Had a GREAT time on Seaside!

[just erica]

I'm pretty sure we already have the answer but did they serve any complimentary food in the sports bar? Also, what kind of offerings were on the buffet for late night options?

 

They serve tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole that are complementary. Quite good. Hopefully you get Sheryl, she was the only server we encountered that was wonderful and had a personality.

[benzer]

Great review. Now for most important part of cruising- is there a butter or not? We are loosing sleep here.

 

YES! Need to know about the butter!!!!

[waterlove1234]

Great review. Now for most important part of cruising- is there a butter or not? We are loosing sleep here.

 

hahaha I did read that thread.

 

Nope! No real butter was offered that I saw, only the packets of margarine which were not very good. That complaint was legit even if it was a lot ridiculous. Funny though, I was in the Seashore dining room and we never got the Lurpak butter in our butter bowl. I feel like I missed out :') (kidding)

 

They did have HUGE bowls of butter that they dug into for Teppanyaki so maybe book there early your cruise and steal the bowl on your way out ;p

[waterlove1234]

I'm pretty sure we already have the answer but did they serve any complimentary food in the sports bar? Also, what kind of offerings were on the buffet for late night options?

 

They did serve complementary snacks in both the Sports Bar and the News Cafe actually. In the sports bar it was a small basket of tortilla chips and little things of guac and salsa. Those were not very good in my opinion. The good snacks are in the News Cafe! We'd go over there and steal their snacks and bring them back to the Sports Bar :-) Cafe offered plain Lays potato chips and the first few days a pretzel/cracker medley (like with the dried peas and rice crackers) and then the last few days what looked like bbq Bugles (also not good imo).

 

Only pizza was at the buffet super late night, but there seemed to be a good selection of fried stuff and burgers whenever we went up there on early-late side (not often). The spring rolls were my favorite, and also the mozzarella sticks.

[waterlove1234]

What was your time of exiting ship from leaving your stateroom to walking through customs? Did you self assist?

 

It was surprising how many people did self assist! Our flight out of Miami was at 10:55am which is usually considered too early but we decided to go for it and use self assist. It took us 30 minutes from the time we got in line to leave the ship to sitting in a taxi headed for the airport. It felt like much longer though, we just waited in line after line. My parents left separately after us and said the computer system crashed or something right as they were about to exit the ship so it took them closer to 45 minutes to get off. Everything moved steadily, just at a snail's pace because it seemed like half the ship was getting off at the same time. Customs guy barely glanced at my passport. We didn't have anything to declare though, so there wasn't much need. But still...

[helenb]

Hold the presses!!!! Mozzarella sticks in the buffet?

 

I don't know if I'll be able to get my teen daughter out of there!

[waterlove1234]

Hold the presses!!!! Mozzarella sticks in the buffet?

 

I don't know if I'll be able to get my teen daughter out of there!

 

They are pretty amazing, I had some every day! They were cold and not melty once which was sad. But I'd usually run up deck 16, fill up a big plate with fries and mozzarella sticks, then bring it back down to the sports bar for us to snack on. It was a good system.

[Jaco5NC]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and tips. Nothing is perfect, but your attitude was! Glad you had a fantastic time - cant wait for our turn!!

[Danny61231]

They did serve complementary snacks in both the Sports Bar and the News Cafe actually. In the sports bar it was a small basket of tortilla chips and little things of guac and salsa. Those were not very good in my opinion. The good snacks are in the News Cafe! We'd go over there and steal their snacks and bring them back to the Sports Bar :-) Cafe offered plain Lays potato chips and the first few days a pretzel/cracker medley (like with the dried peas and rice crackers) and then the last few days what looked like bbq Bugles (also not good imo).

 

Only pizza was at the buffet super late night, but there seemed to be a good selection of fried stuff and burgers whenever we went up there on early-late side (not often). The spring rolls were my favorite, and also the mozzarella sticks.

 

Thanks for the quick answer. I keep hoping they decide they need another complimentary dining choice and add an actual menu like the Divina had... or at least make the chicken wings complimentary!

[DCGuy64]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

 

Personally, I got the impression everyone struggled a bit with communicating with staff regardless of what language they spoke. That being said, I don't think you'll have any problem communicating given that you can speak so many languages. I often saw the crew laughing and talking with passengers in other languages, but I have no idea if they switched back and forth. I can hardly identify which language is being spoken so take all this with a grain of salt. Hopefully someone who has more knowledge of languages and has been on Seaside can give you a better answer!

 

 

 

Thanks so much, I appreciate it. And as another person said, it was so nice reading your positive review. Your outlook made all the difference. [emoji4] Nice to have something to counter the naysayers!

