My View: Trading Seascape for Seaside Semi-Live

[APDMOM]

TIP: Don’t trust or only rely on the app. DH pointed out something we missed for the first 5 days 🙈 There is a snack time in the Marketplace every day at 4. Today, they had scoop ice cream (not soft serve) with lots of delicious toppings, bread pudding, merengues, cookies, etc.  Better than any desserts we had this week.  

 

Any fellow dulce de leche addicts here?  Yes, they had that as a topping! 

 

It is a good thing we have 6 more days on the ship 😁

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 5 - Costa Maya

[APDMOM]

Good morning, June!

[APDMOM]

Since we had a delayed arrival at port, we enjoyed a relaxing morning on the ship.  A Caramel Latte from the Seaview Lounge was on the menu for me:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Atrium View this Morning:

[APDMOM]

Marketplace Buffet - Lunch: Just a few views 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Seascape vs. Seaside - Buffet

We find that the variety of food in the buffet on Seascape was better.  There were more curry dishes.  You could also get different varieties of Eggs Benedict in the Seascape buffet every day.  On Seaside, Eggs Benedict is only available in the main diningroom for breakfast. Seaside still has enough variety, just not as good as Seascape.  I do find I have to add salt to some dishes on this ship.  

[APDMOM]

Costa Maya Views:

I went for a walk in port with my mom.  This is not a favorite port for me, but still nice to walk around.  To me, the highlight of the port is the gentleman playing the harp.  Wish a cruiseline would hire him to play on the ship 🙂

 

 

 

No Coconut!  Run!  

 

 

Lazy River:

I don't know when this was added to Costa Maya - I could have missed it for years, or it could be new?  We were recently in Taino Bay, Puerta Plata, which has a lovely lazy river.  That one is long and very clean.  Here in Costa Maya, both the pool and the lazy river looked very milky - not where I would want to swim.  The lazy river is very short. 

 

[APDMOM]

Afternoon Trivia Fun - We won!! 

We attended the ABBA trivia in the afternoon - it is the one trivia that I usually have a decent chance at winning... and we did.  The competition was more stiff than on Norwegian, but then they only played 10 more familiar songs on this ship, while they play 20 songs on NCL, with some that are not so familiar.  There were 3 winning teams this time.

 

Our Winnings:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Dinner Day 5 - Costa Maya

I ordered the asparagus soup as starter and the Crab Cakes for a main course, since I love both of these starters.  My mom ordered the steak Diane, which was very dry.  DH ordered the salad, which was very small - definitely closer to the size of an appetizer.  The Dulce de Leche cake was good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Evening Show: Peter Punk

This show is entertaining and includes dancing, a little bit of comedy, one illusionist act, acrobatics, a juggler, etc.  It was fun, but we missed the act of the 3 guys from Zimbabwe from our 2019 experience.  

 

Still, this was a very talented group of performers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

TIP:  If you want to have a close up visit by the dinosaur, sit in the front row, left (port side):

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 5 - Costa Maya

A lovely thunderstorm and lightning show from our balcony:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Daily Program: Day 5 - Costa Maya

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

On 6/1/2023 at 5:57 PM, publicpersona said:

We'll be on Seaside next Thursday, so enjoying your review. Where is the best place to enjoy a specialty coffee (e.g., Latte with a shot of Bailey's) that is covered by drink package. I see that Venchi has them but that's a 3rd party not covered by drink package.

 

Similar question for a good selection of wines by the glass.

Good morning @publicpersona!

 

So far, I have found they make specialty coffee at the following bars:

Seaview Lounge (our favorite)

Seaside Bar in the atrium

Haven Lounge

Miami Beach Pool Bar

Marketplace Buffet Bar

 

🙂

 

[PompeySailor]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

Costa Maya Views:

I went for a walk in port with my mom.  This is not a favorite port for me, but still nice to walk around.  Lazy River:

 

I don't know when this was added to Costa Maya - I could have missed it for years, or it could be new?  We were recently in Taino Bay, Puerta Plata, which has a lovely lazy river.  That one is long and very clean.  Here in Costa Maya, both the pool and the lazy river looked very milky - not where I would want to swim.  The lazy river is very short. 

