Seaside review - January 27 sailing

[voyager89]

Hello everyone

 

 

So I justcame back from a great cruise on board the Seaside. Of course there were thingsthat were not so great but overall I had a wonderful week.

 

A littlebit of background, my husband and I are pretty new to cruising, we started in2013 and this was our 6th cruise. This was sort of our 10thanniversary celebration. Have only cruised with RCCL and (Oasis 7 weekCaribbean, Jewel 7 week Caribbean, Allure 12 day TA) and NCL (Sky 4 day Bahamasand Epic 14 day TA). We have tried to do one cruise a year. So you can have a bit of idea of what toexpect from my review. This is going to be as detailed as I could, also addingsome personal recommendations along the way which I hope you don´t mind. This is my first review so bear with me! :halo: Willtry to make it as smooth and easy readable as possible. Also, sorry for anygrammar or spelling issues as English is not my mother tongue.

 

 

 

We live inMexico so when we go out of the country on vacation we try to stay as long aspossible. This time we went to Puerto Rico for 7 days, and then Miami for 5. Iwas unfortunately sick while we were in PR so didn´t get to enjoy as much as Ishould have, but was still glad to be on vacation and tried to make the most ofit even when not feeling well. I was lucky that my boss let me get away foralmost 3 weeks!

 

 

Anyway,let´s start on the cruise. We love Miami, t´s probably one of our favoritecities along with Istanbul. So instead of rushing to the ship on embarkationday -like we actually usually do ha- we stayed in Miami until 4:00 PM and went forlate breakfast / early lunch and some last minute shopping. We were staying inSouth Beach so we were close to the port. Took an uber who took his time to get there (somehow he didn´t knowthe way to the port, even when using his GPS go figure) so I was getting alittle nervous. Sail away was at 7 so we had to be there at 5 tops, but well wewere not that far. We arrived 4:40 and there was literally no one at the curbbut staff members and full luggage carts. We left our bags along with tips butno one told us where to go so we were just wandering around trying to find theway in. Made it to security and went upstairs to get checked in, again no onetold us where to go and there were no signs so it was pretty much figure it outon your own. Weird. Anyway, it probably took us 5 minutes from security to beon the ship as again, there was literally no one. Next time I will make sure weembark this late! It was awesome to go in like a breeze without having to wait.

 

 

As it waslate I assumed our room would be ready and it was. This was a very nicesurprise as I had booked an interior cabin with an online agency and a coupleof months later when I checked my reservation on the MSC site I was upgradedout of the blue not to ocean view but to a balcony cabin! This was our firstupgrade ever (again, few cruises on our belt) and also first balcony. Before wejust had interiors or ocean views. Cruising – or any vacation outside ourcountry- is pretty expensive for us so we are very conscious on the way wespend our money. We would rather extend our pre or post cruise stay instead ofgetting an expensive cabin. The downside is I don´t know if we can go back tointerior! We had cabin 12025 and it was very, very spacious. Even without thebalcony it is the biggest cabin we have ever had. After reading some concernson staterooms, I do agree the storage space is very limited. The closet has 3drawers but the one in the bottom can´t be opened so you are left with 2drawers and 4 small shelves, one is occupied by the safe so let´s say you have3.5 shelves. There´s no storage space in the vanity or anywhere else like I´veseen on other ships. Just a small drawer under it that can´t store a lot. Wetried to keep stuff that we wouldn´t use a lot on our bags but found ourselvespulling them out from under the bed several times a week.

 

 

Thebathroom is also on the small side. I´m not the tallest person but my kneewould hit the sink when sitting on the toilet. I can only imagine how that wasfor tall people! The shower was also small. It was ironic that such a big¨regular´ cabin would have such a small bathroom and closet. There was a hugecouch that could have been a bit smaller to give a bigger space to the bathroomand closet. No deal breaker, but a bit uncomfortable indeed.

 

 

We went tothe drill later on at the Metropolitan Theatre. It was for sure different toany other drill. It was conducted by the cruise director in like 7 languages,but somehow it was quick, maybe even quicker than the ones in other lines thatwill only do it in English. Every group then was guided to their station, mygroup was lucky that our station was at the theatre so we didn´t have to leave :D

For sailaway we went to the South beach pool and wandered around the deck and thewaterfront promenade. It truly is a beautiful ship. The most beautiful one I´vebeen on I would say. I couldn´t believe I was on it! Random side note: When Iwas probably 12 years old or so, I remember I saw pictures of the MSC Poesia onsome magazine. It looked so beautiful and luxurious, it is the first memory ofa cruise ship I had (other than the Titanic LOL) and I always thought wow, thatmust be awesome, but it should cost a fortune to be there. Never did I imagineI would ever be on a cruise. Many years later when we did our first (Oasis in2013) and started to browse and read everything cruise ships and I found outmore about that MSC Poesia ship I was like I have to do this ship! Or at leastan MSC cruise. MSC always seemed so classy and elegant ships to me but somehowit took us 6 cruises to do one with them.

