Falcon8

Arrived back home to cloudy gray cold skies and back to work. What a stark contrast to sunny skies and a fabulous family trip on the Mera March 26-30. We absolutely loved our cruise. I'm thankful for the tips and tricks learned from this board before we left. Little magnetic hooks were genius ha. To answer the one question I still had before we left: we were not allowed extra cabin keys despite my request at guest services. I expected that to be the case, but I didn't know if maybe they let it slide sometimes if I explained it nicely lol. Our 3 sons stayed in their own cabin near to ours, ages 16-20. Their room was booked under my name so I had access to their room but not the one I stayed in... which was almost never an issue because we were always doing things together anyway. The one and only time I went back to my room by myself without planning ahead, our fantastic steward just laughed at me and let me in. It did feel like, by the time we each had everything really figured out, it was time to get off the ship... but we will definitely be back. Next time I won't get sunburned so I can enjoy the jacuzzi more. :)

Actually I’ve read on multiple sites that it’s not at all uncommon for them to provide extra cabin key cards for situations like this. I’m in a similar situation and cruising in 2 weeks so I’ll let you know how it works for me. Let’s put it this way: no matter what, I’m sleeping with my husband in our own room, not with my 3 sons in their room, regardless of how I had to book it lol. One of them is 20 years old and in the military but they still wouldn’t let me put a room in his name, it had to be mine…

They are also offering “upgrades” to the people in those cabins. If they take an upgrade then their suite will be available.

I’m still trying to find out if there are any “special” or formal nights on the 4-night cruise.

New cruiser here. Cruising on Meraviglia with my teens soon, and not wanting to 1. Pay for WiFi or 2. Spend the cruise with everyone on their phones. Do I need the msc app to get things done? I’m really hoping for a phone-free vacation, other than taking cool pictures and maybe texting each other meet-up times? (Or heaven forbid communicate an emergency.) Do I need to pay for WiFi to keep track of charges? What do y’all do with your cell phones when you’re having fun, swimming, slides, sauna etc. Man I hate cell phones sometimes but I have 4 teenagers 😬

I’m also really hoping that getting extra keys is fine. We have 2 rooms booked, my husband and I have 4 kids, but the oldest one is only 20 so I had to put one room under each parent name lol. What I want is for my 3 boys (20,18,16) to share one room….

Is it open 24/7?

Any chance drink packages will be on sale for Black Friday??

I’m also confused. I have a suite booked (auria) and under things to add to my trip is a thermal spa access pass for $130pp. I read somewhere that that’s a discount, but I have a second room booked (fantastica balcony) and it is same price to add spa access. I also read somewhere that “because covid” you have to have reservations and the spa fills up, so even though I really want to do the spa thing, I don’t know if it’s worth getting…

Newbie here, and I booked a cruise for my family as a Christmas surprise- none of them know about it 😬. Hubby and I have 4 kids, the 6 of us are going on the Meraviglia. Oldest kid will be 20yo, youngest is 14. I booked 2 rooms online, close to each other, a suite and a balcony room. I intend for hubby and I to have the suite with our only daughter (sofa bed) and our 3 sons will have the balcony room with a sofa bed. However since the oldest boy will only be 20, I had to book one room under my name and one room under my husband. I later called MSC and he “linked” our rooms, which he said would allow us to eat dinner together. The suite is Aurea, the balcony room is Fantastica. Is this going to be a problem? Specially for boarding times?? Any other issues or advice anyone has? We aren’t a very picky family, just wanting some time together away from everyday life.