nferr

On 4/24/2024 at 8:28 AM, pepele said:

My family and I felt the same way about the food.  The specialty restaurants and Coastal Kitchen are still good so now we book the unlimited dining plan if we aren’t sailing in a suite with access to a coastal kitchen. I also found the drinks watered down.  I don’t like to drink empty calories so I would rather have one strong martini vs 3 watered down drinks. 

Drinks aren't watered down. It's just a matter of how many shots the bartender is putting in. From watching most of the bartenders they're putting in a shot and a half or so. 

Nice review. I love transatlantics, the sea days are so relaxing.

On 4/12/2024 at 5:04 PM, mailbroad said:

It was the same in December.

Also the same in January

They had a house band that played rock in the Meraviglia lounge almost every night on my January cruise. They were pretty decent too.

3 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

In general...our "not for tourists" Mexican restaurants have servers that don't speak English, don't serve tacos etc...and spice it up...generally about 116th Street.   I won't say more....

 

I lived on115'th St between 1'st Ave and Pleasent Ave. when i was an infant back in the early 1950's. Used to be Little Italy back then. 

I was solo in January and had the 3 night dining  package. Ate in Butcher's Cut, Ocean cay and the Hibachi place with no issues. Ate in Hola's also but paid my way in there. Everything was really good.

On 3/17/2024 at 12:53 AM, gizfish said:

In September we were able to order the pasta or risotto from the nightly entree section as a starter with no extra fee.  The lasagna was huge and delicious.  The Bolognese from the classic section of the menu was also great.  

The bolognese is really good. That's what I was doing, ordering it as a starter. I didn't try ordering the entree lasagna or risotto as a starter. I was actually on in January not December as I first posted.

On 3/11/2024 at 10:45 PM, perakcruiser said:

Good, because lobster at gala night is not something you can expect at MSC, I never had it from 2011 to 2023 and will not have it in 2024😄 I know that on some ships at some times MSC did offer it, I only believe because I saw the photos. 

 The Meraviglia has lobster every cruise out of NY now. 

On 3/8/2024 at 11:09 AM, MisterBill99 said:

 

Thanks for posting. I am curious to see the images of at least one of them since there seems to e some difference of opinion on social media on whether the $5 second entrée surcharge applies to all entrées or just some of them which are marked on the menu (on an earlier scan I saw, people were confusing the "item may be undercooked" asterisk with the second entrée surcharge flag). . But I can wait until Sunday.

When I was on in December you could order the pasta in the "classic section" with no extra charge. Which I did a few nights as an extra appetizer, the pastas are good. All the other entrees are $5 extra as a second entree.

On 3/8/2024 at 9:38 PM, JamieLogical said:

 

Worth noting that not all android phones can be used this way. My Google Pixel 5 can hotspot wifi (not just cell signal) but my husband's Samsung Galaxy s20 cannot.

Good to know. Mines a Google Pixel 6a so it worked fine.

I was able to use my Android phone as a hotspot and run my tablet off of that. I think that only works with Android phones. I did upgrade the free Browse package to Browse and Stream once on board and it was an extra $5 a day.

19 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Has anyone sailed in the OV cabins on Deck 5 of the Meraviglia? How was it being that low on the ship? I have never sailed in an OV or inside cabin, so have never been below Deck 8 on any ship I have sailed.

 I was on deck 3 in an OV cabin on the Ossis of the Seas in November and I enjoyed it. Big window and it was fairly close to water level so it was really nice to look out and really see the waves. Very calm too.

6 hours ago, bridgenorthbrooks said:

Thank you for your review!  We will be on the March 10 sailing of the MSC Meraviglia and our situation is very much similar to yours.  This will be our first time on MSC but have travelled other lines previously. We will be travelling with our 17 year old and have purchased the Fun Pass in her name.   I have done the online check-in and put in our credit card.  I'm just wondering how to avoid the situation that you encountered upon disembarkation.   If we have a balance, I just assumed that it would be charged to our credit card.  What would you do differently next time? Thanks in advance!

