ERLEC

Well, Seaside isn't built fully yet, so nobody can tell you (IMO) how good or bad the sound isolation is.

 

I can say, on the Divina, the sound isolation is terrible. We literally saw daylight from the other cabin through the connecting door, and could hear *everything*. Every cough, burp, sneeze, fart, etc. I'm sure the other room could hear the same from ours. Worst sound dampening of any ship/cruise I've been on.

 

But the Seaside will be newer, so hopefully they will use better insulation.

 

You're probably better off waiting until people have actually sailed to tell you how well or not well the insulation was.

Yeah, I can always change the cabin until I make the cruise final payment in December. Lots of time ahead to think about this...

Larger cabin, larger balcony.... All for the same price as a regular Fantastica balcony cabin. I couldn't resist and I booked it.

Hello,

I just booked my cabin on the Seaside for February 2018. I selected cabin 10222 which is a connecting cabin. I don't need a connecting cabin... I choose this cabin simply because it's larger than a normal cabin because the between beside it is a handicap cabin.

Even if cabin 10222 in not handicap room, it's still larger (1.5X larger than regular balcony room.

I'm a little concerned that it's designed for connection between cabin 10222 and 10224. Should I be concerned about noises? Are connecting cabins built the same as regular ones for insonorisation?

From what I see on MSC website when trying to book cabin 9002 or 9003, there is really a huge wrap around bow facing balcony.

Cabin surface: 296 Square feet

Balcony size: 409 Sqare feet That is HUGE!

but it seems there's no convertible SOFA bed to bunks. It's simply a double sofa bed only.

All of these suites you're all speaking of are not within the Yacht Club, are they?

 

Do they have YC access?:confused:

No... Regular fantastica suite category.

I am also looking closely at cabins 9002 and 9003 for my upcoming cruise in 2018.

Those two cabins are regular fantastica suite, but they are much larger than any other cabins in the category. And from what I can tell in the rendering and images found on the web, they should have a huge wrap around balcony going from the side of the ship to the front. They seems to also include a oceanview window in front of the ship... Very interesting!

But not the best position for ship movement... Other than that they look great.

I've sailed all the lines you mention multiple times, including MSC.

 

1. Celebrity

2. Royal Caribbean

3. Carnival/MSC/NCL

 

I place MSC squarely in the same league as Carnival and NCL. From purely a hardware perspective, MSC DIVINA is superior to most of what NCL and Carnival have to offer. MSC SEASIDE I think will propel MSC above anything Carnival and NCL have to offer, and I've sailed their newest ships. Entertainment on MSC is far superior to Carnival, and on par with NCL which is also quite good but only on the newest and biggest ships.

 

Where MSC falls short is the software. Customer Service, overall onboard service, and food. Some is very good but other things don't make the cut. It's a bit inconstant. They are trying hard to meet North American expectations and have come a long way, but they are not there quite yet. I think they will be though, and when they do watch out Carnival & NCL! When that happens I will probably put them just below Royal Caribbean. I'm hoping MSC SEASIDE will pull it all together! In addition to a great new ship, we have a new private out island and even a refurbished Miami terminal.

 

I like to sail on all the new ship designs regardless of cruise line, but I have to say I'm most excited about SEASIDE. The design just looks so amazing and different. I'm also very excited about Celebrity's new Edge Class, which promise to be something spectacular. More details on those in March.

eRoller -) Thanks for those comments. They reflect pretty much what I could see from many people's review. Hopefully you are right and this new ship will bring them up to par with NCL/Carnival or even better in what you called "software". This is my hope as well. I'm planning sailing her in Feb 2018. A little 2+ months after it's inauguration. Generally the cruise companies tend to put their best and highly qualified staff on the new ship for their first year of service... Simply to impress the media and the public.

I am very willing to try MSC for the first time in Feb 2018... On their brand new Seaside...

 

Also, MSC offers a program a matches the loyalty from other brands, so that is really nice. I'll most likely start with MSC on a Silver level.

 

That being said, I'm used to dine whenever I want, select dining, freestyle, or any other names that the competition calls it. But looks like MSC is not offering that option... I think it's time for them to innovate a little and follow the trend on this. People love to have dinner at no specific times. Depending on the ports we are, sometime we decide to have dinner late or a bit earlier if I have a show to attend for example.

 

I think it's nice to have the choice of early, late or no specific time dinning.

I have to retract what I just wrote... Looks like the select dining will be offered on the Seaside. That's a good news!

I am very willing to try MSC for the first time in Feb 2018... On their brand new Seaside...

Also, MSC offers a program a matches the loyalty from other brands, so that is really nice. I'll most likely start with MSC on a Silver level.

That being said, I'm used to dine whenever I want, select dining, freestyle, or any other names that the competition calls it. But looks like MSC is not offering that option... I think it's time for them to innovate a little and follow the trend on this. People love to have dinner at no specific times. Depending on the ports we are, sometime we decide to have dinner late or a bit earlier if I have a show to attend for example.

I think it's nice to have the choice of early, late or no specific time dinning.

