sheilb4

After reading the great review from Rattanchair, with Vishnu, I’m sure many of us are drooling for that superb experience you enjoyed. Is anyone willing to share names of the other good or even bad Butlers on MSC Seaside ? Please... Always nice to have a heads up early, so that you don’t waste time asking for a new one and the likely hassle and/challenges that could present.🥴

An engaged and personable friendly Butler is such a treat and can seriously make such a positive impact on your entire cruise, that will always be remembered,  so am hoping to have the same wonderful service that Rattanchair experienced.
I had Leslie my last time. He was very pleasant, a lovely person but I think also very new.  

12 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

B2B?  When I grow up, I wanna be just like you!  A few more years until I retire and become a cruise critic regular poster on my 3-4 cruises a year (maybe 5 if I can convince DW, perhaps?)! Excited for you!

Haha... I worked many many long hours for this.. a special (big) birthday treat to myself. 

Very fortunate and excited. 

59 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

Pretty sure he will be there in Oct.  We were in Cabin 16015, and have booked same cabin again for April.  Great location right across the hall from the YC bathrooms on Deck 16 which came in handy with 3 girls getting ready at the same time!

Oh that’s good. Fingers crossed, lol, and thanks for letting me know. If I’m lucky I will have him for both weeks of my B2B! Awesome. 

What a super informative review, Thank you! 

Am hoping Lezle will be there in October? Did he mention when he goes on vacation? He was my butler this past May and was indeed great, so hoping I get lucky and have him again. The Ninja I think was Anna? 

What suite # were you? 

Thanks again for refreshing my prior memories. Am counting the days until I’m back on her again.  🙂

Rick. I don’t think I have laughed out loud so much after I saw your periscope last night and you went skipping after that lady.... you are soooo sooo fun! Just hilarious Am considering birthday cruise as I usually go solo so would be gr8 to see a “familiar” face to join you on your partying antics. Loved it!

Keep on going...such brilliant entertainment! Haha.:cool::')

Best imho are :

Coconut Mojito - Boleros.... Amazing!

Mango Mojito - Champagne bar and Central Park bar

We are staying at the La Quinta inn and other than not having an elevator, the staff is fantastic rooms are very clean pool is large and it’s next to a gift shop and Denny’s. So far so good! Waiting to board the Oasis tomorrow!

Looking forward to your review Laurie. Have a wonderful time. I’m on her 7th! :cool:

So a genie is basically a wish granter... like the name implies... go figure! I had no idea that existed! I'm not likely to ever get to enjoy one of those, but it sounds like a pretty fancy experience! :D;p

It’s the best ever!!! 👍 great memories of a wonderful experience with my Mother and a dear Genie who made our holiday perfect.....

I probs won’t get such an experience again, but ya never know! Lol

Just wondering which Genies will be onboard for sailing in 2wks on 10/7/18

I heard 1 or 2 may be going on vacation around that time so curious who is replacing them....? Anyone know?

Thanks so much

J

Do some math before hand. The prices will be higher onboard.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

Not always, as I just did the math for my upcoming Oasis cruise in 2weeks: fingers crossed the onboard price doesn’t increase from this past week.........but it’s a gamble isn’t it...eeeek

Onboard

$63x7+18%=$520.38-30% $364.27 $52/day

Prebook

$45x7+18%=$371.70

$53.10/day

Okay, got the scoop. $63 per day plus gratuity. Comes out to $520 total

 

 

 

Great! That’s even better, so cheaper to do on board with my 30% discount.

Onboard $63 + 18% - 30% = $364 $52/day

Pre-book $48 + 18% = $396.48 $56.64/day

 

Thanks again for checking... 🙋

Okay, Beatrice in Suite Lounge did the math and booking pre-cruise is cheaper than discounts on board. Deluxe on board is $70 per dvay. D+ discount gives 30% off. $46 per day is better

 

 

Thanks so much for checking, very kind of you.

 

Does the $70/day incl 18% ?

If so, then with 30% off =. $49/day

$70/day + 18% 82.60/day - 30% = $57.82/day

Pre-book $48/day + 18% =. $56.64/day

Am I overthinking lol..all depends on whether the original $70/day includes 18% otherwise not much in it. Eeeek!

Have a great week!

Can you let me know price of Deluxe drink package onboard right now. Trying to figure out if any cost savings pre-pay online $48/day versus buying onboard with D+ 30% discount. Thanks so much

We are in room 8330 on Oasis in January 2019. (1st time cruisers). I have loved following your posts!

 

Did you notice any soot on the balcony that others have talked about?

 

Could you feel movement of the ship while you were in your room?

 

Thanks so much! We are so excited!

