Here’s to NOT “The Worst Cruise I’ve Ever Taken”!!! Sailing the Mera today- first time MSC, YC and Aurea Suite

[L1211]

She’s a beauty. 

[L1211]

I mean…

[L1211]

Wait what??  

[L1211]

Bar tender- “Your shot”. DD “Wait, I asked for a straw!”  I love cruising…

[L1211]

Actually time with DD!

[L1211]

Margarita??!  Um, ok…

[L1211]

Bartender “how’s your drink”?  Me. “Interesting margarita”. Bartender “that’s not a margarita?”  I’m having a blast!! 

[L1211]

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS

[L1211]

And this is why we cruise…

[L1211]

Party in the galleria!!  Goodbye Mera….

[L1211]

The girls made friends with the bartenders at the casino.  They are a blast!! May be the best crew on the ship!!  

[L1211]

We might be floating into PC tonight. Rocking!! 

[L1211]

Till next time sea…

[L1211]

2 hours ago, NorthernCouple said:

Seems ridiculous that you guys are having to stand up for yourselves. Why are the wines available downstairs but not in the YC (or is downstairs in the YC but not upstairs)? Does someone need to make a supply run downstairs?

There is definitely a difference.  The “downstairs” YC lounge has a wine by the glass menu.  The restaurant had a “wine by the bottle” menu and just a select offering each evening.  But, not unlike cocktails, they can get you the offered wines by the glass. I do not love the Clos du Bois Chardonnay they have so last night they got me the Conundrum from downstairs- we tipped  her for the trouble. Odd that is was an issue tonight… I think it all goes back to staffing.

[L1211]

Grill closes at midnight.  Bam! Like Cinderella! 

Edited March 16, 2023 by L1211
Gibberish

[L1211]

Fear not!  Pizza station open…

[amygutman]

Thank you again for the lovely review and photos...am slightly nervous re: some of the negative reviews but you have taken every bump in stride. You have been a joy and I will metaphorically fist bump you as we hit the gangway in 8 hours or so....:)

Warmest, Amy

[L1211]

We left the cabin way too early…. never stopped walking from cabin to outside terminal.  There was NO ONE in queue to disembark, albeit huge  set of ropes set up looking like they were expecting a massive line-up.  Escort was not needed- there was no line to bypass.  Left cabin 7:20, out side at 7:38.  Wow!  I don’t understand the complaints…

[L1211]

Saw a butler taking coffee and croissants to a cabin as we left at 7:15.  I asked last night at the concierge’s desk and was told we had to be out of our cabins at 6:30am.  I don’t think that was good intel.  We stayed till 7:15 due to 8:30 planned transport (cruise control, $150 private for four).  WTH??  

[L1211]

4 hours ago, amygutman said:

Thank you again for the lovely review and photos...am slightly nervous re: some of the negative reviews but you have taken every bump in stride. You have been a joy and I will metaphorically fist bump you as we hit the gangway in 8 hours or so....:)

Warmest, Amy

Yay!!  So excited for you.  Enjoy it all.  We missed any YC “orientation “ because our butler escort on was stopped due to a lost card key.  We were taken on by a housekeeper with zero introduction.  We never really understood the butler experience- lean in and enjoy!! 

[NorthernCouple]

15 minutes ago, L1211 said:

Saw a butler taking coffee and croissants to a cabin as we left at 7:15.  I asked last night at the concierge’s desk and was told we had to be out of our cabins at 6:30am.  I don’t think that was good intel.  We stayed till 7:15 due to 8:30 planned transport (cruise control, $150 private for four).  WTH??  

Maybe this is an 'island time' issue? If I tell you 0630, maybe you will be out at 0830? Impressed that you guys partied all night and got out at 0715. Not going to happen with us.

[NorthernCouple]

15 minutes ago, L1211 said:

Yay!!  So excited for you.  Enjoy it all.  We missed any YC “orientation “ because our butler escort on was stopped due to a lost card key.  We were taken on by a housekeeper with zero introduction.  We never really understood the butler experience- lean in and enjoy!! 

Great job on your postings - definitely helpful for us. Look forward to someone reporting more on the butler experience. Looking to hear if the 7 day cruises do better or worse. I worry that we have a number of sea days and resupplying would not be possible - will the shortages get worse?

[Mrs_Tiki]

On 3/14/2023 at 7:13 PM, L1211 said:

No Chardonnay at the YC lounge- I’m not kidding when I say it’s each time we order there is something they dont have …

Yikes! Like you, I am a Chardonnay girl. Sailing on Seascape on Sunday and hope they are better provisioned. (But glad to read that they made a favorable substitution for you!)

 

Loving this review, thank you for taking the time to post during your cruise.

[NorthernCouple]

Your reports definitely put me on guard regarding our 7 day NYC-NYC in July. I feel like I will enter the boat defensive and pushing for us to get the value that we paid for. Not a good way to start.

Hopefully, MSC keeps tabs on these forums (they would be foolish if they didn't). Our family is a demographic that they should be targeting. My wife and I would book Seabourn if we didn't have kids. We typically only get 1-2 weeks off together per year. So, we are willing to spend more money on those weeks. We are looking for that Seabourn experience for us but with a kid friendly boat. If we have a good first cruise, we could be customers for the next 10 years.

Based on your reports, I'm just not hopeful. They seemed to fail the customer service experience frequently.

[goldmom]

We usually cruise NCL, but are considering the YC on Meraviglia.  I have a question about elevators.

 

Is there a dedicated elevator within the YC complex or only stairs?  If you're unable to go up stairs, do you need to go out to the main elevators in order to access a different level of the YC.

 

The deck plans are a bit confusing as there is something in the YC that looks like an elevator but isn't labeled as "lift".

 

Thanks for any help!