gizfish

You are correct that the chairs are not something you would want to sit in for very long.

If the fitness center was above you, you would risk hearing the treadmills and weights dropping. You shouldn't have a noise issue being on the same floor. If you are prone to motion sickness, take something to prevent it. Doesn't really matter where you are on a ship if you are one who gets seasick. That being said, yes, the higher and more forward one is, the more obvious the motion. Yet the Haven always sails full, so people do find the motion tolerable. We had a Haven spa cabin once, and agree, the lack of seating due to the in room hot tub is an issue. I would never book that again as I want a place to comfortably sit during the day other than on the bed. I don't know what you mean by creatively using the space since it's not like you can request a sofa or fill the tub with pillows lol.

No

To clarify, the room was serviced twice daily. This is the norm on all MSC cruises, and the female stewardess uniform was literally a French maid style complete with black pantyhose and lacy apron. Sorry, still can't get past that one lol. But back to the point, if your room was not being serviced twice a day (cleaning early and then turn down and tidy at night) you should have complained. I also would have complained if the waiter told me he didn't have time to complete a reasonable request like after dinner coffee. BTW I did find the MDR staff to be disorganized and not up to standards I am used to on other lines. I don't know if it was a bunch of new contracts getting acclimated, but I think it may have been poor management and training from senior dining room staff. I didn't mention it in my previous post because it wasn't a bid deal to us getting a spoon instead of a fork with dessert or little things like that.

We cruised in September 2023, and I did not experience most of those issues. While I agree that the cabins are poorly planned for storage, our standard balcony cabin was equivalent or even larger in size than other cruise lines. For instance the sofa in the room could easily seat four people, and the pass through area at the foot of the bed was wider than in other lines cabins. It might be that we arrived at the port later, around noonish, but we had virtually no wait to enter the parking lot and actually got a pretty good spot. There was no wait to clear security, and while the check in line snaked around a lot, it moved relatively quickly and we boarded within about twenty minutes at most. While late night snacks were limited to burgers and hot dog type of things, I was happy there was some sort of food available at all times except maybe for a few hours overnight. NCL for example has stopped any buffet food after dinner and only has a relatively small sit down restaurant that is open late. And no line can compete with MSC's always available pizza. Also, the buffet desserts are deceiving. They look like the usual cruise buffet desserts, but OMG most were delicious. The buffet desserts surpassed any mainstream line desserts in their MDR or buffets, and I have been on them all except Celebrity. Keep an eye out for the chocolate panicotta. It will look very plain in a silver foil dish. We did not have any issues with portion sizes in the MDR. While the portions were not as large as one would get at a regular restaurant, where you often take some of that home, they were certainly appropriately sized. The temperatures for us were not cold. However, some dishes were over salted. Also while the buffet coffee was the best I have ever had on any ship, The one time I succeed in getting the MDR waiter to bring me a cup after dinner, it was lukewarm and tasted like it had been diluted by more than half. The MDR food in my opinion, surpassed NCL's by far. I agree that Hola was an excellent choice with reasonable prices and portion sizes, especially since they packed our food to go and we enjoyed it in our cabin. Since MSC is pretty much the only line sailing year round from NY to places other than Bermuda at a more than reasonable price, the Meraviglia is our new go to. The fact that they are offering pre-covid service (no one else is cleaning cabins twice a day anymore for example) at a price point much lower than the other lines $1200 or more on a trump beautiful ship, makes MSC an even better choice for us.

There will be staff all over the ship at muster drill time. Let them know you are unable to do stairs, and they will accommodate you.

A lot of the time they retake the picture at the pier. So you may not want to bother with that since you can complete on line check in without it.

The passport not expiring within 6 months rule is specific to foreign countries. It is not a U.S. regulation. The countries requiring this don't want you sticking around long, and if your passport were to expire while you were there, they fear the issues of the U.S. not letting you back in. U.S. customs will accept you back in the country as long as your passport has not expired. So as long as your passport is current through your cruise there should be no problem. And if for some reason you are stuck in a foreign country long enough for your passport to expire, I'm thinking you have problems more major than that issue. The only reasons I can think of that would make someone be detained for any amount of time in a foreign country are legal issues (which would probably negate travel insurance kicking in), and a medical issue. With the medical issue, travel insurance would most likely have you expedited home before a passport were to expire. And if you were so ill that you couldn't be flown home for so long that your passport expired, again, your issues are more major than that, and that certainly wouldn't be your fault. I have yet to see a travel insurance plan that requires a passport not expire within six months of a trip. These issues do speak to the fact that when traveling out of the country a passport is a good idea even if it's not required. It makes entering the U.S. by air that much easier should one have an emergency.

The info at MSC's site does not say passports must be valid for six months. It says that is preferred. https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/before-you-go/travel-documents-visas "Domestic Cruises Only for United States Citizens, U.S. Residents and Canadian Citizens: U.S. Citizens sailing on cruises departing and returning to the same U.S. port will be able to enter or depart the country with proof of citizenship such as a passport, US birth certificate or US naturalization certificate, along with a valid, un-expired government issued ID. Traveling with a passport that is valid for at least 6 months after the cruise ends, is preferred. This travel document will provide the best embarkation and disembarkation experience, while also providing guests the ability to travel by air to or from the United States, if needed."

