Day 2 on the new flagship of the MSC Cruises fleet, MSC World America, saw us spend the day at sea as we head to our first port of call, Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, as part of the ship’s inaugural sailing.
I’m a bit on the cranky side this morning as I’m writing today’s report. Why? Because I’m tired! Let’s rewind a bit. In yesterday’s report, I talked about and gave a little tour of my stateroom, number 10279, located on Deck 10 aft. This balcony stateroom overlooks the ship’s World Promenade and, along with views of all the action below, it is also one of the few Promenade-view staterooms that has a bit of an ocean view.
As I noted, I originally booked an inside stateroom and took advantage of MSC’s upgrade program that allows you to place bids on different classes of staterooms in the hopes of scoring an upgrade at a lower cost than booking at the regular non-upgrade rate. These upgrade bids are done through a third party called PlusGrade, which most of the major cruise lines, as well as some airlines, are using to increase revenue.
In my case, I placed upgrade bids for the maximum amount for all balcony stateroom categories, and within a few days of my offer, my bid was accepted, and I was assigned the stateroom I’m currently staying in.
Being that this stateroom overlooks the Promenade, which has music and activities happening throughout the day and evening, I expected it to not be the quiet respite a balcony cabin overlooking the ocean would be. If you’re looking for a quiet balcony to enjoy during the day or early evening, one of these Promenade-view ones is not for you. Now, most evening activities wrap up on the Promenade well before midnight, and noise has been pretty much minimal at night. In fact, this is where they had the silent disco last night, so lots of people, but no loud music.
So what am I complaining about then?
Well, I called it a night around 11 p.m. and headed back to my room and went to bed. As I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, I kept feeling the thumping and pounding of bass and music despite my white noise machine and noise-canceling earbuds!
I figured this was the band wrapping up… somewhere? Maybe the All Star Sports Bar down below me on the Promenade? Well, they didn’t have a band or entertainment going on. I peeked my head out on the balcony a few times to try to figure out where the noise was coming from. Was it one of my neighbors blasting music? Nope. Was it something going on down on the Promenade? Nope. What was it?
It happened to be the After Dark party in the Panorama Lounge all the way down on Deck 7. The Panorama Lounge is a showroom located at the aft of the ship, directly under the Promenade, which offers sweeping sea views during the day and shows at night with large LED screens. Beginning at 10:45 p.m., a DJ takes over, and the space is turned into a late-night club.
See those large windows just above the “MSC World America” name? That’s the Panorama lounge located on Deck 7. If you’ve sailed on a Royal Caribbean ship, such as Quantum of the Seas with a Two70 onboard, this venue is very, very similar and is used for the same purpose and shows.
The music and the thumping continued until 2 a.m., at which point I was finally able to fall asleep. If I felt and heard the music from Deck 7 on Deck 10, I’d hate to be even closer to the lounge, or even inside it!
Looking at tonight’s schedule of events, the same thing is going on, so I expect this to be a recurring event for the rest of the cruise. So, moral of the story: if you’re looking for a quiet balcony stateroom where you can enjoy some peace and quiet sitting outside, or away from the nightclubs, stay away from this area of the ship.
Being that it was a sea day, there were a lot of the usual activities scheduled throughout the day, which you can see at the end of this report in the daily planner. One of the things I was interested in seeing is how crowded the pool areas would be, and I was surprised that throughout the day there were plenty of spots at the main pool, adults-only Zen pool, and really everywhere outdoors. There wasn’t any outdoor area of the ship at all during the day that felt overcrowded.
While breakfast was being served, I decided to take a walk through the buffet to see how crowded it was, knowing that it would probably be a hot mess. It wasn’t. This is due to the fact that there is not a single buffet! While the large buffet is located on Deck 18 close to the main pool, there are also smaller buffets set up outside by the pool, on Deck 19 above the main buffet, and there’s also food available down on Deck 6 in the ship’s Luna Park area that serves up burgers, fries, and pizza during the day.
MSC has done a good job at positioning venues around the ship in strategic locations to avoid bottlenecks and complaints of overcrowding.
Speaking of pizza, MSC is known for having killer pizza, and here on World America, there is no shortage of it. In fact, there are multiple styles of pizza being offered in various locations. From the traditional thin crust, which is fantastic, to a thick Sicilian style that has a very airy and flaky crust, there is pizza all over the ship for you to enjoy.
Time to talk sweets. Out on the Promenade is Sweet Temptations, and it’s definitely sweet and definitely tempting! This shop offers gelato, frozen yogurt, candy by the pound, waffle cones, giant Instagram-worthy shakes, and more treats such as a wall full of M&M’s candies and some of the Venchi chocolates. It’s got that old-school ice cream parlor vibe and is bright and colorful and features indoor and outdoor seating on the Promenade for enjoying your treats!
It’s important to note that everything in here is sold for a fee.
Sweet Temptations is not the only spot to get your sugar fix! Down on Deck 6 is Jean-Philippe Chocolat & Café. This shop is a chocolate shop and coffee bar, so you can combine two guilty pleasures at the same time. You can watch the delicious chocolates made right in front of you in the open kitchen, try some homemade gelato, or grab a fresh-packed waffle cone dipped in chocolate from the chocolate fountain. If that’s not enough, you can even order some crepes and create your own chocolate bar!
If you’re STILL craving a bit of sweet, up at the main pool on the lido deck, there is even more gelato, and soft-serve ice cream is available during select hours at the ship’s buffet and in the Luna Park area on Deck 6, so you can pair a burger, pizza, or hot dog with a bit of ice cream if you want.
