Dinner buffet, makes no sense why it is subpar

having now seen photos of the marketplace being used for Bella dinner guests (and very not impressed compared to the beautiful MDR pics), it’s a relatively small section. Why did they shut down the entirety of the deck 8 buffet for this and force those wanting buffet dinner to deck 16 which is smaller and lacks variety that all competition offers. It seems like the deck 16 buffet could easily accommodate the Bella guests as a de facto MDR and the deck 8 marketplace be used for those wanting casual buffet dinner and ample choices.

This makes no sense to me; MSC says there is 20 hours of buffet, it appears this is only the limited one on deck 16 and deck 8 is only a handful of hours. Poor choice for trying to court North American customers. Why would they not make a common sense change ?

I’m hopeful they will make the change eventually. This set up takes them entirely out of consideration for to many cruisers. There was just a post by someone suggesting MSc is monitoring the forum. Crossing fingers.

My concern is that for the first time ever, it appears MSc built a Ship that can not accommodate every passenger in the mdr (too small). I think Bella will need a place to dine. I can’t tell if deck 16 will accommodate all bella or not. Maybe convert a speciality restaurant? Of course, that defies logic given the need for revenue generating venues.

One solution is for future bella cruisers (not those already booked and paid for) be assigned only buffet dining for dinner. Then they could make marketplace a proper buffet and it goes along with what I believe will be a future trend in cruising. Perhaps too radical in 2018, but it’s coming.

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New ship, maybe they will upgrade it if more people want to have dinner in the buffet. I'm sure when those of us sail her for the first time, have the opportunity to fill out the comment cards-many will mention that on the card.

Someone posted they are reading this board so lets see if they step it up to accommodate everyone that likes to dine at the buffet for dinner. Heck, years ago-the dinner buffet at Royal was so empty-it looked like it was closed. We enjoyed it as it was so quiet and many of the same items in the MDR were available. We always wondered why many more did not use this option for dinner. True MTD in our opinion, as Royal would call it!! I guess times are changing.

One MDR on 5, another on 6. Perhaps it's a logistical issue with having the overflow go to 8 as opposed to 16?

Still seems like poor planning to not be able to accommodate all guests in a traditional MDR for dinner service. If you could then you'd have the ability to keep the buffet on 8 open for dinner and close the smaller one on 16.

Or perhaps if they kept the deck 8 buffet open you'd have enough guests use the buffet for dinner thereby having enough space in the two MDRs.

Or perhaps if they kept the deck 8 buffet open you'd have enough guests use the buffet for dinner thereby having enough space in the two MDRs.

Good point! The current buffet option for deck 16 is subpar.

I'd bet my behind this is all in the name of pushing people to cave in and go to specialty dining.

Good point! The current buffet option for deck 16 is subpar.

I'm curious. What made you thing the buffet experience was subpar? I've seen various videos. Some videos made it look bland-others made it look OK. I always like to know I have that buffet option. I do not do formal so like to know I can grab a bite to eat if need be and feel comfortable. Also-we always like to see what night time desserts we can abscond with to take back to the room!!;p

Buffet on 16 will never work as an MDR. 1) even with table cloths etc.. it will be like puting lipstick on the pig.

2) Its is used to feed kids from the kids club which are one floor above on 18 ( they dont have deck 17 )

3) Seaside was poorly planned food venue wise for an American market

My suggestion make a diner out of garage club that already looks the part and turn Bistro that few use into a dedicated Pizzeria. That would help with food issues

I'm curious. What made you thing the buffet experience was subpar? I've seen various videos. Some videos made it look bland-others made it look OK. I always like to know I have that buffet option. I do not do formal so like to know I can grab a bite to eat if need be and feel comfortable. Also-we always like to see what night time desserts we can abscond with to take back to the room!!;p

Subpar means not up to the “average” offered by competition meaning nightly selections. It is clear this is a smaller venue with less options than guests may expect to see.

“My suggestion make a diner out of garage club that already looks the part and turn Bistro that few use into a dedicated Pizzeria. That would help with food issues“

I had a simular suggestion. Msc needs to go back to having an alternative complimentary venue. Like NCL has OShehans pub...that would really cut down on the discouragement over the small buffet. The way they have it right now it kind of backs people into a corner if they dont have the budget to use pay dining when the MDR doesnt fit their needs or they cant make their assigned dining time on a particular night.

