psmarkle

9 minutes ago, mafig said:

There doesn't seem to be a lot of beach umbrellas?  If you wanted one could you have gotten one easily?

 

That's a shark, isn't it?  I thought they had shark netting around the beach area.🤔

To me, it looked like a barracuda, but I'm not an expert. 

Hank:

Thank you for your post, I picked up a lot of new info (free umbrellas, locations of bathrooms, etc).  I am on the fence right now about the YC cabanas so I'm soaking up any & all reviews. Wife's main concern is her need for shade as she's very light skinned.  The Italian in me needs the sun.  Did you notice if the umbrellas were plentiful in the YC area or do I need to dive overboard and do a 500m freestyle sprint while holding our gear with my teeth and swim to the beach to "mark our territory" with pool towels and flip flops before the ship finishes docking? LOL 😂

I am seriously enjoying your report so far...with all your excellent pics, I feel like I'm there with you!

3 hours ago, Nashna said:

Those of us sailing in the next few months have been eagerly awaiting information on Ocean Cay and the posters on CC have not disappointed.  I am very grateful for all the great photos and the information they have passed along.  I am truly excited about our two stops in OC in January thanks to all the wonderful, informative posts on CC & FB. 

I second those sentiments!  I am so grateful the first OC "pioneers" took time to enlighten the rest of us...much appreciated!

On 4/24/2018 at 7:21 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

 

Here, here Sid...well said. I reiterate, MSC is conducting tours through the YC in order to cultivate more interest and bookings with those who are planning future cruises. They are doing this with discretion and placing limits on the number of people allowed in the YC. I don’t think I saw more than 1 tour while I was sailing...no problem. I did not hear 1 complaint about this. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the view.

I was drinking coffee  up at the front of the TSL when a behind-the-scenes tour came through.  I was actually delighted to talk to them and explain how much I loved sailing in the YC.

As a general piece of advice, you'll save a lot of $$ by booking directly with vendors vs through the cruise ship. Just research "best excursions for ___(port)____."  We've never been late to the ship as they all know ship departure times.

For Grand Cayman, 7-mile beach is awesome, but does get crowded.  We took a taxi van ($5 or $6per person, I believe) to Royal Palms Beach Club and rented a cabana.  Good food and buckets of beer!

Jamaica has lots of local tours to Dunn's river falls and river tubing vs buying thru the ship.  On the beaches, you will encounter lots of people coming up to try and sell you things.

At Costa Maya, we plan on doing the water park when we stop there in April...looking forward to it!

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Loved the YC area on Ocean Cay!  The clubhouse is spectacular.  The lobster roll was good, but a bit too much mayo for my taste.  Loved seeing all the butlers in their island attire.  Visited with the captain and all the brass from Miami.

Happy:  can you comment on the differences between the oceanview cabanas vs beachfront cabanas?  On the website, there's a $50 difference in price, but I'm more interested in how much farther back from the beach the oceanview cabanas are and if there's more shade with them vs the beachfront.

We love sailing the Seaside in the YC, can't wait to sail her again in April!

Are you able to expound on the difference between the YC Oceanview Cabanas vs the Beachfront Cabanas?  I'm wanting the one with the most shade potential for the fam which has light skin (I'm Italian, so I just soak up that sun LOL).

8 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

 I"ve looked over. Can you cut/paste the photos please? The photo's I've seen of Ocean House look like a regular outdoor restaurant. Seating is outside and covered (very limited inside seating). This is ocean house. Unless I'm missing something it doesn't look over the top to me (maybe it's just our definitions of over the top differ?). When I think of over-the-top I don't think of servers in shorts (which is shown here). Nothing wrong with short, mind you, I just don't consider that atmosphere over-the-top. Have you seen different photos? 

IMOO, I think the poster was referencing the British Colonial era which had outside patio dining (think Kenya, etc), but in a Caribbean flair, perhaps?? Looks inviting to me to be able to go from the beach to lunch and back to the beach...yaassss!!

8 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Sooo excited for y'all  Thanks for posting the pics and menus and letting us follow along on the exploration!

5 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

 

 

Before anyone starts to complain about umbrella's not being offered in YC complimentary (you must rent), my best guess is that MSC will revise this policy (like they revised offering a free buffet at OC). 🙂

Heck, I wish I could rent an umbrella on the Seaside at the YC pool LOL!

Thank u sooo much for asking the questions.  I'm even more excited about OC now!  Did he mention when the actual YC area will open...I have read on these boards that it will sometime next year.

Do you recall if the nightly shows are the same as your first YC cruise or have they changed them, yet?  I enjoy a nightly show, but have seen them 2x now with the only difference being the full Michael Jackson show on Friday night...was only the last 10 mins of the show on our first Seaside cruise.  I remember the first night "Timeless" was a yawner. Just hoping for something new after 2 years.

