A Small Ship Girl’s Meraviglia Review - 11/17 Three Days to Ocean Cay

[mawvkysc]

Background: Married couple with no kids, mid 50s if you average our ages out. 😀 First time on MSC. We’ve always cruised short itineraries on small ships except for our last one on Freedom of the Seas.   We are definitely budget cruisers. This cruise was an anniversary present to each other originally scheduled for December.  We needed to change dates and used our one cruise change to move it forward to November.  Same itinerary and it was cheaper so we upgraded from an interior to an obstructed OV for just $2 more and kept our free drinks and wifi. 
 

Precruise: A few weeks ago we decided to book a hotel with a park and cruise rate. (Originally we were going to drive over cruise morning from St Pete.) Not much was available so we booked with Days Inn Cocoa Cruiseport. Called direct and it was around $155 all in. Can’t say I really recommend it but we were fine.  The bed, towels and curtains were all very clean. The rest of the room needed a spring cleaning (cobwebs, corners not vacuumed, doors needing to be wiped down) and had a bug spray smell. No bugs though! Also, no included breakfast but an on-site breakfast restaurant with 15% off.  The shuttle to the port is at 11:30 am on weekdays. (12:30 weekends) It was a 20 minute ride. 

[ready2cruzagain]

7 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

Background: Married couple with no kids, mid 50s if you average our ages out. 😀 First time on MSC. We’ve always cruised short itineraries on small ships except for our last one on Freedom of the Seas.   We are definitely budget cruisers. This cruise was an anniversary present to each other originally scheduled for December.  We needed to change dates and used our one cruise change to move it forward to November.  Same itinerary and it was cheaper so we upgraded from an interior to an obstructed OV for just $2 more and kept our free drinks and wifi. 
 

Precruise: A few weeks ago we decided to book a hotel with a park and cruise rate. (Originally we were going to drive over cruise morning from St Pete.) Not much was available so we booked with Days Inn Cocoa Cruiseport. Called direct and it was around $155 all in. Can’t say I really recommend it but we were fine.  The bed, towels and curtains were all very clean. The rest of the room needed a spring cleaning (cobwebs, corners not vacuumed, doors needing to be wiped down) and had a bug spray smell. No bugs though! Also, no included breakfast but an on-site breakfast restaurant with 15% off.  The shuttle to the port is at 11:30 am on weekdays. (12:30 weekends) It was a 20 minute ride. 

We have stayed at the Days Inn for years, I agree, not a fancy place but has always been clean and no bugs. Can't beat the price with the parking, we have parked there for 21 days before. Not happy about the shuttle times. We board on a Sunday and our boarding time is 10:30.  Wonder why so late for the shuttle. In the past their first was always 10:30.

[mawvkysc]

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

We have stayed at the Days Inn for years, I agree, not a fancy place but has always been clean and no bugs. Can't beat the price with the parking, we have parked there for 21 days before. Not happy about the shuttle times. We board on a Sunday and our boarding time is 10:30.  Wonder why so late for the shuttle. In the past their first was always 10:30.

In the past did they have their own shuttle? They are using a company called Cocoa Shuttle ( or something line that 🤔)

[mawvkysc]

Embarkation: It took 30 minutes from luggage drop off to stepping on the ship.  The process was easy.  We were directed to a line for passport holders which might have slight expedited things. We had uploaded our pictures online but the agent had to take them anyways. The passenger count was somewhere between 2,200 and 3,000 passengers. 
 

We walked through the Galleria Meraviglia and the music was BLARING.  Fortunately it wasn’t like that for the rest of the cruise. We went up to the main pool deck and had a drink. There were really loud people yelling “Columbia” “Puerto Rico” and cheering. I looked behind me and it was bar staff making the noise. With all of this noise I thought I’d accidentally boarded a Carnival ship. It did not stay this way though, just a boisterous start. 

[mawvkysc]

In the OP I accidentally said I had been on Freedom of the Seas. I meant Independence. From here on out I’ll do a comparison as they are the 2 biggest ships I’ve been on and both  sail from PC.
 

Buffet:  We decided to have lunch. The buffet line  was busy but we knew from tips here to head to the back and we sat outside. The buffet lines were shorter in the back as the stations repeat, except for the fruit station. That’s in the front across from the pizza station. Also, we later discovered the family/children’s area. If you enter through the main buffet entrance you would turn right and pass the fruit, then head forward. There is a similar spot on the starboard side for everyone and it’s near the bar. These spots seemed less crowded. 
 

Some of the buffet food was really good, everything else was fine. The pizza was excellent and much preferred over RC’s Sorrentos. I prefer the Indian food on Independence better. I like the layout on Indy better too. It seemed easier to navigate with some stations separate from the main line. For some reason it felt like more of a walk to get food on Mera.  
   

For breakfast buffet  I definitely prefer Indy. We saw boiled eggs and an omelette station, but no scrambled eggs premade on Mera. The omelette station could make them but you would have to wait. They can’t fry eggs at the station. ( There may have been scrambled eggs at the family/kids area). On Indy they had a spot where they continuously set out fresh fried eggs. One morning the ran out of coffee at every station included decaf . The service was much better on Indy as well (Both sailings were post pandemic and roughly half capacity). I’ve heard the donuts on MSC  are great but never found them 😢.  The pain au chocolat was so yummy though! Both have great views and Mera gets props for the aft outdoor tables!

 

Interesting that they had white pepper. 

