Meraviglia New York-Canada-Miami Oct/Nov '19

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, cruisingator2 said:

Thanks for posting. We decided to book the PP and I’m glad that we did. Nice selections.

 

We're loving the higher-end drinks! I tried the 12 year old Japanese whiskey today ... it was very nice.  I really wanted to try this particular one as I've read that the company is discontinuing it.

[CruisingFox27]

I'd be happy to swap a tote bag for your FFC voucher....guess what our DC gifts were 😂😂😂

 

We're currently not having selected wines offered on Seaside, they're offering anything on the list as far as we can tell. 

[CruisingFox27]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

The captain has just announced that Ocean Caye has been replaced with Ocho Rios for "operational" reasons.  We're being given $100 OBC per cabin and a 20% discount off a future cruise

 

At last, you'll be going to Jamaica 😎

[Beamafar]

58 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

At last, you'll be going to Jamaica 😎

 

😁😁😁👍👍

[cruisingnewtoit]

7 hours ago, Beamafar said:

People are reporting that they're being limited to the wines that are open on each night in the restaurant.

 

I had such trouble in the first few days trying to have the wine that I would like on any given evening that I eventually gave up and have been limited to the white - Silverado - and the red - Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which was an ordeal to get originally, to the point where the sommelier has ensured that it's in plentiful supply for me.

 

He has come to me at times throughout our time onboard to ask how everything is but the language barrier is such that I have not managed to get it across that I really should be able to have wine by the glass of my choosing. 🙄

 

Conversely, the Speciality Restaurant sommelier has been wonderful and we've even enjoyed wines not on the SR menus.

This is upsetting to hear especially since you paid to upgrade your drink package. We also will have the plus when we sail YC in Feb.  My DH will not be Happy nor will I about this limited wine selection.

 

I like to try different wines when I'm on vacation since I never drink at home.

[Beamafar]

We booked Ocean Cay for 9pm last night as we couldn't get an earlier time.  We went to the earliest showing of Way in the theatre.  We didn't need to book, being in YC, though we had to on our first leg 🙄

 

It was an incredible show, with the dancing and some of the singers being outstanding!

 

 

 

 We then called into Hola! Tapas to see the sommelier and enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine.  Seeing as how we weren't dining til late and we hadn't had anything since lunch, we decided to have some tapas.  Unfortunately the sandwich I ordered had a sauce on it which hadn't been listed in the sandwich ingredients, so DH ate his as well as mine.  As a result, we ended up going to the buffet (in our smart attire, it being Elegant night) where I had the most delicious HOT sweet potato fries with some chicken tenders.  I was enjoying it so much, I wanted more and didn't want to leave to go to OC.

 

Anyway, we did!  Now 

... I had booked the tryptic package on the basis of a great Seaside review done on here by admom where she showed the items on the main menu that weren't included in the Dining Experience and there didn't seem to be a specific DE section.

 

It appeared that seabass was, and, silly me, I had assumed the same would apply here ( wouldn't you think I'd know better by now with MSC 🙄) Well, there is a DE section and the seabass on the main menu is only available for 2

 

 

 

 

[mickey89]

I note that you arrive in Curacao in a few hours time.........this will give in good insight to the island.

https://www.iflymagazine.com/en/magazines/beach/littlesecrets-curacao

[Beamafar]

I've just read the letter that we we're provided with, outlining the offer of compensation for having our Ocean Caye visit substituted with Ocho Rios.  According to it, we will receive 20% of the price we paid for this cruise - cruise fare only - as a future cruise voucher IN THAT AMOUNT.  So everyone is going to receive different value vouchers by the looks of things.  I will report more when I get the info on just how they're going to handle it.

 

 

 

[April42749]

Just curios....but are all the shows on this leg (NY-Miami) the same as on the first leg (NY-Canada)?

 

[Beamafar]

I brought a really warm sweater for our Canada leg of the cruise and I've ended up wearing it more in the Caribbean lol.  The air-conditioning is up too high for me in the restaurant.  I only needed a t-shirt on the NA part of the cruise 🙄

 

 

People were saying how hot it is on the pool deck today ... I thought it was lovely  😁

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, April42749 said:

Just curios....but are all the shows on this leg (NY-Miami) the same as on the first leg (NY-Canada)?

