Balcony

Suite

Inside

MSC Cruises

Port Canaveral (Orlando)

Miami

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Valencia

Barcelona

Palermo (Sicily)

Marseille

Genoa

Malta (Valletta)

U.S.A.

Caribbean - All

Bahamas

Caribbean - Western

Mexico - All

Caribbean - Eastern

Jamaica

USVI

Europe - All

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Mediterranean

Italy

France

Spain

Belize

Canary Islands

Transatlantic

Terrible

Very Good

Excellent

Poor

Average

MSC Divina

MSC Seaside

MSC Meraviglia

MSC Sinfonia

MSC Musica

MSC Poesia

MSC Fantasia

MSC Orchestra

MSC Magnifica

MSC Armonia

MSC Preziosa

MSC Splendida

MSC Opera

MSC Lirica

MSC Virtuosa

MSC Seashore

MSC Seascape

MSC Seaview

MSC Bellissima

MSC Grandiosa

MSC World Europa

MSC Euribia

Not again with MSC

Monaco (Monte Carlo)

My husband and I have been on a number of MSC's ships and in the Yacht Club. Of the cruises we have been on the Seashore would be last place..

I broke it down to what was excellent, good and Unacceptable. 

Excellent

 * Ocean Cay: This private island is a major perk for MSC Cruises guests. It offers beautiful beaches, crystal-clear waters, and plenty of activities to enjoy.

 * Embarkation/disembarkation: A smooth embarkation and disembarkation process did  big difference .

 * Cabin: was  clean, comfortable, and well-maintained.

 * Turn down service: This nightly service is a nice touch that can helped us to relax and unwind before bed.

 * Clean ship: A clean and well-maintained ship is essential for a pleasant cruise experience.

 * Spa: The spa was a great place to relax and rejuvenate.

 * Top Sail Lounge: This lounge is likely a popular spot for socializing and enjoying drinks with stunning views.

 * Jr. Butler: Having a Jr. Butler did provide us with personalized service and attention throughout our cruise.

* Port days in Mexico we stayed on the ship to enjoy the peace and quiet. It was very relaxing.

Good

 * Food: The food was good quality and offered a variety of options to choose from.

 * Service: The service on board was friendly and attentive.

 * Shopping: There were likely a variety of shops on board to browse and purchase souvenirs.

 * Bar service: The bartenders were friendly and efficient.

 * Casino: The casino was smoke free, fun, and exciting.

 * Butler service:  could have been an extra level of luxury experience, however he has many guests to attend too. We barely saw him.

Unacceptable

* Chair  and table hogging in the Yacht Club

* Not washing hands before going into  Top Sail Lounge and before getting food at the Poolside Grill.

 * Children in 18+ events: It was  disappointing to see children in events that are meant for adults only.

 * Children at the adult pool on deck 8: Adult pools are meant for adults to relax and unwind without children.

 * Unruly children: It's frustrating to deal with children who are not being supervised properly, loud or who are using inappropriate language.

 * Crowded port: Too many ships at the ports..we decided to stay on the ship.

 * Entertainment:  weren't impressed with the piano player at the Top Sail Lounge.

Will I cruise on MSC again? Yes, however I will not travel around the holidays and school vacation times.

Nothing relaxing or upscale in this Yacht Club.

Wellington

Had a great experience, with friendly staff and good entertainment. Good for families. Embarkation was a breeze, though self disembarkation was slow. Buffets were not too crowded, did not see any long lines. The food was good with variety to choose from though some of them felt bland. The deserts were great , as was the coffee and the breakfasts. 

The rooms were clean and bigger than expected. Its a new ship and well maintained. Carry a conditioner  since that is not provided. Room service is useful on excursion days.

The service in the formal dining "central park" was great. The staff Gerald and Raymond were wonderful. If not for them we would have opted for buffet.

The excursion "best of cozumel" could have picked better places to visit, though the guide did give a good commentary. The snorkeling tour in their private island also was also not that great (no real guided tour or feeding the fish that was advertised).  Better to do you own beach things.

WiFi was pretty good on ship and we could even stream videos. Not so great on the private island.

MSC seashore to carribean/mexico

March 31 – Port Canaveral – 

A pretty day as we got to Terminal 10.  The process was to pull up to the terminal, unload luggage then go park in the garage.   There were 2 lanes approaching the terminal and everyone was lined up in a single line in the right lane. A few shuttles passed in the left lane then people decided that passengers should use both lanes.  We had been waiting in the right lane so it made me angry but of course there was no signage and the person directing traffic ignored the line breakers (if there were not supposed to be doing that?).  Still, we unloaded the luggage, tipped the porter and parked with no issue though there was inadequate signage.  

