MSC cruises - never again

Italian cuisine is no guarantee of good food – MSC Poesia was a disappointment

The Italian cruise ship company MSC hosts a Mediterranean gastronomic dining cruise featuring fine food and wine. Unfortunately the culinary experience will be less than expected, since the food comprises three-course cafeteria fare served as six dishes and costing twice as much – I will actually contend that I have eaten better dinners at roadside inns than the food turned out by the Italian cruise kitchen. Tough meat, tasteless fish and unsavoury side dishes characterised my dining experience. We felt cheated. The cruise company has apparently put their "bean counters" to work applying the modern economic principle known as "profit maximization". Basically this means using the cheapest ingredients available and charging the highest possible price. The dessert was good, I admit. Italian ice cream is not easy to ruin, but this one treat was not enough to compensate for poor dinners throughout the entire week.

Breakfast and lunch were good, but strangely enough, the fare was identical day after day. The advantage of this, of course, is that the meals are predictable - you know in advance what you are getting – and the dishes are placed in exactly the same place each day. The disadvantage is that the food becomes increasingly boring. Fortunately the cruise lasted only one week. If MSC Cruises had sent us on a two-week trip with second-rate food like this, I would have abandoned ship at the first available port of call.

Not one ill word about the service personnel on board, always smiling, helpful and service minded. Frustration increased, of course, with each passing day and the guests' realization that the quality of the food very simply would never improve. Naturally one cannot expect the gastronomic quality of French cuisine on board an Italian boat, but again, this was really the bottom of the barrel. If you are tempted by a cruise in the Mediterranean, be my guest, but if you want to enjoy fine cuisine on the high seas – forget it.

Overall value
We have previous experience from Celebrity cruises; far higher value for money.
On the Poesia, the service was perfect, the staterooms were OK but on the small side, the entertainment was Italian and not to our taste at all. The excursions were fine, but of course – all the cruise lines buy this from independent operators. The pools were crowded with Italian children and the organisation of getting in and out of the ship was several times a complete mess – waiting in the stairs for half an hour. The ship was new and everything was clean, polished and nice. If you really want that particular itinerary, sure go ahead, but personally we would find a better company.