MSC Seaside Getaway to Ocean Cay

Port Canaveral

We hadn’t been on a cruise in over a year, and I couldn’t wait to see the turquoise water of the Bahamas again, watch a sunset from our balcony, hit the casino, explore a new ship. Then three days before the cruise, Idalia formed in the Gulf, and I didn’t know if I should be preparing for a cruise or a major hurricane. Idalia blew through Tuesday night and when we got up Wednesday morning, our house was fine. More importantly, Judi’s house had power so she would be OK if we went out of town for a few days. I could finally start packing!

We left early Thursday morning for Port Canaveral, even though our assigned boarding time wasn’t until 3 o’clock. We ate lunch at Fishlips at the port, sitting out on the deck and watching a couple of manatees playing in the channel. At 1:30, we decided we’d waited long enough and headed to the cruise terminal. There was no line at all, so we got through security quickly and were onboard by 2. By that time, the cabins were ready, so we went straight to our cabin to drop off our bags and then explored the ship.

Seaside was huge! At over 150,000 gross tons, it was the largest ship we’ve been on. It had a multi-story atrium with staircases embedded with thousands of sparkling Swarovski crystals and more bars than we could possibly visit in three days. There was a sports bar, a champagne bar and a nightclub that looked like a 50s-style diner. There was even a chocolate bar where you could buy hand-made chocolates or chocolate cocktails. There were three pools (one for adults only), an adventure park with twisting water slides, and a zip line. I was most excited about the zip line. I’d never been on one before and the one on Seaside looked short enough that it might not be too scary.

the Atrium

Champagne Bar

Miami Casino

Garage Club

Our only other MSC cruise was on Divina at the beginning of 2020, just before the COVID shutdown. I thought Divina was prettier than Seaside while Seaside was glitzier. Seaside had mirrored walls everywhere, so you had to watch where you were going. I almost walked into a mirror once, thinking it was a hallway. :-)  Because of the ship’s size and layout, Ron and I found it hard to navigate and we were not fans of the “smart” elevators. Outside each bank of elevators, there was a touchscreen pad where you selected the deck you wanted. The screen would then tell you which elevator to take and give you an estimated (underestimated) time of arrival. Half the time, when our elevator finally got there, it would be full, and we’d have to start all over again. This was supposedly more efficient… Normally, Ron and I would just take the stairs, but our cabin was on Deck 14, which was a lot of stairs away from the main entertainment areas. If I had to do it over again, I’d choose a cabin on a lower deck so we wouldn’t have to mess with the elevators.

When the ship left Port Canaveral at 6 o’clock, it was pouring rain, and the sailaway party was moved to the atrium. Ron and I decided to skip the party and head to dinner. On most MSC ships, you’re assigned a specific dining time unless you pay for a higher cabin category. It was my biggest complaint about our Divina cruise. Our dining time always conflicted with other things that we wanted to do, so we ended up eating at the buffet every night. I was very happy when I found out that the three-day cruises on Seaside had My Choice Dining and we could eat when we wanted. I hope MSC expands that option to all their cruises!

Dinner was OK. I ordered pasta Bolognese and ended up with lasagna but didn’t feel like sending it back. After dinner we went to the production show, “Peter Punk”, a strange combination of Peter Pan and Jurassic Park. We got to the theater a little late and missed the beginning of the show, so I have no idea why Captain Hook and Tinkerbell were running around on stage with a dinosaur. :-) The acrobats and juggler were good though.

After the show, we went out to the pool deck. It had stopped raining and the clouds were breaking up. Suddenly we heard someone say, “What’s that??” as they pointed up at an orange ball of light in the sky. It was a rocket! I’d read that a Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to go off that night, but I figured it would be cancelled because of the weather. Everyone on deck watched as the rocket streaked across the sky. So cool! One of these days, I’m determined to see a rocket launch up close.

Ocean Cay

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Biscayne Bay Buffet. Seaside had two buffets, the main Marketplace Buffet on Deck 8 and Biscayne Bay on Deck 16. Ron and I decided we liked Biscayne Bay better. It was smaller but less hectic and still had everything we could possibly want for breakfast – scrambled and fried eggs, fruit, grits, cereals, bacon, banana bread for Ron and chocolate croissants for me. It was also closer to our cabin, so we didn’t have to take an elevator.

