MSC Seaside June 16-23, 2018 REVIEW

[harrisodaniels]

First Anniversary, First Cruise, BEST Cruise!

 

My wife of (actuallyless than) 1 year, Kristin and I had an amazing time on the Seaside lastweek and I can't say enough praise about it - best cruise ever, got more valueout of our package and did more activities than I even thought we would! For reference, we had an Aurea Balcony (B3 –9059), upgraded to Deluxe Drinks Package, and booked our own shore excursionsahead of the cruise through viator.com. We didn’t use a TA, I booked onlinethrough MSC’s website in April 2018 and called back MSC Customer Service many,MANY times in 2 months to tweak details, change staterooms 3x (which was NEVERa problem!) – from 9066 (Fantastica corner Suite), to 14038 (Aurea balcony,close to front of ship), and finally to 9059 (B3 as well, but closer to frontof mid-ship, directly above Gym/Spa, just above deck 8&7 with the bestbars, lounges, buffet, easy steps down to the Metropolitan Theater.

 

It’s truly thanks toreading CC reviews and board posts, and asking questions on the numerousFacebook Groups (MSC Seaside… Group Chat / Cruise Nation / Fans / Cruise Chat,MSC Cruises Fan Club) that I was able to plan the perfect First Cruise for mywife. She’d only ever been on a small sailing from South Florida to Key Westbefore, and wasn’t sure how she’d like a full week on a giant 5,500 passengercruise ship. She loved it! It was my 4thcruise, but the 3rd was on the Disney Magic in 2002! So this was myfirst real, independent, married adult cruise without my family – waydifferent, WAY better!

 

We kicked off our weekon the Seaside by arriving in Miami in style. Highly recommend Larry's Limo out of Ft Lauderdale - get a quote andsee if it compares to what others are suggesting, but their service and pricewas the best I found for what we needed. Our driver Victor took care ofeverything, from meeting us at Baggage Claim at MIA to providing ice, softdrinks, a cold bottle of Champagne, and a bottle of Orange Juice (as requestedfor Mimosas), letting us hook up our phones to play a Miami Spotify playlist onthe stereo system, and driving slow through Little Havana to make the ride tothe Port of Miami a fun one!

http://www.larryslimo.com

 

EMBARKATION:

Getting on the ship went super smoothly, especially since we opted to onlycarry hand luggage – we packed tight/light with 1 hardshell carry-on rollingsuitcase each, plus a big backpack and a purse. We walked through the entranceat the cruise port (albeit buzzed on Limo-Mosas), and were directed to theAurea Priority Embarkation line, which was kind of like TSA PreChek at theairport, and we got through security quickly, and only waited about 5-10minutes in the Aurea check-in line to get our Cruise Cards and walk onto the ship– definitely less than an hour from curbside to Seaside, maybe it was only30min! I had previously matched Silverstatus on Voyagers Club from IHG hotel group points – some extra perks like aninvitation to a cocktail party with Captain Francesco di Palma and the wholeManagement crew, chocolate covered strawberries and a bowl of fresh fruit wereincluded. Wife started at Welcome level on Voyagers Club, but enjoyed all theperks I did – and we saw the same situation with Black Card matched first-time MSCpax. Another good advantage of Aurea wasthe wristbands – I think everyone else except YC has to pay for them, but wegot them as soon as we got to the Atrium area, where they let you check yourhand luggage at a table with staff to hold until your stateroom is ready, andthe Photo services area staff are checking people’s cruise cards, setting upcredit card and cash accounts, and giving out Aurea wristbands. Those wristbands are comfy rubber,waterproof, and perfect for paying for drinks on the Deluxe (or any) planwithout having to carry your cruise card around the ship.

