Have you sailed on MSC before and have tips for future cruisers? Feel free to share them in the comments! If you haven't sailed with MSC yet are you considering giving this cruise line a try? Thanks so much for watching!
Being newish to the American market, the expectation should be average and improvements. It'll take time for them to understand the tastes guests are looking for.
Hi Jamie and Skylar! Thank you for sharing all this information. My first cruise ever will be the MSC Seashore and your videos are very helpful to make some important decisions and avoid any unpleasant surprises. I’m founding the drink packages descriptions in the app super confusing, do you happen to know if bottled water/mineral water is included in the non alcoholic package?
One thing I like about MSC is that it isn't a line that is set in its ways they change the menus based on reviews. Every time I have sailed MSC they have gotten a little bit better. MSC knows we have many choices in cruising and with MSC you can be assured you've chosen .....the cheapest. I've gotten a lot less and paid more on Royal and Carnival and will continue sailing MSC for the value alone.
That's a great point, Griffin. We have noticed some changes since we started sailing with them a couple of years back, which for the most part, have been quite positive. From our experience we agree that they offer the best bang for your buck when it comes to the lower priced cruise options. It seems like if you want a comparable price on another cruise line, you're usually sailing on a 20 year old ship.
I've seen so many mixed reviews on the food on MSC which did make me a bit nervous, it was really refreshing to see your balanced take on it. Excellent tip about passing up the standard American fare and trying new things on the buffet! Looking forward to sampling a variety of different foods on our upcoming cruise on the Seashore (and getting some of that delicious pizza of course!) Love that they have a fancy coffee machine in the buffet area as well. Thanks for another awesome video, guys!
Yes, definitely lots of mixed reviews out their. Honestly, our experience on MSC ships has been mixed as well, but we're always able to find something we like. This most recent experience was definitely more hit than miss though, and we're hopeful that improvements are being made across all of the ships! And yeah, we were really impressed by the inclusion of the fancy coffee machines in the main buffets as well!
Hey Guys. Just found you having just booked our first MSC cruise on the Yacht Club - having been loyal to Royal. Love your content! Can’t wait for our cruise on the Seashore.
Hello Jeff! We're so glad you discovered our channel, and we really hope our MSC content helps you to make the most of your cruise in the Yacht Club. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Thank you for making this video Im taking my first cruise in July on the Seashore. I am so nervous and worried because I am in a wheelchair. You have made me feel so much more comfortable. Cant wait to read all of the comments and get more great advice .
We're so happy that our videos have helped calm your worries about your upcoming cruise on the Seashore! It's a wonderful ship and we really hope that you have an amazing experience!
Great job with this video. We have enjoyed several of your tour videos!!! Keep up the good work. We are taking our first MSC cruise on April 28 on the Seashore.
we are booked on seashore in 4 months....it's nice to see your comments and ideas on MSC. It seems to be hit or miss on the food, from all the youtube blogs, I can't wait to try some of the buffet items you guys were eating....they looked soooo good.
That's exciting to hear about your upcoming cruise on the Seashore, Dennis! The food definitely is hit or miss, but this last cruise was more hit than miss for sure! If you like pizza, pasta, and breads, you should always be able to find something you like. I often times find their meats to not be the best, but this time around we had some amazing meatballs from the buffet, and their breaded shrimp is also always really good. Oh and the prime rib in the dining room is consistently amazing!
We have always heard that MSC food was the worst part of their cruises. It has always made us hesitant to take a cruise with them. We have 4 Carnival cruises booked over the next 15 months. We are so excited to go!!! Great food video guys!
Thanks, guys. It's been a long time since we've sailed on Carnival, but we've been thinking about sailing with them again this year, along with a few other cruise lines. 4 cruises in 15 months sounds great. Yeah, we were a little concerned about the food when we booked our first MSC Cruise, but pretty quickly learned what they do well (primarily pizza, pasta, breads) once we got on board. While we're more than happy eating like an Italian for a week, on this most recent cruise we actually found quite a bit of their non-Italian options to be very good as well. Like we said in the video, we're not sure if this ship just had a better head chef, or if the quality of food on MSC is improving over all. As some people have pointed out, they are still relatively new to the American market, so they are probably still adjusting their food to satisfy the tastes of the typical American.
@@Explorcation very good points! Could be the adjustment period. Safe travels! Come see our videos when you can. Lots of NH content you guys would like! Hope to see you in St. Pete or Orlando someday.
Just a note on the included juice machines, MSC is EXTREMELY INCONSISTENT from ship to ship and from week to week when it comes to how many of the machines are actually working, which flavors they have in the machines, and if they provide alternatives to the machines when they're down. On my last MSC cruise (Meraviglia, January 4-15), there were days when all the machines were on and working perfectly, days when every single one of them that I tried produced watery juice, days when all but one of the flavors was broken, and days when most of the machines were totally off but they provided cartons of orange juice you could serve yourself from. So yeah, I agree the selection of included juices in the buffet is pretty good when everything works right, but they do not keep everything working right all the time. You can find lots of accounts online of similar experiences to mine. Overall, not serious enough of a problem to really influence my choice of line, but if you go on an MSC ship expecting lots of tasty included juices in the buffet all the time there is a good chance you'll be rather disappointed.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. We did find a couple times on our cruise when one of the juice machines was down, but we were always just able to walk a little ways to the next one, since there are several on each ship. It sounds like the situation with the machines on our cruise may have been better than most though!
Thank you so much for the kind comment, Lateysha! We're really happy you discovered our channel and hope you have a great time cruising with MSC when you get a cruise booked!
Thanks for laying all the food options clearly and the extra tips! I have a 7-night cruise coming up later this year on the Seashore and it will be our first MSC cruise. Me and my mom were both able to get our own interior rooms because they are so cheap so I'm hoping we like them 🤞. I'm a bit worried about variety of food/there will be a lot of repetition with it being a somewhat longer cruise but I also love Italian food so as long as the pasta, pizza, bread, and soft server/gelato are good then I'll be happy. Super surprised to see that cappuccino/latte machine in the buffet, I don't drink coffee but I've heard so much about it on this line that I might have to splurge on some. I'll definitely add that steakhouse to my list of cruise ship restaurants to try.
