Currently on Seascape - Here's my thoughts so far as an MSC Newbie!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

11 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

Awesome..I'll definitely be on the lookout. What deck/room type are you in? 

we are going to be on deck 10 forward, deluxe balcony, fantastica experience. 2 cabins - one for 2 and one for 3 people.

I do enjoy reading all the other Seascape reviews, like this one.

[Dskiba]

Thank you for letting us tag along on your vacation!  We will be in room 19018 in 36 days. Our first time in Yacht Club & first time MSC so I’m following along excitedly!  How’s your butler?  Can you share the server’s name so we can show our appreciation early, as well?

[Scottdalfonso]

8 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we are going to be on deck 10 forward, deluxe balcony, fantastica experience. 2 cabins - one for 2 and one for 3 people.

I do enjoy reading all the other Seascape reviews, like this one.

Nice, we are doing deck 10, midship- right near the fwd elevators. 

[Keys Kathy]

It is nice for me to hear the weather was lousy. I fell Sunday going from our cabin to the YC dining room for lunch. My shoulder is broken so they had us get off the ship. We were still in port. I hope someone got upgraded to our cabin.

 

I have contacted customer service about resuming our trip another time. Hopefully, they will co-operate.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Keys Kathy
add

[morpheusofthesea]

4 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

It is nice for me to hear the weather was lousy. I fell going from our cabin to the YC dining room for lunch. My shoulder is broken so they had us get off the ship. I have contacted customer service about resuming our trip another time. Hopefully, they will co-operate.

This is terrible. What we all fear. To Blazes with the rest of the trip, insurance covers it. More important is a speedy recovery and a good mental attitude to heal faster. Godspeed.

[Keys Kathy]

2 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

This is terrible. What we all fear. To Blazes with the rest of the trip, insurance covers it. More important is a speedy recovery and a good mental attitude to heal faster. Godspeed.

We didn't have "trip" (LOL) insurance. We are relying on MSC to do the right thing. We never unpacked. I was dropping off our carry-on and heading to have lunch with new friends.

 

I left the Halloween Candy we brought for the YC crew and cruise ducks with one of the Officers. Has any found a duck?

 

Oh, good drugs help with healing too. I tried to go without a pill in the middle of the night...... not quite time yet. Two pluses, 1, it was my left shoulder, 2, Windows 11 has a speak-to-type feature

 

[Valpacino]

Good Morning!  The sun is rising as we attempt an approach to Ocean Cay.  We are literally inching forward towards the island but it is still extremely windy out there & the breeze feels on the cooler side.  DH has the feeling the captain really wants to try & dock today as we've had the last 2 days of heavy rain, not being able to go out on deck, pool shut on the YC pool deck due to wave motion etc.  To see some sunshine & be able to stretch your legs a bit will be most welcome if we can make it in to dock.  

 

Keys Kathy - I'm so sorry to hear of what happened to you.  That's absolutely awful.  I hope MSC do the right thing & reschedule you when you're 'ship shape' again.  I am afraid we have not found any ducks so far!

 

Dskiba - We are in room 19014.  Very nice room.  Our Butler is Rakesh who has been absolutely charming and helpful.  Last night he made sure to come and find us & explain if we did manage to dock (it was still 50/50 last night no matter who we asked amongst the crew), we should head to the Top Sail Lounge where he would be waiting to escort us on to the island.  We asked would he/a Butler be available to make sure we could get back on as we had read on previous posts of the 'scrum' that seems to occur for the golf cart ride back.  He assured us that would not happen and we would be taken care of.  So we're interested to see how this experience pans out.  I have a treatment this afternoon in the spa so I'll need to get back on the ship in good time with no delays.  The servers we've absolutely loved and have been so kind to us include Shi-Shi and Kimberly (Top Sail Lounge) and P-K on the YC Pool Deck. P-K is the server's nickname and does not reflect their name badge.  P-K is the server that showed us the secret about the cold air being blasted out on a certain part of the pool deck.  I agree with Captain John in that it is probably not to do with the AC system as that is not how a typical household AC would work but what ever it is, it's very welcome on a hot pool deck with no shade!

