Meraviglia Live - NewYork(28Oct) to Miami (10Nov)

[marcoigna]

Good Day All –

 

Being that we have the unlimited internet package aboard our 13 night journey – I will attempt a live review of the Meraviglia from New York to Miami – 28th October – 10th  November, 2019.

 

A little background:

 

We are not newbies to MSC – we have sailed many times aboard the Divina and the Seaside

-          Being that we always book 18-24 months in advance, we luck out and secure the Royal Suite on most sailings, including the famous Sofia Lauren Suite on the Divina

-          This sailing is no different as we have 1 of the 2 Royal Suites in the Yacht Club

 

That being said, we have found the pricing of the Royal Suites to increase quite dramatically – we have paid as little as $400.00 over the cost of  a YC1, but now we are seeing costs at 200%-300% over the cost of a YC1 – quite an enormous change over the course of  5 years.

The fact that the YC is truly an amazing an experience, we are finding it hard to justify the cost of the Royal Suites, as they cannot possible offer much more service to justify the cost difference,

 

The only factors we see are the size of the suite, - obviously –and the complimentary cabana at the One Pool for the duration of the sailings (but not the amenities on a paid cabana every day, sometimes just once or twice during the sailing).  Not to gloat, but I was the guy instrumental for the poolside Cabanas to be complimentary – this started on the 24^th of February, 2018.

 

For those who have sailed with MSC prior, we all will agree that things are not consistent between ships and they keep making strange amount of changes between the time you book and the time you sail (ie, drink packages, zip line costing, internet packages, changes in different experience inclusions , whether crepes and chocolate martinis are or are/not included  - the list goes on), oh and the latest to change from Black card to Diamond….i look sometimes just think – WHY?

 

But the product on board cannot be matched with all the other mainstream cruise lines, and it is for this reason we still continue to travel with MSC

 

Butler service is another biggy, where  you can obtain a great butler on one sailing and a non-existent butler on another sailing –we are not needy people and just go with the flow…

 

However , that being said – for the price point of the RS now, I am expected over-the-top service – but again, if not supplied, it will never ruin our holiday.

 

2 other things:

-          This is the first sailing that we have upgraded our YC drink package (in essence, Premium) – to Premium plus at a cost of 17.00/day/person – we just found that they started to price some items we want just over the $12.00 threshold, by .50 cents to $1 – making it not accessible with the YC package.

-          The live review is not to meant to over step others that are doing the same, and if anyone is also on board, they are welcome to hi-jack this thread as well….

 

As we all know, this will be the first ship to arrive at Ocean Cay – being a soft opening, looking forward to it, and we have booked a YC Ocean Front Cabana as well…

 

For now, we are sitting on our flight, awaiting take off to LaGuardia – so buckle your seat belts for a fantastic ride.

[Dr. Cocktail]

Have a superb time and a great cruise!

 

Sailing out of NYC is always so much fun! As I put in a post on Bea's thread: 

 

Even though you're in the YC, I would suggest that after you pass the Statue of Liberty, you hightail it to the VERY back of the ship for your passage under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Then, face forward and watch as the ship's funnels approach the bottom of the bridge - it 100% looks like you will take 1/2 the bridge with you. It is extremely important that you scream like a girl (OK, a bit sexist ....) when this happens.  Don't worry - everyone else will be doing the same! It remains one of the great optical illusions! (and it's really not the same from the front ....)

 

And finally, as you fly out today, try to ask the Captain to avoid flying over our house - I HATE the newish flight plans over mid-town Toronto!!!

[EMc&DrS]

1 hour ago, marcoigna said:

 

That being said, we have found the pricing of the Royal Suites to increase quite dramatically – we have paid as little as $400.00 over the cost of  a YC1, but now we are seeing costs at 200%-300% over the cost of a YC1 – quite an enormous change over the course of  5 years.

