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MSC Seaside Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 140

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
MSC Seaside

7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 25, 2019

Ship: MSC Seaside

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 12220

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

It was an experience but we won’t be sailing with MSC again, unless a lot changes.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Pretty standard boarding process, as compared to other cruise lines. The initial boarding is a little chaotic and disorienting, as they don’t really arrange the ship to receive guests. When you walk in the re is no real wow moment, as you are ushered around a cluster of tables in the atrium, like a fair. I really like the kiosks that were set up to link your card to your account, but it would be nice if this level of thought was put into the other guest services.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
Food was very bland on the buffets. We jokingly called the food display props since it looked pretty but the ham tasted just like the cake lol. Nothing had any flavor. And traffic flow was TERRIBLE in buffets. There were many times we had no where to sit and had to wait in insane lines to get this mediocre food. MDR was a bit better but selection was pretty limited and service was slow. Drink service was limited to one drink, so make sure you pick wisely, as you won’t see the bartender again. Bars were mostly all very slow and I was constantly having to contest drink charges on my unlimited drink package. I left several drinks sitting because they were horrible quality. I finally found one bar I really liked and those two bartenders were the only culinary highlight of the cruise. We had been excited about Venchi, but were pretty disappointed. It was very expensive and the drinks were just okay, not phenomenal, like they were priced. No good coffee available before about 8:30, which is ridiculous.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
The slides were awesome but the process to use them just meant more lines. They figured out how to shorten the line at the zip line but it was by charging $11 for each minute-long ride. Fitness center was small but decent. If you don’t go at opening time, you’ll be fighting for equipment. Hours aren’t terribly convenient for early risers. Spa doesn’t open until 9:00, so basically not usable without interfering with other activities. F1 simulator rarely worked, freezing up a lot. Bowling alley, while cool, was rarely open since it is above the dining room and guests don’t like the noise. Stupid design.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Phenomenal! The cirque-esque entertainment was top notch, but redundant. Almost every show was the same juggler, contortionist, magician, dancers, singers, arranged differently. The exception was the Michael Jackson tribute, which was awesome, and the show with the human juggler.

Children's Programs

2 out of 5
Inconsistent hours, rude staff, boring for the kids. I ended up spending the whole cruise entertaining my kids because they didn’t want to go to kids’ club, for the first time in 9 cruises. It wasn’t enjoyable for them, for the most part, so we had to make them go.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5
MSC has not figured out the service part. I had to talk to 5 different people during 3 trips to guest services before finally reaching the assistant bar manager to have a $15 drink charge dropped. Why did I have to waste all that time (at least 45 minutes each trip, due to lines at guest services) to fix their mistake? And why did that require a manager? Also, the room steward was the worst we’ve ever had. She rarely cane to the room, sometimes not until 10:30 pm. We had to steal toilet paper from carts, etc, because she never came to restock. I had to go ask for towels from other porters. One day she caught me in the hall and asked me to empty my trash before i went into port and bring her my dirty towels! She seemed to forget we were on vacation and paid a lot of money to be there.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Gorgeous, jaw-dropping ship. I prefer a formal MDR, as opposed to small single-story restaurants, but overall this ship is incredible. They were always cleaning, too.

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
We were in the so-called “Super Family Suite,” which was really just two small adjoining cabins, 12218 and 12220. One was standard 2-person smallish room with a small balcony. The other was supposed to have a bunk bed and sleep 4, but all it had was the regular bed and a pull-out, which took up all available floor space and the porter wouldn’t put up and down so we had to do ourselves (she wanted us to leave it up, but you literally had to crawl on it to get across the room if it was out). The 4 kids were VERY cramped, leading to lots of bad attitudes pretty quickly. No way this should be called a suite. Worst room on any cruise we’ve ever taken. Decor was bland and dated, too. It seems MSC spent their space and money on public areas.

Ship tip

There is NO PRIVACY on balconies since they face each other and the public areas are right below you, with transparent walls on the balconies.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
Chaotic, many delays. No customs? That concerns me.

Traveler Photos

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1 Comment

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

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