Just booked MSC Seascape. First time on MSC (Carnival & Royal). What do I need to know?!

[surfjock27]

First, thanks in advance for any insight. 
 

My husband and I are Platinum on Carnival and Diamond on Royal. These are the only two lines we’ve cruised with. 
 

We wanted to try something new, so we booked the Seascape for this March. They had a great deal with East Plus and Wi-Fi. We’re late 30’s and not into the wild party scene, and this line seems more laid back. 
We did book Aurea because we enjoy spa amenities. In addition, we did match our status from the other lines to gold on MSC. 

We are a little nervous because we know the other two lines like the back of our hand, and this is all new. 

With all that said.. tips, tricks, advice? 

[Oz_Steve]

Forget MSC and try Celebrity. If you like the spa book Aqua Class.

[shipgeeks]

Enjoy the newness!  What we enjoy the most on MSC is the passenger makeup, with lots of European, British, and South Americans.  It feels more like being "away" than RC cruises.  The theater shows are more exotic, as well.  We can't wait to get back on an MSC ship.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Celebrity is a sleeper ship with more traditional style cruising and has nothing on MSC when it comes to the spa and thermal area. imo

 

congratulations on your cruise booking!  We are going to be on this ship in August!  After having been on 2 MSc cruises already, I’m pretty hooked on the product. My stomping grounds were Celebrity and NCL and Carnival. We are on Celebrity out of LA in March and I’m a little worried that I’m going to be disappointed now that I am getting to know MSC. 
 

So what to expect?  Well there’s a lot of good and current threads out there with great pictures and information. I also poured over many YouTube videos but here’s some hi lights:

-Aurea experience offers a private sun deck with bar. We saw this area when we were on Seashore and it was very quiet and nicely appointed and it even had its own bar and hot tub. Since seashore and seascape are sisters I’m thinking those areas are similar. 
-The thermal suite is amazing. Salt room with loungers, therapy pool, plenty of sauna, steam and cold areas. 
-production shows are typical cruise fare but they do more singing and dancing shows due to a more international clientele. 
-you swipe a credit card in a kiosk upon embarkation. Different, but not a problem. 
-embarkation check in can get congested at times

-lots of different languages spoken on board..including daily announcements. 
-lots and lots to do on the ship. 
- not sure of your itinerary but if going to the private island, you’re in for a treat. In my opinion it’s one of the nicest islands in the industry. 
- beautiful ship impeccably maintained

I could go on but I will close with this, if you have the opportunity to upgrade to Yacht Club, I highly recommend it. A little more than Aurea but totally worth it!
 

[sabres431]

We will also be on SeaScape in March(March  26).  We did a 12 day on the MSC Divina in 2018 and it was phenomenal.  The ship was the most beautiful ship we've been on. We've sailed Royal and NCL prior.  We did Yacht Club in 2018 and will be doing it again this sailing.  Well worth the price.

[surfjock27]

1 hour ago, sabres431 said:

We will also be on SeaScape in March(March  26).  We did a 12 day on the MSC Divina in 2018 and it was phenomenal.  The ship was the most beautiful ship we've been on. We've sailed Royal and NCL prior.  We did Yacht Club in 2018 and will be doing it again this sailing.  Well worth the price.

 

We miss you by a week! We are on March 19th. Happy Cruising!

[surfjock27]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Celebrity is a sleeper ship with more traditional style cruising and has nothing on MSC when it comes to the spa and thermal area. imo

 

congratulations on your cruise booking!  We are going to be on this ship in August!  After having been on 2 MSc cruises already, I’m pretty hooked on the product. My stomping grounds were Celebrity and NCL and Carnival. We are on Celebrity out of LA in March and I’m a little worried that I’m going to be disappointed now that I am getting to know MSC. 
 

So what to expect?  Well there’s a lot of good and current threads out there with great pictures and information. I also poured over many YouTube videos but here’s some hi lights:

-Aurea experience offers a private sun deck with bar. We saw this area when we were on Seashore and it was very quiet and nicely appointed and it even had its own bar and hot tub. Since seashore and seascape are sisters I’m thinking those areas are similar. 
-The thermal suite is amazing. Salt room with loungers, therapy pool, plenty of sauna, steam and cold areas. 
-production shows are typical cruise fare but they do more singing and dancing shows due to a more international clientele. 
-you swipe a credit card in a kiosk upon embarkation. Different, but not a problem. 
-embarkation check in can get congested at times

-lots of different languages spoken on board..including daily announcements. 
-lots and lots to do on the ship. 
- not sure of your itinerary but if going to the private island, you’re in for a treat. In my opinion it’s one of the nicest islands in the industry. 
- beautiful ship impeccably maintained

I could go on but I will close with this, if you have the opportunity to upgrade to Yacht Club, I highly recommend it. A little more than Aurea but totally worth it!
 

 

Thank you for this great run down! We contemplated the YC, but being our first time, we wanted to make sure we were going to enjoy it before spending that much. We got Aurea in a Junior Suite with Easy Plus, Wi Fi and $50 OBC, for $2,300 (total, 2 of us). 