 

 

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[BermudaBound2014]

Welcome to cruise critic and Thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

You mentioned that you were bored on harmony of the seas yet not in seaside. Can you please describe what seaside offers that Harmony does not? Both are on my short list for a spring cruise.

 

 

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[NYHartChapp]

Great review. Now for most important part of cruising- is there a butter or not? We are loosing sleep here.

 

 

Glad somebody's got his priorities straight ;).

[waterlove1234]

Welcome to cruise critic and Thank you for sharing your experiences.

You mentioned that you were bored on harmony of the seas yet not in seaside. Can you please describe what seaside offers that Harmony does not? Both are on my short list for a spring cruise.

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I can try! I think my husband summed it up best when we got back from Harmony, it was really disappointing how hard it was to just see the ocean. Almost everything was on the interior and we felt like the only time we could see the water is if we were on the top deck with the pool party-ers or on the back with the giant screens playing random stuff all the time. Don't get me wrong, the ship is beautiful and the scale of it is staggering! There are a thousand activities going on, but we really like to just settle in a spot for an hour or so to read then pick up and settle in another spot for a change in scenery and atmosphere to read for another couple of hours, and so on. We really couldn't do that on Harmony. There were one or two places that we found to hang out away from crowds** but found the most comfortable place to be was in our cabin. Which was a shame because we had an interior so I went stir crazy quickly and then wanted to wander, but there was nowhere to go and just be. On Seaside I felt like I could settle just about anywhere comfortably. We bounced from the atrium to the News Cafe to the lower side decks, to the top pool bar (in the afternoon when the loud crowds went away :-P). It was so wonderful to be able to move all about and have so many comfy locations available. So when I say I was bored I guess I mean more that I was tired of my same two spots after 7 days and not really entertained by either of them. And by that I mean, on Seaside I felt like 'part of the crowd' and even though I wasn't up and cheering for the sports things I got to enjoy being among them. And in the cafe, everyone lounging and reading newspapers and books, tapping their feet to the lounge music...I guess I just felt part of the goings on without having to participate. I felt very isolated on Harmony. And truly that was largely my fault. I certainly could have made an effort to sign up for ice skating (meant to, never did) or try the wave pool or rock wall. But I'm not big on doing the individual things that single a person out, I'd really rather just be part of the crowd. I will say the shows were FANTASTIC!! We went to every single one, and the comedy was wonderful, the daily shows like the 'how well do you know your spouse' games were so funny. The big slide was fun, the ship was stunning and the ports are some of the best (St Kitts/ St Thomas). Definitely don't take it off your list but if you're looking for leasure, pick Seaside. If you're looking for activity and entertainment, pick Harmony.

 

Hope that helped! It was a little all over the place...

 

**if you do go Harmony and want a fun get-away spot, on the second to last day we found some great lounge charis at the very back of the ship along the running track of all places! If the Aquashow is going on, you'll get to see the swimmers in their silly costumes running back and forth in front of you too. It's amusing.

[BermudaBound2014]

You explained brilliantly! Makes perfect sense.

Thank you :)

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[CTBob]

Thanks for your review. Most young people, like you, seemed to be enjoying themselves. I didn't go but heard that the improv wasn't always good. However one night a guy and his father were on stage and I heard that night was funny. I did like the shows, maybe they are more for older people. I now have new areas to check out the next time I'm on the Seaside.

[jcollin]

Thanks for the review, we (7 of us) are on the April 14th cruise. You said you had the spa pass for the week. We also purchased that. You get full access to the spa, correct? Did you have any issues using it? Thanks

[waterlove1234]

Thanks for the review, we (7 of us) are on the April 14th cruise. You said you had the spa pass for the week. We also purchased that. You get full access to the spa, correct? Did you have any issues using it? Thanks

 

Ok, let me give you the spa run-down so you can skip the confusion of asking them how it works ;)

 

First, if you booked anything like a massage or manicures then you should go schedule those immediately after getting on. I went the second day to schedule and it was mostly booked up.

 

For the spa pass, when you get there go straight to the front counter and tell them you need a spa wristband. I think there was supposed to be a card in our rooms that we exchanged for the wristband but we never got one. If you don't have a card already then be sure to tell them you don't have a card and need one of those too. Also, you can't go in to the spa without a bathing suit. Not even just to look around.

 

So the official system is, you bring your card to the front desk, exchange it for a spa wristband (it's like one of those snap/slap bracelets) and then you can enter the spa. When you're done, you're supposed to turn in your wristband and get your card back, and repeat that process every time you want to go to the spa. The first time I went with my mom, we were chatting on our way out and totally forgot to turn in the wristband...so we kept it and wore it in the next day without having to talk to anyone. We decided just to keep the band for the rest of the week and that worked wonderfully. Never had to talk to a person in there again.

