CruiseCruiseAndMoreCruise

11207

Shows in Broadway are free (you can reserve a spot; I heard the magic show was full, but I had Rock Circus booked that night so it didn't impact me). It's the Carousel Lounge shows that have a charge (Rock Circus and House of Houdini). The Internet speeds were fine for me (I just used it to log in to do some work, unfortunately I can't completely unplug on a trip). I had the basic package and was it was fine for Internet in the middle of the ocean!

MSC calling it an "express breakfast" makes no sense (it was the same when I was on the Meragilia). Nothing is included, you need to ask for everything you want! I guess they're not familiar with menus in the US having different breakfast "packages".

And here's where the Red Hook ferry stop is in relation to the terminal (I took this picture on the ship the morning we returned).

You're correct, there's no direct ferry. I took the Soundview Route (purple line) from Throgs Neck (Ferry Point Park) to Wall Street (Pier 11). From there it's a transfer (walk off the ferry and get in line for the other ferry) to the South Brooklyn Route (yellow line) from Wall Street (Pier 11) to Red Hook (Atlantic Basin). The transfer is free. The trip to Pier 11 takes ~56 minutes, the layover can be 10 to 20 minutes, and the trip from Pier 11 takes around 17 minutes. You can see the Meraviglia from Pier 11.

On the Meraviglia I went to reserve my hour, they asked which day, and then told me to just come down when I want. I guess some days are busier than others. I didn't see anyone walking around telling folks their time was up.

From what I see, it was the cruise after that was the last (the one that left on the 30th, this cruise was the one that got back on the 30th).

Just noticed this on their website (Main and buffet restaurants on board | MSC Cruises (msccruisesusa.com)): For cruises departing from a U.S. port: The first entrée, appetizers, and desserts are complimentary per each guest. For guests who wish to order a second entrée, an additional surcharge of $5 will be applied.

I did not see GF pasta or pizza when I was onboard.

Yet if you walked past the restaurants in the evening I bet they were half empty (they were on my cruise, despite being told there aren't spaces available).

They were $16.50 when I was there the first week of August. The beach mat was $20.90.

On my last cruise women could get way with anything for breakfast and lunch in the MDR (sandals and a spaghetti strap top), but men were asked to change if wearing a tank top or sandals.

I'll just add that on the Meraviglia, of the three drinks they had at each show, 1 was virgin. They also appeared to switch them up, there were different drinks at Rock Circus and House of Houdini. To echo what PTC DAWG said, they didn't seem to care if folks took more than one. I'm not a big fan of sweet drinks, so one was more than plenty.

Parking didn't appear to be an issue when I looked in the parking lot the day we left and the day we returned. I had a 1:30 embarkation time and arrived around 12:30. No benefits boarding early. Even with Diamond the benefit is almost nil. Everyone waited in the same security line, and then after security there was the Diamond/Aurea line. It was much shorter, but it had 3 or 4 agents servicing it, versus the 20 or so that were handling the main line. When it was my turn to go the people who were in front of me in the security line had about 5 people in front of them (so diamond might have saved 60 seconds). It's only one data point though. No hair dryer. Magnetic hooks can be useful. I don't have any, but someone in the room left one behind and I found it useful to use to pin the window curtain against the wall to keep the light out in the early morning. Can't help with the kid question, talking to folks on board, some kids loved the kids club, others were bored by it. Most seemed to like the pool and Ocean Cay. Kids seemed to get a kick out of drinking the virgin drinks.

That's interesting, as I was on the Meraviglia last week and this wasn't the case. Perfect timing on my part as I had multiple entrees a few nights!

Modelo and Pacífico Clara.

On more than one occasion everyone working at a bar was either on one of the drink tablets or the register trying to record a drink order. I often saw bar tenders tapping a button on the bottom right of the screen a few dozen times, presumably trying to get something to load. I felt bad for them, no one wants to be surrounded by people on every side seeing lines getting longer while being held back by technology or inefficient processes. One of the bartenders at the Atmosphere North bar was a rock star. I saw him walking somewhere on the last night and I said "hey, it's my favorite bartender" and he came over and asked me to fill out the survey. I got the impression that things won't improve if folks don't speak up. It was nice that they'll give two drinks per cruise card. The terms say one per card, but I never saw it enforced, and it likely kept the lines shorter than the otherwise would have been.

I was on the sailing after yours and that electrical outlet by the Bamboo pool is still broken (in fact, it was pulled out of the wall even more than in your picture). Your food reviews were interesting and pretty much meshed with what I experienced, though I thought the lemoncello cake was one of the best desserts on the ship, while the grouper was probably the worst thing I had onboard, it tasted like rubber! The key lime pie tasted like cheesecake to me (there was no key lime in my slice, just some lime zest on the top). While folks were always cleaning, it seemed like they only cleaned what they were told to. I noticed the same thing with trash overflowing and dirty areas on the ship. One day we saw them cleaning the lifeboats and I thought "that's what you think needs to be cleaned right now"?! I never officially met my cabin steward, but I had turndown service every night except one, which was when they made up the room in the evening. I thought it was odd the bathroom had a cutout for a box of tissues, but they blocked it off with the metal cover. I also thought it funny that in your bathroom picture the holder for plastic bags for feminine products is empty, it was in my room as well (mine wasn't attached to anything though).

I didn't do an excursion In Florida, but did enjoy watching them resupply the ship. It felt like I was watching a documentary with a drink in hand! It's amazing how many trucks queue up to resupply the ship.