The fact that the YC is truly an amazing an experience, we are finding it hard to justify the cost of the Royal Suites, as they cannot possible offer much more service to justify the cost difference,

 

The only factors we see are the size of the suite, - obviously –and the complimentary cabana at the One Pool for the duration of the sailings (but not the amenities on a paid cabana every day, sometimes just once or twice during the sailing).  Not to gloat, but I was the guy instrumental for the poolside Cabanas to be complimentary – this started on the 24^th of February, 2018.

 

Looking forward to your review.  We will once again be enjoying YC in late November--this time on Meraviglia for the first time, so curious to hear your opinions.  You are so right about the RS prices.  We had the RS on Seaside in Sept '18 which we booked 16 months in advance.  We could have booked the same suite for the same week in Sept this year, but the price was nearly $3000 more than it had been the year before.  Hard to justify when the other YC suites come with most of the same perks.  We did love the cabana for the week--used it every day--but like you said, it only came with snacks/ sushi/ champagne on the second sea day.  Have a fantastic time--what a great itinerary!

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Will be very interesting to follow your review from the MSC Meraviglia 👍 During the maiden voyage in June 2017 I was invited by a guest to have a look into one of the RS onboard and it's a great suite, I loved the jacuzzi. Have a wonderful cruise 😀 We have sailed once in a RS, back in 2011 on the Fantasia. Now the prices have skyrocket and we usually book the YC1 when sailing the amazing Yacht Club. 

[eagletwo]

Really look forward to your reviews.  We sail on this ship in March 2020 and have the YC booked.  Been getting nervous with some of the reviews.

[bluefish17]

Have a great trip! Eagerly anticipating your review. We are on the Western Car.

Dec 1.

[cruisingnewtoit]

7 hours ago, eagletwo said:

Really look forward to your reviews.  We sail on this ship in March 2020 and have the YC booked.  Been getting nervous with some of the reviews.

DH & I are Feb 2020 same ship. 1st time on MSC. I'm a little nervous with the mixed reviews on service.

 

Very Excited to read your review.

 

Edited October 26, 2019 by cruisingnewtoit

[aprilsp88]

Following! Bon Voyage!

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review!!

[hypercafe]

Enjoy your trip, tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day here so you should have a nice sail away. We were on the October 8 trip in the YC, our first on MSC. Trip was OK however looking at the price point of the YC I believe a better value is gotten on luxury lines such as Crystal or Silver Sea. IMO they also provide a superior level of service and food. Its worth checking out.

[marcoigna]

2 hours ago, hypercafe said:

OK however looking at the price point of the YC I believe a better value is gotten on luxury lines such as Crystal or Silver Sea. IMO they also provide a superior level of service and food. Its worth checking out.

 

 Totally agree. I’ve travelled with Silver Seas a few times but we still like the product of MSC yacht club. 

[marcoigna]

Good morning all from rainy  New York. We arrived safely in to LaGuardia Airport yesterday. Lesson learned - do not fly into LaGuardia if you need to Rent-A-Car especially. First of all they charge six dollars for a luggage cart. In Toronto we offer the service for no charge at all. We then had to go back from the baggage claim area to departure level to grab a shuttle over to terminal A  from terminal A we dragged her luggage across the street and waited for the Avis shuttle to take us to the depot.  With the construction at the airport - this took 1-1/4 hours.  But we arrived safely and it was a beautiful sunny day.   

 

Today family time time then off to Woodbury commons for shopping.  It truly is one of the best and most beautiful malls in the area.  

 

Safe travels to all flying in today. 

 

 

[CruisingFox27]

Look forward to your review. We've thoroughly enjoyed our time on board so far.

 

I believe Mevin is the butler for the RS, he was our butler on Divina a couple of years ago and was an absolute delight. He remembered us, always slightly worrying LOL and made a point to say hello. 

 

Sadly we'll disembark before you arrive. Hope you have a great time. 

[jdvmd]

Looking forward to your comments!

