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MSC Seaside Feb 3-10, 2018 - Awesome!


Estjali
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We just came back from the lovely Seaside from the February 3-10 cruise. In short, we had the best experience ever with only minor issues. As many others, I’ll break the review down to topics and several posts. Feel free to ask questions.

 

Background: we’re a couple in our late 30s from Finland. This was our first cruise in a large ship, as our previous cruise experience is limited to ferry rides (max. 3,000 guests) from Helsinki to Sweden and Estonia, a.k.a. the local booze cruises. ;p Hence, we are used to queing in the buffets and bars and had realistic expectations for our MSC cruise.

 

Embarkation: We arrived to Miami early and stayed in a South beach hotel (Room Mate Waldorf Towers) for the first two nights of our trip. On our cruise tickets our check in time was 3pm, but we took an Uber to the port a bit before noon after checking out from our hotel. There were no lines to the security control and we waited for less than a minute for an assistant on the check in desk, there were so many available.

 

We got our cruise cards quickly and were assigned a boarding group 16. We proceeded to the waiting lounge, where they were boarding group 5 at the time. We expected to have to wait for hours, but the groups moved quickly and we ended up boarding within 30 minutes. Some refreshments (water, juice) were served in the lounge. All in all, embarkation was a breeze and we were on the ship faster than I had expected. So far so good.

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Cabin (11068): We stayed in a Fantastica cabin, the angled balcony one facing front. It was on a starboard side of the ship, which enabled nice views to the ports when approaching and leaving.

 

The cabin was very spacious for the two of us, and the extra length due to the position in the angle gave a lot of extra space between the bed and the balcony door.

 

Bed was large and very comfortable and had one of the best pillows I’ve slept with. I slept like a baby on this cruise! :D

 

Wardrobe was big enough for us two, had a lot of hanging space and enough hangers. A few shelfs and drawers were enough to fit all of our clothes in comfortably. The only negative were the doors, which moved awkwardly. There are two sliding doors which, if moved to either side of the closet, were in a way if you wanted to reach one part of the hanging section. Anyways, not a big deal for us.

 

There was plenty of space for our empty luggage under the bed.

 

Bathroom was ok, nothing fancy but just ok. Large mirrors and plenty of storage space for us. The negatives in the bathroom relate to the positioning of the toilet seat and the smallish shower space. You had to sit a bit sideways on a toilet as your knees would hit the closet below the sink if you didn’t. This wasn’t an issue for us either after we got used to it quickly. The shower closet was relatively small, ok for us but may be small for large people.

 

Balcony was larger than I expected, plenty of space (not for loungers though, which we didn’t need there anyways). The balcony had extra space at the expense of the next door normal balcony room, due to the positioning of the dividers. Nice views to the ports and I didn’t feel anyone staring at us although we were angled a bit towards them. Very private feeling. The family in the Aurea suite next to us was very quiet and we heard them use their whirlpool bath only once.

 

All in all, we were very satisfied with the cabin.

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Food/restaurants: Now here’s a thing that surprised me at first; I had requested a table for two for dinner in the MDR a few weeks before our cruise. We were assigned one, but it was in the Market Place Restaurant! I had read before that the buffet on deck 8 would be used as an overflow dinner restaurant for Bella guests, and we had booked the Fantastica experience. I was disappointed at first, but the staff said on the first night that we could change this if we’re not happy.

 

I believe we were seated in Market Place in order to have a table for two. We tried it out and I’m glad we did! We had the nicest service staff, lead by Rony. The dinner setting was very nice with white table cloths and exactly the same food as in other MDRs. We had a lovely table by the window, no one in the adjacent table and in general, the restaurant was quiet as it is divided into several smaller rooms. We were able to dine in peace and talk in the meantime with no noise issues.

 

I would encourage anyone with concerns about Market Place for dinner to calm down, it’s just as good (if not better) as the loud MDRs with a few two-person tables. ;)

 

The food was always good, sometimes excellent with plenty of variety and choises. Also, there was real butter available during the last 3-4 days (referring to the ”butter gate” someone raised earlier). The menu was different each day. Service was always very efficient and fast. We usually did our 3 or 4 course dinners in about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.

 

We considered booking the trio package to specialty restaurants prior to the cruise, but I’m glad I saved that money for other things. I’m sure the food there would have been great, but it was great also in the MDR.

 

Buffet food (breakfast and lunches in both 8th and 16th floors) was ok; more variety on the 8th (Market Place), but the one in the 16th was good enough with plenty to choose from and it was more peaceful. The staff was constantly replacing items and I didn’t notice any empty trays/bowls in the buffet food stands.

 

We visited the upstairs buffet once for dinner, and there was more to eat than just the pizzas, hamburgers and hot dogs as some others have stated. There were also e.g. some pasta dishes and some meat/chicken items to choose from. Still I would obviously prefer the MDR for dinner.

 

Drinks: We got the Classic All Inclusive beverage package for free when we booked and absolutely loved it! We enjoyed a lot of cocktails by the pools and at bars, wines with the dinners etc.

