MSC Poesia was a disappointment

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

Italian cuisine is no guarantee of good food – MSC Poesia was a disappointment

 

The Italian cruise ship company MSC hosts a Mediterranean gastronomic dining cruise featuring fine food and wine. Unfortunately the culinary experience will be less than expected, since the food comprises three-course cafeteria fare served as six dishes and costing twice as much – I will actually contend that I have eaten better dinners at roadside inns than the food turned out by the Italian cruise kitchen. Tough meat, tasteless fish and unsavoury side dishes characterised my dining experience. We felt cheated. The cruise company has apparently put their "bean counters" to work applying the modern economic principle known as "profit maximization". Basically this means using the cheapest ingredients available and charging the highest possible price. The dessert was good, I admit. Italian ice cream is not easy to ruin, but this one treat was not enough to compensate for poor dinners throughout the entire week.

 

Breakfast and lunch were good, but strangely enough, the fare was identical day after day. The advantage of this, of course, is that the meals are predictable - you know in advance what you are getting – and the dishes are placed in exactly the same place each day. The disadvantage is that the food becomes increasingly boring. Fortunately the cruise lasted only one week. If MSC Cruises had sent us on a two-week trip with second-rate food like this, I would have abandoned ship at the first available port of call.

 

Not one ill word about the service personnel on board, always smiling, helpful and service minded. Frustration increased, of course, with each passing day and the guests' realization that the quality of the food very simply would never improve. Naturally one cannot expect the gastronomic quality of French cuisine on board an Italian boat, but again, this was really the bottom of the barrel. If you are tempted by a cruise in the Mediterranean, be my guest, but if you want to enjoy fine cuisine on the high seas – forget it.

 

 

this was the most offensive thing u could say.

 

if u want french cuisine go on a french ship. we don't have ANYTHING to envy to france or to french food.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

We were on the Poesia’s innagural cruise (April 6th – 19th; London (Dover) to Venice. I was interested to see the member reviews here as well as the comments on this board. Most of the complaints seem to be about the food while the ship itself got generally high marks.

We’ve been on about a dozen cruises over the last 20 years, about half on Princess and the remainder on Sitmar, HAL, RCL, and now MSC. In my opinion MSC falls at the bottom of those lines in terms of the things important to me, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’d never sail with them again (though I felt that way at times during the cruise and heard that view from many other passengers).

 

I thought the food was OK. There were high and low points. The pasta courses were good, the main dishes often not, etc. Some things I didn’t like:

• The casual dining (buffet) was not even close to 24 hours and was closed entirely at dinner. That wasn’t a huge deal for us on this trip, but it would have been on if we had brought the kids. We have friends that eat exclusively in the casual dining when dining room attire is other than casual because their idea of a vacation is never having to dress up.
  
• It was very difficult to get ice water (that is tap water as opposed to purchasing bottled water) in the formal restaurant or the buffet.
  
• There was no self-service water/tea/coffee anywhere and no free service except during buffet hours.
  
• Free room service – available and extensive on the other ships we’ve sailed on – was nearly absent (limited to very bare-bones breakfast).

Some things I did:

• The wait staff was polite and friendly
  
• Lunch in the dining room featured a full six-course menu (appetizer, soup , salad, pasta, entrée, and dessert) and was often better than dinner.

For the most part I did NOT like the ship itself. Issues:

• Very few of the public areas (library, card room, lounges, …) even had a view of the outside.
  
• The decorating was sometimes nice but sometimes jarringly unpleasant. The disco, for example, was about the ugliest room I’ve ever seen. Obvously this is a matter of taste and only my opinion.
  
• I’m fairly sensitive to smoke which made many of the public areas unusable for me. For example, I completely steared clear of the casino. Also, since smoking in the cabins is merely “discouraged” I think you can be certain that all cabins will have been “smoking” cabins at some point within the first several cruises. That wasn’t a problem for us since the ship was brand new.
  
• Some of the public areas that I generally use on ships were subpar. For example, the library was only open for a couple of hours, twice a day – even when at sea, was very small, and had no exterior windows.
  
• There was not enough pool/pool deck space for a ship this size. Further, they closed the pool and hot tubs at 8:00 pm.
  
• The workout room was small for a ship this size.
  
• The beautiful art collections that are a feature of so many ships were mostly replaced by mirrors and flat-screen TVs (promoting the ship).

Everything else …

 

Good

• The ship was new and the condition of everything was pristine.
  
• The service staff was friendly certainly tried to be helpful.
  
