FIREFIGHTERCRUISER

Thanks for the information and looking forward to any more information you post.

I will be on a Spring break cruise in March with my wife and two kids. We did Davina for spring break last year and enjoyed it. We will be on deck 15 in a fantastica balcony cabin.

Have you seen anything about the all in one package for the entertainment items, ie. bowling 5D Theater F-1 racer.

Also, do you know what drinks are included with the mealtime drink package?I saw some drafts at the buffet in one video.

Thanks

Thx allot for the response and the detailed info. Just booked for Sep 3rd on the Vista. What were the show options nightly?

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Thanks for the review. Nice work.

How was the nightly entertainment/show options. Also are the alternative food options like Guys free?

thx in advance.

This was a risotto app in the Galaxy, delicious.

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On Divina last year we ate at both. I cant give you allot of info on the menus because our package had a set menu. GALAXY was way better all around. Ate filets in both and Galaxy won hands down. View is much better in galaxy as well. It overlooks the pool area which is nice at night. Eataly is inside with no view except for the ugly plastic furniture.

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YC customers have access to anywhere on the ship including Aurea and Top 19, you are treated like a god on the ship without paying anything extra.[/quot

 

You do pay extra to be a YC member....like 4 times as much as a standard room.

Id chose to go on 4 cruises and be treated like a prince instead of a god.

As far as he slide goes-Can you tell me what I need to do about my 6 yr old who is 49" tall? Where do I maybe accidentally put that he is 8? I already gave all the birth dates when I booked the cruise. If he can't slide that's kinda of a game changer for us! So I'd like to fix this problem!

6 might be pushing it but if they are big it's worth a shot. Their is an attendant at the base of the slide. He just checks the kids height and then gives you a form to fill out. Then they get a red band to wear for the rest of the cruise and are good to go. He never checked any paperwork or questioned us. I just accidently put that my son was born in 09 I stead of 2010...ooops. We thought the same thing about possibly missing the slide being a real bummer. With the kids club activities and the bowling it wouldn't have been the end of the world though.

Family of 4, Have done NCL Getaway and liked it alot. What lead us to chose MSC was Yacht Club for only $1K over price of NCL Balcony Cabin (Haven would be double Yacht club). Doing Seaside out of Miami spring break 2018

 

 

Do you mind me asking what price you got for YC?

I just booked the 3-17-18 sailing for our family of 4 in 1 fantastica balcony cabin. Cost us 2250 with a few perks thrown in. I was quoted 5400 for a YC balcony, but wasn't ready to spend that much.

Juse got off the Divina and wasn't impressed with Eatery steakhouse. Hopefully the specialty dining will be better on Seaside. Looks like most of your other questions have been answered. We did the Getaway 2 years ago and also enjoyed it allot.

Thanks

Just booked the Seaside for next spring break with the kids, 3-17-18. The new ship looks like it will be fun, and definately had the kids in mind when designed. Little more expensive than this Divina cruise but still reasonable . Guess thats a good way to cap off the review. obviously booking another cruise shows that MSC was doing some good things.

Is a zipline confirmed on the seaside? I haven't seen this on any brochures or ads.

Great review and pretty spot on. I have cruised with MSC DIvina in Sept 2014, April 2016, and now this weekend. I have never heard of the $60 entertainment package. Where did you go to get this? Did you get cards or bracelets? We have 9 cabins in our group and 3 are with kids (mine included). The kids range from 6-11. Thanks in advance for any info!

You get the package up where the F1 race car is. There's an attendant there and you just let him know that you want to buy the package and they put it on your card. For the bowling you just swipe your cruise card to activate it. They also give you a little paper card that you have to show each time you want to go into the 4D theater or do the Formula One car. Well worth it.

Thank you for your review and posts.

 

We are contemplating the MSC Seaside next year. Our only experience in the MSC PReziosia in Europe and the NCL Escape this past month. Our biggest concern vs NCL is 1) the kids club, which you have helped curb that. When we were in Europe, North American/native english speaking people were only about 10% of the cruisers and the kids club was not fun for our daughter due to the language barrier. I was concerned a caribbean itinerary would still have dramatic european influences and the kids club would not cater to a predominately english speaking child.

