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A megaship lover sails the Meraviglia- photo review April 2018 Med


SquishTheWhale
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So, today we disembarked the beautiful Meraviglia- she truly is the 'wonder' that her name comes from.

 

Over the next few days I hope to bring you a full day by day review with tonnes of photos (including food) but for those of you not interested in that I'll start with a summary.

 

It's fair to say I went into this cruise with a little trepidation. As the title of the post suggests, I love megaships- the bigger, shinier and filled with more toys the better. So of course when I saw a super cheap deal for the as then un-built Meraviglia I couldn't resist. 5 nights in the Med for the grand sum of £280pp in a Fantastica Inside. I'm not mentioning price to be crude or boast- I want you to know how cheap it was and keep that in mind throughout the review. I think it would be totally unfair to MSC to be comparing this cruise to one that cost 3 or 4 times as much.

 

But I think all of us on here know the problems with MSC, and their pre cruise service left a lot to be desired. So I was a little worried on what this cruise would be like and if we'd made a mistake.

 

Here's a breakdown:

 

Ship: 5/5. Stunning, has everything you could need, new, slick and mostly sparkley clean. She's easily my favorite ship so far.

 

Facilities: 4/5. I love the pool areas including the inside pool which is a game changer when the weather isn't great. The other facilities are fun such as the slides, sports courts and arcade areas. We had some frustration with the ropes course requiring a waiver to be signed and a wristband to be worn but the desk providing these was missing.

 

Cabin: 4/5. We had an inside on deck 10 which felt huge compared to the other insides. The floor space was really big. The bed was super comfy. Shower was great. However I've never had so little storage in a cabin. They should have used some of that floor space for a small sofa with extra drawers.

 

Food: 2/5. I'm sorry MSC. I really wanted to like the food and went in with an open mind. This score is a mix of a 1/5 for the MDR and 4/5 for the buffet. In the end we ate 3/5 nights in the buffet and every breakfast and lunch. This opinion of the MDR food was shared by every other guest we spoke to about it. It's a huge problem.

 

Drinks: 5/5. The only drinks we bought were cocktails and they were all great. Much nicer than the cocktails on NCL. Reasonably priced too. Because not everyone has the beverage packages you don't have to fight to a bar like with NCL.

 

Service: 2/5. Mostly mediocre, often terrible, occasionally good. The 'worst service ever' award goes to the photo gallery staff. Don't even get me started on them (I will get started in my day by day lol)

 

Organisation: 1/5. This is too complicated to sum up here.. but goddamit MSC get you shiz together.

 

Having disembarked today my final verdict is mixed and confused. Would I sail MSC again? Yes.... I'd try the YC. I never thought I'd say that as I'm a devotee of cheap inside cabins. But the service and food on the Meraviglia were a huge issue. I don't know if I'd sail MSC again in non YC as good food is a big part of a good cruise to me.

 

We don't get home until tomorrow so I'll go into more depth then, but I wanted to share my general impressions while still fresh!

 

Any questions so far then shout!

 

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I am booked on a Inside YC Suite, I suggest you look into that category, as it is a really good deal and you don't seem to mind Insides. Then I think you would have a fantastic time, with good service, meals, and accommodation.

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I'm glad to hear about the roomy insides and had wished that, like the MSC drawings indicated, that there had been seating in those cabins. (EmmaCruises' video made it totally clear there is no seating.) Considering the time difference, in exactly two weeks, we'll be in the midst of sailing from Hamburg to the United Kingdom. Rest up then return with all the info.

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So, today we disembarked the beautiful Meraviglia- she truly is the 'wonder' that her name comes from.

 

Over the next few days I hope to bring you a full day by day review with tonnes of photos (including food) but for those of you not interested in that I'll start with a summary.

 

It's fair to say I went into this cruise with a little trepidation. As the title of the post suggests, I love megaships- the bigger, shinier and filled with more toys the better. So of course when I saw a super cheap deal for the as then un-built Meraviglia I couldn't resist. 5 nights in the Med for the grand sum of £280pp in a Fantastica Inside. I'm not mentioning price to be crude or boast- I want you to know how cheap it was and keep that in mind throughout the review. I think it would be totally unfair to MSC to be comparing this cruise to one that cost 3 or 4 times as much.