 

Again, I can't say enough praise about MSC – handsdown the best cruise ever, and amazing value for the package. Shows, food,service, spa, clubs, everything was top-notch. And my wife has high standards for food,entertainment, drinks, nice-looking things, and husbands. ;-)

 

CABIN:

Cabin was exactly what wewere looking for, for 2 adults: Comfortable, large (Queen size) bed, spaciousbalcony, a couch to sit on (or more accurately, to unload our clothes/backpacksonto and keep our towel animals), a desk, and a minibar. Yes, the bathroom/shower are a tight squeeze,but would you really pay more to have a tub on a cruise ship, or trade less room/balconyspace for more bathroom? It was fine! And we showered a few times in the Aurea Spa, which had really nicespacious rain showers. 1 flight down from the stateroom! On June 16-23 we had the best Cabin Stewardever, Robean (another poster said he went by "Rowan") - who reallystepped up his game each night with towel animals.


 

AUREA SPA:

We were cheerfullygreeted at the front desk of the spa by hostesses Yeni & Happy, and wereimmediately able to book our massages for the week as soon as we got on theship and found the spa. My wife got a prime appointment time for Sunday Sea Day1, and I opted for the morning of Thursday Sea Day 2, and was able to changethe service when needed.I had the Bali HotStones massage with Wayan, and it was great! All of the massage therapists arefrom Bali, and are excellent compared to other massages we’ve had in the US. Theywill focus on the whichever areas you wish, and stay away from areas you wish -tell them what you want! Aurea ThermalSuite was so fun – large Whirlpool, 2 different Dry Saunas (Soft - hot &Finnish - hotter), a Dark light Steam Shower and a Bright Light one, differentrain/storm/mist scented & lighted showers, a Pink Himalayan Salt Room, a“Geyser Kniepp” – 4 rings that shoot up water that you stand in the middle ofand get showered with COLD-HOT-COLD-HOT, and of course, the Snow Room, whichwas quite an experience! There were even heated marble loungers that my wifeand I both fell asleep relaxing on! It was never too crowded, though there weremore people in the spa on the Sea Days. By Thursday, the 2nd SeaDay, the Snow Room had gone from being covered in fluffy snow to having morehard ice over everything, and the floor was really slippery, not as fun anymoreto walk into and sit down. I toldsomeone about the issue, and they immediately put mats down on the slipperyfloor, and by the next day, they had melted all of the ice in the room andstarted making brand new fluffy snow again. We saw engineers working on thePink Salt Room and the heated loungers once, and shortly after they lefteverything was working perfectly. Theonly thing I’d improve about the Aurea Spa would be to have someone cleaningthe bathrooms almost as much as the spa area, because my wife and I bothnoticed in the Men’s and Women’s locker room bathrooms, some nasty thingsin/around the toilet from previous users. Other than that it was great!

 

Again, Aurea Experience was so worth it! The extended balcony was the reason I'd switchedfrom a Fantastica Suite to an Aurea Balcony, and even changed the cabin 1 moretime from a deck 14 to deck 9 when it became available, just to ensure we wouldhave 2 loungers in addition to the 2 regular chairs.

The free room diffuser bothered the wife's sensitive nose, so we had the cabinsteward take both away (1 in the bathroom and 1 to keep in a box on the desk).You also get robes and slippers, which "regular" guests can't evenget in the spa! Just make sure you keep them all week because they won'treplace them in the spa if they get wet or dirty, but we just dried ours out onthe balcony. I think the Cabin Steward would wash and replace ifrequested.

 

The exclusive Top 19Aurea Bar was perfect - never too crowded to sit on a plush couch and havedrinks under the shade, we loved it! Mostly adults, but we did see a few kids upthere. The bar is much less busy than Miami Beach or South Beach, and you canbring buffet food up there or get gelato from the Miami Beach bar and enjoythere.

We were happy to seethat the pool attendants enforced the 16 and up policy on the South Beach Poolon aft Deck 7. The pools are all 6.5feet deep, but have side-areas to hang from or sit on. If you’re a good swimmeror have a floatee or noodle, you can enjoy the middle of the pool to yourself!

Never had to fightanyone for a lounge chair – if it’s busy, wait long enough and someone willmove on. A couple with 2 chairs triedbringing their baby in the South Beach Pool and staff immediately told them itwas 16 and up, and they moved to another pool (of which there are many aroundthe ship) – we got their lounge chairs!

