We are back on the MSC Seaside again. We left Miami on 9/28
and returned on 10/5. Our cost included the beverage package and 3G of wifi. Our
cabin number is 10184 and our cabin Steward is Raysen. We had dinner in the Seashore dining room at
table 474 which is a table for 2 and our waitstaff is Norwin and Daniel. This
ship holds 5119 passengers! It is 153, 516 GT, 323 m (1060 ft.) long, and has
18 decks. Our captain is Francesco di Palma, Chief Engineer is Neven Krivic,
hotel director is Andrea de Vincentiis, Cruise Director is Arturo G. Melo, and
Guest Relations Manager is Natan Freitas. We also saw Rowena who works in the
specialty restaurant (we met her on the Divina) and Mandy-Leigh Castle, the Yacht
Club Director, who we also met on the Divina/
Saturday 9/28 Embarkation
We arrived at the port at 11:30 and our ship was at Terminal
F. But the parking garage is labeled Parking Garage G and it cost $22 per day.
Going through security was smooth and I didn’t even have to take my computer
out of my backpack. We were checked in and sent immediately on the ship. After
going to the kiosk to register our credit card, we dropped some stuff off at
the cabin. We ate lunch at the Biscayne Bay Buffet on Deck 16 which was very
small. We realized later that the last time we were on the ship we did not ever
eat at this buffet. The main buffet is on Deck 8 (Marketplace Buffet). We found
the Sports Bar and had a few beers. The bartenders Leo and Avel were excellent!
We didn’t wait long and got another drink whenever we needed one. At 4pm we had
the muster drill and we were sent into a bar area on deck 6. I couldn’t hear or
understand anything, so I knit, and Don napped. When it was over, we went back
to the Sports Bar for a beer and then decided to go to the dining room for
dinner. Sometime during the day, we saw Roxy and Vince, who we met on the
Seaside last September. At first, we hadn’t planned on eating in the dining
room but this time we decided we would and the service and food were very good.
After dinner, we changed and then went to the Metropolitan theater to get a seat
for the 8:30 show called Timeless. Then we went to bed.
Sunday 9/29/19 At Sea
We had a pleasant day at sea. After breakfast, we did our
exercise walk on the deck with the basketball court. At 10am we went to the
Cruise Critic meetup which was a huge event. They had cocktails and cake and
appetizers including a martini glass full of chocolate strawberries! We met a
nice couple, Jason and Amber from Ontario. I also met another officer who was
on the Divina with us. After that, we walked around until lunchtime. In the
afternoon, we went to the Beer Improve (for families). I was going to do the
arts and crafts but it was the same as the last time, so I decided to skip it.
By then we had to get ready for dinner which was Elegant night. Dinner was
enjoyable and after dinner, we went to the show Wizard, which I really enjoyed.
Monday 9/30/19 San Juan
In the morning we did our exercise walk. Before lunch, we sat
on the back deck and visited with this nice couple, Miles and Angie, from Port
St. Lucie. After lunch, we went back to the cabin and relaxed. Around 3:30 we
went to the Sports Bar to watch the ship come into San Juan. We were off the
ship around 4:30 and walked around town. We stopped to have a Mallorca at El
Meson. Then we found the street with the cats so I can take a picture of the
street name for Dyanna. Next, we found the street with umbrellas. There were
new umbrellas there and the street was closed off to cars and pedestrians.
Next, we walked around until it got dark. I bought two small leather bracelets
to use with my shawls (2/$5). We got back on the ship around 7pm and had dinner
at the buffet.
Tuesday 10/1/19 St. Thomas
We were going to go snorkeling at Secret Harbor, but it
would cost $25 for the cab ride there and another $25 to get back to the ship.
We decided to skip snorkeling and just walk around town. We got off the ship
around 8:30. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the farthest end of town and
it was hot outside. It was about a 2-mile walk to the far end of town. We
walked around for about 2 hours before taking a cab back to the ship for $4 per
person. We spent the day relaxing on the ship. After dinner, we went to the show
and saw The Dream.
