MSC Seaside May 26 Review (compare to Royal-RCL & Carnival-CCL)

[soccer2010]

We have sailed on RCL about 8 times and CCL twice. First time on MSC.

 

Embarkment: just like the RCL & CCL quick and efficient.

 

Cabin (Interior): small cabin and small bathroom, limited storage. Limited English TV channels. If you really like towel animals, you'll be disappointed. Cabin was fine for us.

 

Elevators: typically quick

 

MDR: excellent quality food, portions good size, slightly smaller than RCL & CCL. Fish was excellent as other dishes were. Italian dishes were just Okay (really). If you want dancing and singing waiters then you will be disappointed. Seaside now has 3 dining times> There was a lot of waiters, working hard and efficient, food came fast. Dinner was usually around an hour and 15 minutes. The waiters we had were professional and efficient but not very engaging in conversation. Not a problem for us as we vacation to be engaged with our group of 4. Oh the dreaded dinner photo "opportunity" each nite ... not on MSC as they came by one nite only :)

 

Buffet (breakfast and lunch): high quality food but a little lacking in options and the same everyday. The ethnic section each day consisted of chicken and meat tacos and chips and salsa. Again the quality is better than RCL and CCL. Call buttons at table and server came quickly to see what beverages you needed. The big disappointment for me was the pizza that was only Okay (really just okay and it was reported to be best at sea).

 

Snack options: limited buffet selections for snacks. Ice cream machine only in upper deck buffet which we went to once and they served you a small cone with minimal ice cream.

 

Main Theatre Entertainment: much better than RCL and well CCL should just give up. The singers were excellent, the dancers very good and then many had special talents that were included in the shows ... African gymnasts, contortionists, hoola hoop specialist (amazing), a pair of great athletes that did I guess more gymnastic stuff, a talented ballet pole dancer, ballet dancers, illusions.

 

Comedy: the only comedy was beer-prov. We didn't enjoy it. CCL wins this one by a mile.

 

Pool/deck: We hung out at the South Beach pool Adults and 16+). Almost no announcements and half the area was for smokers. This worked great for us.

 

South Beach Bar: right next to the pool and service was great. My spouse had the soda package and you never felt like a tip was expected or even wanted when ordering a soft drink. We each got 12 free drinks for the week. You gave them your coupon and your seapass and you had nothing to sign for. Again no tip expected and I didn't see very much tipping, so a dollar got you a very generous pour.

 

Up-selling: very little. The specialty restaurants is all they pushed. The photographers were there but they didn't bother you unless you asked them.

 

European feel: not so much.

 

We are in our 50s and been on about 10 cruises, so the staff that is more laid back and not a party atmosphere was great for us.

 

Value: extremely great value for the price.

[mafig]

Thank you for sharing. Surprised about the pizza.

[kimala]

Thanks for your review. You mentioned you got the coupon perk. We are booked under that promo as well. Were your coupons waiting for you in your stateroom?

[soccer2010]

Coupons were delivered by cabin steward early afternoon on 1st day as you had to sign for them. You could use them for the wonderful gelato as well.

[CTBob]

When we sailed on the Seaside in January the coupons were in our cabin when we arrived and I signed for them a few days later, I heard that some people didn't get their coupons for a couple of days. I guess it depends on your steward. Bob

[sidari]

Bob ... On both of our cruises we received no coupons!

[Beamafar]

Bob ... On both of our cruises we received no coupons!

 

Dave ... only US bookings get the coupons and then only if they're Fantastica (you were in Aurea, so had your drinks included, anyway).

[BethV114]

Thank you for your review. Your experience on Seaside sounds quite similar to our experience on Divina. We have cruised Royal and Celebrity a lot, but tried Divina last year based on the great pricing. We went on Liberty this year because we wanted to combine a cruise with a trip to visit family in Texas.

 

We quite enjoyed Divina, although DD did love the splash zone and water slides on Liberty. We are now booked on Seaside for next spring, with our family from Texas looking at joining us for their first cruise. I think Seaside will be a good combination of the things we loved from Divina with a bit more in the way of fun for DD, and is a good choice for introducing our family to the fun of cruising!

[TruRed76]

Thanks for the review! We are trying MSC for the first time next year and are very excited about the ship! I always hate sea days and I find that I’m actually looking forward to them this time!

 

 

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[MANDMTRAVEL]

Thanks for posting. What are the dinner times?

[soccer2010]

Thanks for posting. What are the dinner times?

In our dining room, we were 5:30 and I believe 7:30 and 9:30 were the others.

The other dining room started at 5:15, so I'm guessing 7:15 and 9:15.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[soccer2010]

Thank you for your review. Your experience on Seaside sounds quite similar to our experience on Divina. We have cruised Royal and Celebrity a lot, but tried Divina last year based on the great pricing. We went on Liberty this year because we wanted to combine a cruise with a trip to visit family in Texas.

 

We quite enjoyed Divina, although DD did love the splash zone and water slides on Liberty. We are now booked on Seaside for next spring, with our family from Texas looking at joining us for their first cruise. I think Seaside will be a good combination of the things we loved from Divina with a bit more in the way of fun for DD, and is a good choice for introducing our family to the fun of cruising!

Well from what we saw, the splash zone, water slides and water tubes looked excellent on Seaside ... enjoy.