MSC Meraviglia - September 17-24, 2017 - Trip Report and Review

Meraviglia - Day 8 - Disembark Genoa

Suitcases were collected by 1 a.m. and disembarkation was a breeze.

Claimed our luggage easily and walked right outside to waiting cabs for the airport.

We left out friends at the Genoa airport, and I went and rented a car.

We headed back down to Cinque Terre for another adventure. ;p

The week just flew by... wish we had more time to enjoy the ship.

Summary

Let me try and wrap up this report with some random observations and a bit of a critique.

Clearly, there are still bugs and hiccups with the overall IT systems...not so surprising knowing how the corporate website functions. We had discovered that, after the first day, all our drinks were being billed to our account...the system had ignored our drink plan. A visit to guest services got an apology and that it would be fixed that evening... never happened.

Next day, we realized all Voyager Club perks were missing as well.

Another visit to guest services...apologies and promises...this time, they came thru and by Day 3, our account and perks were all in order.

The workload is quite severe for Guest Services...they really are good people that are swamped...since every night had hundreds of people disembarking the following morning..... all lined up until the wee hours..either disputing charges or there to settle their account with cash

I went down at 1 am one night, thinking I'd have no wait for a question...

That was typical every night

They should have a separate line for generic issues, and separate the accounting problems from general questions and requests for help.

The biggest slam against this ship has been the quality of the food.

Other than the big disappointment with Eataly Ristorante, overall we did not find the food bad...just lacking and not up to par with other mass market cruise lines.

Service was never a problem; food was prompt and hot. It just was mediocre.

I truly think their recipes are too ambitious for the volume need to feed 5000 guests.

The entertainment was fantastic... Theater shows were formulaic, but done quite well. I never criticize live shows.

The troupe numbered over 20 and were well produced. I abhor Cirque shows, so they were not tested

The CD and staff are among the hardest working bunch onboard.

Our cabin was fine, although lacking in innovative design. Our Cabin Steward was friendly and efficient, but lacked details...left used glasses at times and had to keep requesting breakfast room service hangers. He did keep the cabin spotless with twice a day visits. We did our own drain and refills on the deck hot tub.

For an Aurea Suite, Bathroom was simply a dreadful design. Cheap fittings, tiny shower and literally no storage or countertop.

The ship is beautiful. My only complaint was not enough time on this cruise to really enjoy all the attributes

With a full day in each port...then, dinner, a show and a party... not much time to explore

Perhaps one less port (one more sea day) would give more time to enjoy the ship.

As mentioned when I started.. I did so want to love this ship, but it did not reach that level of attraction.

Ships talk to me... in this case, I could not find the "soul." Cruise veterans will understand what I mean.

This felt like you are not on a voyage with the rest of the passengers, but rather on the bus for a few stops.

Less of an impact with a large ship like this, unlike smaller vessels where you get to know the others onboard.

Don't get me wrong... We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this trip and would consider another voyage on her, perhaps when she comes to the USA in 2019. All that was promised was delivered, just not in a great way.

We currently have the Seaside booked for April 2018. I will admit I am currently debating whether to keep that reservation.

Thank you for all the time and effort you've put into this review.

The Meraviglia will be our first sailing experience with MSC next April, and I have enjoyed your commentary, and especially the pictures.

A quick clean-up and change...and down to the Panorama Main Dining room for dinner.

Again... great friendly service...quick and accurate... food was mediocre and menu choices were strange.

 

I have come to the conclusion that the MDR problem with food is that the dishes (recipes) are too ambitious for mass catering.....they would be better served with simpler dishes that can be satisfactorily served in volume.

 

We stopped in the Sky lounge for an after dinner drink.... by far the prettiest lounge on the ship.

 

 

The most important mission we had tonite was to watch a soccer game with our team, Real Madrid.

 

I was amazed that the Sports Bar in the Sportsplex has NO screens... no games to watch there. ...Huh?

 

Thankfully, the place to watch was the Brass Anchor Pub..

 

 

Great seats at the bar and we thoroughly enjoyed watching it there.

 

That also gave us great seats to enjoy the Promenade party after the game...from a sane vantage point.

 

 

 

 



 

Great review. I am interested in the comment about the dishes being "ambitious". Can you give me an example or two? Thanks!

Summary

 

The entertainment was fantastic... Theater shows were formulaic, but done quite well. I never criticize live shows.

The troupe numbered over 20 and were well produced. I abhor Cirque shows, so they were not tested

The CD and staff are among the hardest working bunch onboard.

