Great trip

Item: MSC Seaside
Rating: 4.4
Author: tombstone150726

MSC Seaside Cruise Review

tombstone150726

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 9

Helpful Votes: 50

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 26, 2019

Ship: MSC Seaside

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Cruise was good but they need to really improve a lot to get me to go on another cruise with them.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Fast with little wait time

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The food was ok. The buffet are small and they really need to step it up. Lots of repeat items with no real variety. They cater more to the European pallet than the American pallet. Ate at butcher cut one night and it was not the best experience I have ever had at a specialty dining. Steaks were under cooked and not just at our table of 16 but saw a lot of food going back. If you have food coming back there is a problem. Only offered to give us a bottle of wine or put our steaks back on the grill which then dried them out.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Pools are a little crowded but that’s the way it is on most cruise lines. The theme parties start way too late 1100 pm for some and go long into the early morning. Would have ben better to start a little more early and would of had a better turn out. Also wasn’t a fan of the music being played at pools. They need a little more adults only area.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

The staff was awesome. There is some areas where they need lots of improvement. South beach bar is very slow service.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Did not care for the design of the ship. Very choppy with no go straight through areas. Go up one and down one at certain areas to get to where you want to go.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

If you are used to other cruise lines you will appreciate them more after being on MSC. We sail mostly on NCL and really missed the layout of their ships and adult areas they offer as well as the food they offer. Over all a good cruise but if I have my choice I would stick to NCL or RCL. Price for cruise was good but they really need to step it up if they want to capture the American market.

Thumbs up

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

3 Comments

pccrossman 5 years ago

I've only been on 1 MSC cruise...the seaside back in February. I'm booked on the Meraviglia this january though. In february, we did a balcony room with the bella experience....cheapest as we are not interested in spending hours in the gym with an instructor or hours in the spa. We like to be outside. We did however, purchase the premium plus drink package with allows you to drink any alcohol on the ship (full bottles of wine being the exception but they are 30% off). For us, that was the way to go. We do not enjoy cheap liquor and wanted the freedom to have any liquor we wanted, as well as free room service and rooms mini bar free of charge. Its definitely an upcharge but we found it well worth it when you realize some of the liquor you are drinking would normally cost you $25 per shot. We loved our MSC cruise which is why we are doing another. One thing I was surprised at though, is many of the europeans we encountered on the ship were uch more rude than I expected...pushing their way through a buffet line or stepping in front of you at the bar.

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tombstone150726 5 years ago

We had a fantastic balcony it wasn’t a bad cruise just wouldn’t sail with them again

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NJCruiseGuy 5 years ago

Which level did you purchase? It seems many purchase the cheapest option and are expecting the same services / amenities that they receive on other cruise lines whose base fare is 50%-100% more than MSC. Those that seem happy with MSC appear to purchase the higher level options.

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