2023 Thanksgiving on Seascape - Fantastica experience, menus, dailies, etc. First time on MSC.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

This was our very first cruise on MSC. Some things we liked, some things we didn't, and some things we hated... All in all, we had a nice cruise - we all know that cruising is better than not cruising, but we'll choose MSC again only if the price is significantly cheaper (and I mean - significantly, not just by $200-500) because we don't want to deal with their shortcomings again, unless it is done at a sizeable financial advantage.

 

I will post menus, pictures of food and cabins, our opinions, dailies, etc. just not all at once. Please bear with me, because I have a full time job and have to deal with work backlog. Plus, the kid is sick, so.... 🙂

 

I'll start at the beginning - with the hotel. We flew to MIA airport and stayed at Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon. We really liked this hotel for 3 reasons: location, free coffee in the lobby (my mom was very happy!) and free breakfast. The hotel looked very nice, the rooms were adequate and clean, staff was polite and professional (except the shuttle driver), so all in all - a very nice hotel to spend before the cruise.

 

We had two identical rooms with 2 queen beds. The beds were a little hard, so I didn't get a good night's sleep, despite the Benadryl and melatonin. I also use ear plugs, so if there was any noise from the airport or the street - I couldn't tell you. Neither my DH, nor DS complained about the noise. My parents had the room with the windows facing the opposite side, and they didn't complain about anything either.

 

 

 

 

the bathroom had a night light in it, which I find to be a very nice touch.

 

When we arrived later in the evening - around 8 pm, we got checked in very quickly, and discovered free coffee and hot chocolate in the lobby. Both my kid and my mom were very happy with this development.

 

There were several eateries within walking distance, which was a huge plus for us, since my dad has mobility issues. He can walk a short distance, but he is in a lot of pain. So, we chose to walk over to Panda Express which is behind the hotel, about a 3-5 minute slow walk away, along with some other fast food places. Dinner at Panda Express was ok.

 

 

Publix, CVS and Walgreens are across the street if you forgot essentials. A sign in the hotel room bathroom also says - if you forgot something like a toothpaste, brush, etc., we got you - complementary!

We checked out Publix and CVS in the morning, since we had plenty of time. Publix is very small compared to ours. CVS had lots of things. We didn't really need anything.

 

Free breakfast was nice, but there wasn't anywhere to sit for all the people, so DS and I got some food and headed back to the room. They had some pastries, scrambled and hard boiled eggs, sausages, bagels, make-it yourself waffles, fruit, some other things, juice and coffee. Unfortunately, they ran out of coffee and we couldn't find anyone to ask to refill it. But the food was nice, so no complaints. We ate just in case MSC would make us wait till 1:30 check in time.

 

View of the Blue Lagoon from the window.

 

 

We then headed to the port around 11 am. Took an xl uber (5 of us, 3 suitcases) for $27 plus tip.  

 

MSC didn't make us wait outside as their emails say. We got into the building right away, got checked in, pictures taken (they ignore the photos you upload into the app), got our cards, and went to wait in a huge waiting room lobby. Group 21. Wait till they call you, which honestly wasn't very long. I estimate about 30 minutes until they called our group in, but after that it took some time to shuffle up the walkway in to the ship in a very-very-very long line of people. Crew zipped by with people in wheelchairs, and I regretted not ordering one for dad.  I didn't know how. It's easy with airlines - you just order it when you are booking and when you are checking in. But with MSC - not clear what the process is.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

We made it to the buffet after noon, but it was still early enough to find a place for 5 people to sit together. This success was intermittent throughout the cruise, since the buffet was quite a zoo during popular times, since Seascape has only one buffet for the plebs like us. 🙂

 

Our cabins were ready a short while later, so we headed down to leave our carry on luggage there. One of our suitcases has already arrived. My parents and we ended up having the same cabin attendant.

 

We had 10056 and my parents were in 10036.

 

10056

 

Closet space was adequate for us - we didn't bring a lot of clothing and stayed very casual on this cruise. We stuffed the suitcases under the bed for the very first time, because there was simply no other space for them. On Princess we can store them in a closet due to a better cabin layout. On Royal they sort of fit between the wall and the bed.

 

Sofa bed. It stayed this way throughout the entire cruise. It was ok.

 

Don't touch the minibar. 🙂 You can ask your cabin attendant to empty it out if you need a cooler. My parents did. TV had a few channels. None with any modern movies - only some black and white old stuff. You need to choose your language on the home screen - some people on our cruise didn't realize it until they complained about it on FB.

 

The switch in the middle with a small blue light on it is your balcony light. We brought a USB splitter as well. 

 

 

We loved the balcony! It was very big compared to Princess Royal class.

When we arrived, our balcony door handle was very broken, so we asked our cabin attendant to inform Maintenance, and they came right away and fixed it. Very impressive!

 

What I didn't realize is how far from the water we would be.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Deluxe Balcony Cabin 10036

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

10056 Bathroom. Overall size was good. I loved the sink! I would have liked to have 3 shelves instead of two, but we made do.

 

 

The shower stall was abysmally narrow. I am 5'6 but I couldn't bend to wash my feet and it wasn't wide enough for me to pull up my knee up. My 6'1 DH felt even more awkward. 