 

2) the drink packages - on NCL they have the all inclusive type package which we were fond of. Can you comment on the alcoholic drink packages that were availalbe to you?

 

Also when looking on the MSC website there are the different experiences, bella, fantastica, wellness and aurea. which one did you pick?

 

Thanks

Our kids didn't seem to have any problem in the kids area. There were tons of English-speaking kids. Even most of the foreign kids speak English as well so there was no issue. Even if they couldn't speak to each other they didn't seem to have any problems playing Legos or dancing or doing any of the other activities.

MSC also has the all you can drink package. I believe it is 70 or $80 per day. They also have a drink package that is only available for dinner time or meal times and they also have an upgraded all you can drink package where you can get the really expensive liquor. We don't drink that much so we opted to just go with the vouchers. The vouchers were a good deal and were more than enough for us. They have a bottle beer package as well as a cocktail package. All are listed and available on the MSC website. I recommend purchasing them before so you don't have to pay the 15% gratuity on board. I also believe if you get the all-you-can-drink package everyone in the cabin, including the kids ,has two have one as well. The kids is a little cheaper because it's not for liquor of course. But, That would get very pricey still.

We were just in a Bella balcony. We do not see any reason to pay the extra just to possibly get a higher balcony. I believe starting in the summer the fantastica comes with a drink package which would make it worth paying the extra for. However, for our cruise that was not included. I also believe with the fantastico you get room service included and they claim more flexibility on your dining time. We had no issue with our dining time and we even changed it 2 Days In from the early sitting to the late sitting without any issues.

So does the kids club still have the Smurfs?

Like Tapi said, the main theme is Legos but some of the decor does still reflect the surf theme. The little kids play area has the smurf mushroom house for them to play in. The kids area still looks the same as the pics on the main cruise critic review with all the pics if you wanna reference that.

Not sure if this will work. Sorry I didn't get any more of the dailies to keep. This was a list of the scheduled events and times for the juniors club which was age 7 through 11.

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The main rudeness we came across was the sun bed hoggers and we were led to believe they were actually South Americans. But this was a relatively minor thing.

 

 

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The sunbed Hoggers are definitely on this boat as well. I think they are pretty much on every cruise boat. That's just the way it is. If you want a good seat at the pool you pretty much have to be out there by 6 a.m.

Hello. Where did you pick up the life vest for your Children? We will be on the divina next month with a 7 year old.

We had the two kids vest's waiting for us in our room when we first got on board. They were sitting on the bed and ready for us when we went to the muster drill. Our Room Steward also had us sign a form stating that we had received them and would be liable for a $200 fee each if they were lost.

I think we are getting a little off topic . So back to the OP review...

 

First thank you for posting . There is not much posted about the kids club , and I sincerely appreciate your input .

 

My question is, is there some way of the kids club staff contacting the parents (like a pager, or beeper type device ) other than using the in cabin phone ? For example, if there's an emergency and the parents are pool side , how would they contact them .

 

We are sailing in July with our 5, 7 and 8 yr old grand babies . TIA

Agreed Gram. Let's try to get back on the kids info. They did offer a pager /phone system for children under 5(I remember seeing a sign and five is the number I remember, dont kill me if im wrong on the age though).. As we did not use it I can't give you a whole lot of info but I can tell you the service is available on board. I'm not sure if there is a charge for this or if it's just something they do for all children under a certain age. I did see them giving another family instructions about this and showing them the device once as we were dropping our kids off though.

Wow that is crazy. We just got back from that cruise. No word was mentioned of this during the cruise and this is the first I heard of it. We had tons of people with the Legends of Rock lanyards during our cruise. This must have been one of the private events.

Thanks for the review!

A few questions on food for the kids...

 

Did you take the kids to the specialty restaurants? Was there a kids menu?

 

Was there a kids menu in the regular dining rooms and do you remember what was in them?

 

Thanks!