 

Thank you to Loge23 for the tip about the pizza at the very back of Deck 16.  Due to the poor weather & not being able to utilize the outdoor buffet on Deck 20, we braved 'gen pop' and Marketplace Buffet on Deck 16 yesterday.  It was incredibly busy as you can imagine on a wet windy day but if you walk to the very back of the buffet, it gets less crowded and easy to access the food on offer.  There was a lot of choice available, it all looked very fresh and we were pleasantly surprised on the quality of the offering.  We've read a lot of previous posts bashing the quality of the food in the buffet but we thought it looked comparable to other cruise lines and not sub standard.  We both enjoyed the pizza and thought it very good (they just bought up a fresh white pizza with onions and olives which was delicious).  I wish they offered it as an option in the YC Deck 20 buffet.  I wonder why they don't just have 1 pie available by the slice & keep replenishing it as one of the buffet items?  We did ask our Butler about pizza delivery to the YC pool deck & was told that was not possible & instead we had to go to our room to order, have it delivered & then take it up there to eat.  It would just be nice to offer pizza in the YC buffet as an option in my opinion.

 

I did see a previous poster ask about drinks around the pool & if allowed or not?  During the 2 days we could use the pool, drinks were being served around the pool and people were drinking in the pool & pool side where you sit on the 'lip' of the pool either in the water or on the wooden pool edge with feet in the water.  So in our experience people were permitted to drink in & around the pool.

 

The captain has just made an announcement but I'm afraid I cannot make out a word of what he said as they only have sound in the common areas & not in the cabin which is where we currently are!  DH thinks we're struggling to make it in to dock & we seem further away from Ocean Cay.  He thinks we're going to anchor off island so we can see the light show at the lighthouse tonight but cannot access the docking channel.  On talking to one of the servers in Top Lounge last night they confirmed Meraviglia also failed to dock at Ocean Cay 2-3 days ago due to poor weather.

 

 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Valpacino said:

I did see a previous poster ask about drinks around the pool & if allowed or not?  During the 2 days we could use the pool, drinks were being served around the pool and people were drinking in the pool & pool side where you sit on the 'lip' of the pool either in the water or on the wooden pool edge with feet in the water.  So in our experience people were permitted to drink in & around the pool.

Interesting. Why on every cruise we have been on the pool guard would not allow any drinks in glass bottle or any thing glass near or in the pool ? Only difference in your cruise and ours is we always docked at Ocean Cay. Where your server reported  the Meraviglia was unable to stop 2-3 days ago. So why antagonize the guests further with enforcing safety rules like glass near the pool ? Would be interesting if any glass drinks are also being allowed as well at the Marina Pool? Or just the YC ?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

It is nice for me to hear the weather was lousy. I fell Sunday going from our cabin to the YC dining room for lunch. My shoulder is broken so they had us get off the ship. We were still in port.

oh, no!!! I am so sorry!

[Valpacino]

So quick update.  We never got to Ocean Cay. The captain abandoned the approach citing it was too dangerous to attempt docking. Got to see the light house in the distance but that was as far as we got. Currently at sea with grey skies and very high winds. Apparently the weather is due to deteriorate further as the day progresses. 

[Valpacino]

Just to clarify the drinks around the pool observation. Everything we saw was served in plasticwear tumblers or wine glasses. No glassware or glass bottles were observed in or on lip of pool.

[DanWin]

16 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we are going to be on deck 10 forward, deluxe balcony, fantastica experience. 2 cabins - one for 2 and one for 3 people.

I do enjoy reading all the other Seascape reviews, like this one.

 

[DanWin]

Sorry but would you mind telling me what the term fantastica level is?  Sorry if it’s a silly question. Thank you

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 minutes ago, DanWin said:

Sorry but would you mind telling me what the term fantastica level is?  Sorry if it’s a silly question. Thank you

MSC has different levels of cabins/service.  You start with Bella which is pretty much a no frills Guarantee rate. Level up - Fantastica (interior, OV, balcony). You get to choose your cabin and early/late dining preference. You get one free cruise change. Aurea is a level up from that and has nice benefits (available with suites).

 

MSC Yacht Club is the top level experience and is a ship-within-a ship concept:

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise/experiences-staterooms

Edited November 3, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Cashsmoney]

10 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Just to clarify the drinks around the pool observation. Everything we saw was served in plasticwear tumblers or wine glasses. No glassware or glass bottles were observed in or on lip of pool.

Yeah I never seen any glass allowed or given on any pool deck of any cruise. However the last MSC cruise they didn’t let a drink in any container get close to a pool. I couldn’t even sit on the wet deck area of the pool with a drink. 

