MSC Seaside Review - March 3-10 2018 - Big and Tall Edition

We decided to take a cruise for our 20th wedding anniversary. We are a mid 50’s couple.Love food and being in the pool. I am 6’6” 340lbs so the space available for me to be comfortable is a big deal. We have cruised on Royal and Celebrity.

We booked a Bella balcony on the Seaside and looked forward to trying a new ship and cruise line. After reading reviews on Cruise Critic we debated switching our cruise. I found a deal on Celebrity Equinox for an obstructed balcony that we could have switched to but we stayed with MSC so we could check them out. It turned out to be the wrong decision for us.

Embarkation – 5/5

Embarkation was a breeze. Our designated boarding time was 1:00pm but we arrived from the airport at 11:15am. Porters took our bags, we went up and got our cruise cards.We were assigned a boarding number. We sat for a few minutes waiting for our number. We were on the ship by 12:00pm.

NOTE: There is a station on deck 6 directly above guest services where you can check your carry-on bags. They will hold them for you until 2:30. It was great not carrying around our stuff as we explored and ate.

Service – 5/5

Service was great. Our cabin steward Baghwan was awesome. We never met a crew member who was not friendly. As an example of the service - we had the meal time beverage package. This allowed us to use the beer and wine machines in the back of the buffet as much as we wanted. One day I was getting beer and the keg ran out. I found the nearest officer and told him. He got another crew member to fill the keg and got a server to bring me a beer from the bar so I didn’t have to wait for the keg.

We really liked Captain Massa. We met him at the Cruise Critic meet and greet. Friendly and engaging. When he found out it was our 20th anniversary he made a note of our cabin number and sent us a bottle of wine. You can tell he really loves MSC and wants them to be successful.

Cabin – 4.5/5

Our cabin was Bella balcony 9142. It was nice. Plenty of room for two people to store our stuff. Storage space under the bed for our empty suitcases. The bed was bigger than I expected. The balcony was a nice size. As expected, the shower was too small. The first night was great, nice and quiet. Once we got out into a few waves the cabin creaked and popped. It was loud enough to wake me up.

NOTE: Our cabin was on the Starboard side midship which always faced the pier when docked. Not much of a view. Four cabins down from us there was a door on deck 8 which was always slamming. I would estimate it was under cabin 9136. If you get a balcony on the port side on deck 9 midship you will have smokers below you on deck 8.

Entertainment – 4/5

The shows were pretty good. We missed the first nights show because we had 8:30pm dining and the show times conflicted. I think that show was a Frank Sinatra tribute. The Fly was good, it had some great dancing. The Wizard was good. My Life in Music was all opera, we didn’t care for it but other passengers seemed to enjoy it. Timeless ended up being 75% Michael Jackson tribute which was fun. The Dream was ok. Peter Punk was fun. There isn’t any dialog in their shows, all dancing and singing. Most shows will have a little element like Cirque du Soleil with juggling or acrobats. The talent level of the cast was good.

The late-night comedy was BeerProv. They are a 3-person improv team. We saw them twice and enjoyed it. We tried doing a trivia game but the lounge it was in was packed and hot so we left.

The theater isn’t big enough. You need to make a reservation. There is no drink service and the seats are roughly the same as sitting on an airplane. Not great for a 6'6" person. There were 6 seats that I could fit in, all in the front row.We had to be sure to get to each show 30 minutes early to make sure we got one.Sitting in the front row meant I was blocking someone’s view.

Food – 1.5/5

Buffet

I know food is subjective. I have seen many comments about the buffet being below average and having the same thing every day. After being on the cruise I can now confirm that my opinion matches those previous opinions. The quality of the food in the buffet has to be good enough to overcome the inconvenience of dealing with crowds. I got so tired of the same thing on the buffet every day that I skipped lunch on Friday, inconvenience > quality. I am 6'6"340lbs, I love to eat, skipping meals is not in my DNA...

MSC is like McDonalds, they make a bunch of something ahead of time to try and serve you fast and avoid having lines. The problem with this approach is the food ends up sitting there and either gets overcooked or cold.

