Seaside Yacht Club Dining Room was a HUGE let Down

[Skier52]

This is my take on  the dining in the YC of Meraviglia in 2017, before she went stateside.

 

here is a link to the whole review

 

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=12438

 

Dining

All our breakfasts and lunches were taken in the YC. What was noticeable was the standard of the food in the YC was a notch higher than we had experienced on Divina and a couple of notches better than the main MDR's we've experienced in the past. Also noticeable was the apparent change in format of the meals. Gone are the old 6 or 7 course with a choice of 2 or 3 items in each course, and in are 3 course menus with 6 or 7 choices in each course.
But to the discerning eye the Appetisers was made up of the old anti pasta, soup and salad courses whilst the main course had the pasta, risotto and meat/fish dishes. The waiters were happy to serve two or three items from each course if you wanted the old 6 or 7 course meal.

On three occasions we had dinner in other restaurants. One with the Cirque Du Soleil show ( more on that later) and twice in Butcher's Cut (an American style steak house) for our complimentary Black members meals. A nice touch was we were allowed to take our bottles of complementary Prosecco and Cava in to the diner for consumption with the meal. That touch was organised by our Butler. The Black members menu was a limited section of the a la carte menu and filet mignon was our choice on both occasions.
We didn't try any other dining venues. One disappointment was there was no facility for the complimentary ice-cream you get with certain drinks packages as there was a franchised ice-cream outlet in the main shopping area. I managed to circumvent the no ice cream rule by asking one of the butlers if the ice cream available at lunch and dinner was available at other times, and was told to just ask a butler and some would be fetched from the kitchens for me.
 

Edited July 2, 2019 by Skier52

[rkacruiser]

Skier52:  What an interesting and informative review!  Thank you for your efforts and your photos!

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, Skier52 said:

The Black members menu was a limited section of the a la carte menu and filet mignon was our choice on both occasions.

 

This is the first that I have heard of only limited selections in the specialty restaurants for Black Card members.  As a Black Card MSC guest,  I am going to have difficulty understanding why I ought to abandon dinner in the YC Restaurant (particularly if it meets my expectations) for a limited menu selection in Meraviglia's specialty restaurants.

 

I'd appreciate others comments about this.

[hamrag]

On 7/1/2019 at 12:45 AM, rkacruiser said:

A rather discouraging review for a booked guest on MSC Meraviglia's YC in January.  But, if there is anything that I have learned from my decades of cruising, its the management and Executive Chef of the dining facility in which I am patronizing that will have a major influence on my dining experiences.  Some are great; some are OK; some should have sailed on the Titanic.

Another thing in our experience is attitude towards dining room staff, we have seen and heard some dreadful displays of 'superiority' towards hard working crew. Usually you get back what you put into the experience, and a good manner and attitude from the outset is worth its' weight in gold!!

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This is the first that I have heard of only limited selections in the specialty restaurants for Black Card members.  As a Black Card MSC guest,  I am going to have difficulty understanding why I ought to abandon dinner in the YC Restaurant (particularly if it meets my expectations) for a limited menu selection in Meraviglia's specialty restaurants.

 

I'd appreciate others comments about this.

It is actually more than limited selections, which are included free, if you take into account that you may choose anything from the a la carte menu at a 50% discount. On Meraviglia, I thoroughly recommend you take the option and choose Butchers' Cut which is superb....the YC restaurant is generally very good and occasionally excellent, but never reaches the superb level. We have always been very satisfied, but still always take our Black Card option in Butchers' Cut and the limited selections do it for us!

Edited July 2, 2019 by hamrag

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 7/1/2019 at 4:09 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Floridian’s dining experience perfectly illustrates how much rides on the Chef and the Maitre D’.  As MSC expands so do the demands in the catering department.  Floridian experienced that gap between well trained personnel and a work in progress.  Hopefully the new Food and Beverage Manager will remedy the situation. Floridian’s situation sounds to me that the problem was mostly in the galley (kitchen) with the competency of the kitchen crew.  Most of the Maitre D’s On MSC are very good.  The Maitre D’ that Floridian describes certainly needs to be replaced.  A good Maitre D’ is worth his weight in gold as he or she is in command of the waiters.  The Maitre D’ is responsible for assembling the wait team that will be the most effective in the dining room...in one word...leadership.

