Uh Oh...New ship Merviglia getting terrible reviews...hope Seaside well be better

Considering there are what, 6,500 passengers on the Meraviglia, that's really not a lot of reviews to base a decision on whether or not you'll sail on a ship - in my opinion. Especially the first weeks while everyone is adjusting. I've heard reviews in FB but haven't read them all here. I found more people praising Meraviglia than complaining.

While onboard the Divina last week, I did hear that many of their crew will be on Seaside. They said just about everyone from Le Muse would be going! I'd be very happy with that.

Luckily we're sailing on her next August so in the meantime, Bea - please pass the popcorn!

The only thing that concerns me about our Meraviglia cruise is the food reviews, but considering how dirt cheap the cruise was I'll survive on the buffet pizza for 5 nights if I need to. Best pizza at sea, by all accounts? We are only in a fantastica inside but for the price we paid compared to the likes of NCL or RCI (about a quarter) I honestley don't feel like I'll be able to complain about much. I'm a big believer in trying things for yourself and making up your own mind at any rate.

We are going on 15 September from Barcelona. It will be our honeymoon. Worried after the terrorist attack in barcelona. Also worried about the food after the review. This will be our first cruise and we will have our son with us. Will go with the attitude of enjoying everything

Another thing to consider is aspect of conservative, loyal cruisers. Some of them have come to love what MSC has to offer onboard the ships like Fantasia, Divina, Orchestra, etc, and with the Meraviglia being the future of MSC, some people are bound to not like it because they see too much futuristic MSC and not enough of the MSC that they fell in love with. For example, some of Princess's lowest rated ships are the Royal and Regal Princesses. This is because those ships moved away from some traditional Princess elements that many veteran cruisers have come to appreciate. WIth Seaside, I expect bad reviews. A) Because it is a completely new design of ship, and there will be many who find it too big, not as easily navigable as the Divina, etc, and B) Because it is sailing from Miami and will already be geared toward the American market in certain ways, which already throws the old loyal MSC cruisers off a bit. They have valid points in ebing disappointed with the newer ships and opting to remain on the older ones, but new ships, especially when they are of new design and of a futuristic idea for the cruise line, often get many bad reviews, not only from general kinks but also from upset loyal vetean cruisers.

We are going on 15 September from Barcelona. It will be our honeymoon. Worried after the terrorist attack in barcelona. Also worried about the food after the review. This will be our first cruise and we will have our son with us. Will go with the attitude of enjoying everything

You shouldn't live your life in fear of things that you cannot control. Fearing the terrorists and being worried to visit some of the world's greatest cities, which unfortunately have fallen victim to these terrible attacks, allows them to win. Enjoy your honeymoon and Barcelona, and like you said, go with the attitude of enjoying everything, and everything will fall into place. I wish you the best cruise to date! :D

I remember reading the terrible reviews of the MSC Fantasia before my first ever cruise in 2014 and being horrified....Only to find out the ship was wonderful, and my cruise was so good I booked another one in 2016!

I will soon see the Meraviglia for myself and know what all the fuss is all about :halo:

:')

I've stocked up on popcorn for the first reviews of Seaside! :evilsmile:

:')

What does AOS mean?

Nevermind - I think that is in your signature line.

Fingers crossed.

I wouldn't be worried one bit. It seems like standard practice here on Cruise Critic that, any time a new ship is launched (no matter which cruise line) there will be a disproportionate amount of negative reviews at the beginning.

In my opinion, some of the reasons for this phenomenon are:

- There are always kinks that need to be ironed out when a new ship comes out, and people need to expect these when they choose to sail on a brand new ship.

- Many of the passengers on these first few sailings tend to be either seasoned cruisers or loyalists for that specific cruise line. The first can be a bit too discerning and may find fault with things that the average cruiser may not even notice or care about. The other may be quick to give a negative review if things on a new ship aren't the same way as on one of the other ships on that cruise line's fleet. I've seen reviews where people have complained because the toilet paper holder in the cabin was in a different position than on previous ships!

- Unrealistic expectations. Many times the cruise lines hype up a new ship, and when it's finally launched, it doesn't quite live up to the expectations that some passengers may have built in their heads based on the hype mentioned above.

Whatever the reason may be, I wouldn't allow reviews for a new ship to stop me from cruising on it. As mentioned above, I've seen this happen with new ships for all major cruise lines. Over time, the reviews get better and more balanced and the average % improves.

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Considering there are what, 6,500 passengers on the Meraviglia, that's really not a lot of reviews to base a decision on whether or not you'll sail on a ship - in my opinion. Especially the first weeks while everyone is adjusting. I've heard reviews in FB but haven't read them all here. I found more people praising Meraviglia than complaining.

While onboard the Divina last week, I did hear that many of their crew will be on Seaside. They said just about everyone from Le Muse would be going! I'd be very happy with that.

Luckily we're sailing on her next August so in the meantime, Bea - please pass the popcorn!

:D

A lot of the crew from Meraviglia will be on Seaside, too. Plenty of crew with experience of handling new ship sailings will be deployed.

SquishTheWhale ................. you've got the right approach! You can always use some of the savings to dine in the Speciality restaurants - Butchers' Cut on Meraviglia was fabulous!

Irishcruisefamily ................ have you informed MSC that you'll be on honeymoon?

OceansOfTravels ................ you are spot on! I'd be one of the "conservative, loyal cruisers" and don't like the direction that MSC is heading in. We were on Meravilia and just didn't "take" to the ship. Nothing specific that I can quite put my finger on. We were so glad that there were so many familiar faces onboard. Otherwise, I don't know that we'd have felt we were on an MSC ship.

Thankfully most of the reviews of late seem to be good. On Facebook anyway - haven't been keeping up to date with CC reviews.

25 days and counting, can't wait!

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Thankfully most of the reviews of late seem to be good. On Facebook anyway - haven't been keeping up to date with CC reviews.

25 days and counting, can't wait!

 

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So soon! Be sure to report back. Have a great trip.

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So soon! Be sure to report back. Have a great trip.

 

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Thank You! Will be sure to report back!

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We are sailing on the two week Caribbean sailing on 17/03/18. Hopefully things should have settled down by then and the crew will be familiar with Seaside. We have a Yacht Club balcony so I'm not overly concerned as this should be top notch. I've also found that if you are polite and pleasant to crew then they will respond in kind. Its the moaning passengers that one can't account for. Of course any cruise is not exactly cheap and therefore certain standards should be expected but I've never really had any problem on all the different brands that I have sailed with and we loved our one previous cruise with MSC on Splendida. Personally I can't wait!