MSC Seashore questions

[Danny61231]

Hey Ya'll,

   I haven't posted here in quite some time but I'm starting to look at another cruise and need some help. We took our first ever cruise on Seaside back in 2018 and had a cruise booked on Meraviglia in 2020 that got canceled two weeks beforehand due to covid.

 

This will be our 2nd cruise and we're currently looking at the Seashore. Unlike our first cruise, we are looking to take our children with who will be 10 and 7 at the time of our sailing. Due to the cost and how little time we spend in our cabin, we're looking to book an interior room but trying to make the best decision that will work best for us. Here are my questions:

 

1 - I see that they have cabins advertised as "Premium interior" (10004 and 10005) on deck 10 that are just over 300 ft2. Unfortunately, these appear to be at the very front of the ship and I'm curious how these rooms would be? Would we feel a lot of movement, noise, etc? What else can you tell us about these rooms and / or what to expect?

 

2 - Does anyone have any pictures of what these rooms look like or what the layout is? I tried looking online and didn't see anything. 

 

3 - How does the Seashore compare to the Seaside? We loved our time on the Seaside but being that was our first cruise we have nothing else to compare it too.

 

4 - How is the food in the main dining room and the buffet now days?

 

5 - Lastly, this cruise would be leaving from Port Canaveral which we've never done. We'd be flying into Orlando (I assume) a day early and looking to stay at a hotel the night before. Any advice on what our best options would be for hotel, shuttles, etc... to the cruise port would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. 

Dan

[Essiesmom]

For your questions about hotel and transfers, visit the Florida Departures board, under North American Homeports.  EM

[NMsunset]

Hi Danny-

was on Seashore in May

really enjoyed the layout, standouts for us were Sports Bar and rear 3 level lounge/cabaret shows.

 

1) yes, more movement feel...everyone has different levels of sensitivity to that and of course the seas/currents are variables

 

2) don't have, but here is great collection of Seashore pictures by area;

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/pictures.php?ship=MSC-Seaview

 

 

3) was on Seaside before, like the changes/improvement with Seashore (on Seascape in Nov. so looking forward to seeing it)

 

4) Food is very subjective, we were pleased with both MDR, buffet, and Speciality

if you only prefer USA type fast food and fast casual...salty/greasy type...MSC food is more global...which we prefer. If you liked the Seaside food offerings, you will be fine on Seashore.

 

5) Yes, fly into MCO/Orlando.

Suggest looking at renting a car at MCO, much cheaper than uber/lift/tips/taxi/shuttles for airport to hotel and then from hotel to Port.

Example: our 1 day rental with National (this month) with drop off at Port is $58.00 all in except fuel.

Hotels typically on east side of town are lower cost, unless off season and then the amusements/outlets area is a good value.

Also consider Melbourne and or Melbourne beach for a pre-cruise hotel

 

Enjoy your cruise

Cheers!

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, NMsunset said:

5) Yes, fly into MCO/Orlando.

Suggest looking at renting a car at MCO, much cheaper than uber/lift/tips/taxi/shuttles for airport to hotel and then from hotel to Port.

Example: our 1 day rental with National (this month) with drop off at Port is $58.00 all in except fuel.

Agree with this. It also allows you to pick a hotel virtually anywhere since you can easily drive to the port. We did this twice with Avis and they have it down to a science...extremely easy and their (free) shuttle drops you off right net to the baggage porters. I'm sure National (and the others) are the same.

 

That being said, we had a rather complicated journey last month (2 cruises, amusement parks, and visiting friends). We did the car thing twice, but also used Happy Hour Shuttle when we landed (to get to our hotel) and when we left. They were super fast and reasonably priced (private shuttle was approx $100).

 

 

[Danny61231]

4 hours ago, NMsunset said:

Hi Danny-

was on Seashore in May

really enjoyed the layout, standouts for us were Sports Bar and rear 3 level lounge/cabaret shows.