 

But I think all of us on here know the problems with MSC, and their pre cruise service left a lot to be desired. So I was a little worried on what this cruise would be like and if we'd made a mistake.

 

Here's a breakdown:

 

Ship: 5/5. Stunning, has everything you could need, new, slick and mostly sparkley clean. She's easily my favorite ship so far.

 

Facilities: 4/5. I love the pool areas including the inside pool which is a game changer when the weather isn't great. The other facilities are fun such as the slides, sports courts and arcade areas. We had some frustration with the ropes course requiring a waiver to be signed and a wristband to be worn but the desk providing these was missing.

 

Cabin: 4/5. We had an inside on deck 10 which felt huge compared to the other insides. The floor space was really big. The bed was super comfy. Shower was great. However I've never had so little storage in a cabin. They should have used some of that floor space for a small sofa with extra drawers.

 

Food: 2/5. I'm sorry MSC. I really wanted to like the food and went in with an open mind. This score is a mix of a 1/5 for the MDR and 4/5 for the buffet. In the end we ate 3/5 nights in the buffet and every breakfast and lunch. This opinion of the MDR food was shared by every other guest we spoke to about it. It's a huge problem.

 

Drinks: 5/5. The only drinks we bought were cocktails and they were all great. Much nicer than the cocktails on NCL. Reasonably priced too. Because not everyone has the beverage packages you don't have to fight to a bar like with NCL.

 

Service: 2/5. Mostly mediocre, often terrible, occasionally good. The 'worst service ever' award goes to the photo gallery staff. Don't even get me started on them (I will get started in my day by day lol)

 

Organisation: 1/5. This is too complicated to sum up here.. but goddamit MSC get you shiz together.

 

Having disembarked today my final verdict is mixed and confused. Would I sail MSC again? Yes.... I'd try the YC. I never thought I'd say that as I'm a devotee of cheap inside cabins. But the service and food on the Meraviglia were a huge issue. I don't know if I'd sail MSC again in non YC as good food is a big part of a good cruise to me.

 

We don't get home until tomorrow so I'll go into more depth then, but I wanted to share my general impressions while still fresh!

 

Any questions so far then shout!

 

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YC will be your answer and you will forget all other options.

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I just realised I forgot a catagory!

 

Entertainment: 3/5. This ranged from really fun (Way show, Galleria Parties) to impressive (Cirque) to 'oookay... just go with it' (the other Theatre shows). A lot of it was bizzare but enthusiastic, like watching Eurovision. There was not much in the way of other entertainment. NCL blows MSC out of the water in this catagory

 

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I'm glad to hear about the roomy insides and had wished that, like the MSC drawings indicated, that there had been seating in those cabins. (EmmaCruises' video made it totally clear there is no seating.) Considering the time difference, in exactly two weeks, we'll be in the midst of sailing from Hamburg to the United Kingdom. Rest up then return with all the info.
I had no idea that the original cabin designs had that extra seating! Wish they had done that, there is plenty of room for it. I'd say this interior was around the same size as our balcony on NCL Escape (minus the balcony space obviously)

 

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I am booked on a Inside YC Suite, I suggest you look into that category, as it is a really good deal and you don't seem to mind Insides. Then I think you would have a fantastic time, with good service, meals, and accommodation.
I would definitley do that! I'm not sure if it would turn out too expensive for us but I would certainly look into a YC interior. I'd like to try the Seaside or Seaview

 

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Hi Squish ... Thanks for the small look into your cruise on Meraviglia, I sometimes think that they do these short trips to iron things out before they get into the regular weekly/longer cruises and that things can fall short of what you would normally expect.

We have done 6 cruises so far with MSC on 6 different ships and never had the issues that those on these shorter trips appear to have had, number 7 is just under two weeks away with our second sailing on Seaside.

We will be sailing Meraviglia at Xmas 2019 when the ship moves to the Caribbean, wardrobe space is the exact same issue on Seaside and no doubt will be on Seaview with the exception of the Aft Aurea S3 Suites on the back of the ship in which we sailed and those in the YC balcony cabins one of which we had a look at on our Seaside sailing.