[Dskiba]

19 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Good Morning!  The sun is rising as we attempt an approach to Ocean Cay.  We are literally inching forward towards the island but it is still extremely windy out there & the breeze feels on the cooler side.  DH has the feeling the captain really wants to try & dock today as we've had the last 2 days of heavy rain, not being able to go out on deck, pool shut on the YC pool deck due to wave motion etc.  To see some sunshine & be able to stretch your legs a bit will be most welcome if we can make it in to dock.  

 

Keys Kathy - I'm so sorry to hear of what happened to you.  That's absolutely awful.  I hope MSC do the right thing & reschedule you when you're 'ship shape' again.  I am afraid we have not found any ducks so far!

 

Dskiba - We are in room 19014.  Very nice room.  Our Butler is Rakesh who has been absolutely charming and helpful.  Last night he made sure to come and find us & explain if we did manage to dock (it was still 50/50 last night no matter who we asked amongst the crew), we should head to the Top Sail Lounge where he would be waiting to escort us on to the island.  We asked would he/a Butler be available to make sure we could get back on as we had read on previous posts of the 'scrum' that seems to occur for the golf cart ride back.  He assured us that would not happen and we would be taken care of.  So we're interested to see how this experience pans out.  I have a treatment this afternoon in the spa so I'll need to get back on the ship in good time with no delays.  The servers we've absolutely loved and have been so kind to us include Shi-Shi and Kimberly (Top Sail Lounge) and P-K on the YC Pool Deck. P-K is the server's nickname and does not reflect their name badge.  P-K is the server that showed us the secret about the cold air being blasted out on a certain part of the pool deck.  I agree with Captain John in that it is probably not to do with the AC system as that is not how a typical household AC would work but what ever it is, it's very welcome on a hot pool deck with no shade!

 

Thank you to Loge23 for the tip about the pizza at the very back of Deck 16.  Due to the poor weather & not being able to utilize the outdoor buffet on Deck 20, we braved 'gen pop' and Marketplace Buffet on Deck 16 yesterday.  It was incredibly busy as you can imagine on a wet windy day but if you walk to the very back of the buffet, it gets less crowded and easy to access the food on offer.  There was a lot of choice available, it all looked very fresh and we were pleasantly surprised on the quality of the offering.  We've read a lot of previous posts bashing the quality of the food in the buffet but we thought it looked comparable to other cruise lines and not sub standard.  We both enjoyed the pizza and thought it very good (they just bought up a fresh white pizza with onions and olives which was delicious).  I wish they offered it as an option in the YC Deck 20 buffet.  I wonder why they don't just have 1 pie available by the slice & keep replenishing it as one of the buffet items?  We did ask our Butler about pizza delivery to the YC pool deck & was told that was not possible & instead we had to go to our room to order, have it delivered & then take it up there to eat.  It would just be nice to offer pizza in the YC buffet as an option in my opinion.

 

I did see a previous poster ask about drinks around the pool & if allowed or not?  During the 2 days we could use the pool, drinks were being served around the pool and people were drinking in the pool & pool side where you sit on the 'lip' of the pool either in the water or on the wooden pool edge with feet in the water.  So in our experience people were permitted to drink in & around the pool.

 

The captain has just made an announcement but I'm afraid I cannot make out a word of what he said as they only have sound in the common areas & not in the cabin which is where we currently are!  DH thinks we're struggling to make it in to dock & we seem further away from Ocean Cay.  He thinks we're going to anchor off island so we can see the light show at the lighthouse tonight but cannot access the docking channel.  On talking to one of the servers in Top Lounge last night they confirmed Meraviglia also failed to dock at Ocean Cay 2-3 days ago due to poor weather.

 

 

Thanks so much!  Great to hear about Rakesh!  As our first time in YC, we were really hoping for a good butler!  Like you, we like to identify our favorite servers and express our gratitude early since I appreciated the same when I was a bar waitress in my youth. And yes, I always provided stellar service but definitely had my regulars that I developed a deeper relationship. 

[Keys Kathy]

I take photos of their name tags so I know how to spell their names and state their position correctly.

[bhughey]

On 11/3/2023 at 10:04 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Interesting. Why on every cruise we have been on the pool guard would not allow any drinks in glass bottle or any thing glass near or in the pool ? Only difference in your cruise and ours is we always docked at Ocean Cay. Where your server reported  the Meraviglia was unable to stop 2-3 days ago. So why antagonize the guests further with enforcing safety rules like glass near the pool ? Would be interesting if any glass drinks are also being allowed as well at the Marina Pool? Or just the YC ?

