09/05/2026
MSC Seascape - Day 3 - Gala Dinner
Our 3rd day at sea brought the Gala Dinner, otherwise known as Formal Night. This sailing only had 1 formal night as opposed to the 2 I am used to on other 7 night sailings. As always, eating in the main dining room and dressing up are only one option for dinner, but it's personally my favorite! My family loves dressing up in fancy clothes (my sweet son wore a suit by choice) so we always go all out for this night.
For the appetizer tonight, my son ordered the Lobster Bisque and a Caesar salad while I tried the Eggplant Parmigiana and Lobster Bisque. The Eggplant was amazing and I wish I had ordered a 2nd one. Both of us were disappointed in the Lobster Bisque. We felt the one we had on our last Royal Caribbean cruise was much better. Personally, I have a very high bar when it comes to Lobster Bisque because the Different Pointe of View restaurant in Phoenix, AZ, where I used to work, made the best Lobster Bisque you have ever tasted and I haven't found anything even remotely close in all these years.
Moving on..... the most popular part of the Gala Dinner is always the lobster tail. This is pretty standard on any cruise. This is not an additional charge during the regular dining so many people make sure not to miss it. We both ordered the Du of Broiled Lobster Tail & Grilled Jumbo Shrimp.
Unfortunately, as was my previous experience with MSC, I was not impressed with the lobster. It was very tough and extremely small. My son wasn't impressed either. The shrimp was good. The green pea risotto is personally not a favorite of mine as it has a very strong pea flavor. I now know to order the Filet Mignon next time I am on MSC!
For dessert, I had the Royal Cake and my son had the same dessert as the previous nights. The Royal Cake was very good and a great way to end the meal.
Do you enjoy formal night or do you prefer to avoid it and eat elsewhere on those nights?