MSC Seaside Dining

MSC Seaside food is generally enjoyable, with dishes focusing heavily on meats, fish and homemade pasta. Dishes tend to be small but filling, leaving you feeling satisfied but not overfed. In true European style, expect meals to be long, drawn-out affairs, sometimes taking between two and three hours.

MSC Seaside Free Dining

Seashore Restaurant (Deck 5) and Ipanema Restaurant (Deck 6). MSC Seaside main dining room menus are the same on both Seashore and Ipanema. Every menu includes a starter, an entrée and dessert. Options include antipasti, fish, salads, pasta, chicken, beef, and seasonal soups. Chef's selections are noted on the menu, and a "Classic Favorites" section features a variety of items for picky eaters. Extra-fee items are also offered, each with one free side.

The Seashore Restaurant is open every day for breakfast, for lunch on sea days only and for dinner every night, in three set seatings, though passengers who choose MSC's flexible My Choice dining can eat dinner at Seashore any time during the main restaurants’ opening hours.

Ipanema is open for dinner only but also has three set seatings. Both restaurants offer sea views through large windows. Tables seat anywhere from two to 10 people. Service in the main dining room is generally efficient but not overly engaging.

Marketplace Buffet (Deck 8) and Biscayne Bay Buffet (Deck 16). MSC Seaside has two onboard buffets: Marketplace, the main buffet near the ship's outdoor promenade, and Biscayne Bay, a smaller and more family-friendly buffet near the ship's main pool area. Both buffets offer indoor and outdoor seating.

Both buffets are open for breakfast and lunch daily, with virtually identical offerings, but only Marketplace is open for dinner each night. Both are also open during select between-meal hours to offer pizza and grill items. Additionally, Marketplace does afternoon and midnight snacks like sandwiches and cookies.

An out-of-this-world standout is the MSC Seaside buffet pizza, which is made fresh throughout the day.

Note that passengers cannot access the Biscayne Bay Buffet from the forward end of Deck 16. It can only be accessed from the aft elevator bank and stairs, so anyone already on Deck 16 but at the front, will need to go down a deck, walk toward the back of the ship and then go back up.

MSC Yacht Club Restaurant (Deck 18). This restaurant is restricted to and complimentary for passengers booked in the MSC Yacht Club. The space is set on a balcony overlooking the club's private Top Sail Lounge on Deck 16. Tables accommodate between two and 10 passengers.

The menu varies daily but is different from what passengers get in the main dining rooms; it often features higher cuts of meat than what you'd find elsewhere.

MSC Seaside Specialty Restaurants and Other For-Fee Dining Options

MSC Seaside specialty restaurant menus range from Asian to international and steakhouse. Prices are average by industry standards, and food quality is a cut above the ship’s free dining options.

Asian Market Kitchen (Deck 16); a la carte. Headed by renowned chef Roy Yamaguchi, Asian Market Kitchen is a trio of Asian dining options including Kaito Teppanyaki (with four menu choices), a sushi bar and Hawaiian-influenced pan-Asian cuisine.

The sushi and pan-Asian eateries share one space, with all items printed on one menu. For the Pan-Asian choices, there's also a prix fixe dining package that lets you choose three dishes from a smaller menu. Service is attentive and friendly.

Ocean Cay (Deck 16); prix fixe or a la carte. This bright eatery with a nautical but classy theme was the most pleasant culinary surprise of the sailing for us. The prix fixe dinner option entitles diners to one dish from each section of the multicourse menu, up to a maximum of three dishes. (Several of the higher-priced menu items are not included in the prix fixe menu.) Or, you can order a la carte.

Tip: Book a table for lunch for gorgeous sea views.

Butcher’s Cut (Deck 16); prix fixe or a la carte. The menu is extensive at this fine dining steakhouse. The prix fixe option lets you choose up to three dishes, but no more than one from any given section, or you can order a la carte. We had no complaints about the food and left feeling completely stuffed.

A la carte brunch is served at Butcher's Cut on sea days.

Venchi 1878 Chocolate Bar (Deck 6) and Venchi 1878 Gelato & Creperie (Deck 7); a la carte
Through a linkup with Italian chocolatier Venchi, MSC offers two outposts for anyone with a sweet tooth. The chocolate bar indoors on Deck 6 features gelato, specialty coffee drinks, milkshakes, sweet alcoholic drinks, Italian hot chocolate and chocolate by the pound. The gelateria and creperie, found outdoors on Deck 7, serves crepes, milkshakes, waffles and ice cream.