Going on an MSC Cruise and wondering what the food might be like? This post goes into detail about everything I ate while on Seaside for 7 nights to give you glimpse into MSC cruise food.
What is offered on an MSC cruise might vary based on what part of the world you are cruising from and will change from time to time.
I took this cruise from Port Canaveral, FL in the US.
If you’re reading this you are most likely considering taking your first MSC cruise and are wanting to know what types of food they offer.
This post will show everything I chose for breakfast, lunch and dinner on my 7 night cruise giving you a good look into what you could expect on your cruise. It will also help you see a few items you can put on your “must try” list and a few you’ll want to avoid.
This post is all about MSC cruise food.
Another post you might be interested in reading after this one:
Cruise food is highly subjective. What one person loves, another may hate.
I do want to state at the beginning of this post that when I think something is really good on a cruise, I’m not comparing it to the best meal I’ve ever had nor do I expect that on a cruise when it comes to their included food.
I do think there are a lot of standouts you can find on a cruise that are delicious. However, most of the food is just average and nothing to write home about in my opinion but it is still good and gets the job done.
When going on a cruise I would adjust your expectations on the quality of food compared to the price you paid/if you’re eating what’s included vs. if you were to upgrade to specialty dining.
This post will just be on what is included with your cruise fare. I did not upgrade to specialty dining or to MSC’s yacht club.
Day 1: Embarkation Day
Since it was embarkation day we did not have breakfast. Our first meal on the ship ended up being lunch about 2pm.
We went to the buffet on deck 8 of MSC Seaside. This ship actually had two buffets. The one on deck 8 was larger and had more selection than the one on deck 16 so we ended up going to it more.
Lunch:
Pictured: Mashed potatoes, indian curry, rice, samosa, pasta, cheese, shredded beef.
I always find that indian food on a cruise is pretty good and they offer different dish selections every single day! If curry is your thing or you want to give it a try I would definitely do so on a cruise.
The pasta on MSC tasted fresh and had good flavor. The cheese selection was also great and seemed to be good quality.
Everything else was average in my opinion.
Not pictured but shown in the video, I did grab a small brownie on the way out of the buffet and it was delicious.
Dinner:
We had dinner in the main dining room at 5pm.
You have to start your dinner on a cruise with the bread basket. MSC did baked goods really well. I had bread and butter every night. 10/10.
My starter on night one was chicken croquettes. To be honest they reminded me of chicken nuggets from McDonald’s. I don’t mean that in a bad way, they were very tasty. Just the consistency and breading were similar. 7/10.
For my main course I decided to order the new york strip steak. I asked for this steak medium. I have had this dish a few times on cruises and it’s never been great.
This steak did not have great flavor and was overcooked. I rated it a 5/10.
This was the shining star of the day. My first dessert was in my top five of everything I ate on my MSC cruise.
It is called coconut pistachio dacquoise. Everything about this was delicious. I can’t recommend it enough. 10/10.
I am the type of person on a cruise who orders two desserts every single night.
This was crema catalana. It was a good dessert. In comparison with the other one though I did not like it as much. It had a light cinnamon taste to the custard but was lacking the burnt top I loved from a creme brulee making it good but not my favorite. 7/10.
Late Night Snack:
Later that night we went to the buffet to grab some pizza! Along with always ordering two desserts on a cruise every daya, I also will have pizza every single night.
The pizza on MSC I have to say is hands down the BEST pizza at sea. They seemed to do baked goods, pizza and most desserts VERY well.
I did not take a picture of my pizza but it is shown in the video above if you would like to take a look.
Overall thoughts on day 1:
I was satisfied with the food but not blown away yet. My first dessert and the pizza were my standouts of the day.
Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas
Breakfast:
For breakfast we went to the larger buffet on deck 8. What I loved about this buffet is it had TONS of outdoor seating. It was a fantastic way to start the day to be able to have breakfast outside with the fresh air, looking at the wake view.
I kept breakfast simple this morning. I grabbed scrambled eggs, bacon and pain au chocolat.
The eggs and bacon were standard. Good but not life changing. The pain au chocolat however was AMAZING. I had so many of these over the course of my cruise. They were absolutely delicious and the best baked good I tried while on my cruise.
Lunch:
We decided to go back to the buffett on deck 8 to grab a quick lunch before hopping off the ship to explore Nassau. We have been to Nassau several times but had never done a walking tour of sights downtown so we decided to do that on our own.
If interested in the video of what we did in Nassau it is linked here.
This was the plate my husband and I shared. I did not have the blue cheese or deli meat but he said both were good.
This lunch was not very good for me. I noticed over the course of my cruise I didn’t like my selections in the buffet as much as I have on other cruise lines.
I had chili, pasta with asparagus, mac n cheese, a samosa, fries and a burger.
The chili and pasta with asparagus were bland in my opinion. Another favorite I had on this cruise were the buffet burgers. I liked the burgers on MSC more than I have on lines like Royal Caribbean. It was always good and never dry.
For dessert we shared a plate of four small options. The best of these four was the pineapple cake on the front right.
The others were okay, not as sweet as I like (I like these very sweet).
