mericker

Does anyone know what theme night parties are on Discovery Princess? Thanks

Anyone have a cabin by the sky zone? Was there noise at night in your balcony cabin?  See it is open till midnight most nights. Thanks for the info. 

Just off Seaside. The MDR food and service were excellent. Meats were served exactly as ordered - rare, medium rare, etc.

 

 

 

I would rate MSC food as equal to or better than Celebrity, Princess, and Holland America.

 

 

I guess we were unlucky as our food in the MDR on the Seaside was the worst. Yes they cooked the meat to your order but the steaks were tough. No lobster unless you paid the up charge. Had Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo and it had one shrimp which I had to de-shell. We felt it was very bland. My son ordered cheese pizza which was a flatbed with melted mozzarella - no sauce? Eat in MDR all but 1 night and our best meal was that 1 night we eat at the Teppanyaki.

 

 

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7 day cruise had 2 elegant/formal nights; white party; 70’s party; pirate night and an Italian night.

 

 

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This was the best part of our cruise (wife said only good part). We pre purchased the relax for 2 package which included the spa pass for the week of the cruise. It was like $300 but got a massage, facial and body rub for 2. Figured for $120 more we got the other things as the spa week was $180 for 2 anyways. Either way...pre purchase as it is much more during the cruise ($60/day $90/day for couple and week was like $190/week or $280/week per couple.

 

 

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Hi there,

I just started looking into some msc cruises as the rates seem quite reasonable, which is great! Ive only cruised carnival, so if any of you have cruised both, what is the diffeerence in terms of food, cabins, kids clubs etc? Do they have water slides as well as pools.

my son is 7 he really loved the carnival camps.

thanks so much, any info would be appreciated!

 

trish

 

 

 

We were on the Seaside end of January. My 10 year old son loves kids clubs but not the MSC. So hard to explain rules and games in 7 languages so a lot of confusion. Was really disappointed with the food. No lobster unless you want to pay the up charge. My son is kind of a picky eater and struggled with the kids menu - cheese pizza without sauce? He had to find things on the adult menu but ended up going to the buffet. He enjoyed the slides and aqua park along with the zip line (glad to see the price coming down on it as we paid $50 for cabin pass). No arcade - unless a air hockey table ($2/game) and sit down motorcycle and car game count as an arcade. Bowling was fun but only can get about 1 game in 1/2 hour @ $25? Interactive 5D theatre was $10/adult and $8/kid for 5-10 minutes - we did twice to use up the fun pass. Oh..pools are all 6 feet deep so kids can’t just wade around. No mini golf. We had a balcony cabin and not much storage. We used a suitcase under the bed for his clothes and I had to double up our shirts as only 12 hangers. Maybe we pack to much. No problems with service. Shows were fun but pretty much the same stuff each night. They really didn’t have much to do with the title - just the costumes and back drop changed - but fun. Got to go the the Timeless show (Michael Jackson impersonator - awesome). Beautiful ship but we stick with Carnival over the MSC. We like to try different cruise lines and ships so we are going on the Harmony of the Sea next year. As far as budget and over all experience we feel Carnival does a great job. This ship is great for adults but wouldn’t recommend for kids.

 

 

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Yacht club comes with a lot of perks - should be very happy. Does it include the spa package? If not - definitely pre purchase - it was great. MSC is fine for couples or adults but don’t feel it’s a good fit with kids. My biggest complaint was the food. Main dining and buffet. Carnival wins hands down - can’t beat Guys Burgers.

 

 

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Well, almost 5 years later... I found this post while reviewing cruises, and I must say I didn't know people could get so upset over cruise line preferences, especially those who practically demand that their point of view is the only point of view.

 

Folks, everyone cruises for their own reasons. For wife and I, we just love to get on a 'big boat,' travel, and leave our worries behind. We are platinum level Carnival cruisers, but our preference is RCCL. We've sailed on the smallest, oldest CCL ships (Elation, Ecstacy, Paradise, Fascination), and one the largest (CCL Vista, Dream, Breeze, RCCL Freedom of the Seas, RCCL Oasis of the Seas). We've been on great cruises and less than great cruises, but we've come to realize that cruising is what you make it. I suppose if you're independently wealthy you can pay for a cruise where you get perfection and expect to be waited on hand and foot. Most of us haven't reached that level and just enjoy cruising.

 

Have I had great experiences on the ships we have sailed? Yes. Have we had some poor experiences? Yes. But we've never been on a bad cruise. We've never sailed on MSC, NCL, Princess, or others, but I expect they have good ships and experiences, as well as their share of problems also. Again, satisfaction is based on the perception of the cruiser. For many people one bad experience seems to shape their entire opinion of anything.

 

If you're looking to try a new ship and/or cruise line, beware those with blatant negative opinions. Me, I don't like strawberries. If you ask me about strawberries, I'll tell you everyone personal reason why you shouldn't like them. However, there are many people who like strawberries, and they'll tell you that. You must try one to see if you like them.

