Seaside Pros and cons.

[MISTER 67]

Just back today and thought I'd share some observations.

We are veterans of 57 cruises with now 5 on MSC, previous 4 on the Divina, we are in our early 70s.

What we liked:

Excellent service

Very good food in the Marketplace buffet

The photo department with digital kiosks to find your photos instead of thousands of photos placed on racks.

Embarkation and walk off disembarkation were the best ever, we were close to being first on board and were the second couple off the ship at 6:50am.

Liked the swipe method of your ID card, very easy unlocking cabin and ordering photos etc etc.

MSC For Me is the best on board app we have used.

We are Black Card members and MSC is very generous in their perks.

Some great sales in the shops.

Happy Hour in the Casino where you can play Blackjack for 3 bucks a hand.

I have found that you can actually win some money on the slots, I was ahead 60 dollars on this cruise and won slots money on 3 of the Divina cruises.

The Drinks On Us was a nice package but we aren't big drinkers having a total of 25 drinks for the week.

 

What we didn't like:

We had a Bella veranda, smallest closet and drawer space of any of our 56 previous cruises. Same with the bathroom. The night stands are a joke.

I'm not sure if MSC put pressure on the shipbuilder to finish the ship as early as possible as we had some problems in the cabin. Sliding closet door kept coming off the track.

You had to slam the bathroom door for it to close.

The deadbolt on the cabin door did not slide to its closed posistion.

Unable to flush toilet on Thursday night, called at 9PM, wasn't fixed until 1:30AM because someone got our room number wrong when we called at 9PM. My wife needed to use the toilet at 1AM and we couldn't get a hold of the front office so I had to get out of bed and head down to deck 5 and resolve the situation.

The shows in the Metropolitan theater were just OK, if you're going to put on a Frank Sinatra show you should try to have an American singer with English being his native language. I can't believe they had one of the ladies singing New York, New York with a Spanish accent.

The themed shows were all the same, some bad songs interlaced with acrobats and hula hoops and that square thing they twirl. There should be one show a week with acrobats, how many times can you see this stuff, they are very talented but it gets old after 5 cruises on MSC. The best show was The Dream. The best entertainment all week was the opera based on Madame Butterly, the cast was fantastic.

How could MSC build a ship that can accommodate 5,000 passengers and build a showroom that seats 1000 people. This had an effect on dining times and the length of the shows. We have never been on a ship that had 3 dining times, 5:15, 7:15 and 9:15.which led to 29 minute shows with 3 shows a night. We met a waiter from a cruise on the Divina who remembered on us and told us the 3 seatings a night were tough and some crew members were opting out of their contracts. Our cabin steward had 20 cabins and the workload was killing him.

The Seaside is spectacular but there is way too much in the way of mirrors and glass, I actually almost walked into some glass when I came out of a shop on deck 6. not once but twice. We think the Divina is much better ship with more a more typical indoor design with more intimate lounges.

The reservation system for the shows was a joke, no one ever checked us as we entered the showroom, this was basically an insurance policy to cover their rear ends because there were 3,000 total seats available for the 3 shows with almost 5,000 passengers.

Seems like to us that MSC went after a younger crowd with the Seaside, music was very loud with a constant beat of drums just about everywhere. We could hear it while dining which was annoying. There were no violin or piano concerts in the atrium, just loud annoying rock music.

We won't sail on the Seaside anymore and await the arrival of the Meriviglia and of course hoping to sail on the Divina again.

Will try to answer any questions.

Edited September 9, 2018 by MISTER 67

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts and agree with you we love the Divina much more.

[waterbabyfish]

I just got off yesterday...the white party was the best all tho very hot! Food was so so, nothing spectacular! Had issues with the drinks on us promotion...first two days we were charged for drinks and had to go to customer service to finally get it straighten out! Need to improve on the bar service, they just dont push the drinks!

 

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[markf]

question--in one section you say there are 1000 seats I showroom in another 3,000 seats--which is correct?

[DipBrat]

question--in one section you say there are 1000 seats I showroom in another 3,000 seats--which is correct?

 

1000 per show X 3 shows= 3000 per night

[MISTER 67]

I just got off yesterday...the white party was the best all tho very hot! Food was so so, nothing spectacular! Had issues with the drinks on us promotion...first two days we were charged for drinks and had to go to customer service to finally get it straighten out! Need to improve on the bar service, they just dont push the drinks!

