Meraviglia, any language difficulties?

[erdoran]

We (obviously) are American and speak English.  I've read some discussions about difficulty communicating with crew.  We're considering YC in either Meraviglia or Divina, what are peoples' experiences with crew interactions and language issues?  My hubby is (unfortunately) fairly impatient and intolerant of serious communication difficulties; right or wrong that is how he is and I want everyone's experience to be very positive.  thanks.

[weloveamerica]

We sailed on the Meraviglia september 2017 and had no problems with language what so ever.

[Beamafar]

We've done 21 MSC cruises and I've never had a problem (the crew find it hard to understand DH,  sometimes, but that's because he speaks too fast and uses colloquialisms).  As long as you take into consideration that they have to understand people speaking English with a whole range of accents and pronunciations - even those who don't speak English as a first language - and speak slowly, clearly and concisely, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Remember, too, that the next passengers they speak to may only speak French or German or Spanish - chances are they'll also have enough of the required language to take an order ... how good would your husband be in that situation?  Something he should consider before losing patience.  

[erdoran]

35 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

We've done 21 MSC cruises and I've never had a problem (the crew find it hard to understand DH,  sometimes, but that's because he speaks too fast and uses colloquialisms).  As long as you take into consideration that they have to understand people speaking English with a whole range of accents and pronunciations - even those who don't speak English as a first language - and speak slowly, clearly and concisely, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Remember, too, that the next passengers they speak to may only speak French or German or Spanish - chances are they'll also have enough of the required language to take an order ... how good would your husband be in that situation?  Something he should consider before losing patience.  

I agree 100%, and I do NOT approve of DH's attitude - and he knows it.  I have great respect for multi-lingual people, and consider that a real cultural/educational deficiency in the US.  I personally travel as much internationally as I can get away with, and have experience trying to communicate to someone in THEIR country in MY non-native language.

 

But be that as it may, I married DH, warts and all, and if communication will be a problem then we need to know it, because right or wrong, unfortunately it IS a consideration.  No negative on MSC, it's just we all have our idiosyncracies.  

[dexddd]

We were on Divinia (although sailing out of Miami) and no issues talking to crew.  You'd be surprised how many speak 6 or 7 languages.

[erdoran]

Just now, dexddd said:

We were on Divinia (although sailing out of Miami) and no issues talking to crew.  You'd be surprised how many speak 6 or 7 languages.

That always amazes me!!

 

Hey, we are considering Meraviglia OR Divinia - we can get a royal suite with hot tub on Meraviglia which hubby has always wanted, but a longer cruise on Divinia-other than hot tub/no hot tub, is one better or worse than the other or are they both comparable?

[dexddd]

2 minutes ago, erdoran said:

That always amazes me!!

 

Hey, we are considering Meraviglia OR Divinia - we can get a royal suite with hot tub on Meraviglia which hubby has always wanted, but a longer cruise on Divinia-other than hot tub/no hot tub, is one better or worse than the other or are they both comparable?

Are you talking about royal to royal, Divinia vs. Meraviglia?  We were in one of the Royals on Divinia and there isn't any hot tub on the balcony ( I seem to recall a post about your DH liking those).  I just re-read what you posted and it looks like you already know that.

 

We are going on Seaside twice this year in deluxe plus inside then a Royal and next year on Meraviglia in a Royal.  For the two newer ships, I can only speak from the pictures, but they both look MUCH nicer than Divinia.  They also appear to be 3 times larger (or Divinia being 1/3 the size of the Royal on Meraviglia).

 

Seems you have sailed NCL - when we were on Divinia is the best way to describe the room it felt like a penthouse suite on a Jewel Class ship but with a door for the master bedroom.

 

The Royal on Seaside is 1/2 way back in YC vs. Meraviglia is forward so I think that makes it nicer than the Seaside (plus it is a bit smaller than Meraviglia).

 

The issue is they need to put more of these on their ships.

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

I agree 100%, and I do NOT approve of DH's attitude - and he knows it.  I have great respect for multi-lingual people, and consider that a real cultural/educational deficiency in the US.  I personally travel as much internationally as I can get away with, and have experience trying to communicate to someone in THEIR country in MY non-native language.