 Always check your balance the night before and clear up any discrepancies. Hopefully that would avoid that type of situation. But things do happen.

On 2/17/2024 at 11:23 AM, Notch8 said:

This comment must have been referring to my post.

 

1) In July, when I took my trip, the room keys were handed out at check-in.

2) The card had the word "UNASSIGNED" where the dining room/time is supposed to be.

3) I did, in fact, ask what action to take.  I was told to go to the restaurant manager to get a dining assignment.

4) When on board, I asked how this happened.  They said it's rare, but it does happen sometimes that a passenger/passengers don't get a dining assignment.

This additional irritation was not due to any action or act of omission on my part; it was an unfortunate and rare situation that in my mind shouldn't have happened.

 

I am suspecting that they have since changed the process for distributing keys since July; I am presuming that they are now made available in one's room instead of being handed out during check-in?  This results in another source of confusion/dissatisfaction among new cruisers...  people read reviews and fail to understand that processes/procedures/menus/etc. change from time to time; what was true for one may not be true for all.

 Room cards on the Meraviglia are on your door.

On 2/14/2024 at 7:43 AM, Beamafar said:

We’ve sailed many times with MSC in the Med and have never experienced anything like you’ve described.  You must have been very unlucky with your sail dates.

 

As for rudeness - it’s not an exclusive trait in Europeans;  I’ve come across some extremely rude Americans in my time onboard.  But I’ve also met, and enjoyed the company of, some wonderful Americans (and Europeans) too. 

Exactly.  Every cruise is a completely different set of passengers. 

I just got off a nine night cruise on the Meraviglia on Feb.4. Overall it was a fine cruise. I will say the ship only had about 2500 passengers so that probably made things easier. I arrived about 1:30 and basically walked right on the ship. I've said this before, if you have to be first for everything than expect lines! You're one of the people that's causing the lines. This goes for almost everything when it comes to cruising. I avoid the mass crowd times like the plaque. Someone mentioned that MSC didn't give them the dining time at check in and immediately ran to the restaurant to get it fixed. No. It's on your card when you get to your room. All they had to do is ask. I had my time moved because it was too early for me. The dining room food was fine, in fact the pasta is excellent and I'm Italian.. Better than I had on the Oasis in December. The buffet was typical buffet and again was fine. The pizza was great. bar service was fine, I had the drink package. The specialty restaurant package was a steal when I booked, three restaurants for $71 including gratuity. I had a really good steak at Butchers Cut, Hibachi at the Terryaki place and a nice blackened cod dinner at the seafood restaurant. The muster drill could be better, but they call it by floors. But once again the "I have to be first people" ignore it and just run down and cause a mass pileup. Again just wait a bit and let things calm down.

The ship is beautiful, the prices are way below RCL and NCL out of NY right now. I've already booked another Bahamas in December with a group of friends and a solo ten nighter to the Caribbean in January on the same ship. The Bahamas cruise is offering the drink package and wifi for $20. Not per day - $20 for the entire cruise! People will still complain lol.

1 hour ago, not ice cream said:

I’m going to give y’all some South Louisiana advice. If you’re north of Alexandria LA and it says gumbo be careful. If you’re on the high seas stay far away!!😁

 Yeah, every gumbo I've had on a cruise ship has been more like soup as mentioned above.

I didn't find it any louder than a newer RCL or NCL ship. Seemed about the same. Could always find a quiet spot if you wanted too. The upstairs adults only bar had nice jazzy type music at night. The Edge bar was quiet, same with the Champagne bar. The Horizon bar outside was quiet during the day (my hangout spot), late at night it was party zone.

9 hours ago, mina518 said:

Hello, 

I'm looking to book 2 connecting balcony rooms on the Seashore for my husband, myself and our two teens.  I'm not sure if I should purchase the perks plus package for a few reasons.  My husband and myself are not huge drinkers but we like the wifi part of the package. Is it possible to purchase the package and upgrade to the streaming wifi? Otherwise is it less expensive to purchase wifi and soda package separately for my teens. 

