My View: Trading the Landscape for the Seascape

[APDMOM]

We are about to embark on our 39th voyage at sea, trading the landscape for an adventure on Seascape. We are in Miami and opted for an AirBnB this time, as it was much more affordable than the latest hotel prices.

 

For those who are not familiar with my reviews/trip reports, I will be posting Tips in red to accommodate the skim-readers.  🙂

 

If there are any requests, just post here.  I will do my best to find the answers.  We have 2 Fantastica balconies.  Will share more about that later.

 

Thanks to @Radio who just did a fun live review, I am well informed and prepared for this trip.  I know he will be posting menus so I will just share anything that stands out to us with our experience. 

 

Our itinerary:

Goodbye Landscape:  Passing Downtown Jax on the way to Miami

 

 

 

[jethapgun]

Looking forward to your review! Plus, I think you are on our Seaside cruise in May!! Have a wonderful voyage on the Seascape! 😀

[APDMOM]

3 hours ago, jethapgun said:

Looking forward to your review! Plus, I think you are on our Seaside cruise in May!! Have a wonderful voyage on the Seascape! 😀

 

Thank you!  Yes, we are on Seaside in May.  Seaside is our favorite ship to date - I doubt Seascape will take over that title, but we will have fun finding out.

[APDMOM]

Booking Details:

 

We booked 2 balconies on deck 10 - Fantastica experience.  

Balcony One for DH and DS:  Total cost $1541 with $200 OBC

Balcony Two for me: Total Cost $860 with $200 OBC

 

I have not seen these kinds of prices lately.  In fact, MSC is currently more expensive than a Celebrity cruise over Thanksgiving.

 

I will post more details and pictures of the rooms when we are on the ship.

 

My View:  End of Day 0 - Miami

 

[Stem to Stern]

Excited to follow your report.  We will be on our first MSC on Seascape later this year.  I love the red fonted highlights, but I will be reading every single word.🤓😉

Please forgive my ignorance, but may I ask why was your stateroom so much less expensive than the one your husband and son are in?

Edited March 19, 2023 by Stem to Stern

[RICHARD@SEA]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

Booking Details:

 

We booked 2 balconies on deck 10 - Fantastica experience.  

Balcony One for DH and DS:  Total cost $1541 with $200 OBC

Balcony Two for me: Total Cost $860 with $200 OBC

 

I have not seen these kinds of prices lately.  In fact, MSC is currently more expensive than a Celebrity cruise over Thanksgiving.

 

I will post more details and pictures of the rooms when we are on the ship.

 

My View:  End of Day 0 - Miami

 

You are travelling in high season in the carib / florida - thanksgiving is shoulder even tho it is  a holiday. basic hotels in the Mia FT laud area are now in the 250 - 300 dollar range

[bigblue1952]

Have enjoyed all your trip reports.  Will be on the Seascape in two weeks so looking forward to your report.

[Mrs_Tiki]

Looking forward to your review, especially because I will be following along from the Seascape!

[APDMOM]

8 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Excited to follow your report.  We will be on our first MSC on Seascape later this year.  I love the red fonted highlights, but I will be reading every single word.🤓😉

Please forgive my ignorance, but may I ask why was your stateroom so much less expensive than the one your husband and son are in?

 

I was surprised about that pricing too!  When we booked in December, MSC did not charge the full single supplement for my room.  Normally you would pay a single supplement that is about equal to the base fare for one person.  So, my balcony would have been a similar price minus port fees and taxes for one person.

 

DH & DS had a base fare of ~$594 per person, and mine was only $681 plus $175.90 for port fees and taxes.  That means we paid just over $2400 for 2 balconies, which is less than we usually pay for one balcony for 3 people on any other cruise line.  🙂

 

Our balconies are adjoining, so very handy for our family of 3.  

 

 

[APDMOM]

3 minutes ago, Mrs_Tiki said:

Looking forward to your review, especially because I will be following along from the Seascape!

 

Welcome to boarding day!  Say hello if you see us 🙂

[blueslily]

I will be following as well. I will have the same cabin setup for a sailing in December that has a very similar itinerary. One guest will be a first time cruiser. 

 

Pricing Question - Was browse internet and the easy package included in your fare OR did you go with the OBC deal? If the browse internet and easy beverage package was not included, do you know the pricing of those for your sailing?

 

Also, cabin question - we will be on Deck 10 in same category cabins as you. We want cabins with beds by the balcony. Do you know how to figure out when selecting cabins during booking if the beds are by the balcony. We really want that setup.

 

Thanks so much! Definitely following. 

 

Happy cruising 🛳🏝🙋‍♀️🌞🤗

[Sthrncrusr]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I posted this (below) the other day as we are on in two weeks with our kids. If you come across the answers, please share! We are Diamond status but opted for Fantastica Balcony this time. No drink or WiFi pkge in our rate unfortunately. Hoping we can at least have our own table of 4 at dinner to catch up with each other as it’s been a busy time back at home 😅

 

what do the arcade games consist of? I know there is the F1 simulator, VR rides but what about the actual arcade games? Are there only a few or a room full of them? We bought fun passes for the kids…

 

also, it looks like online the only 3 specialty restaurants are Butcher’s Cut, sushi/hibachi and Hola. Can we use a Diamond perk dinner at the tappenyaki(hibachi) restaurant or only Butcher’s?

