tofubeast

If you are booked in a Fantastica and Bella cabin, then you have to pick either early or late seating. Only the higher up cabins such as Aurea or moving into yacht club lets you pick what time you want to eat. Some ships have two seatings within the early seating block. For example, I know Meraviglia, Seashore, and Seascape have seatings in the 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock hours, and both are considered early seating. But you will be assigned one of those times if you pick early seating. You can’t choose. Late seating on those ships means you won’t be having dinner till about 9pm. When I’ve been on the Divina, there has been only one early seating time and then the later seating. I assume that’s because it is a smaller ship. If you are on a ship that happens to have two time periods in the early seating block, and you get the time you are not happy with, you can always check with the restaurant to see if they can move you.

I was recently on the Seascape and they had nestle hot cocoa packets out near the coffee and juice stations in the AM hours. Different ship, but this was also my experience on Divina and Seashore too. If they somehow don’t have it in the buffet, I know they do have it in the restaurant at breakfast. I’m sure if you asked the wait staff for a few packets, they would give it to you.

I had a great recent Seascape fantastica cruise. I posted my review here.

I just posted this review on cruise critic, but I thought I would share it here. I’ve seen people post on here that there’s a lack of reviews about the Seascape, and I just got off the ship a week and a half ago, I thought I’d give you my review here as well. In mid June ‘24, we sailed on the MSC Seascape with stops in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Nassau, and MSC private island, Ocean Cay. We arrived at the terminal in Miami around 11:30, and we were probably on the ship within about 25 minutes or so. It was the smoothest embarkation we’ve ever had in Miami. Our room was nearly ready by the time we arrived, and we were able to drop our bags off and go have lunch. Before doing so, we made dining reservations with ease for our trip as well as booked an excursion in the Bahamas. I have now sailed with MSC a few times, but this was my first time on the Seascape. We sailed on the sister-ship, Seashore, back in January and had a great experience so we were excited to check out Seascape. We had a Fantastica balcony state room, and it was an excellent shape. Our room attendant was very thorough, and I felt that our room was kept clean and tidy throughout the week. I know the ship is only about a year and a half old, and it looks great. It is very similar to the seashore with just some subtle differences. The ship is very classy and has lovely public spaces. Also, the captain on the ship was absolutely hilarious and delightful. He had so much personality and joy and his daily updates were always humorous and lively. It was clear that the passengers really took a liking to him. The Cruise Director was also very personable as well. I have to say that our cruise was even better than our experience on Seashore (which was good too!). I felt like the entertainment was a notch up. There were some fun adult and family evening games. I would like to see MSC expand on these offerings. Also, the service was even better on this sailing. We encountered many friendly crew members. My greatest praise would have to be in the main dining room. I know food has been an area where this cruise line has received lots of constructive feedback. I honestly thought the food was very good on this most recent cruise. Our table servers were excellent, friendly, and fun. The menu was much more exciting than I have experienced on previous sailings and the entrées and appetizers have been improved both in taste and in plating. In the last few months, MSC has introduced a brunch that is offered on the at sea days. The brunch goes till 1:30 so it was really nice being able to sleep in and still be able to enjoy a sitdown meal rather than go to the buffet. The brunch was very popular, but we would were seated quickly both times. I really hope that MSC continues with the brunch and expand it to more of its ships. The buffet was fine and serviceable. I certainly found more dishes than I like than others. The pizza is great, but I found it to be better on the Divina where they offered more interesting and diversified toppings. I’d like to see MSC focus a bit more on their buffet. It does get crowded at certain times, but I have encountered that on other cruise lines as well. We ate at Ocean Cay, the seafood restaurant onboard. The service was fantastic and very attentive. I was celebrating my birthday, and they made the evening extra special. We enjoyed lobster, tuna, and some appetizers. I would definitely eat here again in the future. Ocean Cay was beautiful as ever. There are so many places that you can visit on the island and feel like you have it all to yourself. There were some construction walls up for new offerings in the future. I hope that always maintain the low-key and relaxing vibe of this spot. Disembarkation did take some time because we had one of the higher numbers. But once our number was called, we were off the ship within minutes, retrieved our suitcases, and breezed through customs. Overall, the ship was beautiful and had many activities and fun spaces to hang out. I feel like food is definitely improving on the cruise line as well as the service. we will definitely consider MSC again for a future cruise though I would like to see them offer more unique destinations in the Caribbean.