 

I was completely unimpressed with the older gentleman who was the M'D on our Meraviglia Baltic cruise last May, but the young lady who was his assistant was excellent.  And while my experiences as to the food in the YC restaurant on Meraviglia are pretty consistent with the OP, my experience in Divina's YC in the Med last year was much better.  Even with having to walk the length of the ship to get there.

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 7/1/2019 at 12:13 PM, dexddd said:

We just got off Seaside Saturday and were also on in March.  The first day we noticed the menu had changed and the menus the trip slanted towards seafood.  When I saw the menu and didn't see any type of everyday items with beef the first day, I was like uh oh, this is going to be a problem.

 

However, they did have an insert a couple nights with beef, chicken, etc., but it wasn't every night.  They did have one lobster night.  Food is subjective and while IMO not as good as the prior menu, we were able to find pretty decent things each night.  One night the maitre D was also making pasta which appeared to be delivered to all the tables.  

 

As far as service, it was hit or miss and I don't blame this on the direct wait staff.  I saw it as a combination of a couple things from what I could gather. 

 

There were just plain more people eating at the time we were compared to March.  The wait staff clearly had more work to do than they could handle so with a full restaurant it will be a challenge for them.  I also suspect something with location or serving of dishes in those areas we can't see - i.e. ship design or process related.  If something wasn't done right, they typically noticed it and apologized.  Drink service at dinner used to be a fairly common complaint on the boards but it was very prompt and better than March.

 

The pool food we thought was overall better than March and the dinner party there was VERY good IMO.  I wished I had just skipped the regular dinner and just eaten there.

 

I'm sure a few more thoughts will come to mind but that is most of it.

 

It was available every night, they just couldn't be bothered to put the inserts  in the menu every night.  At least that was the case on Meraviglia.  I ordered off the Everyday menu whether they put the inserts in our not and had no problem.  I didn't realize until, after an unsatisfactory first night's dinner, I asked if I could just order a steak or something if I didn't care for the menu.  I got some completely BS answer from the (useless) Maitre'D about having to make special requests a day in advance.  When I mentioned that this hadn't been a problem on Divina, that they had an Everyday menu, his assistant overheard and she said, 'Oh, you mean this,' and showed me the Everyday insert.  Other than her, they were clueless.

[Russ_MT]

On 7/1/2019 at 7:30 AM, Linda the Book Lover said:

Perhaps we lucked out. We had great service every meal and we ate almost all of them in the YC except for breakfast twice when we had room service and one night in Butchers Cut. The servers and the Maitre D were all so very nice. We also ordered meals to split and for me extra desserts (my cruise temptation every time). The four of us had a really nice time on the ship and especially the YC. In comparison to the Haven my DH and I both felt we enjoyed the different meal each day aspect and did feel the YC staff was more welcoming to us than the Haven. I am not knocking the Haven but we loved YC more. 

 

 

+1

 

We sailed YC in December 2018.

We found food comparable to NCL Haven.   Shipwide, NCL food was better.   MSC is an Italian line so it has that slant.   It was good food.  Better than MDR of any mid-range line.   Atmosphere was nice and attentive.   If we didn't like something, our waiter brought us something we did.  They wanted us to be happy.

 

Our Maitre D was excellent.  Waiters were always trying to please...very hard.   Our glasses never went empty.    

YC manager came around all the time to check on us.   YC Manager did some amazing things to correct tiny mistakes (gave us a free cabana).

 

Quite a different experience from OP.  We did eat earlier...5:30 and were just 2 people.  Perhaps the large/late group threw a wrench in it.    We did join a big group one night and services was exceptional.   The OP is puzzling.  

 

We're booked again and look forward to YC.   We don't expect Michelin 3-star restaurants at this price point.  We don't cruise for the food else we'd pick another line.  

 

Food is subjective.   Our opinion:

MSC Butchers cut and the Seafood specialty restaurants disappointed us.   RCL Chops was Soooo much better.  NCL specialty were Soooo much better.   We thought the YC filet was better than Butchers Cut.

 

YC pool deck food was blah.   We don't like buffet food.  Service was exceptional.

 

YMMV

[JAGR]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This is the first that I have heard of only limited selections in the specialty restaurants for Black Card members.  As a Black Card MSC guest,  I am going to have difficulty understanding why I ought to abandon dinner in the YC Restaurant (particularly if it meets my expectations) for a limited menu selection in Meraviglia's specialty restaurants.

