m. show you could reserve it the day before at 9:30 (21:00).
  8. Thank you! No, we did not try any of the specialty restaurants.
  9. Thank you! Oh, yes those two things are in my bag as well. I have added so much over the course of cruising, I need a bigger bag! I didn't want to list everything, but probably should mention a thermometer as well, especially if cruising with children.
  10. Thank you! We love going out of Port Canaveral as well. First time with MSC, learned some things, it is a little different, but we liked it. We sailed. Mardi Gras as soon as the covid ban on cruising was lifted and liked it, but it was only about 3/4 full at the time. I can't imagine it at full capacity.
  11. Seems like it somewhere close to 11:30 or just after.
  12. We watched it on the TV in our cabin, and around 3:00-3:30 we went to our station and checked in. Watched a short drill and left.
  13. We watched the TV portion when we took our carry-on to the cabin, and called the number it said to call. We got lunch and I think it was around 3:00 or 3:30 when we went to our actual stations for the drill. It was quick.
  14. MSC Newbies: New Experiences, New Adventures Ship: MSC Seashore Dates: March 3-10, 2024 Cabin: 12204 Itinerary: Port Canaveral, FL; Ocean Cay Marine Reserve; Costa Maya, Mexico; Cozumel, Mexico Our Cruising Experience: First with MSC; 50th cruise total Intro: My reviews are written in sections so you can skip over anything you don’t care to read about, or if you need a break, you can pick up at the next section without having to go through the whole thread. This review is written to be objective with both issues and likes & dislikes. I hope that it will be beneficial to those who are looking to cruise MSC Seashore. I apologize for the long review, but I’m a detail person and want to you have as much knowledge about this ship and cruise as possible. Let’s get started! Pre-cruise Hotel: We drove to Titusville the day before and stayed at Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center. There is a steakhouse right next door and lots of restaurants in the surrounding area. It was about a 30 minute drive from there to Port Parking Space in Port Canaveral. Click here for info on Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center Parking: We used Port Parking Space.com in Port Canaveral. It was so easy! We booked on line for the dates we needed to park for the cruise and arrived around 9:00 the morning of the cruise. We were third in line and once the gates were open for new customers, we drove on through, and like a well-oiled machine, someone was right there to unload our luggage, had us drive back around to park in a handicapped spot right where we board the shuttle. We were lined up according to the ship we were boarding and in the order in which we all arrived. We were first to board the shuttle for Seashore! There is a sign you need to take a picture of with returning instructions. The shuttle took us directly to where we would board the ship, with porters waiting for us. Luggage unloaded and taken by the porters, we went straight to the elevator to get us to the top; otherwise, you would be carrying whatever carry-on luggage you had up a lot of stairs! This also put us right at the doors to line up for security check. Debarkation day was just as easy…we followed the directions precisely to the shuttle, loaded up and were at the parking lot by 7:15 a.m., and that well-oiled machine had us unloaded, car loaded and we were on the road by 7:30! Click here for info on Port Parking Space Embarkation: Embarkation was a breeze. We had to wait around 30-45 minutes before they opened the doors, and from there it was smooth and quick with several lines of security checks. After check-in we found our cabin, got our cards, left our carry-on, watched the lifeboat drill, found our station, checked in, and had lunch. The Ship: The ship is New York inspired and themed. Someone described it to me as “like entering a jewelry store”, and it was an excellent description with the sparkling staircases that glistened in the light, sparkling like diamonds! The décor was nice and pretty in most places. It was hard to find places like Times Square, because there was no signage that we could ever find, but there is some entertainment there at night. I was disappointed in the shops. With a lot of unused OBC, I was looking to find a t-shirt or something I could bring home, but they didn’t have a lot of medium size. The only other thing I wanted was too tight in a medium and they didn’t have it in large! We ended up spending $86 of OBC in Venchi, buying candy that we didn’t really need or want. It’s good, but I could buy a whole lot more Reese’s Cups with that $86… I loved that they have a special section in the buffet for Kids & Families with their own buffet and area to sit. They also have a pool area just for kids and families, which freed up chairs at the adult pools. You had no idea how many kids were on board until you walked through that pool. The bar we used the most was Seashore Bar, where