[#15 & 16] MSC Seaside (6/2019)

We were on the beautiful MSC Seaside for 2 weeks (from 6/15/19 to 6/29/19) in a “Fantastica” Interior cabin, on deck 14 mid. Although we had this type of cabin (no Yacht club here), and we still had a GREAT time! We went in with an open mind to cruise on MSC for a different experience (not to compare everything as much as possible) as we know each line is just ‘different’. Here’s my review.… Apology if it feels like it jumps around a lot but thought to do it in this manner (Highlights, Lowlight, Personal Experience, and Ports) instead of the traditional journal review by category/section.

Highlights:

⚓ Embarkation: super smooth, hardly waited in any line. We arrived at the terminal around 11:15am, and I think we were onboard around 11:35… Debarkation was also super smooth and I really like the color coding system (luggage tag and debarkation announcement), very easy to follow.

⚓ Around ship: Beautiful ship all around! Ofcourse from the beautiful Swarovski staircase…. to the stainless and chrome everywhere, and the ship’s beautiful design. Infinity bridge. Bridge of Sighs. It really is a beautiful ship inside and out.

⚓ Culture/People: All the different nationalities onboard (both guests and crew). I enjoyed hearing the different languages spoken. Lots of people from Europe (all over, many countries), and wow, I have no idea when Europeans sleep bc walking around the ship late at night (12am-1am), plenty of people at the buffet, South Beach pool area (tables and chairs), and lots of other places. Love it.

⚓ Captain (Francesco Di Palma) is very personable, humble, and wow speaks so many languages fluently! Honored to have a chat with him couple of times. I’ll mention a bit more further down (personal experience).

⚓ Cabin Space: Even though we were 4 in 1 interior cabin (2 adults and 2 kids), it was still adequate for us. I won’t lie and say we had “plenty” of space, but it was still adequate with enough storage space (able to utilize the shelves, closet, hangers, etc, and didn’t need to live off our bags, as we stored them under the bed).

⚓ Cabin Bathroom: Pro for an actual glass shower door (no curtain!) and also liquid hand soap dispenser (instead of bar soap).

⚓ Cabin Lighting System: Loved this system, where you press button inside the cabin by the door (DnD and Make Up Room), which is a great way to communicate with your cabin steward, family and friend without the constant knocking. The lighting outside cabin door is as follows:
       * Green light = Cabin is empty (no card in slot).
       * Red light = someone in the cabin (card in slot).
       * Blue light = Do not disturb.
       * Orange light = Please make up cabin.

⚓ Shows/Theater: WOW…. Fantastic shows! I really enjoyed them all (Timeless, The Wizard, My Life in Music, The Dream, Fly, Butterflies, Peter Punk, Starwalker). From those Amazing 5 singers (3 gentlemen, 2 ladies), acrobats, juggler,contortionists, salsa dancers, aerialists, and everyone else…. Very talented singers and performers!!! Shows not super long (~30-40 mins each) and leaving you genuinely wanting more (at least for us). Even our kids wanted to go back see all the shows a 2nd time (on the 2nd week). Never felt this way with staged shows before (Carnival), it truly blows them out of the water. Also another pro was the seating layout in the Metropolitan Theatre and no big poles blocking your view (like some previous ship experience had).

⚓ BeerProv (Improv comedy): Absolutely hilarious! I get it Comedy is very subjective and this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I personally LOVED it. My kids loved it too (family friendly one). I did not miss out on any of them (family friendly and adult only) and only wish it was every night instead of only 2-3x/cruise.

⚓ Announcements: Not as much constant announcements over the PA system, like previous experience (with sales push like Bingo, Casino, etc). They still have some, but not as often.

⚓ Smoking/Nonsmoking: No offense to anyone (smokers), but it was so refreshing walking through the Casino and not smell like an ash tray by the time reach the other end. There is a smoking section in the casino, which IMO does help as it doesn’t overwhelm the whole casino area.

