Seaside review - January 27 sailing

[gigito5]

Really enjoying your review!

[voyager89]

Day 7 – At sea

 

I somehow woke up at 5 AM and for a second thought of going up to the pools to continue sleeping there cause man was it hard to find sunbeds by the pool, well just like on every cruise. But it was too early so I said no and went back to bed. Woke up again by 8 and went up with a bit of hope to find one, well of course I was wrong. Not even a single bed by the Miami or south beach pools, and of course, nobody was there. It was a sea of towels and books. They don´t have signs like other ships of not reserving chairs and stuff abandoned for moret han 30 minutes would be removed so you´re pretty much screwed. Damn I should have gone up at 5 AM and slept there.

 

 

After breakfast I found some empty chairs on deck 19 by the stairs, it was that or nothing. Stayed a couple of hours there as I really wanted a deep dark tan (which I did get ) Later we went to the SoBe bar fora couple of drinks and get in the pool. We met the coolest Puerto Rican family there. Very few people on board would speak Spanish so it was nice to findthem, sadly on our last day though. We all had lunch together and went to the slides again.

 

 

We did go to the MDR for the last night. Again, onion soup and NY for me, which this time was on the selections for the day and the classics section. This time it came with greens instead of the tomato, it was much better than the other 2 steaks I had earlier on the week but still not the greatest one.

 

Later we saw the Peter Punk show which was amazing. I really really liked it. The acts were this time more cohesive than those on Fly, and much more impressive. I am glad I didn´t miss this one. The temperature at the theatre is cold! So bring acover up. The show was also very emotive with the cruise director and some representative parts of the staff coming to the stage with flags and all. I am not sure if there are any other shows as good as this one, but I was very impressed with it.

 

 

Came back to the cabin to finish packing and bring our bags out :(

 

Day 8 –Debarkation and final thoughts

 

Well, on debarkation day there´s not really a lot to do right? But grab breakfast and be sad that the week is over. It was a sad day indeed, cloudy and rainy. I was surprised to see that the Marketplace buffet was full of food and even a couple different offerings. Usually the breakfast on the last day is not as complete in my experience. Of course it was packed. We grabbed our food and went to the tables at the Bistro to eat as we couldn’t find one inside the buffet.

 

We werestaying for one more night in Miami and as you know, check ins are not until 3:00 PM so we tried to stay on the ship as long as we could. Finished breakfast and I actually started writing my review ha. By 10:15, they called all colors and we left the ship. They announced earlier that the process would take longer since there were not enough immigration agents. The line was really long once we were off the ship and moved super slow. When we got to the agent all he did was look at our passport and ask how many days were we staying… and that was it. Mere protocol I guess. Took an Uber and left the port :loudcry:

[voyager89]

Final thoughts:

Itinerary

Didn´t love it but tried to make the most of it. It was cool to have 2 stops in Mexico andhave my food and all but I can go there much easier than I can go to other islands (I was actually in Cozumel last March and went to Playa del Carmen 4 times this year) but then again we didn´t book this cruise for it´s unique itinerary right? Plus most mass ships always do the same islands anyway. Guess anything is better than Freeport and Nassau (except for Jamaica IMO ha). Would we do this itinerary again? I hope we don´t have to.

 

Ship

Again, the ship is beautiful. The décor is very elegantly done. In my opinion, there is just one thing that ruins it. The ladies statues on the South Beach pool, and the hippo statues on the Miami Beach pool. Totally unnecessary IMO. The atrium while a bit small is awesome, the Swarovski stairs, the furniture at the bars ,everything else is just as I thought it would be. Very very elegant and classy all around. Would we book a Seaside cruise again? I am so unsure, not because I didn´t like it, I loved it, but while it´s my favorite ship so far, I don´t love the idea of repeating cruises. I like trying new ones instead.

 

Food

Buffets food flavor was good. But MDR was a hit or miss all week long. I have found the food in Norwegian much better, their NY strips on my Epic TA were amazing, I still have dreams about those beautiful steaks, crispy on the outside and tender and pink on the inside. Probably the best steaks I´ve ever had anywhere. The fact that other than the 2 buffets and your assigned MDR are the only complimentary options definitely plays a big part as well, since NCL and Royal offer at leas t1 or 2 more options. I had high hopes on their pizza and it was just ok. They always had margherita, pepperoni or olives and basil pizzas. Unless you paid for it via room service, there were no other options. Royal´s Sorrento´s made to order pizzas were so much better, which say a lot about an Italian line. Plus after trying NCL´s anytime dining, it was a bit hard to stick to a time each night. If I was to book MSC again I would try to do Aurea or above to be able to do this.

 

Service

It was always good but nothing exactly memorable. I remember our server and our cabin attendant, that´s all. We paid our tips but didn´t really give any extra to anyone. We received good service all around, that´s it.

 

Cleanliness/ foul smell

We were on deck12, and never experienced there the sewage smell I have read a lot about. The carpet was always clean and I didn´t see any lint. However there was some of that smell around deck 19 by the kids pool zone. Of course not pleasant but not something that would kill anyone. Most areas on the ship were always clean.

