Thoroughly enjoyed the ship. Lots of passengers. 5000 to be exact. We were in a balcony cabin on deck 9 which was just above all of the restaurants, shops, bars, casinos, etc. It was a great location. As I said in my title, overall, this was a very nice experience with MSC and the Seaside however, since this is my 15th cruise, I did have a few complaints. As an avid walker for exercise, we couldn't find one deck on the ship that went 360° around the ship. That has always been one of my favorite things to do during cruises. We ended up spending four of seven days in the gym and that worked out well. The main buffet on the eighth level, overall, was very good. The food was average but what do you expect on a buffet. Everything was divided into categories so it made it very easy for you to find what you wanted. The dinners in the main dining room were good. Not great but, once again, what can you expect when they're serving 1000 people at once. We did have dinner one night at their steak specialty restaurant and that was very good. The overall service on the ship was also very good. The woman who took care of our cabin was great. The woman who took care of our wine and drink orders during dinner was fabulous. Our waiter was average at best. Purchasing the drink package was one of the smartest things we could of done. There's nothing nicer than enjoying your favorite alcoholic beverage and only being charged a 15% service fee. We drank the whole week and probably spent less than $60. The embarkation process was okay but took a long time. From the time we arrived at the port to the time we got on the ship was about 90 minutes. The disembarkation was amazing. From the time we left our room to the time we got in a cab was barely 20 minutes. Such a breeze. Shore excursions were pretty typical. We took a very nice walking tour through San Juan Puerto Rico. We did a sailing/snorkeling trip in St. Thomas. We did a city tour by bus in Nassau. If you are planning on snorkeling in any of the locations on this cruise, be forewarned that there is very little coral left. Everything was gray and ashen. Lots of damage was done due to the most recent hurricane and the change in water temperature is killing coral all over the world. Read Less

I chose this cruise because I've been on 17 Carnival cruises and I started feeling the cutbacks they've been making over the years. MSC matches your status with other cruiselines so I thought I'd have nothing to lose. I went on the Seaside which is a fairly new ship and I thought it was beautiful, no bright flashy colors just nice neutral colors. The ship just sparkled the staircases we're so pretty! It's definitely not a party ship which is ok with me but it has plenty to do. There is a Zipline, pool table, bowling, air hockey, slides at the pool. I thought the shows we're better than Carnivals, Ive heard people say there's a lot of opera but that's not true, maybe one but I didn't go to that one. They have interactive boards all over the ship mostly near the elevators where you can check out what shows you want to go to and make reservations for them. The Michael show ( Michael Jackson) was outstanding! The one thing I didn't like about it and it didn't have anything to do with the cruise itself was that you had to change the time on your watch once on I believe the second day then again back the day before we got back home. I've always stayed on ship time and I thought that was really confusing and needless really. All in all it was a great cruise and a good change. Read Less

The ship is beautiful, but that's about it. Don't be lured by the pretty pictures and attractive pricing. The only way I would ever sail on this ship again is if it's sold to either Norwegian or RCI. The staff are all either rude, incompetent, or just plain stupid. It's like they have had ZERO training. The buffet is a complete nightmare with no order or directions. The other guests (approximately 70% Italian) will just push their way in anywhere. They bump into you and don't even acknowledge it, let alone apologize. We bought the drink package, but it was only good for draft beers for us. My wife drinks Captain Morgan, but this is considered a 'premium' liquor so it cost $9/drink. No- they don't just charge the difference in price- they charge $9. The food in the main dining room was embarrassingly bad. It was pure slop and served by the most dismissive staff I have ever encountered. The food in the premium restaurant was good- but guess what? Everything costs extra there as well. The only steaks included in the dining package are an 8oz filet or a sirloin. Sirloin. When's the last time you saw that on a menu? The ribeye was great, but cost $48. Avoid MSC at all costs. If you have already booked, I would cancel. Otherwise you will be sorely disappointed. Read Less

