Currently on Seascape - Here's my thoughts so far as an MSC Newbie!

[BeeeJay]

10 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Hi BeeJay, I double checked & yes, we had a Grand Suite in YC.  Very nice room & great layout.  There was a ton of storage in addition to the walk in closet.  Nicely decorated with dark tones which made it feel cozy & kept the room dark in the morning which we liked.  A better cabin overall than the Sky Suites in our opinion.  Sky Suits Bathroom is probably a little more spacious but we didn't like the 'tub' you had to climb in to, to shower.  Our bahtroom in the Grand Suite was perfectly good enough with plenty of counter space for your personal stuff.  Water pressure in the shower was excellent also.

 

The water pressure in the shower in the Bella Balcony is very weak compared to the YC Deluxe.  That bathroom was fantastic.  I agree the color scheme is really good.  My friend had the Grand Suite and that walk in closet it a really nice upgrade from the YC Deluxe.  

[dexddd]

On 11/7/2023 at 5:28 PM, Valpacino said:

I'm sorry to cause you concern DaKahuna!  That was never my intention.  When I started this thread I mentioned I was a long time lurker on here & had been helped tremendously by other posters about their experiences & tips of their time with MSC.  I wanted to give something back & share our experience, hoping it may help someone.  I never wanted to cause any consternations!

 

We had a decent breakfast & lunch experience on the YC Pool Deck.  I have no issues with the food there.  That they serve the delicious pizza by the slice would be a great addition seeing as it seems to be a jewel in the crown, so to speak, in the food offering on board.  I am hoping MSC may be monitoring this thread & consider this suggestion.  To keep such a great offering confined to the Marketplace buffet or room service seems to be a bit of an odd move.  Maybe there are operational reasons why this isn't possible?

 

I do feel what we experienced in YC dining room evening meal times was 'that is the way it is & this is our offering' for our sailing.  Morpheus has alluded to inconsistencies during their many trips as per their post on this thread.  It clearly seems it can rely on staffing & who is on board doing the cheffing at the time.  I think maybe we were simply on an 'off' week with regards to the galley staff.  I return to the confirmation from a fellow regular passenger traveling during our sailing that they asserted the offering & service did not compare to previous trips on other MSC ships & when mentioned to senior management in the dining room, little changed.  I feel that Dexddd's observation that the issues we experienced may be operationally led are probably correct with a not so great 'back of house' set up.  The staff are doing their best but if things are not set up efficiently such as traveling long distances from kitchen/beverage to dining room, no matter what a guest says as way of feedback or staff try to compensate will make much of a difference.  JMO.

I think you are correct that something changed as far as the food and as the regular told you.

 

Just plain honest, the dinner menu and food stunk.  Done eight trips on three ships and a couple weeks ago just plain bad.  Pool food actually good except filet was not good and the rolled pork with cheese was not even cooked, literally raw and cold.

 

[dexddd]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:09 PM, mizzoufinal4 said:

Some of the dining room issues could be due to a new maitre'd starting on your cruise. The MSC famous Arthur left the ship with us on Oct 29th! 

Umm no.  Deeper issues.  We had a maitre'd we've sailed with at least three times on Mera.  Despite all the small talk and staff running around including maitre'd, not good.

 

We've sailed twice with Arthur but only on Divinia.  He does work miracles but on a ship like Mera I have to think infrastructure working against him.

 

At the end of the day, I feel bad for staff wanting to do best but hindered by forces beyond their control.

[mvh]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

I think you are correct that something changed as far as the food and as the regular told you.

 

Just plain honest, the dinner menu and food stunk.  Done eight trips on three ships and a couple weeks ago just plain bad.  Pool food actually good except filet was not good and the rolled pork with cheese was not even cooked, literally raw and cold.

 

People should not cruise if they expect excellent dining experiences. The main dining rooms are equivalent to Applebee's. Specialty dining is not much better. This is not just MSC, this is all 6 lines I have been on. (MSC, RCL, Carnival, NCL, Princess, Holland) 

Again, subjective, but no way is anything excellent.

