It’s the second of two back-to-back sea days on this 7-day inaugural cruise on the new flagship of the MSC Cruises fleet, MSC World America. So far, the trip has been fantastic in every way. From a stunning ship to service I can’t find a single complaint about, to, well… everything. Things have been pretty flawless, and considering this is the first cruise, that’s impressive.
While walking around the ship, I’ve been seeing plenty of familiar faces from other MSC ships I’ve been on. Many seasoned crew members were picked to be part of the inaugural team and joined the ship in France when it was turned over from the shipbuilder to the cruise line. Their time was spent cleaning, getting the ship ready for guests, training (and more training), while also getting to experience some of the things guests would experience onboard before heading to her new home, Miami.
MSC World America Activities
Since it’s a sea day, let’s talk about some of the “fun” stuff to do onboard World America for both adults and kids. We’ll start up on Deck 20 in The Harbour, where most of the outdoor activities are located, including:
- Adventure Trail – A ropes course for adults and kids that is perched high above the ship. Once you strap yourself into a safety harness, you can make your way along at your own pace—whether you choose a more strenuous path or not.
- Bumper Cars – The bumper cars on MSC World America hit my memory button, as they reminded me of being on another inaugural cruise, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, which introduced, you guessed it… the first bumper cars at sea back in 2014! You can bump around in these things indoors at the MSC Sport Plex.
- Jaw Drop – For 30 seconds of fun and a fast way to get from Deck 20 to the World Promenade on Deck 8, forget the elevator—hit the Jaw Drop! Enter the mouth of the shark, and you’ll spiral your way down 11 decks in this stainless steel dry slide that goes from light to dark.
- The Cliffhanger – This is a first-of-its-kind ride on a cruise ship, and one that will set you back $5 to experience. It’s a swing that hangs off the side of the ship, 50 meters above the water, giving you stunning views of the ship and the ocean as you swing back and forth.
- The Lighthouse – For the little ones, there’s a lighthouse modeled after the icon at Ocean Cay Marine Reserve. It’s a playground and slide to keep the kids busy and burn off all that energy from eating too much gelato!
- F1 Racing Simulator – Take a sit inside a replica Formula 1 car and “drive” along a virtual racetrack, feeling every twist, turn, and smash-up.
I mentioned the MSC Sport Plex when talking about the bumper cars. This area is also used for roller skating, basketball, tennis, soccer (it’s called football in the app, because… Europe), and volleyball.
MSC World America brings the line’s largest water park to the United States with several water slides for both adults and kids. Head up to Deck 22 for the Twin Racer Slide, where, as the name implies, two slides let you compete against someone to see who gets to the bottom the fastest. When you reach the bottom, your time is displayed on an LED display.
If you want a more thrilling waterslide, the U Drop Slide is a high-speed slide that drops you down in a near-vertical position to your splashdown below. Finally, there’s a VR Slide, where you strap on a pair of virtual reality glasses and slip-slide away for this 60-second experience through different “worlds.”
Many of these attractions have weight, height, and age restrictions and require a waiver to be signed before participation. You can sign this waiver at the appropriately named “Kiosk” on Deck 20. Once signed, it’s linked to your onboard account, so you won’t have to sign it for each attraction.
MSC World America Pools
If chilling by a pool sounds like your kind of thing, there are plenty of those to go around. Up on Deck 18, which I’ll refer to as the Lido deck since that’s what most people call it anyway, you’ll find the ship’s main pool—Mar Azul. This is where you’ll have entertainment throughout the day, a huge movie screen, 300 seats/loungers, 2 outdoor hot tubs, and 4 indoor whirlpools.
Just off Mar Azul is the Botanic Garden Pool, an indoor pool with a retractable roof. It’s often a very steamy spot and can get hot and humid in there. It has 58 seats/loungers, a second-floor bar, and some table games such as foosball and ping pong for passing the time. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult in the Botanic Garden Pool area.
