QueenofEverything

What date will you be in Roatan?

Still can't get it to show up.  I tried linking it, but it says it is already linked.  It won't show any details of our upcoming cruise.  I would like to be able to access shore excursions but can't.  Anyone else having the same problem?

I'm in the US and can't get it either.   UK and US have different websites.  I'm sure it will be back up eventually.  

Is it always like that after a cruise that stops in Columbia?

I see from the port webcam it is still there.  Was supposed to sail an hour and a half ago.  Would be interesting to know whats up

18 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

German, Spanish, French, and Italian. Does anybody know if those are available on the Meraviglia?

As best as I can remember, there was at least one channel in each of those languages.  I don't remember what the content was because we passed them looking for any news channel in English.  There was not one, only TMC and TBC.

The last time I read anything about it, the time frame was 3 years.  I not heard anything to suggest that has changed.

Yes you can apply onboard credit toward gratuities

1 hour ago, April42749 said:

seats are reserved but imho they are all "good views"

Absolutely true!  Just book the show and cocktail, not the dinner.  The seats are much better

They are held in the same venue, but on different nights.  Not sure exactly what the schedule is, but most nights they have 2 shows.  Definitely book them before you go, you will have better seats.

Unless they station someone there to police it, people will ignore the signs and do as they please

I forgot to add how much we enjoy the variety of passengers on MSC cruises.  Sitting at dinner you can usually pick out at least 3 languages being spoken at tables around you.  The announcements in multiple languages can be fun as well.  We were in Cirque when the captain announced that we would have rough weather overnight and the next day.  The show had just started and the poor guy onstage was trying to stay in character, but by the time they made the announcement in the 5th or 6th language, they just pulled him off and started the show over.  

Sorry for the delay in posting this.  DH and I have both been sick since we got home with some nasty respiratory infection.

I’ll start by saying this was our 25^th cruise (including 3 river cruises) on 11 different cruise lines.  We have enjoyed all of them, of course some more than others.  This was our second MSC Cruise, we were on the Seaside last summer, and have another on the Divina scheduled for January.

The Good

Always good to start on a positive note. 

The Crew -  Outstanding.  I was a little concerned because I had read many reviews on the Meraviglia in Europe and the crew was described as tired, unhelpful and unfriendly.  That was the exact opposite of our experience.  The crew was the best part of the cruise.  Without exception, they were friendly and very anxious to make sure we were having a good time. Guest services especially so considering they usually were dealing with unhappy (and sometimes rude) people.

The Ship – Absolutely beautiful.  We were most impressed with the constant cleaning.  With so many people on a cruise with very little outside activity due to the weather, the inside was really busy.  It is amazing that they were able to keep it so clean.

The Shows -  Yes, they were hokey.  All cruise ship shows are hokey.  The talent was excellent and so many dancers!  I don’t think we have ever seen so many dancers on a ship before.  We especially liked the opera and the flamenco/salsa production.  The rock show was fun.  Didn’t go the first night because we were so exhausted from the insane embarkation.  Also did not go to see the magician, he was there two nights.  I think the last night’s show was cancelled because it was so rough, it was supposed to be Italian music.  We were a little surprised at how different the shows were from the Seaside last year.  We went to both Cirque shows and enjoyed them both.  I liked Viaggio better and my DH liked Sonar better.  I would strongly advise the show and drink as opposed to the dinner and show.  The stage is round and surrounded by chairs for the show and drink package.  The tables for the dining are further back.  We did not have any problem getting the days and times we wanted onboard.  I also advise purchasing your tickets in advance.  They told us that they assign seats first to Yacht club and second to those who purchased online.  Our tickets to both shows were outstanding.  I really liked that there were assigned seats so there is no reason to get there early and stand in line.  The tickets are delivered to your stateroom early in the morning on the day of the show.   

The Not So Good

Food – Probably the worst of our 25 cruises.  Overcooking was the biggest problem.  I really wanted to like the pizza, but it was just meh.  Crust was good but really skimpy on the toppings.  It was fun to watch them make their own mozzarella in the buffet and it was really good.  There was a big selection of food in the buffet, but not many entrees.  Other than the daily carving, the few entrees they had were over cooked and mushy.  Most items were lacking in seasoning.

Organization – It was better than many reviews have stated, but still needs work.  Sometimes the right hand does not seem to know what the left hand is doing.  Lots of confusion about our minibar and it’s inclusion in our drink package.  We never got our robes and slippers (Aurea), even after requesting them.  I was not overly happy with the cabin steward because I felt like he didn’t do much.  We asked for ice daily and that seemed to really confuse him.  Sometimes we got it, sometimes not.  Usually if we specifically asked for it that day.  I think some it was him just not understanding.  I decided to cut him some slack after he told us he had 21 cabins to service.  That is a ridiculous number, especially considering how many languages he was probably dealing with.  He certainly seemed eager to please.  We also never really got an explanation as to why they cut short our Quebec visit.

The Truly Horrendous

Embarkation – Not going to go into all the gory details as I think this has been documented well on CC.  Looking back on it what is truly upsetting is the danger of it.  There were huge numbers of older people on this cruise and to be jammed up in one line after another for 3 ½ hours is unforgivable.  When someone fainted, they finally let one of the lines into the UNUSED waiting room with chairs inside the building.  Everyone was having to wait outside, standing.  If the fire marshal had shown up, he would have shut the whole thing down. I don’t know who was at fault – MSC or the port.  I suspect both.   They obviously did learn something, because disembarkation was a breeze, a very pleasant surprise. 

