just erica

Hi there, I would just like a little feedback, opinions and info about this cruise. We are looking at the November 12th Mediterranean out of Barcelona.

Ive cruised with Carnival, Royal Caribbean and recently on the MSC Seaside. We like good service and good food (especially Mediterranean style food). We are not ones to do extra things on a cruise. I have decided that I am just not a big ship fan.

Can anyone who has cruised this ship give me some practical advice? The price point I have received for this cruise is insane and I find it almost to good to be true.

Basically we are looking to get away for a week and I do not want to do the Caribbean. We have sailed the Mediterranean before and are looking for a more relaxed trip this time around. The price is a huge consideration as we are on a budget and the flights are going to be expensive.

Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!

I was actually curious about this. I also like having a bagel, creamcheese and lox at breakfast. Not a showstopper, but it is sort of a staple on most of the big cruiselines (not sure about Carnival, where I gravitate to the juevos rancheros breakfast...).

They do serve bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon at breakfast in the MDR.

Breakfast buffet only has salmon mousse, which was very good!

I have read a lot of the review and what I gather is that when I check in I have to go over to a kiosk and make my reservation then. What about using my travel agent, does that work? I have read many report from Cruise Critic about the sewage smell is that been taken care of. Also, room service, many reviews state that it really does not work. I am leaving next month and really look forward to sailing with MSC, I'm just concern that I did not waste my money. And one last question how is the internet and is it easy to join.

 

Thanks All

The kiosk on board is for linking your credit card with your room so you can make purchases on board. It cannot be done by your travel agent. It is actually really easy and quick.

There was a very significant fecal/sewer smell on Deck 5 mostly in the main atrium area but there are reports now that it may have been fixed.

We did not have a good experience with Room Service in terms of timing of deliveries, quality of items. We ordered the first 3 days and then gave up.

I cannot answer the internet question as I didn't purchase it.

They are coded and can't be used by anyone else.

Not true on our cruise. How would they know?

Oh, I forgot to mention that my favourite part of this discussion was the title of the thread....

"Buttergate" made me smile everytime I saw it!

And what you’re essentially saying is “who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?“ By NO means am I calling anyone a liar, but maybe mistaken. Put the shoe on the other foot: if I had cruised and told you there was no butter and then you discovered a video like this showing there was, wouldn’t you at least be surprised? I don’t remember when your sailing was but it’s entirely possible they fixed the problem after your cruise.

I wasn't surprised by the video, I was happy because I could see that they finally did get butter and now the passengers aboard that particular cruise could get some.

We sailed on the Jan 13-20th week.This totally illustrates even further to me why our group was frustrated all week. The service and product was/is all over the place.

If you are a person who truly does not care about this type of non service and non product type of cruise then you will be fine.

If you are like me who is in the service industry and goes on vacation to experience great service and a great product, then you will be let down. It has nothing to do with a "European style of cruise". The only thing European I noticed on this cruise was the food (which we loved), and the extra languages in the announcements.

Again, as I have mentioned before and in my review, our group still enjoyed. We make our own fun and try very hard not to let things like bad weather ruin our time. It is very disappointing though when you have booked for a year and saved your money all year to go and receive this type of cruise.

I truly truly hope that MSC will continue trying to fix the issues that are fixable for the next passengers. No one wants anyone to have a bad cruise.

I am done talking about the Seaside now.

This is EXACTLY where a good deal of my skepticism about negative reviews comes from. There is clearly butter at the buffet, which directly contradicts what some have suggested. “There was no butter, anywhere, the horror!” I mean, really, folks.

 

 

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So essentially what you are saying is that people like me who looked and looked and asked and asked about butter and was told there was none available, are downright liars??

Like I said in the above post, perhaps they got some aboard this particular cruise but there was none on mine.

Sounds like a fantastic start so far! Enjoy!

Check out the 3:03 mark of this vlog. Should settle the question.

 

Only responding to this because I have now become irrationally obsessed with this topic! ;p

Never saw either of those packets of butter on Day 1 through Day 7 of our cruise in either the buffets or the MDRs.

I guess people complained about no butter and they got some or maybe there was a surplus in the YC and let "shared" with the rest of the ship.

I can now breathe and sleep easier knowing that passengers after me are getting real butter!

