Seashore Review- July 23, 2022

[Aixia]

I got lots of great advice here before my recent Seashore cruise, so I wanted to give a review of our experience in hopes others find it useful.

 

We (my husband and I, both in our 40's, seasoned cruisers) went into this trip knowing that we wanted to avoid people as much as possible. The pandemic isn't over, no matter how much some folks want to believe it is. I get tested as often as three times a week at my job, I've never had Covid, and I'm very careful. When we booked, things were looking pretty good overall. When we hit final payment, things were still ok, but not terrific. When we cruised, things were bad and I was pretty convinced we were completely stupid for doing this. We used KN95 masks anytime we went out in public indoor areas minus the spa. In the spa we avoided people as much as we could by going at off-peak times or enjoying the outdoor hot tub and loungers there. We did not get Covid on our trip.

 

As some of you may have read in my previous thread, I had upgrade issues. Basically, I put in bids on a YC Deluxe Suite and a YC Deluxe Grand Suite. For about a month before sailing, every day they would cancel my bids and tell me to put in a new one, which I did every morning at 9 AM. They put a hold on my Amex for the Deluxe Suite about 10 days out from boarding, but the charge never completed and it dropped off. Things wavered between e-docs saying we had Yacht Club experience but in our regular cabin and having Aurea and our regular cabin but with YC as a Special Service. That’s not something they actually do, so it was weird. Going to the upgrade site said the upgrades were "Under Review" before turning to “Upgrade Unavailable”. On the Tuesday before boarding, a pending charge went on my card for the second bid. Again, it never resolved, and I never got a new cabin number. I called MSC, and they said first that it would come the next day, and when it didn't, to check when we got to the ship. Two customer service reps and two managers had been involved at this point. When we boarded, we asked at check-in about YC, and they said we'd have to ask onboard, but that we were in our original cabin. So we headed to Guest Services onboard and they said our cards clearly showed we had YC as a package, but not as a room. Going to the YC area gave us no access on the card scanners. We officially gave up at that point. The moral of the story is if PlusGrade cancels your bid for no reason, just give up. You're not getting it. You've been glitched in their system and there's no coming back from it. On the bright side, none of the upgrades actually went through as charges on my credit card, so I didn't pay twice for something I didn't get. We ended up spending about half as much onboard as we would have on an upgrade, so it's really MSC's loss here. They could have had much more from us and didn't.

 

We booked a wraparound Aurea balcony on Deck 10, which gave us a guaranteed lounger directly above the adults-only infinity pool deck. All the ambiance of the pool deck with none of the interactions with people. It was divine! There is some lack of privacy on the balcony, but there’s good people watching of the pool below. The higher floors wouldn’t have the sound from the pool deck as clearly as us, and would lose privacy from above instead since the Bridge of Sighs is directly above. The bar and gelato stand were just a quick hop down the aft elevator whenever we wanted. The aft elevators were almost never crowded. The views are stunning, and the room was much larger than a standard balcony. Since we planned to spend a lot of time in the cabin and on the balcony, it was perfect. The shower is the best cruise ship shower I’ve ever used. So much space! The only downside to the cabin is the vibration from the azipods. It’s no joke! We had to take the hangers out of the closets on the last night since after we’d packed all our stuff, they just clattered against each other something awful and we couldn’t sleep. The room is a bit loud, and things move. It wasn’t problematic, but just something to be aware of. If you're considering one of these cabins, don't hesitate, do it!

 

The safety drill was interesting. They have you watch a safety video in your cabin, then call an automated number on the phone to prove that you finished the video. Then, they call you to go to your muster station, where they scan your card to show you went. Then you’re immediately sent out into the rest of the ship to enjoy the cruise. I can definitely see the appeal here for the ship. With all the languages onboard, everyone gets the safety info in their own language, which is much clearer. You still go to your station in person, even if you don’t spend as much time there as the usual pre-pandemic way. You get double confirmation that people have at least heard the info and went in person (room call and card scan). The main downside is as my husband said later- he didn’t remember where our station was and would have been confused in a real emergency since he was there only for a few seconds. Now, ours was in our dining room and I remembered just fine. But still, it’s a valid point. Personally, I liked it and it felt much faster.