[pa-annie]

On 11/2/2023 at 2:45 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

bolo for my review after our Thanksgiving sailing in the same class. 🙂 I'll be very thorough and fair.

I will definitely BOLO, we are on Seashore 12/10. Assume you will be starting a new thread, will you post "live"?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, mvh said:

People should not cruise if they expect excellent dining experiences.

I must disagree.  We've always had excellent dining experiences on Princess ships (except for Caribbean Princess which was hit or miss). We actually cruise on Princess mostly for the dining experiences.

We had enjoyable dining experiences on all RCI ships.

We had average to below average dining experiences on NCL Jade and Getaway.

 

We are looking forward to comparing our past dining experiences to those on MSC, Celebrity and Carnival in the near future.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

12 minutes ago, pa-annie said:

I will definitely BOLO, we are on Seashore 12/10. Assume you will be starting a new thread, will you post "live"?

I will create a new thread, but I may not post live, even though we'll have an internet package on this cruise. We usually don't get an internet package, and that's the reason I don't ever post live and I would also hate using my phone for reviews. I like taking photos of everything, arranging them by subject, and then creating an in depth review while using a computer, especially if it's our first time with the cruise line or on that ship and I have to type a lot. 🙂

 

I do believe Seashore and Seascape do differ quite a bit, despite being similar ships.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[pa-annie]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:28 PM, Valpacino said:

"We had a decent breakfast & lunch experience on the YC Pool Deck.  I have no issues with the food there.  That they serve the delicious pizza by the slice would be a great addition seeing as it seems to be a jewel in the crown, so to speak, in the food offering on board.  I am hoping MSC may be monitoring this thread & consider this suggestion.  To keep such a great offering confined to the Marketplace buffet or room service seems to be a bit of an odd move.  Maybe there are operational reasons why this isn't possible?"

 

 

You mentioned on a few occasions that it would be a plus if you were able to get pizza at the YC pool deck buffet, which seems like it should not be difficult to do.  Is there any ability to order room service pizza delivery to the YC? I still have a ways to go on your thread, but so far I don't think you mentioned anything regarding room service quality.  Thx - BZ

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 11/2/2023 at 5:20 PM, Valpacino said:

Currently just enjoyed high tea in the YC lounge on Day 5. 

that looks delicious! Do you remember if tea offerings were good? brand name?

[Valpacino]

Hi Pa-annie, In answer to your question re. pizza.  We did ask our Butler if we could order pizza & have it delivered to the pool deck.  He informed us this was not allowed & we had to go to our room, order it to be delivered to our cabin & then carry it up to the pool deck.  For what ever reason they do not allow pizza delivery on the pool deck.  Whether that is the same protocol for say, a midnight snack in the YC bar I don't know as I never asked nor saw anyone ordering or bringing pizza in for a night cap munchie!

 

We did not use room service during our trip so I am afraid I cannot comment on that.  Hope that helps a bit!

[Valpacino]

Hi Itchy&Scratchy,

 

I have to say they did make a good amount of fuss around high tea with the staff mentioning it multiple times as something to attend.  It was pouring with rain that day (again!) so it was a welcome break in the afternoon.  I believe it started about 3.30 pm & finished 4.30 pm.  They had a good turnout overall.  The tea came around on a big trolley with multiple tea caddies with loose leaf tea.  I am afraid I do not know the brand as it was all in nice storage caddies.  The lady on the tea trolley (there were 2 trolleys in total circling the lounge) asked us what sort of tea we wanted, explained the selection & then made up a fresh pot of loose leaf tea & set it to steep on the table along with milk, sugar etc.  There's a lot of stuff that is placed on the table for high tea.  If you're a party of 4 you're going to need to get one of the bigger tables to fit everything on.  We made the rookie mistake of sitting at a smaller 4 top by the window as one of the first people in the lounge.  Our Butler swiftly came over & ushered us to one of the largest tables in the lounge telling us we'd need the table space.  They were right!