Now that the rain was gone, we had a chance to explore the outside decks. My favorite parts of the ship were the glass bridges. Seaside had two Infinity Bridges, glass walkways that ran along the sides of the ship on Deck 8. At the back on the ship on Deck 16, there was another glass walkway called The Bridge of Sighs, which overlooked the South Beach pool and the ship’s wake far, far below. I was a little nervous about walking across the glass at first. We’d recently watched Squid Game, and the “hopscotch game” was still fresh in my mind. :-)

Bridge of Sighs

We watched our approach to Ocean Cay from the South Beach pool deck as the captain backed all the way down the channel and past the iconic lighthouse, guided by a tugboat. No wonder the cruise before ours hadn’t been able to make it to the island. That was a really narrow channel for such a big ship.

arriving at Ocean Cay

Ocean Cay, MSC’s private island, was formerly an industrial site for sand excavation. When MSC leased it, they turned it into a marine reserve, removing 1500 tons of discarded scrap metal, planting over 75,000 native trees and shrubs, and creating a protected coral nursery. The last time we were at Ocean Cay, on our Divina cruise, the island had only been open for a couple of months and looked a little bare. Now the trees and plants had filled in and there was more greenery. But for the most part, the island was still natural – no waterparks or pools, just beautiful beaches.

view from our balcony

We had a jet ski tour scheduled at 11:15, so we made our way off the ship to the jet ski dock where we met our tour guides, Eddie and DeAngelo. Eddie spent a few minutes showing us how to operate the jet skis and then we climbed on, Ron in the driver’s seat and me sitting behind him. There were ten pairs in our group, plus the guides. Eddie led us out of the marina while DeAngelo brought up the rear, making sure we kept a safe distance from each other. Once we were out in the open, we rode at full speed in single file, zigzagging through the water. We were supposed to stay in the wake of the jet ski in front of us, but we were behind two young guys who thought it would be funny to weave back and forth. When we made our first stop, the guides shuffled everyone around so that the faster riders were in the front, and we were moved ahead of the “weavers”.

We made a complete loop around Ocean Cay, stopping once near a small island so we could get off our jet skis and swim in the crystal-clear water. I’d brought my waterproof camera, but the battery died as soon as we left the dock. Gah!! My camera had started eating batteries recently. Ron tried to buy me a GoPro before the trip, but unfortunately, he couldn’t get it in time. I was bummed that I didn’t get any pictures of the tour because the color of the water and the views of the ship and lighthouse were so spectacular. It was a really fun tour!

By the time we got back at the dock, it was well past my lunchtime. We walked to the buffet shack, but the line was long and not moving at all. I’ve never understood why it takes so long for people to put food on a plate! Thank goodness, there was still food left when I finally made it to the front of the line because I was getting hangry. (To quote Dr. Banner, “You wouldn’t like me when I’m hangry.”) I remembered that there had been complaints about the buffet on our Divina cruise too. I thought MSC had planned to open a second buffet to relieve the congestion, but I guess they decided against it. Maybe it would be too hard to staff. But really the problem would be solved if they would just serve the food at separate stations instead of making everyone stand in one long line.

We spent the rest of the afternoon back on the ship on our balcony, watching the jet ski tours zipping through the water and the sun setting behind the lighthouse. That night at dinner, I had the spring rolls and shrimp risotto, and Ron and I shared a plate of mussels. I ordered the clafoutis for dessert since I had just seen clafoutis on a baking show and wanted to try it. It was alright – kind of an eggy custard baked with cherries. What I really wanted was something chocolate, so after we left the restaurant, we went to the Chocolate Bar. We each ordered a chocolate martini, which was more like a vodka hot fudge sundae. It was the only chocolate martini I’ve ever had that came with a spoon. :-)

Venchi Chocolate Bar

Full and sleepy from a day of fun and sun, we decided not to go back onshore for the beach party. We watched the lighthouse light show from deck and then went back to the cabin. Before going to bed, I stood out on the balcony, looking at the lights on the island and the flashes of distant lightning.

Ocean Cay Part 2

I woke up at 6 o’clock but Ron was still sleeping, so it seemed like a good time to hide my Cruising Ducks. For the past few years, people have been hiding rubber ducks on cruise ships. If you find a duck, you can either keep it or re-hide it for someone else to find. There is even a Cruising Ducks Facebook page where people post pictures of the ducks they find. I’d bought some cute zoo “ducks” over a year ago and they'd been sitting in a drawer waiting for our next cruise. I was glad I finally got a chance to hide them.

