How can there be such widely varied opinions of the Seaside?

[sidari]

Geo ... I get where you are coming from with regard to an outside deck to walk around, that has been one of my pet peeves with MSC ships along with the lack of forward viewing space on the later ships, we have sailed on each class apart from Meraviglia which at the minute does not interest us.

 

Princess Grand class have the best walk around decks, Oasis despite not going near the bow, along with some of the others we have sailed on.

It seems that ship designers have moved away from the classic design of a walkable promenade that goes all the way around in favour of what I call bit part walkways.

[Jaco5NC]

;););)

 

Exactly! Until today, I thought everyone did it that way. I mean... who goes and says Darn it, there should be two closets for two people! Most people have one closet at homr, in hotel rooms, on cruise ships etc. How do we manage???

 

 

 

You wrote exactly what I was thinking. The only thing I am the least bit concerned about for our upcoming cruise is the number of complainers that might be onboard with us!! Geesh...people need to get a grip!

 

(No, not really concerned because I actually think the few all hang out on this board to complain - misery loves company).

 

 

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[mbaxende]

I don't think the long time for dinners is an MSC thing either. Out last three cruises were on NCL, I would say we averaged 1.5 - 1.75 hours for dinner in all the main dinning rooms. I'm not saying i liked it, i'm an eat now taste later kind of guy. But i then I realize their cooking for 1000's of people all showing up at once. I'm still pretty impressed. Anyways March 10 cant get here fast enough. No offense to anyone, but I take everyone's review with a grain of salt (Good or Bad) And on March 18 when I write a review of the Seaside (Good or Bad) I hope you take it with a grain of salt also. Go and enjoy spending time with your family/friends, enjoy the fact you get to go places you don't get to go everyday, enjoy that your not the one that has to clean the dishes, cooks your meals (Even though it's going to take 2 hours).

 

Well stated. I've been on Carnival (yuck) Disney (amazing) and 3 MSC (2 Florida 1 Mediterranean) and have loved all 3. Were there some issues on each ship? Of course there was. Just like there is when you go out to eat, take the train, fly on an airplane, stay in a hotel or go to a resort. But I will NEVER let something as (in my own words here people) trivial as a line at customer service, an employee having a bad moment or day, my bed not being made till 2 pm (thank god it gets made for me), a 5 minute wait for a cocktail or a company trying to up-sell me a zip line, photo, bowling or anything else they want to sell me (anyone ever been to Disney World or some other park) ruin any part of my hard earned vacation. Now I may have paid extra for Yacht Club on March 10th but don't hold that against me as I get to get on or off the ship faster and have some other special areas of the ship to myself. That's what I paid for. If you want those things pay the extra. Just like when you fly. You want free luggage, drinks and food? Pay for first class. Don't bitch and moan that some people are getting something your not. See you March 10 and lets all have a drink together and celebrate 7 wonderful days of vacation.

[mbaxende]

As far as outer decks for walking , that the average person could access ( average meaning classes below Aurea)

Deck 7 outer deck consists of Aft pool, a bar, a cafe, and 2 sets of stairs that go up to 8. Deck 8 is primarily outside dining, where u would have to weave around tables and chairs , until you get to loungers, then get stopped partway past the first set of loungers by the locked door hot tub for Aurea spa members.

Deck 16 is a standard main pool area with loungers - made for sunning - up to deck 17 which is bar, and tables and chairs, 18 is water slides and then Yacht Club area. 19 is a partial deck but Top 19 area is also exclusive - honestly don't know who was allowed to use that area, but was too discouraged to really care all that much at that point.

 

 

Deck 19 forward is the pools and hot tubs for the Yacht club.