[marcoigna]

Had a great day with family yesterday and visited one of our favourite places - Woodbury Commons - where we did a little damage 

 

And now today is finally the day - after booking this cruise in December of 2017 -  

 

Today we plan to drop our luggage off at Pier 88 - then proceed to Avis to drop car and finally back to the beautiful Meraviglia for boarding.   

[marcoigna]

[emmas gran]

Good morning 

It’s a nice day already. See you on board.

[tcmagnum]

2 hours ago, marcoigna said:

 

Love that you guys didn't let a little rain stop your smiles...Keep smiling and have a great cruise!!

[jimbri]

Enjoy your cruise.

[L2float]

We're following along with you! We're sailing Meraviglia November 24th and can't wait to hear about your experience! I started to bid on an upgrade to RS, but couldn't justify the cost. Enjoy for us! This will be our first YC cabin. Have a wonderful cruise. Thank you so much for sharing!

[marcoigna]

Good day All.  Sorry for the delay in the live post. But we are truly having a wonderful time aboard the Meraviglia 

 

Just to go back to the boarding process in New York. We did find a much easier than doing this in Miami. We were able to drop off our luggage. Then drop off her car at Avis. And then we were able to walk back to the ship which was less than a five minute walk back. We were greeted by the yacht club crew and guided through security direct to the lounge. At this point we met the yacht club director which was nice to meet him in the lounjust to go back to the boarding process in New York. We did find a much easier than doing this in Miami. We were able to drop off our luggage. Then drop off her car at Avis. And then we were able to walk back to the ship which was less than a five minute walk back. We were greeted by the yacht club crew and guided through security direct to the lounge. At this point we met the yacht club director which was nice to meet him in the departure lounge. Just to know some changes that we’ve noticed during this process.

 

-we were each offered a newspaper instead of the usual one per cabin.

-There was absolutely no discussion on the pressure to choose your dining time in the yacht club dining room. Although you never really have to stick to it that you like to know what time you’re coming. But aboard the ship it was never questions are asked.

 

there was absolutely no discussion on the pressure to choose your dining time in the yacht club dining room. Although you never really have to stick to it that you like to know what time you’re coming. But aboard the ship it was never questioned or asked.

 

We were then escorted from the lounge directly onto the shelf and directly to our carpet this is the first time that the butler actually showed us every detail of our cabin.

we were then escorted from the lounge directly onto the shelf and directly to our carpet this is the first time that the butler actually showed us every detail of our cabin.

 

Once again we are in the Royal suite. And on entering the sweet we decided that we wanted to have a table on our balcony. We still didn’t understand why there was no table on the balcony as there’s no place to dine in this week unless you have a table on the balcony.

 

once again we are in the Royal suite. And on entering the suite we decided that we wanted to have a table on our balcony. We still didn’t understand why there was no table on the balcony as there’s no place to dine in the suite unless you have a table on the balcony.

 

we did upgrade our drink package to the premium plus package and we are very happy with all of our choices and there has been no issue with any questions about the premium and the premium plus.

 

Below are some pictures of our Royal suite.

 

 We have found all of our meals to be extremely well and we are actually enjoying the Meraviglia a little bit more than the seaside. The only complaint that we have but again it doesn’t really bother us is that the service is extremely slow in the dining room

 

[marcoigna]

sorry for the images

Edited October 30, 2019 by marcoigna

[rattanchair]

On 10/26/2019 at 10:09 AM, eagletwo said:

Really look forward to your reviews.  We sail on this ship in March 2020 and have the YC booked.  Been getting nervous with some of the reviews.

RELAX...

[rattanchair]

On 10/26/2019 at 5:30 PM, cruisingnewtoit said:

DH & I are Feb 2020 same ship. 1st time on MSC. I'm a little nervous with the mixed reviews on service.

 

Very Excited to read your review.

 

If you are in the YC, you have nothing to worry about.

[rattanchair]

On 10/26/2019 at 7:57 AM, marcoigna said:

Not to gloat, but I was the guy instrumental for the poolside Cabanas to be complimentary

Gentlemen, please add your instrumental magic to Ocean Cay for RS.