Seashore - mini review

[noshoobie]

 

 

We just disembarked the Seashore on Feb 11^th. It was a 7 night cruise going to Ocean Cay, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. It was me and my DH traveling in a Bella balcony on deck 9.

 

Embarkation – A breeze. Our check in time was scheduled between 3 and 3:30. The night before the cruise we received a text that our time was changed to 12:30-1. We ended up getting to the pier around 11:15 because we checked out of our hotel. I thought we may have to wait for that time slot to get onboard but no one checked. We were in our cabin by 11:50. If you are  having trouble on the website with adding your photo and credit card like we did, don’t worry. They take your picture upon check in and there are kiosks on the ship where you can easily add your credit card.

 

Ship – The ship was really nice and we found it easy to navigate.

 

Pools – Looking at pictures of the ship beforehand I decided that the Infinity Pool would be my go to spot for the cruise. It’s adults only and at the back of the ship. I love ships that have a pool where you can overlook the ocean from the back. This pool was not for me. It was usually half shaded and depending on the weather they sometimes did not fill it to capacity. There were 5 levels to this pool and most days only the first 3 levels were filled. At the highest, the pool is only about 3 ft high. We spent our time at the Long Island Pool which is on deck 18. It was loud at times but we always found a chair as long as we got there before 11am. Be sure to check out the infinity hot tubs on deck 8 starboard side about mid-ship. They were really cool.

 

Food – The MDR food was good and we had lunch at Hola’s one day which was very good and reasonably priced. The food in the buffet was not good. The pizza was the only think that we found that was consistently delicious. We had cruised on the Meraviglia last year and their buffet food was excellent. We mistakenly assumed that the food would be the same.

 

Theater shows – We only went to one show on the last night which was a rock show. It was very good. Reservations must be made for the shows. Some of the other options that we did not attend were a magician, a mentalist, a broadway themed show, and a diva show. No comedians. Every night at the Le Caberet Rouge they would have a show from 7:30-10:30 with rotating performers. We went there a few nights after dinner as it was very close to our MDR. They had singers, bands, a juggler, and a solo violinist to name a few.

 

Casino – not lucky on this ship but all of the casino staff were very nice and quick to serve.

 

Islands – unfortunately, the weather was not that great during our cruise. We were supposed to stay at Ocean Cay for 2 days but we left at the end of the 1^st day because of weather. We didn’t even get off the ship. We spent an extra day at sea and that day was not a great weather day either. Our second day at sea (4^th day of the cruise) we finally saw the sun. In Costa Maya it was sunny but very windy. In Cozumel it was overcast most of the morning. We went to Sky Reef and had a great time. I wrote a separate review about Sky Reef.

 

 

Passengers – this was a good group. Very pleasant people and did not see anyone being pushy or acting like an a**h**e. We did come across a few people who complained about everything, but we were lucky that out MDR tablemates were very friendly and we had a good time with them.

 

Debarkation – we did self debarkation and were off the ship fairly quickly.

 

Would we travel on MSC again? YES! Feel free to ask any questions.

[freeon]

How early were you able to get of the ship with self debarkation?

[jcollin]

Did you do the all-you-can eat at Hola?  If so what was the price at lunch?  We may want to try that on embarkation day if no MDR is open.

 

Thanks

[noshoobie]

2 hours ago, freeon said:

How early were you able to get of the ship with self debarkation?

We walked off the ship at 7:20am. 

[noshoobie]

1 hour ago, jcollin said:

Did you do the all-you-can eat at Hola?  If so what was the price at lunch?  We may want to try that on embarkation day if no MDR is open.

 

Thanks

We did not do the all-you-can eat. I think the all you can eat is $17.99 (someone can correct me if I'm wrong.) We ordered the enchiladas and they were $11.99 per order and very filling. 

