Mother/Daughter Trip
MSC Seaside Cruise Review
4 Night Bahamas (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 13, 2023
Ship: MSC Seaside
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 11069
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 9 months ago
Review summary
This was my 1st time cruising MSC and overall I enjoyed my experience. Embarkation took about 25 minutes and we arrived at our assigned time. Our room was ready upon arrival and we stayed in an interior room on deck 11. The only complaint I had was lack of storage space. We never met our room steward this trip but I had left him a note and he followed up on all my request. The ship was absolutely beautiful and I love the many sitting areas and lounges. Deck 8 outside is fantastic for an escape from crowds. The ship did have a weird musty/mildew smell in many places but we did receive a good bit of rain on this sailing so that might have something to do with it. As far as food, we had no complaints on the quality but buffet selection got very monotonous. It did not really change from day to day. I did enjoy buffet option on 8 and 16 and the selection on deck 8 was extensive. The pizza and coffee were the best. I only went to the main dining room once and while food was good the service was SLOW from start to finish. Service overall all on this ship was comparable to service you get in many European countries. It is not over the top and a bit slower than Americans are used to. It is not a bad thing just different from service on the big 4 cruise lines. There are very few announcements throughout the cruise and you need to pay attention to time to return to ship as you are exiting ship. It did not match the app or paper schedule on several instances. MSC does deck parties well and they usually start pretty late at night. We had a blast dancing and the DJ plays a wide variety of music. We also enjoyed all the shows and the comedian was great. Make sure and make reservations on the app the night before. The private island was beautiful and my suggestion is if you got to sunrise beach make sure you have water shoes. Ouch!!!! My only complaint on the island is the buffet line was crazy long. We gave up and did the grab and go burgers and hot dogs. Express disembarkation was fairly easy. The line snaked all over the deck but it moved fast and we were off in about 15 minutes. Many people complain about MSC and I can understand how cruisers loyal to other lines and going in with those expectations could be disappointed. It is a very European experience as reflected in the service, food, and onboard activities. I appreciated a different cruise experience and was able to find the positives. I will cruise MSC again and have one in November on a different ship.Embarkation
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Ship tip
Book shows as soon as they become available when you board. Also, you have to really pay attention to what is going on. There are very few announcements especially when it comes to ship being cleared and being able to get off. Pay attention to signs as you disembark for back on ship time. They don’t match app or the paper schedule.
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