[windlicht]

Well stated. I've been on Carnival (yuck) Disney (amazing) and 3 MSC (2 Florida 1 Mediterranean) and have loved all 3. Were there some issues on each ship? Of course there was. Just like there is when you go out to eat, take the train, fly on an airplane, stay in a hotel or go to a resort. But I will NEVER let something as (in my own words here people) trivial as a line at customer service, an employee having a bad moment or day, my bed not being made till 2 pm (thank god it gets made for me), a 5 minute wait for a cocktail or a company trying to up-sell me a zip line, photo, bowling or anything else they want to sell me (anyone ever been to Disney World or some other park) ruin any part of my hard earned vacation. Now I may have paid extra for Yacht Club on March 10th but don't hold that against me as I get to get on or off the ship faster and have some other special areas of the ship to myself. That's what I paid for. If you want those things pay the extra. Just like when you fly. You want free luggage, drinks and food? Pay for first class. Don't bitch and moan that some people are getting something your not. See you March 10 and lets all have a drink together and celebrate 7 wonderful days of vacation.

 

Exactly!

[BestNC Cruiser]

You wrote exactly what I was thinking. The only thing I am the least bit concerned about for our upcoming cruise is the number of complainers that might be onboard with us!! Geesh...people need to get a grip!

 

(No, not really concerned because I actually think the few all hang out on this board to complain - misery loves company).

 

 

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I do agree with you about being annoyed with the complainers onboard the ship. I do not mind people expressing their different opinions here on CC. I like to read everything. i do t let anybody’s opinion on here bother me, “complainers” and the anti-complainers all the same. We used to have a saying when I worked at a resort hotel, “If your going to let a couple of little things ruin your entire vacation, it was doomed from the get go,”

 

 

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[BestNC Cruiser]

The biggest thing is that people just need to do their research to see if their vacation choice matches up to their expectations. This goes for cruises, resorts, and so on. It does not take much time to dig into reviews/forums to see if it fits what you are looking for. I am not bashing the seaside, but right now it sits at 2/5 on CC and 2/5 on another site. The Meraviglia is at 2.5/5 as well. If you are the type of person that lets little thing get to you and can't "go with the flow", you should consider other options. If you have the attitude of ignoring the negative reviews and wanting to go on the ship anyway, you need to have an easy going attitude when you get there to match.

[Jaco5NC]

The biggest thing is that people just need to do their research to see if their vacation choice matches up to their expectations. This goes for cruises, resorts, and so on. It does not take much time to dig into reviews/forums to see if it fits what you are looking for. I am not bashing the seaside, but right now it sits at 2/5 on CC and 2/5 on another site. The Meraviglia is at 2.5/5 as well. If you are the type of person that lets little thing get to you and can't "go with the flow", you should consider other options. If you have the attitude of ignoring the negative reviews and wanting to go on the ship anyway, you need to have an easy going attitude when you get there to match.

 

 

 

I agree with you completely. We have had good cruises, great cruises and fabulous cruises. We’ve definitely had fun on each and every one! What gets me about reading some of these complaints is just how trivial they are. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect and attitude is everything. I would just prefer not to spend my time around said complainers while enjoying our vacation. We have enough of that in our day to day life where we live!![emoji15]☀️

 

 

 

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[lcpagejr]

Well stated. I've been on Carnival (yuck) Disney (amazing) and 3 MSC (2 Florida 1 Mediterranean) and have loved all 3. Were there some issues on each ship? Of course there was. Just like there is when you go out to eat, take the train, fly on an airplane, stay in a hotel or go to a resort. But I will NEVER let something as (in my own words here people) trivial as a line at customer service, an employee having a bad moment or day, my bed not being made till 2 pm (thank god it gets made for me), a 5 minute wait for a cocktail or a company trying to up-sell me a zip line, photo, bowling or anything else they want to sell me (anyone ever been to Disney World or some other park) ruin any part of my hard earned vacation. Now I may have paid extra for Yacht Club on March 10th but don't hold that against me as I get to get on or off the ship faster and have some other special areas of the ship to myself. That's what I paid for. If you want those things pay the extra. Just like when you fly. You want free luggage, drinks and food? Pay for first class. Don't bitch and moan that some people are getting something your not. See you March 10 and lets all have a drink together and celebrate 7 wonderful days of vacation.

