javaguru

How does one find this TA with the discount?

The large buffet was open for dinner, the smaller one was not, but was open later. They are both free, except for sodas, alcohol.

Our daughter said the 3D printer was broken during our cruise (March 3-10). I think they got it fixed, but to her understanding it could only be used once.

Great review

We disembarked Seaside yesterday and my husband I both had our surveys today.

We disembarked Saturday and had the email on Sunday

DCGuy64

The guy in the thong during the dinner seating was MSC's fault because they allowed him into the MDR. On another cruise line I am certain he would have been sent back to his cabin to put on something more appropriate. I have seen people sent back to change when wearing shorts and t-shirts.

For the steak, to me a steak that is not to my liking is bad. I didn't say the steak was spoiled or rotten, I said bad. It was tough and had no taste. To me, that is bad.

I have no problem reconciling people having different experiences, we all have different nasal sensitivities. Maybe my nose is not as sensitive as others. I noticed the smell on the first day and not other than that. My wife experienced the same thing.

DCGuy64, good point on the towels, but my experience was there were none. We did go up on deck 16 but never saw towels. We didn't use the pool there. Past experiences on other cruises was towels were available at every pool. If I am at the South Beach pool, I have to go up to deck 16 to get a towel. To me that makes no sense. If they are choosing to do that it would probably be beneficial to put up a sign that towels are available on deck 16. That's my opinion though. My guess on the food is that people have different standards. I did see a beef roast at the buffet and tried it - the beef that was there when I tried it was cooked through - totally well done and tough. I would never call it prime rib and did not take a bite beyond my first. However, maybe the person who posted it got the beef at a different time.

In the MDR, my prime rib was not cooked properly and had no flavor. In the MDR, I ordered the NY Strip 3 times. Once for lunch and twice for dinner. I ordered it rare twice and VERY rare once. The rare orders were cooked medium. Not a big deal to me. All three times the meat was tough and not flavorful. Maybe I just happened to get the only three bad steaks on the ship, but I doubt it. I did my homework and wasn't really surprised by anything encountered except the guy in the thong in the MDR. I think it is very fair to write a review of ones experience on one cruise. That's why CC is here. The more reviews the better. If a cruise line has a problem, people can see it in an open and honest forum. What I don't understand is people complaining about people writing reviews of their experience.

Status match - MSC will status match reward status to other cruise lines and hotels. This can get you a discount on your cruise and some other benefits. Do a little research before you try to get the highest level MSC status possible. For example a platinum level at one hotel might get you a Gold or Silver status match while a level at another hotel chain might get you black (MSC's highest level)

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Loyalty-Match-Program.aspx

2) oversold overcrowded ship with bad elevator availability still the feeling on the ship.....

March 3-10 sailing, some elevators were out of service at times. I never felt like getting an elevator was any big issue - there were wait times during peak hours like we would have seen on past cruises with other ships

3) is the classics menu still limited to only 3-4 days ie: if you don’t like the regular menu you have no choice as they will not make a steak or chicken for you on any night you don’t like menu.

Yes, they don't offer it on Italian night and I thin Elegant night.

4) has sewage smell been resolved?

We smelled it on embarkation day - again not a big issue for us, just an unpleasant waft here and there as we were exploring the ship

Our experience was the wait staff would not ask for options. For example if you order cheesecake, you can get it with fruit compote, caramel or chocolate topping. The wait staff would just take the order for cheesecake and pick some random topping - be sure to specify what you want.

If you have the Thermal spa access, there is a small quiet section outside with lounge chairs and a hot tub to get away from the pool crowds.

The Seaside platter in the Champagne bar - Lobster, scallops, mussels, snow crab, gulf shrimp, langoustines, clams...very good. They ran a 20% off special a couple of nights.

On deck 5 in the Atrium they have a question box for Captain Massa. Write a question and he will respond in writing - will be dropped off in your cabin.