⚓ Deck 8 Buffet: Lots of variety! As it has been said before, make sure to do a full circle around before deciding what to eat. From Ethnic, to Mediterranean Corner, Pizza, Rotisserie, Salads, Breads, Kids & Family….. something to satisfy everyone’s appetite (and more). Yes the food does repeat itself almost daily (most are the same, few changes) but because of the variety that didn’t bother me. Plus also love how there are many different stations scattered all around, as it cuts down line tremendously vs having one big buffet with potentially huge line to get to it.

⚓ Wristbands: We actually loved them! We kept our cruise card in the cabin and used our wristbands for everything onboard (open cabin door, purchasing anything, even FunPass since linked to my card/account, more on FunPass below). Ofcourse to get off/on the ship, you need the physical card. I’m glad for that since I collect all our physical cards from all our cruises and liked having the wristband as an addition, not replacement to the cruise card.

⚓ Snow Room: very unique… of course we didn’t last more than a minute in there (freezing cold! Lol), but very cool and seeing the kids faces of excitement touch/playing with the snow/ice.

⚓ MDR: I liked being able to order dessert right at the start with Starter and Entree. Cuts down on time getting dessert after entree.

⚓ Slides: All fun! Did all the slides (brown, 2 blue ones with no tube, and tube). You have to sign a waiver, get a slide bracelet, and you’re good to go! Tip: do this on Embarkation day…. hardly anyone in line. Next day (Sea day), line was crazy long. 2nd Tip: Hit the slides on port days even after getting back from port, as long lines for the slides on Sea days (as expected). We enjoyed all the slides on port days after we got back onboard in the afternoon (before dinner) and lines much more manageable. Sometimes went with no line and 3-4 times in a row with no wait, and sometimes a little wait (few mins) to grab a tube. Also, the AquaPark was fantastic and my kids (especially my 4 year old) LOVED it and never wanted to leave.

⚓ Family & Friend Tracking: On our 2nd week onboard (6/22-6/29), they activated the tracking on the app! This wasn’t available on our first week (6/15-6/22). We got it for my daughter, cost was $15 for the bracelet tracker for the whole (2nd) week. For the few times used it it did work very well without much of a lag time. It also functioned as a regular bracelet for her for opening cabin door as well.

⚓ Photographers: Definitely not pushy and you seek them more then they seek you (that’s a bonus in my book) and love that they don’t have photographers taking pictures as you exit the gangway at ports (like other line/s do, which clogs up the exit).

⚓ Music: Lots of music variety played around the ship (Haven Lounge, Piazza Grande, Seaview Lounge, etc)… My favorite was that gentleman with no long hair playing the guitar, mostly seen at Piazza Grande in the evenings close to Venchi’s.… fantastic.

⚓ Back from port: I liked the “Welcome Back” music and crew dancing as we’re coming back to re-board the ship at some ports (Cozumel and St Maarten were our 2 ports they did this).

⚓ MSC’s Crew Got Talent: Really enjoyed this, between the crew playing guitar and singing (solo, duet), bartender juggling skills, and the Samoan with 15+ crew members dancing, all done in the Metropolitan Theatre, in front of guest audience. I think it is fantastic that MSC Entertainment/Management lets them do this, as it really shows the crew that do perform really do love it and it kinda builds some morale (something they look forward to) and out of their regular work routine.

Lowlights:

⚓ Muster Drill: No I’m not complaining about having to go to the drill (I know its Maritime Law, done 14 cruises on different line prior to this one) but it’s the fact that they didn’t make everyone quiet down to listen… Maybe it was just where we were at as ours was at the bar, with SO many people chatting throughout the whole muster drill, in loud voice; crew didn’t say anything at all to quiet people down, we could hardly hear anything being said.

⚓ Overall crew was very friendly, except for one staff member that really stood out… when I saw him lecturing and almost disciplining an employee, right out in public (guest) area, almost yelling at him, as guests (including us) were walking by less than 1-2 feet from them. Totally unacceptable IMO. I did not hesitate to speak up about this and confronted him directly (not for us, but for speaking in such a manner to an employee especially out in public area) and he apologized.