 

I can't tell you how many times we had to explain to people how to use the lockers, so here's what you need to know for those. Once you go through the back doors leading to the spa, there will be a changing room on your left and the spa entrance on your right. Drop your stuff in the changing room, if a locker is unlocked/it opens then it's free to use. To lock it, swipe your cruise card over the little reader knob on the front and that will lock it and only open again for you. Tada!

 

Now for the spa itself. On the wristband it walks you through the steps of what you're 'supposed to do' for the optimal experience. There are plaques outside every experience room with symbols that match the wristband. There's a bright wet steam room and dark wet steam room, sauna, cool and warm mist showers (cool sprays a menthol something on you, warm sprays a flowery something on you, just fyi), a snow room, a himalayan rock nap room, and a big indoor jacuzzi pool. Oh and geyser showers! lol I loved and hated those. There are 4 pods on the floor and when you hit the start button and step on the pod, it showers you from the floor with cold water. That will stay on for a few seconds then stop and you move to the next pod and you get a shower of warm water. We skipped the cold ones and only stood on the warms :-P They're big on switching from hot to cold, I guess for improving circulation? Anyway, our very favorite one was the dark steam room. I struggled at first getting used to breathing in steamy air, but it wasn't too bad after a minute. There are little shower wands on the wall that you use to cool off when you get too warm so you can stay in longer.

 

Oh! And there's an outdoor deck jacuzzi that's only for spa goers. There are doors leading outside once you're in the actual Thermal Spa area, that's how you get to the jacuzzi out there.

 

I think that's it, hope you guys have fun!

[missthesea]

Thank you for explaining the spa!!

 

 

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[GOLDENBONNY]

Glad somebody's got his priorities straight ;).

 

Its' not a joke . People should know to cancel a cruise or not . ;p

[jcollin]

Ok, let me give you the spa run-down so you can skip the confusion of asking them how it works ;)

 

First, if you booked anything like a massage or manicures then you should go schedule those immediately after getting on. I went the second day to schedule and it was mostly booked up.

 

For the spa pass, when you get there go straight to the front counter and tell them you need a spa wristband. I think there was supposed to be a card in our rooms that we exchanged for the wristband but we never got one. If you don't have a card already then be sure to tell them you don't have a card and need one of those too. Also, you can't go in to the spa without a bathing suit. Not even just to look around.

 

So the official system is, you bring your card to the front desk, exchange it for a spa wristband (it's like one of those snap/slap bracelets) and then you can enter the spa. When you're done, you're supposed to turn in your wristband and get your card back, and repeat that process every time you want to go to the spa. The first time I went with my mom, we were chatting on our way out and totally forgot to turn in the wristband...so we kept it and wore it in the next day without having to talk to anyone. We decided just to keep the band for the rest of the week and that worked wonderfully. Never had to talk to a person in there again.

 

I can't tell you how many times we had to explain to people how to use the lockers, so here's what you need to know for those. Once you go through the back doors leading to the spa, there will be a changing room on your left and the spa entrance on your right. Drop your stuff in the changing room, if a locker is unlocked/it opens then it's free to use. To lock it, swipe your cruise card over the little reader knob on the front and that will lock it and only open again for you. Tada!

 

Now for the spa itself. On the wristband it walks you through the steps of what you're 'supposed to do' for the optimal experience. There are plaques outside every experience room with symbols that match the wristband. There's a bright wet steam room and dark wet steam room, sauna, cool and warm mist showers (cool sprays a menthol something on you, warm sprays a flowery something on you, just fyi), a snow room, a himalayan rock nap room, and a big indoor jacuzzi pool. Oh and geyser showers! lol I loved and hated those. There are 4 pods on the floor and when you hit the start button and step on the pod, it showers you from the floor with cold water. That will stay on for a few seconds then stop and you move to the next pod and you get a shower of warm water. We skipped the cold ones and only stood on the warms :-P They're big on switching from hot to cold, I guess for improving circulation? Anyway, our very favorite one was the dark steam room. I struggled at first getting used to breathing in steamy air, but it wasn't too bad after a minute. There are little shower wands on the wall that you use to cool off when you get too warm so you can stay in longer.

 

Oh! And there's an outdoor deck jacuzzi that's only for spa goers. There are doors leading outside once you're in the actual Thermal Spa area, that's how you get to the jacuzzi out there.

 

I think that's it, hope you guys have fun!

