Who's booked the Seaside and More!

[Tall-Cruiser]

TC ... checked your cabin on cruise deck plans and they are shown the same as our Aurea Suite at 302 sq feet, as a living area and separate bedroom area.

 

Time will tell of course if the details are correct.

 

Sidari - Thanks for checking. There is definitely some confusion with the information they have out there on the deck plans and renderings. For e.g. the website shows the Fantastica and Aurea suites with a bath tubs, yet my booking states "shower". When I mentioned it to the agent, she did not know why the web page shows one thing and the booking confirm another. She checked on a spreadsheet she had, which said shower. So it makes me wonder if there is really a separate area for the bedroom from the living area. As you noted, time will tell.

 

Many thanks.

[Tall-Cruiser]

Yeah, I took 9208 instead of the two forward hump suites because it looks like it should have a much bigger balcony.

 

I may still try to switch to 9002 or 9003 if they are available for our cruise. Those cabins appear to be quite a bit bigger but there is still some confusion as to whether or not they have a balcony. From the renderings I've seen it also looks like 9002/03 only have a smallish port hole window at the front. If they had a large window it would be really cool and a great view.

 

I think you made a good pick. I am also traveling with other family members in other cabins. So we are all trying to be on the same deck, thus the reason for deck 10 for now until we get better info about the cabins. I did ask the agent about 9002/9003. She said those are being sold as a quad and currently not available. She also mentioned that they have steel balconies instead of glass due to there location and wind. She noted her spreadsheet was showing -

Cabin 26mq

bath 2mq

Balcony 28mq.

 

Yes a big balcony if those measurements are correct. A great view indeed from that vantage point.

 

 

Hopefully tomorrow I will get more info to share here.

 

Many thanks.

[sidari]

Hi TS ... just been in and checked our cabin details from the booking info on the email from MSC UK, 14262 Bathroom with shower! 22 Sq Metre cabin (236 Sq Feet) and 4 Sq Metre Bathroom (43 Sq feet) no mention of the balcony.

Details on cruise deck plans show a Bath on the pop up info graphic when you hover over the cabin on the deck plans and also says Bath with Shower on the S3 and S2 details.

 

It could be that the info given to agents is wrong because the B3 cabins Aurea have showers while the Suites are shown to have a Bath.

 

Looking at the ship model 9002/3 look to have Glass balconies on the side with the Steel wrap around across the front.

 

Drewlin ... I have an email from MSC from a few weeks ago saying that there will not be a Transatlantic and the ship will sail to Miami with just crew onboard, as Bret mentioned it would be very unusual for a ship to sail with passengers before it was christened and that ceremony will be taking place in Miami on the 21st December and the ship will sail the same day to the New private island assuming it is ready and will return ready for the first sailing on the 23rd December.

 

Only one ship I know of sailed with one fee paying passenger before its first Major sailing and that was Titanic!

Edited January 31, 2016 by sidari

[Tall-Cruiser]

Hi TS ... just been in and checked our cabin details from the booking info on the email from MSC UK, 14262 Bathroom with shower! 22 Sq Metre cabin (236 Sq Feet) and 4 Sq Metre Bathroom (43 Sq feet) no mention of the balcony.

Details on cruise deck plans show a Bath on the pop up info graphic when you hover over the cabin on the deck plans and also says Bath with Shower on the S3 and S2 details.

 

It could be that the info given to agents is wrong because the B3 cabins Aurea have showers while the Suites are shown to have a Bath.

 

Looking at the ship model 9002/3 look to have Glass balconies on the side with the Steel wrap around across the front.

____________________________

 

sidari-

Thanks for checking your cabin details. The cabin info given to agents vs what we see on the website and when you hover over the cabin on the deck plans is indeed different. Hopefully someone in operations will notice this soon and make the necessary changes to be consistent. Your cabin 14262, at least according to the deck plan appears much bigger than the other Aurea Suites on deck 9. If the Aurea suites on deck 9 have a bath tub, yours with 4mq (43 sft) for a Bathroom should also have a tub.

 

The other piece of information out there that might be slightly miss-leading is that the suites cabins (Fantastica & Aurea) are 302 sft. In talking to the agent earlier today, that 302 sft includes the balcony, which makes the cabin approx 215 sft.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Tall-Cruiser

[sidari]

TS ... It could well be that the deck plans were rushed out by MSC seeing as they have not included Deck 19 as of yet, the cabin sizes appear to be more generic that actual sizes and at some point down the line the actual sizes may well appear.

 

You would expect Yacht club insides to be larger as they are on Meraviglia at 172 Sq feet (All insides shown are 172 Sq feet) but that said you never know with MSC, they like to keep people guessing it would seem.

The S3 on that ship are shown as 301 Sq feet, it could also be that smaller cabins equal more cabins makes more money!