That's so great that both you and your mom will be able to have your own rooms on the Seashore together. It's a beautiful ship, and we were quite satisfied with the food options. While we can't say that we enjoyed everything we tried, we really did enjoy most of it. And if you like pasta, pizza, breads, and soft serve ice cream, we don't think you'll have any trouble finding food options you enjoy at all! And yeah, why not try the fancy coffee when it's free!
I’m going on the seashore tomorrow for 8 days! I’m excited for the food, but since I’ve had weight loss surgery, it’s not going to be my number 1 priority since after five bites I’m done eating 😅 however, my dad sailed with MSC seashore before and his only complaint was the red meat. He said everything else was wonderful but the red meat dishes were sub par to him. Here’s hoping this time around is better for him. Can’t wait!
Regarding the red meat, we've found the prime rib on MSC is consistently good, but other than that it's not too great. Our recommendation on MSC is always to focus on the pizza, pasta, breads, and cheeses as that's what we find they do best. We hope you have a great cruise!
I think I need to book an MSC cruise. I've heard a lot of bad reviews and just saw the Cruise With Ben and David controversy, but I think I'd like to try it myself. Everything you shared in this video seemed pretty good to me! And as non-picky eaters, we can usually find something to eat no matter where we go.
Yeah we know a lot of people that are pretty picky eaters and do much outside of typical American food. We can definitely see how those people would rate MSC food poorly. And while the Seashore was the first ship where' we'd say the buffet food was consistently good, we still had no problem finding several good items on the other ships' buffets. I'd say the service in the main dining room still has a way to go to catch up with some of the other cruise lines... but also they are a European based ship and from what we understand service in European countries is not expected to be as good as in the US and Canada. We'll definitely be interested to see what you guys think of MSC when you do decide to give it a try!
I ignored Cruise with Ben and David because they say bad things about many ships on MSC and NCL. I like NCL. I just hide their channel. I heard that many other people like NCL. Some people like MSC and some not. One thing I don't like solo studio on MSC. I saw it on video from someone. I like Solo studio on NCL. I don't know about other cruise lines.
@trainsandships we really like NCL as well. We recently filmed a tour on the NCL Getaway and @TheAverageTourist just filmed on on the Norwegian Epic. Both are great ships!
I also did not like Ben and David after that scuffle with MSC. I was ok with them until that video came out. They sounded so entitled and annoying. They repeatedly ask them not to film the people in Yatch Club. They did not want to comply and made such a big deal out of it. I started hiding their vids as well. Such annoying brats!
I'm loving your msc videos! Is it allowed to bring your free tea from the buffet to the main dining room? I'm cruising with them in December and I'm thinking whether or not to buy the drinking package as i dont even drink alcohol 🤔
I have taken two cruises with MSC, one was on the Seashore and the other was on the Meraviglia, and at no time did I ever see a self-serve complimentary cappuccino machine in the Marketplace Buffet on either cruise. When it came to dinner in the main dining room assigned to me it was awful. The food in the Marketplace was much better. I ordered the prime rib, and it did not look like what you are showing. I asked for rare, and it came well done, twice! It came as two thin slices of what looked like a NY strip. Yes, their version of a loaded baked potato was not only three bites small, but the loaded part was about a half teaspoon of sour cream(?) and nothing else. Now I come from a restaurant background, so I am remarkably familiar with food. Though I will agree, their pizza was the bomb! Much better than Domino's or Papa John's. I only ate in the dining room one night and for the rest of the cruise, I ate at the Marketplace Buffet. On the second cruise, I never set foot into the dining room during the whole 12 days. You show hot sauce on the table, are you sure you were on the Seashore? Each table only had salt, pepper, and an assortment of sugar. Most of the time they didn't even have hot sauce on the buffet counter. Overall, when it comes to the food, I give the dining room a 6/10 and the buffet 9/10, especially the pizza.
We had hard quite a few reviews of MSC which were similar to yours, which is why it took us a while to finally cruise with them. We're really glad we finally decided to sail with them. Overall we still wouldn't rate their food the best and it does vary a little from ship to ship. But for the price you can get these cruises for, we found the food to exceed our expectations. If we would have had your experience with the Prime Rib on night 1, we probably would have been in the buffet eating the pizza each night after that too. We're honestly not sure if each MSC ship we sailed on has the latte machine or not, as we really only looked for it on the one cruise that we didn't have a drink package. We'll likely be cruising on other MSC ships in the near future (likely without a drink package) and we really hope that they have those machines. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to share your experiences!
We just might have to do a comparison one of these days! As far as our favorite amongst those three.... Seashore gets a slight edge over Seascape just because we thought the buffet food was a bit better, but the two ships are nearly identical. We did really like that the Seaside had a second main buffet and also thought the Chef's Court restaurants were the best looking on that ship. We also really liked the zipline on the Seaside... so But the Seascape/Seashore have the infinity hottubs on the sides of the ship that we love. Overall it's a really tough call, and I'd probably just pick based on price and itinerary.
I like a drink or two occasionally, but could never drink enough to make a drink package worth the price. Plus, my husband doesn't drink at all. The eggs are usually liquid eggs from a container. It's real egg, just saves the cooks from cracking countless eggs and possibly getting shell pieces in stuff. There may be a preservative added. I'm almost sold on booking on the Seashore. 😊 The food looks better than the Carnival cruise we were on last month. Which was really only disappointing in the buffet. But MSC looks like there is more variety. Thanks for another standout review!
Yeah, it would be hard to justify purchasing a drink package if only one person is going to use it. The times we've gotten it it has usually been baked into the price of the cruise and is much less expensive than if you were to buy it separately. Our last few cruises though we have gone without the drink package and we've survived just fine! We agree that Carnival's buffet leaves a lot to be desired, although we did really like the made-to order burger and taco options. We enjoyed Carnival's made to order pizza too, although not as much as MSC. We would agree that the MSC buffet experience is quite a bit better, although not on the level of Celebrity.