I'm curious. What made you thing the buffet experience was subpar? I've seen various videos. Some videos made it look bland-others made it look OK. I always like to know I have that buffet option. I do not do formal so like to know I can grab a bite to eat if need be and feel comfortable. Also-we always like to see what night time desserts we can abscond with to take back to the room!!;p

You Do Not, repeat, you do not have to dress formal anymore on almost all of the cruise lines to eat in the MDR on Gala nights/formal nites.

It makes perfect sense as the concept of “buffet” is relatively, if not completely, unknown in Europe.

Dining in Europe is very different from the American concept.

Kudos to MSC for minimizing the cafeteria style of face-stuffing expected by Americans and focusing on traditional European dining service.

It makes perfect sense as the concept of “buffet” is relatively, if not completely, unknown in Europe.

 

Dining in Europe is very different from the American concept.

 

Kudos to MSC for minimizing the cafeteria style of face-stuffing expected by Americans and focusing on traditional European dining service.

If that is true, then why didn't they design a ship that will hold all their passengers in the MDR?

It makes perfect sense as the concept of “buffet” is relatively, if not completely, unknown in Europe. Dining in Europe is very different from the American concept. Kudos to MSC for minimizing the cafeteria style of face-stuffing expected by Americans and focusing on traditional European dining service.

No pun intended. However, when you see them at the buffet, regardless Europeans or Americans, they sure know how to pile their plates as if they cannot go back for seconds. LOL They sure learn quick.

It makes perfect sense as the concept of “buffet” is relatively, if not completely, unknown in Europe.

 

Dining in Europe is very different from the American concept.

 

Kudos to MSC for minimizing the cafeteria style of face-stuffing expected by Americans and focusing on traditional European dining service.

What about AIDA, a cruise line that serves Europe exclusively; their new ships don't have a dining room, but does have multiple buffets.

Either way, MSC's offering is subpar relative to competition. You applaud a cruiseline doing less and being sneaky about it?

having now seen photos of the marketplace being used for Bella dinner guests (and very not impressed compared to the beautiful MDR pics), it’s a relatively small section. Why did they shut down the entirety of the deck 8 buffet for this and force those wanting buffet dinner to deck 16 which is smaller and lacks variety that all competition offers. It seems like the deck 16 buffet could easily accommodate the Bella guests as a de facto MDR and the deck 8 marketplace be used for those wanting casual buffet dinner and ample choices.

 

This makes no sense to me; MSC says there is 20 hours of buffet, it appears this is only the limited one on deck 16 and deck 8 is only a handful of hours. Poor choice for trying to court North American customers. Why would they not make a common sense change ?

We certainly had issues with the dinner options on Seaside. The dinner buffet is weak and not very appealing. We went a couple times because we had the early dining time (5:30pm.) We couldn't do the later time because our kids would die waiting for the late dinner and we would have had to take them to the buffet any ways.

The dinner options were certainly geared towards kids. One night though they had a very good carving station serving beef ribs and one night they had turkey. They also had minute steaks on the same night as turkey, if I remember correctly, which was actually cooked perfectly to medium rare which I was shocked about and my kid really liked that steak. But outside of those few options it was pizza, burgers, hot dogs, fries, salad and chicken fingers.

The biggest issue I had with the dinner buffet and late night food options in general was the lack of availability past around 9:30pm. They put everything away by 10pm except for the pizza. This meant that getting a piece of fruit or some cheese to snack on or a dessert was impossible late a night. I made a point of going to the buffet at around 9:15 to make a cheese plate and get some dessert so that my kids could have a bed time snack.

As such, the claim that MSC has 20 hours of buffet service is completely bogus. They have buffet service from 6am, or whatever time breakfast starts, to 9:30pm at best.

I have posted this before and I will post it again for those who refuse to accept the way things are and for those who have a lot to say about Seaside but have never set foot on it.

Seaside is smaller in length than the Fantasia class by 30 feet, it is also around 50 feet shorter in the upper structure due to the aft pool, all the interior public spaces are therefore smaller including the main two dining rooms which is likely the reason MSC chose to have a dual purpose eatery coupled with the increase in passenger numbers.

They are unlikely to use Market place as a Dining room and a buffet due to reduced staff numbers which is also something MSC designed into its single use, the other option would be to close the Deck 18 buffet and have dual use in Market place.