Each morning they have a morning show on TV and ask a question. In the billiard room they have forms and a drop box to put the answers in. The first few days of the cruise, only a few people answered so they gave a gift to all of them. We wound up winning 5 days. Our daughter loved waiting to see what would show up at night. It's just trinkets, but it was a blast for her, and to hear our name called out on the morning show.

Java ... The answer is Yes, I do believe that there are people posting comments here that are not entirely true, that is not to say that you are one of them. On another thread at least two people were asked for cabin numbers of where the posters claimed that there was a smell in the cabin, non was forthcoming, ask yourself why ?

Had they been provided to the people asking the question I at least would have been able to ask if a friend in the house keeping department could check it out.

 

As I believe Islandcruso posted, not everyone is complaining of the same kind of smell as some people have tried to make out, and to be fair many people are unsure of what they have smelled which may have been paint, varnish, thinners or other cleaning products being used in certain areas of the ship.

Sewage and rotting materials or anything burnt and chemicals have their own smell which is quite different to the other items I have listed, most people will not have come into contact with the latter.

Why would someone go to the effort? I can see why people wouldn't want to report their cabin number for privacy reasons. As far as smells, we encountered it only on embarkation day and it seemed to be in various areas around the ship and I would certainly describe it as a sewer type smell. It wasn't a huge deal for us, but different people have different sensitivities. As pervasive as it is, if MSC wants to track it down, I don't think they would have a lot of difficulty. I saw on one post where they had found a problem and corrected it, but there are apparently more. Sorry, but I just don't believe that people would post made-up issues.

The number of complaints on these boards are miniscule compared to the numbers who cruise on any given cruise ship, sadly there are people who go looking for trouble and are the kind of people to find it.

Of the small number of complainers on this one MSC board it appears that not very many actually took the issue of any kind of smell up with any of the senior officers on the Seaside! but then come here to complain about it.

Really? We have never had complaints about a cruise before. We didn't go looking for issues. Plenty of people experience the same issues and don't bother to post about it. I don't understand why people like you complain if anyone post about issues. We are trying to help people as they decide what cruise/company to choose.

Bea ... The trouble is, that it is hard just now to decide who to believe and who not to believe!

It shouldn't be an issue of who to believe and who no to believe? Do you really think people are just coming on and posting things that are not true? This review was our experience. I didn't make anything up. People have reported that I was incorrect about the pool towels. Apparently on dec 16, there are towels. We didn't happen to use that pool. Food quality is obviously very subjective. For us, the food was sub-par. The experience in the dining room was different for everyone. We could see some sections had reasonable service. Our section did not on some of the nights. When our waiter had fewer tables to service, things were faster. My bigger concern is the lack of management. They are well aware they have issues in the dining room, yet there weren't managers walking around (at least in our sight) and asking to see where the problems were.

Java garu said this comment. “ At the cruise critic meet n' mingle, we did speak to the head of F&B and he noted our concerns and expressed that they are working towards better service.”

Isn’t the meet and mingle fairly early in a cruise? That means they made their mind up about the MDR and food real quick. That bothers me.

The meet n mingle was day 3. Our first two dining experiences took 2 1/2 hours. I don't believe we reported issues with the food at that time.

I hope you all did not pay the Service Charge, otherwise MSC will think they've done a great job. In Europe we only tip if the cruise was a succes.

We paid the service charge and tipped our waiter and room steward extra. The issues were MSC issues, not theirs.

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Well said BermudaBound2014! It is surprising how offended people get by other people who experienced issues. We were not surprised by the pool towels and it really did not matter to us, just pointing it out for the benefit of future cruisers. I would not say our kids club comments were particularly subjective....from the top down, the majority of the kids club staff seemed to not be a great fit for kids club. I am fairly sure they would have much rather been elsewhere. The MDR experience was really varied depending on ones section/wait staff. I am sure plenty people on our cruise had a great experience and plenty did not have such a great experience. It is clear that MSC knows they have problems and are working to correct them.

