MSC Seaside Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ship was beautiful, the food was good, the staff very pleasant.

The main reason to take this cruise, was to go to the Ocean Cay, (Private Island) of MSC cruise line. This is a really good place, with a beautiful beaches. We think, that is the only cruise, that stopover the night, at the beach port in a private island, and we really love it.

Very nice get away weekend cruise. MSC often offers great pricing and extras, which is excellent for families with child and value cruisers.

I liked it, great "bang for buck". MSC and it's clientel meshed unadultered and we had a good time. Doing research = saving money

I have been on multiple cruises in the US and Europe but I have never had such a horrible experience. We had never use MSC before, so I did my homework before we booked and read up on the company, including multiple reviews, which were generally good. Upon our embarkation we found our balcony state room to be poorly configured with the bed right at the closet. All of the storage for our personal items was in that closet and it was not easy to access. We had no washcloths or bar soap and no kleenex, but our steward did come by to introduce himself and he was able to get these for us. We began looking through the documentation and found it difficult to understand and there was no map of the ship to help us to orient. It was difficult to figure out how to use the phone to call the other members of our group to coordinate and the MSC for Me app that was supposed to help us connect using our smartphones with the onboard wifi hotspot didn’t work. The first real clue we had for what was in store was the totally chaotic and confusing muster drill. We were supposed to view the emergency video in our state room, which we did 4 or 5 times, then follow instructions to proceed to our muster station. The video said to wait for the signal then proceed to the station. They played a long shrill alert and we went to the door to the hall and asked what we needed to do. The people in the vests directed us down the stairs to the muster station, where we scanned our cards as directed and waited. Lots of others must have done the same as us because we were not alone. Turns out we were supposed to have waited until the captain directed us to go the the muster station. We were already there when he did. We were traveling with family. There were 9 of us. We had all tried to link our group together for the main dining through early online check-in and had enlisted the assistance of our travel agent. She told us she had difficulty with this, but thought she had it fixed. We discovered when we received our cruise cards that everyone was at the same table in the Seashore Restaurant at 7:30 except for us. We were scheduled at 9:30. I started by spending 20 minutes with my husband in the Guest Services line to correct this and to get connected to the onboard internet services we had paid for. When we got to the agent, he could fix either problem and sent us to stand in two more long lines. We decided to split up and I went to the restaurant, while he waited in the internet line. I stood in that line for 25 minutes and was told they couldn’t accommodate my request to be seated with our family until the next night. My husband had tried to call me to let me know they needed my phone to give him access to our stateroom internet account and he’d gone back to the room. I had to go to get him to do this and we waited in line one more time. Finally got the internet service on our phones, but we had to go through the complicated log-in process every time we stopped using if for an undefined length of time. We went to everyone’s state rooms to leave notes telling them we would just eat dinner in the buffet and they should just eat without us. Our in-laws had already gone to have cocktails at the bar before dinner, so they didn’t get the note. They wound up sitting at an 8 person table in the Seashore Restaurant by themselves. The others also opted for the Biscayne Bay buffet while we went to the Marketplace buffet. MSC did get the seating worked out beginning the next evening, but moved us to Ipanema. The food was good, but not anything special. The younger couples in our group tried the Sushi restaurant, which we opted out of because the ship had failed it sanitation inspection a couple of weeks before. They said the sushi was not very good. I could share more, but this is already too long. Needless to say I would not recommend MSC to anyone.

We had a great time. We started out at the wrong buffet, on 16instead of 8 , but it was still good. MDR food was ok, servers weren’t attentive, we gave it 3 chances, the table next to us arrived after we ordered and received their food before us every evening to the point that they noticed it as well. We received water after many requests. Food was cold,not lukewarm, cold with a film over it. But no issues with the bars, never waited more than 5 minutes. Because room had 3 in the cabin 3 drinks per order. Which made the line shorter instead of all 3 of us standing in line. Never seen the cabin steward, no biggie room was always cleaned. Island and ship both beautiful. We danced every night until the wee hours of the morning. Attended 3/4 shows wished we had skipped variety show. Peter Punk and moonwalker outstanding. Here’s what we agreed on RCL MDR is entertaining, MDR is efficient but dull you feel every minute even with great company. Don’t forget the water slides!!! Waited till the sea day to try. Would have loved more time. Vacation is what you make of it. We had a blast. Not perfect but what is?

