ufyellowfin

11 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

MSC is heavily foreign, be it from Europe, Asia, or S.A. I think if you did any research, you would have known this instead if complaining about it.

Cool story 

15 hours ago, RSLeesburg said:

When are you traveling?   We have done a 9-day on RCI Navigator but that was Southern.  Very nice trip and the ship had lots to do - no water parks, but flowrider, sports court, mini golf, rock climbing wall, ice skating, arcade and kids club. We are doing 10 day on Serenade that is Eastern over Christmas - a bit less, sports court, pool tables, movie theater, arcade, rock climbing, and mini golf.  I believe that Carnival has Sunshine doing 8 day trips out of FL - there may be a water slide on that ship.  

Next summer earliest... we’ve been on sunshine twice and enjoyed it both times. I would not be against going back on. 

To the other 99.9 percent of people I would agree that the slides are not a big deal. Unfortunately my son is in the other .1%. He’s just now at the size where he can start riding the bigger kid slides so that was his only  request, a “really cool slide.”

We may may suck it up and save harder for one of the Disney 8-9 day cruises.

Just got back from MSC seaside out of POM. Wife and I have decided to book another cruise for our 10th anniversary in 2021. Our two kids will be coming with us as we can’t go cruising without them. We enjoy seeing them experience different cultures even if it may only be for 8 hours in port. 

We want to do an Eastern Caribbean longer than 8 days which is not hard to find at all. What I’m having trouble with is trying to find one that has a ship that is kid friendly. By that I mean one with a water park or slides. Carnival looks like they have a journeys cruise on the breeze but that is 14 days and may be too long. 

RC and NCL have a bunch from PC , Tampa, FTL but they are on the older ships that look more geared for elderly or couples with no kids. I looked at Celebrity but don’t think they are as kid friendly as what we are looking for.

Can someone point me to a ship I may be overlooking? 

MSC out of Miami is AWFUL. Too many different “backgrounds and nationalities” and everyone doing their own thing. Here’s some examples:

In some countries I’m assuming it’s ok to just use your hands to grab things off the buffet line.

In others just go ahead and bring your dirty fork back to the buffet to grab that grilled chicken breast.

Line!!!! What LINE?????

Sorry I should have said I recommend going to the aft of the ship on deck 8 for the buffet in the morning. Less crowded and less hectic.

I will say disembarking was probably the best I’ve experienced. Black tags allowed us to go to the metropolitan theatre at 8 am and we were called by 8:05 out of terminal and in the car by 8:20

I did a few times. Most of them played stupid like they didn’t speak English. The worst was a lady and her mom from Wisconsin. We were waiting for our kids to do their little show in the atrium and had been standing in the same spot right next to tile walkway for 5 minutes. These two *^%#\ came and stood right in front of us. We asked if they were staying to watch the show or just trying to decide where to go. The younger one said they were watching the kids show and we asked them if they could slide to the right and not stand right in front of us. you would have thought I asked her to wipe dog poop off my shoes. They got nasty with us and kept making snide comments to anyone that walked up about how not to get in front of us as we “own” that space. 

It it was just a bad time, that lady wasn’t MSC’s fault but it just added to our underwhelming cruise.

7 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

There were no deck plans?

There were im sure but I didn’t take into account at the time. I was just relaying my cruise info.

1 hour ago, EngIceDave said:

Vacuum in hallway is normal on any ship when you open cabin and balcony door at same time

Elevator location wasn't a secret

I know about the vacuum but we never opened our door and balcony at the same time and we kept balcony closed when we tried to use it.  Obviously we couldn’t lock it while outside but it was shut. Come to find out if the lock wasn’t engaged it caused a howling noise outside our cabin door. Thus we were told to keep our balcony door shut and locked, while other people were able to use theirs. 

We also booked this cruise before the ship was christened, so there weren’t any reviews to check out.

Sorry don’t know if I have too many pictures for this, I’ll check when I get back home. Wanted to do this while everything was fresh in my mind. 

Myself , my wife , and our two kids booked this cruise over 18 months ago. Our normal TA did not know much about MSC and said throughout they were difficult to work with. We booked an Aurea package “Grand Suite room 13003.”  Impressions of the room are as follows:

GOOD:

-great size for a family of 4

-has a good vanity in bedroom

-sink area in bathroom is spacious with lots of storage

-ample closet space

BAD:

-Balcony sucks!!!! It’s one of the most obstructed unusable balconies I’ve ever had.

-No where near the size that they have listed on deck map or size chart

-We couldn’t use our balcony for  4 of the days when the ship was moving because it created a vacuum in hallway.

-Air conditioning was really lacking

-Mattress in bedroom felt like I was sleeping on a thick piece of plywood. And pillows were awful.

