MonsterJoe

At 6'5" +, I assure you, nothing in this world, especially a cruise ship, is meant for tall people. 😉

He is 10. He didn't do any of the kids club activities...he fell in love with the water park and water slides on the first day and didn't need anything else. We fully intended to go bowling at some point, since that is something we enjoy doing at home, but that didn't make the cut . As a somewhat picky eater, he also enjoyed the independence and autonomy of the buffet. the buffet and the water park, he said were his favorite parts of the trip. I walked through the sports bar several times, but never when it happened to be open. I imagine I would have put more effort in had it been Hockey Season, or they had the Premiere League showing, but alas... My brother made great use of the sports bar...grabbing drinks for dinner, as that is the only place on the ship he found that serves his drink choice, IPAs

I think the rudeness was pretty well represented across the globe. I heard plenty of American English, British, Australian, Caribbean Spanish, French, Italian, Brazilian, Chinese, and South/Southeast Asian dialects throughout the ship.

[addendum 3] There were a few points during our stay where someone ordered an extra entree. It wasn't often or excessive. It was more like one person saw what someone else was eating and would prefer it....we were never charged I wonder if this is a waitstaff discretion thing, or if it was wink wink, nudge nudge...as we did tip progressively throughout the cruise.

[addendum 2] I remember the other appetizer now. It was the shrimp tails. I wasn't sure based on the description what I was going to get but I ordered them anyway. They were a battered shrimp with tail on...along with a tropical dipping sauce. They tasted good, but they were a bit undercooked and had a little uncooked pancake-like batter under the fried part. Overall, I liked them and would order them again hoping they were fried a little more to completion. I'm sure that if I told the waiter (Ronald) that he would have got me another order, but I'm not that fussy.

Thanks Warmest Amy! (I'm a lurker, I know what's up) Truth be told, The stair photo was I requirement I knew about before we even boarded. 😉 my ever-wise wife knows a keepsake moment when she sees one, and she hasn't steered us wrong yet.

That's what we try to do, too. I hope y’all have a great time

[addendum 1] We also had some issues with muster. We diligently watched the video, made the call, and reported to our point - but later that night came back to a nasty-gram from "the captain' in the room for not completing the safety protocol. I went down to guest services and the guy clearly didn't believe me - he gave me a quiz before mumbling something about taking care of it by writing down my room number on the back of a piece of paper. Same thing happened to my brother and SIL...and I think I overheard some other people talking about it too.

[edit] My wife went to guest services to straighten it out, and she said they were very helpful. They gave us new cards that said Aurea on them, but curiously, the MDR still said “Ipanema” with a time and a table number