We have sailed the Seaside in a YC cabin with both 5 people and 4 people and found the pullout couch very workable.  On our first sailing, my 13 yr  old daughter and I crashed on the couch with 19 yr old son on pullman from the ceiling.  DW and DSIL shared the bed when they would come in from shutting down the casino!

Last year's cruise DW and now 14 yr old DD shared the pullout couch with no problems on the size, just the fact you could feel the cross bar in your back.  When we asked for an egg crate mattress topper (like we've done on NCL), they said they didn't have those.  For April's cruise, I'm bringing a memory foam mattress topper...we're driving down, so no need to worry about airline luggage allowances for the topper.

If you play table games, you can very easily have the dealer charge chips to your room account, place a bet or two, and then go to the cashier's cage and cash them in.  We had $600+ in OBC last cruise on the Seaside and had no problem getting chips at the tables to use our OBC (+ this was a winning cruise, so made it even mo' better!).

Looking fwd to your updates on your trip!  Have sailed Seaside 2X with a third booked for April...luv this ship and hope you will as well!  Check out the gelato at Venchi...yum-o!!

We've sailed the Seaside 2 years in a row with 5, then 4 in a cabin (YC class) and had no trouble. We each had enough storage space, placing the suitcases under the beds.  We each got 1/2 a closet and 3 drawers (my wife is an organizer wizard!).

Thank you for your review.  We, too, very much enjoy MSC Seaside...have sailed her twice with a third booked for April!  We are NCL Platinum, but the Haven is literally close to 2X the $$ for the YC on Seaside...yikes!  We have found the service in the YC and all around the ship to be exceptional, but that's just our 2 cruise experience.  And, luv me some of that Venchi gelato!  Put on 7lbs during our cruise at the end of July and am now just getting it off! Does that make me a bad person??? 🤔

Yes, first sea day, 1000, Seaview Lounge.  There will be an attendant at the entrance with a list of all invitees who will check off your name and let you in.  Try a piece (or 3!) of the cake after the Capt cuts it...was seriously good!

Ideally, your butler wants you out of your cabin by 7:30am so they can start the changeover for the next cruise.  They will escort you up to the restaurant or the Topsail Lounge where you can hang out.  From there, as others just posted, latest is around 10am, but prefer you leave by 9am.

2 hours ago, Marine7 said:

psmarkle,

This was one of the best reviews I have ever read. My wife and I have sailed on both Royal and Celebrity mostly in suites and have seen a slow decline in services and perks over the past several years. Have researched MSC Seaside suites YC and like what we have read so far.

Your review has been so positive and informative that we have decided to give MSC Seaside a try.

Thank you for such great attention to details . Your humor made us laugh a lot and brightened our day!

Happy Cruising.

Marine7, you are most welcome!  We are Platinum cruisers on NCL and enjoyed the suites and the Haven; however, the Haven prices have accelerated way beyond our vacation budget!  I do like the room choices of the Haven vs YC, but that's about it.  We find the Seaside YC a much better value with better service and atmosphere.  We will be sailing the Seaside for our third time in a row next year as that's how much we enjoy it!

17 hours ago, seapad said:

Hey psmarkle,

Thanks for such an awesome and detailed review. Did you by any chance tried Venchi? I'm wondering if the Venchi drinks and ice cream are still included with YC, given there has been announcement that it;s going away, yet some cruisers have reported back that they are still getting it. . 

 

Thanks.  

Yes, we stopped by Venchi almost every night, and it was included.  They scanned our wristband and rang it up like a regular passenger, but no charges ever appeared on our bill.

Glad you enjoyed the review, and I hope I presented some useful insights for those considering the Seaside!

If I could get the 2 bedroom Haven suite for the same price as a YC1, I would go for the 2 bedroom for the 4 of us travelling.  We really enjoyed all the space and the ability for DW and DSIL to have their own room since they tend to close down the casino every morning!

However, for the luxury experience, the Yacht Club wins easily, IMO and based on experience in both.  The food, cocktails, butlers everywhere, the Topsail Lounge, and the value appeal to me more than our Haven experience.

Question:  we are sailing Seaside YC (again) in April.  I know there's going to be a YC area on OC...does anyone know if there will be chairs umbrellas avail in this YC area for YC guests free of charge or do you have to rent the YC Cabana ($449 for oceanview, $499 for ocean front) to get in/use this area?

And while I'm going to the well here, what about the food options in the YC beach area?  In the cabana description, it says you get a lunch along with fruit skewers, drinks.  If you don't rent a cabana, do you go to the included buffet in the main area or is lunch also provided in the YC area for non-cabana people, if they even have such a thing (my first question above).

Many thanks in advance for any help on this! Even though this will be our third time on the Seaside, I am excited about the new stop at OC!

18 hours ago, cellfree said:

Cruisergal1208, how did you find out Captain Massa would be moving to the Grandiosa?

Capt Massa told me during the CC Meet N Greet on our Seaside 27 July sailing that he was taking over the Grandiosa this year.