 

But be that as it may, I married DH, warts and all, and if communication will be a problem then we need to know it, because right or wrong, unfortunately it IS a consideration.  No negative on MSC, it's just we all have our idiosyncracies.  

 

Sorry ... didn't mean to sound preachy!

 

My parents used to travel with us;  my father would get impatient with the crew when they couldn't understand him ... so I can empathise.

[erdoran]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

Are you talking about royal to royal, Divinia vs. Meraviglia?  We were in one of the Royals on Divinia and there isn't any hot tub on the balcony ( I seem to recall a post about your DH liking those).  I just re-read what you posted and it looks like you already know that.

 

We are going on Seaside twice this year in deluxe plus inside then a Royal and next year on Meraviglia in a Royal.  For the two newer ships, I can only speak from the pictures, but they both look MUCH nicer than Divinia.  They also appear to be 3 times larger (or Divinia being 1/3 the size of the Royal on Meraviglia).

 

Seems you have sailed NCL - when we were on Divinia is the best way to describe the room it felt like a penthouse suite on a Jewel Class ship but with a door for the master bedroom.

 

The Royal on Seaside is 1/2 way back in YC vs. Meraviglia is forward so I think that makes it nicer than the Seaside (plus it is a bit smaller than Meraviglia).

 

The issue is they need to put more of these on their ships.

@dexdddfor the Meraviglia do you know if the balconies are all glassed in or are they open air?  From the 3D it looks like they are enclosed pretty much.

[dexddd]

4 minutes ago, erdoran said:

@dexdddfor the Meraviglia do you know if the balconies are all glassed in or are they open air?  From the 3D it looks like they are enclosed pretty much.

There are a couple of Youtubes out there in case you want to check it out.  The front balcony has above the wood railing, a small, maybe 6 inch gap, then glass for about 4-5 feet, then about 2 feet open at the top.

[dexddd]

I should add that I know you've been going back and forth about MSC and had some issues with website.  We too read of and dealt with issues and trying to figure if MSC was right for us, but I can tell you the one YC we have done so far was better than any Haven we've had.  They have great YC areas, great service, they don't seem understaffed like NCL butlers and concierges, and they value input for the better.  They are family run - not run by a guy trying to meet numbers and get you for every nickel.  They actually do some things that have you wondering why they'd spend that kind of money on some things, but whatever.  They could also cut back a bit on so many dark brown colors in the rooms!

[jvsnana]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

We are going on Seaside twice this year in deluxe plus inside then a Royal and next year on Meraviglia in a Royal.  

Hey dex...you booked the Meraviglia????  When and where?

[dexddd]

2 minutes ago, jvsnana said:

Hey dex...you booked the Meraviglia????  When and where?

Back in October, via email and phone with my TA!

[jvsnana]

Just now, dexddd said:

Back in October, via email and phone with my TA!

Haha...I meant when are you cruising and on what itinerary? 

[dexddd]

7 minutes ago, jvsnana said:

Hey dex...you booked the Meraviglia????  When and where?

Ok, now that I got my smartxxx reply out of the way, next Spring 2020 doing a Western.  You are all set to go in October for first time on Meraviglia?  You did the one Seaside, right?  Any others?  I booked Seaside before it was even out as it looked great.  I started to look at Meraviglia and it also looks good too.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by dexddd

[erdoran]

59 minutes ago, dexddd said:

I should add that I know you've been going back and forth about MSC and had some issues with website.  We too read of and dealt with issues and trying to figure if MSC was right for us, but I can tell you the one YC we have done so far was better than any Haven we've had.  They have great YC areas, great service, they don't seem understaffed like NCL butlers and concierges, and they value input for the better.  They are family run - not run by a guy trying to meet numbers and get you for every nickel.  They actually do some things that have you wondering why they'd spend that kind of money on some things, but whatever.  They could also cut back a bit on so many dark brown colors in the rooms!

Yeah, I finally gave up and went to a TA who found me that royal suite and is getting back to me about a 10-day on the Divinia for Dec 2019.  Honestly, my only misgiving is that the Meravaglia cruise is only 7 days, for me that's just long enough to get with the program!