 

Aurea sun deck is very nice, with a bar and cabanas with couches along with loungers and chairs. The cabanas are highly coveted of course, so go early to get one. We went up around 8:30 or 9 on Monday (sea day) and got one just fine, and stayed for an hour or so before handing it off to a waiting group in the chairs next to us. Couldn’t get one on the second sea day, so we hung out at the upper level of the jungle pool instead before retreating back to the balcony.

 

Food is good. Standard ship fare, but that’s not a bad thing. Hola Cantina was great for a sea day lunch, a perfect suggestion from the manager at Butcher’s Cut. The MDR (Manhattan for Aurea) is good. Lunch in the MDR (Central Park) is fine; they had some confusion about my gluten-free needs, but we had the same on Divina at lunches. When they’re expecting you and ready, it’s great. If you surprise them with it, they don’t know what to do with you. They had to call in the Head Waiter, but he was great and knew what to do. It’s so refreshing being able to just order off a normal menu with only a couple of “don’t have this”. Also, the rolls they gave me were wonderful! Some Italian brand I'm not familiar with, but I took a picture of the packaging so I can look it up. Pasta is as good as you’d expect on an Italian ship. They had fried calamari at dinner for Italian night, and they made it gluten-free! It was terrific too! I haven't had fried calamari since I had to go GF about a decade ago. Butcher’s Cut was very tasty. The steak itself wasn’t all that different from what we got on formal night, but the sauces were an added bonus. We went to Ocean Cay for our final night dinner. Very tasty! Probably my favorite meal on the ship. Buffet was pretty standard. Labels were hit and miss as others have said, though they were good about labeling stuff that had pork. If you're GF and can't handle cross-contamination, DON'T do the buffet. Stick to the MDR. I can handle a little bit of cross-contamination since I'm not celiac, so I found things I could eat ok in the buffet, but I still had to be careful. They blot the grease from the bacon by laying it on slices of bread, which you don't see on a full pan. On port days, the seagulls went divebombing for leftovers on the outside areas, and they were particularly vicious on St. Thomas and nearly attacked a little girl for her breakfast.

 

The shows are ok. Nothing particularly exceptional, but not bad either. (I'm in the entertainment industry.) The women production dancers and singers are stronger than the men. The opera singers have a tough time with the pop songs. Not really their fault, it's just that the shows aren’t built for their voices. Mystic Forest was bizarre, and not in a good way. There was a steampunk Humpty Dumpty costume that was just over the top strange and didn’t add anything. No story to speak of, which isn’t a problem, but it was just a super bizarre afternoon show. No evening show that day because of the late port stop, so we saw the show at 4. Maybe you needed to be more drunk to appreciate it? Paris was our favorite show and our favorite costumes, but the That’s Amore show was strong too, and showcased the opera singers very well. The boy band and diva shows in the Cabaret Rouge were quite good.

 

We didn’t know that it was Constitution Day in San Juan the day we were there. Ended up wonderful! There were a couple of tall ships in port right next to us, and one left while we were there to great fanfare. There was a concert happening just off the dock, so we found a comfy spot on a forward starboard deck and watched the concert from there. When it started raining we retreated to the cabin, but we could still hear it through the open balcony door, and watch from the forward bridge cam. Awesome! Getting off the ship was nuts, so we didn’t even bother. The concert was literally immediately off the pier, so there was no escaping the crowd once you got off the ship. We got into port about an hour late, and clearance came late, then the lines to get off were crazy long, and a ton of people ended up coming back early anyway since the crowds right off the gangway were so crazy with the concert. We made the absolute right decision staying on board. 