Example 1: Every lunch and dinner there would be 20 premade hamburgers in boxes under heat lamps. The sauce on these burgers was pretty good, but after sitting under the heat lamps the buns were hard as a rock.

(Before I get any comments about the American going on an Italian cruise line and eating hamburgers and then complaining about the food, let me say that I tried many things on the buffet. I searched for pasta dishes, there were a few but the flavor wasn’t any better than I can make at home.)

Example 2: My favorite breakfast is eggs benedict. MSC would make 20 eggs benedict leaving them on an unheated platter with the hollandaise sauce in a bowl next to them. This is great, if you like cold eggs benedict. Last summer we were on the Celebrity Infinity in Alaska.They had an eggs benedict station. There was never more than 3-5 people inline. The eggs were precooked to save time. They would put them back in the boiling water for a few seconds to heat them and make your breakfast to order.I could even swap out Canadian bacon for regular bacon, which I did most mornings. They also had a Belgian waffle station. I looked forward to breakfast every morning.

NOTE: Avoid the waffles, they were just like the frozen Eggo waffles. My wife ordered a Belgian waffle the one morning we ate breakfast in the dining room. She got two Eggo waffles.

MDR

Due to us being Bella passengers we didn’t get our choice of early dining. We were placed in the Seashore restaurant at 8:30pm. I saw the comments complaining about being placed in the buffet for dinner. I would have preferred early dining in the buffet over 8:30pm in Seashore, the buffet has a nice view. We ate in the Seashore 3 times. The first time we finished at 10:10pm, the other two times at 9:50pm. I intentionally selected Italian dishes figuring an Italian cruise line should do those well. The first night we had gnocchi, it was average. The second night I had tortellini with red sauce, the sauce had no flavor. The lady next to me thought it tasted like Ragu. The third night was Italian night. I started with calamari which was pretty good. Main course of lasagna which was also pretty good. My wife had chicken marsala, the chicken was overcooked and dry. All of the deserts were good.

Specialty Restaurants

For my wife’s birthday I got her the trio dining package so we could try three specialty restaurants. They package cost $70 per person.

Asian Fusion: The waiter came up and asked if we wanted still or sparkling water. We chose still. We ended up paying$5.18 at the end of the meal for the water. I had the meal time drink package but you can’t use it in the specialty restaurants. Makes no sense that I can drink a keg of beer in the buffet but can’t get water in the specialty restaurant. The trio package only gives you 5 items to choose from, if you want to choose anything else on the menu there is an up charge. I had crab cakes to start which were excellent, we both had the steak which was very good.

Ocean Cay: There were only a few items on the menu, nothing to switch to for an up charge. I looked at the menu before we went so I knew there was nothing on there that I would like, but I knew my wife would enjoy some of the menu items. I like shrimp and scallops but they weren’t on the menu. I had crab cakes for both my app and main course. They were not as good as in the Fusion restaurant which had spicy sauce. My wife had crab as her app and seabass as her main course and said both were very good. When the waiter came up and asked about water I asked for the water from a pitcher, he said they didn’t have that. Another $5.18 for water...

Butchers Block: This restaurant had limited trio options once again but it had many other options to switch to for an up charge. We both got the steak which came with 4 different dipping sauces which were good. I had a side of fried mac and cheese and picked a second side of onion rings for a $4 up charge. Both sides were average and lukewarm. We decided to get coke this time, $5.98.

On Celebrity we did the Qsine specialty restaurant for $30 each last July. We ate anything we wanted and could even ask for more if we really liked something. We liked it so much we went back a second night. As a special perk Celebrity even included water with our meals...

Pools – 1/5

I had seen the comments about the pools being 6'5" deep. Being 6'6" I thought maybe I would still be able to touch. I couldn’t. I can normally spend all day in the pool, but not when I have to tread water. This pretty much killed my desire to be at the pool. We preferred the Miami Beach adult pool at the back of the ship. By Thursday it seemed every adult on the ship was at that pool. We had the usual chair hogs putting their towels down early and then leaving the chairs for hours unused. We have always experienced this, but I can usually find a regular sitting up chair on other cruise lines. The only chairs you maybe able to find on Seaside were the small wicker chairs from the Gelato eating area. It also didn’t help that MSC made the starboard side of the pool area next to the bar a smoking area. We avoided that side of the pool. There were no Jacuzzis in the adult area. If you wanted to use one you had to go up to deck16 and hope they weren’t full of kids. I missed the adult pool on Freedom of the Seas with the swim up bar and the nice big Jacuzzis, I really enjoyed that ship.