 

 

Shower water temperature fluctuated a LOT during the shower going from warm to hot to luke warm.

 

My mom complained that their shower head kept sliding down the pole and out from its position.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Extremely weak magnetism on the doors, but the walls were better.

 

I was unable to stick the sheet magnets to the door, and the only ones that worked were these:

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pen-Gear-Magnet-Set-10-Count-Multi-Colored/400812925?athbdg=L1200&from=/search

I glued them to the back of the gnome figurines I purchased separately (fall themed) and used the figurines as "magnets".

 

However, magnets that have a magnetic sheet coating only stuck to the cabin walls. I previously used them on the RCI and Princess ship cabin doors without a hitch.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Before I forget and move on to food, we used a USB night light in the bathroom overnight. 

 

This is a photo from our previous cruise, but it worked the same on Seascape. I think @Essiesmom said it wouldn't work if the bathroom light wasn't on, but it did. 

 

You have to use your cruise card in the door slot in order for the power to come on in your room. We tried a different card, but it didn't work. 🙂

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I have a couple of minutes, so I am going to post dailies real quick.

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Ocean Cay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the printed map was VERY DIFFERENT from the map in the app. There were no food trucks on Sunset beach.

 

 

downloaded map from the app

Ocean Cay.pdf

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Sea Day #1

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Ocho Rios

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Grand Cayman

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

the last sea day

 

 

 

 

 

 

and disembarkation

 

 

 

 

 

[lcpagejr]

11 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Before I forget and move on to food, we used a USB night light in the bathroom overnight. 

 

This is a photo from our previous cruise, but it worked the same on Seascape. I think @Essiesmom said it wouldn't work if the bathroom light wasn't on, but it did. 

 

You have to use your cruise card in the door slot in order for the power to come on in your room. We tried a different card, but it didn't work. 🙂

We took a previous MSC card with us and it worked just fine and kept lights on.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Food on Seascape....

 

The buffet was a zoo during popular times. The times were popular for a reason, but the buffet is badly designed and does not provide adequate seating or food distribution patterns.

 

Hash browns were available only in the kid's section which was tiny and roped off for kids.

 

There was no smoked salmon, but there were different cold cuts (chorizo, salamis, cheeses) and cheeses, including some kind of a goat cheese which was amazing. Soft, mild and delicious. I mostly stuck to omelets or some other egg dishes and cheese. Omelettes were pretty good, but my kid's one was undercooked and he didn't want them for the rest of the cruise.  DH usually loads up on bacon, waffles, chocolate pastries, and definitely omelettes. Bacon was mostly soggy, but once in a while we found a station with the crispy goodness. We only saw donuts at the buffet on the last day, but didn't like the texture/taste.

 

 

I didn't get to try any of the sweets for breakfast (for personal reasons), but they looked great:

 

Tiny chocolate twist pastries were great (left).

 

Banana bread was very nice as well:

 

In general, I found lunch and dinner buffet food to be average in terms of the variety and taste, but it was the expected temperature, consistency, texture, taste, etc. It was just your regular buffet food (not Princess Royal Class buffet food). I LOVED their pizza without the red sauce (not Margherita pizza), they usually had one variety a day - either a pesto sauce with cheese, or cheese and ham. Both varieties were great since I don't like red sauce. I liked the thin crust and it was firm on these types of white sauce pizzas. DS liked their pepperoni pizza's taste, but didn't care for its thin and floppy crust.

 

The "abominations" below were breakfast pizzas:

 

Onion, egg and sausage pizza:

 

Some kind of berry pie pizza:

 

Bananas Foster pizza

 

 

Here is a selection of teas at the buffet:

 

 

and juice (juice drinks?) at breakfast:

 

My DH drank the hot teas, my parents drank the free buffet coffee (they didn't have a package), and I had lattes and cappuccinos at the buffet bar every morning: they were good, but teeny tiny. We don't buy fancy coffees at home but I usually indulge on cruises (especially if I have OBC), and I am used to slightly larger versions of hot and iced coffees. The buffet bar made tiny ones even if you asked for them to go.

 

The Seascape bartender filled the to go cups to the brim: I saw a fellow passenger with a full cup and asked her how she managed to get a large coffee. She explained that you have to ask a latte, grande, to go. 🙂

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

MDR food. 🙂 Since we were limited to one free entree each, I won't be able to post as many food pics and opinions as I have previously done with the other cruise lines. In general, we found MDR food to be OK. Some dishes were great. Some - pretty bad. But overall - we weren't unhappy with the food, but we weren't thrilled either. For comparison sake - we find Princess Royal class MDR to be great, RCI's Oasis class food to be good, and NCL's food in 2018 to be inedible.

 

All the dishes and appetizers were usually pretty tiny compared to other cruise lines. Desserts were usually averagely sized.

 

We inquired about having the "available every day" pasta as an appetizer for free, but were told - NO.

 

So, here we go - menus and subjective opinions about our choices:

 

Tomato soup was good.

 

 

We ordered a Caesar salad with every dinner. I personally didn't like it (not enough flavor in the dressing), but the rest of my family thought it was good so they had it every night.

