Meraviglia Jan. 22nd - Feb. 2nd, 2023 My Thoughts

[ready2cruzagain]

4 hours ago, MainStreetMouse said:

 

Sounds familair.

 

We were on the Meraviglia last October. Both carousel shows were cancelled and because we had prepaid they would not give us a refund or onboard credit. Like you we were told to contact customer service when we got home.

 

I did and after many emails and calls stating that they were waiting for authourization from head office (not sure why they need authorization, they cancelled the shows). A couple months later I had to file a credit card dispute to get the funds back. I just received notice from the credit card that my dispute was valid and the funds were returned.

 

The cruise was otherwise excellent but this poor customer service was very discouraging.

 

 

 

Yes, you were probably the reason I was so adamant about wanting proof the show was cancelled.  Fortunately, we were able to book it on the four day cruise.

[perakcruiser]

7 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Yes, I agree but they had the name plate for a Margherita pizza.  Everyone kept asking them where is the basil??? the tomatoes??? 🤣

If only the MSC HQ in Napoli would know about this Margheritagate far away in the Caribbean Sea, there would be the harshest consequences. Dysfunctional bar service? Minor problem. Chaos at embarkation? Can happen. IT breakdown? Things are complicated. A Marinara labelled as a Margherita? Fire all the staff at the buffet and blacklist them for any job in the future. 

[egurbi]

I was on the 4 day portion of the OP's cruise. It was my first time trying MSC.  Realizing that a 4 day cruise is often not a good measure of what a line is really like, I am heartened to hear the OP's review.  TBH, I was planning to post a largely negative review of the 4 day cruise, because in all honesty, it was not good in many respects [and to be blunt, some of the reasons for this were outside the control of MSC].  But now I won't do that, and I will give the benefit of the doubt to MSC until I take a longer cruise with them. 

 

One thing I will note is about the buffet food, as the OP went into depth about it.  Compared to other lines, there is simply substantially less variety if the 4 day cruise was indicative of what they would do on a longer cruise.  That was true at lunch and at dinner, but particularly at dinner.  Most other lines often have a "theme" night at the buffet each night of the cruise, and you end up with the normal staples, including Indian, asian, grill, and salad stations, in addition to five to seven additional dishes centered around the theme of the night.  Not my experience on this 4 day cruise with MSC.  Substituting salmon or veal or roast turkey at the rotisserie section was about as varied as it got. 

[PTC DAWG]

I was on this cruise for the first 7 days..albeit in the YC

 

re the Carousel shows, Wife and I enjoyed both of them…funny how tastes run differently in that regard. Choices are good. 
 

White night party was fun.  
 

Agree on the private island, beautiful. 

[caribbeanluvr]

We were on the Meraviglia in early December for a 7 day cruise.  We only had 2300 people on board.  Value can't be beat.  I agree with most of your comments, but I loved the veal shank and had 2.  Also had 3 lobster tails on lobster night. The thermal spa was GREAT! The pay show we saw was awful. We missed one because we thought they would be spread out thru the week, but one show was the 1st 2 nights so we missed it. The reception desk gave me a slip of paper to get a refund.  Customer service said it would take 8 weeks to refund.  After 6 weeks I disputed it with my CC company and had the charge removed.  Going back for a 4 night cruise on Feb 26.  Looking forward to it, but expect a bigger crowd.

[jinpasco]

We were on the 7 day with you and agree with so much. I would have thought I wrote it myself ! For 2 days I asked for washcloths, so by day 3 when I saw some on a cart , I lifted them for myself. Then I got fresh ones each day. Asked for Kleenex, you get extra ro!ls of toilet paper....it works I guess.  Asked for a top sheet and when I checked (after the sheets were wrapped around our feet in the morning),  I happened to see 2 sheets but, the top sheet was backwards. Top was tucked, bottom was even and untucked. Seemed every night it was easier to remake the bed ourselves. Our room steward was good though. She did a fantastic job cleaning. Maybe just a language issue ? 

