MANDMTRAVEL

Will I find Risotto at any of the buffets?

We did not have enough time. It was only Old San Juan this trip for us, by choice.

I figured. Thanks!

We were just in San Juan last week on the Freedom of the Seas from 7am - 2pm (all aboard was at 1:30). We are a married couple in our 30s with two children (ages 9 and 6). We got off the boat and walked to the fort (Castillo de San Cristobal) and then after the fort walked back down towards the ship and did some shopping along the way. We stopped to eat at Casa Cortes Choco Bar.

Hi, did the kids like it? I will be there for a short time as well and do not want to leave the Old San Juan area. I am afraid we won't be back on time.

Just wondering how did it go? Are the assigned times enforced?

Very informative. Thanks for posting!!!!

Part 2:

 

A few thoughts I omitted to add from the first day on board.

 

VIP Photo Package:

 

I pre purchased the VIP Photo Package. In my opinion it is well worth the $99. Any photo was included in this package as long as someone in our cabin was in the photo. Embarkation and photos with the Captain were also included. On the day we boarded, we went to the Photo Shop to pick up the VIP photo card and learned more about how to use this package. With this package you also get 60% off any photos you may want to purchase while on board.

Fair warning, my daughter became a little diva model and was getting her photo taken when ever possible. 😂 I just needed to hand the photographer my ship card and the photo was added. The photographers took beautiful photos! The photographers are good about remembering to remove the blue wristbands. 😊

 

Again, I don't understand why the wristband did not work with this photo package, but it was no big deal to hand them my ship card.

 

I down loaded the photos from each day to my IPhone, while on board. It was quick and easy. There is an option to edit the photos to remove boarders on the photos you wish. There are also various photos of and around the ship included.

 

Don't wait until the last day to go to the photo shop to look at photos. It is a mad house! 😆 You just give them your cabin number and they hand you a big stack of photos to look through.

 

On Italian Night in the dining room was the only night photographers took photos in the dining room, which was nice. I find it a little disruptive on other cruise lines when they would always want to take photos at dinner.

They took a group photo then individual photos of each one at the table. Of course, we were dining with our family of six, so this was nice.

 

If you have the Aurea Experience, you get a complimentary printed photo from Italian night. Just head to the Photo Shop and they will help you select your photo and print them for you. We were able to choose two complementary photos.

 

The Seaside Dining Room:

 

With the Aurea Experience there is a separate entrance into the dining room. It is just to the left of the main entrance. We did have to give the hostess one ship card from each cabin in order to be seated. Why they can't use the wristband, I don't know. It was no big deal! I always had my ship card on me.

We never had to wait to be seated and able to request to to be seated with the same wait staff each night.

 

In our Aurea Experience, we received slippers and robes. We also received an oil diffuser that was boxed up to take home. They had one in use sitting on the vanity/desk. Our cabin smelled so good!

 

We also asked our room steward to empty out our mini fridge so we could use it for our own things.

 

Lights/Power in cabin:

 

We tried to use our hotel key from the night before to keep the power on in our room, as suggested. It did not work even though it was the same type of key card. So we just kept my husband's key card in the slot and made sure he took it with him on port days.

 

There are also Do Not Disturd and Make Up Room buttons by the door. These turn on lights outside the door for your room steward to know when to enter the room. Nice touch.

 

Curling Irons, Flat irons and a clothes steamer:

 

These were all packed in our checked luggage and not confiscated.

I found that our checked luggage arrived in a timely manner to our cabin.

 

Bottled Water:

 

We would go to the bars and stock up on the same liter bottles from dinner to use in our room. We also got smaller bottles of water and cans of sodas and put them in the fridge to use whenever. All included with Aurea. We took these bottles of water with us on port days.

 

On disembarkation day, the bars had the liter bottles of water sitting out on the counters ready for anyone who wanted water for their trip home. Again, the water was free with Aurea and the bartender just scanned our bracelets.

 

Language:

Every crew member we talked with knew English well enough. We had no problems with communication.

Was the VIP photo package available at 99.00 onboard? There is a different one now online to pre - purchase for 150.00 Have they increased the price?

Also, I have a couple questions:

Do you recall when were the formal nights?

Did people really dress white on one night?

Do you have to really stick to your boarding time? Mine got just moved back

At Puerto Rico did you go ouside of the Old San Juan Area? .I am not sure if we will have enough time there?

We also booked MSC (our 15th cruise line) because it is different from the Mass Market USA lines. It makes us smile when we see folks complaining the MSC is "European" or "Italian" and attracts an international clientèle. For us, those are all big positives.