Now ontodiner time! Being Bella (I had no idea about these experiences things but afterbooking and coming to the MSC boards) I thought we would be assigned to thebuffet at some undesirable time. I was surprised again not only to be assignedto the time we wanted without requesting it (8:30 seating) but to be given atable for 2 at Seashore. Now I really enjoy talking to people at dinner when wehave been given shared tables, but my husband speaks very little English sopeople is being nice trying to talk to him and he can´t hold a conversation soit gets awkward for them, I try to translate but then I´m on anotherconversation also so it´s a bit hard to be doing both things. It would be nicefor lines to accommodate you with people who speak your same language. Maybethey already do but I have yet to experience it.

 

 

 

Ourserver´s name was Shah from Mauritius and he was awesome. Very attentive andalways with a smile on his face. I had read concerns about the service beingslow which I found to be the total opposite. For us it took about an hour to bedone with our entrée and waiting on dessert. So the whole thing would usuallytake 1.20 hours, which to me was not bad at all. On the first day I was temptedto have the French onion soup from the everyday menu -French onion soup is myfavorite soup ever but I had it almost every day at Panera bread in Miami, in factI had one earlier that day- so I went with crispy spring rolls and turkeyscallops au gratin. Everything was amazing and a great introduction to MSC. Asgood old Mexicans, we asked Shah for hot sauce – which of course we were givenTabasco which I don´t really love- but then he said he had chilli flakes whichwe like much better. For the rest of the cruise there were chili flakes waitingfor us at our table each night which we appreciated a lot.

 

 

Will be posting a day per post to make it easier to read, as now that I think about it I made it pretty extensive :confused:

[DCGuy64]

Hello everyone

 

 

So I justcame back from a great cruise on board the Seaside. Of course there were thingsthat were not so great but overall I had a wonderful week.

 

A littlebit of background, my husband and I are pretty new to cruising, we started in2013 and this was our 6th cruise. This was sort of our 10thanniversary celebration. Have only cruised with RCCL and (Oasis 7 weekCaribbean, Jewel 7 week Caribbean, Allure 12 day TA) and NCL (Sky 4 day Bahamasand Epic 14 day TA). We have tried to do one cruise a year. So you can have a bit of idea of what toexpect from my review. This is going to be as detailed as I could, also addingsome personal recommendations along the way which I hope you don´t mind. This is my first review so bear with me! :halo: Willtry to make it as smooth and easy readable as possible. Also, sorry for anygrammar or spelling issues as English is not my mother tongue.

 

 

 

We live inMexico so when we go out of the country on vacation we try to stay as long aspossible. This time we went to Puerto Rico for 7 days, and then Miami for 5. Iwas unfortunately sick while we were in PR so didn´t get to enjoy as much as Ishould have, but was still glad to be on vacation and tried to make the most ofit even when not feeling well. I was lucky that my boss let me get away foralmost 3 weeks!

 

 

Anyway,let´s start on the cruise. We love Miami, t´s probably one of our favoritecities along with Istanbul. So instead of rushing to the ship on embarkationday -like we actually usually do ha- we stayed in Miami until 4:00 PM and went forlate breakfast / early lunch and some last minute shopping. We were staying inSouth Beach so we were close to the port. Took an uber who took his time to get there (somehow he didn´t knowthe way to the port, even when using his GPS go figure) so I was getting alittle nervous. Sail away was at 7 so we had to be there at 5 tops, but well wewere not that far. We arrived 4:40 and there was literally no one at the curbbut staff members and full luggage carts. We left our bags along with tips butno one told us where to go so we were just wandering around trying to find theway in. Made it to security and went upstairs to get checked in, again no onetold us where to go and there were no signs so it was pretty much figure it outon your own. Weird. Anyway, it probably took us 5 minutes from security to beon the ship as again, there was literally no one. Next time I will make sure weembark this late! It was awesome to go in like a breeze without having to wait.

 

 

As it waslate I assumed our room would be ready and it was. This was a very nicesurprise as I had booked an interior cabin with an online agency and a coupleof months later when I checked my reservation on the MSC site I was upgradedout of the blue not to ocean view but to a balcony cabin! This was our firstupgrade ever (again, few cruises on our belt) and also first balcony. Before wejust had interiors or ocean views. Cruising – or any vacation outside ourcountry- is pretty expensive for us so we are very conscious on the way wespend our money. We would rather extend our pre or post cruise stay instead ofgetting an expensive cabin. The downside is I don´t know if we can go back tointerior! We had cabin 12025 and it was very, very spacious. Even without thebalcony it is the biggest cabin we have ever had. After reading some concernson staterooms, I do agree the storage space is very limited. The closet has 3drawers but the one in the bottom can´t be opened so you are left with 2drawers and 4 small shelves, one is occupied by the safe so let´s say you have3.5 shelves. There´s no storage space in the vanity or anywhere else like I´veseen on other ships. Just a small drawer under it that can´t store a lot. Wetried to keep stuff that we wouldn´t use a lot on our bags but found ourselvespulling them out from under the bed several times a week.

