MSC Meraviglia LIVE Review Northern Europe June 10-June 24

[Hey Tina]

back to...DAY 2

 

Coming as no surprise to anyone, I didn't skip dinner on Day 2, I just forgot to post it.

 

 

Also....I think I might have said previously that some other night was elegant night, but tonight was elegant night. The 11th. The night after we departed.

 

 

Feuilleté de escargot; 8/10.

 

Oxtail consomme. I think consomme means "broth" and I would have never ordered this if I knew I was ordering broth, because at no point in life do I ever want to eat broth, so I can't rate this. It wouldn't be fair.

 

Rock lobster bisque; 4.5/10. Rock lobster? WHERE??

 

DIll flavoured sea bream; 9/10. Fantastic.

 

Leg of lamb; 7/10. I read "leg of lamb" but my brain thought "rack of lamb" so this was a big surprise. It was fine. It sort of tasted like liver. I like liver, but it doesn't come from lambs, so I was kind of thrown off.

[Hey Tina]

back to....DAY 3

 

After lunch in town and before dinner....

 

Getting back onboard took a while, maybe 20-30 minutes and I noticed at the Edge Bar the pastries were replaced with cookies.

 

 

 

Another nap was disturbed by the mid day knock (WHY?!?) delivering the daily planner.

 

 

R.e dinner, I’ve had the same server all 3 nights, and the same table night 1 and 2. On the first day after I boarded I called the myChoice reservation desk because I momentarily lost my mind and thought I might like to have dinner with other people, and the woman I spoke with, Anna, said she would check and asked what time I would like to come to dinner. I wasn’t sure but I told her it would be later, maybe around 2000, and as I was walking to the restaurant I hear my name being called out and the woman I spoke to was welcoming me to the restaurant. Of course I know they have my photo (they made me take a new one as soon as I stepped onboard) and yes I was wearing the same clothes, but it kind of threw me off, but not in a bad way.

 

 

After dinner I went to the Claudio de Negri show, which was ventriloquism and magic. It was quite a ride. The logistics of doing a verbal show in English, Italian, Spanish, French and German (if I’m not forgetting one) is just nuts. I enjoyed it just fine, but it was a little confusing at times.

 

 

Most of the bars have had bar snacks, bowls of peanuts, cheesy looking crisps (similar in look to a Cheeto Puff), chips (American, not UK) or olives, but as I found out in the Brass Anchor, they stop those at 2200. By the way, the Brass Anchor Pub has 12 beers on tap and included with the package (everything WITHOUT any asterisks) is included, whereas the other bars I’ve been to only have Heineken.

 

 

 

When I got back to my room my Voyagers Club/black card gift was there, a backpack.

 

[Hey Tina]

DAY 4

 

At 0100 it was technically day 4, and it was still light outside.

 

 

Today is also when it became 100% clear that the DND button/switch basically meant “Disturb me at your convenience”. Around 0930 I was awakened by knocks and calls of “Room Service”, only problem being, I didn’t order room service. I figured the staff member would realize they were at the wrong room and move on, but nope, more knocks. I got up, opened the door and told the guy he had the wrong room, but no, he had the right room. It was another bowl of fruit, this time with bananas as well as pear, orange and a couple of plums (?). I like bananas and haven’t seen any onboard but really, they could have kept their bananas if it meant respecting the DO NOT DISTURB sign.

 

 

I skipped breakfast today and had lunch in the Waves MDR. I asked for and got a table by myself, but the service was just as slow. It seems like the appetizers are already at the waiter stations so those come out very quickly, but the entrees take way too long.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the Madison salad, but it was very good, 8/10.

 

 

Split pea soup. 7/10. I’ve never had split pea soup before so I’m not sure how it’s supposed to taste, but this was fine. I was also really hungry.

 

 

8.5/10. Another fish I’d never had and just the fish was probably a 8 but the sides brought it up to an 8.5.

 

 

Coconut cake; 3/10. Nope.

 

Melon (Cantaloupe?) sorbet; 9/10. Fantastic. I don’t eat sorbet in my real life but if all sorbet tastes as good as the sorbet on this ship I need to.

