My View: 14 Days of Chasing the Sun on Seaside

[tourismtessy]

This was by far, the BEST review I have read on cruise critic (and I have read a LOT)!  We have cruised Carnival twice, Norwegian twice, Royal Caribbean twice, and Princess a lot more-lol!  We are platinum on princess and prefer to cruise them now.  I saw a great deal on a last minute cruise on MSC and started doing some research to see if we may want to branch out and try her. Your review was just what I needed!  Thank You so much for your detailed commentary and beautiful photos.  We are already booked on a 10 day Southern Caribbean on Princess in January, but I am going to do our status match and we will book our next cruise in 2021 on MSC Seaside.  

[Dgshooter]

Thanks for the great review. My DW and I will be on the Seaside in a couple weeks. I've been planning my meals thanks to the menus you posted.

[APDMOM]

On 9/10/2019 at 1:25 PM, tourismtessy said:

This was by far, the BEST review I have read on cruise critic (and I have read a LOT)!  We have cruised Carnival twice, Norwegian twice, Royal Caribbean twice, and Princess a lot more-lol!  We are platinum on princess and prefer to cruise them now.  I saw a great deal on a last minute cruise on MSC and started doing some research to see if we may want to branch out and try her. Your review was just what I needed!  Thank You so much for your detailed commentary and beautiful photos.  We are already booked on a 10 day Southern Caribbean on Princess in January, but I am going to do our status match and we will book our next cruise in 2021 on MSC Seaside.  

@tourismtessy Thank you for your kind words!  If you are getting close to Elite on Princess, it may help to wait with the status match.  🙂 Enjoy planning your adventures!

[2dot2dot]

On 6/7/2019 at 4:44 PM, APDMOM said:

Yes, please do!  If you ask at APDMOM@live.com, I will gladly send an original without the signature at the bottom too.

 

And we are booked for the Michael Jackson show tonight. I think we will be there when the doors open 🙂

Do you have to reserve each of the shows? If you do how do you make your reservation? Thanks for all the tips and great  information!!

[jdvmd]

2 minutes ago, 2dot2dot said:

Do you have to reserve each of the shows? If you do how do you make your reservation? Thanks for all the tips and great  information!!

We made reservations through the app as the week progressed. The only one that we and our friends did was for the Michael Jackson show and we made those reservations on embarkation day. You can also make from the television in your cabin.

[2dot2dot]

Thank you!

[APDMOM]

6 hours ago, 2dot2dot said:

Do you have to reserve each of the shows? If you do how do you make your reservation? Thanks for all the tips and great  information!!

 

You are welcome!  Like jdvmd said, you can make the reservations from the app.  You have to be on the ship’s wifi (free for using the app) to make the reservations.  We made our reservations at the port while we were waiting to board the ship.  🙂 You can log onto the free ship wifi while you sit in the terminal. 

Edited November 4, 2019 by APDMOM

[rowe440]

On 6/11/2019 at 5:27 PM, APDMOM said:

My View: Day 10 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Your pictures are stunning - what kind of a camera do you use?

[APDMOM]

On 11/12/2019 at 9:18 AM, caribbeancutie said:

Your pictures are stunning - what kind of a camera do you use?

Thank you!  I use a Nikon P900 most of the time.  I believe for that cruise I also used a Nikon S8200, which died since. 🙂

[cruiser123!]

On 6/3/2019 at 8:18 PM, APDMOM said:

Something we LOVE: Tip:

We found out last night that iMessage works on the ship with the free wifi.  So, if you have iPhones on the ship, you can communicate with each other using messenger.  I don’t know if it works for other phones.  We only have the two iPhones.  It was nice to be able to communicate with DH while we went our separate ways during the day.

 

 

Is that on the MSC app? How do we get this?  It sounds perfect for my family

 

[jhaagens]

On 7/8/2019 at 6:07 AM, APDMOM said:

@Arzeena

 

I am sorry to hear about your negative experience with staff.  We had no major issues, and found most of the staff to be very accommodating.  I agree that the specialty restaurant hosts were not the friendliest, but by no means rude to us.  