a lot of entertainment happened on the floor around the bar, and just above with singers, ship’s officers, etc. Second to the last night, we found Le Cabaret Rouge Lounge and wished we’d found it sooner. There is some entertainment in this lounge in the evening that we watched a few nights. Kids & Family Pool Our Cabin: We booked cabin 12204, a balcony cabin. The cabin is roomy, enough with a nice sofa, queen bed, dresser, and TV. When I first opened the closet, I didn’t think there would be much storage. The closet is small, and there are not many drawers at the dresser, but as it turned out, there is plenty of storage with shelves under the safe and on the wall beside the mirror, and on the sides of the dresser area. My pics make it look a lot more roomy than it actually is from the angle. There are plenty of outlets, both U.S. outlets, USB ports, and two European outlets. I always take a U.S. adapter for the European outlet, but I never needed it. There are several USB ports at the desk and one beside the beside. The temperature in the cabin was perfect for us…getting down to 64 at night. We love it cold and that cabin got cold enough for us. The thermostat is easy to work. Instead of a card to hang on the door or a magnet, your Do Not Disturb or Clean Room indicator is a light that you change inside the cabin. Kinda nifty! We don’t need our cabin cleaned twice a day, so we kept the DND light on during the day. Our Cabin Steward was Jonathan and he was great! Everything I asked for, I was provided as soon as we returned to the cabin. If like us, you are used to using wash cloths, you will need to ask for them from your Cabin Steward. I had to ask for wash cloths, top sheet on the bed, and Kleenex; they are not automatically provided. They don’t have body lotion, but fortunately, I had brought some from home. I communicated with Jonathan by leaving Post-It notes on the mirror for him with my requests. This worked perfectly for us. The hair dryer is plugged into the drawer at the desk. It is adequate, but hard to maneuver; you have to leave the drawer open while using it, and hold the on button down with your thumb. It is awkward, but after a day or so I got the hang of it. The bathroom is very tiny compared to what we are used to, and the shower is so small that it was even hard for me to turn around in. I’m not tiny, but not the biggest person either. My husband would knock the the door open with his elbow while showering and of course water was everywhere! Just be careful in that tiny shower! The balcony was very nice and I loved to sit on it listening to the waves or watch people in port, or just reviewing the day’s pictures on my phone. I used magnetic clips and hooks for things like our itinerary, important info like reservations, confirmations, hanging our pool bag, clothes for dinner, etc. We took a small rechargeable fan with a hook, and we hung it by the bed with the magnetic hook attached to the wall high up, and it was perfect. Remember that the walls, doors, and ceiling are all magnetic and using magnetic clips and heavy duty hooks are great for a little extra storage and tidiness. Dining/Food: Dining Room: Here’s where we ran into some issues. The food for the most part was all good. The desserts were scrumptious, and we loved all the desserts we ordered. Our issue was with dining in the Tribeca Restaurant. This being our first time on MSC, we started out as Gold loyalty level because of our match from another cruise line, and we booked the Fantastica experience, which gave us this restaurant. They don’t have any time dining at this experience, it was either 5:00 or 7:00. We didn’t want to miss the 7:00 show, so we chose the 5:00 dining. The first night was chaotic, as usual, but we waited 15 minutes for our server to approach us, then he apologized saying he was helping with other guests and would be back. After another 15-20 minutes he returned for our order, which arrived quicker than we expected. We made it in time for the 7:00 show. On the second night, it was better, but on the third night, it took forever to get our order taken. My husband ordered sword fish, and after a very long wait for our order to arrive, his sword fish looked like a grilled pork chop. It was so tough, a knife couldn’t cut it. My food was good, but we waited and waited for the waiter to come back so we left before dessert came. We asked to speak to the Maitre d’, but the Restaurant Manager, Steve, was very rude saying that the Maitre d’ was “a but busy” and he could help. My husband insisted on speaking with the Maitre d’ but Steve said he was being unreasonable, so we went to Guest Services and asked for the Maitre d’. He was extremely nice, apologetic, and agreed that the service and food was unacceptable. I asked to be moved to another dining room, and the next day we were moved to the Manhattan Restaurant, which is anytime dining for the Aurea experience. It was like night and day! Our server was Nery, who was excellent at his job! He was very attentive to our needs, and food came out in a quick and