MSC are clearly looking at food wastage in the number of items available and we have certainly seen a fair amount on our Xmas cruise, the usual people whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs.

Getting rid of the Garage disco might be a reasonable idea but once again it comes back to the issue of staffing, there are only a certain number of crew cabins on the ship and therefore no room to increase numbers without reducing passenger numbers.

for the late snackers....isn't that what Room Service is for??

As long as you have an experience above Bella!

As long as you have an experience above Bella!

Good point!! I have to believe there is a small section of the upper buffet that has cookies, small sandwiches etc until around midnight or so. How about self soft serve ice cream?? Pizza?? I'm sure there are some additional options??

We certainly had issues with the dinner options on Seaside. The dinner buffet is weak and not very appealing. We went a couple times because we had the early dining time (5:30pm.) We couldn't do the later time because our kids would die waiting for the late dinner and we would have had to take them to the buffet any ways.

 

The dinner options were certainly geared towards kids. One night though they had a very good carving station serving beef ribs and one night they had turkey. They also had minute steaks on the same night as turkey, if I remember correctly, which was actually cooked perfectly to medium rare which I was shocked about and my kid really liked that steak. But outside of those few options it was pizza, burgers, hot dogs, fries, salad and chicken fingers.

 

The biggest issue I had with the dinner buffet and late night food options in general was the lack of availability past around 9:30pm. They put everything away by 10pm except for the pizza. This meant that getting a piece of fruit or some cheese to snack on or a dessert was impossible late a night. I made a point of going to the buffet at around 9:15 to make a cheese plate and get some dessert so that my kids could have a bed time snack.

 

As such, the claim that MSC has 20 hours of buffet service is completely bogus. They have buffet service from 6am, or whatever time breakfast starts, to 9:30pm at best.

We are just off the Seaside yesterday. With trepidation we accepted an invitation to have dinner in the buffet with friends one night of the cruise. There was nothing subpar about it in our experience. There were the expected hamburgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and cheese pizza. In addition we found salad options, Sweet and Sour pork, a really tasty white pizza, cookies straight from the oven - we saw the cook take them out and put them on the buffet! -, very nice steaks, mashed potatoes, rice, and at least half a dozen other options. Think it only really seemed limited compared to the magnificent lunch spread in the deck 8 buffet earlier.

Good point!! I have to believe there is a small section of the upper buffet that has cookies, small sandwiches etc until around midnight or so. How about self soft serve ice cream?? Pizza?? I'm sure there are some additional options??

There is nothing but pizza after 10pm and by 9:30 the limited selection of items is greatly reduced and not restocked. There is no fruit out or cookies or anything. I don't know if soft serve is still available after 10 but there is still gelato available at the bars.

There was some sort of wraps with chicken in them on the Xmas cruise and that was around 10pm.

for the late snackers....isn't that what Room Service is for??

As long as you can get to a person and they answer the phone. We never could get someone late night and we were Aurea.

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We were up there around 10:30 or 11 PM on one night. They had hamburgers, fries, and some cookies out. We were just looking for some of the chocolate cookies to have with gelato which we did find, but we got the last few left. The stations to the sides were shut completely down.

What surprised us was how they rolled up the buffet on 16 between breakfast and lunch. Other cruises I've been on consolidate what is there down in various ways so they can start laying out lunch. On Seaside as if on cue workers snatched up every single breakfast item sometimes from beneath the very tongs of people selecting food and then began wiping down the entire area. On the positive side the counters were spotlessly clean in a matter of half a minute. Sad for you if you were trying to grab breakfast, though. Luckily on the first occasion I already had most of my food. The second time we knew what was coming and my spouse and I each hit a different section collecting enough for both of us.

One other thing about the breakfast buffet. I think they ran out of the European waffle and pancake toppings on our cruise. The last day I could not locate the chocolate drizzle anywhere. They were still putting out the European jams, though. Mmmm mmmm were those good!

We also had no difficulty in calling room service after 11 PM the night we ordered. I had a really good club sandwich. It was so big I couldn't finish it.

Is it possible that on seaside, MSc puts out a tray of cookies and wraps and when they are gone they are gone? That’s the only way to explain how the last 4 posters in this thread all experienced something differently. If anything, This post further supports the lack of consistency with the MSc product.

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