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



 
 
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Old June 19th, 2008, 04:15 PM posted to rec.travel.misc
Magnor
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Default 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.

 




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