ellie1145

37 minutes ago, Host CMLA said:

 

This is what Uber says:

 

Thank you so much. That is really helpful. 

We will be dropping off our hire car at the Miami airport rental facility.
 

Where do we pick up an Uber please? Is there a special area? 
 

Many thanks. 

Does anyone know what the current onboard price is for internet for one device please?

Many thanks!

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

First and foremost, don't believe everything you read on the internet. Most of it is totally fake news. 

 

We sailed on the Seascape in March and had a wonderful cruise. The ship is stunning and service wonderful.

 

If you want a peek at some of the ship's facility, here's my live post from that cruise in March. 

 

Wow! What a fabulous ‘Live From.’

Thank you so much! I’ve started reading it and it’s fascinating.

A few questions, please.

1. What time did you get to the port?

2. Do they provide any water with dinner or is this extra?

3. Do you know how much the internet package is, and did you get a discount for being Diamond? (We are also Diamond). Apologies if you discuss this in your review, but I’ve not got to the end yet…😉

4. If you do the Back to Back, do you get any perks on the second cruise?

5. We normally do Late Dining, but hadn’t realised it was THAT late 🫢

    We are only Fantastica so no anytime dining for us, but what are the chances of changing to Early Sitting at 7.30?
 

Many thanks!

2 hours ago, BeeeJay said:

I spent 6 weeks on MSC Seascape and will be returning on the June 15th cruise as well.  

 

I spent the first 2 weeks in Yacht Club, the last 4 in Gen Pop.  I went on a 2-week Southern Princess cruise right after.  I had a blast on all of it.  MSC Gen Pop is def a ***** show, but the ship is nice and you can always grab some pizza or a burger easily.   I hung out in the adults only area during my Gen Pop stint and had an absolute blast with excellent service as I tipped a small amount.

 

I guess my answer is if I rebooked after 6 weeks aboard, I didn't think it was that bad at all!  Enjoy your cruise and see you onboard!

We look forward to seeing you! Thank you for your positive comments .👍🏻🙂

1 hour ago, Av8tor said:

From my only MIA cruise experience:  Don't depart or return on the same day as the Miami Marathon - road closures made it a MESS getting to/from the port!!!

When is the Miami Marathon please?

19 minutes ago, mcoler181 said:

Having only sailed Royal 4 times previously it felt a very different cruise with obviously Royal being mainly Americans. 

Yes, our Virtuosa cruises had a very different vibe. A bit more ‘excitable’ perhaps? At least it won’t be too much of a shock!
 

Luckily, we never sit round the pool on loungers so we won’t need to get involved in the daily battle to secure a chair! 🤣

11 minutes ago, mcoler181 said:

It was a real mixed bag but I'd say Europeans made up the largest contingent, Brits definitely in the minority, still lots of American though.

 

In the show one night the Entertainment director went through all the nationalities on board and was getting everyone to cheer when their country was called out, he must have covered most counties in Europe and South America, plus US and Canada. I've never been on such a diverse cruise. 

 

 

That’s interesting. Thank you for posting. It was what I suspected. 🙂

Out of interest, are the majority of passengers American or do Europeans (Germans, French, Italians etc) make up the largest contingent? 

16 hours ago, mcoler181 said:

The cabin has two US, two European and I think two USB ports so being British you will need adaptors. 

Thank you. Much appreciated. 👍🏻

7 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

It is not a sad event should one play it smart. Everyone shows up at 9:30 am, disregarding their allotted boarding times. Hence the need for YCers to butt in front of the lines. By noon, guests arrive and there is no longer a need to serpentine a line. Just go immediately through screening to check in to boarding. Boarding generally doesn't start til 11:30 waiting for the B2Bers to board first after clearing at 11:17 when the last stragglers (Zeros) are found hiding on the ship and escorted off by the Sheriff's department.

I love your description of the stragglers! 🤣

1 hour ago, KittyCruz said:

We sailed YC back in November and really enjoyed ourselves. 

I think there is something  to what you said that  more people will complain than say something nice, but I went back to the reviews and there are actually quite a few good or positive ones since I left ours.  

We found crew both in and outside of the YC to be really great!  From the folks who were cleaning handrails to the bartenders that made your drinks

I think a cruise is what you make of it, there are things we all have to deal with (lines, wait times, oddball cruise passengers) but at the end of the day its a vacation and time to enjoy and relax

Thank you for that. I absolutely agree that a cruise is what you make of it. 
 

 On our last cruise 4 days ago on Anthem, we overheard a passenger (a Brit, to my shame) reading the riot act in the Buffet. We thought that at the very least he had found a toe in his burger or a piece of the anchor in his soup. But no, he was complaining about the custard (vanilla sauce) which he said was cold, and heaven forbid, there were flat plates available, not bowls. 
 

We sat there with our proverbial mouths open wishing the ocean would swallow him up as he berated one of the senior staff about this most heinous of crimes. This went on for a full 20 mins or so and the staff member was mortified and tried to placate him  
 

Honestly, if cold custard is all you have to complain about then you are very lucky. I guess he would be one who expressed the belief that it was the cruise from hell.