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So it seems that no one on here likes negative reviews of the Seaside, especially travel agents. This is just a review of our experience, though at every meal where we shared a table with others, our dining companions seemed to have similar experiences. We are not complainers and have never posted a negative review of a cruise prior to this one. We had a nice cruise and overall enjoyed it. It wasn't "ruined" by MSC or Seaside, but we did come away certain that we will not cruise MSC again. It may just be growing pains, or something they will fix, but we have been on too many cruises with a much better experience to take another MSC cruise. We did sit with some folks who had been on Divina and they said the cruise on Divina was 100% better than Seaside. They are aware they have issues and say they are working to correct them. At the CruiseCritic meet n mingle, which was very nice, Cruise Director Andre asked for people to post positive reviews. So, I assume you will see a flurry of positive reviews. He also asked for feedback on our cruise, which we provided.

Tip: Each morning they have a morning show on TV and ask a question. In the billiard room they have forms and a drop box to put the answers in. The first few days of the cruise, only a few people answered so they gave a gift to all of them. We wound up winning 5 days. Our daughter loved waiting to see what would show up at night. It's just trinkets, but it was a blast for her, and to hear our name called out on the morning show.

Pros:

Captain Massa. Very friendly and approachable. He obviously wants his passengers to have an excellent experience He changed our itinerary to avoid Nassau due to high seas. I thanked him for changing course and he showed us a photo from the captain of a Carnival cruise ship that went to Nassau sent him and we were so glad we were not in that mess! On deck 5 they have a box to ask Captain Massa questions. On embarkation we had our daughter pop a question in and he hand write and answer back to her - big thrill for her.

Beautiful ship.

Parking at the port was quick and easy.

Our cabin steward was wonderful.

The shows were excellent but had repetitive items. Costumes and choreography were wonderful. The repetitive items were things like a pole dancer, some acrobats, magic act, etc. They seem to have a very talented group and I think they could do a better show without the repetition. The one I didn't mind repeating was the Samba dancers...they were a highlight. We saw the premiere of the "Dream" show on this cruise. It was really well done.

Thermal spa and massage.

The Seaside platter in the Champagne bar - Lobster, scallops, mussels, snow crab, gulf shrimp, langoustines, clams...very good. They ran a 20% off special a couple of nights.

Internet worked well.

MSC app is great, though it would be nice if they had the weeks menu's available as well as breakfast/lunch menus.

Cabin size: We were happy with the cabin size. The shower was a bit small, but overall very pleased.

Our daughter loved the croissant - I think she ate four on debarkation.

Cons (not in any particular order):

No towels on the pool decks. Towels are in your room, and are replaced by the room steward as needed. Not different from other cruises, but still a negative - people putting their pool towels out on the deck chairs at 6:00 AM to hog them all day, whether they are using them or not. Staff should periodically go by and clear them.

Nassau port was skipped, but port fees have not been refunded.

No bar service in the theatre.

Kids club: the staff (with a couple of exceptions) appeared to have no care for the kids, and little interaction with the kids Very little in the way of organized activities.

We went to borrow a board game from the arcade and were told the games were all Italian except one and there is a $30 charge if you bring it back late (2 hours)

There was a creaking noise in our cabin. It really didn't have a huge impact on our stay - just noting it.

No seafood on the buffet except for marinated herring in the morning.

One lady at our breakfast seating in the MDR ordered french toast and was brought bagels. She explained that she ordered french toast and the waiter made her take the bagels, though he did go get her the french toast.

Pool: One warning to parents - the pool has safety guards, but that is clearly not their only responsibility, they squeegee the decks and put away chairs. Do not expect them to have "eyes on the pool". A couple of the pools were empty and closed from time to time...not sure why. One family had a baby in diaper in one of the hot tubs for the forest pool. The safety guard said nothing. Gross.