Seen conflicting answers , How many formal nights on the 7 day Seaside cruise to the Western Caribbean ?

 

Thank you

One of the nights was "meet the captain night" which most people took as a formal night and the other was the actual formal night which was on the Thursday night.

Just a heads up that there is no special menu for formal night. It's just a dress up night.

My only response would be.....Why should those who have chosen to cancel...pay for a product/experience that obviously is not ready for prime time??? We are not "beta tester" passengers. For those who have booked in the next couple of months I totally understand the cancellations.... I , too, am one of them. Maybe by years end MSC will have gotten their act together....but paying good money, with the expectations, for a regular cruise experience...that doesn't appear to deliver is not my idea of a fun and "relaxfull" vacation

This is exactly the reason I and quite a few passengers feel let down. To me, you are either ready to go or you are not. That is the reason also for so much conflicting info online etc. They keep changing their mind about things it seems each cruise sailing. This is not the way to do business.

This wasn't a throw away cruise for me, it was my vacation. As another poster mentioned, I don't expect perfection and I am easy going but I do expect a minimum level of competence and we didn't get it.

If you ask for them they will bring you one regardless of status.

I think something that is frustrating me is the idea that I should have to pay to, 'let things go'. MSC marketed Seaside in a VERY specific way. It isn't that I have unreasonable expectations, they literally set those expectations.

 

I guess if I were retired or not so busy I might be more willing to hand over my money and accept that toilets may or may not flush, that there may or may not be a sewage smell, it may or may not take over two hours to eat. I'm not. I work literally seven days a week, every week, 50 or so weeks a year. That isn't a bad thing, I love what I do. However, my vacation time is precious. I don't expect perfection - I cruise on Royal, NCL, and sometimes Carnival. I know at my price point - I am not going to get perfection. My price point varies - we generally do balcony cabins or suites (just had a 2 bedroom Royal Family Suite on Oasis). We also have a Viking Ocean cruise booked for 2019 as a treat for my husband and I. But again, I know what I am walking in to and I know that at the 'family cruise line' price point - there are going to be some issues.

 

However, to me there is a big difference between the occasional hit or miss cabin steward, hit or miss meal - and a systemic sewage smell or the main buffet closing at 3:00 to be turned into another dining room.

 

I appreciate the rants and raving as well as the reviews stating people had a great time - it allows me to better decide how I am going to spend my precious, hard earned vacation time and money. This will be cruise number 21 for me, I am not a newbie to the game. I took my first cruise twenty years ago.

 

We cruise with our minor age children - this will be cruise 10 and 11 for them respectively. Again, knowing what we are walking in to a planning accordingly makes sense. We know Royal and NCL works for our family and we know Carnival is 'tolerable' if it is a very specific kind of ship. What Seaside advertised - strongly, was they were going to take on and compete head-to-head with just those type of ships, the family market.

 

We have an aurea suite booked and I have plenty of time to change my mind (we just booked a NCL cruise as a back-up). Same price for the family, just two balcony rooms on NCL as opposed to a suite on Seaside.

 

My advice to the loyalist as well as the 'laid back' types is - STOP complaining about the complainers. Why? Because the complainers will help folks like ME not annoy folks like YOU by being on a ship that will cause me to complain as well. I am literally befuddled that folks who don't like complainers want to mute 'complainers' that will keep other 'complainers' out of your sacred space. You should ENCOURAGE it.

 

I am a JimZim/Spaniel Fan - fan. His cruising style is similar to my family's style - except we travel with kids. I will pay more for a 'family' cruise line. I can afford a suite on the family cruise line, or get a couple nice balcony rooms. However, I am going on vacation and there are certain things I want for that vacation experience. No, I am not willing to just hand over money to a for profit company and say, "Hey man, screw up and have a sewer smell, I'll just go with the flow." Guess what? YOU don't want me on that ship if it is still smelling like sewer when it is time for me to cruise. I don't want to hurt your 'laid back' vibe by being frustrated because I don't like smelling sewer on cruise 24 hours a day.

