Luckyone2

We have parked at Port of Miami too many times to count.   We usually arrive between 10:30 and 11 and, so far, have never had this problem.  We have easily found a parking place.  I hope this was a one time occurrence, and I am so sorry that this happened to you.

I have read where people used the casino to obtain cash from their onboard account but I found a post where it sounded like it was discouraged by casino management.  Has anyone had any experience with this?  We didn't want to take a lot of cash but wanted, if needed, a place to easily obtain cash from our on board account.

Thank you!

How was the snorkeling at Turtle Beach?

Thank you!  😃

Pete,

When I look at the deck plans, I see that our cabin is 6 doors back from the aft.  I then compare it to the photo of Seaside which doesn't quite match up.  I then  found a video of aft cabin 14262 which shows when walking in and through the cabin and out the door, the aft cabin would be the first set of doors seen from the aft in the photo.  If this was true, that would place cabin 13265 on the other side of metal balcony.  I think what is confusing me is the visual difference between the deck plans and photo of Seaside.  I love researching my cruises.  Any balcony is plus but this one puzzled me, and I wanted your thoughts.  Thank you for your input!

Julie

Video of aft:  

HI Skier,

Can you tell me if cabin 13265 has a steel balcony?  When I look at the deck plans and photos of Seaside, I can't tell if the decorative sash on the rear of the Seaside goes in front of our balcony or not.  

Thank you,

Y'all have been very helpful!!!  Thank you!

In Grand Cayman, what is the tender ticket process for non-yacht club passengers?  I am thinking that it is best to buy a MSC excursion for this port.

Thank you!

The foreign language that the shows are mostly in is English. The crew and staff of the MSC Seaside are very accommodating, hard-working, and polite. Sorry to hear that MSC Seaside is not Carnival; well, not really.

 

One question , how did you manage to get the tour of the Yacht Club area? I'm not sure if it would be our cup of tea but I would love to get a peek inside.

 

Thanks again for sharing ! Did you book another trip or are you going to try something else ?

Thanks for the review!

My husband and I, along with a few other couples, were given a tour of the yacht club after we expressed an interest during a future cruises seminar. This seminar was held on one of the sea days.

All seats in the Metropolitan Theatre have excellent views of the stage. There is nothing to block your line of sight anywhere. I really don't know if anyone was turned away but I did hear that at a certain time, no-show reserved seats were filled by people who were in line. We attended the second show everyday, and it was always a full house. I recommend getting to the theater at least 20 minutes ahead of time if you want prime seating.

Thank y’all!!!

No problem, Formula280SS! I took it as all in good fun!

Yet, you copied the whole thing to say you were concerned about the non-paragraphs. But, I do agree that I should have separated my commentary into paragraphs; I had copied directly from my review that I posted on CruiseCritic and didn't check the format. I will immediately go on another cruise so that I can submit another review and correct my mistake! LOL

Something that I left from my review concerns the Metropolitan Theater. Having traveled on the DIvina and the Poesia, the only thing that underwhelmed us at first was the Metropolitan Theater. It was much smaller and less glamourous than the theaters on either the DIvina or the Poesia. However, after the first night, we didn't think to compare again because the shows were so good! The intimacy of the theater worked because the actors and singers would often come out into the audience. So the theater design was more about making it more about the show and less about the showcase.

Thank you everyone for your feedback!

I signed up for the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle Party here on this site. The Meet and Mingle Tab is at the top of this page. An invitation is sent to your cabin a day or two before the party.

My late review of our March 31st Seaside cruise:

