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Last night on Seaside

ufyellowfin

By ufyellowfin,
in MSC Cruises

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ufyellowfin

ufyellowfin

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Sorry don’t know if I have too many pictures for this, I’ll check when I get back home. Wanted to do this while everything was fresh in my mind. 

 

Myself , my wife , and our two kids booked this cruise over 18 months ago. Our normal TA did not know much about MSC and said throughout they were difficult to work with. We booked an Aurea package “Grand Suite room 13003.”  Impressions of the room are as follows:

 

GOOD:

-great size for a family of 4

-has a good vanity in bedroom

-sink area in bathroom is spacious with lots of storage

-ample closet space

 

BAD:

-Balcony sucks!!!! It’s one of the most obstructed unusable balconies I’ve ever had.

-No where near the size that they have listed on deck map or size chart

-We couldn’t use our balcony for  4 of the days when the ship was moving because it created a vacuum in hallway.

-Air conditioning was really lacking

-Mattress in bedroom felt like I was sleeping on a thick piece of plywood. And pillows were awful.

-Also it is a long long longgggg walk from closest elevator to this room as it’s at the very front of the ship. And this bank of elevators always has one designated for priority (yacht club).

 

cabin grade C-/D

 

We did not eat at any of the dining experiences that required to pay extra on this trip. We did hear good things about the Asian restaurant. We ate at the dining room for dinner every night except for the last night. The food was just - “ehhh”. Nothing was great but no one got sick. Their Italian night was really subpar for an “Italian” cruise line. The grouper on the first night was probably the best thing I had all week. I had some things I wouldn’t get again but I would advise anyone that Seasides take on Baked Alaska is gross. Banana ice cream did not compliment it at all. 

Our server, I could never remember his name , he is from Indonesia and his name started with an A, was really good, especially with our kids. The anytime dining deal with aurea was a nice perk.

 

We ate the buffet for breakfast every morning and once for dinner but did go back for snacks.  Most of the pastas on the buffet were bland, except the Mac and cheese twice was really good. Burgers were not bad , pizzas were great and overall I thought dinner was not too bad. 

 

Breakfast was really good. Omelette stations didn’t take too long, bacon was ok, eggs Benedict were hit and miss. I don’t ecommemd going straight to the back of the buffet on deck 8 in the morning. We found it less crowded at the buffet and plenty of seating on back deck.

 

Food Grade: C

 

Kids Club: 

 

I had one in 3-6 years old and one in 7-11. Both of them LOVED it. Definitely salvaged what imo was a subpar cruise. They ate with the club 2 nights and did some performances in the atrium. The ladies that work in that area are ANGELS!!!!!

 

Grade: A 

 

Misc. opinions:

 

- I thought for an 18 month old boat she showed a good bit of wear. Hallways were dirty , carpets disgusting, glass and mirrored finishes were filled with smudges from day one. Our couch had rips in fabric and our curtain for the window facing forward in our bedroom was torn apart when we entered room.

 

-I found it weird how often I saw crew members eating in the buffet or riding elevators.  It wasn’t a huge deal but other cruises I’ve never waited behind crew in an already crowded buffet line. It was just different.

 

-Not sure if it’s bcause it’s Miami or because it’s MSC, but the passenger clientele was way to broad for myself to enjoy. And I know I’m not the only one. My neighbor in the next cabin (an Italian living in Canada) took the words out of my mouth before I could even say anything. We talked a bit this afternoon and both said : People are just flat out the rudest we’ve ever experienced on board any ship. I’ve only ever sailed out of Port Canaveral and Tampa and neither of those ports are as diverse as Miami  with so many different nationalities so maybe it’s not just MSC. It wasn’t that the ship was overly crowded it’s just we had an abundance of nasty people on board. 

 

Guest services and housekeeping were bad. Our guy was trying his best but our room was rarely “clean.”  My son had one accident on Tuesday night, ( he stayed at kids club to long and we forgot to remind him to go potty before bed) and we finally got bedding for his bed this evening!!! We called guest services called room services went to guest services talked to our cabin steward and no one did anything about it.  We also had some friends that had a hellacious time with booking the cruise (ask me for details as it’s too long to write in here) and their drink package got messed up. Well guest services left me a note to call them and when I did they told me I was getting a new package for my drinks because all the trouble I had. I tried to tell the lady it was not for me and she was extremely rude. “Sir I’m looking at the paper and it clearly says your room number and Mr #####.” Well I’m not Mr ##### , that’s who YOU need to call in room 13002.

 

I really liked the amount of pools and slides versus say a Carnival. There were plenty of chairs always and my kids had no issue using the slides or pools near the forest or jungle. 

 

The ship layout is nice as it gives a ton of space to eat outside if you’re doing the buffet which can be tough on other ships. Having said that some of the themed bars are hard to get too or are often forgot about.

 

Overall grade : C-  I won’t book another one on MSC

 

.... I’ll add more tomorrow but I’m headed to bed then getting off this ship in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by ufyellowfin
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Fredric22

Fredric22

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Posted

Was on the Seaside in December and the food was excellent.  To anyone worrying about it,  please go in with an open mind and enjoy the amazing homemade pastas, risottos, pizzas, gelatto, desserts, chocolates, and more!  

