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Back from Seaside : January 20-27

cruzeluver

By cruzeluver,
in MSC Cruises

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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Hello everyone! We are back from the January 20-27 sailing of Seaside and I thought I would share some thoughts. My husband and I have been on around 20 cruises, fairly spread out between Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival (and a couple of NCL) and were looking for something different. My husband saw a commercial for Seaside and that sold him, so we did some research and decided to book. Really glad that we did! We stayed on deck 15 in Fantastica balcony 15094. We took full advantage of the mealtime drink package and additional drink vouchers we received with out booking. We also purchased the coffee vouchers and got our fill of specialty coffees. So, here we go!

 

Service : For us this was an area where MSC really impressed us. Crew were all around fantastic! Very warm, very personable, while remaining highly professional. Our stateroom attendant Glenda was outstanding! She was so efficient and hard-working, but would always pause for a brief chat when we would see her. Bar service throughout the ship was excellent, particularly at the Atrium Bar and Haven which were our primary hangouts. Service and Venchi was also very good, Our dining room wait team were among the best we have ever had. They knew just how to pace the meal so we were not too rushed, but no long gaps between courses. Guest services were very knowledgeable and professional.

 

Sewage Smell : The only time we personally smelled anything was on deck four forward while waiting to disembark in Nassau. It was pretty strong in the morning but was not noticeable when we returned to the ship. A couple we had dinner with each evening were on deck 15 forward and the smell got bad enough on the third day that they had to be moved to another room. Fortunately there was an equivalent room type available. Outside of those two examples I am not aware of any others.

 

Zipline and Waterslides: None of the slides (including the slideboard) incur a charge. They were all a lot of fun and we definitely took advantage of them. We did pay the $50.00 for unlimited use of the zipline. We though that may end up being and issue as it was closed boarding day and the first two sea days due to wind. But once it opened we had ample opportunity to ride and it was a lot of fun. Great views as well!

 

Food : Another area where MSC shines! Hands down, without a doubt the best buffet food we have ever had on any ship, any line (and this is coming from a pretty hard-core buffet hater, just not usually a fan of them). Food that should be hot was consistently hot, and cold food consistently cold. Nice selections for breakfasts, lunches and snacks (did not eat dinner in the buffet at all). The pizza lives up to the hype. Terrific! Food in the main dining room also ranks pretty high for us (I would compare it favorably to Celebrity who we have always thought does the best in this area). Portion sizes were right on, dishes were flavorful and beautifully presented. If you are a pasta lover you will be in Heaven! Pasta is made on board and is terrific,as is risotto and most seafood dishes. Beef including the always available steak and prime rib were also very good and cooked to the requested temperatures. We had 8 at our table in the Seashore Dining Room, 8:30 seating.

 

Entertainment : No complaints here either. Great options for live music. Most evenings we enjoyed the Caribbean party band in Haven which became our pre-dinner drink hang out. Lovely space and service was spot on. Productions shows were sensational. Not the typical stuff found on the US-based lines. More involving dance, acrobatics, some magic and cirque type performers. The singers and dancers were great across the board. On par with Royal and Celebrity and light years ahead of the cheap, so-called "entertainment" Carnival is now putting on. Each evening but one there was also a classical concert in the theater which we thoroughly enjoyed as well.

 

Fellow Passengers : We were greatly looking forward to the broader mix of passengers than what we typically experience and this did turn out to be a highlight for us. We met charming people from all over Europe (primarily France, Italy, Germany and Spain). Ship announcements and greetings in the theater were made in Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. By and large everyone was in "vacation mode" and very, very friendly. Of course there were also the usual grumps who never seemed to be happy. My husband had an unfortunate experience in an elevator with a charming "gentleman" who felt the need to let everyone know he was an American and was sick of dealing with all these "foreigners". Other than that ass and a man screaming at guest services about how he would not hesitate to sue MSC (not sure what had him so riled up), people were fun, friendly and enhanced our cruise considerably.

