Scared off by bad reviews, MSC Seascape

[Itchy&Scratchy]

18 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

We got almost to the point of booking a 7 night on the Seascape in January

to get a better price I'd advise to book farther out in advance. For example, when I booked our November cruise a year ago, the price was around $550 pp for a regular balcony for a 7 night cruise. Now the same cruise is $1,200+ pp for the same balcony.

I am looking at March 2025 cruises and right now they are around $550 pp for a balcony (with drinks and wifi). I will, however, wait to book until after our first MSC cruise this November. I know I can book and then cancel, which is what I did with our March 2024 cruise after I read a ton of negative Seascape reviews, but I still kept our November 2023 cruise, because we got a very good deal and a whole family is coming.

[shipgeeks]

OP, Are you familiar with MSC's Status Match?  Do you have a good loyalty level with any other cruise line?  If so, this is worth exploring, as it could give you some perks.

[perakcruiser]

47 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

I think the two things that made me apprehensive were elevator wait times (my husband finds stairs hard) and smoke smell in many areas--yes, there are areas on all ships that are for smokers, but we've honestly never noticed that smell in other areas.  It doesn't bother me too much--although I've never smoked I grew up with parents who did--but husband is very sensitive to it.

I am very sensitive to smoke and never had any problem on MSC. The smoking zones are so small and so easy to avoid. Never experienced any smoke outside this zones. 

 

About the elevator, avoid cabins in the aft, this elevators are always the most busy. 

 

Certainly there are crowds when a big ship is sold out, but experienced cruisers like you will surely know how to avoid them. 

[Selion]

20 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

Yes, I've read all about the Yacht Club and it sounds great.  But at least four times as expensive.  We can afford it, but that's not how we choose to spend our money.  We just want a nice experience for a cheap(er) price.  

I've sailed YC twice, Fantastica twice, and have 2 more in Aurea booked.  YC was a great value with Voyager's Club used to have up to 20% off.  Nowadays YC's value is only fair.  On some itineraries and the fares charged for YC, I'd rather book with Viking.  That said, YC is comparable to an entry-level luxury line like Viking, Oceania & Azamara.  You get what you pay for, and more.

 

We had two fantastic cruises in Fanstastica; one even in an inside cabin.  No, you don't get exclusive sun decks and you get assigned dining time.  But neither had any negative impact to our cruising experience.  Any cruise is what you make of it.  MSC is different to the major American cruise lines.  If you are open to try different things, you will find MSC exciting.

[blueslily]

OP - I have been having the same apprehension as you. I'm scheduled to sail on Seascspe, and postings here gets me concerned sometimes. If it was just me sailing, I love solo cruising, I would not even worry about it, but I'm taking a first time cruiser and a cruiser that has only cruised once and fell in love with cruising on that cruise. It was on Royal, an oasis class ship. 

 

I've sailed on MSC and enjoyed myself. That was before COVID and during the restart as well. 

 

My last MSC cruise was on the Seashore. No major gripes from me. What I am wondering about is why are there so many negative postings here and videos on YouTube for Seascspe, but her sister ship, Seashore, is just like her, but I'm not seeing those horrible posts and videos about those sailings. What makes the experiences so different? Miami versus Port Canaveral? Everyone wants to try out the new ship? So, Seashore is been there, done that so no one is really talking about it as much. It's interesting to me.

 

We are past final payment, and I'm just abit  nervous. I've "warned" the cruisers about some ofthe  reviews. But they are pretty laid back about it. They just want to be onthe  ocean And this was thr best priced option that matches our dates and goes at least somewhere I want to go. I'm going to do my best to not feel responsible for theirgood  or bad experience. We are all adults. It's just concerning at times when reading and hearing do much negativity. Ugh. 

 

Thanks fir reading this long post. 

[Stockjock]

My GF and I like MSC and while the ships can be crowded, the onboard experience is usually pretty good.  I think the food gets an unfair bad rap.  It's not amazing, but pretty decent for the money.  The shoreside customer service can be problematic, but I think the best way to figure things out is to cruise on MSC yourself and try to put those other reviews out of your mind.

[lcpagejr]

5 hours ago, Selion said:

I've sailed YC twice, Fantastica twice, and have 2 more in Aurea booked.  YC was a great value with Voyager's Club used to have up to 20% off.  Nowadays YC's value is only fair.  On some itineraries and the fares charged for YC, I'd rather book with Viking.  That said, YC is comparable to an entry-level luxury line like Viking, Oceania & Azamara.  You get what you pay for, and more.

