Proseccoandsun

For those using Marriott to status match, what did you show them as proof? When logged into the Marriott account, it only shows first name not last with the status level. MSC won't accept it. 

Great to hear your comments! We were in YC on the Divina in August 2017 and it was fabulous! We were then on the inaugural of Seaside in YC and were so disappointed - many service issues, but I'm sure most were due to it being the inaugural. But we far prefer Divina in just about every way. 

We'll be on Divina for Christmas and are so looking forward to it. 

If I could ask about the drinks and changes that we're hearing about - have you been able to order anything in your deluxe package? No champagne or prosecco is listed anymore from what we're hearing. I can't imagine there would be an up-charge for every offering. 

Maximum capacity is 4, unfortunately.

Can the Royal Suite fit 6 ? (2 adults and 4 kids under 10)

Great photos and great idea! We have the RS booked on the Meraviglia in December 2019 (yes, a little ways away) and can't wait to throw a sail away party with friends!

If you thought the buffet and food wasn't very plentiful or tasty on Divina, you're going to be disappointed by the food on Seaside. The buffet had far fewer choices and they were the same every. single. day. Their ethnic station was tacos. Every day. And the pizza was much better on Divina than Seaside in our opinion, with more variety as well. We always found something to eat, but Divina had many more choices.

We love MSC but didn't love Seaside as much as the Divina. We are trying Celebrity for the first time this month and looking forward to the food, entertainment, and service which we've heard is all excellent on Celebrity. We'll be back to MSC for Christmas.

MHO: We have done MSC since 2006: Lirica 2x, Divina 3x ( past 12 months) and Sinfonia 1 (Med) this year.

Our biggest complain and we know that food is very subjective. MSC food is not anywhere near Celebrity, RCI, NCL, Princess and/or HAL. Food in MDR normally warm never HOT when delivered to your table. Selection limited. Buffets are very sparse and limited. People say MSC has the best pizza. We think it is the worst since it is so thin and nothing on it.

We are going on Seaside in Nov 2018.

Does the food make us not want to cruise MSC? No, MSC is a different line and well worth the money. Ships are beautiful, entertainment very good.

Again, food is subjective and I am sure someone will say we don't know what we are talking about.

We are just letting you know our opinion of MSC's food.

We were in 16041 for the Inaugural Cruise from Miami with 2 children. It definitely has a double sofa bed and a pullman. I did post photos on here a few weeks ago. My understanding is that there are no bunk beds in YC at all on Seaside.

I did post photos on here

I have a very specific question about YC deluxe suites. Has anyone stayed in one of these rooms on Seaside with children? I am getting conflicting information on the bed layout. We are currently in 16015 that has a double sofa bed. We are interested in a different bed arrangement for the kids. I'm wondering if anyone has stayed in 16047, 16045, 16043, 16041, 16032, 16030, or 16028? If so, can you confirm the bedding layout? Do these rooms have the sofa that turns into bunk beds? Or do they have a single sofa bed and one pullman bed? My MSC rep says they have a single sofa bed and one pullman bed. But the latest deck plans show a double sofa bed and one pullman. Hoping someone has actually stayed in one of these rooms and can confirm. Thank you very much.

We had port wine every night after dinner - quite lovely!

Thanks for the list -- I didn't see any Port Wines (or I'm blind) -- did any one order that?

Hi Sunsets,

There isn't a package price for the "fun" pass package as Divina has. You can buy a certain amount and get credit for an additional amount. For example, if you spend $100 you get $60 credit. Spend $70, get $30 credit. Spend $50, get $15 credit. Spend $25, get $5 credit. This can be used towards zip line, F1, interactive cinema, bowling, and video games.

Back in December/January, the price for the F1 alone was $10/pp. I don't think it has changed but it's possible.

I traveled with my 11 and 15 year olds, and we never even tried most of it. My son mostly liked the water slides. They both liked going to the kids clubs to hang out with friends and explore the ship (my 15 y/o).

Enjoy your cruise!!