 

[Hey Tina]

After lunch, I tried to locate my hand sanitizer I left at dinner last night and I was unsuccessful, however I did get the schedule for this ships next voyage per Callimero's request. The front desk staff said it was printed yesterday.

 

 

I also saw people by the pool with jackets on and covered head to toe with blankets. It's 45 degrees....

 

I also found gum. On Youtube Cruising with Wheels said they don't have gum on cruise ships. Well, this one does.

 

[Hey Tina]

When I got back to my room, the cabin attendant had cleaned it and put fresh linens on the bed as I asked, but he also opened the balcony door and left it cracked, so it was really cold???? Overall he’s a good attendant but there are little things here and there (the cracked door, not respecting the DND sign, leaving dirty dishes in the room, not emptying bathroom trash) that definitety keep him in the good and not great/excellent category.

 

 

As a note, if you’re curious how I have enough clothes for 14+ nights in just a backpack, I do laundry periodically. I read one review of someone who did carry on only and they lamented about wearing dirty, stinky, soiled, clothes. Inconceivable.

 

 

This thing is called a Scrubba, I think it might be from Australia. It seems way more effective than just swishing in a sink bcause of the nubbies. It fits perfect in the sink, but it's self contained and you could use it on a counter or something.

 

 

This Rick Steves clothesline also fits perfectly in the shower, which admittedly is probably the worst place to try to dry clothes due to the lack of airflow, but I’m not going anywhere, if it takes a couple of days to dry it’s fine.

 

 

Dinner was very good.

 

 

I had originally scheduled my meal at Butchers Cut for today but when I saw the MDR menu I changed my reservation. On my last cruise on Royal, the one day I had lunch in the MDR it was lasagna and it was phenomenal, so I had to try the MSC lasagna.

 

 

Potato lentil soup; 7.5/10. Good, but definitely missing something.

 

Sunray salad; 4/10. Not for me.

 

Lasagna Bolognese; 9/10. This was so good as soon as I took one bite I asked my waiter to cancel the salmon I also ordered. This was so delicious and filling I knew there was no chance of eating another main course.

 

Dessert menu, photo and rating later.

[RealNorwegianCruiser]

Enjoying your review! Going with Meraviglia in October this year, and in February 2019.

 

Welcome to Norway! Was you one of the 12 000 cruisers visiting Aalesund at the same time? I hope it wasnt too crowded!

[pukekolive]

Dinner was business as usual.

 

Fried calamari and shrimp; 6/10. I understand from a culinary pererpctive why chefs leave the tails on shrimp, but the entire shell? Come on.

 

Greek Salad; 8.5/10. Delicious. Mixed it before I remembered the photo.

 

Linguine with shellfish; 6.5/10. I don't think I like mussels, and the shellfish was mostly mussels. I ate about half.

 

Pineapple sorbet; 9.5/10. Absolutely amazing.

I went on a student exchange to France in 1969 and they family served shrimp and prawns with the shells on, we removed them at the table

 

Sent from my SM-A320Y using Tapatalk

[pukekolive]

Consomme is glass-clear soup shouldnt be cloudy and classic French bisque is strained and has no solids, it is not like chowder

back to...DAY 2

 

Coming as no surprise to anyone, I didn't skip dinner on Day 2, I just forgot to post it.

 

 

Also....I think I might have said previously that some other night was elegant night, but tonight was elegant night. The 11th. The night after we departed.

 

 

Feuilleté de escargot; 8/10.

 

Oxtail consomme. I think consomme means "broth" and I would have never ordered this if I knew I was ordering broth, because at no point in life do I ever want to eat broth, so I can't rate this. It wouldn't be fair.

 

Rock lobster bisque; 4.5/10. Rock lobster? WHERE??

 

DIll flavoured sea bream; 9/10. Fantastic.

 

Leg of lamb; 7/10. I read "leg of lamb" but my brain thought "rack of lamb" so this was a big surprise. It was fine. It sort of tasted like liver. I like liver, but it doesn't come from lambs, so I was kind of thrown off.

 

Sent from my SM-A320Y using Tapatalk

[Hey Tina]

Enjoying your review! Going with Meraviglia in October this year, and in February 2019.

