08/11/2023
This was written on a cruise page on Facebook by a guest who wanted to share their experience on MSC Seaside. Well written and very thoughtful assessment. Just sharing...
"We went on the MSC Seaside out of Port Canavaral
Arrival: We arrived at Port Canaveral Pier at 10:00 am, checked in and were sitting by 10:30, we boarded 15 minutes later. We dropped our luggage off and went to explore a little. The ship was very easy to navigate around, newer elevators where you press what floor on the outside and enter. I personally prefer to push the button in elevator. Walking in, we were amazed how clean and plush the hallways were. You almost sank into carpet it was so thick and plush. We saw stewards actually using cleaner and brush scrubbing them. They ask guests NOT to put food trays outside, if you have one, leave them in your room.
Rooms: We had a balcony; it was a little smaller on this ship than most Carnival rooms. The bathroom is extremely small. The toilet is really quiet, the shower is small, but has glass doors verses the curtain that hits you. The mini fridge gets much colder than others we have had. The balcony door is a slider, so there is no slamming of the doors from other cabins, very quiet. They have a light system that lets the room attendant know when you are gone, we would leave and shortly later our room was made up. We hardly saw our guy unless we needed something. They do service all day long; it is always done. Talking to our guy, he said the max rooms they get is 20 rooms, never more. How novel not overworking the staff. They all get off every port, even if only for a couple hours. Our guy came from Royal, said he would never go back.
Dining: Buffet, there were 2, on deck 16 it is pretty much Hamburgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, nachos, etc… Everything was good, Carnival Guys burgers are better, but other items were very good. MSC puts everything at stations going around, usually never more than 2-3 people in line in front of you. Then on deck 8, you had a much larger buffet. You had sandwich stations, pizza, salads, burger/hot dogs (fries were always hot), they get rid of cold ones unlike Carnival. They prepare all foods in front of you, not hiding in the back room. This deck also has hot foods like pork chops, pasta, etc… you also have a kid’s station with foods they like, we actually got stuff from there a couple times. For breakfast you can order an omelet, but they also have someone making omelets and fried eggs and putting them out on plate as they are ready. We always got fried eggs and hot toast (You toast yourself) with no waiting for them, plus there is bacon every day.
The dining room was nice, they have a daily menu with things like swordfish, shrimp, and special foods for port you are in. Then they have the classic menu which is things that are available every day. This is cruise food so there is nothing great about it to me, but we are good cooks so hard to find foods cooked as well as we think ours is.
Pools: the main pools were on deck 16, they get crowded like any other ship pools. But on deck 7 is the adult area. They are very active in keeping kids out of this area. The pool was hardly used. You can’t bring drinks into the pool, they must stay at your table, this also keeps the pools less crowded. Love it.
Shows: Singing shows were phenomenal, they were very professional, best shows we have seen. They do not have daily comedy shows, they had it twice in the main theater. They also had some variety shows which were good.
Drink Package: Much superior to other lines. We received the drink package and Wi-Fi free for our cruise, some others purchased it for $400 total for cabin. This is both for 1 device each person and unlimited drinks. There is no limit and there is no waiting 5 minutes. I went up once and got 3 drinks and a soda at the same time on my card. Once the bartender learns you, you do not even need to show card. The only thing with Wi-Fi is you can’t change devices; you register your one device and that is it. If you want a computer and phone, you need to purchase 2 devices.
Leaving at end of cruise: We self-carried our own bags, we left room at 7:25, we were off the ship and through customs and getting in Lyft by 8 am. Very smooth, no standing surrounded by group of people, lines moved really fast and efficient, other lines could learn a thing or 2.
Most important thing:
Staff: OMG, the staff were the best, no running to try and avoid people. Many used to work for other cruise lines and said they would never leave MSC. We talked to many staff, and all seemed to be happy. When you come back from a port, they have some of the staff lining a red carpet welcoming you back, dancing, talking having fun. When we were at the future cruise desk we were working with the manager when a ships officer came up, we talked with him for a while, he came from Royal also. He wanted to make sure we were having a good time, he also asked us what we thought about the ship’s layout since the ship is fairly new. We told him what we liked and what some of the other lines did better, when we said something about Royal that was better, he agreed and said he would bring it up with people above him. Asd we were leaving we told him he should date the Cruise manager, he laughed, and she blushed, it was cute.
We did not feel like they were nickel and diming us like Carnival seems to do a lot of now. With Carnival and Royal it has become all about the money, service is deteriorating, they better make some changes before they lose many others. We found many on our cruise that have changed over to MSC and some said they would not go back."