 

DRINKS

The Deluxe packageis really the same as the Classic package in the sense that you can get mostdrinks for free at all the bars and in buffet and MDRs, but with Deluxe you getaccess to top shelf liquors (which they won’t use unless you specifically askfor a brand or order Premium Cocktails – the Ocho Old Fashioned in the SportsBar was one of my faves!) But one of thebest perks of Deluxe is the full, unlimited free access to the stateroomminibar. We snacked on the peanuts andchips and they were quickly replaced later that day, along with beers, smalland large sparkling and still waters (the ubiquitous Aqua Panna 1.5 literbottle you can get in all bars, ask your Cabin Steward to stock you with asmany as you want!), and every night before the show I’d make myself a littlegin and tonic. You just have to checkoff how many of each item you used each night on a little inventory sheet, andyou can even request brands – I got my Cabin Steward to load our minifridgewith Tanqueray Gin (instead of Gordon’s), and we got more Tropical Juice Blendsfor my wife’s breakfast enjoyment!

Aurea/Deluxe also includes the Free Room Service (between 6am – 11pm), and wejust left a card out on the doorknob with what we wanted checked off. Pastries,toast, croissants, hot coffee, several choices of tea, Tropical Fruit Juice,fresh fruit, and even hot breakfast sandwiches (English muffin with Canadian Bacon,fried egg and Cheddar Cheese) – and they say the sandwich is $3, but it neverappeared on our bill. Either included with no extra charge for Aurea or Deluxepackage. Not sure which!

 

Every bartender, server, waiter, etc with the little tablet/scanner can search for a brand andit comes up if they have it, with price and eligibility for your plan, right ontheir screen.

I had been looking at all the bar shelves forFernet Branca, and it wasn't til I asked my MDR waiter to look it up that I wasable to get it, on the 2nd to last night. He actually had another server go getme a glass of it from another bar on the ship and brought it right to my table!

 

I'll also highly recommend you check out the "Wine & Cocktails" (lame name) bar onDeck 16 right outside all the Specialty Restaurants. That's where they make theOld Smokey. You gotta try it! We had an amazing mixologist named Anton, fromRussia with love (Also the name of a elderflower-based drink he made for mywife!)

 

Tell MSC it's yourwedding anniversary/birthday/honeymoon/girls trip at EVERY possible chance youget - especially at meals in MDR or Specialty Restaurants, tell the waitstaff.They love celebrations! If you do Teppanyaki, definitely tell your chef!They'll incorporate it into the show!

 

If they're used to Carnival, and expect MSC tobe EXACTLY like Carnival, they'll be disappointed. With even a slightly openmind, I saw MSC win over even the most die-hard Carnival folks on the Seaside!

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

Absolutely the best shows we’ve seen,on land in Vegas or even up there with some Broadway shows! Wednesday's "Timeless" is widely regarded asthe best. The Michael Jackson tribute is easily 30 of the 40min show, and thedancer doing Michael is simply incredible. He's in all the other shows too,you'll recognize him!

One show that had us singing and laughing for the rest of the week was"The Dream," which is night 2 I think? Sunday first sea day? Amazingacrobats, dancers, and singers. Features a pole dancing routine (2 other nightsdo too) and none of the kids or parents seemed to be offended by the costume orthe routine. How European!

We loved all the shows - kids seemed to like the last night, Peter Punk, thebest, though adults did too, that show has some incredible acrobatics!

Expect every show to have something you love and something you maybe don't loveas much, but they all have some incredible spectacles for only 40min. And allthe electronic screens for the sets are beautiful! Great productions, and thesingers are world-class.

 

The first show each night is645pm, and never seemed full. We booked the 915 show for each night on the MSCfor Me app as soon as we embarked on Sat, and some nights we went after dinner,some we went to the early show before dinner and cancelled the 915 reservation.One night we had dinner in MDR, went to 8pm show, and came back for dessert!(We had Aurea My choice dining in Seashore).

Every time, as long as we were >5min early to the start time, we were easilyable to get 2 good seats together in the center first 3-5 rows. Big groupsseemed to all be there >15min early.