 

Again, I don't cruise at the price point to expect perfection. We are a suite or couple balcony rooms on a family cruise line sort of family. In my 21 cruises, it has never been 100% perfect and I don't need it to be perfect. But, there is a minimum level of competence that I need. I 'thought' I was ready to experience something new. I realize from reviews of Seaside that I am not quite ready for the Titanic level 'class' based cruising. Like I said, I am in a aurea suite, but I still don't want to play the 'greater than/less than' game. Even on Royal with the 'suite class' - I wasn't able to control elevators for others simply because I was in a Sky class suite. I know some folks that are cruising with us that are in the Bella rooms. They cruise 4 - 5 times a year and aren't necessarily 'budget' cruisers; they picked those rooms because they were 'trying out' MSC - I know they had no idea they were relegating themselves to possibly eating in the buffet with some table cloths slapped over the top. I am letting them know (they aren't social media type folks) - That is just something that is unheard of in the American market. I am letting them know, Seaside may not be the best choice. Let folks 'whine' so the people that fit the Seaside market find her and the people that don't will choose accordingly and have a better shot at the vacation they are looking for.

Thank you for posting this. It was very well said. The kind of negative details I have posted are exactly the reason why I go to Cruise Critic. I want to hear everything. Good and bad.

I don't understand why I am being told to "just go with the flow" and "let things slide" and "just enjoy your vacation and stop complaining". I can only vacation once a year and it takes a lot for me to save up the money to go. Like you, I do expect a minimum level of competence. I did not experience that on this ship. It's hard to explain...it's just the vibe of the ship. It's a constant build up through the week of lots of things that contribute to a not great experience. It is just a non service ship and the design of the ship is not good.

It has nothing to do with the European slant. I prefer that, it's one of the reasons we chose it. I'm Italian. I witnessed quite a few heated exchanges regarding the service and the MDR situations and guess what? those passengers were all Italian! I could understand them and it all had to do with exactly the same issues most people are mentioning.

The Marketplace buffet being turned into an MDR at night? You could do whatever you wanted to that space but it is never going to look like an MDR and certainly not like the actual two MDRs on the ship. It is a nice buffet space for sure but it is not an MDR. This ship was simply not built correctly to handle 5000+ passengers.

So, the Seaside was advertised to compete in the North American market? I think someone forgot to tell the designers.

We are in the YC so I cant speak to the main dining room food or the buffets. So far the meats have all been very good as are the pastas. Desserts and the cheese plate in particular have been especially good (something I can’t say for NCL or Carnival for instance) We did go to Ocean Cay last night, and maybe we just ordered poorly, but it was our least favorite meal so far. Honestly, I am not cooking or cleaning so I have no complaints...if one course or meal is not to my liking there is always something else available within an hour or so. Hope that helps.

Ahhh, you are YC! That explains why you are enjoying it so much.

I can not confirm or deny. The only thing consistent with MSc is inconsistency. :).

 

I can say the following from personal experience- fantastica experience does NOT guarantee you your seating preference. I was assigned late seating fantastica and tried to switch to early and was told no.

 

With that said, I doubt you will be forced to eat in marketplace. There have been no reports of anything but Bella being seated there. This would be especially true if your sailing isn’t in peak season. From what it sounds like, marketplace may end up being a nicer mdr anyway:).

 

 

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The problem with MSC Seaside is the inconsistency of information. One time we were told there was My Choice dining time, one time we were told there was no such thing, another time we were told that with Fantastica experience, we could change our dining times every night if we wanted. No of these are true. You can request and ask whatever you want, but at the end of the day who knows what you will get until you step on the cruise.

It’s on the confirmation I got from MSC.

 

 

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Huh. We chose the early seating a year out from the booking and ended up being assigned late seating.

My travel person told me that you can request but the final decision is with the cruiseline and you don't find out until you check in at the port.

Can you confirm that this arrangement only affects passengers with the Bella experience who choose not to eat in the MDR? My wife and I are booked in a Fantastica balcony at the late dinner seating so I doubt this will be an issue for us. Thank you.

 

 

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How do you know what seating you are at already?

Without speculating whether or not the issues are due to “new ship”’kinks, let me help with some facts as I believe you are misinformed about the issues with the buffet/mdr.

 

It is true that MSc has turned PART of the buffet into a mdr as overflow on other ships. However; that isn’t the issue people concerned with on the seaside. The issue on the seaside is that they have closed the main buffet entirely.