For those of you that previously cruised other liners, how would you rank MSC compared with Carnival, RCCL, NCL and Celebrity.

I'd like to see your comparison for entertainment, cabins, services and food.

I have never cruised MSC yet. I did Carnival, NCL and Celebrity so far.

I loved all the cruiselines I did so far. Some had better services than others, but I truly enjoyed all my cruises no matter what. And I've seen some of the best food in the industry and some of the worse within the same company. Sometime all depends on the ship itself...

I'm looking into cruising the Seaside in Feb 2018...

Have you considered paying the difference to upgrade to the all-inclusive package? On cruises where the Euro is the currency, it's only €9.50pd (+15% if doing it onboard). It would seem to cost only slightly more than buying vouchers and you wouldn't have to worry about what time it was when ordering drinks. Plus, you get gelato from the stations included ;)

That would be a much better idea to upgrade. I agree totally... But I'd like to know the price of that upgrade.

The Seaside comes with the mealtime drink package as a promotion. Anyone know how much it cost to upgrade that to the unlimited drink package?

I also booked the Seaside but for Jan.2018. The price was a little less than the cruise on the Oasis which we are going on right after. Have been cruising X and RCCL mostly and I think we are ready for a change. We also have not cruised on any "Mega" ships so this will be an interesting comparison. We are more excited about the new Seaside than the Oasis. We were matched loyalty class levels By MSC which also lured us into their cruise. Hope we enjoy MSC as it might be a great alternative. Was a little disapointed in their new private island not being completed but it could be a reason to possibly book a future cruise with MSC.

I love X.... Been with them 2 times now and really loved the amenities and extra services we were getting. That being said, cruising with Celebrity was fine for my wife and I only. Now we're looking into our first cruise with the kids. So we need something not expensive and great for kids. Celebrity ships are more for couples than family. So I'm looking into Carnival, NCL, RCCL or MSC.

So far, only Carnival and MSC seems to be affordable for our Feb 2018 week...For some reasons NCL is expensive on that week. RCCL Oasis & Allure have similar price compared to MSC, but a lower category cabin and no-amenities included. MSC has the drink vouchers included and dinner time wine package.

Everything is leading us to MSC Seaside right now...

Anyone looking at cruising on the Seaside in Feb 2018?

I'm closely looking at this. But I'm puzzled. We were first looking into a Carnival cruise with the kids, but then I saw this new MSC ship coming up that look really cool for the kids.

It's about 400$ more then the Carnival Conquest cruise I'm looking, but I have drinks included with MSC which I don't have with Carnival.

For the people that did Carnival cruises in the past, how MSC compares with Carnival? I heard the service and food is average at best with MSC. Is that right?

Also, what's your feeling about taking a ship that is very new?

I don't know which are the wines available in the mealtime drink package but it's very limited. I think you have the choice of 2 whites, 2 red and 1 rosé.

Fantastica experience is now 12 drink vouchers per person. Not 18 anymore from what I can see.

So basically I would have free drinks during lunch&dinner hours + 12 vouchers to be used outside those hours.

That's good enough... We just need to be diligent in checking the correct published eat hours to make sure we're not charged. Otherwise need to use a voucher.

Does anyone know a bit more about the MSC mealtime drink package? I understand it includes very limited choice of wine, beers and such at lunch and dinner time. Valid only at dinner time for both the MDR and the buffet.

But what do they mean by "lunch & dinner time"? What are the exact hours where this package is effective? Can I go in the buffet and grab a drink around 5PM as an appetizer drink before I go in the MDR later around 8PM?

Why is Feb so expansive... We're looking into a cruise for end of Feb 2018 but I'm checking the actual Feb 2017 Hotel prices to have an idea. Most hotels are over 300$. That's very expansive!

What is your suggestion for a FLL airport hotel pre-cruise? Something cheap that would include airport shuttle and breakfast maybe. That would be great. Then on the cruise morning we take a Uber to the port.

What is your thoughts about that? I'm looking into a Carnival Breeze cruise for Feb 2018 and will arrive the day before the cruise (on Saturday). Should I check hotels near the IAH airport or something close to the pier in Galveston?

What is your experience here. It will be a first time leaving from Galveston for us. I always took cruises from Florida east coast ports.

Which car service are you guys using normally from IAH to Galveston port?

I'm closely looking at a cruise on the Carnival Breeze from Galveston. I would probably arrive the day before and stay in hotel close to airport and then take a car service on the cruise morning.

Thanks... i'll go ahead and reserve ahead of time

What is your expérience with Mr Sanchos while multiple ships are in Town. We are there at the same time the harmony on the seas. Im affraid there will be lots of people at Sanchos. Several ships arrives in port before us.

Simple answer... NO. With the Classic Package, any drink priced above the package is full price. The upgrade option you mention is available only on the Premium package.

Ok thanks Rick

We took pool towels , wine and snacks and made ur own picnic

That's exactly what we'll be doing!

Going on the Eclipse next week. I have the classic drink package. Can I get better wines and just pay the wine-by-the-glass difference?

Example, if the wine I want to try is 14$ can I just pay the 5$ difference?