 

We went to BeerProv -"R-Rated Improv Comedy Show" - twice, both shows were after 10pm butthey did 1 or 2 family shows at 3pm a couple days. Really funny cast, lots of audienceparticipation, and not TOO "R-Rated." There were plenty kids in theaudience with (and some in front row without) parents, and they played off thathilariously. Check it out!

 

And yes, there is livemusic in every club every night, 2 different live bands, at least 4-5 DJsaround the ship. Always something for everyone!
 Payattention to the "Theme Nights" in the Daily - they may vary, but wepacked for and dressed up for Gatsby, Western, White Party, 70s Disco, andPirate Nights, and lots of others seemed prepared. The Cruise Entertainment staff was alwaysprepared with lots of dance routines, costumes, and energy for getting everyonepumped up for each night's theme, and kicked it all off with a mini-show in theAtrium and continued the party in the Haven Lounge on Deck 7 with the full bandevery night! White Party on Deck 16 wasincredible, packed but fun with bubbles being blown out at the crowd andHawaiian leis available, and the other parties were full of fun and music.Silent Disco on 70s night is a MUST-do, everyone is dancing to headphones with3 channels: Disco, Salsa, and Hip-Hop - keep switching and see who else isdancing to the same song as you! Lots ofLatin music and dancing, every night in the dance floor in the Piazza Grande inVenchi Chocolateria on Deck 6. Onlything was, as good as the chocolate smells on one end of the Piazza, they arespraying heavy perfumes on the other end outside the Duty Free shop. Oh well!

 

 

DINING:

Our MDR for Aurea “My Choice” diningwas the Seashore Restaurant on Deck 5. Food was good, some hits some misses,but our waiter Gede Mahayasa was incredible. We had some lackluster service the first 2 nights from 2 differentwaiters – we just sat at first available 2-top when arriving at My Choice hoststation – but for nights 3-7 we requested Mahayasa (the name of the server ison a card on each table under the table number – you can sit in the same seatsevery night if you request and no one else is there when you check in. MyChoice was awesome!

 

On Wednesday night there wererepresentatives from the Specialty Restaurants going around to tables, showingmenus for Butcher’s Cut, Ocean Cay, and the Roy Yamaguchi AsianMarket/Sushi/Teppanyaki restaurants. We knew from the behind-the-scenes talkthat this was a hard sell to get revenue up mid-cruise, but we bought it andloved it! Did dinner on Thursday night,2nd sea day, at Teppanyaki. Our chef Wayan Sunarta from Bali was very funny, talented, and excellent at making ourgrilled seafood and steak to perfection! $25pp for miso soup, salad, grilledchicken and mahi mahi, veggies, and grilled pineapple with ginger ice cream,$30 for the steak, shrimp, salmon, and everything else. Had a lot of fun withthe families and couples all seated around the grill with us, and the Deluxedrinks plan kept the Sake and beer flowing without even having to think aboutthe cost. At one point the beverage server brought me a cracked glass for myAsahi beer, and when I sent it back, he had a fresh frosty glass with new beerin it on the table within minutes, and kept refilling my and my wife’s Sakecarafes. When I saw the bill it was 7 Sakes for $0! Not bad! Also, the hostmade sure our anniversary was acknowledged – in fact, we were celebrating 1year, and surrounded by a 30 year and a 40 year wedding anniversary! – by adrizzle of chocolate sauce spelling “Happy Anniversary” around an additional(complementary) cheesecake at dessert – we shared it with the other 2 couples,though everyone was mighty full at that point!

 

We enjoyed lots andlots of great seafood – the fish was WAY better in the Teppanyaki than MDR,some even good on buffet. I didn't try any steak but people were raving aboutButcher's Cut. Wife’s steak at Teppanyaki was perfect, no complaints from her.Lobster tail or whole lobster are both extra, but offered every night. My wife thoroughly enjoyed tearing apart anddevouring her whole lobster on the last night, and while it wasn’t included, wedidn’t mind adding $22 on the bill. Worth it! I ate all included MDR food andthey had lots of choices – even when it isn’t Italian Night, there’s alwaysfresh pasta, bread, salads, and excellent food. My wife raved about the Veal Osso Bucco!

