MSC Seaside May 26, 2018 Part 2

[FL Sunshine]

Part 2:

 

A few thoughts I omitted to add from the first day on board.

 

VIP Photo Package:

 

I pre purchased the VIP Photo Package. In my opinion it is well worth the $99. Any photo was included in this package as long as someone in our cabin was in the photo. Embarkation and photos with the Captain were also included. On the day we boarded, we went to the Photo Shop to pick up the VIP photo card and learned more about how to use this package. With this package you also get 60% off any photos you may want to purchase while on board.

Fair warning, my daughter became a little diva model and was getting her photo taken when ever possible. 😂 I just needed to hand the photographer my ship card and the photo was added. The photographers took beautiful photos! The photographers are good about remembering to remove the blue wristbands. 😊

 

Again, I don't understand why the wristband did not work with this photo package, but it was no big deal to hand them my ship card.

 

I down loaded the photos from each day to my IPhone, while on board. It was quick and easy. There is an option to edit the photos to remove boarders on the photos you wish. There are also various photos of and around the ship included.

 

Don't wait until the last day to go to the photo shop to look at photos. It is a mad house! 😆 You just give them your cabin number and they hand you a big stack of photos to look through.

 

On Italian Night in the dining room was the only night photographers took photos in the dining room, which was nice. I find it a little disruptive on other cruise lines when they would always want to take photos at dinner.

They took a group photo then individual photos of each one at the table. Of course, we were dining with our family of six, so this was nice.

 

If you have the Aurea Experience, you get a complimentary printed photo from Italian night. Just head to the Photo Shop and they will help you select your photo and print them for you. We were able to choose two complementary photos.

 

The Seaside Dining Room:

 

With the Aurea Experience there is a separate entrance into the dining room. It is just to the left of the main entrance. We did have to give the hostess one ship card from each cabin in order to be seated. Why they can't use the wristband, I don't know. It was no big deal! I always had my ship card on me.

We never had to wait to be seated and able to request to to be seated with the same wait staff each night.

 

In our Aurea Experience, we received slippers and robes. We also received an oil diffuser that was boxed up to take home. They had one in use sitting on the vanity/desk. Our cabin smelled so good!

 

We also asked our room steward to empty out our mini fridge so we could use it for our own things.

 

Lights/Power in cabin:

 

We tried to use our hotel key from the night before to keep the power on in our room, as suggested. It did not work even though it was the same type of key card. So we just kept my husband's key card in the slot and made sure he took it with him on port days.

 

There are also Do Not Disturd and Make Up Room buttons by the door. These turn on lights outside the door for your room steward to know when to enter the room. Nice touch.

 

Curling Irons, Flat irons and a clothes steamer:

 

These were all packed in our checked luggage and not confiscated.

I found that our checked luggage arrived in a timely manner to our cabin.

 

Bottled Water:

 

We would go to the bars and stock up on the same liter bottles from dinner to use in our room. We also got smaller bottles of water and cans of sodas and put them in the fridge to use whenever. All included with Aurea. We took these bottles of water with us on port days.

 

On disembarkation day, the bars had the liter bottles of water sitting out on the counters ready for anyone who wanted water for their trip home. Again, the water was free with Aurea and the bartender just scanned our bracelets.

 

Language:

Every crew member we talked with knew English well enough. We had no problems with communication.

[MANDMTRAVEL]

Part 2:

 

A few thoughts I omitted to add from the first day on board.

 

VIP Photo Package:

 

I pre purchased the VIP Photo Package. In my opinion it is well worth the $99. Any photo was included in this package as long as someone in our cabin was in the photo. Embarkation and photos with the Captain were also included. On the day we boarded, we went to the Photo Shop to pick up the VIP photo card and learned more about how to use this package. With this package you also get 60% off any photos you may want to purchase while on board.

Fair warning, my daughter became a little diva model and was getting her photo taken when ever possible. 😂 I just needed to hand the photographer my ship card and the photo was added. The photographers took beautiful photos! The photographers are good about remembering to remove the blue wristbands. 😊

 

Again, I don't understand why the wristband did not work with this photo package, but it was no big deal to hand them my ship card.

 

I down loaded the photos from each day to my IPhone, while on board. It was quick and easy. There is an option to edit the photos to remove boarders on the photos you wish. There are also various photos of and around the ship included.

 

Don't wait until the last day to go to the photo shop to look at photos. It is a mad house! 😆 You just give them your cabin number and they hand you a big stack of photos to look through.

 

On Italian Night in the dining room was the only night photographers took photos in the dining room, which was nice. I find it a little disruptive on other cruise lines when they would always want to take photos at dinner.

They took a group photo then individual photos of each one at the table. Of course, we were dining with our family of six, so this was nice.

 

If you have the Aurea Experience, you get a complimentary printed photo from Italian night. Just head to the Photo Shop and they will help you select your photo and print them for you. We were able to choose two complementary photos.

 

The Seaside Dining Room:

 

With the Aurea Experience there is a separate entrance into the dining room. It is just to the left of the main entrance. We did have to give the hostess one ship card from each cabin in order to be seated. Why they can't use the wristband, I don't know. It was no big deal! I always had my ship card on me.

We never had to wait to be seated and able to request to to be seated with the same wait staff each night.

 

In our Aurea Experience, we received slippers and robes. We also received an oil diffuser that was boxed up to take home. They had one in use sitting on the vanity/desk. Our cabin smelled so good!

 

We also asked our room steward to empty out our mini fridge so we could use it for our own things.

 

Lights/Power in cabin:

 

We tried to use our hotel key from the night before to keep the power on in our room, as suggested. It did not work even though it was the same type of key card. So we just kept my husband's key card in the slot and made sure he took it with him on port days.

 

There are also Do Not Disturd and Make Up Room buttons by the door. These turn on lights outside the door for your room steward to know when to enter the room. Nice touch.

 

Curling Irons, Flat irons and a clothes steamer:

 

These were all packed in our checked luggage and not confiscated.

I found that our checked luggage arrived in a timely manner to our cabin.

 

Bottled Water:

 

We would go to the bars and stock up on the same liter bottles from dinner to use in our room. We also got smaller bottles of water and cans of sodas and put them in the fridge to use whenever. All included with Aurea. We took these bottles of water with us on port days.

 

On disembarkation day, the bars had the liter bottles of water sitting out on the counters ready for anyone who wanted water for their trip home. Again, the water was free with Aurea and the bartender just scanned our bracelets.

 

Language:

Every crew member we talked with knew English well enough. We had no problems with communication.

 

Was the VIP photo package available at 99.00 onboard? There is a different one now online to pre - purchase for 150.00 Have they increased the price?

[JAGR]

Thanks for your review postings. Can I ask if the Italian (or what MSC sometimes calls the Mediterranean) night was the last sea day on Thursday? Thanks

[FL Sunshine]

Thanks for your review postings. Can I ask if the Italian (or what MSC sometimes calls the Mediterranean) night was the last sea day on Thursday? Thanks

 

Our Italian Night was on Wednesday. The same day as Puerto Rico.

[FL Sunshine]

Was the VIP photo package available at 99.00 onboard? There is a different one now online to pre - purchase for 150.00 Have they increased the price?

 

I paid $99 before the cruise. I have read that this price has gone up since our May 26, 2018 cruise.

 

It is a lot more to buy this package once on board.