My View: Trading Seascape for Seaside Semi-Live

[APDMOM]

Dinner on Day 6 - Cozumel

I forgot to take a picture of the menu - hopefully it will repeat on the next 4 days so that I can post it.  MSC got dinner 100% right tonight.  All our dishes were excellent, except the barramundi (just good).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Marketplace Indian Dinner:

We were curious to see what they had in the Marketplace Buffet.  This night featured lots of Indian dishes - good curry, but not as strong as I like it.  Samosas were also available. They were good, but not "strong" like the kind we grew up with in South Africa.

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 6 - White Party 

I was ready to attend the happenings in the Atrium, just to find not much action going on there.  Seems like this was the one night without loud party music in the Atrium.  Everything was at the Miami pool.  I will attend that next week 😄 

 

[APDMOM]

Daily Program - Day 6, Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PompeySailor]

Quick one for you

Do they still have the Crepe station out back on one of the decks 

I recall on Seaside 2019

 

and I agree on the Indian food like you, spicier and hotter the better (Vindaloo-Tindaloo) 🌶 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

My View: End of Day 6 - White Party 

I was ready to attend the happenings in the Atrium, just to find not much action going on there.  Seems like this was the one night without loud party music in the Atrium.  Everything was at the Miami pool.  I will attend that next week 😄 

 

My husband went shopping for a swimsuit yesterday and I went with him. I picked out a nice pair of shorts, with blue and white stripes, and a white button up for him so we could go to the white party. Now I need to find myself something to wear, preferably a dress. Why did you skip the party this time?

[APDMOM]

41 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

My husband went shopping for a swimsuit yesterday and I went with him. I picked out a nice pair of shorts, with blue and white stripes, and a white button up for him so we could go to the white party. Now I need to find myself something to wear, preferably a dress. Why did you skip the party this time?

I was just in the mood for an early night 😁 I am not big on parties, but like to experience them once in a while. I don’t care for the more modern music. Give me “Sweet Caroline”, and I am there. Or even the cha cha slide. Nowadays, the songs are all unfamiliar and just not that much fun… I am telling my age 😂 

[APDMOM]

2 hours ago, PompeySailor said:

Quick one for you

Do they still have the Crepe station out back on one of the decks 

I recall on Seaside 2019

 

and I agree on the Indian food like you, spicier and hotter the better (Vindaloo-Tindaloo) 🌶 

Love that!!

 

 They don’t have a free crepe station, but they have the crepes at Venchi by the South Beach Pool on 7.  One day they even had a BOGO event for crepes. 😁

[NCteacherlovescruising]

4 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

I was just in the mood for an early night 😁 I am not big on parties, but like to experience them once in a while. I don’t care for the more modern music. Give me “Sweet Caroline”, and I am there. Or even the cha cha slide. Nowadays, the songs are all unfamiliar and just not that much fun… I am telling my age 😂 

I’m not sure if we’ll go either. I want to have the clothes just in case. Sounds like we may not know the music either. 🤪

[PompeySailor]

47 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Love that!!

 

 They don’t have a free crepe station, but they have the crepes at Venchi by the South Beach Pool on 7.  One day they even had a BOGO event for crepes. 😁

Thank you 😎

[APDMOM]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I’m not sure if we’ll go either. I want to have the clothes just in case. Sounds like we may not know the music either. 🤪

I will let you know how this one goes.  My previous White Party was on Seascape, where the music and dances were very unfamiliar - too hard for my clumsy self to keep up with the moves...LOL!  On Meraviglia, there was a pre-party by the Galleria, which was fun and more my style.  Will see how Seaside compares.  🙂 

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 7 - At Sea

[NCteacherlovescruising]

18 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

I will let you know how this one goes.  My previous White Party was on Seascape, where the music and dances were very unfamiliar - too hard for my clumsy self to keep up with the moves...LOL!  On Meraviglia, there was a pre-party by the Galleria, which was fun and more my style.  Will see how Seaside compares.  🙂 

I watched a couple YouTube videos and the songs seemed familiar for the most part. I think we’ll give it a try. If we aren’t enjoying it we can always head elsewhere. 

[APDMOM]

Buffet Breakfast Selections:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by APDMOM
Spacing

[APDMOM]

25 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I watched a couple YouTube videos and the songs seemed familiar for the most part. I think we’ll give it a try. If we aren’t enjoying it we can always head elsewhere. 