 

Do you know if they do in-room dining like Haven does?  I thought I read someplace that's not an option, and was surprised to learn that.   I watched the youtube and the YC does look wonderful.

[jvsnana]

23 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Ok, now that I got my smartxxx reply out of the way, next Spring 2020 doing a Western.  You are all set to go in October for first time on Meraviglia?  You did the one Seaside, right?  Any others?  I booked Seaside before it was even out as it looked great.  I started to look at Meraviglia and it also looks good too.

 

 

Good for you getting the Royal Suite!

Seaside YC was wonderful! 7 days was definitely not long enough.  22 days on the Meraviglia will be great in October.

One of these days we will be on the same cruise as you and your family:)  

[dexddd]

42 minutes ago, erdoran said:

Yeah, I finally gave up and went to a TA who found me that royal suite and is getting back to me about a 10-day on the Divinia for Dec 2019.  Honestly, my only misgiving is that the Meravaglia cruise is only 7 days, for me that's just long enough to get with the program!

 

Do you know if they do in-room dining like Haven does?  I thought I read someplace that's not an option, and was surprised to learn that.   I watched the youtube and the YC does look wonderful.

That is what we do too.  I just asked TA for date range and she would call MSC then call me back.  The website it is just to tedious.

 

I hear you about the 7 days, but that is about all we can fit in between our work schedules, kids school breaks and/or summer jobs.  We will be doing something longer when kids graduate HS and college in 2021 though.

 

In room dining, not really.  I mean there is a room service list so technically yes, but not as fancy as like Cagney's items.  Plus, there aren't really tables like in some NCL suites.  We did order the fabulous pizzas late at night and ate in the room.  With the newer ships having YC restaurant right up front and part of the YC, there really isn't as much of a need.  Even on Divinia with the lounge and light snacks there you could just zip in there and get a snack - much better than what NCL has.  Some who have stayed in a Royal on Seaside said (IIRC) they were able to get some in room dining.

Edited February 13, 2019 by dexddd

[dexddd]

31 minutes ago, jvsnana said:

Good for you getting the Royal Suite!

Seaside YC was wonderful! 7 days was definitely not long enough.  22 days on the Meraviglia will be great in October.

One of these days we will be on the same cruise as you and your family:)  

 That is a long trip.  You doing the Canada twice or Canada then down to Miami?

[jvsnana]

3 minutes ago, dexddd said:

 That is a long trip.  You doing the Canada twice or Canada then down to Miami?

We have come to enjoy longer cruises...retirement has its perks!  We are doing a B2B Canada/New England.  Never been before.  We have to switch cabins so that will give us a chance to try floor 14 and 15 and change things up a bit.

[Toofarfromthesea]

6 hours ago, erdoran said:

We (obviously) are American and speak English.  I've read some discussions about difficulty communicating with crew.  We're considering YC in either Meraviglia or Divina, what are peoples' experiences with crew interactions and language issues?  My hubby is (unfortunately) fairly impatient and intolerant of serious communication difficulties; right or wrong that is how he is and I want everyone's experience to be very positive.  thanks.

We were on Divina in the W. Med this past Sept and no real language. 

For me the real difference between the Divina and Meraviglia is the location of the YC restaurant.

On my one YC cruise (so far) we rarely went outside of the YC except to go to the restaurant.  Having to go up and down and the length of the ship to get to and from dinner was a really bad design decision when they were building the early ones, like Divina, which we were on.  We have an upcoming Baltic cruise on Meraviglia in YC and I am excited  to have the restaurant within the enclave.  But we'll still get out, if for no other reason than to see the LED ceiling.

Either way, you can't go wrong, IMO, although I say this before I've been on Meravigia.

[dexddd]

I do remember the first night show though on Divinia.  The shows on MSC aren't overly long, like 45 minutes and the first show Captain Massa did a fairly long introduction in about 6-7 languages.  It look about 10 minutes.