Just getting back on here, having said goodbye to my mummy as she flew back to UK, and me back to work...boo hoo.

Yes there was some soot for sure, the balcony deck was never cleaned while we were onboard, so not sure if this is the norm, but it was very dirty at times, and no shoes, = black feet very quickly! Maybe this was something else the cabin attendant should have managed? but didn’t ask.

No movement at all.. the most beautiful weather all week.

All I can say is Star Class. Our suite/balcony and dear Hossain have spoiled me, but I know it is most unlikely I will get such an opportunity to travel in this class again.

thank you. i was hoping so. now i'm wondering about deck 8. (since 9 is not able)

I could be wrong...but I looked closely and didn’t see any hinge or evidence of how it would open compared to many other balconies I’ve been on...

Maybe someone else that stayed on deck 9 2BR ATS can help, sorry.

Last night onboard we ate at Izumi again. Excellent meal as always. Early night, packing, and enjoying our balcony for the last time.

Luggage put outside at 7a, ready for our pre-arranged departure of 8a.

Smoothest, most expedient disembarkation ever!!! Wow!!!

We will miss Hossain sooooooo much. He was an absolute darling. Loved him!

Summary review is coming up in the next few days I promise.

Home, tired, laundry done, unpacking.... sleep...

All I can say before I go, is “Oh my gosh, Star Class is definately the way to go if you can (or can’t ) afford it,

If I get an opportunity to do it again, I shall try Harmony tho, way too many disappointments with the food quality on Oasis.

Happy to answer any specific questions about Star Class, food, entertainment, etc

What a beautiful last day on board. Weather was great as it has been the entire way. So lucky. Lay out on deck/balcony most of day, popping in and out to cool off...just wonderful. Had brekkie of Eggs Bennie sondisnt bother with lunch.. around 330p we finished off a cheese plate we had from 101CP.

Dinner tonight at Izumi again. If you like sushi you deff can’t go wrong. Always the best imho. Love it! So great to have all the meals/speciality dining inclusive so you can pick and choose. Recommendations to follow.

Not much going on with entertainment tonight so we wandered the shops, had a Starbucks coffee and headed back to suite for the dreaded packing!

Great thing here was we didn’t have to put luggage out the night before. We decided to disembark at 8a, so had until 7a to put it out! Super!

Cozumel.....been here so many times but just love Nachi Cocum, as does my Mother.

Had a really lovely day. Got there early so for the first 2 hrs or so we had the entire place to ourselves... what a Perfect time of day, so peaceful before others arrive....just lovely. Enjoyed a delish lunch. I still rate their guacamole and salsa the best around! Had a great massage from Ingrid, pretty deep tissue kne@d8ng so still have bruised shoulders since yesterday lol $50/hr....so worth it.

Some browsing in town. Then back to ship.

Perfect view of the entire pier and the usual late comers.... tho this time we were waiting on 2 people who had been fishing and finally made it even tho super late...the ship waited. They were very lucky,

More chocolate strawberries and mango in our suite, gosh we have been spoilt by Hossain.

We decided to have dinner in our suite again, love that we can do that!! so ordered from the coastal kitchen for a change...Rack of lamb. Unfortunately it was cooked to a crisp almost, charred and burnt, bad. We had seats reserved for the final production show, so no time to get a fresh entree... I will do a summary later of the food as deffo the quality has not been the best....

Show was good. Great seats again.

Starbucks and time for bed...all the hot sun and my beach massage had made me really sleepy.

Will finish off tomorrow with sea day, and final summary of Star Class and Oasis.

Lobster dinner at 150CP was nice. Had the cucumber, lemongrass, basil martini this time... very delicious. We had to leave before dessert and coffee as super busy in there and our waiter had many busy tables. He did his best but we couldn’t wait as had to get our seats for the Ice show within the last 15mins, or lose them....

The Ice show show was really good. Great seats middle front row again thanks to genie, want to take him home, such a delight. He thought my Mother may get cold so he gave her a beautiful pashmina to use and as a gift. So incredibly thoughtful.

70s street party after and genie has reserved 2 seats in the Rising Tide bar.

Note to others..... it’s actually not worth it as we still couldnt see anything because several other people showed up last minute and walked to the front, blocking any view we may have had, so not being able to see anything at all, we decided to call it a night.

May i ask what cabin are you on? we are in 8330 and 8328 in august. Can the door connecting both balconies be unlocked. We would like the accesibiltiy to go back and forth. i understand the room attendant or the genie are the ones to do so. Thanks and enjoy the lobster!!!

We are on deck 9. I just went out to check the balcony divider at end of ours and it doesn’t appear to be a structure that can open. The metal and glass divider are sealed with no access etc.