This was my second favorite dessert and it was on the buffet. The polenta was so creamy. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by mawvkysc

[ready2cruzagain]

2 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

In the past did they have their own shuttle? They are using a company called Cocoa Shuttle ( or something line that 🤔)

No they have always used Cocoa Beach Shuttle

[mawvkysc]

Stateroom:   8089 Port Side Handicapped Obstructed View Balcony   This floor has deeper balconies. Rooms were ready  right about 2:00 and our bags were there. It was nice and clean of course. Not bright enough lights in the cabin. We did have to leave a note asking for washcloths (we knew this might happen…European standards) and received them that evening. Our balcony table was totally usable but slightly broken. We asked in the note if he could switch it out at his convenience. This never happened but not a big deal. One day he didn’t replace one of the beach towels, but I caught another steward in the morning and he gave me one. 
 

We booked a handicapped room by accident.
The pros: roomier bathroom and shower, longer clothesline, no step up to bathroom. 

The cons: the floor gets wet when showering, no couch (we didn’t care), smaller desk with no mirror. This made it hard to style my hair.

 

[mawvkysc]

[mawvkysc]

These pictures show the balcony view from a standing and sitting

[mawvkysc]

The ramp

[mawvkysc]

Muster: I found the muster to be no problem at all. 

The movie was more informative than others, and it felt more official to all go down at once to the station. Scanning our card just took a second. 
 

After muster we stopped by the spa and took a tour. We were discussing booking a couples massage. The employee told us that we would get a 2 hour thermal area pass if we booked a massage. That was a real treat and I haven’t heard of this being offered on other lines in years. If they don’t mention it definitely ask. 

We watched sail away from the Sky Lounge. So pretty. I like the decor and feel  of this better than the Viking Crown on Indy, but Indy has a true forward view. To me that’s the biggest downfall Mera’s design. Only YC areas have a forward view.

[mawvkysc]

Day I

 

:

[mawvkysc]

MDR Day 1:

Edited November 22, 2022 by mawvkysc

[mawvkysc]

We booked this cruise late in the game so even though we requested early seating we were assigned 8:30 at Waves. We decided to give it a try. It was doable for us but we prefer early seating.  After such a big meal late we didn’t have much energy for other activities.

 

There were lots of tables for two. Our table was two in from the window. The table beside us never ate in the MDR so we had a great view. Waves is closer to the water so we enjoyed the waves. 

[mawvkysc]

We had great service from Anthony and his assistant. I would say equal to RC or Carnival. 
We had the drink package  so they automatically gave us bottled water. 

[mawvkysc]

I’ll only post our favorite foods of each night.

 

Pistachio Dacquoise. My favorite dessert of the trip!

 

 

 

[mawvkysc]

Before dinner we watched Born To Rock in the main theater. MSC’s singers and band really were impressive.  The choreography for this show pretty bad. I felt for the dancers because they didn’t get a chance to shine. 
 

Then we walked around the top decks. So pretty but I wish they left some deck chairs out. 

[mawvkysc]

Day 2:

[mawvkysc]

Service in the MDR for breakfast was spotty this morning.  I’ve found that to be the case on most lines. Some good days some bad. 

After I got a latte from the Infinty bar. It was really good! There are a few small pastries there too complimentary.  Then we headed up to the buffet to look at the aft wake. 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by mawvkysc

[mawvkysc]

So close and yet so far away!  Due to weather condition we couldn’t dock at OC today. The Captain tried twice over the course of the day. So sad. 

[mawvkysc]

We enjoyed the upper deck areas instead. Sat neat the aft pool. I tried the water slides and loved them. I feel the aft area and main pool are far superior to Indy. I love an aft view and the stadium seating is really nice. The waterpark seems much better too. Lots of fun stuff for the kids. The two water slides with tubes were fun and comfortable for the non kids. There is one non tube slide as well. 

I prefer the solarium area on Indy to Mera.  It is prettier and has more lounge chairs vs. tables. 
 

 

[CTGirl74]

What type of rock music do they have at the Born to Rock show? Meaning, what decade? 70s, 80s, 90s, etc.? We'll be on Meraviglia next October and I'm wondering if I'd enjoy this. 80s/90s, yes. 70s, probably not since I'm not likely to know the songs. Thanks!

[mawvkysc]

4 hours ago, CTGirl74 said:

What type of rock music do they have at the Born to Rock show? Meaning, what decade? 70s, 80s, 90s, etc.? We'll be on Meraviglia next October and I'm wondering if I'd enjoy this. 80s/90s, yes. 70s, probably not since I'm not likely to know the songs. Thanks!

Mostly music from the 70s and earlier. Sorry. The other show on this sailing was disco themed. It was called Cool. 

Edited November 22, 2022 by mawvkysc

[mawvkysc]

Spa: We switched our massage to today after the 3:30 attempt to dock failed. We had a great massage. Pre massage we used one hour of the thermal pass. What a treat. I’ve never done a thermal pass before. There were lot of options. Whirlpools, wet and dry saunas, salt room. I even used the ice room! 
 

Would I buy the pass on my own or book Aurea experience for this. No. My favorite parts were the whirlpools. I can do that on deck. The gym has a dry sauna to use which has a better cedar smell. If the area had some sort of aromatherapy rooms, or minerals in the whirlpools that would make it stand out as worth the extra money. Also, the relaxation areas have no view or flavored water/tea setup. 

[mawvkysc]

Pre dinner we got some drinks at the pub. My husband prefers draft beer and this where you have options besides Heineken. 

Here is one of my less than stellar  drinks. A Moscow Mule made with watery ginger ale (not ginger beer), not much alcohol and at first a lemon!