 

I'd appreciate others comments about this.

Not sure about your itinerary on Meraviglia, but on Seaside, the specialty restaurants are open on some sea days, so we could do lunch instead of dinner, and that was a good option and choice.  Are you a Centerville Elks fan, by any chance?

[Selion]

17 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This is the first that I have heard of only limited selections in the specialty restaurants for Black Card members.  As a Black Card MSC guest,  I am going to have difficulty understanding why I ought to abandon dinner in the YC Restaurant (particularly if it meets my expectations) for a limited menu selection in Meraviglia's specialty restaurants.

 

I'd appreciate others comments about this.

 

Black Card member's free specialty dinner is based on the prix fixe menu selections.  Your server will explain to you what items are included and what are extra charge at 50% off.

[Cruisergal1208]

18 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This is the first that I have heard of only limited selections in the specialty restaurants for Black Card members.  As a Black Card MSC guest,  I am going to have difficulty understanding why I ought to abandon dinner in the YC Restaurant (particularly if it meets my expectations) for a limited menu selection in Meraviglia's specialty restaurants.

 

I'd appreciate others comments about this.

We've been black card holders for several years and it's always been a limited menu in the specialty restaurants on Divina and Seaside(the only MSC ships we've sailed).  There have been plenty of postings of the menus and there are a lot of good choices.  We have also ordered off the limited side and paid the up charge. 

[Fogfog]

On 6/30/2019 at 10:51 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I agree, the dining room is not Yacht Club's shining star.  The rest of the experience is excellent.  The dining room service and food are ordinary.

Oh gosh Happy..

hope it is not too ordinary

Had followed  a thread here (was it Nikki?) who was on the Seaside in the Med? in YC

We booked B2B after reading how YC was a cut above in all aspects.

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, JAGR said:

Are you a Centerville Elks fan, by any chance?

 

I appreciate your reply.  

 

An Elks fan?  No.  I follow them and am interested in their successes and failures.  I live in a different local school district and Township. 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

On 7/2/2019 at 4:41 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

This is the first that I have heard of only limited selections in the specialty restaurants for Black Card members.  As a Black Card MSC guest,  I am going to have difficulty understanding why I ought to abandon dinner in the YC Restaurant (particularly if it meets my expectations) for a limited menu selection in Meraviglia's specialty restaurants.

 

I'd appreciate others comments about this.

 

My comment is that you might want to consider adjusting your expectations for the YC restaurant also. When you read 1,000's of reviews (not just 20-30 found here in the forum) you will find a few common themes and, unfortunately, lower quality food (even the YC) is a theme that emerges. Food is very subjective though, so hopefully you will love it! 

[rkacruiser]

12 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

My comment is that you might want to consider adjusting your expectations for the YC restaurant also. When you read 1,000's of reviews (not just 20-30 found here in the forum) you will find a few common themes and, unfortunately, lower quality food (even the YC) is a theme that emerges. Food is very subjective though, so hopefully you will love it! 

 

I am a glass is half-full person.  I will embark Meraviglia expecting my glass to be full when I disembark.  My "most full" glass was during Volendam's Asia Pacific Cruise in 2002.  But, at the price point for MSC YC, the other "most full" glass was on Royal Viking Sky.  And, that "glass" had room for a small pour for a quality New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  

[TrinaLC]

We found dinners in YC Seaside to be ok - certainly better than a typical MDR - but sometimes quite slow. But still a special part of the overall YC experience.  They do struggle as others have noted with the vast majority of guests seeming to want to be seated between 7 and 8. 

 

We found the Divina YC restaurant to be much better. It is sized and staffed more appropriately, and is a much more handsome venue.  We don’t mind the walk. 

 

All in on all my advice would be don’t count on a true “gourmet/foodie” experience; just enjoy the nicer, less crowded venues - and the waiters for the most part are awesome, and work to make your experience special. Some of the maitre D’s are great, some mediocre at best. 

[Fredric22]

1 hour ago, TrinaLC said:

We found dinners in YC Seaside to be ok - certainly better than a typical MDR - but sometimes quite slow. But still a special part of the overall YC experience.  They do struggle as others have noted with the vast majority of guests seeming to want to be seated between 7 and 8. 