Never felt any rocking on any deck, butweather was great for June 16-23 cruise. Only thing that bothered me was therumbling of the entire room below deck 5, when we ate in Seashore Restaurant.If that sort of thing makes you sick, request Ipanema Restaurant, or eat inbuffets or Speciality Restaurants on Deck 16.

 

 

 

ZIP LINE:

The zipline is $5per person per ride, OR $20 for the whole cabin for unlimited use the wholecruise - you may only be able to buy that pass the 1st & 2nd days, andmaybe the 2nd sea day near the end. There's also a FunPass that includesZipLine and some other stuff like the F1 simulator and bowling, depending onhow much you use it it's a good deal.

 

For zipline just goto the Forest Aquaventure Fun Park near the Jungle Pool and sign the waivers -you get a Waiver Wristband for everyone to use all week for the free waterslides AND to access the zipline. If you pay for 1 ride you get a token to givethe zipline operator, and if you have the pass it's another wristband. It waskind of anti-climactic for us adults, once you get over the initial thrillyou're just hanging out till you land on the other side! My wife and I only didit once but the kids were clearly going many times, and some had GoPro videocameras on it!

 

EXCURSIONS:

Someone asked butI’m not sure about good excursions for kids, but we did see a lot of familiesat Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, Stingray City in Grand Cayman, and onJunkanoo Beach in Nassau.

We booked all ourown excursions ahead of time on viator.com, and they had more and betterchoices, and generally lower prices for 2 than the MSC offered ones. Also, theyseemed to have much larger groups on the MSC excursions, and we enjoyed havingsmall groups – just us and 1-2 other couples on land tours, and a much smallerboat on our Stingray City and snorkeling tour than the bigger MSC tour boat.

Just go online and searchyour ports and make sure the tour times work with the embark/disembark times(check for the ALL ABOARD time in LOCAL time on each island), and get toursthat guarantee Cruise Port Pickup and On-Time Dropoff or flight to next island!

Here’s the ones webooked and/or did:

 

Ocho Rios Jamaica:

5.5 hour Super Saver Tour: Green Grotto Caves and Dunn’s River Falls:

https://www.viator.com/tours/Ocho-Rios/Ocho-Rios-Super-Saver-Green-Grotto-Caves-plus-Dunns-River-Falls/d434-2424SUPER

Our tour guide Hughand driver Tony picked us up right from the cruise port in a newer,air-conditioned van, drove us about 35 minutes out of Ocho Rios to the GreenGrotto Caves first (to avoid early morning crowds at Dunn’s River Falls),handed us over to a very nice young Jamaican tour guide who showed us thebeautiful, fascinating caves (and bats!), then took us on a scenic ride back tothe Falls, and answered any questions we had about the island and its history.Then we were on our own to climb Dunn’s River Falls – but could utilize theHelpers at the Falls if we wanted to, and we did a few times, though weappreciated the freedom to climb ahead of the large family groups. Overall excellent tours, professional, reat,knowledgeable tour guides! Never felt pressured to buy anything, though we didhave to exit the Falls through an aggressive vendor flea market. Hugh hadoffered to get us some local tropical fruits while we did the Falls, and whenwe got back on the van, he had bags of sliced pineapple, mango, some wholebananas and sugar cane for us! We gavehim and Tony very generous gratuities for their tour, and did a little shoppingright near the port at a small shop.

 

George Town, GrandCayman:

Originally planned to do Land Rover 4x4Tour of West Bay of Island:

https://www.viator.com/tours/Cayman%20Islands/Grand-Cayman-Shore-Excursion:-West-Bay-Tour-by-Land-Rover/d31-6714PRTGCMWEST

This tour couldn’t confirm for us up tothe day before we left on the Seaside, so they cancelled and refunded our moneyquickly. They couldn’t fill up a 6-seater tour vehicle for our time, so I guessthey’re not that popular!