You are correct that you're paying for what the Haven offers, and part of that is an ultra high level of service. The level of service you are paying for, the "ship within a ship" idea as it is marketed, does mean one can certainly ask for things that are not on the list of things you think are "normally included." The gummy bears, bar mix and M and M's so many talk about is not on your imagined list. Maybe we should stop inconveniencing the butlers with that? People asking the maitre'd to make arrangements for something to be brought from elsewhere is not going to cause a complete collapse of service in the restaurant. Asking if the chef can make you a burger instead of what's printed on the menu is not going to cause the other diners to starve or even have to wait longer for their food. And if it truly is a problem for your request to be accommodated, they will tell you no. Asking for any of this when you are not a Haven guest is "Karen" behavior. But in the Haven, you are paying for special service. It is not at all inconsiderate to make a request. I wasn't encouraging anyone to make a demand.

MSC has not made that downgrade in service...yet.

OP, ignore the people trying to shame you for your request. There is absolutely nothing wrong with requesting things from the MDR menu in the Haven restaurant. There is also nothing wrong with requesting something off menu to be made for you if it's something they would have the ingredients for in the Haven restaurant galley. Yes, my comment sounds entitled. But paying the price for the Haven comes with this entitlement. If for some reason they can't accommodate you, they can tell you no. But you are paying for yeses when you plunk down that Haven cabin money. If it's possible, you can contact the Haven maitre'd earlier in the day to notify them of your request. Sending a runner, butler or even a waiter to use the staff elevators and passageways to obtain your special request is not going to wreck havoc on the dinner service for the Haven restaurant. If it's a dessert you want, a good idea is to have your butler get it and leave it in your room to have for "second dessert" later.

Stop. Breath. Back in the day before everyone had printers people were still able to check in and board. NCL has all your info. Technically those Edocs are for you. They will be able to process you with no problems. Just tel them you couldn't print them. Bring a copy of any other documentation like the page showing your room, etc. and something that shows paid in full just to be safe and for your peace of mind. No it certainly is not crucial for you to arrive sooner. But, they don't look at assigned times, and if you want to get there earlier, you may be able to board sooner.

Since the Italian tradition usually includes a pasta course, personally I would have spoken to a supervisor if they refused a starter size portion of pasta (if they insisted the fee was for the pasta as a main). Our experience on Meraviglia with portion size was totally different. While the sizes of the pasta dishes were not as large as one would get from a restaurant in the U.S., They were definitely a reasonable dinner sized portion and not nearly as tiny as your pictures. Also the salad portions were larger than what you experienced.

Not sure if the $5 surcharge is per each extra entree or a blanket fee for all extra entrees as the wording is confusing, and no one here had personal experience with ordering more than one extra the last time I asked here. Keep in mind that there are multiple pasta dishes available in the every day section, and there is either a pasta or risotto dish every night in the section of the menu that changes each night. Ordering any of those as a "starter" will get you the meal sized portion with no extra fee. Also, most nights there is an entree salad which should also have the same results. You can order as many items as you want from the starters and desserts with no restrictions.

I don't know if you can order off the dining experience menu without a dining plan, as the no choice of restaurants in the plan thing is new. However, I do think I remember the menus having a prix fix option that may have been the same as the plan menu? You do have to wait until boarding to make reservations for dining and shows. You may be able to reserve some of that while waiting to board if the MSC app is working in the terminal. You will find out your assigned dining time once you are issued your key card. The daily planner will tell you where and at what time you can go to request changes.

On Meraviglia everything, and I do mean everything was Med for MSC. The shampoo and body wash, the liquid soap by the sink, and pretty much every breath we took, all Med for MSC. At the beginning of your cruise, sniff the room diffuser for sale in the gift store. From that point on, you will be aware that Med is everywhere. You will notice it in the hallways, the theater, even near the elevators on the pool deck where they have the fans drying the floors. And now, it's even in my living room, because it's actually a very pleasant, not at all intrusive scent, and we just had to buy the diffuser for home.

All Haven rooms allow food delivery by your butler from any restaurant. You will have to use a meal credit or pay for whatever you order if it is from a specialty restaurant or normally incurs a fee (e.g. an item from the MDR that has a surcharge or a catering type item). If you use a dining credit, you have already paid the gratuity and will not be charged more.

The room steward is already included in the DSC.

Tipping is personal. Just because someone here states with authority how much they supposedly tip means absolutely nothing. The one thing about tipping is that etiquette wise it is done at the end of the cruise. Tipping before a service is not a tip. It's a bribe, and may actually come across as insulting to a good butler. It may be looked at as you feel they will not perform their job to the best of their abilities if they are not bribed to do so.

FYI, Meraviglia has the classics favorites menu.

Contact the special needs department to cover any issues with bringing the peanut butter and to bridge any gap you find with the kid's menu and the offerings at the kids section of the buffet.

You know how when you call NCL you get the message that the call is being recorded? Speak with a supervisor and tell them to find the recording where the rep told you your packages would not change. It doesn't matter that all the cheerleaders here know that isn't the case. The person representing NCL told you it was, and that mistake is on NCL.

I can't answer your actual question. But I can tell you on Meraviglia every coffee station in the buffet had milk, half and half, and three different kinds of Coffeemate (original, vanilla and hazelnut). Getting coffee in the MDR was almost an impossible task, so you would have little use for your own creamers there. The one time I succeeded, the MDR coffee was tepid at best and weak. However, the buffet coffee was the best cruise coffee I have ever had.

You should have no problems making the early bus. Watch the tv channel with debark info in your room as that often announces self carry before they announce it overhead. We always get in line the moment it starts and have driven home to long island, unpacked and picked up the dogs from the pet hotel before 10:30.