MSC Splendida - Nice Ship, Terrible Food

[OneNewTexan]

We just returned from a 7-day cruise on the MSC Splendida out of Genoa. Beautiful ship, very clean, nice entertainment, nice stateroom. However, the food is horrible. Poor menu selection (e.g., only one salad choice), poor quality, poor preparation, poor ingredients (e.g., excessively fatty meats), and poor presentation. Of our ten cruises, this was by far the worst, far below all of the others that we highly enjoyed. This cruise line is overpriced for the food served to those onboard (except of course those in the Yacht Club that use a separate dining room and don't eat the main dining room chow). Excursions and drinks overpriced (e.g., $15 bucks for a Jack Daniels and Coke). Excursions not well tailored to those speaking English. Nickel and dimed at every turn on this ship. Americans should avoid this cruise line entirely until someone learns to cook --- even the pasta was undercooked and the meat sauce had a bad after taste. It is not a matter of European versus American taste. This is just plain bad food. Yuck. I can still taste the three times per day allotment of boiled potatoes soaked in olive oil and the kool aid style flavored sugar water being passed off as orange juice. This is the worst food I have had since a visit to a greasy spoon all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas many years ago. We spoke to one of the MSC employees and they stated that they receive constant complaints from Americans every week that the food is horrible. The advice was that Americans should avoid MSC as American dining quality standards are far different than the Italians who populate most of these MSC cruises in Europe.

[MarkNH]

Sorry to hear your food was so bad.

 

We just got off the Fantasia and experienced the complete opposite, however we were in the Yacht Club so we didn't have to deal with the main dining rooms.

 

I wouldn't cruise with MSC again in a regular cabin but will go back to the Yacht Club as soon as possible.

 

Some Yacht Club food comments:

 

Room service breakfast: B+, limited selection but always delivered promptly by your butler, a great way to start the morning off with tea/coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, and pastries.

 

Yacht Club lounge breakfast: A-, great service, good selection of cold foods - smoked fish, deli meat, fruit, pastries, cereal etc.

 

L'Etoile (Yacht Club restaurant) breakfast: C, Excellent service but poor food selection - basically the same as the buffet breakfast one floor down.

 

Buffet Lunch: B-, as mentioned above there is a lot of fatty meat and "hot" food that is cold, pasta wasn't undercooked just nicely al dente.

 

L'Etoile Lunch: A, Excellent service, a full menu with appetizer, soup, pasta, entree, dessert courses, food was tasty, the correct temperature, and well presented.

 

Yacht Club Lounge Afternoon Tea: A, only offered for 45 minutes but worth making time for, your choice of 6 or 7 different leaf teas served the old fashioned English way with a tray of sandwiches.

 

L'Etoile Dinner: A+, Excellent service, waiters/sommelier remembered our preferences, didn't feel rushed but service was prompt, excellent choices every night, only problem was eating too much.

 

Here's some of the dishes we enjoyed:

 

Appetizers - foie gras, calamari, babbit terrine, pigeon breast, salt cod puree, parma ham, smoked fish

Soups - shellfish bisque, red pepper and fennel puree, cream of asparagus, cream of tomato, bean soup

Pasta (with various "homemade" pastas) - Rabbit ragu, red wine risotto with radicchio and mascarpone cheese, venison ragu, fish ragu

Entree - Trout crusted with pesto, beef slives, grilled cockeral, scorpion fish, rack of lamb, lobster, prime rib

[faringdonfilly]

Oh dear, my friend and I have just booked two single balcony cabins on this cruise in February 2012. It will be a first cruise for both of us and we are really excited about it, so very disappointed to hear about the food and high costs. Perhaps we should have booked elsewhere. Do you know if MSC are likely to act on the complaints they have received?:confused:

[pmacher61]

Sorry to hear your food was so bad.

We just got off the Fantasia and experienced the complete opposite, however we were in the Yacht Club so we didn't have to deal with the main dining rooms.

I wouldn't cruise with MSC again in a regular cabin but will go back to the Yacht Club as soon as possible.

