Review of our time on the Seaside 31st March to 14th April

This has evolved into a lot longer review than I first intended, but we felt we had benefited hugely from the posts and reviews on here so should therefore share our experience. I have tried to write it in sections so it can be used a bit like a pick and mix or ignored completely, the choice is yours.

To give a little context, as my user name suggest it is my first Caribbean cruise, however I have been on cruises in Europe before and my wife has been on many Caribbean cruises and ones in Europe too with many different cruise lines,however this was the first with MSC for the both of us. We would also consider ourselves well traveled and have definitely experience the good, the bad and the indifferent when it comes to holidays in various parts of the world. We travelled from the UK for this two week cruise which left Miami on from the 31st of March and we disembarked on the 14th of April to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversaryas a party of two. I’m am 36 and my wife is 29.

We booked an inside Bella cabin and were fortunate to be upgraded a few moths before travelling and were given cabin 10065 which is a Fantasia balcony but we still have the Bella experience. (When we booked a year ago our ta did not tell us what the experiences were or even that they existed so went on price thinking that other than the cabin type everything else was the same. I should have done more research myself, but once we did after we had booked we realised we just needed to buy the deluxe drinks package and that has given us the main perks we were after anyway). Something else that may be worth others considering is, we are away

celebrating our wedding anniversary, so we wanted a table for two in the dining room and as Bella experience guest we figured we probably would not get that but thought it may be worth sending a request via the contact part of the website. We did this and although received no reply when we boarded the ship we went straight to the restaurant to check out what type of table we were allocated and the M.D. showed us that we had been allocated a table for two. This could just be a coincidence or it may have helped when they made the allocation. So if that’s also important to you it could be worth a try. I also have to note at no point have I felt the experience level has meant any staff have treated us any differently than anyone else I have come across no examples of when people are made to feel it’s a them and us system.

Again as fore mentioned, we had a Bella booking and after reading lots of posts on here we had concerns before we boarded about where we would be dining. We were assigned the Ipanema restaurant and soon realised that all passengers are now in the two MDR’s and the market place buffet is no longer being used as an overflow dining room as there are three sittings in each dining room instead and the whole of the market place is now used for diner and the also the Biscayne bay is used for pizza and snacks from 9:30 onwards.

Our cabin 10065

Obviously we got more than we paid for so that will provide a positive slant but I will to be as critical as would be fair. The room it self was well appointed and we personal liked the decor. Storage was on the tighter side, but adequate for use. We are not light packers and bought be enough clothes including formal outfits for two weeks. We managed to store all our clothes in the wardrobe (we needed extra hangers) and used all draws and shelves available. Access to the bottom of stage wardrobe where we stored our shows as a challenge at times as it was very close to the sofa. I could see if you 4 or more in a room of this side for two weeks that may be a problem, however we did not have to use our suit cases for storage under the bed so I suppose that could be an option. We enjoyed our balcony and found the bed very comfortable and temperature controls very good. Our room steward introduced him self on the first day and was very good. He always restocked our mini bar (he explain even though we had the premium package we just had to fill in a order slip each day with what we wanted and could show that so he could replace it, he assured us we would not be charged and he was correct.) the buttons by the door, DND and please make up my room made life very easy and he looked after us really well. He learnt our routine quickly and things were always done with out us having to ask for anything. We did not see him everyday,but on the odd occasion when we needed anything extra he was always easy to find and happy to oblige.

Main dining room

We enjoyed our time in the MDR ate there every night we were not at a specialist restaurant and on the whole enjoyed the food. We thought every main course were delicious and very well cooked. The chefs recommendations seemed to tend to be the highlights. (On a two week cruise the menus do repeat but had enough choice (or a particular favourite that this was not a problem. I would have to say the appetisers and deserts were a bit more hit and miss. Not that anywhere badly cooked just some less impressive than others. We tended to find the more traditional ones to be better. Our waiter was efficient and polite but did not spend a lot of time with us (this did not bother us at all as we prefer it this ways but others may not like that) he did with other groups though. Our assistant waiter was excellent and always had our preferred bottle of red - Oberon - and a bottle of water ready for us each night. All in all we enjoyed our experience in the MDR and found it took between an hour an a hour and 15 minutes each night.

Buffet.

These we thought were excellent. We used both and enjoyed both for breakfast and lunch every day. Lunch in particular we thought was a highlight with a good range of choice and produce even over 14 days) the food always tasted very fresh and well cooked. The pasta and pizza were particularly highlights. Due to there being two buffets it really spread the load and rarely felt very busy. Saturday am and before grand Cayman were the two exceptions I could think of but even then if we had used the one on 16 on those days we would not have thought this. We did not eat at the buffet late at night as had late dining in the restaurant so can not comment on that.