This review is coming from the point of view of nondrinkers, nonsmokers, noncomplainers, and "it is not all about me" attitude. My husband is retired and I am close to retiring. My husband and I chose this cruise because of our previous positive experiences that we have had with MSC. We have sailed twice each on MSC DIvina and MSC Poesia. We also chose MSC Seaside because we have been closely following the construction of this magnificent ship. As in previous MSC cruises, the embarkation was very quick and easy. We were on the ship within 40 minutes of walking in the terminal. Our first views of MSC Seaside did not disappoint; this is one beautiful ship! This is one cruise where we cruised mainly for the ship and not the ports. Whoever designed the MSC Seaside shares my husband's and my love of the sea because I have never seen a cruise ship that make use of the beauty of the sea as much as this ship does. This ship is truly a work of art! Of special note are the outside areas along the sides and back of the ship where you can eat and enjoy the beautiful seaside. After boarding, we immediately went to lower buffet. I have read several reviews where people spoke of long lines just to get into the buffet. I read of a disorganized buffet, I read of cold, uninteresting, and boring food. I read of there being nowhere to sit. I do not know where these people went to eat, but they definitely did not eat at any buffet on the MSC Seaside. The food is good, plentiful, varied, and delicious! There are so many good choices, that we had a hard time choosing what we wanted to eat. There is more than plenty of places to sit! There is no line anywhere to speak of! After eating, we simply waited until our cabin opened. Our cabin was a fantastica balcony with a Bella experience. Our cabin steward, Epi, greeted us when we first got to our cabin, We saw Epi often, and we appreciate the way that he took care of cabin. My husband and I had plenty of storage. The bathroom had plenty of room. While I thought the shower was fine, my husband thought it was a little tight. My husband and I were assigned to the Ipanema Dining Room where we ate every evening. Our waiter, Sailesh, was absolutely wonderful! Sailesh was significant part of making of cruise memorable! My husband and I enjoyed most dishes, some food more than others. We were assigned the 9:15 dining time, which we at first, were unsure of, but it turned out to be perfect because we attended the shows at an earlier time. But, to be honest, this was a spring break cruise with lots of young children and at this time, there were no children dining. We have always loved the entertainment on MSC ships, and the entertainment on the MSC Seaside did not disappoint. First, I must say something about the MSC for Me App. It is a total game changer. It keeps up with where you are, it is your map, it keeps up with the ships daily activities, it keeps with your daily agenda, the daily weather, and it will draw a map for you! After my husband and I checked in and while we were waiting to board, I used the app to book all of the shows for the week. Love it! Anytime during the ship, if we wanted to know what was going on, we looked it up on the app! If we wanted to know where we were, we looked it up on the app! If we wanted to know how to get somewhere, the app would draw us a map! Love it! The shows on the MSC Seaside were in the spirit of Cirque du Soleil with a good mix of singing, gymnastics, and fantasy. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed all the shows. We arrived at the shows 30 minutes early and had no trouble getting a great seat. We also greatly enjoyed the future cruises talk and the behind the scenes talk. We attended the Cruise Critic meeting for the first time, and I was really impressed at the amount of people at the meeting and also the number of MSC officials there. It was very nice. We appreciated the photos that MSC sent to us from the Cruise Critic meeting. Capt. Massa was seen often around the ship and was very approachable, The cruise director, Stephen Cloete, was very funny! The MSC activities team were always full of fun and energy! We walked around the ship often and never had any trouble navigating around chairs or people. Even though smoking is allowed in the casinos, it was not at all overwhelming on the smoking side and not at all noticeable on the nonsmoking side. People have made comments about crowds and elevators, and we personally witnessed people not getting on an elevator simply because it was going in the wrong direction. What we did was get ON the elevator because what goes up must come down, The elevators are very fast. We also noticed that if no one was on the elevator and even though the elevator might have indicated it was going up, if a lower floor was pressed, the elevator would then change and go down. We also noticed if you come out of the dining room or buffet, usually out of one set of doors, and that bank of elevators is crowded, walk around the corner to the other bank of elevators and there was usually no one waiting. We did notice that anytime that we sat down, we were quickly approached by waitstaff to see if we needed anything. We were never hounded. The ship is constantly kept clean; we saw staff working everywhere to keep it clean. Public bathrooms were spotless. We didn't zipline, do the slides, or the interactive games, but people that we talked to seem to enjoy them. Disembarkation was easier than embarkation. From call to disembark to driving out of the parking garage was no more 15 minutes. My husband and I absolutely love everything about the MSC Seaside and would not hesitate to sail with MSC again.

What is included in the Yacht Club day passes?

I can confirm that on the Seaside, we had basic ice water at dinner and coffee or tea with dessert. We had it nightly in the Ipanema Dining Room. We sailed March 31st. The ice water is offered. We did have to ask for the coffee the first night; on succeeding nights, we were asked if we wanted any coffee. Enjoy your cruise! We had a truly memorable time aboard the MSC Seaside.

MSC left our embarkation photos on our bed. We immediately and simply wrote a no thank you and left them on our bed in the same place where they were found. These photos were taken away, and we were never charged. MSC DID NOT force photos or anything else onto us on any of the five MSC cruises that we have been on. My husband and I do not drink but, no matter where we went, we were always approached at least once to see if we wanted anything, and after that we were never bothered or hounded again at the same place.

I found information by searching Pearl Seas in the forums.

The MSC “Drinks on Us” special is a great value.

The ship is absolutely beautiful!

The entertainment is the best that I have seen on a ship.

We were on the March 31st sailing and had a wonderful cruise.

We had no complaints!

We were in our car driving out of the parking garage at 7:09 because I took a photo of the time gate.

Directly from the daily’s:

If you prefer the Express disembarkation:

Express Walk Off:

If you wish to disembark carrying your own luggage, please wait for the clearance announcement then proceed directly to the gangways. Please have your documentation and cruise card on hand. Guests requiring wheelchair assistance are invited to join the assisted disembarkation process.

Then on the Departure schedule for Miami:

Meeting point in your departure lounge is Gangway deck 6 and the time is between 7 and 8

Breakfast in the buffet opens at 6 so we decided to eat quickly first and then went to our room and took our luggage to deck 6. We were surprised to see quite a number of people already in line. The ship was cleared well before 7 and the line went quickly through customs. Very easy disembarkation!!! Have a great cruise!!! We enjoyed every moment of our Seaside cruise!!!

LOL. So right! I'm not expecting anything at all. And if I do, it will be a nice surprise!

I checked my booking and found the same information.

While El Yunque is beautiful, I didn't find the tropical forest too much different from the forest of South Georgia.

Why husband and I shared the non-alcoholic vouchers. Not sure about any other vouchers.