 

As for the thermal spa - I guess it varies by cruise.  It was never crowded when I went (usually early in the morning, or around 8 p.m. on port days).  There were 6 people on one of my visits, and that was the busiest I encountered.  What time of the day did you use the spa?  It may be related to the time of day.  I hope you have a better time on Meraviglia, or find the cruise line that better fits your needs and vacation style. 

I genuinely think you are the nicest person I've ever read on this forum. 🙂

[APDMOM]

4 hours ago, cruiser123! said:

 

Is that on the MSC app? How do we get this?  It sounds perfect for my family

 

It is actually through messenger on the iPhone.  So, you just log into the free wifi and the messages will send.  I hope it still works on MSC.  Royal Caribbean used to have the same, but I guess their IT dept. figured out how to block that.  🙂  We will be on Meraviglia in 2 weeks, so I will see if it works there too.

[APDMOM]

15 minutes ago, jhaagens said:

I genuinely think you are the nicest person I've ever read on this forum. 🙂

Thank you!  That is very kind of you to say.  Social media (especially this kind of forum) is so tricky because the written word without the facial expressions can quickly be misinterpreted.   I try to imagine I am talking to people face to face, and I LOVE meeting people from Cruise Critic on cruises!  

[aprilF]

On 12/10/2019 at 3:52 PM, APDMOM said:

It is actually through messenger on the iPhone.  So, you just log into the free wifi and the messages will send.  I hope it still works on MSC.  Royal Caribbean used to have the same, but I guess their IT dept. figured out how to block that.  🙂  We will be on Meraviglia in 2 weeks, so I will see if it works there too.

Can you iMessage people on land with iPhones as well, this was possible on DCL.

[George C]

Just wanted to add a couple of yacht club facts to this great review , perks are really great reserve seats for shows butler escorts you to shows .i liked they that there was some entertainment in afternoon also really cool jazz band with really good singer played one afternoon, there was opera one afternoon we walked in in middle and show was packed huge cast . Yacht club had live music from about 5 to 11 pm. 

[APDMOM]

37 minutes ago, George C said:

Just wanted to add a couple of yacht club facts to this great review , perks are really great reserve seats for shows butler escorts you to shows .i liked they that there was some entertainment in afternoon also really cool jazz band with really good singer played one afternoon, there was opera one afternoon we walked in in middle and show was packed huge cast . Yacht club had live music from about 5 to 11 pm. 

Thank you for adding this info, George!  Did you like Seaside?  11 days until we board Meraviglia for Christmas... 

[George C]

23 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Thank you for adding this info, George!  Did you like Seaside?  11 days until we board Meraviglia for Christmas... 

We really loved it, we booked same week for next year yacht club perks were amazing was surprised entertainment was that good. Our only problem was we upgraded drink package to premium plus and drank too much Johnny Walker blue 😁😁😁,  enjoy your Meravigila cruise, we cruise next on music charter on infinity in February. 

  We look forward to your next great review. 

[gmbhardy]

3 hours ago, aprilF said:

Can you iMessage people on land with iPhones as well, this was possible on DCL.

 

I was able to iMessage and FaceTime my son back home on the Seaside in October.

[aprilF]

11 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

 

I was able to iMessage and FaceTime my son back home on the Seaside in October.

That's great, thanks!  Can anyone say if this works on the Armonia as well?

[nancyb39]

APDMOM, thank you so much for your posts. I had wanted to see copies of the menus as well as the daily planner, but you exceeded all my expectations. Thanks for the MSC phone app info, along with the tips for booking the nightly entertainment early. We have booked the 15 day Seaside cruise on January 11 to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. This will be my 10th cruise, and my husband's 6th. We sailed on the Divina a few years ago when MSC was breaking into the American market--we booked inside staterooms for $299 each and were upgraded to $1300 balcony staterooms--now we're spoiled. Got a great deal now--Fantastica Balcony stateroom, with All In (Internet, drink package) for $1,000/wk/pp. I did add the Aurea spa package for myself as I enjoy that pampering. Do not spend extra money on spa services. You did not mention the day at the Ocean Cay Marine Reserve private island. We rented umbrellas and lounges but are curious as to where the best beach locations on that island would be and whether there is a buffet provided or do we need to get box lunches from the ship. Thank you again for taking the time to inform us. Wouldn't it be fun to meet up one day! Happy travels