Final Comments

I don’t like the class system some cruise lines are implementing. Bella, Fantastica, Aurea,Yacht Club, etc. I understand we have to pay more to get more, but when a class of passengers has their own special space (Yacht Club) it means the other passengers have less space. I jokingly referred to us being steerage passengers throughout the cruise.

My preferred daily at sea cruise agenda would be: buffet breakfast, relax, buffet lunch, get in the pool/jacuzzi or sit in the pool area in the shade, clean up, dinner in the MDR or at a specialty restaurant, see a show. MSC failed to provide the food and pool options that would make them competitive with other cruise lines.

I didn’t think the different languages would bother me. I was wrong. Fifteen minutes of announcements in different languages got old. Hearing other languages around the ship was fun though. Only had one negative encounter with another passenger who thought pushing their way into an elevator before letting people off was a good idea.

The septic smell is under control. Only encountered the smell once, next to the aqua park.

I recommend doing a day pass at Sandals in Antigua. It was the highlight of our cruise.$105 per person 10am-5pm. Taxi ride is $12 each way and takes 15 minutes. It is all inclusive with a swim up bar and multiple restaurants.

My wife and I were constantly talking to other passengers throughout the cruise. The response was overwhelmingly negative, they wouldn't go on MSC again. I know others have talked about the price point being so low they would go back since it is such a good deal. I would hesitate to go back. I would prefer to pay more to have a better experience.

A day on a cruise is always better than a day at work. My wife texted me our first day back at work and said she missed the ship. I agreed.

Overall Rating - 3 Stars

Hahaha the comment about the free water as a perk cracked me up!

Thanks for the thorough review!

We decided to take a cruise for our 20th wedding anniversary. We are a mid 50’s couple.Love food and being in the pool. I am 6’6” 340lbs so the space available for me to be comfortable is a big deal. We have cruised on Royal and Celebrity.

 

 

We booked a Bella balcony on the Seaside and looked forward to trying a new ship and cruise line. After reading reviews on Cruise Critic we debated switching our cruise. I found a deal on Celebrity Equinox for an obstructed balcony that we could have switched to but we stayed with MSC so we could check them out. It turned out to be the wrong decision for us.

 

 

Embarkation – 5/5

 

Embarkation was a breeze. Our designated boarding time was 1:00pm but we arrived from the airport at 11:15am. Porters took our bags, we went up and got our cruise cards.We were assigned a boarding number. We sat for a few minutes waiting for our number. We were on the ship by 12:00pm.

 

NOTE: There is a station on deck 6 directly above guest services where you can check your carry-on bags. They will hold them for you until 2:30. It was great not carrying around our stuff as we explored and ate.

 

 

Service – 5/5

 

Service was great. Our cabin steward Baghwan was awesome. We never met a crew member who was not friendly. As an example of the service - we had the meal time beverage package. This allowed us to use the beer and wine machines in the back of the buffet as much as we wanted. One day I was getting beer and the keg ran out. I found the nearest officer and told him. He got another crew member to fill the keg and got a server to bring me a beer from the bar so I didn’t have to wait for the keg.

 

We really liked Captain Massa. We met him at the Cruise Critic meet and greet. Friendly and engaging. When he found out it was our 20th anniversary he made a note of our cabin number and sent us a bottle of wine. You can tell he really loves MSC and wants them to be successful.

 

 

Cabin – 4.5/5

 

Our cabin was Bella balcony 9142. It was nice. Plenty of room for two people to store our stuff. Storage space under the bed for our empty suitcases. The bed was bigger than I expected. The balcony was a nice size. As expected, the shower was too small. The first night was great, nice and quiet. Once we got out into a few waves the cabin creaked and popped. It was loud enough to wake me up.