Evening Activities
The first elegant night of the cruise has arrived, and it’s also the time for the Captain’s Welcome Reception. Walking around the ship at dinner time, it was very evident that people onboard were embracing the theme of the evening. The majority of the passengers were dressed to the nines and lined up for photo ops.
This is a vast departure from “dressy” night on Carnival, where those who decide to dress up are in the minority. Onboard World America, the majority of passengers were elegantly dressed, with just the occasional guest taking it casual. While the dress code isn’t enforced, it’s suggested.
Also notable, almost all the crew, right down to those keeping the ship shiny, were dressed up as well, adding an additional touch of elegance to elegant night.
When 8:15 p.m. rolled around, the World Galleria, which spans decks 6, 7, and 8, filled with people to meet the ship’s senior officers and the master of the vessel, Captain Dino Sagani, who is quickly becoming the cruise line’s social media star.
Once the introductions were over, Captain Dino had a meet-and-greet with guests and the ship’s photographers to capture the moment. This was repeated again at 10:15 p.m.
Before heading off to dinner, I stopped by The Gin Project to have a few pre-dinner cocktails. While I was enjoying a finely crafted G&T, I was approached by an F&B officer who passed me a coin with a QR code on the back to scan for instructions.
I’m not going to spill the beans just yet—got to keep the suspense going for another day or two—but I’ll drop a little hint in the photo below as to what this could possibly be!
I also made a stop at the ship’s casino to try my luck. I dropped a few hundred and recouped a bit, but not all. The casino on MSC World America is quite large and features a good-sized bar smack dab in the middle of it. Brightly lit with all types of slot machines and table games, the main casino is… smoke-free! If you want to gamble and smoke, there is a separate, much smaller smoking casino in its own enclosed area.
This is something completely different compared to other cruise lines that do the exact opposite—they have a large smoking casino and a small non-smoking one. However, that appears to be changing as cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean are starting to make adjustments to their casinos by increasing the amount of non-smoking gaming space.
Dinner in Butcher’s Cut Steakhouse on MSC World America
For dinner tonight, I had a 9 p.m. reservation for Butcher’s Cut, the cruise line’s signature steakhouse and a spot where you’re always guaranteed to have a great meal.
Dinner at Butcher’s Cut is $55 per person and includes a starter, entrée, two sides, and dessert. There are additional items on the menu that incur an additional surcharge, such as the $20 Wagyu Tartare.
If you purchased one of the specialty dining packages, you can enjoy Butcher’s Cut once using one of those dining credits. Otherwise, you can visit it as many times as you’d like at the full $55 per person price.
Now, here’s the kicker. Reservations for the steakhouse fill up fast. Why? Because somewhere along the line, someone at MSC underestimated the popularity of steakhouses and the love us Americans have for all things beef!
Butcher’s Cut on MSC World America only has 37 tables! That is a very small number compared to the number of tables and square footage the steakhouse has on other ships. One of the other specialty restaurants, Paxos Greek Taverna, which is located outside on the World Promenade, has more seats as well as outdoor seating and has not been nearly as busy as the steakhouse.
As time goes by, I’m laying odds on Butcher’s Cut being relocated to a different location on the ship in order to accommodate more guests.
When I arrived, I was greeted by a familiar face. The host has worked on other ships I sailed on, including MSC Divina, MSC Meraviglia, and MSC Seascape, so we knew each other from past cruises. He took me to my table, which at 9 p.m. was the only available table in the packed house.
In addition to indoor seating, there are a few tables outside of the restaurant along the walkway, but it’s a high-traffic area, and I’m not sure anyone would willingly want to have dinner out there. But when seats are at a premium, you do what you need to do to get your steak fix.
I started off with the previously mentioned Wagyu Beef Tartare, which was topped with caviar and served with toast and beet puree, and also enjoyed a shrimp cocktail.
Next up, I went with a classic wedge salad served with blue cheese.
For my main course, I went with the New York Strip prepared medium with a loaded baked potato.
Everything I ordered was delicious, and service was on point, and the timing of dishes was spot on. When dessert time rolled around, I was a little disappointed to see that the chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream was not on the menu here on World America. When I asked, I was told that the current menu differs a bit from other ships, as they work to tweak it to see what is best for those sailing on this ship.
And speaking of dining changes, when I returned to my room, there was a letter outlining some time changes for assigned dining in the ship’s main dining room. You can see that they are still working out the kinks and tweaking things as they come up to make things run smoothly both for the crew and guests.
MSC World America At Night
One thing about World America: this ship is absolutely gorgeous, but even more so at night. From the upper deck to the World Promenade, the ship comes alive in light and its own aesthetic when the sun goes down. Just look at some of these photos!
We’re currently sailing towards our first of three ports of call for this cruise, Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. This is not to be confused with Amber Cove, which is often listed as Puerto Plata. Amber Cove is a private destination built by and used for Carnival Corp brand cruise lines, as opposed to the Taino Bay Cruise Port in Puerto Plata, which is used by a variety of lines and is owned by the Dominican government.
World America is set to arrive at 9 a.m., so stay tuned for tomorrow’s report for updates from the Dominican, and as always, thanks for following along.
P.S. Hopefully I get a good night’s sleep tonight!
MSC World America Day 2 Daily Program
Click here for the entire version as a PDF.