 

Enough said, cruise on!

 

 

 

Well said. I do have one point to add. I save so each year we can do a family vacation. I feel that cruising offers a great option. I’ve been on 10 cruises (Carnival, NCL, Disney and MSC). We don’t have a lot to spend so I look for the best deal. We just sailed on the MSC Seaside and while it was a new ship and cruise line for us, I was not happy with many parts of this cruise line and cruise ship. We were able to make the best of our cruise as you are right...it’s what you make it. You know how you have that favorite meal you get at a restaurant and you try something different only to be disappointed and saying I wish I would have just ordered my usual. That’s how we felt. If you don’t cruise much or not that often I would say - unless you feel you have to try something different I would just stay with what you like best. Don’t get me wrong it’s good to try new things as you will never know what will surprise you or disappoint you. We have already booked our next cruise on RCCL Harmony of the Sea...hope we are surprised not disappointed but either way we will have a new experience. Maybe in the future we will try MSC again but not for some time or until we see more good than bad on reviews as most of the reviews we felt were spot on.

 

 

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Figures...we were on the Seaside 1/27/18 to 2/3/18 and smelled it in a few areas but mostly around the slides and zip line. Hope it’s fixed now.

 

 

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This is very subjective and very hard to answer as it depends on what you are looking for. I have been on Disney, NCL, Carnival and just got off the MSC Seaside a few weeks ago. I can tell you this the food was the worst on the MSC. My 10 year old son and wife will not go on MSC again. Me I’m a little more forgiving as they do have great shows and other things that were good but we cruise to enjoy food and the food in the buffet and MRD was not good. Son usually loves the kids clubs but MSC was very disappointing. Took to long to explain games with all the different nationalities and not much to do. He did enjoy the shows except for the opera Butterflies which we didn’t care for. Thought it would be fun to go since we hadn’t been to an opera but won’t do that again. Just to hard to understand when you can’t understand the language.

 

 

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We were on the Seaside 1/27/18 to 2/3/18. We bought the $100 fun pass to get the extra $60. No pre-purchase available. Can use the fun pass to buy the zip line pass. It was $50 for us. We only zipped twice. Closed most of the time due to wind on sea days. Only opened for a couple hours at a time on port days - which was when we were able to do it. No line. Was fun especially if you have never done it before as good beginner experience. If you have zip lined before may not be much fun as it is not fast at all. Definitely should drop the price but probably should be free.

 

 

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We bought one of the smaller fun pass options. You just purchase the credits at the desk beside the F1 simulator and they load it onto your account.

 

 

 

We didn't press the mattress/bed issue. We were satisfied that we managed to get something for the kid to sleep on and she's only 5 so she was happy to have a comfortable mattress. It wasn't ideal but there was no other option.

 

 

 

We bought the $100 fun pass which gave us an additional $60. So we had $160 to spend. We used $50 to buy the zip line pass, did the bowling @ $25 per half hour but only got one game with 3 of us so did another half hour for the 2nd game. We did 2 games of the 4D interactive theater. Zombies and Cowboys. The other game was Godzilla. It was $10 per adult and $8 per kid and was only 5-8 minuets long - was fun. Did a couple of games of air hockey and it was gone. No arcade. Zip line was fun but not open much - usually to windy. Did it on port day. Ended up only doing it twice.

 

 

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I didn't comment on the Kid's Club in my brief review of our Feb 10 cruise because my kids didn't use the club very much. The experience they did have was sub optimal though. They complained that it took too long to get activities going because of the diversity of the group. Many of the kids didn't understand the instructions and direction had to be given in multiple languages. They also tried to schedule too much stuff. 30 minutes for a specific activity but it took 10 to 15 minutes to get things going and then 10 minutes of activity time followed by clean up. It was a lot of boredom and waiting.

 

 

 

We were excited about dodgeball the one day so I took my kid to the club. Dodgeball included using only a single ball. Many of the Euro kids didn't quite grasp the concept of the game. So essentially it was one kid with the ball and he/she would throw it at the other team. Then someone would retrieve the ball, get some instruction on what to do and throw it back. For my kid it was just a bunch of standing around in the court instead of actual physical activity. He complained about that a lot. They also did not offer the cooking class on our sailing and my kids seemed a bit disappointed with that because we told them that they could learn to do some cooking.

 

 

 

My kids did not want to spend any time in the club. They loved the clubs on NCL and Carnival though.

 

 

 

We were on the Seaside 1/27/18 to 2/3/18. My 10 year old son had the same issue with the kids club. He does not want to do another MSC cruise. However he did enjoy the show (except Butterflies Opera - which we didn’t care for either).

 

 

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Was on the Getaway September 2014 and son did parade and circus show. Kids learn circus show tricks at kids club and perform them at the main theatre. We thought it was the best show on the cruise next to the illusionarium. Hope they still do them as plan to cruise on the Getaway in 2017.

