Considering Meraviglia

[VentureForth]

MSC has some INCREDIBLE deals in Jan '23 out of Port Canaveral.  Are these prices (starting $126pp for 3-night, $136 for 4-night) too good to be true?  I know the port fees, gratuity, parking addons, but never been on MSC before, only Royal and Carnival.  Don't drink, so not worried about booze packages.

 

Would I be disappointed, or excited compared to, say, Carnival Liberty or Royal Mariner of the Seas?

 

What sets it apart?  Good or bad?

[JT1962]

People either love or hate MSC. I was on the Meraviglia in January and the Divina in October and loved it. I thought the food, entertainment and service were equivalent to or better than Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Others think the food and entertainment are terrible.  The ships are the nicest I’ve been on and Ocean Cay is the best private island I have been to.
 

If you are expecting a carbon copy of Carnival or Royal Caribbean, or need an amusement park onboard or waterpark at the private island, you may be disappointed. If you want a more traditional cruise at a great price, I recommend giving them a try. You may find it’s not for you or you may find a new cruise line option. 
 

One warning - Their website and customer service prior to boarding can be frustrating, at best. Research what you want to book, make the booking and leave it alone, if possible. Once you get onboard, the experience is very good.

Edited November 28, 2022 by JT1962

[VentureForth]

1 hour ago, JT1962 said:

People either love or hate MSC. I was on the Meraviglia in January and the Divina in October and loved it. I thought the food, entertainment and service were equivalent to or better than Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Others think the food and entertainment are terrible.  The ships are the nicest I’ve been on and Ocean Cay is the best private island I have been to.

 

Ooof.  My TA told me about exactly that, but with the bias towards plain food and service.  I see Carnival Liberty has a similar cruise at about the same time.

[cellfree]

Meraviglia is a beautiful ship.  We cruise between MSC and Carnival, both different, enjoy both. Have been on four MSC ships each more than once. Yes, prices right now great. Many have trouble with booking a cruise on-line but i have always done so without any difficulties. Doing a B2B on Mera in January then trying the newest the Seascape in February. 

[VentureForth]

35 minutes ago, cellfree said:

Meraviglia is a beautiful ship.  We cruise between MSC and Carnival, both different, enjoy both. Have been on four MSC ships each more than once. Yes, prices right now great. Many have trouble with booking a cruise on-line but i have always done so without any difficulties. Doing a B2B on Mera in January then trying the newest the Seascape in February. 

So what I've found so far is that I can't book more than one stateroom on a single itinerary.  I'd like to book for my parents and my wife and kid in two rooms.  It only allows one room per reservation at a time.  Having a TA try.

Edited November 28, 2022 by VentureForth

[mast3rn8]

3 minutes ago, VentureForth said:

So what I've found so far is that I can't book more than one stateroom on a single itinerary.  I'd like to book for my parents and my wife and kid in two rooms.  It only allows one room per reservation at a time.

Yep, this is true and is the case for most cruise lines. I just booked 3 cabins, all separately.

[cellfree]

When i needed to book two cabins I also had to book two separate times. After the fact you can “join” the two bookings. I did my research, figured out what two cabins I wanted, then booked one after the other. 

[JT1962]

35 minutes ago, VentureForth said:

So what I've found so far is that I can't book more than one stateroom on a single itinerary.  I'd like to book for my parents and my wife and kid in two rooms.  It only allows one room per reservation at a time.  Having a TA try.

you have to book the cabins separately, but then you can link the reservations after you are booked so that you have the same dining room table, etc. 

[Two Wheels Only]

 

^^^  Worth a look.....

[elbodans]

I've sailed on Royal, NCL, Holland, and Celebrity--all more than once. My most recent cruise (admittedly a while ago, in January 2020) was on the Meraviglia. I liked it and am sailing on the Divina later this week. 

My only issue with the Meraviglia is how huge it is. But that's true for large ships across all lines. I'm just not a large ship person. The Meraviglia was a gorgeous ship, and I enjoyed the fact that the guests were from all over the world (we sailed from Miami, but I'll assume the same sailing from NYC.) 

 

The MDR food was hit or miss, but nothing near as horrible as I had been told. And I'm a HUGE food snob. 

 

Customer service is a nightmare. If you need help, you WILL stand in line for a WHILE.

The ship was very clean, very modern, and very beautiful. I paid something like $600 for a 7-day Caribbean sailing in a balcony cabin. And I was solo. I appreciate that MSC offers solo supplements which are closer to zero than they are to one hundred percent. 

[dexddd]

We sailed Mera a year ago and have a b2b set for February.  Great ship.

[mawvkysc]

My only real complaint was the drinks, so that won’t matter too much for you. I loved the water slides because they had inflatable tubes. Much more comfy for a 50+ person. Beautiful aft views. 

[mscdivina2016]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:55 AM, VentureForth said:

MSC has some INCREDIBLE deals in Jan '23 out of Port Canaveral.  Are these prices (starting $126pp for 3-night, $136 for 4-night) too good to be true?  I know the port fees, gratuity, parking addons, but never been on MSC before, only Royal and Carnival.  Don't drink, so not worried about booze packages.

 

Would I be disappointed, or excited compared to, say, Carnival Liberty or Royal Mariner of the Seas?

 

What sets it apart?  Good or bad?

Use a TA or run away.

Worst IT and customer service in the industry.

Great product but if you experience any issues your screwed as there is zero help.

[stiej]

We just got off the Meraviglia Thursday. We were wooed by the amazing prices. We had two cabins - a balcony for us and an inside for our adult college kids. What I have told others is that we loved the trip but not the cruise. With two kids in college, we don't get to have the four of us together uninterrupted very often, so of course we loved that. But, I'm pretty sure that's our one and done for msc. The cabins themselves were fine, but that's where my compliments end. Customer service was non existent. We never met our room steward. We had requested early dining, was given 9pm, told they could do 830 but that was it. So we ate at speciality restaurants or the buffet the whole trip. I will say the food at teppanyaki and hola was very good. The buffet had no flavor. The pizza was the best option usually. The pot smell was every where and the excessive drinking put carnival to shame. Many of the offerings weren't available or they were out of them such as the crepe place. Oh the coffee in the chocolate shop was really good. It just wasn't a good fit for us. 

[psmarkle]

If you get a chance, try sailing them in the Yacht Club. It's a completely different world! We just sailed the Mera a month ago with 2 cabins in the YC...amazing cruise!

[SoloFullTime]

I've never been on MSC (wary of the poor reviews) but will be trying it for the first time late Jan as a test for later solo travel around world.  I at times will just need a transport ship with bed and doable healthy leaning food options, not really high expectations for a 'vacation' experience.  Expect MSC to be fine for that.  

[SoloFullTime]

20 hours ago, stiej said:

The buffet had no flavor. 

 

I take a wide variety of hot sauce packets with me for boring eats, cruise ships allow them...

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