OneParticularHarbour 71

We received our edocs and the description of the included internet package says “SUSTD40 - "Surfer Day: Access to social networks, chat apps, emails and web browsing(No Audio and Video). For 24h up to 800 Mbs+an esclusive 20% more data(total amount 960 MBs).

"”.

It appears the free internet promo is only for one day? Does anyone have any experience with this? If that is the case, can it be upgraded onboard and for how much?

Thanks.

Thanks for posting. Was there any place to get food? Were there restrooms?

Thanks for posting. Was it crowded at all?

Thanks for taking the time to do a review.

How does the mealtime package work in the buffet for soda? Is there a self serve station like for the beer/wine? If you order from the bar or MDR, do they give you a can or a glass of fountain soda?

Thanks for the detailed review! One question (and I apologize if I missed it) - what was the charge for the wristbands for your 13yo and the adults? Were you then able to use both the wristband or your cruise card to get into your cabins?

I’m hoping it’s not a big deal on Seaside but unfortunately it sounds like it may be :(

Hmmm...that doesn’t sound promising.

The wristband sounds like it could work though. Where can we get them? Is it something they give to the kids in the kids club? My kids are 20,17,13 so they wouldn’t be in the younger kids club.

We are a family of 5 and have 2 cabins for our upcoming Seaside cruise. I had to book me in one cabin and DH in the other but the plan is to have my 2 oldest in one cabin and me, DH and youngest across the hall in the other.

Getting extra keycards for the 2 people who are sleeping in opposite cabins than they were booked in has been no problem at all on other cruise lines. We have received blank cards that can only open the cabin door - you can’t use them for purchases. However, on Divina last year it was an odd process. We went to the Guest Services desk and the gentleman helping us told us they couldn’t do that, then he said he needed to get approval from a manager and stepped into the back for a while to speak to a manager. When he finally came back he told us he could give us only one extra key so we needed to choose which room we wanted the extra key for. I then had to write out a statement that if the key was lost and any charges were made to it that I would be responsible for them. Then I was paranoid the whole trip that my son would lose the card lol.

On other lines, we have been able to get extra blank key cards for each cabin.

On Divina, because we could only get an extra card for one cabin, my son had to give me his key card and couldn’t make any purchases onboard unless I was with him with his card.

I am hoping Seaside has a better way of doing this than Divina. Has anyone been able to get an extra key card on Seaside?

When we were there last year there was only one lolo at Mullet Bay - Rosie's. From what I have read it was hit by the hurricane but now there is someone there selling drinks from a cooler and BBQing under a tent and there are chairs to rent.

We walked through to Back Street and hailed one down. If I remember correctly, I think it was 1.50 pp. The “busses” are actually vans and will have a cardboard sign in the window as to where they are headed (Philipsburg, Mullet Bay, etc). The license plate is “BUS” and a number. They will drop you off wherever you want along the way.

On the way back, we just walked up to the main road and hailed one down to go back to Philipsburg.

Great, thanks!

Last year when we were on St. Maarten, we took a public bus to the beach. We will be back there next month, does anyone know if the public busses are up and running?

We will be there in April. Is Rosie's open at Mullet Bay? Also, are the public busses running?

Thank you for taking time from your vacation to post. I enjoyed your posts from your Divina cruise last year - they were very helpful in planning our Divina cruise and your Seaside posts are helpful for our upcoming Seaside cruise!

Happy to see the price has come down for the zip line!

 

How does MSC compare to NCL with food, staterooms, service and entertainment?

 

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We have been on NCL Getaway twice - once with a balcony and inside room and once with 2 suites in the Haven. We have been on MSC Divina once with 2 balcony cabins and will be on Seaside in April, so my comparison will be based off the Getaway balcony and Divina balcony.

Staterooms:

The balcony rooms on the 2 lines were similar in size and storage, I think the actual balcony on the Divina was a little larger than the balcony on the Getaway. We received towel animals on NCL but not on MSC. The NCL balcony cabin had a coffee maker, MSC did not. From the reviews I have read of the Seaside, it looks like the cabins have much less storage and are overall a little smaller, including tighter bathroom space.

Service:

First, outside of the Haven, I didn’t find NCL’s service to be great - it was ok - some folks were wonderful, others not so much. With that said, I think the service is about equal on both lines with the edge maybe given to NCL just because on MSC, the employees don’t seem to be allowed to make decisions on their own - everything needs to be brought to their supervisor. It’s not that they don’t want to help, it’s just seems like their hands are tied. It’s a little odd.

Food:

On MSC, you are assigned a time and dining room for dinner. On NCL, you eat where and when you want for dinner.

