MSC Seaside Review 1/13/2018

[travelingguyz]

Great review. Good tips on the photo package. We are going on Seaside in Feb. How were the activities packaged and/or priced? The bowling, zip line, cinema, etc. Thanks!

[nautica34]

Enjoyed your review! Could you comment on the theme nights, which ones your cruise had.

 

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[Clarea]

Excellent report/review, thanks much!

[calgaryhhr]

There are kiosks - almost like ATM machines - located in the Atrium when you come on board. They had several of them that I could see on embarkation day and they had guest services ppl next to each of them to assist people. I understand you have 48 hours to register so if the lines are long you could wait to register them the next day, but we did it right away and the lines weren't too long....we waited about 10 minutes.

 

Interesting and good to know. Every other cruise I have been on the account is set up and credit card registered when checking in for the cruise and getting your cruise cards. MSC seems to do a lot of things their own way.

[riclop]

Thanks for the detailed review.

[ANDISIX14x11]

Thanks for your review.

 

You had to go to the kiosk to add a credit card to your room card but we’re your room cards and MSC bracelets given to you before you got on the ship or waiting for you in your room?

 

Thanks!

[Keith1010]

Thank you so much for your trip report.

 

Keith

[tallnthensome]

People keep asking the same questions over and over again. If you need pictures of the specialty dining menus or prices for bowling they've been posted and discussed many times already. Just look through the forum or search.

[leos037]

Thanks for your review.

 

You had to go to the kiosk to add a credit card to your room card but we’re your room cards and MSC bracelets given to you before you got on the ship or waiting for you in your room?

 

Thanks!

UMM how would you get to your room without one? They give you the room key before you board

[jewliana]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do such a detailed review! So glad that you enjoyed your cruise! We sail her in a few weeks and found lots of valuable info from your experiences.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Glad you had such a great trip.

Did anyone in your party have food allergies to contend with?

 

 

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[buffalogal16623]

Glad you had such a great trip.

Did anyone in your party have food allergies to contend with?

 

 

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No we did not....

[buffalogal16623]

Thanks for your review.

 

You had to go to the kiosk to add a credit card to your room card but we’re your room cards and MSC bracelets given to you before you got on the ship or waiting for you in your room?

 

Thanks!

 

 

The room cards are given to you when you check in before you board the ship. I don't know what experience you are in....i.e. if you are in Yacht Club I can't answer this for you....but for us in Aurea, only the cards were given to us at check in. To get the MSC bracelets the first day, we went to the MSC next cruise desk in the atrium when you first board to get them/buy them. I understand later in the cruise you could get them at the MSC Logo shop.

[Elo Moreno]

Thanks for great review.

How do one go bout making reservations for the Theater ?

We will be 2 people travelling, but also have family of 4 on the ship in separate booking.

[buffalogal16623]

Thanks for great review.

How do one go bout making reservations for the Theater ?

We will be 2 people travelling, but also have family of 4 on the ship in separate booking.

 

 

You can book reservations three different ways.....either through your MSC phone app, the TV in your cabin, or any of the large touch screens throughout the ship. You reserve spots, not specific seats, so you can easily sit together by arriving together. However, I believe the 4 in the separate booking will need to reserve their own seats through the same methods....just book the same times!

[iambumbo]

Appreciate the thorough review. A few follow-ups I haven't seen answered elsewhere:

 

1. Do you recall what the options were for the free massages that go with the Aurea package? I've seen the spa menus and I'm curious what our choices will be.

 

2. For the Aurea dinner seating, are you seated with just your own group or with others? This trip will just be me and my girlfriend going, so wondering if it'll be us 2 every night or with a bigger group (or if we can choose between the two).

 

3. In the main dining room, are the staff amenable to changing or adding sides to entrees? For example, is it easy to get a baked potato or rice instead of mashed potatoes if that's what's included with the entree on the menu?

 

Thanks much!

[researchfreak90]

People keep asking the same questions over and over again. If you need pictures of the specialty dining menus or prices for bowling they've been posted and discussed many times already. Just look through the forum or search.

 

 

You are correct, Specialty Dinning menus have been posted, however I have yet to see any that highlighted the items that are available if you purchase the trio package - and they are different. If you know where I can find this a link would be helpful instead of the less helpful complaining about "this has been answered"

 

Sorry OP, don't wanna take over your nice and helpful review.

