MSC Seaside Review - January 26, 2019

[RyanMFitz1]

Hello fellow cruisers....This will be a review unlike any you will have read, especially in the end......

 

My family ( 6 of us) went on cruised MSC for the very first time.  2 of the 6, were my nieces ( 6 years old, and 9 years old).  I booked this trip to take my nieces on their very first cruise, and everyone else tagged along for the memory.  Being my nieces first cruise, I wanted this to be EXTRA memorable, we stayed in cabin 15041, balcony room.  My first time EVER in a balcony room.  Not having anything to compare a balcony room to prior other than inside, I felt the room, was very spacious, but tight especially for 4 people.  We made it work just fine, but took some maneuvering.  

 

When we walked onto the ship, about 12:00 p.m. , the very first thing you notice are the Swarovski stairs and the 3 ( maybe 4) deck high LED wall in the atrium.  STUNNING.  A WOW factor but not overly done and tacky. Our room was ready, dropped off the luggage and proceeded onward to discover our home away from home for the next 7 days.  ( COMMENT).  When you walk in, at almost every bar there are staff wanting to upsell your drinks on us package.  Let me tell you, if you are THINKING about doing that, DO IT BEFORE you get on board.  When you get on board, that "deluxe" upgrade to the frozen drinks/coffee, etc is non-existant.  That being said, to upgrade your package on board is almost 300.00 per person versus the 180 something before you get onboard.  IMO MSC is going to force the other cruise lines to really reevaluate their drink packages. If you take the drinks on us package MSC gives, you DO PAY the nominal 15% service charge, which if you look at the price of a drink w/o it, $15.00 PLUS the 15% you see the cost savings already.  People often think " I will do this on board"....DONT.  Honestly, pay ahead and save yourself money, they do increase the prices on board.  

 

The decor of the ship is amazing, hands down.  somethings, like the "garage" dance bar, the theme doesn't make sense to the overall design of the ship in general.  But it is what it was and certainly didn't give me a negative impression of the ship, just a head scratch when it came to how that fit into the theme of the ship.   

 

There are plenty of things to do on the ship.  And I am always happy to see the meeting groups Friends of Bill W and LGBT gatherings.  The bowling alley was fun, not too expensive either.  I will say that getting around the ship is pretty easy.  One of the highlights by far is the 70's party in the atrium.  The music is great, the energy of the crowd is infectious.  You find yourself dancing before too long.  I looked around, young and old alike, enjoying the contagious rhythms of such a great decade of song. 

 

The food was great, we at in the Impanema dining room and had James, from the Phillipeans and Alicia, from St. Lucia as our wait staff.  LOVED THEM.  I had a great bond with Alicia and truly miss her.  ( IF you have her, tell her Ryan from St. Louis says hello).  I was shocked that there wasn't lobster available at the captain's dinner like its complimentary on other cruise lines, on MSC they have a selection of food that you can, purchase.  Again, that didn't' leave a bad impression to me, was just an observation.  The food I did eat, and it was ALOT, was fantastic.  I have read a lot of reviews that the Buffett food wasn't always good and was the same.  Now, to answer this it's a yes and no.  Yes, the food was the same and not it wasn't.  They had new items every day on the Buffett, but also had the same stuff throughout the week.  The food, what should have been hot, was hot, and cold, was cold.  I ate dinner in the dining room a couple times for breakfast, and that was always nice, and fresher than what you would get on the buffett.  

 

Let me talk now about entertainment.  All of the shows were fantastic.  They were so fantastic, especially the final show, Starwalker - The tribute to Michael Jackson, was nothing short of THE BEST SHOW ON SEA.  Here is kinda a complaint, but more so from a personal standpoint.  You make reservations for the show.  You see the show 1 time, that's it.  You can't see it more than once UNLESS there are seats available after the show and the usher will let you know.  On prior cruises I have been on, I saw the show sometimes everytiime because of how good it was.  These shows were no exception.  I would love to watch them over and over again.  For me, they weren't long enough.  They were just that good :) 

 

The islands were great, loved Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  In Grand Cayman, we did a tour that went to Hell and then took us to the beach.  Was nice, did some shopping along the way and back to the ship.  Cozumel is a shoppers dream.  Being a shopper myself, when you get off the boat they have an outdoor mall.  Walk the mall FIRST, see who has what and at what price.  Most of them have the same things, but some stores, are MUCH CHEAPER than others.  Costa Maya, eh, I could do with or without it.  

 

This next part is strictly where my review went south and is NOT A REFLECTION of the ship.....

