ray98

A more appetizing selection of food in the buffet.  MSC is unlike other lines that have the satellite quick eat spots so it forces people to the buffet.  Have some variety so passengers don't feel todays selections are the exact same thing that were offered yesterday.  Show a little imagination on the dinner buffet and offer a couple of dishes that are being served in the MDR that night like the competition.  

The Pig and Anchor no longer has the daily specials which is how the steak was offered.  They went away when the menu was revamped offering St. Louis cut ribs and Prime Rib as a paid option.

You have to wait until 7:45 to access the check-in function.

Nah....I just go about my day.  Not that big of a deal.

The list is too long to even write out on the differences between MSC and NCL.  We tried MSC on the Seaside a couple of months ago coming from a couple dozen cruises spread across CCL, NCL and RCCL.  We got a great price including drinks and wifi, I did my research filtering through all the lackluster reviews and thought "It can't be that bad".  It was.  The things we enjoyed on the other lines which was common practice MSC did differently or found a way to mess it up.  The food, the dining experience, the drinks and the entertainment were all things that just were not up to par compared to their competition.

Its the little things that all add up.  You don't miss anytime dining until you get stuck with a crap assigned time.  You don't miss all the quick bite venues until they aren't there and you are forced back to the buffet that will have the same unimaginative food from yesterday.  You take drinks for granted until you find bartenders who can't put together a palatable margarita or Bloody Mary.

12 hours ago, Sandflea00 said:

Is there a fee for the filet?

It no longer exists along with many of the other daily specials.

The germaphobes are going to blow a gasket now....😆

I can chime in on this....we did an MSC cruise a couple of months ago on the Seaside for a phenomenal price that included drinks and Wi-Fi.  I did lots of research weeding through the negative experiences and watching Youtube reviews and decided it was worth the risk.  It couldn't be that bad....right?  We have lots of experience on Carnival, RCCL and NCL so I really didn't think the overall experience could be that different....more of the same with a "European" flair.

There were things they did well.  The ship itself was beautiful.  It was in great condition and spotless.  The private island with an overnight stay is a 10.  The island was wonderful with something for everyone looking for a beach day; sun or shade under the palms, facing the ocean or the calm of the lagoon, crowded or secluded.  Plenty of beach bars with wonderful views.  They had an evening beach party with bonfires, a neat laser-light show on the lighthouse and the drink package worked on the island.  It is really what the experience at every private island should aspire to be.

Unfortunately for us that was the extent of the highlights.  We found the things really important to us, food and drinks, were just not up to par.  Starting with the MDR, the food was okay but the service was painfully slow averaging 2 hours.  You don't really know how much you miss eating when you want until you go back to set dining times.  Those long meals and being assigned a dining time that didn't work very well for us drove us to the buffet which we found was a total miss.  The food was repetitive, unimaginative and was simply not served with quality in mind.  It was hard to find a dish at the proper temp, most were served cold even if you happened to be standing there while they were putting a fresh pan out from the back.  I did not have a single piece of meat from pork chop, cut of beef or chicken that was not a thinly cut dried out mess. 

I am not a picky eater at all and there were a couple of nights I basically grazed and left most of the food on the plate at the end of the meal.  In our experience the big 3 are all pretty similar when it comes to dinner choices, meaning there were always a couple of 'anchor' dishes on the buffet that were on the MDR menu for the night being served there.  MSC was having none of that.  Every night was the same, some basic cuts of bland meat like a paper thin pork chop, 1/2 dozen rice dishes and the most basic of pasta dishes.  The last thing is you don't really know how much you miss the quick serve options like Guy's burgers, El Loco or The Local until they are not there and you know you are heading back to the buffet that will have the same thing as it had yesterday.

