shipgeeks Posted February 15, 2020 #1 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I am posting my review here to allow for comments and questions. I'll try to keep my paragraphs short! We are a senior couple from US; we had done 43 cruises prior to this one, on X, RC, HAL, Cunard, Premier, and one each, years ago, on NCL, Carnival, Princess, Fred.Olsen, and MSC. MSC is our new favorite cruiseline. We chose Bella experience because we wanted set dining, and we don't use room service. It was a good fit. We had applied for Status Match over a year ago, and received Diamond level on MSC. We booked two 7-night cruises/B2B, and were very glad we did. The CC Meet & Mingle events were excellent. We spoke with a number of officers, and the French, English, and German hosts. All were very warm and welcoming, and open to hearing our impressions of the ship and the cruise. We had cabin 9025, a balcony. Very comfortable, roomier than RC cabins, with excellent service from Adrian, our cabin steward. Yes, we did have wash cloths, tissues, toilet paper, and all the other amenities. Overall, we thought the food was good to excellent. We always say we will go to MDR for at least one breakfast and one lunch, but after a few days in the buffet, we knew we were hooked. Muesli with fresh fruit, congee, bacon, Sticky Buns! It was nice to eat outdoors when the weather was good. The buffet is set up in separate sections, with dishes and cutlery between, so there was never a long line at any point. Late night pizza! MDR dinners were fine. We were able to keep our excellent servers, Savnell and Merian, for our second week. They knew our preferences after the first night, and always provided. We attended all eight shows (7 evenings, plus one matinee) the first week, and most of them the second week. For the most part, very entertaining, and a refreshing change from the usual Rock and Broadway-themed shows on so many other ships. I would have liked to know more about the cast! The ship: Beautiful! Nice flow from one public venue to another, lots of big windows with views of the sea and sky. Deck 8 outdoor walkway is fabulous! The only downside is that it is not open all the way around, as spa uses part of it. The ship design makes it very stable. We missed two ports due to high winds, but never felt more than an occasional shudder; no rocking and rolling whatsoever. Fellow passengers: Of 4500 or so passengers, fewer than 700 were Americans. With Canadians and UK, English-speaking are still a minority. We really enjoyed that. It felt like a real travel experience, not just another hometown. We didn't experience any of the rudeness that some have commented on; in fact, quite the opposite. It was humbling to be able to talk with Europeans and South Americans and hear their very competent English. Ocean Cay: Paradise. We hope they don't ruin it by building a theme park. Music: Good variety, all around the ship. It was nice to not be bombarded with "Margaritavile" and "Sweet Caroline". In short, we enjoyed it so much that we came home and booked two more weeks on MSC for April/May, relinquishing a RC future cruise credit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 15, 2020 Author #2 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Edit: Cabin 9125. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebonybee Posted February 15, 2020 #3 Share Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) Glad you enjoyed MSC and the Seaside. My first trip coming up shortly. Did you use your free thermal day pass or the free tasting dinner. Edited February 15, 2020 by ebonybee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 15, 2020 Author #4 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Yes, we did. Actually, an hour in the thermal spa, although I don't think they set a timer on us. It was pleasant. Butcher's Cut was also pleasant, although as a semi-vegetarian, it wasn't my favorite meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ Stan (FKA Stan in Chicago) Posted February 15, 2020 #5 Share Posted February 15, 2020 8 hours ago, shipgeeks said: I am posting my review here to allow for comments and questions. I'll try to keep my paragraphs short! We are a senior couple from US; we had done 43 cruises prior to this one, on X, RC, HAL, Cunard, Premier, and one each, years ago, on NCL, Carnival, Princess, Fred.Olsen, and MSC. MSC is our new favorite cruiseline. We chose Bella experience because we wanted set dining, and we don't use room service. It was a good fit. We had applied for Status Match over a year ago, and received Diamond level on MSC. We booked two 7-night cruises/B2B, and were very glad we did. The CC Meet & Mingle events were excellent. We spoke with a number of officers, and the French, English, and German hosts. All were very warm and welcoming, and open to hearing our impressions of the ship and the cruise. We had cabin 9025, a balcony. Very comfortable, roomier than RC cabins, with excellent service from Adrian, our cabin steward. Yes, we did have wash cloths, tissues, toilet paper, and all the other amenities. Overall, we thought the food was good to excellent. We always say we will go to MDR for at least one breakfast and one lunch, but after a few days in the buffet, we knew we were hooked. Muesli with fresh fruit, congee, bacon, Sticky Buns! It was nice to eat outdoors when the weather was good. The buffet is set up in separate sections, with dishes and cutlery between, so there was never a long line at any point. Late night pizza! MDR dinners were fine. We were able to keep our excellent servers, Savnell and Merian, for our second week. They knew our preferences after the first night, and always provided. We