We were in Jamaica, I got off the boat with my mother and brother in law and from the moment you step off the ship, you MUST walk through this "parking lot" that has all these aggressive asses, grabbing you, pulling you to look at this crap or that.  IF YOU DON'T BUY SOMETHING, They will cuss you out.  They called me a *****, white devil, AIDS Fu*ker, etc. not to mention what they called my mother ( think of any derogatory name for a woman, there you have what she was called).  The shops outside of that horrific swap meet in the parking lot, the restaurants and other shops are quite enchanting.  But you have to get through that gate first.  MSC MUST remove this country from its stops, yes the waters are beautiful and scenery is picturesque.  Float by, let people take pictures and you flip those jerks off.  DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT get off the boat in Jamaica.  

 

And finally, again, nothing that reflects the ship or the experience, but more so, this is merely for information in hopes that someone NEVER treats another person this way. 

 

On my Jamaica day and being THANKFUL I was back on board, I went up to the pool to catch some sun.  Had some great conversation with this husband/wife from Spain and on the other side, a charming mature middle-aged gay couple.  Behind them. 2 middle-aged women from the East Coast ( USA).  Lovely day, sun out, laughs etc.  The husband of the one man, simply asked this, " Can you put lotion on my back, I don't want to get to much sun".  In which his husband did just that,  NOTHING VULGAR, or in poor taste.  The ladies behind them went absolutely insane.  Slinging hates speech toward the 2 men. They went as so far to get the ship staff to have the men removed because to quote the one lady " This is a family ship and fags have AIDS", she insisted the pool be drained, and cleaned because she didn't want to catch "THE AIDS".  The men were mortified and while ship staff was very direct in stating they would not do any such thing, and that the couple has every much right to be on that ship as anyone else...That wasn't good enough for me.  This is something very close to my heart, I am 40 years old and have seen TOOOOO many people die from AIDS, my uncle being one of them.  I gave those ladies a mouthful, with pride, tears running down my face.  I respect people's opinions, religion, etc.  But I do not now or ever accept ignorance.  this is 2019 and if you do not know about the HIV/AIDS virus and how its transmitted, you deserve whatever verbal lashings you get spoken from your ignorance. So let me tell everyone, you CANNOT get AIDS/HIV in a damn pool, even if you have a cut.  It is scientifically impossible.  Please, get educated, there is no excuse not to be.  Because you could cross someone like me who has no excuse not to give someone the education of a lifetime.  

 

In whole, I LOVED the MSC Seaside.  I will cruise MSC and the Seaside again.  

 

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

Which port in Jamaica?  They are fairly well known for not being Gay friendly....too bad they chose to call your Mom names..that would have bothered me too.  The ladies on the ship that went off, well they just sound nuts.  

 

Sailing on Seaside 4/27, the Wife and I are looking forward to it.  Going eastern, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Martin and Nassau.    

 

Appreciate your review of the food, entertainment, etc...booked with the Easy Drink Package and will be upgrading to Premium before sailing.  

[psmarkle]

That is BS that you had to endure that ignorant treatment from other passengers and good for you for speaking up!!

 

I agree, Jamaica is my least-liked island for the aggressive behavior and just all the trask everywhere.  We did Dunns River Falls as part of a tour and still got hustled at the falls area.  A vendor tried to keep our change saying he'd have to go get smaller bills and stop by on our way out.  I immediately pulled out exact change and asked for my larger bill back...he didn't like that at all.

 

Our upcoming cruise, we plan to do a day pass to an all-inclusive resort to separate us from the haggling and hustling.

 

Question:  for Cozumel, did they issue any travel cautions or areas to avoid given the drug cartel wars slipping into the hotel zone (based on articles I've read online)?  I'm just getting concerned about that stop and thinking of staying on the ship.

[RyanMFitz1]

5 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

That is BS that you had to endure that ignorant treatment from other passengers and good for you for speaking up!!

 

I agree, Jamaica is my least-liked island for the aggressive behavior and just all the trask everywhere.  We did Dunns River Falls as part of a tour and still got hustled at the falls area.  A vendor tried to keep our change saying he'd have to go get smaller bills and stop by on our way out.  I immediately pulled out exact change and asked for my larger bill back...he didn't like that at all.

 

Our upcoming cruise, we plan to do a day pass to an all-inclusive resort to separate us from the haggling and hustling.

 

Question:  for Cozumel, did they issue any travel cautions or areas to avoid given the drug cartel wars slipping into the hotel zone (based on articles I've read online)?  I'm just getting concerned about that stop and thinking of staying on the ship.

They didn't issue any warnings about the cartels.  

 

My advise would be to do the ship sponsored excursion ( they have some fairly unepensive ones)  

 

Thank you for your compliments.  I speak up for anyone, regardless of anything when wrong is done and ignorance is the prevailing cause.  