Our Party Me, Wife, Step-Son, Infant Daughter (8.5 months at sailing). We also traveled with Brother and my Sister-In-Law in separate rooms. The Itinerary Nassau, Ocean Cay, Sea Day. Embarkation We flew into Orlando two days early in order to visit Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios. It was something like 107F that day and I was worried that we were going to burn ourselves out before the cruise. It ended up being fine, and Galaxy’s Edge was very cool. I rented a minivan for the whole week, so that we could travel together. Ubers and Shuttles are not convenient with an infant since we didn’t want to fly with a car seat and have to manage it with every pick-up and drop-off. I found one on Turo for $350 (it ended up being $400 at the end because of tolls and gas) which was far less than I would have been able to book for through a normal rental agency. The experience was very good and I would do it again. On cruise day, we arrived at 10am since we knew we had priority boarding with the Aurea upgrade. We flew right through security and check-in. We went from the car to the ship in about 20 minutes. Our Room (9242) We both had successfully bid on Aurea Suites and were situated on Deck 9, Starboard. They had been saying that the rooms would be ready by 2pm, but they ended up being ready at 1:30. Our only other cruise was in a YIC, so we were pleasantly surprised with the size and layout of the room. Someone had already converted the couch to a bed, but I found it easy enough to do by myself. We like the couch during the day for its aesthetic and ease of mobility, so I did the turn down myself every night. The room was very clean, and I was surprised to find Multiple US outlets and additional USB ports. The balcony was HUGE. It had two lounge chairs, two normal chairs and a table. I was worried that our room would have an obstructed view of the Lighthouse because of how the ship juts out a bit more fore, but that wasn’t the case. Our room was just above the Marketplace Buffet, but there were canvas canopies obscuring the view to it, which was nice - I could also make out the outside corner of the South Beach Lounge/Bar/Pool area. It’s a smoking section of the ship, but thankfully I could not detect it from our Balcony. They party pretty hard down there at night, too, and while we could definitely hear it from the Balcony, it was not of a bothersome level. I promptly emptied the mini-fridge, and they whisked it away the first chance they got. We never met the steward - or even saw one in the halls for that matter. We only got the breakfast door hanger on the first night. We didn’t have any problems leaving one of our cards in the slot while we were out. They even put a blank in for us at one point when we forgot to leave one. The Food First some context. We love food. We have driven to Chicago from Boston to eat at Alinea, and we have been several times to Le Bernardin, to name just a couple of the Michelin Starred places we’ve been. We plan our vacations mostly around what the food culture is like where we are going. We enjoy fine dining and we also like hole in the wall dumpling joints. Being tasty is our only requirement. I am also an experienced and passionate home cook - I cook everything from scratch. I make pastas and sourdoughs, smoke the meats, braise the oxtails…all the things. I continue to be perplexed by the complaints about the food on MSC. We were in YC last time, the Restaurant was very good, but we also ate at the buffet several times…we thought that was good, too. Buffet - Deck 8 This time, the buffet was even better. Is everything amazing? No, of course not, but everything is edible, and a lot of it is very good. We don’t eat at buffets at home, so we thought maybe we just didn’t know what standards there should be. My Brother and my SIL who cruise a lot were very impressed also. They said it’s the best cruise buffet they’ve ever had and compared it to good buffets at Vegas, for whatever that’s worth. I sampled a lot from the buffet, so I’ll just list some of my favorites. Unlike what I saw most people doing, I filled my plate with multiple micro servings so I could try more….more on that later Lunch/Dinner All the Curries: They had new options every day and they were all very good. Jamaican Beef Stew: Braised really well - hints of the cinnamon and allspice were perfect. Cioppino: Huge pieces of Calamari…1/2” - 3/4 “ thick and super tender! Mussels, Shrimp, and Whitefish, too. I wanted to get more but I was full. Sweet and Sour Pork: Flavor was spot on - the pork could have cooked more but it was still tasty. Pasta: They had 4 different options every day. All the ones I tried were very good. Long pastas, filled pastas, short pastas, hand shaped pastas. Pizza: It’s as good as everyone says it is, and it’s plentiful. Bread: Same as the pizza: Cheese and Charcuterie: The selection is massive and delicious. It’s truly impressive. Roasted Chicken: Seasoned perfectly and moist. Just as good as what I make at home if the skin was more crispy, but good luck doing that in a steam table. White Fish: They did variations every day. My favorite was the Thai inspired option. Breakfast I don’t eat a big breakfast, so this section is shorter. Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese Stuffed Croissant: This is probably my favorite thing to get for breakfast on the ship. Rollmops: Pickled Herring. Not everyone's thing, but they were good. Fried Eggs: I did not wait in line for a la minute, but the fried eggs in the steam pan were perfect over easy every time, which is how I like them. Sticky Buns: At the advice of @Essiesmom I sought these out and it was very good. Bacon: I’m not a huge bacon fanboy, but the one time I had some, it was cooked perfectly how I like it…the fat was mostly rendered, but it was still tender, not crispy. Corned Beef Hash: I was a bit put off by how loose it was at first, but I got over that quickly. Roasted Tomatoes: Simple with a sprinkle of oregano - I like them to cut through the richness and fat of the other stuff on my plate. Late Night Snacks (Deck 16) Potstickers: the filling had actual chunks of meat and shrimp. Not a meatball consistency like I am used to. We went back several times for more. Pesto Pizza: Nice variation! French Fries: They’re really good when they’re hot and fresh. This is the only place we had them like this, likely because they were turning them over so fast for the drunken hordes. Main Dining Room (Seashore: Deck 5) I will give good and bad reviews of what I