Ameruca-Europe... Free-Charge... Very Good - Horrid; What Ought My Expectations Be?

[woodofpine]

[i posted this on another thread but thought it ought to 'stand alone'; I'll read both - thanks!]

 

I'm booked with a family group on one of the early Mediterranean sailings of Magnifica in March. I know that MSC is a European style product targeting that market.

 

There seems to be vast reactions to the product, with most acknowledging beautiful new ships.

 

What is the service disposition or 'attitude'?

 

In particular, what is the dinning server attitude toward serving 'tap water'?

What is the server 'attitude' toward special (common) requests - for kids (chicken fingers, pasta) or adults (changing entrees)?

Is there a suggested passenger disposition or 'attitude'?

 

What beverages are free at meals?

 

What food service is available outside the main dining room outside meal hours? Is it charged? (Pricing?)

 

Is there anything 'unusual' or 'different' in cabin service - steward service compared to RCI/Carnival cruise lines?

 

I know everyone reacts differently to the unexpected; I'm just trying to get my expectations grounded so to enjoy the cruise. Information rarely hurts.

[PoolHorse]

Hello there... we just got off the Splendida going around the Meditereanean Sea.

 

I found that the service was great. We had an Indian waiter, who was very friendly and helpful. Our cabin-guy was also good - he cleaned our cabin perfectly twice a day, eventhough our toddler tried to demolish the place on a regular basis :-)

 

We never asked for tap-water for dinner. I think with the low price you pay for the cruise and the luxurious surroundings you get onboard, it is quite fair having to buy 14 bottles of mineral water for EUR 20,00... I didn't see anybody drinking tap water either!

 

With regards to kids food, we ordered both fries, chicken and soup from the kids menu as well as things from the adult menu - like risotto - for our little boy. There were no problems with this. Around us other kids enjoyed pizza, pasta, hotdogs and sometimes they went with the adults and chose from their menu...

 

Regarding the adult menu, you basically order a starter, a pasta/risotto dish, a meat dish and a dessert. A typical menu would have two starters, a soup, a salad, a choice of two or three pasta/risotto-dishes, three or four meat-dishes and six or seven different desserts. But - as our waiter said - "if you want, you can get all of it!"... good luck with cramming down 18 courses :-)

 

There were no free beverages with dinner. For breakfast there were waiters with tea, coffee, hot cocoa and trays of different juices - all free. For lunch I am not quite sure. I saw people using the juice machines on a couple of occasions, but we always used a water coupon from our package...

 

The food "schedule" was - more or less - like this:

 

Breakfast buffet: 7.00-10.30

Lunch buffet: 12.00-15.00

Tea-time (sandwiches, cakes etc.): 15.30-17.00

Dinner: 19.00-20.30 (early seating) 21.30-23.00 (late seating)

Different midnight treats: 00.30

 

Outside these hours there was different theme-restaurants, but these charge for meals albeit quite low prices - from 7 or 8 EUR for main courses...

 

- so if anyone plans on spending more than TEN hours per day on eating... don't choose MSC :-)

 

We spent around EUR 250,00 per adult. This including 2 excursions, gratuities, alcohol and a bit of shopping on board...

[remi1au]

Hello there... we just got off the Splendida going around the Meditereanean Sea.

 

I found that the service was great. We had an Indian waiter, who was very friendly and helpful. Our cabin-guy was also good - he cleaned our cabin perfectly twice a day, eventhough our toddler tried to demolish the place on a regular basis :-)

 

We never asked for tap-water for dinner. I think with the low price you pay for the cruise and the luxurious surroundings you get onboard, it is quite fair having to buy 14 bottles of mineral water for EUR 20,00... I didn't see anybody drinking tap water either!

 

With regards to kids food, we ordered both fries, chicken and soup from the kids menu as well as things from the adult menu - like risotto - for our little boy. There were no problems with this. Around us other kids enjoyed pizza, pasta, hotdogs and sometimes they went with the adults and chose from their menu...

 

Regarding the adult menu, you basically order a starter, a pasta/risotto dish, a meat dish and a dessert. A typical menu would have two starters, a soup, a salad, a choice of two or three pasta/risotto-dishes, three or four meat-dishes and six or seven different desserts. But - as our waiter said - "if you want, you can get all of it!"... good luck with cramming down 18 courses :-)

 

There were no free beverages with dinner. For breakfast there were waiters with tea, coffee, hot cocoa and trays of different juices - all free. For lunch I am not quite sure. I saw people using the juice machines on a couple of occasions, but we always used a water coupon from our package...

 

The food "schedule" was - more or less - like this:

 

Breakfast buffet: 7.00-10.30

Lunch buffet: 12.00-15.00

Tea-time (sandwiches, cakes etc.): 15.30-17.00

Dinner: 19.00-20.30 (early seating) 21.30-23.00 (late seating)

Different midnight treats: 00.30

 

Outside these hours there was different theme-restaurants, but these charge for meals albeit quite low prices - from 7 or 8 EUR for main courses...

 

- so if anyone plans on spending more than TEN hours per day on eating... don't choose MSC :-)

 

We spent around EUR 250,00 per adult. This including 2 excursions, gratuities, alcohol and a bit of shopping on board...

 

Thanks for the info poolhorse, do you happen to recall the costs of alcoholic drinks on an individual basis rather than in a "package".

 

Cheers.

[woodofpine]

Sounds just fine...

 

Its funny how some issues 'strike a cord' ('hot button')! Mineral water... I know there is a strong cultural affinity toward it in Europe particularly in finer dining... But not enough to prevent the egalitarian instincts of those famous 'foodies' the French from requiring restaurants make tap water available! I'll be travelling with 6 youngsters and 4 adults so either 'budgeting' or otherwise, I might not always be 'in the mood' for youth guzzled eau minerale. I'm fond of eau minerale personally but as an American it is hardly 'de rigour'. One MSC booster states that tap is available when dining... Do others confirm that? I'm just wondering if it involves cross cultural arm twisting with the servers.

 

I understand that MSC has off hours cabin service food for purchase (but breakfast delivery is free) true?

 

I can appreciate that MSC doesn't do constant 'cattle graze' food service. That's fine, I've never starved on a cruise.:)

 

Nice to know that service disposition is satisfactory to excellent.

[buggins0402]

This was posted a few months ago, it might answer some of your questions

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1040916&highlight=tap+water

 

Poster had a sensible idea - she filled bottles with tap water in the room herself.

[AmoMondo]

Hi woodofpine

 

i posted a full reply to this question on the other thread.