Yacht Club is to the rest of the MSC ship experience as flying is to walking. And you pay for it. Yacht Club pricing is similar to pricing on Seabourn, Chrystal and Silversea approaching $1000/day per cabin.

p.s. I can anticipate that MSC fan(atics) will soon attack the OP for being unable to appreciate that the gruel served on MSC is actually Italian food at its best. Oh those poor unsophisticated Americans!

[Capricruiser]

Oh dear, my friend and I have just booked two single balcony cabins on this cruise in February 2012. It will be a first cruise for both of us and we are really excited about it, so very disappointed to hear about the food and high costs. Perhaps we should have booked elsewhere. Do you know if MSC are likely to act on the complaints they have received?:confused:

I wouldn't worry about the food. Obviously it didn't meet the expectations of the OP but when deciding on an MSC cruise one should understand that it's an Italian cruise line and its restaurants serve Italian food in the Italian manner. Personally I don't find the costs on board any higher than what I pay where we live. MSC caters predominently to continental Europeans who don't have the same hang ups as our cousins across the Atlantic. Oh, and I don't pay for Yacht Club when I book an MSC cruise.

[MarkNH]

Yacht Club is to the rest of the MSC ship experience as flying is to walking. And you pay for it. Yacht Club pricing is similar to pricing on Seabourn, Chrystal and Silversea approaching $1000/day per cabin.

p.s. I can anticipate that MSC fan(atics) will soon attack the OP for not being unable to appreciate that the gruel served on MSC is actually Italian food at its best. Oh those poor unsophisticated Americans!

 

So I'm a MSC Fanatic just because I had an enjoyable cruise and wanted to point out that the food in the Yacht Club is much better than in the regular restaurants?

 

Of course you pay more for the Yacht Club than a regular room, and you get your money's worth. I wouldn't say the prices are comparable to Seabourn etc though - we paid a base price of $2869 each (deck 16 YC1 suite, plus taxes minus $325 cruise credit) compared to $1649 each for a regular balcony stateroom on deck 11.

 

A 7 night cruise on Seabourn Legend with a similar (but in my mind inferior as you don't get Tunisia or Malta) itinerary is $4,099 a person for a veranda/balcony suite. Silversea is still more expensive, their 7 night from Rome to Barcelona (also just Italy/France, no Tunisia or Malta) on Silver Spirit is $4918 a person for a veranda/balcony suite.

[pmacher61]

p.s. I can anticipate that MSC fan(atics) will soon attack the OP for being unable to appreciate that the gruel served on MSC is actually Italian food at its best. Oh those poor unsophisticated Americans!

 

I wouldn't worry about the food. Obviously it didn't meet the expectations of the OP but when deciding on an MSC cruise one should understand that it's an Italian cruise line and its restaurants serve Italian food in the Italian manner. Personally I don't find the costs on board any higher than what I pay where we live. MSC caters predominently to continental Europeans who don't have the same hang ups as our cousins across the Atlantic. Oh, and I don't pay for Yacht Club when I book an MSC cruise.

 

It took all of 4 minutes for my prediction to occur. It's almost as if MSC is paying people to justify the horrible food by constantly denigrating Americans and, in particular, American taste buds.

I am American born. I have lived in So America for 10 years and traveled extensively in Europe and elsewhere. I have published a few restaurant reviews for minor journals. I don't have "hang ups" about food or cruising in general. I would find it insulting to be accused of having them if it were a credible accusation, but the fact of the matter is that such cheap shots are patently ridiculous so I can't take it seriously. More offended might be the Italians who share the consensus opinion that what is billed as real Italian food on MSC is actually a horribly poor version of it.

[PBC29]

I find it interesting how atleast from reading the boards that its almost always an american complaining about the food. However very few european people ever seem to complain or compliment the food onboard with as much detail as the americans do complaining about it.

 

To the hot food not be "hot" comments all over this site, try cooking for two thousand people or more and feed them all within three hours. Someone is bound to not get hot food at some point at every meal. This includes the MDR food just look at the travel channel when they do the cruise review shows in the kitchen food is plated and sitting on long tables waiting to be picked up by the staff and brought out to the hundreds of passengers.