attended all eight shows (7 evenings, plus one matinee) the first week, and most of them the second week. For the most part, very entertaining, and a refreshing change from the usual Rock and Broadway-themed shows on so many other ships. I would have liked to know more about the cast! The ship: Beautiful! Nice flow from one public venue to another, lots of big windows with views of the sea and sky. Deck 8 outdoor walkway is fabulous! The only downside is that it is not open all the way around, as spa uses part of it. The ship design makes it very stable. We missed two ports due to high winds, but never felt more than an occasional shudder; no rocking and rolling whatsoever. Fellow passengers: Of 4500 or so passengers, fewer than 700 were Americans. With Canadians and UK, English-speaking are still a minority. We really enjoyed that. It felt like a real travel experience, not just another hometown. We didn't experience any of the rudeness that some have commented on; in fact, quite the opposite. It was humbling to be able to talk with Europeans and South Americans and hear their very competent English. Ocean Cay: Paradise. We hope they don't ruin it by building a theme park. Music: Good variety, all around the ship. It was nice to not be bombarded with "Margaritavile" and "Sweet Caroline". In short, we enjoyed it so much that we came home and booked two more weeks on MSC for April/May, relinquishing a RC future cruise credit. Thanks for your very nice review. We (DW Pat and I), with our daughter and son-in-law, April 25 and May 2. Daughter and s-i-l will only do the first week, but DW Pat refused to pack suitcases for anything lesws than 2 weeks. Are these the same dates you'll be sailing? We were on the Seaside in Feb 2018, and found some real shortcomings. I think they were mostly teething-pains, and MSC has learned the American market since then. Hoping to get together onboard. Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portofrome Posted February 15, 2020 #6 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Thanks for your review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 15, 2020 Author #7 Share Posted February 15, 2020 AZ Stan, We will be on Armonia next, April 20 through May 3. I'm sorry we will miss you! I'm pretty sure we will be on Seaside again before too long, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseheads4ever Posted February 16, 2020 #8 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Thanks for the review. We are new to MSC.My DW and I would like to try MSC but find the experiences difficult to fiquire out. We just want a OV or balcony room. Drinks included. We like to have cocktails and not have to worry about the bill. Do not do the SPA or gym. Just looking for a basic cruise. Like entertainment as well in the evening. Do they have a casino?We like Celebrity with the Martini Bar if Seaside has something like that. Other question is It looks like all sailings are out of Miami..UGH! We drive down from Daytona Beach. Does anyone have any ideas on getting to Miami without having to drive in that horrible traffic to port? Such as Sunrail or something like that. any help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 16, 2020 Author #9 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Yes, there is a casino on Seaside, and a number of bars in different parts of the ship, with different atmospheres. There is a show in the theatre each evening, about 40 minutes long. If you have seen the Celebrity shows such as "Life" and "Elysium", the style will be somewhat familiar; less Rock or Broadway, and more story-free entertainment. There are three presentations each night. There are also late-night theme parties, and music and dancing around the ship throughout the evening. I agree about Miami traffic! In our case, we fly to FL, stay in a hotel there overnight, then take a shuttle to POM. Perhaps some Florida people can offer suggestions? Re the different experiences, the important factor to us was dining. Bella and Fantastica have a set dining time; Aurea has anytime dining. Supposedly Fantastica has better dining times and better cabin locations; we had Bella and were quite satisfied with what we had. There is a chart near the top of the MSC page that sets out the differences. Someone else will have to comment on drink packages. I gather it is a bit complicated! Buying drinks as we wanted them worked for us. I hope you can get all your questions answered, and that you will someday have an equally wonderful MSC cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amurray88 Posted February 16, 2020 #10 Share Posted February 16, 2020 11 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said: Thanks for the review. We are new to MSC.My DW and I would like to try MSC but find the experiences difficult to fiquire out. We just want a OV or balcony room. Drinks included. We like to have cocktails and not have to worry about the bill. Do not do the SPA or gym. Just looking for a basic cruise. Like entertainment as well in the evening. Do they have a casino?We like Celebrity with the Martini Bar if Seaside has something like that. Other question is It looks like all sailings are out of Miami..UGH! We drive down from Daytona Beach. Does anyone have any ideas on getting to Miami without having to drive in that horrible traffic to port? Such as Sunrail or something like that. any help would be greatly appreciated. Have you ever tried the Megabus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Até Posted February 16, 2020 #11 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Was there any issue with noise from the Sports bar below? Which dining room/time did you have and was it the