My View: 14 Days of Chasing the Sun on Seaside

[APDMOM]

10 hours ago, alicat58 said:

Enjoying your review. On the Seaview in the Med in 10 days. So enjoying the photos. Presume will look similar.

 

What is your South African connection?

 

Alicat

Hi, Alicat!  

I was born and raised in South Africa.  Most of my family lives in South Africa and Namibia.  A great American guy stole my heart 19 years ago when I was “temporarily” working in Virginia, so I ended up staying in the USA. 🙂

[APDMOM]

My View:  Day 5 - ¡Hola! Cozumel, Mexico

 

[APDMOM]

We love Cozumel and the people!  Since we started studying Spanish less that 2 years ago, we have enjoyed trying to speak Spanish on the different islands we visit.  The people of Cozumel will embrace you like you are long time amigos, just for trying to learn their language.  They are patient and try to help us.  We have so much fun every time we visit here!  Today was no exception.  

 

If you don’t like the pushy sales, just say with a smile, “Lo siento.”  (The ‘o’ is pronounced like the ‘o’ in “more”, just a but shorter sounding).  Most of the time, they will respect that you are not interested.

 

We went ashore as soon as we could.  We had planned well in advance to go the the MEGA mart, which was our first stop.  Case and point about the locals: DH asked something in English and the guy responded without a smile.  I decided to try my Spanish to elaborate on DH’s question, and the guy smiled and responded in a very welcoming way to both of us....and I can guarantee it has nothing to do with the ‘older lady looks’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEGA was suspiciously similar to WalMart and even sold Cherokee brand clothing.  We were a bit disappointed, as we had hoped to buy some Mexican clothing here.  They had a fair variety, but just not anything unique we were looking for.  I did support them by buying a little local candy. 😜

 

 

Tip:  If you need anything from a convenience store, just turn right from the port at Punta Langosta.  MEGA is only about two blocks down the street.

 

Tip:  DO NOT bring food from the ship.  They have dogs sniffing bags and we saw them open bags to remove food.  Mexico seems to be serious about agricultural hazards.

 

[APDMOM]

My personal goal for the day was to find a great spot on land to get a picture of the ship.  We found the No Name Bar to meet and exceed that expectation.  I purchased a Pina Colada and we got some beautiful pictures from this space behind Barracuda hotel (Just about across the street from MEGA.)

 

A view of Barracuda Hotel from the ship:

 

A view of the ship from the hotel/bar:

 

Tip:  The name of the bar is “No Name Bar”.  It is ‘for crew, by crew’ but is open to anyone.  

 

We enjoyed a piña colada with these beautiful views: ($10.60 and very large)

 

 

 

 

Some crew members leave their name tags here:

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

More views of Cozumel from land and from the ship:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our loot - a plate to decorate a wall and a hat:

 

Celebrity Equinox and Carnival Valor were also in town, but at their respective private piers further down the road.

 

Our view forward from the balcony:

 

Our view aft:

[APDMOM]

Dinner Menu:

 

We all enjoyed our choices, but the Kirschtorte stood out as the best dessert - and the best of it’s kind I have ever had.  The duck was cooked very well and was tender.  The swordfish has a strong “fish” taste, but our son loves seafood of all kinds.  DH had the salmon from the daily menu.

 

 

 

 

Sunset over Mexico as we are sailing north:

 

[Sancho_proudfoot]

APDMOM, this is fabulous. We are booked on Seaside for November NEXT year, and had a few doubts having read some negative reports. Your blog on here has *totally* reassured us - that ship just looks amazing!!

[APDMOM]

29 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

APDMOM, this is fabulous. We are booked on Seaside for November NEXT year, and had a few doubts having read some negative reports. Your blog on here has *totally* reassured us - that ship just looks amazing!!

I am glad you are enjoying it!  I truly do not understand the negative reviews.  I will give a summary at the end of the 14 days, including responses to some of the most frequent complaints I had seen.  My husband has decided this is his new favorite cruise line. I am still undecided, but it is definitely one of my top 3!

[APDMOM]

Tonight was seventies night.  It was not as well attended in the atrium as the white party, but we did not go to the 70’s party to see if that was any better.  I only saw entertainment staff dressed up for the 70’s.

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

The Show:  Fly

 

The 3 acrobats from Zimbabwe are hilarious!  They are my favorite entertainers so far.  

 

 

 

Again, the show was excellent with a good variety of music, dancing, acrobatics, and humor.  The dances are tasteful and the choreography is fresh!  I can now say that this is the ship with my favorite shows...and if you have been following my Royal Caribbean reviews, you know how much I love those ice shows.

 

A few more views from the show:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 5 - Smiling moon over Mexico

 

[APDMOM]

@goober1102  I noticed that they do allow nice shorts on casual nights in the dining room.  Enjoy planning your cruise 🙂

[sidari]

How is it going with the Mirrors ? have you got used to them now.

[APDMOM]

Daily Planner:  Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

26 minutes ago, sidari said:

How is it going with the Mirrors ? have you got used to them now.