Hi I am going this May with my adult children and grandchildren. I was wondering do they have gluten free options ? Living in America, I have become reactive to gluten because of the round up.
Yeah we were a little disappointed to see no cappuccinos on the buffet on our last MSC Cruise too. I'm not sure if they did away with them on all of the ships, or if just certain ships have them.
Hi, Thanks for show on this video and other MSC video. Did you like MSC ships? Did you say that food was not good? I heard from other people that MSC food were not good. I never seen MSC in person before. I know they were new to USA. What cruise line did you go on before? HAL and Princess? I am thinking about going on NCL as solo cruiser. I went on HAL's Maasdam in 2003. I don't know if I will come back to HAL. I know they have few solo cabin and no solo lounge. I saw bad video of studio on MSC. I would not go there.
Our pleasure... thank you for watching. Actually Princess and HAL are two of the cruise lines that we haven't cruised on... but we have cruised on MSC, Norwegian, Royal, Carnival, and Celebrity. We'll probably give Holland and Princess a try over the next couple of years. Overall we thought the food on our most recent MSC ship was quite good, although the traditional American-type food items still are not great.
Hi, I have a dairy allergy (milk, cheese, butter…. Anything made from milk 🥛) I am a vegetarian as well, but will eat seafood when I have to. Looks like everything had dairy. Is that just because yall like dairy a lot or because there wouldn’t be non dairy options?
We do like dairy quite a bit, and did not do a good job of checking to see what vegetarian/vegan options there were. Unfortunately we can't remember what was available. :(
On most of our MSC cruises the complementary drink options in the buffet include water, milk, teas, and flavored fruit (juice-like) fruit drinks. They also have good complementary coffee.
My husband and I have our first MSC cruise in two weeks on the Meravigla in the yatch club. I’ve heard great things about the yatch club and the food but the in room breakfast is reportedly not that great.
Yes, Yacht Club overall is great but the room service breakfast is definitely not one its best features. We'd recommend either the dining room or the buffet for breakfast (we usually opted for the buffet).
Are there burgers on the ship? If you tried them were they good? My husband is obsessed with Guys Burgers from Carnival but I wanted to try a different cruise line.
They do have burgers on the buffet, but we never tried them because they just didn't look that great (especially compared to the great ones on Carnival). If you do ever get a chance to try one, let us know how they are!
Hello, we have a trip coming up on MSC seashore in 30 days and this is our 1st time ever going on a cruise, and we are both not super alcoholic, maybe one drink a day or 2, can we just purchase the drinks separately on the ship or we have to have one of the drink packages? What do you recommend? Btw the video was awesome thank you.
Thank you so much for watching, we hope you have an amazing time on the Seashore! You are able to purchase drinks individually vs buying a drink package. You will want to make sure you connect a credit card to your account in order to do this. You can set this up in advance, or at kiosks on the ship. Also, be sure to check your account from time to time to ensure all charges are accurate.
You can bring a water bottle in the airport and onto the private island. You'll just need to make sure the bottle is empty when you go through security at the airport to access your gate.
We're so glad you discovered our channel and hope our MSC content helps you to make the most of your December cruise! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
It was only a 3 day cruise and as busy as we stayed filming, we honestly don't have a lot of time to drink/relax anyway. We still did enjoy a few drinks one day which cost us a small fraction of what getting the drink package for all 3 days would have cost. All that said, if we were going on a cruise just for fun, we'd definitely be getting the drink package.
I only skimmed through the videos but I am hoping that they have fresh fruit at breakfast, and salad bars for lunch and dinner on the buffet as long as they have that I am fine.
Restaurant costs varies by the package you get. We booked a package to eat at two different restaurants prior to our cruise which does make it less expensive than if you were to just go eat at one specialty restaurant only.
There's a little slot machine room next to the Sports Bar where smoking is allowed that was very smoky. Also there were a couple outdoor areas that were designated for smoking, but there was always a good breeze moving through there so it never bothered us much walking through. Other than that, we don't recall any areas being smoky at all.
There are so many Disney related channels out there we just never really felt like there was much need for more Orlando content, but maybe a few non-Disney Orlando episodes could fill a void. Might be fun to make too!
You guys mentioned that because you don't have the drink package you don't get free drinks...nothing on a cruise is free, you pay for everything. But a very good video thanks for the info.
The fact that you've already paid for the package weeks prior and that the cost remains the same regardless of how many drinks you have makes it feel free, but you are right... technically not free. Thanks for watching!
We sailed the Seashore March 3rd through 10th. The buffet was madness at typical mealtimes. We would do loops, just looking for somewhere to sit. And, we witnessed people getting upset with folks who would dip in to gaps in the line, even just to grab something very quickly. I think the buffet foods were actually a bit better than the main dining room. The only thing in the MDR that I really liked better than the buffet was the lamb shank (it was fantastic). It took them at least 1.5 hours to serve us in the MDR the first 3 or 4 days of the cruise. The server was constantly in "rush rush rush" mode, and apologizing for the kitchen for how long it was taking. But, we were nice...and we tipped...so we got some free glasses of wine & Prosecco (and a few separate nights!!). It pays to not be a complainer (and a tipper). ;-) ;-)
LOL yes we've definitely experienced the madness your reference on a few of our MSC cruises. Over time we've learned what parts of the buffet tend to be least busy and also what times of the day. Timing can really be everything on these cruises, especially when they are at 100% occupancy! Unfortunately the servers being in "rush rush rush" mode seems to fairly typical, but we've learned that if we're not willing to spend a couple ours at dinner to just eat at the buffet. But you are absolutely right that tipping and not being a complainer goes a long ways!
