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Stealthdog

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  1. Your reservation books you A seat. There is no assigned seating (except maybe Yacht Club and status holders, but I don't know). You are correct, seating is first come first serve. We had no issues making reservations, but someone else mentioned the shows sold out. These things can change from cruise to cruise, depending on what the passengers like. We even changed reservations to an earlier show while we were standing in line at the theater to enter. I don't know how early in advance you can reserve, but I recommend checking once you board to see if you can make reservations on the App. The MSC App is very simple and one of the better cruise line apps we have seen. If you can't make reservations that early, check every day.
  2. She was the star of the production show. Really talented dancer. Our shows were only 35 minutes long. On other ships, the theater shows have been 50-70 minutes. They may have modified the shows to accommodate three showings vs two, and made them shorter durations. Or, it could also be the difference between the shorter vs 7 day cruises.
  3. Yes - there are TVs at the bar, at booths, and on a big screen. I'd estimate there are probably about 15-20 TVs in total in the Sports Bar. You can ask the bartender to change the channel at the TV near you.
  4. I didn't see any Old Fashioned on any of the bar menus. You can get a Manhattan with the Easy Package, so there is no reason why you couldn't get an Old Fashioned for $10 or less. Attached is the spirits menu to give you an idea of the costs for the different types of whiskey. We upgraded a couple drinks to Grey Goose and just paid the difference. Given our challenges with Mojitos, what I would say is find a bartender(s) that makes your Old Fashioned the way you like it and then just keep going back to them.
  5. Multiple people asked about the Sports Bar and the TVs, so I'll roll it all into this post. On Friday, it looked like they were showing some of the NCAA conference tournament games and soccer games. On Saturday afternoon after we returned from Ocean Cay, we went to the Sports Bar hoping to see the University of Florida - Texas A&M game, but it wasn't showing. They had golf and a soccer game (I think it was Manchester vs someone in the Premier League, but I also remember seeing a Spanish League game, so don't remember which was Saturday). The Sports Bar was still closed, but one of the staff gave me a remote, so I was able to play around with the TV a bit. It looks like the service MSC Seashore uses is some kind of ESPN streaming service. They had 5 ESPN channels available on the TV, but all 5 had the same 2 events on (golf and soccer). Its possible they have some other kind of streaming service that will show the NCAA games live, or ESPN streaming may have contracted to air the games, but I can't confirm that. Given that they were showing some of the conference tournament games, I assume you will be able to see some of the March Madness games, but......? They do have a handful of private booths in the sports bar. So if you have a small group and you don't want to sit in the bar area, you might be able to get a private booth with your own TV.
  6. Every night had a "theme" party. All three nights were very popular and well attended. The first two nights went really late. We went to bed earlier on Night 3, so not sure how long that lasted. Night 1 was a Silent Party. Outside of Cabaret Rouge you will sign for headphones and the party happens inside the Cabaret. Most people were on the lower level of the dance floor portion. But there are multiple levels inside the Cabaret where you can either sit, watch over the railings, or dance, while you listen to your headsets. No special types of clothes are needed - the staff will give you everything you need. Night 2 was a White Party. Everyone was wearing white. It was held outside at the Long Island Pool at Deck 18. There was a DJ and some dancing. They set up a couple of portable bars around the pool area so you didn't have to leave to get some drinks. Just wear something white and you will fit in! Night 3 was the Sunshine Party. It had music from the 60s-90s. Most people were wearing some kind of Hawaiian shirt, or shirts with flowers, sunsets, etc. Go ahead and pack a Hawaiian shirt for this event. It was held in the atrium, so multiple levels of watching on the upper levels, or you can be down on Deck 5 for the dance floor.
  7. Disembarking from the Seashore was a really seamless and simple process. Port Canaveral is one of the easiest embarking and disembarking ports we have used. Luggage needs to be outside your door by 10pm the night before disembarking. You can carry your luggage off on your own if you want. Everyone should be out of their rooms by 7am on disembark day. There are two breakfast options on disembarkation day - buffet or MDR. We went to the MDR because our wait location to get off the ship was the Cabaret Rouge. The MDR breakfast was much more, understandably, limited in options compared to other mornings so they could process people quickly. The buffet probably had a wider variety. Our departure group was 38, so we waited in Cabaret until our number was called (which was about 10 minutes earlier than the posted time). The staff repeatedly told people not to leave early because the luggage is prepared based on deboarding groups. When we got down to the luggage, they were probably correct - we only saw 5 groups of luggage numbers, so if we tried to leave earlier, our luggage may not have been there yet. No passports were needed for US citizens - we went through a facial recognition station and exited the terminal. Our deboarding time was 845 and we were out of the terminal and in the parking garage by 915, and got home a little after 10am after a pit stop at Dunkin. For those traveling to the airport, it’s about a 1 Hr drive (there shouldn’t be much traffic traveling from Canaveral to Orlando). But, it takes a while to get through security at Orlando’s airport because it is a very busy airport. Even tsa-pre and global entry has long lines every time I have been there. So, make sure you give yourself enough time if you are flying home out of Orlando. On Sunday morning they had decorations for St Patrick’s Day that looked nice…and I did wear green getting off the ship! This concludes the “live” portion of the review. I’m going to go through the thread to respond to some posts and provide updates from questions, and then I’ll go into a more cohesive post cruise review. I plan to post about food, service, entertainment, itinerary, gym/spa, internet/app, ship cleanliness/appearance, casino, and passengers. If you have any other topic of interest, let me know!