 

I suggest if you want the item from the buffet really hot you sit at a table near the items station until a new tray comes out or be first in line when the doors open.

[pmacher61]

So I'm a MSC Fanatic just because I had an enjoyable cruise and wanted to point out that the food in the Yacht Club is much better than in the regular restaurants?

 

Of course you pay more for the Yacht Club than a regular room, and you get your money's worth. I wouldn't say the prices are comparable to Seabourn etc though - we paid a base price of $2869 each (deck 16 YC1 suite, plus taxes minus $325 cruise credit) compared to $1649 each for a regular balcony stateroom on deck 11.

 

A 7 night cruise on Seabourn Legend with a similar (but in my mind inferior as you don't get Tunisia or Malta) itinerary is $4,099 a person for a veranda/balcony suite. Silversea is still more expensive, their 7 night from Rome to Barcelona (also just Italy/France, no Tunisia or Malta) on Silver Spirit is $4918 a person for a veranda/balcony suite.

 

I'm afraid you misunderstood my original post. I was not accusing you of being an MSC fanatic and I find it hard to believe you could interpret my words of doing so. I was simply predicting that an MSC fanatic would attack the OP's criticism of the food. That happened about 5 minutes after I predicted it would.

As for comparative pricing between YC and the luxury lines, it is not terribly probative to cite the pricing on one YC cruise compared to the pricing of a luxury line cruise with a different itinerary, different time. It's a little like apples/oranges. Generally speaking and all things considered, e.g., size of cabin, level and quality of free bennies, etc the YC and the luxury line pricing is similar. To the extent there is a difference I would say it is not significant.

[pmacher61]

I find it interesting how atleast from reading the boards that its almost always an american complaining about the food. However very few european people ever seem to complain or compliment the food onboard with as much detail as the americans do complaining about it.

 

To the hot food not be "hot" comments all over this site, try cooking for two thousand people or more and feed them all within three hours. Someone is bound to not get hot food at some point at every meal. This includes the MDR food just look at the travel channel when they do the cruise review shows in the kitchen food is plated and sitting on long tables waiting to be picked up by the staff and brought out to the hundreds of passengers.

I suggest if you want the item from the buffet really hot you sit at a table near the items station until a new tray comes out or be first in line when the doors open.

You find it interesting that on these boards it is almost always an american (sic) complaining about the food and not many Europeans complaining or complimenting. Could that possibly be because many more Americans visit and contribute to this site? Have you done any kind of research to substantiate your observation? Please share it if you have.

 

I do agree that preparing 3 meals a day for 2000 people can be a challenge, but all mass market cruise lines face that same challenge. Did you know there is a UK (that is part of Europe, isn't it) version of CC? Here is a link to the UK version's page of the member reviews rating the "dining" on all ships, about 250 of them. The 11 MSC ships mentioned on this list of 250 come in at positions 207, 208, 210, 212, 219, 221, 222, 239, 241, 243 , 244. Not a very good showing by MSC on the European CC members rating of dining on various ships.

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberpoll_all.cfm?rating=Dining&sort=Highest

 

Being first in line or waiting at a well positioned table in the buffet just to get a properly hot item is a bit too much effort for me. I don't want to engage in such tactics just to get a decent meal. It sort of reminds me of placing a book on a pool chair to save it for when you return much later or saving a bunch of theater seats for friends who stopped at their cabin on the way to the theater.

