Off Seaside Saturday, Just my humble opinion

[theEvilQueen2]

We just got off Seaside, which we tried due to falling for the hype and offers of 'status match' and such. We booked an Aurea balcony, status match to Gold for RCL Diamond. Upgrade drinks to Deluxe PLUS and family internet package (which is suppose to include up to 4 devices). 

 

Our first clue should have been when our room keys weren't printed, even though I booked months ago and had taken care of all upgrades and status match. We were given a blue card instead of Gold, which we didn't find out until much later was actually a big deal and would cost us in things we were entitled to. 

 

If you ask 5 employees of this ship a question, you will get 5 different answers. If you need to know where to go to get something or something done, you will be sent on a wild goose chase. Whatever you need, the first answer will be NO, either you didn't pay for that or you bought it from an outside vendor (even though you bought it on the MSC website) so they can't help you.  You may think you bought this, but you bought that. And this is not included. And you're an idiot, so sod off. 

 

So many things were botched, from the drink package (we bought the most Plus package, and heard 'that drink is not included' from every waiter and bartender for the first 2 days) , our status match (room steward wouldn't bring us bathrobes, etc) , internet (bought family plan, they said we could only use one device at a time) , etc. The oft repeated line 'that is handled by an outside vender and there is nothing we can do onboard'. After 6 trips and long lines at guest services we got everything (mostly) straight. We were charged for a $15 drink from the first day, but I was not going to stand in line a 7th time, so let it go.   The theme of this ship seemed to be 'the customer doesn't have a clue and the answer is always NO.' (Maybe if I'd had my Gold card they would have realized that this wasn't our first rodeo.) 

 

When I bought the Plus beverage, we were told it was all inclusive, including gelato, Venchi drinks, crepes, basically everything but Venchi retail (chocolate candy). Onboard we were told that the program changed 4 weeks ago and those things are no longer included. And no, even though we bought it months ago, it was not grandfathered in. Refund for false advertising? lol. Also, Plus includes mini bar, but only the things that are standard.  Even if the brand of beer you prefer is onboard, they will not substitute. We managed to get them to take away the gin and Chivas and got 3 bottles of vodka instead, but believe me, that was a hard fight and took 3 days to accomplish.   They substituted and gave me Diet Coke... once. 

 

The bartenders are basically clueless. Mostly. Even on the day that White Russians were the drink of the day they didn't know how to make it. They made it with Stoli (ok), milk and a splash of Kahlua. I asked for heavy Kahlua and got a glorious 2nd splash. A splash, like a splash of Vermouth in a Martini. Most times any drink I ordered from their menu, the bartender needed to look up the ingredients and even then didn't get the proportions correct. I left many a drink on the table and walked away.  We went to the Aurea bar on 19 once and never went back. This was on day 3. I ordered a drink and the bartender waited on 3 people who walked up after me because he knew them from being there from the first day (Aldo, who should be fired). There were a few good bartenders, but even the good ones never got a drink exactly correct and too many of them were just rude. Don't even get me started on the waitresses in The Haven. B-word. 

 

They kept saying it was the most beautiful ship on earth, but's it's all chrome and mirrors, where's the art?  If you're the kind of person who takes a lot of selfies and likes to stare at yourself in mirrors for hours on end, you might enjoy this. Elevators, hallways, mirrors, mirrors, mirrors. If there's ever a crash you will surely be sliced to death.    

 

I finally lost it at guest services and was  brought to the supervisors office, where I had a full and complete Italian style meltdown (which is totally out of character for me).

