My View: 14 Days of Chasing the Sun on Seaside

[APDMOM]

The Balcony:

 

My View below the balcony:

 

My View forward:

 

My View aft:

 

Free “champagne” on the balcony:

Edited June 3, 2019 by APDMOM

[helen haywood]

Enjoying your review/report!  So nice to read a review from someone who is having a good time!

[APDMOM]

Almost forgot to post one of my favorite features of the room.  I read a tip here on CC about this chair, which can double as a coffee table.  Great idea to save room!  So much better than those glass tables on other ships:

[APDMOM]

Activating your Cruise Card (Associating your Credit Card):

This was new to us.  On MSC, you associate a credit card with your account only after you board.  You have 48 hours to do this, and there are these handy kiosks around the atrium to walk you through the process.  It is very easy - just follow the onscreen directions.  You can even associate accounts from other cabins with your credit card by using the kiosk.

 

Tip:  There is no need to stand in line for this process.  There were 3 kiosks available when we did it today, while it was quite busy yesterday.

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Lunch in the MDR:

 

We like a more quiet lunch in the main dining room on sea days.  The Seashore Restaurant is open for lunch on sea days.  The menu had very tasty selections.  I will have to take pictures of menus and food next week, as I have been very lax in that department.  We enjoyed the club salad, the Caesar salad with shrimp, and the cheesecake.  The beef fajitas are not a repeater (too tough) and the Boston Cream Pie was not very creamy at all.

 

A few items made it on camera:  Beef Fajitas, Cheesecake and Boston Cream pie:

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Drink of the Day:

During the afternoon, we tried the drink of the day:  Frozen Toblerone (Good, but too sweet for my taste):

 

After lunch, we were welcomed to our room with free “champagne”, chocolate covered strawberries, and our chocolate ship awaiting us.

 

 

 

I visited the Thermal Spa for the first time today, as I have the pass. I purchased this cruise pass in advance after seeing a vlog about it.  The verdict is still out on whether I will find it worthwhile, as it is quite a learning curve to figure out all the different steam rooms, saunas, showers, salt room, snow room, etc. I will report back with my view on this area at the end of our cruise.

 

Dinner:

Tonight was Elegant night.  We decided not to dress up this cruise, so we just ate at the Marketplace buffet.  Again, there were great options, including very good roasted chicken and delicious lobster bisque soup.

[lexxfield]

This is such an excellent review.  We are sailing on the Seaside at the end of June and I have learned much from your tips and suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to share your pictures and impressions. I look forward to reading more.

[dznymom]

I am really enjoying your review.  I just looked at all my photos again, and was reminded again how much I loved the ship.  We found the food to be very good.  A couple of my favorite things were the pancetta with asparagus, the duck and a couple of lamb dishes.  I was trying to stay low carb, but my sister had pizza every single day because it was so good.  I had a tiny gelato on the last sea day as a treat, and OMG, it was amazing!

 

Sis is a spa person, so she showed me the ropes.  I particularly liked the Himalayan salt room, the whirlpool, and of course the heated loungers, but we spent a little time in each of the rooms.  We had an ocean view room, so we absolutely loved the dedicated deck space with the padded loungers and the hot tub which was almost always empty.  

 

Anyway, I don't want to hijack, but thought I would share some things we found especially enjoyable.  Thanks for taking the time to update us and for sharing your great tips!

Edited June 3, 2019 by dznymom

[SteelCruisin]

Thanks for the review...keep it coming, we will be sailing the Seaside in December so I will continue to scour the reviews in hopes of finding some helpful hints! Have fun.

[JoeFo44]

This is such a great thread.  Thank you for the pictures along the way.  We embark on july 6th.  Getting so excited!  Did you need your credit card pin to set it up to your cruise card?

[ready2cruzagain]

 

Following the review since we are booked on the Seaside this Nov. for 4 weeks on a b2b2b2b. Show as much of everything as you can!😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sidari]

Our Aurea balcony last April 2018 on 9 forward had the bed next to the wardrobe and it was a pain, those with the sofa/bed/bunks near the wardrobe are better.

Think we were spoiled at Xmas 2017 having had one of the aft wrap around Aurea suites.

[APDMOM]

8 hours ago, JoeFo44 said:

This is such a great thread.  Thank you for the pictures along the way.  We embark on july 6th.  Getting so excited!  Did you need your credit card pin to set it up to your cruise card?

Thank you for following along!  We did not need a pin for the credit card.  I don’t know what it would do if you tried a debit card.  They had a chip reader for the credit card on the kiosk machine.  

