Day three of this 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the beautiful MSC Seascape saw us pull up to Falmouth, Jamaica. We were originally scheduled to stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, however in February 2024, the Carnival Magic collided with the dock during maneuvers and pretty much destroyed it. So until the dock is repaired, cruise lines are rerouting to ports such as Falmouth.
It’s not my first time here, and it’s definitely not one of my favorite ports, as there isn’t really anything to do here unless you book an excursion. The port area itself is just a medium-size shopping plaza, which is relatively modern and well-kept, but that’s about it. There are no restaurants or bars, except for a few pop-up stands run by locals. Besides the usual Caribbean chains, like Diamonds International, that are at every single port a cruise ships visits, there are a few dozen souvenir shops, a duty-free store, and lots of local craft vendors.
The port can accommodate up to two ships, and today the Seascape was the only ship in port. From my “office” up on Deck 18 where I worked for most of the day, I had a birds-eye view of the marketplace, and it was a ghost town the whole time we were here. I did head off the ship for exactly eight minutes – long enough to grab some Cuban cigars, take a selfie and come back on board.
For those looking to actually do stuff in Falmouth, you can! Shore excursions are available to places such as Dunn’s River Falls where you can climb waterfalls, there are dolphin encounters you can book, or head out to Bamboo Beach for some time in the sun or snorkeling. For the most part, a good majority of passengers did take some of these excursions, as the ship was relatively quiet throughout the day. A quick spin through the buffet at lunchtime revealed… no lines! There were plenty of open loungers and chairs around all the pools and open decks – a nice change from yesterday’s sea day.
All aboard was 5:00pm and as the clock’s hands hit the top of the hour, some of the ship’s officers were anxiously pacing outside the ship taking on their phones, texting, and checking their watches. Passengers were out on their balconies and lined up along the open decks peering out on the dock waiting for the lines to be pulled in and sail away to begin.
However….
We were short two passengers.
A few minutes later, here comes a woman and a man, meandering slowly as if they didn’t know they were holding up the ship. Port staff were motioning them to hurry up, but it didn’t matter. They didn’t care. Once they existed the terminal building, they were met with cheers from their fellow passengers and disgruntled looks from the crew who were waiting on them.
It’s important to note, that unless you are on a shore excursion arranged by the cruise line, if you are late coming back to port the ship has every right to leave without you. Over the past couple weeks, stories have been in the news about passengers being left behind because they were late getting back to the ship. If the ship decides they’re not going to wait for you any longer, they will send someone to your room, locate your passport and leave it with port officials. It’s then up to you to figure out how to meet back up with the ship, or return home – at your expense!
As soon as these two were onboard, we were underway, heading off to our next port of call, Grand Cayman.
MSC Seascape Elevators
Let’s talk elevators for a moment. Many new ships do not have enough elevators to accommodate the number of passengers and it seems elevator cars are getting smaller and smaller. Here on Seascape, the cars are quite large – about double the size of the ones on Carnival’s Excel-class ships (Celebration, Mardi Gras and Jubilee) – and signage says they hold 21 people. They’re also “smart elevators.”
When it’s time to take a trip up or down, you walk to a touch pad and select the floor you want to go to. The screen will then tell you what car to move to and how long it will be before it arrives. When it arrives, audible announcements tell you that the doors are opening and closing. It then whisks you away to your selected floor.
Now, how smart they are when everyone is trying to use them at the same time, I haven’t seen. I prefer the stairs.
One thing these elevators don’t do is count passengers, so cars do arrive full when you expect them to be empty.
An Interesting Rest Room Situation
I needed to use the rest room, so I went to find the closest one which was identified by a sign that had the male, female, and handicapped symbol on it. However, there was one door. I thought, that once inside that door, it would split off into the men’s and ladies’ restroom.
Nope.
Once inside, it was a large restroom with multiple stalls with full length doors.
I walked out just to check the sign to make sure I wasn’t really in the ladies’ restroom. I wasn’t…. I just entered a communal, unisex restroom!
Definitely my first time experiencing that. But since it was located next to one of the ship’s largest nightclubs, it makes sense as a communal restroom would eliminate lines for the ladies.
Dinner Time!
So far, I’ve eaten at two of the ship’s four specialty restaurants, Butcher’s Cut Steakhouse and Kaito Teppenyaki. My plan for this evening was to have dinner in the main dining room. I requested “late dining” which usually is 8:30pm on most lines. On here, there are multiple times for early and late assigned dining, and your dining room, table number, and time is clearly printed on your room key.
Did I pay attention to any of that?
Nope.
I completely forgot that my “late” dining time was an “early” 7:30pm. It wasn’t until 8:15pm when I finished my cocktail and was going to head to the dining room, when I pulled out my key to see what dining room I was assigned and saw 7:30pm.
So much for that.
My choices at that point were one of the specialty dining options, the buffet, or the sports bar. Since I had the sports bar on my list to try and I wasn’t that hungry, that’s where I headed to.
The Sports Bar on MSC Seascape features a large bar, high tops, tables tucked away in cozy nooks, and since it’s close to the casino… slot machines!
Besides having a large selection of draft and bottled beer, cocktails, and spirits, they have an ala carte food menu that’s basic, but fits the need when you’re in a clutch. We’re talking a very limited food menu of just five items:
- Caesar Salad ($5+ add-ons)
- Wings ($6)
- Nachos ($7+ add-ons)
- Burger ($8)
- Apple Pie ($4)
I started off with the wings, which were not good at all. The order of six were breaded and were a complete soggy mess. For those who like their wings crispy, like me, these were a huge disappointment.
Next up, I went with the burger that came with cheddar cheese, onions, and bacon with a side of fries and coleslaw. Another disappointment. I asked for it to be cooked well done, it arrived medium rare and cold. The fries were also cold.
It’s not that hard to make a good burger.
Main Dining Room Menu – Day 3
If I did manage to make it to the main dining room for dinner, I would have been enjoying the Caribbean-themed dinner menu!
Evening Entertainment
In the ship’s main theater, a stand-up comedian is providing the entertainment. I’m not really into stand-up, so I decided to skip that and check out some of the entertainment elsewhere on the ship.
Tonight was the ship’s Sunshine Party, where everyone is encouraged to dress up in their best “Flower Power” garb. In the atrium, a duo was cranking out a whole set of ABBA music in preparation for the start of the party. All four floors on the atrium were packed as people were singing and dancing along.
When they completed their set, a DJ took over, playing hits from the 60s and 70s that kept the party going and people were having an absolute blast. I’m not one to take part in these parties, but I ended up singing and dancing along as this was one wild and fun night.
I stuck around for most of the party before heading back to my room around midnight.
Our next stop is at George Town, Grand Cayman. This is a tender port, where we anchor just off shore and tender boats take passengers back and forth throughout the day. We’re expected to arrive at 8:00am and all aboard is scheduled for 3:30pm.
As always, thanks for following along!