My View: Trading the Landscape for the Seascape

[mac_tlc]

What a wonderful review and a great read! We have not done MSC yet, but with the cost of suites on Royal and Celebrity along with the status match on MSC, we are looking at the Seashore out of PC for Fall 2024. 
 

Thanks for the review.

 

mac_tlc

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 7 - At Sea

[APDMOM]

Our final day marked a last visit to the Thermal Area, a last visit or 2 to Venci, a sea day lunch in the main diningroom, our last visit for dinner to our fantastic waiters, Jayrald and Pedro, and planning our best option to disembark for the "long" drive back home (~5.5 hours).

 

My View: Venci 

With our onboard credits and cheap pricing of the cruise, we allowed ourselves a daily visit to Venci. Sometimes even twice!  

 

Venci Menu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chocolate martini is like drinking straight chocolate - I loved it:

 

Our Favorite was the Cremino Gelato Shake:

 

Some of our other splurges this week - Coffee Nougatine and more gelato shakes: 

 

 

 

Views of Venci - they were working on Easter Decorations:

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Views of Other Ships at Sea:

 

Some Carnival Ship (too hazy to read, but I am sure someone here can recognize the class):

 

Grandeur of the Seas and MSC Divina:

 

 

 

Explorer of the Seas:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Lunch: Final Sea Day:

 

The Grilled Grouper was the absolute best meal I had all week.  Sorry, no food pictures this time.

 

[APDMOM]

Dinner in Main Dining - Last Sea Day

 

Man, I really started slacking toward the end.  This time I have food pictures but no picture of the menu.  I will try my best to guess at the names of the dishes 😂

 

Asparagus Soup with Tapioca (Very good!)

 

Linguini with Clams: (A little too strong of a fishy taste for me but it was a new dish I tried)

 

BBQ with Mac and Cheese: (Very good)

 

Spicy Shrimp with rice: (Not very spicy, but very good)

 

[APDMOM]

Final Sunset at Sea...at least until May, unless we win the lottery : 😄

 

[APDMOM]

That Cruise Graveyard... Look at the suitcase tombstones

 

 

At least the moon is smiling down on us:

 

[APDMOM]

Evening Show:  The 'world' premiere of the show put on by the activities staff

This was an entertaining show - not put on by professionals - just the activities staff having fun.  There were some great special effects and the show was enjoyable enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 7 - At Sea 

 

A favorite view

[APDMOM]

Daily Program: Day 7 - At Sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

 Debarkation Information: (I will share our experience later)

 

[APDMOM]

I will be back with our experience leaving the ship in Miami, some more ship pictures, and some final thoughts & tips.

 

❤️⛴️

[Morgsmom]

19 hours ago, APDMOM said:

I will be back with our experience leaving the ship in Miami, some more ship pictures, and some final thoughts & tips.

 

❤️⛴️

Thank you so much!  And the spreadsheet for budgeting that you commented on 🙂

 

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 8 - Miami

 

[APDMOM]

I love arriving early when we can see some ships sail in.  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Miami Views in the Early Morning:

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Final Sunrise from the Ship:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Our Disembarkation Experience:

 

After much debate, we decided to do the self-assist walk off.  We had breakfast at 7 in the Marketplace.  It was crowded but not a bad experience.  We still found our favorite breakfast items, a clean table together, and silverware 😄

 

DH had eaten at 6 AM, so he patiently waited for us in the Casino with our luggage.

 

 I have to also give him a 'shout out' for his patience with my propensity to get side-tracked by the 📸

 

Self-assist was cleared to leave the ship around 7:25 AM.  We were still finishing up breakfast, but at our assigned time of 7:45AM, we made our way to deck 6 for the disembarkation.

 

TIP:  If you are self-assist, go to the left lane for disembarkation.  We fell into the right side at first.  Fortunately, our activities friend from South Africa let us know we could go to the left if we have all our luggage.  Quickest debarkation ever.  We were in our car by 8 AM.

 

Now, getting out of the garage was another story.  The machines to pay by the elevator were out of service.  The mechanical gate that is supposed to keep people from leaving without paying was broken and remained in the upright position.  Despite the fact that NOBODY tried to drive off without paying, they held us hostage and did not allow payments for a long time.  They finally gave up on the gate and allowed us to pay after 20 minutes of waiting.  Wow, Miami, really?  LOL!  Final view of MSC Seascape as we are waiting in line to pay for parking (We were still on the road over an hour before our luggage tag time, so we were happy to be ahead of schedule):

 

 

[APDMOM]

Cabin/stateroom pictures: 

 

TIP:  Book a balcony 10-03 and forward if you want a more quiet space.  We were disappointed that there was public seating below our balcony.  There was a large family gathering that was very loud past midnight on day 2 below our balcony.  

 

If it had repeated, I would have called guest services, because it really interfered with our sleep.  Even so, during the week, you could hear music from deck 8 on our balcony.  In the cooler air, you could sometimes hear every word a person said while they sat on deck 8.  It was not the ideal space to enjoy the sound of the ocean.  

