Family trip on MSC Meraviglia Dec 9-16

[skittlebug83]

This was our first time sailing with MSC and the terrible weather really marred the experience for us. We made the best of it and tried to enjoy as much as possible of what the ship had to offer.

 

Stateroom:

We were in cabin 9059 which was forward on thr Port Side. Close to the elevators but also a quick walk to deck 7 and 6. Room was done up with the couch converted to bunk bed for our kids. We had an issue one night where the divider between balconies was banging the entire night. Good thing my fam sleep like the dead, I was the only one kept awake. They repaired it the following day and we had no other issues. 

 

 

Some balcony views

 

 

 

 

Dining:

Food in both the buffet and MDR were good and we always found options that appealed to us. We ate at one upcharge restaurant Hola Taco and we were underwhelmed. DH and I could have got the All you Can Eat option but the kids were charged a la carte. We opted to do a la carte for all of us. 

5 out of 7 nights we ate at Panorama. Our set dining time was 545 and we were seated with a nice family from Quebec with kids around the same age. We usually were done by 7 pm. Didnt take many food shots this trip but here was my meal from Gala Night which was held on Thursday our second sea day. 

 

Buffet was chaos most times that we visited. Severely understaffed, they couldn't keep up with the amount of people. Every meal there was a wandering tour because of items not being replenished. Cutlery, bowls, cups and out of order drink machines. We tried to eat breakfast in the MDR mostly to save us the headache but the 730-9 window doesn't suit all the time. Anyone looking for juice, its all in the MDR at breakfast! 

 

Entertainment:

We watched the following shows:

Club Disco

Encore

Marc Devigne - Singer

Crew Talent Show

The Journey

Rock Circus (13 CAD pp)

 

7 pm was a bit too rushed from dinner so we usually went for the 830 show. Dancers and singers were quite talented and it was nice that they had different show every night. We booked in advance and usually showed up 10 mins before and that was plenty of time to find good seats. The 1045 dance parties were a bit too late for us but we did attend once for the White Night. Watching from Deck 7 if you dont want wall to wall crowds. I believe they also had a Sunshine Party, Space Night, Silent Disco twice and a Tropical Party.

 

 

 

 

Kids Club:

My kids 4 and 9 loved the kids club and spent a few hours there everyday. We found it to be very organized and well staffed. I was hoping to post the kids club schedules but our room attendant tossed them all out the last day. 

One of the highlights was the Luna Park night, they had carnival type games, face painting, balloon animals and a raffle at the end for MSC merch.

 

 

 

Thermal Spa:

I had been eyeing the week pass for the thermal spa before our cruise (158 CAD) pp but without knowing if my kids would like the kids club or not we opted not to pre-book it. In the end we did a couples day pass (129 US). With the disappointing weather it was definitely worth it and we enjoyed it. It's a small area but there are variety of things packed in. Saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, heated loungers, rest areas with beds, various showers with different scents. We found the morning was less busy than the afternoon. 

 

Things we missed out on because of the bad weather:

Ocean Cay experience 

Polar Aquapark and Waterslides 

Main Pool

 

Ports:

Port Canaveral - The time in port was not enough to make Kennedy Space Center worth it. So we took an Uber to Route 7 and spent a few hours there. My kids did go karting and played arcade games. They had a blast!

 

Nassau- We did the Pirates Museum which is walking distance from the port and the Straw Market. I also did a quick tour by myself of the Pompey Museum. Then the downpour began and we high tailed it back to the ship.

 

 

 

Miami- We were really looking forward to our beach day at Ocean Cay. This was a replacement port and pretty much a write-off of a day. We spent from 1030-2 in the Miami terminal waiting to reboard. They were pretty much begging people to go explore the port but with equally crummy weather from the other days we went keen on getting rained on again. We were given a number to reboard but no one abided by this at all and started lining up as soon as priority people were finished. 

 

Disembarkation: 

With the disorganized mess that was Miami we didnt want to chance a repeat of that, so we chose the self disembarkation. We woke up early had breakfast in the MDR. Left our room at 730 and were by our vehicle at 750. Easy peasy and painless.

 

We booked on a flash sale and it was 2200 CAD for our family of 4. At that price point I am definitely willing to give MSC another go in the future but this will be our last cruise from NYC. Too many weather related variables, we will just eat the additional cost and fly to Florida first. Parking at the Brooklyn port was 439 CAD so thats the cost of a few cheap plane tickets anyway.

 

[SailAwayInAugust]

If you took this cruise out of NYC in the Spring or Summer, I doubt you would write off leaving from NYC ever again.  It really is a great port 

 

Sorry you had a rough experience.  

Edited December 19, 2023 by SailAwayInAugust

[JamieLogical]

Definitely sorry about the weather. If it's any consolation, the cruises out of FL had terrible weather recently too! You might want to give sailing out of NYC in the summer a try sometime. Sounds like you did a decent job making the most of it and I am glad you aren't putting the bad weather on MSC, but I agree that the bad weather is especially bad on the Meraviglia, because not being able to use any of the outdoor spaces makes the indoor spaces much more crowded and they really aren't set up to accommodate that.

[hypercafe]

Sailing out of NYC in the winter is taking a chance. Going south at best the first and last day and half will be cold and bad weather could be around. I think it should be at least 14 days to make it worthwhile. May to November are best but be on the watch for hurricanes. 

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

I was on your sailing and just completed my review too. Please don't rule out a NYC sailing again. I have sailed many time from NY and this is definitely the worst I have experienced. In the Sprinf and Summer it's amazing. Even the early Fall is great.

[Brighton Line]

Not too long ago only NCL and Cunnard sailed out of NYC in December and January and except for the Christmas and New Year's cruises that were 7-day they were 14-day cruises.