Seaside vs Meraviglia

[GOLDENBONNY]

Booked another cruise on MSC Meraviglia for Dec 2019 . We loved MSC Seaside soooooo much but my DD wanted to try new ship . Now reading reviews I am not sure if I made a right choice... Is it really that crowded compare to Seaside ? I can not find any good reviews with pictures on Meraviglia on CC. Anyone been on both ships and can give me advise ?

[Skier52]

3 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

Booked another cruise on MSC Meraviglia for Dec 2019 . We loved MSC Seaside soooooo much but my DD wanted to try new ship . Now reading reviews I am not sure if I made a right choice... Is it really that crowded compare to Seaside ? I can not find any good reviews with pictures on Meraviglia on CC. Anyone been on both ships and can give me advise ?

I've sailed on both Meraviglia(YC) and Seaview (Aurea) and my conclusion in my review is that I would only cruse again on Meraviglia In the YC. I would happily sail on Seaview again in any class of cabin.

 This is because of the  feel of the two ships

Meraviglia feels overcrowded but not the same can be said of Seaview,

 

Meraviglia review here

 

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=12438

 

Both ships have GWT/Guest ratio of around 30GWT / guest so they should feel the same but they don't.

 Seaview has plenty of routes to outdoor spaces and plenty of those, whereas Meraviglia has not got the same.  

Meraviglia has a major bottleneck in the mall under the LED screen not helped by the theatre entrance leading to the mall and creating a massive crowd when the theatre empties after a show.

 

 Meraviglia is designed for all seasons and so is better suited to cooler climes , eg N Europe, and Seaview is designed for sunshine, eg Caribbean cruises.

 

I may have been influenced by the use of the private sundeck for Aurea guests on Seaview.

 

just my humble opinion

 

Pete 

Edited May 8, 2019 by Skier52

[mafig]

That was a terrific review!  Thank you.😀

[max996]

16 hours ago, Skier52 said:

I've sailed on both Meraviglia(YC) and Seaview (Aurea) and my conclusion in my review is that I would only cruse again on Meraviglia In the YC. I would happily sail on Seaview again in any class of cabin.

 This is because of the  feel of the two ships

Meraviglia feels overcrowded but not the same can be said of Seaview,

 

Meraviglia review here

 

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=12438

 

Both ships have GWT/Guest ratio of around 30GWT / guest so they should feel the same but they don't.

 Seaview has plenty of routes to outdoor spaces and plenty of those, whereas Meraviglia has not got the same.  

Meraviglia has a major bottleneck in the mall under the LED screen not helped by the theatre entrance leading to the mall and creating a massive crowd when the theatre empties after a show.

 

 Meraviglia is designed for all seasons and so is better suited to cooler climes , eg N Europe, and Seaview is designed for sunshine, eg Caribbean cruises.

 

I may have been influenced by the use of the private sundeck for Aurea guests on Seaview.

 

just my humble opinion

 

Pete 

Great comparison Pete! Thank you.

Our first cruise aboard MSC Seaside embarks on June 29th, and we will sailing aboard Meraviglia on March 15, 2020. I've sailed aboard Divina several times in the Yacht Club, and I have always said that I don't think I'd like sailing outside the YC aboard Divina. I think you hit the nail on the head when referring to the design of the Seaside class ships (for warmer climates) and Meraviglia (which mimics the Fantasia class in some respects) better suited for cooler climates, with a lot of interior corridors that seem to run into a lot of dead ends. I can't wait to experience Seaside - we are in the YC again, but we often venture out to the other parts of the ship for the shows and activities on the main pool deck, etc. 

[GOLDENBONNY]

17 hours ago, Skier52 said:

I've sailed on both Meraviglia(YC) and Seaview (Aurea) and my conclusion in my review is that I would only cruse again on Meraviglia In the YC. I would happily sail on Seaview again in any class of cabin.

 This is because of the  feel of the two ships

Meraviglia feels overcrowded but not the same can be said of Seaview,

 

Meraviglia review here

 

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=12438

 

Both ships have GWT/Guest ratio of around 30GWT / guest so they should feel the same but they don't.

 Seaview has plenty of routes to outdoor spaces and plenty of those, whereas Meraviglia has not got the same.  

Meraviglia has a major bottleneck in the mall under the LED screen not helped by the theatre entrance leading to the mall and creating a massive crowd when the theatre empties after a show.

 

 Meraviglia is designed for all seasons and so is better suited to cooler climes , eg N Europe, and Seaview is designed for sunshine, eg Caribbean cruises.

 

I may have been influenced by the use of the private sundeck for Aurea guests on Seaview.

 

just my humble opinion

 

Pete 

Thank you, you just confirmed my concerns    .someone on web called Meraviglia- oversized Divina and I don't like Divina . Well it's too late to do something  , I got flight tickets already. I guess we will have to go with flow and make best of it. On seaside we did not even use this aurea deck we been fine in main pool, never feel crowded .