Buffet Service Compared To Hal

[sweet sheep]

Hello fellow posters:)

I have been on several cruises and HAL is my favorite. I especially like and appreciate the service given at the Lido Grill with the crew being there to carry your tray for you!

I have booked several ladies on Orchestra for April 25, 2009. I have never sailed with MSC and my clients have not either.

Do they offer the same service in the grill area or are we on our own?;)

This will be a new experience because I do not know much about MSC. I have traveled with Costa and they are not my cruise line of choice.

Thank you in advance for any replys.:)

 

[Seago2]

The short answer is: "on your own."

 

Don't expect any help in the buffet- at all.

 

Have a great cruise- it's a very nice time otherwise!

[swimsimcoe]

No comparison.the crowded buffet is the worst thing about Msc.You get what you pay for.

Love Hal.

[Cruisin-Geezer]

Hi sweet sheep

We have cruised MSC on 3 occasions (Opera and Lirica x 2) and will do our fourth this November (Musica). In between we have sailed on HAL's Statendam.

We enjoy MSC for its stylish ships, Italian food and value for money. However, we have seldom used the buffet as it is a bit of a free-for-all and very noisy. You need to understand that its polyglot clientele includes many latins who are somewhat more gregarious and voluable than us British!

Further, the buffet food is rather international and, whilst of very good quality, lacks any distinctiveness. We certainly found HAL's buffet much better.

However, our advice is don't use the MSC buffet more than necessary. The main restaurants are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we have always found the quality of food and service to be very good, and you do feel like you are sailing on an Italian ship.

For your venerable ladies, they will find the service and assistance in the main restaurants all that they should need. But they might need personal accident insurance to risk the buffet!

Hope this helps.