We are leaning toward an MSC cruise in October. Question: I heard that you only get one small meal in the Complimentary Dining Room and have to pay for a 2nd meal? Is this true? 🐸
We had heard the same and there was actually something on the menu stating that a second entre will cost an additional $5. That said, we tested it one night by ordering a second entre, and we never got charged the extra $5. Of course we cannot guaranty whether or not you would be. Most nights we found the portions to be fine... so much so that half the time we didn't even eat dessert. If we were still hungry after dinner, we'd just head to the buffet and get a piece of pizza.
Had two MSC cruises including the Seaside and a the Seashore in three days. The first cruise on the Meraviglia during covid was startling. ! A tuna fish and olive pizza?? A nice salad that included octopus, But on the Seaside, the morning omelets were nice and available in the back of the buffet. My cabin was like yours a rear balcony so just go down the glass elevator to the rear buffet entrance. Skipped Ocean Cay Buffet due to line but found a nice hamburger served hot from a food truck by the north beach. Also disappointed in the buffet hamburgers because while attractive are never hot. The chocolate extravaganza was amazing, but not that great tasting. Spent a lot of my extra money at the gelato bar. Did find free ice cream on the top buffet on the Seaside but only for an hour or two each night.Thanks for the buffet cappuccino tip! Got all our coffee from pots by the back door.
What? Tuna Fish and Olive Pizza? That really does sound terrible! We are glad we did not encounter than on any of our MSC cruises. No octopus on a salad I (Skylar) might actually enjoy! We're glad your Seaside experience was a lot better. Having the rear balcony right by the glass elevator was awesome. We would choose that room every time (other than the Yacht Club). Thank you for watching our video and taking the time to comment. It's always fund to hear other peoples' cruising experiences.
They should make "zoo cruises" where they build walkways and observation posts above the decks so we can fly in watch these people be animals on a boat and then leave.
This pretty much already exists. There are definitely cruisers who just sit around on the higher decks and people watch all day. It's not how we chose to spend our time on a cruise, but you do you. Thanks for watching!
Lets be honest., The included food on all four of the major main line cruise lines is the same. Not super duper great but not horrible, I would call it "ok and unremarkable" for the most part. The extra charge food on all of four of them is usually pretty good. They all do the food the same, they all buy their food from the same places and they all copy each other on process. To say one is better than the other in my opinion is not really relevant. I have been on on all of them multiple times to be able to have this opinion. All of them have their little differences, MSC is Italian so they have pretty great pizza, Carnival has Guy F's burgers ...
For the most part we've had similar experiences and can't say that the food on one cruise line is overall considerably better than another. We do think that the food we've had in Celebrity's main dining room and buffets is a step up, but they are also generally a step up in price. MSC definitely does pizza the best, but isn't great in some other areas.
It's hard to say for sure, but we can say that our most recent cruise had the best tasting food on the main buffet. We'll probably have to go on another one or two before we can really assess if the food is approving overall or if it was just better on that ship... but we're really hoping that it's improving across MSC.
Some of it may be the lighting in certain shots, but some of it may be the food actually being subpar. There were a few things we would rate in that category, all the we'd consider most to be average or above.
Always fascinated to see Americans doing films about eating on cruise ships. The left hand is for holding cutlery not keeping your hair back. I have never met an American with even the basic table manners I.e. don’t speak with your mouth full. Also the amount of food they load onto a plate they would be better off at a trough.
Dining etiquette is obviously going to vary country to country and culture to culture. To think yours is right and everyone else's is wrong seems a bit narcissistic. Many people in this world eat on the ground and with their hands, and we wouldn't judge them as having bad table manners. But I guess if judging peoples' table manners on TH-cam makes you feel good about yourself... to each his own. Thanks for watching!
Yeah, we rarely do it. Every once in a while if we're really craving a particular type of food that you can never find at dinner we'll do it, but generally speaking it's hard to justify paying extra for a meal when you already have a perfectly good meal available that's already paid for.
![25 Things Cruisers MUST Know Before Your First MSC Cruise [MSC Cruise Tips 2024]](/img/n.gif)
Have you sailed on MSC before and have tips for future cruisers? Feel free to share them in the comments!
If you haven't sailed with MSC yet are you considering giving this cruise line a try?
Thanks so much for watching!
Being newish to the American market, the expectation should be average and improvements. It'll take time for them to understand the tastes guests are looking for.
Hi Jamie and Skylar! Thank you for sharing all this information. My first cruise ever will be the MSC Seashore and your videos are very helpful to make some important decisions and avoid any unpleasant surprises. I’m founding the drink packages descriptions in the app super confusing, do you happen to know if bottled water/mineral water is included in the non alcoholic package?
This travel channel is PHENOMENAL!
Thank you, Scully. Your comments are always so encouraging and we truly appreciate them!
One thing I like about MSC is that it isn't a line that is set in its ways they change the menus based on reviews. Every time I have sailed MSC they have gotten a little bit better. MSC knows we have many choices in cruising and with MSC you can be assured you've chosen .....the cheapest. I've gotten a lot less and paid more on Royal and Carnival and will continue sailing MSC for the value alone.
That's a great point, Griffin. We have noticed some changes since we started sailing with them a couple of years back, which for the most part, have been quite positive. From our experience we agree that they offer the best bang for your buck when it comes to the lower priced cruise options. It seems like if you want a comparable price on another cruise line, you're usually sailing on a 20 year old ship.
I've seen so many mixed reviews on the food on MSC which did make me a bit nervous, it was really refreshing to see your balanced take on it. Excellent tip about passing up the standard American fare and trying new things on the buffet! Looking forward to sampling a variety of different foods on our upcoming cruise on the Seashore (and getting some of that delicious pizza of course!) Love that they have a fancy coffee machine in the buffet area as well. Thanks for another awesome video, guys!
Yes, definitely lots of mixed reviews out their. Honestly, our experience on MSC ships has been mixed as well, but we're always able to find something we like. This most recent experience was definitely more hit than miss though, and we're hopeful that improvements are being made across all of the ships! And yeah, we were really impressed by the inclusion of the fancy coffee machines in the main buffets as well!
Hey Guys. Just found you having just booked our first MSC cruise on the Yacht Club - having been loyal to Royal. Love your content! Can’t wait for our cruise on the Seashore.