😂 Slowly, but surely, yes.  I joke that they make the ship look double as crowded.  But then I guess they also make the ship look double as big.  I did notice that many of them are one-way mirrors.  Like the aft elevators... Inside, the doors look like mirrors.  Outside,  the doors are clear glass and you can see how many people are inside.

[APDMOM]

My View:  Day 6 - At Sea

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Ship Views:

Since today is a sea day, I will mostly post ship pictures - that is if the internet cooperates with so many people onboard. It is already slow right now.

 

  We have lunch booked at Butcher’s Cut (free Black Card benefit) and 3 shows for this afternoon.  Since time changed again last night, I hope we will make it to those shows.  If not, there is always next week.  We may even book another cruise today!  

 

If you have any special requests or questions, today will be a good day for me to hunt down the answers. It is the only ‘exercise’ I will get today.  

 

[Reds4life]

23 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Tonight’s Show - The Dream:

 

I TAKE IT BACK!!!  Forget what I said about the ladies not being quite as good as the male singers.  Tonight was the night for the blonde contra-alto to shine.  The songs they chose matched her voice perfectly and I got chills as she executed most of the songs with excellence!  It seems like the shows just get better and better.  

 

Here are some views of the show.  As you can see, there was a good variety of entertainment again, with Gene starting off the show with his great sense of humor!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to admit, I was waiting to see if you became more impressed with the female lead singer later in the week. To us, with limited musical expertise, she was very talented but as you mentioned did not get her chance until she was featured later on in the week. I wholeheartedly agree that MSC has some really talented singers on Seaside! Probably the best we have seen 

[dorts]

Ship Views:

Since today is a sea day, I will mostly post ship pictures - that is if the internet cooperates with so many people onboard. It is already slow right now.

 

  We have lunch booked at Butcher’s Cut (free Black Card benefit) and 3 shows for this afternoon.  Since time changed again last night, I hope we will make it to those shows.  If not, there is always next week.  We may even book another cruise today!  

 

If you have any special requests or questions, today will be a good day for me to hunt down the answers. It is the only ‘exercise’ I will get today.  

 

Love to.know more about the outside area for thermal spa users. I know there is a few hot tubs but wondering if we could use there as a sort of quieter sunbathing area and bring some drinks with us?

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

[shipgeeks]

We are really enjoying your reviews.  DH says to tell you your photos are excellent -- better than the official MSC pictures!

[Cruisergal1208]

Enjoying your reviews and pictures.  I must ask what camera are you using? You have some of the best photos I've seen.  Also, we met an Exec. Chef from South Africa on board and he prepared Bobotie for lunch for us one day.  We may have gotten this special treatment from us being long time MSC cruisers and booked in the Yacht Club🤔😊.  It was very different from the first time we had it on our trip to South Africa and so good. Your posts are going to be so helpful to those booking and staying in the regular part of the ship. Thanks again.

[APDMOM]

3 hours ago, dorts said:

Love to.know more about the outside area for thermal spa users. I know there is a few hot tubs but wondering if we could use there as a sort of quieter sunbathing area and bring some drinks with us?

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk
 

 

There is indeed a nice area outside the Thermal Spa.  I will go there a little later to see how busy it gets on sea days.  I will take photos of that area while we are in Nassau.  There is one hot tub (smaller kind - maybe 4-6 people) and several loungers.  🙂

[APDMOM]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

We are really enjoying your reviews.  DH says to tell you your photos are excellent -- better than the official MSC pictures!

Wow!  Thank you!  That is very kind of your DH.  My secret is to take way too many pictures and choose the best (and I picked up some tips from fellow cruisers over the years). 😉

[APDMOM]

21 minutes ago, Cruisergal1208 said:

Enjoying your reviews and pictures.  I must ask what camera are you using? You have some of the best photos I've seen.  Also, we met an Exec. Chef from South Africa on board and he prepared Bobotie for lunch for us one day.  We may have gotten this special treatment from us being long time MSC cruisers and booked in the Yacht Club🤔😊.  It was very different from the first time we had it on our trip to South Africa and so good. Your posts are going to be so helpful to those booking and staying in the regular part of the ship. Thanks again.

Thank you!  I am using a Nikon S9900 (older model) in most ports.  On the ship, I switch between my Nikon P900 (superzoom that takes the moon and sun pics) and the regular S9900.  I love playing around with these two cameras.  For the shows, I use the P900 on the setting to take multiple consecutive pictures.  It is how I get around to avoid using the flash and interfering with the performances.  

 

That Bobotie treat sounds great!  I am glad you got to try it.   I will be in Namibia in about 12 days, and look forward to enjoying it on “home” soil.  

[APDMOM]

True to sea day tradition, the internet uploads are very slow.  The good thing is that I have PLENTY of ship pictures organized and ready to post, but they will have to wait until tomorrow, when the crowds leave the internet behind for the beaches of Nassau.  I will try again tonight, but it does not look promising so far.

 

Thanks to everyone for reading along and for all the kind words!  

 

Greeting you from  my relaxing chair on our balcony, with a lovely ocean breeze and calm seas 😎 Until later!