Evening Dining on MSC Orchestra?

[lulutoo]

We are considering a cruise to Scandanavia this summer on Orchestra. Is it correct that other than the formal dining room , the evening options are a Chinese restaurant ( extra charge), pizza which is now free but was charged for , or very limited room service choices? Or have I missed something? No evening buffet till midnight? Do I have it right? Is the pizza choice simply pizza or are there sides etc offered as well?

[cruise-addict]

I understand that MSC operates differently in Caribbean vs Mediterranean, however we had the dining rooms and buffet available every night. There was pizza on the buffet as well as tons of other stuff. There is a Chinese restaurant and the 4 seasons, both for extra charge. The late night was something different every night, such as crepes, croissants, and one night a grand buffet. Also I hear they charge for room service in the Mediterranean. Hope this helps!

[resistk]

If you were hoping to survive off the MSC buffet, I don't recommend it. Think something like a midwest US lower price buffet with some completely off the wall offerings like cold peas and lentils and only 3 types of desert and you get the picture. Worst pasta in the world.

 

On the other hand, one can do OK in the dining room just be prepared to send back the food and order something else at dinner if you don't like it. The food can be hit or miss but you will not starve.

[Dallas Gemini]

OH MY GOD - RUN !!!

 

 

Food? What Food ?!

No food except room service (and that was a HUGE JOKE) after 9:30-10pm (not even the "pizza buffet"). There is no "Midnight Buffet" - the have waiters in a few lounges walking around with cold "treats" on a tray. They would walk right past you if you didn't motion or call them over.

 

The buffets were all sad; much like the other comments -- it was just sad. The breakfast buffet was the best meal of the day, and it was ok as long as you stayed away from the eggs!!

 

Lunch was a zoo !! Felt more like a high school cafeteria then a "upscale" cruise ship.

 

Dinner - in a word: joke. Even the pasta dishes are better at Macaroni Grill !!

 

And service? What service!! Our dinner waiter never introduced himself; rushed us like he was on a bonus program for finishing early; and we had to ASK for a wine menu EVERY NIGHT (only to have then run out of 60% of the wine list by night 4 of a 7 day cruise)! Two nights we left more than half our entrees on the plate because the fish was more overcooked than the steak, which could had doubled for a door stop (at medium rare).

 

I tell me friends - It was like handing the key of the Bellagio Hotel to the night clerk at a Motel 6 and telling him to run the joint. It's like they had never done this before!

 

And the most SOUR service staff I have EVER encountered!!

 

NEVER AGAIN -- even if they handed it to me for free !

[resistk]

"fish was more overcooked than the steak, which could have doubled for a door stop (at medium rare)."

 

In all fairness, the fish was over cooked because the filet's were so thin as for the beef - in all fairness it is always like door stop or a hocky puck in France, that's how they like it:

 

http://partners.nytimes.com/library/dining/071200french-steak.html

 

I might add, avoid anything with brown gravy - duck was good, turkey bad, lobster dry, salmon poor, seafood brochette excellent but tiny....

[purplelady14]

I just came off the Orchestra on Sunday, April 4, 2009. Pizza is FREE...and is reallyl good...its available when the buffet is open and again from 5pm -9pm only... We ordered individual pizzas and they were brought over t our table...The kids loved it and the attendants already knew what we wanted when they saw us...Which was a nice touch. The chinese restauranat is by reservation only and is REALLY good. There is a definite language barrier all over the ship. The shows are wonderful...especially the one on the last night...The Midnight Buffet is only one time and it is very different...The food is really WEIRD on the buffet... I only did the formal sit down dinner once...The service is EXTREMEMLY SLOW and honestly the food wasn't that great....Your better off with the buffet which has a grill and a daily menu that changes. There us always some pasta dishes on the buffet along with hot dogs, burgers and fries....Its the best choice by far....

 

Okay now, if your looking for constant activities like Carnival and Royal have...Your not gonna find it on MSC. There are down times which were disappointing...In addition, the cruise was 90% people over 50 and the loungers reflected that in the music that they played...Man, it was a bummer. The disco was good. However, the teenagers were in the disco way to late. The disco wouldn't start until 11:45pm buy that time we were dead tired.

 

If you have children between the ages of 8 - 13, they are gonna hate it....The kids club SUCKS...it is great for little children..and the teen club is great....but the juniors club ( 8-13 ) is embarrassing. They use the same room as the babies for the 8-13 group. I'm talking A B C blocks all over the place. The room looks like kindergarten. My kids never went. Also, the kids club closes often. Especially on the days we were at sea...C'mon, thats when adults want to send there kids off and they closed for 3 hours at a time.

 

My thing is that if they are promoting kids sail free....then it should have a more kid friendly area. IT DOESN"T.....BE CAREFUL...My kids drove me nuts....

 

We had a very large group traveling so we had a fun time...despite the problems.....Will be we sail MSC again? HECKKKKKK NOOOOOOO!!!!!

[vsmolyan]

The best memories of this cruise is getting hot stone massage twice. The best I ever had. I enjoyed the jacuzzi in the spa. Try french and mexican coffee, they make them very well. Gelato was even better than we ate in Italy. Try to do things you like and not to think about the negatives. I never had language problem and I don't speak Italian. Coming back to snow and cold in Chicago made me to forget about bad food and actually now I'm happy that I lost some weight and fit into my clothes.

