Mr. Dowling, your cruise video was fantastic! You captured the atmosphere perfectly, and your enthusiasm made it so fun to watch. Can’t wait for your next adventure! 🚢🌟
Thank you for the excellent review of this cruise. I love the narration and editing. I think this channel will really take off because of your superior editing skills! Also I wanted to let you know I got into FAU High.
@Shafirm123, I'm proud of you. You will be awesome at FAU. For people reading the comments, I was a middle school teacher before I retired. @Shafirm123 and @StylerBenson are two of my former students. I'm honored that they follow my travel videos.
8 adults of our family just got off the MSC Seashore for the Dec. 22-29 cruise. Good: Our waiter, "Martin" was EXCELLENT!!!. The MDR food was pretty good. The Prime Rib, Braised Short Ribs, Chilean Sea Bass and desserts were notably excellent. Our room A/C was great and kept us cool. Our bed in our balcony room was comfortable. The Captain was very pleasant, as was the Cruise Director. Our Hispanic female bar attendant in Up Town Lounge was fun, and fabulous. She even danced with us and made everyone in the bar smile. She was great. Now the bad: The buffet was not only a joke, it was the worst we've ever had on a cruise. Very limited variety compared to other cruise lines, and what was there was not only blah, it really didn't change much at all from day-to-day. Trust me when I say we were disappointed. The A/C in the common areas and elevators was hot! Like steaming saunas! Also, the way the elevators are called to floor definitely did not work and could not keep up with passengers moving about. The poor room stewards seemed almost overwhelmed and could barely keep up. In their defense, the ship was booked to full capacity. Embarkation was fast, but once on board, the ship had a hard time feeding everyone as we waited for our rooms to be ready and our luggage to arrive. Debarkation was relatively smooth and painless due to how many were on board. The showers were very small, but functional. This is an honest review and there were many other passengers we met and spoke with who had the very same experience and complaints!!!
What an awesome review! Fortunately, the ship wasn't as crowded for my cruise. The video script was longer than I wanted so I omitted "Dr. E.," the Cruise Director when I sailed. He made even mundane announcements fun by singing them. Dr. E was also hysterically funny and engaged the audiance wherever he was. I hope MSC makes correcting the issues in the buffet a priority. Thank you for adding your comment.
Excellent review! Great narration and camera work. My first MSC cruise was in August on the Seascape. I plan to embark on some solo trips in 2025, so I look forward to more reviews and tips.
Great video! You were fortunate to receive free upgrades on both of your MSC cruises. We have done Bella on three MSC cruises. We only received an upgrade on one.
I am responding from a balcony cabin aboard the MSC Divina. My balcony has an obstructed view, but it is still a great cabin and it makes me three for three with upgrades. From what I’ve been told, your odds of an upgrade are very good when the kids are not in school, but less so during family cruise season. I hope you had a great time on your cruise!
Very good video Mr. Dowling, the editing was spot on and you made some very informative points about the pros and cons of your cruise experience. I can’t wait to see your next video, keep up the good work 👍👍👍
Hi, You actually cruised out of Port Canaveral just north of Cape Canaveral. Cape Canaveral turns into Cocoa Beach about 3-4 miles as you travel south. That's as far as I've gotten but looking forward to seeing the rest of your video!
I imagine that any 'card' of that standard size will work to keep the power on... Don't have to do without your cruise card. And, MSC now offers only the one, highest level, alcoholic drink package.
Unfortunately, I learned of the change the day the video came out. I'll be on the MSC Divina on Monday without a drink package, so I'll find out if a la carte prices have increased. As for using any standard-sized card to keep the power on in your cabin, I can't speak to that, but I do know that you can use a card from a previous cruise, at least on the Seashore.
@@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s I tried using a former Magnifica card on Magnifica, and it didn't work. You can ask your cabin steward for an extra card that you can use to keep power on while you are out of the cabin.
@@ilovecruising2024 Good tip! My Magnifica card did work this week on the MSC Divina, but it also created another problem when I returned to my cabin yesterday. The door would not open because I took the old Magnifica card with me and left the valid card in the slot. The front desk immediately printed a new card, but I did not know that I reeded to link the new card to my credit card. Apparently, the connection toi your credit card is throiugh the cruise card and not the cruise account.
❤new subscriber. I loved your vlog. So informative and easy to follow. I'm interested in solo cruising now tht my children are young adults. I'm also interested in msc for the value and that they cater to solo cruisers. Ready to see your next adventure. Happy New Year 🎉🥳
Solo cruising is a low-risk gamble if you live reasonably close to a port. You'll have a great time, and even if you don't, so long as you don't get a drink package, go on excursions, or gamble, you're only out a few hundred dollars. A short trip will give you a taste of what cruising is like.