⚓ This is by no means MSC fault but (some of the) guests…. As much as we loved to be in middle of so many nationalities, cultures, and languages, we cannot believe at how some people were pretty rude (at least to standard we are used to), such as yelling, getting into the elevator before letting people off, cutting in line, and so on. And not talking about one or two people trying to cut line, I mean a whole family or group of 10 people, with an excuse me or look back or anything, just shove their body and go with no respect (no personal space), like they’re entitled or something. It was better the 2nd week onboard but was still noticeable.

⚓ Photo All Digital Package: Professional pics turned out great, but biggest issue was not all Photographers had ability (equipment) to scan our card/wristband and those pictures ended up being printed, having to find them (sometimes in those “buckets” with hundreds of pictures to go through) and have them upload to your digital package. They told me mid-first week that during 2^ndweek all the Photographers will have the equipment but that wasn’t the case… Still managed to get all our pictures for both weeks but had to keep up with it constantly with daily visits to the Photo place and manually transfer the missing ones. More on this below.

⚓ Temperature around some areas of the ship was a bit off…. in cabin was fine, but around the ship (indoors) some places felt really warm, like in the elevators, some cabin deck locations or in front of the elevators, etc. Not huge issue, but definitely felt areas where AC wasn’t kicking in well.

Included/Pre-Purchased Packages:

⚓ Mealtime Drinks: Our drink package was a really old one (old promo) no longer offered called “Mealtime drinks” (package # 734), where they give us beer, wine, mineral water or soda during Mealtime at lunch and dinner. I was slightly concerned at first if there would be any issue since it was such an old promo, but no issue at all. We were able to get up to 6 drinks at once, so we got 2 wine (for myself and my wife) and up to 4 water bottles, that we ended up using in our cabin and at ports. PS: don’t use at Specialty Restaurants… it was not honored there. I don’t think the waiters knew at first, as when we ordered a glass of wine, they informed us should be fine under the package, but then found a charge on our account for it. Had to go to GS to get this removed. Although couldn’t use our Mealtime drink pkg in Specialty Restaurant, because we were misinformed about it, they reversed it, but it took several visits to GS to get this done.

⚓ Internet: Our package included 3GB of internet (shared), for the whole 2 weeks. Initially I thought it wouldn’t be enough, but we disembarked with 500MB still left, as we only used it as necessary (minimal usage). It helped a lot on embarkation day to turn off automatic App updates, iOS update, Background refresh, and ofcourse when not using the internet to hit “Stop” under your internet login. As for internet itself, it was pretty fast and didn’t have any issue.

⚓ FunPass: We pre-purchased the FunPass for $100, and gave us $180 onboard. It was automatically on our (my) card, and we made good use of it, from Zipline (my daughter and I did it), Bowling (all 4 of us) twice, XD Interactive Cinema (all 4 of us) multiple times, F1 Racing Simulator (me), air hockey table… Well worth it IMO. Tip: reserve bowling early and in advance… can reserve for 2nd Sea day for example. It gets filled up quick. Also 2nd tip: If you know you want to do the $100 FunPass, recommend you pre-purchase it from home, as it gives you $20 extra dollars ($100 pre-purchase. = $180 onboard, vs $160 if you get the $100 on the ship).

⚓ Specialty Dining: We pre-purchased the Roy’s Cuisine that gave us 3 dinners (different nights) for Teppanyaki, Pan Asian, and Sushi. We had a FANTASTIC service in ALL of them. One waiter that stood out the most was Roger at Pan Asian. So friendly, smiles, engaged and played with the kids; he was wonderful. As we walked out of the restaurant I saw the manager (Mustafa) and gave in a good word for the excellent service and Roger.

⚓ Laundry: We pre-purchased the Laundry package (40 items for $50), especially being a 14-day cruise, and it worked out very well. You place it in the laundry bags they give you (ask your steward if don’t have any), fill out the paper, and leave in your cabin before 10am. It will be done and delivered back (folded and everything) by 5pm the next day. Only minor issue we noticed a few of our clothes has a sticker tag on the inside that’s not easy to come off (stuck on the clothes likely after the pressed it, but will likely come off after a few washes).

