We booked this trip one year ago on the MSC Seaside. When we booked there were various “packages” available. We choose Aurea experience which included the deluxe package which became the Premium drink package. During the year MSC changed their packaging but we didn’t change our booking. I give you this background so you can fully appreciate the misadventures we have had.

The first issue was embarkation- over 3 hours to get on from curb to the ship. An hour an a half of it outside in the cold schlepping our bags the whole way . Now I am not lazy but we had our 80 year old mother with us who walks with a cane. There was no where for her to sit and we had to deal with our bags and hers - making for a lot of maneuvering.

Once finally in we went to get wheel chair assistance only to find out there were people who had been waiting over two hours already . Mom was so tired she just wanted to get on board so we proceeded to the priority embarkation (black card status privilege) to line up for another hour and a half. Again no seats or refreshments. Read more