-Also it is a long long longgggg walk from closest elevator to this room as it’s at the very front of the ship. And this bank of elevators always has one designated for priority (yacht club).

cabin grade C-/D

We did not eat at any of the dining experiences that required to pay extra on this trip. We did hear good things about the Asian restaurant. We ate at the dining room for dinner every night except for the last night. The food was just - “ehhh”. Nothing was great but no one got sick. Their Italian night was really subpar for an “Italian” cruise line. The grouper on the first night was probably the best thing I had all week. I had some things I wouldn’t get again but I would advise anyone that Seasides take on Baked Alaska is gross. Banana ice cream did not compliment it at all. 

Our server, I could never remember his name , he is from Indonesia and his name started with an A, was really good, especially with our kids. The anytime dining deal with aurea was a nice perk.

We ate the buffet for breakfast every morning and once for dinner but did go back for snacks.  Most of the pastas on the buffet were bland, except the Mac and cheese twice was really good. Burgers were not bad , pizzas were great and overall I thought dinner was not too bad. 

Breakfast was really good. Omelette stations didn’t take too long, bacon was ok, eggs Benedict were hit and miss. I don’t ecommemd going straight to the back of the buffet on deck 8 in the morning. We found it less crowded at the buffet and plenty of seating on back deck.

Food Grade: C

Kids Club: 

I had one in 3-6 years old and one in 7-11. Both of them LOVED it. Definitely salvaged what imo was a subpar cruise. They ate with the club 2 nights and did some performances in the atrium. The ladies that work in that area are ANGELS!!!!!

Grade: A 

Misc. opinions:

- I thought for an 18 month old boat she showed a good bit of wear. Hallways were dirty , carpets disgusting, glass and mirrored finishes were filled with smudges from day one. Our couch had rips in fabric and our curtain for the window facing forward in our bedroom was torn apart when we entered room.

-I found it weird how often I saw crew members eating in the buffet or riding elevators.  It wasn’t a huge deal but other cruises I’ve never waited behind crew in an already crowded buffet line. It was just different.

-Not sure if it’s bcause it’s Miami or because it’s MSC, but the passenger clientele was way to broad for myself to enjoy. And I know I’m not the only one. My neighbor in the next cabin (an Italian living in Canada) took the words out of my mouth before I could even say anything. We talked a bit this afternoon and both said : People are just flat out the rudest we’ve ever experienced on board any ship. I’ve only ever sailed out of Port Canaveral and Tampa and neither of those ports are as diverse as Miami  with so many different nationalities so maybe it’s not just MSC. It wasn’t that the ship was overly crowded it’s just we had an abundance of nasty people on board. 

Guest services and housekeeping were bad. Our guy was trying his best but our room was rarely “clean.”  My son had one accident on Tuesday night, ( he stayed at kids club to long and we forgot to remind him to go potty before bed) and we finally got bedding for his bed this evening!!! We called guest services called room services went to guest services talked to our cabin steward and no one did anything about it.  We also had some friends that had a hellacious time with booking the cruise (ask me for details as it’s too long to write in here) and their drink package got messed up. Well guest services left me a note to call them and when I did they told me I was getting a new package for my drinks because all the trouble I had. I tried to tell the lady it was not for me and she was extremely rude. “Sir I’m looking at the paper and it clearly says your room number and Mr #####.” Well I’m not Mr ##### , that’s who YOU need to call in room 13002.

I really liked the amount of pools and slides versus say a Carnival. There were plenty of chairs always and my kids had no issue using the slides or pools near the forest or jungle. 

The ship layout is nice as it gives a ton of space to eat outside if you’re doing the buffet which can be tough on other ships. Having said that some of the themed bars are hard to get too or are often forgot about.

Overall grade : C-  I won’t book another one on MSC

.... I’ll add more tomorrow but I’m headed to bed then getting off this ship in the morning.

Just now, Annapolisr said:

New to this forum and cruise critic.  Booked MSC last week, and it is my first cruise with MSC.  Armonia, inc. Havana, Jan. 27, 2020.  Booked for price and itinerary.  Senior Solo traveler.   

 

Have sailed other lines, and just got off the Bliss on February 3.  I could write some negatives.  I could write some positives.  The ship is just not for me.  

 

So, in looking at all the positive/negative reviews, I take what is useful to me.  IMO, you get what you pay for.  I find that have less expectations allows for pleasant surprises.  

No offense and I’m not sure if this is a European attitude but I work dang hard for my money. And 6k+  to take my wife and two kids on a trip shouldn’t require me or anyone to lower expectations. I expect a 6k dollar trip just like when I sailed Carnival sunshine the first time I spent 2k and expected a 2k trip. 

I hope you have an amazing time on your cruise. Probably why my dad always said “Different boats for different folks.” 

