Pirate's First MSC Experience! A LIVE Seaside 8/20/23-8/27/23 Review

[pirate4me2]

21 minutes ago, ileys said:

Really enjoying the review so far - thanks for bringing us along with you!

Thanks for following along!

[SenatorsFan]

What a nice-looking cabin. The bathroom and shower have a real wow factor!

[pirate4me2]

One more quick observation as I'm trying to navigate these foreign waters…I wish the MSC for Me app had a ship map like the Carnival Hub app has. I never realized how handy that feature was! 

[pirate4me2]

5 hours ago, SenatorsFan said:

What a nice-looking cabin. The bathroom and shower have a real wow factor!

The shower is my new BFF…super hot water, with excellent pressure. I love a good shower, I always say when I build my new house a kick butt tile walk in shower with rainforest shower head is a must!

[pirate4me2]

We had muster drill at 4, everyone went to their cabins to watch the 5ish minute safety video, then we had to dial a number on the phone in our stateroom to register that we watched it. They then called half the ship to go to their muster stations to get their cards scanned, then shortly after the other half were called. I have to say, I much prefer Carnival’s muster…everyone goes on their own time to their muster station, as long as it’s before sailing. That keeps the congestion down to a minimum. This was a little hectic, but we survived. 
After muster we wandered the “gen pop” areas of the ship. We grabbed a few drinks at different bars, then made our way to the upper decks to watch sail away at 6. From there we went back to the Top Sail Lounge to chill, and a saxaphone player was in there…he is excellent! I am not usually a sax fan, but I loved his music. We decided to grab dinner at about 8:05, and I really don’t understand the food complaints I’ve heard…both mom and I were thoroughly pleased with this meal as well, and the portions were big! I got the vegetable dumplings and the vegetarian tortellini, mom got the Nordic salad and the clam risotto. We also shared the marinated scallops. The scallops were good, but I was suprised they were chilled. Those dumplings tho…YUM! My pasta was good, but mom’s risotto hit it out of the park..it was so full of flavor! We were both full after that, so I just asked if we could take a cheese plate back to the cabin for later. The server said he would arrange for Arnold to deliver one. 
At 9:11 we made our way to the Haven lounge to get a drink and see Lip Sync Battle, which was at 10. It was a lively and fun activity, and although I really, really wanted to go to the Glow party at 11, I just couldn’t make it. I’m crashing, so here I am talking to you all. 
All in all…day 1 is a success! If the cruise continues like this, I believe MSC will see more of me! 

[pirate4me2]

Gooooood morning!! This view from my balcony is perfect! 

[JAGR]

18 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

We met our butler, Arnold, who is a sweetie. He explained things to us and is arranging to have the bed separated…mom refuses to snuggle me, she says I bite and kick.

 

 

 

 

 

You are so lucky to have Arnold Casto Jr.!  He has been promoted from Lounge Butler to Butler recently, and he has the warmest personality and is constantly upbeat.  We had the pleasure of sailing with him for two weeks last year on Seashore.  You are in very good hands!

Edited August 21, 2023 by JAGR

[CruisinCrow]

Following along!  We'll be on the August 31 3-day sailing - first cruise on Seaside, second cruise on MSC.

Old Stumpy - ha! 😄  Our last cruise was on Freedom, shortly after the fire.  I thought they would have fixed the funnel by now.  Our embarkation time isn't until 3, so we're planning on having lunch at Fish Lips before boarding.  Maybe I'll try that spicy drink.

  
The Lip Sync Battle sounds fun.  What did that involve?

[pirate4me2]

5 hours ago, JAGR said:

You are so lucky to have Arnold Casto Jr.!  He has been promoted from Lounge Butler to Butler recently, and he has the warmest personality and is constantly upbeat.  We had the pleasure of sailing with him for two weeks last year on Seashore.  You are in very good hands!

He is outstanding, and trying so hard to pamper us. He almost seems confused when we say we are good and don’t need anything! 
 

2 hours ago, CruisinCrow said:

Following along!  We'll be on the August 31 3-day sailing - first cruise on Seaside, second cruise on MSC.