If you’re looking for a kid-free zone, head to the Zen Pool area, also on Deck 18. Two pools top the towers that make up the Y-shaped hull that overlooks the World Promenade on Deck 8. In addition to fantastic views, these two pools have plenty of seats, day beds for rent, and a bar just steps away. This adults-only area has 120 seats/loungers.
For families traveling with kids, there are plenty of things for them to do in the various age-assigned kids’ clubs—from Lego playrooms to babysitting to teen clubs and arcades in various locations around the ship. Your kids won’t be bored, and parents can get a break as well.
Out of all of these, which did I partake in? Well, I did both the Jaw Drop and the Cliffhanger, and the Cliffhanger was my favorite. I did it on a sea day, and the views overlooking the side of the ship were simply fantastic. There are video cameras mounted on the ride that take your video as you’re swinging, but these were not working during this cruise, so the ride operators were taking photos of riders prior to the ride starting to capture the moment.
Dinner at Paxos Greek Taverna
I’m going to be honest with you here. I was going back and forth considering canceling my dinner reservation for Paxos. Not being a huge Greek food fan, and with the only form of seafood I eat being shellfish, I was thinking this restaurant wouldn’t be a fit for me. But in the interest of trying out all the specialty restaurants onboard, I kept my reservation and headed over at 8:30 PM.
Paxos is located on the World Promenade on Deck 8, which means it offers both indoor and outdoor seating. What struck me the most was that there are more tables here than at Butcher’s Cut steakhouse. Since this ship was designed specifically for Americans, I would think the steakhouse would be much larger than it is. At just 37 tables, it’s one of the smallest in the fleet.
Once I was taken to my table, my server came over to introduce himself, and I was happy to see an old friend—Lawrence! I first met him on MSC Meraviglia and most recently on MSC Seascape, where he was a server in the teppanyaki restaurant.
I knew I was in good hands and asked for his recommendations, which I took!
Paxos will set you back $49 per person and is also one of the restaurants you can use your dining credit at if you purchased one of the specialty dining packages. Now, let me tell you… you get a LOT of food here!
First up, you’re brought some freshly baked and still-warm pita bread and spreads to nosh on as you peruse the menu.
For your starters, you get to choose four hot or cold items from the Mezze section of the menu. Let’s just say, if you have a table of four people, you’re going to suddenly have a LOT of food in front of you.
I chose the Watermelon and Barrel-Aged Feta Cheese Salad, Moussaka, Fried Feta Rolls, and Tiganita Thalassina (calamari, shrimp, and whitefish). I’ll put it out there that fried feta is far superior to fried mozzarella! The only miss here was the Moussaka; it was supposed to be hot but was actually served cold, leaving it a bit of a weird consistency. Also, the Tiganita was supposed to have whitefish, but it didn’t.
When it came to choices for my main entrée, the star of the show here is the restaurant’s selection of fresh fish, which is on display outside the open kitchen. As I mentioned, I’m not a fan of fish, so Alexander said, “Go with the lamb chops.”
They turned out to be incredibly flavorful with savory seasoning, perfectly cooked to medium, and served with roasted potatoes and vegetables.
When it came time for dessert, I passed, as there simply wasn’t enough room for anything else.
While the food and service were great, Paxos lacked in cocktails. They really only have the few ouzo cocktails and wine listed on the menu. Anything else has to come from another bar on the ship, so when I ordered a Hendrick’s and Tonic, Alexander came back and said the bar where the drinks come from only has Bombay. It was also served in a plastic cup, taking away some of the “atmosphere” of a specialty dining restaurant.
Overall, I am very happy that I didn’t pass up my reservation at Paxos!
After dinner, I stopped at the casino to make another donation and, once again, walked away a loser.
Tomorrow, we will be spending a long day on MSC’s private island in The Bahamas, Ocean Cay Marine Reserve. This slice of paradise was first opened in 2019, and back then, I was one of the first guests to visit. Since then, the island has undergone a lot of change with additional amenities and improvements being made on a continual basis. I can’t wait to see what’s new since my last visit here just a few months ago.
More on that tomorrow. For now, thanks for following along!
MSC World America Day 6 Daily Program
Click here for the entire version as a PDF.