 

Welcome to Norway! Was you one of the 12 000 cruisers visiting Aalesund at the same time? I hope it wasnt too crowded!

 

Glad you're enjoying it. I hope you have a good time on your trips. I'm not sure how many people were in Alesund, besides our ship I saw one other, a Tui? Tiu? In any case it wasn't too crowded for me.

 

pukekolive, thanks for your feedback.

[Callimero]

 

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180613/bbe503469d8056300ada202dac6cf3fc.jpg

 

Thank you sooooooo much Hey Tina!

It helps us (and other travelers on this tour) very much. Now we can switch our reservations (as soon they aren‘t fixed).

We‘ve already saw the tendency but now we have clarity.

Again, much appreciated!

 

Cheers Oliver

[Hey Tina]

You're welcome Oliver.

[Hey Tina]

I keep forgetting stuff yall. The dessert for DAY 2 was never posted, but I sure did order it and it sure was amazing. It was one of those dishes that you take one bite of then put your utensil down and just shake your head.

 

 

Lemon delight; 9/10.

 

 

 

 

As far as DAY 4 desserts….

 

 

 

Warm apple strudel; 5.5/10. The apples were sort of mealy. Not great.

 

 

However, my wait staff found my hand sanitizer and set it aside for me after I left it last night, so that WAS great! Saved me the €3,50 the onboard shop is charging for hand sanitizer.

 

 

At 2 am it was still light, of course

 

[Hey Tina]

DAY 5

 

 

Tromso

 

 

Yesterday MSC delivered information about where we were docking in Tromso and gave us an option of exchanging the voucher they left in the room for a round trip shuttle ticket for €15,90 charged to your onboard account.

 

 

I thought I had outfoxed MSC because from what I understood, the paper said we were docking really close to where I wanted to go. I was wrong. This is where we docked/ported.

 

 

I skipped breakfast again, but I woke up around 830 when they were cleaning the balcony. They left notice yesterday that this would be happening and advised you to keep your curtains closed for privacy. Another note, the breakfast menu is the exact same every day. I’m sure i’ll catch it before the trip is over.

 

 

I went to guest services before I headed out because I wanted to exchange € for kroner and spend NOK 50 each way for the bus rather *than MSCs fee, but to get 100 NOK cost €15 with the €4 fee so I just said whatever and used the voucher. While I was talking to the associate a very rude woman and her husband were breathing down my neck….they stood DIRECTLY behind me, instead of the start of the line, which was about 5 yards away since I was at the desk on the far left. Eventually, she actually told me “hurry up”. Some people really have some nerve.

 

 

I caught the shuttle, and the journey took probably half the time they said it would. They were very big busses, and plenty of them. It seemed like on bus waited at each stop until the next bus arrived before leaving, so if you were waiting it could be on the bus and not outside. The buses had full seatbelts and dropped off across from the Radisson Blu.

 

I walked to the library which is absolutely gorgeous. It also has free wifi.

 

 

By the way, this is what they were serving for lunch on the ship

 

[Hey Tina]

After looking around a bit and using their wifi, I walked to Burgr.

 

 

I ordered a Doom burger; 8/10, and onion rings. I appreciated that the cheese was nicely melted, and there was more than one measly tomato like I usually encounter on a burger.

 

 

 

Wait a second, those are fries. Yes, they are. I reminded him I ordered onion rings when he brought my order and he just let me keep the fries.

[Hey Tina]

 

The fries, sauces and onion rings were truly forgettable and not worth the money. I don’t feel like doing the conversion, the prices are on the menu. It was obviously expensive.

 

 

Before I left i got a 78 NOK Strawberry Rhubarb milkshake to go, with no whipped cream; 7/10. Heavy on the strawberry, extremely light on the rhubarb which was disappointing.

 

 

Dinner was at Butchers Cut. It was my free black card meal and menus are literally everywhere so I won’t post them. The staff offered wine and I was able to have it (and water) with the drink package, even though the menu says drink packages aren’t valid in the specialty restaurants.

 

 

Beet & Burrata Salad; 8/10. Fantastic. I love beets but hardly eat them, and this was my first time having burrata. The dish needed a bit of salt.