 

The agent you spoke to will only have the generic information that we are all able to find for now and I have found that sometimes even the MSC people are taking a guess at things that have been around for some time, after all one here in the UK tried to tell me the ship was being built in the USA!

 

With regard to the info you were given the Deck 9 Aurea with balcony may well be the ones with 302 Sq feet but up until MSC produce the actual sizes we are all guessing and even then I have no doubt as time goes on and people sail the ship differences will still be found.

[eroller]

as Bret mentioned it would be very unusual for a ship to sail with passengers before it was christened and that ceremony will be taking place in Miami on the 21st December and the ship will sail the same day to the New private island assuming it is ready and will return ready for the first sailing on the 23rd December.

 

 

 

Actually this is quite common. Two of my more recent cruises fell into this scenario. QUANTUM OF THE SEAS was built in Germany and sailed from Southampton to NY with passengers prior to her christening in NY. I was one of those pre-inaugural paying passengers on the crossing.

 

More recently NORWEGIAN ESCAPE, also built in Germany, left the shipyard and sailed a revenue pre-inaugural cruise from Southampton to Miami, then was christened in Miami after.

 

Some years back, I remember CROWN PRINCESS left the shipyard in Italy, did a full summer season of Europe cruises, then sailed from Southampton to NY with paying passengers when she was finally christened in NY by Sophia Loren ... some six months after her introduction.

 

There are many more examples but you get the point. Very common.

[sidari]

Ernie ... thanks for that info, MSC usually hold their christenings in Europe and the move to Miami may well be because Seaside will be based in the USA year round.

 

No idea why then so far they are saying no Transatlantic sailing for passengers!

[mikesteg]

Drewlin ... I have an email from MSC from a few weeks ago saying that there will not be a Transatlantic and the ship will sail to Miami with just crew onboard, as Bret mentioned it would be very unusual for a ship to sail with passengers before it was christened and that ceremony will be taking place in Miami on the 21st December and the ship will sail the same day to the New private island assuming it is ready and will return ready for the first sailing on the 23rd December.

 

Anybody know if it's possible to wrangle an invite to the christening? Do they even have general public there?

 

 

One more YMMV data point. My booking for 9003 says:

Cabin Area 26.00mq − Door 0.65mt

Bathroom Area 2.00mq with shower

... no mention of a balcony, though I did ask MSC (USA) a couple weeks ago and they indicated there is a balcony on the blueprints at this time.

[sidari]

Mike ... We are hoping to be out there pre 23rd December cruise and will make an effort to try to see something even if it is from Bayside Mall or Marina, I also wonder if their new state of the art building will be ready in time or is it just one of the existing ones being rebuilt!

[mikesteg]

It doesn't seem like there is any space to build a new terminal: https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7754674,-80.1723744,2001m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

In the 'notch' where the ships are parked, it looks like one building next to another. There appears to be plenty of space on the east end of the island, but that looks like a whole different level of work. If the port wants to expand capacity, maybe it could happen.

 

"New state of the art terminal" sounds a lot like marketing speak to me. Then again, MSC doesn't always operate like the publicly owned lines (which is usually a good thing, in my opinion.)

[sidari]

Miami Herald reported that Seaside will use a newly renovated terminal but does not say which one, state of the art one can only hope.

[Tall-Cruiser]

Here is the recent info I have after speaking with an agent with respect to Suites - Fantastica / Aurea.

 

Agent confirmed that the Suites do have Bath Tubs. While the picture on he website shows a separated Living Room and Bedroom, the agent could not confirm that the suite will actually look like that.

 

For the Fantastica, two results came up. The difference between the two is the balcony size. The agent did say they were not sure if the 10Mq was correct.

 

Suite Mq SqFt

Cabin 18 193.75

Bath 2 21.53

Baclony ("deck")10 107.64

Total 30Mq 323.00 SqFt

 

 

Suite Mq SqFt

Cabin 18 193.75

Bath 2 21.53

Baclony ("deck") 8 86.11

Total 28Mq 302.00SqFt

 

 

Cabin + Bath = 215.28 SqFt

 

I am sure we will get updated data as more info is shared.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Tall-Cruiser

[eroller]

It doesn't seem like there is any space to build a new terminal: https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7754674,-80.1723744,2001m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

In the 'notch' where the ships are parked, it looks like one building next to another. There appears to be plenty of space on the east end of the island, but that looks like a whole different level of work. If the port wants to expand capacity, maybe it could happen.

 

"New state of the art terminal" sounds a lot like marketing speak to me. Then again, MSC doesn't always operate like the publicly owned lines (which is usually a good thing, in my opinion.)

 

 

The long term plan is to convert some of the cargo area on the NE end of Dodge Island to additional cruise terminals. Currently that area is only used for cargo storage and not actual loading and unloading.