 

On tip/comment from us.  The scones you see in the picture on the second tier with the clotted cream were very nice & crumbly.  However there was only 3 & we had 1 stand between 4 of us so one of us was without a scone & clotted cream which is the pinnacle of a high tea in my opinion.  We requested more scones from one of our favorite servers.  We had to wait a little bit, which was fine, as she explained that the entire lounge had to be served before they started dishing out seconds so to make sure everyone got 1 plateful at least which made sense.  It was worth waiting for because what we got was a further 3 scones which were much bigger/taller/plumper than those you see in the picture + they had raisins in them so were a fruity scone.  They were even better!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, Valpacino said:

The tea came around on a big trolley with multiple tea caddies with loose leaf tea.  The lady on the tea trolley (there were 2 trolleys in total circling the lounge) asked us what sort of tea we wanted, explained the selection & then made up a fresh pot of loose leaf tea & set it to steep on the table along with milk, sugar etc. 

Thank you! 🙂 Sounds lovely!

[dexddd]

21 hours ago, mvh said:

People should not cruise if they expect excellent dining experiences. The main dining rooms are equivalent to Applebee's. Specialty dining is not much better. This is not just MSC, this is all 6 lines I have been on. (MSC, RCL, Carnival, NCL, Princess, Holland) 

Again, subjective, but no way is anything excellent.

We had very good, even a couple excellent meals on MSC before.  This trip was also in YC but not the same.

[Mark_T]

16 hours ago, Valpacino said:

Whether that is the same protocol for say, a midnight snack in the YC bar I don't know as I never asked nor saw anyone ordering or bringing pizza in for a night cap munchie!

My understanding is that they do not allow the pizza to be consumed in the lounge, which seems reasonable to me, but it is OK on the pool deck.

[vtgumby]

On 11/6/2023 at 9:22 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 I have to ask if you (1) sent the drink / food back because of the incorrect tempreture, (2) said anything to anyone regarding the luke warm drink and food?  

 

 It's hard for them to know something is wrong if no one says anything.   I believe we would have sent back the drink / food and if not corrected, said something to someone in authority.  

 

We are on Seashore right now and most YC people are complaining about the food, quality and temperatures both. Zero hesitation I assure you and you start feeling bad for the staff after awhile.
They know they have a problem so I don’t think people not complaining is the issue, it’s just the MSC way unfortunately. Sometimes it’s good but more often it is not. They will offer to make you some thing else, we always decline because I consider this my MSC diet but we have asked a couple of times upfront for some Indian curry or simple spaghetti olio. I fear for a supposed high end experience they just don’t meet the bar.

This is our third MSC YC experience and I think we’re putting them on hold for a few years because the experience has been diluted in our opinion, actually cancelled our spring TA with them while onboard. Food is always a wild card but I can say that it’s usually average at best.
Then comes the bar issues. I ordered a simple Kahlúa and milk and nine times over nine days it came wrong despite me describing exactly what it is and being told to go take a seat and then having it delivered to me incorrectly, twice it was served as a hot drink and backstory, former bartender and server here. The same with a rum and Coke and people I know with vodka and tonics, the rum and vodka were served separate alongside the Coke and tonic water. This is bartending 101 and you really have to laugh about it cuz otherwise your head will explode. I stopped with the girly drinks up here because they were absolutely tasteless and it’s hard to imagine that a piña colada or a strawberry daiquiri wouldn’t be sweet but for some reason they do not have dedicated bartenders in YC. My solution is to go down one level to the AUREA bar where they do have bartenders that know how to mix a drink and get it there, it’s worth leaving a tip and having a tasty cocktail but I’d prefer ordering it from up here from the comfort of my lounge chair, unfortunately that’s not possible with their abilities, at least on this ship at this time. 
Or get wine and beer and you’re good to go!
 