After my melt down, the next morning we went to Future Cruises as instructed to get the Gold Card situation straight. After the crew guy acted like he was annoyed that were we bothering him. we told him our problem and without even looking at his computer he told us that there's was nothing he could do for us onboard, maybe we could get a status upgrade ON OUR NEXT CRUISE. He said NO (typical), before his fingers even touched his keyboard. I was prepared with all my paperwork. He looked it up and there it was, plain in light of day, Gold status and member number. He didn't even have to use the member number I has brought along, it was just there. Even though Guest Services had said NO way.  He checked a box or whatever and then sent us back to our beloved Guest Services to get a new card printed. Then GS sent us back to annoyed guy to see if we could get out hat or tote bag or whatever, which we never did

The next day I received a bottle of champagne and a selection of desserts (straight from the buffet, a box of Venchi would have been nice)  in my stateroom (I gave the champagne to my MDR server). What I wanted was the gift which was promised, the hat or tote or whatever. (which is fine, because they won't get any free advertising on my head). 

 

Some positive, The Meet and Greet was nice. They had drinks, snacks, a cake and a group photo with Captain that we all got a copy of. So that was nice.  

 

Also on a positive, the food was better than most cruises we've been on and the thermal spa is to die for (dry, steam, aroma, salt, salt water hot tub.) Only real problem is there are only 3 hot tables and the international clients seem to feel that chair hogging is their god given right.   I saw one couple put towels on two tables and let them sit there while they did the entire circuit of steam rooms and hot tubs. Some guy (an American of course) finally removed them and it sounded like a fist fight was about to ensue. 

 

You ladies will understand this. You know when you go to the perfume department at Macy's and the sales clerk treats you like you probably can't even afford to be there? That's pretty much how you get treated by everyone who works on this ship. Except the dining room staff, who for some reason are a delightful exception.      

 

This really has nothing to do with anything, but what the hell is the deal with The Morning Show? This is usually where you go to get some helpful information and maybe a few jokes. But the cruise director and staff mgr spend the whole time flirting with each other to the point that they should just get a room and spare us their mating dance. Every morning, the same embarrassing ritual. Sad. I got to the point here I just couldn't look. 

 

The last night we were packing and waiting for the liquor we had purchased onshore. We went to dinner, we went to show, still no liquor. Disembark instructions said if you purchased onboard you had to go to Duty Free to pick it up. So we went to Duty Free and they said we had to go to... ta da.... Guest Services. GS said that we had to go to Security on the day of debark to pick up our 'confiscated illegal liquor'. Long story short, after another round of losing my cool, the liquor was delivered to our room, a good 2 hours after we were supposed to have our suitcases in the hallway. What Ever. 

 

Now and then I complain about some small thing on my preferred cruise line, but after a taste of this alternative, I'm going home.  If you're considering this ship due to all the hype, don't.  Just don't. I cannot in good conscience keep quiet and not tell you this.    Maybe if you book Y Club it may be a different experience, but there's still a lot of bad on the rest of the ship you'll have to deal with. If you've already booked and feel you just have to try it out, make sure you take receipts, paper receipts, for everything you do and buy pre-cruise.  This may help, no guarantee. All those great things their hyping, it's ala carte or you won't get it at all. And if you don't go YC, you will be treated like you're a peasant traveling in steerage. Caveat Emptor.    

 

Happy Cruising.  

[Até]

An entertaining read, sort of brought me back to my first MSC cruise.  I couldn't figure out if you had the pre-November, 2018 Deluxe or newer Premium Plus drinks package.

[theEvilQueen2]

4 minutes ago, Até said:

An entertaining read, sort of brought me back to my first MSC cruise.  I couldn't figure out if you had the pre-November, 2018 Deluxe or newer Premium Plus drinks package.

Premium Plus. When I bought it the description included all Venchi drinks, gelato and crepes. Actually, I didn't even see any crepes.  Anyway, no longer included, but no refund. This is fraud in my opinion.

I tried to get bartenders in other bars to make, for example, a chocolate martini, but they were always just bit off. Not tasty. Hot or iced coffee drinks, not a clue. DH ordered an Irish Coffee, the bartender put a shot of Jamison in a cup of coffee. Period. When my husband said it wasn't right she said 'oh, you want whipped cream?'.  Even the most basic, standard drinks that every bartender knows. Clueless. And as I said, they couldn't even make the drinks that were on their own menus. 