 

Perfect attitude to have when cruising..... except my ratings on the lines I've cruised...Carnival (constantly met or exceeded my expectations), Princess (too laid back/bit boring), Disney (way over priced), RCL (lots to do but at a price)...MSC (trying to talk myself into giving it a chance)

[fraffin]

Perfect attitude to have when cruising..... except my ratings on the lines I've cruised...Carnival (constantly met or exceeded my expectations), Princess (too laid back/bit boring), Disney (way over priced), RCL (lots to do but at a price)...MSC (trying to talk myself into giving it a chance)

 

My wife and I average 2-3 cruises per year. We have two Seaside cruises booked, one in two weeks in a Fantastica Inside the other in December in an Aurea Whirlpool Balcony. We figured we'd choose the least expensive experience we were willing to accept for an initial cruise with a new cruiseline. Bella was not in the equation for us. We have no problem with Inside cabins as we spend very little time in any cabin. What's the point of a cruise otherwise. If we don't like the overall ship experience we'll have no problem finding something else to do in December.

 

We've been on Carnival, NCL and RCI multiple times. We've never had a bad cruise (though my wife hated the NCL Dawn, just the ship, not the cruise). Some of our best cruises were on the older, much maligned Carnival ships. We think they're fun. NCL MDR food disappoints us the most. We also did the Harmony and Vista within 6 months of each ship's launch. Vista, the ship itself, is somewhat of a blur to us. We did the Mediterranean cruise. It was our first time to Europe, and we just exhausted ourselves with the full-day excursions. We actually skipped the last stop in Palma de Mallorca because we were just too beat. Live and learn for the next European cruise. We will both attest to the Chef's table on the Vista. It's awesome. The Harmony was a little bit of a let down. This was our first Oasis Class ship. The ship and cruise were great. The amount of hype over these ships is incredible. To us it was a little bit of a letdown because it didn't live up to all the hype. It turned into more of a been there done that, but we would do it again. We sailed the Independence of the Seas after the Harmony and actually enjoyed it more.

 

We're hoping the Seaside lives up to expectations. We've learned not to expect to much out of an individual ship based on all the advance hype. We also know that other peoples experiences and expectations are their own. We'll make our own decisions about the Seaside once we've tried her out.

[lcpagejr]

My wife and I average 2-3 cruises per year. We have two Seaside cruises booked, one in two weeks in a Fantastica Inside the other in December in an Aurea Whirlpool Balcony. We figured we'd choose the least expensive experience we were willing to accept for an initial cruise with a new cruiseline. Bella was not in the equation for us. We have no problem with Inside cabins as we spend very little time in any cabin. What's the point of a cruise otherwise. If we don't like the overall ship experience we'll have no problem finding something else to do in December.

 

We've been on Carnival, NCL and RCI multiple times. We've never had a bad cruise (though my wife hated the NCL Dawn, just the ship, not the cruise). Some of our best cruises were on the older, much maligned Carnival ships. We think they're fun. NCL MDR food disappoints us the most. We also did the Harmony and Vista within 6 months of each ship's launch. Vista, the ship itself, is somewhat of a blur to us. We did the Mediterranean cruise. It was our first time to Europe, and we just exhausted ourselves with the full-day excursions. We actually skipped the last stop in Palma de Mallorca because we were just too beat. Live and learn for the next European cruise. We will both attest to the Chef's table on the Vista. It's awesome. The Harmony was a little bit of a let down. This was our first Oasis Class ship. The ship and cruise were great. The amount of hype over these ships is incredible. To us it was a little bit of a letdown because it didn't live up to all the hype. It turned into more of a been there done that, but we would do it again. We sailed the Independence of the Seas after the Harmony and actually enjoyed it more.

 

We're hoping the Seaside lives up to expectations. We've learned not to expect to much out of an individual ship based on all the advance hype. We also know that other peoples experiences and expectations are their own. We'll make our own decisions about the Seaside once we've tried her out.

 

We sound very familar.... I haven't cruised on the Oasis class ships for the reasons you noted..... Because it would be once and done and we are frequent cruisers so I prefer to go ships that I know I will continue to cruise on. I really want to try the Seaside... Love the design of the ship ...we are pretty low maintenance...so we may end up giving it a whirl. Also...I bet you missed those "Sea Days" when cruising the Mediterranean!! Enjoy the Seaside in 2 weeks and report back please!!