Seaside Spring Break Cruise - March 30, 2019

[lcookie]

On 4/22/2019 at 9:33 AM, Arzeena said:

I am really enjoying your review. 😊 Keep it coming! Thank you for taking time to do this.

 I'm back and ready to blog!

[lcookie]

On 4/22/2019 at 8:17 PM, kerryw29 said:

enjoying your review.  I will be on Seaside on May 4th!

I may be done before then 🙂

[lcookie]

After dinner we made our way to the theater to catch the show.  I don't remember the name but it was right up my alley.  I like the shows that cirque du soleil style shows much more than those that focus on singing.  

 

Warning - DON"T TRY THIS AT HOME!  Mama is still recuperating from me dropping her after my arms gave out 🙂

 

 

 

 

More action - 

 

 

And more action - 

 

 

 

There is a lot more to this act but your gonna have to book with MSC to see the rest.  Needless to say this show kept my attention more than any of the others that week.

Edited April 24, 2019 by lcookie

[lcookie]

By this time you would think we would be running on E but not this clan.  We were just cranking up.  We left the theater and headed back to the arcade.  We were going to try our hand at bowling but there was a waiting list.  We instead drove the F1 simulator and gave the 4D Cinema a go.

 

The car was much easier to handle this trip.  However, I was in no way going to be a contender for the end of the week prize.  Every week they give away a prize bag for the driver with the fastest time.  They should give one away for the slowest time too.  Then I would have been in the running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cinema was a cool little interactive game for the family.

 

 

 

 

Random Pics - 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by lcookie

[lcookie]

After these adventures were over we made our way to the room to turn in for the night.  Had to recharge the batteries for Day 3.

 

On our way home we meandered around the ship and ended up you know where.  That's right, we did it again, don't judge us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summing up day 2 it was one for the books.  We enjoyed ourselves and took advantage of all the ship had to offer.

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by lcookie

[lcookie]

Aloha from Nowhere, Atlantic Ocean!  Today is Day 3 - San Juan (aka Seaday 2).  I generally classified this day as a seaday because we were not scheduled to port until 5 pm.  This gave us all day to enjoy the boat and then time to explore San Juan at night.  Full disclosure, this port was one of the things that drew me to this cruise.  I have been here two times before and each time we were leaving there were boats that had just gotten in.  I always wanted to know what the were doing after we left.  This was my time to figure it out.

 

So do you remember me saying that you never know what the cards would be when trying to catch the sunrise?  Well, this is a prime example.

 

 

Low hanging clouds way out over the horizon blocking the view of the sunrise.  It turns out that the sunrise on Day 2 was the best of the week.  Glad I was up to catch it.

 

[lcookie]

Now for those who haven't followed my other blogs on CC a little tidbit of info about me - I am an EARLY RISER.  The boat is so peaceful early in the morning.  Everything is shiny and new looking, and 90% of the ship is unoccupied.   

 

I took this time to gather some of my videos of the public areas around the ship.

 

Here are a few of the gym - 

 

 

 

 

Some from the sports bar - 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random corridors - 

 

 

 

 

By using different shapes, color schemes, lighting, etc. MSC breaks the ship up very well.  Never do you ever really get the feeling that you are on a ship.  It is more like you are venturing through an open-air mall /neighborhood combo type of setting.

 

I had shots from the Spa but those were lost with the other Day1 files so nothing to share on those spaces.

[lcookie]

After my ventures around the public areas, I head to grab a small bite to eat before I head back to the room.  While checking out the digs in the buffet I remember they offer brunch in Butchers Cut on seadays.  I ask one of the buffet managers what time brunch started and he said 8.  So I take my happy buttocks up to deck 16 expecting to amaze my pallette with mouth-watering morsels of goodness.  

 

Well - 

 

 

Say hello to the lady that ruined my dreams.  Whereas they do sell brunch it does not start until 12.  I guess the guy in the buffet did not understand and gave me the time for the breakfast in the MDR.  Either way I took the walk of shame back to the buffet. The weather was so nice that I went outside to eat my meal.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, I went to the room to summon the girls from their crypt. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by lcookie

[js]

Love your review! Can't wait to read more!
We sailed on the Seaside February 2018, February 2019 and have it booked for February 2020.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your family vacation!

 

[DCGuy64]

13 hours ago, lcookie said:

After my ventures around the public areas, I head to grab a small bite to eat before I head back to the room.  While checking out the digs in the buffet I remember they offer brunch in Butchers Cut on seadays.  I ask one of the buffet managers what time brunch started and he said 8.  So I take my happy buttocks up to deck 16 expecting to amaze my pallette with mouth-watering morsels of goodness.  

 

Well - 

 

 

Say hello to the lady that ruined my dreams.  Whereas they do sell brunch it does not start until 12.  I guess the guy in the buffet did not understand and gave me the time for the breakfast in the MDR.  Either way I took the walk of shame back to the buffet. The weather was so nice that I went outside to eat my meal.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, I went to the room to summon the girls from their crypt. 

