Review Meraviglia March 2024

[HappyInVan]

First time MSC and first time Yacht Club. Mainly sailed in the past with Holland America (HAL). Also Regent, Silversea and lately Ponant.

I'll be comparing Meraviglia to HAL, and YC to Ponant (10k GT and @100 staterooms).

Cruise to Nassau from Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and return from Ocean Cay.

Verdict: I found Meraviglia to be better than expected. Strong value proposition against its competitors. The YC was also great value. I'll be returning to MSC in Aurea or YC.

The Good: Well designed ship, of human scale, mall not too long, each section comfortable size. Lot’s eye relief. Not feel crowded. Continuous Dome shows on the roof of the mall.

However, built for warm weather itineraries. Unlike HAL, this ship has a great deal of open-air unprotected decks. Strong winds blow through the pool/solarium on Deck 19, through the area around the Atmosphere Pool, through the topside play area midship, and over the Horizon Pool area. Only the small Bamboo Pool area has a retractable roof.

On the other hand, I was pleased with the quality and quantity of the food in the Marketplace buffet. Quite good for this price point. Choice was more limited than on HAL, but plenty of seats and elbow room. Did not dine in the public dining rooms because the tables were crammed together.

Entertainment was where MSC shone. Attended 4 free shows in the Broadway theatre. Song and dance, magicians and concluded with a variety show. Talent was impressive, particularly the lead dancers and singers. Adrenaline pumping.

My room had good ergonomics and functionality. Only complaint was that the closet door faced the wrong direction (towards the bathroom). Resulting in a tight squeeze when accessing the closet. Balcony was narrow but usable. One big plus was the balcony door could be locked open to air the room.

Ocean Cay was impressive. A huge investment by MSC. Brilliant white sand, several beaches, cabanas and loungers. Laughing gulls, Terns and Brown Pelicans fishing along Bimini beach. YC had their own club house and ample beach on the island.

The Bad: Brooklyn Terminal heavily congested on embarkation day. The work area was too small for the load of a 5k pax ship. Traffic on the approach road was still stuck at 1030h, and plenty of disembarking pax were still there.

I dropped off a transit bus and took a short easy walk to the Terminal. Approached an attendant holding a YC sign, And was escorted into the YC Top Sail Lounge in 15 minutes.

 

Shower overflow. The bathroom is accessed over a high step. Unfortunately, the shower stall had no ledge. Water cascaded onto the bathroom floor when the ship rolled back and forth. The biggest mistake was the evacuation drill on embarkation day. What a mess!

Finally, the room TV had very limited choices. No free movies, and very few Pay videos.

 

How would I spend my money onboard?

I purchased a 3-pack for the specialty restaurants. Very reasonable prices. I would recommend the Butchers Cut. Excellent fillet mignon and 4 tasty sauces. The asparagus was overcooked and limp like greenbean. However. The moist banana cake was enjoyable.

Kaito Sushi offered a light meal. Mix of traditional and fusion. Perhaps, too much of the former. Particularly liked the outdoor tables on Deck 7 overlooking the mall.

Excursion. Just one in Nassau; Land and Sea. Boat cruise was nice, but the minibus was full and hot. Annoying pax. Downtown Nassau unremarkable. Never again.

Rock Circus in Carousel Lounge; cirque-style but ceiling too low for high wire acrobatics, too goth/punk for me.

Spa? YC pax receive free entry to the spa. HAL ships have large thermal baths. This ship's bath is modest, But the loungers are arranged in small compartments for greater privacy.

What about the YC? I had a positive experience. Today, the basis of luxury lies in the quality of the staff. On Meraviglia YC, the service staff was attentive and obliging. In view of the high number of staff dedicated to the YC, my opinion is that MSC YC is good value.

The escorts during embarkation and disembarking were very helpful for novices. What surprised me was the tasty food.

Much of what was served was similar to what was available in the Marketplace. However, the preparation was noteworthy. And, the size of the portions in the pool buffet was staggering. A piece of swordfish looked like 600g.

By comparison. Ponant’s kitchen was hit or miss, and the portions more modest. I was speaking with a grizzled butler who had served with MSC for 16 years. IMO, an organization is well served by long term employees who have been trained and promoted from within.

General comments. Pax generally well behaved. One ugly cussing match on a tour boat. Usual rowdy juveniles. International mix of pax. Many teens and YA. Three babies in the YC.

 

What I did miss was the creative towel animals on HAL ships.

 

Motivation. MSC tries to please high $$$ pax. Those are the most profitable customers. Daily stream of gifts: alcohol, Biscotti. Macaroon and chocolate. On some other brands, suite pax are treated as an afterthought.

Enjoy.
 