 

NOTE: Our cabin was on the Starboard side midship which always faced the pier when docked. Not much of a view. Four cabins down from us there was a door on deck 8 which was always slamming. I would estimate it was under cabin 9136. If you get a balcony on the port side on deck 9 midship you will have smokers below you on deck 8.

 

 

Entertainment – 4/5

 

The shows were pretty good. We missed the first nights show because we had 8:30pm dining and the show times conflicted. I think that show was a Frank Sinatra tribute. The Fly was good, it had some great dancing. The Wizard was good. My Life in Music was all opera, we didn’t care for it but other passengers seemed to enjoy it. Timeless ended up being 75% Michael Jackson tribute which was fun. The Dream was ok. Peter Punk was fun. There isn’t any dialog in their shows, all dancing and singing. Most shows will have a little element like Cirque du Soleil with juggling or acrobats. The talent level of the cast was good.

 

The late-night comedy was BeerProv. They are a 3-person improv team. We saw them twice and enjoyed it. We tried doing a trivia game but the lounge it was in was packed and hot so we left.

 

The theater isn’t big enough. You need to make a reservation. There is no drink service and the seats are roughly the same as sitting on an airplane. Not great for a 6'6" person. There were 6 seats that I could fit in, all in the front row.We had to be sure to get to each show 30 minutes early to make sure we got one.Sitting in the front row meant I was blocking someone’s view.

 

 

Food – 1.5/5

 

Buffet

I know food is subjective. I have seen many comments about the buffet being below average and having the same thing every day. After being on the cruise I can now confirm that my opinion matches those previous opinions. The quality of the food in the buffet has to be good enough to overcome the inconvenience of dealing with crowds. I got so tired of the same thing on the buffet every day that I skipped lunch on Friday, inconvenience > quality. I am 6'6"340lbs, I love to eat, skipping meals is not in my DNA...

 

MSC is like McDonalds, they make a bunch of something ahead of time to try and serve you fast and avoid having lines. The problem with this approach is the food ends up sitting there and either gets overcooked or cold.

 

Example 1: Every lunch and dinner there would be 20 premade hamburgers in boxes under heat lamps. The sauce on these burgers was pretty good, but after sitting under the heat lamps the buns were hard as a rock.

 

(Before I get any comments about the American going on an Italian cruise line and eating hamburgers and then complaining about the food, let me say that I tried many things on the buffet. I searched for pasta dishes, there were a few but the flavor wasn’t any better than I can make at home.)

 

Example 2: My favorite breakfast is eggs benedict. MSC would make 20 eggs benedict leaving them on an unheated platter with the hollandaise sauce in a bowl next to them. This is great, if you like cold eggs benedict. Last summer we were on the Celebrity Infinity in Alaska.They had an eggs benedict station. There was never more than 3-5 people inline. The eggs were precooked to save time. They would put them back in the boiling water for a few seconds to heat them and make your breakfast to order.I could even swap out Canadian bacon for regular bacon, which I did most mornings. They also had a Belgian waffle station. I looked forward to breakfast every morning.

 

NOTE: Avoid the waffles, they were just like the frozen Eggo waffles. My wife ordered a Belgian waffle the one morning we ate breakfast in the dining room. She got two Eggo waffles.

 

MDR

Due to us being Bella passengers we didn’t get our choice of early dining. We were placed in the Seashore restaurant at 8:30pm. I saw the comments complaining about being placed in the buffet for dinner. I would have preferred early dining in the buffet over 8:30pm in Seashore, the buffet has a nice view. We ate in the Seashore 3 times. The first time we finished at 10:10pm, the other two times at 9:50pm. I intentionally selected Italian dishes figuring an Italian cruise line should do those well. The first night we had gnocchi, it was average. The second night I had tortellini with red sauce, the sauce had no flavor. The lady next to me thought it tasted like Ragu. The third night was Italian night. I started with calamari which was pretty good. Main course of lasagna which was also pretty good. My wife had chicken marsala, the chicken was overcooked and dry. All of the deserts were good.

 

Specialty Restaurants

For my wife’s birthday I got her the trio dining package so we could try three specialty restaurants. They package cost $70 per person.