 

 

I think so ... I'd have to go back through the planners to check.  We've only made it to the theatre a couple of times as the times seem to be always clashing with something else we're doing (such as long, leisurely dinners lol)

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

I've just read the letter that we we're provided with, outlining the offer of compensation for having our Ocean Caye visit substituted with Ocho Rios.  According to it, we will receive 20% of the price we paid for this cruise - cruise fare only - as a future cruise voucher IN THAT AMOUNT.  So everyone is going to receive different value vouchers by the looks of things.  I will report more when I get the info on just how they're going to handle it.

 

 

So glad, now, that we're not B2B 🤣🤣🤣  All we've missed out on is the 'Diamond' card gift of baseball caps for this leg and we got 2 in September anyway  😁😁😁

[firstcarib]

On 10/30/2019 at 1:49 PM, trainbuff said:

My post was in no way attacking the OP. It was merely stating the real reason we left Quebec early as told to me by the cruise director.

This story of whales is bizarre! We spent ages hopefully looking for a whisker of one! Only saw a flying fish. I feel the whole fishy story was made up-it would have been so much better just to have told us the truth-the real reason-whether it was stormy seas, the need to get back earlier to NYC or whatever. It was the total lack of info that annoyed me & many others on the NYC-Canada cruise.

[Beamafar]

I think we've had enough on this thread about whether some other people's visit to Quebec on a prior cruise was curtailed due to whales or not.  It has moved on and this one is about the next sailing.   Should anyone wish to discuss the subject further, might I respectfully suggest that they start a thread on it.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

I've just read the letter that we we're provided with, outlining the offer of compensation for having our Ocean Caye visit substituted with Ocho Rios.  According to it, we will receive 20% of the price we paid for this cruise - cruise fare only - as a future cruise voucher IN THAT AMOUNT.  So everyone is going to receive different value vouchers by the looks of things.  I will report more when I get the info on just how they're going to handle it.

 

 

 

That's what Celebrity did when we skipped Nassau to go to Freeport to render aid after the hurricane, except we got the refund in cash instead of a future cruise credit.  Everyone was given credit (which went back to your credit card if you didn't use it) for one night's fare they paid for the cruise.  Seven-night cruise, so divide that cost by 7.  Thought that was a very generous way to handle it, particularly since 99.9% of the passengers approved of the decision and, indeed, volunteered to make sandwiches and helped pack up food and water to send ashore.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[Beamafar]

We just went for a short walk off the ship in Curaçao after lunch, before returning to enjoy an almost empty One Pool deck.  The view from our sunbeds

 

 

We've had the pool to ourselves and, when we got out, a butler let us know there were afternoon snacks out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what you pay YC prices for  😂

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Beamafar

[sidari]

All that just for you Two ... 😲 what a waste ... 😂

[Beamafar]

Just sitting here in the restaurant after having the always available salmon with potatoes & veg ...

 

 

 

... and wondering how I'm going to find room for dessert,

 

having indulged in some apple crumble on the pool deck.  I've just remembered that we have choc strawberries and a portion of cheesecake from last night's Ocean Cay visit back in the minibar in the cabin.  😱

 

[ready2cruzagain]

21 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We booked Ocean Cay for 9pm last night as we couldn't get an earlier time.  We went to the earliest showing of Way in the theatre.  We didn't need to book, being in YC, though we had to on our first leg 🙄

 

It was an incredible show, with the dancing and some of the singers being outstanding!

 

 

 

 We then called into Hola! Tapas to see the sommelier and enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine.  Seeing as how we weren't dining til late and we hadn't had anything since lunch, we decided to have some tapas.  Unfortunately the sandwich I ordered had a sauce on it which hadn't been listed in the sandwich ingredients, so DH ate his as well as mine.  As a result, we ended up going to the buffet (in our smart attire, it being Elegant night) where I had the most delicious HOT sweet potato fries with some chicken tenders.  I was enjoying it so much, I wanted more and didn't want to leave to go to OC.

 

Anyway, we did!  Now 

... I had booked the tryptic package on the basis of a great Seaside review done on here by admom where she showed the items on the main menu that weren't included in the Dining Experience and there didn't seem to be a specific DE section.