 

Not all cruise lines and travel options are for everyone. Folks should analyze their own wants and needs and act accordingly. At one time, DW and I were very big RCI fans (our DD was Diamond by age 15) but now, we would probably put RCI near the bottom of our list of favored cruise lines. Yes, RCI has changed a lot from when we used to enjoy the Sun Viking and Song of America. But we have also changed :). There is very little now emphasized on RCI that we find attractive.

 

Hank

Very well said!

Thank you for the link!

This is great info. Thank you for posting!

I see that the 2nd night is formal night, but did not see when is the 2nd formal night or is there just one?

Did you go to the white party?

Thanks, I was nervous about the cruise after all the initial negative reviews but looked forward every week to new updates from recent cruisers - they made me feel much better as the cruise approached! Hopefully this thread will help someone too :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is helping me too.

We didn't have any vouchers. All the shakes and Sundaes at Venchi were including in their drink package I purchased. It was not the soda package. It was the child's version of our adult deluxe package. Let me tell you, all the items at Venchi on the Seaside are out of this world! I mean superb! This goes from the shakes and sundaes, to the speciality coffees and hot chocolate. You must try the Grey Goose shaved chocolate martinis at Venchi. The best drinks in the history of our cruising career.

OMG, I am sooo exited. I will try it for sure. I can't wait!!!! Thanks!!!!!

They loved it!! The love to swim and slide so the pools and slides, especially the jungle pool was a hit! They did the zipline, we bowled, played air hockey, we did the thrill theatre a few times. We watched movies on the deck at night and did some great shore excursions. We shot hoops. They danced around in the atrium during the shows and the white party. They had the kids drink package so they had tons of gelatos and shakes at Venchi. We loved Michael Jackson's "Timeless" show! What's not to love?! Tips are to use what is offered and do all the above as we did!

 

My kids did NOT attend the kids club because that is not their thing and enjoy staying busy with us. The kids club had a lot of different languages being spoken. It looked like fun but my kids don't use it nor have they ever on any ship so take that one with a grain of salt.

Thanks for the reply. Are shakes included on their drink package? We have the fantastica experience vouchers

Was the 99.00 price for the Seaside?

We had no problem getting my wife a passport for our trip. Brought her Birth Certificate, DL, etc. to the local post office, took 10 minutes to swear her in, and then we received the passport in 2.5 weeks. No expedite fee or anything.

Too late for that

Hi, My USA passport is expired and wondering if I can travel with my driver license and citizenship certificate (not born on the USA) what I have is a Naturalized Certificate, which I had used without any problems on RCCL and Norwegian out of Port of Miami. I called MSC and they can not confirm, because on their website it states that you can with your birth certificate but does not specify about Naturalized Citizens.

Anyone has any experience on this with MSC?

Thanks in advance!!!

I’m so disappointed that most of the pics won’t show up on my ipad. Not sure why.

 

Do you know what the prices and packages for internet are on board?

I am on a Desktop computer and can not see the pictures either. :(:(:(

My kids did not like the kids club that well but loved the ship except for the shows. The kids club was a little less organized and structured as Royal. Maybe it was the staff? They hated the shows

Good to know. Thanks!

We sailed our first MSC cruise on the Seaside in April. I'm 42, wife 38 ....kids 10 and 8. We've sailed Carnival, Royal, NCL, Holland, and Princess as well. The Seaside was absolutely wonderful in every way especially the price. Food was excellent in the buffets and MDR. Shows are super impressive, best at sea. The ship is very elegant yet very fun. Service is way above Carnival, Royal, or NCL .... It is too classy to have a Carnival vibe that is for sure. It is more laid back comparatively. The passengers were only about 20% American when we sailed with most being from Europe and South America. You know what, it made no difference as everyone was friendly, well behaved, and there to have fun. I don't want to be that guy that says it was a better classier group of passengers then you'd find on Carnival, or NCL but they were. I have not sailed Celebrity but I can tell you that the MSC Seaside was much more fun and less stuffy then our Holland and Princess cruises. We were apprehensive about MSC but it turned out to be one of our best cruises ever. Give them a try at least once. It is a multicultural experience and just all around nice.

Nice to hear, your opinion about this. We will be sailing soon with our 11 and 9 yrs old kids. Did your kids like it as much as you did? We love Royal, but we are saving soooo much money on this one! If you have any tips I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for posting. What are the dinner times?

They won’t change it after final payment.

This is exactly what they told me. I just called :(

Just wondering what happens if prices change after final payment? Can I still request an upgrade?

Thanks in advance.

I know that As per their rules and regulations is not allowed. My question is if it is really enforced or its not as in other Cruise Lines, where they would not care about this.