My View: Trading the Landscape for the Seascape

[Morecruisesplz]

4 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

 

No, just Fantastica - That is the food in the main dining room 🙂 

Similar?

[APDMOM]

20 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Can we sit there with the Bella experience?

Yes 🙂 It is a lounge that is open to anyone.  We carried our coffee to that spot for a morning quiet time.  Although you are not required to, we always carry the coffee mug back to the Marketplace.  We just loved the quiet spot.

[APDMOM]

1 minute ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Similar?

Fantastica just means that we can choose our balcony room location and have free room service continental breakfast - I don't know what the food in the yacht club is like, but the meals I am posting are the same for Bella and Fantastica experiences.   We really could not complain, but learned that the seafood and chicken dishes were much better than any of the red meat varieties in the main dining room.  Are you booked? 

[APDMOM]

On 3/25/2023 at 9:09 PM, lilalila said:

Have you seen men wearing dress shorts in the main dining room for dinner or at the specialty restaurants?

 

@lilalila

Sorry I forgot to respond to this part of your question.

 

Yes, shorts were acceptable in the main dining room for dinner every night we went.  I did not pay close attention on 'elegant' night, as DS and DH wore long pants that night.  I don't know about the specialty restaurants.  We only did Hola at lunch, wich was casual.  🙂

 

[APDMOM]

Unfortunately, the 5.5-hour drive home, laundry, and grocery shopping interfered with organizing my Dominican Republic pictures.  I hope to post those tomorrow.  My goal is to be done with the trip report by Wednesday night, including additional tips plus pictures of the ship and our cabins.  

 

Thank you for following along!  🙂 

[Sthrncrusr]

@APDMOM best review yet! Thanks again for answering our questions. 

[Morecruisesplz]

19 minutes ago, Sthrncrusr said:

@APDMOM best review yet! Thanks again for answering our questions. 

i 2nd that

[karmamule]

This is so much fun to read, thank you! We have a 14 day on Seascape next February, so a long way to go but happy to hear all the food has been so tasty.

[bigblue1952]

Thank you for the wonderful review, pictures and so many tips.  We board Seascape this Sunday so very much appreciate your thoughts.

[APDMOM]

Thank you for all the kind comments!  🙂 It has been a long day of the 'rude awakening' of returning to my day job.  But now I can escape a bit for a revisit of Puerto Plata...

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 6 - Puerto Plata/Taino Bay, Dominican Republic

[APDMOM]

Morning views: 

 

 

The weather did not look very promising upon arrival.  Having been on spring break cruises with perfect weather and others with several rainy days, I knew not to get my hopes up that this would just be a passing storm.  There were many cells of showers around the horizon.  

 

 

 

Maybe that little bit of sunshine on the mountain is cause for hope?

 

 

[APDMOM]

Arriving at Taino Bay:  

 

TIP: You may aready have noticed that the hot tubs on the sides of the ship are not as busy during port arrival.  This is the best time to take advantage of these hot tubs.  The disembarkation can take a while anyway, so it is a relaxing arrival and good way to avoid the stampede off the ship.  Also, the water was very nice and clear early in the morning, while it got a bit milky in the afternoon during sea days  😬

 

 

Beautiful Ocean Views by Puerto Plata:

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: You can catch a 'wild ride' down the pier on one of these 3-wheeled taxis/ Tuk-tuks.  It is free - for a gratuity, of course.  They go really fast, so hold on tightly.  😄

[APDMOM]

Views of the Port from the Ship:

 

Pool in the port area:

 

The Lazy river:

 

 

 

Celebrity Beyond arrived a bit after us:

[APDMOM]

The Lazy River:

 

Thanks to @Radio, I found the first helpful information about this port right here at Cruise Critic.  We found out the lazy river had just opened a few weeks ago.  What great timing for us!  I tried to budget what I would be willing to pay for this experience...  When we got there, we were surprised to find out it is free - and they only ask for a gratuity.

 

TIP:  Walk straight to the lazy river first if this is something you are interested in.  It was not busy at all when we got there - about 45 minutes after our ship was cleared.  It is free, with a gratuity appreciated.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we did a round on the lazy river, there were still plenty of hammocks available:  Paradise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

There are plenty of ship views, and great photo opportunities:

 

 

Ship on the Rocks:

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

There are many bars and restaurants in the port area with fairly reasonable pricing - still more than we paid on the ship for drinks but I did not see the size of these drinks.  

 

 

 

 

 

A tropical paradise, complete with tropical feathered friends.  One of them said, "Hola" 😄

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by APDMOM
drinks pricing

[APDMOM]

Back on the ship:

 

TIP:  Stay on Ship Time!  We did not change time at all on our cruise.  This is probably because the US entered daylight savings time.  Previous cruises on Seascape did change time - so pay close attention ot the daily planners and announcements.

 

There is always this sign that shows the 'all aboard' time on the pier:

 

TIP:  The Marketplace Buffet has this great outdoor seating by the Bridge of Sighs.  It is a nice spot if it is not too windy or raining.

 

 

Drink of the Day:  Coco Loco - A better buy for me at $7.50 than the $12 plus drinks in port. 

 

A view of Beyond from our balcony.  Look at that... only one person in the hot tub.  

Edited March 28, 2023 by APDMOM
add ship time

[APDMOM]

Dinner in the Marketplace:

We decided to eat dinner in the Marketplace, as the main menu did not have anything that looked like a 'must have' to use.

 

Some of our selections in the Marketplace:

 

 

 

This Vegetable Soup was delicious.  In fact, I have not tried any soup on MSC that I did not like:

 

"Toffee" Apples with Chocolate:

 

[APDMOM]

Evening Views:

 

We already decided we want to return to this port and do an excursion to see more of the area.  It is simply beautiful.

 

TIP: There is a shuttle service to the downtown shopping area for $20 (return).  It runs on a schedule.  I will post that handout later.

 

TIP: If you don't have a balcony facing the port in Taino Bay, find a spot on that side of the ship on deck 8, 16, or 18.  We had quite the send-off by the locals.  

 

Leaving Beyond Behind:

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

White Party:

As you can probably tell, this was the night for the White Party.  I love how the whole atrium turns 'white' as the crowds gather for the White Party.  Unfortunately, this crowd did not get into it as much as on Seaside in 2019...

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

My Favorite View: End of day 6: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic 

[APDMOM]

Daily Planner: Day 6 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

That is it for now... I will try to post our final Sea Day experience tomorrow, with additional ship pictures.

 

Thank you for 'cruising' along 🙂

[surfjock27]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:53 AM, APDMOM said:

@blueslily

It seems like MSC ships follow the same pattern as most other cruise lines regarding ‘beds by the balcony’.  One has bed by the balcony, neighbor has bed by the closet.  So alternating pattern.  If you want adjoining cabins, they will not both have the bed by the balcony.

 

 I will do walking tours and peek on the last day to see if I can get more details.  So far, I have noticed the following cabins with beds by the balcony:

10189

10149

10125 (mine)

9258

11108

11052

 

The following had bed by the closet:

11012

10129 (DS is in this one)

 

You can add 15062 (bed by the closet) to this list! We were also on this sailing.
Great review.