Seaside review: January 13 sailing

[MisterBill99]

Thanks for the great review. I'm sailing next week so I have no choice but to hope for the best. Here's hoping your review has a happy ending [emoji3].

 

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[thegraminator]

I am loving your review so far ! It is a good thing that you remembered to pack your patience ! Yikes !

 

Hopefully things got better as the week went on .

 

Were you plagued with the horrible sewage smell like others have posted ? This freaks me out a little bit .

 

I am looking forward to the rest of your review . Thanks for sharing ! And the baby on the bed is absolutely adorable !

[Mpls35]

I found coffee in the buffet when it opened at 6:30. The coffee was great!!! There was also plenty of tea, lemonade (good lemonade, tart with a little pulp), ice tea, and several other juices. Beverage stations were the same at both buffets.

 

The pictures of the buffets posted already are very indicative of what you’ll find. I thought they were lovely. Having just finished a house reno, I can appreciate nice tile and finishes! Loved the wood grain hex in Marketplace. I liked how convenient Bisquane was to the pool and our room on 14th. The outdoor seating was great on Marketplace. Our group had a spot under an awning in the aft they liked to meet for breakfast. The weather wasn’t awesome the week we were on so we had to sit inside more often than not.

 

Breakfast food was good. We all found plenty to eat. The buffet on 8 had a lot more variety. They had Asian breakfasts (miso soup and rice) and omelette stations. Once I saw a line for omlettes 9 ppl deep, but if you walked around the other station had no one. Lots of pastries. Cereal selection wasn’t great. They had cereal displayed in quaint little white ceramic pots. To fill your bowl you had to use a soup spoon. Anyone with boys knows how much they love cereal. Sometimes I just wanted to take the whole pot! The selections were all bran and muesli, but I did find cocoa krispies. We discovered fruit loops on the 16th buffet.

 

There were breakfast sandwiches on the 16th but I don’t think I saw them on 8th. I think 16th was more grab and go.

 

Coffee service )lattes and Capps using our coffee cuddle , was good in the buffets. They were delicious too! Even for purchase they were cheap,

$3-4.

 

Our first sea day was a little sunny and cool. The jungle pool was great for these chilly days. With the roof closed it was warm and humid. The pools were all “refreshing”! Jacuzzis often full.

 

The slides were closed a lot due to high winds. Finally my son and I got to try the two that you race down. We both got stuck midway and had to push ourselves down! So, not the thrill ride my kid expected. He loved the spray area though. Unpopular opinion alert: they didn’t enforce the “no nappy” rule. There weren’t many, but once my sister saw the first baby in a swim diaper in a pool, and staff was right there saying nothing, she let her toddler go in. She didn’t take him into the jungle pool or other pools, just the kids pool.

 

The slide board slide was inoperable most of the trip due to high winds. We finally tried it the last day and it was faster than the other two, but still not a thrill. It looks like you come off it really fast, but that’s just because you go down one steep little dip right at the end!

 

We heard a LOT of complaints that first day! People all around us were furious. Older folks especially were angry about the elevators taking forever or being broken. During peak times we did not use the lifts. I averaged 55 flights a day per my Fitbit. I heard others complaining about the “dirty” carpet that had a few white specks on it. And yes, no one wanted to find themselves at guest services.

 

I finally got the scoop on the blue chip bands- they didn’t work, so they weren’t giving them out to kids. I was in the middle of getting an entirely new explanation from another staff when the head of the kids club chimed in. I thanked her for finally clearing up this mystery! didn’t bother getting my kid a band to open the room because there was no way I trusted him on his own on this ship. Even at the end of the week I hadn’t figured out the layout well. On NCL we were on a much smaller ship so he was comfortable navigating by himself.

 

Alas, my kid didn’t like the kids club. Here’s how it went on the NCL ship we were on too: kids club staff shows off all the cool technology and games that are available, but when you drop off your kid, they announce its “coloring time” or whatnot and the cool stuff isnt available. My kid isn’t assertive so he usually ends up sitting by himself in a corner. This is why we only use kids club for the occasional meal. Everyone seemed very nice in the kids club, but my kid refused to go back. You could say he’s a bit picky about activities as well. He doesn’t like coloring or LEGO’s, for example. They automatically take kids to the 16th buffet at 7:00 we learned. There were a lot of kids this week; looked like 30+ in the 4-11 age groups.