[Deckhandoug]

We just returned from a 7-day cruise on the MSC Splendida out of Genoa. Beautiful ship, very clean, nice entertainment, nice stateroom. However, the food is horrible. Poor menu selection (e.g., only one salad choice), poor quality, poor preparation, poor ingredients (e.g., excessively fatty meats), and poor presentation. Of our ten cruises, this was by far the worst, far below all of the others that we highly enjoyed. This cruise line is overpriced for the food served to those onboard (except of course those in the Yacht Club that use a separate dining room and don't eat the main dining room chow). Excursions and drinks overpriced (e.g., $15 bucks for a Jack Daniels and Coke). Excursions not well tailored to those speaking English. Nickel and dimed at every turn on this ship. Americans should avoid this cruise line entirely until someone learns to cook --- even the pasta was undercooked and the meat sauce had a bad after taste. It is not a matter of European versus American taste. This is just plain bad food. Yuck. I can still taste the three times per day allotment of boiled potatoes soaked in olive oil and the kool aid style flavored sugar water being passed off as orange juice. This is the worst food I have had since a visit to a greasy spoon all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas many years ago. We spoke to one of the MSC employees and they stated that they receive constant complaints from Americans every week that the food is horrible. The advice was that Americans should avoid MSC as American dining quality standards are far different than the Italians who populate most of these MSC cruises in Europe.

 

Our experiences were similar, I feel your pain.

[Deckhandoug]

Oh dear, my friend and I have just booked two single balcony cabins on this cruise in February 2012. It will be a first cruise for both of us and we are really excited about it, so very disappointed to hear about the food and high costs. Perhaps we should have booked elsewhere. Do you know if MSC are likely to act on the complaints they have received?:confused:

 

Apparently they won't, food has been a major complaint for years.

[OneNewTexan]

Oh dear, my friend and I have just booked two single balcony cabins on this cruise in February 2012. It will be a first cruise for both of us and we are really excited about it, so very disappointed to hear about the food and high costs. Perhaps we should have booked elsewhere. Do you know if MSC are likely to act on the complaints they have received?:confused:

 

My advice is to cancel your MSC cruise and find a different cruise line. You will likely be disappointed with an MSC cruise.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

You find it interesting that on these boards it is almost always an american (sic) complaining about the food and not many Europeans complaining or complimenting. Could that possibly be because many more Americans visit and contribute to this site? Have you done any kind of research to substantiate your observation? Please share it if you have.

 

I do agree that preparing 3 meals a day for 2000 people can be a challenge, but all mass market cruise lines face that same challenge. Did you know there is a UK (that is part of Europe, isn't it) version of CC? Here is a link to the UK version's page of the member reviews rating the "dining" on all ships, about 250 of them. The 11 MSC ships mentioned on this list of 250 come in at positions 207, 208, 210, 212, 219, 221, 222, 239, 241, 243 , 244. Not a very good showing by MSC on the European CC members rating of dining on various ships.

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberpoll_all.cfm?rating=Dining&sort=Highest

 

Being first in line or waiting at a well positioned table in the buffet just to get a properly hot item is a bit too much effort for me. I don't want to engage in such tactics just to get a decent meal. It sort of reminds me of placing a book on a pool chair to save it for when you return much later or saving a bunch of theater seats for friends who stopped at their cabin on the way to the theater.

 

Very interesting to see the rating of dining on various ships and in the so called bottom of this list is MSC, Costa, TUI with Mein Schiff and various rivercruiselines and not at least the highly ranked Norwegian line "Hurtigruten". Their food is known to be one of the best of all cruiselines. Sorry, this list comes from the CC cruisers in UK.....not a country known for good food among other countries in Europe. Maybe the UK cruisers don't like the Norwegian food that is served onboard Hurtigruten Cruise Line? ;) Come on....

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

My advice is to cancel your MSC cruise and find a different cruise line. You will likely be disappointed with an MSC cruise.

 

And my advice is go:) MSC Splendida is one of the most beautiful cruiseliners in the world and as we say in Norway, the taste is like the buttocks, very variable:):):D You should also try the tex-mex onboard, serving large juicy steaks, flat fee EUR15, eat as much as you can:)

 

Happy cruising.

[woodofpine]

The complaint is too persistent to dismiss. And my experience was that 'but for' the food, the line offers up a very good cruise product. Food is a big part of the cruise tradition so... Claiming its 'Italian' cuisine served the 'Italian' way is a diss on the purveyors of genuine high quality Italian food.

