Grandiosa Mediterranean Cruise sorta kinda trip report, but not really

[Anastas617]

Hello all.  I’m back from my Mediterranean Cruise on the MSC Grandiosa. I didn’t write a full trip report as I did with my first MSC cruise on the Meraviglia, but I thought I’d give some thoughts on the ship and the experience overall. I'll try to break up specific areas in separate responses for easier (and hopefully, shorter) following.

 

Quick details on me: Primarily solo traveler, male, late 40s. I'm pretty easy to satisfy, for the most part, and don't personally find value in things such as Yacht Club or the higher-priced specialty dining. That being said, for the price point of MSC, I find great value in paying for the Carousel shows and lower priced add-on dining/treats.

 

This was my third cruise and my first not focused in the Bahamas/Caribbean. My second MSC cruise, so I will likely make a lot of comparisons to the Meraviglia.

 

I'll start with my studio room and general solo stuff.

[Anastas617]

Studio Balcony (Aft): So, on Meraviglia I had an interior studio and I really liked it. This studio balcony room was more of a love/hate relationship.

 

There was a bit more free space in the room, but the “bed” was smaller (the interior room bed was 1.25 – 1.5x bigger, I would estimate). It was a couch that could be used as bunk beds, but for my purposes was just a couch twin bed. I'm assuming the purpose is that it could be packaged with the adjoining room for families, but since there are so few of these rooms I'm not sure that happens (?).

 

I hated the bathroom. I feel like the interior on Meraviglia had a better set-up and a stand-up shower while this one had a tub/shower. I’m 5’8” and overweight, but have no mobility issues and I did not feel entirely safe with this tub; getting in was okay because there was a spot to grab and the tub was dry, but getting out had very little to grab, the tub floor was wet with no skid things or whatever are often on the bottom of tubs, the height of the tub wall is pretty high and the floor of the tub is actually a good 3-4 inches higher than the floor of the bathroom. Anyways, I that I was going to slip a few times getting out.

 

The balcony was nice to have and I did spend some time out there, but I usually find the price difference not worth it for me because I just don't get a ton of use. In this case the price was only $100 more than I paid for my interior on Meraviglia, so I would likely choose this room again, but I would not pay much more than that for the upgrade.

 

Being on Deck 14 was great because I rarely need to use the elevator during peak times, but I definitely got my steps in since it is so far from the elevators/stairs.

 

Probably the least positive service experience from the steward in that I had to ask for things multiple times that I shouldn't have; pool towel, washcloths, room service door hanger, bed covering (originally the mattress pad was the only thing on top of the bed). He was very responsive and a nice gentleman when I asked for these things, though.

 

By the way: Is it a European thing to not have washcloths in hotels? I'm not being a wise guy, but honestly asking. I went to two hotels in England and one in Spain this year and none of them had washcloths. Ireland is the only other place in Europe I have had a hotel (so far), but that was a few years back and I don't recall.

[Anastas617]

I forgot the "general solo stuff", but honestly not much to say.

 

I was assigned a 6:30pm dining time and was seated alone (as I was on Meraviglia) which I was happy about.

 

The "singles meet-up" was nightly at 7:00pm which seems like an awkward time. Maybe not, though since I quickly learned this cruise was on an entirely different time rhythm than U.S. based cruises. I may or may not have attended anyways as I'm not the most outgoing person, but I will certainly chat if someone else initiates.

[Anastas617]

Embarkation in Barcelona: This could not have been any easier or quicker. From the time the taxi dropped me off ~11:45am to stepping on-board was less than 10 minutes. In fact, embarking was quicker than returning to the ship at most of the ports. I think Palma de Mallorca (replacement port for cancelled La Goulette) was the only port I'd say was a quick return to ship.

 

Side note for Barcelona: Uber is kind of a pain due to regulations requiring a 15-minute wait before they start searching for a driver. I also chose a bad hotel location (entry was in an alley and I had to walk a bit to get to a spot where I could be picked up). After an hour of aggravation with Uber, I cancelled my so-called "priority" Uber that I paid extra for and took a taxi off the street. I could go into what happened in that one hour, but don't want to bore you any more 🤣. By the way, the taxi was about half the cost of what my Uber would have been and is what I would recommend.