Security and checking was fast and simple since we pre-registered.  As we walked to the ship, there was a man in front of us carrying a 12 pack of Coke.  Everything said you were not allowed to bring drinks so I was surprised no one stopped him. I stayed near to see how mad he would get when they took the 12 pack on the ship after he had carried it so far.  Imagine my shock when no one said anything and he boarded with no problem!  Given how expensive soda packages were (and that if 1 in a cabin has a drink package, ALL in the cabin have to have one) I would have loved to bring my own soda!   Not my place to say anything to him or the staff though but why have rules if you are going to ignore them?

The ship is enormous!  It is very beautiful and shiny and airy.  We had an Ocean View (non-Yacht Club) and it is a nice room.  We are less than 10 doors from the main atrium and Deck 5 is where there is a large bar, dining room, live entertainment and lots of noise.  I was worried.  Surprisingly though the room was very quiet and location is not an issue.  There are several twists and turns between our cabin and the atrium and it did great job deadening the noise.  The ship was laid out efficiently to make a huge ship seem not that big.  

We went to the Marketplace Buffet.  It was huge but broken into stations so well that it seemed small. The seating was also broken up better than other ships.  The food was varied and very tasty.  We enjoyed it.    Then we started walking the ship.  Did I mention it is HUGE?   Very well laid out and very nice.  The Spa was incredible.  Tons of rooms and options.  Various steam rooms, saunas, hair salon, barbershop, nail salon, etc and even a snow room.  Wow.  

Evening dining was unassigned until we got our keys.  We had the Bella experience.  We wanted late seating but learned when we got it that it is 9:30!   Waited in a long line to try to change to early (7:15) or anytime dining. Bella cannot be anytime so will wait to see if we get changed to 7:15.  

Now is a good time to mention some things MSC is horrible about.  Of course their website and pre-cruise customer service is well known as not just the industry’s worst but yet they keep going lower.  On board, “signage” is a bad word and you can expect to have no idea where you are going.  One of the main activities is the popular “waiting in a line” event which is free of charge and constant.  Since signs are a bad word, the lines are everywhere.  By assigning staff with the least English skills to address questions, it helps ensure no one gets the right line the first time.  For example, I mentioned we needed to change dining. A very standard occurrence on any cruise.  I had to ask 3 people to finally get to the right place (which was a folding table near closed shops).  Since it is a common issue, you might expect signs and several assigned to help handle it. Ha ha, you are on MSC where the long line terminates in 1 person behind the table.   I imagine some MSC executive saying “Hmm, I think we should take the people with the least English skills, put them in the noisiest area and let them wear signs offering to help!  That should get everyone really frustrated and angry.  But somehow make people line up to get to shout at the non-English speaker in the loud environment and ensure that the crew really has no answer to whatever we think the customer is going to ask!  Yeah, that will be great!”

The elevators were like on Carnival Horizon.  You tell a terminal what floor you want and how many in your party and it assigns a car. Car comes and there are no buttons in the car since it knows what floor to go to.  In theory.  In practice on the Seashore, the elevators take forever.  Parents don’t monitor kids who just push lots of buttons so often there are 3 people on an elevator that has 9 stops.  Seashore has a lot of elevators but somehow “waiting for an elevator” is rapidly moving up the activities list.  

Back to good. The welcome aboard show was wonderful.  Lots of singing, dancing, magician and a juggler.   Far superior to anything I have seen in the last several cruises.   Tomorrow is Ocean Cay and our ship will be one of the last to visit it before it is closed for renovations. 

April 1 - Ocean Cay

Ocean Cay (OC) is a beautiful place and it is nice that the ship docks and it is only about 50 yards from ship to OC. No long walks from the ship.  I am curious to know what they will renovate but no one knows yet so keep in mind my comments are pre-renovations if you read this when OC reopens.  There is a huge food pavilion which is nice but there were only 2 lines.  The lines moved very slow and were long.  Last time we were here, they were actively cooking burgers and food but this time it was all pre-cooked so that aroma was missing.  Food was okay but nothing special.  Hopefully they will redesign the pavilion.  Another big issue was lack of beverages.  There are bars but for those of us who just wanted water, some ice and water stands would be nice.  There was a single point for water/tea or lemonade on either side of the pavilion but nowhere else that I saw.  DW (darling wife) enjoyed the beach but I am not a sand fan so returned to the ship.  

A late cruise through the buffet yielded some good food but also highlighted an on-going problem with the buffet - lack of beverage stations.  There was one on each side of the huge buffet. Thus, long lines most of the time and there was usually no ice working on one side or the other.  When they had ice, it was the “good ice” (chewy, crushed) but they need more beverage stations.  