 

Wow. thanks for all the details.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the excellent report/review!

[ssmea03]

Thank you, @waterlove1234! What a great review and so positive. I love how you took the negatives you’d read about and addressed them one by one. If you don’t mind, I’d like to probe a bit about the language barrier. Can you explain that further? For example, did you get the impression that these people couldn’t speak anything other than their native language, or was it just that they didn’t know English? I ask you that because my wife and I have cruised twice on Costa Cruises, and while some of them don’t have great English, they do speak other foreign languages. This is important to me, because I am fluent in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Norwegian. Usually if they have been taught at least one of the major European languages, I can get by. My cruises have often featured a lot of people from the Indian subcontinent, so I can’t say that my Hindi, Urdu, or Bangladeshi is very good, haha. Of course, I don’t know the provenance of your steward and the other staff members you interacted with. Also thanks for the tips about the bars, that’s a really good practical tip! I’m usually too worn out after dinner to go to the shows, but I will keep what you said about them in mind. Thank you so much again for your great review!

 

 

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We had an interesting chat with the theatre technical director on Divina regarding language and English. He was from Brazil so his first language was Portuguese, his English was excellent. He told us that because the staff were from all over the world the official language on board was English. Of course proficiency will depend on education, and don't underestimate the effect of an accent on an ESL speaker, and try not to be too flowery with your vocabulary, don't be calling bread rolls baps etc

[ty55]

hahaha I did read that thread.

 

Nope! No real butter was offered that I saw, only the packets of margarine which were not very good. That complaint was legit even if it was a lot ridiculous. Funny though, I was in the Seashore dining room and we never got the Lurpak butter in our butter bowl. I feel like I missed out :') (kidding)

 

They did have HUGE bowls of butter that they dug into for Teppanyaki so maybe book there early your cruise and steal the bowl on your way out ;p

Lurpak is a Danish butter. If anyone is concerned just goggle it.

[smc0320]

Ok, let me give you the spa run-down so you can skip the confusion of asking them how it works ;)

 

 

 

First, if you booked anything like a massage or manicures then you should go schedule those immediately after getting on. I went the second day to schedule and it was mostly booked up.

 

 

 

For the spa pass, when you get there go straight to the front counter and tell them you need a spa wristband. I think there was supposed to be a card in our rooms that we exchanged for the wristband but we never got one. If you don't have a card already then be sure to tell them you don't have a card and need one of those too. Also, you can't go in to the spa without a bathing suit. Not even just to look around.

 

 

 

So the official system is, you bring your card to the front desk, exchange it for a spa wristband (it's like one of those snap/slap bracelets) and then you can enter the spa. When you're done, you're supposed to turn in your wristband and get your card back, and repeat that process every time you want to go to the spa. The first time I went with my mom, we were chatting on our way out and totally forgot to turn in the wristband...so we kept it and wore it in the next day without having to talk to anyone. We decided just to keep the band for the rest of the week and that worked wonderfully. Never had to talk to a person in there again.

 

 

 

I can't tell you how many times we had to explain to people how to use the lockers, so here's what you need to know for those. Once you go through the back doors leading to the spa, there will be a changing room on your left and the spa entrance on your right. Drop your stuff in the changing room, if a locker is unlocked/it opens then it's free to use. To lock it, swipe your cruise card over the little reader knob on the front and that will lock it and only open again for you. Tada!

 

 

 

Now for the spa itself. On the wristband it walks you through the steps of what you're 'supposed to do' for the optimal experience. There are plaques outside every experience room with symbols that match the wristband. There's a bright wet steam room and dark wet steam room, sauna, cool and warm mist showers (cool sprays a menthol something on you, warm sprays a flowery something on you, just fyi), a snow room, a himalayan rock nap room, and a big indoor jacuzzi pool. Oh and geyser showers! lol I loved and hated those. There are 4 pods on the floor and when you hit the start button and step on the pod, it showers you from the floor with cold water. That will stay on for a few seconds then stop and you move to the next pod and you get a shower of warm water. We skipped the cold ones and only stood on the warms :-P They're big on switching from hot to cold, I guess for improving circulation? Anyway, our very favorite one was the dark steam room. I struggled at first getting used to breathing in steamy air, but it wasn't too bad after a minute. There are little shower wands on the wall that you use to cool off when you get too warm so you can stay in longer.

 

 

 

Oh! And there's an outdoor deck jacuzzi that's only for spa goers. There are doors leading outside once you're in the actual Thermal Spa area, that's how you get to the jacuzzi out there.

 

 

 

I think that's it, hope you guys have fun!

 

 

 

What was the cost of the spa pass for the week?

 

 

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