Unlike in previous years when we schedule our vacation later in the season, this year, we scheduled it before the start of the summer season. We have experienced in the past that late September would be relatively cold in some parts of the places we visited. This time, even if we planned to go to the Caribbean, we scheduled it in May.
Planning started in February (yes, in the middle of winter). We found the best value to a Caribbean vacation was taking a cruise. We booked a cruise with MSC’s newest ship (launched in December 2017), an 8-day cruise to Western Caribbean from Miami. Just like in our previous trip, we spent an extra day or two visiting attractions in the city where we embarked.
Pre-cruise Excursion: Key West, FL
We arrived in Miami a couple of days before embarkation. The extra day allowed us a (bus) day-trip to Key West. It was like an excursion. Our cruise didn’t include Key West in the itinerary. The double-decker bus picked us up at our hotel and then proceed to Key West. It was a good 3 hour drive to the southern most tip of the U.S. It was a comfortable ride while our guide provided commentary of the places we passed by.
When we arrived at the bus terminal in Key West, we quickly made our way to take the hop-on-hop-off bus around the island. One of the interesting stop was the southern tip marker. We also get to see Mile 0 of U.S. Highway 1.
RCCL’s Enchantment of the Seas was on port which made Duval St. busy. It rained a little bit while we were in the island. We had lunch at one of the restaurants near the marina. We boarded our bus before 6 PM. It was past 9 PM when we got to our hotel room.
Hop-On-Hop-Off: Miami, FL
Getting around Miami is relatively easy depending on where your hotel is located. From our hotel near the airport, we shuttled back to the airport and take the train from the airport to the light-train going (south) downtown. There are several free trolley running on different routes in the city. There are also (free) 3 MetroMover routes in the downtown core. To get a better look the various sections of the city, we purchased a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus ticket. The 2 hour bus ride went to South Beach as well as Little Havana areas of the Miami.
Later in the afternoon, we took a cab to Dolphin Mall (of course!). We bought last-minute supplies for our cruise.
Embarkation Day
We purchased a shuttle ride from our hotel to the cruise terminal. There are many options to get from airport/hotel to cruise terminal (and vice versa). Our shuttle left the hotel at 11 AM. The shuttle dropped-off cruisers at the Carnival cruise terminal. There were thousands of dis-embarking passengers. We were at Cruise (MSC) Terminal F at 11:40 AM. It was a little bit confusing where to drop-off our check-in bags (unlike our experience in our previous cruises in Europe). We found the luggage drop-off area and then we started our trek to the terminal. Security check and check-in (to get ship card and welcome package) was quick and was in the pre-boarding area in less than 30 minutes. We started boarding around 12:30 PM.
After a quick selfie (with the ship on the background) and walk to the ship gangway, we were in the ships multi-deck Atrium. As passengers were lining up for various things, we quickly made our way to Deck 8 Buffet Restaurant and ate our lunch. Our last meal was 8 PM the previous day.
We scouted the ships various public areas and booked our evening shows using the MSC for Me mobile application. It started raining in the mid-afternoon while we were checking out the Bridge of Sigh. We walked to our cabin as soon as it was announced that cabins are ready for the passengers. Our cabin was located near the aft. The ship has two rear-facing elevators. It was our quickest mode of going up and down (from Deck 7 to Deck 16) instead of the ‘slower’ elevators in the middle of the ship.
Muster Drill was announced and we made our way to our meeting area. Waiting for passengers to make their way to the meeting area was longer than the actual Muster Drill (even if they repeated the drill in 7 languages). After the Muster Drill was concluded, you begin to hear ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ on the public address speakers. MSC Seaside slowly glided out of the channel between Dodge Island and the luxurious island with million dollar houses while Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brighman belted out the last note of ‘Con te partirò‘.
We had dinner at the Buffet Restaurant before going heading to the Metropolitan Theater for the evening show. When we got back to our cabin, we got our Cruise Critic invitation to Meet-And-Greet event.
Sea Day 1
Having a long previous day, the Sea Day was a relaxing day – we were on vacation! We got to try the gym, checked out the Sports Bar and other public (indoor and outdoor) areas of the ship. I signed up for Cruise Critic prior to our boarding. We joined the meet-and-greet event with cocktail drinks and cake. We met the Captain and senior staff of the ship. We also got a photo with Captain Massa and the senior staff. Very nice.
In the afternoon, we used the pool. I’m not a fan of hot tubs but there were several of them. We tried out the Dining Room for dinner (5:15 PM seating) and enjoyed the menu. We were seated alone unlike in our previous cruise where another couple sat with us. This was the 1st (or 2) formal nights but we looked ‘casual’.
We watched the evening show before retiring for the day.
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
You know it is a Port Day when passengers are early for breakfast. Unlike in our previous cruise, we knew that the destination of this trip is the ship and not necessarily the ports of call. We were right. We grew up in a tropical country and we knew what it felt to be on the beach. MSC Seaside was the only ship on the port today. Most of the passengers went for excursions (sold from the ship and otherwise). We opted to walk around the port and found our way to Turtle Beach. Cost us $3/each to get in. Nice beach to hang around. It was clean and the trees provided shade. It was cloudy so finding a shade was not necessary. We saw several co-passengers taking advantage of the nice sandy beach.