 

I'm open to all suggestions and pricing if anyone has it. I cannot see any pricing online until after I book. 

 

Thank you

Was on the Meraviglia last week. I had the drinks and wifi package. I upgraded to the stream package for video and they charged me $45 total for the nine night cruise. 

On 1/27/2024 at 12:40 PM, mets07 said:

We did not have evening turndown service on Meraviglia in November. Our stateroom attendant left the next day "schedule" either at our door or on the bed. He asked us at the beginning of the cruise if we would prefer morning or evening service. We chose morning.

 

We did not have do not disturb on....

 

 

 I just got off the Maraviglia this morning. I had twice a day twice a day turndown service for the entire cruise.  

On 2/3/2024 at 7:54 AM, bruce85 said:

I did email them at this email

MSCExistingReservations@msccruisesusa.com

Got a reply stating they do not handle dining requests at that email anymore.

Is there another email?

Thanks.

On my reservation my dining time shows " not assigned"

 It won't be assigned until you get on the ship. Early dining can be anything from 5:30 to I believe 7:30 or 8. They have staggered times in the different dining rooms. Late dining I believe was 8:30 or 9:30.  When you request dining times you only have the choice of choosing early or late when you book. MSC will give you the exact time on your cruise card after you board.

5 hours ago, Mark_T said:

In the USA too based on that menu, as the pasta options did not carry the same '+'.

 

As ever implementation may vary from ship to ship of course.

I'm on the Meraviglia right now and ordered the pasta options as a starter and there's no extra charge.

On 1/30/2024 at 2:29 PM, Jamie7777 said:

I'm not saying it necessarily should be preferential, but starting with groups first would be less of a headache.  It's like putting sand in a jar first and then trying to fill it with rocks.  You put the rocks in first and the sand will slide between the rocks to fill the jar.  It's the same with individual people and groups for reservation times.  Accommodate the big groups first so you can gauge how much space you have left for individuals.  I hope that makes more sense.

Not really. No reason why a couple shouldn't have just as much choice as a "group". Or a solo traveller for that matter.

2 hours ago, TrinaLC said:

I’ll agree wholeheartedly that MSC’s post-covid muster is substandard. 
 

What possible reason can there be for making everyone go to a muster station at the same time, only to be clocked in?  The resulting run for an up elevator is so unnecessarily unpleasant. And before hand, making everyone climb up or down multiple flights of internal stairs without having a good system in place for those who can’t is a mistake.  (This includes not only those with physical challenges, but families with small children. We saw one poor guy with two small kids, one on his shoulders, one in hand, climbing down 6 flights of stairs. Far more likely to suffer an injury there than endure a sinking!)
 

(We were in YC. DH has a bad knee right now and can’t do stairs. First we were lied to despite a direct question as to whether we could take the elevator down (“yes of course” —— err,  nope), and no record was made of any handicap that might require assistance in the event of an actual emergency. I can only imagine it to be worse in steerage…)

 

(JK with that last quip 😀)

 They called it by floor on the cruise I'm on now. But of course you get those who think they have to be first in line for everything and just go.

On 1/30/2024 at 4:01 PM, steveknj said:

 

I never saw an option for any type of "experience menu"  It was just the a la carte menu, with the cheapest steak in the $45 range.  A far cry from the $30 upcharge on Cagney's we used to get.   How much is the "experience menu" and what steaks are available?

  I'm on the Meraviglia right now. I booked the dining package way back on line. Three nights in the specialty restaurants for $71 or just about $24 per.  Yes you eat off the experience menu but at that price it's a no brainer. I already tried the Ocean Cay seafood restaurant and the Teriyaki hibachi. Both were excellent. Tomorrow night I'm doing Butchers Cut steakhouse.  I know they raised the price of the package quite a bit recently.