JamieLogical's Live from the MSC Meraviglia 4/9 (semi-B2B)

[CityGrrl]

Jamie! 

 

I'm loving this!

 

Would it be possible for you to post the drinks menu .pdf you mentioned? Or any of the new revised drinks menus?

 

Thank you so much for bringing us along.

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

On 3/30/2023 at 10:26 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

Up until a couple of weeks ago, the Specialty Restaurants link at the top for both of my sailings just so "No Items Found". Finally, the specialty dining packages and Carousel shows showed up. I feel like that may have had something to do specifically with the Meraviglia.

 

 

This has been my frustration with my first 2 MSC bookings for later this year. I'm sailing Sinfonia and Seashore so it's definitely not just the Meraviglia.

 

The crazy thing is, that in modeling some bookings, I occasionally will get options to add the dining package in during the booking process itself.  It seems to be available like that under some promos and not others.  But, on my bookings, I never got an option to add and nothing at all shows under Specialty Dining, despite the fact that they advertise with book early and save type wording.  I sure do hope I get offers and don't wind up paying full price once on board.  I don't have any pre-paid laundry options either like I've heard about despite my cruises being 11 and 25 days!

 

I would give the pre-cruise experience so far a 2 of 5 because I feel like I'm in a black hole as far as information on the onboard experience. Thank goodness for the boards here.  Enjoy your cruise and thank you for posting live!

[MsTabbyKats]

@JamieLogicalHow does one connect to the internet?  

[JamieLogical]

12 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@JamieLogicalHow does one connect to the internet?  

 

Had to connect to the onboard wifi and then go to login.mscwifi.com, then just follow the instructions. Did not have to put my phone into airplane mode like other cruises.

[JamieLogical]

Wifi has been good so far, btw. I only have whatever was included with our booking. Didn't upgrade at all. No issues checking email, sending text, or posting to cruise critic. I don't get wifi in my bedroom or on the balcony. Only place I can use it in our stateroom is the living room, but that's been fine.

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

Almost died laughing that you had a few mimosas before you remembered your job interview. I hope it went well! A true sign you're in vacation mode when you almost forget about the interview. 🥳

[JamieLogical]

24 minutes ago, Ottawa_Cruiser said:

Almost died laughing that you had a few mimosas before you remembered your job interview. I hope it went well! A true sign you're in vacation mode when you almost forget about the interview. 🥳

 

It was just a pre-screening interview with the HR guy before I interview with the actual hiring manager. But, it did go well and we are working on scheduling the actual interview now. Have to work around my port schedule, as I am not confident the wifi onboard will support an actual video call. Need to do it on a day I know I will have good cell service in port.

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, CityGrrl said:

Jamie! 

 

I'm loving this!

 

Would it be possible for you to post the drinks menu .pdf you mentioned? Or any of the new revised drinks menus?

 

Thank you so much for bringing us along.

 

Here you go.

QR_K_BAR-LIST-GENERIC_OTHER_DAYX_EN_1681060149.pdf

[JAGR]

On 3/28/2023 at 3:25 PM, JamieLogical said:

We are staying at the Avid Hotel in Orlando and taking a GO Port shuttle to the cruise port the next day. I will definitely be posting to let you guys know how that all goes.

 

 

 

I'm curious how the GO Port shuttle worked out.  I was looking at doing two one-way rentals (about $55 for each, so close to the Go Port rate)  I'm thinking about the delays on drop-off and pick-up for the rental cars at Port Canaveral, and the time waiting for the Go Port bus to fill up and take us to the ship.  Didn't see much comment on your shuttle experience, so I was curious.  Thanks

[JamieLogical]

8 minutes ago, JAGR said:

I'm curious how the GO Port shuttle worked out.  I was looking at doing two one-way rentals (about $55 for each, so close to the Go Port rate)  I'm thinking about the delays on drop-off and pick-up for the rental cars at Port Canaveral, and the time waiting for the Go Port bus to fill up and take us to the ship.  Didn't see much comment on your shuttle experience, so I was curious.  Thanks

 

