MSC Seaside - E. Caribbean - 9/29/18

Hey Everyone!

2018 is the year of sampling new cruise lines (non-charter) and next up is the MSC brand on the brand new Seaside. :cool: Is anyone else giving this sailing a go? Speak on up and lets pass the time together!

The ship seems to have lots of theme parties and a silent disco! Should be a ton of fun!

Final payment has been made! Less than 80 days until the voyage! :cool:

Who out there is going on this Eastern Caribbean adventure?

St. Maarten, Puerto Rico and Bahamas all in 7 days! :D

One month until Miami! :cool: There's still room available on this sailing!

Who is going? :D

We are thinking about booking the 29th. We sail on her the 8th of SEPT, 1st time on MSC. We shall see:cool:

We are thinking about booking the 29th. We sail on her the 8th of SEPT, 1st time on MSC. We shall see:cool:

Bon voyage and let me know how it is! :)

Will do! :cool:

Will do! :cool:

How was the cruise? :)

It was so amazing, we booked 3 more.

It was so amazing, we booked 3 more.

Booked Sept 29th Seaside, Oct 19th Seaview and Dec 8th Meraviglia

So i guess we will see you onboard

Booked Sept 29th Seaside, Oct 19th Seaview and Dec 8th Meraviglia

 

So i guess we will see you onboard

Welcome aboard and :eek: to the number of cruises you booked!

I could seriously do that if I lived down there. The pesky airfare is so prohibitive! Fill me in on all the LGBT details. I've been sleuthing as much as possible for dailies and have a rough idea of how it all goes for entertainment. Was the White Party well attended? How about any Dorothy / LGBT gatherings?

I know they added a FOD gathering on the newsletter but we couldn't attend. My son kept us very busy. I will try m uh best to attend one on this sailing.

We were on bed around 8 or 9pm...lol. I'll sneak in some red bull and do my best to stay up a little later

Single Digit Excitement! :)

What time was the FOD? You were in bed earlier than me and I feel like I'm going to bed early at 9:30PM! Red Bull and me do NOT mix. I have one and I don't sleep for 24 hours. I use caffeine as a last resort to keep me going. :)

Did you check out the shows? I'm hoping this works out great so I can do the Seaview next year versus the Epic. Right now the Epic is some $600 more expensive per person. NCL is just not worth that kind of money, although the delusional CEO of NCLH seems to think so. :confused:

I think the FOD meeting was a 6 or 7pm. I saw one show which was great and my husband saw all of them...he loved it.

What is your name by the way?

I'm Jake. :cool:

I make it a point to catch the shows. I love production shows on ships. It's like having a mini-Broadway at sea. In the case of NCL it is because they have shows like Priscilla QOTD, Rock of Ages and well the Escape's entertainment is forgettable. The Bliss has Jersey Boys! Jersey Boys is playing at the Ogunquit Playhouse now too. I wanted to try and see it before the cruise but alas, it won't happen.

The FOD isn't too late. I know some ships I've been on have it at 10PM. The first day is always chaotic and with the dining time being early for me, I'm not sure how early early is or how long it will take. Any insights on the European style of dining versus American style of indigestion would be great too! :cool:

Just a few days left :cool::cool::cool::cool:

The Main dining seemed to move along quick. Food was good, but we only went like 2 nights. We were with our parents on the last cruise and they prefer the buffets.

This week is dragging! Our servers are so slow at work I feel like I'm watching paint dry!!

I'm looking forward to a leisurely cruise. I don't want to spend two hours eating dinner but I'm not in a hurry either. I'm not altogether sure what I'm going to do in the ports either minus St. Maarten. Truth be told I was hoping TS Kirk would have intensified sending us to the Western Caribbean. The only reason why I did this itinerary was because it was a reunion for cruisers I've sailed with on other cruise lines before!

Now that it's gotten cold up here, I'm more than excited to get away. One last glimpse of summer before winter hibernation sets in!

Any other tips or hints you could share about the Seaside would be appreciated!:)

Just make sure you upgrade your drink package to Classic or Deluxe. The "Drinks on Us" free drink package still charges you Service Charge for every drink. If you upgrade, you get a much bigger list of drink available and NO service charges.

I don't plan on leave the ship in any port...well, maybe [ just maybe- San Juan ].

We booked the Yacht Club for this sailing...and plan on milking our time there as much as possible. :lips-sealed: :lips-sealed:

Awe! Most of the people on the roll call are in the YC it seems. I guess there's a few of us common folks but I guess I won't be seeing you then. I'm in a Fantastica balcony which is good enough. I want to sample what their usual service is like because I do cruise frequently. I will be slowing down in the coming years though... perhaps to upgrade my experience. I don't need pampering and have had it on NCL through the years. It was nice to have the added attention but I never needed it.

I don't buy the drinks package on any cruise line as I only drink at night in the nightclub. If the nightclub is garbage then the cruise line makes very little off me. I did the drinks package once and it was a total waste of money. Thanks for the tip though!

Believe it or not I packed some gym clothes because I really have no idea what I'm going to be doing on the port days so might take advantage of the gym while no one is there. San Juan and Nassau especially are up in the air.

We had the Fantastica Interior on the last Seaside sailing...it was GREAT!!!

I think you already have the basic drink package..the whole ship gets it for free on Seaside sailings.

The only thing we didn't like about the Seaside was the gym. Only 2 benches for weights, everything is in KG. Staff works out there, so they love to take up the benches fast. There is a lot of cardio machines.

P.S. we are still common folk...LOL

Roger

Hey Roger,

Glad to know you're common folk! Just don't forget about us down in steerage ok? :');p I'm definitely feeling like the YC is more than NCL's Haven experience where it's a ship within a ship but the Haven doesn't take up as much space as the YC does on the Seaside. It seems like it's really meant to be a private enclave. That's why I wonder if I'll see some of the folks I'm reunioning with as they are up there. I'll be like little orphan Annie at the door... can you let me in please? :')

I believe you would've had to book when the drink package was being offered. I didn't book when that promotion was going on. While it has been running for a bit, we booked a long time ago. It was to be a reunion with three couples I met over the years while cruising. It still sort of is although some can't make it. :(

Good to know about the weights in KG. Thankfully I know the metric system and the rough conversion so I will be good to go! Who really wants to workout on holiday?? :rolleyes:

Ah... after this morning's meeting I could use a permanent holiday! Happy hump day!