Just got off the Magic 1/10/16. Disappointed as there was 1 parade and 1 book time. Both were Cozumel (1st port) and at 5pm and 5:30. Green eggs and ham last sea day not sure the cost. No tea time. We had to get ready for dinner @ 6pm. Thought there would be another day and were wrong.

Just got off the Magic and we all got a $7.74 credit. Not much but better than nothing.

We will be on the same cruise. Last time in Roatan we did South Shore with Christopher Tours and had a great time. This time we are using Ronys Tours and doing Pirates extremely extreme. In Belize we usually go to ruins as thats the best port for those on this itinerary. Someone told me the cave tubbing was a little bkring.

Did South Shore 2 years ago. Was a blast and great for beginners very safe. Going Roatan in January 2016 & decided to try Pirates Extremely Extreme. Much higher and longer. Something different. Try to do a zip line on each cruise.

We did South Shore Zip Line 01/14 through Christopher Tours and really enjoyed it. Rained on us but was a warm rain. Got picture taken with monkey. Watch your pockets as the monkey was very curious. Great view of the ocean while zipping if not raining. Going there again in 01/16.

Just got off the NCL Getaway and was at Atlantis 9/12/14. Our itinerary was 12-6pm but got in a little early. We did the Comfort Suites Resort for the day and it was $299 for 2 Adults and 1 Child with full access to Atlantis but I know the prices vary by dates. We took a water taxi which is $4/PP one-way ($6/PP Round Trip). It was still a 10 minute walk to the resort and Comfort Suite is right next door. It can be hot so you might want to think about a taxi as they are $4/PP one-way and get there in a few minutes plus they drop you off at the door. It rained and by the time it let up we only had a couple hours to play around. Still had a lot of fun and wished I had more time. You definitely need at least 6 hours to explore the resort. We never saw the beach, blazed through the aquarium and digs, scarfed down some pizza (Pizza by the slice, Hot Dogs and Burgers go about $6 and water is $3.50) went down the big pyramid slide and hit the wave and rapids river. My 7 year old son wouldn't leave the river so we did it about 4 times including the slides on the river.

We hurried back to Comfort Suites to shower and change clothes. We got a taxi back as I didn't want to hike to the water taxi. I think this is a resort you need to stay at to enjoy everything. So figure out what you want to do and do that...don't try to do everything.

Just got off the Getaway and was at Atlantis 9/12/14. Our itinerary was 12-6pm but got in a little early. We did the Comfort Suites Resort for the day and it was $299 for 2 Adults and 1 Child with full access to Atlantis but I know the prices vary by dates. We took a water taxi which is $4/PP one-way ($6/PP Round Trip). It was still a 10 minute walk to the resort and Comfort Suite is right next door. It can be hot so you might want to think about a taxi as they are $4/PP one-way and get there in a few minutes plus they drop you off at the door. It rained and by the time it let up we only had a couple hours to play around. Still had a lot of fun and wished I had more time. You definitely need at least 6 hours to explore the resort. We never saw the beach, blazed through the aquarium and digs, scarfed down some pizza (Pizza by the slice, Hot Dogs and Burgers go about $6 and water is $3.50) went down the big pyramid slide and hit the wave and rapids river. My 7 year old son wouldn't leave the river so we did it about 4 times including the slides on the river.

We hurried back to Comfort Suites to shower and change clothes. We got a taxi back as I didn't want to hike to the water taxi. I think this is a resort you need to stay at to enjoy everything. So figure out what you want to do and do that...don't try to do everything. Lockers are all day access and start at $9 for small locker, $11 for medium locker and I think $15 for large locker. They seemed safe. You have to use credit card. If you don't return your key before they close you get charged $50. You have to be at least 48" tall to do the slides and they are strict.

Cab is $4/PP but won't leave pier or resort unless it's full. It's only a short drive but never know about traffic. The water taxi was $4/PP one-way and $6/PP round trip but it's about a 10 minute walk to the resort. I was just there 09/12/14.

Did Atlantis 09/12/14 and used a locker. The fee is $9 for a small locker, $11 for a medium and think the large one was $15. There is a $50 fee for not returning the key. Have to use a credit card. You have full access to the locker all day. Seemed safe to me as the lockers are viewable by the staff working the cash register.

Yes it is expensive but do what you want as you never know if you will get another chance...that being said we only had 2 1/2 hours in the Aquaventure as it rained most of the day we were there (09/12/14). Eat pizza, went through the aquarium and digs. Weather cleared up so we went out to do the big slides and hit the not so lazy river (rapids and waves). My 7 year old son loved the river and you can do a couple slides with the tubes...don't have to get out they have a belt drive system that pulls you up and send you down the slides. It took about 20-25 minutes to do the full river loop so we got about 4 trips around. Was worth it to us but wished we had more time...hopefully the next time. Remember, unless you are doing free things it always costs money to do most things there so it a matter of paying a little more to do something you want.

Was there Friday 9/12/14 and no charge for marina area, casino and shops. Security checks you before you enter Royal Tower where the aquarium and digs are located.