Sorry but it’s aweful

[nikkiw60]

 
April is correct!
 
We’ve been on the Divina and the Seaside and found the food to be quite good.  We particularly liked the Cantina/Eataly Pizza aboard the Divina and missed having that on the Seaside.  
 
We prefer the MDRs and avoid the buffets not just on MSC but on all of the cruises that we take.
 
The MDR food was on par with NCL and much better than Carnival in our opinions. Pam feels the food on MSC was much better than NCL and I think NCL is a little better.  
 
We will be on the Meraviglia in December and are excited to experience that ship and all of its amenities.
 
 
 
 
 

Isn’t this from the specialty restaurant or Yacht Club not the MDR?


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[JAGR]

2 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

Isn’t this from the specialty restaurant or Yacht Club not the MDR?


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It looks like Eataly (specialty restaurant), for the most part.  It is not YC, since there are no table linens.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

On 7/3/2019 at 6:09 PM, sxphil said:

Midway through a 7 nighter on Fantasia 

 

The food even the fabled pizza is well below par imho 

 

tonight all the maitre d could do is shrug his shoulders when I challenged him on the quality 

 

yes  I know food is subjective but MSC first and last time for us

Wow... We found the Pizza on Armonia good and we've had the best in Naples, Italy before... also found the other food to be good, only thing I can say I really didn't like was the eggs.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

On 7/4/2019 at 10:04 AM, sxphil said:

I’ll give you an example

 

the lasagna that was served tonight was slopped onto the plate

 

it looked like canteen food

Interesting... The one on Armonia last week was well presented and tasted wonderful... especially will extra parmesan on top... (I do love cheese)

[little britain]

7 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

Isn’t this from the specialty restaurant or Yacht Club not the MDR?


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I can assure you none of the food in the MDR on Divina looked like that!!!

[Beamafar]

12 minutes ago, little britain said:

I can assure you none of the food in the MDR on Divina looked like that!!!

 

We've had the t-bone a couple of times in the MDR which looked exactly like what's been posted - but we paid extra for it!  However, I recognise the salt on the plate in the photo - looks very much like Eataly.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Beamafar

[BermudaBound2014]

I would agree that I didn’t have a single included dish that even remotely resembles the photos above; including the YC restaurant.

 

Nice deductive reasoning to those who have identified this as from the speciality restaurant. Aligning expectations is important.

[little britain]

10 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

We've had the t-bone a couple of times in the MDR which looked exactly like what's been posted - but we paid extra for it!  However, I recognise the salt on the plate in the photo - looks very much like Eataly.

The word Eataly on the plate gave it away for me! 

Love

Miss Marple x

[Beamafar]

God bless your eyesight, L ... I didn't even see that!  (In fairness, there are only 2 letters showing - I was only looking at the steak plate).

[April42749]

6 hours ago, little britain said:

The word Eataly on the plate gave it away for me! 

Love

Miss Marple x

We promote you to the official forum detective!

[ColdCruise]

On 7/3/2019 at 6:09 PM, sxphil said:

Midway through a 7 nighter on Fantasia 

 

The food even the fabled pizza is well below par imho 

On 7/3/2019 at 7:56 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

We did LOVE the pizza on MSC and thought it was the best at sea.  That coupled with the budget prices we paid lessened the blow. 

 

Hopefully things will improve! 

 

We were sadly disappointed with the pizza on Sinfonia - very dry, little sauce or topping. However we were usually looking at the pizza bar during non-dining hours and others were chowing down on it, so maybe us?

 

 

Nah ... we’ve eaten a lot of different pizzas in a lot of countries and these were on par with bad cafeteria or convenience store food. We had better pizza out of a “Gang of Pizza” pizza vending machine in France last month we tried on a lark.

 

But, as @BermudaBound said, the price was a balancer and we weren’t expecting Michelin quality on an inexpensive mass market cruise. OTOH, it is an Italian line, so I expected at least decent pizza. 

 

Plated pizza from Sinfonia

 

 

 

Pizza vending machine in car wash parking lot and resulting output displayed in its box 😁

 

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by ColdCruise
Photos

[sxphil]

9 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

 

 

But, as @BermudaBound said, the price was a balancer and we weren’t expecting Michelin quality on an inexpensive mass market cruise. OTOH, it is an Italian line, so I expected at least decent pizza. 