Context: this is our 23rd cruise, and we've been on almost all the medium priced carriers. Given that MSC is fairly new to the American market, we were all kind of excited in anticipation of sailing with them. We had read a number of reviews here and were struck with just about everyone exclaiming how much they appreciated the modern look of the ship and how clean and elegant it seemed to be. That turned out to be true. Where we were really disappointed in how they took care of their over 5000 guests on board ,the entertainment, and the food. They clearly didn't have enough elevators, as we were constantly waiting for a car and when one finally arrived, it would rbe completely packed with people. As to the entertainment, it was hard to understand why on Earth they would have all the acts that they did every night, doing the same things. The costuming was wonderful but these acts just made no sense relative to a night's theme: acrobats, strong men, silk twirler, hoop twirlers jugglers. ballroom dancers every night they would be onstage during the same act and we could never figure out why or what they had to do with the theme of the show. The food was a whole different issue. The buffets serve the same food day in and day out and that got very boring. But normally you can go to the diningroom and count on at least something that would be a decent meal. Almost every night the entrees were bland and uninteresting, and had very little taste and were cooked incorrectly, either way overdone or under cooked and always cold. They also would close down the buffets at odd hours in the middle of the day, when you would think would be prime time for people to eat. So we would go to one of the buffets mid afternoon and ffind half of the venue shut down or the entire thing closed. With more than 5000 people on board that was just incredibly annoying. Bottom line: MSE has a lot to learn about servicing the American market and we will never go back and sail with them again. A very disappointing experience. Read Less

I don't normally complain. We love cruising and being on the ocean. There was nothing absolutely horrible. Nothing great either. Service is slow and poor. Had to wait forever to be served at the bar, or flag down bar service who always seemed irritated to be asked. The main dining service was awesome. We had wonderful servers and was the highlight of each day. Julius in the seaside lounge bar was the only great, kind, friendly bartender. None of the shows were good, except the Michael Jackson show. Comedy was all vulgar improv. The food was fine, but the salad bar was literally lettuce and shredded carrots. We saw our cabin steward once. He never cleaned our shower or bathroom floor. It was nasty by day 7. This was our second msc cruise. Both have had a theme of poor service. Hoping they can use these reviews to improve in the future, as their ships are beautiful. Read Less

We chose a seven-day cruise on MSC Seaside for several reasons—new ship with groundbreaking design, relaxing itinerary, and excellent price. My husband and I have done 52 cruises on various lines, so we’re experienced cruisers. We found the ship to be gorgeous—very “glitzy” finish. MSC Seaside was also very well kept; public areas were very clean, and our cabin steward did an excellent job. We booked the Fantastica package, which included 12 drinks each. We could choose from standard cocktails such as rum and Coke, the daily drink special, fruit smoothies on Deck 19, or yummy gelato shakes at the Venchi chocolate bar. Sodas, juices, coffees, and hot chocolate were also included in the package. Very nice benefit! The food in the main dining room was very good—perhaps not “wow,” but certainly tasty. Our waiter and assistant waiter were super fast and attentive. Portions were a bit smaller than on some cruises, but I appreciate that so I don’t go home impersonating a whale! Butcher’s Cut specialty steakhouse was marvelous. The buffet might not have been quite as extensive as some ships’ spreads, but the pizza was fantastic, and the Mac and cheese was superb. Outdoor seating for the buffet on Deck 8 was abundant and very pleasant. My only complaint was that soft serve ice cream was only available on Deck 16 at the smaller buffet during open hours. I missed my “on demand” chocolate cone! Entertainment on MSC is more Cirque du Soleil than storyline, but it was still good. The Michael Jackson show was outstanding! MSC put on a fantastic Cruise Critic party—the best we’ve ever experienced. Embarkation was kind of a hassle with long lines, but disembarkation was a breeze. I believe a lot of the criticism aimed at MSC Seaside lately has been really unfair. We had a great experience and found all staff members to be friendly. We will definitely sail MSC again, and we heartily appreciate the company’s loyalty match program. Read Less

