Probably the most accurate review of MSC's food I've seen...

[joeyancho]

1 minute ago, benjaminnicholas said:

Pepin?

 

Hell, Fieri is no Burger King.

LOL!

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, benjaminnicholas said:

 

Hell, Fieri is no Burger King.

 

Maybe not but I keep hearing how on Carnival he is the King of Burger.

 

[Tierun]

4 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Maybe not but I keep hearing how on Carnival he is the King of Burger.

 

Flavortown, U.S.A.

[davy jones]

I watched the video two days before embarking on our first MSC cruise.  I was encouraged because of many of the "reviews" have many complaints about MSC food.

 

After eating MSC food for 10 days, I pretty much agree with the video.  MDR food is generally good, definitely better than recent MDR food on their primary competitors, NCL, Royal, and Carinval.  Some meals have been better than others, but overall, it has been a pleasant surprise.  Buffets are a little more hit or miss, but they are comparable to the previously mentioned lines.  Note that we are not in YC, so I am referring to the food for the common folk.

 

One thing that could improve is the choice of "starters".  Appys are OK, but soup and salad selections are sparse, except for the everyday Caesar salad.  Most salads are offered as entrees and many are similar to starter salads.  I usually get one of the pastas as a starter.

 

Our only foray into specialty dining was a dinner at Hola.  The food was fine and the dining experience was good compared to a standard US Mexican restaurant."

[benjaminnicholas]

My biggest issue so far on the Mera is Hola!

 

The tacos are shockingly solid, but the tamale is AWFUL.  Do not order it.

 

Undercooked and done improperly in an oven, not steamed.  It's truly a hot mess.

[dexddd]

On 10/22/2023 at 4:45 AM, Rhea98 said:

I hope food has standardized/stabilized across the fleet since spring 2022--25 nights on Grandiosa that saw, granted, imo, negative food changes for each of the three cruises. While the "guys" on the buffet serving line seemed to be consistent (and happy and funny and as helpful as permitted--ALWAYS), the white uniforms hovering around the area changed several times as did the buffet. We have our preferences (mine, in particular, is hot food being served hot!) but don't see ourselves as picky eaters. We don't cruise to eat (in fact, we are so boring that we cruise simply because we love sailing-- preferring transatlantic cruises). However, we will be absolutely delighted if the fresh-prep egg station is, again, operational during our Seashore crossing coming up this week. 

You ditching NCL?

[dexddd]

18 minutes ago, benjaminnicholas said:

My biggest issue so far on the Mera is Hola!

 

The tacos are shockingly solid, but the tamale is AWFUL.  Do not order it.

 

Undercooked and done improperly in an oven, not steamed.  It's truly a hot mess.

Hola's unlimited is only $18 so a good value.  Yesterday I had burger king for just under $14.  I wish I could have been at Holas with DW.

[Rhea98]

3 hours ago, dexddd said:

You ditching NCL?

No. We're on Seashore right now. It's okay--even really good in some areas, but we can't help but compare. Each trip, we wonder if another will be possible. We loved Virgin Voyages- Valiant Lady-- but not Caribbean. NCL, if we can afford it, has our heart if not our wallet.

[Cashsmoney]

On 10/21/2023 at 12:29 PM, Stockjock said:

I always appreciate honesty by the staff.  When they say, "Everything's good", you know they're either lying, or simply don't know.

I've mentioned this before, but my first MSC cruise was on Divina in 2015 or 2016.  I read over and over again about how there was pretty much no food in the buffet other hotdogs and hamburgers, and they'd then go on to show pictures of them.  I got on Divina and that was 100% false.  There was so much food, but one had to take a walk to see what was available.

I also think the MSC Specialty Dining packages are a good deal, relative to the competition.  For example, we did one last year for $70 per person for 3 specialty restaurants, which I thought was a great value.

This NYE, we'll be on World Europa, and while the price went up a bit, we're getting 3 specialty restaurants for $100 each.  Throw in our free Diamond level specialty restaurant freebie, that's 4 specialty restaurants out of 7 nights for $200 total (not per person).  I'd like to see anyone beat that.  And for those who note that one specialty night is "free" due to Diamond status, I'd also note that achieving that status on MSC is much easier than achieving an upper tier status on other cruise lines.

Anyway, good job on the video.  I found it to be well-done and objective.