[Anastas617]

Included Dining: As I said, I had a 6:30pm dining time which I was happy about because I didn't want the dreaded 5:15pm time. No reason to worry, though, since I believe the first dining time was 6:00pm. There were four MDRs with seatings ranging from 6:00pm to 10:00pm (could be 9:30, but I think it was 10).

 

The menus offerings were not as enticing to me on this cruise, but I did manage to find two entrees to order for every dinner. A few nights I skipped a starter because there was nothing I wanted.

 

The "always available" options were extremely limited and consisted of just four items: Gardener's Minestrone, Pasta with tomato/basil sauce, Pasta with Bolognese and “side dishes” (vegetable of the day/steamed veggies). I believe Meraviglia always had a fish (salmon) and meat option in addition to soup (French onion), salad and pasta.

 

Elegant Night did not have steak and/or lobster, so that was a bit disappointing.

 

That being said, I was relatively happy with everything I ate. 2-3 of the entrees were very slightly overcooked. That's better than undercooked and fairly understandable in my opinion in that environment. So, that's a bit nitpicky.

 

I'd say the Duck a L'Orange was underwhelming and maybe my most disappointing entree while Escargots in puff pastry was not something I loved. I have never had Escargot, but I was determined to be risky and try them on a cruise. These were not the drenched in garlic and butter type I always see in videos and I just was praying I wouldn't humiliate myself and vomit in the dining room. Well, I got through it fine and still want to try the other kind because those look better.

 

Also, the Osso Bucco which was my favorite meal on the Meraviglia was not as good on the Grandiosa. That may be the only dish I had that I could compare between the ships.

 

I have the food porn photos and menus that I can add if anyone needs to see them. There are a lot of photos and they are on my phone and couldn't do that right now.

[carlmm]

34 minutes ago, Anastas617 said:

By the way: Is it a European thing to not have washcloths in hotels? 

 

Of course there are hotels, mostly at the upper end, that do offer washcloths but in general: Yes, they are not standard in Europe. 

Or maybe the other way around: Only Americans complain about not having washcloths and there are already a number of threats about this. A non issue for most Europeans.

[Anastas617]

8 minutes ago, carlmm said:

 

Of course there are hotels, mostly at the upper end, that do offer washcloths but in general: Yes, they are not standard in Europe. 

Or maybe the other way around: Only Americans complain about not having washcloths and there are already a number of threats about this. A non issue for most Europeans.

Thanks for letting me know and now I know to make sure I pack my own washcloths or loofah when crossing the Atlantic.

 

Seems like it is a sensitive subject and I apologize if I offended anyone with my American expectations of a good scrub.

[Anastas617]

(Budget) Paid Dining: I don't do the upscale specialty dining, but I did eat at Hola!, Masters of the Sea (Brass Anchor) and I grabbed some gelato.

 

Hola!: Menu is identical to Meraviglia and food was just as good. The Dulce de Leche dessert cemented itself as definitely one of my favorite desserts ever.

 

Masters of the Sea: They only had 4 items which were two burgers, a hot dog and fish & chips. All were 5 euros. I had the fish & chips and thought they were really good, though the tartar sauce has a bit something different in it I wasn't a fan of. The Meraviglia menu was at least twice the size and more appealing overall.

 

Gelato: I got a scoop of Dulce de Leche and a scoop of Oreo. Both were fantastic.

 

Ok. That's all I have time for tonight. Will pick up tomorrow.

[mnpurple]

3 hours ago, Anastas617 said:

Side note for Barcelona: Uber is kind of a pain due to regulations requiring a 15-minute wait before they start searching for a driver.

Is this a law or something across Spain? Just asking because when we were in Madrid and tried to use Uber we had a terrible time as well. We ended up grabbing taxi's, which was much easier. But if I had known about a 15 minute wait, I might have had less frustration. I'll have to do some more research!

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, mnpurple said:

Is this a law or something across Spain?

Not across Sapin but it is a rule in the Catalonia region, which of course includes Barcelona.

[Anastas617]

6 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Not across Sapin but it is a rule in the Catalonia region, which of course includes Barcelona.

Thanks. Wasn't sure if it was throughout Spain or not.

 

Below is what took over an hour for me to get picked up to go to cruise terminal. It's a long read, but maybe helps someone else new to cruising out of Barcelona.