 

Our first sea day was an important one- the Vikings playoff game! We skipped dinner in the dining room so we wouldn’t miss the game. We found a great spot in the sports bar. One whole wall is devoted to a large screen tv. A few die hards had rearranged the furniture and nabbed all of those comfy beanbag chairs and grouped them around the tv. The sports bar, like many others, has weird hours. It doesn’t open until 1. You can sit in there and watch a game, but there isnt drink service until 1. They made an exception for game day. Then they close for an hour (5-6 I think). While closed, they set out a platter of glasses of free champagne. Apparently most of the bars did this. They also put out “nachos” ie the salt less chips and tomato sauce. They announced that after they reopened they would be bringing out guacamole, but I never saw it. During half time we darted over to the buffet and grabbed a bunch of to go hamburgers and fries. We had a great dinner in the sports bar. I don’t know if this is common practice, but it’s what we did for most lunches- grab and go elsewhere! The ship has so many areas that seem unused. The garage bar, for example, is so cute- but only open 10pm to 2 am! Seems like such a waste!

 

There weren’t too many ppl there watching the Vikings-Saints game (maybe 25?) so we had the run of the place. We left towards the end to watch the finale in our room- let’s just say during the game-winning interception all of deck 14 could probably hear us screaming!! SKOL!!!

 

Jamaica: embarkation was quick and easy. It was pouring but we had a prebooked tour to the Blue Hole with Dr. Fun. We found him after some false tries and his tour was the highlight of our cruise. Highly recommend! Great even in the rain. Coming back we grabbed some pop and Jamaican ginger beer and MSC did not confiscate.

 

Things start to blue together here so forgive me. Weather was still bad so once back we went the arcade area. We decided not to get a “fun pass.” The F1 simulator is for older kids- there isn’t an age limit but you have to be big enough to reach the pedals, which DS was not. Arcade games were 1.50, air hockey 2.00. We tried the 5D cinema and it was fun but only like 10 minutes. Didn’t bowl.

 

We enjoyed the library on NCL and I had high hopes for Seaside’s. It is cute, but very weak book selection. Very few English language books and almost no kids books. Cabinets were locked and there was no one around to unlock them. As the week went on we found more cabinets unlocked, and fewer books. They weren’t actually checking them out. I know because we inadvertently came home with one of the Diary of a Wimpy kid books (sorry!) One day towards the end of the week we found an unlocked cupboard that was full of board games! Eureka, we love games!! There were a bunch but only Monopoly and Risk were in English. Also- the library, like the Haven Bar it is directly near, stank of cigarette smoke. Why? It is immediately adjacent the South Beach pool which was were all the smokers are. And there were a LOT at night! So while they had cool chess boards and couches in the library, we had to sit elsewhere.

 

We took to getting a drink before dinner each night somewhere near Ipanema like the Shine bar or the atrium bar. Results varied but were mostly consistent. Again, I got lucky but my parents got some lousy drinks. My mom got a martini that was 90% vermouth. It was yellow. My dad got a Manhattan that was all grenadine (it was bright pink). My kid got a cherry coke one night that none of us could figure out- I think they added bitters? Nasty. We had to wait a long time for drinks (about 10 min) so we usually just let it go. That said the bartender at the Miami Beach bar was awesome and regularly slipped my husband an extra can of Diet Coke here and there (and we tipped him!) The pina coladas by the pool were awesome. We made good use of our coupons. The coffee cuddle was a curious package. You could get the usual (latte, capp, etc) but also “coffee delights” which to my knowledge are only available at Venchi. Those were a fantastic deal, when it worked. My sister went there and the waitress refused to let her use a coffee cuddle coupon. Other times I was told I couldn’t use the cuddle on hot chocolate at Venchi, but I could use the kids NA coupon. Another time I was told the opposite! Oh well. Each time I tried to patiently explain the inconsistency but they were not interested. Some tips on Venchi- the hot chocolate is very rich but your kid probably won’t like it, not a lot of sweetener. I got the espresso with 3 pralines a lot because it was a way to get free chocolates! Also the arrogato coffee had a scoop of gelato in it and was awesome. It was annoying that it specifically says “your choice of gelato” but staff would only allow chocolate. No matter that I repeatedly pointed out “your choice!!”

[Mpls35]

Here’s the Venchi menu that you can use your cuddle on:

 

Affogato, arrogato. Anyway.

 

 

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[BermudaBound2014]

Great detailed review so far, thank you!

 

Can you please comment on the sewage smell onboard? I'm super sensitive and this will be a deciding factor for me. Several have reported noticing the sewer smell on deck 11 aft. Did you notice it here? Other areas? Was there any pattern?

 

Thank you in advance.

