Is MSC Seascape really THAT bad?

[ellie1145]

We are due to sail on Seascape on June 15th and the reviews on here are pretty horrendous. 
 

We have sailed on Virtuosa out of Southampton twice and we were agreeably surprised. We’ve just got off Anthem of the Seas Norway cruise and felt the buffet was very poor and Virtuosa buffet was excellent especially the beautiful desserts. 

 

But the reviews make Seascape sound like the ship from hell! 
 

I know more people post about the negatives than the positives but it’s a little worrying.

 

 

 

 

[robc1972]

Just got off it yesterday.
The boat is beautiful.

We all thought the food was great and had no major complaints about food, just small personal preferences on it.

The design of the interior cabins leaves a lot to be desired. The bathroom is the worst layout of any boat I have ever been on, before you sit down, open the cabinet door under the sink to give a tiny bit more legroom. 
The layout of the ship itself was odd to us as it we different than anything else we had been on.

Felt like too much space was given to yacht club and not the rest.pf the people.

You cannot walk around the boat in a complete circle at all on any deck, deck 8 is the closest you can get but you are walking thought the upscale steakhouse outdoor seating to do so on the port side.
Many small design features made us not want to go back on it but we had a great time while we were on it.

 

 

[BirdTravels]

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. It is mostly Fake News. 

 

We sailed on the Seascape in March and the ship was stunning, service great, food wonderful. We had a wonderful cruise. 

[Two Wheels Only]

11 hours ago, robc1972 said:

Felt like too much space was given to yacht club and not the rest.pf the people.

 

That feeling might by psychological. Based on square footage, the Yacht Club doesn't actually take up much space compared to the common areas of the ship.

 

11 hours ago, robc1972 said:

You cannot walk around the boat in a complete circle at all on any deck, deck 8 is the closest you can get but you are walking thought the upscale steakhouse outdoor seating to do so on the port side.

 

Doing complete outdoor laps is a feature that is slowly disappearing from new ship builds. Even without the restaurant seating areas, the Aurea section towards the front is blocked off for most people. If it prevents the "...king of the world/... I'm flying, Jack" moments from Titanic, I support blocking the bow area.

[robc1972]

3 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Doing complete outdoor laps is a feature that is slowly disappearing from new ship builds. Even without the restaurant seating areas, the Aurea section towards the front is blocked off for most people. If it prevents the "...king of the world/... I'm flying, Jack" moments from Titanic, I support blocking the bow area.

There isn't even a walking track up top for people that like to do laps outside to get their steps in, what appears at first to be that has gates for yacht club stopping you.
I think Royal are the only ones that allow you right up to the front and not look.

[Essiesmom]

26 minutes ago, robc1972 said:

There isn't even a walking track up top for people that like to do laps outside to get their steps in, what appears at first to be that has gates for yacht club stopping you.
I think Royal are the only ones that allow you right up to the front and not look.

Princess grand class does.  HAL ships up through Nieuw Amsterdam.  Crystal ships (at least Serenity).  Carnival Dream and Vista classes.  All Cunard ships.  EM

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, robc1972 said:

There isn't even a walking track up top for people that like to do laps outside to get their steps in,

 

 I think this is why God created treadmills and put them on cruise ships. 

 

 Unless I am missing something, pretty sure you can do complete loops of the ships on decks 9 - 13.  Granted it's inside but if it steps you are worried about, this is what I would do. 

 

Edited June 3 by DaKahuna

[MonsterJoe]

We're on the ship this summer. I don't love this class of ships almost entirely because of the layout - but otherwise they are beautiful. We had a good time last summer on the Seaside. 

The Seascape fit our itinerary/port/date desires and we didn't hesitate to book it.

My brother and SIL just got back from it and they loved it.

I thought it odd that there was no outdoor track...but meh...there is plenty of walking and stairs on the ship.

Edited June 3 by MonsterJoe

[mvh]

We were on the Seascape a few months ago. Two friends that had never sailed MSC and my wife and I who have sailed 5 times (3 Caribbean, 2 Europe). My wife and I had a great time knowing what we were going on, but our friends absolutely hated it. Mostly because of the rude clientele, which is absolutely undeniable. I think we are just numb to it. No, it is not RCL, but at about 1/4 the cost of The Icon of the Seas for the same room plus a drink package, you can't beat it.

[MonsterJoe]

59 minutes ago, mvh said:

We were on the Seascape a few months ago. Two friends that had never sailed MSC and my wife and I who have sailed 5 times (3 Caribbean, 2 Europe). My wife and I had a great time knowing what we were going on, but our friends absolutely hated it. Mostly because of the rude clientele, which is absolutely undeniable. I think we are just numb to it. No, it is not RCL, but at about 1/4 the cost of The Icon of the Seas for the same room plus a drink package, you can't beat it.

I am very acutely sensitive to rudeness in public spaces. It seriously raises my blood pressure. I agree with you that people are rude on the ships. The pool, elevators, and buffet are the places I fined them most evident.  That said, I feel like people are rude everywhere, so I may not be the best judge.

Not a Seascape thing per se...and while I've never been on Carnival (and never intend to) I can imagine it is probably much worse.

For me at least, my enjoyment of the ship and cruise far outweigh those moments - but I can appreciate how others may not be able to get past it.

Edited June 5 by MonsterJoe

[mvh]

Actually, MSC is worse than Carnival when it comes to rudeness. Although, I honestly don't know it it is rudeness or just being oblivious on how to act with other people. I love Europe, so I have learned to accept them when they are over here.

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, mvh said:

Mostly because of the rude clientele, which is absolutely undeniable. I think we are just numb to it. 

