First MSC Cruise - MSC Seaside 12-30-2017 Sailing_Review with Pictures

Happy New Year to everyone!

As of the time just before we embarked on this cruise, wehad already taken 17 cruises all with CCL and RCI. Our preferred cruise line atthe time was RCI, but we were intrigued by the new ship design of MSC Seasideand the chance to go on a cruise during New Year's celebration. Also, thepricing was good for a New Year’s cruise.

However, before all those cruises, as a child I sailedwith my family onboard the MV Apapa from Liverpool to West Africa. Some CCmembers from the UK may know about Apapa and other liners from back in the day.Back then I had no idea what Port or Starboard side was. No such thing an Azipod or ship Stabilizer, nor any vision of a Royal Promenade or Ship Atrium.Where was Lloyd or Bob (Clarea) to ask these questions and get shipconstruction photos? LoL

I have been a member of CC for a few years now and I amvery grateful to many members who have shared their insights, advice andreviews over the years. I have spent much of my time on the RCI boards forobvious reasons as stated above and appreciate everyone's input there but alsothanks to the folks here on the MSC boards for sharing their thoughts andeducating newcomers here like me.

So, bear with me as I attempt my very first review, andhopefully I can also share at minimum, a different perspective, insight,pictures and etc. from the already other great reviews of MSC Seaside postedhere.

Booking

I booked MSC Seaside back in January 2016 and the firstcabin booked was a Fantastica Suite. After several days of studying deck plansand trying to figure out how big this "suite" was, I came to therealization that this cabin was basically the size a regular cabin and notanywhere in the size of the Junior Suites we typically book on RCI. So lookingfor a cabin with bigger space and a larger balcony, a corner GS on deck 12became available and I called MSC and made the switch. The GS Suite 12002 wascategorized as Wellness suite measuring (according to MSC), 425 sqft for cabin and 118 sqft for balcony.Great size I'm thinking since it's a little bigger than a GS on Harmony. Still,I was not sure about this new category "Wellness". Then finally 11003became available and I jumped on it. Again, according to MSC 11003 measured 522sqft cabin and 127 sqft balcony. More on the cabin later.

Before I did the online check-in, I upgraded our drinkpackage to All-Inclusive Deluxe, did prepaid gratuities and booked excursions.

We arrived at the port around 12PM and upon entering intothe terminal and checking where to go, we were directed to the Black Card line.The wait was very short and within a few minutes we were all checked-in and onour way to board the ship.

First impressions, she is beautiful, lots of shinny andglitzy stuff and yes very different from entering into the Royal Promenade ofOasis for the first time. But different is good and a welcome change. Like mostarriving around lunch time, we proceeded to the buffet on deck 8. Yes it wascrowded inside but there were lots of tables’ available outside. Our groupwanted to sit inside though and we lucked out and found a big table on the portside.

The buffet had a good selection of items,including roast beef (carving station), beef stroganoff, fish, burgers, hotdogs, pizza, rice, mash potatoes, sweet potato fries, vegetables, selection offruit and desert and few more offerings. Food can be a very subjective thing,so for me the selection was good and I enjoyed it.

Here is my Very first meal with MSC and on Seaside

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Cabin

Around 2pm the cabins were ready and we proceeded to godrop off our stuff and check the cabin. Up to this point there was no photo orcorrect cabin layout that I have seen of 11003. I did earlier see a video ofwhat I later concluded could have been 11002 and a CC member "cruisin'friends" was also kind enough to share some insights about 11002 from whatthey were allowed to share. Thank you cruisin' friends.

I booked this cabin sight unseen and strictly went by thedimensions provided by MSC. Unlike others, I did know it was a 1 bedroom and 1bath suite. And now with so much anticipation I could finally see the illusiveGS cabin and how big the cabin is going to be with that huge 127 sqft balcony.Well, hmmmm!

Cabin - First impressions, it was huge. It had aseparate walking closet and through it a master bath with shower (recall MSCsite said bath tub). Also present was a very spacious separate master bed withits own door, with lots of storage and a Porthole window facing forward. TheLiving area likewise was huge (as compared to the GS on Harmony OTS). It had agood size sofa bed, four chairs and a glass table in the middle. Directlyopposite the sofa on the far wall was a large desk and above it, maybe a 50inch TV. A minibar was right below another counter just before the balconydoor. The decor was alright. They could have done much better with colorselection as the carpet was the same color as the sofa, chairs and chase. Sooverall it was a very good cabin with lots of space.

Cabin 11003 Layout and Photos.

Since MSC did not show the correct cabin layout at the time of my sailing I️ drew one out. So excuse my hand writing.

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Enjoying so far...

GS 11003

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GS 11003

Bathroom is through the walk-in closet

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Great review so far!!

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Balcony - What a disappointment.

I knew that the balcony was going to be steeland was ok with that because I could sit and still see over. What was shockingwas how small it was compared to what was and still is being advertised. It wassold as 127 sqft balcony, but in actuality it was maybe 50 sqft. Why? Well anengineer and or designer decided to put a balcony divider to the right of thedoor and only finished the balcony section flooring to that point. That meantthat everything forward of that point was unusable (waisted) balcony space. Sowith two chairs, a lounger and table the balcony was tight. I asked the roomsteward if the closed side could be opened so that I could at least slide thelounger in there.