 

[APDMOM]

On 12/14/2019 at 10:11 PM, nancyb39 said:

APDMOM, thank you so much for your posts. I had wanted to see copies of the menus as well as the daily planner, but you exceeded all my expectations. Thanks for the MSC phone app info, along with the tips for booking the nightly entertainment early. We have booked the 15 day Seaside cruise on January 11 to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. This will be my 10th cruise, and my husband's 6th. We sailed on the Divina a few years ago when MSC was breaking into the American market--we booked inside staterooms for $299 each and were upgraded to $1300 balcony staterooms--now we're spoiled. Got a great deal now--Fantastica Balcony stateroom, with All In (Internet, drink package) for $1,000/wk/pp. I did add the Aurea spa package for myself as I enjoy that pampering. Do not spend extra money on spa services. You did not mention the day at the Ocean Cay Marine Reserve private island. We rented umbrellas and lounges but are curious as to where the best beach locations on that island would be and whether there is a buffet provided or do we need to get box lunches from the ship. Thank you again for taking the time to inform us. Wouldn't it be fun to meet up one day! Happy travels

 

Hi, @nancyb39! Thank you for your kind words!  Ocean Cay was not open yet in June, so I don’t have any advice yet.  However, if the weather improves, we will be there next Saturday on Meraviglia.  I will be reporting on our experience 🙂
 

Glad you got such amazing deals! We are bound by school schedules, so we can only cruise during high demand breaks.  Would love to take advantage of those “off season” specials some day!

[nancyb39]

Dear APDMom, Thank you so much for your reply. Your posts were really a big halp. We love the MSC line. Our dear friends, the Kelleys, might be on your Meraviglia cruise in January. They are longtime Cruise Critic members and will definitely be at the Meet and Mingle.vIf you happen to meet them, please mention Nancy and Paul to them. Wouldn't that be funny! Yes, and when you retire you, too, will be able to cruise in the off season. 

Enjoy the Meraviglia cruise--might be our next one!

Happy Holidays to you and your family

[scpirate]

On 5/31/2019 at 5:29 PM, APDMOM said:

😁I am with you!  There certainly are many YC reviews, and quite a drought for us stingy (I mean, frugal) cruisers.  Glad you are following along!

I was beginning to wonder if the steerage class even bothered to post.i am stingy but yacht club has no.appeal to us.we don't need a butler or too be able to cut the line for the shows.my wife is a picky eater so we just go to the buffet so she can look things over first.plus I can buy 3 cruises for the price of yacht club.we have only been on six cruises on 3 different lines but we are already tired of it.i have 2 more booked and then we are more likely done.i may reconsider some time down the road if our health is still okay but it will be a southern Caribbean route and probably on celebrity.but we are doing a repeat of last year's cruise on seaside and one last carnival out of our home port which has very limited options of Bahamas.

[aprilF]

On 12/12/2019 at 10:39 AM, aprilF said:

That's great, thanks!  Can anyone say if this works on the Armonia as well?

Just updating that iMessage did not work on the Armonia in case anyone else was wondering about that ship 

[psmarkle]

On 12/22/2019 at 1:03 AM, APDMOM said:

Hi, @nancyb39! Thank you for your kind words!  Ocean Cay was not open yet in June, so I don’t have any advice yet.  However, if the weather improves, we will be there next Saturday on Meraviglia.  I will be reporting on our experience 🙂
 

Glad you got such amazing deals! We are bound by school schedules, so we can only cruise during high demand breaks.  Would love to take advantage of those “off season” specials some day!

I, too, am an educator and bound by the school calendar.  I truly look forward to the retiree discount days.  I very, very, very much enjoyed your review and am eagerly anticipating your new review from this cruise!!  Thank you for giving of yourself to us here on CC!