MSC Seaview Review: The Best Mediterranean Cruise
The MSC Seaview
Our Experience Cruising on the MSC Seaview
We traveled on the MSC Seaview as a family of three with a baby under one year old, and it was one of the most wonderful experiences. Let's start this review with the obvious—the ship is splendid and has so much to offer, one of the best at sea.
Food Options and Quality
The MSC Seaview, just like the majority of their fleet, has a beautifully written Italian-based menu that looks so delicious. Unfortunately, in reality, my family and I have to be honest to say that the food is bland. This menu is probably the best food we had on all of the ships (the buffets in particular were better), but overall it still remains at most a 3/5 for us.
On this ship we dined at the Silver Dolphin, had breakfast at the Golden Sand a few times, tried both buffets, and loved the Marketplace, but you can never beat the views at the main buffet at the Biscan Bay Restaurant Buffet (it's a signature look for the main buffet on every MSC ship with spectacular floor-to-ceiling glass walls).
We didn't try the specialty restaurants but they looked good. We've tried on other ships and we'd recommend you try at least one if you can; the experience is always more relaxed and the quality of the food is usually better.
The specialist restaurants on MSC Seaview are Butcher's Cut and Ocean Cay by Ramon Freixa.
What We Recommend
Have a mixed experience of restaurant and buffet early on in the cruise and find out which one works for you. We prefer restaurants, but on this ship we were pleasantly impressed by the Marketplace Buffet which was so comfortable and felt like a mix of restaurant quality with the flexibility of a buffet. We travelled with a baby and that really worked for us.
Pros and Cons of Food Options on MSC Seaview
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Theme nights at the buffet (German night, etc.). The food options are interesting and mostly taste very good. | Mostly bland food—unfortunately it looks better than it tastes. |
5-course menu experience at the restaurants with lots of options. | Buffets feel unorganised and noisy and the food is bland. |
Cakes at the restaurant are absolutely delicious and a 5/5. | Unfortunately the service at the restaurants and buffets can lack attention to your needs (i.e., a reasonable table to sit with a child). |
Speed of service. | — |
Staff open to you ordering more as you go. | — |
Pizzas at the buffet are very well made. | — |
Food is available for pretty much the entire day (20 out of 24 hours). | — |
Champagne bar on MSC Seaview
Drinks and Packages
The drink options on this vessel are great. Their bars are absolutely beautiful, usually set around entertainment and unique decor. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful features on MSC, the classy and stylish bars, and how relaxing it is at any time of the day to be sipping coffee with a croissant at the Seaview Lounge or enjoying a glass of crémant and sitting back in the spinning chairs at the Champagne Bar whilst the piano plays in the background.
In terms of drinks and options, you can either pay as you go off the menus or buy a package. We got the Easy Plus package and found it very affordable. As we travelled with our baby, we didn't have much alcohol but between the specialty coffees and water and the few crémants and cocktails we enjoyed through the evening, it worked out to be very well priced.
The drink packages on MSC Seaview are Easy, Easy Plus, Premium Extra Package, Alchohol Free Package and Minors Package. See below what's included in each.
Drinks Packages on MSC Seaview
Balcony Cabin Comfort
Let’s get to the best part of our review—the cabin. The bed is delightful. At night, when the ship is at sea, you will be pleasantly rocked to sleep. For my husband, that is the highlight of the cruise.
We always stay in the balcony cabin, so that's what I am going to review. I give the cabin a 5/5 and here are some highlights:
- Modern decor
- Comfortable bed
- A unique signature smell of the soap in the shower
- Modern and comfortable balcony (compared to other ships the MSC balcony layout are always our favourites)
- Daily cleaning and turn down service
We did have one thing we didn't like about the cabin—the MSC Seaview ship design has the Waterfront Broadwalk on deck 8, which is wider than the decks with the cabins. This means that when you look down from your cabin, you won't see straight into the sea but on the promenade where there will be people dining and walking by. You can also see into the lower deck balconies, as there are some wider ones at the bottom before the deck with the restaurants.
Because we had cruised on other MSC ships before that didn't have this feature, we personally didn't enjoy it, as it took away from the experience of feeling at sea. It's a negative for sure, but not enough to stop you from enjoying the comfort of the cabin and balcony.
Four-deck atrium on MSC Seaview
Entertainment Options
The Entertainment on MSC Seaview is great and significantly more than other ships created before it. But it's not the best at sea. In my experience, their bars are very classy with good music and stylish decor and a lovely ambiance to just relax...but their theatre and entertainment team is just okay.
The Atrium is one of the signature entrainment centres on the ship. It extends over 4 decks and is innovative and stunning to look at, but at times we found it a bit overwhelming when you feel you need a quieter place.
But it does have something for everyone. You can go from relaxing piano music to loud DJ-style party music. The great part is that you can enjoy it all from your table, sipping a nice drink and moving between different bars.
In terms of games and sports, they have good options, not the same as Royal Caribbean but enough to keep a whole family entertained, whether you're with kids or adults only.
Our Experience With Service
This was our 8th voyage on a MSC ship and unfortunately as much as we love so many elements of MSC ships and cruising with them, the service has always been lacking. We've had some bad experiences and some average experiences, but rarely felt like anyone went above and beyond to give us a memorable stay.
But we still love everything else about MSC so it works out.
It's not easy to review service and give you tips that you can add to your experience as this can really depend from person to person and especially the staff working when you cruise.
We had fewer incidents on the MSC Seaview than other ships, but that was also because we had learnt to keep to ourselves and just take it as it is. That's the only tip we can share, which is of course a personal experience.
Bridge of sights on MSC Seaview
Overall Ship Experience
Glamorous and stylish, the design and layout of the MSC ships is one of the best at sea. It's a touch of luxury with a Mediterranean feel inside and out.
On MSC Seaview, you take the design to the next level. You start with the signature Swarovski staircases and luxurious decor and you add some breathtaking sea view features like the Bridge of Sights and the Sunset Beach Pool. You also have an elevator at the back of the ship that gives you full sea views as you go up and down.
Is MSC Seaview Kid-Friendly?
I think yes, absolutely. We travelled with an 11-month-old and found it to be perfect for our baby. They have a Baby Club we went in to play with our little one, which is a modern and adorable nursery filled with lots of toys—very clean and with the most beautiful ocean-view windows. They also have a children's jungle pool which is full of adventure.
That's what we explored, but they have plenty more from the Forest Aquaventure Park (one of the most renowned water attractions at sea) to the mini and junior club and the teens club.
Would I Go Back on MSC Seaview?
In one way, yes, because the ship is absolutely amazing, but the balcony view which is obstructed (looking down) by the Waterfront Broadwalk is a reason why I'd choose another ship.
It's amazing having drinks and breakfast and walks on the waterfront broadwalk, and in many ways the ship has an amazing layout that all leads to sea views, as the name and design intends, but I think it does lose a big element of the sea view in the balconies by looking down on the boardwalk instead of directly onto the sea.
On other ships, I've experienced some of the most magnificent views sipping coffee or a cocktail on the balcony, watching the waves crash onto the side of the ship, as well as watching dolphins swim by.
My rating for our family cruise MSC Seaview review is 4.5/5.
© 2021 Georgiana