I think this reference/observation may only be in regards to the YC pool where there are far fewer passengers. We just disembarked the Seascape this morning (sailed in YC) and were allowed to have drinks at the edge of the pool. However, when we said the Seaside in a standard balcony back in July, we were NOT allowed to bring any drinks, plastic tumbler or otherwise, anywhere near the main pools on decks 8 and 18. While we've always been able to do so on other lines, I kind of appreciate this level of enforcement- it helps prevent drunken spillage of daquaris and keeps people from camping out all day. 

Edited November 4, 2023 by bhughey

[Valpacino]

Okay so the continuation of our experience on MSC Seascape.  I am sorry I'm jumping around on the days & what we experienced & when.  I'll try & keep to a better order!  Yesterday was disembarkation in Miami.  It was pouring with rain again which was pretty much the main theme of our trip unfortunately.  I know there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about the weather.  It's just one of those things.  Thankfully living in SW FL meant we could drive out the rain hanging over Miami & by lunchtime we were back in blue sky country & 85F temps.  If only the weather had been kind to us on board (sigh!).  

 

A lot of chat on both the forums here and Youtube has been around the quality of food on MSC and continues to be a hot topic.  I totally understand this is probably one of the most personal things to critique and what is great for someone is not so great for another.  Also the actual experience can vary, depending on what's going on at the time (is the dining room full to capacity? Is the kitchen under pressure & getting more guest requests for special dietry requirements etc.)  This is a very important part of our cruise and certainly makes up our top 3 considerations (quality of food, room, crew service).  I've talked about the lunch buffet up on Deck 20.  Overall we felt it was a nice offering & never busy with a fair amount of choice.  I just wish they had pizza available & they could keep the french fries hot.  Cold french fries are just awful in my opinion!  The breakfast buffet was also similar in that there were a fair amount of options available - really everything you would want for a good breakfast.  The star of the breakfast buffet on Deck 20 was the made to order coffee just like any fancy coffee shop.  They have a commercial grade coffee machine making cafe latte, americano etc.  You place your order either with the server or at the counter, they make it fresh & bring it your table.  I am not a coffee drinker at all but I drank these in the morning.  They were always lovely & hot & delicious.  A big plus for the breakfast buffet on Deck 20!

 

We tried breakfast twice in the YC dining room.  I am afraid this was not so good.  We tried it on Day 2 (first full day at sea).  It was pouring with rain in the morning so we figured there would be no breakfast on Deck 20 as it does say on the daily planner 'weather permitting' when giving hours of operation.  So we headed to the YC dining room for what I call a 'sit down' breakfast!  The dining room was probably about a third full, if that, and for good reason.  We thought our cell phones had re-adjusted automatically to reflect the 1 hr ahead time change.  They didn't!  So what we thought was 8.45 am was in fact 7.45 am.  The room is beautiful in the day time with stunning views of the ocean.  Soothing music plays in the background.  It really is very nice.  We ordered our tea and coffee & breakfast selection & sat back and waited. And waited.  And waited a bit more.  Tea and coffee eventually arrived but it was lukewarm.  I reckon it took about 20-25 minutes to get the breakfast items served.  DH had the MSC express breakfast.  I ordered a selection of the fishes on offer with toast.  Absolutely nothing wrong with the food & quality but again the hot items were lukewarm.  The staff were friendly and courteous.  I just don't know why it took so long to get everything in a dining room that was less than a third full & why it was not that hot?  It was not a one off either.  On Day 4 it was raining with high winds so we took to the YC dining room again for breakfast.  This time we got there about 8.50 am.  It was exactly the same experience.  Took a long time to get items delivered & when they arrived, the hot items were lukewarm.  Also we noted if you ordered coffee, they didn't come back & ask if you wanted more or check if you needed a top up.  It was a disappointing experience on both occasions and after the second experience of slow service, we ended up braving the wind & rain for the remainder of the cruise & head for Deck 20 for breakfast.  Even though it says in the planner that the food offering is 'weather permitting', we ventured there on the last 3 days with rain & very high winds, thankful that the staff were there & ready with a hot breakfast.  I don't know what would constitute them closing this area due to bad weather as what we had was pretty bad.  I just wanted to mention this so people are not put off going up on Deck 20 if it's raining/high winds etc.  Chances are the staff are there & waiting for you with that delicious hot coffee on hand!