No word on our request to switch dining times so I got to wait in some lines and be directed to different people/places then the restaurant manager changed it in about a minute.  Seeing how easy it was makes me wonder why MSC made me first stand in so many lines and see so many people.  Maybe most people just give up?

Found out the cabin TV had a “source” option that showed options for TV, Screen Mirroring, & Bluetooth.  Bluetooth was simple and worked great.  Since I had a lot of movies on my iPad, screen mirroring would be awesome but it did not work.  Guest relations claimed TV and my iPad had to be on the wireless network and since TV was not on a wireless network, screen mirroring was not really an option.  Doesn’t sound right to me but hopefully some day screen mirroring will be an option.   I also noticed that there are no free movie channels (other than TCM) but there is an option for movies on demand for $10-18.00 each.  Categories like Action, Fantasy, Drama, Horror or Adult with 4-6 in each category.  It would be nice if the TV had a guide showing what was on each channel (not just the channel name).   

Watched NCAA women’s Elite 8 in the sports bar and took a brief break to see the OC lighthouse show.  Lighthouse show was okay but not awesome.  Since Elite 8 started at 7:00, we did not eat in MDR (Main Dining Room) or catch the show (a comedian).  

April 2 - Ocean Cay -

Nothing really new.  Stayed onboard.  Lunch buffet was good (especially meatloaf), beverage bar still a problem and elevators still slow.  

First night in MDR (we were originally in Central Park now in Tribeca - there are several complimentary dining rooms with same menu). It was nice and the food was average to above average.  Service was average.  Italian wedding soup was very good and DW loved the Short Ribs.  I will say Carnival service was better and quicker.  There is $5.00 charge for second or more entree.  A couple seated next to us the man was deaf so I had to ask a stupid question.  ASL (American Sign Language) fascinates me. Turns out different countries have different sign language and even American is different from British.  Always fun to learn something. 

Show was “Divas”.  It was terrific!   Singers were great and so were dancers.  There was a dark skinned woman dancer with very short hair who was truly incredible.  She must have gymnastics training the way she was spinning and flipping (think tango or samba).  In Feb we saw a show called Divas on Carnival and we both agreed that this was so much better (same name but different shows/songs) and we enjoyed it very much.  The theatre holds about 1300 and there are more than 5300 passengers so reservations are recommended.  No assigned seats but up to 15 min before the show, only people with reservations are allowed in.  A big difference is that there were no waiters walking around taking drink orders so get any drink before going in.  

Found an app on my Apple Watch that measure sound noise.  In Atrium by our room, noise level was 96 (exposure for more than 10 minutes is likely to cause hearing loss). Sound level dropped steadily walking to our cabin and inside the cabin noise was 43 (seemed silent to me).  Just FYI.  

April 3 - Day at Sea 

Time change to match Mexico so back 1 hour.  We got up in time for breakfast and there were lots of choices.  Including lots of bacon!   There was a 3:00 Magic Show in the main theatre.  It was okay but nothing great. Magician did card tricks and rubric’s cubes and in a huge theatre, it was hard to see. I was only about 6 rows back.  Almost full theatre so I pity those in the balcony level.  

First formal night.  Maybe 25% were really dressed up but I did see staff turn away folks in shorts so that was good.  Filet Mignon, Shrimp and lobster tail was all good but not great.  

Show was “Encore”, Broadway show tunes and we were really excited based on the last 2 shows.  It did NOT disappoint.  It was an incredible show.  The singing was wonderful and the dancing was amazing.  I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful the shows have been.  We have been on other lines and even another MSC ship but nothing like this.   Major kudos to MSC if all their ships’ shows are this good.  

April 4 - Costa Maya 

At 10:00 the alarms went off for a crew drill so there was no sleeping through that.  We loved Majahaul and have watched it go from poor, simple fishing village to a tourist spot.  We were not prepared for what we found though.  The Costa Maya port area has grown exponentially and is huge now.  There is a faux Mayan Temple visible that is a water park.  There were tons of taxis available ($4 per person to Majahaul each way).  Of course no one has change so it is really $5 per unless you were prepared with change.  When we first went, it was almost all dirt road from Costa Maya to Majahaul.  Now it is paved highway passing many hotels, shops, restaurants and houses.  