Hello Jeff! We're so glad you discovered our channel, and we really hope our MSC content helps you to make the most of your cruise in the Yacht Club. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Thank you for making this video Im taking my first cruise in July on the Seashore. I am so nervous and worried because I am in a wheelchair. You have made me feel so much more comfortable. Cant wait to read all of the comments and get more great advice .
@@Rocky-hs3vg good luck!!
We're so happy that our videos have helped calm your worries about your upcoming cruise on the Seashore! It's a wonderful ship and we really hope that you have an amazing experience!
Great job with this video. We have enjoyed several of your tour videos!!! Keep up the good work. We are taking our first MSC cruise on April 28 on the Seashore.
Thank you! We're so excited to hear that you have a cruise booked on the Seashore, and we hope you have a great experience!
we are booked on seashore in 4 months....it's nice to see your comments and ideas on MSC.
It seems to be hit or miss on the food, from all the youtube blogs, I can't wait to try some of the buffet items you guys were eating....they looked soooo good.
That's exciting to hear about your upcoming cruise on the Seashore, Dennis! The food definitely is hit or miss, but this last cruise was more hit than miss for sure! If you like pizza, pasta, and breads, you should always be able to find something you like. I often times find their meats to not be the best, but this time around we had some amazing meatballs from the buffet, and their breaded shrimp is also always really good. Oh and the prime rib in the dining room is consistently amazing!
We have always heard that MSC food was the worst part of their cruises. It has always made us hesitant to take a cruise with them. We have 4 Carnival cruises booked over the next 15 months. We are so excited to go!!! Great food video guys!
Thanks, guys. It's been a long time since we've sailed on Carnival, but we've been thinking about sailing with them again this year, along with a few other cruise lines. 4 cruises in 15 months sounds great.
Yeah, we were a little concerned about the food when we booked our first MSC Cruise, but pretty quickly learned what they do well (primarily pizza, pasta, breads) once we got on board. While we're more than happy eating like an Italian for a week, on this most recent cruise we actually found quite a bit of their non-Italian options to be very good as well. Like we said in the video, we're not sure if this ship just had a better head chef, or if the quality of food on MSC is improving over all. As some people have pointed out, they are still relatively new to the American market, so they are probably still adjusting their food to satisfy the tastes of the typical American.
@@Explorcation very good points! Could be the adjustment period. Safe travels! Come see our videos when you can. Lots of NH content you guys would like! Hope to see you in St. Pete or Orlando someday.
Just a note on the included juice machines, MSC is EXTREMELY INCONSISTENT from ship to ship and from week to week when it comes to how many of the machines are actually working, which flavors they have in the machines, and if they provide alternatives to the machines when they're down. On my last MSC cruise (Meraviglia, January 4-15), there were days when all the machines were on and working perfectly, days when every single one of them that I tried produced watery juice, days when all but one of the flavors was broken, and days when most of the machines were totally off but they provided cartons of orange juice you could serve yourself from.
So yeah, I agree the selection of included juices in the buffet is pretty good when everything works right, but they do not keep everything working right all the time. You can find lots of accounts online of similar experiences to mine. Overall, not serious enough of a problem to really influence my choice of line, but if you go on an MSC ship expecting lots of tasty included juices in the buffet all the time there is a good chance you'll be rather disappointed.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. We did find a couple times on our cruise when one of the juice machines was down, but we were always just able to walk a little ways to the next one, since there are several on each ship. It sounds like the situation with the machines on our cruise may have been better than most though!
I’m new to the channel and love how you guys created content! I can’t wait to book this cruise ship 😊
Thank you so much for the kind comment, Lateysha! We're really happy you discovered our channel and hope you have a great time cruising with MSC when you get a cruise booked!
Thanks for laying all the food options clearly and the extra tips! I have a 7-night cruise coming up later this year on the Seashore and it will be our first MSC cruise. Me and my mom were both able to get our own interior rooms because they are so cheap so I'm hoping we like them 🤞. I'm a bit worried about variety of food/there will be a lot of repetition with it being a somewhat longer cruise but I also love Italian food so as long as the pasta, pizza, bread, and soft server/gelato are good then I'll be happy. Super surprised to see that cappuccino/latte machine in the buffet, I don't drink coffee but I've heard so much about it on this line that I might have to splurge on some. I'll definitely add that steakhouse to my list of cruise ship restaurants to try.
That's so great that both you and your mom will be able to have your own rooms on the Seashore together. It's a beautiful ship, and we were quite satisfied with the food options. While we can't say that we enjoyed everything we tried, we really did enjoy most of it. And if you like pasta, pizza, breads, and soft serve ice cream, we don't think you'll have any trouble finding food options you enjoy at all! And yeah, why not try the fancy coffee when it's free!
I’m going on the seashore tomorrow for 8 days! I’m excited for the food, but since I’ve had weight loss surgery, it’s not going to be my number 1 priority since after five bites I’m done eating 😅 however, my dad sailed with MSC seashore before and his only complaint was the red meat. He said everything else was wonderful but the red meat dishes were sub par to him. Here’s hoping this time around is better for him. Can’t wait!
Regarding the red meat, we've found the prime rib on MSC is consistently good, but other than that it's not too great. Our recommendation on MSC is always to focus on the pizza, pasta, breads, and cheeses as that's what we find they do best. We hope you have a great cruise!
I think I need to book an MSC cruise. I've heard a lot of bad reviews and just saw the Cruise With Ben and David controversy, but I think I'd like to try it myself. Everything you shared in this video seemed pretty good to me! And as non-picky eaters, we can usually find something to eat no matter where we go.
Yeah we know a lot of people that are pretty picky eaters and do much outside of typical American food. We can definitely see how those people would rate MSC food poorly. And while the Seashore was the first ship where' we'd say the buffet food was consistently good, we still had no problem finding several good items on the other ships' buffets. I'd say the service in the main dining room still has a way to go to catch up with some of the other cruise lines... but also they are a European based ship and from what we understand service in European countries is not expected to be as good as in the US and Canada. We'll definitely be interested to see what you guys think of MSC when you do decide to give it a try!
