Teppanyaki Dining package?

[Elsammo46]

Is there an option to use one of your “dining experiences” credits at the Teppanyaki restaurant aboard MSC ships? I’ve seen dining experience reduced menus for things like Butchers Cut and Ocean Cay etc, but not for Tappanyaki. Just wondering if it was available.

[tripstah]

I had the same question. I know in 2019 you could use your dining package but were provided the middle option of the 3. The terms and conditions of the package I bought, however, state:

 

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Gratuity and speciality service charge is already included in the pre-sale price. Packages are available online for pre-sale or on board during the first two days of the cruise. For three and four-night cruises, the packages are for sale on day 1 only. Speciality Restaurant packages are individual, not transferable. Packages cannot be refunded if not all meals are used and they are valid in all Speciality Restaurants (1 lunch and 1 dinner per cruise day). A surcharge of 10€ per meal will be applied to the Teppanyaki experience; this extra fee will be paid directly on board. Speciality Restaurant options vary by ship. The package includes food only and it is honoured a maximum of two times in Butcher's Cut. Day of booking to be confirmed on board. A dining experience menu will be offered to guests who purchase the package. No payment for kids under 6 years (i.e. who have not yet reached their 6th birthday). A 50% discount is applied to packages for children up to 12 years old. Must be of legal age to consume alcohol - see our terms of our guest alcohol policy. A 10 Euro surcharge per meal is applied to the Teppanyaki experience only (it will be paid on board).

 

I've looked at the latest menus I could find and I didn't see any dining experience menu for Teppanyaki so my read is: it's a 10 Euro (or 10 USD?) upcharge to use your package and you can pick whatever you like from the menu.

 

Be nice if someone who has used it lately could chime in though.

[Elsammo46]

59 minutes ago, tripstah said:

I had the same question. I know in 2019 you could use your dining package but were provided the middle option of the 3. The terms and conditions of the package I bought, however, state:

 

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Gratuity and speciality service charge is already included in the pre-sale price. Packages are available online for pre-sale or on board during the first two days of the cruise. For three and four-night cruises, the packages are for sale on day 1 only. Speciality Restaurant packages are individual, not transferable. Packages cannot be refunded if not all meals are used and they are valid in all Speciality Restaurants (1 lunch and 1 dinner per cruise day). A surcharge of 10€ per meal will be applied to the Teppanyaki experience; this extra fee will be paid directly on board. Speciality Restaurant options vary by ship. The package includes food only and it is honoured a maximum of two times in Butcher's Cut. Day of booking to be confirmed on board. A dining experience menu will be offered to guests who purchase the package. No payment for kids under 6 years (i.e. who have not yet reached their 6th birthday). A 50% discount is applied to packages for children up to 12 years old. Must be of legal age to consume alcohol - see our terms of our guest alcohol policy. A 10 Euro surcharge per meal is applied to the Teppanyaki experience only (it will be paid on board).

 

I've looked at the latest menus I could find and I didn't see any dining experience menu for Teppanyaki so my read is: it's a 10 Euro (or 10 USD?) upcharge to use your package and you can pick whatever you like from the menu.

 

Be nice if someone who has used it lately could chime in though.

I’d love to know myself too! The deadline to purchase the package is today as my cruise leaves on Sunday 

[JAGR]

Last week on Meraviglia, the Concierge specifically said that our Diamond dinner could not be used at the Teppanyaki restaurant.  We didn't buy the package, but a couple we were talking with mentioned that they got the dining package and did go the Teppanyaki route, saying they had to pay the extra $10 each.

Edited November 3, 2022 by JAGR

[tripstah]

Thanks JAGR!

 

Would you happen to know if they could order anything they liked from the menu or if they had to select from a "dining experience menu"?

 

[dwc13]

Get confirmation as to which specialty restaurants are eligible for use with the Dining Experience package during your cruise. I'll detail the issue we encountered on MSC Seashore (10/15/22 - 10/22/22) below. YMMV.

 

If you buy the Dining Experience package and dine at an eligible specialty restaurant, you can order from a subset of the regular menu for entrees/prefix meals. The wait staff will indicate which entrees/prefix meals are eligible when you are seated. Entrees/prefix meals not included in the Dining Experience subset menu, as well as items not included with an entree/prefix meal, are typically discounted up to 50% off the regular price. 

 

For Kaito Teppanyaki, the subset menu included @5 or 6 prefix meals up to $44; the only prefix meal that was not included was the most expensive one at @$64, which included lobster. Most people at our table had purchased a Dining Experience package.