Majahaul was completely changed.  No simple shops, schools or fishermen.  Bars, tourist shops, etc all the way.  It was so sad to see the old Majahaul gone.  The new one is not awful though.  The Krazy Lobster was very busy and a larger beach area than I expected.   There were tons of women offering beach front massages ($25-40 for 30 min). I got one at Krazy Lobster for $30 for 45 minutes.  It was okay but clearly she was not a trained masseur.  Prices for food and beverages were very reasonable. People with pushcarts were going up and down the street selling food and beverages too.  Of course every shop was shouting for you to come in.  It was not what I expected but it is definitely worth visiting.  

Show tonight was “The Journey”. A man gets a train ticket and visits European countries. Started in England/Scotland, Ireland.  Then France, Spain and ending in Italy.  At each “stop” there was dancing and songs in the local language.   The “traveler” was an awesome dancer and all the songs and dancing were very well done.  

April 5 - Cozumel 

We ate lunch at buffet then walked into town.  There are pedicabs available (tips only) but we walked from the ship to the port area.  The port area is very busy with shops and vendors calling people in.  FYI there is a Starbucks at the exit of the port area into town with free WiFi.  Walked around a couple of hours then returned to the ship.  No MDR or show tonight since we have to watch the Lady Gamecocks in the Final Four.  Buffet was good and show was the magician I saw earlier so no problem.  Lots of QR codes asking for feedback but oddly the QR codes don’t work.  Pretty much sums up the MSC attitude that they want you to think they care but in reality do not care.  

April 6 - 2nd Sea Day 

We had to set our clocks ahead an hour to return to EST.  A quiet relaxing day.  DW got a pedicure at the spa.  Which brings up another pet peeve – mandatory “gratuities”.   Cokes were $3.50 each and then an additional “gratuity” of 18%.  So Cokes were really $4.13.  You could leave an additional tip if you wanted but why not just say Cokes are $4.13?  Even if you don’t use the bar, such as getting a Coke out of your minifridge in your cabin, it is $4.13.  Who is getting that “gratuity”?  What did they do to deserve it?  I am pretty sure no bar person put the drinks in the mini-fridges and that the person who did (cabin steward) is not getting any of that.  The pedicure was $59.00.  But there was a 15% “gratuity” added so it really cost $67.85.  The worker implied that she got none of that so where does it go?  This is not about tipping or not tipping, this is about being honest and open about pricing.   

The show was “Rock Royalty”.  It was not quite as good as the others, perhaps because we had some knuckleheads behind us who kept telling in a very loud piercing tone.   It was still good though.   The elevators continued to be a huge problem as everyone was sick of waiting for them and there never seemed to be rhyme nor reason to what they were doing.  Maybe they only had 1 working a bank of 4.  I know that on the Horizon, this same system worked very well so it has to be something MSC did but I wish they had just left them regular elevators.  

April 7 – Port Canaveral 

I remembered the nightmare that was debarkation on our last MSC cruise and had read how bad it was.  It was that bad.   We were supposed to be out of the cabin at 7:00.   There were lots of lines and total chaos.  Elevators?  Forget it, they were never arriving so people where lugging heavy suitcases up and down stairways.  No crew or signage to be found.  It could have been worse or more of a confusing disaster but I am at a loss to really figure out how.  Fortunately, we were mentally prepared for it but it was still not a good way to end the cruise.  Long walk to the parking garage with luggage.   Fortunately we got home in time to see the Lady Gamecocks win the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship.  

OVERALL – 

Bartenders were something to watch.  They were incredibly slow and would ignore customers with practiced ease.  There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason to who they would serve first and people were getting very annoyed.  But, of course, they were getting an 18% tip regardless of what they did, right.   

Room steward was pretty good.  Their system of requiring a key card to have the lights on helped the steward know when the room was empty and he did pretty good emptying the trash, restocking towels, making the bed, etc.  However, he would often ask us if there was anything we needed.  We would tell him things like “please keep ice in the ice bucket” but he never did those things.  Instead he would keep asking if there was something else we needed and it was tempting to say “please do what we have been requesting” but we just quit.  He seemed nice.  

There is a section of the ship dedication to the MSC Foundation.  Before the show, there was a presentation about the MSC Foundation and lots of posters about it and ads on TV.  I am glad they have a Foundation but when I am on a cruise, I do not give a hoot about it.  I paid to be on a relaxing cruise, not be pestered about donating to a massive multi-national corporation.  I am sure they get some tax benefits by having the Foundation stuff but give is a break from having to hear about it or how you are pretending you are doing something helpful for the world.   

I was excited because I finally got my status match and was MSC Gold in Voyagers Club.  That is the 2nd highest.  It meant nothing.  There was a reception the last night of the cruise where I would get my “free drink” and get to take a “free picture”.   I did not bother to go.  On other lines, you get benefits like free gifts, free bottles of water, something at least but not on MSC. If you are not he highest tier, it is no benefit.  All the so called discounts are other things, I never saw.  No shorter line for guest services, nothing. 