 

Explanation of why things took so long for me. So, my hotel was not in a good location for taxi or Uber pickup and I walked down to a little park area where there happened to be a taxi stand. Well, there were no taxis waiting and I gave it a few minutes before deciding to use Uber. After the 15 minute wait I got to choose the method and they had more options than I'm used to. Two of those options were for "flat rate taxi" or "metered taxi". I chose flat rate taxi since I had no idea what a metered taxi would cost. After 10 minutes of searching I got a message that there were no flat rate taxis available and I needed to choose a different method, so I then chose a metered taxi and went through this whole rigamarole again.

 

Now, this is probably where you ask why I waited for them to search for so long instead of choosing a different option and the truth is that I just wasn't sure if I would need to do the 15-minute wait again if I canceled the search because it wouldn't allow me to simply back-up and change methods, I had to cancel the order. During this time I also did not see any taxis arrive at the taxi stand, so I figured I had to stick with it. After the two timed out attempts, I switched to a regular Uber. It searched for a few minutes and I got a prompt that I could be made a "priority" for another 4 euros and I took that option..Almost immediately a driver was found with an estimated 11 minutes until pick-up. As I'm waiting I should note that taxis starting picking up other people around me from the street (not the taxi stand). My Uber went well past me in the opposite direction and veered from the route the map showed, so I assumed he was dropping off a passenger he already had when he accepted my call. We are well past the 11-minute mark at this point and the time on the app keeps increasing. Finally the Uber is coming back towards me, I note the car and license plate and stop watching the screen. After what seems like too long I look at the map and the driver has gone past where I am and into a completely different area withg my wait time now showing 20 minutes and increasing. I had turned down two taxis already that pulled up to me because I didn't want to get stuck with the Uber fare, so I messaged the driver asking why he is driving away from me and he replied he was in traffic. Having familiarized myself a bit with the area, I knew the driver was on a direct route to where I was when I turned off my screen and there is no way he went that far out of his way without intention. I don't know how Uber works, but my best guess was that he stacked multiple pick-ups if that's possible. Anyways, a taxi showed up asking if I needed a ride and I jumped in and cancelled the the Uber. I was assuming I would need to fight Uber on the charge (I think in US you only have a certain amount of time to cancel before being charged whether you take the ride or not?), but I was never charged. The taxi was less than half what the Uber would have cost anyways.

 

Lesson learned. I fully intend to cruise out of Barcelona again and will make sure my hotel has street access and will just have a taxi called to the hotel.

[Anastas617]

Room service: This probably should have gone under budget paid dining, but I forgot.

 

I had the Fantastica experience, so I had asked the steward for room service door hangers so I could request some coffee for early morning. Alas, 7:30am was the earliest option which was well after I would want that delivery. Meraviglia started at 6:00am and this fit the trend of everything being on a later schedule in the Mediterranean.

 

There was one evening I skipped the MDR due to a late lunch and ordered a pizza (6 euros?). It came very promptly, maybe a few minutes less than the 20 minutes I was quoted. Super pleasant delivery person and the pizza was hot and tasty.

 

So, there were a number of different pizza options ranging from 5-9 euros. There was also a separate room service menu that was reasonably priced (I think it was 4 euros for one item, 5 or 6 euros for two items? I failed and didn't take a photo. Not sure how much you get charged if you order more than two items because it didn't list that info.)

[Anastas617]

Buffet: I only went to the buffet for lunch once because of the port-intensive itinerary and my desire to stay out of the crowd madness. On that day I went to the back and grabbed a couple of slices of pizza (the white pizza and a plain cheese slice, both of which I knew I liked from Meraviglia) and round 2 was some rice and with a piece of fish in curry sauce. I really liked that.

 

Breakfast buffet was an entirely different experience on this cruise. On the Bahamas cruise I was up and entering the buffet right at 6:30am and there were very few people there during my 30-45 minutes of breakfast and several coffees. On this cruise it was not quite the madhouse as at lunch, but it quickly became what I would call fairly busy soon after 6:30am.

 

As for the food, it had most of the basic staples one would expect as far as breads/muffins/pastries, fruits, eggs (scrambled, fried or omelettes), waffles/pancakes, potatoes and breakfast meats.

