My MSC first cruise. Just got back cruise review from first time cruiser.

[codeyell0]

Just returned from my 7 night cruise on Meraviglia Oct 9th.
This is my review from a simple family man basically first cruise.

Let me first say the staff was simply great.   I met many wonderful people. 
Christian in the buffet from the Congo, always remembers my kids and was very interesting to talk to and learn about his culture and home.
Doxy in the MDR was our waiter the few nights we went.  
Gratia was our room attendant very sweet woman from St Lucia.    

Food
ok let get this one out of the way.  MSC lived up to what many say.  
The food was bland and repetitive.
   Buffet every night pizza, hot dogs, cheese burgers. these were ok nothing wowing. 
Pizza has decent crust but IMO lacked cheese.  I ordered an extra cheese the last night and it was really good.
Great breads! The cold cuts were almost the same all the time,  salami, maybe 2-3 kinds. sometimes they had ham, but usually in the AM. I saw turkey once.
Salads were ok, mostly I had Caesar salad. the regular bar didn't have many toppings,  or ones i cared for. Again I'm simple. 
I think like me people thought Italian ship they must have great pasta dishes. Nope. 
I tried a few all were way too bland, odd flavors.  Mac n cheese OMG they have no idea what they think this is. but they missed the mark by miles.  I think they add lemon or something. My kids would not touch it. Alfredo or thats what the sign said.  We did have one red sauce which was good but only once. 
at the end of the week someone told me each day was a different theme. I didn't really realize this.  But then it made me realize why they had some of the dishes they had.  Roast beef and pork loin were good. People said the fish was fine we don't like fish.  They did have chicken nuggets once. They were the processed pressed nuggets. not very good.
I also thought some thing were organized oddly. they had baked potatoes. they squirted sour cream from a food squirt bottle, all over the potato but not inside it. Butter is over by the breads. if you wanted cheese they had that but that was by the Mexican nachos. 

    Breakfast.  I saw some reviews where people said they didn't like the items on breakfast. I now know why.  Waffles were dense. not fluffy.  This is simple stuff, I think many items are frozen.  I mean my local hotel has better waffles. I got pancakes and the first was a hard disc. we could not cut it.  the next was better ordered a fresh one. This was still ehhh.  The French toast, was decent.  Bacon was ok, something was missing. Sausage ok I think this is precooked frozen being it was slightly rubbery. Great fruit. Pastries great!
cereal oatmeal and yogurt were just fine.  omelets were premade. We were able to get one made fresh but they seemed confused about it.

MDR 
We went went 3 times because they had items we saw on the menu we wanted. 
after these 3 times eating it seemed like the meals were almost premade. our steaks came out in a very short time. My French onion soup had hard cheese on it like it sat in a window and hardened. the cheese was like a parmesan crisp.  The soup its self was very lite. I'm used to a very dark soup like from Lipton.  There was a chicken dish my wife thought was great. Lasagna was very good. this should be on the buffet. the meat sauce was very enjoyable. Chicken parm was lacking in flavor. 
deserts get the cobblers they were excellent.  
Another annoying thing is salt and pepper in the MDR they must put it on your plate for you.  the buffet you get packets.
The first night they asked if we wanted water and brought us bottled water.  the rest of the nights they filled our glasses with free water.  Also no ice, I'm not a room temp water person.  They gave me ice but by default it has no ice
Maybe because we went to MDR after the kids ate and were dropped off at kids club, thing were not as fresh. usually about 8pm. That's no excuse though

Hola 
Tacos were small but tasty.  They show pictures of ice cream tacos and churros. no they don't have this yet.  
They have rice but its not a side. they did give it to me.  
Cheese dip was melted cheese but it was like melted mozzarella soft at first then after a minute hardens up you can't just dip it. you wind up cutting it and placing on the chips.  Tasted great but poor execution. we thought it was like Mexican cheese dip like we get locally

Over all food was hit or miss. Free options not much, over all food is lacking. I think they tried to be fancy when they didn't need to. I felt bad throwing away so many dishes. 
really missing a grab and go place.  One thought came to mind was Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen nightmares,  spitting out food he keeps trying. 
During one of the shows the management staff came out and the head chef was there.  I'd be embarrassed.  While I am simple I have worked in many restaurants  over the years.  only one 4-5 star place but many small local spots with awesome food.  

Rooms 
Rooms were great, bathrooms big enough. shower worked great. 
No towel animals as I had seen in many recent videos, was told because of covid. 
Room service menu doesn't work unless you have internet. they give you a QR code to scan.  Didn't know you had to ask for a menu. 
I did finally get a menu and then because I got bacon i get charged. I am not a fan of being charged for something free on the buffet. charge me to deliver it but fruit is on the buffet thats free. Bacon is a fee. 