 

We found the Divina YC restaurant to be much better. It is sized and staffed more appropriately, and is a much more handsome venue.  We don’t mind the walk. 

 

All in on all my advice would be don’t count on a true “gourmet/foodie” experience; just enjoy the nicer, less crowded venues - and the waiters for the most part are awesome, and work to make your experience special. Some of the maitre D’s are great, some mediocre at best. 

 

I consider myself a "foodie" and really enjoy fine dining.  My experience in the YC restaurants (both on Divina twice and Seaside twice) have been excellent.  The food in these restaurants has been the highlight of my cruise for the last 4 cruises.  As I have said before in an earlier post, if you are looking for traditional American food, you will be disappointed.  If you enjoy fresh, homemade pastas, risottos, seafood dishes, etc. then you are in for a real treat.  I have had some of the best pasta dishes ever (and I come from an Italian area and an Italian family) on MSC.  The sauces they prepare are often times very unique (excellent pestos, squid ink sauce, etc.).  Now, if you are someone that looked at "squid ink" and said "GROSS" then MSC might not be the right fit for you.  However, in Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, these dishes and ingredients are common. 

 

Desserts on MSC are also excellent.  I have been on all of the major cruise lines and I believe MSC has not only the best gelato at sea, but the best homemade pastries and desserts.  

 

Is MSC perfect? No. But no cruise line is.  We have had slow dinners in the YC restaurant (slower than 2.5 hours) which is too slow.  We have also had 1 or 2 bad dishes that we had to send back.  However, on the whole (after 60+ cruises) I can honestly say I look forward to the food on MSC more than any other cruise line. 

 

 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, Fredric22 said:

 

I consider myself a "foodie" and really enjoy fine dining.  My experience in the YC restaurants (both on Divina twice and Seaside twice) have been excellent.  The food in these restaurants has been the highlight of my cruise for the last 4 cruises.  As I have said before in an earlier post, if you are looking for traditional American food, you will be disappointed.  If you enjoy fresh, homemade pastas, risottos, seafood dishes, etc. then you are in for a real treat.  I have had some of the best pasta dishes ever (and I come from an Italian area and an Italian family) on MSC.  The sauces they prepare are often times very unique (excellent pestos, squid ink sauce, etc.).  Now, if you are someone that looked at "squid ink" and said "GROSS" then MSC might not be the right fit for you.  However, in Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, these dishes and ingredients are common. 

 

Desserts on MSC are also excellent.  I have been on all of the major cruise lines and I believe MSC has not only the best gelato at sea, but the best homemade pastries and desserts.  

 

Is MSC perfect? No. But no cruise line is.  We have had slow dinners in the YC restaurant (slower than 2.5 hours) which is too slow.  We have also had 1 or 2 bad dishes that we had to send back.  However, on the whole (after 60+ cruises) I can honestly say I look forward to the food on MSC more than any other cruise line. 

 

 

 

 

I agree that the risotto is excellent.  As is the gelato.

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, Fredric22 said:

If you enjoy fresh, homemade pastas, risottos, seafood dishes, etc. then you are in for a real treat.  I have had some of the best pasta dishes ever (and I come from an Italian area and an Italian family) on MSC.  The sauces they prepare are often times very unique (excellent pestos, squid ink sauce, etc.).

 

Thanks for your comments.  I enjoy Italian cuisine probably more than any other type.  I have been wanting ever since I sailed on Home Lines to get back aboard an Italian oriented vessel.  Booking Meraviglia will provide me that opportunity.

[Nymich]

On ‎6‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 8:05 PM, floridian1 said:

I don't have the maitre d name. After that first night he never came near our table again. If someone was on the June 8 sailing please chime in. He was in maybe late 50s, bald or very little hair. 

Did he talk like Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley?   We had him on Divina years ago when MSC first launched in the US.

[TrinaLC]

22 hours ago, Fredric22 said:

 

I consider myself a "foodie" and really enjoy fine dining.  My experience in the YC restaurants (both on Divina twice and Seaside twice) have been excellent.  The food in these restaurants has been the highlight of my cruise for the last 4 cruises.  As I have said before in an earlier post, if you are looking for traditional American food, you will be disappointed.  If you enjoy fresh, homemade pastas, risottos, seafood dishes, etc. then you are in for a real treat.  I have had some of the best pasta dishes ever (and I come from an Italian area and an Italian family) on MSC.  The sauces they prepare are often times very unique (excellent pestos, squid ink sauce, etc.).  Now, if you are someone that looked at "squid ink" and said "GROSS" then MSC might not be the right fit for you.  However, in Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, these dishes and ingredients are common. 

