For Recent Seaside Cruisers - Has Experience Gotten Better?

[The Admiral]

for those who have cruised the seaside in the past few weeks I was wondering if the following issues I noted in my review have improved:

 

1) has alternate dinner buffet selection improved at all? When I went it was bad so you really had no alternative dinning in effect

 

2) oversold overcrowded ship with bad elevator availability still the feeling on the ship.....

 

3) is the classics menu still limited to only 3-4 days ie: if you don’t like the regular menu you have no choice as they will not make a steak or chicken for you on any night you don’t like menu.

 

4) has sewage smell been resolved?

 

I have family cruising seaside next week based on my recommendations and when I returned from 12/31 sailing to warn them to cancel they were stuck and it was too late to cancel.

 

Thanks for your feedback...

[Danny61231]

for those who have cruised the seaside in the past few weeks I was wondering if the following issues I noted in my review have improved:

 

1) has alternate dinner buffet selection improved at all? When I went it was bad so you really had no alternative dinning in effect

 

2) oversold overcrowded ship with bad elevator availability still the feeling on the ship.....

 

3) is the classics menu still limited to only 3-4 days ie: if you don’t like the regular menu you have no choice as they will not make a steak or chicken for you on any night you don’t like menu.

 

4) has sewage smell been resolved?

 

I have family cruising seaside next week based on my recommendations and when I returned from 12/31 sailing to warn them to cancel they were stuck and it was too late to cancel.

 

Thanks for your feedback...

 

I was on the 2/24 sailing. During our week, I never saw an elevator that wasn't working. The ship never felt crowed in my opinion and the classic menu wasn't available on either elegant night or Italian night. The smell was noticeable near the kiddy pool area on 18 and I smelt it once near the atrium but it never ruined or trip. As for the dinner buffet, it was still lacking. I did find grilled steaks a few times as well as a fresh prime rib casting station but they still need more options.

 

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[riclop]

for those who have cruised the seaside in the past few weeks I was wondering if the following issues I noted in my review have improved:

 

1) has alternate dinner buffet selection improved at all? When I went it was bad so you really had no alternative dinning in effect

 

2) oversold overcrowded ship with bad elevator availability still the feeling on the ship.....

 

3) is the classics menu still limited to only 3-4 days ie: if you don’t like the regular menu you have no choice as they will not make a steak or chicken for you on any night you don’t like menu.

 

4) has sewage smell been resolved?

 

I have family cruising seaside next week based on my recommendations and when I returned from 12/31 sailing to warn them to cancel they were stuck and it was too late to cancel.

 

Thanks for your feedback...

You are back with more of your tales of having only hamburgers, hot dogs and fries for dinner in the buffet.

[Beamafar]

As your family are sailing so soon, they will be able to apprise you of the current situation.

[ISLANDCRUSO]

I wonder when the worlds complainers will ever give up ? I cannot ever recall anywhere on a cruise board where people had so much to complain about over so little!

[EssG]

I wonder when the worlds complainers will ever give up ? I cannot ever recall anywhere on a cruise board where people had so much to complain about over so little!

 

Cant agree more....seems like they thrive on finding things to complain about or start/fuel fires with.....If you choose to look for issues /problems in life you are bound to find something to complain about, no matter where you are or what you are doing..... If you choose to focus on the good things and Blessings, you cant help but feel happy and the issues that may arise seem to just slip past.

[sidari]

EssG ... Well said.

[NMsunset]

We were on Seaside 24FEB-03MAR

 

Deck 16 evening buffet had very good food, memorables:

Lamb curry

Prime rib at carving station

Sword Fish baked

Jerk chicken

always great pizza

 

Not Applebee's nor the typical, salt packed and greasy, USA casual/thematic dining fair...which is Exactly why we went on MSC Seaside.

 

Seaside this week will have served approximately 60,000 cruisers, in ~12 weeks time, seems the complainers are insignificant...(math is not for or against you)!

 

Look at the data if you are on the fence about Seaside or any other CL or vacation!

 

Cheers, enjoy the cruise of your choice!

[TrinaLC]

I think for the vast, vast majority the experience has been fine all along! Tell your family not to sweat the little things and not to look for problems but to enjoy the cruise!

 

 

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[The Admiral]

Folks you really need to lighten up....if I didn’t know MSC was privately held I would swear your entire life’s savings in MSC stock.

 

No cruise line including MSC is perfect and my review a few months ago which I’m still bashed for, was based on my experience in the 12/31 sailing which I don’t believe any of those that don’t like my criticisms were on.

 

The north American based MSC staff and management have real problems with quality and training it’s that simple some other examples:

 

1) my entire group took the time to fill out the request for a comment card they made a big deal about and gave use because they wanted passengers opinions. We dropped it off in various different places: with our waiter, the room and guest services to date, almost 3 months later no one has received the promised survey!