 

I ate a lot of gelato which was great (ask for a large cup instead of the small one!). They also served great shakes etc. which were all included in our package.

 

Also, as others have tipped, the Venchi cafe on deck 6 serves great coffee and if you order the espresso with 3 pralines, you get to choose 3 pralines of your choise! That was also included in the all incl. package and the chocolate was great!

 

You could order full bottles of water and cans of soda/cider or bottles of beer and take to your cabin, the staff usually gave them unopened (unless you asked for a glass). We found this a good way to grab a bottle of water for the port days to bring ashore.

 

The buffet restaurants had table service for drinks (which worked well) and also self-service machines.

 

I didn’t miss anything from the deluxe all incl. menu, the classic has plenty enough options for us.

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Entertainment: We went to see all seven shows in the theatre, i.e. a show each night. They had three daily showings of each, and we booked them all on the first day on one of the screens onboard. Not all did, as there were always a lot of people queuing outside the theathe for free seats before the shows.

 

We found all of the shows to be extremely entertaining, the singers were great, dancers very good and the acrobats very talented. All of the shows received a standing O and people left really satisfied and entertained. I would definitely recommend all the shows, they are different but all very good in their own ways.

 

There were also operetta type of shows and the BeerProv shows each night, which we didn’t try.

 

There seemed to be a lot of entertainment arranged in the Atrium, Haven lounge and other places as well and people seemed to have good time in them.

 

Super Bowl took place during our cruise and it was broadcasted in the Sports bar, Casino, big screen on the top deck and tv’s in the cabins. Booths in the Sports bar sold for $250 for up to four, and $400 for up to eight guests. The prices included some food and drinks and all of the booths were booked. You could watch the game for free in all the other places, including the other screens in the Sports bar.

 

Movies were shown on the large screen on deck 16, didn’t watch any but saw people watching Wonder Woman one night. There were plenty of seats brought out for people.

 

A lot of daytime activity was arranged by the pool on deck 16. People took part actively but no one was forced to participate if they just wanted to enjoy the sun, like we did. :cool:

 

We bought a $50 (+$15 free) Fun Pass. It was loaded on my cruise card (no separate card) and we could both use it. We used the funds for a zip line ride, F1 simulator and XD cinema each, and played some air hockey to use the balance. All of the above were fun and nice to try. The F1 was so hard and I was embarassed to see my girlfriend beat me in racing. :')

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Ship and the amenities: As others have said, the ship is gorgeous with lots of nice details. The atrium and the Swarowski stairs provide a great photo opportunity.

 

The ship is huge and it was nice to be on the largest ship in all the ports we visited. Yes I know there are larger ships out there, but Seaside is big enough.

 

At first the ship seems like a maze and it took some time to get used to. However, we got used to it quickly and didn’t find this to be an issue. I.e. if you want to get to deck 16 pools, we knew not to go to deck 16 with the front elevators, as you could only access the specialty restaurants from there...

 

The pools were great with plenty of loungers around. I didn’t like the fact that people booked their loungers early in the morning with their towels and came around noon. The staff did nothing to prevent this. I was ok with this as I woke up at around 8am and went to read a book and have my morning coffee by the pool. My gf joined me an hour or so later once she woke up. To wrap up, on sea days all the loungers were booked soon after 8am, so be early if you want one!

 

As a proper vacationer, I never visited the gym (although I thought I might if I got bored, which luckily didn’t happen)! :D

 

MSC has done a great job with people flows. There were 5,000 or so guests on board but the ship never felt crowded. There were many places for people to be in, many times for shows and many slots for dinners etc. It was amazing how empty the ship felt at times. There was a lot of privacy if you wanted that.

 

Okay, I’ll add some negative issues to give my review some credibility:

  • Some of the showers by the pool didn’t work properly - they stayed on after people left and gradually flooded the deck. The staff worked with these throughout the week but they still seemed to have issues at the end.
  • The two hot tubs at the aft on deck 16 were out of order during our cruise. Still there were at least 4-5 that were working.
  • The panoramic aft elevators were out of order a couple of times during the week, but they were fixed quickly.

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Ports: It was our first time on a Caribbean cruise so we were excited to visit all the ports of call.

 

After doing some research beforehand, I was least excited about Nassau. We basically walked around the town to see the main sights, visited some shops and the Straw Market and then went to Junkanoo beach. Ok day but we were a bit underwhelmed. Been there, done that.

 

St. Thomas was great. We took the Ultimate Island Experience tour through MSC. The highlight was the awesome Magens Bay with turqoise water and white sand.

 

In Antigua, we participated in a private horseback riding trip where we also went swimming with the horses. This was arranged by my girlfriend and was definitely one of the highlights of the cruise! After that, we visited Nelson’s Dockyard and the close-by beach.

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Great review ! Thank you !

 

Did you go to the Casino ? And did you take any excursions at the ports ?

 

Thanks for the comment!

