LIVE MSC Meraviglia May 19-26… and (hopefully) reopening of Ocean Cay

[Notch8]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

There should be a trash can hooked to the inside of the cabinet door....

Found it.  Thanks!

[Notch8]

47 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

You may also receive reports of people not receiving wash cloths. I have always received wash cloths in my stateroom on all five of my MSC sailings without requesting them. I am sure that, if you mistakenly do not receive wash cloths, you could ask for them, as they should be there.

We have wash cloths.

 

Jim

[Notch8]

Ok… walking from our room to the theater, I passed one of the room stewards who had an armful of boxes of facial tissues.  So clearly they are available.  I guess they only provide upon request.

 

Jim

[Notch8]

Key activities for today included the Master Chef show (Masterchef@sea) and Music Madness game show.  Both were a lot of fun.  They had some nice prizes for the winners and participants.

 

I haven’t done any trivia games yet so don’t know if they give out prizes for that.  They didn’t in July; otherwise I’d have brought home something.

 

Food has been good!  Portion sizes are typical cruise ship sizes.  I had the steak and eggs for brunch; steak was a small filet and it was great!  I liked the brunch as did the folks we shared a table with.  (Other than the aforementioned gripe about the fresh pressed orange juice.). Lunch was Hola tacos.  We don’t typically do specialty restaurants but decided that the price was reasonable and we weren’t disappointed.  Very nice atmosphere, great food, decent price.  Tonight was gala night, so lobster for both DW and me.  DW and I also ordered a filet entree to split between us and make it a “surf and turf” and weren’t charged the extra $5.  Waiter will get a nice tip at the end of the week, for sure!

 

Food quality so far is good; food has been coming out nice and hot.  I think it helps that our table is right next to a waiter station… of course, this has its downside too.  Fruit quality in the buffet is excellent too.  And did I mention that the ice cream is wonderful?  😁

 

As I write this I’m waiting in the theater for the show “Journey.”  Expecting it to be just as enjoyable as when I saw it in July.

 

Jim

[JamieLogical]

1 minute ago, Notch8 said:

Key activities for today included the Master Chef show (Masterchef@sea) and Music Madness game show.  Both were a lot of fun.  They had some nice prizes for the winners and participants.

 

I haven’t done any trivia games yet so don’t know if they give out prizes for that.  They didn’t in July; otherwise I’d have brought home something.

 

Food has been good!  Portion sizes are typical cruise ship sizes.  I had the steak and eggs for brunch; steak was a small filet and it was great!  I liked the brunch as did the folks we shared a table with.  (Other than the aforementioned gripe about the fresh pressed orange juice.). Lunch was Hola tacos.  We don’t typically do specialty restaurants but decided that the price was reasonable and we weren’t disappointed.  Very nice atmosphere, great food, decent price.  Tonight was gala night, so lobster for both DW and me.  DW and I also ordered a filet entree to split between us and make it a “surf and turf” and weren’t charged the extra $5.  Waiter will get a nice tip at the end of the week, for sure!

 

Food quality so far is good; food has been coming out nice and hot.  I think it helps that our table is right next to a waiter station… of course, this has its downside too.  Fruit quality in the buffet is excellent too.  And did I mention that the ice cream is wonderful?  😁

 

As I write this I’m waiting in the theater for the show “Journey.”  Expecting it to be just as enjoyable as when I saw it in July.

 

Jim

 

Have you had any pizza yet? Hola! and the pizza in the buffet are the two things I have been missing most from not sailing MSC the past few months!

[Notch8]

39 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Have you had any pizza yet? Hola! and the pizza in the buffet are the two things I have been missing most from not sailing MSC the past few months!

Yes ma’am!  I certainly did!  And may I extend my sincere thanks to you for your previous trip reports!  The tips I’ve learned from your reports have made this trip (and the previous one in July) much more enjoyable!  Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

[Heartgrove]

Talking about pizza in the buffet, for the round thin crust pizza, are there three flavors or six? We were on the MSC Preziosa from Hamburg last year and they had six types of pizza including a Charcoal pizza that was excellent. Two weeks ago we were on the MSC Seashore but they only offered three flavors.

[JamieLogical]

20 minutes ago, Notch8 said:

Yes ma’am!  I certainly did!  And may I extend my sincere thanks to you for your previous trip reports!  The tips I’ve learned from your reports have made this trip (and the previous one in July) much more enjoyable!  Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

 

That's great to hear! It sounds like this one is going well so far. How is your wife liking MSC?

[Notch8]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

That's great to hear! It sounds like this one is going well so far. How is your wife liking MSC?

Loving it!

 

I was nervous because MSC does things a bit differently, but she’s enjoying the differences!

 

They have been especially attentive to her dietary restrictions; we even had a note in our room upon boarding that they have noted this and informed the dining room staff.  That was especially comforting to her!

 

Jim

[marktwothousand]

Can someone explain this “brunch” thing in the buffet

to me? I am kinda lost. Is it just one continuous service from breakfast to lunch where they change the food gradually from breakfast to lunch as the morning goes on, or what?

[Notch8]

22 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Can someone explain this “brunch” thing in the buffet

to me? I am kinda lost. Is it just one continuous service from breakfast to lunch where they change the food gradually from breakfast to lunch as the morning goes on, or what?

Brunch is in the main dining room if you want a sit-down meal.  Buffet is just like any other ship… mostly breakfast items in the morning then switching to lunch around 11 or so.