 

We had two fantastic cruises in Fanstastica; one even in an inside cabin.  No, you don't get exclusive sun decks and you get assigned dining time.  But neither had any negative impact to our cruising experience.  Any cruise is what you make of it.  MSC is different to the major American cruise lines.  If you are open to try different things, you will find MSC exciting.

I would disagree about YC pricing being only fair...Still a huge value compared to Celebrity Reflections and NCL Haven plus you get more. Viking and Oceania aren't even on my radar... not interested in those lines. If you book YC a year out... up to 20% discounts. When you factor in the inclusives such as Beverage's.... There is not a big difference over a large balcony cabin on other lines  after you add in the beverage plan cost on those lines

s

Edited September 23, 2023 by lcpagejr

[bundtkate]

21 minutes ago, lcpagejr said:

I would disagree about YC pricing being only fair...Still a huge value

I will withhold final judgment until we actually sail in YC for the first time, but I'd wholeheartedly agree with this based on the numbers. We booked a YIN a little bit more than a year out and I paid less for it ($3200) than we're spending on our upcoming med cruise in Fantastica ($3400). Now this isn't a totally fair comparison because I booked that Med cruise late (well, late by my standards anyway) at about 4.5 months out so I'm sure we paid a late booking premium, plus it has 2 extra days on our YC cruise, but that it's that close at all still surprises me. As another data point, my family is paying $2000 per balcony cabin on an RCI cruise booked about a year out and same length as our YC cruise. That's at a group rate and without the drink package (which has been $73/pp per day at the lowest so far) so you can imagine how much it would cost to get what MSC generally includes in the fare. Point being, even if you're not one that would ever pay Haven or Retreat prices, YC can be a great value even vs. a standard balcony, depending on circumstances.

Obviously, if you can't stomach a YIN or you don't care about having a balcony when in gen pop or you don't need the drink package or whatever, then the math changes, but overall YC seems to be a great value on paper when you book early, at least for us. It'll never be a budget cruise and doesn't sound like what OP wants which is totally fine, but it's likely a really great value for many.

Edited September 23, 2023 by bundtkate

[perakcruiser]

11 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

to get a better price I'd advise to book farther out in advance. For example, when I booked our November cruise a year ago, the price was around $550 pp for a regular balcony for a 7 night cruise. Now the same cruise is $1,200+ pp for the same balcony.

I am following MSC prices very detailed for many years. "Better price" has nothing to do with booking farther in advance. It is - as with almost all other cruise lines - driven only by demand. You booked 9 months for 1000, the ship is almost full 3 months before departure, the price goes up to 1500 or higher. The ship is still half empty 3 months before departure, the price goes down to 500. 

 

Just one thing is guaranteed, the prices during super peak summer season in July and August never go down, same with Christmas holiday. 

 

And sometimes strange things happen, half a year before we were talking here on CC about the really special route the Musica is going in the Eastern Med and how attractive the prices are. These prices went totally through the roof and the ship is sold out for months. 

 

In the end you have to know the price that makes you happy and if you get that price, just book. 

[lcpagejr]

39 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

I am following MSC prices very detailed for many years. "Better price" has nothing to do with booking farther in advance. It is - as with almost all other cruise lines - driven only by demand. You booked 9 months for 1000, the ship is almost full 3 months before departure, the price goes up to 1500 or higher. The ship is still half empty 3 months before departure, the price goes down to 500. 

 

Just one thing is guaranteed, the prices during super peak summer season in July and August never go down, same with Christmas holiday. 

 

And sometimes strange things happen, half a year before we were talking here on CC about the really special route the Musica is going in the Eastern Med and how attractive the prices are. These prices went totally through the roof and the ship is sold out for months. 

 

In the end you have to know the price that makes you happy and if you get that price, just book. 

Disagree... For 20+ years I have always cruised high season....including Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks. The further out you book the lower the prices. I used to almost always book cruises 3-6 months out... the last few I have booked close to a year out . Huge savings with YC early booking....The price I am paying on my upcoming Thanksgiving week YC Seascape cruise is the lowest all my 3 YC cruises and my other YC cruises were in 2018 and 2019

[bundtkate]

1 hour ago, lcpagejr said:

Disagree... For 20+ years I have always cruised high season....including Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks. The further out you book the lower the prices.

