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MSC Meraviglia onboard 5th August

Rossco01

By Rossco01,
in MSC Cruises

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aronde

aronde

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Hey Rossco (or anyone else in the know) I was reading a review on here where they said the buffet was closed between 4 and 7pm. Is that right? That is when I'd be wanting to give my kids a quick dinner!

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Rossco01

Rossco01

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A lack of internet today ( at sea - and I don't want to spend more on onboard internet ) so two updates today.

 

Valletta yesterday was probably the best port so far. You can walk right off the boat and into Valletta in about 15-20 mins if you use the Barrakka lift. The lift is 1 euro to go up and costs nothing to come down. It delivers you to the Upper Barrakka gardens with outstanding views across the whole harbour and great views of the ship.

 

A short walk from their takes you to the centre of town which has lovely architecture. Shops etc are very British. Make sure you walk all the way down the Main Street past the cathedral to get to palace square with ceremonial guards and fountain area for the children to play in.

 

Yesterday afternoon was spent relaxing on the boat before we went to Cirque du Soleil in the evening.

 

Cirque du Soleil was an excellent show. Although the doors open at 19:15 make sure you get there for around 7 or a little earlier. That'll give you a good spot in the queue and a choice of where to sit. As others have said you get a complimentary sparkling wine and children get an orange juice. There is no bar service during the show.

 

The show itself is split into a pre-show and the main show itself. The pre-show ( singer, guitarist and hand drummer ) runs until 19:45 and the the main show then runs until 20:25.

 

It's a good show for anyone who has not seen Cirque before. Viaggio was very colourful and would appeal to children.

 

We ate in the buffet last night which in all honesty was a little disappointing. The options on both Rotiserie and Ethnic part were so do as we're the sweets. It was the weakest we've had.

 

The children went back to the cabin so we decided to try the Sky Lounge for a drink. This is by far the classiest lounge on the ship and is adults only. It's very peaceful and sophisticated. You also get nibbles to go with the drinks. Unfortunately though they don't do the cocktails available on the all inclusive menu. There was a nice Jazz Trio on last night at 10:20.

 

We had planned to go to the Tropical Party but a few child issues when we arrived back at the cabin ( that's teens for you ) put paid to that, although i did go up for 20 minutes and it looked like everyone was having a good time.

 

 

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Rossco01

Rossco01

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Our day at sea day today which is interesting. You can definitely tell we're at sea today and there is quite a bit of movement on the ship. It is also very breezy on the pool deck.

 

A tip on the pools for those who haven't been all are salt water with the exception of the bamboo pool which is chlorinated.

 

The shops are open today and for those who had cruised with MSC before the welcome back drinks/party was on in the Meraviglia lounge. This was followed by a great dance parade down the promenade by the entertainers on the ship.

 

We decided to eat lunch in the MDR today which on this occasion was served in the Waves restaurant on Deck 5. Other than got speciality dining I'm actually not sure if this restaurant is bookable in the evenings or not. The food was good ( main courses on offer were Italian sea food selection - red snapper, calamari etc and chicken tikka with rice) they also always have a vegetarian and sandwich option. Note though there is not a children's menu in the MDR at lunchtimes which is a bit disappointing.

 

Generally children's options outside the MDR are a bit disappointing. It basically boils down to hotdogs, burgers, fries, pizza and usually one other choice in the evening. The additional choice though can be weak, for example it was onion rings last night. It does mean the menu isn't very varied for them if they are fussy eaters. They can easily eat the same for lunch and dinner.

 

We also stopped at the photoshop today to sort out how we get our photos (we pre bought the 100 printed photo package at £59 - I believe this is now £99). This is an absolute bargain when you consider how much they cost to buy on the ship. For small prints 5x7 you print them at the machines but for larger you need to purchase by 5pm and collect that night. Generally the photos taken are studio type photos rather than casual around the ship ones.

 

We've now printed 53 and will sort the rest out tomorrow. Note although the default is to have the Meraviglia border on them ( msc Meraviglia printed across the bottom) you can remove this when you actually print them.

 

I also visited the Spa yesterday which - if you're into Spa's - is very impressive. As an inclusive in the Aurea package it absolutely great. I'm not a great Spa fan but if you are then you're in for a treat.

 

 

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Rossco01

Rossco01

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So the last day of our holiday and it's in Barcelona!

 

We had a good night last night. We idled down to the MDR and dinner around 7:30. Again we had no problems getting a table and had some really good service. Food was very nice ( we had vegeatable spring rolls to start, sliced fillet of beef in peppercorn sauce and baked Alaska to finish ). They did the baked Alaska parade which I think is a tradition on MSC but it was completely faux. They had mock Baked Alaska with battery operated candles on top [emoji23] it was still fun though. Service was very good and we'd finished in just over an hour.

 

We then had some more photos taken on the stairs and in the bridge over the promenade which we'll print tonight.

 

For a change we then went to the Brass Anchor which was really full. The duet in there were pretty good and it was a nice change in atmosphere.

 

At 10:30 we then made our way to the theater to watch Virtual which was a pretty modern dance show ( with a few sung songs thrown). I think the stand of shows has been pretty good throughout.

 

Today we had pre-booked tickets for Sagrada Familia which made entry very easy. It's pretty impressive and you need to allow yourself a couple of hours to enjoy. Personally I'm not sure the Towers are worth going up but the audio guide is good and not too long for children. A taxi to there from the ship was 15 Euro. We then took another short taxi ride to the Alexander Hilton hotel ( 5 Euro ) which is at the very top of Las Ramblas ( not too touristy nice shops ) and worked our way down the whole strip ( taking a short bypass to see the Gaudi house ) to the bottom before catching a taxi back.