[buffalogal16623]

Appreciate the thorough review. A few follow-ups I haven't seen answered elsewhere:

 

1. Do you recall what the options were for the free massages that go with the Aurea package? I've seen the spa menus and I'm curious what our choices will be.

 

2. For the Aurea dinner seating, are you seated with just your own group or with others? This trip will just be me and my girlfriend going, so wondering if it'll be us 2 every night or with a bigger group (or if we can choose between the two).

 

3. In the main dining room, are the staff amenable to changing or adding sides to entrees? For example, is it easy to get a baked potato or rice instead of mashed potatoes if that's what's included with the entree on the menu?

 

Thanks much!

 

I will offer up our experience on these three items. They aren't direct answers....but I will do the best I can and hopefully it will be of some help. I wish I could be more definitive in my answers...I'm sorry I can't answer yes or no.

 

Question 1: - I know things are changing week to week on the Seaside so I am reluctant to tell you specifics for our cruise as they may not be the same for yours....but for us, our boarding documents/e tickets provided us with this information....i.e. they indicated in writing we could get two (one for each of us, or two for one of us) of any single, hour long spa service (not the combos, i.e. facial plus massage, etc.) and additionally it specifically listed one premium service that was excluded. So by combining the wording in your boarding documents that you get, with the current spa service menu, you should be able to plan in advance which you may want to choose. We chose the simple 55 minute Bali massage for each of us and it was really wonderful!

 

Questions 2: I don't know if you are asking because you want to sit strictly as a couple or you want to use dinner as an opportunity to meet ppl. If you want to sit on your own - you are good to go! Generally, everyone sat on their own. There were many small tables for 2 and 4 and everyone we saw was sitting with their own group so read no further! If you were hoping to sit with others, I didn't see any large tables where people were added/joining in....but we ate early, there was no line, and the dining area for Aurea was usually only 1/2 filled at the time....so with everyone walking in at different times, it would have been difficult for them to create mingling, group tables as ppl were sat immediately and coordinating group tables where the food courses could be timed to coincide would require ppl willing to wait for a table to fill up. Later in the evening when it was more crowded and lines formed, group tables may be an option if that was something you were interested in, but I don't know that for sure.

 

3. Maybe someone else can share their experience on swapping. In the speciality restaurants swapping for sides was easy, but in the dining room, they seemed flustered when you asked for exceptions. My only experience was with an item that had been on the "Classic/Favorites" section - but wasn't offered on Italian night. Case in point, they offered a Caesar Salad on their Classic/Fave section the first couple of nights, but as I didn't care for the other starters on Italian night, I asked if I could have a Caesar instead - which was not on the menu (although offered every night in Butchers Cut). The answer was no - with a smile - but they offered to put in a special request to the chef to see if he was willing to prepare one for us. I told them no worries and chose something else. I would imagine if the swap involved something else that was also on the menu - it wouldn't be hard for them to accommodate. If not, I think they would try to do it for you, but it would simply mean it might take a little extra time to prepare. Ask.....and I would imagine they would try, but they didn't seem as flexible in that regard as other cruises I've been one.

[tikilite]

we too book this cabin and I am curious how much was it to upgrade your drink package?

Second, here is some background. We purchased the Aurea Whirlpool Balcony Suite. Our cabin was on Deck 9. In addition to the Aurea package, pre-cruise we added the following: upgrade from the classic to the deluxe drink package,

[researchfreak90]

we too book this cabin and I am curious how much was it to upgrade your drink package?

Second, here is some background. We purchased the Aurea Whirlpool Balcony Suite. Our cabin was on Deck 9. In addition to the Aurea package, pre-cruise we added the following: upgrade from the classic to the deluxe drink package,

 

I believe the cost is 56/pp for a 7 night cruise. OP can correct me if I am wrong but I have seen this on a few other reviews

[geonurse]

Thanks for your review.

 

You had to go to the kiosk to add a credit card to your room card but we’re your room cards and MSC bracelets given to you before you got on the ship or waiting for you in your room?

 

Thanks!

Room cards were given to us at terminal check in, wristbands at the INFO desk in the atrium- not at Guest Services- so don't waste time in the guest service line for this as I did:)