 

Jim

[Notch8]

10 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

Talking about pizza in the buffet, for the round thin crust pizza, are there three flavors or six? We were on the MSC Preziosa from Hamburg last year and they had six types of pizza including a Charcoal pizza that was excellent. Two weeks ago we were on the MSC Seashore but they only offered three flavors.

Sorry I missed this one…. so far I’ve only seen three different types out at a time.  Time will tell if this changes.

 

Jim

[jaxdog315]

On 5/18/2024 at 2:16 PM, Notch8 said:

Thank you!  Another poster mentioned that this was the process on the Meraviglia in ?January?  I’ll post what happens on this one.

 

Jim

Hi, I was on the 1/15 Meraviglia cruise this year and I received my cruise card at check in when I boarded the ship I was encouraged/offered to store my hand luggage at a baggage hold near the customer service desk, which I did.  I was lucky that Hola was open for lunch on embarkation day it was much more enjoyable than contending with the free for all at the buffet.

[Notch8]

22 hours ago, Notch8 said:

Ok, time for a bit of a rant.

 

If you look at the menu for brunch, it has, in the upper right, a list of drinks.  One of which is “fresh pressed orange juice.”  So I asked for this (we have drink package) and the server said someone will come around to take drink orders.  OK, fine.

 

Drink server informed me that they don’t serve it in the dining room; you have to go to a bar.  My reply was “Then don’t put it on the menu!!”

 

I guess he could tell I was irritated so the head waiter came by and took care of it.  I got my juice.

 

I’m usually pretty easy going, but - come on; I should be able to order what’s on the menu!!

OK, time for rant, part 2:

 

I decided to get the fresh orange juice before breakfast.  So I asked when I entered the dining room where I go to get it.  “Bamboo bar.”

 

Ship geography lesson:  dining room is near the stern in deck 6.  Bamboo bar is near the bow on deck 15.  I don’t think there are two locations farther apart than these two.

 

Rant over.  I’ll deal with it; it doesn’t ruin my cruise (which has been excellent.)

 

Jim

[mica178]

No prizes for winning trivia???? What limited MSC swag I have is from winning trivia on our MSC Seaside cruise last summer. 😞 

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, Notch8 said:

OK, time for rant, part 2:

 

I decided to get the fresh orange juice before breakfast.  So I asked when I entered the dining room where I go to get it.  “Bamboo bar.”

 

Ship geography lesson:  dining room is near the stern in deck 6.  Bamboo bar is near the bow on deck 15.  I don’t think there are two locations farther apart than these two.

 

Rant over.  I’ll deal with it; it doesn’t ruin my cruise (which has been excellent.)

 

Jim

 

You are making me grateful I don't drink juice (unless you count the tiny splash they put in my Mimosa Blossoms)!

[Notch8]

OK… at the excursion desk they had a display of an UPDATED map of Ocean Cay.  They didn’t have printed copies though…. but they did have printed copies of the old map.

 

I took a photo of what appears to be the updated map; compare to the old map.

 

Looks like many of the food trucks are gone.  Let’s hope “Seakers Food Court” is larger than it was before.

 

(First one is what I believe is the NEW map; second one the OLD map.)

 

[Notch8]

I had a chance to speak to the cruise director about any changes to Ocean Cay.

 

1.  He confirmed that it is ready so if we miss it will be for another reason.

2.  He stated that the biggest improvement is the change to the berth to allow MSC World America to dock.

3.  Seakers buffet was apparently enlarged as well.

 

I’ll report out what I observe on Thursday.

[Notch8]

Yesterday was Port Canaveral day.  I met up with someone from the area and we enjoyed a quick bite to eat.

 

Surprisingly, they had a separate breakfast and lunch in the dining room yesterday (and today too.). Menus posted below.  We chose not to eat lunch on the ship.

 

Evening show was comedian Daran Howard.  I really enjoyed his act!  Later in the evening we did the Carousel show “Houdini”.  I had seen it before but they made changes and it no longer had a plot.

 

Today is Nassau.  We’ll get off the ship for a bit but have no specific plans.

 

Food continues to be good and staff universally excellent.

 

Jim

[Notch8]

First menu was Tuesday lunch menu and second is Wednesday’s lunch menu.

[Notch8]

In case you need a reminder to make sure your bags are well marked (and that you tip the baggage handlers):

 

(FYI:  not MY bag!)

 

[Notch8]

Showed up for lunch in the dining room today…. NOT the menu previously posted!

 

Here’s what we ACTUALLY had on the menu:

[nferr]

On 5/20/2024 at 3:45 PM, JamieLogical said:

 

Facial tissue is not provided. I am unsure if you can request it. If you need it, I suggest you bring your own. I am also unsure about bar soap. Liquid hand soap is provided in a dispenser by the sink and liquid body wash is provided in a dispenser in the shower. I never had a need for bar soap or facial tissue, so neither of these things have impacted me.

 I had facial tissue in my solo interior cabin in January. Maybe I was just lucky.

[nferr]

On 5/20/2024 at 6:16 PM, JamieLogical said:

 

There should be a trash can hooked to the inside of the cabinet door....

 

Yup I didn't see mine until about day four of my nine night cruise!

[Notch8]

Tomorrow is Ocean Cay.

 

We brought our own snorkeling gear and a sun shelter.  WOW, was THAT a good idea; umbrella rentals are $29!!

 

I got the idea to bring a sun shelter (beach tent) last time I was here; there was a family that had one and I realized what a great idea it was.  We’ll see tomorrow…

 

(FWIW:  the sun shelter was $35 at Wal-Mart.  Pays for itself in two uses.)