Of the two we preferred our Aft Suite.

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Hi Squish! I am looking forward to this review! I am taking a chance on MSC for the same reasons as you...crazy price for Europe. Sailing the repo from Genoa to Hamburg next April. Hopefully enough time to settle down and work out the kinks!

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Wow Squish! This review could have been written by me, only I sailed on divina;, twice.

 

Regarding trying the YC, my experience is different than most. The only thing that drastically improved for me when sailing in YC verses a regular balcony was crowding. The service was better in YC, but not over the top like so many report. We only saw our butler twice. In fact, my room steward in an aft balcony was way more visible. Don’t get me wrong, Our only real disappointment with yc was lack of shade and getting chair side service at the pool was impossible.

 

With that said, we paid well under $1,000 pp for 7 days in the YC on divina and at those prices I would sail MSc yc exclusively!!

 

I’m very interested in trying seaside as I love the deck plan. They are running some great specials. At the right price, MSc is an exceptional value. But like you said, it’s not fair to hold MSc to the same standards as lines that charge twice the amount. Common sense tells us cost cutting measures must in place somewhere.

 

Again, I am clearly In the minority. Most people rave about YC. I liked it very much, but had I paid more I may have been disappointed. Just wanted to toss that out there since we were so much in agreement on other aspects.

 

 

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Wow Squish! This review could have been written by me, only I sailed on divina;, twice.

 

Regarding trying the YC, my experience is different than most. The only thing that drastically improved for me when sailing in YC verses a regular balcony was crowding. The service was better in YC, but not over the top like so many report. We only saw our butler twice. In fact, my room steward in an aft balcony was way more visible. Don’t get me wrong, Our only real disappointment with yc was lack of shade and getting chair side service at the pool was impossible.

 

With that said, we paid well under $1,000 pp for 7 days in the YC on divina and at those prices I would sail MSc yc exclusively!!

 

I’m very interested in trying seaside as I love the deck plan. They are running some great specials. At the right price, MSc is an exceptional value. But like you said, it’s not fair to hold MSc to the same standards as lines that charge twice the amount. Common sense tells us cost cutting measures must in place somewhere.

 

Again, I am clearly In the minority. Most people rave about YC. I liked it very much, but had I paid more I may have been disappointed. Just wanted to toss that out there since we were so much in agreement on other aspects.

 

 

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How did you only pay $1,000 PP in Divina YC? That is by far, the cheapest price, I have ever seen!

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How did you only pay $1,000 PP in Divina YC? That is by far, the cheapest price, I have ever seen!

 

 

They ran those specials on and off for many sailings in the spring, summer and fall of 2016. We sailed in June. At the time, I actually copied and posted screen shots of the pricing and several other members were able to also boom last minute bargains. If you look up postings from me you can find the actual screen shots.

 

Last year, the cheapest I saw Divina YC right around for 1,100. It was offered on several sailings, Many in late summer and fall. I typically book between 30-45 days out. For divina we booked 3 weeks in advance. I’m planning a mid June trip right now and probably won’t buy until mid-may. This strategy always works for me, but it does come with risks :)

 

 

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Oh yes our ship did not hit any docks lol. Which I am very glad for.

 

Right, I am finally starting to sort through all my photos so lets get on with the review!

 

A little background- it was just us two on the cruise, we don't have any little Whales (well not yet anyway). Myself and my husband, Dr. Squish (let's call him G) are both 32 and we both love crusing! This was our third cruise, and our first two were both on NCL so we were prepared for something different. Unfortunatley NCL seems to have become very expensive so although we love them we'be been looking elsewhere lately. We love good (but not too fancy) food, broadway shows and exploring new places. We live in the South of England although we are both from Yorkshire. G leaves all the planning up to me, he just kind of turns up and finds out where we are going. In fact I actually booked this cruise without even consulting him- oops! But he loves cruising even more than me so I know he wouldn't mind. And I think that's all you need to know!