I don't honestly think this view is incompatible with what @perakcruiser said. If you cruise in high season, your cruise is likely to sell out so you're certainly going to get better prices early, but that's still a function of demand. YC is also something of a special case because YINs are far cheaper than other YC cabins and seemingly always sell out early so if you're happy with a YIN, earlier is always going to be better.

All the same, I agree with early booking being a good rule of thumb. I think there are still exceptions for sailings that tend to be less popular. Older ships, longer itineraries out of the U.S. where many don't get enough time off to go on them, and repositioning cruises where folks have to do two one-way flights are three that seem to have deals close to departure most often. Heck, my husband and I got to take advantage of one of those in December when we were able to upgrade to the Haven on NCL for $57 more than we'd originally paid for our aft balcony about a month out (this was a 14-day Panama Canal transit so it fit two of the above criteria). But it's always a risk to wait so we're team early all the way.

[perakcruiser]

3 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

Huge savings with YC early booking....

I honestly do not have any idea about how the YC prices fluctuate around, but for obvious reasons, the much more expensive fish, seafood, even pasta, ..., and the drinks packages alone, certainly they cannot fall as much as unsold normal cabins. So here early booking is possible the way to go, definitely in high season. But that has no relevance outside YC. 

[momofmab]

12 hours ago, blueslily said:

What I am wondering about is why are there so many negative postings here and videos on YouTube for Seascspe, but her sister ship, Seashore, is just like her, but I'm not seeing those horrible posts and videos about those sailings.

 

What kind of negative things are you hearing & seeing for Seascape?  Is it the crowds?  Passenger behavior?  From what I have seen (mostly on here) are complaints on the shorter, 3-4 cruises, which I'm sure are super cheap and more of a party atmosphere.  I'd never book one of those on any line.

 

ETA - I just went and read several of the reviews on here.  Some were mad because of poor cabin choice, or not getting enough attention from staff or behavior of fellow guests and there's always food complaints.  I have to agree that if I wasn't in YC, I would probably not choose MSC either based on the reviews - but I am in my 50's and an empty-nester, so I am done cruising kid-heavy, crowded weeks or any time in the summer.  I am excited to try YC during what I hope is a relatively quiet week, but I probably won't leave the YC area.

Edited September 23, 2023 by momofmab

[blueslily]

40 minutes ago, momofmab said:

 

What kind of negative things are you hearing & seeing for Seascape?  Is it the crowds?  Passenger behavior?  From what I have seen (mostly on here) are complaints on the shorter, 3-4 cruises, which I'm sure are super cheap and more of a party atmosphere.  I'd never book one of those on any line.

 

ETA - I just went and read several of the reviews on here.  Some were mad because of poor cabin choice, or not getting enough attention from staff or behavior of fellow guests and there's always food complaints.  I have to agree that if I wasn't in YC, I would probably not choose MSC either based on the reviews - but I am in my 50's and an empty-nester, so I am done cruising kid-heavy, crowded weeks or any time in the summer.  I am excited to try YC during what I hope is a relatively quiet week, but I probably won't leave the YC area.

 

Hi, I'm reading long elevator waits, poor food quality, rude passengers, and bad crowds. This is reported in several threads here (not limited to actual reviews). Of course when I read something that's truly passengers error, silly expectations, or just a bit overboard, I ignore it. Like the elevator waits do matter to one in our sailing party. But, it sounds like lots of passengers just don't know how to use the elevators so they are creating delays. Seashore has the same elevator system, but I don't see tons of threads with complaints about them. I just wonder why folks are blasting Seascape so much when Seashore is the same exact ship, lol. 

 

I agree - no short sailings and not during peak holiday, summer, or school break times. Our cruise is a 7 day non peak time sailing out of Miami. But, ships are sailing full all the time right now. Kids are back in school now and folks are still reporting full ships. Seems like everybody wants to cruise this year. 

 

We have balcony cabins booked. Not in YC. I plan to have a great cruise. Just concerned about the 2 folks going along with me that are new to  cruising. I'm hoping that they have a good experience versus being turned off. We will sail together again in 2024 if they enjoy this cruise. (The next cruise is on a different line. I'm introducing them to different lines and styles of ships, so they can choose what's a good fit for their future cruising.)

 

Thanks

[lcpagejr]

2 hours ago, momofmab said:

 

What kind of negative things are you hearing & seeing for Seascape?  Is it the crowds?  Passenger behavior?  From what I have seen (mostly on here) are complaints on the shorter, 3-4 cruises, which I'm sure are super cheap and more of a party atmosphere.  I'd never book one of those on any line.