 Highly recommend Butchers Cut. Best meal of the cruise. MDR was mostly good though some nights we enjoyed the buffet. We would go to the back buffet when we ate there, seems no one wants to walk to the back. Always quiet and easy to get tables, or eat outside aft.

All in all the cruise will go in the plus column and would.do.it again.

[Nunagoras]

Wonderful review, thanks!...

 

Count me as one more trying to avoid the 4 nights cruises. Been there, done that here in Europe. Those little getaway cruises tend to attract those yahoos whom will run out the ships despite the Captains!

[ready2cruzagain]

18 hours ago, egurbi said:

I was on the 4 day portion of the OP's cruise. It was my first time trying MSC.  Realizing that a 4 day cruise is often not a good measure of what a line is really like, I am heartened to hear the OP's review.  TBH, I was planning to post a largely negative review of the 4 day cruise, because in all honesty, it was not good in many respects [and to be blunt, some of the reasons for this were outside the control of MSC].  But now I won't do that, and I will give the benefit of the doubt to MSC until I take a longer cruise with them. 

 

One thing I will note is about the buffet food, as the OP went into depth about it.  Compared to other lines, there is simply substantially less variety if the 4 day cruise was indicative of what they would do on a longer cruise.  That was true at lunch and at dinner, but particularly at dinner.  Most other lines often have a "theme" night at the buffet each night of the cruise, and you end up with the normal staples, including Indian, asian, grill, and salad stations, in addition to five to seven additional dishes centered around the theme of the night.  Not my experience on this 4 day cruise with MSC.  Substituting salmon or veal or roast turkey at the rotisserie section was about as varied as it got. 

 

We won't do a four day cruise again. The only thing that saved it was the overnight in Ocean Cay. The 4 day and the 7 day were as opposite as night and day.  You should try a longer cruise on MSC.

 

I felt as though the 4 day was more of a younger party crowd that cared only about themselves. On the first 7 days, we never heard anyone in the hallways at night. On the 4 day cruise we heard people yelling and running up and down the hallway all night long. Finally would end around 3 am or so. 

 

I never went into the buffet for dinner so that is one thing I have no idea about. 

[Nunagoras]

MSC dinner buffets are by design less extensive and varied than their US based cruise lines counterparts. Let us to see them as your last opportunity to eat if you fail your MDR allocated time slot with a meal based on the usual cruise buffet suspects with really nothing else to write home about. Europeans, once on holiday, enjoy their meals together as a social event by itself, easily lasting for some 2 hours while enjoying some nice dishes. I'm learning from the reviews that on the US sailings MSC is sort of correcting the "bug", but I'm also wondering on whether that correction might to be only partial or dependent on the actual demographics of each particular sailing? Hope to have helped a little bit for the ones interested on the subject.

[Nashna]

21 hours ago, egurbi said:

I was on the 4 day portion of the OP's cruise. It was my first time trying MSC.  Realizing that a 4 day cruise is often not a good measure of what a line is really like, I am heartened to hear the OP's review.  TBH, I was planning to post a largely negative review of the 4 day cruise, because in all honesty, it was not good in many respects [and to be blunt, some of the reasons for this were outside the control of MSC].  But now I won't do that, and I will give the benefit of the doubt to MSC until I take a longer cruise with them. 

 

One thing I will note is about the buffet food, as the OP went into depth about it.  Compared to other lines, there is simply substantially less variety if the 4 day cruise was indicative of what they would do on a longer cruise.  That was true at lunch and at dinner, but particularly at dinner.  Most other lines often have a "theme" night at the buffet each night of the cruise, and you end up with the normal staples, including Indian, asian, grill, and salad stations, in addition to five to seven additional dishes centered around the theme of the night.  Not my experience on this 4 day cruise with MSC.  Substituting salmon or veal or roast turkey at the rotisserie section was about as varied as it got. 