had since it is a smaller section overall. I also ordered for my 8.5 month old daughter, and ended up finishing most of what she didn’t to avoid waste. She eats everything we eat, and for what it’s worth, the liked everything in the MDR Starters Ceviche: My wife got this. She said it was underwhelming and didn’t like the plantain chips in it. I trust her palette enough to note it here. Chicken Croquettes: Not a fan. They reminded me of something from a freezer section of a grocery store. Totally edible, but I wouldn’t spend the calories on them again. Spanish Delights: Basically a Spanish slanted Cheese and Charcuterie plate. I liked it. Moules Mariniere: A sizable pile of tasty mussels in white wine sauce. We like mussels a lot at home and these were tasty. Spring Roll: Crunchy and well seasoned. Would order again. Tomato Soup: I love soups. I was concerned when I saw this come out because it didn’t look creamy and looked a bit more thin than I am used to. To my surprise, it was very nice. I would order it again. Caprese: I have never had a Caprese with lettuce in it before, so that was different. Not much mozzarella. It was fine. No complaints, just a bit underwhelming. I think I’m forgetting a night, so I’ll come back and fill it in when I remember. Entrees Lasagna Bolognese: It was very good. The pasta was fresh and the bolognese was braised perfectly. I can’t for the life of me understand the complaints I hear about this dish. New York Strip: (my wife’s entree that I tried) Is it thin? Yes…but it was amazingly tender. I’m calling it good for a free steak. I added some salt and pepper to it to bring it to the steak seasoning level I like. Homestyle Meatloaf: Surprisingly good. Like most of their ground beef dishes, this was roasted really long and slow, making it very tender and giving it that braised flavor that I like. The barbecue sauce was very tangy - you should have seen my daughter’s face when that hit her tongue. I agreed with her and worked around it. Steak Diane: Basically the NY Strip with Mushroom Gravy on it. I thought it was pretty good. Chana Dal: Really good…it came with Roti. Even though I like the Dals in the Buffet, I was hoping this would be even better in the MDR. It was. Blackened Grouper: A bit thin and it could have been more moist, but I liked it well enough. Braised Short RIbs with Gorgonzola Polenta: This dish was really tasty. I would have ordered another if I wasn’t full. Chicken Parm: This is another one of those dishes that a lot of people complain about. It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s not inedible. The spaghetti under it was very good. Carbonara: Everyone else at the table got this and it was a big hit. I tried it and it was good. The bucatini was really well done. Sides In general, all the sides were good. The vegetables were cooked nicely…they were never mushy, nor were they ever under cooked. The mashed potatoes didn’t have the rich white color that I am used to when making my own, but they were buttery and tasty. The polenta was really good. I feel like the rice on board doesn’t get enough credit. They make lots of different kinds of rice and they are always cooked properly and are fluffy and tasty. Dessert Full disclosure - I am not a sweets guy, so I didn’t eat many on board. Just a couple at dinner. NY Cheesecake: It’s definitely NOT a NY style cheesecake, but it still tasted nice. Tiramisu: The same…very tasty, but not a real Tiramisu. Cheese Plate: Yummy Ports Nassau I stayed on the ship with my daughter for this. My wife took my stepson on the dolphin excursion. They had a great time and I was told everything went smoothly. Ocean Cay The day started rainy, but cleared up well enough to make our way out. We didn’t have full sun that day, but the weather was nice enough. My wife and I like to bake in the sun, so that was mildly disappointing, but not MSC’s doing. The water at the lighthouse beach was really choppy! Serious boogie board waves. My step-son had a great time in the water. We really love the island, and couldn’t wait to get back to it after our last trip. Theatre Shows I had low expectations after our last pandemic cruise. I was bored to tears at the theater show. Peter Punk We were all entertained. It was a very nice surprise. I don’t know exactly what it was supposed to be about, but the 40 minutes went by very quickly. Starwalker We were looking forward to this one because we had heard a lot of positive reviews. It was pretty good - It started to feel long after a while and we were all surprised when the pole dancer came out. Both shows were fully booked. Bars and Lounges Miami Beach Bar During the day it was VERY busy, but the line moved fast and I never waited more than 3 minutes or so for a drink. At night it was surprisingly slow. This is the only place we got table service during the entire cruise. It’s also the only place we developed a friendly rapport with a crew member. He remembered our names and drink preferences the next time we saw him, and on the last night, he poured our liquor of choice into two 14 oz Pilsner glasses as a send-off. Jungle Bar Spent some time here because my stepson loved the adjoining water park. Service was always quick. I found it odd that a Brazilian bartender didn’t know what a caipirinha was, but otherwise the service was pretty fast, even when the Jungle Pool was busy. Aurea Bar We will probably never book lower than an Aurea package again. In part due to the solitude of the Aurea Bar. It was really nice to get away from the hordes of sweaty people on Sea Day. It was nice. I also met a few nice people up there, and the bartenders were nice, but I had to go up to the bar to order a drink, even though I was seated right in front of them. They also remembered my favorite order. Curiously, there is a smoking section on the Wellness section of the ship. Even more curious, it is directly next to the non-smoking section in open air. Seaside Bar In general it was fine and quick for me. At one dinner I decided to leave the MDR to get our requisite Dinner time Dirty Martinis and save the Waiter Assistant the trip. They didn’t know how to make a Dirty Martini! Three of the bartenders huddled together looking at what I presume was the Bartender's Handbook. It was pretty bad and not even in a martini glass. My wife had a bad experience once there. She was waiting for several minutes, when two men arrived behind her. The bartender immediately came over and asked for their order. They told him that my wife was there first, but he still