MSC Seashore recently returned from dry dock with something cruisers will actually care about: more free food.
The ship, which sails from Port Canaveral, now has two new complimentary quick-service restaurants onboard: The Chicken Man and Red Cactus BBQ & Ribs. Both are walk-up spots, both have their own shaded seating areas, and both are designed to give cruisers another option besides heading into the definition of chaos – the buffet at lunchtime.
And if this sounds familiar, you’ve probably sailed Carnival.
Carnival has had plenty of success with Shaq’s Big Chicken and Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse, two complimentary venues that almost always have a line at lunchtime. They work because they give passengers something quick, easy, and familiar without requiring a battle through the buffet.
Apparently, MSC has been taking notes.
The Chicken Man is located on MSC Seashore’s main pool deck on Deck 18. It serves chicken tenders, chicken sandwiches, fries, and dipping sauces. This is very much a grab-it-and-go kind of place, which is exactly what people want when they’re sitting by the pool and suddenly realize they’re hungry.
And yes, “The Chicken Man” may sound a little familiar. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri has a chicken chain called Chicken Guy!, with the closest location to Port Canaveral over at Disney Springs. So don’t confuse Guy with Man when it comes to chicken people. This is MSC’s version, and the idea seems pretty simple: keep cranking out chicken sandwiches and tenders so people can walk up, grab food, and get back to their day.
The second new spot is Red Cactus BBQ & Ribs, located near the aft infinity pool on Deck 8. This one serves both breakfast and lunch, which is a nice bonus since The Chicken Man does not offer breakfast.
For breakfast, Red Cactus offers items like a barbecue burrito, pulled pork hash, eggs, country grits, and biscuits. At lunch, the menu includes pulled pork, barbecue chicken, beef brisket, pork ribs, sausage, burnt end mac and cheese, baked beans, buttermilk coleslaw, banana pudding, and cookie pecan butter pie.
Red Cactus BBQ and Ribs
Tucked near the aft infinity pool on Deck 8, Red Cactus BBQ & Ribs is MSC Seashore’s answer to the “I want something other than buffet food” crowd. It’s a casual walk-up barbecue spot with its own shaded seating area, making it the perfect place to grab a plate and hide from the buffet madness for a while.
Available on: MSC Seashore
And yes, the name got me.
For those who know, one of my companies was called Solid Cactus, and our logo was indeed a red cactus. So seeing MSC roll out a barbecue spot called Red Cactus hits close to home.
The obvious comparison here is Carnival’s Guy’s Pig & Anchor BBQ Smokehouse, which I’ve never been a huge fan of. Every time I’ve tried it, the food has been dry, tasteless, or as the kids today would say, “just mid.” But so far, social media reviews of Red Cactus seem to be leaning more toward “this is a hit,” which is promising.
Cruise Director Neil Dixon had been teasing these new spots on his official Facebook page during dry dock and made the big reveal before MSC officially announced it. Which once again proves that social media beats the PR department. Always.
These are smart additions for MSC Seashore. They give passengers more included dining options, help spread people out around the ship, and offer alternatives to the buffet when everyone onboard decides to eat at the exact same time.
It also makes you wonder whether MSC will bring these concepts to other Seaside-class ships, especially MSC Seascape, which is sailing from Galveston. If there is anywhere a barbecue spot is going to get judged hard, it’s Texas.
For now, MSC Seashore passengers have two new free places to grab a quick bite: fried chicken on Deck 18 and barbecue on Deck 8.