• Embarkation and disembarkation were handled well.
  
• The music in the central atrium, particularly the classical string trio/piano, were very pleasant. The music in the lounges was generally good as well.
  
• They were less strict than other ships about bringing your own alcohol aboard. I was even told by other passengers that they allowed passengers to buy liqour in the duty-free shop and take it back to their cabin.
  
• The Captain’s welcome aboard and farewell coctail parties were well done.

Not so good

• While it’s happening on all lines (except perhaps the super-premiums), MSC has taken nickel and diming you to new heights. For example, there is a charge ($24, if I remember right) for a one-time use of the sauna/steam room – I’ve never had to pay for that before. Personally, I’d rather pay a bit more for the cruise, up front, and have the vacation itself be more all-inclusive.
  
• The drinks, at least for an American, were very expensive. When converted from Euros to dollars, a beer or a well drink was around $9-10 (plus gratuity).
  
• The cabins were smaller than we’ve seen on other ships.
  
• There was often a language barrier when trying to deal with the staff – not surprising on a ship that caters to so many different nationalities, but still an issue. It was, in fact, impossible to ask anything directly of our cabin steward. We had to make requests to the main desk.
  
• The on-board activities were, by far, the sparsest of any ship I’ve ever been on. In particular, that made at-sea days – often my favorite – rather dull. The activities they did have were often available for only very short hours.
  
• No deck chairs on promenade (a favorite place of mine to sit and read).
  
• It was necessary to check out pool towels and other items (e.g. putter and ball for the putting area) on your cruise card and then wait in line to return them. They frequently reiterated the point that you would be charged for anything not returned, that there were cameras in all the shops, etc. Conveying the unmistakeable message: WE DON”T TRUST YOU.

The so-so:

• The shows were of mixed quality. In my experience, that’s always the case.
  
• The cruise staff and officers were polite, but certainly not friendly.
  
• They handled the multitude of languages well, but hearing all of the announcements in 5 languages gets tiring after a while.

In summary, I’d sail with MSC again, but only if it was either a very good price and/or an itinerary I really wanted and couldn’t find elsewhere

 

 

they charge for everything that "disappear" because they OFTEN disappear this is why.

i agree with u about the five languages. this is something typical of the italian hospitality. it' everywhere like this in italy. if u go to the eastern seaside people in shops and hotels or restaurant speaks easiier german or russian than italian.

 

 

in my opinion on an italian ship the annoucements should be done in italian and not in other languages. if i go to america or uk i'm supposed to speak english. if people come to italy is supposed to speak italian.

[vjmatty]

in my opinion on an italian ship the annoucements should be done in italian and not in other languages. if i go to america or uk i'm supposed to speak english. if people come to italy is supposed to speak italian.

 

Good luck.... some Americans think people should speak English not only in America, but anywhere in the world an American may feel the urge to travel :rolleyes:

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

not only americans. in europe we have much more europeans and eastern europeans (russians,hungarians, poles and romanians) travelers than americans. how many languages we should know to fulfill all the travelers??? in europe there are more than 25 official languages + hundreds of local languages more spoken than the official ones and thousand of dialects.. guess.... beleive me when i say that many times we don't understand each other even among italians

[compguy]

vjmatty - I was excited to find some familiar cruises in your cruise signature item. I too traveld w/ QE2, Carnival, and Enchantment. I always wanted to try the Destiny, but never got around to it. Take care!

[vjmatty]

vjmatty - I was excited to find some familiar cruises in your cruise signature item. I too traveld w/ QE2, Carnival, and Enchantment. I always wanted to try the Destiny, but never got around to it. Take care!

 

Wow, it looks like you have sampled just about every cruise line!

 

Enchantment is where it all began.... our first cruise and we were addicted. We also liked the QE2 so much that we booked her again for the final TA in October.

 

The Destiny was a great price for an awesome cabin.... we had an aft wraparound balcony and a port intensive southern Caribbean itinerary. It is a far cry from the QE2 but was good for what it was, sun and fun.

[tuva]

this was the most offensive thing u could say.

 

if u want french cuisine go on a french ship. we don't have ANYTHING to envy to france or to french food.

 

Yes, I know.

After one week aboard the Poesia, my conclusion is ”Italian food sucks”.

[tuva]

this was the most offensive thing u could say.

 

if u want french cuisine go on a french ship. we don't have ANYTHING to envy to france or to french food.

 

MSC – and Poesia in special, has ruined the reputation of Italian food.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

it means that u've never been on a costa ship......

[tuva]

it means that u've never been on a costa ship......