Sunset Beach is beautiful but there are rocks. If you intend to swim there, wear beach shoes. It you are planning to just chill there, it’s fabulous as often you can feel like you have the beach to yourself. There are no lifeguards, but staff do go by on jet skis.

Never explored Bimini Beach so I think we’ll head that way this next visit. Does the tram take you there, or does it stop at the bridge and you walk from there? Is there still a food truck over there for lunch? TIA

That equipment looks to be more like it’s by the children’s beach. I know there was talk of them working on that area to reopen it again.

I was just comparing some of the pictures posted today on this board with some I took in January of this year. It looks like they might have planted more trees as it looks a little more filled in.

We sailed the Seashore for New Years and had an awesome time. I posted a review on here of our Fantastica experience. Had so much fun, we booked the Seascape and will be departing when you’re arriving!

As my heritage is half Sicilian, and I spent a summer there many moons ago, I’m thinking I might be happy with OC. I’ll give it a try!

I’m bumping this topic back up because I’m curious too! Anyone visit Sun Cay?

They do screen your carry-on bags when you were at the port.

The big lagoon area isn’t the best for snorkeling. While it was clear, we only saw a few fish.

Hi. Our cruise is next month, and I am trying to purchase an excursion in advance. The listing pops up and it allows me to look at the description and so forth for each excursion. However, no matter if I try to book it via the app or on the website when logged in, there is no purchase button to add it to the cart and actually pay for it. I tried going around about way on the web and was able to get a purchase button, but it did not work when I clicked on it. Unfortunately, the website and the app has its share of wonky problems Has anyone encountered this issue? Is it just a glitch and should work in the next day or two or three? I should add that when I looked at the spa and drink packages as well, there is no button to pay. Also, I noticed that some of the excursion prices fluctuate even by the hour. I have taken screenshots of a few excursions and noticed they go up and down by $10 sometimes throughout the day. 🤔

Laughing so hard right now!

“Regular” passenger here reporting for roll call! 😉 We sail Fantastica. One day, I’d love to give YC a try. There are way more regular folk on board than YC. You won’t feel different or like an outcast. And unless you fall in love with someone from YC on your cruise, you won’t experience any Jack and Rose situations. 😝

Hello. We’re going on the Seascape next month. We’ve done all the specialty restaurants so far with the exception of Ocean Cay. As fans of fish/seafood, will we be pleased with the food? The menu looks good to me. What apps and dishes do you recommend to try or stay away from? Thanks so much!

If booked Fantastic and you've requested Early Seating.... And Early Seating has two times... Can you request in advance on your booking notes which of those two times you would prefer within the Early Seating window or do you have to wait as soon as you get on board?

That was my problem on the Divina in March. We called and couldn't tell if it went through. We went to the crew and had our cards scanned. The next day, we received a terse note saying we had missed the drill. Yeah..no.

Great review. I especially appreciate the description of the scent. Very thorough! 🙂

I was next to a whirlpool stateroom on the Seashore. Surprisingly, I think the people in there may have only used it twice. (I'd have been in it tons of times!) I didn't hear anything, except one day I was on my balcony and I could hear the tub filling with water. So it was a no issue. That said, you never know who will book the room and if the balcony becomes party central. But if it were to be THAT loud, you could always alert your attendant.

I do not believe you can use the drink package in any specialty restaurant, but I may be wrong with that. I’m sure someone else will chime in about the beverage packages. The main dining room will not be open for lunch. I don’t believe any of the specialty restaurants are open either. I believe the buffet is your dining option that very first day for lunch.

I didn’t have that experience for our NyE cruise on the Seashore. Many of the staff were friendly and welcoming. We got lots of hellos etc.

Just to note that people didn’t cut me off in the buffet line. I felt people were pretty respectful for a sold out holiday cruise. I really don’t experience any line cutters that whole week.

Here’s a few pics. Sunset from our cabin, the infinity pool, and Seashore in Cozumel. What a gorgeous ship!