[FIREFIGHTERCRUISER]

Really enjoying your review...

Regarding the Bowling and F1

Car and 5d cinema....you mention the fun pass. Is there a pass for the cabin with unlimited rides or is it just the spend x amount of dollars and get x amount of extra dollars? I only ask because on the Davina last year they had a pass for the entire cabin.

Thanks in advance

 

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[Mpls35]

Great detailed review so far, thank you!

 

Can you please comment on the sewage smell onboard? I'm super sensitive and this will be a deciding factor for me. Several have reported noticing the sewer smell on deck 11 aft. Did you notice it here? Other areas? Was there any pattern?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

 

 

I really didn’t. My sister did, to be fair. We were in the hallway of deck 14. I inhaled deeply and couldn’t smell it.

 

 

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[BermudaBound2014]

I really didn’t. My sister did, to be fair. We were in the hallway of deck 14. I inhaled deeply and couldn’t smell it.

 

 

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Thank you- I know it’s strange- some people are just more sensitive than others. Just so I’m clear, your sister smelled sewage on 14?

 

 

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[SmoothFlying]

Hmmm. As I mentioned in a previous comment on MSC. IF coffee's that HARD to come by after din-din as well as water WITH meals in the MDR, I'd definitely have second thoughts about MSC. Maybe like another poster here remarked. 'MSC just needs time to adapt to the American market'. Yet, I've read here many who say that this 'European air' might be right up their alley? I guess the old saying goes,' Don't knock it till you try it' fits. After all, MSC IS a multi-cultural cruise ship.

 

Mac

[Mpls35]

Thank you- I know it’s strange- some people are just more sensitive than others. Just so I’m clear, your sister smelled sewage on 14?

 

 

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And my parents on 14. They also smelled it in the aft, while eating on 8th buffet.

 

My nose wasn’t completely inoperable- the smoke smell in the Haven and Library was enough for me today question if smoking was just allowed there. It wafted in from south Beach pool which had a lot of smokers sitting under the covering at the doorway to the library/billiard room.

 

 

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[Mpls35]

Really enjoying your review...

Regarding the Bowling and F1

Car and 5d cinema....you mention the fun pass. Is there a pass for the cabin with unlimited rides or is it just the spend x amount of dollars and get x amount of extra dollars? I only ask because on the Davina last year they had a pass for the entire cabin.

Thanks in advance

 

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Just the spend x dollars. We spent less time there than I anticipated so didn’t mind not having it. Bowling was frequently available tho, as was billiards.

 

 

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[Mpls35]

I realize I’m painting a less than ideal picture. Many of the big issues happened to other members of my party. My issues felt small in comparison to my admiration of the ship in general, and the fact that I was on vacation and it wasn’t 20 below zero outside!.

 

Here’s a high point- the spa! The $129 service I got was wonderful. I especially liked that I got my facial in the same room as the massage- no need to move. And I thought the Thermal spa was worth the cost- the precruise cost that is. There’s a nice locker room with lots of new white towels. Your card opens and closes the locker. Which means you have to keep your card with you in the spa, kindof annoying.

 

There’s a Finnish sauna and a “soft sauna” (not as hot). There’s a salt room that was really popular. The large jacuzzi was great. Then there was something called a Geyser Kneiff- super weird. Couldn’t figure that one out. There was a bright light sensory steam room and a dark sensory steam room. They were my favorite, along with the snow room. There were several hot and cold rain showers too. Then there was an entrance to the “private” outdoor deck and jacuzzi. I say “private” because it wasn’t blocked off from the public- anyone can enter. In fact, the first morning when I was out wondering around I walked right into the spa thermal area from outside. Whoops.

 

 

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[Mpls35]

Another weird technology glitch- on day one they gave me a paper card to tote around that said thermal spa. I almost threw it away, but that piece of paper is your entrance to the thermal area. They collect it when you enter to determine how many ppl are in the spa. You get a slap bracelet to wear inside.

 

 

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[Vacationdreamer<><]

Again - thank you so much for all this information.

 

How much did it cost you for your one time through the 5D?

 

When you got a can of soda was it cold? Or were you given a warm can and a cup with ice?

 

Also - (and anyone can answer this) - I hadn't noticed the Coffee Cuddly in my cruise personalizer. I am going to go look there now. But is Venchi the only place to use it? And are the items on that menu the only items in Venchi? Or the only items you can use your cuddle for? Or neither? :D

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Hmmm. As I mentioned in a previous comment on MSC. IF coffee's that HARD to come by after din-din as well as water WITH meals in the MDR, I'd definitely have second thoughts about MSC. Maybe like another poster here remarked. 'MSC just needs time to adapt to the American market'. Yet, I've read here many who say that this 'European air' might be right up their alley? I guess the old saying goes,' Don't knock it till you try it' fits. After all, MSC IS a multi-cultural cruise ship.