[ready2cruzagain]

Sorry you had so many problems 😞. Hope my month on the Seaside is better.

[gmbhardy]

We were on the Seaside for the first time four weeks ago. We stayed in the Yacht Club and loved it, so much so that we’ve booked three more cruises. 

[floridian1]

Sorry you had such a poor experience ..i would be frustrated too. 

[neptuno]

34 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

We were on the Seaside for the first time four weeks ago. We stayed in the Yacht Club and loved it, so much so that we’ve booked three more cruises. 

Well for the extra $1000/person/week in YC  you should be pleased.  Basically, MSC is cramming cattle on a cargo ship and selling vacations at a discount.   Perhaps YC is the way to go?

[Até]

2 hours ago, theEvilQueen2 said:

Premium Plus. When I bought it the description included all Venchi drinks, gelato and crepes. Actually, I didn't even see any crepes.  Anyway, no longer included, but no refund. This is fraud in my opinion.

I tried to get bartenders in other bars to make, for example, a chocolate martini, but they were always just bit off. Not tasty... Clueless. And as I said, they couldn't even make the drinks that were on their own menus. 

Thanks for clarifying.  MSC sure could have done a better job rolling out those new drink packages.  I'm trying not to sound callous but you sailed May 4 and by that point it had been well established the new drinks packages were only drinks and did not include Venchi or gelato.  I admit that's not always fair to say, most people don't follow CC or the cruise lines websites to keep abreast of what's changing, and with MSC it often takes a lot of attention to try figuring out what is going on. 

 

I do completely agree with you about the training of bar staff.  Over time I have found at each bar there is usually one experienced bartender and a couple newer apprentices and then also downright trainees that probably have zero bar experience.  MSC leans towards each bar catering to different needs.  Did you happen to go to the Welcome bar, or whatever they call it now, next to the specialty restaurants on deck 16?  It didn't take us long to figure out that MSC put extra effort into that venue by having better drinks selections, higher quality brands and more experienced bartenders.  And even there I'll admit a couple times fill in bartenders made us some terrible drinks.  But overall there was no comparison to what you got at other venues, e.g. the pool bars, and I can fully understand this.  In the same vein I fully understand why you couldn't get a tasty chocolate martini outside of the Venchi bar, in my mind having them available everywhere on the ship kind of defeats the point and is a bit unrealistic.

 

I rarely comment on review threads, mostly because I feel CC provides a separate review section for them and also because I feel the reviewer's experience shouldn't be subject to scrutiny by others.  But you posted it here and it just reminded me of the initial confusion of my first MSC cruise in comparison to the US based cruise lines I had sailed before.  I wouldn't call myself an MSC cheerleader, they have plenty of flaws of which you have hit upon several.  MSC still does have a lot of work to do to win over the US customer base from other cruise lines, they say it's one of their priorities.  In reality I think there is only so much they are going to be willing or able to change in order to achieve this goal.  I hope the experience wasn't a total waste for you, and I wish you happy future voyages on your preferred line(s).

[sidari]

EvilQueen2 ... Like Ate above your post reminds me of some of our early MSC cruises and to a point our most recent ones over Xmas and New Year.

The problem with MSC is that they are a company of attack and defence only with no midfield support, the attack being the senior managers and CEO`s who are constantly spouting off about how good they are while rolling out ships so fast that they are struggling to crew them hence the issue with certain staff areas many of whom are new to working on a cruise ship. They have ship managers who are that in name only and are not allowed to make decisions without going up the chain of command.