The thing we are most concerned about it being bored during the day, as that was a complaint I saw on another thread. We enjoy trivia, arts and crafts, etc during the day. Are we going to enjoy those things on this ship?

[Georgia_Peaches]

9 minutes ago, surfjock27 said:

 

Thank you for this great run down! We contemplated the YC, but being our first time, we wanted to make sure we were going to enjoy it before spending that much. We got Aurea in a Junior Suite with Easy Plus, Wi Fi and $50 OBC, for $2,300 (total, 2 of us). 

The thing we are most concerned about it being bored during the day, as that was a complaint I saw on another thread. We enjoy trivia, arts and crafts, etc during the day. Are we going to enjoy those things on this ship?

Great price!!  I can't imagine being bored on this ship!  You can be as busy (or not) as you want!  I don't recall crafts but there was definitely trivia, dance lessons on the pool deck, games, water slides, etc.  On one of the sea days they did a mid-day mini opera in the main theater which was interesting and just long enough for me to learn that opera isn't my thing...lol.  Even if you did nothing but try to visit every bar on the ship for a cocktail (which we did 🤪), you'll find entertainment along the way.  We enjoyed the live music venues, of which there are many.  I think you are smart to pick a category that will elevate your experience without breaking the bank.

[surfjock27]

3 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Great price!!  I can't imagine being bored on this ship!  You can be as busy (or not) as you want!  I don't recall crafts but there was definitely trivia, dance lessons on the pool deck, games, water slides, etc.  On one of the sea days they did a mid-day mini opera in the main theater which was interesting and just long enough for me to learn that opera isn't my thing...lol.  Even if you did nothing but try to visit every bar on the ship for a cocktail (which we did 🤪), you'll find entertainment along the way.  We enjoyed the live music venues, of which there are many.  I think you are smart to pick a category that will elevate your experience without breaking the bank.

One more question, if you don't mind. 

When we cruise with CCL or RCCL, we get the option to prepaid gratuities and include it in the cruise fare. I did not see that option when booking this cruise. We like prepaying. Is there a way to prepay gratuities, or do they just put them on the end of the bill during debarkation?

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, surfjock27 said:

One more question, if you don't mind. 

When we cruise with CCL or RCCL, we get the option to prepaid gratuities and include it in the cruise fare. I did not see that option when booking this cruise. We like prepaying. Is there a way to prepay gratuities, or do they just put them on the end of the bill during debarkation?

One of the quirky things about MSC is their IT and customer service.  Their website is not terribly user friendly and I've read so many reports of people calling customer service to add things (like gratuities) that ended up screwing up their booking that honestly, I wouldn't mess with it unless you booked with a TA.  If you used a TA then you can let them do it.  In fact, if you didn't use a TA you could look into transferring your booking to one and possibly even getting more OBC.  So short answer is, I don't really know.  We didn't prepay and just saw the daily charge on our printout.  And speaking of printouts, you should probably ask for one a couple of times throughout your cruise as the stateroom TV's are not interactive so you can't pull up your cruise charges in a folio on the tv like you can on other lines.  Since we were in the YC we just asked for a printout from the concierge to make sure all the charges were legit.

[nednrom]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:41 AM, surfjock27 said:

One more question, if you don't mind. 

When we cruise with CCL or RCCL, we get the option to prepaid gratuities and include it in the cruise fare. I did not see that option when booking this cruise. We like prepaying. Is there a way to prepay gratuities, or do they just put them on the end of the bill during debarkation?

Just got off the Seascape last week.  We were able to pre-pay for thermal area (selected Fantastica this time and booked Seascape YC for Nov 2023),  gratuities and massage.  For the gratuities and the special needs (distilled water for C-pap and extention cord), I called my TA and let her take care of it.  It is not online and customer service with MSC is a bit tricky.  Otherwise they add it nightly to your bill.  MSC is newer to the USA and is adjusting - for example, this time in the Caribbean, we heard the announcements only in two languages.  One difference is that there is no Sarranto or Guy's Burger's type of a free food place and MarketPlace buffett can get very busy during lunch.  Elevators are a problem at times, there are chair hoggers,  too - but these are not problems that are unique to MSC, I've been on most of "the Seas" and a few CCLs like Vista.  The thermal area is wonderful, you will enjoy it, I certainly loved it sometimes going twice a day.  There were dance lessons, charades, Name that tune, bag throw tournament, guess the celebrity game, karaoke etc. There was a snow pool party one afternoon and it was fun,   Shows are not broadway shows like Royal but the talent is very good.  It is what you make of it, don't sweat the small stuff - have fun.

Edited January 1, 2023 by nednrom

[nednrom]

On 11/27/2022 at 8:42 PM, surfjock27 said:

We are a little nervous because we know the other two lines like the back of our hand, and this is all new. 

With all that said.. tips, tricks, advice? 

MSC is building a terminal but are still using a small terminal so embarkation may be a problem.  We went later than the checkin time given and walked right in.  If you can upgrade to YC, I would highly recommend it as it is a different experience all together.