MSC Meraviglia dining question

[fieldsofflowers]

Hello,

 

I will be sailing on MSC for the first time in March aboard the MSC Meraviglia. I have the fantastica package and my cruise documents say "late dining". Can someone explain what time is late dining? I have seen a webpage article describing flexi late and flexi early for fantastica and i am not sure if this is what I have. I am unable to link my booking to msc account so I have no idea if I can even make changes through the website and I have contacted msc many times regarding this, and requested for a call back and got nothing. I have waited on the phone twice for over an hour each time and no response. I have seen somewhere that says late dining is 9:30pm and that would be way too late for me. Anybody with knowledge of this I would really appreciate your assistance. I also would like to request a table for two ahead of time if possible, is that possible with MSC?

[NowVoyager2]

I was on meraviglia in October 2019 for 13 days..Fantastica Balcony cabin on deck 13.

I asked for late se as ting & was assigned a certain dining room.

On the first day the matre'd was available to make some changes.  I asked for a table for 2 so I could eat alone( no problem). As far as time they sort of float a 15 minute for seating ..so if I had 8pm I could arrive at 8:15.

I like to eat late so I did take the extra 15 minutes.

.it was never a problem & I ate on land ,& in the specialty restaurants onboard & buffet.

Check the first day. Be nice & the restaurant staff will do their best to fulfill most requests.

[CruisingFox27]

It means that you have been assigned the late dining sitting. If you'd like to request a table for 2 you'll need to speak with the Maitre'd once you embark, there's no facility to request this in advance.

Edited January 7, 2020 by CruisingFox27

[fieldsofflowers]

7 hours ago, NowVoyager2 said:

I was on meraviglia in October 2019 for 13 days..Fantastica Balcony cabin on deck 13.

I asked for late se as ting & was assigned a certain dining room.

On the first day the matre'd was available to make some changes.  I asked for a table for 2 so I could eat alone( no problem). As far as time they sort of float a 15 minute for seating ..so if I had 8pm I could arrive at 8:15.

I like to eat late so I did take the extra 15 minutes.

.it was never a problem & I ate on land ,& in the specialty restaurants onboard & buffet.

Check the first day. Be nice & the restaurant staff will do their best to fulfill most requests.

Was your late dining at 8pm? Is it a set time or is it "flexi late" as described in the article here. https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Newsletter/MSC-Cruises-Newsletter-New-Dining-Model.aspx

 

[Maikell]

The flexi dining options, as above (any time dinning) are old style. They did not work on the ships because they have several MDR, you was assigned to one restaurant on the time you like, but the guests did try al the MDR (they are the same menu, but lets give it try) guests did not clearly know how it works and the lines where huge. Well, i can tell it was a mess! So six monts after the release they sticked with the traditional early or late seating. And it is working, why change something that is good:

 

Its like said before. You are assigned for late dinning. Early is somewhere between 17:00 - 19:00 and late somewhere between 20:00 - 22:00. The exact time and restaurant is on your cruisercard. It will be fixed so do not run late of your timeslot. There are several MDR on the Meraviglia, if you like to make a change (once) you can do that once on the ship and contact the Maitre'd. You can find him/her in the MDR you are assigned with in the late afternoon of embarkation day. In off season they make a change for sure. On high season it will be much harder because the ship will be fully booked most of the time. You can give it a try anyway. Good luck!

Edited January 8, 2020 by Maikell

[Maikell]

I forget, just to make clear:

At this time there is fixed dinning for Bella and Fantastica guests. Only Aurea guests dine with the  'my choise' option and assigned to one MDR, in this case the Panorama restaurant.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Maikell

[fieldsofflowers]

3 hours ago, Maikell said:

The flexi dining options, as above (any time dinning) are old style. They did not work on the ships because they have several MDR, you was assigned to one restaurant on the time you like, but the guests did try al the MDR (they are the same menu, but lets give it try) guests did not clearly know how it works and the lines where huge. Well, i can tell it was a mess! So six monts after the release they sticked with the traditional early or late seating. And it is working, why change something that is good:

 

Its like said before. You are assigned for late dinning. Early is somewhere between 17:00 - 19:00 and late somewhere between 20:00 - 22:00. The exact time and restaurant is on your cruisercard. It will be fixed so do not run late of your timeslot. There are several MDR on the Meraviglia, if you like to make a change (once) you can do that once on the ship and contact the Maitre'd. You can find him/her in the MDR you are assigned with in the late afternoon of embarkation day. In off season they make a change for sure. On high season it will be much harder because the ship will be fully booked most of the time. You can give it a try anyway. Good luck!

