MSC Seaside Cruise September 2019

[LaurentD]

I’m back from MSC Seaside cruise from 09/21/2019 to 10/05/2019. It was so amazing! 
I won’t make a full review of these two weeks because you can already read a lot here. If you have questions I will answer them with pleasure. Here are my photos of the cruise: https://flickr.com/photos/147953827@N04/albums/

enjoy!

[Preziosa]

You have made a fantastic foto album, Thank you for shering. I have done half of the trip and make the rest april 2020.

[LaurentD]

Thanks! I hope you will enjoy as much as I did. Can’t wait to go back cruising soon. 

[kba1988]

beautiful - looks like you had a terrific time.  Thanks for sharing pictures👍

[LaurentD]

Thanks! It was really my best vacations so far. I enjoyed every minutes. 

[cmdchiefthom]

Awesome photos of an awesome ship!  Thanks for sharing😉

[reedprincess]

4 hours ago, LaurentD said:

I’m back from MSC Seaside cruise from 09/21/2019 to 10/05/2019. It was so amazing! 
I won’t make a full review of these two weeks because you can already read a lot here. If you have questions I will answer them with pleasure. Here are my photos of the cruise: https://flickr.com/photos/147953827@N04/albums/

enjoy!

So glad tou has such a fabulous time!!

Your photos are amazing, thanks for sharing them with us.

Do you mind if I share them with others?  Wanted your permission first. 

[George C]

Great pictures, we sail on her in 6 weeks , we also stayed in Hilton last year was not impressed with Hilton at all even though we had a huge suite, have double tree booked for this trip. 

[LaurentD]

Thanks!

The Hilton was good enough for one night prior embarkation. Was cool to see the Seaside arriving at night from my room. Enjoy your cruise!

[LaurentD]

11 hours ago, reedprincess said:

So glad tou has such a fabulous time!!

Your photos are amazing, thanks for sharing them with us.

Do you mind if I share them with others?  Wanted your permission first. 

Thanks!

Feel free to share the link to my album.

Have a good day

[George C]

3 hours ago, LaurentD said:

Thanks!

The Hilton was good enough for one night prior embarkation. Was cool to see the Seaside arriving at night from my room. Enjoy your cruise!

Double tree has slightly better view and has balconies which Hilton does not have, but I agree for one night it was fine. 

[LaurentD]

9 minutes ago, George C said:

Double tree has slightly better view and has balconies which Hilton does not have, but I agree for one night it was fine. 

Hilton is the MSC hotel when all is included (cruise+flight+hotel). But thanks for the tip. 🙂

[reedprincess]

54 minutes ago, LaurentD said:

Hilton is the MSC hotel when all is included (cruise+flight+hotel). But thanks for the tip. 🙂

We've stayed at both, ans eirher are great - they're basically across the street from each other (the DoubleTree entrance faces towards the back of the Hilton). We like either, but give the edge to DoubleTree for the condo rooms, actual balconies, and for the lobby that has virtually everything. Lol. 

We like both for the quiet location, seeing the ships, and proximity to the performing arts center and MetroMover. 

 

Thanks for letting me share - I know a few folks who will love to see these photos. They're beautiful!

 

[LaurentD]

Thank you! 

[dznymom]

Your pictures are phenomenal!  I just got off a fabulous cruise on the Seaside last Saturday, and you made me homesick with your beautiful photography.  Thank you for sharing!

[LaurentD]

Thank you! ☺️

[Georgia_Peaches]

Actually, being new to MSC I am scouring this board for recent Seaside reviews as we are booked on her in Feb. 2020.  Would love to read some of your commentary but thank you for the fab pics!

OK...here's a few questions for you:

1. How would you rate the food/service in the evening?
2. Did you encounter problems with bar service?  Specifically with the bar tenders/wait staff not understanding your order?
3. Did you find there to be a language barrier between you and the crew?

These are a few of the issues that were hi-lighted in a recent review that I was following.  Thank you so much!!

[LaurentD]

Hi!