Specialist restaurants

We also pre purchased the trio dining experience (Pan Asia, butchers cut and oceans Cay) and we have thought the food has been excellent. We had questioned if it would be worth the extra, but definitely feel it is well worth it. The service, surroundings and food have all been great. The choice you get with the dinning experience we thought was very good and a lot better value than the a la Carte menu. We enjoyed them so much we ate again in the Pan Asian restaurant on the final night paying for the dining experience meal at €35 pp plus 15% service charge and again we throughly enjoyed it. Also we have been able to use our premium drinks package at the cocktail bar by the restaurants and for wine and coffee in the restaurants themselves with no issues as all. In fact each time as we have wanted a particular red wine (which our packages says we can have by the glass) they have just given us bottle on the table and came round to top us up as required. (It was the same in the ocean cay restaurant with an ice bucket with the white wine).

MSC for me app

Fantastic piece of technology and worked perfectly and made life so easy. A tip that may be useful when we had our short wait to embark in Miami we were able to access the app and book our shows and speciality restaurants even before we had boarded. You could get information for everything you could need via the app, including the menus for the evening, any special offers, information on the upcoming ports and daily planners. You could also check you bill and use it to locate areas on the ship. You don’t need the internet package to use it either and if you prefer there are loads of touch screens around the ship that have the same functionality. I also purchased the €5 wrist band which replace your cruise card for payment and cabin entry whilst onboard. I found it great during the day when yo7 may be in and out of the pools etc.

Embarkation and disembarkation

Both very straight forward and timely. We arrived at the terminal just after 11 and ere on the ship by midday (our official check in time was 4pm, but that does not matter you can attire when ever) it was well organised and went very smoothly. Our cabin was ready by 2pm and our bags arrived before we returned at half 5.

Disembarkation and embarkation imports of cool again were very efficient and generally were within 10 to 15 minutes. The exception was Grand Cayman was a tender and took about 45 minutes and just a little less to get back on board. (I felt it was fairly well organised, however this was one time the size of the ship and therefore the number of passenger had an impact.)

Our final disembarkation was very smooth and we were out and in a Uber on the way to the airport within 35 minutes at 9:30am

Elevators

Disclaimer. We like to walk so we took the stair a lot so we are probably not the best to judge but when we did use them we never seem to wait long and did not find them an issue. However as previously stated we did use the stairs a lot (our attempt to work off some of the abundance of food we ate) so may not seen the at there worse. I counted 18 elevators and did not see any out of action or propel looking too fed up near them. If you wanted one as you left the theatre at the end of the show, I would imagine the banks near the theatres would be very busy.

Sun beds

We managed to got sun beds every day without any issues just coming out after breakfast about 9:30am each day including on sea-days. The ones near the pools go quickly but there are lots more on the sides down 8 and up on 19 opposite the Aurea area. However I can see that on sea days I could see how you may struggle if you are a latter riser and want lots together or a particular spot. As lot are used or reserved by then. In fairness the majority are being used and not just being saved, although I definitely have seen cases where they have been saved all day and used for less than an hour all day.

Internet

We had pre-purchased the streamer cruise pass (3000mb) for up to four devices while that was still available online and wondered how that would work with them changing the packages by the time we set sail. When we log in for the first time it showed they had given us the top package 10gb and use on up-to four devices. We had no issues using it all cruise (two weeks) and found the connection very reliable and quick. We had a couple of mishaps with it that if we had a smaller package would have been an issue. The first was I hadn’t initially turned off all the auto updates and photo to the cloud etc and it led to my phone using 600mb in less than 10 minutes. This was my fault as they gave instructions about how to turn them off but thought I knew better. The second was whilst on board I was trying to convince my wife to go to sting ray city I found a video on you tube and showed her the 3 and a half minute video when I realised it was in 4K and used over 4gb of our data allowance. (To make it worse I still did not manage to convince her about swimming with sting rays) Even with both these errors we still had some left as we disembarked on Saturday and we used it a fair amount.

Smell

There were no unpleasant smells.

Pools and hot tubs

They were fairly busy but you could always get in the pools, as they are deeper people can’t just stand in them or drink so you can find room to cool off. There is hot tub on deck 19 non Aurea side that generally was not that busy and on quite a few occasions we had it on our own for quite a while. We found the temperature of both to be good. Pools nicely cool and the hot tubs not too hot bearing in mind it was near 90 degrees each day.