 

Their "crypt," I love it!  Thank you so much for your review, not only is it super informative with all of the descriptions and photos, but very entertaining, as well. You have a great way of describing everything.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Cookie, I thought we had lost you.  Keep it coming.😁

[JC5240]

AWESOME review! We have a ways to go until we are on Seaside (October), but getting more and more excited with each read of your review. You guys definitely look like such a fun group!

[travelplus]

On 4/10/2019 at 8:24 PM, lcookie said:

I like driving a night but the girls don't care much for it.  I don't know why because they always sleep 90% of the trip regardless if its day or night.  I made it down to Perry before I made my 1st pit stop.  No longer do I try the marathon nonstop driving expeditions.  I have learned to make the drive part of the adventure and to enjoy the ride versus fighting it.  By this time the sun was just starting to come up.  Teeny and I went on our 1st snack haul while Mama got reoriented with our current position.  After we go back on the road I thought I would have some company but that was short lived.  I looked to the right to see this -

 

 

I then looked back to see this -

 

 

Awesome Kids you have! Can't wait to read your review of MSC!

Business as usual 🙂

 

They pretty much slept until I pulled off for bfast in Gainesville, FL. 

 

 

[lcookie]

18 hours ago, JC5240 said:

AWESOME review! We have a ways to go until we are on Seaside (October), but getting more and more excited with each read of your review. You guys definitely look like such a fun group!

 

Thanks for following. We like to consider ourselves good-ol-people. Not hard to please and easy to get along with.

[lcookie]

20 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Cookie, I thought we had lost you.  Keep it coming.😁

 No.  I never leave a job undone.  Just balancing life and blog time!

[lcookie]

@travelplus Mama says thanks for the compliment on her age :-)

[lcookie]

Ok back at it.

 

So I get to the room and to my surprise the girls are actually up and at em getting ready to head out and find me or lunch.  This is where I get the stank eye when I tell them I moved lunch plans out till 1 PM as to give them more time to lag around and not feel rushed.  We then decided to head up to the buffet to grab a lite snack to hold them over until lunch. 

 

Cruise hack -  Use the coffee cups for drinks.  For the life of me I just don't understand why they use such small glasses for regular drinks.

 

 

I have never met a slice of pizza I did not get along with :-).  I am a cheap pizza junkie and MSC fits the bill for thin crust for me!

 

 

In not so deep thought about what she wants to snack on.

 

 

[lcookie]

After messing around in the buffet and wondering around we end up you know where yet again. 

 

 

Noticing a trend huh?

 

Yes it is expensive for what you get, but here are my reasons for going back -

 

1. It is &*#^ GOOD

2. I'm on vacation

3. Did I mention how good it taste???

[lcookie]

We then make our way up to Butcher's Cut for lunch.

 

 

 

Here is the kiddo menu

 

 

This is an after the fact thing but here is the kiddo menu for the Asian Market too.  (Just stumbled across it)

 

 

 

[lcookie]

The apps -

 

 

Never would we pair this offering at home but man o man did those spicy peppers add a different flare to the shrimp.

 

 

These were my least favorite of the trip.  Was not bad just was not good.  The filling was to mayoee.  Yes that is a word. Also, the crispy skin was rubbery.

 

 

I love me some beets and this salad was off the chains good.  Very refreshing change from all the heavy foods we had been eating.

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by lcookie

[lcookie]

The mains -

 

These little boogers were delic.  Tender and Juicy.  Too much for Teeny to eat so guess who helped out??  Yep Mama!!!

 

 

We are funny about our lamb.  When not prepared properly it can be too gamey for our taste.  This was not the case here.

 

 

The American Bison.  They gave me two full loins.

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by lcookie

[lcookie]

Always save the best for last -

 

 

 

 

 

[lcookie]

Needless to say we enjoyed our time in Butcher's Cut. 

 

Ok Daddy we did your stuff now it's time to do what I want - Pool Time! - says Teeny

 

Sidebar -

 

The restroom on the Chef's Court was very fancy. 

 

[lcookie]

We get to the room to suit up and can't find one of my gopro cameras.  Don't you hate it when you know you put something somewhere but when you go back to get it it's not there?  This is the case.  I try to put it behind me and go enjoy the pool, but I just could not shake it.  I left the girls at the pool and went back to the room to retrace my steps.

 

I literally tear that room apart and no camera can be found.  I sit on the edge of the bed retracing all my steps since day 1.  I resolve to say I simply left it in the car and never brought it on the ship.  Now it's time to stop sulking and get back to the matters at hand - Pool Time!

Edited April 25, 2019 by lcookie

[lcookie]

I stayed in the room so long that by the time I got back topside we were already passing through the inlet into San Juan.  Mama was feeling sorry for me so she video's sail in for me as she knew I wanted to film that.