On 10/23/2019 at 3:50 PM, Imaldamoo said:

Hi Scotsgirl01

interested to know how you got on with the all inclusive drinks package on Bellissima.  We are travelling on Bellissima early November with the old Package and worried about lack of info about what is included and how we will know if what we order is ‘in or outside’ of our package. 

TIA

 

 

Be sure to check your account each day either on the app or on your tv.  Because it has been awhile since they offered bookings with the deluxe package there is some confusion about it onboard.  You may see an extraneous charge on your account which you will have to go to guest services to have removed.  You may also have confusion on your room steward's part about whether the mini bar is included.  Ours even called his supervisor on our phone and the supervisor told us our minibar was not included.  It was.   A call to guest services straitened  it out.  You do have to sign an order form each day for them to be able to refill the minibar.

On 10/25/2019 at 7:06 PM, Wor1dTrave11er said:

Are there any public locations aft by the staircases where you can hang out and watch the back of the ship?  I understand that there is the top public deck and the back of the buffet is sort of open, but can you hang out in the back on other (cabin?) decks?

Sometimes during the day the Carousel lounge will be open.  This is where Cirque de Soliel has their shows in the evenings.  You will have to go through the casino to see if the doors are open.  If so, this is a great place to hang out.  Huge windows across the back and lots of tables and chairs.  There was no bar service, but there is a bar in the casino just a few steps away.  Very few people there so nice and quiet and great view of the wake.  We didn't discover this until our last day, so I don't know how often it is open.

Just off the Meraviglia.  Internet was more expensive onboard.  Definitely buy it before you go.

Yes you can

I can answer that one!  No, no life jackets.  You don't even have them in your cabin.  They are all kept in lockers near the lifeboats, which actually makes more sense.    We were on the previous sailing where embarkation was such a disaster.  The muster drill was an hour late and was a total joke.  We were in the casino and no one was paying a bit of attention.  We didn't even see anyone checking attendance.  As far as they knew we weren't there and no one ever followed up on that as required by law.

12 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

The lounges were big enough when we cruised on the Meraviglia in July 2017.

You were on a warm weather cruise probably not 15 foot seas.  Everyone was stuck inside instead of relaxing by the pool, with not many activities scheduled.

Go with the longer cruise.  Just got off the Meraviglia.  The ceiling in the galleria is nice, but not really that exciting.  The theater seats just over 700.  With 3 shows a night, they still can only fit in 1/2 of the passengers, and as mentioned previously, there is one entrance/exit which is at the end of the galleria.   The reservation system does work very well, though.  The Cirque shows are great, but they are short.  40-45 minutes each.  The ship feels very crowded.  Not really enough public space for the numbers of passengers.  Maybe this will be better in the Caribbean since so many will be at the pool much of the day.  Another blunder in the design is the access to the Panorama dining room.  It is aft on the ship with nice windows, but the only way into it is down a hallway that divides the L'Olivio d'oro dining room into two halves.  You can imagine the congestion, especially the first night when everyone has to be shown to their table.

We just went to both shows on the Meraviglia.  We booked a long time ago and there was no option for selecting day and time.  It was no problem once on board, we just went to the theater and selected.  I would strongly suggest doing only the cocktail and show.  As previously mentioned, the seats are so much closer to the stage.  I would also suggest booking online ahead of time.  Tickets with reserved seats will be delivered to your stateroom the morning of your scheduled show.  They told us that they assign the best seats to yacht club, followed by those who booked online.  Our seats were  excellent for both shows and we were not in the yacht club.  Yes, the butler will escort you and there is a separate line for yacht club.  There is really no hurry since everyone has assigned seats. 

The internet worked well for us.  We had the 3.5 GB package for our 10 day cruise.  It was enough but we were careful.  You will need to sign in and out when you use it but that is very easy.  Their app is one of the best I have ever seen and we have sailed on most cruise lines.  I find that so ironic because their website is so bad.  Toward the end of the cruise, on our sign in page a "top off your internet" offer popped up.  It was $35 for an additional 1.2 GB  Not too bad.  Definitely buy it before you sail.  It is more expensive onboard.

8 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Haven't been to Brass Anchor yet to see if they have Strongbow

They do!

Yes I absolutely will sitting at LaGuardia right now. Will try to do it over the weekend

Disembarkation was a breeze. I couldn’t believe it. We had early time due to having Aurea. It was supposed to be 7:50. We were called about 8:20 and were off the ship, picked up our luggage and through immigration in about 20 minutes. Taxis were indeed a problem. I assumed they would be lined up. They usually clamor to get airport runs. Nope. You have to walk across the street to the taxi stand and wait in line. People everywhere. There were guys there tying to get you to go with them but we had no idea who they were so we passed. Ordered Lyft and we could never find the first guy who was supposedly there. Someone else picked it up and it took him about 10 minutes to get there. Nice guy and got up to the airport quickly but between the fare (high) and tip it would have cost about the same to take the MSC bus with a lot less hassle