Bars

We purchased the premium drinks package and for us it was well worth the money. We loved the chance to choose anything we fancied and having it prepaid. We found the service in all the bars to be very good and never saw preferential treatment to anyone. If you went to certain bars at certain times they could be busy and I can see why people may find it takes longer to get served, like the Miami beech bar on a sea day, however they were always well staffed and often like in the case of the Miami beech bar opened up some temporary bars around the pool to help ease the pressure. However our favourite day bars were the Miramar bar ( right above the Miami beech bar over looking the pool) and this never felt busy and I was always served quickly. We were also a fans of the sports bar, Champaign bar and for venci cafe and sea view lounge. (there was always somewhere to suit what ever mood you were in)

The ship it self

It is truly stunning. So impressive throughout and we personally saw the maintenance teams working hard, daily on keeping it looking as amazing as it does and the caption and other senior officers doing the rounds and checking standards. We had 5200 on board on our first week and just over 5000 on the second (there were a lot more children on the first week at second) and both weeks it never felt to crowded and it was hard to believe their were that many people on board. Th cleaver layout of the ship really spreads people across all areas day and night. I am not going to say it is impossible to find a busy pool or bar, but I general there was always an alternative that was less busy. We really enjoyed the facilities on board and loved the range of bars and lounges available at night with such an array of entertainment going on. The atrium was always a great central point on the evenings and the white party on deck 16 was popular.

Entertainment

We count ourselves quite fussy on entertainment and were very pleasantly surprised. Over the two weeks we saw all the show in the main theatre and have to say we enjoyed them all and some we thought were really excellent. It is a very talented cast with such a wide range to skills. The shows were a little eclectic and didn’t really have string story lines, but the level of talent ensured they were all enjoyable, (man6 of which received a standing ovation at the end. We found the cruise director to be very witty and personable and other entertainment staff around the ship offered a wide variety of options that we were never board over the two weeks. I have to say we personally really enjoy the beer prov show. I can see how it may not be to everyone’s taste (very whose line is it anyway) but we felt they kept it fresh and made us laugh a lot. We also tried the zip line and 5d cinema and thought they were fun.

Overall

I had high expectations for this cruise (and some concerns due to some of the early reviews) however the high expectations were exceeded we were thoroughly entertained, well looked after by all staff and made to feel valued (even being Bella and not hatch club, believe it or not). We enjoyed our food and all the variety of drinks that were on offer as well as experience wonderful ports on the way. Everything was not absolutely perfect, I think the search for perfection is fun, but it always has and probably always will never be achieve. However all the important times things were right and we both agreed it has been our favourite ever cruise and as a holiday (vacation) of any kind, second only to our honeymoon. I would have no hesitations (and will do so) in recommending this ship and company to others.

Obviously you can’t please all the people all the time, as everyone if different (that’s what’s make life fun) but for us it provided us with a fantastic, fun and memorable two weeks.

Apologies for the length of this review, I just wanted to provide as much detail as possible and if you have any other questions I can help with I would’ve more than happy to answer them

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A wonderful review that gave an excellent insight into what you purchased as far as drink package and wifi and how it worked out for you. You seemed to have a happy honeymoon cruise and was happy with your upgrade. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Thank you for the thorough, well thought out and organized review! I think you will answer a lot of people’s questions and concerns. Everything you said is consistent with our experience, with the qualifier that we were in YC.

You did forget to address a very critical point however............

Was there butter available at meals?! [emoji6]

(For those that missed it, find the “buttergate” thread. And yes there is butter.)

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I knew I would forget something. I did chuckle each night when there was both butter and lurpack on the tables and remembering the multi page thread.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I always love to read a longer review. I know many will appreciate your insight regarding the Bella experience and that you don’t have to be in YC to enjoy MSC.

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Great review ! Did you try the water slides or the zip line ?

Excellent review..... We had a similar experience. We cruised the week of 3/24. Wish it had been 2 weeks like yours!!

Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading it.

Did you, by chance, go to the casino?

Thanks for the review.

I️ also have an inside Bella for next January. I’m interested on how you got an upgrade. Is there anything you suggest I️ try? Also, very nice and encouraging review.

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Thank you for the review!

Great review ! Did you try the water slides or the zip line ?

We did try both the slides and zip line and they were good fun. We did them on non sea days when we returned to the ship and the lines were very short.

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Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading it.

 

 

 

Did you, by chance, go to the casino?

We often had a drink in their pre show and enjoyed the atmosphere and buzz going on but didn’t take part so can’t give an informed comment on that side, sorry.

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I️ also have an inside Bella for next January. I’m interested on how you got an upgrade. Is there anything you suggest I️ try? Also, very nice and encouraging review.

 

 

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To be honest I think we may have just got lucky. We did mention to our TA that it was our anniversary and they said they would make a note on our booking (not sure if they did), so that could have helped, but can’t be sure.

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Hi P ... Good to see you have added the review here from your FB post ... :D just over a week now and we will be on Seaside sailing number 2.

Hi P ... Good to see you have added the review here from your FB post ... :D just over a week now and we will be on Seaside sailing number 2.

Yes, I never know If the same people use both, like we obviously do, or it has different users. I thought I would cover all bases as I got information from both places.

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Enjoyed your very well written review, thanks much!