MSC Positives –

•	Beautiful ship that is mostly very well laid out with comfortable cabins (bathroom was a little tight but workable).

•	Good food (not great but certainly good)

•	Incredibly good shows

•	Beverage stations had tea, lemonade and fruit juice most of the time

•	Nice Main Dining Room(s)

MSC Negatives – 

•	Beverage package too expensive and all in a cabin have to have it if 1 does

•	Bartenders slow and rude, ignoring customers and generally very slack

•	Lines, lines, everywhere a line

•	Poor English skills.  

•	Lack of beverage stations, ice or water

•	Horrible horrible elevators

•	Lack of signage 

•	Total chaos of debarkation

•	Website, MSC for Me app, Customer Service in general

•	Crummy Voyagers Club

MSC Seashore - 3-31-24 to 4-7-24 - Review

10-day cruise kicks off with weekend option that we took advantage of. Incredible 3-day trip that began in Port Canaveral. Our interior room was quite spacious with considerable closet and storage  “Seashore” on and off was easy, exceptionally clean ship with fantastic customer service and entertainment. We saw three evening shows, each offering delightful performances: great talent, choreography and staging. First cruise whereby leaders frequently thanked guests for being on board. Beautiful private island - definitely plan on spending the day on the beach. Skip Nassau and enjoy the ship activities and amenities…. Lunch and dinner meals were hot and tasty - breakfast not so much.  And yes, you can get a decent drink with the easy package. No need to get caught up in the extra sales pitch.  Same goes for dining room meals. Assorted menu options were available - expect to sit with other guests and be social.

Best “MSC” Experience!

This is the second time I go on the MSC cruise and they have a great service food my kids had a great time as well. 

Herman manager at the hibachi is the best we have been to two different MSC cruise ship and he is being there excellent service. 

Randolf Rico  and  great service at the restaurant. 

Overall the food is amazing, they have a great service, we travel  from  Cocoa beach port and the experience was great they make it easy going. 

Also Julissa and Carlos from excursion had a great customer service and assist us to get a great tour. 

I will recommend 100% MSC for a family vacation. 

Don’t forget to visit the casino.

Great experience 

My 10 year old son, my sister, and I decided to trade the grey Chicago skies for some Bahamanian blue for Spring Break.  In the past, we've cruised Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian as a family. My sister has cruised MSC several other times, so we decided to give it a shot.  Based on the price, we paid I was very happy with our experience! 

Food & Drinks

We only ate in the dining room the first night.  The food was fine...but I rarely think cruise main dining food is that spectacular. The service is straight forward...no chatting but always respectful and kind. The rest of the nights we ate in the buffet as we often just wanted to eat a faster dinner than we would get in the main dining room.  The food was good there for dinner though breakfast was pretty basic.  The waffles are more like Eggos for example, but my son loved them all the same.  The pizza was consistently great for both lunch and dinner.  As a note, the buffet lines could get long during lunch and breakfast.  We had the Fantastica package, so we preferred getting breakfast in the room as it was the same food mostly but without the lines. 

As for drinks, there are plenty of bars on board and on the private island. There was usually a short line to get drinks. The drinks were pretty hit and miss, but if you kept it simple, it was fine.  I will say every bar can make a great espresso martini...perks of an Italian line. Considering the drinks were already included, I was happy even as moderate drinker.  Last note, not a drink, but my son loved his daily gelato.

Activities on board

We had no sea days, so we were only on board in the afternoons and evenings. With a kid, the choice in pools was nice and it was usually fairly easy to find a chair or two in the afternoons after getting back on the ship.  I didn't get to check out the adult pool, but it looked awesome from above! We did find the big hot tubs on deck 8, where we sailed away from Ocean Cay.  At night, we hit up the casino a few times while little dude went to the kids' club.  We also watched the dueling pianos, did some shopping, and generally just enjoyed the cruise atmosphere.  

Ports

We had an overnight at Ocean Cay, which for me, was the highlight of the trip!  I actually preferred that it was just an island with beaches, some bars and food trucks, and a few shops.  We had a cabana on North Beach the first day and stayed there until almost 5, then walked back to the ship, got drinks, and shopped before getting back on.  By that time, we were pretty tired and went to bed instead of going back out to the beach at night, but I loved that it was also an option.  We were then there the next day.  We were supposed to go on a snorkel trip, but it was cancelled because of the wind.  We just went to the beach by the ship, which was lovely and lively.  I actually preferred Ocean Cay to Coco Cay in some ways, as it was more manageable, had great beaches, and only has a pier for one ship at a time, so it never felt crowded. 