Hello Solo Budget Traveler, we are heading on this ship in Feb. and really enjoyed the Tour and information. Looks like you are a new channel, we are as well. Your video popped up on my TH-cam this morning. When doing a search for your channel, it comes up, but on the main page it says there is NO Content for this channel. May I suggest you add a Highlight video in customization of your channel, it will start as soon as people click on your channel. Go to customization - Layout and Add section spotlight if you chose to do so. Much Success with your channel, we are all a part of this content creator community. Growing together. PS. We Subscribed
Thank you for the tip. I will be on it today. I'm happy you like the channel. I subscribed to TravelCake Trips and look forward to watching your content.
The food at the buffet was good and varied. My concern was with the buffet's management. I sailed the MSC Divina last week. They keep their buffet at least partially open between their busy times, so there is never a rush of people trying to eat all at once. The dining room had good food, but I was surprised to see that the menus were the same on three different ships. That said, I think you will have a good time on the Seashore.
Too many people to handle. Main dining rooms jamed because Specialty dining way to expensive . Not a good cruise. Inexpensive cost is not the way to cruise. Yuk.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy yourself. You are correct; Port Canaveral is a municipality. Cocoa Beach is a couple of miles north. I apologize for the error.
IMO - since the cruise lines added the specialty restaurants, the main dining rooms and buffet food and service has declined. Cruises def are NOT all inclusive, as we all know, so I’m going in with an open mind (I hope ;)
![25 Things Cruisers MUST Know Before Your First MSC Cruise [MSC Cruise Tips 2024]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k0NLxi5ZzMI/mqdefault.jpg)
![25 Things Cruisers MUST Know Before Your First MSC Cruise [MSC Cruise Tips 2024]](/img/tr.png)
This guy is the absolute standard for amazing cruise reviews! That entire video was a pleasure to watch! Great Job!
Mr. Dowling, your cruise video was fantastic! You captured the atmosphere perfectly, and your enthusiasm made it so fun to watch. Can’t wait for your next adventure! 🚢🌟
Thank you for the excellent review of this cruise. I love the narration and editing. I think this channel will really take off because of your superior editing skills! Also I wanted to let you know I got into FAU High.
Oh wow good job on getting into FAU High shafi!!!
@Shafirm123, I'm proud of you. You will be awesome at FAU. For people reading the comments, I was a middle school teacher before I retired. @Shafirm123 and @StylerBenson are two of my former students. I'm honored that they follow my travel videos.
8 adults of our family just got off the MSC Seashore for the Dec. 22-29 cruise. Good: Our waiter, "Martin" was EXCELLENT!!!. The MDR food was pretty good. The Prime Rib, Braised Short Ribs, Chilean Sea Bass and desserts were notably excellent. Our room A/C was great and kept us cool. Our bed in our balcony room was comfortable. The Captain was very pleasant, as was the Cruise Director. Our Hispanic female bar attendant in Up Town Lounge was fun, and fabulous. She even danced with us and made everyone in the bar smile. She was great. Now the bad: The buffet was not only a joke, it was the worst we've ever had on a cruise. Very limited variety compared to other cruise lines, and what was there was not only blah, it really didn't change much at all from day-to-day. Trust me when I say we were disappointed. The A/C in the common areas and elevators was hot! Like steaming saunas! Also, the way the elevators are called to floor definitely did not work and could not keep up with passengers moving about. The poor room stewards seemed almost overwhelmed and could barely keep up. In their defense, the ship was booked to full capacity. Embarkation was fast, but once on board, the ship had a hard time feeding everyone as we waited for our rooms to be ready and our luggage to arrive. Debarkation was relatively smooth and painless due to how many were on board. The showers were very small, but functional. This is an honest review and there were many other passengers we met and spoke with who had the very same experience and complaints!!!
What an awesome review! Fortunately, the ship wasn't as crowded for my cruise. The video script was longer than I wanted so I omitted "Dr. E.," the Cruise Director when I sailed. He made even mundane announcements fun by singing them. Dr. E was also hysterically funny and engaged the audiance wherever he was. I hope MSC makes correcting the issues in the buffet a priority. Thank you for adding your comment.
Excellent review! Great narration and camera work. My first MSC cruise was in August on the Seascape. I plan to embark on some solo trips in 2025, so I look forward to more reviews and tips.
Thank you for your kind words. I will sail on the MSC Davina in the middle of January.
Great video! You were fortunate to receive free upgrades on both of your MSC cruises. We have done Bella on three MSC cruises. We only received an upgrade on one.