Edited March 26 by HappyInVan

[DisneyJen]

Thanks so much for your review @HappyInVan👍

 

We board Meraviglia in YC in 54 days🛳️

 

We are driving to the port. What time do you think would be a good time to arrive with the traffic?

[HappyInVan]

Hmmm.

 

I wouldn't drive into the Cruise Terminal area. The problem is that the approach to the terminal is on narrow Bowne and Clinton Wharf street. I have no idea what the traffic is like later in the day.

 

Personally, I would turn from Van Blunt St into King St and onto Conover St (one way). Drop at the bend in the road. There's a small gate (marked on the map) where you enter Clinton Wharf. Just walk the 60m to the Terminal. 

 

Alternately, there's a South Brooklyn ferry from Wall Street Pier 11 to the Red Hook ferry station, just 50 feet from the circus at the Terminal. Only runs hourly on Sunday.

 

https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/south-brooklyn/

 

 

[DisneyJen]

Thanks so much for the great directions and info @HappyInVan!

[Yorkvillain]

Good stuff @HappyInVan Thanks for this.

 

How did you like their muster procedure?

[HappyInVan]

4 hours ago, Yorkvillain said:

Good stuff @HappyInVan Thanks for this.

 

How did you like their muster procedure?

 

 

Worse case of lost of control I have ever seen.

 

The procedure is logical even though cumbersome. Pax are supposed to wait for the announcement to watch the safety video in their room. Then dial a number to register compliance! Then, wait for the announcement for their deck to report to their assembly station.

 

What happened was that the YC decks were the first called. I was down at my station (Broadway Theatre) in a flash. Thanks to our priority cards. I found that a quarter of the ship was already on Deck 6 and blocking the entrance!!!

 

How could they all have watched the video and gotten downstairs before me?

 

The staff were scanning every Tom Dick and Harry. So, I elbowed my way through. Then, the staff had us do a short walk into the theatre and out! .🙄

 

The next day, the ship carried out the drill again for those who didn't do it the first time. Lot's of people.

 

Obviously, the info system isn't geared up to automatically register pax who have played the safety video.

 

A better way is to build an integrated scheduling procedure. Once the video had been played, the TV screen would automatically instruct pax to report to their assembly stations at an allotted time. Whilst the entertainment system would be frozen until the pax actually registered at the assembly station.

 

At the station, the scan would reject those who had not passed the safety video phase, or had reported before their allotted time.

 

It would not matter what deck you're on, or what time you boarded. The first onboard and who had viewed the video, would be the first cohort at the Assembly Station. The last onboard would be the last cohort.

 

This way, the Assembly Stations could start at noon, with a controlled flow throughout the afternoon.

 

???

 

IMHO, this episode was an embarrassment for MSC. 🙄

 

Edited March 27 by HappyInVan

[JamieLogical]

MSC definitely has one of the more finicky muster systems post-COVID. I still find it much preferable to the per-COVID muster drills where everyone had to go to their muster station at once and watch the presentation from live staff members. However, compared to how easy muster is now on all the other lines, I don't understand why MSC still makes it so hard.

[HappyInVan]

No operational organization is perfect. Certainly not MSC. Before I forget, here's some annoying design choices on the ship.

 

There's too many reflective surfaces. Several times, I walked towards a wall because out of the corner of my eye, it looked like a passageway was there.

 

In the room, the HVAC control was graphic rather than numeric. So, which graphic bar corresponded to 22 degrees Celsius?

 

MSC App's Personal Agenda lists the bookings for excursion and restaurants, but not for the spa and shows. In the YC, the butler slips a reminder under the door. What would the general pax do?

 

In addition, show and specialty reservations can't be made until onboard. Easy for YC members, since there's a guy outside the Lounge taking reservations on embarkation morning. What about the general pax?

 

Finally, the TV menu offers two views from the ship's cameras. Port side and starboard. On HAL, the views are bow and aft. At the Brooklyn Terminal, the bow pointed north. So, those in the YC had a panoramic view of New Jersey, lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn.

 

The general pax might appreciate a look through a bow camera.

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

In addition, show and specialty reservations can't be made until onboard. Easy for YC members, since there's a guy outside the Lounge taking reservations on embarkation morning. What about the general pax?

 

There are places listed for specialty dining reservations in the "Welcome Aboard" flyer that passengers receive upon checking in. On the Meraviglia, those places are Ocean Cay and Butcher's Cut. There are desks set up at each with staff and laptops to book your reservations after boarding. For show reservations, those can be made through the app once onboard or through any of the touchscreens near the elevator banks.

 

Edit: I should specify that main theater show reservations can be made through the app and the touchscreens. For the Carousel Lounge shows, those reservations need to be made at the specialty dining reservations desks.