⚓ All Digital Photo Package: We pre-purchased this back when it was $100 (before price increase to $150 online) and this was good for the entire 2 weeks, since our 14 nights was all under one booking. Excellent deal, as it breaks down to about $7 per day. The photographers are great, not pushy, and the pictures turned out great. It was all under my account (my card or wristband), and as long as at least one of us in our cabin was in the picture, it’s included. So for example, if my parents cruising with us (in a different cabin) wanted some professional pictures, as long as one of us (in our cabin) was in the picture with them, it’s included. Worked out great. Worked perfectly when the photographers had the ability to scan my card or wristband, and in those cases the pictures automatically populated to digital photos, which have access to those online via ship Wifi, without need to use your internet allotment. But in cases where they didn’t have ability to scan or digital upload… it ended up being printed and placed on the walls and/or in those “buckets” of hundreds of pictures for you to go find your pictures and you really have to keep up with it everyday if you want all your pictures…. Once you find them (printed pics), you hand them over to the Photo guys, and they have to find the digital pictures and transfer them to your package. I kept up everyday with our pictures with daily visits to the Photo guys to upload the missing digital ones.

Other / Personal Experience:

⚓ Cabin Steward: Our steward was Jason and he was fantastic. Very polite, courteous, always smiling, and was like a ninja making up our room so quickly. Very impressed. We had a minor issue where toilet flush push ‘button’ stopped working (wouldn’t flush) mid-way through our 2 week. A quick inform as we left the cabin that morning, and it got fixed by early afternoon when we went back to the cabin. Handed him additional cash tip at end of the cruise (on top of standard gratuity ofcourse).

⚓ Won the Ping-Pong Tournament onboard, twice! First time on the first week, and a 2nd time on the 2nd week. It was a tournament style… there were around 20 players or so overall each time. Anyone who loses is automatically out, and winner goes to next round. On the first week, a few days later in the cruise, I was at the buffet (getting some pizza 😋), and this sweet young boy maybe 7 years old, was right next to me and politely said “excuse me, you are the guy who won the ping-pong tournament right?” So sweet.

⚓ Loved talking to the crew… made some new friends especially this one lovely lady we first met in the MDR (Seashore Restaurant) on Day 2 of our cruise at Sea day lunch. She came to visit our table often at night (dinner) even it wasn’t her assigned table. Also one of the entertainment staff from Morocco as well. Keep smiling Khalid and your great upbeat personality.

⚓ Last but certainly not least, Captain Francesco Di Palma…. What a wonderful Captain and gentleman. I bought the ship model and he was so kind to personally sign it for us. He also left us a note and some goodies in our cabin (champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, hats, playing cards, coffee mug, ship USB drive)…. the kindest and most humble Captain we have met in all our cruises to date.

Port Review (what we did in each):

⚓ Ocho Rios (Blue Hole): We booked with Marvyn Paradise Tours, a private tour (just the 4 of us and the guide/driver), and he took us to the Blue Hole first. We had an awesome time there!!! Licensed guide inside was great as well. Jumped from all the high planks and spots. Water so nice and refreshing. Afterwards we went to Paradise Cove where we had lunch at the restaurant (beach front) then couple hours of beach time, before headed back to the ship.

⚓ Grand Cayman (Turtle Centre): We were on the first tender. Once on land, we walked a few blocks to the bus depot (real close to the Public library) and took the public bus (Route 1 Yellow Line) for $2.50/p to the Turtle Centre. Had pre-purchased tickets there in advance (full park), and we (kids and us) had a great time between the touch/wade tanks, snorkeling around turtles, and other exhibits.

⚓ Cozumel (Playa Mia): Ship docks at Punta Langosta. Once we got out (have to take the escalator up, walk past all the shops), we took a taxi to Playa Mia, where we had already made a reservation in advance. We opted for the buffet option for all of us and Open Bar just for 1 adult (myself) since my wife doesn’t drink much to make it worth it. We spend about 4-5 hours here, between the beach (mainly those floaty water slides, trampoline, hamster run, etc on the water), pool, slides next to the pool, and the buffet. A great plus at Playa Mia is their facilities… lots of indoor showers, changing rooms, restrooms, and always kept clean throughout the day. We all had a good time and was worth it for us.