I ignored Cruise with Ben and David because they say bad things about many ships on MSC and NCL. I like NCL. I just hide their channel. I heard that many other people like NCL. Some people like MSC and some not. One thing I don't like solo studio on MSC. I saw it on video from someone. I like Solo studio on NCL. I don't know about other cruise lines.
@trainsandships I really like NCL, it definitely fits my cruising style.
@trainsandships we really like NCL as well. We recently filmed a tour on the NCL Getaway and @TheAverageTourist just filmed on on the Norwegian Epic. Both are great ships!
I also did not like Ben and David after that scuffle with MSC. I was ok with them until that video came out. They sounded so entitled and annoying. They repeatedly ask them not to film the people in Yatch Club. They did not want to comply and made such a big deal out of it. I started hiding their vids as well. Such annoying brats!
I'm loving your msc videos! Is it allowed to bring your free tea from the buffet to the main dining room? I'm cruising with them in December and I'm thinking whether or not to buy the drinking package as i dont even drink alcohol 🤔
We're so glad that you're enjoying them. Yes, you can bring drinks from the buffet anywhere on the ship, including the main dining room.
New subscriber here. Excellent job with all your videos! Very professional. Hope it continues and grows beyond your dreams!
Thank you so much for subscribing and for your encouraging comment 😊
I have taken two cruises with MSC, one was on the Seashore and the other was on the Meraviglia, and at no time did I ever see a self-serve complimentary cappuccino machine in the Marketplace Buffet on either cruise. When it came to dinner in the main dining room assigned to me it was awful. The food in the Marketplace was much better. I ordered the prime rib, and it did not look like what you are showing. I asked for rare, and it came well done, twice! It came as two thin slices of what looked like a NY strip. Yes, their version of a loaded baked potato was not only three bites small, but the loaded part was about a half teaspoon of sour cream(?) and nothing else. Now I come from a restaurant background, so I am remarkably familiar with food. Though I will agree, their pizza was the bomb! Much better than Domino's or Papa John's. I only ate in the dining room one night and for the rest of the cruise, I ate at the Marketplace Buffet. On the second cruise, I never set foot into the dining room during the whole 12 days. You show hot sauce on the table, are you sure you were on the Seashore? Each table only had salt, pepper, and an assortment of sugar. Most of the time they didn't even have hot sauce on the buffet counter. Overall, when it comes to the food, I give the dining room a 6/10 and the buffet 9/10, especially the pizza.
We had hard quite a few reviews of MSC which were similar to yours, which is why it took us a while to finally cruise with them. We're really glad we finally decided to sail with them. Overall we still wouldn't rate their food the best and it does vary a little from ship to ship. But for the price you can get these cruises for, we found the food to exceed our expectations. If we would have had your experience with the Prime Rib on night 1, we probably would have been in the buffet eating the pizza each night after that too. We're honestly not sure if each MSC ship we sailed on has the latte machine or not, as we really only looked for it on the one cruise that we didn't have a drink package. We'll likely be cruising on other MSC ships in the near future (likely without a drink package) and we really hope that they have those machines. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to share your experiences!
No drink package??? Wow you just keep us guessing all the time 😊 Great video as always. Can't wait for more amazing videos.
Yes, we gotta keep ya on your toes, Jilliana 😂
you guys are fun to watch and i appreciate the honest food reviews
Thank you for watching and for the feedback!
Thanks for the video! SO to clarify if you don't have a drink package you cant even buy a drink?
After sailing Seaside, Seascape & Seashore, which did you like the best & why?
Would love to see a comparison video!
We just might have to do a comparison one of these days! As far as our favorite amongst those three.... Seashore gets a slight edge over Seascape just because we thought the buffet food was a bit better, but the two ships are nearly identical. We did really like that the Seaside had a second main buffet and also thought the Chef's Court restaurants were the best looking on that ship. We also really liked the zipline on the Seaside... so But the Seascape/Seashore have the infinity hottubs on the sides of the ship that we love. Overall it's a really tough call, and I'd probably just pick based on price and itinerary.
I like a drink or two occasionally, but could never drink enough to make a drink package worth the price. Plus, my husband doesn't drink at all.
The eggs are usually liquid eggs from a container. It's real egg, just saves the cooks from cracking countless eggs and possibly getting shell pieces in stuff. There may be a preservative added.
I'm almost sold on booking on the Seashore. 😊
The food looks better than the Carnival cruise we were on last month. Which was really only disappointing in the buffet. But MSC looks like there is more variety.
Thanks for another standout review!
Yeah, it would be hard to justify purchasing a drink package if only one person is going to use it. The times we've gotten it it has usually been baked into the price of the cruise and is much less expensive than if you were to buy it separately. Our last few cruises though we have gone without the drink package and we've survived just fine! We agree that Carnival's buffet leaves a lot to be desired, although we did really like the made-to order burger and taco options. We enjoyed Carnival's made to order pizza too, although not as much as MSC. We would agree that the MSC buffet experience is quite a bit better, although not on the level of Celebrity.
Hi I am going this May with my adult children and grandchildren. I was wondering do they have gluten free options ? Living in America, I have become reactive to gluten because of the round up.
Hello, Donna. Yes, from our experience, MSC does offer a pretty good variety of gluten free options on most of their ships!
Sailing on MSCSeashore on Aug 1st with my grandsons!!
We hope you have a wonderful cruise :)
Still not sold on the whole cruise thing but love watching for your input and experiences.
One of these days we are gonna sell ya, Gene!
@@Explorcation... I'll keep watching with an open mind.
I was excited to see how the cappuccino machines work on the buffet. They looked really good. We just got off the ship and they were not on for us. 😢
Yeah we were a little disappointed to see no cappuccinos on the buffet on our last MSC Cruise too. I'm not sure if they did away with them on all of the ships, or if just certain ships have them.