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

31 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

That is BS that you had to endure that ignorant treatment from other passengers and good for you for speaking up!!

 

I agree, Jamaica is my least-liked island for the aggressive behavior and just all the trask everywhere.  We did Dunns River Falls as part of a tour and still got hustled at the falls area.  A vendor tried to keep our change saying he'd have to go get smaller bills and stop by on our way out.  I immediately pulled out exact change and asked for my larger bill back...he didn't like that at all.

 

Our upcoming cruise, we plan to do a day pass to an all-inclusive resort to separate us from the haggling and hustling.

 

Question:  for Cozumel, did they issue any travel cautions or areas to avoid given the drug cartel wars slipping into the hotel zone (based on articles I've read online)?  I'm just getting concerned about that stop and thinking of staying on the ship.

I've not seen/or heard of any issues on Cozumel...an ongoing live review on the NCL board by Sid has a very interesting story about his day off ship in Cozumel...starts with post #249 here...

 

Its' really a beautiful island with some nice beaches and bars..expecially on the Far East side of the island.  

[JamieLogical]

We will be sailing on the Seaside in September and really appreciate your review. I also really appreciate that you stood up to those ladies by the pool. If anyone should have been removed, it should have been them! Completely insane!

[lcpagejr]

Thanks for the review.... We cruised on the Seaside last March doing the same itinerary. Fortunately we did not experience the pushy or foul mouth vendors outside the cruise gates.... They pretty much stayed to themselves outside of a hello when we walked by. I do agree the shopping area that leads to Margaritaville...is very nice. We enjoyed it as well as spending several hours at Margaritaville while our grandson played in their pool and went up and down the slide numerous times.  

[xcell]

Thanks for the review -- we have the same stops on our March cruise.

 

Did your nieces like their first cruise?

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences in Jamaica/2 Ladies -- can't cure stupid. 

[reedprincess]

I agree with much of your review. We were aboard January 26  sailing also. 

 

To be honest though - we loved Jamaica and had none of the negatives you described.. I read the description you gave of the area where we exited the ship and picked up a cab to my husband - neither of us could relate what you're describing to what we experienced.

We exited the main port area into the taxi /tour area, spoke with a lovely tourism rep who walked us to the cab area, introduced us to the next driver up in the queu, driver had a binder with photos of different options with prices listed - we discussed what we wanted, negotiated the price and away we went. We had a fantastic day, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Got offered some weed a few times, a polite no thanks was all it took to send them on their way.  No other hassling by vendorz or anything -  and yes, we went to Dunn's River Falls on our own, etc. We absolutely loved our day, and are looking forward to returning - with MSC - in December.

 

We also didn't encounter the 2 ladies you described. Thank goodness. They would have received a piece of both my and my husband's mind also.. We met wonderful folks from all over and thoroughly enjoyed the mix of passengers - so many interesting people from all over, it was fab! 

 

We loved our cruise, pretty much everything about it. Food was wonderful, service was great, especially at the bars and dining room, we never felt crowded, etc - although that pool deck on 16 on sea days was amazing - cheek to jowel, I believe is the phrase! Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves though. The pool games were fun to watch! 

 

We'll definitely be back on Seaside, and MSC overall...  Glad that you also enjoyed your cruise itself.  

[nycfa]

Going in July.......wondering.....how was getting the tenders in Grand Cayman?  

 

We need to be off early (not a cruise ship excursion) and wondering how efficient they are with tender tickets etc.....

[tobyt]

Thank you for a great review! We had a similar experience in Jamaica several years ago while on Princess, we will never ever ever go there again and if we happen to be a ship that stops we will stay onboard. There are plenty of locations and stops where we are welcomed and safe and not hounded and I am always happy to spend some money and support the little vendors. We head on Seaside in two weeks and the mixed reviews worry me but we are pretty easy going and ready for a bit of rest and relaxing. This good news of your trip makes my excitement grow!

i am sorry for the unacceptable and bigoted reactions of your fellow cruisers but crazy and stupid extends across all lines and guest, impressed you took them on, peace and acceptance is all one can hope especially in this crazy world.

[JAGR]

57 minutes ago, tobyt said:

We head on Seaside in two weeks and the mixed reviews worry me but we are pretty easy going and ready for a bit of rest and relaxing. This good news of your trip makes my excitement grow!

Are you sailing on the 23rd or March 2nd?

[RyanMFitz1]

 

3 hours ago, nycfa said:

Going in July.......wondering.....how was getting the tenders in Grand Cayman?  

 

We need to be off early (not a cruise ship excursion) and wondering how efficient they are with tender tickets etc.....