1. Food is really good enough. Every evening the choice between pasta, meat, fish and vegetarian. And some other dishes you can choose (ceasar salad, soup,...). And the buffet is still available if you don’t like the menu (you can read it before going to restaurant via tv in cabin or app).

service was great. Sometimes a bit long but depends which service tou choose. 5pm is quicker but a bit too early for diner. 7pm was longer. 
2. never had problems at bar. Sometimes you have to repeat but just because it’s a bit noisy around. They are all very nice and even there is a mistake, they will change it without problem. 
All the crew were so nice and smiling. 
3. I’m not the best english speaker. But everyone understood me and I understood everyone too. I was afraid about it but after one hour I was in the mood. A lit of passengers were italians and didn’t speak english at all. 
 

no stress, they are used to all this everyday. Feel free to ask if you want more details/questions

 

Have a good day!

Laurent

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Thanks for sharing your photos. The pool areas, while busy, do not seem to be too crowded for a Caribbean cruise.

 

I hope your sunburned feet healed quickly!

[DebG53]

I see you did a back to back.  We are doing that next September.  We've been told everyone has to disembark after the first week and check in again for the second leg.  Is this true?  We booked as two separate weeks because we weren't sure about doing the two week at first,  plus we heard the oceanview upgrade to balcony is not available when booked as a 14 day cruise. We have friends coming from Australia that booked as a 2 week.  Again,  we were told that EVERYONE had to disembark no matter how they booked. TIA for answering. 

 

Ps.... we're in the same cabin for both weeks. 🙂

Edited October 18, 2019 by DebG53

[LaurentD]

Hi! 
No you don’t have to disembark totally. You leave the baggages in your cabin. If you plan to stay on board tou just have to go out for the customs and come back right after. You can go out with an MSC excursion or by yourself. You will have a back to back paper and when you are back to the terminal you don’t have to do the check in and go directly through the security check, as an ordinary port of call. Maybe just say at first day check in that you have a two weeks cruise. It’s really easy. I will try to see if I still got the back to back options in my papers and put it here. No worries about this, they are very well organised!

Laurent

[DebG53]

Thank you,  LaurentD. I appreciate the info! 

[LaurentD]

8 hours ago, DebG53 said:

Thank you,  LaurentD. I appreciate the info! 

I kept the Transit options paper. But in french. I will give you the most important parts.

When you are in transit you have 3 options:

1. Staying aboard: You still have to go through US immigration (just for face recognition) and it's between 10:30 and 10:45. Nothing else to do, you don't even get out the terminal and you come back on the ship to enjoy it almost empty 😉 It's not really a disembarkation, you just walk out for the immigration security check.

2. MSC Tour: you will have a lounge meeting (place and hour printed on your tickets). You just have to follow the crew member through US immigration and then to the tour operator. It's like any Tour with MSC. You will have a "back to back" ticket to show to the terminal crew (and your cruise card) to embark directly.

3. You go visiting Miami on your own: You can leave the ship from 7 to 10am through a specific gate and you can come back anytime AFTER 12pm (after US customs clearance). You must have your "back to back" ticket too.

 

And whatever you choose, you always must have an ID with picture, your cruise card to disembark/re-embark at ports of call.

 

I did a MSC Tour with bus Hop on Hop off to visit South Beach. Was really nice. Just don't forget the "All on board" time 😉

[DebG53]

LaurentD this is so very helpful! THANK YOU very much! 

[LaurentD]

You’re very welcome. I was so stressed before leaving, 1000 questions in head... but as soon you will embark, they manage everything for you. You will just have to enjoy your cruise, book the shows (the first day of each week, you will have same shows each week). The menu is also the same each week (different one everyday of course).

You should try the Seashore restaurant at lunch. It’s open only during sea days. Go as soon as it opens so you can ask for a table with oceanview 🙂 . I enjoyed their Ceviche!

Also have a look at your cruise account (via tv in cabin or the app) they charged me for the welcome photos that I sent back. A word at reception desk and they refund it the same day, but any accident can happen.

Laurent