 

It appeared that seabass was, and, silly me, I had assumed the same would apply here ( wouldn't you think I'd know better by now with MSC 🙄) Well, there is a DE section and the seabass on the main menu is only available for 2

 

 

 

 

 

Want you to clarify something for me as I am confused.  We are trying to decide what restaurant to go to for our Diamond status free meal.  You show four pictures of the menus for Ocean Cay.  Would we only be able to pick from the first picture you show??  If so, I think I pass.  That menu is not very appetizing to me and the only main course I would eat would be the clams or the cod but we eat those at home all of the time.

[Beamafar]

The Diamond meal for 2 only includes offerings from the Dining Experience page of the menu.  You can swap out items from the main menu for a 50% charge plus 15% service charge.

 

For us, too, it was a very poor menu and I literally had one piece of cod as well as the already shown cheesecake.

 

 

To be fair, this is how DH's cod came out

 

 

He also had the crab cake for a starter which he said was very nice (it was nicer in Butcher's Cut, he says, but it's not on the DE menu there)

 

 

No way is this meal worth the $50 charge!

[Beamafar]

I'll post the Dining Experience menu for Butcher's Cut and Kaito Sushi later.  We're in Aruba and are going on a mini-submarine excursion this morning 

[ready2cruzagain]

32 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I'll post the Dining Experience menu for Butcher's Cut and Kaito Sushi later.  We're in Aruba and are going on a mini-submarine excursion this morning 

 

EWWWWWWWE, the cod does not even look good.  I will pass and go to Butchers Cut. Thank you for clearing that up for me!

[Beamafar]

We will have another night in BC ... it'll be our 5th visit on this cruise!  Apart from a not so good cheesecake, everything else has been great there!  We've dined twice with 4 other couples and they all enjoyed it, too.

[bluefish17]

Bea,

Glad you're having a great cruise. Is there any way you could post the wine list from Butchers Cut? Im part of a YC group in a few weeks who want to have one really special dinner together and not sure if we want to use the standard YC wines or get something nicer.

Thanks

[DCGuy64]

On 11/1/2019 at 7:39 AM, Beamafar said:

We had afternoon tea yesterday and chose 'Romeo & Juliet' flavour.  It was really, really nice!  @DCGuy64 this is for you

 

 

We were served by Wayan, our wonderful butler who happened to be on tea duty.

Two nights ago, we dined in Kaito Sushi for one of our tryptic package meals.  Now, we have eaten in the Asian fusion restaurants on 3 Musica-class ships before and never had a problem choosing from the menu for our Black Card meal as there is nothing on the Dining Experience section that we'd eat.  We only ever have 2 dishes and a dessert, instead of the number of items listed on the DE.

Well, the Speciality Restaurant asst manager said no to us on Meraviglia.  We told her about our previous experiences and she said not on this ship!

Now ... the previous evening we had got talking to the head chef for SRs and he had said to ask for him any time we were dining in one.  As it happened he just came out as we were trying to convince the asst manager to facilitate us.  He asked what the problem was and I told him.  I showed them the items we would order if we were allowed.  The asst manager got on the phone to her boss and he said no.  I said I would never have booked the tryptic had I known things would be different to our previous experiences.

In the meantime the chef had made a call, then he gave the nod to herself to go ahead and let us choose from the menu.  🙄

What we had, had we been paying for the meal, would have cost $33 ... the DE price is $34!! 😀

So, we chose the fried rice dish and the terryaki beef one.  This time we had decided to have them served together, rather than as 2 courses.  I had expected the rice and beef to be on separate plates the way we'd had them before ( but, in fairness, we'd always ordered them as individual courses elsewhere).

Here is what we received 

 

Now compare the portion sizes to these from Poesia last year (especially the portion of beef)

 

 

 

We know the SR sommelier from when he was a waiter on Orchestra and he made up for the miserable servings when we mentioned to him how very poor the selection of wines were in Kaito.  He selected a bottle of white which he recommended would complement Asian flavours;  it's available from the dispensers outside Panorama and included in Prem+. It certainly was a very nice wine ... so nice that DH drank half of it 😢 and he never drinks white wine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very kind of you to post this and mention my name, @Beamafar. Thank you so much, the pictures look delightful!