No cruise is perfect but some people just like to complain. 
 

We are looking forward to seeing the ocean from our balcony, being able to relax after a very hectic year in which we moved house, some nice ports and lovely beaches. As long as the ship and our cabin are clean, the bed is comfy and there are no bed bugs we will be more than happy. And not having to shop, cook or wash up will be a win win for us. 
 

Thank you for all your positive comments. We can’t wait to sail. 

11 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Not many know this, but there are those passengers that get on at different Caribbean ports. Not many, but those that do must be the first to be rounded up to go through CBP before the ship can be cleared before any other passengers can get off. These passengers are called "Downliners", having got on the ship 'down the line'. Many times these "downliners" do not follow procedure and have to be hunted down delaying ship clearance.

P.S. This is when the ship gets back to it's US port of departure.

That’s really interesting. Thank you. 👍🙂

12 hours ago, Tierun said:

 Responded in RED

Thank you so much for your comprehensive answers. They are most helpful. 👍🙂

11 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Also Yacht Club has a separate security line in the terminal. One will be escorted into the terminal in small groups of 10-20 into the terminal and through screening then to separate room for check in and pictures and keycards and wristbands. One time there was only one screening machine working and the MSC escorts stopped the steerage line to butt the next group of Yacht Club folks in front of them. We were part of this first group to butt in front of the hundreds serpentining in the terminal. It was a nice 'touch'.

Sadly we are steerage so looks like will be joining the long lines! 🤣

10 hours ago, tofubeast said:

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! 

Hope you have a great time! Think we will too!!

Bon Voyage! 

On 5/15/2024 at 8:23 PM, showingdiva said:

 

If I'm honest, and having done three Virtuosa cruises, plus one on almost identical sister Euribia (and three more booked over the next three summers), I struggle to understand some of the reviews of her.   I "defected" from P&O but still cruise with Cunard too.

 

Cruising on anything in July, there's going to be a lot of kids - all four nations' schools will have broken up by then.  

 

The food has a Mediterranean aspect to it, although over the last few summers she has been based out of Southampton, there have been "British" additions.   Put it this way, I've never gone hungry.   The Market Place buffet needs avoided at peak times 8-9am and 12-1pm.   A lot of cruise lines have put an emphasis on paid for specialty restaurants.  MSC is no different.   Hola! tacos at £18 a head all you can eat is great.

 

Plenty deck space (even more if you are in Yacht Club).

 

One of the main problems I see is that people are expecting champagne at lemonade prices.    The ship is beautiful and very clean and the crew work hard (twice a day room servicing if that's important to you).

Very well said. 
 

Our 2 cruises on her were a real bargain. Under £500 for a week in a balcony! Extraordinary vslue

As for the food, well every ship we’ve been on it’s mass produced. Even Cunard. You can’t expect anything more. 

On 5/15/2024 at 5:24 PM, vwgolf2 said:

My wife and I are considering a cruise on the Virtuosa from Southampton in July. We're seasoned cruisers (27 and counting) but never with MSC. I've read some online reviews and they are, quite frankly, pretty bad so I'm wondering what differentiates MSC in general, and the Virtuosa in particular, from the other cruise lines we've been on: P&O, Marella and Royal Caribbean mostly. The food and deck space are he most important aspects to us on a cruise.

We have done 2 cruises on Virtuosa and our expectations were very low. We have done approx 80 cruises with a variety of cruise lines and each has their pros and cons. 

However, we were agreeably surprised. She’s a beautiful ship, there are plenty of lounges to escape to (eg the chocolate shop) and we thought the food and service in the MDR were excellent. 
 

It IS a busy ship, they pick up and drop off passengers at each port so many announcements in several languages. This can get a bit tedious. 
 

The embarkation area is ridiculously small and causes massive traffic jams. 
 

We liked the quirky elevators. Some people hate them. We found them efficient. 
 

Senior Management were active in the buffet making sure everything was working ok. They were continually inspecting the food and the staff. 
 

There is a big family area behind the dessert station. We used it a lot despite having no kids as surprisingly there were few families using it. 
 

The desserts were stunning in the Buffet. Far superior to RCI desserts on anthem which were same old, same old every day including the ubiquitous hot dessert, bread pudding. Same desserts they have been doing for 25 years! 

There was afternoon tea every day in the buffet with delicious scones (better than Cunard) with huge bowls of cream and jam and sandwiches and cakes. Most unexpected. 
 

Entertainment was suitable for any nationality so mostly music. We missed comedy shows. Difficult to cater for so many nationalities I guess. 
 

Cabin was lovely - we weren’t in the YC

Fantastic light display each night on the ceiling of the promenade. Stunning. 
 

Trivia poor and unimaginative but again, difficult with so many languages. 
 

We did one ship’s tour to the Normandy beaches. Very expensive but brilliant and well worth it. It was an amazing experience. 
 

All in all it was much better than expected. 
 

We embarked the ship at 10.00 am as they pick up and put down passengers at each port so no requirement to clear the ship before starting embarkation. Check in area was deserted and we were on the ship in minutes and went straight up to breakfast. 
 