 

 

 

I tried to communicate to the waiter that I would like the rack of lamb cooked to the chefs recommendation because I never eat it and don’t know how it’s best, but I was unsuccessful. He said medium well is best because then it has no “blood” but of course the “blood” when you cut into a rare steak/piece of meat isn’t blood at all, it’s myoglobin. I settled on medium but I should have done medium rare. 7.5/10

 

The meat was over cooked (but not tough) however the knives were so dull it was nuts. Forgot to take the photo.

 

My favorite sauce was the peppercorn. From left to right, Bearnaise, Peppercorn, Mushroom, Chimichurri.

 

 

My sides (I couldn’t decide and the waiter decided to bring me two I was trying to decide between) were roasted Brussels sprouts; 6/10; Soft, not nearly crispy as I was expecting for them being “roasted”.

 

 

 

and.....Jalapeno Creamed Corn; 6.5/10.

 

[Hey Tina]

Lava cake; 7/10.

 

 

I’m glad this meal was free.

 

 

After dinner I went back to my room to rest my eyes for a few minutes before the “Magic Friends” show and when the show (described by a member of the staff as a magic show) started, I thought I may have still been in my room asleep because it was TRIPPY.

 

Humans dressed as dogs, prancing and dancing in between and as part of a magic act.

 

 

I feel like this is a must see show, and one you should take photos and video of because it is completely surreal and no one will believe you unless you show them proof.

[Hey Tina]

DAY 6

 

 

Elegant night

 

 

Still very light outside at 0248, of course. The sun hasn't set in days.

 

 

Lunch in the MDR again.

 

 

Salmon tartare; 7.5/10. I didn’t expect this to be made with smoked salmon.

 

 

Legume soup; 8/10. Remember that other soup I said felt like it was missing something? This soup had it.

 

 

Cornflake-crusted fish filet; 7.5/10. The crust was a bit odd, a little chewy.

 

 

Torta Caprese; 7.5/10.

 

[Hey Tina]

I guess FIFA was on TV and in the Brass Anchor Pub they had a couple of drink specials. They were available with the package. I had a couple of the La Celeste Cocktails which were pretty good.

 

 

Bar snacks

 

 

Dinner, MDR, same wait staff, etc, etc

 

 

Cured beef carpaccio; 2/10. This just tasted like pieces of deli meat. Not good at all.

[Hey Tina]

Ruolina salad; 5.5/10. Mixed it before the photo. Not great.

 

 

Seared monkfish medallions; 6/10. Beautiful and the same rice as earlier in the week. I don’t think I like monkfish. The texture of this is difficult to explain...it was like trying to cut a piece of meat with vs against the grain?

 

 

Beef filet in truffle sauce; 8/10. Very good.

 

 

Caramel yummy ice cream sundae; 6.5/10. I was super excited for this because I love caramel, but it didn’t deliver. The caramel sauce felt more like a caramel syrup, something you might pump into a coffee cup? Oh well, they also had coffee ice cream again.

 

 

DAY 7

Longyearbyen

 

White night

 

Lunch

 

 

Cream of potato soup; 7.5/10.

 

[Hey Tina]

Fillet of sole; 7.5/10. Not deboned.

 

 

Pistachio-crusted rack of lamb; 7.5/10. This time it really was a rack of lamb.

 

 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, no sauce; 8/10. Very good. Also on the buffet so snagged a couple of pieces and put it in the fridge for a late night snack.

 

[Living4acruise2day]

Such a debbie downer review so far. Barely anything is positive which may be the reason no one is responding?

[Hey Tina]

Such a debbie downer review so far. Barely anything is positive which may be the reason no one is responding?

I'm having a fantastic time and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I'm not sure what gives you the impression that this is a Debbie Downer review, care to explain?

[QueenofEverything]

Any observations or highlights of the ports you are visiting? Something about the ship other than food? Thx

[8420PR]

I'm having a fantastic time and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I'm not sure what gives you the impression that this is a Debbie Downer review, care to explain?

Glad you're enjoying your cruise - I'm also enjoying your review a lot!

[CruisingFox27]

Enjoying your review, great to hear you are having a lively cruise. Would love to hear more about the places visited, have you been on many trips ?