When Ron got up, we had breakfast at the Biscayne Bay Buffet again and then headed ashore. I had signed up for the lighthouse climb, so we hung out at the Lighthouse Bar while I waited for my tour to start. The weather had changed overnight. It was much windier and there were a few fast-moving rain clouds. I was glad we’d done our jet ski tour the day before. We never saw any jet skis go by so the tours must have been cancelled.

breakfast with a view

My lighthouse tour met at 10:45 at the base of the lighthouse. Nikki, the tour guide, led the group up the 165 steps to the top, stopping on the landings so we could catch our breath while she gave us some facts about Ocean Cay. Nikki told us that when MSC leased the island, it was so polluted that there was no wildlife. Now, with the removal all the scrap metal and the coral nursery taking hold, the wildlife was returning. There were dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, manatees and even some Rock Iguanas.  Unfortunately, when we got to the top of the lighthouse, a rain cloud swept in, and we had to hurry back down. I did manage to get some nice pictures of the ship and the island first though.

We ate lunch at the Lighthouse Bar – chicken wings and meat patties. There was a small charge for the food, but we thought it was worth it not to have to stand in the buffet line again. :-)  After lunch we took a walk to Bimini Beach, the beach farthest from the ship. We’d never even made it to that part of the island on our last trip. I took a quick swim before it was time to head back onboard. When we sailed away from Ocean Cay at 4 o’clock, “Time to Say Goodbye” played over the ship’s speakers. Ron and I watched from our balcony as we passed the lighthouse. Some of the staff at the Lighthouse Bar came out and waved. I’d go back to Ocean Cay in a heartbeat! Maybe next time we can go snorkeling or sign up for the sunset cruise.

Goodbye, Ocean Cay!

After we’d left the island behind, Ron and I went up to Deck 16 to grab a slice a pizza and see what was going on by the main pool. The zip line was open! We hustled back to the cabin so I could put on my close-toed shoes, and then Ron went to find a good spot to take pictures while I climbed the stairs to the zip line landing. But when I got to the top of the stairs, I heard the attendant telling the man in front of me that his daughter wouldn’t be able to ride. Because it was so windy, lightweight people might get stuck halfway across. Noooooo! That was my worst nightmare! I didn’t want to take the chance of dangling over the pool deck waiting to be rescued, and I ended up chickening out. Later, I was mad at myself for not doing it. I should have gone to the bar, had a shot of rum for courage, waited ten minutes and tried again. Why did I have to be such a wimp?? Instead, I found Ron and we went to the back of the ship to take pictures on the Bridge of Sighs and ride up and down the panoramic glass elevators.

The show that night was a tribute to Michael Jackson called “Starwalker”. I’d heard it was good, so I had made reservations on the MSC app that morning. This was the first ship we’d been on where you had to make reservations for the shows, but after seeing how small the theater was for a ship with 5000 passengers, I could see why they were a good idea.

The show was amazing! I loved all the music (Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, Bad), and the lead dancer who played Michael Jackson was fantastic. There was also a duo who did a very fast, Spanish version of Billy Jean and another dancer who performed a sexy, acrobatic routine to Dirty Diana. For the finale, the troupe sang We are the World while the audience waved their cell phones in the air. It was by far the best show we’ve seen on a cruise in a long time.

We should have gone back to the cabin at that point and packed, but instead we went to the casino. :-)  Ron and I both lost our daily gambling allotment, but we had fun anyway. As Ron said, “I didn’t plan to come home with it.” It wasn’t until I got up from the Blackjack table that I realized how much the ship was rocking! No wonder I was feeling a little queasy. Back at the cabin, I took a Bonine before packing up the suitcases and going to bed.

In the morning, we went to the breakfast buffet one last time for more chocolate croissants. When the ship was cleared, we did the Express Walk Off and were at our car by 8 o’clock. Fast and easy! And now I’m back home, trying to figure out how to use my new GoPro and dreaming about where to go next.

In memory of Jimmy Buffet (1946 – 2023)
Thank you for the gift of your music and for teaching us to love the island life.