My family of 4 (ages 12 and 13) took a Spring Break cruise with a few other families and would definitely recommend the Seaside from MSC. The embarkation was a breeze and despite being told the check in time was 1:30pm, they allowed us in the terminal right when the doors opened at 10:30am. We checked in immediately, but when we sat down, I didn’t know we needed a Boarding Card. Luckily I made friends with someone who had a “4” card and he got an upgrade to a “1” card and gave me his “4” card. It only took about 10 minutes to be called to board the ship. As all the reviews have stated, the ship is absolutely beautiful. The Atrium was gorgeous and turned out to be a popular hangout for many of us. I am very glad we checked the best cruise hacks to be prepared with thebitems to bring aboard like the magnets, towel clips, over the door shoe rack, magnet night light, and shower curtain. The room was great for a family of 4 as the couch turned into a bunk bed. ***A word of caution. The top bunk has a metal piece that covers the light and could easily cause a nasty cut if you say up in the middle of the night and hit your head*** The food: we had the early seating (5:15pm) and it was a bit early, especially with some excursions, but the staff was great, the food was good (not a WOW, but good.). We did the 3 specialty restaurants (Ocean Cay for lunch and Asian Fusion and Butcher’s Cut for 2 dinners). They were very good, but thought it was weird we couldn’t get a glass of wine, but could only get a bottle and had to pay regardless of having the premium package. I would get this again as the main dining room’s food, as I said, was just “good” and have a little differentiation. The lunch was very repetitive and is my only negative comment for the entire cruise. Breakfast was good as they always had fresh fruits, veggies and pastries. We ate at the sit down (Seaside restaurant) restaurant a few times as they had “fresher” foods and different items than at the buffets. Onboard Activities: we hung out on deck 16 as much as we could, our son hung out at the sports bar and the arcade and our daughter explored all aspects of the ship without reservations. The slides were awesome, the zip line was fun (not worth doing more than 2x though) and the shows were fun. Definitely do the comedy shows (Beer Improv and the kids version) as they were awesome. The casino was fun, but very smoky, so if you are allergic to smoke or it bothers you in the slightest, it will definitely be a problem for you. There was always enough to do on the ship, but I wish there was better communication prior to boarding regarding when the formal night was going to be, when the white Party was, and what other specialty events (20’s party etc.) Ports of call: St Maarten and St Thomas were awesome. The excursions we took (Magen’s Bay swim and tour of the island) and (Golden eagle Catamaran) were tremendous. The catamaran trip was our second best excursion of all time, second only to a wall dive in Hawaii for our honeymoon. We docked into Puerto Rico at 5pm so only had an opportunity to have dinner and explore the night life a bit. You couldn’t see the Fort if you wanted to so don’t be too disappointed, but luckily we’ve already seen it so it wasn’t a big deal for us. For Nassau, we took a Jitney (line 10) to Cable Beach for $1.25 per person each way and spent the day at the beach for $200 less than we would have paid on an excursion. The beers and hot dogs were also half the price. Read Less

I ended up on this cruise to celebrate my sister's 70th birthday. Young at heart, we wanted a cruise that suited our personalities. So with 25 adventurers ranging in age from 13 and up, MSC Seaside seemed perfect. Embarkation - It's a zoo. Imagine 5,000+ people trying to check-in. Our saving grace was the Aurea package (an upgrade). Trying to figure out where our check-in area was located was challenging. Once in line, a very nice young woman provided assistance. We returned to check-in three (3) times because our card didn't work. A non-walker's nightmare. Dining - The buffet, as one of our friends, said, "By the time you make it around the buffet to find what you want and get to your seat, your food is cold." Day 1: Try to get a soda from the pay as you go machine, good luck. Ridiculous. Sell drink cards like other ships. Organization of buffet, where is the jam? It's on the Wellness Bar. Where is the bread? It's next to desserts or sodas (depends). The staff working in the buffet area just stood around - no assistance unless you flagged someone. The staff in white uniforms - no purpose. The soda machine process, go figure. Evening dining -The dining room staff are unorganized. Try finding a waiter to take cocktail orders. The dining room show, yes we clapped for the staff but our waiters were working. Friendliness - No introductions, good morning, smile. What gives? I am a frequent cruiser, Princess, Viking, Royal Caribbean. This experience pales by comparison. The music, theatre shows, Aurea spa, and ship decor saved the day. Read Less