[Valpacino]

2 hours ago, vtgumby said:

We are on Seashore right now and most YC people are complaining about the food, quality and temperatures both. Zero hesitation I assure you and you start feeling bad for the staff after awhile.
They know they have a problem so I don’t think people not complaining is the issue, it’s just the MSC way unfortunately. Sometimes it’s good but more often it is not. They will offer to make you some thing else, we always decline because I consider this my MSC diet but we have asked a couple of times upfront for some Indian curry or simple spaghetti olio. I fear for a supposed high end experience they just don’t meet the bar.
 

In my opinion I think the last sentence vtgumby expressed hits the nail on the head.  Our experience on Seascape was very good in all aspects except the YC evening meal.  Their on board service from the crew far surpassed X Retreat as did our cabin & the YC pool deck.  If only they could get the food offering right with maybe a dedicated Kitchen, they'd be unbeatable for a 'ship within a ship' experience.  JMO.

[Valpacino]

5 hours ago, Mark_T said:

My understanding is that they do not allow the pizza to be consumed in the lounge, which seems reasonable to me, but it is OK on the pool deck.

You can certainly consume it on the pool deck but they will not deliver it to the pool deck according to our butler.  You had to order it as room service, get it delivered to your cabin then carry it up there yourself.  That was what we were told to do if we wanted pizza on the pool deck for lunch.

[vtgumby]

28 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

My understanding is that they do not allow the pizza to be consumed in the lounge, which seems reasonable to me, but it is OK on the pool deck.

We just did that, called in the order and once delivered to the room brought the pizza upstairs to sundeck. Easy peasy lunch and honestly, I can’t imagine how they would manage pizza delivery on this very large sundeck.

[Valpacino]

30 minutes ago, vtgumby said:

We just did that, called in the order and once delivered to the room brought the pizza upstairs to sundeck. Easy peasy lunch and honestly, I can’t imagine how they would manage pizza delivery on this very large sundeck.

I agree re. trying to deliver to a large & busy deck - how would they find you?  However it would be nice if they had pizza on the buffet at lunch time & you could have it by the slice like you can at Marketplace Buffet.  

[DaKahuna]

13 hours ago, vtgumby said:

We are on Seashore right now and most YC people are complaining about the food, quality and temperatures both. Zero hesitation I assure you and you start feeling bad for the staff after awhile.
They know they have a problem so I don’t think people not complaining is the issue, it’s just the MSC way unfortunately. Sometimes it’s good but more often it is not. They will offer to make you some thing else, we always decline because I consider this my MSC diet but we have asked a couple of times upfront for some Indian curry or simple spaghetti olio. I fear for a supposed high end experience they just don’t meet the bar.
 

 

 This is rather disappointing to hear as we are looking for a replacement for sailing in the Retreat on Celebrity and one of the things we really like is Luminae.  We've always had excellent service and food served at the proper tempreature, with very minor exceptions (steak more medium than medium rare). I refuse to eat food that is supposed to be hot served cold. Sorry, I just can't do it.  

 

 As for the bar service, if the bartenders are not on their game with my drinks, I have no qualms in going to another bar elsewhere on the ship and enjoy my drinks there.  We're going to be on a smaller ship, Divina, so maybe that will help us.  

 

I do not know why I am not seeing more reviews of people's experience on Divina.  Most of the comments seem to be Seascape and Seashore and of course the Maragervila.  

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by DaKahuna

[Mark_T]

6 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I do not know why I am not seeing more reviews of people's experience on Divina.  Most of the comments seem to be Seascape and Seashore and of course the Maragervila.  

Divina is currently doing mostly short cruises around the Med. which appeal to the mostly non-English speaking guests in those countries.

 

Not exclusively of course, but your chances of seeing someone post about those cruises on this site is a lot lower than those doing the Caribbean cruises out of the US ports.

 

She will head for Miami at the end of the month so you may see more reviews once we get further into December.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Mark_T

[vtgumby]

5 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 This is rather disappointing to hear as we are looking for a replacement for sailing in the Retreat on Celebrity and one of the things we really like is Luminae.  We've always had excellent service and food served at the proper tempreature, with very minor exceptions (steak more medium than medium rare). I refuse to eat food that is supposed to be hot served cold. Sorry, I just can't do it.  