For the drinks, bar service was slow.  The main bar for example probably has 40 seats and a long line of walk ups and I never saw more than 3 bartenders working.  Then two specific drinks for example that are dear to me, Margaritas and Bloody Mary's. Drinks I've had countless times, in countless places, that I drink pretty much every day I am on vacation, were the absolute worst I've been served....ever.  I don't know what mix it was but it was bad, no resemblance to the classic mixtures.  The BM tasted like straight tomato juice and many bars didn't have anything but a lime wedge to make it better.  It was like making is spicy with hot sauce or horseradish was an unknown concept to them.  I asked and was given a puzzled look and a 'no we don't have that here'.  The only upside is they did do well at the sports bar, it had a great selection of beer and bar food such as wings you could order.  Also, the specialty coffee was outstanding.

All in all the only thing the cruise had going for it was the price and in the future I'm not sure that would be enough to lure us back.  If the price was comparable to that of the competition we would never give them another thought.

Carnival should install bottle filling stations now that the trend is everyone having a water bottle within 2ft of them 24/7.

Good to hear they are bringing it back, we stay out pretty late and always enjoyed a snack. 

We were on the Mardi Gras after it was eliminated and it was a disappointment, both because the food was missing and because the unorganized chaos of the pizza line.

On 7/20/2023 at 10:21 AM, rainbowflag said:

Carnival announced 2 days ago the horrible strip loin steak on the every day menu in the MDR has been replaced with the flat iron steak they used to serve. If not familiar, you may want to google the flat iron. Some beef lovers will find it interesting reading how this cut was "discovered". We're hoping the flat iron will also be served with the steak and eggs entrée at the seaday brunch. 

That is great news and a good decision for them.  I had more bad experiences with the strip loin than good. 

I do hope they evaluate the brunch steak and eggs, it will never replace the wonderful filet that was once served but it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Likely sold out....those are huge travel weeks for those in the SE due to school schedules.  It will likely pop back up at times as cabins become available and then disappear again.

Well....I can tell you one thing....our two cruises out of NOLA in the spring of '22 in the era of giveaway prices was an environment like we have never experienced.

No one can really answer this but you.  It is a math equation.  All you can do is estimate what you think you will consume and run the numbers.

12 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

wait....there is a limit to the number of drinks per day???  Sorry, I'm a carnival newbie.  I'm researching possibly trying Carnival for the first time.  15 drinks seams kind of low.  Is it from midnight to midnight, or a rolling 24 hours?

Yes....15 alcoholic drinks is the cut off for everyone.....Cheers or by the drink.

Depends on the ship.  In May the Seaside had two IPA's in the sports bar that were not available elsewhere.  I know they had Lagunitas Daytime and Little Sumpin' Sumpin' both in cans and on draft.

LOL....time for Carnival to put out another stern warning letter.🤣

Mostly all 16oz cans, a couple of selections are in 12oz cans.

Which of the three dining times you get will not be set until embarkation.  It is important to note, your selected preference is just that....a preference.  We met people onboard who wanted late but got one of the early times and people who requested early and got late.

We did not get anything on the Seaside in May.....I took photos of the listing on the TV as we left the cabin to disembark.

Not the dedicated stations that have become popular in many public spaces.  You only have the dispensers at the buffet.

18 hours ago, icft said:

They can set any terms and conditions they want but I am curious if anyone knows why they charge for changing the name of non-booking guest. I can see if the person under whose VIFP number the cabin was booked changed - essentially that is a cancellation - but others? Is it "just because we can?"

$$$$$$.  If someone needs to cancel a guest they are obviously in bind and it is easy to extract money from them.

LOL....they want to bring an expensive bottle as a gift and are getting suggestions to put it in a shampoo bottle.🤣🤣🤣

8 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

😃Is the room service cereal delivered in a bowl instead of boxes?

 

Yup.

42 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Oh my!  That's quite interesting.  I know the staff is short handed, so I guess that's a good way to keep people from ordering room service. 

 

At least a little something for breakfast can be ordered, but we should probably grab a few cereal boxes and bananas from the Lido the day before and not bother with a delivery.  That way, the grandchildren will have something to snack on while waiting for the adults to get ready for breakfast.

LOL....boxed cereal is no more....just bulk dispensers.  Maybe you can get a banana.