insisted on taking their order first. Haven Lounge I ran into one of the bartenders I made friends with on the last cruise. He had been promoted to officer - we recognized each other and chatted a bit. He told the presiding bartender to keep feeding me shots. When I wasn’t with him, the service was fine. I didn’t wait long. South Beach Bar The smell of this bar gave me headaches. I know that’s a smoking bar, so that’s not a complaint, since I chose to go there. I went here because of its proximity to our room late at night for drinks to bring back to our balcony. It was always mobbed, but I never had to wait long for service. Champagne Bar The Champagne was nice and the service was fast.but this was the second cruise we’ve been on that the Champagne Bar didn’t have Caviar. Why is it on the menu if they never have it? The Service In general, all over the ship, crew was pleasant. You could tell that some people were having a better time than others, but that’s to be expected. Everywhere we went, my baby daughter had an instant fan club. Especially at dinner. They would bring her napkin animals and origami. They really were genuinely thrilled to interact with her. It was sweet. I found it a bit odd that people felt so free to reach out and touch her, but I chalked that up to a cultural thing and let it go. At home in Boston, that would get you throat punched. 🙂 Guest Services for the most part was very friendly and helpful. We had to replace a couple beach towels that were picked up by porters, and they arrived at our room in minutes, with no grief…the same when we needed more toilet paper. My stepson lost his cruise card twice(!!) and they quickly rectified that. Disembarkation Overall very smooth and fast. We took our own luggage off and waited until 8:30 to leave. We were off in 5 minutes. As I was nearing the card checkpoint, my wife and son went through, then just as I was about to scan my daughters card, I was pushed aside by a YC butler for a young couple to pass. There was NO LINE - the woman was literally taking my card to scan it and they pushed me out of the way. I told him “You’re separating me from my family!” and he looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. The couple didn’t even look at me. I thought the was pretty gross - I’d never do that to someone. Challenges While our first cruise was pretty much trouble free, this one definitely had some challenges. The Ship Seaside is beautiful, there is no doubt about that. We hated the layout though. We were still getting lost on Day 4. We found ourselves missing the Meraviglia and talking about it a lot. Cruise Cards As I expected, a lot of our info was messed up because of the upgrade. Everything on paper said fantastica, even though our MSC app appropriately said Aurea. When we got our cruise cards, they also said fantastica and showed our MDR as Ipanema with a time and a table. My wife went to guest services to straighten it out, and she said they were very helpful. They gave us new cards that said Aurea on them, but curiously, the MDR still said “Ipanema” but also “My choice dining” At dinner the first night, we went to Ipanema and the host looked at our card and became annoyed with us because we were there an hour after the time on our card. I pointed out that we were “Aurea” and she said we couldn’t eat there, we had to go down to Seashore. We went down there and the host looked at our card and told us we had to go up to Ipanema…again, I pointed out we were Aurea, and she pointed us to the separate Aurea entrance. We went over there and again were told we had to go up to Ipanema…sigh. I pointed it out again and we were sat. Casino This one is on me, I guess. I went to the casino to get some cash. I loaded $100 onto (I thought) my cruise card - and then left to do other things. When I went back later in the day, I learned that the money was in fact not on my card, but on the machine. I gave someone a really nice surprise. Bummer. Creperie It is outside next to the South Beach Lounge. Very hot and smelling of smoke in a crosswind. It didn’t open until 12, but rather than tell us as we stood at the counter, they let us watch them work for 20 minutes until a fellow passenger told us. We went back the next day when it was open, waited another 20 minutes to be acknowledged, only to have our order taken and not made, while they instead retreated to the back to do prep work (we could see through the open door). We waited another 15 minutes before we just left. The young woman who made the crepes looked absolutely miserable and annoyed that we were there. Kids Beverage Package On the last night of the cruise, my stepson was denied a ginger ale because he “didn’t have enough credits” What? Normally I would have gone to correct the situation, but we had to make it to Starwalker. Fellow Passengers I will admit to the partly being a me thing. I am highly sensitive to rude behavior; but I found the majority of the passengers as a whole to be completely insufferable. I almost decked a young man in the casino as we were exiting the Theater…He tried to push past our group, so I positioned my body to block him and he stepped over my daughter in her stroller. People walking while staring at their phones or shoes with no care where they are going or running into. Pushing and shoving to get past you or cut you off, just walking perpendicular to the flow and not stopping. While waiting for an elevator, a man who clearly saw me with my daughter in the stroller, pushed past us to get on the elevator, rendering the elevator full. When I ran into my officer friend - he seemed surprised that we would book a 4 day because, he said, 3 and 4 day cruises are usually a pretty rowdy party crowd. Noted…probably won’t do another 4 day. The massive amount of food waste was completely appalling. The bus stations in the buffet had constant trays and trays of full plates of food. There was no smoked salmon available after the first day - and I figured out why. On the third day I saw one person with 15 plates of smoked salmon. What the hell? Final Thoughts While we had several more challenges this time around, we found that overall we had a very nice cruise. MSC ships are beautiful and well maintained, the food is good, and the crew is nice. Yes, their communication needs improving, but as relatively easy-going people, we agreed that it was a net positive experience. We booked our next cruise while on board and we're looking forward to going back to a 7 day itinerary on the Seascape, this week next year.