Anyway, we made the better choice to doa boat tour, a combo Stingray CityExperience with Two Snorkeling Stops:

https://www.viator.com/tours/Cayman%20Islands/Stingray-City-Experience-Plus-Two-Snorkeling-Stops/d31-9297P2

I'd highly recommend Captain Marvin's tour on the Cayman Jewel, veryprofessional crew including guide DelRon and photographer Steve – they show youeverything you want to know about the stingrays and take photos of you and yourfamily/friends with the beautiful creatures, and show you those photos on alaptop right on the boat when you get back, and you can purchase a handy USBdrive that’s shaped like their business card – we got 50 photos of both of uswith the stingrays for $50, which may sound like a lot, but it was definitelyworth it – our cameras weren’t waterproof or as good as Steve’s, and they takeyour email so they can share the photos through the cloud – if you have aniPhone they AirDrop the photos right away! 2 Snorkeling Stops were great, at a Barrier Reef and another Coral Reefoff the coast of Grand Cayman – we saw squid, lots of fish, and some morestingrays right beneath us – and snorkels, masks, flippers, and optional lifevests are all provided, along with fresh cold water and fruit punch on theboat. Great package tour!

We had considered doing the CaymanCrystal Caves, but missed the time we’d booked in the afternoon, and a latertour would have made us miss the boat. We ate the $80 we’d prepaid for thistour, but it was ok, we enjoyed all the snorkeling (despite us both gettingsunburn – and YES, we had put on sunscreen on the boat, TWICE!)

https://www.viator.com/tours/Cayman%20Islands/Guided-Tour-of-Cayman-Crystal-Caves/d31-47197P1

Cozumel, Mexico:

We decided to trysomething different, a food tour on land! It was the BEST choice in Cozumel.Our very friendly tour guide Gerry, a native of Mexico City but longtimeresident of Cozumel, along with our driver, Noé, made our Cozumel Chef Food Tour adelicious and informative experience:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150809-d1994838-Reviews-Cozumel_Chef_Food_Tours-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

https://www.viator.com/tours/Cozumel/Cozumel-Food-Tour/d632-7035COZ

We tried 6 different Yucatán/Quintana Roo-specific foods at 6 different smallrestaurants: Cactus & Huitlacoche (corn mushroom) Quesadillas, Pork CochinitaTacos, Chips & Refried Black Beans & Hot Salsa, Sopa de Lima(traditional Key Lime & Chicken & Habañero Pepper Soup), Fish &Crab Cevicho, and Whole Fried Grouper! Everything was amazing – and Gerry endedthe tour by giving the group a choice for dessert: Bakery or Tequila Tasting?The group’s consensus was overwhelmingly pro-Tequila, so we went to the TresTonos Tequila Store/Museum (they don’t actually make it there, they show youthe process in photos, and then bring you to a shop), with Armando as our tourguide. He told us all about the process, and took us to taste 4 different agesof tequila and some other flavored liquors, then left it up to us to buy or notbuy tequila, gifts, clothing, and/or Mexican Vanilla Extract – we got 1 bottleTequila Reposado ($60) and 1 Vanilla ($8). This tequila is smooooooth! And they give you generous samples and makefunny toasts. Hope you get Armando!

 

Nassau, Bahamas:

Finally, we had no pre-determined plansfor Nassau, but we had heard about ArdastraGardens, Zoo & Conservation Center, and decided to walk from the CruisePort to the Gardens, which we were told was about 25min along the coast. Youpass 2 beaches – one of which is Jukanoo Beach – and then you get to the FishFry, which is a famous area of tons of different little food stands, trucks,cafes, and restaurant/bars along the beach that serve the local dish, ConchFritters, fried shrimp & fish, and all types of ways to cook or prepareConch. Shortly after we left the Cruise Port area, a local man started walkingalongside us and talking to us about our plans. We didn’t feel uncomfortable atall, because he introduced himself as Little Patrick, the PR man for Goldie’sConch House in the Fish Fry area. We’d heard Goldie’s was the oldest and “original”Fish Fry, so we had already planned to try it, but Patrick walked us there andwe had some local beers while watching him grab a Conch right out of the waterbehind Goldie’s and take it apart, showing us all about the creature. We usedtheir free wifi and enjoyed their AC for a bit before walking to ArdastraGardens and strolling around looking at different tropical birds, plantlife,and some animals. A nice little place towalk around, and mostly in the shade! Wegot some local fresh-cut young coconuts and drank the water and scraped thegooey coconut meat from a corner where they also had local homemade bananabread and coconut tarts for sale – we brought them back on the ship with noissue from MSC security when they scanned our bags (it may have been lax – wegot our bottles of rum and tequila on without any problems too!)

