Everything I Ate on my MSC Cruise (Photos and Menus) – Food Review

If you are taking an MSC cruise, you may be wondering about the food. On an MSC cruise, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks are all included at no extra cost.

I’ve cruised many times with MSC. This review is based on MSC Seaview. In this post, we will look at everything I ate in the main dining room, buffet, and room service.

Menus are also provided.

I took my first MSC cruise in 2012, and the quality of the food has increased dramatically over the years in my opinion.

Buffet – Included

The buffet on the MSC Seaview was open from early in the morning until late at night. During our cruise, only half of the buffet was open due to the ship’s reduced capacity (2022), but we still had lots of choices.

The buffet at dinner time consisted of:

• Freshly Cooked Pizza
• A Grill Section (Burgers, Hot Dogs, Steaks etc.)
• Wellness Section
• Rotisserie
• Pasta
• Family Dining
• Ethnic Corner (Usually Indian)
• Bread
• Salads

The sections would be different for breakfast and lunch.

The photo above is of one lunch I had at the buffet. The great thing about the buffet is that you can combine anything that looks interesting.

The photo above is of my breakfast. They did have cooked breakfasts available as well as cold options, but I always prefer a cold breakfast.

Breakfast doughnuts we had were good, and they also had waffles and pancakes.

In the grill section, they had example food, which I liked. All of these burgers/steaks were cooked freshly, so it was easy to see what you were ordering.

There wasn’t a veggie burger on show here, but I asked the crew, and they happily cooked me one from fresh. It was very good.

We would often pick up a slice of pizza or a little box of chips.

There were multiple types of pizza available, and they were constantly being replenished.

They also had things like bruschetta and garlic bread.

There was a big outdoor seating area outside the buffet where we usually ate.

There was waiter service here too, and we never had to wait to order a drink.

The above shows one of my dinner combinations. They also had sandwiches and other items for dinner.

MSC bakes its own bread, and they usually have many choices. MSC bread is great!

There were lots of little desserts available throughout the day. I did wish that they served the breakfast doughnuts later in the day, but we usually just had a little cake or cookie.

The below is a kind of sugared pineapple dessert pizza, it was very tasty. I could have eaten a full-sized pizza of this…

The cookies were small but good. They were more like shortbread biscuits than cookies, but I think it still counts.

Main Dining Room – Golden Sands – Included

There are multiple main dining rooms on board the MSC Seaview. However, our cruise was sailing at 23% capacity, so only one main restaurant was open.

We were assigned late dining at 9pm but we were able to change this to early dining at 6.30.

We went to the dining room during the lunch opening hours and they were able to change our table for us.

There are no fixed breakfast or lunch dining times. Guests can eat in the main dining room whenever it is open.

Menus can be viewed in advance on the MSC app – which I loved

Starter #1	Quesadillas
Main #1	Roast Beef Sandwich
Main #2	Oriental-style Rice Noodles

The food was all very good, and we never had any problems with anything.

The great thing about a cruise is that you can order as many things from the menu as you’d like for no extra charge.

Dinner #1

Starter	Duo of Hummus and Baba Ghanoush Dips
Main	Linguine Pasta in Cherry Tomato Sauce
Main #2	English-style Beef Sirloin Roast
Dessert	Caramel Bavarian Cake

MSC makes all of its own pasta onboard, and it’s probably the thing that MSC does best. If you are in doubt about what to get, I’d always recommend the pasta…

The potatoes were also always lovely!

Dinner #2

Our second dinner was the ‘elegant’ dinner. On this night guests are invited to dress to impress if they would like to.

The dress codes are always “suggested”.

To learn more about the dress codes on MSC cruises, check out this post:

MSC Dress Code Photo Guide – 96% Agree The Dress Codes are Relaxed

Starter (Vegetarian)	Aubergine Rolls Mediterranean Style (With Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese and Basil)
Main (Vegetarian)	Lasagna Portofino (Au Gratin with Genoese Pesto Sauce)
Dessert	After Eight Sensation (Chocolate and Mint Mousse Cake)

The Lasagna Portofino may not look like much, but it was probably my favourite meal on board.

I had never had a Lasagne Portofino before the cruise, and that’s what’s great about cruising. You can try new things and might find something you love.