 

1) yes, more movement feel...everyone has different levels of sensitivity to that and of course the seas/currents are variables

 

2) don't have, but here is great collection of Seashore pictures by area;

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/pictures.php?ship=MSC-Seaview

 

 

3) was on Seaside before, like the changes/improvement with Seashore (on Seascape in Nov. so looking forward to seeing it)

 

4) Food is very subjective, we were pleased with both MDR, buffet, and Speciality

if you only prefer USA type fast food and fast casual...salty/greasy type...MSC food is more global...which we prefer. If you liked the Seaside food offerings, you will be fine on Seashore.

 

5) Yes, fly into MCO/Orlando.

Suggest looking at renting a car at MCO, much cheaper than uber/lift/tips/taxi/shuttles for airport to hotel and then from hotel to Port.

Example: our 1 day rental with National (this month) with drop off at Port is $58.00 all in except fuel.

Hotels typically on east side of town are lower cost, unless off season and then the amusements/outlets area is a good value.

Also consider Melbourne and or Melbourne beach for a pre-cruise hotel

 

Enjoy your cruise

Cheers!

 Thanks for the answers. Does the sports bar on Seashore serve food? I know it did t on Seaside but I believe I heard it did on Meraviglia. 

 

Also, does the port have a rental car return or do you drop it off at the companies off site location and then get shuttled? Do the rental car companies pick you up at the cruise port when you return?

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, Danny61231 said:

Also, does the port have a rental car return or do you drop it off at the companies off site location and then get shuttled? Do the rental car companies pick you up at the cruise port when you return?

I can only speak for Avis, but with Avis their location is about 5-10min from the port (and a zillion gas stations right next to it). For pickup from the port they have a shuttle waiting right where you walk out. For drop off, you drop off at their location and then take a shuttle to the port. The shuttle driver loads your luggage and then at the port takes it out and gives it to the baggage handlers. Assuming you have your luggage tags on, you just need to verify your luggage is there and tip everyone and then walk onto the ship.

[Rewind]

1 hour ago, Danny61231 said:

Also, does the port have a rental car return or do you drop it off at the companies off site location and then get shuttled? Do the rental car companies pick you up at the cruise port when you return?

We did Enterprise but they are in the same location as National and Alamo. They are just barely outside of the port area but run a couple shuttles going to the various terminals.  From the location, it is about a 5 minute shuttle ride.  They will drop you off right next to the porters to take your luggage and will pick you up in designated shuttle pickup locations.

Years ago we rented from Avis which also does a shuttle.  At least at that time it was more of a 15-20 minute shuttle but don't know if that has changed.

[JAGR]

17 minutes ago, Rewind said:

We did Enterprise but they are in the same location as National and Alamo. They are just barely outside of the port area but run a couple shuttles going to the various terminals.  From the location, it is about a 5 minute shuttle ride.  They will drop you off right next to the porters to take your luggage and will pick you up in designated shuttle pickup locations.

Years ago we rented from Avis which also does a shuttle.  At least at that time it was more of a 15-20 minute shuttle but don't know if that has changed.

Hi, I've got a question on this agency.  It's been a few years for us.  We are flying into Palm Beach, and then driving up to drop a National car off there, and then picking one up the next week when we return.  I wanted to know if I can assume the drop off is fairly quick, since they can scan.  I just remembered that pick-up the last time was bad with delays.  Do you have any experience with the pick-up process at that location, by any chance?  Oh, and Go, Bucks!

[Rewind]

We did both a drop off and pickup from the Port Canaveral location.  For drop off, you pull around back (to the left side of the building), they scan your car, and hand you a receipt.  Then you just walk through the building and there is a small waiting area right up front with a couple restrooms where you can wait for the shuttle.

For pickup, we had a good experience but that might have been because we did self disembarkation as we were going over to Kennedy for the day and wanted to get out early.  While we were not the first off the ship, we were still some of the early ones.  When we got to the rental car location, we were one of two couples (us at Enterprise, the other at Alamo).  They don't have any of the automated kiosks like airports, but the agent was fairly quick.

I will say though just after we got the keys, another shuttle pulled up and offloaded a good handful of groups.  So really, I think it is all about timing.

[morpheusofthesea]

17 hours ago, Danny61231 said:

Does the sports bar on Seashore serve food?

Yes, but only from 5 pm onward and there is a cost, as of September 9-16 2022.