I am responding from a balcony cabin aboard the MSC Divina. My balcony has an obstructed view, but it is still a great cabin and it makes me three for three with upgrades. From what I’ve been told, your odds of an upgrade are very good when the kids are not in school, but less so during family cruise season. I hope you had a great time on your cruise!
@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s We'll be on Divina next month. No free upgrade yet. We have received the emails to bid on upgrades three times already.
Very good video Mr. Dowling, the editing was spot on and you made some very informative points about the pros and cons of your cruise experience. I can’t wait to see your next video, keep up the good work 👍👍👍
Excellent, high-quality video! You may have swayed me to finally give MSC a try!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. I think you will find that MSC cruises are a great value.
Hi, You actually cruised out of Port Canaveral just north of Cape Canaveral. Cape Canaveral turns into Cocoa Beach about 3-4 miles as you travel south. That's as far as I've gotten but looking forward to seeing the rest of your video!
I stand corrected. I did not know that Cape Canaveral was also a city. Thank you for commenting.
I imagine that any 'card' of that standard size will work to keep the power on... Don't have to do without your cruise card.
And, MSC now offers only the one, highest level, alcoholic drink package.
Unfortunately, I learned of the change the day the video came out. I'll be on the MSC Divina on Monday without a drink package, so I'll find out if a la carte prices have increased. As for using any standard-sized card to keep the power on in your cabin, I can't speak to that, but I do know that you can use a card from a previous cruise, at least on the Seashore.
@@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s I tried using a former Magnifica card on Magnifica, and it didn't work. You can ask your cabin steward for an extra card that you can use to keep power on while you are out of the cabin.
@@ilovecruising2024 Good tip! My Magnifica card did work this week on the MSC Divina, but it also created another problem when I returned to my cabin yesterday. The door would not open because I took the old Magnifica card with me and left the valid card in the slot. The front desk immediately printed a new card, but I did not know that I reeded to link the new card to my credit card. Apparently, the connection toi your credit card is throiugh the cruise card and not the cruise account.
❤new subscriber. I loved your vlog. So informative and easy to follow. I'm interested in solo cruising now tht my children are young adults. I'm also interested in msc for the value and that they cater to solo cruisers. Ready to see your next adventure. Happy New Year 🎉🥳
Solo cruising is a low-risk gamble if you live reasonably close to a port. You'll have a great time, and even if you don't, so long as you don't get a drink package, go on excursions, or gamble, you're only out a few hundred dollars. A short trip will give you a taste of what cruising is like.
This man is living life, good for him 🫡
Thanks for the thorough review, it was extremely helpful and I'm looking forward to riding the MSC Seashore this weekend!
Thanks for commenting. I hope you have a great time. Please come back to let me know if your impressions of the ship are different from my experience.
Thank you very much for sharing! Great video! Like 113
Hello Solo Budget Traveler, we are heading on this ship in Feb. and really enjoyed the Tour and information. Looks like you are a new channel, we are as well. Your video popped up on my TH-cam this morning. When doing a search for your channel, it comes up, but on the main page it says there is NO Content for this channel. May I suggest you add a Highlight video in customization of your channel, it will start as soon as people click on your channel. Go to customization - Layout and Add section spotlight if you chose to do so. Much Success with your channel, we are all a part of this content creator community. Growing together. PS. We Subscribed
Thank you for the tip. I will be on it today. I'm happy you like the channel. I subscribed to TravelCake Trips and look forward to watching your content.
@@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s You are very welcome, and thanks for Subscribing to our Travel Cake Trips Channel, we appreciate you.
All ships sail from Port Canaveral NOT Cocoa Beach. The correct term is ship not boat.
Disappointing to hear the buffet is subpar, hope the dining rooms are good 🤞🏼
The food at the buffet was good and varied. My concern was with the buffet's management. I sailed the MSC Divina last week. They keep their buffet at least partially open between their busy times, so there is never a rush of people trying to eat all at once. The dining room had good food, but I was surprised to see that the menus were the same on three different ships. That said, I think you will have a good time on the Seashore.
Too many people to handle. Main dining rooms jamed because Specialty dining way to expensive . Not a good cruise. Inexpensive cost is not the way to cruise. Yuk.
You cruised out of Port Canaveral not Cocoa beach.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy yourself. You are correct; Port Canaveral is a municipality. Cocoa Beach is a couple of miles north. I apologize for the error.
IMO - since the cruise lines added the specialty restaurants, the main dining rooms and buffet food and service has declined. Cruises def are NOT all inclusive, as we all know, so I’m going in with an open mind (I hope ;)