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ufyellowfin

ufyellowfin

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1 hour ago, EngIceDave said:

Vacuum in hallway is normal on any ship when you open cabin and balcony door at same time

Elevator location wasn't a secret

I know about the vacuum but we never opened our door and balcony at the same time and we kept balcony closed when we tried to use it.  Obviously we couldn’t lock it while outside but it was shut. Come to find out if the lock wasn’t engaged it caused a howling noise outside our cabin door. Thus we were told to keep our balcony door shut and locked, while other people were able to use theirs. 

 

We also booked this cruise before the ship was christened, so there weren’t any reviews to check out.

 

 

Edited by ufyellowfin
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scpirate

scpirate

Posted
Posted

I went on seaside a year ago.the passengers are ruder than normal.im hoping it won't be so next summer when I go.ive not had problems with customer service.my ta on the other hand left me items to fix directly with msc.which I have had no problems with.ive called them 3 different times and booked directly this last time.i picked my cabin.i like aft cabins down low.msc isn't for everyone.there are other cruise ships needing to be filled.you tried it now you know.

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EngIceDave "Live from...." Rare

EngIceDave

Posted
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I ran into the same similar rude guests on Armonia last week, and we talked to a couple next to us at dinner and they felt the same way, and we all agreed it is likely a combination of different cultures and age, as it seemed a lot were senior citizens from Europe and China 

 

Not the cruise line's fault, any cruise line. because passengers seem rude

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lcpagejr

lcpagejr

Posted
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The inconsistencies were of a concern to us as well...Fortunately we booked a Yacht Club room which allowed us to have an enjoyable cruise with consistent impecable service. I did notice some rude behavior and attributed it to the many types of cultures on board. We pretty much exclusively stayed in Yacht Club area...Other than on our 1st day....I don't think my wife left that area more than once when I literally forced her to walk the rest of ship with me half way thru cruise.  Not sure if I would cruise MSC again if I couldn't book a Yacht Club cabin

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CruisingFox27

CruisingFox27

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

I ran into the same similar rude guests on Armonia last week, and we talked to a couple next to us at dinner and they felt the same way, and we all agreed it is likely a combination of different cultures and age, as it seemed a lot were senior citizens from Europe and China 

 

Not the cruise line's fault, any cruise line. because passengers seem rude

 

We had a similar issue on 2 Miami sailings, although not senior citizens or European. However, lots of loud, rude, disrespectful people and no concept of queuing. We didn't hold MSC responsible, although their hard marketing to the US market was technically to blame!

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dexddd

dexddd

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

We had a similar issue on 2 Miami sailings, although not senior citizens or European. However, lots of loud, rude, disrespectful people and no concept of queuing. We didn't hold MSC responsible, although their hard marketing to the US market was technically to blame!

Queuing was the issue we saw as well plus people hoping over seats in show.

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ufyellowfin

ufyellowfin

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I did a few times. Most of them played stupid like they didn’t speak English. The worst was a lady and her mom from Wisconsin. We were waiting for our kids to do their little show in the atrium and had been standing in the same spot right next to tile walkway for 5 minutes. These two *^%#\ came and stood right in front of us. We asked if they were staying to watch the show or just trying to decide where to go. The younger one said they were watching the kids show and we asked them if they could slide to the right and not stand right in front of us. you would have thought I asked her to wipe dog poop off my shoes. They got nasty with us and kept making snide comments to anyone that walked up about how not to get in front of us as we “own” that space. 

 

It it was just a bad time, that lady wasn’t MSC’s fault but it just added to our underwhelming cruise.

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ufyellowfin

ufyellowfin

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Sorry I should have said I recommend going to the aft of the ship on deck 8 for the buffet in the morning. Less crowded and less hectic.

 

I will say disembarking was probably the best I’ve experienced. Black tags allowed us to go to the metropolitan theatre at 8 am and we were called by 8:05 out of terminal and in the car by 8:20

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Arzeena

Arzeena

Posted
Posted
On 3/31/2019 at 10:09 PM, ufyellowfin said:

I did a few times. Most of them played stupid like they didn’t speak English. The worst was a lady and her mom from Wisconsin. We were waiting for our kids to do their little show in the atrium and had been standing in the same spot right next to tile walkway for 5 minutes. These two *^%#\ came and stood right in front of us. We asked if they were staying to watch the show or just trying to decide where to go. The younger one said they were watching the kids show and we asked them if they could slide to the right and not stand right in front of us. you would have thought I asked her to wipe dog poop off my shoes. They got nasty with us and kept making snide comments to anyone that walked up about how not to get in front of us as we “own” that space. 

 

It it was just a bad time, that lady wasn’t MSC’s fault but it just added to our underwhelming cruise.

Whaaaat??!! The ladies were not from China or Europe!🙄 People in the US do this too?

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ptuder

ptuder

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2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Whaaaat??!! The ladies were not from China or Europe!🙄 People in the US do this too?

Yes it is true, these folks are everywhere. I travel often for work and frequently as we are ready to board a flight more than one person manages to slide in front of you as if you are invisible. I just laugh and shake my head. Now I probably would feel differently if I was there to watch my kids. I try hard to not let these things bother me but we are all human. 

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JAGR

JAGR

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14 hours ago, Reds4life said:

People from Wisconsin are salty because their college sports are perennially overrated and always choke. 

How are your vaunted Reds doing this year?😉

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max996

max996

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Sorry you didn't have a good time. My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed our cruises aboard MSC Seaside and Divina. We're embarking aboard on June 29 for our next voyage. Our last one was aboard Divina in the Yacht Club. We're in the YC this time as well, and are really looking forward to it again.

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