 

Now packing - unfortunately - and getting ready to leave tomorrow. We have to exit cabins by 7:30. Luggage has to be outside the room by 2am. You can leave your hand luggage somewhere in the morning if you need to. Aurea seem to get the option to leave first. As our train isn't until 3:30pm we're going to see if we can string it out until 1pm ( I think our cards will stop working at 12 pm ).

 

Tonight we are off to our final dinner, print some final pics and then perhaps catch the show Paz. May need an early night though!31756e0d2686b57a6b4537d0268d9fbb.jpg3428ff6f9378d55615f8b7bc4135ccac.jpg17381bf044ce2e4c45607704e6c1a7d4.jpg2149fcad5bd48e8f23af5f8ec6a1a2e9.jpg

 

 

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Rossco01

Rossco01

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So our last morning and probably my last post for this trip.

 

Last night was good as they've all been really. We walked into the restaurant around 7:30 and got a table without a problem. We've had a different table each time ( our choice as we wanted to just turn up when we chose) but every time the staff and service have been excellent. Noticed last night that some children had food not on the kids menu which suggests that as weve seen throughout the trip if you want something slightly different ask and they will try to accommodate.

 

We printed our last photos off, had some time in the brass anchor and then headed back to the cabin to finish packing.

 

Daughter and I then went to the flower power party on the promenade. Lots of people and lots of fun! Well worth turning up if only to watch from the balcony on deck 7. Live music then restarted just after midnight in the Meraviglia lounge. By then though we'd had enough and headed back.

 

Bags in theory needed to be out by 2am but ours were still uncollected by this morning. Not a problem for us as we aren't planning to leave early. We called reception and also mentioned to our steward.

 

Again we were told to be out of the cabins by 7:30 but there was no pressure to go so we left just after 8am and had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet. We're currently relaxing by the bamboo pool ( it's windy on the deck in Marseille today ) whilst kids have their final splash in the pool.

 

What times the card end who knows but we just a coffee latte from the bar at 9:30 ( officially las disembark time is 9:15 ).

 

Our train isn't until 3:20 so we're going to hang on as long as we can!!! At least until 1pm.

 

To all those yet to come and never cruised before ( like us ) you'll almost certainly have a good time. It's big boat, clearly designed for families so it's always going to be busy at times and certainly if you choose you can have full on entertainment. The quieter parts tend to be at the back of the ship.

 

For experienced cruisers and only based on what I've read elsewhere I'm guessing it might be a slight step down in terms of food and possibly personal service. That said I'd guess you'd struggle to find on other boats some of the things offered on this one. The Spa, promenade deck, pools etc must be pretty world class at the moment.ca6635b095a78d408d1113ccffb0239c.jpg5b1ae4fb1f3a7d61d6f6e0cc5afb9270.jpgce7c9595abfae664f7cd50fa75690c30.jpgdfe813dde50fa25b0c126c8cad2f831b.jpg

 

 

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Rossco01

Rossco01

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Thanks, Rossco, for a very balanced review. Sounds like you enjoyed your cruise overall. Tell me, how late did you stay onboard on the last day?

 

 

 

We were pretty naughty [emoji846]we stayed on board until 12:30. Our cruise cards continued to work ( I wonder if that's because we were settling by credit card and hence our account was still open? ). We effectively had lunch and then got off.

 

Mind you when we went to collect our baggage there was only ours and one other groups neatly stacked alongside the checkin desk. They didn't ask why we got off late ( last disembark should have been 9:15) just checked our cruise card. I probably wouldn't leave it that late again though.

 

 

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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We were pretty naughty [emoji846]we stayed on board until 12:30. Our cruise cards continued to work ( I wonder if that's because we were settling by credit card and hence our account was still open? ). We effectively had lunch and then got off.

 

Mind you when we went to collect our baggage there was only ours and one other groups neatly stacked alongside the checkin desk. They didn't ask why we got off late ( last disembark should have been 9:15) just checked our cruise card. I probably wouldn't leave it that late again though.

 

We've stayed late onboard, too, and had no problems with getting drinks, either. Like you, our luggage looked very alone and forlorn, being the only cases in the terminal - something I was a bit concerned about at the time. I can't say I enjoyed the feeling of being onboard for longer than we "should" have - it was a rather uncomfortable experience, even though the crew we asked said it was no problem.

 

We stayed late into the afternoon on 2 occasions in the Yacht Club - once 'til nearly 4.30pm and recently on Meraviglia 'til 3.30pm. Each time, we had requested and got permission so it was a completely different experience. Our luggage was kept at the Concierge desk 'til we were ready to leave. Then they organised a porter to bring the cases all the way down thru' the terminal to the taxi rank! Yacht Club might be pricey, but, boy, you get excellent service.

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JUSRN

JUSRN

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We were pretty naughty [emoji846]we stayed on board until 12:30. Our cruise cards continued to work ( I wonder if that's because we were settling by credit card and hence our account was still open? ). We effectively had lunch and then got off.

 

Mind you when we went to collect our baggage there was only ours and one other groups neatly stacked alongside the checkin desk. They didn't ask why we got off late ( last disembark should have been 9:15) just checked our cruise card. I probably wouldn't leave it that late again though

 

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Can you tell me how you got from the ship to the train station in Marseilles and vice-versa?

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Nikita4

Nikita4

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Were on the Meraviglia in Marseille until 15.45. Our Luggage was the only left in the YC Corner of the Check in Desk. So it wasn't a Problem. We are at the Pool and had Lunch in the Restaurant and then we left smoothly the Ship with our Butler. We are Black Card Member and so we have the Suite some hours longer then normal and in the YC all is more easier.

 

They say you have to go off bevor the Ship is sailing away in the evening :-).

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