Day 3 was another sea day on the MSC Seaside as we sailed towards St. Maarten, our first port of call. Once again the weather was great, although a tad bit windy, and there were a few very brief showers along the way but nothing more than that. According to the TV we were sailing at around 17 knots with a 27-knot wind – enough to make you feel the movement of the ship, but not enough to spill a drink!
As I mentioned in yesterday’s installment, I booked a private cabana at the Yacht Club Pool for this sea day, the next, and our final day in Nassau, Bahamas. ($99 on a sea day, $59 on a port day.)
The cabana consists of two lounge chairs, a table, storage, a cooler stocked with requested beverages, towels, and butler service. Continental breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks are served – more on that in a minute.
While the cabana is available at 6:30am, the odds of me getting there that early were about the same as me winning the “Super, Tremendous, Spectacularly Insane Snowball Bingo” in the ship’s theatre.
I did make my way up there around 10am to find a selection of pastries, fresh fruit, and a cooler full of soda, water, beer, and a bottle of Prosecco waiting. Our butler, the same one who takes care of us the rest of the time onboard, kept coming around to see if we wanted anything or if he could do anything for us.
Honestly, all I wanted to do was just relax and chill out, laying staring through the glass at the blue Atlantic.
Which is exactly what I did for most of the day!
Unfortunately for me, I forgot that feet are susceptible to sunburn just like other body parts… you can probably guess where I’m going with this. Yep, I managed to burn the tops of my feet in the strangest pattern – just enough to make putting on socks and shoes painful.
As we laid around doing absolutely nothing, except hydrating with the aforementioned beverages, lunchtime rolled around and our butler came over to take our order and delivered it hot and fresh from the grill right by the pool bar.
Chocolate-covered strawberries arrived a few moments later.
Around 3pm, he appeared once again this time bearing a tray full of covered dishes. Fresh sushi, chips and salsa, and an assortment of Italian meats and cheeses with pita bread.
As I uncovered each dish I wondered how many pounds I was going to gain after this cruise.
When all the food and booz.., er… beverages were consumed, we headed back to our suite around 5pm to soak up some cold air conditioning and get ready for the evening which lay ahead.
Shortly before 8pm we headed to the Metropolitan Theatre for the evening’s show called The Wizard. Once again, the ship’s cast of singers, dancers, and performers put on another Cirque-style show. In fact, all the shows follow the same model – sing, dance, rollerskaters, hula hoops, aerialists, an acrobat or two… all set to music with no apparent storyline other than at the end of the show you say, “well, that was interesting… what did we just watch?”
That’s not to say the shows aren’t good – they are, just don’t expect to see an abbreviated version of the Lion King or an Elvis tribute, or a live band for that matter.
After the show, we had dinner in the Yacht Club Restaurant, and once again were disappointed in the quality of the food. So much so, that we complained to our butler about it and one of us didn’t even touch dinner.
We both started out with Chicken and Seafood Gumbo, which was just OK. The only bit of seafood that I found in it was one baby shrimp.
Next up we opted for a pasta course, the same as the other night – penne pasta with a red sauce. Again, the highlight of the meal for sure – which is disappointing because it’s pretty hard to mess up pasta if we’re being honest with each other.
For entrees, we both went with the Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb – one medium, one well. Mine was refrigerator cold and so were the two spoonfuls of mashed potatoes that accompanied the three lamb chops. Since I was hungry, I ate mine, while the other order went untouched except for one bite.
Our server came over to clear and never asked why the one dish wasn’t touched or inquired whether we liked dinner or not – he simply took the dishes and said he’d be back to take our dessert order.
We passed.
We went downstairs to the lounge for an after-dinner drink and our butler asked how dinner was, and I frankly told him that for the restaurant that is for the exclusive use of the Yacht Club, the food is absolutely shameful.
In my mind, this restaurant should be the one that sets the bar for every other restaurant on board – it doesn’t even come close.
The previous night we had dinner at Roy Yamaguchi’s Asian Kitchen where the lamb was phenomenal – of course, that’s a paid experience, but for the cost of the Yacht Club, the food should be as good or better – not worse.
To be served an entrée and sides that are cold is unacceptable.
Thankfully we are having dinner tonight at the ship’s steakhouse – Butcher’s Cut, and then just one more meal at the Yacht Club restaurant which we may skip. We still have Yamaguchi’s sushi restaurant and the teppanyaki yet to experience.
A few cocktails and we called it a night.
This morning as we left our suite to grab breakfast at the Yacht Club pool, our butler stopped us to let us know he spoke to the restaurant manager about dinner last night and said he will speak to us next time we dine.
If there’s a next time – not sure I want to have three strikes – two is enough!
We had breakfast, headed back to our suite to grab our ID and our butler escorted us to the gangway so we could disembark and experience the sights, or lack thereof, St. Maarten.
I’ll save that experience for tomorrow’s installment.
For now, it’s time for lunch, and some more picture-taking around the ship while everyone is out buying cheap trinkets for the folks back home that will end up in the trash!
Personal Day-By-Day MSC Seaside Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of MSC Seaside
My Photo Tour of MSC Seaside will showcase the ship’s stunning design, innovative features, and world-class amenities. We’ll take you through the ship’s impressive atrium, with its sparkling Swarovski crystal staircase, to the lush greenery of the outdoor promenade. You’ll get an up-close look at the MSC Seaside’s thrilling water park, chic lounge areas, and luxurious spa facilities. And of course, the ship’s many dining options, from casual beachside bites to elegant specialty restaurants.