Totally Disappointed with Meraviglia

[morpheusofthesea]

A similar problem is also occurring on the Celebrity Beyond TA . Another poster added this reason as well to the mix.

"4 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Am I being a bit cynical here?

Maybe the problem is the Drink Package,,,it seems ships/lines that don’t push the AI have plenty of floor servers to make sure people spend in the bars.

 

And lines who push the AI packages need to reduce the waiting staff in bars to maintain the profit by introducing AI.

Especially when more drink is consumed on Transatlantic cruises."

[gmbhardy]

We went to the Mexican restaurant, Hola! Tacos and Cantina, last night for our Diamond status free meal. You could order anything on the menu and as much of everything as you could eat. It was very, very good. I had the chicken burrito and my wife had the chicken quesadillas and then we split an order of beef quesadillas. People in the restaurant were literally filling their tables with food at the encouragement of the servers. Our diamond status also covered our margaritas and dessert. The regular price for this all you eat extravaganza is only $17.95. The ambiance is very casual but the food is great. We are going again next week.

[ptuder]

Thanks so much for all of the good updates. Will you ask Alessandro is he will be on board the beginning of December. We met him on our first MSC cruise and he did something very special for us. We would love to see him again.  
 

[QueenofEverything]

On 10/18/2022 at 11:17 AM, JAGR said:

Sorry, but if you do meet with the director or another officer, can you get an estimate of how many passengers they expect next week?  Thanks

 

I realize this is probably too late since you are already onboard, but the cruise director said only 1500 this week.  This was at the show on Saturday night.

[HipHipOnAShip]

On 10/20/2022 at 10:32 AM, gingersvp said:

I have done 3 and 4 night cruises before without issue. I think where I'm stuck, is that MSC knew it was a full sailing and did not adequately staff up. That's a management decision and it just had multiple cascading effects to the negative. 

Sorry but this makes no sense whatsoever.  You cannot adjust staffing on a cruise ship on a whim.  Oh, look, the Divina is going to be full next week, let's fly over 200 servers from the Meraviglia to help out...  Cruise ship workers are on contracts ranging from 4 months (senior officers) to 12 months.  Any movement between ships is carefully thought out and generally at the beginning of a contract (unless the ship repositions).  It's not the same as a land based hotel or restaurant where you can call in reinforcements as needed.   

[gmbhardy]

23 hours ago, ptuder said:

Thanks so much for all of the good updates. Will you ask Alessandro is he will be on board the beginning of December. We met him on our first MSC cruise and he did something very special for us. We would love to see him again.  
 

Spoke with him yesterday. He said he will be on the Meraviglia in December.

[shipgeeks]

On 10/20/2022 at 8:53 PM, GA Dave said:

Just an FYI:  I was on the 10/13 cruise as well, in a regular interior cabin.  As a frequent MSC solo cruiser, I always speak to many of the crew and officers, and I found out some things that were not generally known.  The shortage of personnel was not all the fault of MSC.  They said there was a large number of new crew that were supposed to be starting work on the ship after the TA (as I would normally expect).  Unfortunately, there was a significant number that had not been processed properly by CBP through the immigration process and they never made the ship.  This is most likely why we all noticed a lack of personnel on board vs the number of passengers. 

Another thing most people did not know that I am sure affected the crew's performance the first couple of days was that a crew member had died onboard the day before they arrived in Port Canaveral.  These crew members live in such close quarters and truly become like a family.  Something like the death of a fellow crew member has to be devastating to many of them.

Reposting the above, as I think it is an important part of the issue.

[Paphillyguy]

On 10/17/2022 at 11:07 PM, greg_atlanta said:

Is this sailing at capacity?  Sounds like the prior 3 night sailing was a mess, but ship was packed.

 

I'm on the 7 day sailing Nov 6.  Thanks in advance for getting the kinks out for us!  [fingers crossed]  😁

I was on the 3 night and the 7 days starting 10/13.  I can attest that the 3 night cruise was by far the worst cruise I have ever been on and we were in the YC and it was bad.  The 7 night got better but was not the same level of service we received on the Seashore twice.  I will post a full review once I get settled at work.  