 

The Cruise

 

This was a 5 day itinerary, which is a little odd because the ship also does 7 day and 3 day itineraries at the same time- in fact you can embark at any port! The itinerary was as follows:

 

Day 1- Palermo, Sicily

Day 2- Valletta, Malta

Day 3- At Sea

Day 4- Barcelona, Spain

Day 5- Marseille, France

Day 6- Genoa, Italy

 

 

 

Day 1- Travel, Palermo and Embarkation

 

 

I know, I know, travelling on the morning of the cruise is a bad idea. I always swear I won't do it again and yet every time I do. Our embarkation in Palermo caused an issue though because flights between Sicily and the UK are not hugely frequent. We originally had plans to fly into the other side of the island 2 or 3 days early and explore a little, but the costs of this kept mounting up and we were struggling with the logistics of getting across to Palermo, so in the end we scrapped this idea. The only flight to Palermo was on the morning of the cruise so we were stuck with that! I'm glad we didn't spend the night in Palermo in the end as it's not a particularly nice place. However, if our flight had been cancelled the infrequent route means we would have had no back up plan to make the cruise on time. So don't do as I do and always fly in the day before!

 

Upon arrival at Palermo you can take a taxi to the cruise port, but the cost was around 45EU (I don't have the Euro symbol on my keyboard so that's how I'm going to indicate Euros). However being from Yorkshire I am pretty cheap so had researched other options in advance and knew we could take the bus. This cost 6EU each and took around 45 minutes. We did have to wait around 30 minutes to depart as we just missed a bus, but we were early so this was fine. I tracked our progress on the map so we knew where to get off, and luckily most people were getting off at the same stop. If anyone is travelling from Palermo and would like the info on this bus then let me know and I can post it.

 

From the bus stop it was around a 10 minute walk to the port. You can't get lost, because...

 

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There she is, peeking out from the end of the street! Is there anything quite so exciting as when you see your ship for the first time?

 

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This was the port area. Note the road between us and the ship. For anyone visiting Palermo, be very very aware of the traffic. You take your life into your hands every time you cross the road. Even though crossings exist, stopping for pedestrians seems totally optional (and most cars opt not to). I clung to G's arm all the way across the road! Not many people embark in Palermo so the check in involved a small room with one desk and little instruction. We worked it out in the end, and could walk straight onto the ship which was nice. We were given our cruise cards at check in- I'd heard we would get them in the cabin but it didn't work that way for us at least.

 

 

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The Meraviglia in all her glory- she's a beaut.

 

We were allowed to go straight to our cabin so went to drop off some stuff. We had an inside on deck 10 which was near the forward lifts. The location was good, we like deck 10 on big ships- you're usually 5 decks away from the lido deck and 5 away from the main lower levels. I wished they had the fish on the carpets like NCL do, indicating which way is forward as I always seemed to walk the wrong way and go all the way to the Aft lifts instead!

 

This is our cabin:

 

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We really liked this cabin. It felt huge in terms of floor space- almost the same size as our balcony on NCL. The bed was huge as well and super comfy. Here's a photo where I'm trying to demonstrate all the floor space!

 

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As I mentioned in my summary, the space is great but I wish they'd put in a little sofa or even a chair and some more storage. There was plenty of room for this.

 

Opposite the bed is the TV, a nice new flat screen which unfortunatley only has one English channel (news). Plenty of Italian entertainment channels. Also there is the standard cruise info and safety channels. I think we turned it on once to check what there was and never again! To the right of the TV you can see the wardrobe. G was of the opinion they could have added more storage and drawers under the TV.

 

 

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To finish the cabin tour, here's the wardrobe space: (sorry the pics a bit blurry)

 

 

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I like that they had 'real hangers'. There weren't enough but I don't mind doubling up items. The big problem here is that those two little drawers you can see under the safe and the large shelf you can't quite see at the top are the only clothes storage in the whole cabin. It's just not enough. We used the drawers for undies and had to put everything else on the top, which is a problem for anyone under 6 foot as then you can't see the darn things. I kept all our Tshirts etc in the packing cubes and put them up there as it was easier for me to just pull down the packing cube to get something.

 

The safe, this was small but fine. Will fit a tablet, not a laptop.

 

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The bathroom was nice, just what you'd expect really.

