MSC Seaside Review
4.5 / 5.0
More hits than misses, beautiful ship..overall great vacation!
Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on MSC Seaside
flyinbrian
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s
Rating by category
Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Additional details
Sail Date: May 2019
Cabin: Aurea Balcony Stateroom
We originally booked this cruise on black friday, as MSC was giving away the drinks on us promo, and a good price on a balcony room. I had done a bunch of research, watched a ton of youtube vids, and read a bunch of reviews. I have to say this helped out a lot, and prepared us for the week for the most part.
Embarkation wasn't too bad..probably an hour from arriving to actual embarkation (we were there 2 hours before our assigned boarding time). The ship is absolutely stunning! From the infinity bridge and bridge of sighs, to the atrium and staircases, it's really a beautiful ship!
We only ate in the main dining room (Ipanema) 3 of the 7 nights. The food was ok, but our server I think misunderstood us (and our table mates) on a couple of occasions. The food was hit and miss, with the breads, pastas, and seafood all pretty great. The prime rib was also very good, but the steak we ordered one night was a little too fatty for our taste. We did the Teppanyaki specialty restaurant the first night, since we sailed at 5pm, and our MDR time was 5:15. This way we could watch the sail away. I highly recommend the Teppanyaki!!! It was so good, we actually went again friday night with some friends we made the first night. As for the buffets....well, they were buffets. Just be prepared for it to be a total cluster, as everyone cuts in and out of line to get what they want/need. They will always have the standard pizza, hot dogs, burgers, salads, and breads, with occasional other fares. I was really looking forward to the pizza, as I know they make it from scratch...it is good, but was light on the cheese. I still ate it quite a bit, though.
Cabin Review
Aurea Balcony Stateroom
Cabin B3
We originally booked a Bella Balcony, but were upgraded to an Aurea (B3) balcony. These balconies are extended outward, and are usually at the front or rear of the ships on deck 9. They come with loungers, so when the pool was packed, we could sun out on our own balcony. The bed was confortable enough for our taste, however the closet was a little tricky to navigate...not to mention the bed was only 12 in. or so from the closet, so you really did not have much room. We also brought some extra foldable hangers, as they only come with about 10-12 hangers. The bathroom is ok, but the toilet is small...so for "fluffier" passengers, it will be a bit tricky to navigate. The shower has a detachable head, and comes with a shampoo and shower gel dispensers, which are ok. We brought our own anyway.
Port Reviews
Nassau
Wasn't that interested in Nassau to be honest. Had we gotten in earlier, we might have gone to the Atlantis water park, but because we arrived at 12noon, it wasn't worth the money for that short of time. We ended up walking around and shopping for a little bit, but all told were on shore for about 2 hours. Didn't take long to get sick of the high pressure sales from the locals.
St. Maarten
I LOVED St. Maarten, and would have given it a 5 if we could have stayed longer! We went to Maho beach and watched planes land for a couple hours. Barely had enough time to do that. Wanted to have a little time to shop, but was rushed to get back on the ship by 1:30pm
San Juan
We walked around and ate dinner at a restaurant called Punto de Vista, which is a little rooftop restaurant in Old San Juan. Was a little disappointed we didn't have more daylight to do more in San Juan, though, as we got there at 5pm.
Miami
Didn't take too long to get on the ship. We took a Lyft over to the port, checked our bags, and were probably on the ship within 1 hour. Disembarkation was even better, where we met up at 8:40am, and were off the ship with our luggage at 9:30am.
2 Helpful Votes
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