 

 

Yes but all they played on the large video screen on the pool deck was the Michelin starred chef that designed the food!!!!!

Rubbing salt in the preferable 

[cosine4]

We just got off the Seaside, and I was very disappointed in the food. The prime rib night was the only night I left dinner not disappointed and hungry. Even the desserts were lacking. One day at lunch they offered a bunch of cakes/desserts that were really good, unfortunately every other day was cream puff and jello. Add on the lack of ice cream in the evenings, which in all reality was only open a couple hours a day (or not at all on port days) and they wouldn't even fill the cones. In my opinion the food wasn't even in the same ballpark as the people they are competing against (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc). We will not sail again on MSC. 

[DCGuy64]

38 minutes ago, cosine4 said:

We just got off the Seaside, and I was very disappointed in the food. The prime rib night was the only night I left dinner not disappointed and hungry. Even the desserts were lacking. One day at lunch they offered a bunch of cakes/desserts that were really good, unfortunately every other day was cream puff and jello. Add on the lack of ice cream in the evenings, which in all reality was only open a couple hours a day (or not at all on port days) and they wouldn't even fill the cones. In my opinion the food wasn't even in the same ballpark as the people they are competing against (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc). We will not sail again on MSC. 

I'm sad to hear this.  We sailed the Seaside last October and honestly LOVED the food.  Not just liked, but loved, especially the pasta and pizza. I'm baffled that anyone could go hungry on a cruise ship, but I guess the food wasn't to your liking. Food is always subjective, as we know. Our experience on MSC was that the food was absolutely on par with the other lines you mentioned. In any case, I hope the food is better on your next cruise. I have a colleague who swears by Celebrity, maybe give that a shot?

[AMBGlobetrotter]

Just got off the Seaside as well. Thought the food was good but nothing outstanding. We usually rave to our friends back home about how good it's been on Norwegian & Royal, but nothing to shout about here. I like to try new food on a cruise and have what I don't make at home, but on the Seaside I mainly stuck to the steak as nothing else massively appealed. The dessert offering at the buffets was hit or miss, sometimes grand cakes, other times mostly cookies. Happy to go with MSC again but food is one of several areas that could be improved.

[gtaylor]

We have had MSC pizza on the Divina, the Seaside and the Preziosa.

 

We found the pizza in the buffet good, but we sat nearby and waited for our pizza of choice to come out and be presented.

 

What we LOVED on every occasion was the YC room service pizza, several times it was #5 on the list, but a couple times had to be special ordered with Spec and other things, but in EVERY case it was delicious, and good enough to have a couple bites of the leftovers the next morning -- that makes a great pizza in my mind.

 

gary

[Selion]

Food is like politics.  You never know what the other person likes.

[ColdCruise]

On 7/15/2019 at 5:25 AM, sxphil said:

Yes but all they played on the large video screen on the pool deck was the Michelin starred chef that designed the food!!!!!

Rubbing salt in the preferable 

 

Thats true - I’d forgotten the real appetizing video with the chef in the lounge. (Winter Med - not a lot happening at the only pool - outside 😗) However the couple “signature” recipes we had created by said chef were pretty good, esp a chocolate dessert.

 

overall though the food was good, very good, or okay, depending on day, venue and item. We did not go hungry and even ate the lackluster charcoal pizza one night cuz we came back on board late in the evening and it was the only thing going. Might not have been very good, but we didn’t go to bed hungry 😋 

[mom2tcdx2]

I have to say I have been on 28 cruises and I have never been blown away by the food on any ship.  Some things I have really liked, others not so much.  I have sailed with MSC three times and have never been hungry, even if the food wasn't always to my liking.  

 

Unless you have some actual specific complaint about something other than your own tastes, what do you really expect anyone to do about it?  Over/under cooked I get, perhaps too cold is a valid point.  Not something you necessarily enjoyed or liked isn't really a valid complaint.  

 

We have another cruise with MSC in September will be interesting to see how their food is on a European cruise in comparison to the Caribbean trips we have taken.  