⚓ Nassau (Balmoral Island): We were one of the first off the ship with no line at all (not even 2 mins to be off the ship) and walked to Sr Frogs where we had pre-purchased tickets to Balmoral Island. Boat ride took us there starting at 10am. Nice island. Beach was nice. When we got there (first boat) there was hardly anyone there. Umbrellas and lounge chairs included. Spent a good 4 hours there and took the 2:30pm boat back to Sr Frogs, then few mins walk back to the ship. The 2nd time we went to Nassau (2nd week) we met with a local friend of mine who lives in the Bahamas, great to see him again and spent the afternoon with him.

⚓ Miami (Customs and back on the Ship): We got a letter as Back-To-Back guests with instructions on our options, if we wanted to enjoy the ship (after a quick escort through customs), Miami excursion, or our own time in Miami. We did the first option, had a late morning start (didn’t leave our cabin till 10am), went to Haven Lounge by 10:15am per instructions, and we were escorted off the ship, through CBP (Immigration), and back onboard. Once onboard we enjoyed the deserted ship, enjoyed the Jungle Pool (only is until one person went in), then had a pre-arranged lunch onboard (12-1:30) in Seashore Restaurant (Private Luncheon just for B2B’ers). For the Muster Drill, since our cruise was booked/registered as a one cruise for whole 14 nights (instead of 2 cruises) and one Cruise Card for whole 14 nights, we were informed we did not need to attend the Muster Drill a 2nd time (leaving Miami start of 2nd week). My parents were cruising with us this time, and while they were with us whole 14 nights, theirs was 2 separate (more like a real B2B) with two Cruise Cards (one for each week) and they were required to go the Muster Drill for the 2nd week, but they checked their names off and told them they don’t have to attend.

⚓ San Juan (Old SJ): We docked around 4:30 and were able to get off the ship around 4:45-4:50pm. We walked a total of about 4 miles (9000 steps) around Old San Juan (which is less than we normally walk in San Juan since our arrival with MSC was in the evening). Walked to El Morro fort (met our friend and Park Ranger there), Barrachina (original Pina Colada), Calle de la Fortaleza (pics under the umbrella), and got some sweets for our fav crew onboard. Back onboard around 9pm or so, buffet dinner, shower, and hit the 70’s Party in Seaside Atrium till past midnight 🕺

⚓ St Thomas (Trunk Bay Beach, St John): Got off ship at 7:20am. Took taxi ($10/p) to Red Hook. Got there around 7:50ish. Bought RT tickets there ($16.20/adult, $2/child, these are RT prices), then caught 8am ferry to Cruz Bay, St John. We were docked at Cruz Bay at 8:20, caught an open-truck like taxi ($6/p) to Trunk Bay Beach. We were one of the very first on the beach. Fantastic beach and great snorkeling. This is one of our favorite beaches in all of the Caribbean that we’ve been before. Since the back-on-board time was 6:30pm (7pm sailing), we enjoyed quite a bit of time there (a good 6-7 hours), before we started packing our stuff, showers, and did the reversal back (4pm ferry) back to Red Hook and taxi back to the ship. Fantastic day and highly recommend.

⚓ St Maarten (Snorkel boat excursion): We pre-booked a 3 hour ‘Snorkel Adventure’ with local company called Aqua Mania Adventures. About a 10 min walk from the ship… this was really a great excursion and not very pricey. We snorkeled first (right off the boat) at Divi Little Bay and got to see a sunken helicopter with plenty of fish. Then a second stop at Mullet Bay/Beach. We all had fun including our kids. We started at 9:30am, and got back at 12:30pm, with an hour to spare before the 1:30pm back-on-board time. A nice “Welcome Back” music and dancing by the staff/crew as we made our way back to the ship.