kiminey65

I had 3 successful cruises on NCL this past year. Although I did have 300 internet minutes, I used them sparingly and logged off quickly. I did place messages via messenger.

All you do to use Imessage is: Make sure anyone you want to contact on ship or at HOME also has an iphone.

Download NCL App ahead. Type in your ship and date, etc. Place device on WiFi and airplane mode once you set sail. 

Go to settings.go to messages icon (green) and go into it. Then click Imessage. You can then text anyone on or off the ship who also has their device set to Imessage..Messages will be blue while on Imessage setting, not green. The ship can have spotty places. Like, inside the clubs, etc. Also pics won't send...

I'd suggest contacting your carrier to validate what fees cost for usage while in port. I carry AT&T and Mexico is free as well as St. Thomas & Puerto Rico. Others are $10/day. It must be placed back in Airplane Mode once ship sets sail to avoid fess!

I often help an elderly couple with their trip plans to help them out. They are due to cruise on 3/29 and purchased the NCL standard trip insurance. They are going to cancel this cruise because the gentleman's doctor advised they not travel with his compromised immune system. He is currently being treated with complications from cancer very recently (Past 6 months). I feel they are better off making a claim to be refunded under their travel insurance so they don't have to be bothered with a FCC and can just receive their reimbursement in the mail to do with whatever they wish. Am I correct in my thinking? I'd love feedback as the gentleman has a doctor appointment in 2 days to discuss a medical treatment he needs done.

We are sailing this February but my husband may not be able to go. Final payment is early next month. If I were to add a new person to replace him does it cost anything additional after final payment has been paid? It can still be done, right?

Can't each parent just "order" a mocktail for their child if the initial request is denied? I know they aren't always hanging with their parents (Not sure how old kids are...) but isn't that one way to get them a drink of choice??? After all, it is actually a "downgrade" to have the premium non-alcohol pkg...

This is a GREAT question!!! I wish I could answer it for you. We are booked on Summit for next February and I have also booked the same sailing for some friends who don't drink alcohol. I felt it wise to choose for them the Classic beverage package (On Promo with OBC too) as they enjoy fountain soda as well as bottled water. I was also wondering if we might be able to switch them to premium non-alcohol package so they might enjoy some fresh fruit juice blends?  If not, they wouldn't have any problems ordering virgin drinks correct?  Sorry to hijack your thread, but this sort of ties in. I appreciate it.

It is definitely a vacation week from all over the northeast. I can't confirm from anywhere else. I have adult kids who are all either teachers or married to one, and due to wanting to cruise while on break, we

are flabbergasted at flight prices for that week! Very high prices. Keep that in mind as well...

My husband & I are booked for our first Celebrity cruise in earlier February 2020, so I can't make comment on the number of kids during that week for this line. Sorry.

This is a little off topic, but I am curious why you would book a B2B2B for a total of 14 days? My point being that if you outright searched out a 14 night cruise, you would surely be going to much further and interesting destinations. Like, a Panama Canal sailing or maybe a wide Southern Caribbean sailing that hits up some great destinations unobtainable from a short cruise point of view. 

I also would love to hear of the final verdict. Thank you.

7 minutes ago, traveltripper said:

Oops - Ate as to the dining room. If we pick 7:45 then I'd like to eat at that time, not late as in 9:00 PM. But it sounds like if we show up at 7:45 PM then we are good - yes?

No. You request to dine either early or late. Then once at the port you are given your assignment. If you aren't happy with it, you go directly to dining room once on board & request the dining slot you prefer. IF you are Bella experience, your request has a lower priority behind anyone who shows up with their request who is Fantastica. It doesn't mean you won't get the time you want. Just that you are more likely to NOT get the slot you want going in at Bella. If anyone wants the "anytime" dining, that is reserved for Aurea bookings....

I agree it is wise to inform your steward if you decide to remove mini bar items. He will then let you know where they can be stored. Just place them back in the fridge on the last night.

I've been on Seaside before and did see at least one night where they hosted Karaoke in the Haven lounge with a live band. Do they also have it with sound system and no live band? Also, is there any way to see the songs they offer? I have the hardest time recognizing songs by title/band on a quick notice. I'd be more like;y to participate if I could see the lists ahead of time and research it. 

Anyone on board who can post pics of the available selections? Thanks.

We booked a Bella OV last year with a request for early dining. We did get upgraded to a Fantastica balcony and upon boarding we were assigned 9:15 in Ipenema. That was unacceptable to us so we immediately went to the m'aitre d and requested "early" dining as previously specified. They did accommodate us with a 5:15, which honestly is a little too early for my liking but it was certainly better than the original 9:15 slot.