 

We purchased the Trilogy dining package on MSC Seashore the day of embarkation. Before doing so, we specifically asked whether Kaito Teppanyaki was included in that package. We explained this was important because we already had a free Diamond dinner at Butcher's Cut and didn't want to duplicate specialty restaurants. The MSC rep looked at a binder with documents and her tablet and then confirmed Kaito Teppanyaki was included in the Trilogy dining package, as were Butcher's Cut, Ocean Cay and Hola! Tacos & Cantina. Note that Kaito Sushi is *not* eligible. 

 

We had dinner at Ocean Cay for our first specialty restaurant experience, followed by lunch the next day at Hola! Tacos. No charges showed up on the MSC for Me app for the first 2 meals at specialty restaurants. Good so far. A day or 2 later we had dinner at Kaito Teppanyaki. Shortly after finishing, I checked the MSC for Me app and noticed we had been charged for the meal at Kaito Teppanyaki. Not good. Long story short, it took us @30 minutes and walking back & fourth between Guest Services and Kaito Teppanyaki to get things straightened out. The manager at Kaito Teppanyaki told us that specialty restaurant wasn't eligible for the specialty dining package we had purchased but she would reverse the charges. Our response was then why did your salesperson confirm it was eligible after checking documentation in the first place? The manager had no answer. 

 

Based upon our experience on MSC Seashore, I offer the following advice:

1. Verify what specialty restaurants are eligible for the specialty dining package you purchase. Once you have done that, ask again. 

2. Make your reservations at specialty restaurants as soon as you have identified where and when you want to dine. The sooner the better. A few days into our cruise, my wife called Guest Services to make a dinner reservation at Kaito Teppanyaki. She was told it was completely booked and there were no slots available for the remainder of the cruise. It was suggested she make a reservation at another specialty restaurant. My wife politely informed the MSC rep we had already dined at Ocean Cay and Hola! Tacos and had an upcoming Diamond dinner booked at Butcher's Cut. If we couldn't get a reservation at Kaito Teppanyaki, perhaps a refund was in order. With that the MSC rep found an open slot at Kaito Teppanyaki. Amazing. 

3. Check your account on the MSC for Me app regularly. Make sure you promptly take care of any erroneous/unfamiliar charges. The line for Guest Services on the final night before disembarkation is very long and moves painfully slow. 

 

 

 

[tripstah]

Thanks @dwc13 -- very helpful and informative and great info!

 

So you have to have a plan other than Trilogy, it's $10 extra, and you can order up to the $44 meal (Samurai I'm guessing from a 2021) menu.

 

Interesting that there's a $10 up charge for teppanyaki; I'm guessing it is more for crowd deterrence than food costs since other than Hola! the menu prices are more expensive than teppanyaki.

[Yinster]

Last week we had teppenaki a la carte but it was definitely on the menu that if you had the dining package you were on the €29 menu but could upgrade to the €39 menu by paying the surcharge 

 

Another thing we did was go to a wee morning taster which was in the daily schedule. By doing this we got 20% of our meal when we had it 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Yinster

[dwc13]

2 hours ago, tripstah said:

Thanks @dwc13 -- very helpful and informative and great info!

 

So you have to have a plan other than Trilogy, it's $10 extra, and you can order up to the $44 meal (Samurai I'm guessing from a 2021) menu.

 

Interesting that there's a $10 up charge for teppanyaki; I'm guessing it is more for crowd deterrence than food costs since other than Hola! the menu prices are more expensive than teppanyaki.

 

We boarded MSC Seashore for a 7 day closed loop sailing out of Miami. Based upon our experience, it appears there was a disconnect with respect to what was being told to various MSC personnel about specialty restaurant eligibility and the various Dining Experience packages. There was never a mention of an extra $10 pp for Kaito Teppanyaki when we purchased the Trilogy dining package. The billed amount that showed in the MSC for Me app was for the full menu price. Fortunately, we were able to get things resolved. The inconsistent statements from MSC personnel wasn't our first such experience. Earlier an MSC Yacht Club tent rep had told us there was no separate check in line for Diamond (there was). 

 

If Kaito Teppanyaki wasn't eligible, we would have passed on the specialty dining packages altogether and just stuck with the Diamond dinner at Butcher's Cut and also gone to Hola! Tacos and bought the all-you-can-eat. Doing so would have spared us from dinner at Ocean Cay, which was disappointing.

 

 

[tripstah]

37 minutes ago, dwc13 said:

 

Doing so would have spared us from dinner at Ocean Cay, which was disappointing.

 

 

What didn't you like about Ocean Cay? You think it'd be nice since it's the most expensive meal they offer (other than chef's table).