Please don’t wait to tell the Genie about the lack of your room attendant. It can’t be fixed if you don’t speak up. Give her the opportunity to make it right!

We have tried to talk with her a couple of times re items we needed, ie, towels, clean glasses, ice etc, being super nice, but she is rather defensive... you are absolutely right and I will let the genie know. Hate to complain as most everything has been super, but....... I do agree with you, thanks

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day...just after sunrise with the sun beating down on our balcony already....yay!!!.

Mum has been good today and back is fine...phew! Made sure a restful day to ensure she will be ok.

A small breakfast on our balcony and huuuuge table that sits 8! Lol

Loungers positioned and that’s where we stayed the entire day! Watched a comedy aquatheater show, and the rock climbing, or should I say Mum did and seemed transfixed with it. So funny. Almost every few mins she would call out to me wanting me to get up and “come see this person” doing so well or not..... lol

Izumi delivered for a delish sushi lunch.

Dear genie popped by and sent us some mango and truffles..... perfect afternoon snack.

Formal night tonight and dinner at 150 CP - our lobster treat, and then the Ice show....

I guess I must move myself off my all day occupied lounger, and go take my shower ready for tonight.... Mother has already gone for hers, wondering what she will wear... so cute...

Btw, I try to use my iPad discreetly, or I get the comments, “what are you doing wasting time on that thing”. Haha

Will let you know how the dinner and show are.....

Cannot say enough about the merits of Star Class, and our genie, Hossain. Truly a wonderful and sweet person.

(Cabin attendant not the best, appears to just want to do the least she can and move on... could be worse right! Lol and we are pretty tidy, but deffo some opportunity for her to improve on cleaning some areas....even my mother made comments on some things she noticed so I know it’s for real! .might mention to genie at end of cruise)

Happy to answer any questions any time..

Sheilb4. I have a question about making reservations for the specialty restaurants and the star class. Did you have to make reservations ahead of time (before the cruise) for any of the specialty restaurants or is the genie able to book reservations for any specialty restaurant once on board the ship? Thanks for the review. Looking forward the reading more.

Hi! closer to the cruise I received another email from the Genie with suggestions of restaurants and shows so that all the times coordinated. I had him tweak it a bit per our taste, ie didn’t want to eat at Giovannis so replaced it with Izumi x 2 nights as an example. It all worked out great, if you want to change your mind with restaurant selection, even once onboard, it’s easy. the Genie will do whatever you need to make it fit your needs. Hope this helps.

Will def write it up on the survey for Labadee, otherwise a lovely lovely day and weather was perfect.

For got to mention that on returning to our suite after the dinner and show last night, we found a surprise gift from our genie... so incredibly thoughtful and personal.

A beautiful little pendant for Mother and daughter with some special words....we were both so touched.

Hossain truly is a darling and kind soul.

So today, we got off in Falmouth, and just wandered around the stores and market, didn’t see anything we wanted to buy having been there many times. Pity that many excursions, trips on the Island are quite a distance from the port.

Weather held out despite a forecast of storms etc.

Participated in a little dancing with a couple of school girls. Lol, fun. Then watched and interacted with the band in the square. Before returning to ship around 1p

An afternoon of more sunbathing for me, and reading in the shade for my mother....having this huge balcony is truly spectacular.

A surprise of a big bowl of chocolate covered strawberries arrived late afternoon...yum

We didn’t want to go back to Chops again which was originally planned so had some items off the main dining room menu delivered to our suite. Dinner was ok, we weren’t too hungry anyway. An evening in, watching the Aqua Show with the perfect seating of course, and am now writing this before sleeping......

Bit worried about Mum today as she tried to get on a floating mat in Labadee and thinks she may have hurt her back in the process.....she has been a bit sore today. Gave her some Ibuprofen and hoping it eases.... she is sound asleep right now so that’s a good sign.

Sea day tomorrow so a lazy day ahead, (yay) and formal night ro dress for later......with dinner at 150 CP again, with a promise of the best lobster ever from the Head chef of the speciality restaurants, to make up for the bad experience at Chops on our first night.... will be sure to report back to you all later,,

Please please feel free to ask any questions. Especially regarding the Genie service and Star Class.

Please note that on your survey about Labadee. We just came back as well and had the same experience, which is so different from before. The only problem when going to the bar was there was one bartender and the cabana attendents kept cutting everyone. It took 25 minutes to get one drink. I noted it on the survey and received a call back regarding the service and told the attendent would be retrained.

Interesting.... indeed a new experience for us too, even another cabana/beach attendant I asked had major attitude and was rather rude, our genie observed this too and reported it.