I tell anyone who asks me, that booking Bella is basically lowering your pecking order with coveted dining slots. You will be treated absolutely the same as everyone else. We had a great time. And because you don't care about location, or room service and want the least (overall) popular dining time, I would say you are wise to pocket your money and book Bella. Worse case scenario is you won't be allotted the dining time of your choice, and you immediately upon boarding go to restaurant to request a late time. Believe me, there will be plenty of people in line hoping for the early slots to be on offer.

Enjoy your Bella booking. We sure did!!!!

I cruised Seaside last June 9. It is summer vacation for many parts of the world. I booked the date simply because it was the week of my mother's 75th birthday. Although I love kids, mine are adults so I am not necessarily at that stage in my life right now. I did see quite a lot of kids on my sailing, but barely.... That tells me they were well behaved, I wasn't in the kid-friendly areas other than to walk from point A to point B, orrr they weren't in the adult friendly areas that I frequented (deck 7 South beach pool and the Spa). The children I encountered in Ipanema restaurant were well behaved.

I wouldn't hesitate to book that date again. Prices were great and so was airfare. It was a little off season (early)

Mostly a NCL cruiser here, but I liked Seaside (and its entertainment) enough to book her a 2nd time. I really enjoyed the shows in the theater and am excited that enough time has lapsed (Last June 9 to this March 9) that some of it will be different. The ship is beautiful. I felt most everyone I met was friendly. From staff to cruisers. Although I was aware there was a vast cultural diversity, I didn't feel slighted in any way. I also refuse to be super loyal to any one product when several factors are considered (by me) when I plan and book my vacation. Because I enjoy an affordable Caribbean vacation currently, I wish MSC would offer more ports from Miami. It's not a deal breaker for me but itinerary is important as well as the ship itself. And obviously price...

Keep us updated please!

23 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I can't believe y'all are arguing over the semantics of days/nights on a cruise ship. We all know how it works..  Obviously you won't get 168 hours onboard for a 7 day cruise. Impossible. 

 

Cruise On. 

This actually made me laugh and I agree with you on this point. I was reading this thread because I also sail Seaside 3/09. It's my 2nd time on Seaside and sailed on other cruiselines also. I NEVER look at my boarding selection, I simply show up sometime in the 10:30-11:30 am time frame.  Although  MSC has some flaws in their customer service department, the ship is beautiful and their embarkation process is quite effortless. We prefer to begin our "7 day cruise" as quickly as possible. I'm not going to get into minutes or seconds. Enjoy your cruise!!!

There are some good suggestions above. I enjoy walking myself and there is no big hurry here with the turnover. I'd think it is an excellent idea to walk to your next ship, drop off your bags, then head over to Southbeach for a few hours. Why not???

1 minute ago, mvh said:

You are correct about Bella getting the worse dining slots, but we had no problem changing from 5:30 to 7:30 with the Matre D. Then we had no problem doing My Time with our friends who had the Aurea Experience.  Although, that is probably not the norm.

That is good to know! I was worried my last sailing (we requested early dining) we'd draw the 5:15 slot. We arrived at port and were awarded the 9:15 slot in Ipanema!!!  We made changing that our #1 priority, got in line quickly and did get reassigned to 5:15 in Ipanema. All of a sudden I wasn't so adamant against that very early reservation. Lol. I am again hoping for 6:30 or 7:00 dinner reservations. And also some friends of ours just booked our sailing last minute at the Bella experience and we are linking our reservations in hopes of getting assigned the same table. If it doesn't happen, it will again be our top priority upon embarking onto Seaside!

14 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

That's exciting. We have been sailing with NCL. In fact sailing on the Bliss in 2 days, but we are looking at booking our first MSC sailing fro September, so I am eager to hear from people who have sailed both!

I have sailed on Carnival as well as a small handful of NCL lines. I've been on Seaside once and liked it enough to have her booked for early March for its Western sailing. I liked it a lot! I did miss some of the silly games we played on NCL. But I may have just missed it. Loved the pools, especially Deck 7 Southbeach (which could be why I perceive it being subdued LOL). We were Bella OV last time with an upgrade to a Fantastica balcony. It definitely heightened our excitement. We outright booked a Fantastica balcony this time.