I'd be fine without straws (they don't give them on Ocean Cay); I generally asked them not to give me one, but sometimes they didn't hear or put one in out of habit. To me it's that it shows a lack of planning; that's there's not someone looking at the cruise from the standpoint of guests. How Hola! can run out of two types of beer, the pool towel exchange booth is constantly out of towels, the pub runs out of CO2, the MDR runs out of Pinot Grigio and Savagnon Blanc, mint and bananas are unavailable for drinks, it's like a supply truck didn't show up, but then I see similar things happened to folks on prior cruses. Anyway, like I noted in my intro, I loved the cruise, I'm just pointing out the things that stood out that could be improved. If no one provides feedback, nothing will change. Granted, it's possible nothing will change if folks do provide feedback!

My car was still there with the wheels when I got back! I figured it's a reletively secure place being at the base of the Whitestone bridge. My real fears were that there would be signs saying "no overnight parking" (there weren't, and when I called I couldn't get a definitive answer), or there wouldn't be open spaces (there were plenty). There were three themed nights. The first sea day was the formal night, the second event was the white night (it was cool seeing a sea of white when in the MDR or walking around the ship that evening), and a Hawaiian shirt night (I wasn't preparted for this one).

When i went only the non-frozen margaritas were included (despite the frozen margarita being $9.99, which means it should have been included in the Easy Plus package).

I noticed the same thing. When I went to book there were no "good" times available, yet when I walked past at those times the place was often empty or just had a couple ot tables occupied. Maybe they allot too much time per diner in the reservation system.

I can only add in Hola you get the "all you can eat" meal, which means you can order off of the entire menu.

I just got back from a week on the MSC Meraviglia, and I’m already looking forward to my next cruise with MSC! I live in Connecticut, so taking a cruise leaving from New York was too convenient to pass up. I drove to Ferry Point Park (about a 1.5 hour drive) and then took the NYC Ferry to the cruise terminal (about another 1.5 hours). The ferry is $4 a person and parking is free. Not having to sit in traffic at the start of a vacation and doing a float-by of NYC was a great way to set the stage for a relaxing trip. I arrived to the terminal around 12:45 and despite long lines to get through security, I was on the boat by 1:25. Since it’s easy to think about things I didn’t like, I'll start with a list in no particular order: Hot food is lukewarm, cold food is also lukewarm. I can hear everyone stomping around the hallways. From my balcony (deck 11) it sounds like the furniture on the pool decks is constantly being rearranged (oddly I never noticed this when I was actually on the pool deck). Long wait for drinks; it generally feels like there's not enough staff in the bars and restaurants. Food and bar shacks on Ocean Cay close early, just when the sun isn't oppressive. The same thing happened on the ship, I was kicked out of a lounge chair on the upper deck of the atmosphere pool at 6:00PM because it closes so they can stack them. The smell of sewer gas is everywhere! In pools, walking through the hallways, in the stairwells. So...much...sewer...gas! Smoke from the casino fills the Carousel Theater. When I went to the second show I booked, I asked if they could close the doors during the show. I was told they have to keep them open in case someone shows up late. Straws aren't long enough for the tall V glasses that a lot of frozen drinks are served in. Soot lands on everything in the Horizon Pool area; don’t wear white! No sense of logic to who gets served when, and with long wait times at bars, this led to folks getting really frustrated. Sometimes I'd walk up to a bar and they would want to take my order when there were already a handful of people there waiting to order. Other times I'd be passed over after waiting for 10 minutes for someone who just walked up. It was strange when this happened at dinner too. Some days I would arrive after the table next to me placed their order and I would get my food first, sometimes it would go the other way. One day the table next to me finished their entire meal before appetizers arrived at my table, and I was seated before them. I thought the Broadway shows were much better than the Carousel shows (the folks who perform in Broadway are really great). House of Houdini has a new cast from what I understand, and the night I saw it was their premier. Not enough covered areas. Not many people seemed to want to be in the hot sun. Every place in the shade is spoken for. People reserving spaces (to never show up to use them) is also frustrating. The Brass Anchor pub (and apparently every other bar too, but I can't confirm this) ran out of CO2 on the first day, so I couldn’t get a draft beer the entire cruise. They ran out of two types of white wine as well, but were able to restock on the third day of the cruise in Miami, which was available for dinner the fourth day. For more than half the cruise I couldn’t get a frozen drink with banana because they ran out, the same with the drinks that had mint. Every so often I’d *see* someone taking drink orders around a pool or in a bar, but I never managed to have them stop by my lounge chair ot table to take my order. The library had two puzzles and three books, I'm not sure that counts as a library! Folks smoking on their balconies should be tossed overboard. Here are a few things that stood out: Rooms were very comfortable, A/C worked great, showers were hot with plenty of water. Staff was very friendly. There were really only two people who were less than friendly. I got a laugh when on the first day I overheard someone ask where fresh fruit was in the buffet, and the guy said “I’ll show you once, but I won’t show you again.” Most meals were great, the lobster tails on the formal night were the best I’ve had at sea. The pizza was amazing, I’m already missing my 4 o’clock slice! Despite the size of the ship, I was amazed at the number of times I had areas to myself. On more than one day I was the only person in the Brass Anchor Pub. Most days before dinner there might only be a handful of people in the Sky Lounge. Great passengers too! Folks talking too loudly (to each other, on video calls), or playing music were the only things that made me want to sit somewhere else. Ages were all over the place, but it definitely skewed younger than I was expecting. Bimini Beach at Ocean Cay is amazing, I wish we spent an extra day or two there instead of stopping in Miami (I’m guessing to resupply the ship) and Nassau. I'll miss not being able to get a plate of fresh fruit with every meal! The shows were a great way to end each night, lots of energy, great set, and a talented cast and crew.