The other stop was Nassau, which is Nassau.  My son had never been, so we got off, walked to Junkanoo Beach just to say we had, and then went to the Pirate Museum.  

Room

We had a balcony room .  It was a bit tight with 3 people.  With my son on the couch, we really only had the beds to sit on or the balcony.  That said, the room seemed new and was always clean. Our room steward, José, was awesome!  The elevator system is weird and requires patience, but it's functional and fast once you're on it.

Embarkation / Disembarkation

This is the only real complaint I have.  Getting on and off the ship took an hour each, which wasn't great.  Disembarkation was particularly bad.  They wanted us out of our rooms by 7, but had we had our bags carried off the ship, we couldn't have gotten them until 10:10!  Because of this, we decided to carry off at 7, which apparently everyone else did too.  We got tired of waiting on an elevator and ended up carrying our bags down 8 flights of stairs.  Then at the bottom, we ended up getting in a line that wound literally around the other side of the ship and back again before we could get off. 

Overall, I would cruise MSC again. Now knowing what I know, I would probably plan my disembarkation differently in particular.  Embarkation can be sped up by purchasing higher levels than Fantastica, but again, considering what I paid (@$650/pp for SB with drinks, wifi, and gratuities), I was happy.  If you decide to cruise MSC, know you are getting a beautiful ship with a bit of an odd layout but that is a great value.  My sister warned me you just have to adjust your expectations and understand it's a more European line. If you can do that and can go with the flow knowing you're paying less but getting a great ship and island, I think you can enjoy an MSC cruise, particularly on the Seashore.

Great Spring Break Cruise to the Bahamas

We have decided to give MSC a try for a short cruise with a group of friends. For background: we are seasoned cruisers, have tried almost all mass market lines (Carnival, RCI, NCL, Princess) and are Elite on Princess, which is our preferred line. We chose to sail in Yacht Club to compare that experience to what we have had on our last NCL cruise in Haven and in Penthouse Suite on Enchanted Princess.

Since we were sailing during spring break, price point for our YC suite was quite high, and frankly I was underwhelmed by the experience. There were some issues that I am not happy about but can overlook (elevators, food choices, emergency drill, etc.), but the breaking point was SERVICE. When one is paying almost $1K/night to sail in YC one expects good service at least in designated YC area. I have never before been on a cruise where I have to go to the bar itself to get a drink, there was no lounge/deck service to speak of. I timed myself sitting in a lounge for 35 minutes waiting for someone to stop by and offer to get me a beverage – NOPE, and that was YC lounge. 

But I digress, lets start from the beginning – pre cruise and embarkation:

Don’t bother with any forms or requests, they do not make it to the ship, including medical related requests (CPAP equipment and allergy info in my case). Embarkation was very painless (arrived around 11 am) with a separate YC check in area and even luggage drop off area. I liked the personal service of getting checked in while sipping champagne as well as small group escort directly to YC area. Felt very well taken care of at the time! Our room was ready almost immediately and we went directly there.

YC Deluxe Grand Suite:

Our stateroom was nothing to write home about – slightly larger than Princess’s Mini-Suite for the living area with a lot of space wasted on a walk in closet. I think they would have been better off converting that closet into a separate bedroom with 2 bunks (ala 2 bedroom suite in NCL Haven), now that would have been a fab room! There was only one large TV in between the couch area and the bed, which made TV viewing weird from any sleeping surface. Not that there was much to see. Unlike Princess and NCL, all the movies were extra. One major win for MSC was the bathroom – great shower area and I personally loved all the storage cubbies. Another side note was that my friend booked exactly the same category, but ended up in completely different room – they had WAY more living room space, but no walk in closet. Almost forgot! Balcony is large, but there were no balcony furniture to enjoy it! No loungers or table, just two uncushioned chairs with footrests.

After dropping off our things we went to explore the ship and grab a lunch:

YC area – major props to MSC here. I loved everything about YC area set up – plenty of space for everyone, large pool, two hot tubs, large lounge area and nice restaurant with great views. During the day part of the bar area on YC sun deck was used as buffet with decent choices, not as extensive as regular buffet, but one would not go hungry! You really felt like you are on your own cruiseship while on YC sundeck, MUCH better than Haven’s tiny pool area. We were always able to find unoccupied cabana any time we ventured out there.

Ship itself – I found Seashore to be easy to navigate and clever in design, however my travelmates did not like the design at all finding it “cramped”. If you have a chance, watch one of the walkthrough youtube videos and you would have no issues with navigating the ship. I was specifically impressed with how well MSC handled the smoking issue – I have not smelled smoke once! Princess and NCL both should take note. 