timely manner, and was perfection! Nery learned our preferences the first night we ate there and had my wine ready every night after. All the dishes we ordered in Manhattan were excellent, from the plating to the flavor. They all had their own unique flavor that played on your taste buds, and none of them disappointed! All of the desserts were wonderful and actually tasted as good as they looked, unlike most other cruise lines’ desserts. Nothing you order will disappoint you, I promise! Be careful with the sword fish, though…wink, wink! Breakfast in Central Park Restaurant was extremely disorganized. There are no dedicated waiters for sections and once seated, someone comes around asking for your cabin number, then you wait for a server to take your order. Sometimes this might be right away, sometimes it may take 30 minutes. Sometimes we sat and sat while others who were seated after us had their orders taken immediately. Buffet: The Buffet, in my opinion was laid out so weirdly that it wasn’t worth my time trying to find anything. The lines were always so long that it just wasn’t worth my time and effort. I did find the pizza, which was hidden way down the hall from the other “rooms” of the buffet, so that’s what I had every day, mostly because others couldn’t find it and it was never that busy. The ice cream in the buffet was good, and once we found it we got that every day. What food I was able to find was good, it was just hard to maneuver around all the different, what I call rooms, to find the stations and different foods. Entertainment: Theatre Shows: The shows are at 7:30 and 9:30 each night. You must reserve your seat before each show. What we learned is that if you don’t reserve it the night before, both shows would be completely full, but the last 10 minutes, they will begin letting those in without a reservation until all seats are gone. What I figured out is that at exactly at 7:30 the night before, you had to book the next night’s show. You can’t wait until 8:00, they would be full already and you can’t book tonight’s show at 6:00 on the same day. So keep that in mind. Shows in the theatre were great, so don’t miss them. I didn’t take any pictures or videos because you are asked not to, but I did see some people doing both. I’m a rules follower, so I didn’t and wish I did have some videos for you of them. Take my word for it, you really don’t want to miss them. The production shows were wonderful, with very professional dancers and singers. The guest entertainers were equally as good. There was also entertainment, as I mentioned before, in Times Square, Le Cabaret Rouge Lounge, around the Seashore Bar and above it. Be sure to keep your Daily Program for all the entertainment information, or check your MSC for Me app for things to see and do. Ports of Call: Ocean Cay Marine Reserve: This beautiful cay was our first port and we were here a full day and almost half of the next day. Ocean Cay is located in The Bahamas and is MSC’s private island. It has been transformed by MSC from an industrial site, into a beautiful tropical island. MSC took on the task of cleaning up this island and the waters surrounding it of all discarded debris, with a commitment to protect, restore, and conserve this beautiful cay (pronounced key). You will not want to miss this port. On the first night there, we had a light show that was absolutely amazing, and so beautiful to watch from the island or from your balcony! It starts when night time arrives with the lighthouse beginning to “light” up from the base to the top with different colors, then bursting beautifully into the night sky! Don’t miss this light show as it is so beautiful. Costa Maya, Mexico: Costa Maya was our next port of call. We have been several times and although there is not a lot to do here, we discovered Maya Chan a few years ago via Cruise Critic reviews. We have been three years in a row now, and love this beautiful little beach. It is owned by Mark, David, and Jane, who moved to Costa Maya and started this perfectly sized “resort” for a day. It’s so beautiful with a beach area, chairs, papalas, bar, and a lunch buffet. Oh, and, all you want to drink while you are there! They have several dogs, and a sweet cat, you will fall in love with. They pick you up outside the terminal, down the road a ways, and take you back to the cruise terminal when you are ready to, which is neverrrrrr! Trust me, you will love Maya Chan, but book early because they do get booked up, they are limited on the number for each day. More and more people are learning about them. If you want quiet, and relaxing, Maya Chan Beach is the place for you! Maya Chan is very tranquil with cozy, swaying palm trees, canoeing, paddle boarding, tubing, etc. This part of Mexico battles the seaweed fight, but they work so hard to keep it off the beaches. Don’t let that keep you from enjoying a wonderfully relaxing day in a beautiful, peaceful setting. Click here for Maya Chan info Cozumel, Mexico: Our next port was Cozumel, and since we have been here many times and usually go