 

Mac

 

Yeah - at this point I'm wondering if it's the European thing not to drink anything at meal times...

Can't have tap water.

Coffee can't be found.

Drinks are coming in with patrons from nearby bars.

:confused:

[Mpls35]

My sister got her hair colored for $44. Blow dry and style was 30+ more, so she declined that. She didn’t like her color, even though she liked her stylist. She went back the next day and he offered to do it again, but by then he only had early morning appointments left. She couldn’t do that with the baby, so she asked for her money back, and for once they came through and immediately credited her account. My mom got her hair cut for like $30, and I thought it was really cute! Sister also got mani/pedi which she liked. Prices were all really good!

 

Forgot to mention Baby Care- hours are 11-1 and 5-8. Staffing seemed short. She got a satellite phone to call if there were issues; one night she did get a call that baby was crying too much :(.

 

Day two was Grand Cayman and a tender experience. It did take awhile, there was some sitting around and waiting in lines. I’ve only tendered once before so I don’t have much to compare it to. We commented that we were glad we only had to do it once.

 

My poor sister was hauling around an 18-month old in an ergo carrier and had tried to find a stroller in Jamaica to no avail. Luckily she was able to find a decent-sized baby store in Cayman and $140 later was the proud owner of a Caymanian umbrella stroller.

 

We took a cab to public beach where the sun actually came out for a whole hour- woohoo!

 

 

 

 

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[Mpls35]

Tuesday was Italian night and apparently some people were mad because there was no announcement. This didn’t affect my group as we weren’t into this kind of stuff. I did wear a white dress on white night, but didn’t make it to the party. Actually I think a lot of night activities were cancelled this week. I swear I have no idea where the people were. We didn’t go to any of the shows, and none of the bars were busy. The only time unnoticed crowds was on bad weather days when there was a sale on jewelry in the shops. The thermal area was a bit full on the first sea day too (full meaning about 8 ppl in the jacuzzi and all 8 loungers in the salt room full).

 

On the topic of crowds, because the weather wasn’t great we always found loungers. I even snagged one of the coveted lounge beds by the Miami pool when we were in the Bahamas and the sun actually came out for like 2 whole hours.

 

My parents like to read, so they enjoyed the SeaView lounge. There were some books and newspapers. They got a lot of coffees here and were happy. None of us gamble.

 

My parents, I should note, are 70ish, somewhat limited mobility, and haven’t cruised in over 20 year’s when they went on a converted Greek freighter without stabilizers or fancy things like queen beds. (Their twin beds hung off the walls with chains). They had terrible motion sickness. I think they enjoyed their time on this ship, but weren’t impressed by long waits at dinner or the fancy Swarovski stairs. My mom was interested in the arts and crafts classes- oh man. They were SO BAD. “Mosaics” was not ceramics but cut up pieces of paper glued to paper vases. Another day was picture frames- also construction paper based. They went to Bingo for a gag and said it was also very cheesy. I’m not a fan of the cheese factor and I’ve found it to be strong on each cruise I’ve been on. No matter- we like to do our own thing! We brought lots of games, cards, etc and camped out for hours in the comfortable spaces in the sports bar.

 

 

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[gkbiiii]

Many people on CC may have disliked my review of Divina, but this NO, NO, NO attitude really pissed me off!!! The people I met in the Yacht Club seemed well looked after, by no one else! My experience with MSC, Yacht Club or your nothing! I really with their was at least a middle ground, but there is not. I am booked on YC on the Seaside, but would not advice any MSC ship otherwise.

 

I can't imagine a full 116 day cruise with MSC (they are doing them) having daily issues described above, for over three-months straight. You know they are offering "free drinks at meals", yet getting the drinks will be an impossibility! Sixteen free shore excursion, can't wait to see how that works: yea right, we all now how this ends!

 

So sad, I really want to like you MSC, you just make it so hard. So I guess I just need to get used to an Inside Yacht Club Stateroom, VS a nice balcony suite. Yea right, life is based on trade-offs!

