ericdetwiler

The omelets were real eggs yes...they were very good

Some background - My wife and I have been on 27 cruise between 2 cruise lines (RCCL and Carnival) over 20+ years. We are very content cruisers when it comes to decent quality food and service. We are not into the games , entertainment and having to be entertained 24 hours a day. 4 out of 5 stars based upon quality, service and my expectations Day 1 ----> Meraviglia 12/15/2022. This is our first cruise post pandemic so we had low expectations just incase things were not on par with the way things used to be. On the morning of 12/15 wake to a text from MSC that we should delay our arrival to the port by 5 hours due to the over board passenger incident on board. We were scheduled to board at 12 noon but decided to wait until 3:30pm. So we drove from our home which is not too far from the port and arrived to chaos due to everyone arriving at one time(which my wife and I anticipated ...LOL) So we parked and went to get in line....90 minutes later we did get to board after walking through the labyrinth of lines in the terminal. When we boarded at 5:15pm we found everything was closed as far as food and bars since they were trying to get the muster-drill completed by 6:00pm. So the crew was preparing for that activity. This was one of the differences between RCCL and Carnival that we did see , no cruise director , just instructions from nondescript person on the PA. We went to deck 11 to find our balcony stateroom. The drill was - watch a video in the stateroom, then walk to the muster station to get your card scanned to prove that you did the drill. Pretty simple and easy.... :) After the drill we were free to roam about the ship and did so. We walked into Butcher's Cut and got a spot for dinner. The Butcher's Cut steaks were fabulous and the service was excellent. We did pre-purchase a dinner package for the cruise so we did not go to the main dining room this trip. So no reviews of the main dining room food. Our stateroom was simple , clean and modern. The Stateroom Attendant we only saw a few time but he made our room up daily and was efficient. Second Day - - -> woke up to a beautiful view of MSC's private island, Ocean Cay. Grabbed an Americano at the coffee bar (yum) The ship docked at 9am and was ready to explore by 9:30. Breakfast at the buffet was a typical cruise buffet , so if you have ever cruised before then you understand what is on it. The usual suspects ---> Liquid eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets, fruits, pastries, oatmeal ...etc . On the island there are a few coves with many chairs for relaxing. If you want shade then RENT AN UMBRELLA. No shade is available unless you pay, so keep that in mind. The drink prices on MSC are VERY reasonable by cruise standards. We found that our cruise bill for this trip was very reasonable and we did drink a few bottles of wine and we do like to drink mixed drinks during the day. The beaches were great and even though there were a few rain showers that dropped a few rain drops on us we enjoyed our day. Stayed on the island until 4pm and came back to the docked ship and took a nap before going to the sushi dining experience. The Sushi was fresh and very good and my wife gave it 5 stars. I am not a connoisseur of sushi so..... After dinner we hit the casino with NO CRAPS TABLE for a few pulls on the one armed bandit. I lost $100 on roulette and my wife won $100 on the slots machines. We did not go to any shows while on board as those are not our thing. At 10pm we watched the Lighthouse light show and then went to sleep. Third Day -----> It was rainy and we had hoped to walk the island before departing at 12 noon but alas ...no dice. This day was filled with eating at the buffet for lunch, nap and more casino. For dinner we did the teppanyaki dining experience. The food was excellent , the service was very slow and disorganized but they did get us past the finish line after a few hours. Forth Day ---> Leaving the ship was VERY easy if self carry option is selected. We carried all of our luggage on so we carried everything off. The ship was cleared at 7:45am and they allowed all self carry cruisers to start to leave at 7:50am.... we were in our car at 8:05am and on the road by 8:15am even waiting in line to pay for parking. Overall-----> For the price MSC is a great value and is for people that like to relax. The food was very good , the service is good enough and the ship was clean and modern. I will be taking another cruise soon and I am thinking that MSC will be on my list of possibilities.

PARTY TIME!

Sounds like a "stress free" check in that RCCL is running...LOL. I am sure that if you bring them to the port and show a human that you be OK

I hate the stupid restrictions right now that make ZERO sense..sorry about your issues