Hope you enjoy it if you book it! 👍
 

On 5/21/2024 at 5:03 PM, kad56 said:

So I know that MSCs tech isn't great. Just booked my first cruise, and whenever I try to access my booking online with either my booking number or login it just buffers forever (ship icon and grayed out screen) or I get some weird tech error message. I don't want to contact their tech support because based on what I've read here, that would take a lot of work, and the issue might never get resolved... so, how do I check in for my cruise? Is there workaround online? Do I call them? Do I just show up at the ship on boarding day?

Thought we were the only ones having a problem! 
 

Couldn’t access the check in. Just went round and round in circles inputting info and getting nowhere. 
 

Phoned MSC in the UK and they were utterly useless. Said as we’d booked through a TA they had to sort it.

Called our TA who sorted it and took our passport information over the phone. He said lots of people were having trouble. 
 

The app is certainly a nightmare! 
 

6 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Just in case some of you missed my 5 minute 360 degree walk through of the Market Place Buffet at a typical 7 am morning. It starts getting crazy after 7:30 am.  Also MPB is really quite nice noon times when it is in port and still open.

Wow thank you for posting that video. It looks great. 

7 hours ago, mcoler181 said:

Totally agree with that comment, we had only sailed Royal prior to Sescape and was amazed by the amount of nationality's on Seascape. 

We’ve just returned from a Norway cruise on Anthem and there were over 40 nationalities amongst passengers! Quite a record I think. 

We are looking forward to our forthcoming cruise on Seascape, having enjoyed 2 cruises on Virtuosa from Southampton. It will be our 80th cruise and have enjoyed trips on several different cruise lines 

i have a few questions which I’m sure some of you kind people will answer. 
 

We are top tier so is there a special line for check in?

Does the ship pick up at each port like in Europe?

Do they serve water at dinner or do you have to pay for it? 
 

What is the internet like and is it cheaper to pre-book before we embark?

Do they still give a discount on internet packages to Diamond members?  
 

What adaptors are needed in the cabin?

Do they supply bars of soap or is it only the liquid kind? 

Many thanks in advance. 

41 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Currently on Seascape.  Last week it was a zoo - very crowded around the atrium areas and very loud.  There is a different demographic onboard this week (less Americans and almost 1000 Brazilians, who like to party).  Terrific atmosphere and easier to navigate the ship - especially in the evenings.  Had we not stayed on for a second week I would have said never again.

 

For us, the food is cheap and poor quality.  We found the buffet options extremely limited.  However, the sea day brunch is not to be missed.  Mr B has the huavos rancheros every time.  I opted for steak and eggs a couple of times, but tried the  chicken and rice dish a couple of days ago and it was really good.  (There is a thread on here about the brunch, with the menu available in the OP).  We usually go around 12pm when it’s not so busy. 

 

The crew have been amazing and we’ve received exceptional service from them.  We hang out at the bar in Cabaret Rouge and have great craic with the lads. 
 

@morpheusofthesea Thanks so much for tip about Indian butter chicken being listed in the healthy options section of the menu - I discovered that it’s on tonight. 
 

 

Thank you for your response to my initial question. So glad you’ve had a great experience following your first week. Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise. 🛳️

6 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I read your post earlier this morning and immediately went to CruiseCritic Reviews of the Seascape and found the most recent reviews were all from Nov/Dec 2022 when the ship just came out. So I took the time to write my review that I had in April 2024 on the Seascape. Most everyone here already knows from reading my posts that this last cruise in April was perhaps the best cruise we have ever taken. Perhaps not the most exotic, but from a purely luxury type cruise it was much better than our March 2024 Regent Seven Seas cruise in a Grand Suite for $30,000.

   Every cruise guru will advise never take a cruise on a new ship for at least several months.  One of our veteran butlers told us it took them 3 months to become a "working crew". Will be on your cruise in June. Stop by and say hello. We will be hiding out again in the YC.

Thank you for that interesting post. So pleased you had a wonderful time. 
 

We would love to say ‘hello’ but I’m afraid we won’t be in the YC so you would need to find us in steerage 🤣🤣 But we’d love to see you, but not sure how we’d do that. The YC sounds fabulous. 
 

8 hours ago, peder said:

No, it's not really that bad. Same way that the NCL Prima and Viva are not that bad (though I do not understand why the Prima/Viva wasted so much space on the race track). The Seaside-class ships are quite different than the typical cruise ship, maximizing outdoor space for warm climates. Most of the complaints are that the ship feels crowded, but I found that there were always plenty of loungers free, even when the ship was sailing full, it was just a matter of moving around to find them.

 

Also note that many Americans' first experience with MSC was with the Seascape. Many of the reviews of the Seascape are very Amero-centric and expect MSC to be exactly like Carnival/Royal/etc.

Thank you for your input. I think it will have helped having been on Virtuosa, which is a different kettle of fish to the more American ships. There is certainly a big difference in the European style of cruising and some people might have found the constant announcements in several different languages a bit of a pain. But it’s not a deal breaker for us.