   Yeah I think the speciality dining packages are a joke, because you have to order off the “dinning experience” menu, that looks more like menu items from the MDR. The other option is to order ala carte off the speciality restaurants menu that is way over priced. 
 

  Also there loyalty program, don’t give you much even at top tier. They only thing it really does is give you you a free dinner for 2, for the top tier. The other lines the higher tiers have perks that have some value. 

[Tierun]

5 hours ago, Cashsmoney said:

   Yeah I think the speciality dining packages are a joke, because you have to order off the “dinning experience” menu, that looks more like menu items from the MDR. The other option is to order ala carte off the speciality restaurants menu that is way over priced. 
 

  Also there loyalty program, don’t give you much even at top tier. They only thing it really does is give you you a free dinner for 2, for the top tier. The other lines the higher tiers have perks that have some value. 

The status match seriously devalues the VC program. Many are at the top tier level without ever having been on an MSC ship. I will say that priority embarkation, the 5+5 discount are nice perks to go with the free meal. Hard to compare with other lines with it requires more than 100 nights to even think of reaching the top.

[CruisingWalter]

17 hours ago, Rhea98 said:

No. We're on Seashore right now. It's okay--even really good in some areas, but we can't help but compare.

 

That's one of the big things I've told many folks about MSC and one of the points I made in that food review. You have to take them at face value because when you pay less, sometimes a lot less, you can't expect the same quality or product as Royal, NCL and the others. MSC is MSC and we give MSC a solid 8.5 for value. For what we paid for that cruise, we got a lot of value and we'll be on the Seashore in a month to meet the Seaside's bigger sister. If you start down that rabbit hole of "well NCL is this and Royal is that...." you'll be disappointed. But if you accept that for what you are paying, MSC is delivering a lovely cruise vacation, you'll have a great time. 

[CruisingWalter]

9 hours ago, Cashsmoney said:

Yeah I think the speciality dining packages are a joke, because you have to order off the “dinning experience” menu, that looks more like menu items from the MDR. The other option is to order ala carte off the speciality restaurants menu that is way over priced. 

 

I would completely disagree with that, at least in the case of our 3 night Asian Marketplace package. We had an awesome set of three meals from the Asian Kitchen as I showed in the food review. Nothing we ordered looked like a menu item from the MDR, not even close. Nor did it taste like anything from our 2 MDR dinners. We purchased that package onboard because we didn't like the pre-selected restaurants concept of the pre-cruise packages. But at least for us, those meals I showed in the food review were nothing like the MDR. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 11/3/2023 at 8:27 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

Maybe not but I keep hearing how on Carnival he is the King of Burger.

 

 

On our recent Mardi Gras cruise I had to pace myself with Shaq's Big Chicken. So freakin' good and I never had a single Guy's Burger. It was all Shaq's Chicken and Blue Iguana for me for the fast food. 🙂

[Cashsmoney]

6 hours ago, Tierun said:

The status match seriously devalues the VC program. Many are at the top tier level without ever having been on an MSC ship. I will say that priority embarkation, the 5+5 discount are nice perks to go with the free meal. Hard to compare with other lines with it requires more than 100 nights to even think of reaching the top.

  But the Top Tier on MSC doesn’t come close to the benefits of of cruiselines top tier programs. The discount is nice, but that doesn’t take away from others that earned it. Last time I was in Miami I didn’t even see a priority boarding for VC members. 

[8420PR]

On 11/5/2023 at 1:24 PM, CruisingWalter said:

 

I would completely disagree with that, at least in the case of our 3 night Asian Marketplace package. We had an awesome set of three meals from the Asian Kitchen as I showed in the food review. Nothing we ordered looked like a menu item from the MDR, not even close. Nor did it taste like anything from our 2 MDR dinners. We purchased that package onboard because we didn't like the pre-selected restaurants concept of the pre-cruise packages. But at least for us, those meals I showed in the food review were nothing like the MDR. 

How much did the 3 Asian Market dining package cost to book onboard?    

[PTC DAWG]

On 11/3/2023 at 3:11 PM, benjaminnicholas said:

 

I can't stand Guy Fieri or his food aesthetic.  

 

But for many, he's a known commodity and they're impressed by his shtick.

Guy is apparently a very nice guy from everything I have read. He does a lot of charity work. 

