MSC World America Eastern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 4

A Note About Lunch

Since today is a popular port day, lunch is not being served in any of the speciality restaurants.  The only spots to grab something to eat are the buffet, Pizza & Burger on deck 6, and the quick service pizza and burger spot, La Boca Grill, up at the Mar Azul (main pool).

Mid-Cruise Survey

Most cruise lines wait until you’re off the ship and back home before sending the inevitable “How did we do?” survey. But,  I just received a mid-cruise survey asking me to rate my experience so far on a scale of 0 to 10. After giving the initial rating, it takes you to another page where you can provide feedback about the cruise and mention any problems or issues you’ve experienced up to this point.

In theory, I actually like this idea better than waiting until the cruise is over. If something isn’t going well, giving the cruise line that feedback while you’re still onboard at least creates the possibility that someone can address it before you go home.

The big question is what happens after you hit submit.

Does that feedback actually make its way to someone onboard the ship quickly enough for them to identify the guest, follow up and potentially fix the problem before debarkation? Or is it simply another survey that gets collected, analyzed and reviewed later?

I don’t know.

But if MSC is actively feeding these mid-cruise responses back to the ship and using them to resolve problems while guests are still onboard, then this is a very smart way to handle feedback. There’s a lot more value in fixing an issue on Day 4 than apologizing for it in an email after you’ve already gone home.

Gangway Open – Gangway Closed – Gangway Open

We arrived in San Juan this morning as the only ship in port, and the gangway opened for guests to start heading ashore at around 8:50 a.m.

When the cruise director made the announcement, though, it came with a bit of a warning – if you wanted to get off the ship right away, do it now. At 9:30 a.m., the gangways would be closing for about 20 minutes while Carnival Magic maneuvered into port and docked across from us.

That timing turned out to be pretty much spot-on. The gangways shut down at 9:30 and reopened about 20 minutes later once Carnival Magic was safely in position.

We were also greeted by a few on-and-off showers this morning, although the weather looks like it’s starting to clear. 

Breakfast Menu

For those looking to head ashore first thing, breakfast is being served in the main dining room as well as in the Yacht Club Restaurant for those folks.  Of course, the buffet is always an option for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Here’s a look at the breakfast menus for both sit-down restaurants.