GS 11003 Balcony

Behind the divider was empty space

And after it was opened this is what it looked like.

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Enjoying your review and the nice

photos!

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The ship is very beautiful. Here are some random photos.

From Top 19

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Enjoying....some really weird/awkward space decisions for balcony and the furniture chosen under the port hole window in BR....Would have been more useful to make that a sitting area with a table lamp and chair(s)

Departing from Miami

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Dining

In making this booking we opted for late seating like wehave always done and enjoyed. Upon check-in we were assigned to IpanemaRestaurant and the 7:45PM seating. After going through some table assignment confusionwe were moved to a table on the Portside and next to s window. It was a greatlocation after-all. Things were moving slow maybe because it was the first nightand typically most people do go to the dining room, yet it was a very niceatmosphere and good mix of people, nationalities and cultures. And yes, from myperspective, a beautiful thing and sight to see such a mix. The dining roomcompared to the Oasis or Freedom class ships is much smaller which as we wouldfind out later poses some challenges.

Food - It can be very subjective. Different people havedifferent taste and preferences. Before this cruise, I heard a lot about MSCfood and the portion sizes not being adequate for the US market. Well for meand the people in my group, the food was good and tasty. You could order two orthree of anything no problem. By midway through the cruise, five of the six onour table all concluded that the Seafood we had on this cruise was better thanany we had before. Again, according to our taste and preference that is how wefelt. Interestingly though, around 9:20PM the dining room lights flickered onan off a few times. Strange we thought. It turns out that there was a thirddinner seating starting at 9:45PM. Of all the cruises I had taken, I have neverseen any with a three dinner seating. This had to be tough on the dining roomstaff and sometimes it showed. Nevertheless, they did a great job.

First dinner entree - Lamb, very tasty.

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Later that evening we wondered around the atrium which has a very nice setting.

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Thank you all for your comments.

Icapagejr - Yes some of the stuff as far as balcony and furniture placement was strange.

Sea Day / New Years eve

The next day was a Sea Day and a day to relax and enjoythe ship. We slept late and ordered breakfast room service. Unlike other cruiselines, MSC does not serve hot breakfast for room service. At least that is whatwe were told when we called room service. Instead, you get continentalbreakfast including an assortment of pastries and fruit if you desire and a potof coffee. Not a big deal either way.

Around noon the Captain came on the loud speaker toinform everyone that they had spotted a small capsized vessel and will beturning around to check on it. If I am not mistaken, I think Maritime Lawrequires vessels to come to the aid of another if in the same vicinity. At thistime we were off the Coast of Cuba. MSC Seaside began to turn right to the starboardside and circled this small vessel to see if anyone was on it and neededassistance. From a distant, it looked like Whale and that’s because the bottomwas visible. After several minutes or searching, no one was found and Seasidecontinued on towards Jamaica.

Pictures of small capsized vessel and Bridge Offices checking area.

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Later that afternoon we did some more exploring of theship, had some Gelato and then went to the CC Meet and Mingle. There wasanother event (some talk about Diamonds and jewelry) going on in the assignedroom that went over so the MM started later. Perhaps that’s the reason that noother CC members showed up. The Hotel Director, Cruise Director, Guest ServicesDirector and few other staff members were all there. They had prepared thishuge and tasty cake for all the CC members who were coming except no one but meand my family showed up. We had a nice chat with all the officers and staff there, who werevery appreciative and welcoming.

Cruise Critic cake presented by MSC Seaside

Terrific photos, really enjoying this!

First Elegant Night

After that great cake and since we had the drink packagethat included all Gelato we went to deck 6 and had mango and coconut gelato. Thesewere some of our favorite flavors and the mango was very refreshing. We walkedaround and checked out the shops and some of sale tables setup outside thehallways. The pricing and deals on most of the stuff was good and maybe even betterpriced than the competition.

Time to had back to the cabin and get ready for the firstElegant Night (Formal Night on other cruise lines). As you would expect, manypeople were dressed very elegantly and there were some who just wanted to becomfortable. Nothing wrong with that as each person has their own idea as tohow they want to enjoy their cruise. Besides, everyone was in a great mood,having fun and taking pictures. The crew also help set the mood by givingeveryone a Happy New Year crown for the ladies and hat for the gentlemen.

The food and main attraction for dinner was Filet Mignonand Lobster Tails. Five of the people on our table ordered this and all five usunanimously agreed it was the best formal dinner we had ever had on a cruise.For one, we did not expect the combination of filet mignon and lobster on thesame plate. Other cruise lines if I recall correctly give you a choice of seafoodor meat. Secondly, the filet mignon was very big and the lobster was a goodside also. Most of us on our table had more than one lobster tail as our waiterwas kind enough to bring more just before we started to eat and gave us somemore. As a matter of fact, about over half way through the cruise, we ateenough shrimp cocktail, fish, clams and calamari that we concluded that Seasidehad the best seafood compared to all our other cruises.

And here is the Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail

More to follow on New Year’s Eve festivities.

Thanks for the great review.

Terrific photos, really enjoying this!

Bob - Thanks very much. I truly appreciate all the insights you have shared over the years in the various CC threads. And on this cruise, I remember a while back you were giving someone or commenting on some alternative good places to try in Cozumel. We tried one of those this time, Mr. Sanchos. Thank you for that suggestion and I will have more on Cozumel later.