[Paphillyguy]

4 hours ago, HipHipOnAShip said:

Sorry but this makes no sense whatsoever.  You cannot adjust staffing on a cruise ship on a whim.  Oh, look, the Divina is going to be full next week, let's fly over 200 servers from the Meraviglia to help out...  Cruise ship workers are on contracts ranging from 4 months (senior officers) to 12 months.  Any movement between ships is carefully thought out and generally at the beginning of a contract (unless the ship repositions).  It's not the same as a land based hotel or restaurant where you can call in reinforcements as needed.   

But this a MSC Corporate decision.  They chose to sell out a ship knowing full well they did not have the correct staffing.  Even with the crew that was held back they were very short staffed.  They came directly from a director.  

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, Paphillyguy said:

But this a MSC Corporate decision.  They chose to sell out a ship knowing full well they did not have the correct staffing.  Even with the crew that was held back they were very short staffed.  They came directly from a director.  

See #84.

[QueenofEverything]

We were on the 16th to 23rd as well.  This was our 4th MSC cruise, 3rd in the Yacht Club.  The staff was amazing, there just weren't enough of them.  Where it was very noticeable to us was in the Top Sail lounge.  In prior Yacht Club experiences (pre covid), there were always 2 bartenders and several butlers in the lounge all of the time.  This trip, there was one bartender and usually only one butler.  The only time there was plenty of staff was the Captain's visit.  Coincidence? Doubtful.  On prior cruises, they insisted on serving you and discouraged you from troubling yourself by going to the bar.  This trip, most of the time you had to order at the bar if you wanted your drink anytime soon. As I said, the staff was phenomenal, just overworked.  They were definitely trying their best.  I can't imagine a full ship with this level of staffing.

[Paphillyguy]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

See #84.

So, I talked directly to a Director and was told that the sailing was not properly staffed as the future sailings are at a lower capacity.   While the 100-200 staff that did not board that number was not even sufficient to cover the added capacity.   I stand by my statement that this was an issue caused by MSC corporate as they chose to sail the cruise sold out knowing that the staffing was not even close to sufficient 

[Paphillyguy]

54 minutes ago, QueenofEverything said:

We were on the 16th to 23rd as well.  This was our 4th MSC cruise, 3rd in the Yacht Club.  The staff was amazing, there just weren't enough of them.  Where it was very noticeable to us was in the Top Sail lounge.  In prior Yacht Club experiences (pre covid), there were always 2 bartenders and several butlers in the lounge all of the time.  This trip, there was one bartender and usually only one butler.  The only time there was plenty of staff was the Captain's visit.  Coincidence? Doubtful.  On prior cruises, they insisted on serving you and discouraged you from troubling yourself by going to the bar.  This trip, most of the time you had to order at the bar if you wanted your drink anytime soon. As I said, the staff was phenomenal, just overworked.  They were definitely trying their best.  I can't imagine a full ship with this level of staffing.

We too sat a few times and never had a server come to us.  It is not acceptable since that is what you are paying for in the YC.  Also, they pulled assistant waiters to work in the YC with no training at all and it was apparent when they served.  

[LadySpoilt]

On 10/17/2022 at 12:33 PM, gmbhardy said:

We are on the Meraviglia right now spinning in the waters off Ocean Cay. Unable to dock because of currents. This is our fifth YC cruise and so far we are extremely disappointed. We cruised on the Seashore in April and had a great experience. This one is a dud so far. We’ve heard other people say the same thing. Service is non existent. The liquor tastes funny. The YC bar has nothing premium in stock. Cutbacks everywhere. No sparkling wine in your room. Nothing about the mini fridge (last cruise we received a bottle of liquor). Diamond perks cutback no chocolate ship, no gift. Our butler knocked at our door, introduced himself and said call if you need anything. No explaining anything. It almost seems like the crew is staging some sort “work to rule’” labour demonstration. We are on this ship for a B2B so I sure hope things improve, but they appear to be going in the opposite direction. I will post again later with an update.