[APDMOM]

4 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

Following the review since we are booked on the Seaside this Nov. for 4 weeks on a b2b2b2b. Show as much of everything as you can!😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will be posting many ship pics!  I love taking pictures, but you probably already figured that out.  😂

 

[APDMOM]

It seems like there was a bit of an internet glitch last night, as my end of the day did not post.  I will get on that soon!  Thank you for all the positive comments and for following along!  A cruise with a virtual crowd is much more fun!  😁

[APDMOM]

My View:  End of Day 2 (Sea day)

[APDMOM]

Daily Program for Day 2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View:  Day 3 - Ocho Rios, ¡Jamaica Mon!

 

 

[APDMOM]

This morning was the balcony washing day. So, we spent time elsewhere on the ship until they got that done.  You are not able to use the balcony while they clean there, and it is advised that you lock the balcony door and close the drapes.

 

I took an early morning walk before the gym opened, and found a little bit of the sun hidden among the clouds (For my DS and DH, I have to clarify that I know this is not a scientifically correct statement... living with geeks! 😂😞

 

 

 

A couple of early morning views of the Miami Beach Pool:

 

 

Would you know?  I found a fellow fake yoga practitioner!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Tip: 

If one buffet area seems very crowded, go to the other...  It was super busy in Marketplace Buffet this morning between 8 and 9.  There were long lines everywhere, and many stations with no plates to be found.  There were no cleared off tables to sit down to eat.  I went up to Biscayne Bay Buffet, and there were many empty two-top tables and hardly any lines.  So, on port days, it may be better to go to Biscayne Bay Buffet, or at least see if it is less crowded.

 

Tip: 

On port days, it can be very congested to leave the ship when the all clear is called.  This is a great time to hang out at the pool and have all that space.  Then, about an hour to two after all clear, head out to port.  You avoid crowds both at the pool and at the debarkation area.

 

Disclaimer:  

I should have mentioned earlier that there will not be a whole lot of port info on this week’s report.  We are staying on the ship a majority of the time.

 

We had the Jungle Pool to ourselves for about 30 minutes this morning.  I was also the only person in the Thermal Area around 10:00.  I am starting to like the Thermal area more, now that I understand some of the showers... I also love the outdoor area at the front of the ship.  Will post details and some pictures later this week.  DH and DS enjoyed a few of the slides with very short lines.  By the way, if you want to use the slides, you need to sign a waiver.  The best time to do this is right after you embark, or at least within a few hours after you embark.  That way you can get your wrist band for the week.  DS is showing the slide wrist band, as well as the wrist band that stands in for your key card:

 

[APDMOM]

I started the day with an early morning visit to guest services to purchase the wrist band.  It is already worth the $5 I paid for it.  I love that you can use it to quickly open the cabin door, and it locks the locker in the Thermal Area of the spa.  Now, I can keep my key card locked inside a locker instead of keeping track of it in the Thermal Area.  The key card also gets very wet in the Thermal Area, so the wrist band is definitely worth it.  Here are some pictures to demonstrate how easy it is to lock and unlock with the wrist band.  There are plenty of lockers in the Thermal Area:

 

Just hold the MSC compass on your wrist band against that electronic disc on the door of the locker:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Speaking of the wrist bands:

 

Tip: 

Get it early in the morning from guest services, before it gets busy.  I found that it is very quiet between 6 and 8 a.m. 

 

Tip:

  The wrist band is a GREAT way to get around.  Just remember, you still need your key card to leave the ship and to return.  On the ship, you can use your wrist band for everything else.

[Reds4life]

21 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Lunch in the MDR:

 

We like a more quiet lunch in the main dining room on sea days.  The Seashore Restaurant is open for lunch on sea days.  The menu had very tasty selections.  I will have to take pictures of menus and food next week, as I have been very lax in that department.  We enjoyed the club salad, the Caesar salad with shrimp, and the cheesecake.  The beef fajitas are not a repeater (too tough) and the Boston Cream Pie was not very creamy at all.

 

A few items made it on camera:  Beef Fajitas, Cheesecake and Boston Cream pie:

 

 

 

 

 

Man, I just got off Seaside and all week long I wondered where the cheesecake was. I see that they must have had it on the lunch menu! RCCL spoiled me with NY Cheesecake every night on the MDR menu. 

[APDMOM]

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.

 

 

Lunch was in the buffet area and was very quiet at noon, as a majority of people left the ship to explore Jamaica.  

 

A few views of Ocho Rios from the ship:

 

 

 

This afternoon, I got partial highlights (about 10 foils), a cut, and blow dry at the spa salon.  I had purchased this online prior to the cruise for $65.  In my experience this is an excellent price for the value.  I love the outcome!  It was about 2 hours of pure pampering.

 

[APDMOM]

Just now, Reds4life said:

Man, I just got off Seaside and all week long I wondered where the cheesecake was. I see that they must have had it on the lunch menu! RCCL spoiled me with NY Cheesecake every night on the MDR menu. 

They also had it in the Marketplace Buffet this afternoon.  It was a smaller portion, but very good too!

 

My Advice:  You will have to book another Seaside cruise 😁

Edited June 4, 2019 by APDMOM