 

Meet & Mingle and Ports : Our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle was on the second sea day at 5:00PM in Haven. Great turn out! Not sure exactly how many showed up but well over 100. Captain Scala, CD Andre and several other crew members attended and put on a nice event for us. In Antigua we did a private tour with a small group organized by the amazing Tina from our roll call. Even thought we were a couple of hours late arriving due to a medical emergency, our guides from Bonita Tours waited for us. They are excellent! We went to Shirley Heights, Falmouth and Nelson's dockyard. Our tour also included a great lunch at a tiny little restaurant all for $40.00 per person. Not bad at all! In St Thomas we had lunch at Gladys' Cafe, an old favorite, , shopped downtown and wandered through some of the historical sites. Always a good time on this charming island. In Nassau we also just hung around town, visited the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle again and had lunch in town. It was very windy that day, in fact another ship chose to not dock due to the high winds. Overall we had a good time in our ports.

 

Ship Design/Decor/Amenities : Seaside really is stunning. It may not have the "wow" factor of say Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships, but she is absolutely beautiful. Decor is very tasteful with lots of muted colors, heavy on gray and maroon. Public spaces are comfortable and well thought out. Having two separate buffets is pure genius and really kept crowd control in check. Even on boarding day we had no problems. There are a few Can't-get-there-from-here spots, but once you figure them out its a piece of cake. The MSC for Me app, ship maps and interactive computers throughout worked really well and helped in this regard.

 

I cannot say enough how much we enjoyed our week on Seaside and would not hesitate to return. They really do seem to have taken care of a lot of the early service issues that plagued the first reviews. While we have cruises already booked on other lines, when it comes time to look for another one, MSC will most certainly be on the list of lines for us to consider.

 

I am happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

Edited by cruzeluver
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CONCH65

CONCH65

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"A couple we had dinner with each evening were on deck 15 forward and the smell got bad enough on the third day that they had to be moved to another room. Fortunately there was an equivalent room type available."





Uh Oh. We are boarding this Saturday in a deck 15 forward interior room and the ship is sold out!

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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Uh Oh. We are boarding this Saturday in a deck 15 forward interior room and the ship is sold out!

 

Don't despair! You may not have a problem. The issue was apparently very isolated. Cabin two away fro our table mates had no sewage issue at all.

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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Glad you enjoyed your cruise and nice to see such a positive review. Question, for the cruise critic meet, were you given an invitation or was it just listed in the dallies?

Invitations were delivered to our stateroom the day prior to the Meet & Mingle. It was not listed in the dailies.

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szinkievich

szinkievich

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We had our cruise from Jan 13-20 on MSC we were on the 14th floor 14159. That sewage smell was horrible on all the floors. Some rooms didn't have the smell but the hallways did and our room did. They were supposed to give us an air freshener and never did. I will not go on MSC again and I will never recommend them to anyone. Member services didn't care when we mentioned the smell and people smoking next to us on the balcony. Unexceptionable!:mad:

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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We had our cruise from Jan 13-20 on MSC we were on the 14th floor 14159. That sewage smell was horrible on all the floors. Some rooms didn't have the smell but the hallways did and our room did. They were supposed to give us an air freshener and never did. I will not go on MSC again and I will never recommend them to anyone. Member services didn't care when we mentioned the smell and people smoking next to us on the balcony. Unexceptionable!clear.png?emoji-mad-1709

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic. I see this is your first post.

 

Sorry for your experience. We did not experience a smell on all decks. I suppose it can change week to week. The only place we noticed it was during disembarkation in Nassau on deck four forward and a handful of staterooms very far forward on deck 15. Our friends who reported the issue with their stateroom were taken care of immediately. At first the room was sprayed, but when that did not work they were relocated to an alternate stateroom.

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GRANNYOFSIX

GRANNYOFSIX

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Hi cruzeluver.....Thank you for a wonderful review!! So happy to hear you enjoyed your cruise! We will be cruising on the Seaside on February 17th!!

 

I noticed you are Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal. We have your same status and were status matched to BLACK card (MSC highest level). Noticed your status is SILVER on MSC........wondering why they didn't status match you to Black??? So many extra perks with being Black card.....we enjoyed them on our first MSC cruise last February on the Divina.

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone! We are back from the January 20-27 sailing of Seaside and I thought I would share some thoughts. My husband and I have been on around 20 cruises, fairly spread out between Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival (and a couple of NCL) and were looking for something different. My husband saw a commercial for Seaside and that sold him, so we did some research and decided to book. Really glad that we did! We stayed on deck 15 in Fantastica balcony 15094. We took full advantage of the mealtime drink package and additional drink vouchers we received with out booking. We also purchased the coffee vouchers and got our fill of specialty coffees. So, here we go!