[lizinvan]

On 7/18/2019 at 9:12 AM, mom2tcdx2 said:

I have to say I have been on 28 cruises and I have never been blown away by the food on any ship.  Some things I have really liked, others not so much.  I have sailed with MSC three times and have never been hungry, even if the food wasn't always to my liking.  

 

Unless you have some actual specific complaint about something other than your own tastes, what do you really expect anyone to do about it?  Over/under cooked I get, perhaps too cold is a valid point.  Not something you necessarily enjoyed or liked isn't really a valid complaint.  

 

We have another cruise with MSC in September will be interesting to see how their food is on a European cruise in comparison to the Caribbean trips we have taken.  

Will be interested to hear your comparisons. We are the reverse. First time in Europe this past spring and first time with MSC Caribe will be November. Have heard it should be better but will have to wait to compare.

[ready2cruzagain]

On 7/16/2019 at 11:31 AM, cosine4 said:

We just got off the Seaside, and I was very disappointed in the food. The prime rib night was the only night I left dinner not disappointed and hungry. Even the desserts were lacking. One day at lunch they offered a bunch of cakes/desserts that were really good, unfortunately every other day was cream puff and jello. Add on the lack of ice cream in the evenings, which in all reality was only open a couple hours a day (or not at all on port days) and they wouldn't even fill the cones. In my opinion the food wasn't even in the same ballpark as the people they are competing against (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc). We will not sail again on MSC. 

Wow, I have been on over 40 cruises and not once have I been hungry after dinner.  Hopefully you are just a picky eater since we will be on the Seaside for a month come this November. 

 

I will definitely post my thoughts on the food and the cruise. We were on the Divina for a month this past November and loved the food and cruise, I just can't imagine it being so different.

[citizenfrank]

36 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Wow, I have been on over 40 cruises and not once have I been hungry after dinner.  Hopefully you are just a picky eater since we will be on the Seaside for a month come this November. 

 

I will definitely post my thoughts on the food and the cruise. We were on the Divina for a month this past November and loved the food and cruise, I just can't imagine it being so different.

It wont be so enjoy and AMEN to that! 

[sailco]

On 7/17/2019 at 1:31 AM, cosine4 said:

We just got off the Seaside, and I was very disappointed in the food. The prime rib night was the only night I left dinner not disappointed and hungry. Even the desserts were lacking. One day at lunch they offered a bunch of cakes/desserts that were really good, unfortunately every other day was cream puff and jello. Add on the lack of ice cream in the evenings, which in all reality was only open a couple hours a day (or not at all on port days) and they wouldn't even fill the cones. In my opinion the food wasn't even in the same ballpark as the people they are competing against (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc). We will not sail again on MSC. 

I think you may have problems with something else, and you're taking it out on the food. Sorry your cruise was so disappointing.

[RumRunning]

We just got off the Armonia. The food was inedible. I lower my standards for mass-produced food, but this was still off the charts terrible. One night we left the dining room in the middle of the meal. As an example, the "pecan crusted" fish had absolutely no pecan crust. It was garden variety Sysco bread crumbs placed in a baking pan. (the chicken parm was the same). The homemade lobster ravioli had clearly been sitting out for a long time after it was cooked. It was completely dried all around the edges and they simply slopped the sauce on top of it.

 

I've had hit or miss dining room nights on all of my cruises--I get it. But this was such a sub-par experience overall. We eventually paid extra for the surf and turf restaurant so we could get a decent sit-down meal. (As an aside, MSC charges extra if you want another appetizer ($7) or another entree ($15) at the specialty restaurant. Neither Celebrity nor Holland America did that).

 

As for the buffet, we were able to cobble some things together to make it a decent meal. But the salad bar options were sorely lacking. A bowl of greens and then like 4 or 5 veggie mixers. But no chicken salad, tuna salad etc. I guess I'm spoiled by my experiences on other cruise lines.

 

For this reason, we will never sail MSC again. And no, I'm not taking any other problems out on the food. It was objectively bad.

[Motegi]

OK so here are some more photos of food for those who were upset that my last set included photos from Eataly on the Divina.  

 

The following set is from our cruise on the MSC Seaside.  I believe that these are all from the main dining room.