Seaside Review - January 6th Sailing

We just completed our first MSC sailing and I thought I would provide a review of the cruise. We loved the trip but I have one word of caution. Not about the ship or crew but with pre-booking excursions with MSC. Their hideous online system strikes once more.

The excellent - Cabin stewards. We had two Yacht Club balcony cabins for my wife and I and two daughters. While I have not had a wealth of cruising experience (three sailings on Celebrity, one Silversea, and one on Norwegian) I can state that the two cabin stewards assigned for the upkeep of our cabins were the best I have ever experienced. Twice daily service, exceptionally clean and very friendly. We really didn't interact much with the butler, just not something we needed, but he seemed friendly. I know some have complained about the YC cabins but I found them excellent, especially the shower and bathroom. My only complaint, I wish the veranda windows traveled the length of the cabin.

Also excellent, evening Top Sail lounge entertainment and service. Very attentive bar staff and the pianist/violinist who played every evening were superb as well.

I thought the ship was excellent as well. Some random thoughts

* Others have complained about the use of mirrors in common areas, I did not find them to be a problem at all. Nor did I see anyone running into anything as was predicted by others.

* The ship never felt crowded in common areas. Granted, we were in Yacht Club so I cannot give a first-hand opinion of the number of passengers for things like disembarkation and embarkation. However, the bars and common areas during sea days and evenings were really uncongested. I had a couple of beers at the Sports Bar during the college championship game and you would think it might be packed, nope.

* Zip line and waterslides were not overly crowded either. We all zip lined and only waited about 10 minutes on a sea day.

The very good - Food and service in the Yacht Club restaurant as well as Yacht Club grill. Dinners breakfasts in the restaurant were nice and I have no complaints. Service was always attentive and frequently was excellent.

Also very good was food and service in the Ocean Cay specialty restaurant. We ate at Ocean Cay, Butchers Cut and the Pan Asian restaurants and found the other two good. My only complaint with Butchers Cut was food delivery was super slow, but very good food.

Word of Caution!

I booked one excursion with MSC, a two stop Gran Cayman snorkel trip. Booked for both my cabin and my daughters cabin. Why did I use MSC? Because we had a tight timeline on the island and had to tender. Figured I would pay the extra for the comfort of knowing we would get back onto the ship regardless of what happened. Knowing that the port would be jam-packed due to Seaside being added last-minute because of hurricane itinerary changes, I booked the first day the excursions were posted on the MSC site. I also checked back on my account at least twice a week, for both cabins. Just prior to the cruise I also called MSC and conformed on all my pre-bookings (laundry for two cabins, trio meal package for all four of us, spa manicures for my wife/daughters and some extra cabin credit) Everything was showing, no problems.

The day prior to arriving at Gran Cayman my daughters received their tickets, not my wife and I. I checked with our Yacht Club concierge and the excursion desk, the excursion had not transferred over to the ship. Of course, it was sold out now. No matter how much documentation I presented, my payment history and my email confirmation, I was toast. I have read horror stories from others who experienced this and would strongly suggest you to not pre-book excursions until they get their ridiculously bad site fixed. We rebooked a short snorkel excursion but I was looking forward to the one we booked.

Happy sailing to all!

How was the pool in the Yacht Club, crowded?

Thanks for posting. I hope there's more to come.

Did you go to the shows?

Casino?

Thank you for your review! We will be sailing the Seaside in the Yacht club next month and it is good to hear so much positive feedback!

Glad u had a great trip!

I was shocked when another poster indicated that they don’t even provide the departure time for excursions. Sorry they screwed your’s up.

We have so much onboard credit, we were hoping to use for excursions/tips but are afraid they might sell out, but concerning that they can’t get the pre-booking right.

One question for you. Were the Yacht Club dinner menus different than the main dining room? One poster showed them from the Yacht Club and they looked identical to the main dining room and we were impressed by them.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback, I have never done this detailed of a review.

mafig - good question and I forgot to mention the pool. It's saltwater and I enjoyed it. Some complained that it was too cold but I thought it was fine. Yes, it's a bit small but it was never crowded. Most times just one or two people in it. Granted, it was kind of cold several days.