Drinks were ok.  I thought the bar should really shine. Since this is what your pushing hard. 
We didn't find the coffee drinks bar until the end of the cruise.  
I was going to get the drinks package but decided not to.  I was confused where to get milkshakes, and frozen coffee drinks. At the gelato place? the chocolate place, which is the one we found later since its more in the back.  Someone said the bar makes milkshakes.
I should have asked can you get anything free at the bar besides water.
Also depending on the bar. If i ordered a soda I would get the can other times I would not. same price.

Kids club
My kids loved this place. The staff did a great job. The rooms had way less then I thought from pictures. They did have a computer room but seems only my youngest used it.  I came in one day and someone was sitting with him showing him how to play the game. I thought it was great. He was the only one in there.
They got kids pictures for 25.00 but this came with multiple pictures unlike the one phone when you board which costs way more. 
Kids club I can't say enough. My kids came back each night waiting to go back. AND they passed out within minutes of getting back in the room. 

Water park
This was great when it was open
one day we went the kiddy pool was closed only the big slides so my youngest could not go. 
They constantly close this area for cleaning? I don't get it.  but each hour they shut down for like 15-30 minutes
They close at 5pm. There is little place to sit and watch the kids. There is a table by the polar bar which never opened. but this table is not in view of the play area.
slides were nice

Pools 
nice pools bamboo and main pool were really close so if you got too hot or too much sun you can move to the next room basically.
They have to clean the water park each hour but pools never close.

Pool area
its nice to have ice cream right there. next to that nice spot to grab a quick bite. Same stuff everyday like the buffet. Pizza, burgers and hot dogs.  
nice loungers and lots of tables to sit at. 
The only issue I had was the smoking area is basically the left side and non smoking is the right. Normally I see smoking areas away from everyone like on the back of the ship.  So as a non smoker I had to smell it all the time.  If there was a good breeze it was not bad but I can't stand the smell.
 

Entertainment
I wish they had more movies at night. the first one started at like 11pm too late for me. I loved the movies out on the pool deck.
We watched Mary Poppins 2,  Wonder woman 1984 played but I missed it. Other movies played in the Broadway theatre. 
I wish there were more on the pool deck as no eating in the theatre or not as accessible.  
I did enjoy the shows they had. not many but enjoyable.  

Ocean Cay

great beach island. Loved the lagoons
white sand
pretty simple island, but for me it was great. for the beach day and not having to use another port to enjoy the water.
Food was close to the ships food but had jerk chicken which was not too spicy. They had ribs which I missed out on. 
They close the beach at 5pm which stinks. The employees go swimming after 5

Over all we had fun I was just needing something to eat after getting off the ship. 

 

[Homosassa]

Sorry you didn't enjoy the food.

 

It sounds like Carnival may be more to your liking. It serves food like you get at home.

Edited October 17, 2021 by Homosassa

[styles27]

Glad your kids had fun and I agree with Homosassa when our kids were little we cruised with Carnival and thought it was a great fit at that time. 
 

Food taste is subjective and unfortunately the US has become a breeding ground for chain restaurants that are notorious for serving foods high in sodium. 
Our grocery store shelves are packed with rice mixes, pasta mixes, soup mixes frozen dinners, pre prepared meals etc all of which are high sodium
When you mentioned the MDR “lite French onion soup” wasn’t as dark as you’re used to like Lipton a light went off in my head. 
What you had on the ship was most likely homemade from scratch and much healthier for you than Lipton which is very high in sodium. 
 

After spending a week in Italy and then a week on a Med cruise with many Europeans I was envious of their food. Envious that they don’t have the obesity problem that we have here in the states. 
 

When you go to a market in Rome you don’t see prepackaged foods you see fresh in season foods. They have very high food standards and we Americans can learn a lot from how they eat.
It reminded me of how my grandmothers and mother used to cook and fortunately I still cook and eat like that as well. 
 

Off my soapbox now 😉
 

[MonsterJoe]

I agree that a couple of the pasta dishes from the buffet lacked wow factor - but I still ate them.  The pasta itself was good.

All the pasta I had from restaurants was really good.

I start reading food reviews like this and get bummed out - because I enjoyed it a lot - but then I remember how completely subjective food is to people.

For the drinks - I'm not complicated.  My wife is a former bartender, so I'm spoiled and when I go out, I order whatever bourbon cocktails they have.  What I did most often on my sailing was order doubles on the rocks of whatever stuff I don't usually buy at home because it was all included.

I agree about the smoking section.  I smoked for 25 years and quit (for good) 5 years ago...it really bothers me.

I'm glad you had a good time, overall. 🙂

I was a first-time cruiser on 9/25.  I never wanted to cruise (NOROVIRUS!!!!) but my wife really wanted to, so acquiesced and it turns out, I really love cruising now.

[zekekelso]

Great report. Thanks. 

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[phillibl]

We were on the same cruise, it was amazing hard to beat a sailing with only 820ish passengers though lol. We went to see Doxey every night in the MDR and were blown away by both the food and service, caribbean night especially was awesome.  

[codeyell0]

7 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

I agree that a couple of the pasta dishes from the buffet lacked wow factor - but I still ate them.  The pasta itself was good.