Sorry but we did not take the kids to the specialty restaurant. Since the kids club took the kids to meals we took full advantage of that and did not really eat many dinners with them. The main dining room did offer us a kids menu but we did not take it. My nine-year-old daughter ordered items off of the main dining room menu. Our son never ate dinner with us in the dining room. I felt a little bad about it but he seemed to be having fun with the other kids in the club so we let it slide.

When they take the kids to the Buffet they make their plate for them and just give them a little selection of each thing off of the kids buffet menu. If the child is older you can get them a certain wristband which gives them the Liberty to walk through the buffet on their own and make their own plate. You also have the option when registering the kids to give them the Liberty to check themselves in and out of the kids club. We did not feel our kids were quite ready for this so they got the red wristband which meant they could only leave with my wife or I.

The kids Buffet consisted of fish sticks macaroni and cheese hamburger hot dog french fries spaghetti excetera. My nine-year-old said it got a little repetitive and she didn't love all of the stuff. My seven-year-old boy however was perfectly content with it.

Sorry to have caused a stir. My intent was not to place one nationality or group of people in a box. I grew up as an army brat and have lived throughout Europe and Asia and enjoy the different nationalities and cultures both abroad and on this Cruise. My point was just to say that there were some rude people on this Cruise. Like some of the other Cruisers pointed out, it's probably just a cultural difference. My intent was just to point this out so that people coming onto the cruise can have an understanding of this prior to boarding. Who knows, the people who were rude to me might have been American, however, they were speaking different languages when it occurred. Like Tapi said, some of the rudeness might be attributed to the low price point of the cruise. Again was not trying to start up World War 3, stating one of my observations.

Sorry but I keep thinking of other things I wanted to mention in a review and forgot. We spoke with quite a few other Cruisers and a couple of people who went to the Cruise Critic meet and greet. They said it was well-received and had quite a few people. We were not able to make it because of a kids event going on at the same time. Sounds like a lot of the officers were there and we're interested in feedback. Also I know some people have questioned the bedding and pillows being Lumpy. For us they seem sufficient and we're comfortable. I think some of the newer beds on some of the bigger lines are better but these we're definitely good enough and up to a normal standard. Another thing to note was that the casino on this ship seems very small. Maybe it was because we are used to some of the bigger ships like the Oasis which has more people so I guess have a larger Casino. Just a small thing we noticed. However, the no smoking in the casino was very nice. I wish all of them would go to that. Makes it a lot more enjoyable. I'm sure I'll have something else pop in my head.

I remembered one other thing I wanted to mention in a review. I couldn't believe how few kids were on the ship. There were an average amount. I was definitely expecting a lot more though seeing as how MSC offers the Kids Sail Free and the fact that it is spring break time in the states. I asked the counselors in the kids area how the capacity was and they said it was about average. They said the only time they really have a large-capacity is during the summer. This ship as a whole also seemed under capacity which was confirmed To Us by another crew member when we asked them. Other than the hot spots being the buffet , the sun decks on sea days, and The Late Show most of the ship was never really crowded it seemed.

Could you please tell me more about the $60 all you can play entertainment package? Is that per person? What is it good for? Also how much is things individually if you do not purchase the package? :confused:

Thanks for writing a great, informative review.

The $60 package includes the F1 race car simulator, the 4D theater, and the bowling alley,. The $60 is for the cabin. We had four in our cabin so it was definitely well worth it. Otherwise the bowling alone was $8 per person per game. The other things were both about the same between 7 to $10 per person per item. Those add up quite a bit when you play three back-to-back games of bowling with 4 people. A lot of people don't really know about the deal either so none of the items were that busy during our cruise. Some people spoke of the bowling alley being broken quite a bit however we never had an occasion whe're both lanes were broken. Occasionally one would be down but they were very quick to get it fixed. Also you cannot book the $60 package before getting on board, this was an item you had to get once you are on the ship.

I will be using voice to type for most of this so I apologize for grammatical errors or missing commas and other grammar issues.

