Live from Meraviglia 12/19-12/27/21

[Chrisp5]

Sailed from Port Canaveral yesterday with a total of 967 on board.  I wrote a much longer post earlier that didn’t post for some reason.  Trying again with a shorter post and I’ll update and answer questions as I can.  

[Beamafar]

Website seems to be still glitchy.  Best thing to do is write up your posts elsewhere, then copy and paste them here.  Saves a lot of re-typing and heartache. 
 

Have a great cruise!

[Chrisp5]

I’ll try to keep this up as we go.  Boarding in Port Canaveral was a piece of cake - I arrived about 1 and there was never more than a couple of people in line in front of me at any point.  The desk agent said 1068 passengers, the cruise director announced 969 at the show last night.  The ship is very quiet.  
 

Spent the day exploring the ship and unpacking.  I’m still not sure I have found everything at this point. 
 

Skipped the MDR for dinner, the buffet options were limited and honestly kind of meh.  With so few people many sections were closed but I assume those are the things that would just repeat.  After dinner I went to the show which was a compilation of songs from hit musicals.  It was decent.  
 

Overall a good first day - called it a night early as I was exhausted.   

[skyking]

Can you find out at some point how many they are expecting on the 27th sailing?  

 

I appreciate it and can't wait to board on Monday.

[Chrisp5]

MSC seems to be doing a good job enforcing COVD protocols.  Im traveling solo as my partner didn’t want to have to wear a mask in most indoor spaces.  We did an August Alaska cruise where it was rarely enforced.   So far most passengers have masked, the crew has asked a few to put them on.  The did send one couple back to their room at the safety drill to get theirs.  Lots of hand washing and sanitizer around the ship.  The crew is serving food and drinks at the buffet.  Frankly I hope that trend continues as I have seen too many people do gross things at ship buffets.  

[Chrisp5]

1 minute ago, skyking said:

Can you find out at some point how many they are expecting on the 27th sailing?  

 

I appreciate it and can't wait to board on Monday.

A crew member told me 3,000 today but they weren’t in a super official role.  I’ll see if I run into someone that may have a better answer.  

[FrostyJoe]

Was any other dining options open besides the buffet on embarkation day?

[Morgsmom]

7 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Was any other dining options open besides the buffet on embarkation day?

Buffet for lunch is the only option.  The OP dined at the Buffet at dinner, but the MDR and all specialty restaurants would be open for dinner.

[Chrisp5]

I had some transportation issues getting from Orlando to Port Canaveral so I was hungry and cranky when I got to this ship lol.  I dropped some stuff off in my room and headed straight to the buffet for something to eat, unfortunately I didn’t check anywhere else.  

[FrostyJoe]

Bummer!!  Hopefully it wasn't too busy on first day at the buffet.  The ones we've been to in the past were slammed first day (unless we get to the buffet really early) whereas MDR was nice and quiet.

 

But Covid times....less people hopefully.  

 

On another note did Symphony of the Seas really sail with 6k+ people???  What makes them sail almost full where as MSC is not even close (which I love!!)??

Edited December 21, 2021 by FrostyJoe

[Chrisp5]

Ocean Cay was fantastic.  It was my first private island so I don’t have others to compare it with but I enjoyed the serenity vs water parks and the like I have seen on others.  After arriving on the island I spent the first part of the morning walking most of the island to check it out.  Given how few people were on our ship most of the back half of the island was closed (of course the Yacht Club beach was still open lol).  Bar service was excellent, the food at the buffet on the island was burgers, hot dogs, fish, jerk chicken, fruits, cookies, etc.  

 

I saw online that there were free umbrellas at the beach closest to this ship so I headed there.  What I missed was that the only chairs are some wooden Adirondack chairs, folding chairs and bean bags.   If you want an umbrella and lounge chair you will need to rent the umbrella at one of the other beaches.  

 

Due to a lack of planning on my part I missed the Junkanoo parade but did see the second lighthouse show right before we sailed which was fun.  