Had Conch Fritters and “Scorched Conch” (like ceviche – raw chopped conch withlime juice) at Goldie’s – delicious! Then we swam a little at Junkanoo Beachbefore getting back on the ship.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147416-d1595994-Reviews-Goldie_s_Conch_House_Nassau_Bahamas-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147416-d148528-Reviews-Ardastra_Gardens_Zoo_and_Conservation_Center-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

https://www.facebook.com/realbahamiantours

 

We only ate on land twice – in Cozumel and Nassau – while we had more time tokill if we wanted to in Ocho Rios and George Town, we got on the ship early andenjoyed the buffet!

 

 

Ok, ok, I know this is REALLY long – soif I left anything out, tell me, but I wouldn’t change 1 major thing about thiscruise – get us on the Seaside again soon, please! Although we were definitely interested insome of MSC’s Mediterranean cruises for next summer – Greek Islands especially!

[CTBob]

Well written informative review. Thanks, Bob

[mafig]

thank you so much. I really enjoyed reading your review.

[harrisodaniels]

Thank you Bob!

 

Well written informative review. Thanks, Bob

[harrisodaniels]

Thanks Mafig!

 

thank you so much. I really enjoyed reading your review.

[tallnthensome]

Great review! Glad you enjoyed your first cruise, I'll bet you're hooked now. We loved the Seaside from top to bottom! Great price for what you get. I hope the other cruise lines take notice. I hope MSC prices more competitive from lines line NCL, Royal, Carnival, etc. If you're budget minded, its the beat deal around right now.

[harrisodaniels]

Thanks tallnthensome, I agree - my wife is a CPA and couldn't believe we paid what we paid for all that we got! Things are looking good for booking another MSC cruise - soon!

 

 

 

Great review! Glad you enjoyed your first cruise, I'll bet you're hooked now. We loved the Seaside from top to bottom! Great price for what you get. I hope the other cruise lines take notice. I hope MSC prices more competitive from lines line NCL, Royal, Carnival, etc. If you're budget minded, its the beat deal around right now.

[riclop]

Thanks for the great review.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[citizenfrank]

A great review. Sounds like you had a ball on one of the premier vessels at sea.

Fantastic writing ...Thank you

[loupana]

Thank you so much for this excellent detailed review. We have an Aurea Suite with Whirlpool Tub booked for December 1st, 2018. We will take advantage of your tips. We will upgrade to Deluxe Drink Package so we can enjoy our minibar items daily and while in our hot tub is a must...

[andrew2346]

This is one of the happiest and most informative reviews I have ever read. Thank you : )

[pirategirl007]

Great review, thanks for posting!

[PunkyH]

Thanks for the great review!! we are going on the seaside with friends Dec. 8. Can't wait. We loved the Divina last year.

[ReeCee Cup]

Thanks for your review. I have a question regarding your cabin. I am looking at booking cabin 9060 on the same ship and wanted to know if you had any problems with noise from the floor below. I believe these rooms are over the Spa area. Thanks.

[harrisodaniels]

Thanks for your review. I have a question regarding your cabin. I am looking at booking cabin 9060 on the same ship and wanted to know if you had any problems with noise from the floor below. I believe these rooms are over the Spa area. Thanks.

 

No problems at all with noise. 9059 was a pretty quiet room, never noticed anything coming from the floor below!