 

The defence, those on the ship are trying their best to cope with over demand, too many people for the size of ship and lack of numbers of staff in most if not all areas, house keeping a prime example where stewards have gone from having 20 to 30 cabins to clean, little wonder we read here and elsewhere that some people do not see their steward! The default fall back position it seems is the word "No"  or we cannot do anything about or it is not included hence one reason we take copies of items booked etc. Most senior managers appear to be italian who again appear to have a take it or leave it attitude due to how their masters have programmed them.

 

So that leaves the Midfield or lack of it, the middle ground where common sense should prevail and where those with the title manager are allowed to make onboard decisions in a timely manner in order to sort out guests issues instead of waving them away like some naughty school child.

Going back to our last two cruises mentioned above which were both on Divina, we got speaking to one of the "managers" whilst on the pier in Costa Maya before boarding the ship and were discussing a few minor issues one of which was regarding a power strip which had been taken from us in Miami at security but was onboard the ship, after speaking to the Captain at the Meet and Greet it was returned to us. However the "manager" on the pier said to us in a quiet voice so as not to be overheard by two other crew members there, I am a manager as you know and have seen but i am a manager in name only! that is not what you want to hear from any manager. 

This is what is wrong with MSC and will never ever be put right unless, A) they stop running before they can walk with regard to new ship numbers and treating customers with respect.  B) crew the ships correctly with regard to numbers. C) Stop treating cruise customers as cargo as though they were on their merchant fleet. D) Allow managers to actually manage and stop the attitude of "we" are always right and the customer is always wrong.

Some on here have accused me and others of being cheerleaders for MSC, as you can see from this post alone I am anything but, though I do also praise staff on here and in person when they do things right.

Edited May 14, 2019 by sidari

[jcathers1]

Sorry you had a bad time, but I can't agree with almost all of what you reported. Our cruise was wonderful--not perfect, of course. No cruise line is (and we've sailed plenty of them). The changes to the drink package were instituted by management, not the bartenders. As frustrated as you seem to have been with it, imagine them having to learn this ever-evolving scheme--and on top of that, having to deal with thoroughly discourteous customers (the kind who would refer to people making minimum wage as "clueless" and "the b-word").

 

On a positive note, when we see folks on a ship having a "full Italian-style meltdown", we seize it as an opportunity to teach our children the value of treating those less-fortunate than ourselves with respect, even if we are frustrated about something as serious and consequential as the amount of Khalua in our drink. Fortunately, they are now as embarrassed by this behavior as we are. 

 

The irony here for me is that even as you are attempting to dissuade folks from sailing on the Seaside, you couldn't help but mention your frustration when they refused to upgrade you on your next cruise or provide you some swag to take home with you.

 

Happy sailings on your preferred cruise line.

 

[JoeFo44]

24 minutes ago, jcathers1 said:

Sorry you had a bad time, but I can't agree with almost all of what you reported. Our cruise was wonderful--not perfect, of course. No cruise line is (and we've sailed plenty of them). The changes to the drink package were instituted by management, not the bartenders. As frustrated as you seem to have been with it, imagine them having to learn this ever-evolving scheme--and on top of that, having to deal with thoroughly discourteous customers (the kind who would refer to people making minimum wage as "clueless" and "the b-word").

 

On a positive note, when we see folks on a ship having a "full Italian-style meltdown", we seize it as an opportunity to teach our children the value of treating those less-fortunate than ourselves with respect, even if we are frustrated about something as serious and consequential as the amount of Khalua in our drink. Fortunately, they are now as embarrassed by this behavior as we are. 

 

The irony here for me is that even as you are attempting to dissuade folks from sailing on the Seaside, you couldn't help but mention your frustration when they refused to upgrade you on your next cruise or provide you some swag to take home with you.

 

Happy sailings on your preferred cruise line.

 

Very well said.  I have a feeling a lot is being left out of this story.  While a confusing subject for sure, with a little research, the drink packages aren't hard to understand.  The Premium plus has NEVER been advertised to include all the food/smoothie/chocolate options.  That was the old All-In Deluxe package.  That changed MONTHS ago. 