 

Laundry

I was very upset. As I mentioned before, I sent a t-shirt and jeans, that was on the first day. I left them on the paper bag they brought them back in and just packed them the last night. When I came back home and unfolded the jeans, they were still dirty, you could see the stains still there. The shirt had a funny smell.I didn´t pay 14 dollars for that! I really wish I had noticed while still onboard to either send it back or have them remove the charge. I always do my laundry and never ever have I sent something so now I know if I ever do again,to check my clothes when returned.

 

Fellow cruisers

Very different crowd to those we have cruised along with in NCL and RCCL. Way more nationalities which I liked, people overall were more dressy, saw several designer items, most would dress for the occasion / time of the day.

 

Entertainment

The cruise director was great. Didn´t see him a lot (only during the 2 shows to be exact) but loved his sense of humour. He was very pleasant to hear. Parties and other activities to me were not good. Even with just a handful of cruises under mybelt, after Royal´s Dreamworks parties / parades, aqua theater or ice skatings hows, or Norwegian´s Blue man group, it´s hard to be impressed on a ship. I really wish they had brought Cirque Du Soleil to the Seaside as well.

 

Next cruised esk

The pre-cruise experience was terrible. As we all know, their website sucks, the customer service is no better. I booked via an online agency and it was easy. But if I wanted to buy a cruise directly with them, it´s a nightmare. I thought it would be easier to try to do it on board. Silly me. The lady giving out the next cruise info was very nice and polite, but it was useless for us to go.Their Book on board and get all these benefits program was only for US citizens. Ok well, give us at least a quote on the Cuba and Cozumel cruises. She couldn´t. She said you would need to do it through an agency. Really? It´s as if I was asking for something for free. It feels like I have to beg them to sell me a cruise! They didn´t even have brochures -which yea I get it, 2018,the technology era, paperless all and stuff but I basically walked away with nothing, not even a post it with a sample pricing or anything.

 

All in all,it was a great week even with the things we found where they personally fell short compared to the other cruises we have done. It might also be the fact that 2 factors came into place, new ship + they are still trying to find their way in North America.

Would we cruise again with MSC? If we want a cruise on a beautiful ship just to relax,we would. But if we want a cruise for the food or entertainment we would most likely look at another line. Might give them another chance when their island is ready, but in the meantime we want to try Celebrity and Princess, probably Carnival -I´ve heard they are the fun ships lol-. We are yet to find our go to cruise line, we would go to Royal for entertainment, NCL for the food, MSC for the beautiful ships (I am sure all their fleet is as beautiful). But just like everything, a cruise is what you make of it right?

 

Thanks forreading and I hope you enjoyed :)

[Tall-Cruiser]

Voyager89 - Very good first review and excellent pictures. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise and Margaritaville in Ocho Rios as I remember you asking about it :). Well done.

[BermudaBound2014]

I think you’ve done a really nice job with this review. :). You’ve pointed out the good with MSc (in particular the hardscape) and also eluded to areas where the experience could be improved for you. That’s the whole point of the forum. Sharing good and bad, not defending corporate, but not thrashing it either. You’ve done splendid in walking the line and i truly hope that your review is not deconstructed with the same venom as some of the other recent reviewers.

 

 

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[windlicht]

awesome review! Thank you!

[voyager89]

Thank you guys, glad you enjoyed :)

[Richncomp]

I, too, was on the same cruise, and your review was quite accurate. The weather wasn't the best, but found the food and entertainment to be quite acceptable. Ate in Ocean Cay one eve - spectacular crab appetizer, and one night at the Teppan Grill - one of the most enjoyable meals I have ever had on a cruise ship and worth every penny. We sailed on the Divina last year - same week - with much better weather. All in all, we liked the Divina more - larger balcony cabin - larger bathroom - even more elegant than the Seaside - more Italian flair - Seaside is more Americanized. What made this trip even better for us was that we had Captain Scala again and most of the cruise staff was from the Divina last year, led by the incredible Candice Moses. It felt like "family."

Topped off with three great excursions - bobsled Jamaica in Ocho Rios, the Mexican cooking class at Playa Mia beach in Cozumel, and an unbelievable day at Maya Chan all inclusive beach day in Costa Maya. The ship was great - yes, a sewage smell in some parts of the ship, but not in our cabin. I have been on other cruise lines where it was directly in our bathroom, but the faults on the Seaside were minor. Great embarkation - 10 minutes - great debarkation - 10 minutes. No immigration forms any longer. Just show your passport and you're off!

 

My recommendation is go with an open mind and enjoy, and don't sweat the small stuff!

[TravelinGert]

Love your review. Well, except for the parts where you keep mentioning stuff like tres leches and helado de coco or maybe you meant a coconut limber, and Puerto Rico, and the outlet there. It makes me want to visit Puerto Rico again so much. Maybe I can talk my hubby into us taking the grandkids down next winter.

[Jimbo59]

Try Holland America. Great food, BB King’s Blues music every night, much smaller ships, extensive buffet. Try the newer ships - Konigsdam, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam.

[MisterBill99]

Try Holland America. Great food, BB King’s Blues music every night, much smaller ships, extensive buffet. Try the newer ships - Konigsdam, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam.

We were on Eurodam last March and thought that the food was very good, on par with Celebrity (maybe better, especially the lunch buffet). We'll be on Koningsdam for a couple of weeks in June and are looking forward to it. Not a jazz fan but I enjoyed the dueling pianos.

 

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