Side note ELEVATORS – here the verdict was quite unanimous, everyone HATED them. I am actually quite familiar with the system MSC is using, we have the same one in our office building, so I did not anticipate having any issues. Was I ever wrong! MAJOR miss by MSC was removing all of the indicators of where elevators are actually going from the elevator lobby, ie you follow the instructions on how to call the elevator and just stand there with no indication of what is happening. Moreover, there is no “ding” when elevator arrives, so it is super easy to miss it if you are not parked right in front of the door. I feel that just by putting a regular current floor indicator and “ding” back, a lot of issues could be resolved. At least one wouldn’t feel like nothing is happening after you call the elevator!

Next, safety drill. Another MAJOR miss. Nowhere was it explained that only ONE person per cabin needs to go and get checked in at the muster station after watching the video. That resulted in majorly clogged stairways for absolutely no reason. Plus, what about other people in the cabin, don’t they need to know where the muster station is? 

Moving on to the food. That and entertainment are very subjective areas, so I am just going to list my thoughts here. We have tried all of the options: buffets (regular and YC), restaurant (YC) and 2 specialty restaurants. My personal opinion about MSC food was that it is stuck in the middle between trying to appease American and European tastes while succeeding in neither. I ‘ll separate the experiences. First, buffet – I did not mind the layout and there was always place to sit, however there was no drink service despite laughable “call button” that was on your table. Why even bother putting it there? My son reported that pizza was great and apparently burgers and fries were decent too, even though they were not made to order. All other food choices were strange at best and inedible at worst. I actually look forward to trying South Asian dishes on cruises since chefs are normally from that part of the world – what was available on MSC was not good. Also, whats up with 2 types of chili available everyday? Just why? Lines for soft serve were so long that no one in our group bothered and I did not like even one dessert in the buffet (unheard of for me). Next, restaurant – YC restaurant menu changed daily (plus when compared to Haven), but choices were just meh and the food was under seasoned to our taste. Overall not awful, but service wise not great either. Lastly, specialty restaurants. We tried Butchers cut and Sushi. Service in both was atrocious. We have almost finished our unlimited sushi before one in our party was even served her a la carte order (40 minutes in). Butchers Cut almost ended in disaster. My son has walnut allergy, it only is severe enough if he eats walnuts and he is fine with everything else. That information was submitted to MSC on a health form prior to the cruise. After being seated in Butcher’s cut, bread sacks were passed around (bread is served in a sack, so you cant really see what is in there). We sat around for about 20 min before finally starting to order. My son asks the waiter to remove walnuts from his salad since he is allergic, at that point the waiter deadpans “you have been eating walnut bread”. Apparently the bread sacks had walnut bread in them. So my son rushes back to our stateroom to take his meds, barely makes it in time not to need an epipen and we continue with dinner. NO ONE, not the waiter, nor manager or ANYONE from the MSC staff comes over to check if he is OK or how did allergen exposure turn out. I did not need them to comp my meal (it was free as Diamond status anyways) or do anything, but someone should have checked on him out of simple courtesy. That meal could have easily ended in medical center visit.

Entertainment, again very subjective area. We loved the production show (rock opera?), walked out on the guest entertainer (not good) and enjoyed karaoke in one of the lounges nightly. I really liked the Cabaret Lounge concept and changing entertainment there. We also watched Love and Marriage show (both Princess and NCL do it way better) and participated in trivia games (I won one). In my personal opinion, while some of entertainment team was great, the cruise director was not the best and he was very hard to understand at times. I did enjoy the white party on the deck way more than same one on all other cruises – doing songs from “around the world” was a great touch!

This has been a ridiculously long review already! To wrap this up, disembarkation was a breeze. It did help that we were matched into Diamond and had an extra hour in the stateroom vs getting kicked out at 7 am.

As I have stated previously my biggest issue with this cruise was lack of service, especially bar service. I can probably deal with no lounge area service (don’t want to, but whatever), BUT when I schlep to the bar to order my Aperol Spritz and bartender looks like I am making him eat lemons, it’s a problem. Bartenders in most of the bars were downright rude, ignored customers (happened to both everyone in my party, granted we are not 20 something ladies) and generally treated cruisers like they were nuisance. Not a feeling you want your customer base to walk away with. One bright spot was Venchi bar – great specialty coffee and friendly service. By far the worst was sports bar.

Closing notes – we had everything that was supposed to be in the minibar, including tobleron and pringles. I drank my weight (probably more) in Aperol Spritzes, they were delicious! I was underwhelmed by the Aurea Spa, but others in my party liked it (I much prefer NCL’s set up).