 

Edited March 27 by JamieLogical

[jcpc]

21 hours ago, DisneyJen said:

Thanks so much for your review @HappyInVan👍

 

We board Meraviglia in YC in 54 days🛳️

 

We are driving to the port. What time do you think would be a good time to arrive with the traffic?

@DisneyJen I've sailed Meraviglia departing from Brooklyn twice.   Both times, we took private car service from our home to the port.  The driver had no problem driving into the port and dropping us off directly at the YC Tent to deposit our luggage.  Was their a line of cars getting into the port?  Yes, but it moved and did not take an inordinate amount of time to reach the YC luggage tent.  Both times, we arrived at the port around 9:45 am.  Enjoy your cruise.  I'm guessing you will like YC very much (I know you're a Celebrity cruiser.....and I remember you posting on the Celebrity boards about a favorite Luminae Maitre'd of mine....Yuksel!)  Please be sure to come back and post your thoughts on YC after the cruise.

[DisneyJen]

2 hours ago, jcpc said:

@DisneyJen I've sailed Meraviglia departing from Brooklyn twice.   Both times, we took private car service from our home to the port.  The driver had no problem driving into the port and dropping us off directly at the YC Tent to deposit our luggage.  Was their a line of cars getting into the port?  Yes, but it moved and did not take an inordinate amount of time to reach the YC luggage tent.  Both times, we arrived at the port around 9:45 am.  Enjoy your cruise.  I'm guessing you will like YC very much (I know you're a Celebrity cruiser.....and I remember you posting on the Celebrity boards about a favorite Luminae Maitre'd of mine....Yuksel!)  Please be sure to come back and post your thoughts on YC after the cruise.

Thanks for the info @jcpc👍 

 

We live about 4 hours from the cruise terminal so we'll overnight somewhere in NJ. Appreciate the info on port arrival time.

 

We are really looking forward to this cruise and trying MSC. We are in a RS so we will be able to compare apples to apples after a two meh X cruises.

 

Yuksel is one of my all-time favorite as well.

 

Cheers!

I will yet again try to do a trip report ...

[HappyInVan]

Back to the positives. IMHO, The Meraviglia has one of the most attractive pool decks in the industry. In Nassau, I was able to check out 3 RCL ships (Freedom, Anthem and Vision) and the Carnival Elation.

 

 

[HappyInVan]

Whilst the pool deck is one of the social hotspots during the day. The quiet hours offer moments of contemplation.

 

 

[sbcs5390]

On 3/26/2024 at 12:46 PM, HappyInVan said:

I would recommend the Butchers Cut. Excellent fillet mignon and 4 tasty sauces.

How did the filet mignon compare there to in the YC, if you tried both? 

[HappyInVan]

14 minutes ago, sbcs5390 said:

How did the filet mignon compare there to in the YC, if you tried both? 

 

Sorry. I only ate dinner once in the YC restaurant. The main course was salmon which was nicely done, but I thought it didn't have enough fat.

 

I did have dinners at 4 specialty restaurants, and twice(?) in the Marketplace. The food in the buffet was okay. No horror stories.

 

 

[Crown Vic]

On 3/26/2024 at 6:57 PM, HappyInVan said:

Alternately, there's a South Brooklyn ferry from Wall Street Pier 11 to the Red Hook ferry station, just 50 feet from the circus at the Terminal. Only runs hourly on Sunday.

Definitely use the ferry if at all possible. Cheers…

[HappyInVan]

I'm impressed by the design depth in the ship. Whilst the Meraviglia has a large numbers of pax, it often did not feel crowded. And, there are moments of 'beauty'.

 

Similarly, MSC has made a substantial investment in Ocean Cay. Creating a sheltered harbour for aqua-sports. Brilliant white beaches populated by marine bird-life. There are long queues during lunch hour, and MSC is building more facilities.

 

I haven't been to the industry's other 'islands'. But, I was pleased to have visited MSC's private island.

 

BTW, the YC pax have their private club house (Ocean House) and ample beach. Looks like they had 200 loungers on that beach. I had a very nice lunch; Charred Octopus (on greens), Lobster Roll (more lobster please!), delicious sweet potato chips, mango cheesecake (thin mango crust).

 

Edited March 29 by HappyInVan

[HappyInVan]

Finally, let's not forget our feathered friends and neighbors. The gulls, terns and pelicans who are busy making a living...

[Yorkvillain]

Do you know if they serve food at night on the private island or was it just a nighttime beach party?

[DisneyJen]

Beautiful photos!

[JamieLogical]

34 minutes ago, Yorkvillain said:

Do you know if they serve food at night on the private island or was it just a nighttime beach party?

 

My experience has been that the bars and food trucks close early, even if in port late/overnight.

[Yorkvillain]

28 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

My experience has been that the bars and food trucks close early, even if in port late/overnight.

 

Good to know. Thanks Jamie.