 

 

Thebathroom is also on the small side. I´m not the tallest person but my kneewould hit the sink when sitting on the toilet. I can only imagine how that wasfor tall people! The shower was also small. It was ironic that such a big¨regular´ cabin would have such a small bathroom and closet. There was a hugecouch that could have been a bit smaller to give a bigger space to the bathroomand closet. No deal breaker, but a bit uncomfortable indeed.

 

 

We went tothe drill later on at the Metropolitan Theatre. It was for sure different toany other drill. It was conducted by the cruise director in like 7 languages,but somehow it was quick, maybe even quicker than the ones in other lines thatwill only do it in English. Every group then was guided to their station, mygroup was lucky that our station was at the theatre so we didn´t have to leave :D

For sailaway we went to the South beach pool and wandered around the deck and thewaterfront promenade. It truly is a beautiful ship. The most beautiful one I´vebeen on I would say. I couldn´t believe I was on it! Random side note: When Iwas probably 12 years old or so, I remember I saw pictures of the MSC Poesia onsome magazine. It looked so beautiful and luxurious, it is the first memory ofa cruise ship I had (other than the Titanic LOL) and I always thought wow, thatmust be awesome, but it should cost a fortune to be there. Never did I imagineI would ever be on a cruise. Many years later when we did our first (Oasis in2013) and started to browse and read everything cruise ships and I found outmore about that MSC Poesia ship I was like I have to do this ship! Or at leastan MSC cruise. MSC always seemed so classy and elegant ships to me but somehowit took us 6 cruises to do one with them.

Now ontodiner time! Being Bella (I had no idea about these experiences things but afterbooking and coming to the MSC boards) I thought we would be assigned to thebuffet at some undesirable time. I was surprised again not only to be assignedto the time we wanted without requesting it (8:30 seating) but to be given atable for 2 at Seashore. Now I really enjoy talking to people at dinner when wehave been given shared tables, but my husband speaks very little English sopeople is being nice trying to talk to him and he can´t hold a conversation soit gets awkward for them, I try to translate but then I´m on anotherconversation also so it´s a bit hard to be doing both things. It would be nicefor lines to accommodate you with people who speak your same language. Maybethey already do but I have yet to experience it.

 

 

 

Ourserver´s name was Shah from Mauritius and he was awesome. Very attentive andalways with a smile on his face. I had read concerns about the service beingslow which I found to be the total opposite. For us it took about an hour to bedone with our entrée and waiting on dessert. So the whole thing would usuallytake 1.20 hours, which to me was not bad at all. On the first day I was temptedto have the French onion soup from the everyday menu -French onion soup is myfavorite soup ever but I had it almost every day at Panera bread in Miami, in factI had one earlier that day- so I went with crispy spring rolls and turkeyscallops au gratin. Everything was amazing and a great introduction to MSC. Asgood old Mexicans, we asked Shah for hot sauce – which of course we were givenTabasco which I don´t really love- but then he said he had chilli flakes whichwe like much better. For the rest of the cruise there were chili flakes waitingfor us at our table each night which we appreciated a lot.

 

 

Will be posting a day per post to make it easier to read, as now that I think about it I made it pretty extensive :confused:

 

Wow, what a great first review, thank you! I am so happy to hear about your cruise (1st installment, that is).

Ojalá pudiéramosestar con usted y su marido en ese crucero, yo y mi mujer hablamos ambos españoly habría estado un placer hablar con ustedes.

I wish we could have been with you and your husband on that cruise, my wife and I both speak Spanish and it would have been a pleasure to talk with the two of you.

Thanks again!

[djbs2017]

thank you for sharing your cruise reviews with us. 10 days left and counting before embarkation!!!

[Clarea]

Thanks much for the feedback.

[jewliana]

Thank you SO much for doing a detailed review! We sail Saturday so hoping to get to hear most of your thoughts before we leave for the port Saturday Morning :-)

[voyager89]

Day 2 – At sea

We were having only 2 sea days (which then became 3, more on that later) so we wantedto enjoy the ship as much. Went to the Marketplace for breakfast and well. Ifthere is one thing I don´t like about any cruise, is breakfast. I don´t like cruise ships breakfasts. It´s always the same over and over and over. Eggs,bacon, waffles, pancakes, omelettes, beans, hash browns or some potato variety.Now I do like all of those items, what I don´t like is having the same items every single day. I get fed up by the second day. But I guess it´s just me /us. Being Mexican, we have all this different options that we rarely ever eatthe same thing twice at least on a week. We could have tacos with thousands of fillings, quesadillas, gorditas, sopes, enchiladas, chilaquiles, carnitas, eggsin a thousand ways, molletes, I could never finish. We eat pancakes almost onspecial occasions only. Same for bacon and omelettes. So you can bet when we arrived to Cozumel we were first in line to get off and hit some Mexican restaurant. Now don´t get me wrong, I love eating and trying things out when o nvacation, and when I´m in the US I´m all about burgers and fries but breakfast no. I just don’t like it. I lived in St Louis MO for almost a year and you could almost see me cry while eating pancakes. Anyway, I tried to find something I kinda like. The breakfast pizza was great and at least different to the usual ship offerings. They have an ethnic section but they only had Chinese rice andminced pork / beef every day ☹