[theEvilQueen2]

I should apologize for the 'Italian meltdown' comment. I was taking literary license, but unfair and unattractive. DH is half Sicilian and is almost always cool as a cucumber. But when pushed, like we were on this cruise, the volume and hand gestures came out. 

 

As I said, we are Diamond on RCL, so this was not our first cruise. In fact we have taken well over 50 cruises and have not experienced most of the negatives we found on Seaside. I was not confused. I know what was promised, I printed out all the descriptions, the prices, when I purchased said items and did not expect to have to spend hours of my cruise standing in line to get what I paid for. If I order a drink that costs $10 and I have PLUS, I don't want to be told 'that's not on your package'. If I wanted to hear that I would have stuck with the basic package and not paid an additional  $600+.  

 

Yes, I am well aware that the bartenders or other crew do not set the parameters of things like a drink package and I didn't blame them for that. The fault is with the company. We upgraded the beverage package a few months ago by calling customer service and discussed with them the various options and decided to go Plus based on the Venchi drinks included, the included mini bar and being able to order a drink through room service. Less than a month later they changed the program and took out Venchi. I was not notified by the company of this change and of course was not offered a price adjustment at any time. As a consumer it is not my responsibility to keep up with their changes on CC or anywhere else. I should expect to receive what I paid for, what was represented to me at point of purchase, both online and by their company agent.  Saying that anyone who buys after a certain date doesn't get something is fine, but to sell one thing and deliver another is unacceptable. Name for me one company, service, product that you find it OK for them to deliver less than what you paid for. To misrepresent the product?  What review would you give them on ebay or Amazon? 

 

It's also not the fault of the bartenders that they don't know their job. MSC should train them better before they put them out to the public. I went to bartending school when I was in college. It's not that hard. MSC knew for years they were building this ship and specifically to attract the American market, they should have hired early enough to have training classes for ALL departments and not rely on 'on the job training.' The current customers deserve the same service that will be given a year from now after the crew has more experience.  But yeah, they ARE clueless, but that's the fault of improper training.

 

As for the b-word, that is totally on the employee.  Yes, they're over worked, yes they're under trained, but none of that gives them the right to thrust their bad attitude on the guests. Once in a while we all have a bad day, but the level of rudeness from so many of the crew is just unacceptable. I'm a nice person, I treat everyone with respect, and I did not deserve how I was often treated. 

 

j cathers1, you totally misread what I wrote. I was not looking for a status upgrade on the next cruise. I wanted them to honor the status upgrade I was already given and give me the proper card color and promised benefits that go along with that status. I was in Aurea and Gold status, yet I had to fight to get a bathrobe. A first world problem for sure, I'm just saying, deliver what you promised. One of the reasons I even considered MSC was due to the status match, something I've heard from many cruisers, so it really is something they should make good on. 

 

I also realize that a full review should be put in the review section. But I put it here specifically because there have been so many threads of people questioning their decision to try MSC and if the negative reviews are to be believed. This is my answer to those questions. I could have scrolled through each thread and addressed each issue individually, but I wanted to get this out while still fresh in my mind. 

 

Go MSC, don't go MSC, your choice, no skin off my back. I won't be going back and I've told you why. 

[mafig]

Sorry about your cruise, EvilQueen.

It took me years before I worked up the nerve to cruise on MSC.  I would constantly read reviews such as yours … some were pretty funny ….. they're funny when it's not you, of course.

Anyway, our research did lead us to trying them, and it dawned on me that there were very few, if no, bad reviews for the Yacht Club, which is what we did.  

