MSC Seascape

 I'm currently on a "new to me" cruise line - MSC. A little history on the company is that they were established in 2002 and are already the 3rd biggest cruise line worldwide. Beginning in Europe, they are now trying to attract more North Americans and building the largest cruise terminal in Miami.

The MSC Seascape's inaugural cruise was in late November, so we are the 4th or 5th group to sail on her. She is the longest ship in the MSC fleet and in the top 20 largest ships in the world.

For reference, I have cruised with Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. MSC usually prices around the same range as Carnival but frequently offers a wifi/drink package. Here are my first impressions:

1. As with any line, bring your patience for the first day. No way around it. Just breathe.

2. Because MSC began in Italy, they have a huge European following. This was very evident at check-in as my husband and I were literally the only ones speaking English around us. Not necessarily a bad thing - but it was definitely very obvious. (This could be because it was a new ship? Or due to the new year holiday?)

3. Check-in was organized chaos like any other cruise line. They weren't checking or enforcing the assigned times. The whole process took around an hour and a half but I guess that's not too bad for trying to get over 5,000 people onboard.

4. The muster drill procedure didn't make sense to me and quite frankly, I think they need a teacher organizing it first, they make everyone go to their room and "watch a video", then you have to call a number from your phone, then they make an announcement for everyone to go to their muster stations only to have their room keys scanned. People are everywhere and going in every direction. Other cruise lines, hands down, do this 100% better.

5. The ship is beautiful MSC is known for their Swarovski staircases and I could seriously sit and stare at that bling for a long time. My favorite feature is the retractable roof over the Jungle pool area. It was greatly appreciated considering it was COLD when we boarded in Miami.

6. We got an interior stateroom (cause I'm cheap) and it was comparable to other lines in size. My personal opinion is that the layout was just a tad bit better.

7. Dinner tables really bothered the introvert in me there are only 2 of us traveling but we were assigned at a table for 8 with complete strangers, who thankfully were no shows. I can only hope that our dinner party decides to eat buffet every night!

8. The "smart elevators" are annoying. On the outside you press what floor you want to go to and then it assigns you an elevator. It kept giving us an error message to we just hopped on the next elevator that opened once inside there are no buttons to push so you're just a long for the ride! I'm usually all for technology but I could do without this.

Finally, this is just our first day so it's still too early to form a true opinion. I've honestly not seen even half the ship yet, I stay lost anytime I'm outside the room, and I just have to trust that my husband actually knows where he's going like he says he does

#MSCSeascape #cruiseship #MSC

Final review of MSC - I don't love it, but I don't hate it. The little things add up and I frequently hear the same comments from everyone around. But first, let me talk about the great things of MSC:

1. Hands down the BEST pizza at sea. They usually only offer cheese, pepperoni, and a white pizza but it is good!

2. Bar service at the buffet. It's a nice feature to be able to sit down at a table and waiter come around to ask you what you'd like to drink. They still have the self-service area that has a great selection of coffee, juices, teas, and milks.

3. Wifi package includes browsing and streaming and is often included.

4. The kids club and kids offerings onboard seem to be great! The water park is the coolest I've seen!

5. The spa onboard is top notch! It can be busy at times, and you have to make a reservation but it was well worth "splurging" for a week pass.

One of the major points where MSC misses the marks for me all comes from my expectations from other cruise lines. This includes the following:

1. No 24 hour food available. I'm not a night owl but simple offerings 24/7 is definitely missed.

2. No soft serve ice cream (I've tried to not to make this a big deal but gosh I've missed ice cream this week!)

3. The food is very mediocre and I'm not a picky eater. But we've found the buffet food to be a little better than the main dining room but I've found myself eating pizza almost nightly after sampling other offerings.

4. The staff is very "service focused". I wasn't sure how else to say this. The staff works hard and are friendly enough but they don't have the "southern hospitality" that I've seen on other lines. They don't remember your name or go out of their way to be extra friendly. This is important to some guests and I've heard several people mention this onboard.

5. Probably the "deal breaker" for me is the lack of entertainment we enjoy comedy shows and magic shows and the "game shows" like love & marriage, etc. None of this was offered on our sailing. They did have a dueling pianos show which was okay (not a lot of guest interaction) and a variety show in the lounge but this seemed to be the same show nightly.

Bottom line - if given the choice after I know what I know now, would I have booked this trip? Absolutely! We've had a good time even if we did have to create some of the fun ourselves. We've met amazing people from all over the world and got to visit some new places

Would I book another cruise with MSC if another cruise line like Carnival, or RCL, or NCL offered the same itinerary & close price range... Probably not