 

If you're booked on MSC, don't worry too much - unless food is a central part of your particular cruise experience - if you're open minded you'll have a good cruise. You may get lucky and hit a ship that's galley is running like a 'tight ship' and firing on all cylinders. But you'll more likely not; just anticipate food prep that ranges all over the place in quality and presentation.

[tiyana4]

This is disappointing to hear as we were considering them for a 2013 return to Europe cruise. MSC has some awesome itineraries and are one of the very few lines that have already released their 2013 schedules.

 

Does MSC have alternative dining venues outside the Yacht Club?

[pmacher61]

Very interesting to see the rating of dining on various ships and in the so called bottom of this list is MSC, Costa, TUI with Mein Schiff and various rivercruiselines and not at least the highly ranked Norwegian line "Hurtigruten". Their food is known to be one of the best of all cruiselines. Sorry, this list comes from the CC cruisers in UK.....not a country known for good food among other countries in Europe. Maybe the UK cruisers don't like the Norwegian food that is served onboard Hurtigruten Cruise Line? ;) Come on....

The "so called" bottom of the list? What is so called about this bottom place rating? All 11 MSC ships fell into the bottom 20 % of the list of 250! Half the MSC ships finished in the bottom 10%. There is nothing "so called" about that placement. It is an actual fact. Now if you want to argue that the UK cruisers are ignorant boobs who don't know pasta from pizza, well, that's your prerogative, but it seems a bit of a stretch just to avoid facing hard cold facts.

p.s.What is the relevance of your mention of the Hurtigruten? It is not on the list.

[OneNewTexan]

And my advice is go:) MSC Splendida is one of the most beautiful cruiseliners in the world and as we say in Norway, the taste is like the buttocks, very variable:):):D You should also try the tex-mex onboard, serving large juicy steaks, flat fee EUR15, eat as much as you can:)

 

Happy cruising.

 

The Tex-Mex is not "all you can eat." For your 15 Euros, you get to select one appetizer, one main entry, and one dessert. They also provide a small basket of tortilla chips and a tiny container of salsa and sour cream. That's it, nothing more. On top of that, the Tex-Mex is not authentic. They call taquitos tacos, they make wierd quesadillas that really look more line Empanadas with melted cheese only inside, and the portions are small. When we ate there last week, even the tortilla chips were old and stale. Near bottom quality Tex-Mex food. My taco appetizer (really taquitos) was served with a two inch chicken bone inside. How someone could place a two inch chicken bone inside a tiny taquito is beyond me. My wife and I agreed that the quality of the Tex-Mex food is rock bottom and overpriced at 15 Euros. As the salsa provided is very hot, you will also be purchasing a lot of bottled water to cool it down as you eat.

[OneNewTexan]

This is disappointing to hear as we were considering them for a 2013 return to Europe cruise. MSC has some awesome itineraries and are one of the very few lines that have already released their 2013 schedules.

 

Does MSC have alternative dining venues outside the Yacht Club?

 

The only alternative dining is the Tex-Mex restaurant at 15 Euros per person. The former Mediterranean style upscale speciality restaurant has been converted to a Yacht Club only dining room for all their meals. Seems that the folks paying big bucks for the suites, etc., couldn't stand the lousy food in the main dining room any longer. So if you take an MSC cruise on the Splendida, you will be stuck with lousy food the entire cruise. Yacht Club is overpriced for what you get. You would get better value for your money by selecting a different cruise line with higher ratings.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

The "so called" bottom of the list? What is so called about this bottom place rating? All 11 MSC ships fell into the bottom 20 % of the list of 250! Half the MSC ships finished in the bottom 10%. There is nothing "so called" about that placement. It is an actual fact. Now if you want to argue that the UK cruisers are ignorant boobs who don't know pasta from pizza, well, that's your prerogative, but it seems a bit of a stretch just to avoid facing hard cold facts.

p.s.What is the relevance of your mention of the Hurtigruten? It is not on the list.

 

If you take a closer look at the list mentioned here you will find several ships from Hurtigruten, one of them rated below several MSC Ships, so obviously you haven't studied this ranking that close. I can never take a ranking like this serious, sorry man. And regarding the Yacht Club, from what I can see you haven't cruised in Yacht Club so how can you say it's overpriced?