The only thing I find myself wanting to advise if you are coming from a Norwegian "Freestyle" sailing is that you may miss the Freesestyle aspect or lack thereof. You basically get rewarded the better the experience you book! Don't misunderstand me please, but Bella experience seems to draw the less desirable dining slots be it very earlt or very late. Neither of which I was impressed with. I prefer the most desirable slots at or near 7:00. It wasn't a deal breaker in any way, just an observation. I was treated just as good as anyone else, just feel that a Bella bookings have a lower pecking order with a desired dining slot. If that is super important to you (for me it isn't) then I have to recommend booking an Aurea experience. I myself will pocket that savings to other things.

Also, i really enjoyed MSC entertainment in theater. I miss and wish there were comedians, but oh well...

Be aware that when booking your own cruise online the price on MSC site is often their bare basic price! If you are on their website, look for a link that says ALL-IN promo and click that. Then filter in your dates and Caribbean to narrow down to the sailing you booked. Do a faux booking to verify you did in fact get the ALL-IN pricing. I didn't initially realize their pricing on their site is automatically set to the lower pricing! I only realized once I called a rep to get a pricing confirmed.

I'd be calling them ASAP so you can quickly switch it to what you want before they sing their Too Bad So Sad song to you. The comment above to make a log in is also valid ASSUMING their website allows you to do it. We've been booked since late November for an early March sailing with another couple, and our log-in is set to go. Theirs does show as "confirmed" but no booking number shows, which makes it impossible for them to book anything extra. A stupid mistake on MSC's part. I'd just call if I were you. It will get ironed out quicker and you can have them e-mail to you what their final answers to your questions are. Keep ALL documentation!!! MSC seems to drop the ball A LOT!

On 1/28/2019 at 2:59 PM, hummer88 said:

thanks everyone for your responses.  I like $55 each rather than $130!!!

 

Does anyone know if when booking for two people ( I see the day pass is $60 per person or $90 for 2), if they have to be in the same room? My friend and I are looking to get our wives the day pass.

 

 

 

 

Do you know if any service also comes with the week's pass.  The current online price for the week is $130 per person, which would mean for you that the massage and facial were only $80 total, which seems too cheap.

I know! It did seem too good to be true. My worry was that a "couples massage would have us in the same room getting disrobed with my mother! Although she is a "retired nurse & has seen it ALL" I was a little put off by that possibility. But I am also into great deals, so we booked it.

My suggestion is for you and your buddy to have one of you book it, then go to spa as one of your 1st things you do once onboard to set appointments. Anyone who has the foresight to book quickly gets the best slots, And I cannot fathom there to be a problem with it. We also had no problem booking simultaneously but in different rooms! We also booked a massage on 1st sea day. And the facial on 2nd sea day with no worries.

One last thing I noticed upon visiting with others in the spa was that EVERYONE (including me!) LOVED their technician with their 1st treatment and if they happened to have more than one service booked, they were able to request that same technician for their future appointment that was already booked! I loved that and then tipped her upon my 2nd service for them both. It's too bad for me I don't love the tranquil spa area as there are some good prices online to pre book. I hope this helps!

As always, a fantastic review. I've read many of them over the years and am also branching out from Carnival, NCL to MSC Seaside. I am interested in checking out Koningsdam myself as well as RCI Oasis class or Symphony... I think I too prefer the newer Mega ships. I'd also love to spot you two sometime on one of my sailings, which tends to be late winter for us (Northern NY winter escape plans!!!)

My mother and I spend a total of $340 last June for a couple's massage (50 minutes) and a facial (50 minutes) for both of us. This also included the spa access for the whole 7 day sailing. It was a very good deal as the massages and facials were excellent. My mother really enjoyed the amenities of the spa itself as well as the very quiet hot tub. I am a social butterfly so found myself more suited to go to the Southbeach adult pool during the day. 

2 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Unlimited consumption of selected drinks! 
Savor the freedom to satisfy your thirst at any moment with a dedicated selection of house wines by the glass, one brand of draft beer (Heineken*) and/or Miller Lite bottled beer (for Caribbean itineraries only), selected spirits and cocktails, non-alcoholic cocktails, soft drinks and fruit juices by the glass, bottled mineral water, classic hot drink (espresso, cappuccino, cafe latte, hot tea) and coffee and hot chocolate drinks. You can take advantage of this offer in all onboard bars, as well as the self-service buffet and restaurants, excluding specialty restaurants.

WOW. I did not see that before (or notice it). At times like this I love it when I am wrong.

I don't think the virgin frozen drinks are included in the Easy pkg. It's sodas, water, energy drinks, juice.....

Be aware that if you are bringing alcohol in via a rum runner or some other opened bottle, if it is confiscated it will be dumped out. If it gets caught in its original, unopened bottle they will tag it for you to bring home with you. Obviously if it gets through then you can do with it as you wish.