❤️That is what is great about a cruise - there is usually something everyone can enjoy, or another option when something is not as enjoyable as expected.  I am determined to force my eyes to stay open for tonight's glow party at 11:45 PM. 😄

 

[amygutman]

4 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Buffet Breakfast Selections:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really appreciate the time you put into taking and labeling all of the photos. It’s very appreciated. 
warmest, Amy

[skipsaur]

5 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Buffet Breakfast Selection

Love this, thank you so much for doing this!

[APDMOM]

We may have crashed a party...

We did not receive our invitation for the loyalty "welcome back" party.  I happened to see the roped off area with the loyalty party set up.  Since neither of our 2 cabins received an invitation, I started wondering (conspiracy theories galore in this mind) whether 'nobody' received invitations.  There was no line like usual at these events.  Since we had our gold cards in hand, we decided to wait and see if we could attend. We were allowed in when the ropes were opened, and enjoyed the party - even posed for our 'free photo' for the welcome back event.  When I went to pick up the free photo, the lady asked which of the welcome back events I attended - the one earlier in the week, or the one this day?  It turns out they have so many voyager club members, they have multiple events.  It is possible that our invitation will arrive for the last part of the 11-day voyage.  We shall see.

 

 

Loyalty Event:

This was very different from all the other events we had attended.  The 'cheers' were very brief and only one officer attended with the captain.  It was so quick, I did not even catch which officer attended.  It was still fun, but I do enjoy seeing and meeting officers.  I do understand that this can be a very time-consuming event.  They had one half of the 3 decks around the atrium roped off for the event (Bistrot la Boheme, Champagne Bar, and Shine Bar all dedicated to the party). 

 

They served sparkling wine and punch.

 

 

 

I would love to take this cruise... As soon as 'my ship comes in'.  😆

 

 

[APDMOM]

Dinner Menu: 

We did not eat dinner in the MDR, but here is the menu:

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Starwalker: The Michael Jackson Show 

Although it was good, it was not excellent.  The dancers were impressive, but I remember the show being much better in 2019.  Not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me though.  I do remember walking out of the show in 2019, thinking WoW! Not so last night.  It could be that I had built up the show in my mind from our 2019 experience, and was therefore not as impressed. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Besides "Ben", this was my favorite song of the evening:  "We are the World"

 

I love how it ends with some of the crew members joining in on stage.

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 7 - Sea Day with a Sunset over Miami and Fort Lauderdale:

[APDMOM]

Daily Program:  Day 7 - At Sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by APDMOM
Post dailies

[APDMOM]

We were afraid this would happen...

 

I will post tomorrow about our turnaround day for this back 2 back experience.  So far, the atmosphere on this second leg (4 days) is very different.  Our room steward had told us that there would be many kids on this cruise, and that rings true - many unattended kids, that is.  Also, we ran into a situation in the Marketplace tonight involving a drunken, rowdy crowd.  They will need a much more visible presence of security on this cruise.  

 

One good thing is that we had the thermal area almost 'to ourselves' tonight.  There were only 3 other people.  

 

I may be spending a majority of the next 4 days on the balcony... That is not a complaint - just the apparent reality if I want to avoid a drunk crowd or kids running around. 😄 We shall see.  Maybe it is just the first night excitement and people will party themselves out?   

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 8 - Port Canaveral (Turnaround Day)

[APDMOM]

TIP: This post is for back to back cruises on MSC, turning around in Port Canaveral.

 

We were given instructions to go to guest services between 7:30 and 8:30.  DH and DS did not get this information.  Fortunately, we went to ask at guest services the night before, because we would have wasted our time.  Only people who change cabins go to guest services in the morning.  The rest just had to meet in Haven Lounge at 10 AM.  They provided coffee, tea, and pastries for the wait.  We did not have to wait long - about 10:10, we were escourted off the ship via the same area where luggage is picked up for disembarkation. We quickly made it through the line at customs/passport control and walked right back onto the ship.

 

Once back on the ship, we were allowed to roam or go back to our cabins.  We gave our room steward the day off from our room, as it is always very busy for them on turnaround day.  He had already replaced our sheets the previous day.