The ship was rocking A LOT. We were coasting Cuba on our way to Jamaica but somehow it was moving so much. We went to the Jungle pool which was indeed pretty wild, I hit my head on the stairs rail on my way out of the pool haha. I was surprised to see life savers, haven´t seen one inany other cruise. Stayed at the jacuzzi which had more calmed waters :P Went to our stateroom and I fell asleep for hours I missed the CC party! The bed was so comfortable it was impossible not to fall asleep when you just wanted to ¨lay down for a second¨. Watched a TV show for an hour then went out again. The Miami beach pool has this sun beds that not only look great but are pretty comfortable too. Somehow they were all available that day, maybe cause it was getting late. Guess what, I fell asleep again! OMG. I´m 27, I should be going up and down the slides or zipline, but there I was, falling asleep everywhere I could. Needless to say it was all a very relaxing cruise.

 

 

We went to the stores but there was not a lot to buy, and expect for the perfumes and chocolates / candies, their prices were not exactly the cheapest. In the past I have bought handbags and sunglasses on the on board stores, but not this time. Plus I had already bought a Coach handbag in Puerto Rico and a Calvin Klein in Miami so the last thing I needed to buy was another handbag. I almost bought a Lacoste one on board but my available luggage space said no way. Plus we were staying for another night post cruise in Miami and you can bet I was going to hit the stores again :evilsmile:

 

 

One thing I didn´t love was the small food selection past 3:30. If you were hungry between 3:31 until dinner time, the only option is Biscayne Bay (the infamous family /smaller buffet). In my opinion, there was not real food there but snacks,finger / fried foods, kids options, and pizza, unless you waited until 6:30 forthem to put out the dinner options. All in all out of the days I was forced to eat there, there was:

Pizza

Burgers (both wrapped fast food style or DIY with patties and cold buns for you to take)

Hot dogs

Mozzarella sticks

Chicken nuggets

Fish fingers

Fries or any kind of potato variety

Cold sandwiches and wraps

Mac n cheese

And anything revolving those options. Again, just like breakfast I do like all of those items. But you can´t make a real, actual meal out of those. Perfect options for kids, but I kinda felt like there were no adult options like I don´t know, rice, salad, a chicken or beef dish, pasta that was not mac n cheese, something! There has always been similar options on the other ships I´ve been to during the day. But not here. I never understood why the Marketplace buffet was entirely closed past 3:30. I know they were using it as a third MDR but like many other posters have said, they should close Biscayne for MDR use and leave the bigger buffet for everybody else. Half Marketplac ewas empty at dinner time anyway everytime I walked by.

 

 

Went to get a drink at the SoBe bar before dinner. It was Gatsby / elegant night. I had bought this sparkly black and gold jacket that I could only use in Miami that Ithought would be perfect for that night. And it was! Everybody was staring atme like I was wearing a potato ruck sack LOL. The everyday options from the menu were not available and to be honest I was not thrilled about that night offerings. I had an arugula and cheese salad which was ok, and the oven roasted prime rib which was very good. It came with a baked potato, plain as Jane.There was literally nothing in it and all I could add was butter. Shah later came and gave me some sour cream. Some cheese, chives or bacon bits would have been nice but well. For desert I had some sacher something cake which was great.

 

 

Also ,earlier that day I sent 2 clothing items to the laundry service. I´ve never had anything washed at a cruise so I don´t know about prices but I paid 10dollars for a pair of jeans and 4 dollars for a t-shirt. I´ve been on vacation for up to 45 days and never did laundry but I had a little accident in Miami where these clothes needed to be cleaned urgently so well, I didn´t really mind the price. They delivered them the next day pressed and folded in a bag.

 

 

Our stateroom attendant was Karun also from Mauritius and he was great. He would d othe room twice a day even when I insisted once a day was more than enough. I felt bad. I don´t see why would anyone need their room to be done more than once a day. I kept telling him once is enough but everytime after dinner the bathroom was clean and with new towels even if we hanged them, the bed was ready to sleep and the daily program in the bed, empty trashcans and so on.

 

We went to the Garage Club but the music was terrible and ended up leaving. Plus I didn’t really love this venue. It looks more like a burger joint instead of a club or disco. The DJ booth was cool though.

