APDMOM

On our Spring Break cruise, we did not have to ask. Always had them. 🙂 I don’t know if it makes a difference, but we had 2 Fantastica Balconies. It would be interesting to see if the booking experience makes a difference…

Seaside has 2 buffets, with the main buffet on deck 8. Seascape has one buffet on deck 16, while specialty dining is on deck 8. We were on Seascape in March and will return to Seaside next Sunday. I will try to add some comparisons to a live review I plan on doing, since it has been 4 years since our previous Seaside experience I did a review of Seascape, if you are interested here:

Enjoy! Glad it all worked out so well 🙂

We will be there! 💃 We embark May 28th for B2B - 11 days. 🙂 If you want to meet, call our cabin at 9155. If you just want to remain 'anonymous', we understand that too! My mom will also be cruising with us. She lives in Namibia and this will be her first trip to the USA since 2019.

What are the chances we will finally be on the same cruise? 😁 For us, it is the pricing. We were able to book 2 balconies for 3 of us on the last two cruises (Meraviglia and Seascape). Even with 2 balconies it was cheaper than booking ONE balcony for 3 cruisers on RCL. We do have an RCL and Carnival cruise booked - one to use an FCC, another to enjoy a ship with mini-golf and additional free dining options for a change. However, our go to brand right now is MSC for the price. As bonus, we love the food and most of the entertainment on MSC.

You can also exchange your wet towel for a clean one at the pool.

You are lucky if you kept your diamond. I was 'black card' on my first cruise, then got 'demoted' to gold. 😂 Still a nice perk that they status match though.

We just booked Horizon also - still a long time to wait for Spring Break 2024 but it is never to early to start planning 😄 Looking for favorite spots and helpful tips too.

I would definitely say thay owe you an Ocean Cay dinner seating 😄

Hi @Essiesmom! The “solo” booking is one of the things we have loved about MSC. We used to find amazing deals to book 2 adjoining balconies for 3 of us - less than the price of one balcony on pretty much any of our frequent cruiselines… Have not seen the single special since Dec 2022… hoping they did not catch on to the “single supplement” 🙂

I would choose Seashore also - lots of public space and activities. PS: I assumed you have children, but now realize you may be educators. If you have children, hands down go for Seashore. If not, Magnifica will most likely have fewer children due to fewer options to attract families.

Looking forward to virtually cruising with you! 🙂 Sorry to hear about the special dining issue. Hopefully, something will work out.

Thank you!!! I have been waiting for this! Cruising May 28th 🙂💃🕺

I know the spa is forward, so it is close to the forward cabins. I would prefer to be able to choose my own cabin anywhere on the ship if I paid more… The Aurea balconies are larger though, so I guess it is more about the design of the ship.

That is correct. You book them onboard through the app. On our cruise, not all shows were uploaded by the first day. So, check daily and book the shows you want to see. 10 minutes before the shows start, they open the doors to those without reservations. So, be sure to show up early if you have a reservation. If you don't, get there about 10 minutes before. Most of our shows had plenty of seating available. That can vary by cruise, so don't assume there will be seats left. 🙂

Thanks @fredmdcruisers! @blueslily In this picture, you can see the forward balconies (marked in red) have only metal, no glass for the balcony railing. So, you cannot look through the glass to see the ocean if you are sitting on the balcony chair or inside the balcony. Definitely not ideal.

When we were on Seaside in 2019, the smaller, second buffet (Biscaye) had a soft serve machine behind the dessert counter.

The following had the bed by the balcony: 9258 10203 10157 10189 10149 10125 11108 11052 14173 14137 10066 10275 9087 9130 9211 11051 11053 (There goes the alternating cabin theory, if this YouTube post is right.) 11052. Bed by the closet: 10175 10145 10129 11012 15062 10168 11057. Expanded list in red. I will look for more to update later.

That should state 10053... not sure what the clumsy fingers typed there in my haste! To avoid the metal balconies, book between 10053 and 10033. Of course, you would be giving up some of the aft view in these, so it depends on how much you can put up with noise from deck 8. 🙂

If it is still the same as November, the daily planners are posted here, including the shows. You can scroll through to find the planners:

On Seascape in March: Tried to cross post - did not work. See post number 114:

We were on Seascape in March. None of the balcony cabins look down at the ocean. You will always see the deck below when you look down. When I walked around the ship, I peeked into rooms being made by the stewards and found that they pretty much alternate, but not consistently. The following had the bed by the balcony: 9258 10203 10157 10189 10149 10125 11108 11052 14173 14137 Bed by the closet: 10175 10145 10129 11012 15062 Hope this helps some. Pictures of views from 10125: Forward View: Aft view: View straight down at night: You can see additional pictures of 10125, 10129, and 14137 in this review, starting at post number 170:

The water slides should be lots of fun for the kids. The pools were busy on sea days but better in the morning. I have heard that the kids club was great. We did see some activities with the kids club and everyone seemed to be having fun. The families got very involved with the competitive games by the pool. There were many trivia options too - we were so busy, we never got to attend trivia. 🙂

@KittyCruz MSC prices for hair services are also cheaper than in America. 🙂

PS: Your balcony will be quite a bit larger than the one in the pictures, as it is on a lower deck with deeper balconies. 🙂 So, even better than the one in the pictures. You may even have 2 loungers, rather than 1.