Because of that, we have no hesitation in booking MSC again.  We're also Elite on Celebrity and Diamond on Royal, so they are our cruiselines of choice, but with them we feel we don't need (and most of the times can't afford) a suite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theEvilQueen2]

• I looked at YC but decided that at nearly twice the price it wasn't worth it. We usually book an ocean balcony on RCL and Celebrity, purchase a drink and internet package, and that gives us all we need. DH likes a massage and I like the spa, so we also add these on. Even with all that, the price is much lower than YC.  But even if we booked YC, we'd eventually have to wander from the front of the ship and deal with all the other problems ship wide. Maybe when the crew sees your YC room key they suddenly have an attitude judgement. I don't know, but for the price of YC and the experience we had, we're certainly not going to throw away any more money on this cruise line. I will probably be stressed out for another week just going over all of it in my head. 

Happy Cruising

[Beamafar]

We've sailed in YC five times and 'steerage' seventeen times (on MSC).  We have never been treated differently by the crew when we've had a YC cruisecard as opposed to when we didn't have one.

 

Apart from an occasional incident, we have never experienced the level of bad experiences that you have - and certainly not all in the one cruise.  It's unfortunate that it was that way for you.

 

I know from speaking with a lot of crew on many ships over the years that many of them don't like working on US-based ships and prefer being in the Med.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Beamafar

[sidari]

Bea ... On our two Seaside cruises the VC rep was a very nice Italian lady who we had come across on two other cruises, funnily enough she made the same comment that you have posted that she did not like working out of Miami! 

[gmbhardy]

5 minutes ago, theEvilQueen2 said:

• I looked at YC but decided that at nearly twice the price it wasn't worth it. We usually book an ocean balcony on RCL and Celebrity, purchase a drink and internet package, and that gives us all we need. DH likes a massage and I like the spa, so we also add these on. Even with all that, the price is much lower than YC.  But even if we booked YC, we'd eventually have to wander from the front of the ship and deal with all the other problems ship wide. Maybe when the crew sees your YC room key they suddenly have an attitude judgement. I don't know, but for the price of YC and the experience we had, we're certainly not going to throw away any more money on this cruise line. I will probably be stressed out for another week just going over all of it in my head. 

Happy Cruising

 

When you factor in what you paid for the drink package upgrade, I doubt it was twice as much. The YC drink package includes the Venchy perks and Thermal Spa passes are also included. I think when you look at what you get in the YC, it’s pretty good value. Also you don’t really need to leave the YC all that much,  as it really is a “ship within a ship”.  The only time we left was to go the the theatre or to the Venchy chocolate bar. I know, based on your experience, I’m not going to charge your mind about MSC but I’m just posting to give CC readers a more balanced perspective.

[mafig]

When I compare pricing on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean to MSC I don't compare the pricing of a balcony vs. Yacht Club....I compare the price of a suite to MSC.  

There's where you see the value and the comparison is more apples to apples.

[jean87510]

Omg. Thank God I canceled. Thank you for posting your review. I feel still that for the steerage class, it still doesn't look like MSC is ready in the US market yet. Yacht club appears ok. It may the reason why the yacht club was sold out on my cruise.

[nikkiw60]

Maybe we are easy to please but we have had a great time on our 3 so far MSC cruises. The crew were brilliant and very friendly. We did see occasions were customer service people were being screamed at by some passengers, one memorable one was a woman  kicking off about not being able to do the status match mid cruise so that she could get the perks.

[sidari]

26 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Omg. Thank God I canceled. Thank you for posting your review. I feel still that for the steerage class, it still doesn't look like MSC is ready in the US market yet. Yacht club appears ok. It may the reason why the yacht club was sold out on my cruise.

Our two cruises on Seaside were very good with few problems, we were on the Inaugural sailing and then back on at the end of April last year. Both times we had the Aurea package but in different cabins, Xmas was an Aft Aurea Suite while April was an Aurea balcony at the front. Xmas 18 we were on Divina in an Aurea balcony and over New year in a Fantastica balcony, at no time did we feel that service was any different between the two experience levels. If a bar looked too busy we went to a different one that was less so.