 

Service : For us this was an area where MSC really impressed us. Crew were all around fantastic! Very warm, very personable, while remaining highly professional. Our stateroom attendant Glenda was outstanding! She was so efficient and hard-working, but would always pause for a brief chat when we would see her. Bar service throughout the ship was excellent, particularly at the Atrium Bar and Haven which were our primary hangouts. Service and Venchi was also very good, Our dining room wait team were among the best we have ever had. They knew just how to pace the meal so we were not too rushed, but no long gaps between courses. Guest services were very knowledgeable and professional.

 

Sewage Smell : The only time we personally smelled anything was on deck four forward while waiting to disembark in Nassau. It was pretty strong in the morning but was not noticeable when we returned to the ship. A couple we had dinner with each evening were on deck 15 forward and the smell got bad enough on the third day that they had to be moved to another room. Fortunately there was an equivalent room type available. Outside of those two examples I am not aware of any others.

 

Zipline and Waterslides: None of the slides (including the slideboard) incur a charge. They were all a lot of fun and we definitely took advantage of them. We did pay the $50.00 for unlimited use of the zipline. We though that may end up being and issue as it was closed boarding day and the first two sea days due to wind. But once it opened we had ample opportunity to ride and it was a lot of fun. Great views as well!

 

Food : Another area where MSC shines! Hands down, without a doubt the best buffet food we have ever had on any ship, any line (and this is coming from a pretty hard-core buffet hater, just not usually a fan of them). Food that should be hot was consistently hot, and cold food consistently cold. Nice selections for breakfasts, lunches and snacks (did not eat dinner in the buffet at all). The pizza lives up to the hype. Terrific! Food in the main dining room also ranks pretty high for us (I would compare it favorably to Celebrity who we have always thought does the best in this area). Portion sizes were right on, dishes were flavorful and beautifully presented. If you are a pasta lover you will be in Heaven! Pasta is made on board and is terrific,as is risotto and most seafood dishes. Beef including the always available steak and prime rib were also very good and cooked to the requested temperatures. We had 8 at our table in the Seashore Dining Room, 8:30 seating.

 

Entertainment : No complaints here either. Great options for live music. Most evenings we enjoyed the Caribbean party band in Haven which became our pre-dinner drink hang out. Lovely space and service was spot on. Productions shows were sensational. Not the typical stuff found on the US-based lines. More involving dance, acrobatics, some magic and cirque type performers. The singers and dancers were great across the board. On par with Royal and Celebrity and light years ahead of the cheap, so-called "entertainment" Carnival is now putting on. Each evening but one there was also a classical concert in the theater which we thoroughly enjoyed as well.

 

Fellow Passengers : We were greatly looking forward to the broader mix of passengers than what we typically experience and this did turn out to be a highlight for us. We met charming people from all over Europe (primarily France, Italy, Germany and Spain). Ship announcements and greetings in the theater were made in Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. By and large everyone was in "vacation mode" and very, very friendly. Of course there were also the usual grumps who never seemed to be happy. My husband had an unfortunate experience in an elevator with a charming "gentleman" who felt the need to let everyone know he was an American and was sick of dealing with all these "foreigners". Other than that ass and a man screaming at guest services about how he would not hesitate to sue MSC (not sure what had him so riled up), people were fun, friendly and enhanced our cruise considerably.

 

Meet & Mingle and Ports : Our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle was on the second sea day at 5:00PM in Haven. Great turn out! Not sure exactly how many showed up but well over 100. Captain Scala, CD Andre and several other crew members attended and put on a nice event for us. In Antigua we did a private tour with a small group organized by the amazing Tina from our roll call. Even thought we were a couple of hours late arriving due to a medical emergency, our guides from Bonita Tours waited for us. They are excellent! We went to Shirley Heights, Falmouth and Nelson's dockyard. Our tour also included a great lunch at a tiny little restaurant all for $40.00 per person. Not bad at all! In St Thomas we had lunch at Gladys' Cafe, an old favorite, , shopped downtown and wandered through some of the historical sites. Always a good time on this charming island. In Nassau we also just hung around town, visited the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle again and had lunch in town. It was very windy that day, in fact another ship chose to not dock due to the high winds. Overall we had a good time in our ports.