 

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We had no problem with the charges paying just the gratuities but you're right, bar service is slow.

 

The Seaview seemed understaffed, I'm starting to wonder if the daily gratuity charges are all going to the crew with the company pocketing some of the gratuities. This is not an MSC problem, it's industry wide. We talked to someone in a high posistion and he was with Holland America for 20 years and left because HAL fired 10% of their crew on all their ships. Our last Princess cruise was in June on the Caribbean Princess and that vessel also seemed understaffed.

[waterbabyfish]

But if you look at the ratio of crew vs passengers, seaside for the amount of passengers is off by about 40%.

 

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[MISTER 67]

1000 per show X 3 shows= 3000 per night

 

Thanks for answering the question for me, I thought I explained the situation well enough but I guess not.

[MISTER 67]

But if you look at the ratio of crew vs passengers, seaside for the amount of passengers is off by about 40%.

 

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Forums mobile app

 

Back in the day, most cruise ships had 1 crew member for every 2 passengers. The Seaview has 1413 crew members for 4134 passengers based on double occupency, not good.

[Beamafar]

Sorry ... can you clarify whether the thread is about Seaside or Seaview, please?

[MISTER 67]

Sorry ... can you clarify whether the thread is about Seaside or Seaview, please?

 

Sorry about that, Seaside.

[Beamafar]

Thanks, Mr67!

 

 

We're booked on Seaview next year so, obviously, I'm more interested in reviews, comments etc about that particular ship. However, I enjoyed reading your opinions on Seaside as you've made some really good points (which would probably be relevant to Seaview as well).

[beachliving01]

Can you tell me what time is happy hours in the casino? We have the AI package for drinks, but my son and daughter in law have the drink tickets. Since we all love to do a little gambling this will be nice for us to enjoy some blackjack, while the kids can save some money during happy hour.

[MISTER 67]

Can you tell me what time is happy hours in the casino? We have the AI package for drinks, but my son and daughter in law have the drink tickets. Since we all love to do a little gambling this will be nice for us to enjoy some blackjack, while the kids can save some money during happy hour.

 

Happy hour is from 11AM to PM. You can play Blackjack for 3 bucks a hand. The rest of the afternoon it's 5 dollars and in the evening it goes to 10 dollars.

[beachliving01]

mister67, I do appreciate your response, but it looks like you may have forgotten to include when happy hour ends.

[MISTER 67]

mister67, I do appreciate your response, but it looks like you may have forgotten to include when happy hour ends.

 

Sorry, 11AM to 1PM.

[dodger1964]

What time did you arrive at port for embarkation?

 

And did "black status" mean anything for checking in?

 

Thanks

[scottsvb]

Couple questions... did it cost $$ to use the water slides? I think the Zip line was extra.

 

Also on the drink package... I see it includes Beer,Wine, Basic Rum,Vodka ..etc...and non alcoholic drinks...but were Frozen drinks with alcohol included like Straw Daqs, Pina Colada, Fuzzy Navel,..etc ? Thank you

[MISTER 67]

What time did you arrive at port for embarkation?

 

And did "black status" mean anything for checking in?

 

Thanks

 

Black card members board right after Yacht Club, we were on by 11:30AM and headed right to the Marketplace buffet and had to wait for it to open at 12 noon.

We live in Florida and drive to the port and are always pretty close to being first to board.

[MISTER 67]

Couple questions... did it cost $$ to use the water slides? I think the Zip line was extra.

 

Also on the drink package... I see it includes Beer,Wine, Basic Rum,Vodka ..etc...and non alcoholic drinks...but were Frozen drinks with alcohol included like Straw Daqs, Pina Colada, Fuzzy Navel,..etc ? Thank you

 

We don't do zip lines and water slides, I thought either the zip or the water slide were 9 dollars, not positive.

 

The Drinks on Us Package is very basic. Most Beers, Whiskey, gin, vodka, rum and a mixer. Wine was the basic house variety, either a red, white or white zin. Soda pop is included. No Pina Colada, Martini or Manhattan.

[maureencruiser]

And did "black status" mean anything for checking in?

 

Black card members board right after Yacht Club, we were on by 11:30AM and headed right to the Marketplace buffet and had to wait for it to open at 12 noon.

 

Also, if you are not there at the beginning, there is a dedicated line for Black Members. My last cruise, when I showed the attendant my Black status, he said, Thank God, no one's been in that line all day. :'):')