 

Asian Fusion: The waiter came up and asked if we wanted still or sparkling water. We chose still. We ended up paying$5.18 at the end of the meal for the water. I had the meal time drink package but you can’t use it in the specialty restaurants. Makes no sense that I can drink a keg of beer in the buffet but can’t get water in the specialty restaurant. The trio package only gives you 5 items to choose from, if you want to choose anything else on the menu there is an up charge. I had crab cakes to start which were excellent, we both had the steak which was very good.

 

Ocean Cay: There were only a few items on the menu, nothing to switch to for an up charge. I looked at the menu before we went so I knew there was nothing on there that I would like, but I knew my wife would enjoy some of the menu items. I like shrimp and scallops but they weren’t on the menu. I had crab cakes for both my app and main course. They were not as good as in the Fusion restaurant which had spicy sauce. My wife had crab as her app and seabass as her main course and said both were very good. When the waiter came up and asked about water I asked for the water from a pitcher, he said they didn’t have that. Another $5.18 for water...

 

Butchers Block: This restaurant had limited trio options once again but it had many other options to switch to for an up charge. We both got the steak which came with 4 different dipping sauces which were good. I had a side of fried mac and cheese and picked a second side of onion rings for a $4 up charge. Both sides were average and lukewarm. We decided to get coke this time, $5.98.

 

On Celebrity we did the Qsine specialty restaurant for $30 each last July. We ate anything we wanted and could even ask for more if we really liked something. We liked it so much we went back a second night. As a special perk Celebrity even included water with our meals...

 

 

Pools – 1/5

 

I had seen the comments about the pools being 6'5" deep. Being 6'6" I thought maybe I would still be able to touch. I couldn’t. I can normally spend all day in the pool, but not when I have to tread water. This pretty much killed my desire to be at the pool. We preferred the Miami Beach adult pool at the back of the ship. By Thursday it seemed every adult on the ship was at that pool. We had the usual chair hogs putting their towels down early and then leaving the chairs for hours unused. We have always experienced this, but I can usually find a regular sitting up chair on other cruise lines. The only chairs you maybe able to find on Seaside were the small wicker chairs from the Gelato eating area. It also didn’t help that MSC made the starboard side of the pool area next to the bar a smoking area. We avoided that side of the pool. There were no Jacuzzis in the adult area. If you wanted to use one you had to go up to deck16 and hope they weren’t full of kids. I missed the adult pool on Freedom of the Seas with the swim up bar and the nice big Jacuzzis, I really enjoyed that ship.

 

 

Final Comments

 

I don’t like the class system some cruise lines are implementing. Bella, Fantastica, Aurea,Yacht Club, etc. I understand we have to pay more to get more, but when a class of passengers has their own special space (Yacht Club) it means the other passengers have less space. I jokingly referred to us being steerage passengers throughout the cruise.

 

My preferred daily at sea cruise agenda would be: buffet breakfast, relax, buffet lunch, get in the pool/jacuzzi or sit in the pool area in the shade, clean up, dinner in the MDR or at a specialty restaurant, see a show. MSC failed to provide the food and pool options that would make them competitive with other cruise lines.

 

 

I didn’t think the different languages would bother me. I was wrong. Fifteen minutes of announcements in different languages got old. Hearing other languages around the ship was fun though. Only had one negative encounter with another passenger who thought pushing their way into an elevator before letting people off was a good idea.

 

The septic smell is under control. Only encountered the smell once, next to the aqua park.

 

I recommend doing a day pass at Sandals in Antigua. It was the highlight of our cruise.$105 per person 10am-5pm. Taxi ride is $12 each way and takes 15 minutes. It is all inclusive with a swim up bar and multiple restaurants.

 

My wife and I were constantly talking to other passengers throughout the cruise. The response was overwhelmingly negative, they wouldn't go on MSC again. I know others have talked about the price point being so low they would go back since it is such a good deal. I would hesitate to go back. I would prefer to pay more to have a better experience.

 

A day on a cruise is always better than a day at work. My wife texted me our first day back at work and said she missed the ship. I agreed.

 

Overall Rating - 3 Stars

Thank you for your review.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for your balanced review. Enjoyed some of your humor!!

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the detailed and fair review!