I'm still worried about the menu options in the specialty restaurants. We're diamond, so we get a free meal, but I signed us up for the unlimited dining anyway because we love it on RC. I know MSC isn't nearly comparable but most of the review I've read said that the specialty dining was superior to the main dining room; though, oddly, you have less choices with the set menu concept.

 

I'm tempted to see if I can cancel my dining package but with the number of complaints towards the MDR...I feel like it's kind of an insurance plan, lol.

[dwc13]

5 minutes ago, tripstah said:

What didn't you like about Ocean Cay? You think it'd be nice since it's the most expensive meal they offer (other than chef's table).

I'm still worried about the menu options in the specialty restaurants. We're diamond, so we get a free meal, but I signed us up for the unlimited dining anyway because we love it on RC. I know MSC isn't nearly comparable but most of the review I've read said that the specialty dining was superior to the main dining room; though, oddly, you have less choices with the set menu concept.

 

I'm tempted to see if I can cancel my dining package but with the number of complaints towards the MDR...I feel like it's kind of an insurance plan, lol.

 

I probably would have been better off paying an upcharge and selecting things off the full Ocean Cay menu similar to what I have enjoyed at other seafood restaurants rather than one of the entrees from the Dining Experience subset menu. Nothing on the subset menu really stood out to me. For lack of a better description, I settled rather than ordering something I was interested in trying. Live and learn. 

 

Don't cancel on account of some unflattering things you have read/heard about the food in specialty restaurants, especially if you might be cruising on MSC again in the future. Try them out if you're interested and it fits your schedule, budget. Everyone has their own taste preferences and expectations. You might end up thinking Ocean Cay is one of the better dining experiences you have enjoyed over the years. Hopefully that's the case. 

 

IMO, Hola! Tacos & Cantina was excellent. My wife and I really enjoyed lunch there. In retrospect, I should have eaten a smaller breakfast that day and saved room for Hola Tacos. Oh, and we should have gone there first so we could schedule a return. Butcher's Cut was solid. Kaito Teppanyaki was decent but I ended up going to MDR afterwards because I was still hungry -- and it was Italian Night. I mean, Italian Night in MDR on an Italian cruise ship...

 

Finally, I thought Marketplace buffet was pretty good. We ate many meals there. The pizza is excellent. Breakfast doughnuts are really good and when you eat too many, there is an excellent selection of fruit. Hope you'll give it a fair shot. It can be a bit chaotic because of the large number of people eating there. Just make note of your table number or you might have a hard time finding it again. Full disclosure, we are perfectly content eating at buffets, whether it's Bacchanal, Wynn, Wicked Spoon or Golden Corral.

 

[tripstah]

I definitely have no problems with buffets but I do enjoy picking my meal for the evening -- which the dining package seems to go against, oddly. Food quality in the specialty places did look slightly better than MDR but it depending on the night -- HOLA! definitely looks tasty.

 

If I could bother you for a few more questions:

 

Do you know if the specialty restaurants are open during port days?

Which specialty restaurants offer lunch?

 

Thanks,

trip

[dwc13]

We had lunch at Hola! Tacos and Cantina, so it is definitely open at that time. A reminder -- don't eat too much for breakfast if you plan on going there for lunch. Go with the all-you-can-eat. A glass of watermelon juice is surprisingly good with the meal.

 

We didn't look into having lunch at any of the other specialty restaurants so I can't say with certainty whether or not they were open at that time. I believe Butcher's Cut might have been open for lunch with a limited (brunch) menu, but again not positive that is the case. My wife handled reservations at the specialty restaurants, so sea day vs. port day wasn't a concern to me. We dined at Ocean Cay the 2nd night and it was a sea day. We had dinner at Butcher's Cut the final night after hanging out earlier that day at Ocean Cay Marine Resort. The ship didn't depart Ocean Cay until after we had finished eating. 

 

 

[tripstah]

Thanks dwc13, much appreciated for all the information and insights!

[eagletwo]

On 11/3/2022 at 11:05 AM, JAGR said:

Last week on Meraviglia, the Concierge specifically said that our Diamond dinner could not be used at the Teppanyaki restaurant.  We didn't buy the package, but a couple we were talking with mentioned that they got the dining package and did go the Teppanyaki route, saying they had to pay the extra $10 each.

We were on the same cruise and went to the Sushi restaurant.  The Diamond dinner did not fit what we wanted so we paid for our meal and used it at Butcher's Cut.  We ate in the Teppanyaki restaurant in 2020 and found the food not to our liking compared to American Japanese Steak Houses.  Sauces on the steaks were weird.  Appetizer's were weird. Service was great. 

[tripstah]

I really am leaning towards seeing if MSC will let me cancel the unlimited dining package...