Casino - I never played but walked through it and perused the machines. They had a nice selection. Some will complain about smoke as part of the casino did allow smoking and you could smell it. It wasn't significant but the smoke smell did linger.

Shows - We didn't attend any shows but did enjoy the bar entertainers and all were outstanding.

omarchs - I wish I could answer your question but I never looked at the MDR choices. I just assumed the YC menu was specific to the YC.

Appreciate the feedback. Other than the shore excursion pre-booking problem, glad you had a nice onboard experience.

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xmarksx

Thank you for your review. Was there any server in the YC restaurant that you would recommend?

Thanks for the info. Was there shade by the pool??

Cruiser - Yes, I would recommend two. Both Arthur and Supra were excellent. Others were good as well but they set the standard.

Sheets - In the afternoon you could get some shade at the end of the pool where the wall meets the deck. There were other areas but not near the pool. In the summer months it's gong to be a hot area.

Thanks! I have been on the Facebook Seaside page and there was some discussion about the shade. So, it's nice to get info from someone that was there. I can't wait to get on the SHIP!!

There was a thread a few days back where someone mentioned he noticed people sneaking non-YC members into the area.

Did you notice any of this happening?

There was a thread a few days back where someone mentioned he noticed people sneaking non-YC members into the area.

Did you notice any of this happening?

I noticed the thread as well and was watching to see if any squatters/sneakers came in. Saw zero in the pool area and the only true sneaker I saw was a woman who walked into the concierge area behind some YC passengers. Basically she tailgated behind the YC passengers as they carded in. She was only walking in to be a lookie-loo and wasn't trying to grab a pool lounger or free drink. Most of the servers started recognizing YC passengers after the first day. As for the pool, they did a good job of keeping the door locked between the non YC pool area and YC area.

Thank you for posting your experiences! I am looking forward to our YC cruise in June!

Question: did you have connecting cabins, and fi so, where was the connecting door located?

Thanks for your review. Glad to see you enjoyed your cruise. Disappointing that the YC concierge didnt get your excursion fixed once you brought it to their attention. On NCL Haven I am confident the concierge would have fixed this for you and you wouldnt have had to make a trip yourself to the excursion desk. Glad to hear your other experiences in the YC was enjoyable.

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Thanks for your review. Glad to see you enjoyed your cruise. Disappointing that the YC concierge didnt get your excursion fixed once you brought it to their attention. On NCL Haven I am confident the concierge would have fixed this for you and you wouldnt have had to make a trip yourself to the excursion desk. Glad to hear your other experiences in the YC was enjoyable.

I cannot speak to NCL as I have not sailed Haven with them. However, in defense of the YC concierge, I doubt a Crystal concierge could have helped with this one. The port was packed with regular ships and others, like the huge load from Seaside, that adjusted because of the hurricane. There truly was no availability for the good excursions. I did mention to the YC concierge that it was sad that it appeared MSC hired a 13 year old boy to oversee their online customer facing platform. And that that boy ran it from his parents basement.

Thanks for the feedback, I have never done this detailed of a review.

 

mafig - good question and I forgot to mention the pool. It's saltwater and I enjoyed it. Some complained that it was too cold but I thought it was fine. Yes, it's a bit small but it was never crowded. Most times just one or two people in it. Granted, it was kind of cold several days.

 

Casino - I never played but walked through it and perused the machines. They had a nice selection. Some will complain about smoke as part of the casino did allow smoking and you could smell it. It wasn't significant but the smoke smell did linger.

 

Shows - We didn't attend any shows but did enjoy the bar entertainers and all were outstanding.

 

omarchs - I wish I could answer your question but I never looked at the MDR choices. I just assumed the YC menu was specific to the YC.

Were all of you shore excursions listed on you Cruise Doc?