[Valpacino]

Continuing our observations about the food.  I would say our most important food experience on any cruise is the nightly dinner.  For me this is where a cruise shines, or not.  For us it is also one of the main criteria when making the decision who to cruise with.  We previously sailed in an Edge stateroom with infinite veranda during the first year of the pandemic.  We were fortunate enough to experience a couple of nights in The Luminea as a guest of a long term loyal Retreat guest who was sailing on the Edge for about 2 months solid on B2B's.  We were blown away by the experiene in terms of quality of food at the evening meal + the service we experienced.  That led us to book the Beyond in The Retreat for Fall 2022.  The experience was diminished compared to the Edge in Fall 2021.  The service was not comparable nor was the evening meal food quality.  It wasn't bad by any means but no where near what we'd experienced previously.  We were just thankful we'd paid Fall 2021 prices and not Fall 2022 prices which were more than double what we'd paid for the same trip.

 

That disappointment in the quality of The Retreat led us to decide to explore other options and after reading the various reviews on here about MSC YC, we booked that for our annual Fall trip.  So the evening dinner experience was important.  Unfortunately it was very much just like the breakfast experience in YC dining room.  It was slow and when the food arrived, it was lukewarm.  It was also pretty bland with no real flavor in anything we sampled.  I'd agree with 'Walter', the guy in the video that Stockjock kindly posted.  The food was not bad but it wasn't great either.  Unfortunately for me, I don't want an 'ok' experience for my annual vaction.  Nor do I expect Michelin star quality at sea but I expected a lot more from YC dining and it just didn't deliver for us.  We ordered pasta a couple of nights, thinking as an Italian liner they'd get that on point.  DH left his pasta after a couple of mouthfuls and really didn't care for it - it was overly salty & the wrong side of al dente (on the hard side).  I tried the Duck Ragu one night.  It was ok but the pasta was stuck together so not great either.  As an aside I worked in Italy back in the late 90's around the Milan region in the cheese industry.  So I feel I'm probably on safe ground to assess the pasta offering.  It just wasn't great.  That being said, for balance we got chatting to another couple from Europe who have sailed MSC at least 5-6 times, 2 of those in the YC.  They said the lasagna on the Seascape was far superior to the Virtuosa!  So I understand it's subjective.  This couple also said they found the service so slow they had to have a word with the Maitre d'.  Things got a little better for them after that but the fact they felt compelled to have a word says it may have been an issue on our sailing.  Why I just don't know.

[Valpacino]

Due to the underwhelming experience of the evening dining in YC, we tried Butcher's Cut on Day 4.  We chose from the $59 per head menu as there was everything we wanted on there without having to go a la carte.  We really enjoyed BC.  This is the experience we were looking for in the YC dining room in terms of food flavor and attention to detail.  The food was promptly delivered, it was hot, it had flavor!!!  The baked goats cheese was delicious.  A stark contrast to the rather sad Asparagus in Tarrgon sauce in YC dining room which consisted of a few thin spears with 2 cold dry twists of puff pastry on the side & a bit of sauce.  In my opinion not a cohesive dish at all.  Three of us had filet mignon which was better than the YC offering but I also appreciate we're paying extra for it.  We also had the Slow Roasted Chicken which had bags more flavor than the chicken breast on offer in the YC dining room.  We sampled a selection of sides and all the sauces on offer.  The sides were very much a step up on anything we'd had so far in the YC dining room.  The sides in YC felt like an after thought with not much attention paid to any detail.  We enjoyed BC so much we booked it again for the last night and it delivered again and didn't disappoint.  Worth the extra spend in our opinion.

 

 

 

 

[Valpacino]

To break up my ramblings I thought I'd post a few pictures I took whilst on board.  In no particular order!  Hopefully they'll post up the right way as the last one I posted was on it's side & I have no idea on how to correct it!

 

A picture of one of the crystal staircases in the main atrium.  We saw lots of people during the evenings taking pictures on these.  They do give a lovely effect if you have a great camera.  Interestingly the crystal staircase from YC lounge to the YC restaurant was not lit & in darkness every night so I think it may be broken.

[Valpacino]

A couple of shots of our breakfast in the YC dining room on Day 2.

 

[Valpacino]

A view of the YC dining room during day time.  Lovely views over the ocean.  The outside veranda you can see in picture one has lovely 'light up' sofa style seats & tables.  If it's warm & dry & not blowing a gale it's a great spot to sit outside with a cocktail!

[Valpacino]

Here's an idea of the weather we experienced on Days' 4, 5 & 6!