 

As an American I can admit that we tend to overcook eggs, particularly scrambled. The scrambled eggs on Grandiosa are the opposite end of the spectrum where I think many Americans would be turned off with how much less cooked they are comparatively. They were okay for me, but I'd prefer a happy medium between the two. I tended to just get a ham and cheese omelette unless the wait was long.

 

I think the waffles and pancakes are as good as I've had on a buffet, but I did not see any maple syrup anywhere. They did have multiple types of fruit syrups, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce with and without bananas and whipped cream so you could turn your breakfast into a sundae. I opted for the caramel sauce with bananas which was quite good even though it would not be my preferred topping for breakfast.

 

Sauteed potatoes were good, sausage links were meh and bacon was...well, I'm just not sure they know how to cook American bacon. It was somehow overcooked and undercooked at the same time. In my mind I thought it was like eating rashers that had the appearance of American bacon.

 

I also love the chocolate croissant things, though that probably isn't the proper name for them.

[Anastas617]

Theater shows: I was unable to take in as much of the entertainment on this cruise. Being port intensive, I didn't get in any afternoon naps and I was flat-out exhausted in the evenings.

 

Main theater: On Meraviglia I booked all my shows as soon as I got on-board. On this cruise you could only book after 6:30pm the night before. I assume this is because there are different embarkation ports and they don't want shows sold-out before people even get on-board.

 

I booked almost every night,but ended up canceling all but one reservation. Unlike my other cruise where there were empty seats usually available right up until show time (I went to the 3rd show every night on that cruise and at least 20% of the theater was empty seats each show), these shows were all sold out for all three performances.

 

I went to "Rock It" which was a tribute to Rock N' Roll. Interestingly, of the 7 or 8 songs they did I would be hard-pressed to classify three of them as "rock n' roll". The theater was packed and the show was probably the best of all the theater shows I've seen on MSC. Though I am still trying to figure out why the dancers had a big Lion's face planted on the front of their costume when they performed "Eye of the Tiger".

 

Carousel Theater: Conversely, the Carousel shows were quite popular on Meraviglia, but on this ship the inner bowl wasn't filled and nobody sat in the outer section. The second show I saw was "Sweet" and that one was glaringly not well attended during the performance I attended.

 

I missed the live music performer before the show as it filled up the time. Here was just 30 minutes or so of waiting for the show. I can understand them not opening the bar in the theater for the show, but I am not able to understand why you can't bring a drink in with you. It's not like they don't want drinks inside since they include a pr-made drink with your ticket. The drink options are never something I would want.

 

I can't do a direct comparison of the shows to the Meraviglia because the Meraviglia shows did not have aerial or stage movement due to safety concerns with rough seas. That being said, both "Strings" and "Sweet" were enjoyable, but Strings was probably a bit better because it had a more cohesive story to follow. I would guess that I might have preferred the Meraviglia shows had I seen the full experience as intended. Either way, I think it was money well spent and I enjoy these shows more than the free offerings.

[EllieinNJ]

We just got off the Miraviglia and saw the paid Rock Circus in the Carousel Lounge.  Our ship also had rough waters but they managed to do the aerial moves and dancing.  It was a great show but with the ship rocking, a few sips of that rum drink they gave out and the blasting music and neon lighting, I was hoping nothing from dinner would come back up.

[Anastas617]

13 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

We just got off the Miraviglia and saw the paid Rock Circus in the Carousel Lounge.  Our ship also had rough waters but they managed to do the aerial moves and dancing.  It was a great show but with the ship rocking, a few sips of that rum drink they gave out and the blasting music and neon lighting, I was hoping nothing from dinner would come back up.

I'm planning to see both again when I return to Meraviglia in March. Hopefully will get full experience. Those drinks are not really what I would normally drink, but maybe I'll give them a try.

[RikB2000]

American bacon??

[alserrod]

On 11/6/2023 at 1:00 AM, Anastas617 said:

Thanks. Wasn't sure if it was throughout Spain or not.

 

Below is what took over an hour for me to get picked up to go to cruise terminal. It's a long read, but maybe helps someone else new to cruising out of Barcelona.