 

We were supposed to overnight at Ocean Cay and leave at noon the next day but due to an incoming weather system they cut our stay short and we left at 9pm which means two sea days

[Chrisp5]

6 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Bummer!!  Hopefully it wasn't too busy on first day at the buffet.  The ones we've been to in the past were slammed first day (unless we get to the buffet really early) whereas MDR was nice and quiet.

 

But Covid times....less people hopefully.  

 

On another note did Symphony of the Seas really sail with 6k+ people???  What makes them sail almost full where as MSC is not even close (which I love!!)??

There hasn’t been anything on this cruise that has been busy lol.  The first night when I dined at the buffet I arrived around 830 when many of the officers and staff were also eating so it was a bit busier.  In terms of actual passengers at 8:30 I would guess less than 50 total people eating.  Lunch was a piece of cake on embarkation day mm

[FrostyJoe]

Wow that sounds amazing. I wonder why MSC cruising with so low loads while Royal seems to be close to capacity. But it’s good for us!!!

 

Can you tell us how the temp of the water felt like?  I’m not sure if our then to be 11 month old can go in the water or not come 1/16 sailing…

[Chrisp5]

1 hour ago, FrostyJoe said:

Wow that sounds amazing. I wonder why MSC cruising with so low loads while Royal seems to be close to capacity. But it’s good for us!!!

 

Can you tell us how the temp of the water felt like?  I’m not sure if our then to be 11 month old can go in the water or not come 1/16 sailing…

I went in to waist deep (I saw several others doing the same thing) and thought it was cold. I probably should have taken the plunge and gone all the way but just couldn’t.  I’m usually the one in the group that things a pool is cold though so take my opinion for what it’s worth.  
 

Truly I have no idea how Royal is filling their ships like they are - they haven’t been giving the rooms away like MSC has been recently.  I watched 4 ships sail from port canaveral the day before we sailed, none looked very full.  There was a carnival ship that sailed the day we left, the decks looked pretty full as they sailed away.  

[WoodyWindy]

I have an aunt and uncle on that sailing. I just got off Divina on Sunday. It sounds like they're in for a good time.

[WoodyWindy]

2 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Wow that sounds amazing. I wonder why MSC cruising with so low loads while Royal seems to be close to capacity. But it’s good for us!!!

 

Can you tell us how the temp of the water felt like?  I’m not sure if our then to be 11 month old can go in the water or not come 1/16 sailing…

I went snorkeling at Ocean Cay last weekend at the inner beach (over by the Kayak rental). It was chilly compared to the air going in, but I adjusted quickly, and was quite comfortable in the water for about an hour looking at the various life forms. I was fascinated by what appeared to be a multitude of tiny crabs in "dunce cap" shells. I didn't get any decent stills of them, unfortunately...

[FrostyJoe]

Looks nice!!  I can't waittttttt.....Was the "inner beach" the family cove?  Can you tell us what the sand under water is like?  Was it rocky?  Did it gradually slope down or rapid drop like south beach?

 

I'm also hearing about some type of seafood food shack--any idea where that is on OC?

[Chrisp5]

49 minutes ago, FrostyJoe said:

Looks nice!!  I can't waittttttt.....Was the "inner beach" the family cove?  Can you tell us what the sand under water is like?  Was it rocky?  Did it gradually slope down or rapid drop like south beach?

 

I'm also hearing about some type of seafood food shack--any idea where that is on OC?

The only place I went in the water was the beach closest to the ship - the drop off was very gradual and I had to go a ways in to get to waist deep.  The sand was pretty smooth, the water was very clear and I noticed a few rocks but not many at all. 
 

they have several “food trucks” on the island.  I saw the menu for one was some seafood items that were an up charge.  At least one other had standard fare and there didn’t appear to be an up charge there.  

[FrostyJoe]

33 minutes ago, Chrisp5 said:

The only place I went in the water was the beach closest to the ship - the drop off was very gradual and I had to go a ways in to get to waist deep.  The sand was pretty smooth, the water was very clear and I noticed a few rocks but not many at all. 
 

they have several “food trucks” on the island.  I saw the menu for one was some seafood items that were an up charge.  At least one other had standard fare and there didn’t appear to be an up charge there.  

