Amazing Experience!

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 67

Review summary

This was an absolutely amazing experience for myself and family. Just to give you a little background information, I am 31 years of age, my husband is 43 and we have children ages 10 (girl) and 4 (boy). My husband and I have been on seven previous cruises which were Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Sunshine, Caribbean Princess, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Escape and MSC Divina. We took our children along (this is their second cruise) as this was a Spring Break vacation for us. To start the MSC Seaside is immaculately beautiful. From outside to inside, every deck, every component, it is clean and in great condition as it should be since it is only 3 months old. :-) Embarkation was smooth and quick. No waiting in lines. Got on the ship in less than 15 minutes. Luggage was delivered in less than an hour. Muster drill was quick and lasted maybe seven minutes. Restaurants: We ate in the main dining room (Ipanema), five nights, the specialty restaurant, Butcher's Cut, one night, and the buffet once. The food in the main dining room was great! Very efficient with service. Our waiter Yogesh, was awesome, Table 709! Every request of ours was always accommodated. MDR food was so great that we found ourselves eating there for lunch (Seashore Main Dining Room) as well which is something we never do. There was a variety of choices to choose from on the menu as the menu was different for each of the five nights that we went. We had the beer and wine package and the kids had the soda, juice, etc package, and never had a problem with service as it relates to this package. Entertainment: Every single show was fantastic. They do not have live bands for their performances in the theater but the music provided was just as great. Acrobatics to hula hooping, to dancing, to opera...it was all great. Our favorite was the Michael Jackson show! They had this same show on the MSC Divina when we cruised last year but I think it was even more spectacular this time around. There was various entertainment throughout the ship such as different singers, musicians, etc that performed in the Atrium and other parts of the ship which were all really good. The sailaway party, the all white party and the snow party were all fun events to attend. Kids Club: Our children did not spend much time in the Kids Club but the time that they did spend, they truly enjoyed it and kept wanting to go back. They were provided wristbands to check in and check out and we had to present our cruise cards every time we checked them in or out as a security measure which I liked. Cabin: We had a Balcony cabin which was pretty small but we made it work. A lot of people complained about storage space but for 4 people, 3 large suitcases, and 2 smaller suitcases, it was not a hassle. We stored our larger bags underneath the bed. The closet had ample space and it also had three shelves and three drawers. Again for 4 people, we made it work with no problem. The balcony itself, seemed to be a bit bigger than the balconies that we have had on other ships, so that was a plus. Our configuration was a queen sized bed, which was comfortable and the bunks for the kids in which they thought were really comfortable as well. The bathroom shower is also pretty tiny which is the main reason why I gave the cabin component 4 stars. It will be really difficult for a larger sized person to fit. Their were several pools on board which seemed a little over crowded on sea days which is pretty typical. The kids really spent lots of time in the Jungle Pool area. The arcade area was also really neat. With the bowling alley, air hockey, virtual simulator, the interactive cinema, and two arcade games (motorcycle and race car). We bought a $100.00 Fun Pass and received $60.00 free so in total we had $160.00 to spend in the arcade. The interactive cinema is $10.00 per adult and $8.00 per child which I thought was pretty reasonable. The arcade games, air hockey, etc, was $1.50 per game. We did not participate in bowling so I am not quite sure about pricing there. Zip-lining was $5.00 per person for one time and $20.00 unlimited for the entire cabin and entire duration of the cruise. You could use your Fun Pass for Zip-Lining as well. Disembarkation: We elected to walk off with our luggage as we had a 9:42am flight that left out of Fort Lauderdale. We went down to the walk off deck which was on Deck 6 at about 6:40am. We were walking off the ship at 7:00am and into an Uber at 7:11am and at the FLL airport at 7:46am. Everything was soooo smooth. Not sure if this would be the case every time, but this time, all went perfect. Overall, it was a fantastic cruise. Great value for the amount of money that we paid which was under $2000.00 for all four of us. We have already booked for Spring Break next year and they have the Drinks On Us Promotion that we booked under where drinks are inclusive. If traveling with a family, as singles, couples, etc, there is room for all to enjoy! You will and should not be disappointed!!

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

Nassau, Bahamas

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Disembarkation

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