 

ETA - I just went and read several of the reviews on here.  Some were mad because of poor cabin choice, or not getting enough attention from staff or behavior of fellow guests and there's always food complaints.  I have to agree that if I wasn't in YC, I would probably not choose MSC either based on the reviews - but I am in my 50's and an empty-nester, so I am done cruising kid-heavy, crowded weeks or any time in the summer.  I am excited to try YC during what I hope is a relatively quiet week, but I probably won't leave the YC area.

 

1 hour ago, blueslily said:

 

Hi, I'm reading long elevator waits, poor food quality, rude passengers, and bad crowds. This is reported in several threads here (not limited to actual reviews). Of course when I read something that's truly passengers error, silly expectations, or just a bit overboard, I ignore it. Like the elevator waits do matter to one in our sailing party. But, it sounds like lots of passengers just don't know how to use the elevators so they are creating delays. Seashore has the same elevator system, but I don't see tons of threads with complaints about them. I just wonder why folks are blasting Seascape so much when Seashore is the same exact ship, lol. 

 

I agree - no short sailings and not during peak holiday, summer, or school break times. Our cruise is a 7 day non peak time sailing out of Miami. But, ships are sailing full all the time right now. Kids are back in school now and folks are still reporting full ships. Seems like everybody wants to cruise this year. 

 

We have balcony cabins booked. Not in YC. I plan to have a great cruise. Just concerned about the 2 folks going along with me that are new to  cruising. I'm hoping that they have a good experience versus being turned off. We will sail together again in 2024 if they enjoy this cruise. (The next cruise is on a different line. I'm introducing them to different lines and styles of ships, so they can choose what's a good fit for their future cruising.)

 

Thanks

Blue.... Your attitude is "right on".... When I first cruised MSC 5 years ago...I too kept reading negative reviews prior to my cruise...which concerned me since I had cruised about 15x previously on other lines. Not wanting to risk it.... I decided YC would be a safety net. Boy what a great decision!!  Love MSC ships and YC. Observing the  people, crowds and inconsistent service outside YC....not so much. Note...we cruised exclusively Carnival for about 10 years when my kids were in school....so Im familar with ship behavior/people issues (lol). However...now that were older (60's) don't have patience in dealing with crowds and unorganazation  at times. I am sure you will have a great time...plenty of areas on ship to get away from crowds...just becomes a mass of humanity at night in the atrium area. If you have patience, can roll with the flow and are not constantly looking for negatives....you will be just fine    

Edited September 23, 2023 by lcpagejr

[Stocksy82]

1 hour ago, blueslily said:

 

Hi, I'm reading long elevator waits, poor food quality, rude passengers, and bad crowds. This is reported in several threads here (not limited to actual reviews). Of course when I read something that's truly passengers error, silly expectations, or just a bit overboard, I ignore it. Like the elevator waits do matter to one in our sailing party. But, it sounds like lots of passengers just don't know how to use the elevators so they are creating delays. Seashore has the same elevator system, but I don't see tons of threads with complaints about them. I just wonder why folks are blasting Seascape so much when Seashore is the same exact ship, lol. 

 

I agree - no short sailings and not during peak holiday, summer, or school break times. Our cruise is a 7 day non peak time sailing out of Miami. But, ships are sailing full all the time right now. Kids are back in school now and folks are still reporting full ships. Seems like everybody wants to cruise this year. 

 

We have balcony cabins booked. Not in YC. I plan to have a great cruise. Just concerned about the 2 folks going along with me that are new to  cruising. I'm hoping that they have a good experience versus being turned off. We will sail together again in 2024 if they enjoy this cruise. (The next cruise is on a different line. I'm introducing them to different lines and styles of ships, so they can choose what's a good fit for their future cruising.)

 

Thanks

I'm wondering if even though it may be "full" as in cabins taken, if there are less to a room as mainly adults sailing it will still have a large impact on the feel of the ship. Might also reduce overall capacity by 1k guests (depending on ship).

[Nebr.cruiser]

22 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

OP, Are you familiar with MSC's Status Match?  Do you have a good loyalty level with any other cruise line?  If so, this is worth exploring, as it could give you some perks.

Yes, I am.  Our best status is elite with Princess.  

[mmbcater]

On 9/21/2023 at 8:47 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

Is bottled water complimentary on MSC in steerage without a drink package?

