My View: Trading Seascape for Seaside Semi-Live

[APDMOM]

Hello from MSC Seaside!

 

 

We recently cruised on Seascape (March Spring Break) and we are now on Seaside.  I will do some comparisons between the ships, with Seascape fresh in mind.  We were also on Seaside exactly 4 years ago, so I look forward to seeing what may have changed.  To date, Seaside is our favorite ship.  Will this still ring true after this cruise?  We will know in 11 days 😄 We are booked on the 7+4 back to back sailing.

 

For those who are not familiar with "My View" trip reports, here are some quick notes:

 

I will post tips in bold red for the skim-readers.

If you have requests, please ask - I will do my best to find answers. It may not be right away, but I make a 'to do' list and reply when I get a chance.

I will likely get a day or 2 behind, since the cruise comes first.  LOL!

I will post the dailies at the end of each daily report.

 

Come join us virtually, as we embark on this adventure!

 

[Fissues]

Soft serve!!! 10 minutes ago. 

[APDMOM]

2 minutes ago, Fissues said:

Soft serve!!! 10 minutes ago. 

I bet you were in Biscayne 🙂

 

"No soft serve" is probably one of the biggest lies/myths for MSC ships...LOL!  

 

Say 'hi' if you see us around the ship!

[Fissues]

Yup!

 

 

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, Fissues said:

Soft serve!!! 10 minutes ago. 

I want that…NOW!

[Lbsahm]

Request. In Sept we are in an Aurea Balcony 9024. Any way you can get some outside photos of the starboard Aura balconies? I’m concerned that even being on the starboard side, our view of the lighthouse might be blocked by the bow of the ship. 

[ChattTenn]

2 hours ago, APDMOM said:

I bet you were in Biscayne 🙂

 

"No soft serve" is probably one of the biggest lies/myths for MSC ships...LOL!  

 

Say 'hi' if you see us around the ship!

Seaside has a very good soft serve ice cream and it is available embarkation day and on sea days only at Biscayne buffet.  On our 5/14 sailing one of the sea day they said no ice cream but on the last sea day it was there again (?) Also on last sea day they put out some Venchi chocolate candies (so good).

[APDMOM]

54 minutes ago, Lbsahm said:

Request. In Sept we are in an Aurea Balcony 9024. Any way you can get some outside photos of the starboard Aura balconies? I’m concerned that even being on the starboard side, our view of the lighthouse might be blocked by the bow of the ship. 

Will do that, yes. We will be in Ocean Cay tomorrow. 

[stoddaj1]

Another request if you are able...  Looking for a few photos of the Top 19 sundeck.  Enjoy your cruise!

 

[APDMOM]

1 minute ago, stoddaj1 said:

Another request if you are able...  Looking for a few photos of the Top 19 sundeck.  Enjoy your cruise!

 

I will try - I am not technically allowed in there, but I can try to take pictures through the glass 😁

[Fissues]

[APDMOM]

7 minutes ago, Fissues said:

Thank you @Fissues - Glad to have friends in high places 😁

[APDMOM]

Port Arrival Timeline:

 

First glimpse of our ship…

 

10:45 - Prepaid for our parking and easily found a parking space on the first floor of the parking garage.

 

TIP: Take pictures of your checked luggage in case they get misplaced/lost. 

 

11:10 - All checked in and ready to board - we never waited in line. We sat down to wait for our number (Boarding group 12), when a kind co-cruiser informed us that gold could board. 

 

11:32 Walking up the gangplank

 

11:40 Our view from the Marketplace Buffet:

 

[APDMOM]

Note About Boarding Times: 

We received several tickets with different boarding times. We decided to arrive early because if we came at the most recent boarding time (1:30 PM), we would likely not find parking at the port. Nobody checked our boarding time - everyone was directed to the “Outside boarding window” line. There were no problems boarding. As previously stated, we did not even stand in line anywhere.  

 

Nobody looked at our health questionnaires either. 

[APDMOM]

Buffet Lunch:

TIP: Seaside has 2 buffet restaurants - one on deck 8 (Marketplace) and one on deck 16 (Biscayne).  The one on 16 has soft serve ice cream. If you choose the one on deck 8, I recommend the far back area, as it is the least busy.  There is also outdoor seating in that area.  Walk all the way around the buffet if you want to see all the options.  Some repeat, but other don't.  The ethnic food area is our favorite.

