MSC Seaside Any tips?

[publicpersona]

My pet peeve is people who get on an elevator that is going in the opposite direction of where they are going. As they board, they say (as if no one has ever thought to say it before), "Well, it has to go down(up) sometime" ha ha ha.

 

What these people have managed to do is to double the load on the elevator during an already crowded time, making everyone wait twice as long.

[ZoeyVictoria]

8 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

How can an Italian owned company mess up an Italian menu?  I was looking forward to some amazing Italian dishes and was so disappointed they didn't have an Italian specialty restaurant.

I ordered the entree caprese salad.  It was a bowl of mixed salad greens, three balls of tasteless mozzarella, and one cherry tomato cut into quarters, with no salad dressing.  Some of the other food was good, most was mediocre, and the caprese salad was a joke. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by ZoeyVictoria

[skipsaur]

13 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

How can an Italian owned company mess up an Italian menu?  I was looking forward to some amazing Italian dishes and was so disappointed they didn't have an Italian specialty restaurant.

 

I can believe it. There's plenty of American owned companies that serve bad American food.😂 Nationality doesn't guarantee quality. You would assume they'd put extra effort into that particular cuisine though.

 

I'm curious to see if there's an issue with the actual food or if there's a disconnect between Italian-American expectations versus authentic Italian.

[Morecruisesplz]

27 minutes ago, skipsaur said:

 

I can believe it. There's plenty of American owned companies that serve bad American food.😂 Nationality doesn't guarantee quality. You would assume they'd put extra effort into that particular cuisine though.

 

I'm curious to see if there's an issue with the actual food or if there's a disconnect between Italian-American expectations versus authentic Italian.

I am guessing your disconnect theory is correct. The pasta that I had every night was delicious. And we also enjoyed Italian night.

[skipsaur]

2 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

I am guessing your disconnect theory is correct. The pasta that I had every night was delicious. And we also enjoyed Italian night.

 

I'm looking forward to finding out myself! 🙂 Thanks for the positive take! 

[Georgia_Peaches]

13 hours ago, publicpersona said:

What these people have managed to do is to double the load on the elevator during an already crowded time, making everyone wait twice as long.

I don't make a habit of getting on an elevator that's going in the opposite direction of my desired floor but for those that do this, I'm unclear how it makes the wait twice as long...

[publicpersona]

1 minute ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I don't make a habit of getting on an elevator that's going in the opposite direction of my desired floor but for those that do this, I'm unclear how it makes the wait twice as long...

 

[Talking traditional elevators, not the ones on Sea* ships] If every person got onto an elevator when it was heading in the opposite direction there would be twice as many bodies on the elevator. There would be twice as many incidents of the elevator door opening to a crowd of people who would have to say "I guess we'll have to wait." It's a study in queueing theory.

[Georgia_Peaches]

21 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

How can an Italian owned company mess up an Italian menu?  I was looking forward to some amazing Italian dishes and was so disappointed they didn't have an Italian specialty restaurant.

The food is Mediterranean Italian...not like the baked lasagna and rigatoni of home.  We had some great Italian dishes in the YC but to them, it's just food...not Italian food.  For example, just about every night there is a risotto dish on the menu.  We ordered it every time to share.  One night was truffle risotto and another it was champagne risotto.  Also, many of the fish entrees are prepared the Italian way with spices/pan seared or broiled.  If you want an ooey-gooey  "Italian" dish like lasagna, you can request it ahead of time and they will make it for you.  In fact, I may just do that for comparison purposes.  

[1kaper]

9 hours ago, skipsaur said:

m curious to see if there's an issue with the actual food or if there's a disconnect between Italian-American expectations versus authentic Italian.

I’m not American. I’ve been to Italy. I LOVE authentic Italian food. This was not it for me. 
 

as mentioned the calamari was way over cooked. Just rubber.

I had the carbonara and it was completely tasteless. 
My mother didn’t care for the lasagna but I do believe that was because she isn’t used to real Italian lasagna.  She didn’t care for the bechemel. 

[skipsaur]

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

I’m not American. I’ve been to Italy. I LOVE authentic Italian food. This was not it for me. 
 

as mentioned the calamari was way over cooked. Just rubber.

I had the carbonara and it was completely tasteless. 
My mother didn’t care for the lasagna but I do believe that was because she isn’t used to real Italian lasagna.  She didn’t care for the bechemel. 

 

From your examples, I like non-authentic, American-style lasagna so I'd probably agree with your mother.

 

Generally, whether a food is authentic or not matters less to me than whether it tastes good. I'm sorry you had a disappointing experience. Food taste is so personal, I'm still going to go into it hoping for the best! 🙂

 

[ray98]

2 hours ago, 1kaper said:

I’m not American. I’ve been to Italy. I LOVE authentic Italian food. This was not it for me. 
 

as mentioned the calamari was way over cooked. Just rubber.

I had the carbonara and it was completely tasteless. 
My mother didn’t care for the lasagna but I do believe that was because she isn’t used to real Italian lasagna.  She didn’t care for the bechemel. 

I agree.  We were on the Seaside 2 weeks ago and I was really looking forward to the pasta dishes.  It was supposed to be one of the things that would make up for some other places where MSC struggles with food.  It was an absolute disappointment every time we tried it.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

12 hours ago, skipsaur said:

 

I can believe it. There's plenty of American owned companies that serve bad American food.😂 Nationality doesn't guarantee quality. You would assume they'd put extra effort into that particular cuisine though.

 

I'm curious to see if there's an issue with the actual food or if there's a disconnect between Italian-American expectations versus authentic Italian.

 

Yes, I would think they would try to impress with their own cuisine.  You may be onto something between American-Italian verses authentic Italian.

12 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

I am guessing your disconnect theory is correct. The pasta that I had every night was delicious. And we also enjoyed Italian night.

I love good Italian food so I'm hopeful, but it certainly won't make or break our cruise.

[Morecruisesplz]

2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 

Yes, I would think they would try to impress with their own cuisine.  You may be onto something between American-Italian verses authentic Italian.

I love good Italian food so I'm hopeful, but it certainly won't make or break our cruise.

The Italian night decorations were nice!

[nicolen1101]

Are there any theme nights or theme parties on the 4 night cruise?

[1kaper]

5 hours ago, nicolen1101 said:

Are there any theme nights or theme parties on the 4 night cruise?

 

I never pay attention but I know for sure there was a white night.