On our way back, we dropped by the coconut vendor on the side of the street and bought two coconut and drank coconut water, first-time for me in over 20 years. After several photo ops, we made our way back to the ship. I went to the pool. I had it all by myself. I also had an opportunity to talk to the (Filipino) pool staff. We had dinner at the Dining Room and watched the evening show after dinner.
Before heading back to our cabin after the show, we walked around the art gallery and the boutiques on the ship.
George Town, Cayman Islands
George Town doesn’t have a big port to accommodate cruise ships. Our ship was the only ship tendered near the small port in George Town. Riding the ferry to the port felt like an excursion itself. It was a rainy day so passengers are huddling under any structure with a roof. We were not able to explore the city as much because of the rain. We took the ferry back to our ship before lunch time. On port days, majority of passengers are on land and the remaining passengers on the ship gets to enjoy less crowded public spaces in the ship.
We had dinner at the Dining Room and I order a couple of entrees. Their servings are bigger compared to our previous cruises. I nearly didn’t finished my dinner that night.
Cozumel, Mexico
As we lined up the gangway to get-off the ship, we were warned by ship crew that we should not bring fruits or food from the ship to the port. The Mexican port authority is strict in implementing produce/fruits brought inland. The port at Cozumel have pedicabs for cruise passengers to ride from the ship to the port gate. There are also bands and Mexican traditionally clothed staff welcoming cruise passengers.
There is a mall just outside the port gate. Most stores sell cheap beer. There is also a big department store/supermarket 100 meters away. In the produce section of the supermarket, we saw ripe papayas. We bought two (less than $5) and eat them at the cafe. We enjoyed the rest of the noontime heat at the Starbucks patio while using their wifi. We started walking back to our ship around mid-afternoon together with other passengers who based on their behavior have enjoyed the less expensive liquor Cozumel has to offer.
We ate a late lunch and had a good nap. Our departure was delayed as we waited passengers who went to (Mexico mainland in) Playa Del Carmen. As we were leaving Cozumel, we got to enjoy the sunset from our balcony. We skipped our seating time at the Dining Room and had our dinner at the buffet instead.
Sea Day 2
You expect passengers to be in the upper deck getting as much sun during sea days. For us, it was a time to ‘over-sleep’ and not in a hurry. We were able to use the gym facilities and the swimming pool. By the way, the bigger pools in MSC Seaside are more than 6 feet deep. This means that those who cannot tread water can not linger very long in the pools. There are several water slides but didn’t venture into it. I used the basketball court a couple of times.
The adventure park and water park were fully packed. The zip line was not used because of strong winds. We got to lounge around the beautiful bars in the ship. It is hard to believe that there are over 5,000 people in the ship and yet it doesn’t feel crowded.
At night, I get to watch the NBA Conference Finals in the sport bar. It was great to see basketball fans – Cavs and Warriors.
Nassau, Bahamas
It was after breakfast time that our ship slowly docked at Nassau. From our cabin balcony, you can see Atlantis. Just like in the other ports in our itinerary, we were not in a rush to hop out of our ship. Just before we left our cabin, we saw Carnival Liberty backing into the port. We leisurely walked out to the gangway and stepped out to the port around 11 am.
Outside of the cruise terminal, there were taxis waiting for cruise passengers to bring them to anywhere they would want to see in the island. We joined another group to go to Atlantis.
It took us a while to get our taxi fill up and bring us back to port. We had a chance to walk around town and found a Starbucks where we were able to check-in our flight back from Miami. We got back to the ship and ate a late lunch. I took another lap swim in the pool while Karen tried out the mango gelato. From Deck 16 of the MSC Seaside, you can easily sea the top deck of Carnival Liberty as they were showing a Star Wars movie.
We had our last Dining Room dinner in a hurry because we planned on watching the 6:45 PM show. Our waiter was kind enough to serve us quickly. We skipped our dessert and thanked our waiter as we walked out of our dining area. The 6:45 PM show is packed as the 8:00 PM show. After the show, we went up to the buffet in Deck 16 and get some dessert then made our way to the open area and watched a movie on their large screen. There were lawn chair seating arrangement.
We went back to our cabin after the movie and packed our bags.
Disembarkation and Coming Home
We woke up around 5:30 AM. At this time, our ship is easing its way to Port Miami. In less than an hour, we are already docked. By then, we were making our way to the buffet for breakfast.
After 7 AM, we were making our way to the ‘Self-Disembarkation’ line up in Deck 6. In less than 30 minutes, we walked out of the cruise terminal and bought our bus ticket to MIA. The bus waiting for some more passengers and we left the cruise terminal before 8 AM.
We were at the MIA at 8:30 AM. Most of the passengers were dropped-off in Terminal A, the rest of us stopped at Terminal D and walked our way to Terminal J. We had enough time in the terminal before catching our flight home. It was raining hard when we left Miami.
It was a very pleasant cruise trip. MSC Seaside was a floating resort. The staff and crew served us well.