The MSC Seascape can hold 5877 passengers and 1648 crew but I was told we had about 4200 guests on board. Our captain was Francesco di Palma (he was our captain on the MSC Seaside in September 2019), the hotel director was Yannis and our Cruise director was Gene Young. Our cabin was 12127 and our cabin steward was Leah. The elevators were different in that you had to pick the floor that you wanted to go to first and then you are assigned to a specific elevator. When you get on that elevator, you don’t push any other buttons. In fact, there are no buttons inside the elevator. You are committed to going to the floor that you picked. Also, there are on-demand movies on television, but you must pay $10 to see each one. We had dinner at table 592 in the Green Wave Restaurant.
Day 1 Sunday, December 11, 2022, Embarkation
We got to the Port of Miami at 10am. The signs were deceiving and when we followed the signs to Terminal C, we missed the luggage drop-off area. So, we parked the car and brought our luggage to the area. We were able to check in right away and were on the ship by 11 am. We went to our cabin which was very nice and then we walked around the ship and eventually had lunch. The variety of food on the Lido deck was very nice. At 3:30 was the muster drill and we had to watch the video in our cabin. Then we had to call and confirm what we did from our cabin phone. After that, we had to go to our muster station and check in by having our keycard scanned. We went to dinner at 5:15 and sat at a table for 8. 2 other couples are at our table: Boon and Yoko (from Davie, FL) and Jon and Jocelyn (from NZ/Australia). They no longer give paper menus and you had to look up the menu on your phone. Luckily earlier in the day, I took screenshots of the menu and was able to pass my phone pictures of the menu around the table. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the conversation. I had prime rib for dinner, and it was cooked perfectly! We had 7 pm reservations for the show and thought we might have had to miss it but the men outside working the doors encouraged us to go in and have a seat since it just started. The show was Dreamscape which was excellent. It included singers, dancers, and acrobats. After that, we walked around the ship before going to bed.
Day 2 Monday, December 12, 2022, Ocean Cay
We got off the ship around 8:30 and walked to the beach right near the ship. We got two very comfortable wooden Adirondack chairs, a small round table, and an umbrella right near a palm tree. At first, it was overcast and then the sun finally came out. When it was out, we got in the water and swam for about 30 minutes. I didn’t realize there were different food venues on the island that was free, so we came back on the ship to eat lunch. Don wasn’t feeling well so after lunch, he took a nap until dinner. We had dinner on the Lido deck and then went to see the comedian, Matt Bergman. He was okay. I stopped and got two Cokes to put in our refrigerator for in the morning. Then we went back to our cabin to watch TV until bedtime.
Day 3 Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Nassau
We decided to stay on the ship since we have been here so many times. After breakfast, we found a spot above the pool to relax. We looked out at Nassau but soon it got too hot, and we moved to the side overlooking the pool. It was much cooler. After lunch, we returned to the same area to relax until dinner. It was Gala night at dinner and we had Surf and Turf for dinner. Luckily, we had scanned the menu and I took screenshots of it again because I was able to share the menu pictures with Boon and Yoko. After dinner, we went to the show Love Blooms which was very good. Even though we had reservations at 8:30, they let us into the show at 7 pm. Before we went to bed, we had to turn our clocks forward for one hour.
Day 4, Wednesday, December 14, 2022, Sea Day
We decided to try eating breakfast in the dining room this morning. It was hard to read the menu off our phones and the server didn’t always understand what you were saying but you couldn’t point to the item on the menu because the screen was too small. We decided we didn’t want to eat breakfast there again. We left there and went to sit on the deck and relax. People were cranky and trolling for seats.
For lunch, we decided to go to the Butcher’s Cut (which is complimentary for Diamond guests). When we got there, we found out that our key cards don’t show us as Diamond guests, which is the top level in their loyalty program. The manager of the restaurant took care of the problem and told us to go to guest services after lunch to get new key cards. The lunch was delicious!
After lunch, we got our new key cards and decided to have a drink at the atrium bar. While sitting there, they announced the bar area was closed for the private Diamond party, which we never got an invitation to. I asked the hotel manager when it started and he said at 3:45. So, we went back to our room and changed for the party. The party was awful. They had it there in the open area rather than in a private lounge and the noise level was horrible. Plus, there was nowhere to sit and visit with other Diamond guests. It was very impersonal, and we did not feel like they valued Diamond guests at all.