All the pasta I had from restaurants was really good.

I start reading food reviews like this and get bummed out - because I enjoyed it a lot - but then I remember how completely subjective food is to people.

For the drinks - I'm not complicated.  My wife is a former bartender, so I'm spoiled and when I go out, I order whatever bourbon cocktails they have.  What I did most often on my sailing was order doubles on the rocks of whatever stuff I don't usually buy at home because it was all included.

I agree about the smoking section.  I smoked for 25 years and quit (for good) 5 years ago...it really bothers me.

I'm glad you had a good time, overall. 🙂

I was a first-time cruiser on 9/25.  I never wanted to cruise (NOROVIRUS!!!!) but my wife really wanted to, so acquiesced and it turns out, I really love cruising now.

Pasta its self was fine. I guess we should have asked for just pasta my kids love pasta with butter.
But I worked for a few Italian restaurants in NY/NJ.  Sauces made from scratch. meats from the butcher.  Alfredo is a simple sauce maybe in Italy they make it different but the sauces were lacking IMO. The bolognaise was great.  

The deserts all had nuts except for jello. Or maybe they just told us yes to be sure. 

My biggest issue with the soup was the crispy cheese not nicely melted that owey gooey way which I love.   

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, codeyell0 said:

Pasta its self was fine. I guess we should have asked for just pasta my kids love pasta with butter.
But I worked for a few Italian restaurants in NY/NJ.  Sauces made from scratch. meats from the butcher.  Alfredo is a simple sauce maybe in Italy they make it different but the sauces were lacking IMO. The bolognaise was great.  

The deserts all had nuts except for jello. Or maybe they just told us yes to be sure. 

My biggest issue with the soup was the crispy cheese not nicely melted that owey gooey way which I love.   

It is very interesting some of the food discussions lately. I think part of the issue is the venue. Not counting the specialty restaurants, food quality from best to worst is YC -> MDR -> Buffet.

 

I've never eaten in the buffet for dinner, but have for lunch - pre covid - and found it good. But that being said, I would believe you that it was below par now. I say this because back in Aug, even the food in the YC was below par. When I went again in Oct it was amazing, and the chef told me they had supply chain problems (because of covid).

 

I would guess they would "fix" these problems in the same order: YC -> MDR -> Buffet. So now, YC is good, but maybe not buffet, and MDR might be hit or miss?

 

Also, as for the nuts...I think it is a European thing. In the US they are very good about food allergies, but in Europe not so much. I, too, am allergic to nuts and I pretty much don't eat any fancy desserts when travelling abroad. On the Mera I ate in the specialty steakhouse and asked if the cheesecake crust had nuts in it...they didn't know. Luckily my wife is my food tester so I was able to still enjoy it (no nuts!)

[MonsterJoe]

I don't know.  I've eaten at Le Bernadin several times.  I've eaten at Alinea and Per se. I've met Lidia Bastianich at a Fall Dinner Event at her Del Posto.  I have super high expectations of food in the venues where I expect them to be super high.

I also enjoy tasty food.

I am flummoxed I suppose at what people expect at an "included" buffet....because I found it all perfectly tasty.

 

[perakcruiser]

9 hours ago, codeyell0 said:

Alfredo is a simple sauce maybe in Italy they make it different but the sauces were lacking IMO. The bolognaise was great.  

Alfredo sauce is not common in Italy. Mainly exists in the Rome area and is quite (or totally) different from the product in US.

 

MSC has some great signature pasta dishes (since many years), but for first time cruisers with them it is hit and miss.

[quattrohead]

Food has gone all to ***** everywhere what with supply issues and restaurants trying to make some money back by being cheap.

If I ain't cooking and washing up I will make the most of it.

[Nunagoras]

On 10/17/2021 at 2:49 PM, styles27 said:

Glad your kids had fun and I agree with Homosassa when our kids were little we cruised with Carnival and thought it was a great fit at that time. 
 

Food taste is subjective and unfortunately the US has become a breeding ground for chain restaurants that are notorious for serving foods high in sodium. 
Our grocery store shelves are packed with rice mixes, pasta mixes, soup mixes frozen dinners, pre prepared meals etc all of which are high sodium
When you mentioned the MDR “lite French onion soup” wasn’t as dark as you’re used to like Lipton a light went off in my head. 
What you had on the ship was most likely homemade from scratch and much healthier for you than Lipton which is very high in sodium. 
 

After spending a week in Italy and then a week on a Med cruise with many Europeans I was envious of their food. Envious that they don’t have the obesity problem that we have here in the states. 
 

When you go to a market in Rome you don’t see prepackaged foods you see fresh in season foods. They have very high food standards and we Americans can learn a lot from how they eat.
It reminded me of how my grandmothers and mother used to cook and fortunately I still cook and eat like that as well. 
 

Off my soapbox now 😉
 

This, exactly!... Covid related chain distribution and food preparation nightmare issues might to be valid points though. Hope all this mess to be away ASAP once the promised medicines are approved.