 

 

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The rack you can see on the wall at the back is the only bathroom storage. The shower was great and had the swivel head you can change to different effects like rain or massage. Not sure they did much but it was a good strong shower. In the shower were dispensors of shower gel and shampoo. There was a shower cap left on the storage rack and nothing else. So don't expect body lotion or conditioner or anything. We always bring our own anyway.

 

 

We status matched to Classic before the cruise and were supposed to recieve a booklet of discount coupons on the room. I love me a coupon but I didn't love the line at Guest Services so I never chased after this. We did on the second night recieve an invitation for a 'welcome back' drinks party. I don't know if there were any other benefits we were supposed to have, but being Classic didn't really make any difference to us over having total newbie status.

 

Next- lunch and ship tour!

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After dropping off bags in our cabin, we went on a little ship tour. I was a bit like a kid in a candy store here- the ship is soooo beautiful and everywhere you look there's something new and exciting to see! We had a couple of admin tasks I needed to take care of but just kept getting distracted. It was nice that we boarded on what was a port day for the majority of passengers as the ship was very quiet. As it turns out the flip side of this- staying on board during a major embarkation day- was not so fun. But we wouldn't find that out until later.

 

The Horizon pool on the pool deck. Loved this pool, much bigger than on NCL. There was also several hot tubs on this deck and the one above. I never saw them play movies or anything on the screen, but maybe they have Movies Under the Stars in hotter climates. I also never saw any poolside games or live music like we are used to with NCL. However I was fine with the lack of belly-flop contests as it leaves the pool free for actual swimming!

 

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Looking the other way across the pool, to the... shiny black peanut shape thing... yeah I don't know what it's called. One level of that is the gym and the other one is the 'Posh Bar' as we called it. I'm sure it has another name.

 

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The Bamboo pool, or the inside pool. I loved this whole area. We didn't have fantastic weather most days so this was a nice place to come and chill out, although there are only chairs and no loungers.

 

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The pool is a good size, and there are two large hot tubs downstairs and two smaller ones upstairs.

 

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One of the upstairs hot tubs. Sadly these seemed to be broken towards the end of the cruise. Great views though.

 

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Some of the upstairs seating. We really liked this area and it never felt too busy. There is lots of space too- I can't help but feel like on NCL every spare inch would be crammed with sunbeds. On the Meraviglia there just seemed to be a lot more empty spaces that we are used to (in a good way!). The only problem with this inside pool is that when a lot of children are in it shouting and splashing the noise echos around and the whole place is very loud. This only seemed to happen after Barcelona when loads of kids got on board, before that we saw hardly any. They also took over the hot tubs jumping around playing in them. I'm going to sound like a total scrooge but I wish this ship was adults only.

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Some more seating upstairs in Bamboo. See what I mean about empty space? I think that's why I took this picture. There are some bathrooms right up here too.

 

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These hot tubs are upstairs outside by the Horizon pool

 

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And I think these were upstairs too? There seemed to be hot tubs everywhere (although of course you could never find space in one during sail away)

 

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Good to know. They always felt a bit too cold though. When the weathers on the cooler side it would be nice to have the hot tubs actually hot.

 

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These are upstairs in bamboo against the windows looking over the Horizon pool

 

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Bar menus from Bamboo- I think they are the same for all the Pool Bars

 

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The prices are reasonable for those not on the package (we weren't). It seems the wine selections for those on the package are quite limited, unlike with other lines when you can just have any drink under a price cap. I was impressed with the cocktails, they were much yummier than on NCL. We had the package on NCL for our honeymoon and I had maybe 5 cocktails all week as I just wasn't feeling them. I could have drank a lot more of them on the Meraviglia! Maybe because everyone has free drinks on NCL they have pre mixed jugs and just don't bother making them nice.