 

Desserts on MSC are also excellent.  I have been on all of the major cruise lines and I believe MSC has not only the best gelato at sea, but the best homemade pastries and desserts.  

 

Is MSC perfect? No. But no cruise line is.  We have had slow dinners in the YC restaurant (slower than 2.5 hours) which is too slow.  We have also had 1 or 2 bad dishes that we had to send back.  However, on the whole (after 60+ cruises) I can honestly say I look forward to the food on MSC more than any other cruise line. 

 

 

 

 

Food quality is obviously subjective, but I note that I have lived in France (3 years), Switzerland (1), Austria (1) and Ecuador (1). And travelled extensively in Europe and Asia. I am not judging MSC YC restaurant from a US perspective - far from it. 

 

As an also foodie, I am not impressed by the food: for the most part it is fine, but and the staff really work hard to make enjoyable, but it doesn’t compare to a good land based restaurant. Just helping level set expectations. 

 

 

[Fredric22]

11 minutes ago, TrinaLC said:

 

Food quality is obviously subjective, but I note that I have lived in France (3 years), Switzerland (1), Austria (1) and Ecuador (1). And travelled extensively in Europe and Asia. I am not judging MSC YC restaurant from a US perspective - far from it. 

 

As an also foodie, I am not impressed by the food: for the most part it is fine, but and the staff really work hard to make enjoyable, but it doesn’t compare to a good land based restaurant. Just helping level set expectations. 

 

 

 

I respect your opinion.  I am trying to help others (who may be nervous about their upcoming cruises) by letting them know that not everyone agrees with the negative (or mediocre) reviews of the YC restaurant.  Also, the YC restaurant does indeed compare with many fine dining restaurants in my opinion.   

[floridian1]

16 hours ago, Nymich said:

Did he talk like Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley?   We had him on Divina years ago when MSC first launched in the US.

Lol this made me laugh. I wish we had his name. I hope to not have him on future msc cruises.

[shukapaw]

HI,

 

My wife and I were in the YC on the June 8 sailing (which is the subject of this post) as well as the June 15 sailing.

 

Our experience was the polar opposite of the OP's. We thought the food and service were both great. As an interesting side note, the YC menu changed fleetwide starting on June 15. As a result, we had a completely different menu each week of our back-to-back cruise. To be honest, when I heard the menu had changed I was a bit nervous... thought we might be guinea pigs as the kitchen "worked out the kinks" on the new selections. My fears were completely unfounded. The new menus were very good.

 

Our waiter happened to be from the Philippines. While talking to him he mentioned that the YC chef was also from the Philippines. I asked him about traditional Filipino foods and mentioned that I was unfamiliar with them. He asked if I was interested in trying them. When I agreed, he arranged for the chef to make me an authentic Filipino meal the next night!

 

Not to discredit the OP's experience, but I have to say our dealings with the Maitre d were excellent. I have never really understood the value added by a Maitre d. This one was so good and so attentive that I wrote a positive review for him and provided it to the YC Director. He was friendly, outgoing and always looking after us. Once I mentioned to him that the pancakes on the poolside buffet tended to sit too long under the heat lamps and they were not especially good if you didn't get them immediately after they were put out. The next day at breakfast he personally told me that the pancakes would now be made to order ..... and they were. You just mentioned to the grill man that you wanted pancakes and he would make them fresh for you.

 

In all fairness, we generally choose to dine earlier and our group was only a party of 2

 

~Brian

 

 

[floridian1]

7 hours ago, shukapaw said:

HI,

 

My wife and I were in the YC on the June 8 sailing ......

Not to discredit the OP's experience, but I have to say our dealings with the Maitre d were excellent. I have never really understood the value added by a Maitre d. This one was so good and so attentive that I wrote a positive review for him and provided it to the YC Director. 

 

~Brian

 

 

Hi Brian I'm glad your dining experience was better than ours, your right...Complete opposite! It was unfortunate for us that they didn't provide the same service at dinner.  Do you remember what the name is of the maitre d?

Edited July 6, 2019 by floridian1