[joeyancho]

59 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Guy is apparently a very nice guy from everything I have read. He does a lot of charity work. 

He is a good guy ( no pun intended)  but his cooking is not fine dining.  Kinda low brow.  Not to be a snob,  because when I cruised Carnival (never again)  I enjoyed the burger.  Donkey sauce any one?  

[benjaminnicholas]

7 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Guy is apparently a very nice guy from everything I have read. He does a lot of charity work. 

 

From what you've read, yeah.

 

That's called 'good PR'

 

His whole shtick is appealing to middle America.

Edited November 9, 2023 by benjaminnicholas

[CruisingWalter]

On 11/8/2023 at 2:25 PM, 8420PR said:

How much did the 3 Asian Market dining package cost to book onboard?    

 

$109/pp. It worked out cheaper to do the package vs. paying for all three restaurants. 

[Avatar345]

On 11/8/2023 at 11:29 PM, benjaminnicholas said:

 

From what you've read, yeah.

 

That's called 'good PR'

 

His whole shtick is appealing to middle America.

 

Does appealing to middle America have to be a 'shtick'?

[BeeeJay]

3 weeks ago at breakfast on MSC Seascape they were rotating each day between:

 

French Toast

Waffles

Pancakes

Donuts

 

I saw a crazy scene during the week with bad weather, I think it was 10/29-11/4 where this guy went OFF on a manager at the buffet regarding the lack of French Toast and threatened to fly home from Cozumel.  I offered to take the medical helicopter over to NCL for some French Toast Sticks and that manager and I joked about it every week thereafter. 

 

Sometime mid-week of the 11/11-11/18 cruise that same manager let me know they were serving all 4 of those items daily, and for the last few days of the cruise they did indeed have all on offer.

 

While I firmly attest the food quality and selection are a notch below NCL & Royal (my only other recent experiences) I do agree they are making efforts to improve.  They need fried chicken tenders on the main buffet, and they need all stations open more often when its busy.

[dexddd]

11 hours ago, BeeeJay said:

3 weeks ago at breakfast on MSC Seascape they were rotating each day between:

 

French Toast

Waffles

Pancakes

Donuts

 

I saw a crazy scene during the week with bad weather, I think it was 10/29-11/4 where this guy went OFF on a manager at the buffet regarding the lack of French Toast and threatened to fly home from Cozumel.  I offered to take the medical helicopter over to NCL for some French Toast Sticks and that manager and I joked about it every week thereafter. 

 

Sometime mid-week of the 11/11-11/18 cruise that same manager let me know they were serving all 4 of those items daily, and for the last few days of the cruise they did indeed have all on offer.

 

While I firmly attest the food quality and selection are a notch below NCL & Royal (my only other recent experiences) I do agree they are making efforts to improve.  They need fried chicken tenders on the main buffet, and they need all stations open more often when its busy.

Don't plan to jet over to NCL for hash browns as those are apparently gone.

[BeeeJay]

25 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Don't plan to jet over to NCL for hash browns as those are apparently gone.

I saw the good crispy hash browns a grand total of ONCE on the main buffet in 5 weeks.  They had them in the kid buffet once that I noticed.  Yacht club had them on 20 every morning 

[PACrew]

On 11/5/2023 at 7:21 AM, CruisingWalter said:

 

That's one of the big things I've told many folks about MSC and one of the points I made in that food review. You have to take them at face value because when you pay less, sometimes a lot less, you can't expect the same quality or product as Royal, NCL and the others. MSC is MSC and we give MSC a solid 8.5 for value. For what we paid for that cruise, we got a lot of value and we'll be on the Seashore in a month to meet the Seaside's bigger sister. If you start down that rabbit hole of "well NCL is this and Royal is that...." you'll be disappointed. But if you accept that for what you are paying, MSC is delivering a lovely cruise vacation, you'll have a great time. 

This is dead on. My upcoming MSC cruise is 50% of the cost of Royal. Do I expect the same as Royal -  no. (However, the food on our last royal cruise was not great at all and frankly I feel it was a rip off at the price we paid. They are clearly milking the cow for all its worth.). 

[mowogo]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:27 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

Maybe not but I keep hearing how on Carnival he is the King of Burger.

 

People like Velveta.  I find the cheese concoction ruins the burger.