time you requested, thoughts on the dining room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 16, 2020 Author #12 Share Posted February 16, 2020 No noise issues from Sports Bar at all, and in retrospect I do know there were several well-attended and lively game evenings! We were in the Seashore Restaurant for our dinners. We were assigned 5:30 seating. We requested a change to 7:30, and that was granted, after some maneuvering by the head waiter. (The other dinnertime there was 9:30.) We enjoyed all our dinners there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseheads4ever Posted February 16, 2020 #13 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Thanks for the input. Will check out mega bus. Sure was to try MSC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseheads4ever Posted February 17, 2020 #14 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Looks like Megabus doesn’t go to Miami. Seems it goes as far south as Orlando. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 19, 2020 Author #15 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Cheeseheads, you might want to post your question about getting to Miami on the Florida Departures board. That's where we got a lot of info before we did the Miami cruise. It was a bit daunting, as we were used to, and comfortable with, flying into FL and sailing from there. But it all worked out, and we were very glad we made the effort, and the leap! We know there are shuttle services from FL; perhaps there are others from further afield. And there should be some people who can advise on trains, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amurray88 Posted February 19, 2020 #16 Share Posted February 19, 2020 On 2/17/2020 at 12:34 PM, cheeseheads4ever said: Looks like Megabus doesn’t go to Miami. Seems it goes as far south as Orlando. It definitely goes from Orlando to Miami, you might just have to change bus - realise it's maybe not the hassle you want though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 19, 2020 Author #17 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Good to know. I have used Megabus elsewhere; nice buses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP82 Posted February 19, 2020 #18 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Nice impartial review it seems! Good read! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riredsox Posted February 19, 2020 #19 Share Posted February 19, 2020 On 2/17/2020 at 7:34 AM, cheeseheads4ever said: Looks like Megabus doesn’t go to Miami. Seems it goes as far south as Orlando. Drive to a park n cruise. They drive you to the port and pick you up. No driving into the port. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseheads4ever Posted February 19, 2020 #20 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Thanks shipgeeks. Thought about this more and maybe just need to put my big boy pants on and drive there park in port and be done with it. Thought there was more of a easier less stressful way to get there. We will check Florida Departures board. Thanks to all for the help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyFla Posted February 20, 2020 #21 Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said: Thanks shipgeeks. Thought about this more and maybe just need to put my big boy pants on and drive there park in port and be done with it. Thought there was more of a easier less stressful way to get there. We will check Florida Departures board. Thanks to all for the help. Brightline has a nice train to port package. We are taking it from West Palm in April, train tickets and parking is within $10 of parking offsite in Miami ($100) for the two of us. You check your bag with them, and they take it to the ship. They give you a Lyft code to use when you get to Miami to get to the port. We have not used it yet, but people rave about it. Another good thing about it is that traffic south of West Palm Beach is extremely unpredictable. There is lots of construction and overnight closures, and accidents. Edited February 20, 2020 by KennyFla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOLDENBONNY Posted February 20, 2020 #22 Share Posted February 20, 2020 On 2/15/2020 at 5:54 AM, shipgeeks said: Ocean Cay: Paradise. We hope they don't ruin it by building a theme park. Me too. I saw Royale Private Island and it would give me nightmares and we do have kids LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 20, 2020 Author #23 Share Posted February 20, 2020 KennyFla, You said you are cruising in April. By any chance, will you be on Armonia, on April 20 and/or April 26 cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyFla Posted February 20, 2020 #24 Share Posted February 20, 2020 46 minutes ago, shipgeeks said: KennyFla, You said you are cruising in April. By any chance, will you be on Armonia, on April 20 and/or April 26 cruise? No, Seaside April 18. We did sign up for the meet and greet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted February 20, 2020 Author #25 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Thanks for the reply, Kenny. Our loss! Cheese, I hope you will persist in finding some good transportations options. IMO, Miami is not a fun place to drive! We made a reservation for a shuttle from our day-before hotel in FL. The driver called us on his way to pick us up, asked if we could be ready a bit earlier, as traffic was especially bad. Yes! He ended up taking an alternate route while we just sat back and relaxed. Same with the return trip after the cruise. I was glad we left the tough stuff to a professional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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