Edited February 7, 2018 by voyager89
typo

[mafig]

So, the Coach OUTLET is open in San Juan?:evilsmile:

[voyager89]

Day 3 –Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

 

 

We were not thrilled about Jamaica. Not only I read before that Jamaica was probably the most homophobic place on earth but there was also a travel advisory issued for I can´t recall which part of the island, but altogether didn´t feel like venturing out there, even on a ship excursion. We thought of staying on the ship but ended up going to Margaritaville. I figured it´s so close you can even see the ship from there, it will be nice to get some fresh air as well and soak in the water. Paid 24 bucks for 2 loungers and got some drinks. It’s a nice place, never been to a MV before. They have a pool and a slide which was fun. Stayed there for a couple of hours and went back to the ship at around 4.

 

 

We were hungry and as I said before, there´s nowhere to go for food but the Biscayne buffet. They should call it Biscayne Battlefield. It was so hard to get something as of course all of us were coming back hungry and there was nowhere else to go. People were fighting over pizza and I´m not exaggerating. The pizza was good but soggy, guess with all the people waiting they would justleave it in the oven long enough for the dough to be just edible and put it out there. Same food items I mentioned above.

 

 

Back to thestateroom to take a shower. I had booked the My life in music show at 7 but guess what? Fell asleep again. Good Lord please have mercy. I would fall like a fly each time I laid down. I shouldn´t say this but the day before I had booked The Magician and well, the same thing happened. They have to stop making this cruise beds so comfortable, I´m missing out on everything!

 

 

For our third dinner I didn´t find anything I really liked again so this time I wen twith the onion soup and New York strip from the everyday menu. The soup was good, I just wish they used their rustic bread instead, they put what I think was sourdough on the soup. But nothing that would stop me from eating it again.The NY strip was the worst one I´ve had on any cruise ship. I love a good steak. But this one was just bland. Bland bland. Flavorless. I had to smother it in butter and put a ton of chili flakes, salt and pepper to make it taste like something. It came with fries and half a tomato. I hate tomatoes. For dessert I had 2, the red velvet cake (which is my favorite cake along with tres leches) and the coconut ice cream. The ice cream was amazing! It tasted like they bought it from some ice cream man in Puerto Rico and flown it over to the ship.The brown velvet cake -cause there was nothing red about it- was not good. It was so dry. A Twinkie would have done a better job. The cream cheese frosting was not too bad. I was realizing desserts are not something that MSC excels at.

 

 

Went to the Garage club again but it was packed we just went out to the SoBe pool and stayed there for a bit. Grand Cayman was up next and went to the room to place a breakfast room service order to have a quick one and wait to be tendered.

Edited February 7, 2018 by voyager89
typo

[DCGuy64]

I LOVE your review, so detailed and your explanations are so, I don't know, I feel like I'm there with you. My wife LOVES to nap so I can't wait to tell her about the inviting mattress. Your review makes me laugh because of the comfy bed and SoBe lounge chairs. You're a great writer, can't wait for more! Oh and now I want tres leches....:p

Edited February 7, 2018 by DCGuy64
Misspelled "writer," left off the 'r'

[voyager89]

Wow, what a great first review, thank you! I amso happy to hear about your cruise (1st installment, that is).

Ojalá pudiéramosestar con usted y su marido en ese crucero,yo y mi mujer hablamos ambos españoly habría estado un placer hablar conustedes.

I wish we could have been with youand your husband on that cruise, my wife and I both speak Spanish and it wouldhave been a pleasure to talk with the two of you.

Thanks again!

 

Oh, what a shame, would have been wonderful to meet! But hey, the world is so small we might run into in a future ;)

 

thankyou for sharing your cruise reviews with us. 10 days left and counting beforeembarkation!!!

 

Days go by so slow when counting down, and once you are on board we wish they were as slow also. Wish you a great cruise!

 

Thanks much for the feedback.

 

Glad to! :D

 

Thankyou SO much for doing a detailed review! We sail Saturday so hoping to get tohear most of your thoughts before we leave for the port Saturday Morning:-)

 

I feel the excitement! Have a great cruise!

 

So, the Coach OUTLET is open in San Juan?

 

It is! They had 50% additional on everything, and clearance was 50% plus 40% how can you say no to that! :hearteyes:

 

ILOVE your review, so detailed and your explanations are so, I don't know, Ifeel like I'm there with you. My wife LOVES to nap so I can't wait to tell herabout the inviting mattress. Your review makes me laugh because of the comfybed and SoBe lounge chairs. You're a great writer, can't wait for more! Oh andnow I want tres leches....