I just got off Celebrity's Edge on an 11-night cruise.  The dinner buffet has been reduced to one section.  Celebrity claims that it is because most people were not using the dinner buffet and they were wasting too much food.  Food costs are such a big ticket item for cruise lines and they are affected by the same price increases that we all experience.  Reducing the buffet items and quality is one way to cut costs.

[styles27]

2 hours ago, Nashna said:

I just got off Celebrity's Edge on an 11-night cruise.  The dinner buffet has been reduced to one section.  Celebrity claims that it is because most people were not using the dinner buffet and they were wasting too much food.  Food costs are such a big ticket item for cruise lines and they are affected by the same price increases that we all experience.  Reducing the buffet items and quality is one way to cut costs.

I wouldn’t be surprised if all of the lines started to do this with the current price of food. 
 

I guess I’m in the minority but I’d rather have fewer selections of higher quality food than dozens of items that aren’t very good. 

I like MSC’s streamlined buffet I just wish the hot food was hotter. 

[Sadebud]

I was on the Mera cruise right before the OP's.  It was our first time on MSC and we were with a group of 7.  We were quite apprehensive based on reviews but we were delighted with the cruise.  Was it perfect, no.  The lines for drinks at the bars was terrible, very slow service with little to no bar servers in most lounges.  The Pub and the Sky lounge, however,  service was excellent.  We found those too late, which is typical on a short 3 nighter...lol. We found the food in the MDR was good to very good, which differs from many reports on CC.  Had no issue with the buffet for lunch.  Overall, the staff was very friendly.  Our cabin steward was not great but not awful either.  We agree that a short cruise  is not the best way to judge a line.  We enjoyed it enough to consider a longer sailing with MSC!

[PhotoFlo]

On 2/6/2023 at 1:23 PM, PTC DAWG said:

I was on this cruise for the first 7 days..albeit in the YC

 

re the Carousel shows, Wife and I enjoyed both of them…funny how tastes run differently in that regard. Choices are good. 
 

White night party was fun.  
 

Agree on the private island, beautiful. 

Can you tell me what the 2 shows are?  We board on the 26th and need to plan ahead if interested. Thank you. 

[ready2cruzagain]

7 hours ago, PhotoFlo said:

Can you tell me what the 2 shows are?  We board on the 26th and need to plan ahead if interested. Thank you. 

The 2 paid shows in the Carousel Lounge are House of Houdini and the other is Rock Circus. They are $12 pp if paid in advance or $18 pp if purchased on the ship. From what I have read from others if you purchase the Specialty Dining package then the shows are $5 pp but that is just what I have read and have no experience with that.

[RichYak]

20 hours ago, styles27 said:

I guess I’m in the minority but I’d rather have fewer selections of higher quality food than dozens of items that aren’t very good. 

Unfortunately, all reports indicate that Celebrity not only reduced selections, they reduced quality at the same time. All that's left are the "items that aren't very good." No one should want that on any cruise line.

[Nashna]

I would have been happy with quality.  Sadly, Celebrity no longer offers filet mignon or prime rib in the MDR.  Their fish choices were of the lower priced variety such as tilapia.  Every nightly option included at least one pasta dish which consisted of very little protein.   

[ready2cruzagain]

1 hour ago, Nashna said:

I would have been happy with quality.  Sadly, Celebrity no longer offers filet mignon or prime rib in the MDR.  Their fish choices were of the lower priced variety such as tilapia.  Every nightly option included at least one pasta dish which consisted of very little protein.   

Was very happy with Meraviglia's MDR menu. Prime Rib, 7-8 ounce lobster tail, Filet Mignon, Rack of Lamb, Swordfish, Grouper, Steak Diane, Coq au vin, etc. Only one item the whole 11 days that I ordered that I did not like and that was the Veal Chops...hmmm, it was not Veal Chops, it was a Veal Shank and really, really bad.  I liked these last menus over any I have had over the last years on Celebrity, Princess, Carnival or NCL.