 

Where is the lazy river at Taino Bay?
We always rush off ship to go grab a day bed at the pool, so may have missed it.

Thank you

 

Your review is making our 22 day wait more bearable 😎 before we board Seascape 

 

My daughter just asked me to ask you, do they still have the crepe station out the back (can’t remember which deck it was) TIA

 

 

WOW

Just watched a YouTube video and can see the place has changed dramatically since we were last there back in Aug 2022

 

The lazy River area look amazing 

this is how we saw it last year, the construction was to the back of us with the wooden boards 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by PompeySailor

[PompeySailor]

Another question regarding Taino Bay

 

Was it just MSC at Taino Bay

 

Do NCL and Carnival go to Amber Cove 

 

TIA

Edited June 3, 2023 by PompeySailor

[APDMOM]

2 hours ago, PompeySailor said:

Another question regarding Taino Bay

 

Was it just MSC at Taino Bay

 

Do NCL and Carnival go to Amber Cove 

 

TIA

Only Celebrity Beyond was in port with us. We were the first ones to the lazy river. It was such fun - a beautiful “float”! ❤️I will share some pictures later. 

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 6 - Cozumel

[APDMOM]

TIP:  If you have a full day in Cozumel, I highly recommend Trikes Cozumel.  We did this tour in November 2019 and it is one of my favorite cruise memories!  

 

[APDMOM]

This day, we just walked around port.  My mom got a couple of quotes for diamonds to replace a lost stone in her ring.  It was MUCH more expensive than she had planned, so this was put on the backburner. 

 

A few views of Cozumel:

 

Sunrise over the island:

 

 

International Pier:

There was much debate and speculation on Facebook about where we would dock.  I had seen a picture of Allure and Seaside together at International Pier, which told me we might do the same.  It did not really matter to us, although I prefer Punta Langosta.  We ended up docking at International pier.  

 

TIP: If you have a private excursion booked, the operator should know where the ship docks to meet you.  However, there is also a website that shows the exact pier where the ships dock in Cozumel - it is updated once a week for the upcoming week. Just do a searc for Cozumel Insider.

 

 

 

We ventured across the street to Royal Village.  It was a pretty sad sight, with most venues closed down - a day and night difference between this area and the actual port area.  It has pretty fountains, but hardly any tourists or open stores.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by APDMOM
Delete double post

[APDMOM]

Allure of the Seas:  Favorite Ship Reveal...

Before our 2019 Seaside experience, this was our favorite ship.  Seaside overtook that in 2019.  Now, I am just going to say that Allure of the Seas is my favorite ship again... I am amending my opinion to say that Seaside 2019 was my favorite cruise experience.  It is no longer my favorite ship - more on that later.

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

A nice and quiet pool while in port, including 2 empty hot tubs:

 

[APDMOM]

Miami Pool Bar and Menu:

TIP:  Soft serve ice cream is $4 at this bar.  That may sound stiff, but if you consider that we paid $2000 less for this cruise than it would have cost on Royal Caribbean, we can buy 100 ice creams for $400 and still save $$$ 😄 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

We "almost" fired MSC this day:

If you have been following my reviews, you know that I am absolutely a 'glass half full' person.  I always try to find the postive in situations, as I realize my 'cup really overflows'.  We tried to get coffee after our nap, but could not find any free coffee in the Marketplace.  The demand overwhelmed the supply a few times on this cruise - such as the Marketplace running out of plates and silverware on a sea day breakfast, running into 2 broken water stations before finding one of 2 working stations with long lines, and on this day - no coffee.  

MSC has done a good job of marketing the brand to the US market, but now thay cannot keep up with the demand.  I am hopeful that they are working on these issues.

 

Anyway, after about 20 minutes, the coffee was replenished and we discovered our favorite dessert time of the day.  The 4 PM snack time (which "may" have turned into my dinner on one day 😉)

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by APDMOM
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