Do you remember where the upcharge seafood one was?  

[dexddd]

The beach closest to ship is Lighthouse Beach.  Sand very soft.  There is shade there.  Appearance of marine life varies.

 

YC beach the first five feet of beach very rocky.  Service there excellent.

 

Nightly show is about 5 minutes.

 

We had four great days there recently.

 

Two recent reports - one saying all beaches open another like ours, the ones farthest from ship closed.  YMMV.

[WoodyWindy]

13 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Looks nice!!  I can't waittttttt.....Was the "inner beach" the family cove?  Can you tell us what the sand under water is like?  Was it rocky?  Did it gradually slope down or rapid drop like south beach?

 

I'm also hearing about some type of seafood food shack--any idea where that is on OC?

I honestly don't know. We had reserved a Kayak rental, as well as an umbrella and float pads. Originally, we also booked the shipwreck snorkeling, but that was cancelled. I didn't want to waste having purchased a mask with prescription lenses so I could actually see ;), and the beach by the kayaks was very un-croweded, so we camped out there. I can't vouch for the part closer to the "village", but where we were was close to the open ocean, so it did drop off pretty fast.

 

I didn't pay too much attention to the food trucks. The ones I did see simply repeated the menu from the main lunch house.

[cafevita]

On 12/21/2021 at 12:36 PM, Chrisp5 said:

I had some transportation issues getting from Orlando to Port Canaveral so I was hungry and cranky when I got to this ship lol.  I dropped some stuff off in my room and headed straight to the buffet for something to eat, unfortunately I didn’t check anywhere else.  

We will be probably traveling from our overnight hotel in Orlando to port Canaveral, the next morning , end of January .  Mind if I ask what the issue was? Thinking I should perhaps stay near the port instead?

[RAC630]

On 12/21/2021 at 1:04 PM, FrostyJoe said:

Bummer!!  Hopefully it wasn't too busy on first day at the buffet.  The ones we've been to in the past were slammed first day (unless we get to the buffet really early) whereas MDR was nice and quiet.

 

But Covid times....less people hopefully.  

 

On another note did Symphony of the Seas really sail with 6k+ people???  What makes them sail almost full where as MSC is not even close (which I love!!)?    
 

 The 6k was including crew so SOS was sailing at about 4k passengers so she was sailing at about 65% capacity. We have sailed Oasis class ships at full capacity and other than parties and embarkation day, they rarely felt crowded. We sailed SOS in September  with 2000 passengers and it felt pretty empty.

[mscdivina2016]

On 12/22/2021 at 9:23 AM, FrostyJoe said:

Do you remember where the upcharge seafood one was?  

I was there 6 days ago.

 

The seafood shack was close to the bridge to yacht club island on the left as you head out that way. 

They had lobster rolls and such. About $11-13 if I remember correctly.

 

We were YC and spent the time at YC beach. Very rocky for a good 15 ft. Will bring our diving booties when we are there again in 2 1/2 weeks.

[Chrisp5]

Sorry all, kinda fell off posting on this for a while.   Major update - despite wearing a mask in all indoor areas, social distancing as much as possible, etc still developed COVID symptoms on the last day of the cruise.  Rapid tested negative but PCR tested positive when I got home.  Doing fine, thank goodness for vaccine and booster.  
 

the two ports in Mexico were fine.  I didn’t do much in Costa Maya since it was cool and overcast, just hung out at the port area for a chunk of the day.  Was going to taxi to town and go to the beach but didn’t feel like it based on the weather.  
 

Cozumel was really fun.  Due to my lack of planning I didn’t book anything.  In hindsight I would have reserved a Jeep and explored the island.  I didn’t want to just grab a Jeep rental off the street though without doing some research first.  Half way through the day I also learned about some of the beach clubs, might have done those as well if we weren’t leaving at 4:30.  I did wander over to the carnival port area though, there was def more going on over that way and they had a little beach area with loungers that I hung out at for a while.