Looking to try MSC have questions

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, windlicht said:

Where were you staying again? The Yacht Club? 😉

On sea days we spend all of our time on the Yacht Club's sun deck.  But when the ship is in port, we will sometimes use the loungers in the shady area near the main pool.  We also like to go into the regular lido buffet (in port days) and grab some of their pizza :).  The Yacht Club restaurant and buffets do not have pizza.

 

In case you are wondering why anyone would stay aboard while in port, we often just stay on the ship.  We only do MSC in the Caribbean, and most of the Caribbean ports hold little interest since we have been going to that area for about 50 years.  When most folks are ashore, we think the ship is often the best destination :).

 

Hank

[Pizzasteve]

On 11/19/2023 at 12:47 PM, Jeal said:

Homosassa - I agree with you about enjoying the Italian culture and international passengers. This is what made us MSC fans.
Many items at the buffet change everyday especially the cheese and cold cut offerings and the desserts. I love the food but I eat a more Mediterranean diet even though I am an American. 

Agree about passengers.

 

We did not find the 3 cheeses offered at the buffet line to change even once during a 2 week Magnifica transatlantic.

 

We found the food choices pretty poor and other than the good pizza, not very Mediterranean at all.  It seemed though that we have a brand new kitchen staff because many items in main and buffet were miss cooked, including most pastas way over cooked and the risotto resembling paella more than anything Italian.

 

Very lively activities and fine service staff though.  Don’t bother with an aurea upgrade. It doesn’t offer much for the price, unless ship is overcrowded full.  I would check ship load and book if not full, knowing the food will be below average.

 

Wine list and prices were pretty good.  Can recommend the Sardinian red and Vermentino on the list for about 30-35 euro.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Pizzasteve

[Hlitner]

8 minutes ago, Pizzasteve said:

Agree about passengers.

 

We did not find the 3 cheeses offered at the buffet line to change even once during a 2 week Magnifica transatlantic.

 

We found the food choices pretty poor and other than the good pizza, not very Mediterranean at all.  It seemed though that we have a brand new kitchen staff because many items in main and buffet were miss cooked, including most pastas way over cooked and the risotto resembling paella more than anything Italian.

 

Very lively activities and fine service staff though.  Don’t bother with an aurea upgrade. It doesn’t offer much for the price, unless ship is overcrowded full.  I would check ship load and book if not full, knowing the food will be below average.

 

Wine list and prices were pretty good.  Can recommend the Sardinian red and Vermentino on the list for about 30-35 euro.

The dirty secret about MSC is that the food/cuisine is nothing special.  Other than the pizza, there is no cuisine on their ships that we would buy on land!  MSC food fits into what I call "mass market cruise ship food" which is certainly adequate, but nothing special.  In the Yacht Club, the dedicated restaurant is certainly of higher quality than the other ship venues, but still not up to the quality we find on luxury lines (Seabourn, Explora Journeys, etc).  On the other hand, there are luxury lines where the cost per passenger day (in a basic suite) is over $1000 a passenger day (about 2 1/2 times the cost of the yacht club) and the food on those lines is far superior.  The reality of cruising is that you are seldom going to get 5* gourmet cuisine on ships that only charge a few hundred dollars per person day.  Just go out and shop for prime beef, Maine lobster, caviar, etc. and you will quickly realize there is not reasonable way a mass market ship can provide that kind of food.  

 

Hank

[1kaper]

16 minutes ago, Pizzasteve said:

Agree about passengers.

 

We did not find the 3 cheeses offered at the buffet line to change even once during a 2 week Magnifica transatlantic.

 

We found the food choices pretty poor and other than the good pizza, not very Mediterranean at all.  It seemed though that we have a brand new kitchen staff because many items in main and buffet were miss cooked, including most pastas way over cooked and the risotto resembling paella more than anything Italian.

 

Very lively activities and fine service staff though.  Don’t bother with an aurea upgrade. It doesn’t offer much for the price, unless ship is overcrowded full.  I would check ship load and book if not full, knowing the food will be below average.

 

Wine list and prices were pretty good.  Can recommend the Sardinian red and Vermentino on the list for about 30-35 euro.

 

I just got back from my 3rd MSC trip.   The first two I loved the buffet food.  
This trip - it felt like we had the same things at the buffet for lunch and supper everyday.  My husband felt the same way.  

The only thing consistent about MSC is the inconsistency. 

[Nunagoras]

On 11/19/2023 at 4:10 PM, cflips7 said:

We have cruised many times before and looking to try MSC Seashore have some questions. What are the hours of the buffet (any late night hours) since they do not have any other food choices except dining room and specialty restaurants. - Basically 20 hours a day, even though only some stations are actually open that long. Pizza from mid day to late in night, possible little late night snacks, but nothing to write home about.

My wife saw somewhere that there are charges to get in some shows is this true? - Yes, but only for the Meraviglia class ships, where there is a circus show that is a pay for with a drink. All other shows fleet wide are included on your base fare.

Does the buffet change every day or is it the same? - It partially changes by the day. Before taking your food, carefully watch all the offerings round the buffet so you have an idea of what is there. Usually on the back part they have an ethnic section that changes daily. On European sailings, dinner buffet used to be by design poorer than on competition lines, once generally once on holidays, Europeans like to enjoy a table served meal.

How late are the bars open at night. - It depends on your actual sailing's demographics that nobody can actually to predict. On my European experience I'd say that most bars would close nearly at midnight, casino and the adult disco bar later at 2 in the morning or so and the atrium bar has a 24 hours a day section.