Old Stumpy - ha! 😄  Our last cruise was on Freedom, shortly after the fire.  I thought they would have fixed the funnel by now.  Our embarkation time isn't until 3, so we're planning on having lunch at Fish Lips before boarding.  Maybe I'll try that spicy drink.

  
The Lip Sync Battle sounds fun.  What did that involve?

They asked for 6 ladies and 6 men, and each round they would play a random song, then cut the music and the contestant had to finish singing part of it. It was a good laugh! 

[pirate4me2]

After our late-ish night last night, I slept in until 9. What a treat that was! Even though our cabin (18028) is under the pool deck, I never heard any noise from above. I gotta say, I love our cabin location…1 deck down to concierge and Top Sail Lounge, same deck as the YC restaurant, 1 deck up to the pool deck. It’s also close to the stairs and elevators…just a perfect location! Added

bonus: check out our balcony view. I think this will be PERFECT for tonight, if I don’t feel like venturing out into the island again! 
 

[pirate4me2]

We headed up to breakfast on the pool deck at 9:40, and the offerings were great! I tried the sticky buns I’ve heard about on here (yummy), a hash brown, some fruit, a sausage, grilled tomato (yum) and a cheese & mushroom omlet (delish). The bar tender made an iced latte, which gave me some energy, and we were ready to start the day! 

[laudergayle]

3 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

After our late-ish night last night, I slept in until 9. What a treat that was! Even though our cabin (18028) is under the pool deck, I never heard any noise from above. I gotta say, I love our cabin location…1 deck down to concierge and Top Sail Lounge, same deck as the YC restaurant, 1 deck up to the pool deck. It’s also close to the stairs and elevators…just a perfect location! Added

bonus: check out our balcony view. I think this will be PERFECT for tonight, if I don’t feel like venturing out into the island again! 
 

I’m jelly.  We booked a balcony and have since found out we’re on the wrong side of the ship for the lighthouse.  I’m hoping the ship docks in the opposite direction by mistake…lol.

[pirate4me2]

We were off the ship by 10:26, and after a quick ride to the YC beach area, we set off to explore! The YC beach area wasn’t what I expected honestly…I read that it was rocky and you needed water shoes, but it’s not really “Rocky”…it’s more “Shelly.” It’s small pieces of broken up shells, and yes you do need water shoes, but it wasn’t like “watch out or you’ll twist an ankle Rocky” like I had in my mind. The waves were rough today, but we still had a blast. We stayed in the water until 12:30, then went to the YC restaurant on the island for lunch, which was EXCELLENT. I had the crab ceviche and lobster roll, and both were flavorful and hit the spot! Mom had the salad as her app, and it was good according to her. 

[pirate4me2]

5 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

I’m jelly.  We booked a balcony and have since found out we’re on the wrong side of the ship for the lighthouse.  I’m hoping the ship docks in the opposite direction by mistake…lol.

Ah man! I honestly didn’t know our room was on the right side for it, we just lucked out! I opened the curtains this morning

and literally went “YESSSSS!” 

[pirate4me2]

After lunch we hiked to the beach across from the YC beach area, and that one was so nice! Not very rocky or shelly, you can get away without water shoes. It was also much calmer waters. We spent about 30 minutes there, then went back to the YC beach to finish out our day. We were in the water until about 2:45, and decided that we were sun kissed enough by that point. We opted to hike back to the ship on foot, and a few of our fellow YC passengers seemed bewildered that we didn’t want a ride back. Why is that? I figured with all the carbs I ate yesterday and today, I needed the exercise. 
A rare photo of me…I only am posting it because I think it’s my best selfie ever, and truly embodies the term, “beach hair, don’t care.” 

[psmarkle]

I LOVE your selfie! How fun-looking and shows you are truly enjoying your YC experience!!

 

I usually order 2 lobster rolls and a salad. Then I scoop the lobster meat out and put it on my salad and voila'! I just find the actual rolls to be too much bread going on.

 

I do wish they would freshen up the Ocean House menu, but that is definitely a "first world problem" as my kids would tell me LOL

[pirate4me2]

14 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

I LOVE your selfie! How fun-looking and shows you are truly enjoying your YC experience!!