  8. Here is a picture of the cast in the Cabaret Rouge nightly shows. We only went night 1 - so not sure if the acts change or they modify their variety.
  9. On Night 3 we went to see the Theater Show - Rock Royalty. We didn’t go to the show on night 2, so weren’t sure what to expect. The shows are not long - about 35 minutes so it is not a huge time obligation. It’s your typical production style show with 5 singers and a half dozen dancers. I prefer the new style shows cruise lines are starting to bring onto their new ships. But, if you like traditional cruise style productions, you will probably enjoy the shows in the theater. The singer and dancers are all pretty good (some harmonizing challenges with the singers). They went through the traditional major rock hits - Queen, Journey, Bon Jovi, etc. NOTE - there is an entrance to the Theater on Deck 6, so you can enter at the stage level to either avoid traffic on the stairs or avoid stairs if they are difficult for you to use.
  10. Dinner for day 3 was Italian Night. The staff does a great job of decorating the MDR! For appetizers I got the Caprese Salad and Antipasto, chicken parmigiana for the entree, and limoncello cake for desert. The Caprese salad and antipasto were both good. The Caprese was a little weird because it came with a pesto, rather than the traditional olive oil and balsamic. The mozzarella and tomatoes were fresh. The antipasti was a couple of different slices of meat (salami, ham, etc), a couple chunks of Parmesan cheese, and pickles. It’s not a charcuterie board, but it was a better spread and presentation than I have seen on other ships. The chicken was pretty good - it was a good sized breast and the marinara sauce was nice. The pasta again was disappointing. For desert I got the lemoncello cake, which was essentially a dry lemon meringue pie. After a bite, I asked for the chocolate cake again. My expectation for a MDR is pretty low, so I was pleasantly surprised (although disappointed with the pasta).
  11. Day 3 was the private Island, Ocean Cay. I love the private island! I like Coco cay better, but Ocean Cay was wonderful. I’d be perfectly fine with a cruise that only goes to, and spends a couple overnights at Ocean Cay. One nice aspect of Ocean Cay is there was only one ship docked (at Coco there is often two) so the island did not get overcrowded. From the ship you can see the whole island, so it is fairly easy to know where you want to go. There are shuttles that will take you around the island, so people with difficulty walking can have the assistance of the shuttles. We spent the day at Bimini Beach and Pineapple Beach on the far left of the map. It’s then furthest away, and in our experience the beaches closed to the ship fill up quickly. At Bimini and Pineapple there were rows of loungers on the beach that were complimentary. Even by noon time, there were plenty of loungers that weren’t occupied. If you want an umbrella, it does come with a cost that you can charge your on board account (we declined). In Ocean Cay Lagoon, some people saw a shark swim past them! Unfortunately I missed it, but I heard there are three ~5 foot long sharks that are typically find in the areas of Ocean Cay. I don’t know the species, but am guessing it is one of the harmless types like Nurse Sharks. But, you might get lucky and have a free swim with the sharks excursion! There are bars and food trucks scattered throughout the island, as well as larger food buffets, with options of fruit and vegetable salads, hot dogs, hamburgers, jerk chicken, and some fish options. It was typical food at other private islands and unremarkable. But the convenience of being in the island is good because you don’t have to go back to the ship. Near the ship are a handful of your typical tourist shops where you can get tshirts, mugs, etc. Ocean Cay was a great stop for us, and if we do another sailing on MSC, we will want Ocean Cay on the itinerary.
  12. Day 2 dinner menu in MDR. I got the Chicken Quesadilla, the Pennette Pasta with Alfredo, and Grandmas Chocolate Cake. The quesadilla was ok - it comes with some salsa and bean sides to add to the quesadilla. Be aware that if you order pasta in the MDR it comes out in a small bowl in a really small portion. The pasta overall was a little disappointing - I was expecting more on an Italian cruise line, but it was kind of bland. The star of the meal was Grandmas Chocolate Cake. That was the best desert I had on the ship. If you go to the MDR, check that out the first night.
  13. Day 2 we ate breakfast in the MDR. I thought I took a picture of the menu, but must have missed it. The breakfast in Seashore is very standard compared to other cruise lines. I didn’t notice much difference in variety or quality. The food came out quickly. One perk people may not notice is with the drink package you can order freshly squeezed juice in the MDR. Typically, I prefer a sit down breakfast in a MDR, but we found the variety in the buffet on the Seashore to be better than other ships we have been on recently. In fact, we found the overall buffet to be really good on MSC and we used it more on the sailing than typical. I’ll include more specifics on the food venues in the post cruise review part.
  14. I have so much catching up to do. This is my first short cruise like this and I usually use sea days to catch up on reviews and relax. We are back in port and have to be out of the room by 7. I’ll get everything posted by the end of today and then do the overall thoughts on MSC and Seashore tomorrow. Thanks for following!
  15. Waiting for Karaoke to start. Day 3 activities and private island information. I’ll post about the island tomorrow, but first thoughts are loved it.
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