 

 As for the bar service, if the bartenders are not on their game with my drinks, I have no qualms in going to another bar elsewhere on the ship and enjoy my drinks there.  We're going to be on a smaller ship, Divina, so maybe that will help us.  

 

I do not know why I am not seeing more reviews of people's experience on Divina.  Most of the comments seem to be Seascape and Seashore and of course the Maragervila.  

 

Gulp. The food won’t be close to Luminae and more like two stars below.

I recognize everyone has different tastes but if you’ve had higher end cruiselines with great food (Oceania, Windstar, Azamara for us) then you will probably be disappointed BUT maybe not. Our first YC was Preziosa and their food was the worst, a British chef who seasoned nothing (even the Brits were in an uproar) and their reason was hilarious, they actually said everyone has different seasoning preferences to which I answered but shouldn’t you try to season something? One woman showed me her purse of seasonings she brings on MSC and truthfully, our next time we came onboard with our six pepper blend!

The YC experience is good but sadly food is not their forte, I hope you find differently on Divina. For us I look at it as dropping a few lbs, glass half full. 😉

[Mark_T]

2 hours ago, vtgumby said:

Gulp. The food won’t be close to Luminae and more like two stars below.

Not our experience on Divina in June this year, it was comfortably above Luminae, but we'll see how it is when next onboard in February. 

[dexddd]

2 hours ago, vtgumby said:

Gulp. The food won’t be close to Luminae and more like two stars below.

I recognize everyone has different tastes but if you’ve had higher end cruiselines with great food (Oceania, Windstar, Azamara for us) then you will probably be disappointed BUT maybe not. Our first YC was Preziosa and their food was the worst, a British chef who seasoned nothing (even the Brits were in an uproar) and their reason was hilarious, they actually said everyone has different seasoning preferences to which I answered but shouldn’t you try to season something? One woman showed me her purse of seasonings she brings on MSC and truthfully, our next time we came onboard with our six pepper blend!

The YC experience is good but sadly food is not their forte, I hope you find differently on Divina. For us I look at it as dropping a few lbs, glass half full. 😉

Having sailed MSC YC five times since restart, the first four dinners were good variety and quality.  Last one, not.

 

I see from Captain John's report they had the same menu we had one night.  He's in Europe and we were US.  I wonder if they are standardizing things as what I recall they varied. I saw reference to meals being Mediterranean inspired.  Maybe some other area needs to inspire meals out of US.

 

I also noticed our fridges had same contents.  That also varied with Europe Pepsi, US Coke in the past.  We had little glass coke bottles like Europe or Mexico.  Thought that was odd. But bar had cans.  Go figure.

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 This is rather disappointing to hear as we are looking for a replacement for sailing in the Retreat on Celebrity and one of the things we really like is Luminae.  We've always had excellent service and food served at the proper tempreature, with very minor exceptions (steak more medium than medium rare). I refuse to eat food that is supposed to be hot served cold. Sorry, I just can't do it.  

 

 As for the bar service, if the bartenders are not on their game with my drinks, I have no qualms in going to another bar elsewhere on the ship and enjoy my drinks there.  We're going to be on a smaller ship, Divina, so maybe that will help us.  

 

I do not know why I am not seeing more reviews of people's experience on Divina.  Most of the comments seem to be Seascape and Seashore and of course the Maragervila.  

 

Right, Divina not around US.  Our first sailing with MSC was Divinia.  We have sailed twice but last was February 2022.  All was good.  Since first class with YC there are some things they corrected.  Biggest gripe was no shade.  They added a few umbrellas by pool.  Walk to Le Muse.  Not issue for us.  We just walked down to first passenger floor, go aft, pop up to restaurant.

 

Both times had a great time.  Arthur was also on both sailings which only helps.