[bruce85]

18 hours ago, noshoobie said:

 

 

 

 

 

Passengers – this was a good group. Very pleasant people and did not see anyone being pushy or acting like an a**h**e. We did come across a few people who complained about everything, but we were lucky that out MDR tablemates were very friendly and we had a good time with them.

 

You said table mates. I assume you didn't get a table for two? Did you try and get one or did you prefer a group table? Just curious how soon the 2 top requests got filled. 

 

[jcollin]

18 hours ago, noshoobie said:

We did not do the all-you-can eat. I think the all you can eat is $17.99 (someone can correct me if I'm wrong.) We ordered the enchiladas and they were $11.99 per order and very filling. 

Thanks, good to know

[noshoobie]

3 hours ago, bruce85 said:

 

We were assigned the 7:15 seating at the 5th Avenue Restaurant deck 7 aft. We were surprised that they sat us at a table of 4 with two other people. We did not request a table for two. We just assumed we would get a table for two since that's how we were seated on the Meraviglia. But again, we were lucky that the couple we sat with were very nice. Even if we were assigned a table for two the tables were very close together. The couple on the other side of us were only about 12-16 inches away. 

Edited February 15 by noshoobie
adding

[bob10173]

How did you like deck 9? I assume a balcony. We bid and were assigned deck 9 Aurea. Sailing Saturday with your same agenda. We sailed the on the Meraviglia also and the food was great all over. What was the problem with the buffet? How much are specialty restaurants? Thanks.

[noshoobie]

18 hours ago, bob10173 said:

How did you like deck 9? I assume a balcony. We bid and were assigned deck 9 Aurea. Sailing Saturday with your same agenda. We sailed the on the Meraviglia also and the food was great all over. What was the problem with the buffet? How much are specialty restaurants? Thanks.

Deck 9 was great. It had an extended balcony so there were lounge chairs on the deck. We loved the buffet on the Mera but this ship did not have the fresh mozzarella and the variety of italian meats and cheeses. It also did not have an omelet station. The omelets were pre-made.  Many of the breakfast items were cold. On the  Mera there was a huge variety of salad bar choices. The options on the Seashore were not as appetizing. The self serve ice cream machine was not self serve. It was behind a counter where someone handed it to you so it was closed when they shut that section of the buffet . The only specialty dining we did was Hola's and the prices were very reasonable. Not sure of the other specialty dining prices but I'm sure you can look them up online. Hope you have a great cruise and have great weather!

[bob10173]

10 hours ago, noshoobie said:

Deck 9 was great. It had an extended balcony so there were lounge chairs on the deck. We loved the buffet on the Mera but this ship did not have the fresh mozzarella and the variety of italian meats and cheeses. It also did not have an omelet station. The omelets were pre-made.  Many of the breakfast items were cold. On the  Mera there was a huge variety of salad bar choices. The options on the Seashore were not as appetizing. The self serve ice cream machine was not self serve. It was behind a counter where someone handed it to you so it was closed when they shut that section of the buffet . The only specialty dining we did was Hola's and the prices were very reasonable. Not sure of the other specialty dining prices but I'm sure you can look them up online. Hope you have a great cruise and have great weather!

Thanks for the info. I am really concerned about deck 9 with all the upper balconies looking down on deck 9. We are not fussy eaters so I am sure the food will be good for us. I have never yet complained about food on a cruise and I have been on at least 40 cruises. Second on MSC.

[noshoobie]

14 hours ago, bob10173 said:

Thanks for the info. I am really concerned about deck 9 with all the upper balconies looking down on deck 9. We are not fussy eaters so I am sure the food will be good for us. I have never yet complained about food on a cruise and I have been on at least 40 cruises. Second on MSC.

I have to admit that we were a little freaked out at first especially remembering this story where a passenger fell on another passenger last year on a Virgin voyage.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cruise-passenger-dies-fall-balcony-b2313709.html

 

But honestly, I would say that as long as you do not plan on going out on your balcony in your birthday suit, you will be fine. lol. The first 4-6 feet of the balcony are under cover.