I've just got back from cruising with MSC Seaside. It was a terrible time to cruise with MSC. I had nothing to do on the ship. There was not much of entertainment. Maketplace Food buffet had not many varieties of food to offer. They had pizza, hamburgers, and hotdogs for the main food for you every single meal of the day: breakfast, lunch, after lunch snack, dinner, and midnight snack for 7 days straight that we were on the cruise. They would close the buffet on the dot, put all the food away, and only one or two counters left the serve the food. In my opinion, they were trying to upselling their dinner and drink package by forcing people not to have much choice for food on the buffet. Moreover; one time, I saw they were putting back fruits they put away from previous meal for you to eat. You know how the fruits that are not fresh cut and been refrigerated. Also, it's very annoying when they tried to sell you all those dinner and drink packages. This is definitely overrated. I didn't bother to go see the show of them. I'd walked around and saw people playing cards; even young kids, they played UNO. They must be very bored and had nothing better to do. There are not many shopping shops on the Seaside, so nothing much to check out. There is a screen TV at the aft of the ship. Unfortunately the choice of their movie on the night that I went to give a try was very boring "Spiderman Home coming." The cabin was so so, nothing fancy. The sheet, comforter, towels, and stuff were old, had a lot of lints It's very irritated to my skin. Towels were smells and ripped. One of the destinations was Puerto Rico, arrived at 5pm. What they want us to do at 5pm and we had to be on board by 1am. or 1.30pm, and there were nothing much to walk around and see either. It's not very impressive for the first time with MSC. I wanted to go home on the second day that I was on the cruise!!! Oh..there a good thing about MSC. Their desserts are pretty good. They are not extremely sweet like desserts on the main land in the US. They are good at creativity and recycling as well.They would use leftover fruits and nuts to make cakes and other desserts, very delicious indeed. I've heard pizza are very good too, but I'm not a huge fan of pizza. Read Less

Chose this cruise as it was a fantastic deal - drinks on us, balcony for 1 week for 4 folks for $2300. Awesome: Cruise Critic Party - it was my best one to date- the passed hor d'oerves /drinks/ships crew, etc. They know how to do it; special order Indian food - fantastic every night. Ship - just beautiful.... Room steward - she was amazing and did really hard work. Great: staff personality - casino, room steward, dining staff, entertainment staff; Also behind the scenes walkthru of the fancy restaurants - they were soo warm/friendly. Michael Jackson show was amazing; so was BeerProv - saw them 4x, got to meet the owner Jim at breakfast 1 morn; Alcohol pricing - 20% off of 2 bottles was better than I can get from Total Wine in GA; Lounge music in Haven was really really awesome every night; and bar service was great. Good: Timeless show; Entertainment staff - especially Gene (Cruise Director), Monica (Adult Ent. Director), and Tristan from South Africa. Bad: Entertainment: Evening shows were very very well constumed, but there was no storyline in the show or a discernable theme. Dining: every sitdown dining was 1.5 to 2 hrs long - its not like the wait staff wasn't working hard - poor Joli - but things just took forever. Food was average at best; only great dish I recall was the Prime Rib. No lobster tails (without upcharge) this cruise - guess I was used to getting them on Formal night at Carnival. Embarkaration at 2pm - 1.5 hrs - miserable... Itinerary - Celebrity was on same route as us, same week - they got into San Juan at 3:30pm; getting in at 5pm til 1am just isnt useful - you're onsore for a few hrs before heading back to ship. St. Maarten - 7a-2p - also terrible not enough time. Embarkation that day was really long. Read Less