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Hi BermudaBound2014.......Our (my husband and I) experience was very similar to yours regarding the YC. On Divina we had the Fantastica experience aft balcony and it was amazing and we did enjoy the cruise very much. People complained about how crowded the pool deck areas are but luckily for us, since we don't use that area, it wasn't a concern for us . We decided to give YC a try on the Seaside this past February. Of course we loved the private DR and private lounge. We are not sunbathers so lack of crowds in that area wasn't of great importance to us. Like you, I didn't think the food or the service (except for our cabin steward Ana Lisa) was over the top either in the YC. Main issue for us was the absence of a walking track or even being able to walk by the lifeboats like we were able to do on Divina. We are booked in the YC on Divina in January 2019. Looking forward to seeing if we get a different feeling about the Divina YC. We also have an October 2019 Meraviglia Aurea cabin booked. Sure hope the food issues improve by then!!!:)

 

 

Wow Squish! This review could have been written by me, only I sailed on divina;, twice.

 

Regarding trying the YC, my experience is different than most. The only thing that drastically improved for me when sailing in YC verses a regular balcony was crowding. The service was better in YC, but not over the top like so many report. We only saw our butler twice. In fact, my room steward in an aft balcony was way more visible. Don’t get me wrong, Our only real disappointment with yc was lack of shade and getting chair side service at the pool was impossible.

 

With that said, we paid well under $1,000 pp for 7 days in the YC on divina and at those prices I would sail MSc yc exclusively!!

 

I’m very interested in trying seaside as I love the deck plan. They are running some great specials. At the right price, MSc is an exceptional value. But like you said, it’s not fair to hold MSc to the same standards as lines that charge twice the amount. Common sense tells us cost cutting measures must in place somewhere.

 

Again, I am clearly In the minority. Most people rave about YC. I liked it very much, but had I paid more I may have been disappointed. Just wanted to toss that out there since we were so much in agreement on other aspects.

 

 

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To continue our walks around the top deck, there is the aft pool:

 

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We didn't spend much time here, we kind of forgot it existed to be honest. Aft is also home to the ropes course or 'Himalayan Bridge', the kids water park and the water slides. We tried and failed to make it onto the ropes course, but I wasn't too bothered as the one on the NCL Escape is way bigger. We also didn't make it onto the slides as it wasn't warm enough but I heard they are fun!

 

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This walrus is just chillin'

 

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To use the slides or the ropes course you must go to the deck below, find the desk near the sports court and sign a waiver. The waiver they make you sign is one for a parent giving consent for a minor to use the facilities. I have no idea when or why they decided adults must also sign this. It wouldn't be a big deal at all, except once signed they give you a wristband which you must put on right then and not take off. As stylish as that wristband is, I didn't want to wear it for formal night. So you really need to go and get it right before you want to do the activities. Which works great.... when the desk is there. When we tried finally to do this the desk had vanished. The staff on the ropes course refused to budge so we didn't get to try it. Why they don't just have the waiver forms at the ropes course itself is beyond me.

 

This is the 'Posh Bar' inside the black glass peanut thing. I want to say it was called the Sky Lounge or something like that. It's a nice space to sit, sadly it was closed all sea day as they had weddings in there so that was a pain. They do fun cocktails which you will see later!

 

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There's plenty more to see but it was time for lunch! So we headed to the buffet.

 

The buffet is open pretty much all day and night, although what's on offer changes. Lunch changes into afternoon snacks around mid afternoon, which actually was nicer than lunch. Dinner runs from around 7pm-10pm when it changes to late night snacks, which is pizza and sandwiches only. I think that closes around 2am. There isn't much choice for casual (free) dining elsewhere on the ship.

 

So, let's take a tour of the buffet stations. This one should be fairly self explanatory:

 

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Was it the best pizza at sea? Maybe. We sure ate a lot of it. I thought it was very nice indeed. G (despite eating his own body weight in it) said the NCL pizza was better because it was cheesier. I guess he likes the American-ized verion and not the traditional Italian one! When challenged on this, his comeback was 'The British invented football (soccer), it doesn't mean we're the best at it' lol.

 

Okay, enough about pizza- here's the other food stations:

 

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Watch out for the ship-made mozzerella from this station- yum! You'd see people with plates piled high with it.

 

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A healthier option

 

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Coffee, milk and various teas are available at any time. No flavoured water or juice (outside of breakfast). The coffee was decent.

 

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The buffet has free tap water, unlike the MDRs

 

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Getting slightly sidetracked now, but I liked these on the buffet tables. There always seemed to be waiters hovvering waiting for someone to press it. There was also a bar you could get drinks from.

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