The “After Eight”Dessert is always good. It’s chocolate and mint. If you see it, definitely order it. (After Eights are a brand of boxed chocolates in the UK).

Dinner #3

Starter (Vegetarian)	Black Bean Chowder (Fried Tortilla Chips and Chopped Legs)
Starter #2	Crispy Fried Calamari (Black Pepper Lime Dressing)
Main (Vegetarian)	Fusilli Pasta a La Norma (With Fried Aubergines, Salted Ricotta Cheese and Basic Tomato Soup)
Main #2	Grilled Ribeye Steak (With Corn on The Cob, Grilled Courgettes and Baked Potato with Sour Cream)
Dessert	White Chocolate Mousse Cake (Dark Chocolate Sauce)

The Black Bean Chowder isn’t very photogenic, but it was tasty, as were the calamari rings.

I thought it was a little odd that the baked potato arrived still in its foil, but it was well-cooked, and the steak was good too.

I had pasta once again, which was very good again and I also enjoyed the dessert.

Dinner #4

Starter (Vegetarian)	Soft Oriental Roll (Crepe Filled with Crispy Vegetables, Ginger Soy Sauce)
Main (Vegetarian)	Middle Eastern Falafel (Vegetable Fritters, Hummus, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Tahini Sauce, Pita Bread)
Main #2	Roasted Cornish Hen With Jamaican Flavours (Jerk Spices, Garlic Lime-Roasted Roast Potatoes, Sweet Grilled Peppers)
Dessert	Sachertorte (Australian Chocolate Cake with Apricot Filling)

The oriental roll was probably my favourite starter from the cruise.

It was something I’d never usually have at home, and I enjoyed it.

My only criticism of the dessert was that it could have done with some more cream, but I’m sure they would have given me some had I asked.

Speciality Restaurant – Asian Fusion

I have black loyalty status with MSC, which means that I get a free meal at a speciality restaurant.

I achieved the black loyalty status by matching my NCL loyalty status to MSC.

MSC are the only cruise line that will match loyalty statuses from other cruise lines. It’s pretty easy to do and it is well worth taking advantage of the freebies.

If you are cruising with MSC or have a loyalty status with another cruise line or some hotel brands, make sure you match your status.

My guide as to how to do it is here:

MSC Status Match – Step by Step Application Guide and Chart.

We went to the Asian Fusion restaurant and the loyalty status perk entitled us to a free dining experience. At the time of sailing, it was worth €39 each.

Starter #1 (Vegetarian)	Avocado Poke
Starter #2	Hawaii Kai-Style Crab Cakes
Main #1 (Vegetarian)	Pan-Fried Vegetarian Spicy Noodles
Main #2	Filet Mignon
Dessert (Vegetarian)	Molten Chocolate Souffle
Dessert #2 (Vegetarian)	Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

We dined quite early (6 pm) and for a while, we were the only guests in the restaurant!

We loved our meal in the speciality restaurant, everything was tasty and because there were only a few guests in the restaurant it was like having our own waiters and private chefs!

Room Service – Cost: €11

We embarked on the MSC Seaview late at night, so we decided to order room service.

There is a charge for each room service item and also a delivery fee (unless you are in a higher-grade cabin or a suite).

In total this pizza came to just under €11. After 17 hours of travelling it was worth every Euro.

This is the same pizza that you can get at the buffet. We paid to have a whole pizza to ourselves and to have it delivered.

I wouldn’t usually do this, I’d normally go to the buffet to get the pizza myself, but in this situation, it was well worth it.

To learn more about everything that is included in an MSC cruise, check out this post next:

Do MSC Cruises Include Meals? (Firsthand Experience) – Your Guide To What is Included

I very recently had the chance to try the “ship within a ship£ concept on MSC cruises, the Yacht Club.

It was quite unlike any MSC cruise experience I had had before! I even had my own Butler! Find out about that here:

Before You Go

Find out some great money-saving tips before you sail with MSC here:

19 Essential MSC Cruise Tips That I Use Everytime (Freebies, Money Saving & More)

Whilst I was busy enjoying a Norwegian Fjord cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas my parents were sailing around the Norwegian Fjords on the MSC Virtuosa. Find out how the two experiences compared here:

We Took The Same Cruise With MSC and Royal Caribbean: Differences and Comparison