No it is not-they do have a non alcoholic package and that covers, bottled water, specialty coffees, juices, sports drinks etc,,, They ay provide water at dinner but if you went up to a bar-they will charge you for a bottle...

[morpheusofthesea]

6 minutes ago, mmbcater said:

No it is not-they do have a non alcoholic package and that covers, bottled water, specialty coffees, juices, sports drinks etc,,, They ay provide water at dinner but if you went up to a bar-they will charge you for a bottle...

From my understanding the water provided in the MDR’s is tap water poured from pitchers or a carafe? Bottled water is an extra charge and can be corked for future use? Like wine?

[Essiesmom]

36 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

From my understanding the water provided in the MDR’s is tap water poured from pitchers or a carafe? Bottled water is an extra charge and can be corked for future use? Like wine?

In Aurea portion of the MDR on Seaside we were served bottled from Acqua Panna, bottle left on table.  Room temp,  no ice.  On the 3 day they opened the lower level MDR for My Choice for all, and just used the main entrance.  I was seated in a different area and was served water from a pitcher if ice water.  Some others around me were served Acqua Panna.  And you can take the bottle with you.  

Edited September 23, 2023 by Essiesmom

[Itchy&Scratchy]

8 hours ago, momofmab said:

What kind of negative things are you hearing & seeing for Seascape?  Is it the crowds? 

what I've heard so far - off the top of my head:

-huge crowds on the ship, especially at the buffet, impossible to find a spot to sit down, and then long lines at every food station. Since Seascape has only one buffet, it's not surprising, I guess.

-long tender times, mere mortals get off the ship at 11-11:30 whereas YC and MSC tours get off the ship at 8-8:30.

- below average MDR food

- $5 surcharge per additional entree

-no free soft serve (very important to my family)

-early breakfast buffet closing - most dailies I've seen have Seascape buffet closing at 9:30 on most days, and 10:30 on sea days.

-long elevator waiting times - important to us, since dad has limited mobility and cannot take the stairs

 

Since we are going to be on a full Thanksgiving sailing, I am sure we will encounter most if not all of these. That said, I still expect that we'll have a good time, we have a balcony (and we always enjoy having a balcony), we'll be cruising to lovely ports, we'll have drink packages (yay! first time) and wifi, so it can't all be bad.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[morpheusofthesea]

20 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

-no free soft serve (very important to my family)

Free complimentary soft serve every day is in Market Place Buffet. They roll it out. Heard it was now in the back by the bar. When we were on board it was rolled out at the bread station starboard side. Usually for an hour and  1/2. 3:30- 5 ? But what is really a do not miss is the family cupcake decorating held out by the Marina pool once per cruise. It is so much more ! It is held around 5 pm . I saw the set up. cakes and cookies, chocolate popcorn, candied apples. I was 'Morpheus in Wonderland', but I had to get ready for dinner at 5:30.

[blueslily]

6 hours ago, Stocksy82 said:

I'm wondering if even though it may be "full" as in cabins taken, if there are less to a room as mainly adults sailing it will still have a large impact on the feel of the ship. Might also reduce overall capacity by 1k guests (depending on ship).

 

Thanks. The sailing will be in the Seascape. It's mid-September so I'm guessing most kids are back in school and fewer are on the ship. But, Oddly, sailing now are still complaining that the Seascape is crowded. With kids in school, fewer on ships, I thought the crowded feel would be reported less.

Thanks 

[Sixtytwo]

Seems to be a lot of mixed comments concerning MSC and Seascape. We cruised on Seascape in January, virtually new at the time. It was a most enjoyable cruise. Our mindset is that, as others have commented, a cruise is what we make it. We don't try to pretend we are on Oceania/Azamara/Crystal and make ourselves see the negatives to a mainstream cruise line. Seascape is a beautiful ship and we found no major issues that would deter us from booking it again. Granted, the MDR food does leave something to be desired, but take it in stride and it is bearable. There are lots of other options on board to fill the stomach void. 😉

Taking everything into perspective, yes, there are bumps and things one could say are much better on other lines/ships. But we find that the value is there for what you pay for a cruise.

[morpheusofthesea]

8 hours ago, Stocksy82 said:

I'm wondering if even though it may be "full" as in cabins taken, if there are less to a room as mainly adults sailing it will still have a large impact on the feel of the ship. Might also reduce overall capacity by 1k guests (depending on ship).

I will let you know tomorrow.