We visited the casino a few nights, mainly for drinks and watching people play (read: lose money). There were two roulette tables, a few Blackjack tables, a couple of different poker games (sorry I’m not an expert in these). And of course plenty of slot machines.

Roulette tables had a minimum of $1, some of the other tables had higer stakes too.

 

There weren’t any crab tables or I didn’t see anyone smoking there (I remember someone asking about these earlier).

 

There were also several tv’s with different games (basketball, football) to watch in the casino.

 

With regards to ports and tours, please see my previous post. Ask further questions if needed.

Edited by Estjali
Added a comment on ports
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Nice review. Thanks for sharing. Did you go see any of the entertainment?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the comments! I believe you saw my post re: entertainment. In short, we found the evening shows to be very good.

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Disembarkation: I posted the departure schedule for Miami earlier today (and attached the image again in this post). We were allocated 9:15am disembarkation time, but opted for the Express walk off instead as you had to vacate your cabin by 7am anyways. Also we had booked a rental car and planned to continue our trip to Fort Myers (where we came today) for a few more days so wanted to get off earlier. The process went smoothly, and although there were dozens and dozens of others in the Express walk off line, it went quickly. We left the breakfast room at 7:15am and were at the Budget by 8am.

 

Random thoughts:

  • We had one incident in a full elevator with a YC guest, a ”graceful” lady with a need to state loudly her status and wave the wristband in the air. She used her wristband to go to deck 19 (we got on at deck 5 and were going to 11). All the other people’s selections were erased and we got up first. However, there was somekind of a glitch in the system and the elevator only went to 18, then back down to drop us off at 11 and others where they were going. The YC lady had a taste of her own medicine and got a free ride up and down again with us poor people. :') I laughed so hard after getting off (not at her), she seemed confused.
  • I think this elevator ”cutting in line” allowed by MSC is not cool (erasing everyone else’s floor selections when a YC guest steps in). Luckily this only happened once.
  • Other than the above, we didn’t really notice being the ”economy class”. I guess YC people stayed in their section of the ship.
  • We didn’t have the best cabin steward. He took our used beach towels twice without replacing them. I had to go and find a crew member to get new ones, which luckily was easy. Once we run out of hand soap as he hadn’t refilled it. Had to leave a note to get it fixed. Otherwise he was very friendly.
  • There were never long lines for bars, food or getting on or off the ship. All of this was handled very efficiently by the crew.
  • We were very lucky with the weather (very warm all the time, no winds to rock the boat). All the water slides, zip lines etc. were open each day for the people to enjoy.
  • We never noticed the sewage smell or poo odour (which someone had reported), other than when standing behind some pensioners in a breakfast line. ;p

Wrap-up: I appreciate people can have very different experience on the same cruise, depending on their expectations. We had realistic ones after reading the initial reviews and when comparing to our local cruise experience in Finland. Despite some of the poor initial reviews, we were happy to see that many of the initial issues had been fixed. Also we were lucky to not having to visit the Guest service desk once. At the beginning of our cruise, we decided to tune into a vacation mode, not let minor issues bother and have a great time. This is exactly what we did and had an amazing first Caribbean cruise.

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Kiitos! Thank you. Funny but my wife and I flew to Fort Myers this morning. Small world. [emoji289] Thanks so much for your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Kiitos! :) Small world indeed. Looking forward to exploring the Fort Myers area next, before flying back to cold Finland on the 15th.

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Regarding the YC elevator privilege:

Last time I was Fantastica, this summer we will be YC. We were actually discussing at home whether we would use this function. We decided that it’s rude to override everyone’s selection in a full elevator. However, if we’re alone on the elevator, we will totally use the advantage and prevent it from stopping elsewhere.

 

Thank you for your great and encouraging review!

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At the beginning of our cruise, we decided to tune into a vacation mode, not let minor issues bother and have a great time. This is exactly what we did and had an amazing first Caribbean cruise.

 

great review and advice :ship:

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Estjali ... Enjoyed your review and it is good to see decent reports coming back with the myriad of poor ones since our Xmas inaugural cruise.

 

I had a little laugh at your elevator experience and also at the Ferry comment at the start, many years ago we sailed on the Silja Festival from Stockholm to Turku and back with our Swedish friends, there was a very large party going on in one room so we decided to check it out and found a room full of line dancers.

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Regarding the YC elevator privilege:

Last time I was Fantastica, this summer we will be YC. We were actually discussing at home whether we would use this function. We decided that it’s rude to override everyone’s selection in a full elevator. However, if we’re alone on the elevator, we will totally use the advantage and prevent it from stopping elsewhere. ��

 

That's exactly what we do when we're in YC. I don't get how some people would be in such a hurry to get to where they're going, that they basically dismiss others' rights to get to where they're going in the normal order on an elevator. I blame MSC for providing the facility.

 

ETA Apologies to the OP for not commenting on the review - I haven't managed to read it (or the rest of the thread) yet. I certainly will when I get a chance - I'm just dipping in and out at the moment.

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