We just got back from our family cruise. It was a great time. I will say there were some good things and some just okay things. Going in we were a little hesitant about MSC because we had never done one before. Overall I would say it was definitely a good experience and depending on the price we would do it again. We did not book anything special, no yacht club or anything. Just a Bella cabin number 8254. My wife and I are pretty experienced Cruisers. We believe this is our 12th one... Pretty sad that we have lost track. However, this was only our second Cruise with our children. My wife and I are both 38 and our children are a nine year old daughter and seven year old son. My wife and I have been on most of the standard Cruise Lines -Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, and Holland America. The only cruise we have been on with the kids was Norwegian on the getaway which we also enjoyed, but definitely took some getting used to and acclimating to Cruisin with the kids rather than just the two of us.

Prior to boarding we purchased several drink packages. We got the Doremi package a coffee cuddle and the bottled beer package. All are well worth it and we ended up using them all on our 7 day cruise. The last day we actually had to make ourselves use a couple because we had some extra. We also purchased the dining package for three restaurants.

Embarkation

We actually got to the port a little later than we had initially hoped. We got there approximately 2 p.m. and from the time we were dropped off by our shuttle we were on the boat with in 15 minutes. We missed the major backup times but I still thought we got on very quickly. We then went and got the kids registered for the kids club.

We then went to our room which was very nice however we did notice a lot of Random stuff/stains in places. Don't get me wrong throughout the week our room stewards were very good and they did what was expected as far as making the room up and keeping it clean. They also pulled out the kids bed everyday and put it away every morning so that we didn't have to deal with it throughout the day. A lot of what we found was just stuff that accumulates over time and gets overlooked because it's in rare spots that room stewards really don't look at. There was dirt smudges in random places, we found some leftover catch up on one of the tables that was not cleaned off and my wife also found a lot of hair in one of the drawers where the hair dryer is located. We called the front desk and mentioned it to them and once we got back from our muster drill the hair had been cleaned up however the other random smudges and dirt we're still there. I then just cleaned them up myself with a washcloth because I did not want to cause any more hassle for us or the room steward. Just left a little sour taste in my mouth but I got over it quickly once we got underway. The rest of the ship was beautiful though and very well maintained. All of the common areas were spotress and people were always cleaning.

FOOD

The food on board was just middle of the road. I've definitely had better food on most of the other Cruise Lines. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad it just wasn't anything that I would write home about. One standout was the Galaxy Restaurant however. This was excellent and I would definitely recommend it again. However, Eataly was one of the most UNDERwhelming specialty restaurants we've ever been two on any of the cruise lines. I will definitely not go back there or waste my money. The steak was Bland and the vegetables and sides were very mediocre. The Pinnacle Grill on Holland BLOWS Eataly out of the water. Also I know many people have mentioned the pizza being very good and they were not wrong. The pizza on board was definitely the best I've ever had at sea. It would even put some New York City pizza joints to shame.

KIDS ACTIVITIES

The kids club on board was excellent. Both my children loved all of the counselors and seemed to have a very good time. My son actually spent one entire day in there. We tried two or three times throughout the day to come and get him and see if he wantee to join us at the pool and he told us that he would rather stay in the kids club. Initially my nine-year-old daughter was a little reticent about going in but she quickly made friends and after that was smooth sailing. I also really like the kids club on MSC because the hours are much more user-friendly than on Norwegian. Again we have never taken the kids on any other Cruise other than Norwegian to compare it to. The MSC kids club had lots of activities that they took the kids to around the ship and they also took them to meals. On Norwegian they would take them to meals but there was a charge if you wanted them to. The MSC kids club also took the kids to some of the kid-friendly shows late in the evening. The kids club also offers a late night package if you want the kids to stay till 2 a.m. but I believe the charges $20 per child. Otherwise you normally had to have them picked up by 10:45 or 11. On Port days the kids club was open the entire day, on sea days it would close for about an hour or two in the daytime and evening to allow the counselors to eat I assume. Again the kids club was awesome and our kids really enjoyed it.