The machines were all there. At Evey coffee station, they just were not on. Lol
Hi, Thanks for show on this video and other MSC video. Did you like MSC ships? Did you say that food was not good? I heard from other people that MSC food were not good. I never seen MSC in person before. I know they were new to USA. What cruise line did you go on before? HAL and Princess? I am thinking about going on NCL as solo cruiser. I went on HAL's Maasdam in 2003. I don't know if I will come back to HAL. I know they have few solo cabin and no solo lounge. I saw bad video of studio on MSC. I would not go there.
Our pleasure... thank you for watching. Actually Princess and HAL are two of the cruise lines that we haven't cruised on... but we have cruised on MSC, Norwegian, Royal, Carnival, and Celebrity. We'll probably give Holland and Princess a try over the next couple of years. Overall we thought the food on our most recent MSC ship was quite good, although the traditional American-type food items still are not great.
I definitely have to take a cruise with them sometime.
Explorcation cruise 2024 let's make it happen 😆
Do you plan to try the two older/smaller ships Magnifica & Divina?
Yeah, I'm sure we'll get on both of the sooner or later!
Hi, I have a dairy allergy (milk, cheese, butter…. Anything made from milk 🥛) I am a vegetarian as well, but will eat seafood when I have to. Looks like everything had dairy. Is that just because yall like dairy a lot or because there wouldn’t be non dairy options?
We do like dairy quite a bit, and did not do a good job of checking to see what vegetarian/vegan options there were. Unfortunately we can't remember what was available. :(
sailing in a week. contemplating on the drink package..... what do they have in the buffet other then water i can fill in my bottle?
On most of our MSC cruises the complementary drink options in the buffet include water, milk, teas, and flavored fruit (juice-like) fruit drinks. They also have good complementary coffee.
My husband and I have our first MSC cruise in two weeks on the Meravigla in the yatch club. I’ve heard great things about the yatch club and the food but the in room breakfast is reportedly not that great.
Yes, Yacht Club overall is great but the room service breakfast is definitely not one its best features. We'd recommend either the dining room or the buffet for breakfast (we usually opted for the buffet).
Are there burgers on the ship? If you tried them were they good? My husband is obsessed with Guys Burgers from Carnival but I wanted to try a different cruise line.
They do have burgers on the buffet, but we never tried them because they just didn't look that great (especially compared to the great ones on Carnival). If you do ever get a chance to try one, let us know how they are!
Cruising with MSC for the first time in 2 weeks on Meraviglia and our upgrade bid was accepted for Yacht Club. Can't wait!!
Woohoo that is awesome! You guys are gonna love it. Congrats!
@@johnprice582 what’s an upgrade bid?
Are there sugar free options and a fresh salad bar with raw veggies and fruit
From what we remembered the salad bar was pretty good and quite fresh. We don't recall if there were any sugar free options though.
Hello, we have a trip coming up on MSC seashore in 30 days and this is our 1st time ever going on a cruise, and we are both not super alcoholic, maybe one drink a day or 2, can we just purchase the drinks separately on the ship or we have to have one of the drink packages? What do you recommend? Btw the video was awesome thank you.
Thank you so much for watching, we hope you have an amazing time on the Seashore! You are able to purchase drinks individually vs buying a drink package. You will want to make sure you connect a credit card to your account in order to do this. You can set this up in advance, or at kiosks on the ship. Also, be sure to check your account from time to time to ensure all charges are accurate.
can I travel with the watter bottle on the airport and on the private island? is my first time traveling
You can bring a water bottle in the airport and onto the private island. You'll just need to make sure the bottle is empty when you go through security at the airport to access your gate.
How many times have you guys been to that MSC island now?
I think this was our fifth. We should be getting pretty close to gaining citizenship by now 😂
I just found y’alls channel and I love your videos! They’re really well done and make me excited to go on my first cruise this December!
We're so glad you discovered our channel and hope our MSC content helps you to make the most of your December cruise! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
Do you have to pay extra for the speciality dinner?
what time of the year did you go
How did you guys not get any kind of drink package?
It was only a 3 day cruise and as busy as we stayed filming, we honestly don't have a lot of time to drink/relax anyway. We still did enjoy a few drinks one day which cost us a small fraction of what getting the drink package for all 3 days would have cost. All that said, if we were going on a cruise just for fun, we'd definitely be getting the drink package.
Excellent video!
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
I only skimmed through the videos but I am hoping that they have fresh fruit at breakfast, and salad bars for lunch and dinner on the buffet as long as they have that I am fine.
Thanks for watching, Sue. They definitely have both of those things on our cruise, so you should be fine.
18:20 amazing part how much is this restaurant? you aate like 5 plate
Restaurant costs varies by the package you get. We booked a package to eat at two different restaurants prior to our cruise which does make it less expensive than if you were to just go eat at one specialty restaurant only.
Which msc ship was this? Was it the merageravelia?
This was filmed on the Seashore. Thanks for watching!
Have you sailed on MSC before and have tips for future cruisers? Feel free to share them in the comments! Thanks so much for watching!
Your mini fridge was empty - do they empty it for you?
It was empty when we got into the room, but from what we recall this isn't always the case.
How was the service on the cruise and the level of smokiness?
There's a little slot machine room next to the Sports Bar where smoking is allowed that was very smoky. Also there were a couple outdoor areas that were designated for smoking, but there was always a good breeze moving through there so it never bothered us much walking through. Other than that, we don't recall any areas being smoky at all.
@@Explorcation Thank you!
When are you going to do some adult review of Orlando (not Disney)
There are so many Disney related channels out there we just never really felt like there was much need for more Orlando content, but maybe a few non-Disney Orlando episodes could fill a void. Might be fun to make too!
You guys mentioned that because you don't have the drink package you don't get free drinks...nothing on a cruise is free, you pay for everything. But a very good video thanks for the info.
The fact that you've already paid for the package weeks prior and that the cost remains the same regardless of how many drinks you have makes it feel free, but you are right... technically not free. Thanks for watching!