 

Thanks! Glad you are enjoying! I want tres leches too. Well I always do :')

Edited February 7, 2018 by voyager89
typo

[voyager89]

Day 4 –Grand Cayman (yea right :'))

 

 

This was the only port I was actually excited for -but then again we didn´t book this ship for the ports-. We ordered room service breakfast to get off quick since as you know, we tender out there. Well, we were waken up by the beautiful announcement that due to weather conditions and high waves the port was not going to tender us and the call was cancelled. Great! Few minutes later we got our breakfast order. I had asked for hot chocolate and was brought a cocoa packet with no hot milk and no cup. Great! Just what I needed for yet a great morning. I was really looking forward to this port. In fact I didn´t buy any souvenirs to get them all from there. Silly me. There were 4 ships waiting and we were all turned away. The sea didn´t really seem rough to me but well, I don´t really know a thing about navigation.

 

 

So this became a sea day and we finally tried the slides. The slideboarding one was kinda fun, I´m sure it could have been funnier if somebody would have explained to us how to score points. Later on we realized you have to register the board you use and it will show your name and count the points. I swear to God I was hitting the right color buttons when going down but it would vibrate just once or twice. The racing ones were fun. The one to the right goes faster. Didn´t try the brown one as I assumed it was for kids only.

 

 

Went to get changed into all white as the white party was going to be held that night at the Miami beach pool but then they said it was so windy it was changed to the atrium. I had booked the show Fly for that night and I forced myself not to fall asleep and attend this time, which I did. DH went to the gym -as I shouldhave too but I´m lazy- so I saw the show on my own. It was ok, I mean th eperformers were great and all but found it hard to find any connection between each act. It just wasn´t cohesive at all. There was an act with a song saying Welcome to Havana but the backdrop was some NYC or Chicago skyline. There was even a pole dance act, but it was ¨glamourized¨ as the pole seemed to be an umbrella and of course the dancer had some clothes on. It was not a bad show but it is not one I would choose to see again. To this day, I´m sitting at work still trying to figure out why was it called Fly.

 

 

Aside from being white night it was also Italian night at the MDR. I had a tri-color salad (lettuce and spinach, mozzarella and tomato) which was ok, and a very good lasagna. Dishes were usually on the smaller side but they would give you a second plate of anything if you asked, never did though. We both ordereds angrias which I am pretty sure was just straight up wine with a few chopped orange pieces floating. Not my favorite sangria for sure.

 

The white party to us was a total let down. I have enjoyed Royal´s and NCL´s white parties, but the one on Seaside was in my opinion, very boring. It seemed like it was an oldie sbut goodies themed party. The music was as old as time, which seemed to be a trend all over the cruise. I rarely heard any current music. I guess it was just us, or a cultural thing, as a lot of people seemed to be enjoying themselves that night, just not us. We stayed for probably 30 minutes and left. I would say 85% of the people were dressed in white, us included, which was nice. Most people in white I´ve seen on any white party that´s for sure!

Edited February 7, 2018 by voyager89
typo

[MisterBill99]

We went to the Garage Club but the music was terrible and ended up leaving. Plus I didn’t really love this venue. It looks more like a burger joint instead of a club or disco. The DJ booth was cool though.

Possibly the most wasted space on the ship. It does look like a burger joint and there even seems to be a grill. But they don't serve food and I don't think they use the grill for anything.

 

And the gelato place just outside by the pool closes at 8pm, so you can't even go there.

[NYHartChapp]

Nice review, thanks. Am looking forward to more installments.

[Jaco5NC]

Thank you for your review! Loving it so far!!

[thegraminator]

I'm loving this review ! I've actually laughed out loud a few times !

 

I know you are not done yet, but I have a few questions if you don't mind . Did you notice or were you bothered by the sewage smell that others have been talking about ? And did you attend any of the afternoon activities they offered ? And lastly , did you ever stay up late enough to attend the Improv comedy show ?

 

Thanks again for sharing your entertaining review ! Can't wait to read the rest !

[MisterBill99]

They have an ethnic section but they only had Chinese rice andminced pork / beef every day[emoji852].

I hope you enjoyed that section for lunch since it was always Mexican! First ship I've been on that did not have Asian or Indian on the buffet.

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Cruiser21]

I was on this same cruise. You have to admit the winds were quite strong this cruise. they said it was best to have it inside. Had it been outside I think it would have been much better but i think they did a good job having it inside. Was RCCL and NCL white party inside or out?

[voyager89]

I´m happy to hear you are enjoying! Please do not hesitate to ask any question you might have and I will do my best to answer

 

I'm loving this review ! I've actually laughed out loud a few times !

 

I know you are not done yet, but I have a few questions if you don't mind . Did you notice or were you bothered by the sewage smell that others have been talking about ? And did you attend any of the afternoon activities they offered ? And lastly , did you ever stay up late enough to attend the Improv comedy show ?

 

Thanks again for sharing your entertaining review ! Can't wait to read the rest !

 

I don´t mind at all! I´m glad to help :)

 

I did notice the sewage smell, but only on deck 18, right by where the racing slides end. It was always there but it was just noticeable, it was not like an OMG I can´t breathe - I´m not walking that way. That was the only place I ever found a bad smell.