Xmarksx...thanks so much for your review. Nice to see another positive YC one. I was just wondering, did the dinner menu in the YC change from night to night or did it remain the same? And did you meet your butler on the first day or much later like a few others have mentioned?

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Xmarksx...thanks so much for your review. Nice to see another positive YC one. I was just wondering, did the dinner menu in the YC change from night to night or did it remain the same? And did you meet your butler on the first day or much later like a few others have mentioned?

The menus did change nightly and we met our butler the first day. We saw him a couple of times during the cruise but did not have any requests of him.

Hi, xmarksx!

Thanks for the great review of the YC! Very helpful!

I do have a question since you use the zipline - in another thread, someone said that zipline use for YC guests was free (well, included in the YC experience), and others said it was not. So.. was it included or did you have to pay?

Thanks!

PS lol I am the unfortunate gal who started the discussion about visitors in the YC with one innocent question. I guess people took notice.

The menus did change nightly and we met our butler the first day. We saw him a couple of times during the cruise but did not have any requests of him.

Thanks!

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Thanks for the detailed review.

Hi, xmarksx!

 

Thanks for the great review of the YC! Very helpful!

I do have a question since you use the zipline - in another thread, someone said that zipline use for YC guests was free (well, included in the YC experience), and others said it was not. So.. was it included or did you have to pay?

 

Thanks!

PS lol I am the unfortunate gal who started the discussion about visitors in the YC with one innocent question. I guess people took notice.

Hi Windlicth,

They charged us for the zip line and I am now wondering if they "should" have done so. Certainly knew we were YC members because I charged it using my YC bracelet. Oh well. By the way. The zip line was fun but really only a one time thing. Not super exciting/fast but a wonderful view.

As for your question on the sneekers into YC I do remember your question but it wasn't the thread I was referring. One of the early transatlantic cruisers posted that they were not controlling entry into the pool area. There is an entry point door from on deck 19 into the YC pool area but that they seem to have corrected it. No longer a problem.

One thing I forgot to mention were my thoughts on the seapass bracelets. In short, I liked them. Yes, they are quirky and don't instantly unlock the YC door or your cabin door. The trick, my 20 year old daughter taught me, was to make sure you lay it flat onto the reader surface and on the area designated where you're supposed to place it... stupid dad. They do work great for registering drinks outside the YC area and we never had a problem being charged for something that we should not have been charged. So, again, I liked them.

Hi Windlicth,

 

They charged us for the zip line and I am now wondering if they "should" have done so. Certainly knew we were YC members because I charged it using my YC bracelet. Oh well. By the way. The zip line was fun but really only a one time thing. Not super exciting/fast but a wonderful view.

 

As for your question on the sneekers into YC I do remember your question but it wasn't the thread I was referring. One of the early transatlantic cruisers posted that they were not controlling entry into the pool area. There is an entry point door from on deck 19 into the YC pool area but that they seem to have corrected it. No longer a problem.

 

One thing I forgot to mention were my thoughts on the seapass bracelets. In short, I liked them. Yes, they are quirky and don't instantly unlock the YC door or your cabin door. The trick, my 20 year old daughter taught me, was to make sure you lay it flat onto the reader surface and on the area designated where you're supposed to place it... stupid dad. They do work great for registering drinks outside the YC area and we never had a problem being charged for something that we should not have been charged. So, again, I liked them.

Great! Thanks again!

Yes, I noticed in the videos that the zipline was slow. If I have to pay 10 bucks, it'll be a one time thing anyway.

I am glad they got the "sneakers" under control ;) No, seriously, I can see how people try to slip through and, my guess, take advantage of the free alcohol. I've got to admire them though - I'd never have the courage!

Oh, yes, my son says I am supposedly technologically challenged. I don't think so myself but then, I don't play video games and when I try I fail. Putting the bracelet flat on the scanner is a good idea. Thanks for the tip!

Appreciate the detailed feedback.

Thank you for your report.

Keith