To sum up – I liked the ship and MSC’s product in general (I believe food will change to adapt to cruising region eventually), BUT the service is what sunk this cruise for me. MSC needs to train their stuff better in terms of service levels American customers expect. Additionally, I am not a litigious person but the incident with my son could have easily ended up as a lawsuit.

Good ship BUT horrible service

Great staff they were all so friendly. Yes there is not a lot of bathrooms throughout the ship. The entertainment and food is solid a good amount of party’s. Plenty of bars though. Had to wait 1 hour in a line getting of the ship. With the new elevator technology they have at times elevators take forever and can be crazy. For kids you will have to walk through the casino it’s no seperate. For basketball there are no balls provided and the rims are bent. The gym looks solid. There is always something going on there or you can chill. Mostly singing tho there are some non singer performances but mostly singers. They have game shows a good amount to. Overall loved the food and buffet outside of the pizza and scones the buffet is average. There crew is terrific all around bartenders room attendants and all. Again elevators can be crazy and take forever. Not much they could do better.

Proud Customer 

We have cruised many times. This was our first time with MSC and we were celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary. We were excited to see what MSC had to offer. The Seashore is an incredibly curated ship, with incredible amenities. However, the reason for this rating isn't about the ship, it is about the staff. On our first day on the boat, we were notified that our excursion for the first day in port would need to be cancelled. We went to the excursion desk to inquire and were told that we could keep the excursion but couldn't use the amenities because it was for Yacht Club members only. This would have been a complete nightmare because the cabana was excluded and they food/butler/drink service would not be available to us. Because we were already on the boat, there were no excursions for us to replace that one with because everything for that day was sold out. The whole reason we got it was for the upgraded amenities but reluctantly, we chose to cancel. The best they could offer was an umbrella, which we couldn't use because the winds created a major hazard and we were not allowed to use them. This situation completely ruined the plans we had set up for the first port day. 

On the 2nd morning of the cruise, my wife was badly injured when she slipped on a stair while we were walking to the spa. She required medical attention. The medical staff was okay. There was one nurse who was amazing. He helped my wife tremendously and I truly wish that I could remember his name. He used appropriate cleanliness measures and ensured that he was wearing appropriate PPE when assisting my wife. A few of the medical team members were doing things without washing their hands or wearing gloves, i.e. drawing medications from vials. There are cameras all over the boat, I cannot make this up. It was a horror to watch. Upon getting help, we quickly realized that she would need surgery. We were given some instructions about going to see a hospital in Nassau. As we are not citizens of the country, we felt that it was safest to fly back to the U.S. to get help, rather than in a foreign country. We just wanted to get assistance with ensuring that we could get home safely. I reached out to the venues where we had prepaid excursions. The spa was great, they assisted us with no issues. The excursion desk however, was a complete nightmare. Although they knew my wife was hurt, they gave me the run around. I did everything they asked and the run around didn't stop until later that evening. It was a total mess and waste of time. They made little effort and it was disheartening. Different members of the staff kept calling and asking the same questions as if they were note communicating with one another. I'd finally had enough and asked them to stop calling because we had already had the same conversations about five times. Even worse, I had to advocate at the front desk to get help. Eventually, a supervisor at the front desk got involved. She asked me to come back into her office, which I assume was to prevent from making a scene. She made a quick phone call and things got moving. After all of that, they had me sign paperwork stating that we were disembarking for personal reasons, even though they knew that my wife got seriously injured on the boat. It was very insulting and dehumanizing, especially because they were fully aware of what happened. To make matters worse, the insurance policy that I purchased was useless. You can't use it on the ship. The policy doesn't actually kick in until you have completely disembarked and paid for everything out of pocket, to include surgeries. Only then can you file a claim for reimbursement. 

I can't, in good faith, recommend this to friends and family. If the staff is a reflection of the leadership, then the leadership has failed. I couldn't imagine recommending MSC to people that I love and respect.

Horrible experience

I read the reviews and expected the worse but it was not bad at all.  We had a great time. It was an excellent value. We used the main buffet and the main restaurant and the food was very good. The ship was fully booked but the layout in the buffet made it so it didn't feel too crowded. We were always able to get food and find a table with ease which has not been our experience on some cruises; even on the last morning when everybody was there at the same time. They don't have many servers walking around to serve drinks but that's fine by me, just walk up to the bar. They definitely need to add more bathrooms though! The kids camps have longer hours than other cruise lines, they will even take the kids to lunch and dinner. We got the drink package. I am thoroughly impressed by how little we spent for the 5 of us and how much we got and will definitely do it again.

Great value, great experience

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