Dinner:
We had dinner in the main dinning room after coming back from exploring Nassau for the day.
I did start dinner with bread and butter. It was fresh and flavorful like always.
For my starter I had the jerk marinated pork salad. This salad was a great combination of flavors. It was slightly overdressed so I lowered my rating because of it but it was VERY good. It had chicken, onions, lettuce, pineapple and more.
I rated this salad an 8/10.
For my entree I actually chose the vegetarian option. I am not a vegetarian but I find these options on a cruise ship are usually pretty good.
I also don’t like seafood or mushrooms unfortunately (wish I did) and those are both in the majority of dishes on a cruise so it limits my choices.
This dish was called jamaican patties filled with sweet potatoes and swiss chard.
This dish was made perfectly! It had great flavor, the sauce was an excellent addition and the pastry was flaky and delicious.
I rated this dish a 9/10.
This was MSC’s caribbean rum cake. I didn’t think I was going to like this dessert as much as I did but they really hit it out of the park.
I don’t think it is your traditional rum cake, I had not had one with chocolate on the top like this one but it did make me like it even more.
I rated this a 10/10.
This was MSC’s take on a key lime pie. Key lime pie is one of my summer favorites so I was really excited for this one.
It was tangy, light and delicious. Everything you want in a key lime pie. I rated this dish a 9/10.
Late Night Snack:
We grabbed some fries with a couple of sauces. Typical french fries, nothing special but just because they’re fries they were automatically pretty good.
We also grabbed another burger and a slice of pizza without any cheese.
The burger like I stated earlier was always good and the pizza again, was done very well. The sauce had so much more flavor than I’ve had compared to other cruise lines.
Overall I was much happier with the food on my second day. The buffet was still very average besides the burgers and pizza but my main dining room dishes really were excellent. One of my best nights of food on this cruise.
Day 3: Ocean Cay, Bahamas
Lunch:
We decided not to get breakfast and got off the ship at MSC’s private island, Ocean Cay as soon as possible (around 8am).
Ocean Cay has a buffet on the island that is included. They also have a few food trucks. Some are included and some are extra.
I went to the food truck that was included because it was the closest option to the part of the island we were hanging out at.
The pasta salad was pretty good, along with the fries. The brownie offered did not have much flavor and was too cakey.
Dinner:
We went to the main dining room for dinner.
My appetizer on night 3 was french onion soup.
I’ve found that French onion soup is something cruise lines do very well. It was delicious and just enough.
I rated it an 8/10.
For my main dish I ordered the cabernet braised short ribs.
I really enjoyed this dish. The short ribs were very tender, the vegetables were cooked well and the sauce was the perfect compliment.
I rated this a 7/10.
My first dessert was gateau opera.
I really liked the portion sizes on MSC, it was never too much, leaving room for mulitple options if wanted.
This was super chocolatey (which I loved).
I rated this a 8/10.
My second dessert was a warm apple strudel.
Having a similar dessert on other cruise lines I expected this to be better. It was just okay.
I rated it a 5/10.
Late Night Snack:
We ended our day in the buffet like usual grabbing a couple slices of pizza.
Again, I have to say MSC’s pizza is the best at sea. It’s so good.
Day 4: Sea day
Breakfast:
We went to the buffet again for breakfast. This is what we do most days on a cruise for the convenience.
For breakfast on our sea day I chose potatoes, an egg quiche, bacon, pain au chocolat and a plain donut.
Everything today was very good. I didn’t have much expectations for the donut on the cruise ship but it actually tasted fresh. I was very happy with the quality of this breakfast.
Lunch:
We spent most of our sea day at the main pool with some friends we had made.
We stopped at the buffet on deck 16 for a quick bite since our dining time was so early we didn’t want much to eat.
This was the worst day of my selections at the buffet. Nothing I had was good at all.
Dinner:
We had dinner in the main dining room.
For my starter on night five I ordered the beef steak tartar.
I had never tried this before and love beef carpaccio so I decided to give it a shot.
I ended up not really liking this but it was more personal preference and not the execution of the dish.
The texture of the raw beef was too much for me. I rated it a 7/10 since it tasted great, just not my personal style.
For my entree I chose the surf and turf.
This meal was another bust in my opinion. I was really excited for a good steak and this dish just did not have any seasoning at all.
I was very disappointed and had higher hopes. The vegetables were actually very good though.
I rated this dish a 4/10.
We ended up leaving our dinner early and had to miss dessert because my husband was motion sick and they would not let us take dessert to go like other cruise lines have in the past.
Late Night Snack:
Since I didn’t love my dinner in the dining room we went to the buffet a couple hours later.
Every variety of pizza I had on the cruise was great.
All of the desserts were also good but the chocolate crunch one was AMAZING. I probably had 5 of those little squares.
Other Posts You Might Be Interested In:
A Complete Guide To A Cruise Ship Buffet: Everything You Need To Know
10 Must Try Drinks If You Have A Cruise Drink Package
33 Best Cruise Tips Every First Time Cruiser Should Know
Day 5: Costa Maya, Mexico
Breakfast:
Day five was the only day we had breakfast in the main dining room. We like to do this at least once on a cruise or more if we work out schedules correctly since the time frame is more limited compared to the buffet.