 

 

I was on her the week after you, and as it was my 16th cruise with MSC, I 've seen a lot of production shows.

The ones on offer on Meraviglia were mediocre by comparison to the shows on my last three cruises on Orchestra and Splendida. I must say here that I saw both Cirque shows before any production show and they were brilliant (IMHO) very different to the typical Cirque shows I've seen on land. But, hey! theatre is very much a personal thing, and my thing is not the same as yours

Quoting you " where there appears to be always room in that giant theater".

The theatre is significantly smaller than either of the theatres on the two ships I mention, and I found it very disappointing.

Splendida (3959 guests) 1603 seats on two levels,

Orchestra (3013 guests) 1240 seats on two levels

Meraviglia (5701 guests) 985 seats on one level

Besides that small difference I think you have written an excellent review which is beautifully illustrated with superb images.

Pete

So great to read this review. We head out in the morning. Yacht Club. Hoping food there does not disappoint. Thanks for the pix! We cannot wait. Can’t sleep!

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Great review! we're doing the same itinerary in 2019 on the Bellissima. (Embarking in Barcelona though).

It's clear to me that I have a *ton* of homework to do in researching the ports! (good thing I have lots of time!)

I love all of the things you did in ports - nothing seemed over the top touristy and it all looked like authentic experiences. We are more do-it-yourself in ports (although we have not done a Europe cruise yet) but it looks completely doable.

Question - do you speak French, Spanish, or Italian? Is it necessary to have a working knowledge of any of these languages for the ports? I've been to spain and paris and gotten by with my college Spanish and horrible French but have never been to Italy.

Lastly let me pick your brain if you don't mind - if it was your first time in these ports - what would you do/see? I take it Sagrada Familia in Barcelona but in the other ports?

Thanks!

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Question - do you speak French, Spanish, or Italian? Is it necessary to have a working knowledge of any of these languages for the ports? I've been to spain and paris and gotten by with my college Spanish and horrible French but have never been to Italy.

Hi Katie... glad to provide some insight for you. Yes, the more homework you do, the more satisfying the visits will be.

I speak "clumsy" Italian, and can understand more than I can speak... and a mere rookie in Spanish...but..

No worry... most everyone you will encounter as a visitor in the cities will be better in English than I am with their native language. Only in the very small villages will you encounter a language barrier.

If you discover this... always seek out a younger person for directions or guidance in English... :cool:

Let me get some info and I'll try and help with your port questions.

Hi Katie... glad to provide some insight for you. Yes, the more homework you do, the more satisfying the visits will be.

 

I speak "clumsy" Italian, and can understand more than I can speak... and a mere rookie in Spanish...but..

No worry... most everyone you will encounter as a visitor in the cities will be better in English than I am with their native language. Only in the very small villages will you encounter a language barrier.

If you discover this... always seek out a younger person for directions or guidance in English... :cool:

 

Let me get some info and I'll try and help with your port questions.

Thanks so much!

As we explored the Promenade, there were crew at almost every location to explain the venues.

 

I had some minor concerns about dining times and reservations that needed to get resolved.

 

1. We had booked the Chef's Table online, but no way to specify the day and time; we wanted it for a specific date.
   
2. Our friends were Fantastica and we were Aurea... we needed to get us both in the same dining room at the same table.
   
3. We purchased the Tryptic (3 specialty meals) but could not link both couples and could not book the same time slots.
   

Amazingly, we had all this resolved within 5-10 minutes.

 

 

A rep in Eataly sat with us and resolved the Chef's Table booking, as well as edited all the specialty bookings to have all of us at the same time.

 

 

Right across the way, there was an "open-air" office for Main Dining...and the gentleman fixed our dining so that we had a table for 4 in Panorama at the desired time.

 

 

<boom> ..just like that, all issues were solved,.

 

 

Nice way to start...

 

 

We went back to our cabin to rest and change for dinner... We always start a cruise in the MDR.

 

We had a forward facing Aurea Suite, cabin 10008.

Details on our cabin are in this separate thread:

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2549132

 

The hallways to the cabins are a bit clinical and could use some art or color..

 

 

Tomorrow, we dock in Naples...

Hi computerworks

,

I wonder if you can help. I have booked the 3+1 dining package but confused about how I actually make reservations?

Thank you for your review. I will be cruising this itinerary on the Seaview in August and your insight has helped me begin to plan my port stops for the cruise. Thank you so much! :D