We sailed the Seashore March 3rd through 10th. The buffet was madness at typical mealtimes. We would do loops, just looking for somewhere to sit. And, we witnessed people getting upset with folks who would dip in to gaps in the line, even just to grab something very quickly. I think the buffet foods were actually a bit better than the main dining room. The only thing in the MDR that I really liked better than the buffet was the lamb shank (it was fantastic). It took them at least 1.5 hours to serve us in the MDR the first 3 or 4 days of the cruise. The server was constantly in "rush rush rush" mode, and apologizing for the kitchen for how long it was taking. But, we were nice...and we tipped...so we got some free glasses of wine & Prosecco (and a few separate nights!!). It pays to not be a complainer (and a tipper). ;-) ;-)
LOL yes we've definitely experienced the madness your reference on a few of our MSC cruises. Over time we've learned what parts of the buffet tend to be least busy and also what times of the day. Timing can really be everything on these cruises, especially when they are at 100% occupancy! Unfortunately the servers being in "rush rush rush" mode seems to fairly typical, but we've learned that if we're not willing to spend a couple ours at dinner to just eat at the buffet. But you are absolutely right that tipping and not being a complainer goes a long ways!
We are leaning toward an MSC cruise in October. Question: I heard that you only get one small meal in the Complimentary Dining Room and have to pay for a 2nd meal? Is this true? 🐸
We had heard the same and there was actually something on the menu stating that a second entre will cost an additional $5. That said, we tested it one night by ordering a second entre, and we never got charged the extra $5. Of course we cannot guaranty whether or not you would be. Most nights we found the portions to be fine... so much so that half the time we didn't even eat dessert. If we were still hungry after dinner, we'd just head to the buffet and get a piece of pizza.
Had two MSC cruises including the Seaside and a the Seashore in three days. The first cruise on the Meraviglia during covid was startling. ! A tuna fish and olive pizza?? A nice salad that included octopus, But on the Seaside, the morning omelets were nice and available in the back of the buffet. My cabin was like yours a rear balcony so just go down the glass elevator to the rear buffet entrance. Skipped Ocean Cay Buffet due to line but found a nice hamburger served hot from a food truck by the north beach. Also disappointed in the buffet hamburgers because while attractive are never hot. The chocolate extravaganza was amazing, but not that great tasting. Spent a lot of my extra money at the gelato bar. Did find free ice cream on the top buffet on the Seaside but only for an hour or two each night.Thanks for the buffet cappuccino tip! Got all our coffee from pots by the back door.
What? Tuna Fish and Olive Pizza? That really does sound terrible! We are glad we did not encounter than on any of our MSC cruises. No octopus on a salad I (Skylar) might actually enjoy! We're glad your Seaside experience was a lot better. Having the rear balcony right by the glass elevator was awesome. We would choose that room every time (other than the Yacht Club). Thank you for watching our video and taking the time to comment. It's always fund to hear other peoples' cruising experiences.
Which cruise ship is this of MSC?
MSC Seashore. Thanks for watching!
you really can fill up everytime and they wont get mad?
That's correct. You can keep going back for more!
They should make "zoo cruises" where they build walkways and observation posts above the decks so we can fly in watch these people be animals on a boat and then leave.
This pretty much already exists. There are definitely cruisers who just sit around on the higher decks and people watch all day. It's not how we chose to spend our time on a cruise, but you do you. Thanks for watching!
Lets be honest., The included food on all four of the major main line cruise lines is the same. Not super duper great but not horrible, I would call it "ok and unremarkable" for the most part. The extra charge food on all of four of them is usually pretty good. They all do the food the same, they all buy their food from the same places and they all copy each other on process. To say one is better than the other in my opinion is not really relevant. I have been on on all of them multiple times to be able to have this opinion. All of them have their little differences, MSC is Italian so they have pretty great pizza, Carnival has Guy F's burgers ...
For the most part we've had similar experiences and can't say that the food on one cruise line is overall considerably better than another. We do think that the food we've had in Celebrity's main dining room and buffets is a step up, but they are also generally a step up in price. MSC definitely does pizza the best, but isn't great in some other areas.
Have you felt like MSC has stepped up their food over the past year?
It's hard to say for sure, but we can say that our most recent cruise had the best tasting food on the main buffet. We'll probably have to go on another one or two before we can really assess if the food is approving overall or if it was just better on that ship... but we're really hoping that it's improving across MSC.
Pizza with cappuccino, seriously? 🙂
Absolutely!
Maybe that's the issue with MSC food that they don't do a great job with the standards and unadventurous eaters aren't willing to try anything new.
I think there's some truth to that. It's definitely not the best food for picky American eaters.
😢 Promo-SM
Food looks subpar to me 🤷♂️
Some of it may be the lighting in certain shots, but some of it may be the food actually being subpar. There were a few things we would rate in that category, all the we'd consider most to be average or above.
MSc seashore was 6000 people full. That was the biggest con. All third world crew doesn't help.
Yeah 6,000 people can feel a bit crowded regardless of how big the ship is!
Always fascinated to see Americans doing films about eating on cruise ships. The left hand is for holding cutlery not keeping your hair back. I have never met an American with even the basic table manners I.e. don’t speak with your mouth full. Also the amount of food they load onto a plate they would be better off at a trough.
Dining etiquette is obviously going to vary country to country and culture to culture. To think yours is right and everyone else's is wrong seems a bit narcissistic. Many people in this world eat on the ground and with their hands, and we wouldn't judge them as having bad table manners. But I guess if judging peoples' table manners on TH-cam makes you feel good about yourself... to each his own. Thanks for watching!
Wow I really like your channel!
Thank you so much for this kind comment!! We really appreciate it!
Why would you go to a specialty restaurant and pay extra??
Yeah, we rarely do it. Every once in a while if we're really craving a particular type of food that you can never find at dinner we'll do it, but generally speaking it's hard to justify paying extra for a meal when you already have a perfectly good meal available that's already paid for.
Have you sailed on MSC before and have tips for future cruisers? Feel free to share them in the comments! Thanks so much for watching!