After that, we went to dinner and the show, Imaginocean, which was excellent.
Day 5, Thursday, December 15, 2022, San Juan
When I got up, I noticed that we had several wrong charges on our bill! We were charged for the internet which was included when we paid for the cruise in advance. Then we were charged for lunch at the Butcher’s Cut yesterday, which should never have happened. It is complimentary for Diamond guests, so I had to go take care of it at guest services at 6 am. After 10 minutes, the girl had to ask me to come back in 10 minutes when her colleague returned because she was new to the system. I told her I would wait right there until it could be fixed because I know the lines at guest services have been very long. Finally, the other man arrived, and I was able to talk to him. He told me that they would check on it for me and that I needed to call or come by in the afternoon to check on it. To deal with the internet charges, I had to go to that desk to talk to them. I told them that I didn’t want to spend my whole day standing in line dealing with mistakes that they made!
We arrived in San Juan around 10 am and we got off the ship by 10:30. We walked around town and visited Castillo San Cristobal. Then we returned to the ship for lunch around 12:30. In the afternoon, we sat on the deck and relaxed until it was time to get ready for dinner. After dinner we went to the show: Premiere and they sang a lot of songs from movies and shows. After the show, we went to the Cabaret Lounge for a little while, but the show was awful. There was a girl who spun plates and hula hoops. Then there was a guy on a keyboard. It seemed like they were bad auditions for America’s Got Talent. We left there and had a drink at the Sports Bar before bedtime.
I did notice that the charges were cleared on our account and was happy that had been taken care of.
Day 6, Friday, December 16, 2022 Puerta Plata
Today we arrived in Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic at 10 am. It was recommended that we take a shuttle to town for $20pp. We saw from the deck that you could walk into town easily when we got there. So we got off the ship and walked around the port area before heading out the gates to the town. The cab drivers were very aggressive and “in your face” so we got aggravated and turned around to come back to the ship. We spent the day relaxing on the ship. The hotel director did make sure we got all of our Diamond gifts today which included sweets, dark chocolate, Nylon cinch bags, and a bottle of Prosecco. After dinner, we went to the show featuring Nina Skyy who sang Whitney Huston songs. We had a drink at the sports bar before going to bed. We also had to turn our clocks back an hour before bed.
Day 7, Saturday, December 17, 2022, Sea Day
As usual, I was up early and went to Guest Services to find out about Disembarkation. They said we would get the info today, but I found out that Diamond guests meet in the Cabaret Rouge at 7:45 tomorrow morning. She said we would get luggage tags for Diamond guests which we did in the afternoon. We sat on the deck overlooking the jungle pool for most of the day. When we dressed for dinner, I packed our suitcases. After dinner, we went to the show: Concert which was okay. The cruise director was very offensive and kept telling people that they needed to stop complaining about the cruise. He said the “retired cruisers were the ones who complained.” Then after dinner, we went to the sports bar, but service was very slow because there was only 1 bartender. We finally left and went back to the cabin to put our suitcases in the hall.
Day 8, Sunday, December 18, 2022 Disembarkation
We got to the Lido deck around 5:30 to wait for breakfast to open at 6 am. We were to meet in the Cabaret Rouge Lounge by 7:45 to get off the ship. They didn’t call us until 9:15 and we finally got through customs at 10 am. There was no organization and the luggage was arranged in a totally chaotic manner. None of the numbers were in order and different people were telling us to go to different places. It was the worst disembarkation we have ever had! The traffic was awful but we got through the port and on the interstate by 10:30.
Things I Learned:
- Make sure your key card reflects the correct loyalty status you have.
- Check your bill every day,
- Look at the dinner menu in advance in case you have to share the phone image with others.
- The shows on MSC are wonderful!
- The food and service in the Butcher’s Cut restaurant were exceptional!
- The Easy Drink Plus package was $51 per person per day. If it hadn’t come as a special with the cruise, we would not get it. We couldn't drink enough drinks to get our money's worth.
- Don’t count on the internet to do anything more than email and browse the internet.
- If you find the locals too aggressive, don’t be embarrassed about returning to the ship.
- This cruise director was the worst that MSC has ever had.
- I’m not sure we would recommend this ship to others.
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