Poppy42

Has anyone done a Jewish Heritage Tour?  If you have, which one did you do?

We had one once.  Key word is once.  Most cove cabins have public and/or service areas above them.  We would be woken every morning to tables and other furniture being dragged across the floor.  We will only take a cabin with a cabin above and below.

I might have posted this before.  Over ten years ago we were on a Carnival ship out of Fort Lauderdale doing a number of Caribbean islands.  It was a sea day and we were sitting near the pool.  We observed a woman removing her daughters bathing suit and changing her into shorts & a top.  Wouldn't have been unusual except that the girl looked to be about 10 years old.  Now, being nudists, it didn't bother us but we thought that it was inappropriate to expose this young girl in public.

My lover brings one - never had a problem.

I stopped bringing a suit or a sport jacket.  I wear dress slacks and a golf shirt every night.  On formal nights my lover wears a "dressier" dress.  On our last MSC cruise (2016), on the first formal night, one "gentleman" at our table showed up in his "formal' tee shirt, shorts and flip-flops.  So, you don't have to get too formal - country club dress is fine.  BTW - we pack everything into two 26" suitcases and two backpacks.

20 hours ago, cruiseguyinorl said:

PortMiami

 

Terminal F

 

1103 N. Cruise Blvd

 

Miami, FL 33132

Bret

Thanks 🙂

1 minute ago, JohninDC said:

Please come back post cruise and let us know how it all worked out.

 

Have a great cruise! 😎

Always post a small review.  Thanks:)

Does anyone know which pier at the Port of Miami does the MSC Seaside leave from?

Thanks for all the responses.  Think I'll bite the bullet and go for parking at the port - new car.  We've gotten spoiled - one of our daughters lives 20 minutes from Port Canaveral - she drops us off - free parking at her house.

Any recommendations for parking in/around port?

This question has probably been asked many times.  We usually cruise out of either Port Everglades or Port Canaveral but sailed out of Miami a couple of years ago and parking at the port was a nightmare.  We only live about 2 1/2 hours from the port but this time we would like to arrive a day early and stay at a hotel with free parking for our cruise (7 days).  Don't mind paying for a shuttle to the port if we have to.  Any recommendations? 

On 5/20/2019 at 5:50 PM, cruiseguyinorl said:

I would respectfully have to disagree with you 100%. Though there are many instances of folks having issues such as you have had, far more people have gotten onboard and had an excellent cruise. I too have had the unpleasant experience of something purchased not showing up onboard, however, the front desk staff were more than helpful and the issue resolved. Had an amazing cruise experience otherwise. Many crew went above and beyond and made sure their guests were happy.
I certainly am not belittling your experience. IMHO, I just feel that you made it sound like the norm, which it is not. Having sailed the Seaside twice, Divina nine times and the Poesia five times, I feel confident in my response.

Bret

This is the only problem I've with MSC. I called another number that I had gotten.  Called at, for me, the ungodly hour of 8 AM.  The woman took my info and I received an email the next day with the info I needed.

On 5/18/2019 at 9:46 AM, emmas gran said:

Hi

You need to post this on the Roll call section for your particular cruise --search under MSC on thee roll calls

Already did.

Just booked a balcony cabin on the Seaside for 11/30/19.  Looking forward to it.  We had a great time on the Divinia a few years back - made good friends on that cruise.

12 hours ago, theEvilQueen2 said:

The problems you're having with MSC customer service is just the tip of the iceberg of the problems you will have onboard. Yes, some of it can be due to language barriers, but most of it is because the crew is untrained, rude and their go to answer is NO. I've said on other threads, when you go, take receipts for everything you have purchased or reserved, your status match numbers or proof you're a prior passenger, a complete description of what is suppose to be include in your internet package or drink package or excursion or whatever.

They will still tell you that you didn't buy what you thought you bought or the 'program has changed and that's no longer included' or this was purchased from an outside vender (on the MSC website!) so they can't help you. Better yet, just cancel and re-book with another cruise line.. any cruise line... because they all have their act together better than MSC. 

 

Happy Cruising. 

We've cruised with them once - November 2016 on the Devinia - and had no problems. 

23 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

OMG just don't call in evening, call 9 am pres new booking and get your answer. 

I'll give it a try tomorrow - but 9 AM?  I just got up and it's after 10.  The only time I get up early is to go to the beach.

23 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I always think it's wise to align expectations with price paid. It's no secret here that I consider MSC a budget line. If you are boarding the seaside at an excellent price, I think most will agree that the experience on the ship is significantly better than the shore side experience. With the right mindset, MSC is an excellent value, perhaps the best value on the sea~ but I've rarely gotten campaign on a beer budget and managing expectations is necessary even in the YC.

 

BTW: I'm still waiting for a call back from 2015. 

 

Best of luck to you and let us know how it pans out.

We seldom get off of the ship.  We enjoyed our prior MSC cruise on the Devinia.  We've been to so many islands that after a while they all look the same.  We've spent a week at a resort on Puerto Rico, a week at Club Orient on Saint Martin, a week at Puerto Viarta, a week in Rivera Maya and a few others but the cost and inconvenience of flying have us cruising instead. 

😡Still waiting for a callback.  Glad I didn't hold my breath!

One reason I want to book on MSC is that, by trading my timeshare, a balcony cabin for two on the Seaside is under $700 for a 7-day cruise. That's about $400 less than Carnival and significantly less than other cruise lines.

1 hour ago, thecruisers6 said:

Please don’t take this the wrong way but they simply didn’t expect the volume of calls, with questions like “what’s my account number” or “can I change a free internet package” that says in the terms and conditions that you can’t. 

 

You are quite right to take your $’s elsewhere, otherwise you will just be looking for faults throughout your cruise and spend time in the CS queue onboard. 

 

 

Never got to ask them what my account number is as they never called me back!

2 hours ago, thecruisers6 said:

Have you tried logging in on the website with your user name and password or searching your emails. 

Also would be on your cruise card if you kept them. 

I’ve heard that now the truth about MSC being out there and it’s actually a great product at an excellent price, the call centre is inundated with calls and are desperately trying to recruit extra staff.  They are also not used to the volume of calls per booking with queries/questions. 

I booked my cruise through my timeshare.  Don't know if I ever dealt with MSC directly.  Tried logging in with my email addres and it tells me an account doesn't exist. 

Two days ago I tried calling MSC as I wanted our account numbers. We have only traveled once on MSC (11/16).  I called twice and was on hold a total of about 35 minutes.  They have "Call Me" capabilities.  Left my number - STILL WAITING!!!!! Guess my business isn't important to them!

We were there in early December.  The C/O section - Club O - was open.

23 hours ago, marieps said:

Is the taxi stand by the rock outcropping still busy, or must we walk to the bikini beach stand to cab back to the ship?

 

We were there in December.  It depends. We had to walk back to Bikini Beach but I've heard that others were able to get a van back to the pier at Club O.

We were there in December.  You can rent chaises and umbrellas at the Club O site.