 

Snorkeling in St. Thomas was great as usual. We did a ship excursion this day, our only one. (Power Cat and Beach) Saw a turtle and a barracuda immediately after getting into the water! Did some more snorkeling off the beach on Ocean Cay and saw a ton of stuff there too on the two beaches went to. Chased a little flounder around, and one little fish came right up to me to check me out and lead me to a group of his friends. Super fun! Ocean Cay is lovely. Nicely laid out, lots of places to hang out, easy to access bars, and more shade than I was expecting thanks to all the trees. Might be our favorite private island of the ones we've been to- NCL, RCCL, and MSC. We didn't do much in Puerto Plata, we hung out at the port area pool for a while and walked the beach a bit, but then went back onboard to enjoy the mostly empty ship.

 

The ship itself is easier to navigate than Divina was. Much better layout. I know some people complain bitterly about the elevators, but we never minded them. You enter in the floor before getting on, so it can send you to a faster car. The only issue we had was using the midship ones, when they sent us around the corner to a car in a different bank instead of the bank we were actually standing at. The aft glass elevators were much less busy and were our go to when we didn’t take the stairs. We did take the stairs most of the time.

 

Overall, we had a wonderful time! The ship was great, our ports were fun, it was a terrifically relaxing time, and we emerged unscathed if a touch sunburned. I would absolutely sail on Seashore again, or any of her sisters. What a great cruise!

[Two Wheels Only]

12 minutes ago, Aixia said:

There was a steampunk Humpty Dumpty costume that was just over the top strange and didn’t add anything.

 

Nobody......NOBODY understands what that thing is supposed to be. 😲

[mafig]

Thank you for your review.  I really enjoyed reading it.👍

[J0Y0US]

4 hours ago, Aixia said:

They blot the grease from the bacon by laying it on slices of bread,

 

Can you ask for them to make toast from this bread? haha

[Nunagoras]

Wonderful review, congrats!!!...

 

I must admit their land side operations department needs a complete redo. Those first time impressions sometimes mark a consumer for life. MSC is as you pointed up a nice product, so why don't they just handle their land side issues in a better way!...

 

The shows are visual and repetitive, so nice, but nothing to really write home about, but considering those so many nationalities aboard what else would to be their options at same price tag?

 

Permit me just a question: Were you offered to do the safety drill whenever you wanted or did they mandated you to do so on a specific time on boarding day?

 

Have a nice day!

[Aixia]

16 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

The shows are visual and repetitive, so nice, but nothing to really write home about, but considering those so many nationalities aboard what else would to be their options at same price tag?

 

Permit me just a question: Were you offered to do the safety drill whenever you wanted or did they mandated you to do so on a specific time on boarding day?

 

Excellent point about the shows, and I agree. They have to make something accessible to a wide variety of people from various cultures and languages, and that's a huge undertaking. For what they have to work with, I think they do an admirable job. Focusing on pretty music and acrobatics is smart. I'd probably personally prefer the Broadway-style musicals of NCL and RCCL, but for what it is, I'll take it. 

 

They tell you when to do the drill. The whole ship does it at the same time. Everything shuts down, so it's not like you really have anywhere else to be or anything else to do. They send everyone to their cabin at the same time, you make the call to the automated line at the same time, and then they send you in two groups to your muster stations, half the ship at a time. We were in the first group that went to muster stations, and the second group was called as we were heading back to our cabin.

[barb in ga]

Thanks for your review, it's nice to hear they accommodated your need for gluten free as DH is celiac.

We're currently booked on Divina in October for the repo cruise from Port Canaveral to Miami. We may reschedule, so I'm looking at other ships as well.

 

This will be our first cruise on MSC, so I'm gathering ideas for our cruise.

Barb

[Aixia]

2 hours ago, barb in ga said:

Thanks for your review, it's nice to hear they accommodated your need for gluten free as DH is celiac.

We're currently booked on Divina in October for the repo cruise from Port Canaveral to Miami. We may reschedule, so I'm looking at other ships as well.

 

This will be our first cruise on MSC, so I'm gathering ideas for our cruise.