I appreciate the review as well.

Pam and I are looking forward to sailing on the Seaside in September. It seems that MSC has been trying to make changes to address the concerns of their passengers based on the reviews. Hopefully there will be additional improvements between now and September.

Did you ever do breakfast or lunch in the MDR?

While we aren’t big lounging by the pool people (Pam is so pale she sunburns in the shade) and we don’t use the pool much in our own home, we do like to participate in trivia. So your comment about not being able to get in to the room where they were going to do trivia was concerning. Was the area not air conditioned? How early does one need to show up to get a seat?

Sorry you didn't have a better trip. Thanks for writing an even-handed review.

~Brian

Thanks for your review!

Thank you for your review.

Keith

Great review

With MSC, your Yacht Clubber's or nothing at all. My advice is Inside YC or better!

With MSC, your Yacht Clubber's or nothing at all. My advice is Inside YC or better!

A somewhat Elitist statement!

Did you ever do breakfast or lunch in the MDR?

Yes. We had one breakfast in the MDR. We were seating at a table with 6 other people. The food was the same quality as the buffet.

While we aren’t big lounging by the pool people (Pam is so pale she sunburns in the shade) and we don’t use the pool much in our own home, we do like to participate in trivia. So your comment about not being able to get in to the room where they were going to do trivia was concerning. Was the area not air conditioned? How early does one need to show up to get a seat?

We got to the trivia a few minutes after it started so it was already full, our fault. There were a couple of seats at the bar which we used for a few minutes. The area was air conditioned, but since the area was full of passengers it heated up.

With MSC, your Yacht Clubber's or nothing at all. My advice is Inside YC or better!

I see many positive comments about the Yacht Club. However, I shouldn't have to pay to be in a special part of the ship to have a good experience. Instead of paying for YC, I could save money and go on Celebrity or Royal and have better food and pools.

"I know others have talked about the price point being so low they would go back since it is such a good deal. I would hesitate to go back. I would prefer to pay more to have a better experience."

Earlier in your post you complain about the supposed caste system in modern cruising, yet you yourself say that 1) the low price point works for some folks, even if the cruise experience isn't 100% to their liking, and that 2) you are willing to pay more for a better experience. These two components perfectly describe the rationale for the varying "experiences" at varying price points.

That said, thanks for the review.

Earlier in your post you complain about the supposed caste system in modern cruising, yet you yourself say that 1) the low price point works for some folks, even if the cruise experience isn't 100% to their liking, and that 2) you are willing to pay more for a better experience. These two components perfectly describe the rationale for the varying "experiences" at varying price points.

To clarify, I am willing to pay more to be on a cruise line that meets my personal desires for food and pools. I am not willing to pay more to be on the Seaside in Yacht Club.

A somewhat Elitist statement!

It is okay to express an opinion, why are you so defensive about MSC ?...I think it was a great review... I will post something when I return in April...it will be fair and balanced and my wife and I experiences...most cruise lines have pompom wavers defending their favorite line, but on MSC they bring out the daggers....I expect a good time in April, but we are prepared for the attacks when we post...😎😎

Thank you for your detailed review

For me the price point of the yacht club is quite high over the regular cabins. I too can understand if I can book a nice balcony on Royal or Celebrity for less than the YC on MSC that would probably be my route.

We have sailed the Divina twice, I personally enjoyed the cruise and so did my husband and mom. My sister on the other hand wouldn't sail on MSC again even if it was free. We had the same experience, just wasn't to her liking. Will be interesting to see what may bother us in May and what will not. We do have a Bella Balcony and the deluxe drink package.

Personally the pool area doesn't enthuse us on any cruise line, we do occasionally like the hot tubs, but aren't bothered either way. Food I am not by any means a foodie and I like my food rather plain, so I realize I may not mind what may bother others. I don't mind burgers on a cruise LOL.

With MSC, your Yacht Clubber's or nothing at all. My advice is Inside YC or better!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

"I know others have talked about the price point being so low they would go back since it is such a good deal. I would hesitate to go back. I would prefer to pay more to have a better experience."