This breakfast was better than expected. I ordered the eggs benedict and it was the best one I’ve ever had on a cruise ship which is definitely saying something.
As always the pain au chocolat was perfect. The chocolate muffin was just alright, needed a bit more flavor.
Lunch:
After we got back from our day in Costa Maya we stopped by the buffet for a late lunch.
I had a breaded pork chop, beans, pasta with fresh feta and potatoes.
The breaded pork chop was one of the best items I had in the buffet all week. The pasta with fresh feta was also pretty good.
One thing I love about cruises is they offer small portions of most things. This gives you the opportunity to try everything you want!
The chocolate options were definitely the best but all of these were good! I was very satisfied with the desserts 95% of the time.
Dinner:
We ended up going to the buffet for dinner. Usually one night on our cruises we are just way too tired to make it to the dining room and tonight was the night.
I wasn’t particularly in the mood for anything I saw in the buffet this night. The fruit was good and fresh. The salad bar had lots of choices. I also made a sandwhich not pictured that was just okay. The burger and fries was great as always.
Late Night Snack:
Around midnight after napping in our room for the rest of the night I went back to get a couple snacks.
The pizza was good. The desserts were good as well, but not amazing.
Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico
Breakfast:
We were going on an early morning excursion in Cozumel for our 6th day at sea so we only had about 15 minutes in the buffet to grab something quickly.
The eggs and potatoes were average. The bacon was good. The standout of this meal was the banana bread.
It was AMAZING. Finding this baked good on the second to last day of my cruise was saddening considering how good it was and the fact I only had one more breakfast to grab it.
This food was not from the cruise line but I did want to include it because both were SO good.
We went to the mayan ruins in Tulum from Cozumel. You can check out that excursion here.
We took our tour guide’s advise and after exploring the ruins, we went to Mr. Frosty’s for tacos. They were insanely good. After the tacos I grabbed some ice cream for a few dollars. It was also delicious. Cannot recommend those two enough.
Dinner:
We had dinner in the main dining room tonight.
I started my meal with watermelon and feta salad. This was good but was very simple so if you like both of those ingredients, you’ll like this.
I rated this dish 7/10.
For my entree I ordered chana dal. This was the vegetarian option for the night. It was just alright. Not bad but not amazing.
I rated this dish 6.5/10.
For my first dessert I ordered the chocolate duo cake. This was another top notch dessert. It was so good.
I rated this dish a 9/10.
My second dessert was the coconut cake. This was good but nowhere near as good as the first.
I ranked this a 6/10.
Late Night Snack:
I grabbed the burger and fries I was obsessed with all week and a little bit of pasta salad. All good.
This is a really bad picture but the food was all good. This was the first time we saw quesadillas in the buffet for late night snacks and they were a hit.
Day 7: Sea Day
Breakfast:
For our last breakfast on the ship we went to the buffet for our favorite wake view.
Since it was the last day on the cruise I grabbed all of my 10/10 favorites. The pain au chocolat, banana bread and bacon.
Lunch:
For lunch we went to the buffet.
I grabbed a salad that was really good. A piece of beef, it was pretty tough but did taste good. The chicken was flavored well and the pasta was average.
Dinner:
We ate our last dinner in the main dining room.
For my starters I chose the sicilian style arancini and the french onion soup again.
The arancini was one of the best dishes I had all week. It was perfected fried, the taste was great and the sauce was delicious.
I rated it an 8/10.
The french onion soup I had already had andn it was also very good tonight.
I rated it a 7/10.
For my last entree I chose the caprese salad.
I am really glad I ended up getting two appetizers because this salad was awful. The flavor was not good at all. I probably took two bites. It was way too watery.
I rated this dish a 1/10.
For dessert we decided to try three options since it was the last night on the cruise.
We started with the tiramisu. It was very well done and absolutely amazing. I rated it a 9/10.
The second dessert was a lemonchello cake. It was just alright, especially in comparsion. I rated it a 3/10.
The last dessert was actually the no sugar added warm berry cobbler but the fruit made it sweet enough. This was better than expected and really really good. I rated it a 9/10.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall I would say that MSC does a few things very well with food and others they need improvement on, like any cruise line.
I found their pizza, baked goods and desserts the best items on any menu.
When it comes to the main dining room I 100% think if you’re going to just be eating the included food it is the way to go. I liked or loved most of my meals in the main dining room.
Compared to the buffet that needed more variety and more flavor on most things.
Overall for the price I paid (much lower compared to other lines) I was happy with the food. I always found something to eat and did end up having a few amazing items over my week long cruise.
I think when going on a cruise you need to go into it with an open mind. Remember the price you’re paying, how many people they’re feeding and that they are trying to appeal to the masses (which sometimes means less seasoning).
I would definitely take another MSC cruise, have a few of my favorites again and try more new things.
If you find yourself not loving the food, you can always upgrade to specialty dining.
This post was all about MSC cruise food.