 

Besides MSC, Royal Caribbean has recently signed a deal for new berthing facilities at PortMiami that can handle the Oasis Class. This has many convinced that an Oasis Class vessel is bound for Miami. In addition Virgin Cruises will home port its new vessel at PortMiami and part of that deal is state-of-the-art berthing facilities as well.

 

As you know MSC has announced a state-of-the-art dedicated terminal as well at PortMiami. I think this is more than just hype, as PortMiami had to make certain concessions and promises to secure the new MSC SEASIDE year round. They will have to follow-through on that state-of-the-art terminal.

 

Remember that competition is brutal between Port Everglades and PortMiami. Both ports are doing everything in their power to secure the newest ships from existing and new cruise customers ... especially the year-round ships which mean even more port revenue. PortMiami really lost out when Port Everglades won the contracts for both Oasis Class vessels. Now the port is doing everything in it's power to ensure that doesn't happen again.

[sidari]

Yacht Club Sold out for 23rd December 2017 according to UK site. Still only giving Deck 9 Aurea Suites and not those on the Aft of the ship!

Edited February 2, 2016 by sidari

[Benzbuddy87]

Just booked the MSC Seaside. Our confirmation for a Fantastica Suite states -

"Cabin Area 18.00mq - Door .65mt'

"Bathroom Area 2.00mq with shower"

 

18mq seems small for a suite if I'm converting it right to 193.75sq ft

 

The odd thing is the website says fir suites, "Surface approx from 302 to 355 sq. ft.

 

Has anyone here booked a Fantastica Suite and have more info on the cabin? Thank you.

 

The website is a work in progress, and some of the graphics for the rooms do not seem to be in scale. We are currently booked in a Fantastica Suite, which was confirmed at 302SF for a standard suite. Some of the Fantastica Suites go up to 355SF, depending on the location within the ship. As an example, there are a handful of Fantastica Suites with a little extra space (shape of a triangle), plus a larger, angled veranda. There are also a few Fantastica Suites forward, which seem to incorporate the hallway into the room (and also, a larger veranda).

[Benzbuddy87]

So after speaking with an agent she checks the Fanstatica suites and said they are the same size.

Cabin 18mq

Balcony 8mq with shower

Bath 2mq

 

So the cabin and balcony equal 26mq.

 

I still think 9208 has a bigger balcony as seen from the deck plan. Yes it could be an illusion :)

 

Tomorrow someone from operations will give us more feed back and I will share my findings.

 

Thanks again.

 

9208 has a small "triangle" area addition within the stateroom which is necessary to accommodate the angled sliding door to the veranda. The triangle addition is used for Fantastica (S2) and Aurea (SE3) suites which are situated where the ship bumps out. Accordingly, my understanding it that the S2 verandas are a little larger than a standard Fantastica (S2) suite. In your instance, 9208 is adjacent to Aurea Suites, which apparently have a larger veranda. It would appear as though you have a double or triple bonus!

[sidari]

SD ... All the S2 Fantastica suites (Dark green) are on the angles of the ship next to the SE3 Seaside Suites (Red) which oddly are shown as a single room on cruise deck plans, whereas the S2 are shown as two areas Lounge and bedroom.

 

Looking at the ship model it does appear that 9208 has the same length balcony as the Aurea suites.

Edited February 2, 2016 by sidari

[Benzbuddy87]

SD ... All the S2 Fantastica suites (Dark green) are on the angles of the ship next to the SE3 Seaside Suites (Red) which oddly are shown as a single room on cruise deck plans, whereas the S2 are shown as two areas Lounge and bedroom.

 

Looking at the ship model it does appear that 9208 has the same length balcony as the Aurea suites.

 

I agree. The odd part is that SE3's are purportedly twice the size of S2. If anything, most would expect the SE3 to be two rooms. We're booked in a Fantastica Suite, so I hope it has the two rooms.

[mikesteg]

Yacht Club Sold out for 23rd December 2017 according to UK site. Still only giving Deck 9 Aurea Suites and not those on the Aft of the ship!

 

The USA site shows a YC1 available, though it's been ~17 hours since you posted so it may have freed up in that time. I'm not surprised the YC is all booked... well, surprised it didn't happen sooner.

 

I agree. The odd part is that SE3's are purportedly twice the size of S2. If anything, most would expect the SE3 to be two rooms. We're booked in a Fantastica Suite, so I hope it has the two rooms.

 

Where are you seeing those numbers? I see something along those lines on cruise ship deck plans, but they are a bit confused. Not to mention the room graphics making no sense compared to the deck maps.

 

The SE3 scare me a bit with so much of the wall being shared with the hallway, as they are currently drawn.

 

I'd expect anything called a suite to have 2 rooms, but that isn't typical for most cruise lines (nor some hotels these days). How has been MSC on that front with other ships?