 

I usually order 2 lobster rolls and a salad. Then I scoop the lobster meat out and put it on my salad and voila'! I just find the actual rolls to be too much bread going on.

 

I do wish they would freshen up the Ocean House menu, but that is definitely a "first world problem" as my kids would tell me LOL

Mom and I were saying today that the lobster roll “innerds” would be so delicious on a salad! 

[pirate4me2]

Mom and I didn’t really want to dress to YC standards for dinner after our day on the island, so we wandered down to “gen-pop” to check the buffet offerings on deck 8. We made a few rounds and picked up a few things to try…and promptly proceeded back to the room to freshen up for YC dinner. I was so disappointed in MSC’s main dining buffet. Carnival always has a wonderful salad bar, and MSC’s was about half the size and just not as diverse in ingredients offered. I also love Carnival’s deli, and the “sandwich” station here had tuna salad, egg salad, or chicken salad to offer. I would have loved a Carnival caprese sandwich tonight! The pizza was good, I absolutely loved the flavor of the sauce, and the cheeses on the meat & cheese board were good, but overall I CAN see why people not in YC may complain about the food on MSC if this was all they experienced. 
Dinner in the YC was a huge success. Mom got the crabcake app, which was phenomenal, while I got the veggie spring rolls, which were yummy but nothing spectacular. She got the salmon for her entree, and raved about it, while I got the lobster pasta, which was amazing. The sauce was awesome! She finished off with the tulip dessert, which was ok, while I did the Apple strudel, which was great. 

[pirate4me2]

After dinner, we headed back to the room to change back into shorts and flip flops since mom wanted to go walk on the beach at night. It was about 8:15, so we headed to the area near the lighthouse to catch the 9:00 show. It was cool to see! When the show ended, we came back onboard and changed into our PJ’s, then watched the 10:00 show from our balcony. Now I’m talking to you guys, before I call it a day. 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Loving your review and especially the food pictures! Thank you and enjoy!!!

[pirate4me2]

2 hours ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. Loving your review and especially the food pictures! Thank you and enjoy!!!

Thank you for following along!

[ninjacat123]

10 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

After dinner, we headed back to the room to change back into shorts and flip flops since mom wanted to go walk on the beach at night. It was about 8:15, so we headed to the area near the lighthouse to catch the 9:00 show. It was cool to see! When the show ended, we came back onboard and changed into our PJ’s, then watched the 10:00 show from our balcony. Now I’m talking to you guys, before I call it a day. 

I have never seen the lighthouse light show.  Very cool!!

[pirate4me2]

4 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I have never seen the lighthouse light show.  Very cool!!

It really was cool! And both shows were different, which was a nice touch I thought. 

[pirate4me2]

We got up and going at 9:05 this morning, and did breakfast on the pool deck again. It was the same offerings as yesterday, so I won’t bore you with pics. I think tomorrow we *may* try to get up and have breakfast in the YC dining room…but I make no promises. 
We debarked the ship at 10, we didn’t utilize the concierge service to do so. I didn’t see a need to…we knew to go to deck 4, and it just seemed unnecessary. We walked off, no line whatsoever, and immediately hopped on the YC shuttle to the YC beach area. From there we made the short (like, 3 minute) walk to the lagoon, and found some chairs in the shade. I waded into the water, and I was immediately in Heaven…this was PERFECT!! 

[pirate4me2]

The water in the lagoon was so calm, and the beach was so nice…why is this not part of the YC area? They gave YC such a rough, not feet friendly beach, this surprises me. But whatever. I spent 45 glorious minutes in the water there, just lying on my back and not a care in the world…except that the itty bitty fishes may bite me, or a seagull poop on me. 
Around 11 we made the short hike back to the YC beach for drinks (rum punch, yum!) and to get in the ocean again. We hung there until lunch was served, about 12:15, and lunch today knocked it out of the park. I got the shrimp Caesar salad, which was fresh and crisp with 3 giant shrimp and a nice creamy dressing, and then I customized the burger. I took the advice from here and asked for it with the lobster roll meat on it, and OMG y’all…that was SO GOOD!!!