I thought the main dining room food was about equal on both lines, with the edge maybe to MSC because I enjoyed their pastas and desserts more than NCL’s. I liked NCL’s buffet better - more variety and longer hours.

There are many more food venues to choose from on NCL. Divina didn’t have a 24 hr food venue like Getaway did. Really enjoyed MSC’s pizza and gelato. My 16 year old son said he had the best pizza he has ever had in his life at the specialty restaurant on Divina, lol.

Entertainment:

We only went to a couple of the shows on Divina and one of them it looked like they were lip syncing but we enjoyed them. I believe they had a different show each night. On Getaway, I think they had 2 or 3 shows that ran a couple of nights each. I think Getaway had more variety of entertainment in the evenings - nightly parties, dueling pianos, comedy, etc.

Getaway allowed smoking in the casino and that permeated out into other areas which I did not care for. Divina’s casino was nonsmoking when we sailed (I don’t know if that is still the case, I have read Seaside allows smoking in part of the casino).

Poolside entertainment was about the same on both lines.

Getaway had more outdoor entertainment - ropes course with zip line, mini golf, rock climbing, bungee jump, water slides - all included. Divina had more indoor based things - 4d theater, bowling, and formula one race car. There was a fee to use these. Divina had one slow water slide - Seaside looks to have a nice waterslide park and zip line. Divina had an indoor pool area, Getaway did not.

We enjoyed our cruises on both lines. We have sailed several different cruiselines and for the most part have enjoyed each of them. Some have things they do better or worse than other lines and I like to experience the differences.

If you have not already done so, MSC offers a nice perk with their status match program - they will match your loyalty level on other cruise lines which can give you some nice perks.

Enjoy your cruise!

There is a self serve soda station that gives you 16 oz worth and 30 seconds to process the pour.

Great, thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to post. For the mealtime drink package, I understand there are self serve beer and wine stations in the buffet - are there also self serve soda stations? Or do you have to get a soda from the bar? If it is from the bar, do they give a can? Can you get bottled water?

If you watch the posts by „It’s our Fenwick life“ on YouTube, you‘ll see that they have gluten free menus in the dining rooms. She seems to really like the food, too. She also had no problem eating at Teppanyaki. My guess is that Butchers Cut would have a gluten free menu, too, since it’s a steak house.

Thank you, will check those out on YouTube!

My guess is that if a gluten-free person was to eat in one of the main dining rooms, rather than in the buffet, they would probably be fine on MSC Seaside. We're just not main dining room people, and Kellyn was not pleased with the buffet.

What she would have liked to see in the buffet would have been an indicator of what foods are gluten free. Up above the sneeze guard, they would have a little sign indicating what each item was. In other words, above the french fries would be a sign that said "French Fries". If I recall correctly, there were foreign language translations underneath the English name of the food, too. What Kellyn would have liked would have been the words "GLUTEN FREE" added to the sign above any foods that were gluten free.

 

The other thing we've seen on a few cruise ships in the buffet is that they would actually have a section of the buffet that had a whole bunch of gluten-free items together in one place... a place that a gluten-free person could just go directly to in order to find many gluten-free items. They definitely did not have this on the MSC Seaside, and neither do most cruise ships, but a few of the best do.

Thanks, I wish they better labeled the buffet items as well, would make it so much easier! We have mentioned this on different lines and have been told they don’t do it because due to cross contamination issues from other passengers, they can’t guarantee an item will be gluten free. I get that, but I think anyone who needs gluten free ( or has other allergies) realizes the risk of cross contamination at a buffet already but it would be nice to know the ingredients of each dish anyway to make an informed decision as it is not always obvious.

Thrifty/Dollar and National/Enterprise/Alamo offer a free shuttle between MIA and the Port of Miami. They usually will ask to see your rental paperwork as you get on the shuttle, so have that handy.

Thank you for the very detailed review.

You mentioned at the beginning that Kellyn was disappointed with the gluten free accommodations. I read about her concern at Butcher’s Cut, but didn’t see it mentioned regarding the buffet or MDR (unless I missed a post). How did she make out in other venues? My DH gets sick if he has any gluten and did ok on Divina; I am hoping he will be ok on Seaside.

Thanks so much for your quick reply!

Could someone tell me what the shows are on Freedom? We are considering booking an April cruise and my daughter was curious. The search function is not working on my phone :confused:

Thank you!

If I may also ask a casino question...When we were on Divina earlier this year, the casino was non smoking. Is the casino on Seaside non smoking? Also, does anyone know if the minimum age is 18 or 21?

Our experience at the party....when we went to the Black Card party on the Divina earlier this year, my 12yo son asked for Sprite and we were charged to it. Certainly didn’t ruin our cruise, but the folks that were sitting with us did comment that they thought it was strange to be charged for something like that at the party.