SLIDE

I know I had questions and I've seen a lot of questions about the slide. THE DIFINITIVE RULE is the child has to be the minimum height requirement which is 48 inches and 8 years old. Not either or. Once we found this out i was not a happy camper. I knew my son was looking forward to the slide. We live in Orlando so there is no way this slide remotely compares to Universal Studios Disney SeaWorld or any of the other Resorts that we go and ride rides at all the time. This slide is fun but it's pretty weak and I don't feel I need to be 8 to ride it. In order to ride the kids have to have a wristband. I might have accidentally fudged my son's birthday and got him a wristband. He easily meets the height requirement so I might have accidentally put that he was born in 2009 instead of 2010. he got his wristband and rode the slide all week long. I have heard rumors that there's a list or something but the pool attendant had me sign the waiver and there was no questions asked whatsoever.

We also purchased the $60 all you can play entertainment package. This was also well worth it because there are not a lot of other activities to do with the kids on board. We played a ton of bowling and rode the virtual reality ride many many many times.

Let's be honest this is not a Disney cruise. The kids club is awesomte however there is not a lot of active things to do on board. I mean in comparison to Royal Caribbean or some of the newer ships that have lots of water slides and ropes courses and bumper cars and all of the other newfangled things.

BUFFET

One thing we did hate about this ship was the buffet. It is completely disorganized and the layout is not user-friendly whatsoever. Going into the buffet you have to know that you were going to eat a burger one day or pizza one day or salad. Etc. If you want to try and take a little bit from one or the other its practically impossible to get through because of the way everything is laid out and the length of the buffet itself. When the ship isn't busy it's not as much of a problem however during the peak times this can cause some frustration.

One other thing that MSC cannot control however people should go in knowing is that there are a lot of flat-out rude people on the boat. Not workers but other Cruisers. I by no means think Americans are above anyone however there were a lot of foreign speaking people who were blatantly rude. I don't mean one or two but a pretty significant amount. Don't know if there was any occasion that I tried to get off an elevator that I wasn't pushed aside or had someone walk in the elevator before letting me out. Again I'm sure Americans do this as well however everyone I encountered this with was foreign speaking during the cruise. There was also a lack of giving someone personal space while at the buffet. If you were dishing something up people had no qualms with reaching over you around you or just blatantly going in front of you. Again nothing that MSC can control however you might want to go in knowing that there will be a lot of different nationalities with different behaviors on this Cruise Line versus some of the standardized American ones.

SHOWS

The shows were all very good. One or two were mostly singing and kind of became a snoozefest. However,the singers and dancers all did an excellent job. I think it was just a matter of the material they were using. The Michael Jackson show in the pirate show we're definitely the best. The acrobats singers and dancers all did a very good job and the vocalist sounded great. The Michael Jackson show was lipsync but the dancing and performances were still very good. I think in order to compete MSC is going to have to adjust their performances just a little though or at least add some other options. Our last cruise wae on the Oasis and we had Endless Options as far as entertainment. This cruise, and I would guess MSC in general, is definitely more traditional. You eat and go to a show or you go to a show and then eat. And you only have one option as for the show. Nowadays on Royal and some of the other lines you have your choice of ice skating shows diving shows shows Broadway shows such as cats, etc. Having the only option be the one show was somewhat disappointing and got a little repetitive every night.

Okay. I will try to wrap this up. Overall we had a great experience and I think MSC is headed in the right direction. The captain spoke on several occasions during the performances or after them and mentioned how MSC is growing and needs everyone's support to break into the American Market. The kids club was one of the high points of the cruise for us. If we were to go back it would be primarily because of that and the hours the kids club is open. The fact that they take them to the shows and to dinner without charging extra is a big benefit. If MSC stays as it is we would definitely cruise with them again however if we were to find a cruise on one of the more traditional line for the same price we would go with them over MSC. If MSC continues to do the Kids Sail Free and their prices stay low we will definitely look into cruisingagain. But again if we can find a cruise on Royal or princess or Holland for the same price or maybe even a little bit more we would probably lean towards that .

I know this was kind of scattered and probably didn't hit on a lot of topics. If anyone has questions feel free to shoot them to me and I will try to answer them as best as I can. I have no problem filling you in on what I can. We didn't do a lot of late-night activities since we have the kids so our nights typically shut down around 11.