 

2) one of the members in the group cruising this month submitted a special needs request and was told their request could only be accommodated if they were in a handicap cabin - which they didn’t have available. Obviously given disability laws this has to be wrong, so I told my friend to call again and they would likely get a different answer, hopefully from someone with a clue....just another example of great training and customer service

 

3) when I first cruised MSC 8 years ago it took me over a year of calls and emails to get a voyagers club number which is one of the reasons I said never again till I believed the seaside hype.

 

But that’s ok everyone is entitled to their opinions, that’s what this forum thrives on and I welcome it. But When you see thousands of ratings from cruisers and see that MSC is consistently rated lower than other cruise lines like Carnival, RCL and NCL I guess I’m in good company - there’s a lot of us out there making things up just for giggles I guess lol

[javaguru]

2) oversold overcrowded ship with bad elevator availability still the feeling on the ship.....

March 3-10 sailing, some elevators were out of service at times. I never felt like getting an elevator was any big issue - there were wait times during peak hours like we would have seen on past cruises with other ships

 

3) is the classics menu still limited to only 3-4 days ie: if you don’t like the regular menu you have no choice as they will not make a steak or chicken for you on any night you don’t like menu.

Yes, they don't offer it on Italian night and I thin Elegant night.

4) has sewage smell been resolved?

We smelled it on embarkation day - again not a big issue for us, just an unpleasant waft here and there as we were exploring the ship

[Motegi]

To The Admiral:

 

You mentioned that 8 years ago after your first cruise with MSC you had a problem getting a Voyager Club number and decided to never cruise with them again. How was the cruise itself? It must not have been to your liking because I don’t see the club number issue being enough to swear off of a cruise line entirely.

 

Some people are much more selective eaters than others. I see this every time I go out to eat with friends. Usually many things on the menu will look appetizing to me but for some of my friends they will have a hard time finding anything and even when they select something they will ask the waiter to make multiple changes when ordering (different sauce, different sides, etc). It literally is a matter of taste.

 

As for the sewer smell I think I’ve noticed sewer smell at one point or another on all of the ships I’ve sailed on. Usually confined to certain small sections. I thought it was just the way things were. I work in a hospital where we encounter similar smells on a daily basis so I’m used to it!

[lcpagejr]

Folks you really need to lighten up....if I didn’t know MSC was privately held I would swear your entire life’s savings in MSC stock.

 

No cruise line including MSC is perfect and my review a few months ago which I’m still bashed for, was based on my experience in the 12/31 sailing which I don’t believe any of those that don’t like my criticisms were on.

 

The north American based MSC staff and management have real problems with quality and training it’s that simple some other examples:

 

1) my entire group took the time to fill out the request for a comment card they made a big deal about and gave use because they wanted passengers opinions. We dropped it off in various different places: with our waiter, the room and guest services to date, almost 3 months later no one has received the promised survey!

 

2) one of the members in the group cruising this month submitted a special needs request and was told their request could only be accommodated if they were in a handicap cabin - which they didn’t have available. Obviously given disability laws this has to be wrong, so I told my friend to call again and they would likely get a different answer, hopefully from someone with a clue....just another example of great training and customer service

 

3) when I first cruised MSC 8 years ago it took me over a year of calls and emails to get a voyagers club number which is one of the reasons I said never again till I believed the seaside hype.

 

But that’s ok everyone is entitled to their opinions, that’s what this forum thrives on and I welcome it. But When you see thousands of ratings from cruisers and see that MSC is consistently rated lower than other cruise lines like Carnival, RCL and NCL I guess I’m in good company - there’s a lot of us out there making things up just for giggles I guess lol

 

 

Its been said many times..... The first few cruises are always a work in progress....You were on one of the first couple Caribbean sailings...kinks being worked out. Everyone is entititled to their opinion...However I must say the positive feedback from recent cruises indicates there has been improvement and many of the problems earlier reported have been addresses and/or they were just subjective comments.

[Motegi]

Its been said many times..... The first few cruises are always a work in progress....You were on one of the first couple Caribbean sailings...kinks being worked out. Everyone is entititled to their opinion...However I must say the positive feedback from recent cruises indicates there has been improvement and many of the problems earlier reported have been addressed...

 

Agree 100%.

 

One thing that I’ve taken away from this controversy is that despite the allure of being on a “maiden voyage” perhaps it is best to avoid sailing on any new ship for 6-12 months while they address any of the initial problems. Who wants to pay to be a beta tester?

 

I look forward to my cruise on the Seaside in September as they see to be making big improvements already.