 

Ship Design/Decor/Amenities : Seaside really is stunning. It may not have the "wow" factor of say Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships, but she is absolutely beautiful. Decor is very tasteful with lots of muted colors, heavy on gray and maroon. Public spaces are comfortable and well thought out. Having two separate buffets is pure genius and really kept crowd control in check. Even on boarding day we had no problems. There are a few Can't-get-there-from-here spots, but once you figure them out its a piece of cake. The MSC for Me app, ship maps and interactive computers throughout worked really well and helped in this regard.

 

I cannot say enough how much we enjoyed our week on Seaside and would not hesitate to return. They really do seem to have taken care of a lot of the early service issues that plagued the first reviews. While we have cruises already booked on other lines, when it comes time to look for another one, MSC will most certainly be on the list of lines for us to consider.

 

I am happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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I noticed you are Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal. We have your same status and were status matched to BLACK card (MSC highest level). Noticed your status is SILVER on MSC........wondering why they didn't status match you to Black??? So many extra perks with being Black card.....we enjoyed them on our first MSC cruise last February on the Divina.

 

 

When we booked Seaside we were still Select on Celebrity and Emerald on Royal. Would have been nice to have had the Black card perks, but oh well! It took nothing away from our fabulous week!

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lovelights

lovelights

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Another one hit wonder rolls in and rolls out again I see ... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

I'm glad you mentioned this, because I got off this same ship, just 2 weeks ago, and I was thinking the exact same thing. This has got to be the first person that has said that the buffet was better than any other buffet on any ship they've been on. It was the worse one we've ever had on all the cruises we've been on.

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bonagrad

bonagrad

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Great review! The coffee package, did you purchase it ahead of time or on board? It does not show as an option for me. I called MSC and the person told me I could get it on board. I had a call from another rep yesterday and asked her and she said it's been discontinued, yet I've read of others who say they have it available on their planner! Not sure what to believe at this point, but I'd like to buy it. Not sure why they'd discontinue it. Every line offers one.

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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I'm glad you mentioned this, because I got off this same ship, just 2 weeks ago, and I was thinking the exact same thing. This has got to be the first person that has said that the buffet was better than any other buffet on any ship they've been on. It was the worse one we've ever had on all the cruises we've been on.

 

 

Um, I am not the one hit wonder in question. I am a long time CC member and poster (close to 14 years) And yes, I stand by my opinion that the buffet on Seaside is superior to any others we have experienced on the four other lines we have sailed. Food is incredibly subjective, but we had no issues with temperatures, selection or anything else. Never struggled to find a seat whether at the main buffet on deck 8 or the smaller one on deck 16.

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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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Great review! The coffee package, did you purchase it ahead of time or on board? It does not show as an option for me. I called MSC and the person told me I could get it on board. I had a call from another rep yesterday and asked her and she said it's been discontinued, yet I've read of others who say they have it available on their planner! Not sure what to believe at this point, but I'd like to buy it. Not sure why they'd discontinue it. Every line offers one.

 

 

We booked it ahead of time online. But I do know the web site has issues and sometimes things that should be available are not. It was also available for purchase on the ship. It was $29 US for 15 coffee vouchers that could be redeemed for basic coffee drinks likes espresso, lattes, cafe mochas etc. as well as the deluxe coffee drinks like afogato. Coffee drinks with alcohol and shakes were not included.

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toxicfairy

toxicfairy

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Great review! The coffee package, did you purchase it ahead of time or on board? It does not show as an option for me. I called MSC and the person told me I could get it on board. I had a call from another rep yesterday and asked her and she said it's been discontinued, yet I've read of others who say they have it available on their planner! Not sure what to believe at this point, but I'd like to buy it. Not sure why they'd discontinue it. Every line offers one.

Keep watching. All the drink packages for our july seaside cruise disappeared. Then out of the blue they are back on the planner. 😱

 

Sent from my LGMP450 using Forums mobile app

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ejd

ejd

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Great review Cruzeluver,

 

Will be hopping aboard the Seaside this Saturday. Been on ~ 15 cruises Celebrity, RCL, NCL Princess and Carnival. Like you, I saw the ad and figured I would give it a try. Was getting a little concerned about all the negative reviews. The concern level has now dropped.

 

Thanks,

EJD

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