For a first cruise, we liked it a lot. We were a bit intimidated by the size of the ship, but after a day, we were pretty comfortable. Did not like the Nassau excursion... felt like a local advertising campaign. VERY MUCH liked the Ocean Cay island... great experience. Don't try to swim on the north beach .. very rocky. Others were amazing! On and off was handled very nicely (unlike disembarking).

If you have cruised with other cruise lines then you will probably be disappointed in this cruise line. MSC does not compare to the others. They are going to have to double their cruise staff in order to compete.

Would not recommend MSC cruise line due to their customer service.

We will never use MSC again. A complete disappointment. We choice this cruise because it was shorter than what we generally cruise and we went to a place we were familiar with so comparing cruise lines were fair. MSC did not add up and we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Cruise was okay, food was mediocre in taste, quantity and selection. The ship is beautiful, but the automation(elevator and touchscreens for information) needs to improve.

Food: Quality and taste was below average. Not good if you have a diet restriction. Blend food and too much salt. Not good vegan options. Got fruits for desserts most of the time. They close part of the marketplace counters early. No soft-serve ice cream for ice cream lovers. Cleanliness: Not so great. I could smell smoke in my cabin most nights. Waterslides: Closed a few times because of technical issues. We were stuck halfway and had to push ourselves down on one of the slides. The water pressure was really low. Family-friendly: Not really (if you don't smoke)! The smoking area is sometimes in the middle of the deck, sometimes in the back of the deck. Not a single floor with a track where families can walk from the front to the back of the ship. Shows/Entertainment: You will like it if you like music. Other than that, no comedy show, no drama, or anything that kids may like. Customer support: Long lines as many guests had issues. They were not able to resolve my issues. If you get hurt, hard to find the basic medical box, bandages, etc. Customer support sent me to the bar, then the bar sent me to another bar, and so on.

Great Experience. Coming back to this ship Very clean very modern decor everything is clean and sparkling, Good Entertainment, Friendly staff, Food-Buffet so-so. Bakery fresh baked delicious goods throughout the day, Restaurant food in the evening excellent the best tender lamb I ever tasted. Coming back again and again.

We had a wonderful cruise. I would recommend the following: orange juice dispensers well displayed for breakfast; improve the hot dog quality ( cheeseburger was delicious); include a highly regarded fish as chefs choice.

It’s just the little things. Food, service, entertainment all were below standard. Don’t clean and vacuum during a busy sea day. Do that at night. Dodging vacuum cleaners was ridiculous. Have your wait staff be more efficient. They are working hard just seem under staffed and not friendly. Daily entertainment was terrible. Table tennis and arts and crafts. Really. Lesson learned. Carnival for fun. Princess for luxury.

The ship was beautiful, but that is where it ended. It was a cheap cruise and now we know why. It was our 10th cruise and we both couldn't wait for it to be over.

Cruise was short but great! I loved the ship, it's design and cleanliness are really great. Lots of features, never felt crowded even though the ship was pretty full!

The ship and private island are beautiful. Food was hit and miss and service tried hard just stretched too thin.

It's a new port for this ship so I'm guessing alot to work on. 3 hours to board ship. Buffet was always running out if food. Full ship. Long waits for everything. My room was very nice and comfortable. That's when I stayed alot. Staff did work hard but rude and didn't seem to be happy working there. It was a nice inexpensive cruise but I will spend more money on a different company to get better service and food which is one of the reasons I cruise in the first place

A mediocre cruise line. Service was lacking, food was forgettable.