 

Stateroom 10125:

 

 

 

TIP: There is a soft chair and table under the vanity.  The table is handy to use for room service or to place on the balcony for "desk space".

 

 

 

TIP:  The over-the-door shoe hanger is a lifesaver for me.  It is a great way to save counter space and to organize those necessities we use daily.  I don't travel without it anymore.  On MSC, storage is limited compared with other ships we have been on, so it is even more helpful on these ships. 

 

 

TIP: Place a rag on the rack to keep your razor from slipping off the soap rack.

 

 

 

 I was happy to see an extra mirror in the bathroom, but it is only a magnifying mirror, so it does not help to do your hair in the back. 

 

So, TIP: I do pack a small mirror to fix the back of my unruly hair.  🤣

 

TIP: Your seapass card drives the power in the room.  We were hoping to charge my camera batteries while we were out, but that plug did not work without the card.  So, there is another reason the wrist bands are handy.  You can negotiate the ship with just the wrist band while your card assists to charge camera batteries 🙂 

 

TIP: If you don't need turn down service at night, put on the 'Do not disturb" button.  If you need your room made, push the 'Make Up Room' button.  It just makes it easier for your room steward to get to know your schedule, or to know when you are ready for the room to be made (aka dressed appropriately or out). 

 

Additional shelves for books - never used these, but if you have good ideas of how to use them, please share...
:

 

The temperature control was quite good.

 

 

TIP: There is a USB charger by the bed... yay!!! One thing that MSC got right on this ship.

 

The Mini-Fridge - other than on RCL ships, this is actually a fridge.  Things stayed cold, not just cool like in the wine-coolers on RCL ships.  We were able to keep chocolate milk quite chilled in here.

 

The content:

 

 

Pricing for items in the mini-fridge:

 

Plugs: Euro, US, and USB:

 

[APDMOM]

A Little Delayed:

 

I know I said my goal was to be done by today.  If you know me, and have followed my previous "Views", I rarely extend my own deadline.

 

 Unforeseen circumstances at work have interrupted my cruise report. So, it will be a little delayed.  My new goal is to finish by Friday night.  I have more cabin pictures for 10129 and 14137 to post, as well as ship pictures and my overall impression of Seascape.  Thank you for 'hanging in there'.  🙂

 

 

[surfjock27]

11 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Our Disembarkation Experience:

 

After much debate, we decided to do the self-assist walk off.  We had breakfast at 7 in the Marketplace.  It was crowded but not a bad experience.  We still found our favorite breakfast items, a clean table together, and silverware 😄

 

DH had eaten at 6 AM, so he patiently waited for us in the Casino with our luggage.

 

 I have to also give him a 'shout out' for his patience with my propensity to get side-tracked by the 📸

 

Self-assist was cleared to leave the ship around 7:25 AM.  We were still finishing up breakfast, but at our assigned time of 7:45AM, we made our way to deck 6 for the disembarkation.

 

TIP:  If you are self-assist, go to the left lane for disembarkation.  We fell into the right side at first.  Fortunately, our activities friend from South Africa let us know we could go to the left if we have all our luggage.  Quickest debarkation ever.  We were in our car by 8 AM.

 

Now, getting out of the garage was another story.  The machines to pay by the elevator were out of service.  The mechanical gate that is supposed to keep people from leaving without paying was broken and remained in the upright position.  Despite the fact that NOBODY tried to drive off without paying, they held us hostage and did not allow payments for a long time.  They finally gave up on the gate and allowed us to pay after 20 minutes of waiting.  Wow, Miami, really?  LOL!  Final view of MSC Seascape as we are waiting in line to pay for parking (We were still on the road over an hour before our luggage tag time, so we were happy to be ahead of schedule):

 

 

 

We also did self-assist and were off the ship and in our car, within 15 minutes.
The parking garage though, UGH!!
From the time we got to our car, until the time we paid, was about 30-35 minutes. 

There has to be a better system for the next time the machines are down. 
 

[kasi1979]

Excuse the question, but is self assist debarcation Open to all paasengers or just If you are a US Citizen?

 

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks so much for the review from another South African 🇿🇦🇺🇸. Im in the process of booking my first MSC cruise and so different from our others where I can select cabin and have room service if I choose without making those choices at time of booking and no charges for them. Which options do you find make a difference and you would not cruise without. I also read that not all cabins are available unless air is booked thru cruise line - so why pay to choose cabin if most are blocked off?

Your review was so helpful for a first time MSC cruiser, thanks for daily info, menu’s and spa prices.

[perakcruiser]

2 hours ago, Julia’s Journey’s said:

I also read that not all cabins are available unless air is booked thru cruise line - so why pay to choose cabin if most are blocked off?

To be fair, this is common practice in the cruise industry. Celebrity also is showing by far not all available cabins. All cruise lines want to sell their flight contingents and "individual" travelers not make them happy🙂 Some more, some less. The ones who own airlines obviously much more. Some of them even sell ONLY with flights, MSC is much more "generous". 

 

And there is no real understandable system, from my example MSC had all cabins available until recently and then suddenly blocked.