Is MSC Cruise’s Dining Package Worth It? We've Got The BRUTALLY Honest Answer...

[@Katsuya89]

I called MSC and found out their 2 night Speciality dining pack costs $99 for Butcher's Cut and Teppanyaki. But when i looked at their menu prices, Butcher's cut is $59, and the Teppanyaki is $44. So I'll be saving a WHOMPING $4 with the dining package lol.

[@wavesandwandering]

Paying out of pocket instead of with the plan also allows you to order anything you want. With the dining plan, you can only choose from a limited menu.

[@jimskam]

I love the breakdown for value and quality

[@wavesandwandering]

More goes into “worth it” than dollars and cents!

[@teniahawkinssimon7099]

This was a great video. I really appreciated the detail and how you broke the package prices down. I have some decisions to make...sailing MSC in January 2025. So excited!!! 😋

[@wavesandwandering]

Glad it was helpful!

[@denniscostabile4264]

Thanks for this! Quick question, do you think MSC gives preferential treatment of reservations to package holders? Just trying to figure out what would work for me. Looks like I will have to brush up on my algebra before this cruise😄 Just off of Holland America in April 2024 and was able to pre-pay and reserve a time & date. Makes sense, if you don't show up, you forfeit your payment. Thanks again...

[@wavesandwandering]

I don't think they give preferential treatment to people with packages - I really believe we all start out on a level playing field. Keep checking your MSC app - I've heard that some people have been able to book dining reservations in advance, so your mileage may vary! Thanks for the question!

[@pdallen5801]

I cancelled my specialty dining package, because the food in the MDR was just fine. I did go to Teppenyaki one night, and it was good, but the package wasn’t necessary to me.

[@wavesandwandering]

We had never sailed MSC before, and we'd heard some not so good things about the MDR, so we booked the unlimited specialty dining package. We had dinner one night in the MDR and breakfast and lunch some days. The food was fine - it was so crowded though! At one point, I reached out to grab a packet of sweetener for my tea and realized I was taking it from the table next to me - I had to stop and ask permission! I also saw them taking great care of a special dietary request - a whole meal served wrapped and kept away from other food. It was really awesome to see how much caution was being taken.

[@lcoldwell9088]

It was definitely worth it to me. 👍

[@wavesandwandering]

I think it was worth it to us as well - if for no other reason, we really enjoyed having some elbow room. But oh my goodness, I dream of Hola! Tacos. The orange margarita with the berry sugar rim was amazing.

[@lear6700]

Great video, very detailed. Can you elaborate more the 4, 5 and unlimited dining packages. It’s my understanding you can only go to Butchers cut once, is that the rule for all restaurants in the dining package? If you get the 5 day package can you go to Oceans more than once? If you have the unlimited package how does it work for lunch and dinner? Are there other restrictions?

[@wavesandwandering]

You're right - you can only go to Butchers Cut one time with the dining packages. This is a fairly recent change - in the past year - so keep an eye on any future changes. It used to be that you could go twice with the Unlimited dining package. This is not the same for the other restaurants. You can go multiple times to the other restaurants with any of the dining packages. I would encourage you, though, to read the menus in advance. We did Ocean Cay twice for dinner and twice for lunch on our 7 day sailing, and the menu is fairly limited and the same at both meals. We were a little tired of the menu by our third time there. There are no restrictions with the unlimited package, except the Butchers Cut limitation. You can dine for lunch and dinner at any of the available restaurants. Not all of the restaurants are open for lunch on all of the days. The only other thing to be aware of is that you don't have access to the full menus - just the dining experience menus. The sushi restaurant will absolutely work with you a little with substitutions, so that's awesome. Using it at the hibachi restaurant requires not only your dining plan, but an additional $10, and that only covers the first couple of tiers on the menu. If you want one of the higher tiers, which includes upgraded items like lobster, you have to pay in full for those packages.

[@tewkewl]

Hello, so what are the lunch menus like? same as the dinner? and what about the sushi? is it always the same dining package menu for lunch and dinner every day?

[@wavesandwandering]

Lunch menus in the main dining room are different from dinner. They are smaller portions, but you’ll usually find a salad, a soup, some kind of sandwich (burger, chicken, etc.), a pasta. But in the specialty dining rooms, lunch and dinner are the same. The sushi restaurant on the dining plan is basically a bento box, but you can add any of the other menu items - different sushi rolls, noodle dishes, Teriyaki. Specialty dining is the same every day - so the same menu day one in Ocean Cay is the same as what you’ll get on day 7. We had unlimited specialty dining and were so over Ocean Cay!