MSC Seaside is One of a Kind
MSC Seaside Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 12
Helpful Votes: 423
7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 14, 2018
Ship: MSC Seaside
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 12123
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
A ship worth exploring. It’s ‘sea’ focused. You know you’re on the water because you can see the sea from just about everywhere. The outside public areas are awesome. The crystal staircases are stunning. Just be prepared for the main dining room’s rigid seating times. And do try the pizza!Embarkation
Very easy boarding process. They don’t process your credit card in the terminal. You do it yourself onboard at special kiosks. Big tip is there is a kiosk in the casino on deck 7 where you won’t find a long line. The kiosk near guest services will be much busier
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The seafood speciality restaurant is incredible. Food, service, and decor. Go for lunch on a sea day to enjoy the stunning view. There are two buffets. The larger one is on deck eight and the smaller one on deck 16. Food is comparable to all other lines buffets with one exception. The pizza is amazing and available all the time. Try the breakfast pizza. The outside seating is much more pleasant than inside which can be very noisy. Access to drinks is very easy and quick. Main dining room food is fine, service is good. It feels crowded. They have more seating for two than most ships. They ARE RIGID ABOUT ARRIVING ON TIME. Your dining time on your seapass is in 24 hour clock format. Be sure you look carefully as it may not be easy to see. Early seating was way too early!
Onboard Activities
There were many options. You won’t be bored. We enjoyed the trivia on this ship more than most. It was well run. No teams over 4 people seemed to make it feel more fair and even. They prizes were very nice. We won twice and received visors and coffee travel mugs.
Entertainment
Shows were good and only last about 30 to 40 minutes. The singers were talented. The cruise director
Steven is now my favorite. Just the right amount of humor and he also sings. Some people feel the shows are too similar to each other. They include acrobats, singers and dancers. We most liked the one that featured Frank Sinatra music. The shows repeat three times, but only on one day. If you miss Tuesday’s show, it won’t come around again. The shows are at three times and work with all the dining options. You need to reserve since the theater is very small. I think it has 900 seats. Use the MSC and Me ap or you TV to reserve once you’re on board and know your dining time.
Service and Staff
I’ve read reviews where people felt the staff was rude and unresponsive, but we had excellent service in every venue. Our cabin steward was efficient and helpful. We had one experience with guest services and found them very helpful. The most ‘rigid’ service comes from the main dining room door managers. They are not flexible. Pleasant, but rigid. Bar service was super.
Ship Quality
The ship’s design is innovative and spectacular. It’s just flat out gorgeous. Because it’s so different, it took awhile to figure out where things were. Big tip - find the glass elevators in the very back of the ship. View is incredible and they are never busy. We did see some public areas where passengers left trash and it took a bit for it to get picked up - however, the passengers were at fault. MSC keeps very clean ships.
Cabin / Stateroom
Storage space is very limited and the closet is small. There are two drawers - they are however very roomy. The nightstand cubbies have a ‘lip’ which is nice to keep stowed items in place. They are deep and useful. We bring pants hangers and with our hangers there were plenty for two. Keep in mind the closet space is about half of normal. One side has double (high and low) hanging space. It worked for us since one of us is short and could use the lower bar. Safe is not big enough for iPads or larger jewelry cases. We took magnetic hooks and they work well for caps and bags. Beds were comfortable. No coffee table or balcony table, but it gives you more useable cabin space. Bathroom is just fine, but no real counter space and not much stowage either. Just come prepared
Ship tip
If you’re a frequent cruiser with status on another line, be sure to take advantage of MSC’s status match. We are diamond Plus and Royal and MSC put us in their top tier of their program. Their perks are much better than our ‘home’ line. Do this as soon as you decide to take an MSC cruise!
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Ports of call
Sail Away is always pretty here, but I personally don’t like driving into Miami for a cruise.
They are making a great recovery from Irma. Most shops and restaurants are open again. We toured to see how the interior was doing. Marigot is not as far along as Philipsburg. It’s a friendly island and the people are great. Only current negative is that the road into the port is still one lane and traffic is very, very heavy. If you plan to tour on your own or use a cab be very early returning to the ship. Our ship excursion returned 20 minutes after the ship was supposed to sail (not on board time) They waited for the excursion, they won’t be there if your private driver gets caught in traffic.
San Juan is open for business. The old town area is busy and bustling. We toured to see how the recovery was coming along. More obvious damage once you are away from the port. We were in the middle of our tour when the entire island lost power for a 24 hour period. Things are still difficult there. Highly recommend the tour to Caugus ( i think that’s how. It’s spelled) for the Sangria tasting. Los Hermonos is the locally owned Sangria provider. They have a cute tasting room. We were served four large wine glasses of different flavored Sangrias along with ‘appetizers’. Not your typical walk up get a plastic tiny tumbler of a beverage tasting. This was comparable to a separate fee wine tasting, but included with the tour. A very nice surprise.
Didn’t tour. Just walked around. We’ve found a plaza (next to Senor Frogs) where local artisans with tourist bureau credentials sell handmade items. They are delightful and have nice and inexpensive items. We like supporting them. And we avoid the Straw Market! There’s a restaurant there as well where we try a local beer before heading back to the ship.
Disembarkation
Fast and efficient. You do need to vacate the cabin by. 7:45. Buffets were very busy, but again if you find a table outside it’s not as chaotic. Pack your patience for this part of the cruise. Our assigned waiting area was the casino which was different, but we could see the colors called board and they had an employee keeping us up to date. We waited less than 30 minutes after having breakfast.
Traveler Photos
