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Seashore Oct ‘21 - a review, perhaps?

Beamafar

By Beamafar,
in MSC Cruises

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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8 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Oh no, not that Royal Club stuff it's awful. So glad about the choco nuts, which us regulars know you just love!


Beggars can’t be choosers, G (regarding RC). 
Couldn’t find the blinking’ thread where it was discussed lol 😆 

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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So … here goes:
 

I booked this cruise as a cheapy due to having a voucher from a previous cruise that had to be used this year.  I’d already booked 2 other cruises for this year - Aurea and YC, using FCCs from cancelled cruises - so just booked a Bella inside.

 

Well, the Aurea booking was cancelled and the ship was switched out on the YC one so we cancelled and that left us with this one to look forward to.  However, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding it, too, as MSC was not allowing non-Schengen residents onboard - a restriction that was only recently lifted.

 

In the meantime, with the frustration of not knowing if we’d get to do this cruise, I saw a very nice offer for a September cruise on NCL’s Epic and decided to book it, 9 days out from sailing, with a similar West Med itinerary.  We always said that some day we’d do the cheapest cruise we could find on an alternative cruise line to MSC to experience, compare and contrast it. 

 

Again, I booked an inside.  I was then offered a chance to bid for a higher category cabin and made the lowest bid possible of €260 for a Club balcony suite which was accepted. 

 

Having returned from that cruise, we decided to upgrade to a Bella balcony for our Seashore cruise.  Cost to upgrade was €801 - no bidding system from MSC for us. 

 

So, this review will, maybe, progress as a comparison between NCL and MSC as the 2 cruises ended up costing a similar amount.  We upgraded the included drinks packages on both to PremiumPlus, so that may feature, too. 

 

The Epic booking was through a TA and included flights, OBC of $100 and with a charge of €99 pp to upgrade to a drinks package inclusion and 2 evenings in a Specialty restaurant.  The upgraded cabin gave us a complimentary bag of laundry, a bottle of bubbly and a couple of treats to the room during the cruise.

 

This cruise was booked direct with MSC and included flights, transfers, €100 OBC, gratuities and Premium drinks package.  Nothing extra for the upgrade to a balcony.  As we’re Diamond, we’ll receive a bottle of bubbly, a plate of treats, a fruit bowl and one evening in a Speciality restaurant.  Note, these items, apart from the fruit bowl, were included with NCL without needing to be in the top tier of their loyalty club.

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marielco "Live from...." Rare

marielco

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Looking forward to your review @Beamafar  I mostly enjoyed my recent cruise on Seashore.  Many pros but a couple of cons were the lengthy wait for lifts due to the new call system and so much of the ship “off limits” because of the YC.  I love to walk around the deck on a promenade deck but you can not access the front of the ship on any deck unless you are a YC guest on Seashore. 

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Beamafar

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So … We landed in Barcelona at 9.40am and saw someone from MSC in the terminal waiting for people for the transfer bus. We asked if she was waiting for passengers from other flights and, if so, what time she thought the bus might leave.  When she said 10.30am we decided to get a taxi and head to the port, rather than wait around. 
 

The embarkation process was quite straightforward.   We arrived at the port at 10am.  We were directed to the first tent for our Covid certs and antigen test results to be checked against our passports and boarding tickets, then went to a second tent where people were seated, waiting to get the Covid test done.  We were in Group 3 and there was only Group 2 ahead of us.  Our boarding passes, certs and results were checked here again.

 

When our group was called, we were led to the terminal where we checked in and waited for our results.  We were given a regular cruisecard  and told that we would have to go to GS for Diamond ones.   🙄

 

Anyway, the group was then called again and we were all directed to go onboard.  I assume we’d all tested negative.  (We heard that the embarkation by 12pm and the buffet lunch later were a nightmare). 
 

We were sitting down in the Shine bar with our first glass of champers by 11.05am. 😁🥂

 

EEBA8B82-AC25-42F5-99DF-3DCDC6AF7490.thumb.jpeg.54c715df785a5205a57e6d03a6df7ae9.jpeg

 

Of course, it was only NF as the Champagne Bar wasn’t open yet. 🤣

 

Lunch was in Manhattan MDR (for one hour only!!) served between 12pm and 1pm.  Now, embarkees must go to the buffet, but we’ve always preferred to lunch in the MDR.  Well, we were refused entry.  “It is the rules, madam”!   In this case, the rules could go get stuffed, so I persisted.  The (asst) m’D was called.  I explained that we have always been able to have lunch in the MDR on embarkation day as we don’t like the buffet.  He relented and said he would make an exception for us.

 

 I was so glad he did as one of my favourite lunch dishes, fishn’chips, was on. 
 

An announcement was made at 1pm that the cabins were ready, so we headed off to find ours.  It is a very nice Bella balcony, so I’m really glad we didn’t pay the extra for Fantastica.  The only issue I would have with it is the configuration.  The bed is next to the balcony.  I prefer the sofa to be.
 

E5EA5036-C1D5-4299-A581-A03CB1D64FC7.thumb.jpeg.ea500f08ad7a37771e9655608d9e7a95.jpeg

 
 

 

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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3 hours ago, marielco said:

Looking forward to your review @Beamafar  I mostly enjoyed my recent cruise on Seashore.  Many pros but a couple of cons were the lengthy wait for lifts due to the new call system and so much of the ship “off limits” because of the YC.  I love to walk around the deck on a promenade deck but you can not access the front of the ship on any deck unless you are a YC guest on Seashore. 


I agree totally on the lifts issue.  OMG, we were waiting forever for one after lunch today. DH wanted to take the stairs, but, unfortunately, my knees weren’t having it!   We walked further on to the next lift shaft (though we ended up at the dead end, where we had to take a flight of stairs to the next level 🙄). Anyway, there was no-one using these lifts, thankfully.  The crowds were gathered at the busy ones and everyone was being directed to the same lettered lift.  So much for social distancing!

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Beamafar

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5 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Oh, what a pretty stateroom.  I, too, prefer sofa next to balcony. I wish there was a way to figure this out when looking at the deckplan.


The bathroom is small, with a bathtub (🥴 my poor knees do not like this), but it’s fine, otherwise. 
 

CA9F5402-2E60-4C24-92D5-D2FC7FCCFF0D.thumb.jpeg.83239e12649850113d6e36639858a211.jpeg

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styles27 "Live from...." Rare

styles27

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9 minutes ago, Beamafar said:


The bathroom is small, with a bathtub (🥴 my poor knees do not like this), but it’s fine, otherwise. 
 

CA9F5402-2E60-4C24-92D5-D2FC7FCCFF0D.thumb.jpeg.83239e12649850113d6e36639858a211.jpeg

I wonder if you could get moved to a handicap accessible room if available.

 

Please be careful…I slipped and fell getting out of the tub/shower one morning on Divina (pre cocktails so I can’t even blame that) the ship was rocking and I went down. Ouch!

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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I’m having problems posting.  Been having it for a few weeks now.  I have to keep clearing my cache and reloading the site constantly.   It’s even worse since I’ve come onboard.   I’ve just written a lengthy reply to someone and the whole lot was lost when I tried to insert a photo. 😡

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