Thanks for this detailed explanation. It makes much more sense to me now. 

[eroller]

MSC is a little different in that they have multiple set dining times (6 to be exact) on MERAVIGLIA.  Only those booked in the Aurea experience have the option of "my choice" dining (open).  Of course the YC has their own dining room and it's open seating.  

 

Here are the set dining times on MERAVIGLIA.  

 

5:15pm - Waves Restaurant

7:45pm - Waves Restaurant

 

6:00pm - Panaroma Restaurant

8:30pm - Panaroma Restaurant

 

5:30pm - L'Olivo d'Ore & L'Olive Doree Restaurants

8:00pm - L'Olivo d'Ore & L'Olive Doree Restaurants

 

 

FYI I booked very late (two weeks before) and requested late sitting.  I was confirmed on early sitting as late sitting was full.  Onboard we were assigned a table of 3 (there were 3 of us) at the 7:45pm sitting in Waves.  It was actually a perfect time.  Not sure if they considered that an early sitting option or not?  

Edited January 8, 2020 by eroller

[ziggyuk]

 

We were assigned late dining when I booked which I was worried about as we like to eat late but when I discovered it was 10.00, that is just too late.

 

When we boarded I was surprised to see my booking had been changed to early 7.30 and we were provided with a table for 2 by the aft windows without even asking.

 

MSC Fantasia in South America is 7.30 and 10.00

 

The times do vary though, not only by ship but also region.

Edited January 8, 2020 by ziggyuk

[jkgourmet]

9 hours ago, eroller said:

MSC is a little different in that they have multiple set dining times (6 to be exact) on MERAVIGLIA.  Only those booked in the Aurea experience have the option of "my choice" dining (open).  Of course the YC has their own dining room and it's open seating.  

 

Here are the set dining times on MERAVIGLIA.  

 

5:15pm - Waves Restaurant

7:45pm - Waves Restaurant

 

6:00pm - Panaroma Restaurant

8:30pm - Panaroma Restaurant

 

5:30pm - L'Olivo d'Ore & L'Olive Doree Restaurants

8:00pm - L'Olivo d'Ore & L'Olive Doree Restaurants

 

 

FYI I booked very late (two weeks before) and requested late sitting.  I was confirmed on early sitting as late sitting was full.  Onboard we were assigned a table of 3 (there were 3 of us) at the 7:45pm sitting in Waves.  It was actually a perfect time.  Not sure if they considered that an early sitting option or not?  

 

What times are the shows?  We do NOT want to eat before the show (we'd disturb others with our snoring.)

[eroller]

17 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

What times are the shows?  We do NOT want to eat before the show (we'd disturb others with our snoring.)

 

 

MSC is also unique in that they repeat the shows 3 times nightly, not just twice like most cruise lines.  Honestly these are the hardest working entertainers at sea.  The shows are pretty great and high energy, and I can't believe they perform 3 a night and a different show almost every night of the cruise.  

 

The main showtimes are:

6:45pm; 8:15pm; 9:45pm

 

This is for MERAVIGALIA in the Caribbean.  

[sfaaa]

Yeah 3 shows and you must reserve your seat in advance. Theatre is only one level and too small for a ship with 5k passengers.

Edited January 8, 2020 by sfaaa

[eroller]

28 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Yeah 3 shows and you must reserve your seat in advance. Theatre is only one level and too small for a ship with 5k passengers.

 

Reserving a seat literally took a few seconds on the app.  Always had a great seat and the theater literally has no pillars so your view will never be blocked. 

[jkgourmet]

15 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

Reserving a seat literally took a few seconds on the app.  Always had a great seat and the theater literally has no pillars so your view will never be blocked. 

 

Are reservations on the app available to non-YC passengers?  How far in advance can you reserve?

[eroller]

5 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

Are reservations on the app available to non-YC passengers?  How far in advance can you reserve?

Reservations are available to everyone.  If I recall correctly, I reserved a seat for just about every show on the first day of the cruise.  Some additional shows later in the cruise popped up and I just reserved them when I saw them.  MSC has a surprisingly great app. Much better than many cruise lines.  A cool thing about the shows is that the app actually tells you how many seats are left to reserve.  
 

Generally speaking the shows were always a full house or close to it.  People really enjoyed them and many received a standing ovation.  

[jdvmd]

We waited and did all of our show reservations onboard via the app. Plenty of availability. They also give away the seats to those without reservations if you are not checked in at the show 10 minutes prior.

You can change your dining times and tables on embarkation day with the maitre'd. Times will be in the daily newspaper.

 

[Sarmiento2]

I have a question as well.  I wanted to book a dining package but doesn't seem to work out with the schedule of our family.  So I wanted to book just one meal for myself and hubby at the Butchers Cut, but I can't seem to do it online for an individual reservation or with the app.  Will I be able to do it through app once on board? 

Thanks

Cathy

[eroller]

1 hour ago, Sarmiento2 said:

I have a question as well.  I wanted to book a dining package but doesn't seem to work out with the schedule of our family.  So I wanted to book just one meal for myself and hubby at the Butchers Cut, but I can't seem to do it online for an individual reservation or with the app.  Will I be able to do it through app once on board? 

Thanks

Cathy

 

 

Yes once onboard and connected to ship's wifi, the app will completely change and become fully functional.  You will be able to book, cancel, and change shows, dinner reservations, shore excursions, check your shipboard account, view the daily activities, create a personalized daily schedule, even see exactly where you are on the ship with GPS.  It will also show your assigned dinner reservation, dining room, and table number.  It's pretty cool and a great app.   Prior to the cruise it's very limited.  

 

The TV in your cabin will look exactly like the app and will do the same things although of course you can also watch TV!  LOL.  There are also interactive touch screens around the ship that will do everything the app will do.  You touch your cruise card to the interactive screen to enable all the functionality.  

 

It also includes a chat feature, and there is no charge to chat like on other lines.  

Edited January 11, 2020 by eroller

[Sarmiento2]

Oh that is awesome information. We will book a meal as soon as we have access. I heard there was a chat function but hadn't heard anything much about it.  A very handy option as we are traveling with other family members.

 

Yup it is killing me not having full access on the app. lol  This is our first cruise so its all new to me but exciting.  Thank you so much

[perakcruiser]

On 1/7/2020 at 11:49 PM, fieldsofflowers said:

I have seen a webpage article describing flexi late and flexi early for fantastica and i am not sure if this is what I have.

This is very outdated information. On the Meraviglia on the first few weeks Fantastica guests indeed had flexi dining, but that was canceled in 2017 already as it ended up in chaos. My choice flexi dining only for Aurea since then

 

8 hours ago, Sarmiento2 said:

Will I be able to do it through app once on board? 

Yes, but 15% more expensive. Better call MSC now to book or your TA if you did not book directly with them.

[BuckeyeTraveler]

Perakcruiser, could you explain WHAT will be 15% more expensive if you "do it through app once on board"?  I seemed to have missed part of those posts.  Thanks.

[BermudaBound2014]

4 minutes ago, BuckeyeTraveler said:

Perakcruiser, could you explain WHAT will be 15% more expensive if you "do it through app once on board"?  I seemed to have missed part of those posts.  Thanks.

 

If you pre-book, you can avoid tipping the staff the 15% service charges, thus saving 15%. If you wait until you are on-board, there will be a 15% service charge added to your dining reservation. 

 

 

 

[Sarmiento2]

You would have to call MSC in order to pay for it ahead of time? Can it be done online?

[Até]

8 hours ago, Sarmiento2 said:

You would have to call MSC in order to pay for it ahead of time? Can it be done online?

It depends on the ship.  On newer ships with multiple specialty restaurants MSC usually only offers dining packages that can be pre-booked online, for some reason single restaurant meals are usually not available.  You can only book a single Cirque show with meal or the special Butchers Cut Chefs Table online.  On the smaller ships like Divina with less specialty restaurants you can usually book the restaurants individually.  I've never tried calling in to try booking a single meal on Seaside/Meraviglia class ships so not sure if it's possible.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Até

[cruisingnewtoit]

I'm sailing on the Mera in Feb. All the Cirque shows are sold out. Are you able to reserve seats for the other shows before sailing on the website?

 

Thanks

This is my 1st time sailing with MSC.