 

Not part of the buffet but the whole thing. What they offer on 16 isn’t an entire dinner buffet- it’s more of a snack bar. For example, there does not appear to be a decent salad bar on 16, rather a bowl of lettuce and onions (shown on video). I am reasonably certain this is unique to the seaside, not to mention very misleading in terms of MSc advertising.

 

On divina, the back portion of the buffet is used as mdr overflow on weeks that are particularly full. It’s not common practice and happens occasionally. And when the back section is turned into a mdr, the rest of the buffet carries on as normal. Based on current dailies posted, the entire main buffet is closed on the seaside every day. Apples to oranges.

 

 

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Thank you for posting this. You said it and explained far better than I could have. Everything you said is exactly right and true. We experienced it ourselves when we tried to go to the buffet for dinner one night and were turned away as the whole thing was closed. We were directed up to Deck 16. No one starved but it was disappointing.

MSC does not fully explain this anywhere by the way. It is very misleading.

It is not so much the negative reviews themselves. Ever single cruise ship has negative reviews. It is the volume and percentage of negative reviews in relation to the positive. Im not just talking about CC, but I read other travel review sites as well. Too many to ignore as just "complainers". There is something to it. My plan is to wait til next year to sail on the seaside on the YC. It seems like a reasonable plan to me.

 

So yes, I was persuaded by the volume/content of negative reviews (and not just CC). Just like I have been persuaded in the past from positive reviews. That is why I read reviews, to help me make up my mind when I have choices to make.

I like your thinking. Also, people need to consider the amount of people that will never review any ship. A lot of people don't even know about Cruise Critic. I talked to quite a few people on the ship and not a single person was enjoying it like they thought they would.

hello,

 

Someone tell me about Di?ning experience on Seaside ?

 

Thank you.

Hello,

Could you be a little more specific about what you would like to know?

Merci

No, that isn't entirely accurate. What I have seen is that many (not all) passengers who didn't enjoy their cruise are telling everyone else that the ship is terrible, worst cruise ever, everyone was complaining etc., in short, warning people not to go. On the other hand, the positive reviewers have been careful to say that their particular experiences were great, they didn't have the issues some others had, etc. In other words, they're being very specific about their positive feedback. At least that's how I read it.

I am sure the people who are posting negatives can get as specific as you would like. A lot of the issues are poor design and planning. These are not "new ship kinks".

How about only having 3 stalls for the ladies bathroom outside the MDR? Really??? There was a huge line up everynight. MOst of the time one of the stalls was out of order because it was clogged. Hows that for a lovely aroma after dinner?

How about a buffet space being used as a MDR because the other two MDRs are not big enough for 5000 passengers? Can you imagine eating your dinner on a cruise ship in a buffet space with bar height tables?

How about being on Deck 5 and needing to go to Deck 16 and never getting an elevator because 90% of the time 2-3 of them are out of order and you are also trying to let elderly and people with scooters go on first. I gave up most of the time and used the stairs. I think having to wait 15-25 minutes for an elevators is crazy.

How about not being able to use large portions of the ship because they are reserved for YC members?

I could go on and on about specifics but I suspect I will get criticized for being critical....

Let me get this straight. The reviews that show the seaside in a positive light are "brillant and balanced" and "reputable", but any reviews that show the seaside in a negative light is considered "fake news". Do I have that correct?

I lurk and read on this site more than I post although I have posted more since returning from Seaside. I have noticed that when giving facts about the ship that are slanted negative, posters get insulted and told they are naysayers, whiners and complainers. But post something positive and a parade is thrown in your honour!! The title is this website is Cruise Critic. We are supposed to give both sides of the story. There are positives about the Seaside that are wonderful but there are far more negatives. I certainly expect people to read and then make their own conclusions and decisions. No one is trying to tell people to cancel.

Mine took about 7-10 days from when I submitted it (It was a Carnival cruise in November)

Thank you!

Are you speaking of the Reviews section, not here, right?

 

I believe that can take up to a week.

Yes, no here. On the reviews section.

Thank you!

Hello, perhaps the more experienced navigators of this website can help me. I wrote a review of the Seaside a couple of days ago and I still don't see it posted. Does it normally take a few days to go up?