Food: The food was mediocre. We ate all of our meals in the MDR. We went on a behind the scenes ships tour and saw a lot of pre-packaged items in the ships store. The prime rib was awful....the outside was totally overcooked and dry and no prime rib taste. The chicken marsala was dry - way overcooked, it was served with no mushrooms and no marsala wine taste. The cheesecake was served twice with frozen berries in the compote. Most of the desserts were a variety of sponge cake. Breakfast and lunches were repetitive. On the ships tour we saw them baking the bread. I really would have guessed they bought it all in Miami for the entire cruise, it as always served cold....very odd. The ceviche had no citrus taste. The gazpacho had little taste. The NY Strip steak was not good. I would be surprised if they are not using USDA Select grade instead of Choice. Obviously food is subject to the opinion of the person eating. There are lots of positive and negative reviews of food on Seaside. We stopped by the buffets a couple of times and tried the pizza. My only comments about the buffets are they seemed to have a much smaller variety than other ships, and there were odd times when both buffets were closed, for example 4:00 on port days, you come back to the ship and expect to grab a bite and there are no food options...well, gelato I guess!

MDR experience: There is something wrong in the MDR. Our first night the service was outrageously slow, we asked for butter and received it about 20-30 minutes later. Drinks other than water always took a long time (20 minutes or so). The service took about 2 1/2 hours. It got better on other nights when fewer people did not show up. Other tables in our area were served fairly quickly, because their waiters did not have as many tables as ours did. It was clear from watching that it wasn't a problem with our waiter, but he was just overloaded with people to serve. Out of breakfast, lunch and inner in the MDR for all the meals, a manager only showed up once to ask how everything was. The "asK' was a drive-by. He just asked as he continued walking by. It was obvious he did not want to know if there were issues. At the cruise critic meet n' mingle, we did speak to the head of F&B and he noted our concerns and expressed that they are working towards better service. The dress code is not enforced. Either drop the dress code or send people in shorts and T-shirts back to their room or to the buffet. One guy at a table near us was in drag a couple of nights with a vinyl outfit and fishnet stockings that had basically a t-back. I have no interest in dining while I have to look at some guys fat naked butt. Hopefully he did not leave anything behind on the seat.

Drink & coffee coupons: The way they have implemented it is ridiculous. The staff all give different answers on what it does and does not include. Having to use the coupons is also ridiculous. They should just credit your cruise card and let you use it for anything up to $7.50 or whatever their price point is.

Staff: Generally not very enthusiastic and either confused or unwilling to help outside of their area. The lady serving gelato by the South beach pool could have cared less about her job. My wife went to get a hot chocolate at the Venchi coffee bar inside and had to explain to the person fixing it how to make it.

The smell: We only noticed it on embarkation day - it seemed to be all over the ship that day.

Cleanliness: We have not been on a ship where we did not constantly see staff cleaning the elevators, public areas, railings etc...until MSC Seaside. I am not saying the ship was dirty, it just surprised us that we didn't see anyone cleaning. The hand sanitizer was either not working or empty many times when entering the dining areas.

It still shows for us - March 3, 2018 cruise

Exercise increased caution in The Bahamas due to crime.

Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assault is common, even during daylight hours and in tourist areas. U.S. government personnel are not permitted to visit the Sand Trap area in Nassau due to crime. Jet-ski operators are known to commit sexual assaults against tourists, including minors. As a result, U.S. government personnel are not permitted to use jet-ski rentals on New Providence and Paradise Islands.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/the-bahamas-travel-advisory.html

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Sad!

Hope you never have to deal with the realities of this.

Please enjoy your humour and greetings

Lindagop, FYI - I have diabetes. I use a CGM. No animal needed.

TravelinGert and Lindgop, research CGM - DEXCOM Continuous Glucose monitor. It alarms when your blood sugar drops too low or goes too high. It doesn't sleep, doesn't require vet bills, doesn't cause your blood sugar to drop or spike if something happens to it to get you upset and it doesn't drool all over the buffet.

Do they provide robe and slippers a the spa?