It is not the "rudeness of the clientele". It is because they are not American and they do not act and behave like someone from the US. That, by definition of an American, makes them "bad" or "rude". The world does not evolve around the social standards of the United States. In fact, the US is in the minority. 

[Dakotastar]

On 6/3/2024 at 1:39 PM, Essiesmom said:

Princess grand class does.  HAL ships up through Nieuw Amsterdam.  Crystal ships (at least Serenity).  Carnival Dream and Vista classes.  All Cunard ships.  EM

Hello essiemom it's Dakota or Mr. Karaoke. We were on Seashore together. Just wanted to say hi again. What a cluster mess getting off Seashore last Dec.

Anyway, our group is on Seascape this Dec.7-14. would love to see you and Essie again.

Thanks care.

Tim

[Essiesmom]

10 hours ago, Dakotastar said:

Hello essiemom it's Dakota or Mr. Karaoke. We were on Seashore together. Just wanted to say hi again. What a cluster mess getting off Seashore last Dec.

Anyway, our group is on Seascape this Dec.7-14. would love to see you and Essie again.

Thanks care.

Tim

Yes, I remember.  We are on Seashore again June 23, and then a short one on Magnifica July 19.  After that cruises on Carnival Vista and Venezia.  I try not to plan too far ahead.  I was impressed with the quality of participants in karaoke on Seashore, hoping they are as good this time.  EM

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

In the spirit of inclusivity, I find everybody equally rude in their own special way. 🙂

 Hear, Hear ! A fellow misanthrope.

[DaKahuna]

10 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

In the spirit of inclusivity, I find everybody equally rude in their own special way.

 

I resemble that remark    🤣

 

[Cornishrex1]

We were on the seascape last year and loved it (beautiful ship and fab food). We have rebooked the seascape for later this year. We sailed out of Miami last year. We are brits. There were ALOT of Italians and French on board last year. And a few confused Americans. All the Americans were outraged by the rudeness of the Italians. We were not. We know the Italians, we’ve been there many times, they have a different perception of rudeness and very different benchmarks. When brits go somewhere they search for the queue. When Italians see a queue they do their best to turn it into a rugby scrum.

 

We were on the Seaview out of Rio earlier this year - the food was horrendous. The state of the plumbing worse.  The waiting staff told us that they fit the quality / cost per head of the food to the clientele - they feel they could get away with crap food in South American, but not on a sailing out of the USA.

[morpheusofthesea]

3 hours ago, Cornishrex1 said:

The waiting staff told us that they fit the quality / cost per head of the food to the clientele

That sounds about right.

[no1talks]

4 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

That sounds about right.

 

Mr. Morpheus, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to utilize your MSC intelligence sources and uncover the food expenditure rankings used throughout their cruise line. 

 

This message will...

 

Edited June 7 by no1talks

[Cornishrex1]

The waiter told us that the head chef was pretty upset about his budget for the Rio trip. I ended up sticking with pasta / risotto for the whole trip in the standard dining room. There must have been Italian chefs still on board though as they could still cook cheap pasta and risotto to al dente perfection.  The meat was rubbish though and the fish inedible. And no surf and turf like on the USA trip. We’re back on seascape out of Miami in October so looking forward to seeing if the food is as good as before.

 

Its the price point that keeps drawing us back to MSC though - what you get for what you pay, and you accept the compromises - like ridiculous queues / scrums for bar drinks. Three MSC cruises this year …..

[morpheusofthesea]

29 minutes ago, no1talks said:

 

Mr. Morpheus, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to utilize your MSC intelligence sources and uncover the food expenditure rankings used throughout their cruise line. 

 

This message will...

 

There is no there there...the proof is in the pudding.

[morpheusofthesea]

27 minutes ago, Cornishrex1 said:

The waiter told us that the head chef was pretty upset about his budget for the Rio trip. I ended up sticking with pasta / risotto for the whole trip in the standard dining room. There must have been Italian chefs still on board though as they could still cook cheap pasta and risotto to al dente perfection.  The meat was rubbish though and the fish inedible. And no surf and turf like on the USA trip. We’re back on seascape out of Miami in October so looking forward to seeing if the food is as good as before.

 

Its the price point that keeps drawing us back to MSC though - what you get for what you pay, and you accept the compromises - like ridiculous queues / scrums for bar drinks. Three MSC cruises this year …..

Another Michelin star review.

Was the Chef Private F. Costanza ?

Edited June 7 by morpheusofthesea

[no1talks]

20 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"There is no there there...the proof is in the pudding."

 

Yes, but if this food expenditure policy actually exists, it would be very useful to know how much money is spent on the pudding from place to place.

😉

[morpheusofthesea]

25 minutes ago, no1talks said:

 

Yes, but if this food expenditure policy actually exists, it would be very useful to know how much money is spent on the pudding from place to place.

😉

I learned something interesting 30 years ago on a Princess cruise around Australia and New Zealand. I mentioned to the maitre d when he did his rounds at dinner that I was looking forward to having some really fresh New Zealand lamb this cruise. His reply was the cruise line cannot depend on foreign markets to supply their ships. That the new Zealand lamb is shipped to the US inspected and graded and all is then containerized and shipped back to their ships around the world.

  Sure, there are those boutique cruise lines, with TV crews that follow the chef ashore in different ports to pay cash at local fish markets, but that is for advertising purposes. Like the words describing ports of call as idyllic, nestled, exotic, and when you get to that dump of a place you know why its one and done.

P.S. At one of these "exotic" places I made the mistake of purchasing spices. When I got home the spices were moving inside the bottle.

Edited June 7 by morpheusofthesea
ps

[morpheusofthesea]

58 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

The waiter told us

I report the same malarkey every cruise that I take here on CC. I do it for entertainment purposes. I think the staff make up most the stuff, because they know we want to hear it.