to Nachi Cocum, we decided to stay on the ship this day. There are many beach clubs to go to here, and lots of things to do, so just research it and pick the one that suits you the best. Miscellaneous: Infinity Pool: We did find chair hogs around the pool areas, so there’s no getting away from that. In fact, some chairs were saved with towels, etc. on our half day in Ocean Cay, and I’m positive the owners were on the island for that part of the day. We enjoyed the adult only pools and didn’t use the one regular pool. The pools we used each had hot tubs, and there was a bar right at the pools. Debarkation: We chose to walk off at the published time of 7:30 a.m. with our luggage. We got in line before 7:00 and it was wrapped way around a large area when we got there. We had to wait for a little bit, but once it got going, it went pretty quickly. The luggage was not even out in the terminal and porters were just beginning to show up when we walked through. With facial recognition, we looked into the camera at Customs and walked right off. We followed our instructions for finding the shuttle for Port Parking Space, and it filled up quickly so we were back at the parking lot early enough to be on the road a little after 7:30 a.m., which made my husband very happy! Things We Learned: Elevators: The elevators are different from elevators on other ships. You press the button for the deck number you want, and then the number of people getting on. This keeps the elevators from crowding – supposedly. It worked most of the time. Cabin Necessities: Some things like wash cloths, Kleenex, and lotion are not provided. You must ask for anything you want and they will provide it, unless of course, they don’t provide it at all, like lotion. You can ask for different pillows and they will bring those. We also asked for a top sheet, as that is not used, but we were able to get it. I can’t say enough about Jonathan, our steward. Whenever I asked for anything, I had it immediately. Also, you have to leave your cabin’s key card in the slot to keep the lights on, and maybe the A/C, we’re not sure about that one; the cabin was only very warm one day when we came back. Complaints: 1. One complaint was that we were supposed to get $100 OBC from our TA in addition to the other OBC. They only gave us $50 of that and refused to give us the rest even with my invoice showing it. We were also supposed to get a cake for our anniversary, but didn’t get that either. 2. Of course, the issues with dining already mentioned. 3. The issue of having to book the shows for each night, but after we figured out you could book tomorrow’s show at 7:30 each night, we did that with no problem. Tips and Suggestions: 1. If this is your first cruise, one thing I believe is a necessity, are magnetic hooks and clips. This helps you to stay organized. The cabin provided three of those large hooks to hang things on, but I did use a couple of my heavy duty hooks, which can be found on Amazon, and my magnetic clips for hanging important papers, itinerary, etc. They also help keep the cabin a little neater. 2. I also suggest if your excursion involves a lot of walking in a hot climate, is to take some sandwich baggies, and the night before your excursion, wet a couple of wash cloths, put them in the baggie and into the refrigerator. Take them with you on your excursion to wipe your neck or face on the excursion or tour. Take bottled water with you as well. 3. Always take a first aid kit that you can easily add to with needed things you will learn you need as you cruise. Mine has things like band aides of all sizes, aspirin/Ibuprofen, cold/cough meds, peroxide, melatonin, sea sickness meds, etc. I was glad I had Vaseline and band aides on this cruise because I got some sand between my toes that rubbed a blister on one of my toes between the two toes. On another cruise I broke my little toe, and I knew that the doc would wrap the little toe to the next one, so I taped it to the next toe with band aids. After I got home, my doc looked at and said I did a good job of taking care of it! Prepare for all kinds of things so that you’ll have what you need. 4. Do your research before you go; research the ship as much as possible by reading reviews on Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor, Google, etc. Do the same for tours, excursions, and ports of call. Find out as much as you can about everything, so you can enjoy your cruise. 5. Take a picture of your luggage to help your steward find it if it doesn’t show up. Sometimes it get taken to security for one reason or another, or just gets lost. 6. Do everything, try everything, eat all you can and learn new things. Travel while you are young and don’t worry about the money, just find it. Traveling is one of the best educations you can have. Meet new people, make new friends, go and enjoy! By the way, even with the issues we had, we have booked a Yacht Club cabin on Seashore for next year, so we did like the ship and the cruise! More Pics & Videos:
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