Barb

I have had good experiences with MSC handling my wheat allergy. They’ve been wonderful about it as long as you’re willing to wait just a bit longer for the head waiter. For Aurea and anytime dining, I didn’t have a dedicated wait staff but they got to know me pretty quickly. When we sailed on Divina with set dining, I had my own allergy-specialist waiter at dinner. On NCL, I have to preorder every meal, and that gets annoying, not to mention tough when I want to dine at a specialty restaurant and have to remember to swing by the dining room and preorder for tomorrow. It’s a time suck. On Royal, I usually can only have one or two things on the menu each night. It’s usually something that’s good, but I don’t have a lot of choice. Luckily I’m not super picky, but if you are, you’re going to be stuck with the always available stuff every night. On MSC, there’s usually only one or two things I CAN’T eat on the entire menu. As you probably know, that’s a huge deal. From my understanding, Italy has one of the highest rates of celiac in the world, so they understand gluten free cooking better than a lot of other cuisines. It’s a big positive for me.

[xcell]

Thansk for the review. I'm going on the seashore in two weeks. The stops in San Juan and st Thomas are quite short but sounds like you still found something to do.

[LiquidWu]

@Aixia I'm currently in MSC fever because my cruise starts the day after tomorrow.
That's why I'm reading a lot here and I especially enjoyed your report. Really well written. Thank you.

[IndyCruisers]

Thanks so much for the review.  We are on Seashore in September and will be those 'mask wearers" like yourselves.  Glad to know we won't be alone.  Can't wait and thanks for all the great ship news. 

[Aixia]

13 hours ago, IndyCruisers said:

Thanks so much for the review.  We are on Seashore in September and will be those 'mask wearers" like yourselves.  Glad to know we won't be alone.  Can't wait and thanks for all the great ship news. 

You definitely won’t be alone. I’d say probably 5-10 percent of folks wore masks at least some of the time, especially in places like the theatre. You’ll be in the minority, but certainly not the only ones by any means. 

[KarimaJ]

Hi. I’m considering MSC after cruising with NCL and Celebrity primarily. How would you rate the buffet compared To the other lines? Also, did you notice if there is Indian food on the buffet like on NCL?

[Aixia]

8 hours ago, KarimaJ said:

Hi. I’m considering MSC after cruising with NCL and Celebrity primarily. How would you rate the buffet compared To the other lines? Also, did you notice if there is Indian food on the buffet like on NCL?

The buffet is about the same really, though the Indian food was surprisingly lacking. I love the various Indian options on other lines and was surprised I didn’t find any this time. Maybe I missed them? I was looking, but I did notice a few times that other folks had things on their plates I never saw when I was going through, so maybe they don’t put duplicates everywhere and I just missed stuff more than I thought I did. This one is laid out sort of like the Breakaway and Breakaway Plus classes on NCL, with stations for similar types of items and duplicates on the opposite side of the buffet. There’s more outdoor seating on those classes of NCL ships, however, we never had trouble finding outdoor seats. Few people were sitting outside though we almost always did.

[MmmmJason]

@Aixia As a guest of the YC on the same cruise, you got the better deal with your Aurea suite than in the YC.  The Aurea guests actually get better room service menus than YC, and sounds like your cabin was a better view and experience.  I had the Grand Deluxe Suite, but saw your cabin balconies on the Bridge of Sighs.  Trust me, yours was better!  the Grand Deluxe was just a slightly enlarged Aurea Balcony suite looking off the side of the ship, all the way forward, up on deck 19, with noise all night from the maintenance crews cleaning the sundeck every night.  I've attached the differences in the room service menus for you to see.  The only downside is the horribly long boarding line on embark day that the YC lets you bypass (I was on board in 10 minutes, not 2+ hours).

[dexddd]

Menu really means nothing in YC.  Typically, ask and thou shall receive.

[Two Wheels Only]

21 hours ago, MmmmJason said:

The Aurea guests actually get better room service menus than YC

 

YC guests can make requests that aren't listed on the door knob menu. Our butlers have always told us to just write down what we want (within reason) and it will be delivered....and it was.

 

18 hours ago, dexddd said:

Menu really means nothing in YC.  Typically, ask and thou shall receive.

 

See what I mean? 😁

[Best Cat Mom]

If you don't want to engage your butler, you can also bring food from the YC pool deck back to your room. We had great made-to-order burgers there several times and one time brought them to the room to enjoy on our balcony for lunch.