8-Day Caribbean Cruise aboard MSC SEASCAPE

We sailed from Galveston on the MSC Seascape in the West Caribbean. We sailed after (most) kids were back to school. Ship was not at full capacity. There were enough places to sit in MDR or around pools. We only went off in Roatan.

Embarkation was fast and smooth. Our Deluxe balcony cabin had a lot of storage space. Long cable for CPAT machine was supplied including distilled water. No plugs next to the bed. Only 2 US plugs, 2 USB-A and 2 European plugs. Nice bathroom, lot of storage space but shower very tight. Shower head at about 6"4', just high enough for me. The water pressure was very good. The temperature can easily be adjusted.

Dining at 5 PM, 7 PM or 9 PM. Theater shows at 7 and 9 PM. You get one session assigned. Need to wait outside if you want to attend other session than assigned. Luckily we had 7 PM. They give you 90 minutes for dinner and then the lights go on, indicating it's time to leave. No free dining option. Food in MDR very good, service okay and got better by the day.

The 6 (!) different shows were best we've seen. It's singing, dancing, ballet and acrobatic performance. Clean comedian. Theater reservations "required" but enough space when ship not full.

Disembarkation only through main elevators and therefore slow. A lot of people check their luggage when embarking but carry their own luggage when disembarking. Once downstairs it went very fast.

We were happily surprised and will sail with MSC again.

First cruise with MSC. Good value for the money.

Positives: great pool area theming with plenty of chairs. Pizza was insanely good. Espresso drinks very good. Short lines for anytime dining. Ship is very modern design and has beautiful venues. Good options for buying up or down on the cruise amenities.

Staff was AMAZINGLY GOOD! My steward was awesome and I tipped to make sure that he knew it.

Negatives: no quiet space without kids during the day that is indoors. Lots of aggressive selling, with a lot of the daily activities dedicated to a hard sell. Staterooms are small and poorly laid out. Carpets stained, leaks around the main decks.

If you sail NCL-RCL-Carnival, I would say it beats them. I can speak to RCL as I have done one cruise with them. If you sail DCL or other similar lines, remember that you did not pay those prices and you are not getting that room size or food selection. You will most likely get the same service with a majority of the staff.

This was our 1st cruise on MSC and we really enjoyed our 7 day Western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston. The Seascape is absolutely beautiful and the ship's layout was easy for us to figure out quickly. We stopped at Guest Services twice and both times received prompt, friendly service. The crew was accommodating and friendly. However, we didn't feel like their English was as strong as say the crew on Princess. It didn't interfere with great service, but made it more difficult to visit and get to know some of our favorites. Our balcony cabin was kept spotless by Jenalyn who could not have been nicer. However, room stewards must clean 22 cabins twice a day. I think that Princess is 18 cabins and I felt like that was too much!

Our first evening we ate at the Butcher's Cut with their Welcome Aboard dinner ($88) special and loved it. The atmosphere and decor looked rich and elegant and the service was excellent. CAVEAT:

The ship was not in international waters when we dined around 5:30. As a result, the best red wines were Not available. The cab we had was quite tasty though! Plus our waiter kept refilling our wine glasses rather than bringing another glass. Maybe it's because they could see we had the premium drink package, I don't know but it was convenient.

I had the Angus sliders and my wife tried the Crab cake. Neither of us cared for the Crab cake, too fishy buy sliders were good. We both enjoyed the filet mignon and the sides were well prepared. Dessert was lava cake with vanilla ice cream!!

PS The Butcher's Cut is open for breakfast at No Extra Charge and the food and service were very good.

We tried Ola, the Mexican restaurant for lunch one day. We had two street tacos and a tamale. Tacos were ok but the tamale was very dry, Probably microwaved instead of steamed. Our waiter agreed with our assessment and said that it was probably because the chef was from India!

The rest of the cruise we dined in the main dining room. The food was good and arrived quickly and hot. The only negative is that the tables are very close together so it can get very loud. Not the most relaxing environment.

We tried the Buffett on a few occasions and really enjoyed the pizza both the thin crust and deep dish. The layout was a bit confusing to us.

We went to all the 7 pm shows and enjoyed them all. Afterwards we went to the Caberet Rouge lounge aft on deck 7 and enjoyed a 2 hour variety show each night. Good seats can be hard to get so head down at the conclusion of the 7 pm show. In addition, there were several musical venues throughout the ship with excellent performers.

We really enjoyed the hot tub on the side of the ship on deck 8! The Infinity Pool was incredible on deck 8 along with the views from the Bridge of Sighs 8 decks above on deck 16!

The Sports Bar was a great spot for beer, cocktails and light snacks (nachos were very good). Very good bartenders and ocean views and the oval bar always had interesting people to meet and strike up a conversation.

For whatever reason, there seemed to be lots of 1st time MSC cruisers like us! Everyone we spoke with were enjoying the cruise.

We parked in the MSC parking garage across the street from the terminal. It was so convenient even with the higher cost. We were on the ship by 11:30 am and did the self-disembarkation at 7:30 and left the garage by 7:50 for our 7 hour drive back home to Oklahoma.

We plan to return to the Seascape for this cruise again because it was convenient, a great value and really enjoyable.