 

I could have written this post as our experience on the cruise was the same.  Very little staffing, very often in YC lounge only one person taking drink orders, and on several occasions no one was taking drinking orders (you had to go to bar yourself).  And many times we got the "we are out of that" response.

 

The meal choices in the YC dining room have been severely cut down as well. Usually only 3 entrees available (yes you could still get the "offered everyday choices" ) but the overall quality, choices and service was disheartening.  One good thing though about halfway through the cruise a waiter (Ripon) remembered us from a previous Davina cruise (he even remembered the exact table we occupied and my chocolate fetish).  Once we were seated in his area the service seemed to improve.  One other negative about the dining room are the paper menus you still get.  OK I can see the reason for them during Covid but it appears that this will be a continuing thing.  I know that wouldn't bother many people but to me it cheapened the whole expensive YC dining experience. Something about getting paper menus verses a real menu was a really cheap downgrade in my opinion. 

 

I will say the room was well taken care of and ice kept stocked.  But we rarely ask for anything more than ice and extra towels.  So it was really just basic service.

 

First of the week we had sworn off booking future MSC cruises but after the waiter change and the casino being not as tight as I have seen it we may reconsider.  Even though I now think that YC is way overpriced compared to what it used to be in both price and service, the 30% voucher combined with an occasional really good deal may change my mind.

Spoilt

 

On 10/17/2022 at 12:33 PM, gmbhardy said:

 

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

7 minutes ago, LadySpoilt said:

 

 

I don't understand this post.

[Morgsmom]

1 hour ago, Paphillyguy said:

So, I talked directly to a Director and was told that the sailing was not properly staffed as the future sailings are at a lower capacity.   While the 100-200 staff that did not board that number was not even sufficient to cover the added capacity.   I stand by my statement that this was an issue caused by MSC corporate as they chose to sail the cruise sold out knowing that the staffing was not even close to sufficient 

MSC is a for profit enterprise.  They weigh all of these decisions.  In the end issuing some OBC to a few passengers is more profitable.  Cruiselines (especially MSC) are not in the hospitality industry, they are in the profit game.   Same with any restaurant shoreside.  Walk-in party of 20?  Sure, we'll take you.  Do we have "enough" staff?  Maybe not, but we are not going to turn away the revenue.   With food/produce/etc being at inflationary highs I'd do the same thing. Does it stink? Sure does.  But it's a mass market ship trying to squeeze out dollars after two plus years of losing.

[gingersvp]

2 hours ago, Morgsmom said:

MSC is a for profit enterprise.  They weigh all of these decisions.  In the end issuing some OBC to a few passengers is more profitable.  Cruiselines (especially MSC) are not in the hospitality industry, they are in the profit game.   Same with any restaurant shoreside.  Walk-in party of 20?  Sure, we'll take you.  Do we have "enough" staff?  Maybe not, but we are not going to turn away the revenue.   With food/produce/etc being at inflationary highs I'd do the same thing. Does it stink? Sure does.  But it's a mass market ship trying to squeeze out dollars after two plus years of losing.

 

Yes, you're not wrong. And it's why I'm not super interested in giving them another go. I do stick with suites on the bigger liners, because we travel with our 7 year old and the larger ships just have more that interests her. But I've now sailed the suite experience on multiple mass market lines and this was, by leaps and bounds, the absolute worst. 

 

I really, really wanted to like this line. It just apparently isn't going to be for us.  

[kristapb]

We were on the 7 day sailing on the 16th, and really had a great time.  There were a few glitches - the late arrival at Ocean Cay, although since it was an overnight, we had plenty of island time.  They oddly ran out of eggs for breakfast for a day or two, but it seems they resupplied in Costa Maya. No idea how they managed that.  Our room steward was just adequate, but I think he was overworked, and wasn't terrible.  BUT - The ship is beautiful.  The public areas were all very clean and well kept. I thought the shows were great (except for a very lame magician/comedian). We had a standard balcony cabin that had a very comfortable bed.  And we thought the food in the main dining room was very good.  Maybe not as good as Celebrity, but very good and the wait staff was excellent.  Always kept our wine glasses full.  It's funny how different individual experiences can be on the same cruise!

