MSC Seashore: An Honest Review From Someone Who Recently Got Off the Ship

We wanted to love it. Here’s what actually happened.

Gettripjar.com

We recently returned from a 7-night Caribbean sailing aboard the MSC Seashore out of Port Canaveral with the Aurea experience, ocean view balcony, the works. We came home with mixed feelings, a story about a watch shop you need to hear, and a clear picture of what MSC gets right and where it falls flat. Here’s the unfiltered version.

The Ship Itself

The MSC Seashore is a beautiful vessel. There’s no arguing that. The design is modern, the public spaces are well laid out, and the ship was kept immaculately clean throughout our sailing, credit to a housekeeping team that is genuinely relentless and clearly takes pride in their work. That’s not a small thing on a ship carrying thousands of passengers, and it deserves to be said plainly.

The Seashore had just come out of dry dock before our sailing. We expected a ship in pristine condition. What we found instead was worn, tired carpeting throughout the hallways, loose hinges on doors in the Thermal Spa and our own bathroom, and ongoing balcony construction and power washing happening while guests were trying to enjoy their balconies. For a freshly dry-docked ship, the level of deferred maintenance was surprising and genuinely disappointing.

The Aurea Experience — Worth It?

The Aurea tier promises a premium experience over standard MSC cabins with priority boarding, a dedicated dining time, and Aurea amenities. In theory it’s MSC’s answer to a more elevated onboard experience without going full suite.

In practice, the gap between what’s promised and what’s delivered is wide enough to matter. If you’re considering MSC and debating whether to upgrade to Aurea, go in with realistic expectations. The priority boarding worked. Beyond that, we didn’t feel the premium in any meaningful way across the rest of the sailing.

The Food — Where MSC Struggles Most

For a cruise line with Mediterranean roots and a genuine reputation for food, the Main Dining Room was the biggest letdown of the trip. Multiple nights featured dishes that were bland, poorly seasoned, and uninspired. Not inedible, just forgettable, which on a cruise is almost worse.

The Marketplace Buffet was predictable and underwhelming. For a ship this size, the variety and execution were below what you’d expect.

The specialty dining was the clear bright spot. Hola! Tacos & Cantina, Kaito Teppanyaki, and Butcher’s Cut were all solid. This was a noticeable and welcome step above the included dining. If you’re booking the Seashore, budget for specialty dining from the start and spare yourself the MDR frustration. It’s not optional if you want to eat well.

The Entertainment and Activities

The Madison Theater shows were hit or miss, with more misses than hits. Onboard activities were thin for a ship of this size and price point. My wife attended a scrapbooking class that amounted to staff putting materials on a table and telling guests to do whatever they wanted with them. Not quite the class described.

The cocktail program was an afterthought. The drink menu felt limited and the execution was underwhelming. If you’re a cocktail person, lower your expectations significantly before you board.

The Watch Shop — Read This Before You Browse

I need to tell you this story because it happened to us and it will happen to other people.

I spotted a watch the previous evening at a certain price. When I returned the next day to purchase it, the salesman quoted a significantly higher price, then proceeded to “discount” it in a way designed to make me feel I was getting a deal on a thousand-dollar watch. He physically positioned himself between me and the exit, making it difficult to leave. Out of frustration, I completed the purchase. I know, that’s on me.

When I researched the watch afterward, the actual retail price was far lower than what I paid. The discount was theater. When I returned the watch, another staff member argued with me until I firmly demanded my money back, at which point she relented.

This is textbook high-pressure retail manipulation. False pricing, manufactured urgency, physical blocking, and resistance to a legitimate return. Go into the onboard shops with your guard up, and research any purchase on your phone before you commit to anything. The shops are not on your side.

Ocean Cay — Beautiful and Unfinished

MSC’s private island is marketed as an exclusive marine reserve and pristine Caribbean paradise. The beach itself is genuinely beautiful and the water is stunning. That part lives up to the brochure.

What the brochure doesn’t show you is what’s sitting directly behind that beach. Ocean Cay is currently a full-scale active construction zone. Multi-story buildings wrapped in scaffolding, cranes operating, staging yards filled with shipping containers, heavy equipment, debris piles, and construction materials, all clearly visible from the beach and from the ship. If you’re booking this cruise specifically for the Ocean Cay experience, understand that what you’ll find is a destination that is still very much a work in progress. What’s being sold in the marketing materials is not what’s being delivered on the ground.

The One Thing MSC Gets Genuinely Right

The crew. The vast majority of staff we encountered were friendly, warm, and professional. The housekeeping team in particular was exceptional and the ship was spotless from embarkation to debarkation, every single day. That level of care on a vessel this size is not easy and it showed.

The crew is the best part of the ship. Unfortunately, the crew can’t fix the MDR menu, the entertainment gaps, the construction at Ocean Cay, or the watch shop.

Would We Sail MSC Again?

Not at this price point. The Aurea experience promises a premium. Reality does not deliver one. If you’re considering MSC, go in with honest expectations, book specialty dining from day one, skip the shops entirely, enjoy the crew, and know that Ocean Cay is still a work in progress. The ship is beautiful and the crew is excellent. Everything else needs work.

Trip Jar tip: A cruise is one of the easiest vacations to oversave for and overspend on. Soon you’ll be able to build your cruise budget into a dedicated My Jar goal — specialty dining, excursions, and gratuities add up fast, and arriving knowing those costs are already covered changes the whole experience.