We didn't have any issues getting a tender.  What I didn't know in talking with prior cruisers and staff is Grand Cayman is a hit/miss port.  Depending on how rough the water is, they may skip the port because its unsafe for the tenders, or if the waters get to rough in middle of day, they will nto take anymore from the ship and just bring back.  Found that fascinating.  Its thaat way anytime of year.  

[RyanMFitz1]

10 hours ago, reedprincess said:

I agree with much of your review. We were aboard January 26  sailing also. 

 

To be honest though - we loved Jamaica and had none of the negatives you described.. I read the description you gave of the area where we exited the ship and picked up a cab to my husband - neither of us could relate what you're describing to what we experienced.

We exited the main port area into the taxi /tour area, spoke with a lovely tourism rep who walked us to the cab area, introduced us to the next driver up in the queu, driver had a binder with photos of different options with prices listed - we discussed what we wanted, negotiated the price and away we went. We had a fantastic day, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Got offered some weed a few times, a polite no thanks was all it took to send them on their way.  No other hassling by vendorz or anything -  and yes, we went to Dunn's River Falls on our own, etc. We absolutely loved our day, and are looking forward to returning - with MSC - in December.

 

We also didn't encounter the 2 ladies you described. Thank goodness. They would have received a piece of both my and my husband's mind also.. We met wonderful folks from all over and thoroughly enjoyed the mix of passengers - so many interesting people from all over, it was fab! 

 

We loved our cruise, pretty much everything about it. Food was wonderful, service was great, especially at the bars and dining room, we never felt crowded, etc - although that pool deck on 16 on sea days was amazing - cheek to jowel, I believe is the phrase! Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves though. The pool games were fun to watch! 

 

We'll definitely be back on Seaside, and MSC overall...  Glad that you also enjoyed your cruise itself.  

I wish I would have done an excursion in Jamaica, despite it all.  Unfortunately I am 40 years old and hearing slurs hurled toward me like that is old hat.  But in a foreign country, it does kinda m ake you feel uneasy.  That being said, next time, I will do an excursion.  

 

I wish I could have met you on board.  I agree the people were amazing on board.  I was so fascinated by the cultures on board. .  

Having never been on MSC I was unsure what to expect, but was so pleased.  ACtually just booked next year Feb 2020.  

[RyanMFitz1]

13 hours ago, xcell said:

Thanks for the review -- we have the same stops on our March cruise.

 

Did your nieces like their first cruise?

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences in Jamaica/2 Ladies -- can't cure stupid. 

Thank you for asking about my Nieces.  My eldest niece, 9 years old started out rough.  Had a battle with seasickness, but she got on top of that and by Monday, she was good as new.  My other niece, 6 years old, you couldn't have told her she was on a ship from land.  They both had a blast.  

[JamieLogical]

44 minutes ago, wnt2loveuforever said:

Having never been on MSC I was unsure what to expect, but was so pleased.  ACtually just booked next year Feb 2020.  

 

Which sailing in Feb 2020? We are just now looking at cruises for Feb-May 2020 and I was looking at one on the Divina in late February.

[reedprincess]

6 hours ago, wnt2loveuforever said:

I wish I would have done an excursion in Jamaica, despite it all.  Unfortunately I am 40 years old and hearing slurs hurled toward me like that is old hat.  But in a foreign country, it does kinda m ake you feel uneasy.  That being said, next time, I will do an excursion.  

 

I wish I could have met you on board.  I agree the people were amazing on board.  I was so fascinated by the cultures on board. .  

Having never been on MSC I was unsure what to expect, but was so pleased.  ACtually just booked next year Feb 2020.  

Excellent!! I'm sure you'll enjoy the next one just as much - if not more, now that you (read - me!) Know more about what to expect.   

Definitely give Jamaica another chance - it's a beautiful country with mostly amazing people.  Check out the Secret Falls blue hole. We could have spent the whole day there, it was gorgeous.  It's just outside Ocho, above where they do the tube rafting area ..Guides were laid back, super helpful (I'm not the most sure footed anymore), took pictures all along for us, etc.  Well be going back there on our next visit for the majority of the day..  

Would have been great to meet onboard - maybe next time!

Happy sails, wherever they may take you.

[seldovia]

Thanks so much for this review/post (and all the replies as well!)  We are Western Caribbean March 23 with first stop Jamaica.  After a lot of research I think we (two boys, wife and I) are hoping to hit the Irie Blue Hole and maybe a beach/snorkel lunch spot after.  Inclined to do a private taxi, but there is a tour (I think it was Dr. Fun) that had this for about $50 each.  Still working on Georgetown, Cozumel and Nassau:  wife really likes to snorkel (West Beach Roatan was a dream for her) so will be looking for those kind of beaches at all the ports.