Never Again on MSC
MSC Seaside Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 45
7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 11, 2019
Ship: MSC Seaside
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 13073
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
I will never again sail on MSC. The hours of operation for the pools was very inconvenient. The food was very underwhelming. Although most of the staff was great, they were overshadowed by the treatment we got from management at the end of the cruise.Embarkation
For the most part, it was pretty painless. I feel like there should be a place for shade and rest, maybe offer some water, since some people wait hours before able to get inside. The only shelter available is the restaurant across the street
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Main dining took forever- and food was just ok, menu didn't vary much from day to day. They did theme nights (like Italian night) but offered little cuisine that was associated with themes. It was disappointing.
Specialty Dining- N/A
Buffets- Extremely disappointed with the buffets. Same bland food offered everyday, except for 1 station. I will not even look at a cheeseburger or fries for at least a month due to settling for that daily on the ship. The other thing annoying about the buffets, we're the hours. The smaller buffet was rarely open, but that was the one with the free ice cream, which of course my 9 year old wanted. Why wouldn't that station be at the larger buffet that's open more often? The big buffet was blocked off with only 2 open stations way to often. 7000 people all eat at varying times, ended up with burgers, fries and pizza daiky, 2 or 3 times a day since that was all that was open when we'd head to the buffet for food.
Onboard Activities
Pool had awful open hours. Closing at 8 or earlier when they felt like it. Kids water park was NEVER open. My 9 yr old never got to use it once. All the other pools just drop to 5 ft depth, no shallow end, so if your kid can't swim yet, they're awful. My kiddo can swim but my friends kid can't yet, it was very inconvenient for them. The pool open the latest (10pm) has a bar that closes at 6pm. How inconvenient that they expect you to pack all your stuff up, drag kids from the pool, to hunt down refreshments elsewhere on the ship. The one pool had a sign saying 16 and under need to be accompanied by an adult...3 adults and a 9 yr old who was tired and sun burned. She was just sitting on the side, no splashing, or commotion at al, they kicked us out saying it was adults only, when we pointed to the sign, we were told "the sign is irrelevant"
If you're going to offer private parties- have areas made just for private parties..dont close down 2 or 3 rooms that are supposed to be part of your advertised cruising experience. This also happened every single day. 5D theatre has awful hours, most days only open in until noon or 1, then closing all day, reopening at 10 or 10:30pm. Why close it for the larger portion of the day?? It should be open much more odten. I bought the "fun package" didn't use $96 of it....u do not get reimbursed for this...you lose it if you don't use it, but the hours available to use the few things the fun pkg Include are pretty much a joke. I tried hard to use up all of it but kept running into things being closed all the time.
Entertainment
The stage shows were good just very short. They had great staff. Very friendly. Music was a little to loud sometimes, made it hard to talk to others. The 70's flower party was hands down the best night for entertainment on board. Kiddos as well as adults could participate and it was very very fun.
Children's Programs
Clubs was ok, only used it once, no complaints. This was a terrible cruise for kids though. Pools always closed or unavailable to them. Kids water park never open. Free ice cream barely available. Fun pass activities rarely open. My kid did most of her swimming on the islands, as the pools had terrible open hours. If you have kids 5 and under, swimming options are pretty much zero.
Service and Staff
The entertainment, room stewards, and 98% of the bar and restaurant staff were awesome! However in dealing with management at the end of the cruise regarding our disappointment over the issues we had during our stay, we were called liars and we're treated as though we were just looking for free things. No apologies at all. Just them accusing us of lying about everything. Really ruined the whole ship experience for us. Many people were in line on the last day to complain, we were not the only ones.
Ship Quality
The ship was beautiful. Absolutely stunning boat. Public bathrooms needed more attention though, they were pretty gross. Most everything is located at one end of the ship, kinda feel like food should be offered at both ends, as in one buffet on each side.
Cabin / Stateroom
Room had an odor that they did try to fix by recleaning the bathroom and gave me a air freshener. Buy the odor was still there throughout the trip. Room was comfortable size and kept clean very well, was disappointed to see the mess behind the mini fridge on my last night aboard. Had to use a hanger to get my kids goggles out and was pretty grossed out by the amount of stuff back there...including food....
Ship tip
Enjoy your island experience because your ship experience will not be the highlight of your trip. And arrive very early for shows since seating in the theatre is very limited.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
No excursion, had to take a taxi to get to a nicer part of the island. Where we ported was very industrial and not very inviting.
Stunning. Beautiful. Although the vendors were pushiest on this island, so prepare for that.
Disembarkation
Except for having to return to guest services to close out my account that I had already closed the night before it was fine.