On all occasions we had the Deluxe drink package apart from the Fantastica balcony, luckily Venchi was still included on Seaside on both occasions and Gelato was included on Divina.

[theEvilQueen2]

In all the cruises we've been on I rarely have had the need to visit Guest Services, let alone 6 times. Every time the lines were long, suggesting we weren't the only people having problems. I gathered that on the first days most of the problems were with drink package upgrades that were not being honored. But other problems must have popped up because the GS lines never got much shorter.. day or night.  

 

The people working GS were frequently being yelled out, but usually in a language I don't speak so I can't say what the problem was. But for me, most of the problem steamed from the crew just never knew the correct answer to anything. 

 

Liquor we purchased on Grand Cayman for example. The night before debark we were packing and waiting and waiting for our liquor so I could properly pack it and get our luggage to the hallway. We planned on dinner at 8, show at 9:45. About 7 DH read the debark instructions and they said you had to pick up liquor you purchased onboard at the duty free. So we went to Duty Free to ask about the liquor we purchased on shore and were told to get in another line. We got to the front of the line and were told that we had to go to GS. So we went to GS (where the line was a mile long) and managed to grab an employee who was expediting the line and he told us that our 'confiscated illegal liquor' could be collected at security the next morning. Pressing him further, explaining that the liquor was not 'confiscated', but delivered by the store to the ship, he went to check. He then called Housekeeping and was told that liquor would be delivered to our cabin by the 11:00 luggage deadline. 

 

So, 4 people, 4 different answers.

 

You would think the first guy, who works in the duty free, could have simply told us to chill, we would eventually get our liquor in our room. But the way things had gone thus far, we felt that nothing could be taken for granted.

 

And yes, I realize that had we sprung for YC our butler would have taken care of all of this and therefore it's all my fault for not spending the extra money so I could spend my entire cruise on the top 3 decks at the front of the ship and not have to deal with inferior crew and other riff raff guests sailing in steerage.

 

Lesson learned.  

 

DH is still pissed off about the bartender, AJ (not Aldo) on 19, who took my order than ignored me and waited on 3 other people who walked up later. Of all the stuff we dealt with, that one is really sticking in his crawl. It was just so rude and disrespectful. DH was still ranting about it tonight all the way out the door. He's probably still mumbling about in his car driving to work. Never Again.  

 

Happy Cruising. 

 

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

I sailed Seaside 4-27-19...

 

Bartenders had no trouble making my Woodford on ice..even a can of mixer on the side..Premium Package...my card read with The Easy numbers, but I had called pre cruise and upgraded...once they scanned the card, or recognized The Bride or I, no issues. Purple Rain and the Hemingway Daquiri were on point at times too..never any upcharge for any liquor drinks..

 

it it wasn’t perfect, but bar service was the least of my issues...

 

Agree on the bar at the specialty restaurants, it was on point...and you didn’t have to be eating to get a drink...

[MiniChunks]

We recently sailed on Seaside in YC, but our experience anywhere outside YC almost exactly mirrors yours. Getting charged for drinks that were included, wrong directions, constantly feeling like you were going to run into someone(except it was just me in the mirror). I thoroughly enjoyed the YC experience, but would never book that ship again without YC. 

[#1TravelMom]

Wow - Sorry to hear of your specific experience.  I know that one glitch(wrong status) can start a vacation off on the wrong foot.  

 

We have been on 60+ cruises and will be on our second on the the Seaside in a few weeks.  We had a great cruise last Thanksgiving.  I hope your comments don't scare people into cancelling.  If you search any cruiseline board, you will read reviews like this and much worse.  No one line or ship is perfect for everyone.  We had very few complaints while on the Seaside and can't wait to return. 

 

We absolutely loved the Cruise Director and the Morning Show.  We thought they were hilarious and fun.  I can't remember one single Cruise Director from any past cruise - only the Seaside.  

 

We are just "average" people looking for a great vacation value.  Seaside gave that to us for sure.