Exceeded expectations of MSC!
MSC Seaside Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 18
7 Night Western Caribbean & Bahamas (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 11, 2023
Ship: MSC Seaside
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9009
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
Overall we had a great time and would recommend both MSC and the Seaside to prospective travelers. We read a lot of horror stories from earlier this year and were glad to find them non-applicable to our experience. It's clear the Seaside crew have learned a lot and have responded to the issues as we had a very clean ship with a very attentive crew. Definitely would cruise MSC again.Embarkation
We had read some horror stories of embarkation with MSC and were bracing for the worst but were pleasantly surprised. The whole process was efficient and it took about 30 minutes from arrival at port to step foot aboard the ship. One thing to note is ignore the arrival times MSC provides you, they mean nothing and are not referenced or used during check-in at all. We were onboard the ship 4 hours before our supposed arrival time!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The main dining room was generally very good. We ate at it each of our 7 nights and had probably 5-6 overall really great meals as the consensus at our 4 person table. The one area that was consistently not great was the steaks, but everything else was generally at least decent and often very good, especially for cruise food.
The buffet selection was fairly large with a few stations rotating daily while most were static. Overall the food was passable but nothing special, which is pretty much how I feel about buffets pretty much anywhere. We heard a lot about how great MSC pizza was - and it was quite good but probably overhyped just because it's so much better than other cruise ship pizza which is surely terrible.
Onboard Activities
The activities were generally good, although the pool table (there is only one) was "broken" for the entire trip and we also encountered an issue with the bowling that allowed our group to only play for 10 of our 30 minutes. Thankfully we were offered a refund, but since slots filled up fast we never got to return to bowling.
Most of the best stuff to do (bowling, 4D theatre, F1 sim, zipline, even air hockey) all cost extra, either via the fun pass which has limitations or per session. The pricing felt a little high, for example ~4 minutes in the F1 simulator runs 12 bucks and the bowling is a dollar per minute. But pricing aside the activities were pretty fun and the F1 simulator is unlike anything you'll experience on other cruises and very cool if you are into that kind of thing.
There were 3 general use pools, with one being a psuedo-dedicated kids space with a retractable roof. The pools were nice although crowded. There was ample seating and deck chairs, although the shaded ones filled up fast. There were also whirlpool tubs scattered throughout the upper decks, with some in fairly secluded areas that if you located could allow you to have a less crowded experience.
The casino is small but well equipped, with more than enough tables to comfortably seat those looking for table games. As a new and casual blackjack player I found most of the dealers to be friendly and helpful, and the passengers at the tables were all great.
Entertainment
There was one stage show per tonight, running in 3 separate time slots. The shows were mostly musical in nature, with a tribute to Michael Jackson, a general tribute to rock music, and a Michael-buble esque show making up three of the nights. Two of the nights were taken up by "Anthem and Aria" who are...strange. It's ostensibly a magic show but with a lot of silly make believe mind reading and such thrown in. Would have strongly preferred just a normal magic show. Lastly the best show BY FAR was "Peter Punk" which was again a musical reimagining of Peter Pan but set apart by having a ton of acrobatic and aerobatic acts which were really truly fantastic and earned multiple standing ovations - mid show!
I wish more of the shows could have been like Peter Punk, but unfortunately that was really the only show worth positively reviewing.
Otherwise music was everywhere on the ships and while we didn't really partake in much of it we did overhear some generally talented musicians and it seemed as though people enjoyed them. We didn't take part in any of the parties, but those that did seemed to really go all in.
Children's Programs
Our group did not travel with any children
Service and Staff
Everyone we interacted with was great. It often seemed like any time we stepped out of our room even for 20 minutes we'd come back to a turned down bed and fresh towels. Whenever we needed anything they were quick to respond and were always kind in greetings in the halls and such.
The staff in the main dining room were especially great, and our main waiter Panarta was fantastic. He had a great dry sense of humor and as we all got more comfortable together he started to play some practical jokes with the table and delivered some deadpan humor. He also made solid recommendations for what was good and even in one or two cases warned us of dishes that the earlier seatings had widely panned. Panarta was a real highlight of the trip.
Ship Quality
The ship was gorgeous and well maintained. It seemed like it was always being cleaned and we encountered no issues with dirtiness or trash.
The layout was fine. Without a ton of modern cruise ship experience it is hard to compare but by the second or third day we knew how to get pretty much everywhere we cared to go. Most of the food and entertainment inside the ship is centrally located to be close to the main elevator and stairwell banks. There were a few floors that were frustrating as they did not allow you to pass through them, so you'd sometimes have to go up or down a floor in order to move further along the length of the ship then return back to the floor you wanted.
Even after a week I'm sure there are areas of the ship we missed, but feel confident we got the majority of it.
Cabin / Stateroom
Overall the room was spacious with a good sized bed, couch, desk, and large mirror. There was a closet sufficient for storing most of our clothes as well as a working safe. The bathroom was small. As a 5'11" male I wouldn't say the toilet was super comfortable to sit on as I did not have the legroom to sit straight due to the sink and had to sit a bit crooked, but it worked. The shower is small also, I'm sure this is typical of cruise ships. You wouldn't be able to fit two adults, no matter how small, in there comfortably. I imagine for certain body types it would be a pretty unpleasant experience, but I found it fine.
Our balcony had a bit of an obstructed view (our fault for booking the cheapest itinerary possible) which basically meant we were near the front and had a bit of the ships hull obstructing the view down and below us was a storage area of the deck which included a spare propeller - which I thought was kind of cool but might not be everyone's cup of tea. Nevertheless there was still plenty of ocean/land to see from the balcony and we enjoyed it.
Ship tip
Ignore your printed embarkation time and show up early
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
The terminal felt a little small for how many people were there and also there were TV boards all over the place that could have had useful information (like the current boarding groups) but instead were all shut off. That made the boarding process a bit confusing as with so many people it was hard to hear the PA system so you had to just keep asking what group was up.
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas
MSC's private island is a beautiful tropical paradise. While it is lacking in the crazy attractions some other lines islands have it instead just doubles down on the natural beauty of the Bahamas and offers a number of picturesque beaches, a lagoon, free food, and just a very relaxing atmosphere. Our itinerary had two days here and they were two fantastic days full of sun and surf.
The port itself is owned and operated by a conglomerate of cruise lines so it is designed to be a tourist trap - and it is. We booked a tour from a private, locally owned company that went to the Mayan Ruins and the 7 Colors Lagoon and that was a great experience. We didn't spend much time in the port itself, other than to get a snack on our way back to the ship. It was a neat area, they had a small aviary and a pool with swim up food/bar...but mostly you're going to Costa Maya for the excursions.
Cozumel has changed a lot since I last visited 20 years ago, but for the better. We spent the day at a private beach resort (Nachi Cocom) which was fantastic but also out of the scope of this review. Cozumel itself still has a lot of the tourist trapping malls and gift shops and false authentic restaurants, but it has a certain charm. Most importantly gone are the days of the sketchy cabs, as all the cabs are regulated and centrally managed with pricing now zone-based and flat rated within each zone so you don't have to worry about haggling or getting ripped off.
Disembarkation
Easy. We choose to carry our own bags. They ask you to be out of your room by 8am (and seemed to be enforcing that, at least in our hallway) but we got up early and hit the buffet and then left our room with our bags at 8. It took like 20 minutes to get off the ship and another 5-10 to get through the immigration lines in the terminal.