Live from MSC Meraviglia Sailing from Barcelona 7/7/17 with lots of photos!

[kikki21]

Thanks that was what I heard, was wondering if the situation had changed and they had re introdiced it. Both msc customer services and the agency I have booked through deny anything has changed.

 

 

 

We are in a different restaurant as we are Aurea & there is always a queue of people in the other restaurants although restaurant sittings are put up outside those restaurants. All we keep hearing is that the computer system is new & it keeps going wrong. So much for high tech!

 

 

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[CruisingUS]

Is there no steak option every night in the MDR?

[Leighglo]

Is there no steak option every night in the MDR?

 

 

 

Not that I've seen - my 14 year old son ordered a double portion of the minute steak from the kids menu on Monday night as he prefers steak - there was veal on the menu that night but it was a very small portion.....

 

 

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[Leighglo]

We had that come up online too Rossco01 - Taormina is definitely a lovely place to visit!

 

We had the pleasure of meeting Leighglo earlier which was lovely & set the MSC world to rights & just when we things couldn't get much worse!

 

 

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Lovely to meet you too..... hopefully catch up before we disembark in Barca! x

 

 

 

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[kikki21]

Lovely to meet you too..... hopefully catch up before we disembark in Barca! x

 

 

 

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We had to have a siesta after walking around Valletta as the heat beat us!

Watching our last sail away from our balcony & then having a spa session - and we have sun at the end of our balcony!

 

 

 

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[kikki21]

Well we wanted to eat in the buffet for dinner tonight but have been foiled by the air con in the Aurea restaurant again for the 2nd night running. So this has meant a very limited dinner buffet menu & us eating in the makeshift buffet Aurea restaurant again - arghhh [emoji15]

 

 

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[gkbiiii]

I'm also a huge foodie & have been massively disappointed by the food in the MDR apart from the bread which is superb & the desserts which are the best I've tasted at sea!

I can't get my head around that MSC can get that so right but that the starters & mains are so dire!

I read somewhere not so long ago that they are investing in their culinary programme!

 

We met another experienced MSC cruiser last night who confirmed that the MDR menu has definitely been cut right down from the last time she sailed from 7 courses to 4 courses as I previously stated.

 

The buffet experience is infinitely better than the MDR so that's where we'll be tonight!"

 

 

 

My advise (being that MSC sales are so outstanding) is to ether buy a YC stateroom or BUY the MAX SPECIALTY DINING PACKAGE! This is really the ONLY way to do MSC, which will make your trip SO much better.

 

MSC's Specialty Dining is MUCH better than Royal Caribbean and equals my experience with Disney, Celebrity, and Princess. MSC's Japanese & Italian Specialty Dining Rooms on Posea were outstanding and from what I have read, they are of high standards throughout the fleet.

 

Best of all, the dining packages are really cheap and if bought before the cruise, include gratuity. Also the drink vouchers, don't expire, so now is a good time to buy them! So thake this advice, for a pleasant trip!

:D:p

[gkbiiii]

Prepaid MSC Dining Packages:

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/Dining-Experience.aspx

[computerworks]

We will be traveling with non-Aurea friends and would also like to know the fee for them to use Deck 19??

You can pay to use the Aurea sundeck - the Attendant checks your card when you get up there.

I hate to be a pest...but can someone onboard just ask what the fee is for non-Aurea guests? ...thanks a bunch.

[scotlandyard1985]

I found an interesting link to menu s on the meraviglia.

https://forum.crocieristi.it/showthread.php/48003-Menu-MSC-Meraviglia

[Bra_BE2014]

Thanks for your live sharing so far!

 

 

 

Do those who purchased the cocktail + show package actually seat closer to the stage than those with dinner? Are tables pre-assigned or did you need to arrive early for better tables?

 

 

 

I'm curious about that too, hope she will offer some insight!

 

 

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[Rossco01]

I'm curious about that too, hope she will offer some insight!

 

 

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I'm sure one of those on-board will feedback quickly but if you take a look at this thread >> http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2488164 you'll see on post #9 the price list for the Orchestra from I think last year. I'm guessing based on this that it's going to be be around 10 euros.

[kikki21]

Morning all!

There is no price list upon entering the Aurea sun deck - the pool attendant just checks you are Aurea.

 

Our friends on board went to Eataly last night & reported a limited menu to choose from. So the restaurant to go for seems to be Butchers Cut!

 

My argument is that you pay enough for the cruise so the food - anywhere - should be of a good quality.

 

Tables are pre assigned for the Cirque show - so our waiter told us. Some cocktail tables are right at the front - others behind the dining tables.

 

The air con issue in the Panorama restaurant is not fixed as yet. The air con also seems to be out in the lift area forward on 13 so our Gala dinner ( the real one) will take place tonight in the buffet!

 

 

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[Rossco01]

Kikki sounds very disappointing in terms of the MDR food. I have to admit I'd find the air con issues impacting the restaurant really frustrating if it impacted the way it has. That's two nights ( probably three) where you not had access. It doesn't sound like MSC are trying too hard to make it up to you either.