[jules815]

Another live review...yay!  I'll be following along as well. We'll be on Seascape in September.

 

Have a great cruise!

[pcrum]

Please share information regarding the Air B and B in Miami. Hotel prices in Miami have gone up so much!

 

Looking forward to your review. 

[APDMOM]

36 minutes ago, pcrum said:

Please share information regarding the Air B and B in Miami. Hotel prices in Miami have gone up so much!

 

Looking forward to your review. 

 

We stayed in a 3-bedroom older home relatively close to Aventura mall.  It was very clean and the neighborhood, though older, felt safe enough.  We paid $280 for the night. Everything seemed newly renovated, except the kitchen cabinets.  The home is great for an overnight stay.  The hostess was very friendly and provided extras like instant oatmeal, bottled water, coffee, etc. I would stay there again if we opt for Miami.  

 

https://abnb.me/tcAhvqJgjyb

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 1 - Miami

 

The excitement of boarding day!

[APDMOM]

Wynwood Walls:

 

A friend of mine is on this cruise with us.  This was her first visit to Miami and also her first cruise.  So, we did a pre-boarding quick independent excursion to Wynwood Wals.  It has really gone downhill since my last visit. Here are a few views:

 

 

 

This one reminded me that our MSC ship is waiting for us:

[APDMOM]

Boarding time:

 

We received 4 different cruise tickets for each cabin with all kinds of different boarding times.  We decided to choose one of the tickets with an earlier time - mine said 10:30, DH and DS had 11:30, our friend had 12:00.  They ended up not even checking times. 

 

TIP:They did not check times on our tickets when we arrived. While at lunch  around 1:15 pm, there was a long line of cars trying to enter the parking garage.  When we arrived, there were no lines for parking.

 

Arrival time at port: 11:16 - we got a quick glimpse at our ship under this overpass:

 

Parked at 11:30 am and walked up the gangplank at 11:50.  We had no wait anywhere - no line at security, no line at checkin, and we walked straight on to the ship after getting our seapass cards.

 

TIP: If you are on decks 11 and lower, you check in at the left entrance of terminal C.  If you are on decks 12 and up, you check in at the right entrance of the terminal.  We tried to get an exception for our friend to come with us (first cruise and all) but that could not work because her ship card was at the other entrance.

 

[APDMOM]

Our friend was reunited with us about 10 minutes later.  Lunch in the buffet - just a few of pictures for today:

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by APDMOM
space

[APDMOM]

Note about lunch:

I have to say, our friend read some of the reviews and watched YouTube videos about Seascape prior to our cruise.  Both of us agree - we don’t know what people complain about.  The food was flavorful and there were too many options to choose from.  I loved the curry rice and chicken.  

 

TIP: Walk around the whole buffet before you start getting food.  There are some stations that do not repeat and you don’t want to miss out.  I will share more tips about favorite spots in the buffet tomorrow.

[APDMOM]

TIP: Don’t waste time watching the safety video in advance.  Around 4 PM you have to go to your room to watch the video anyway, then you have to call a number that appears on the TV screen from your room to confirm you watched the video.

 

After that, you go to your muster station to scan your card.

 

Everything was closed during the. muster drill.  What should not have taken more than 15 minutes took almost an hour.  They had to make several announcements to tell people it is ABSOLUTELY mandatory to participate.  I wish cruise companies would take some serious measures to give consequences for not following this rule.  Just put them off the ship if they don’t take muster drill seriously.  Just my two cents.

 

PS: We were told that those who did not participate in the muster drill would need to do it in Ocean Cay - so maybe they will at least miss out on beach time.

[APDMOM]

Dinner:

 

Since the muster drill was not called ‘over’ until past our dinner start time, we got to dinner about 15 minutes late.  Our waiters were amazing and took it in stride that everyone was late.

 

TIP:  As I comment on meals, I will share what our thoughts were in 3 categories - 

Great (Will definitely order again)

Good enough (was enjoyable but will not order again)

No go (Not worth the calories)

 

Menu tonight:

 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Great: Chicken Croquettes

 

Great: Tomato Soup

 

Great: Shrimp Cocktail

 

Great: Chicken and Waffles (although there was only one small breakfast waffle - the chicken made up for it):

 

Great: Salmon

 

Good enough:  Blackened grouper

 

Great: Crema Catalana

 

Great: New York Cheesecake

 

Overall, as you can see, the dinner options were great tonight.  Only one item was not a favorite.

[APDMOM]

Calling it a night for now.  Will finish out day one sometime tomorrow.

 

Hopefully we will be in Ocean Cay - already hearing reports of high winds and rain.  Wherever we are, I know we will have fun.

 

Until tomorrow - thanks for cruising along.

🙂

[APDMOM]

@blueslily and @Sthrncrusr, I have put your requests on a to do list.  Will report back if I can get you answers.