Magnifica food…was it upto scratch?

Many people have pre coceptions about MSC cruiselines.  One of these pre conceptions is about the food onboard. 

I was lucky enough to visit the MSC Magnifica over the weekend in Southampton.  On arriving at the port we had lunch in the buffet area which was styled in a very relaxing way.  The buffet line was very busy as you would expect at lunch time, however there was only one area where the plates and cutlery were located.  This meant you had to wait in a long queue to get from one food station to another.  You could see people viewing the food before queuing, returning to get their plates and then pushing in the queue to select the food they required.

Being British this was slightly infuriating, however remember that MSC is an Italian cruiseline and very european, where queuing is not in the culture as much as it is in ours.

The food was edible but did not really have the ‘WOW’ factor.  The selection was good and there was a seperate salad station for all you healthy option diners.

First seating dining was at 7pm.  I was sat at a table for six people along with a couple of collegues and a very interesting British/Italian couple from West Sussex.  The couples cruising experience tales along with their company made dining a pleasurable experience.  The food was excellent (however this is my personal opinion).

I started with the asparagus which was very nice.  My dining friends started with the shrimp which came out cold and slightly frozen, which was disapointing in their opinion. Main course was beef with sides of various veg which was delightful however I did hear some people complain that they were recieving theirs cold.

As a cruise company MSC is excellent, however they need to listen to their critics a little more about the food standards to make the experience one to remember.