 

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Loving your semi-live review. I think we will be joining you a week from today for your final 4 days!  
 

You mentioned that you prepaid your parking. I’m not familiar with this as we’ve always just taken a ticket when we entered. How does this work? And is it cheaper to do it this way?

[amygutman]

Thank you so much for this review and the tips. We were on the Seashore April 2022 and are curious to see how the Seaside compares. 

Have a wonderful trip!

Warmest, Amy

[APDMOM]

10 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Loving your semi-live review. I think we will be joining you a week from today for your final 4 days!  
 

You mentioned that you prepaid your parking. I’m not familiar with this as we’ve always just taken a ticket when we entered. How does this work? And is it cheaper to do it this way?

Good morning! 
We look forward to hopefully meeting you.

 

 You can now only prepay at the terminal. You just drive up to where you usually get your ticket. A port employee stands there and confirms you are on Seaside, then gives you the total, which you pay by credit card. They give you a payment confirmation, which you display in the dashboard of your car. Unfortunately, the price is the same. 😬

 

 

[APDMOM]

TIP: If your suitcase is not by your room, walk along your deck and see if you find it lined up by the 'holding' area in the hallway.  We walked past our suitcases when the rooms were ready and we were able to grab them and unpack by 2:30.

 

Rooms were ready at 2 PM.

 

 

[APDMOM]

"Muster Drill"

 

The MSC post-COVID muster drill is fantastic! It is more like a stroll than a drill.  You watch a video on your stateroom TV, then dial a specific number from your stateroom to confirm you watched the video.  

 

After this, you walk down to your muster station, get your card scanned, and you are done.  The only thing is that you have to wait for everyone to complete the process.  We just sat in a lounge to 'wait it out'.  Unfortunately, I had an asthma coughing spell that had the tears rolling down my cheeks 😳 

 

 

[APDMOM]

"Naughty" Letter from the Captain:

 

We do love the way the muster drill is done.  We just can't believe there are people who actually still try to skip out of it.  I wanted them to make it serious and put people off the ship if they try to skip out.  I mean they are breaking the law, right?  Well, I am no longer saying that...

 

The muster drill is "fantastic" until you get this from the captain:

 

Now, DH is the epitomy of 'rule following'.  DS is the most honest guy you have ever met.  So much so, we had to check "Yes" about being sick in January and missed a cruis on Odyssey as a result.  They had followed the directions carefully, called the designated number, and received the message that their response had been recorded.  Apparently, MSC IT issues extend to the ship...  DH called guest services and told them even the detail of the message he received after dialing the 881 number, and guest services said they would send an email to the appropriate authority.  We have not heard back yet, so hopefully they are cleared.

[APDMOM]

Dinner in the MDR:

 

Everyday Options:

 

Tonight's Options:

[NCteacherlovescruising]

17 hours ago, Fissues said:

What pool is this. 

[JAGR]

24 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

What pool is this. 

Yacht Club

[ChattTenn]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

"Naughty" Letter from the Captain:

 

We do love the way the muster drill is done.  We just can't believe there are people who actually still try to skip out of it.  I wanted them to make it serious and put people off the ship if they try to skip out.  I mean they are breaking the law, right?  Well, I am no longer saying that...

 

The muster drill is "fantastic" until you get this from the captain:

 

Now, DH is the epitomy of 'rule following'.  DS is the most honest guy you have ever met.  So much so, we had to check "Yes" about being sick in January and missed a cruis on Odyssey as a result.  They had followed the directions carefully, called the designated number, and received the message that their response had been recorded.  Apparently, MSC IT issues extend to the ship...  DH called guest services and told them even the detail of the message he received after dialing the 881 number, and guest services said they would send an email to the appropriate authority.  We have not heard back yet, so hopefully they are cleared.

We had one of that letter too. We watched the video and called 881 TWICE then walked down to the said station to got our cruise cards scanned.  We went to Guest Services (no body answered the phone) the person at the desk did not want to believe us.  Their IT will need to fix the issues.