I came back from my stay aboard the MSC Seaside, a technology-driven cruise ship for sailing around the Caribbean, in an attempt to penetrate the North American cruise ship market. MSC is a European cruise line, and the company is hoping to bring some European influence to North America through the MSC Seaside, the first MSC ship built specifically for sailing around North America. We sailed with the Bella experience, which is the basic package for sailing on the ship. You can upgrade your package for a fee.
Embarkation:
The embarkation process from the terminal in the Port of Miami to the ship felt chaotic, due to the amount of people that had to be checked-in. Because of this, numerous MSC employees were there to guide guests through the embarkation process in a quick and efficient manner.
Rating: 5/10
Room:
We stayed in a room with a balcony. The room itself was small (because we were on a cruise ship), but tastefully furnished. The bathroom was small but manageable as well, with the shower being abnormally large for a cruise ship. Flushing the toilet sounded like a nuclear bomb went off, and it will wake up other guests staying in your room. The single beds were too small for me, but the mattress was comfortable to sleep on. The rest of the room had a sofa that could fold out into an extra bed, as well as a makeup area, TV, and a mini fridge (which you had to pay to use if you did not upgrade your package). The balcony offered an amazing view outside the ship. There was not enough storage in the room for all our clothes, even when we put our suitcases under the beds.
Rating: 5/10
Bonus Video: Room Tour
Food:
There are multiple places to get food on the MSC Seaside. The main place to get food is the buffet restaurant, which offered a lot of variety on the kind of food to get with various ethnic influences. However, most of the food was merely edible. Most of the food tasted bland, and lacked the taste to excite the taste buds. The best food I had on the ship was the cheese pizza, and that is telling on the quality of the food on the ship.
There is also the sit-down dinner at our pre-determined dinnertime. You have to show up at your prescribed dinnertime or else the dinner staff will not let you into the restaurant. The quality of the food at the sit-down dinner was generally worse than the buffet, which is astounding. Some of the food looked and tasted like something you put into a microwave to heat up. You would think that for a sit-down dinner, you would think that the food would be better than the food served at the buffet, but on most occasions, the food was worse.
You can also book dinner reservations at one of the handful of specialty restaurants on the ship, at an extra cost, of course. I did not go to any of the specialty restaurants for dinner during my time on the ship.
I was disappointed to hear that the buffet restaurant closes at 1AM, which is problematic for the crowd who like to stay up until the wee hours of the night. MSC need to keep the buffet restaurant open until at least 2AM or 3AM for this crowd.
Overall, the quality of the food on the MSC Seaside did not live up to my expectations.
Ratings:
Buffet: 4/10
Sit-Down Dinner: 3/10
Shops:
The MSC Seaside offers a variety of shopping from MSC-branded souvenirs, to high-end jewelry and accessories, as well as other duty-free shopping. The shops regularly offer deals on various items throughout the duration of the ship's voyage.
Pools/Water Park:
The MSC Seaside has several pools for guests to go enjoy a dip, but the pools are small and busy, especially on days at sea. The pools are also either too shallow or too deep, which was odd. There are also large amounts of deck chairs on the exterior of the ship for guests to relax and sunbathe. Around the pools are hot tubs, which was relaxing to sit in, but also busy with other guests.
The MSC Seaside also offers a water park on the ship. There is an area for children to splash around and swim, which was nice. There are also water slides that guests can go on, which are a lot of fun as well. I was impressed at the well-crafted water park.
Ratings:
Pools/Hot Tubs: 6.5/10
Water Slides: 7.5/10
Entertainment/Things to Do:
Between the places and bars to go check out on the ship, and the events that the entertainment staff organize, there is no shortage of things to do and there is something for everyone.
The MSC Seaside offers shows at the theater every night. Most of the shows felt like it catered more to a European audience, with the shows centering around Broadway singing, dancing, and circus-style acrobatics. Most of the shows were not my cup of tea, but I could see the theater shows be entertaining for older guests. In addition, there was indeed a Michael Jackson show, and it was a blast as always. I wish there was more variety in the content of the theater shows.
There is also a small casino on Deck 7 of the ship that offers slots, table games, and other kinds of gaming. The casino was a good place to hang out and spend some entertainment money, and there was a 360-degree bar on the casino premises as well. I should also note that the casino allows smoking, so the casino did smell funny, whether you were spending time in the casino, or just passing through.