Wednesday 10/2/19 St. Maarten
We were one of the first ones off the ship at 7am and walked
to the beach (about a 30-minute walk – 1 mile) and we were swimming by 7:30.
I’m glad we didn’t wait for the water taxi because we didn’t see the first
water taxi until around 8:30. We got to the beach so early that all the vendors
hadn’t even finished setting up their chairs. We found a spot and dropped our
stuff there, but we didn’t rent chairs or umbrellas. We swam in the ocean for
about 3 hours. Before going back to the ship, we stopped by to see Suzette and
she seemed happy to see us. After lunch, we relaxed until we went to the Black
Card Party at 5pm. We enjoyed seeing Mandy-Leigh Castle (over the Yacht Club)
again. We had met her on the MSC Divina, and she remembered us. We also saw
Roxy and Vince from Kansas again. We met Paul and Sue from Port St. Lucie and
found out that Paul was a semi-retired real estate attorney in Florida. He
didn’t seem to mind when we talked shop and was extremely helpful. After dinner, we went to the show, Fly, which was very good.
Thursday 10/3/19 At Sea
We had a sea day and just relaxed. After breakfast, we did our exercise walk. Then we went to
the theater to hear the Captain’s Question and Answer session. Don had a hard
time understanding the Captain. We stayed for the Master Chef show but left in
the middle of it to go eat lunch. After lunch, we went back to the cabin to
relax until it was time for dinner. After dinner, we were invited to the
Welcome Back Party, but we skipped it to go to the show, Peter Punk. We enjoyed
the show.
Friday 10/4/19 Nassau
After breakfast, we did our exercise walk and then packed our
suitcases. We arrived in Nassau at noon, but we didn’t get off the ship. At 2pm
we had a private tour of the Yacht Club (thanks to Mandy-Leigh Castle, Yacht
Club Director). Then at 5:30, we ate dinner in the Butcher’s Cut. We didn’t get
out of dinner in time to go to the show so we walked around and then went back
to our cabin so we could put our suitcases in the hall.
Saturday 10/5/19 Debarkation
Debarkation was total chaos! We were told to be in the
Metropolitan Theater by 7:40 and we should have been the third group off as
Black Card Members (after Self Assist and Aurea Experience). They said they
would call our color tag (we were lilac0 and to wait in the theater until we
were called. Then the crew member announced that we had parked the ship in a “different
direction” so there was only one exit off the ship (for 5000 people!). It was
worrisome when I started thinking about our safety if there was an emergency! There
was no order or organization. Apparently, they were making announcements around
the ship but none in the theater! We waited until 9:30 and finally just joined
the chaotic line to get off the ship. People were just jumping in the line and
others were going in the opposite direction dragging their luggage. No one knew
what was going on (crew or passengers). While we were in line, we heard the announcement
that there were newly added security measures and that is the reason for the
delay. Either the guy in the theater lied or the one making the announcement
lied but someone was lying! Once we were off the ship, we had to get in another
line for some kind of face recognition. Then we got our luggage in the
warehouse area and never went through a customs check. We were finally on the
road by 10:30. This chaos had us rethinking of taking another MSC cruise
because this is not the first time they have had total chaos getting off the
ship.
Things I Learned:
1.
Inside cabins on MSC are very small!
2.
The bathroom was smaller than the ones on
Carnival.
3.
This is the same captain we had last September.
4.
The shows are in Steampunk style.
5.
I like strawberries dipped in chocolate.
6.
We don’t care for the Beer Improv show.
7.
The walk into St. Thomas took about 45 minutes
and was good exercise.
8.
The walk to the St. Maarten beach was not long
and if we had waited for the water taxi, we would have wasted an hour.
9.
We didn’t have to rent chairs and umbrellas
since we were only there for 3 hours but we found a spot that no chairs were
set so we could watch our stuff.
10. The
beverage package that came with our cruise has been well worth the money.
11. We
like the individual acts within the shows.
12. Debarkation
on MSC ships is a disaster!
Original
photo by Pat Hensley
