Warning to those booked in 13001 on the Seaside!

[crankycruiser69]

I sailed last week with a family of 5 and thanks to this post we avoided a fiasco and were able to make sure 13001 was set up for 5 ahead of time. I just wish MSC could have given us the heads up vs us having to find out on this site and pushing them to fix it. We too received a second room on another floor which we barely used for the second shower. We spent a fair amount of time with guest services and received a significant amount of on-board credits for our troubles. That said the room is nice, large, and in a quiet area of the ship...fits family of 5 comfortably. Probably one of the best rooms on the ship. I attempted to sleep in the second room one night which was on the side of the ship and I realized how much noise the wind makes on the side of the ship. 13001 being forward and protected by rooms on left and right had absolutely no wind noise. No one will appreciate this until they sleep in a side room on a windy night. We were able to place the extra bed in the room with the large bed. Walk in closet was sizable as was the balcony. Single shower but it included a bath tub which is helpful if you have young kids.

 

 

Some of you may remember the thread I started on problems booking an Aurea Grand Suite for a party of 5 that I posted over a year and a half ago (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2364683). After repeatedly being told that 13001 was the largest of the Grand Suites, we booked it for 5. We knew ahead of time that it was NOT the biggest and would be a one bedroom based on what we read on cruisecritic and confirming with MSC and our travel agent.

 

We just returned from our Seaside cruise and were met with a surprise when we checked in last Saturday morning. Apparently, 13001 does NOT sleep 5, but only 4 people! There is a bed in the bedroom (can be split into two beds). There is a single bed in the sofa and a pull down single bed from the ceiling.

 

MSC's solution to the problem (without notifying us) was to move two of my young children to a Fantastica balcony far away from us on deck 13 (cabin 13203). (Odd, since I didn't think children could be booked in a room alone!) When we did not accept their solution, they offered to move a bed into 13001. Once aboard the ship and after a long day of back and forth between Guest Services and the room hostess assigned to our cabin, a mattress arrived at 11:45pm and was placed on the floor. After more back and forth, a proper bed arrived the next evening.

 

My warning to others, if you have 5 people booked in 13001, I suggest you make arrangements with MSC before you sail.

[houseofduck]

I sailed last week with a family of 5 and thanks to this post we avoided a fiasco and were able to make sure 13001 was set up for 5 ahead of time. I just wish MSC could have given us the heads up vs us having to find out on this site and pushing them to fix it. We too received a second room on another floor which we barely used for the second shower. We spent a fair amount of time with guest services and received a significant amount of on-board credits for our troubles. That said the room is nice, large, and in a quiet area of the ship...fits family of 5 comfortably. Probably one of the best rooms on the ship. I attempted to sleep in the second room one night which was on the side of the ship and I realized how much noise the wind makes on the side of the ship. 13001 being forward and protected by rooms on left and right had absolutely no wind noise. No one will appreciate this until they sleep in a side room on a windy night. We were able to place the extra bed in the room with the large bed. Walk in closet was sizable as was the balcony. Single shower but it included a bath tub which is helpful if you have young kids.

 

Glad you were able to get it sorted out ahead of time!

[eanselm]

We just returned from the Seaside and had cabins 11001, 11002 and 11003. MSC initially had 11002 and 11003 as 2 bedrooms/2 baths that sleep 5 but changed them to 1 bedroom/1 bath that sleeps 4. We talked to our room host, Ani who was the best we have ever had on a cruise. She said many people were upset that there were not 2 bedrooms and I am sure her tips suffered. She really worked hard to make things work for people but none of the issues were her doing and she understood why they were upset. To make it worse, if you have 4 adults, the sleeping arrangement for the 3rd and 4th person is bunks in the living room and when converted, you lose the sofa (but do have a coffee table with chairs. This was not a problem for us because there were only 2 adults in these rooms and 1 or 2 kids. The living room and bedroom in these 1 bedroom cabins are huge as is the bathroom and the closet. Unless I had 2 couples I would prefer these rooms over 11001 but the balcony in 11001 is pretty amazing.

 

11001 definitely sleeps 5. There are 2 bedrooms each having single beds that converts to a double, it was great for our 4 adults and a baby but would also be great for 2 adults and 3 kids. The balcony in this cabin was terrific and looked out the front of the ship. One morning we sailed into a double rainbow. Access to the balcony is though an air lock which does take away from the floor space.