 

I attended a reggaeton class which was very very fun, can´t remember which day was it though. I love reggaeton and I actually know how to dance so it was funny all along. I also went to the Name the movie tune (?) - not sure if that was the name- where they would play a song and you had to guess which movie was it from. This was on the last day, at sea. I didn´t play but just watched, it was way too easy, I guess to make it all ages appropriate. I think every person would know the songs to Lion King or Titanic so it was not that exciting.

 

As for the comedy show, I didn´t attend. I was falling asleep by 10:30 or so (can you believe) so I never made it, sorry I can´t comment anything on that.

[voyager89]

I was on this same cruise. You have to admit the winds were quite strong this cruise. they said it was best to have it inside. Had it been outside I think it would have been much better but i think they did a good job having it inside. Was RCCL and NCL white party inside or out?

 

I agree, it was a very windy cruise. The weather was not the best most of the week unfortunately. All white parties I´ve attended (1 RC and 2 NCL) were held outside.But I do understand why they moved it on Seaside.

 

I hope you enjoyed that section for lunch since it was always Mexican! First ship I've been on that did not have Asian or Indian on the buffet.

 

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Yes! I was surprised to see it was always Mexican. Well, chicken and beef flour tortilla tacos that is. They were ok. I wish they would have switched it up here and there. I was also surprised to see there wasn´t Asian or Indian since I´ve always found those on other cruises as well. For lunch I would usually just make me a salad since I wasn´t hungry just yet (we eat lunch around 4 or 5 PM) but I would rather just have a salad by 2 rather than wait for fried foods to be the only option available at Biscayne

[voyager89]

Day 5 –Cozumel

 

As I saidwe were sick of their breakfast offerings and as soon as we hit the port we ran out to find somewhere to have a good Mexican breakfast. We docked at Punta Langosta which is the newest pier, but a bit far from everything that happensat the regular dock (Puerta Maya) which from what I heard, MSC can´t use. We had a great breakfast at a cute local place called Islander, which is just a few blocks away from the pier, they have traditional food and also pancakes, french toast, etc. We paid 200 pesos (10 dollars) for the both of us, had chilaquiles and coffee.

 

 

 

 

For those of you who have not been to Cozumel yet, there are 2 supermarkets a few steps away, one is called Mega and theother one is Chedraui, in case you want to buy any drinks, snacks or anything.We bought toothpaste and contact solution which we ran out of, and a couple of canned drinks.

 

We then went to a place we were recommended called No name bar, also a couple of blocks away from the pier. It seemed to be closed, but there is another entrance just 2 doors down which says No name bar – crew bar. It was odd but I thought it would not be like they wouldn´t serve us if we weren´t crew right? So we grabbed a table and got a couple of drinks. The place is cute – is part of a hotel called Barracuda- right on the water but it doesn´t have a beach, it´s just like a man made way for you to swim on crystal clear water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The place had ¨By crew for crew¨ signs all over the place, but there is no way this place is crew affordable. It was so expensive, almost ship prices. Come on, this is Mexico, this is my country and these are not the prices I am used to. I am serious when I say it was almost the same as the ship. I got 2 beers, husband got 2 cocktails and left. Paid 25 dollars for that. That´s outrageous. They were selling 6 shots of Fireball for 29 dollars are you kidding me!?!? I can get a whole bottle for less than that. Oh, and there was a fine print, this¨special¨ was for crew only. Wow, what a deal. So if you ask me, I wouldn´t recommend this place, it´s too expensive in my opinion. We went a few doors down to a place I had seen online called El Muellecito which has amazing seafood and great 1 liter drinks at very good prices. It´s also waterfront but you can only get the view.

 

 

 

 

It was almost time to go back to the ship but we went to the store again to use an ATM from my bank and avoid fees as I am pretty sure Costa Maya would not have an ATM and we would most likely have to use cash there. We walked then to the ship buuut stopped at Tacos & Tequila which is right outside the pier to have some tacos. They looked good so we thought they would be, and God they were. Almost as good as Mexico City tacos and pretty cheap for a tourist spot.

 

 

 

 

Their margaritas look amazing but had no time for one, besides we had the tacos as we were a bit buzzed from the drinks and needed some food. We were by the ship at 5:30 as asked to but there was a huuge line to board.

 

 

Went to the stateroom to take a shower and get changed. Before dinner we had some Gelato at Venchi and it was AMAZING. Tried straciatella and tiramisu and both were very,very good. We are on vacation so we are allowed some ice cream before diner right?

 

 

I must say dinner times were very organized at Seashore, can´t speak for Ipanema which had the 3 seating times so probably everybody there was more in a rush. We would show up at around 8:25 and we were let inside and our table was ready. I´m a bit of a picky eater so I don´t know if it was because of that, or, the menu offerings were not that many, that I saw myself ordering again the onion soup / NY combo. Yes, that bland NY I had 2 nights ago. Well, I decided to give it a try. It was that or the buffet and I have never really loved to eat dinner at the buffet. The onion soup was as good as the one in day 3, the NY was just a biiit better than before. I had a turtle cheesecake which was incredibly good, almost licked the plate. I was tempted toget another one but I didn´t.