The price for the simulator

Hi Proseccoandsun,

We are on Seaside April 14 2018. Since you have now cruised, can you tell us about the F1 Simulator pricing? My significant other loved the F1 on Costa Condordia (two months before it sank!) Would love to get a package price for the whole cruise if available. MSC customer service had no answers.

Thanks!

I think it worked! :D:confused:

I tried again...it just doesn't work for me.

I'll email them to Sidari who we sailed with and is a pro at uploading photos on here and ask him to post them. Stay tuned!

I hope someone finds a way to post these pics. I have been waiting for this setup for a long time.

I've never had luck posting photos on here, but have posted photos of our 5 person suite on several forums on the social media site that shall not be named on here.

We were a family of 4 but needed 3 beds. My 11 year old slept in the pullman and it was quite comfy, my 15 year old in the double sofa bed (also comfy) and my husband and I in the King size bed. The suites have a bookshelf/divider between the king bed and siting area which is a nice separation of the space. We managed fine in the room with plenty of storage space for all of us in the closets and in the bathroom.

Thankyou for the description.

if you can find a picture we would be grateful.

On the Christmas sailing it was on the second sea day which was actually Christmas Day. I think they didn't have it on the first sea day because it was elegant night. We had over 200 guests at I think 4 (not 4:30).

We decided not to go because of the time....it was 4:30 or so.

It could have been my post that you saw...I included most of the info below and posted the dining times. But anyway, when you get right down to it, a buffet that seats 450 people as the only other free dining option on a ship of 5,000 isn't adequate. It's not a good choice for those who don't care to dress up for elegant night or for those who missed dinner due to an excursion, nap, massage, or other activity. The buffets on other MSC ships offer much more at dinner so I think there is some surprise that Seaside does not. The Divina always had something similar to what was being served in the MDR and always had several pasta choices. That's not available at the "family buffet" on 16.

Someone on FB is on board this week and posted the dining schedule. They're not using the Marketplace for MDR overflow but it's STILL closed after 3pm and dinner is at the Biscayne Bay on deck 16. Apparently only 4000 passengers this week as opposed to 5000 last week. Still 3 seatings in one of the MDR's.

 

Waiting for the MSC apologists to explain this.

Two elegant nights, Italian night, and 70's night are pretty standard on MSC Caribbean cruises.

I think because we sailed over Christmas they didn't have 70's night and they mistakenly didn't put Italian night in the daily as Sidari mentioned. We even asked the concierge earlier in the day what the theme was and they said smart casual (for a second night in a row which is unusual for MSC). I asked the Maitre'D and the Sommelier about it at dinner and said we would have dressed for it had we known...they looked around the DR and realized no one had red, white, or green on and were upset that it hadn't been advertised. I'm sure it was a first week hiccup.

Is the Haven lounge the lounge for Yacht Club only? If so, I wonder if the Gatsby/Roaring 20s night is exclusively held there (for Yacht Club) or the whole ship. I hope to find this out before purchasing outfits for me and my family because we are in a Fantastica suite and not Yacht Club.

The children's wristband only opens your cabin door and can be swiped to buy gelato or drinks. It's not interactive yet, it's just like a cruise card.

Edited to add - I misunderstood your question - sorry. They never explained if we'd be able to track our kids with the wristband or gave us any info on it. They just had us sign up upon embarkation in the atrium and gave my son his wristband.

I'm reading that you can locate your kids on the ship with the msc for me kids wristband? Do you need internet access for this feature to work? Would like more details on how well this works? I will definitely activate this

The YC dining room is open on embarkation day. The pool buffet is much more extensive than the Divina and had lobster, king prawns, veal chops, and steak for lunch most days!

Parallax sorry to bug you. I thought of a few more questions. Answer whenever you have time.

 

- Where can YC guests eat lunch on embarkation day?

- Does the buffet in the YC pool area serve breakfast/lunch/dinner too or just snacks?