 

 

Bay Scallop Ceviche was good.

 

 

We also ordered a baby shrimp cocktail every night. It was different from other lines since it was more like a baby shrimp salad with some kind of mayo like dressing. It was very good.

 

DS ordered the lasagna and found it to be THE BEST EVER. It was perfectly kid sized.

 

DH and my parents had a Grouper - it was good.

 

 

 

I had Prime Rib without the sauce (I don't like any sauces, jus, gravy, etc. with beef dishes, so I always ask to have them plain). It was good. A knife for scale - it was pretty small. A baked potato was also a miniature. 🙂

 

 

Desserts:  

Dad had sugar free ice cream. It wasn't all that.

 

Warm apple crumble was good.

 

 

 

DS absolutely LOVED Grandma's chocolate cake and had it every day.

 

 

oh, look at that mini cheesecake! It was good.

 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

We only saw donuts at the buffet on the last day, but didn't like the texture/taste.

This is what we discovered. I would eat a plateful of their donuts every morning. They melted in my mouth. I took a photo. They were the highlight of my morning. The following month the plate arrived and one bite and had to quit eating any pastry. I enquired as to why. The pastry chef from last cruise went on vacation . Absolutely no consistency from one cruise to the next. It is just ' hit or miss'.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Day 2 MDR food

 

 

Appetizers were good.

 

 

 

Bacon was soggy, but asparagus was good.

 

I had Pennette pasta with Alfredo sauce. The taste was good (I love white pasta sauces), but the pasta was very undercooked and tough.

 

DS had Pennette pasta with red sauce. His was good.

 

DH chose Chicken Coq au Vin, and it was good:

 

Both parents had swordfish, which was good:

 

 

Desserts:

 

 

 

Gateau Opera was great!

 

Strudel was ok:

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

This is what we discovered. I would eat a plateful of their donuts every morning. They melted in my mouth. I took a photo. They were the highlight of my morning. The following month the plate arrived and one bite and had to quit eating any pastry. I enquired as to why. The pastry chef from last cruise went on vacation . Absolutely no consistency from one cruise to the next. It is just ' hit or miss'.

 

that doesn't look like a regular buffet donut or a regular buffet table. 🙂

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

There was no smoked salmon,

There was a tray full at our One Pool Deck buffet.

[morpheusofthesea]

3 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that doesn't look like a regular buffet donut or a regular buffet table. 🙂

We appear to be highlighting the differences between the MarketPlace Buffet and the Yacht Club. One thing is for sure. If the donuts are terrible in one, they will be terrible in all.

[morpheusofthesea]

17 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Day 2 MDR food

 

 

Appetizers were good.

 

 

 

Bacon was soggy, but asparagus was good.

 

I had Pennette pasta with Alfredo sauce. The taste was good (I love white pasta sauces), but the pasta was very undercooked and tough.

 

DS had Pennette pasta with red sauce. His was good.

 

DH chose Chicken Coq au Vin, and it was good:

 

Both parents had swordfish, which was good:

 

 

Desserts:

 

 

 

Gateau Opera was great!

 

Strudel was ok:

 

I had all three desserts at one sitting. (They are rather small to begin with).

P.S. the secret is to have the desserts all brought out at the same time and eat the sweetest last.

Edited December 1, 2023 by morpheusofthesea
ps

[Itchy&Scratchy]

47 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

There was a tray full at our One Pool Deck buffet.

we weren't in Yacht Club, so I am reviewing our own experience in the regular MarketPlace buffet and Cala Jondal MDR.  I do not want it compared to YC, please, because it's of no use to mere mortals like us.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Day 2 lunch in MDR

 

I believe I read in JamieLogical's review that she really liked conch fritters at MDR lunch, so when I saw them on the menu, I decided that we all wanted to try them as well. So, off to MDR for lunch we went. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Mozzarella sticks were not exactly what we are used to, they were good, but texture was unexpected. More like spongy cake than melted cheese. Maybe, because they were cooling down.

 

We didn't exactly like conch fritters. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. 🙂 They tasted like dough, and the texture was that of a sourdough ball.

 

 

My linguini was very good, exactly what I wanted.

 

My parents and DH ordered mahi-mahi and they all liked it. Dad also had a soup of the day, I don't remember what it was. Maybe, bean soup.

 

 

 

Tres leches cake was good. 
 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Day 3 dinner in MDR

 

 

Arancini were very nice.

 

 

 

Caprese salad was lovely

 

And antipasti was great:

 

 

 

Both DS and I ordered Carbonara Pasta. It was great as well - wonderful flavor, and the pasta was tender:

 

 

Mom ordered Mixed Seafood and it was good:

 

 

Dad ordered the always available rotisserie chicken. Unexpectedly, it was the largest meal we had in MDR, and dad really liked it:

 

 

 

 

DH ordered Chicken Parmigiana, but he didn't like it. He didn't specify why. I tried a little piece of his chicken (without the red sauce on it) and I liked it:

 

 

The Limoncello cake was fluffy and delightful:

 

 

 

Tiramisu was great:

 

 

and berry crumble was very good as well: