Meraviglia & MSC First Timer

[johnstoc13]

Hey everyone! We just booked last minute cruise on Meraviglia out of Genoa for 7nt Mediterranean cruise. Any help, suggestions, etc would be greatly appreciated! Specifically, flying in and out of Genoa, transfers to pier, embarkation and disembarkation procedures, and shore excursions. We've done many nights at sea with Royal Caribbean throughout the Caribbean, but this will be our first cruise with MSC and first Mediterranean. We are also booked in Yacht Club! Any advice for the YC would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks for any help and happy cruising to all!

[Finplan]

When are you going? We are first timers too going in March to same port.  Looked up taxi and it seemed ok price from airport.  Was hoping to talk to driver on way about what to do 1day beforr.

[Skier52]

When flying out of Genoa make use of the MSC lounge in the airport

It is on the first floor of departures.

It is exclusively for MSC guests and is free. It has comfortable seating and an out-door verandah.

 

Taxi prices are set by the city council and should be displayed in the taxi. There is a charge per case, added to the fare.

It cost me 35 Euros (including a tip for the driver) for a taxi from the airport to the cruises terminal recently. That was for two passengers and 2 cases. This was before the bridge collapsed, so prices may be a little different now. 

Make sure you tell the driver you want to go to the Yacht Club tent.  

 

 if you can get a guided walking tour of the old part of town you will have a good time as there are fascinating facts and lots of things they point out that the average tourist will fail to notice.

 There is also a reasonable aquarium if the weather is inclement.

 

Hope this is useful to you.

 

Pete

 

[johnstoc13]

Great info, thanks Pete. We arrive in Genoa around 10am and we were wondering if we should explore a little before boarding the ship. That said, any idea how early they will let us on? 

 

Few other questions that came to mind:

 

Is it customary to tip cash on board the ship, or to tip on specialty dining, etc? What about tipping butler, concierge, etc as part of the Yacht Club? I understand the on board gratuities will be added to account, but we are used to tipping on Caribbean cruises for many other things. 

 

Does anyone one have suggestions for booking shows, or info on yacht club experience?

[Skier52]

52 minutes ago, johnstoc13 said:

Great info, thanks Pete. We arrive in Genoa around 10am and we were wondering if we should explore a little before boarding the ship. That said, any idea how early they will let us on? 

 

Few other questions that came to mind:

 

Is it customary to tip cash on board the ship, or to tip on specialty dining, etc? What about tipping butler, concierge, etc as part of the Yacht Club? I understand the on board gratuities will be added to account, but we are used to tipping on Caribbean cruises for many other things. 

 

Does anyone one have suggestions for booking shows, or info on yacht club experience?

book the shows by phoning the regional office and you should be able to book times and days, well at least ín the UK I could. you can't book a time and day on the web site

 

if you can't prebook via the web or by phoning then as a YC guest you can ask the concierge to book them for you.

if you have boked a show but not the time and day they can also do that for you/

make sure you do it on embarkation day

 

tipping is a personal issue I don't comment on.

[davenew]

On 12/30/2018 at 1:44 PM, Skier52 said:

When flying out of Genoa make use of the MSC lounge in the airport

It is on the first floor of departures.

It is exclusively for MSC guests and is free. It has comfortable seating and an out-door verandah.

 

Taxi prices are set by the city council and should be displayed in the taxi. There is a charge per case, added to the fare.

It cost me 35 Euros (including a tip for the driver) for a taxi from the airport to the cruises terminal recently. That was for two passengers and 2 cases. This was before the bridge collapsed, so prices may be a little different now. 

Make sure you tell the driver you want to go to the Yacht Club tent.  

 

 if you can get a guided walking tour of the old part of town you will have a good time as there are fascinating facts and lots of things they point out that the average tourist will fail to notice.

 There is also a reasonable aquarium if the weather is inclement.

 

Hope this is useful to you.

 

Pete

 

 

[davenew]

I have used Genoa airport a lot, and, from the airport there is a minimum charge of €24 to the city - even if you stay at the hotel just outside the airport 🤮

[johnstoc13]

That does seem pricey, but happy to know what to expect.

 

Safe to assume there are ATM’s on the ship? I know we can get cash in Euros at the airport, but don’t want to carry to much at once...

[airisland]

Hubby & I cruised from Genoa as well on this ship - it's beautiful!  We also took my 82 & 84 year old aunts with us.  But we flew into Milan the day before then rented a car and drove down.  Spent the night at the Hotel Grand Savoia.  It was cheaper for us to rent the car, park it at the port for the week, then drive to Lake Como before returning it to the airport 9 days later than it was to rent a car each way.  We absolutely loved the cruise!  It was our 12th and by the far the best one.  I read dozens of reviews for this ship - both bad and good - so I was prepared for anything and everything.  My aunts had their own balcony cabin about 20 away from our Aurea Suite.  Embarkation and disembarkation was fairly easy.  We had priority boarding that came with our booking and the cruise agents allowed the aunts to board with us.  Boarding officially began at 1 but we were there a little after noon and had no problem boarding and the cabins were ready by then.  You can set up your on-board spending at several ATM-type machines located in many places on decks 5 & 6.  They are tricky if you don't read exactly what it says but any cruise associate will gladly assist you with it.  We kept track of onboard spending on the tv in our cabin. The excursions were varied in each port and the cruise line arranges for shuttle transport into the center of town if you don't want to go on an excursion.  One thing we learned is if you book an excursion/tour outside of the cruise-sponsered ones, you could potentially loose any money you spent.  We were supposed to go to Malta but had to cancel because of rough seas - and boy were they rough!  We changed our mind at the last minute before we left home and did not book anything after all but could have lost almost $300.  The ship was full but there were very few times when I felt a little crowded.  The buffet is always crowded and busy.  We just made our way toward the back of the buffet where the lines are no where near as crowded and seating was never an issue.  And yes, some people get a little pushy and will jump in front of you but, hey - when in Rome!!  And yes, it's the same food with some variations day to day but so is Golden Corral.  If you let that kind of stuff bother you, then it will bother you.  But you're on vacaion in a foreign country with many foregeiners that do things differently - so what!!  The Smithsonian Channel did an hour special on this ship recently so you might want to look it up - it will definitely get you excited.  We also watched several YouTube videos but nothing prepared us for that overwhelming feeling we got once we dropped our carry-on bags and went exploring.  My aunts were all over that ship and had no problem finding their way around.  They spent alot of time on their own and felt lost or confused.  We are definitely going to do this cruise again.

[airisland]

.

That last line was supposed to say "...they NEVER felt lost or confused..."

[Epos Man]

One thing we learned is if you book an excursion/tour outside of the cruise-sponsered ones, you could potentially loose any money you spent.  We were supposed to go to Malta but had to cancel because of rough seas - and boy were they rough!  We changed our mind at the last minute before we left home and did not book anything after all but could have lost almost $300

 

None of the ones I have booked have I ever lost any monies due to missed port

 

Cruising excursions.com offer

What happens if my ship doesn't port at the destination?

If your ship doesn't port at the destination where you have booked your excursion, due to bad weather or any other reason, we will offer you a full refund or arrange an alternative excursion in another port of your choice.

 

and  shoreexcursions offer this

 

 

Will you refund my money if I miss my tour because the ship is late or cannot make it into port?

Yes. You will receive a full refund for your tour if you cannot make a tour departure due to a ship delay or a missed port call. You will of course also receive a full refund if weather or an equipment problem prevents the tour operator from delivering the tour. Simply let us know within two weeks after the date of the tour, and we will issue a full refund.

[johnstoc13]

Thank you so much for the great info! I actually just watched the Smithsonian video last night! We are easy going and this will be my 11th cruise so we’re used to the good and bad. As you said, your vacation is what you make of it and we’re going to have a blast! Great pictures as well. Glad you all had such fun!

[Beamafar]

On 12/31/2018 at 3:24 PM, johnstoc13 said:

 

Safe to assume there are ATM’s on the ship? I know we can get cash in Euros at the airport, but don’t want to carry to much at once...

 

No ATMs on the ship.

[johnstoc13]

4 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

No ATMs on the ship.

Wow ok thanks! Good to know!

[airisland]

9 hours ago, ikea logistics said:

One thing we learned is if you book an excursion/tour outside of the cruise-sponsered ones, you could potentially loose any money you spent.  We were supposed to go to Malta but had to cancel because of rough seas - and boy were they rough!  We changed our mind at the last minute before we left home and did not book anything after all but could have lost almost $300

 

None of the ones I have booked have I ever lost any monies due to missed port

 

Cruising excursions.com offer

What happens if my ship doesn't port at the destination?

If your ship doesn't port at the destination where you have booked your excursion, due to bad weather or any other reason, we will offer you a full refund or arrange an alternative excursion in another port of your choice.

 

and  shoreexcursions offer this

 

 

Will you refund my money if I miss my tour because the ship is late or cannot make it into port?

Yes. You will receive a full refund for your tour if you cannot make a tour departure due to a ship delay or a missed port call. You will of course also receive a full refund if weather or an equipment problem prevents the tour operator from delivering the tour. Simply let us know within two weeks after the date of the tour, and we will issue a full refund.

We were looking at a private tour...wanted to go to specific locations.

[Epos Man]

Ah ok some of these providers also do private ones as well especially cruising excursions. But I do see your dilemma

[hamrag]

On 12/30/2018 at 11:58 AM, johnstoc13 said:

Hey everyone! We just booked last minute cruise on Meraviglia out of Genoa for 7nt Mediterranean cruise. Any help, suggestions, etc would be greatly appreciated! Specifically, flying in and out of Genoa, transfers to pier, embarkation and disembarkation procedures, and shore excursions. We've done many nights at sea with Royal Caribbean throughout the Caribbean, but this will be our first cruise with MSC and first Mediterranean. We are also booked in Yacht Club! Any advice for the YC would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks for any help and happy cruising to all!

 

Genoa is not a memorable port, in any sense. Given you are YC, my advice would be to plan your arrival at the cruise terminal around 10.30 to 11am and you will very quickly commence the boarding process led by a YC concierge. So, from late morning you get to experience all of the fantastic YC amenities and commence your culinary experience with lunch in the YC restaurant!