We sailed on the Divina twice, most recently in August and agree they have a wonderful buffet. Seaside's was not as extensive or quite as good in our opinion, unfortunately. I found plenty for lunch, but it didn't have as many offerings as Divina....two pastas instead of three (and not as good in my opinion), fewer types of pizza, same tacos each day, more limited salad bar, fewer choices in the Mediterranean section (only salami and a few cheeses instead of the prosciutto and larger selection on Divina), same fries every day but they were good and hot. Sometimes they had sweet potato fries. But remember on Divina they had different fries every day? Waffle fries, wedge, shoestring, etc...? Burgers were tasteless and very dry on Seaside, too, according to my daughter and others. There was a lot there (carving station, wraps, fried chicken, and more mentioned above) but we preferred Divina's buffet.

Those stats are readily available to everyone before you book a cruise. I feel most people trying MSC need to be a bit more open to something different. And also people need to stop comparing to other cruises you have been on. every cruise is different depending on the other passengers cruising with you. Every cruise line has pros and cons. It is up to the cruiser to pick which is more important when booking. Then go and enjoy your vacation without nit picking every single issue. Food is subjective as are the shows onboard. No one will be happy all of the time. You have to be able to pick and choose your battles, which I pick not to do any battling when on a cruise. Do your research then go and enjoy. MSC Divina always had a wonderful buffet. It was full of international food which changed daily. They had a lovely salad bar as well as fruit. They always had a carving station and a pasta station which had 3 different pastas which also changed daily. They had a wonderful cheese section as well as Indian fare, Mexican and American favorites. They had a lovely selection of burgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and veggie burger choices. They not only had a salad bar they also had pre made small salads with the basic in it. They have the greatest pizza and the selections on Divina had about 6 different type of pies, maybe more!

You all had to know that Seaside is aiming at the families. Just look at the water park area. So if having lots of kids around is not your thing, then you should not book on this ship. To book and then complain is not helping anyone, esp you!

Sadly, Baptista wasn't onboard but another bartender who knew my husband's favorite drink was!

We had a great week but it was very different than the Divina. We didn't meet our butler until day 5 upon my request bc of some issues. Ratio on Divina was 1:12 butlers. On Seaside it was 1:26. Absolutely impossible to provide anywhere near the same service or experience.

What about Baptista the bar tender?

 

You've been a bit quiet about your Seaside YC trip.;p

Correct - wish I could have stayed, but came back to the cold in the northeast. It was great to have Arthur onboard but seating in his section was in high demand. When people had complaints in other areas, they moved them into Arthur's section and we got bumped to another section by the third night, unfortunately. It took two more nights before we returned because we pretty much demanded it. We recognized several others in YC but not as many as we thought we'd see. The Maitre'D was from our Divina cruise a few years ago, but not the same Robert who we had in August.

Wish she could. She was on the 12/23 sailing and I don't think she did a b2b but I could be wrong.

Lol, most definitely! Sometimes in the form of a frozen Bellini :cool:

Obviously sitting on the table next to your lounger was a glass of Prosecco. ;)

There is more shade on the Seaside One Pool Deck than on the Divina. If you head towards the hot tub area from the bar/buffet and pool, there are tables on both sides of the ship with several tables under an awning. One side is for smoking, the other is smoke-free. Depending on the time of day and direction, one side provided more shade where the loungers were on those side sections, as well.

I'm just the opposite and was moving my lounger into every bit of sun I could find, lol.

We went to the M&M on Divina in August and it was very nice - about 35 people and many of the crew spoke and told us a little about MSC and their jobs. We were just on the inaugural from Miami on Seaside on 12/23 and also attended that M&M with over 200 guests! It was also nice - a little less organized (understandably so with the size and the first one onboard) - but Captain Scala spoke and was very warm and welcoming.

Arthur is on Seaside and as great as ever!

Is Arthur still at Le Muse on Divina or did he move to Seaside?

Than you so much, Dexddd! We're counting down the days!

Regarding the comedy club - it's improv style and I've heard there are several shows a night.

I heard there will be a package for the bowling, 5-D cinema, etc...I'm friends with the person in charge on another social media site, I'll check with him.

Have a great time too.

Thank you so much, Bea! Sidari is on as well and I'm sure we'll have a lot to share!

Hope you have a fabulous time, P (in case I don't get to say it before you go). Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you. :*