[boca7]

WOW??? What strange reviews, I loved the ship along with the 10 other family members with me. Entertainment is the best you will encounter on any other ship, there is no cleaner ships than MSC, food has been contrversial as its quite homestyle Italian, which I enjoy. What do you get at an Italian restaurant, pasta`s, veal, lamb & steak is not there specialty, so skip it. After sailing just about every other line afloat I give very high marks to MSC and am booking the Poesia in November.

[SunSeekerEBS]

The best memories of this cruise is getting hot stone massage twice. The best I ever had. I enjoyed the jacuzzi in the spa. Try french and mexican coffee, they make them very well. Gelato was even better than we ate in Italy. Try to do things you like and not to think about the negatives. I never had language problem and I don't speak Italian. Coming back to snow and cold in Chicago made me to forget about bad food and actually now I'm happy that I lost some weight and fit into my clothes.

 

I was just curious why if you didn't like MSC so much your going on another MSC cruise in a couple of months?

[vsmolyan]

As I already said before, my next Northern Europe cruise was booked very long time ago along wih big group of friends, by the time I was back it was to late to change plans. But at least in Europe will be visiting different countries daily and I'll use the ship for overnight.

After that I'll pay a little more to sail with better cruiselines. This is the first time ever I complain about the vacation. It just wasn't my piece of cake.

[iambibs]

if your looking for good food or any food on the orchestra be prepared to buy alot of junk food and take it with you. At best this was the worst cruise line ever. you will only get food and service when they decide you can other than that the answer we recieved every day was WE ARE CLOSED. their food was not Italian as i have been to italy many times and this food was terrible. do your self and your family a treat and book with another line. as for room service it was non existant and was an inconvienance for them to answer the phone. I was told twice that I am only one person and cannot get to you right now call back later.

[agentgirl]

We had food available whenever we wanted it- and it was good and plentiful. Ordered room service without issue and it was delivered within 5 minutes.....as it was when my daughter ordered room service. We had a wonderful time on the Orchestra, as did the 34 families that sailed with us.

[onepeople]

if your looking for good food or any food on the orchestra be prepared to buy alot of junk food and take it with you. At best this was the worst cruise line ever. you will only get food and service when they decide you can other than that the answer we recieved every day was WE ARE CLOSED. their food was not Italian as i have been to italy many times and this food was terrible. do your self and your family a treat and book with another line. as for room service it was non existant and was an inconvienance for them to answer the phone. I was told twice that I am only one person and cannot get to you right now call back later.

Is this a real post? I mean, come on....enough already.

[Penny's Loafer]

if your looking for good food or any food on the orchestra be prepared to buy alot of junk food and take it with you. At best this was the worst cruise line ever. you will only get food and service when they decide you can other than that the answer we recieved every day was WE ARE CLOSED. their food was not Italian as i have been to italy many times and this food was terrible. do your self and your family a treat and book with another line. as for room service it was non existant and was an inconvienance for them to answer the phone. I was told twice that I am only one person and cannot get to you right now call back later.

 

I think I may have identified the root of your dilema. You were standing in a hot tub at 6:20 trying to order a pizza from a security guard that did not communicate in the queen's english. We're you trying to barter with the can of Old Milwaukie that you brought on board? That also could have posed a problem. :eek:

[cruise-addict]

Penny, you crack me up!! :D Along those same lines, the parent of the year award was on our sailing...there was this young couple pushing a stroller, while smoking and drinking...A LOT!! I even snapped a picture of them just for fun...

 

Our cruise was wonderful. The food on the buffet was excellent. The burgers and fries were always fresh (for the kiddos) and the back half had different choices all the time. The oriental ribs and garlic pasta were the best!! There were lots of choices for dessert on the buffet. Granted, sometimes it may have been leftover from the dining room the previous day, but it was super yummy! Besides, I think throwing away the "best cheesecake ever" is a crime on international waters!!

[Penny's Loafer]

Our food was great as well. I was trying to figure out how a ship cooking for thousands can still deliver eggs over easy to me hot, and my local diner can't deliver them 10 feet from the kitchen hot.

I was a little concerned going in about the lack of late night food. We alway loved a late night hotdog on our Carnival cruises. But we had the later seating. With the amount of food served, we were basically in a food coma until morning.

I love your comment about the parent of the year. I've been thinking of starting a thread about the worst passangers/ridiculas complaints. I think you convinced me! It should be QUITE A LIST.

[AmoMondo]

I love your comment about the parent of the year. I've been thinking of starting a thread about the worst passangers/ridiculas complaints. I think you convinced me! It should be QUITE A LIST.

 

Well here is one to start your list off.

I was at a table of 8 with my friend and 3 elderly couples, it was the third night of the cruise and one of the men went nuts when his salad arrived - told our lovely waiter to "F*** off", stormed out the restaurant, leaving his mortified wife behind. What was the heinous crime MSC had committed to provoke such a reaction? They had put his salad in a bowl which was on a dinner plate - he didn't want his salad in a bowl - just on the plate! Fortunately for the rest of us (& probably his wife too) he stayed away from dinner the remainder of the cruise (16 lovely Brian free nights!)

[cruise-addict]

OMG!! His poor wife! She is the real victim here. And the waiter of course. Sounds like Brian needs to quit mixing his meds!:D