 

Cruise ship deck plans also has a weird thing on the S1/S2/S3 graphic where it appears there is a small room on the balcony when coming from the living room area. There appears to be a wall parallel to the railing mid-balcony, and even a separate door to access the rest of the balcony.... very strange.

[chrystine]

 

One more YMMV data point. My booking for 9003 says:

Cabin Area 26.00mq − Door 0.65mt

Bathroom Area 2.00mq with shower

... no mention of a balcony, though I did ask MSC (USA) a couple weeks ago and they indicated there is a balcony on the blueprints at this time.

 

I have a S2 Fantastica suite booked as well. My confirmation also states "Bathroom Area 2.00mq with shower". I thought the suites were suppose to have bathtubs. What are your thoughts? Just an error on the stateroom description?

Edited February 3, 2016 by chrystine

[sidari]

Mike ... With regard to the White line on the balcony graphic I have emailed the site owner to see if he can shed any light on what it might be and to ask where the graphic of the cabin came from.

 

Where did you see an S1 or was that a mistake ? the SE3 cabins do have quite a bit of wall in the hallway but why would it scare you?

 

chrystine ... We are also puzzled as to the cabin interiors and until MSC release actual mock ups or plans we are all in the dark.

[mikesteg]

From cruise ship deck plan / msc-seaside

 

Max passengers – 4

Staterooms number – 59

Cabin size – 300-355 ft2 / 28-33 m2

Balcony size – ?

Location – on decks 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

(S1, S2, S3) Suite layout

 

 

Max passengers – 5

Staterooms number – 73

Cabin size – 625 ft2 / 58 m2

Balcony size – 375 ft2 / 35 m2

Location – on decks 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

(SE3- Balcony Whirlpool) Suite Seaside layout

 

I would assume the balcony is part of the 675, otherwise this is a huge cabin with an enormous balcony. Actually, that would be larger than the royal suite's quoted numbers, which seems unlikely to be accurate.

 

I'm not fond of having much wall space shared with a hallway for noise reasons. Even in the best ships it possible to hear obnoxious dolts through the wall, so less walls are better on average.

 

That said, if we can believe the graphics it looks like MSC has done a good job with the inset doors which will help abate some noises from down the hall. On the suites, it also looks to me like a walk in closet in the other corner against the hallway. Combined with the standard bathroom location, that should keep hallway noise down considerably.

 

Of course, it's still all speculation. But it's fun!

 

As a side note, I just noticed that max passengers for the SE3 is 5. That might be helpful for some family situations.

[ckbklyn]

We booked the Seaside for January 20, 2018 for our 5 year Anniversary and my sister in law and her husband booked too. MSC converted our RCCL points to Gold Membership on their line. That is one under their top tier. So that was really nice of them. We booked it through our TA, we are on Deck 12 suite, with the Free Classic Beverage pkg, Fantasica plan.

 

It is going to be our first time cruising with them (unless we find a great deal in 2017) and the reviews of the cruise line scare me. My husband speaks fluent Italian, so the language complaints I am not worried about.

Edited February 3, 2016 by ckbklyn

[sidari]

Mike ... On Cruisdeckplans.com there is no S1 and I think it may be a mistake on the other site, having had a look their colour coding has an S1 as an Inside Wellness cabin!

 

The cabin with the Bedroom and living area are it would appear the Aft Suites because they are on Decks 9 to 15, the only other Deck with Aurea Suites is Deck 9 with the long balconies along the sides at the rear of the ship.

 

The S2 cabins will more than likely be like the SE3 Suites but not as long and the two rearward on Deck 9 look like they have the long balconies off current Deck plans and the Ship model.

 

I see where you are coming from with regard to possible noise and the SE3 cabins.

 

Here is the reply I have had back from the owner of Cruisedeckplans.com

 

That diagram was what MSC released at the time and probably was more reflective of the aft suite and not the midship suites. There now is a new diagram for the midship suites (Similar to the Seaside Suites) that we may put up instead since it is still unclear what the floor plan will be for the aft suites.

 

The aft suites will be different with a part wrap around balcony (according to drawings), so it will be interesting to see a revised floor plan for those. I am not sure what someone was trying to draw on the original diagram balcony. It almost appears some sort of porch, but there is nothing else to indicate that there will be anything like that on the final layout.

Edited February 3, 2016 by sidari

[Tall-Cruiser]

I have a S2 Fantastica suite booked as well. My confirmation also states "Bathroom Area 2.00mq with shower". I thought the suites were suppose to have bathtubs. What are your thoughts? Just an error on the stateroom description?

 

When I spoke with an agent the other day, she said that the Fantastica and Aurea Suites have bath tubs. Like you and others here, I am puzzled as to why the confirmation only mentions "shower" if indeed there is a bathtub.