[zonacruiser25]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:50 AM, ready2cruzagain said:

6. No tender. The island has a dock. You can walk on and off the ship all day long.

On the 7 day, if you go to Belize it is tendered and it is aboutA 15 minute ride each way.  Gold and Diamond get priority tickets deliver to the cabin the night before port.  It seemed to all go smoothly.

[franncos]

22 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Was very happy with Meraviglia's MDR menu. Prime Rib, 7-8 ounce lobster tail, Filet Mignon, Rack of Lamb, Swordfish, Grouper, Steak Diane, Coq au vin, etc. Only one item the whole 11 days that I ordered that I did not like and that was the Veal Chops...hmmm, it was not Veal Chops, it was a Veal Shank and really, really bad.  I liked these last menus over any I have had over the last years on Celebrity, Princess, Carnival or NCL.

Were all the above entrees included? or were Thay at a extra cost?

[ready2cruzagain]

1 hour ago, franncos said:

Were all the above entrees included? or were Thay at a extra cost?

All of the entrees I mentioned were included in the Main Dining Room menu for free, not the Yacht Club.

[ready2cruzagain]

1 hour ago, zonacruiser25 said:

On the 7 day, if you go to Belize it is tendered and it is aboutA 15 minute ride each way.  Gold and Diamond get priority tickets deliver to the cabin the night before port.  It seemed to all go smoothly.

 

Yes, I agree, there is a tender for Belize but I was answering his specific question for their Private Island. We did go to Belize a couple of weeks ago but stayed on the ship. On the 11 day cruise the only time we got off of the ship was at OC. Was going to at Cozumel but they docked at International instead of downtown so just stayed on the ship.

[Cruisegoer]

On 2/4/2023 at 5:30 PM, ready2cruzagain said:

Since I am talking about food I will discuss the Main Dining Room. The food in the MDR on this cruise was the best of any food on any cruise that we have ever been on.  It was absolutely delicious. We ate in the MDR for dinner every night. The lobster tails were large as in around 7 to 8 ounces and very sweet. Not the tiny ones that I have had on Princess or Carnival.  The only complaint we had about the MDR food was the last night they had Veal Chops.  It was not Veal chops. It was Veal Shank and it was really bad. I do not recommend that one. Not sure why they called it a chop when it was definitely a shank.

Can you tell me how MSC is about passengers ordering multiples in the dining room? So 2 appetizers or 2 entrees or 2 desserts per passenger?

[ready2cruzagain]

26 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

Can you tell me how MSC is about passengers ordering multiples in the dining room? So 2 appetizers or 2 entrees or 2 desserts per passenger?

No problem ordering 2 or 3 or as many as you want of anything.  I ordered 2 lobster tails on Gala night.  Dh ordered a couple of different entrees and apps every night. 

[Buckeyefrank100]

On 2/6/2023 at 3:30 PM, caribbeanluvr said:

We were on the Meraviglia in early December for a 7 day cruise.  We only had 2300 people on board.  Value can't be beat.  I agree with most of your comments, but I loved the veal shank and had 2.  Also had 3 lobster tails on lobster night. The thermal spa was GREAT! The pay show we saw was awful. We missed one because we thought they would be spread out thru the week, but one show was the 1st 2 nights so we missed it. The reception desk gave me a slip of paper to get a refund.  Customer service said it would take 8 weeks to refund.  After 6 weeks I disputed it with my CC company and had the charge removed.  Going back for a 4 night cruise on Feb 26.  Looking forward to it, but expect a bigger crowd.

We'll be on that cruise as well.

[Nunagoras]

2 hours ago, Cruisegoer said:

Can you tell me how MSC is about passengers ordering multiples in the dining room? So 2 appetizers or 2 entrees or 2 desserts per passenger?

Considering my experience is from before the pandemic, I'd say that if it is the same, then, that is pretty much relaxed. You can eat pretty much all what you wish. You can even mix things a little bit; for example: Imagine you want the pasta or the vegetarian main dishes as a starter. They can give you a starter portion of those while you'll have your main at main portion.