Quote

 

We are in Seaside right now and I would NEVER EVER sail with them again. Unless I missed something a Grand suite consisted of 2 bathrooms one with a shower one with a tub. Also includes large balcony. The “grand suite” we are in on 13 th floor has one small bathroom and about the most obstructed view balcony I’ve seen. 

We’ve sailed Carnival and always had a good time even though we knew it was more of a “budget” friendly line.  This MSC make Carnival look Cunard. The most rude passengers I’ve been around. Pushing shoving , shoving my kid out of the way because their kid needed an ice cream more. (No it’s not entirely MSC’s fault but their employees did nothing.)   I also understand it being spring break but this sucks.

I will never do another cruise on MSC or out of Miami again. I’ll stick to what I know, Disney RC or Carnival from Port Canaveral is tough to beat.

My guy is trying to put me on a balcony on lido deck... is this a good location as far as noise and ability to get to food?

I just got off the Breeze yesterday. Overall its a really nice ship. We just had an inside room, but it was sufficient. My only complaint was our bed was basically two twin beds pushed together and there was a gap in the center of the bed. My wife and I are that odd couple that still enjoys sleeping close to each other, so it made it a bit uncomfortable trying to negotiate the gap in the mattress. That, and the mattress was kinda hard in general.

 

Overall the ship, staff, and everything else was excellent. We did cheers, ate at the MDR, steakhouse, sushi and Italian restaurant and it was all decent to exceptional. The only thing I thought was not perfect was sushi, and that is just because I didn't order something I typically like (I let my wife order).

 

We got married onboard on Monday (technically a renewal of vows) and it was amazing. The photos were fantastic, albeit expensive...I never knew pictures could cost that much.

 

We had a great time, I am sitting at work today missing it tremendously.

Congratulations

Thanks for the insight. I'm hearing from a travel planner that the aft extended on the Breeze won't accommodate 4 people. Also does anyone know of rooms that you can take the divider down between two balcony rooms?

just want the lowdown on the ship... we've sailed the sunshine 3 times. Once in Oceanview the other two aft balconies. It's my wife and daughter and son 9 and 6. Do they have aft ext balcony cabins? From what I can see the ships have some of the same traits but the Breeze is 20 years newer and larger. Any comments would be appreciated.

Does anyone know when they'll have the seaside dates for the summer of 2018 coming out?

Thanks for all the replys. I'm going to do some more homework before making a decision but this gives me a lot to go on.

The age of your kids - have you considered Disney ?

Yes but I'd have to sell one of them to pay for it

Just got back from another carnival cruise and had a good time, but the wife and I are looking for a change. Can someone give me a run down on a boat like the Escape? We have done southern Caribbean , western Caribbean, and Bahamas. This time looking for eastern Caribbean with our two kids that would be 7 and 4. I've read a few reviews about Norwegian but was wondering how they're format was vs carnival. Would we have a good time if we did not pay for any of the up charge food? How are the kids clubs and splash pad areas? We are looking at Norwegian or MSC are these more of a good comparison?

How is the movement of the ship in the very back? Is it rocky or shaky? Did u get photos yet of the room?

I'm working on it , I got some of the balcony will get more after dinner. As far as movement , no. It's the aft of the ship so there is minimal movement felt. Some vibration and the door to the safe in this room makes a rattling noise.

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Here is the 6:00 am location. Appx 130 miles from the cruise dock in Curaçao. Seems like we are way ahead of schedule.

Hi, We hope to book the New England/Canada cruise on the Sunshine for mid to late September of this year. We have always had a balcony, but are wondering if we would spent much time on it in September, so we are considering an ocean view. We've never had a stateroom below deck 6, and I am concerned about how that would be as MOST ocean views are on decks one and two. When I talked to someone at Carnival, he told me there are obstruction (or partial) ocean views decks 6 and 7. They cost less than those on decks 1 and 2, and that leads me to believe they are less desirable. I would appreciate hearing anyone's opinions on ocean view in general and those with partial view in particular. Thank you for any information you can give me. (A picture of one with obstructed view would be wonderful!)

Thanks very much.

I'll take care of it. The partial/obstructed views are because of the lifeboats. May I suggest opting for a scenic ocvienview. They are on the front of the ship and I almost got one last trip but my mom and dad would have had to stay in their location aft and we wanted to be closer. Our ocean view in 5316 last year was kind of a waste. It had so much salt spray you couldn't even see out of it 95% of the time. But I'll get pics of the obstructed today when we get off in Curaçao.

7:15pm location

Any chance you could ask Dario or any of the other bartenders in the Alchemy Bar what proportions they use in the Alchemist's Sidecar (cognac : patron citronage : lime : simple syrup)?

1/4 shot patron, full shot cognac, one whole lime, table spoon or slightly less simple syrup , sugar on the rim

You got it I'll take some when the sun comes up

5:30 am location is 45 miles north of Abricots , Haiti