 

I'm sorry that your cruise on Splendida was not up to your expected food standard but advising other future cruise passenger not to go is not very fair.

[OneNewTexan]

If you take a closer look at the list mentioned here you will find several ships from Hurtigruten, one of them rated below several MSC Ships, so obviously you haven't studied this ranking that close. I can never take a ranking like this serious, sorry man. And regarding the Yacht Club, from what I can see you haven't cruised in Yacht Club so how can you say it's overpriced?

 

I'm sorry that your cruise on Splendida was not up to your expected food standard but advising other future cruise passenger not to go is not very fair.

 

We ate twice in L'Olivio, the speciality restaurant reserved for Yacht Club Guests only, under a special arrangement with ship personnel. The charge was 35 Euros per person and this included several glasses of wine. Although very nice and the food was night and day difference from the main dining room, it does not compare to Celebrity's Murano or Normandie restaurants that outclass the MSC Yacht Club restaurant L'Olivio. Both Murano and Normandie offer better food, tableside preparation of select entries, and a better menu selection. I would point out that the service in L'Olivio was outstanding. I stand by my recommendation for Americans to select a cruise line other than MSC. From what I hear, Costa is rated just as bad for food quality. So prospective American cruisers should probably avoid MSC and Costa as they both have similar poor ratings for food. If you don't care about the quality of the food you eat on a cruise, then MSC may be just fine for those folks.

[Capricruiser]

If you take a closer look at the list mentioned here you will find several ships from Hurtigruten, one of them rated below several MSC Ships, so obviously you haven't studied this ranking that close. I can never take a ranking like this serious, sorry man. And regarding the Yacht Club, from what I can see you haven't cruised in Yacht Club so how can you say it's overpriced?

 

I'm sorry that your cruise on Splendida was not up to your expected food standard but advising other future cruise passenger not to go is not very fair.

I don't think Pmacher has ever cruised on the Splendida. In his previous posts on the forum he has never indicated if and when he took a cruise on any MSC ship. The other two anti-MSC CC members who come on the forum with additional negative comments when anyone posts of an unsatisfactory MSC cruise both had each a seven night Caribbean cruise, one in 2009 and the other in early 2010. It would be worth hearing Pmacher's MSC cruise experience.

[Capricruiser]

We ate twice in L'Olivio, the speciality restaurant reserved for Yacht Club Guests only, under a special arrangement with ship personnel. The charge was 35 Euros per person and this included several glasses of wine. Although very nice and the food was night and day difference from the main dining room, it does not compare to Celebrity's Murano or Normandie restaurants that outclass the MSC Yacht Club restaurant L'Olivio. Both Murano and Normandie offer better food, tableside preparation of select entries, and a better menu selection. I would point out that the service in L'Olivio was outstanding. I stand by my recommendation for Americans to select a cruise line other than MSC. From what I hear, Costa is rated just as bad for food quality. So prospective American cruisers should probably avoid MSC and Costa as they both have similar poor ratings for food. If you don't care about the quality of the food you eat on a cruise, then MSC may be just fine for those folks.

My only cruise on the Splendida was almost two years ago and I remember the food in the MDR was mostly quite good but with a few exceptions. I also dined once in L'Olivo and didn't distinguish a great difference between it and the MDR regarding food quality. As regards Costa, and you can see I have a reasonable cruise experience on both MSC and Costa, I have always found Costa's food quality better than MSC. I like MSC's ships better but I rate Costa above MSC on most everything else. By the way, if you considered the pasta to be under cooked, you probably don't know much about Italian food. In Italy pasta has to be served al dente, meaning you should taste a little crunch when you bite into it.

[The_Big_M]

If you don't care about the quality of the food you eat on a cruise, then MSC may be just fine for those folks.

 

I find it ironic that one poster is complaining about Italians being offended at the suggestion that the food is edible, while the next then insults anyone who is fine with the food.

 

Far from being objective, it just appears that certain posters have a grudge or other malicious intent.