[LadySpoilt]

14 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I don't understand this post.

I'm not sure what happened.  My post was in response to the original posters cruise on on Oct 16. I have fixed it below.

 

I could have written this post as our experience on the cruise was the same.  Very little staffing, very often in YC lounge only one person taking drink orders, and on several occasions no one was taking drinking orders (you had to go to bar yourself).  And many times we got the "we are out of that" response.

 

The meal choices in the YC dining room have been severely cut down as well. Usually only 3 entrees available (yes you could still get the "offered everyday choices" ) but the overall quality, choices and service was disheartening.  One good thing though about halfway through the cruise a waiter (Ripon) remembered us from a previous Davina cruise (he even remembered the exact table we occupied and my chocolate fetish).  Once we were seated in his area the service seemed to improve.  One other negative about the dining room are the paper menus you still get.  OK I can see the reason for them during Covid but it appears that this will be a continuing thing.  I know that wouldn't bother many people but to me it cheapened the whole expensive YC dining experience. Something about getting paper menus verses a real menu was a really cheap downgrade in my opinion. 

 

I will say the room was well taken care of and ice kept stocked.  But we rarely ask for anything more than ice and extra towels.  So it was really just basic service.

 

First of the week we had sworn off booking future MSC cruises but after the waiter change and the casino being not as tight as I have seen it we may reconsider.  Even though I now think that YC is way overpriced compared to what it used to be in both price and service, the 30% voucher combined with an occasional really good deal may change my mind.

Spoilt

 

[Paphillyguy]

2 hours ago, LadySpoilt said:

 

 

First of the week we had sworn off booking future MSC cruises but after the waiter change and the casino being not as tight as I have seen it we may reconsider.  Even though I now think that YC is way overpriced compared to what it used to be in both price and service, the 30% voucher combined with an occasional really good deal may change my mind.

Spoilt

 

This was another thing that I felt the ship lacked was a good casino host.  They had a Host/Dealer that was horrible.  He rarely even talked to guest and he never did anything in the casino other then call out the lotto numbers.  He had the double points times 1 am to 3 am on 2 days or a 10 day cruise.  The casino manager told us a new host would be joining the ship in the end of November because this one is not up to the job.  

[JAGR]

On 10/22/2022 at 5:55 AM, ready2cruzagain said:

Thank you! Hope you and your wife are doing well. Have fun on the Meraviglia!

Sorry, I couldn't find a weekly pass or daily rate.  They did mention a daily rate of $40., but that struck me as high. Hopefully, someone will have more information. 

[ready2cruzagain]

Just now, JAGR said:

Sorry, I couldn't find a weekly pass or daily rate.  They did mention a daily rate of $40., but that struck me as high. Hopefully, someone will have more information. 

Thanks! I just booked yesterday for the 11 days on January 22nd and in my booking it shows that the Spa Pass is $195 pp for 11 days. 

[JAGR]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:51 PM, QueenofEverything said:

I realize this is probably too late since you are already onboard, but the cruise director said only 1500 this week.  This was at the show on Saturday night.

It was a perfect number!  Plenty of room on the ship, and even YC was very open.

[JAGR]

2 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Thanks! I just booked yesterday for the 11 days on January 22nd and in my booking it shows that the Spa Pass is $195 pp for 11 days. 

Sounds great!  Everything was open in the spa when we were on last week.

[1kaper]

On 10/24/2022 at 5:12 PM, Paphillyguy said:

So, I talked directly to a Director and was told that the sailing was not properly staffed as the future sailings are at a lower capacity.   While the 100-200 staff that did not board that number was not even sufficient to cover the added capacity.   I stand by my statement that this was an issue caused by MSC corporate as they chose to sail the cruise sold out knowing that the staffing was not even close to sufficient 

 

What is the alternative?  Cancel a few hundred passengers very last minute?  Many who would may have travelled to get to the ship.