A great, relaxing vacation, on a fantastic ship.

Item: MSC Seaside
Rating: 4.8
Author: tomconnie14

MSC Seaside Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

tomconnie14

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 177

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 31, 2018

Ship: MSC Seaside

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 10145

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We were constantly amazed by the reviews that we read. Everytime we turned around we were saying "did some one really complain about that, it was near perfect" It is the prettiest ship we have ever been on. The shows were very entertaining and the singers and dancers were great. Explore all parts of the ship - day and night.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

This is our 22nd cruise and probably the easiest embarkation ever. We were supposed to arrive at 4:30. All the parking garages stopped shuttling around 3 to 3:30 so we actually arrived around 3:20. We were dropped at the front door. The porters immediately took our bags. We walked right in and after very short line through security, we headed (without a line) to the desk. We were probably there 5 minutes at most. Then we walked right on to the ship and straight to our room.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

We think the main dining room was good. We have noticed a decline in quality of food on all ships over the last few years. But, it was still better than home and the choices were plenty. It was a little slow - we were a table of 2 and the head waiter was waiting for everyone in his group to finish before he served the next course. After a quick mention of this - things were great. We had the 5:15 dinner - we liked that time. We did not do specialty restaurants, never have on any ship - unless they through in a dinner. We also were very pleased with the buffets. Breakfast had everything you wanted and then some. We do not understand why people say that they didnt change the menu for breakfast much. They did not need to. Everything was out every day. There were never lines more than a couple people. We especially enjoyed eating breakfast outside on deck 8. We LOVED the nightly pizza and never went to bed without at least a slice (probably why I gained weight). the nightime buffet was open until 2 am and had more than pizza. Lunch seemed to have lots of choices. We usually chose salad. The prices for a bucket of beer was probably better than I can get in the states. A bucket of Blue Moon (5 beers) was $24 after tip. Seemed very fair.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

the water slides are tremendous. The pools were always busy. We always seemed to have something to do.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

the nightly shows were probably the best at sea. We missed the Broadway show night and now we are kicking ourselves. the crew had high energy and the bands were good.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

I thought everyone was very friendly and accomodating. Any time we asked a question people were willing to help. Everyone always said hi and smiled.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

What a beautiful ship. So many great places to hang out and look at the ocean. The cool designs of the ship such as the see through bridges, the jungle pool area, the sports courts, and the outside eating areas on deck 8, set this ship apart. The big flaw was the theater only holds 900 for a ship that holds 5000 passengers. Reserve your show seats early in the week by using the app so you wont miss out. The spa area is amazing. We spent about 15 minutes in the sauna with the Captain. He was a delight and really wanted to know what we though.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Our room steward - Mari - worked very hard for us. The cabin size very adequate for a cruise ship. There could be more shelf space, or maybe I should stop bringing as much. There is plenty of room for suitcases under the beds. The bathroom shower is small and the toilet could have been turned better. But we were always comfortable and made things work.

Ship tip

Book the week long spa pass online for a great savings and use the spa daily. You can also use the decks to layout attached to the spa and avoid the crowds.

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