 

As almost every night, we would go to the promenade to walk a bit after diner.

[voyager89]

Oh I finally learned how to get pictures. Will try to post some from the previous days.

[voyager89]

Here are some pics from mostly MDR plates from the previous days. Hope there are some foodies like me out there who enjoy some food p0rn ;p

 

The brown velvet cake which as I said there´s nothing red about it - and coconut ice cream

 

 

The bland NY strip from day 3. I can´t recall what´s on the back that DH had, but whatever it was he said it was good, that I do remember :')

 

 

The roasted prime rib from night 2 / elegant night / gatsby night. It was very good, the meat was tasty with just the right amount of fat. It was just the potato that was too plain.

 

 

The starter spring rolls with asian slaw that were very good. I found them several days during the week at the buffet, just not with the slaw which to me made them way much better.

 

[voyager89]

The augratin turkey from day 1, it was amazing

 

 

Turtlecheesecake from day 5 which was also awesome

 

 

 

 

Some of the Biscayne buffet at around 4:00 PM when coming back from Ocho Rios. As I mentioned it was all basically pizza, burgers and fried foods.

 

 

[voyager89]

Day 6 –Costa Maya

Costa Maya is not a real place as is. It is a cruise line built pier with a pool,dolphins, stores and restaurants. The actual Mayan coast (Costa Maya) is the coast between Punta Herreros through Xcalak, which includes the probably more known Bacalar, Mahahual and Chetumal. Excursions, food, drinks and souvenirs are way too expensive. If you want toeat, drink and buy souvenirs, you are better off going to Mahahual, which is only a 10 minute, 2 dollar per person taxi trip. It´s such a beautiful place with some of the clearest waters I´ve seen in Mexico. The day was a bit cloudy but later on cleared out and the sun came out. Got an amazing tan there

 

One place I recommend: Ibiza Sunset. Mahahual is such a small town, almost everything is on the beachfront street / promenade. I had seen this place before on Facebook and looked good. It´s big, it´s a 2 story restaurant then across the street you have more tables, hammocks and sunbeds right in the water. This was our first stop for breakfast. If you haven´t,please try the Jamaica (hibiscus) water which is a classic, typical drink inMexico.

 

 

 

 

One place I DO NOT recommend: Barefoot beach club. SO expensive, pretty much ship prices.They have an sign saying ¨Tripadvisor excellence award¨ or something like that,which if is real, I don´t know how they got it. The staff is very nice, whichfor what they charge, there´s no way they couldn´t be nice. We got a menu withno prices and like 7 cocktail options only. We should have known better. We got 2 beers and 3 cocktails which weren´t even that good and on the very small side and paid 34 dollars, no tip included. Because of course they charged us in dollars. Each beer was 5 and each cocktail 8. So please avoid this place.

 

 

We ended up going back to Ibiza Sunset, they had a 2 margaritas or daiquiris for 80 pesos special, less than 4 dollars. And they were so good. We had the Jamaica and cucumber daiquiris and gosh, they were so good. Their steak nachos were amazing! I wish we never left in the first place after breakfast, we would have avoided that Barefooot place rip off.

 

 

 

 

Note that each of those drinks was 80 pesos as they offered to put the 2 drinks for 80 pesos in one big glass.

 

 

Fun short story: After breakfast while walking down the street you could see the ships. I started to see smoke and the ship next to us moving (Liberty OTS) and DH was like wow, it´s way too early for them to be leaving already. 5 seconds later I said wait, it´s not their ship, it´s ours that´s moving! I almost had a pants accident. I was like there´s no way I mean it´s like 11 AM, what´s going on?There´s thousands of us here, this can´t be happening! I freaked out for a minute but then realized there was no way the ship was just leaving like that.Turns out they were just changing the ship´s position. But man did I get scared. Anyway here is a pic of the shore:

 

 

 

 

And here is me enjoying the life lol:

 

 

 

 

After spending the rest of the day at Ibiza Sunset we went back to the ship. It turned out to be a very hot day so we just went straight to the South beach pool to take a dip and then go to the room to get changed for sail away and a few drinks at the bar.

 

A bit tired of the MDR so we had dinner at the buffet that night. There were some offerings I did feel like having and everything was good. A lamb stew, greek style brochettes, spring rolls, grilled chicken, etc. The desserts were ok.

 

 

 

We went out to the Miami pool and they were playing Sing! for the kids (they would play a movie each night but none that I felt like watching) but I love Sing so we went to get changed -it was a very chilly night- and stayed to watch it. I think it was part of their kids dining program where they would take the kids away for parents to dine at MDR while entertaining them but IMO it was late for them to be out there (11ish) but well, vacation time I guess. We went to bed when the movie was over.