 

Earlier in your post you complain about the supposed caste system in modern cruising, yet you yourself say that 1) the low price point works for some folks, even if the cruise experience isn't 100% to their liking, and that 2) you are willing to pay more for a better experience. These two components perfectly describe the rationale for the varying "experiences" at varying price points.

 

That said, thanks for the review.

I agree.

There seems to be a good deal of confusion in respect to the MSC experiences and the Yacht Club. MSC is like flying on a jet...standby, coach, business and first class. Does anyone complain about that? You get what you pay for...period. OK...you booked Bella and you didn’t like what you got? Then they say they would rather book Celebrity or RCI...OK...do you want an inside, concierge, Aqua, or suites?? Again there are price points for each level. Let’s compare apples to apples. Try booking a Grand Suite on RCI or a Sky Suite on Celebrity for the same amount of money you would pay for the Yacht Club on MSC...good luck with that. The fact is you can’t even come close to the deal you get in the Yacht Club compared to the others. The Yacht Club beats them every time. The placement of the YC makes it totally isolated from the rest of the ship and is very discreet and low profile. Most of the other passengers aren’t even aware of the YC. MSC is a work in progress...the product continues to slowly improve and the old saying is still true...”You get what you pay for”. And that is not to say that you can’t have a great time in any of the other MSC experiences. Some people would rather prefer the other mass market lines for many different reasons.

I agree.

There seems to be a good deal of confusion in respect to the MSC experiences and the Yacht Club. MSC is like flying on a jet...standby, coach, business and first class. Does anyone complain about that? You get what you pay for...period. OK...you booked Bella and you didn’t like what you got? Then they say they would rather book Celebrity or RCI...OK...do you want an inside, concierge, Aqua, or suites?? Again there are price points for each level. Let’s compare apples to apples. Try booking a Grand Suite on RCI or a Sky Suite on Celebrity for the same amount of money you would pay for the Yacht Club on MSC...good luck with that. The fact is you can’t even come close to the deal you get in the Yacht Club compared to the others. The Yacht Club beats them every time. The placement of the YC makes it totally isolated from the rest of the ship and is very discreet and low profile. Most of the other passengers aren’t even aware of the YC. MSC is a work in progress...the product continues to slowly improve and the old saying is still true...”You get what you pay for”. And that is not to say that you can’t have a great time in any of the other MSC experiences. Some people would rather prefer the other mass market lines for many different reasons.

I think this is very well said. It is unfair to call out MSC for having a "class system" when all of the major cruise lines are doing this now. Even Carnival now has something called the Havana area in which certain cabins have a private pool and lounge area during the day. Celebrity has Suite Class and Aqua Class (guests eat in Lumanae or Blu) and NCL has the Haven. In fact, Celebrity is copying MSC and NCL and putting a lounge, restaurant, and private pool area at the top/front of their new ship, the Edge. Princess has something called "the sanctuary" in which you can pay extra to rent a lounger on a private outside deck. Similarly, Holland America has "the cabana club" in which you can rent a cabana for a week (or a day) and experience dedicated service with food and drinks. The fact of the matter is cruise lines are moving towards this class system in which you have the choice to pay for upgraded services and experiences.

"I know others have talked about the price point being so low they would go back since it is such a good deal. I would hesitate to go back. I would prefer to pay more to have a better experience."

 

Earlier in your post you complain about the supposed caste system in modern cruising, yet you yourself say that 1) the low price point works for some folks, even if the cruise experience isn't 100% to their liking, and that 2) you are willing to pay more for a better experience. These two components perfectly describe the rationale for the varying "experiences" at varying price points.

 

That said, thanks for the review.

Buying a fantastic or Aurea experience doesn’t really fix food quality or pool/jacuzzi offerings.

It was not my impression that OP would have paid more on the Seaside necessarily, but rather have paid similar or more on Celeb or Freedom of the Seas because the pool and dining options, which OP is very open and honest as being of key importance, match his wants better.

That was actually one of the most well written reviews I have read in a long time. Everyone has different values so knowing OPs gives a great frame of reference when they critique something

Nicely written review! I really appreciated how you fairly listed the things you liked and the things you didn’t and why. I am sorry MSC ultimately wasn’t for you.

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