 

Explanation of why things took so long for me. So, my hotel was not in a good location for taxi or Uber pickup and I walked down to a little park area where there happened to be a taxi stand. Well, there were no taxis waiting and I gave it a few minutes before deciding to use Uber. After the 15 minute wait I got to choose the method and they had more options than I'm used to. Two of those options were for "flat rate taxi" or "metered taxi". I chose flat rate taxi since I had no idea what a metered taxi would cost. After 10 minutes of searching I got a message that there were no flat rate taxis available and I needed to choose a different method, so I then chose a metered taxi and went through this whole rigamarole again.

 

Now, this is probably where you ask why I waited for them to search for so long instead of choosing a different option and the truth is that I just wasn't sure if I would need to do the 15-minute wait again if I canceled the search because it wouldn't allow me to simply back-up and change methods, I had to cancel the order. During this time I also did not see any taxis arrive at the taxi stand, so I figured I had to stick with it. After the two timed out attempts, I switched to a regular Uber. It searched for a few minutes and I got a prompt that I could be made a "priority" for another 4 euros and I took that option..Almost immediately a driver was found with an estimated 11 minutes until pick-up. As I'm waiting I should note that taxis starting picking up other people around me from the street (not the taxi stand). My Uber went well past me in the opposite direction and veered from the route the map showed, so I assumed he was dropping off a passenger he already had when he accepted my call. We are well past the 11-minute mark at this point and the time on the app keeps increasing. Finally the Uber is coming back towards me, I note the car and license plate and stop watching the screen. After what seems like too long I look at the map and the driver has gone past where I am and into a completely different area withg my wait time now showing 20 minutes and increasing. I had turned down two taxis already that pulled up to me because I didn't want to get stuck with the Uber fare, so I messaged the driver asking why he is driving away from me and he replied he was in traffic. Having familiarized myself a bit with the area, I knew the driver was on a direct route to where I was when I turned off my screen and there is no way he went that far out of his way without intention. I don't know how Uber works, but my best guess was that he stacked multiple pick-ups if that's possible. Anyways, a taxi showed up asking if I needed a ride and I jumped in and cancelled the the Uber. I was assuming I would need to fight Uber on the charge (I think in US you only have a certain amount of time to cancel before being charged whether you take the ride or not?), but I was never charged. The taxi was less than half what the Uber would have cost anyways.

 

Lesson learned. I fully intend to cruise out of Barcelona again and will make sure my hotel has street access and will just have a taxi called to the hotel.

 

 

Hi, we have posted this information in the "Ports of call" section. 

 

It could help.

 

Nevertheless, Uber has barely business in Barcelona. Another company, Cabify, has a larger number of cars. Cabify just operates in some European and American countries. Surely you will not know them but they work quite near to Uber system.

 

Most of taxis in Barcelona have a rate per kilometre, not a fixed rate. Exemption: port to airport cost 39 euro with all supplements included.... and I must said that providing you travel on weekend (a bit more expensive) and you get some traffic jam... it should be a bit cheaper than 39. But as said, it is a fixed rate.

 

You can calculate approximate fares for a taxi in Barcelona and you are entitled to choose the itinerary.

Sometimes taxi driver will offer you some options, it is your choice (you can point in google maps, show him and ask for that itinerary).

By default, they will choose faster itinerary (that could be a bit more expensive)

 

 

 

 

[alserrod]

On 11/5/2023 at 11:42 AM, Anastas617 said:

 

 

By the way: Is it a European thing to not have washcloths in hotels? I'm not being a wise guy, but honestly asking. I went to two hotels in England and one in Spain this year and none of them had washcloths. Ireland is the only other place in Europe I have had a hotel (so far), but that was a few years back and I don't recall.

 

 

I had to think and remember....

- in my last hotel definitely there wasn't

- but.... I have them at home and do not use (use larger ones, different sizes but larger ones)

 

 

 

 

[perakcruiser]

On 11/5/2023 at 11:42 AM, Anastas617 said:

By the way: Is it a European thing to not have washcloths in hotels? I'm not being a wise guy, but honestly asking. I went to two hotels in England and one in Spain this year and none of them had washcloths. Ireland is the only other place in Europe I have had a hotel (so far), but that was a few years back and I don't recall.

Washcloths disappeared from the hotels around the world for many years already. I don´t remember having them seen in any hotel in Europe, Asia or Australia for a long time.