 

 

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[kikki21]

 

Catching up from yesterday & Malta - Malta was hot, actually even hotter than Sicily & Sicily was hot!

 

 

We had no set plans about Malta so we started walking towards the Barrakka lift & then decided to ride in a horse drawn carriage for an hour which cost 60 Euros. It gave us an insight into the city with it's hills & very much English influenced shops!

 

 

.

 

I'm up in the Aurea sun deck & you need headphones in because the pool deck is constantly VERY loud!

Or sail in Yacht Club - at least it isn't crowded here

 

This is the sea day so whether people are still asleep or elsewhere I don't know. It's also extremely windy on deck this afternoon to the point where the Mr moved a sun bed & it nearly took off!

 

 

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[kikki21]

 

 

 

 

Meet Roy our lovely horse!

 

After our intro to Valletta - we walked across to the lift to enter the town.

 

 

The lift is built into the fortifications - we entered the gardens just before mid day so the cannons were fired all over Malta it seems!

 

 

 

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[kikki21]

 

You get great views of your cruise ship from here.

 

 

 

 

We needed a few pit stops today due to the heat!

 

 

 

The first church of Valletta was beautiful inside & a respite from the heat!

 

 

 

 

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[kikki21]

 

 

Everywhere is well sign posted.

 

 

 

Coming back into air con & a few cold drinks was very, very welcome today! We wandered through some of the shops at the Waterfront area but the heat beat us today!

 

 

And we actually got sun on our balcony briefly in Valletta just in time for sail away - the ship takes a left from the harbour so you get great city views!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Rossco01]

I have to admit Malta isn't a port I would have thought about before booking, but it's now probably the one I'm most looking forward too.

 

 

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[kikki21]

 

 

We were glad we watched sail away - our last one of the cruise. We then spent some time in the spa which was very welcome indeed & revived us after the hot day!

 

 

Tonight's Aurea dinner was in the Marketplace Buffet area which put paid to us actually having a buffet dinner which was our plan - the buffet seemed very very limited so we went for the dinner after all!

 

 

My roast veal starter was actually quite nice.

 

 

The Mr had 2 starters, the soup was good but the cod was so so!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kikki21]

 

We both had the beef main, it was actually tasty & had all it needed to have ( you know that's a thing!) but luke warm.

 

 

Cheese plate with er marmalade lol!

 

 

The Black Forest gateau was tasty!

 

The Horizon bar was shut last night due to a crew party which was a shame as it's a great place to party for everyone

 

 

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[Frankmac]

Morning all!

There is no price list upon entering the Aurea sun deck - the pool attendant just checks you are Aurea.

 

Our friends on board went to Eataly last night & reported a limited menu to choose from. So the restaurant to go for seems to be Butchers Cut!

 

My argument is that you pay enough for the cruise so the food - anywhere - should be of a good quality.

 

Tables are pre assigned for the Cirque show - so our waiter told us. Some cocktail tables are right at the front - others behind the dining tables.

 

The air con issue in the Panorama restaurant is not fixed as yet. The air con also seems to be out in the lift area forward on 13 so our Gala dinner ( the real one) will take place tonight in the buffet!

 

 

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Have to say I totally agree with this. As someone who is booked for 17th Sept, I've found it difficult enough to pay for all that the MDR offers, without having to fork out extra for speciality restaurants.

 

I think the least we could expect is a decent menu with decent food. Hopefully it will have improved by then.

 

Frank

[kikki21]

I don't mind paying extra for some meals & gave frequently done so to have a special experience but the MDR food has been consistently poor.

 

Buffet food is plentiful & consistently good.

We went out on the very windy Aurea sundeck till lunch time consuming too much alcohol as you do on your last day & had a carb heavy lunch which was good!

 

 

 

 

Our current position - the spa followed by our hot tub beckons before we have to do that packing thing!!! [emoji15]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[SquishTheWhale]

I found an interesting link to menu s on the meraviglia.

https://forum.crocieristi.it/showthread.php/48003-Menu-MSC-Meraviglia

 

Thank you for that link! It shows the set menus for the dining package in the Sushi bar which is what I was wondering about. There seems to be a couple of cooked things I could eat and also you can order extra (it's just raw fish I don't do- Husband would eat it though). Although at the top of the Teppanyaki it also mentions the dining package so maybe it is OK to use it in there instead?

 

The package menu for Eataly looks very limited but it's in Italian so not 100% sure!

[Tootsiesmum]

I'm going to give msc a wee ring to see if they have heard about the mdr, if they go back to early late sitting are they going back to there before menus, I booked msc after having reviewed previous menus which looked good, I really done like what I've seen up to now menus are terrible and for me the dining on a cruise is a big part of your evening, I'm new to cruising only been on ncl and rcc, wanted to see the difference in a European company, up to now not looking good, even the other msc ships, there top deck sun area have cabanas and padded loungers you'd think this being there new class they would have these, I'm going on 8th September, hope things change by then