[Tapi]

We sailed on the Meraviglia in the Mediterranean last November. We had an absolutely fantastic time. We booked this cruise fully expecting to have some linguistic challenges so we went prepared and I recommend that your husband goes prepared as well. Overall, we barely heard English during the entire week. Vast, vast majority of fellow cruisers were not English speakers. Crew members spoke English but it varied from fluent to barely a few words. I downloaded an English to Italian translating app on my phone which I used several times,  not only on the ship, but also ashore at several ports of call. Personally, I enjoyed figuring out how to communicate, and it always felt great every time I was successful. For me, it was fun. After all, interacting with and learning about so many cultures was a big reason why we chose this cruise. Crew members who didn’t speak English well were very patient with me, and they truly appreciated the effort that I was making to communicate in their language. 

 

If we forgot to place the breakfast room service card outside our door the previous night, ordering room service over the phone proved to be a challenge since the same guy who barely spoke English would always answer the phone. So placing the order always required a lot of time and patience. I can see how it would’ve driven less than patient people bonkers. But we always got our order right. 

 

Attitude will go a long way. The few times we waited in line to speak to someone, either at the reception or anywhere else, I witnessed a few passengers who had difficulty communicating get very frustrated and start getting loud and agitated, like doing this would make communicating easier. In return, you could see the expression of these MSC crew members go from smile, to neutral, to plain frustration. And this treatment wasn’t specific to English speakers, but others as well. I always made a point to approach with a smile, be prepared  to have some patience, and thank them profusely. It was wonderful to see their smiles return as well as their eagerness to assist. I cant say anything but good things about every crew members who we interacted with.

 

Overall, MSC does an absolutely fantastic job handling such a multilingual group of passengers. It wowed me to see how efficient they were,  not only because they were conducting everything in 6-7 languages, but because passengers started and ended their cruise at each port of call, with muster drills performed every day for newly embarking passengers. MSC handled all of the logistics beautifully. 

 

I don’t know how the Meraviglia will be in the USA with a higher count of English speakers, but when we sailed on the Divina out of Miami in 2016 it seemed like crewemembers onboard had a better grasp of English, although there were a handful of times when it was a bit challenging to communicate, but nothing that would’ve frustrated me. Overall, I recommend that, if you choose to take this cruise, that you (and your husband) go in the right state of mind and expectations. That, more than anything else, will determine whether you have a wonderful cruise or not. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by Tapi

[hamrag]

On 2/13/2019 at 6:44 PM, erdoran said:

I agree 100%, and I do NOT approve of DH's attitude - and he knows it.  I have great respect for multi-lingual people, and consider that a real cultural/educational deficiency in the US.  I personally travel as much internationally as I can get away with, and have experience trying to communicate to someone in THEIR country in MY non-native language.

 

But be that as it may, I married DH, warts and all, and if communication will be a problem then we need to know it, because right or wrong, unfortunately it IS a consideration.  No negative on MSC, it's just we all have our idiosyncracies.  

 

OK, you said you need to know it so here goes! On the basis that your original post also stated 'My hubby is (unfortunately) fairly impatient and intolerant of serious communication difficulties', honestly I have met his type on many cruises and it is not pretty....IMHO best leave him home in relation to MSC, it is not just about the crew but also the many International passengers.  

[erdoran]

9 minutes ago, hamrag said:

 

OK, you said you need to know it so here goes! On the basis that your original post also stated 'My hubby is (unfortunately) fairly impatient and intolerant of serious communication difficulties', honestly I have met his type on many cruises and it is not pretty....IMHO best leave him home in relation to MSC, it is not just about the crew but also the many International passengers.  

Hamrag, thank you, I was concerned about that.  Hubs wouldn't be disrespectful to anyone, he would just not enjoy.  It bums me out because I LOVE new cultures and languages - I've picked up a few words of Thai in the Phi Phi Islands, Chinese in Beijing, Japanese in Tokyo (no I speak none of the languages, but I try to learn at least pleasantries) and I don't approve of his attitude, but he has other redeeming features (:>) so I live with his issues - after all, I have mine as well.  And no, he wasn't on any of those trips, that would DEFINITELY have been a disaster!

 

I think we all have our issues, and need to make accomodations for peoples' quirks, including avoiding situations that bring out the worst in people.