 

There was a very large closet and a second smaller closet in the interior bedroom. The interior bedroom also had a bunk that comes out of the ceiling. When the beds are made into a double bed in the interior room, it also held a pack-n-play next to the bed but with very little room to spare next to the beds. The high end pack-n-play came with a thick covered mattress and bedding. The baby slept really well on it.

 

The front bedroom was roomy but had minimal drawer storage and no closet. There were 2 end tables with 2 drawers in each. It also has a dressing table and some extra out of the way counter space which we found useful. This bedroom has a large floor to ceiling window looking out front.

 

Having 2 bathrooms with 4 adults was great. Neither was huge but they had sufficient storage. One had a tub/shower which was great for bathing the baby, and the other just a small shower. The heavy hooks inside the bathroom were great for holding a multi-pocket toiletry bag.

 

The living room layout is a bit odd in this suite in that it is pretty narrow with a large oval table and 4 chairs that takes up too much space at one end and a sofa with wall mounted TV next to it. The room would be better with a smaller table and swivel on the TV. We did some rearranging and made it work.

 

The entry hallway was an extension of the living room so we had lots of floor space for the baby to crawl around but none of it is very wide

 

 

For anyone who will have a baby in a pack-n-play - the ones provided are excellent. They fit easily in the 1 bedroom. In the 2 bedroom it could go in the living area or next to the beds made into a double. There will be little extra room if you do that but it worked for us.

Edited February 27, 2018 by eanselm

[houseofduck]

I just did a mock booking and the MSC site was going to let me put 5 people in 10002. From the deck plan, it looks like there is only bedding for 4. I wonder which is correct.

[Team ktm]

Hi;)

how was cabin 10002 we are 5 booket in this cabin juli.

do you have pichers😃

 

[Team ktm]

On 2/27/2018 at 7:15 AM, houseofduck said:

I just did a mock booking and the MSC site was going to let me put 5 people in 10002. From the deck plan, it looks like there is only bedding for 4. I wonder which is correct.

 

On 2/27/2018 at 7:15 AM, houseofduck said:

I just did a mock booking and the MSC site was going to let me put 5 people in 10002. From the deck plan, it looks like there is only bedding for 4. I wonder which is correct.

Hi;)

how was cabin 10002 we are 5 booket in this cabin juli.

do you have pichers😃

 

[houseofduck]

9 minutes ago, Team ktm said:

 

Hi;)

how was cabin 10002 we are 5 booket in this cabin juli.

do you have pichers😃

 

 

I did book 10002 for 5, but got bumped to an Aurea whirlpool suite.  If you look at the deck plans, it now says 10002 sleeps 3.  I don't know if this is true or not, but I would make sure they have the correct number of beds for your party before you sail.

 

I have seen pictures of 10002, but can't remember where.  It looked like it had 5 beds, but I'm not sure.

[stoneman56]

We were in 11002 which is a grand suite on the starboard side. This might sleep 5  if there is a bed in the ceiling, which we didnt look for. There is a really lovely double bed in the bedroom, then in the lounge area there is a settee that pulls out into a double bed. 

The Grand Suites get smaller as you go up the ship, so maybe in the higher decks there isn't enough room for a couch to pull out and you have to make it up as is for a single bed. 

 

If you have pictures and screenshots of the so called 2 bed grand suite that you thought you booked I would call customer service and tell them that you will cancel if they don't compensate you someway for their misrepresentation.   

 

That's what I did and got $500 OBC and upgrade to the top drinks package. On board I chanced my arm again and got a further $200

 

CS on the ship are well aware of this, the woman I spoke to said that the standard compensation on board for complaining about it is $200, no more. 

 

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 2/11/2018 at 10:08 PM, korpo024 said:

Strange...you complain, but still give them extra money....Europeans will never do that

 

So punishing one group of people for something that OTHER people did is the European way?  I wonder how many Europeans would agree.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 2/12/2018 at 12:08 AM, korpo024 said:

Strange...you complain, but still give them extra money....Europeans will never do that

 

The misrepresentation of the 5 beds bears no relation to the service.  Your comments would lead us to believe that you are feeling guilt over your own actions...very strange indeed.