Disappointed - again

MSC Seaside Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

RSchupp

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 42

Overall rating:

2.8 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 03, 2018

Ship: MSC Seaside

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5085

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Not what we get on other cruises... Not cruising on MSC again....

Embarkation

4 out of 5

one of the fastest checkins we have seen...

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Buffet had a very limited selection. The salad station was only greens, tomatoes (and one day they did not have them) shredded carrots , corn niblets, sliced cucumber. No onions, celery, red cabbage, cheese, broccoli , croutons , peppers, ...etc... The "ethnic " station just had taco every day..with ground beef and chicken... but no cheese., lettuce, tomatoes..etc.... The specialty restaurants were so so at best. The steak house, Butchers Cut, was good the second time we went. First time a Medium rare steak came to me with no pink in the middle. They redid but by the time i got it, my wife had finished her meal, and the mashed potatoes i got were cold. By the time they return with hot ones, i was done with my steak. The bar tender could not or would not make a Mud slide..... i finally found a bartender that made it... but was told by him that they do not make them because they contain 2 alcohols....i had the unlimited drink plan so that was not an issue.... Teppanyaki restaurant poor selection nd poorly prepared. This is usually out favorite type of place to eat... it is now on the do not go to on MSC list. We were never asked if we wanted coffee at the end of the meal You had to ask for ice in your water.... even when you tell them you want "ice water' they bring just water. Also had to ask for butter most night.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

The shows had alot of opera, which is not our thing. The variety was mostly opera and classical, again not entertainment for a ship sailing out of Miami. The singers, while having great opera voices, had no character when singing other types of music.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

At the excursion desk, it took 3 visits to cancel one excursion. First they took us we could not cancel, then they told us we did not have one scheduled. So we got the voucher and then were told we would have to wait until their land office opens as the onboard system did not have the info. Each time i had to wait in line for 20 minutes. The people at the Service desk are not helpful... it seems they are always trying to prove you are wrong. Unlike NCL or RCCL or Princess etc who go out of their way to fix things The room attendant never seems to tuck in the sheets on one side of the bed... so they pulled out every night. Wait staff is slow... we waited 40 minutes once to get our appetizer. At the pool, they did not police minors alone in the hot tub. They are suppose to have an adult with them. The underage kids were using it as a pool.... It took 3 days in a row for us talking to the pool attendant and his boss before they started enforcing their own rules. There were all babies in the pool with diapers on.. another no no accordingg to MSC posted rules... the attendant said nothing to them

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Design was very nice , a few to many mirrors.... there was a sewer odor in the hallways all the time. faint but still there...

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

nothing special but ok

Ship tip

Don't sail on MSC.... we had similar issues in the Med this past summer and would not have taken this cruise if it wasn't for prepaid airline and hotel reservations. MSC is at the bottom of my list . We have sailed on Holland America, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, RCCL, and Carnival.

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