Sorry to learn of your troubles. We too have had several unnecessary annoyances. I'm thinking to write a review of my own when we get home. We are a family of four, traveling in tandem with my brother and my sister in law...and we each have our gripes. We did book our next cruise today, though, so overall we had a nice time.

That's right. Also...like Essiesmom, I also don't understand the availability of ashtrays in the "Wellness" bar on the ship...the section is feet away from the nonsmoking section, to make matters worse.

I sought out the sticky buns based on your recommendation. They are very tasty. Also learned, the $5 entree upcharge only applies to the nightly entrees. The Classics have no upcharge.

Our app and booking online both show our upgraded experience to Aurea, but our etickets and luggage tags still say Fantastica. Do you know if this will be a problem with the priority boarding?

None?

Oh OK, sorry then! It looks like the cruise is pretty much fully booked right now. I still don't understand why I got that upgrade, if the ship is full. The balcony is huuuge

Did you mean to write "unavailable?" Because that's what it looks like right now - Everything is sold out except Yacht Club Deluxe suites. Which seems weird to me, having just won that lowball upgrade.

aurea deluxe balcony. Seaside. The bid was 90 (x2)

Many restaurants will keep a number of tables available for walk-ins. So being 'booked up' doesn't mean there are no tables necessarily - just that the ones they set aside for reservations are. Also - there is probably a 'towel on the pool lounger' element to it where people book things so they don't miss out, and may or may not use it.

We just won ours for the 8/13 sailing in the middle of the night with the lowest possible bid.