There are a multitude of bars and lounges on the ship to go for a drink, and each bar offered something a little different, whether it was the decor, or in the drink selection. There is a champagne bar on Deck 7 that specifically offers champagne. The sports bar on Deck 8 offered a selection of different beers from around the world. The chocolate bar on Deck 6 had specialty chocolates, hot beverages, and a chocolate martini. It was interesting to check out all the bars to see what was different about all of them.
Ratings:
Theater Shows: 6/10
Casino: 6.5/10
Bars/Lounges: 6.5/10
Onboard Activities:
The MSC entertainment staff were always holding events all over the ship for everyone to take part in. There were always dance classes for all kinds of dance styles, and there were specific areas for kids and teens to go have fun. There was a sports area at the top of the ship for basketball and soccer, as well as various areas for table soccer, table tennis, bowling, a 5D cinema, and more. Other events that were going on include karaoke, musical performances, and comedy shows, to name a few.
Rating: 7/10
Nightlife:
The room that is designated as the night club spot is the Garage Club on Deck 7, which is a room that is furnished like an old 50s mechanic shop. There is also the exterior area around the South Beach Bar on Deck 7 where people go out to smoke, and there is a DJ area. The Haven Lounge also on Deck 7 is an area to relax and enjoy musical performances. The DJs play music that cater to everyone on the ship, including hip-hop, reggae, soca, and Latin music.
Rating: 6/10
Service:
There needs to be an improvement on the service from the MSC cruise staff. I got the general feeling that most of the staff on board were simply here for the paycheck, and only a few staff (the room service and some bar staff) went beyond to ensure your stay on the MSC Seaside was a pleasurable one. Speaking to some staff revealed that they only get paid a small stipend a month, so it can be argued that MSC should be paying their cruise ship workers a bit more in order for their staff to work harder and not rely as much on tips from guests.
We have had bad experiences with our waiter for the sit-down dinners. He would take away our food when we were not finished eating, mix up our orders, and generally be rude to us. He made our sit-down dinner experience worse for us.
Rating: 4/10
Internet:
MSC Seaside offers satellite Wi-Fi access, but the access is obscenely expensive. I would avoid purchasing Wi-Fi access on the ship.
Other Notes:
- MSC and the cruise staff sure love to engage in predatory pricing practices. It seems like whatever you do on the ship, MSC find ways to try to take money from you. For example, if you do not purchase an upgraded drink package, drinks that you order that is already on your easy drink package incur a 15% gratuity on your account. Either the MSC cruise staff do not tell you about service fees charged to your account, or the details of fees are in the fine print, which most guests will not read. There was a hidden charge to our room because the staff took photos of us before we embarked on the ship, and we had to go down to Guest Services on Deck 5 to get the photos refunded. Whether you purchase a package, or incur service fees and gratuities for every order, MSC is blatantly trying to squeeze cruise guests of as much money as possible. This is a huge problem.
- Further to that point above, sailing on the MSC Seaside is significantly cheaper than sailing on other cruise lines, and it does feel like you are getting what you are paying for in terms of the overall quality of the MSC experience.
- The Bridge of Sighs on Deck 18 at the back of the ship offers breathtaking views and is a great place to take pictures and videos.
- Definitely download the MSC For Me app before you embark on your cruise. You are able to book theater shows, view all the events going on in the day, and check out other information including billing, and a map of the ship.
- The MSC Seaside has spa services, but if you do not have the appropriate package, you will have to pay an arm and a leg to use the spa.
Final Verdict:
While the MSC Seaside does a satisfactory job of keeping guests entertained, the ship fails to make guests feel welcome and comfortable, which is much more important in the end. I can manage with sub-par food and a slightly uncomfortable room. However, the unsatisfactory service and the feeling that MSC keep trying to make money off their guests while on the ship are deal-breakers for me. I do not recommend sailing on the MSC Seaside for anyone looking to go on a cruise, even at a reduced price point, as MSC will try to recoup as much money from ship guests as possible. In fact, I will not sail on an MSC Cruise again because of my experience on the MSC Seaside.
Final Rating: 4/10
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