Today we are setting sail on the beautiful MSC Seaside and not only will we get to experience the Yacht Club for the second time, but we will also have a balcony cabin. It’s been 9 sailings since our last balcony cabin and it is an understatement to say we are excited. We cannot wait to set sail!

Embarkation:

Driving to Miami was fairly simple and straight forward. We left super early (6am) to avoid any Super Bowl traffic. We managed to only have a small amount of traffic on the exit to the port. Everything else was smooth sailing all the way to the ship.

When you stay in the Yacht Club, you get access to a special luggage drop off location that is separate from the main luggage drop off. We ended up missing the drop off entrance so we parked the car in the garage, and just rolled our luggage from the car to the drop off point. Not a big deal for us because we don’t carry a lot of luggage anymore (1 bag a piece).

If you are going to Miami and staying in the Yacht Club, watch for that small car loop. If you pass it, you will either have to circle the entire port again or park and roll your bags yourself to the Yacht Club area.

With our bags all checked in, it was time to head into the ship. A fantastic perk of the Yacht Club is getting escorted by a butler straight past the security line and up to a security scanner. That was wonderful. In total it took us longer to get tags for our bags than it did to go through security. Such a great way to start a vacation.

Yacht Club Check-In Lounge:

Once we were past security, we were led into the Yacht Club lounge. We were given a health questionnaire and were led to a comfy seat to wait to be called for check-in. As soon as we sat down, another butler came up asking if we would like a glass of champagne, a juice, a water? So we asked for a glass of champagne of course and then I headed to the snack table. And check out those snacks. Wow! Cookies. Sandwiches. Pastries. Should have brought a pair of sweatpants cause I am going to gain 15 pounds on this trip 🤣.

We were called for check-in about 15 minutes after entering the lounge. We got our ship cards, had our security photo taken and then it was time to board the Seaside. Leaving the Yacht Club lounge we were stopped for a mandatory temperature scan. This was a non-invasive scan. And I mean super non-invasive because the scanner was about 15 feet away from where you stopped. We were quickly scanned and away we went.

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We arrived in the Top Sail Lounge and we had a short presentation about the Yacht Club. We were told the hours of the restaurant, the pool deck location, etc etc. Now since we got to the ship really early (we were in the Yacht Club sitting down around 1130am), our cabin was not quite ready. We were told that our butler would come get us when the cabin was ready but for while we waited, we could enjoy more snacks and order a drink. Awesome! 2 cappuccinos later, we didn’t care when the cabin was ready, we were happy!

Cabin Time:

Like I mentioned earlier, we will be staying in a Yacht Club deluxe balcony cabin. And wow oh wow, our cabin is amazing. We did not expect the cabin to be so large. The storage situation is out of this world. There is a closet for Sean, a closet for me. The perfect makeup drawer. A drawer for my hair dryer, 3 brushes and all my hair accessories. There is so much space we have 4 drawers and 7 shelves that are completely empty (haha, yep I counted cause I was curious).

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The bathroom is also humongous. Marble tile throughout, a magnify mirror (you don’t see those often), more shelves and the shower is amazeballs. The shower could hold 4 people comfortably (no not to shower together but to give you a size reference). There is a seat, a rain head shower and a handheld shower head as well. ♥️

Saving the the best for last, check out the balcony. It is huge. I wish there was a lounger out there but we really don’t stay long enough in the cabin to sit outside. But wow, loving all the space and of course, the ability to see the ocean is such a luxury when you have been sailing inside cabins for so long.

Night Time:

After muster drill and a quick shower, we headed back to the Top Sail Lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail and some lounge entertainment. The piano and violin were the perfect way to wind down and get ready for dinner. The music and the atmosphere were unmistakable Yacht Club. Sitting here we really felt like we were on a luxurious cruise.

Dinner Time:

The Yacht Club Restaurant sits right on top of the Top Sail Lounge and is anytime dining. When you are ready to eat, you simply tell your butler and they escort you up the Swarovski staircase and seat you at a table, when your table is available. The restaurant was not crowded but I loved that we didn’t have to wait in a line to sit down. Our butler said he would come get us when our table was ready which allowed us to continue enjoying our cocktail and listening to the great music.

Time to Eat:

We really enjoyed the food for dinner. The menu has a set of stables that are always on the menu and the main menu changes each night. The options were plentiful and the choices looked fantastic.

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Appetizer- We had salad and minestrone soup. The salad was really fresh and as tasty as a salad could be. I had Italian dressing and that was awesome. Sean had minestrone soup and when I asked him if he liked it, I realized he had licked the entire bowl clean. So there’s the answer to that one , lol.

Entree – we chose the filet option from the staples menu. It sounded really good and it did not disappoint. The meat was really tender (I accidently cut my with a butter knife because I didn’t see the steak knife…and I didn’t have any problems 🤣). The veggies (grilled zucchini, mushroom and peppers) were really tasty but the star of the meal was the sauce. Wowza. So yummy!

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Dessert – we had an apple crisp and chocolate cake both with vanilla ice cream. Both were fantastic. The apple crisp was piping hot and the apples were perfectly cooked. The chocolate cake was extra chocolatey and the sauce was a great compliment to the cake and ice cream.

Overall Dinner Thoughts: we thoroughly enjoyed our first meal in the Yacht Club. Everything was presented well, was hot and tasted great. We had stellar service the entire time and we did not walk away hungry. In my book, that’s a spectacular meal!

Day 1 has come to an end and we couldn’t have asked for a better embarkation day. Typically Day 1 is hectic and a little stressful but the Yacht Club takes all of that away. From the moment you drop your bags off, to the time you lay down on your pillow to say goodnight, your worries have melted away and you are in full vacation mode.

Day 2 coming up tomorrow….