:eek:

 

This tread is about how MSC (and Poesia) has ruined the reputation of Italian cousin, because they serve bad food. You may not be aware of it, but Costa is another company.

[vjmatty]

:eek:

 

This tread is about how MSC (and Poesia) has ruined the reputation of Italian cousin, because they serve bad food. You may not be aware of it, but Costa is another company.

 

I have an Italian cousin and her reputation is fine! ;)

 

Sorry.... anyway, I think the reference to Costa was because of your sweeping generalization that "Italian food sucks"

 

Besides, if Costa serves good Italian food, MSC can hardly destroy the reputation of Italian food single-handedly, now can it...

[tuva]

Yes, you are right. Italian food can be delicious. To bad MSC ruins it because they use mediocre ingredients.

[tuva]

MSC can hardly destroy the reputation of Italian food single-handedly, now can it...

 

Weeeell, they are really trying hard.:D

[jezziew]

I've found this thread interesting and I am not concerned about the quality of the food on the cruise but I am very concerned about all of the talk about the smell! I have a cabin with a balconly on the Leopardi Deck which I believe is the 12th level ... and I am on the starboard side in the middle of the ship ... am I going to be bummed about the smell? My cruise leaves on September 20 from Venice. :confused:

[sea-explorer]

jezziew

 

I was on the Poesia last week. Cabin 11172 on the starboard side. I don't know how close that is to your cabin, but I'm pleased to report that last week at least there wasn't a smell. :)

[jezziew]

Thank you for your news on the smell issue ... we are in cabin 12114 ... a little bit more forward that you but in the middle on the starboard side ... I am so hopeful that you are correct and maybe they've solved the smell problem!

[liverpoollad]

Tuva said food is bad, Dan66 said excellent. I thought it would fall in between.

Just returned from the cruise. THE RESULT...........A Draw.

 

Breakfast & lunch buffet. Plenty of choice , too many times food lukewarm.better to have had less choice, but hot. Very good salad choice though.

Dinner. The problem here was the term "Fine Dining" I am not a food snob & do not worry about frills etc., but it was not "Fine Dining". 5 courses,some not to my taste,not MSCs fault. At the end of the week not once could I truly say "That was a great meal.

 

Rest of cruise excellent.

 

Cheers

[MMDown Under]

Tuva said food is bad, Dan66 said excellent. I thought it would fall in between.

Just returned from the cruise. THE RESULT...........A Draw.

 

Breakfast & lunch buffet. Plenty of choice , too many times food lukewarm.better to have had less choice, but hot. Very good salad choice though.

Dinner. The problem here was the term "Fine Dining" I am not a food snob & do not worry about frills etc., but it was not "Fine Dining". 5 courses,some not to my taste,not MSCs fault. At the end of the week not once could I truly say "That was a great meal.

 

Rest of cruise excellent.

 

Cheers

 

Enjoyed your comments. Did you only eat breakfast and lunch in the buffet, or did you eat in the dining room?

 

When you buy a cruise, it is reasonable to expect most meals to be great, not "fine dining" but great. That has been my experience.

 

I'll be disappointed if the food isn't served hot, as hot food served warm can be a health worry.

 

I've never had a bad Italian meal, so hope that is not about to change.

[liverpoollad]

Hi Marion & Barry.

 

We went to the Dining room once,we didn't like what they offered on the menu,& we forgot to try again,maybe the food might have been hotter there.

Cheers

[MMDown Under]

Hi Marion & Barry.

 

We went to the Dining room once,we didn't like what they offered on the menu,& we forgot to try again,maybe the food might have been hotter there.

Cheers

 

I suspect it would, as you could send it back otherwise.

 

Being from the sub-tropics, we are well informed on the danger of warm food.

[caviargal]

this was the most offensive thing u could say.

 

if u want french cuisine go on a french ship. we don't have ANYTHING to envy to france or to french food.

 

Having been to Italy 18 times and France 5, I absolutely agree. Not only did I not enjoy the food in France - with a very few exceptions - my requests to omit sauces or butter were met with a frown and often denied.

 

We are just back from 2.5 weeks in Italy and as usual, had wonderful dining experiences in all levels of eateries, some of course better than others.

[Apial]

Here are a couple - there are several more.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=44013

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-reviews/read/review_s7485/

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-reviews/read/review_c7176/

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=795741

 

To Liverpoollad; you'll not get "lobster tail or eggs benidict", you'll get tough steak and bad fish.

 

 

 

Could I add another to your list?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=756959&highlight=