[leos037]

Was on the same sailing. - very true about the library - reeked of smoke. i think most problem with the ship is that they are understaffed and under-trained . I was getting drinks at Jungle bar and they were very good but one time Tony was not there and girl put twice as much vodka as needed in the cocktail - they remade it for me . And the smell was worst on 1st day and Friday. had 12170 and could smell a bit in the room, a lot by the slides and on deck 7

by the shops

[Mpls35]

We had our own schedule we followed- after our early dining we would usually meet upstairs in 16 for soft serve before putting the kids to bed. My crew usually went to sleep or watched a movie in our room. A couple times my parents went to the show- they are not show people!- they thought it was cheesy. They preferred sitting in the lovely spaces listening to the excellent live entertainment. There was a great acoustic Sam Smith like guy back by the Piazza.

 

Which brings me to- Shopping! I like to shop. I didn’t come with high hopes, NCL had practically nothing. MSC had better stuff. Perfume and makeup that seemed to be about what I’d pay on the mainland. A cute clothing store with adorable dresses in the 150ish range. I actually lingered on the Lacoste purses which were in the $60 range. Seaside march was good price if you’re into that- those chocolate ship replicas were $20, my sister got her baby a very cute Chicco brand $10 ship bath toy.

 

We also liked to convene in the arcade for air hockey. At $2 it was a good deal and fun for all.

 

Here’s another fun thing we did at night- if we couldn’t sleep my son and I would sneak out to the basketball court!

 

 

 

 

There were movies at the Miami Beach pool at night, tho they didn’t seem to be crowd pleasers. Spider-Man, Beauty and the Beast, can’t remember the others. My parents would have liked a movie theater. I never saw anyone watching the movies. Mostly due to weather. Here’s the end of the movie one night:

 

 

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[Mpls35]

Last sea day was spent unable to keep tabs on people because I ran out of data! So when you buy the streamer you get a set amount of MBs. But you can register two devices. If I had known that I would have only bought one package because I just wanted it to text. So I let my sister login to mine and share my data. Somehow, unbeknownst to her, her device used half of my data in one dinner service. You have to be super careful! Our other account had lots of data left but we couldn’t deregister my husband or sons device To do so. There was an option to extend your data for a day at a time for less than what you originally paid.

 

 

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Edited January 21, 2018 by Mpls35

[lcpagejr]

Interesting....based on photo of outside movie area....Looks like not alot of wind protection nor straight on seating..... On Princess and Carnival....more glass on the sides and the outside area where movie seating is on a lower deck (lido decks) and more seating options . Just wonder how effective this will be??

[Mpls35]

Another off-putting moment: our waitress Anna stopped us abruptly one night as we were getting up to leave. She said “hey, I need a favor from all of you tonight. I need you to fill out this comment card to tell my boss how well I’m doing!” My parents pretty much turned and left but I stayed behind. I knew she was trying hard and I think her issues were just adjusting to “American” expectations. So I said I’d fill out the card. I mean, I can always find nice things to say right? She was sweet. So she gave me a card and I said I’d take it with me to fill out and return it tomorrow. She said no, you must turn it in now. I said no, we’re headed out, I’ll do it tomorrow. She thought for a moment and said “okay, I’ll give it to you earlier during dinner tomorrow.” Bingo. I really believe all the staff we met were working their tails off. They just need guidance and help from superiors. Once the dining room manager came to us and apologized for Anna’s slow service bringing us coffee. He said it was because the bar service is really slow. I made sure to tell him I didn’t think it was her fault. Water was refilled once during dinner, to be fair. We commented that it seemed like Anna was too consumed with bringing orders out; this should be done by junior servers. Then she could help with things like ketchup requests (just don’t ask!)

 

 

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[Mpls35]

Interesting....based on photo of outside movie area....Looks like not alot of wind protection nor straight on seating..... On Princess and Carnival....more glass on the sides and the outside area where movie seating is on a lower deck (lido decks) and more seating options . Just wonder how effective this will be??

 

 

 

Exactly- I saw no one watching movies ever. Also we talked to a couple seated directly below on deck 15 who said they could hear everything from the movies. They heard the Beast speak, lol.

 

 

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[Mpls35]

Forgot Cozumel- again with the not great weather. We had prepaid Playa Mia, I’ll post a separate review on ports but you can cancel 24 hours in advance. Wish we would have!!!!

 

We did go to the big grocery store at port- that was fun and fruitful! We bought a six pack of beer and wine and tons of souvenirs for the folks watching our cat and moving our cars during inevitable snow emergencies- vanilla, marinades, all kinds of good stuff for ridiculously cheap. We saw lots of MSC staff here stocking up. I could barely carry my bags onboard but nothing was confiscated.

 

 

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