It went easily and smoothly. The morning of the cruise, I received a text from them saying to be in the hotel lobby at 9:30. Shortly before 9:30, two Go Port employees showed up in a car, ahead of the bus, and put color coded tags on our luggage to designate which ship we were on (Wonder of the Seas was also in port yesterday). They checked our names off the list and then the bus showed up. We were the bus' first stop. The two people who had tagged our bags and taken our names, then drove ahead of the bus to the next hotel. We stopped at 4 more hotels iirc, all near our own. Then we got on the freeway and had about a 45 minute ride to the terminal. The bus dropped off the RCL passengers first, then took us to our terminal and dropped us off. It was all easy and we got off the bus at about 10:45.

 

Our ship isn't returning to Port Canaveral, but I did listen to the driver's instructions for the RCL passengers. They can get on any Go Port bus between 7-10 when they disembark. The shuttles run continuously to MCO.

[JGmf]

Hope you continue to have a great time!

 

We're sort of following the path you blazed, as NCL die-hards, going on Princess in June (geez, I hope it goes better for us than for you), and eyeing MSC b/c of easy access out of NYC.  We're eager to read more about your trip!

 

(Hope the job interview went well).

 

[cruzlover]

Thanks so much for your Live Report. We’ll be boarding Apr 29 from Brooklyn. Thanks as well for the bar list. I read the following and it sounds like you can get a drink and just pay the difference, meaning you can get a $16 drink for $6 if you have the Easy Plus Package. This is not what I understood to be the case. Wondering if you could get confirmation on this. 

 

“Upgrade Your Drink Choice
If you’re thirsting for a cocktail, favorite spirit or special glass of wine that’s not included in your purchased beverage package discounts are available to ensure you quench your thirst.
Easy Package holders
save $ 8 on all beverages $ 8 or more.
Easy Plus Package holders
save $ 10 on all beverages of $ 10 or more.
Premium Extra Package holders
save $ 16 on all beverages of $ 16 or more.
Enjoy your beverage package responsibly and treat yourself to a discounted upgrade.”

[SallySlapCabbage]

I will be sailing on the Meraviglia in June in an aft Fantastica balcony. We recently sailed with Norwegian and for the first time bought “Beach Vibe” passes for the adult only sundeck and really enjoyed the less hectic atmosphere. Can you share with me your perspective on the Top Exclusive Solarium that is part of the Aurea experience? Is it worth $430pp when I’m otherwise happy with my current cabin? I get conflicting answers when I call customer service with my questions. Thanks in advance! 
Sally 

[Aldeya]

What a great review! Thank you so much for the pictures and the bar menu! We are going on Mera in a few months so every detail is very helpful. Your cabin and THE balcony look amazing. What is the cabin#? (I might look into booking cabin like this for a special occasion).

Edited April 11, 2023 by Aldeya

[JamieLogical]

10 hours ago, cruzlover said:

Thanks so much for your Live Report. We’ll be boarding Apr 29 from Brooklyn. Thanks as well for the bar list. I read the following and it sounds like you can get a drink and just pay the difference, meaning you can get a $16 drink for $6 if you have the Easy Plus Package. This is not what I understood to be the case. Wondering if you could get confirmation on this. 

 

“Upgrade Your Drink Choice
If you’re thirsting for a cocktail, favorite spirit or special glass of wine that’s not included in your purchased beverage package discounts are available to ensure you quench your thirst.
Easy Package holders
save $ 8 on all beverages $ 8 or more.
Easy Plus Package holders
save $ 10 on all beverages of $ 10 or more.
Premium Extra Package holders
save $ 16 on all beverages of $ 16 or more.
Enjoy your beverage package responsibly and treat yourself to a discounted upgrade.”

 

We definitely plan to test this at some point. Just haven't had occasion to yet, as we have found a really good selection within the $10 price limit. I will definitely splurge on a few fancier cocktails and let you know how the billing turns out.

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, Aldeya said:

What a great review! Thank you so much for the pictures and the bar menu! We are going on Mera in a few months so every detail is very helpful. Your cabin and THE balcony look amazing. What is the cabin#? (I might look into booking cabin like this for a special occasion).

 

Our current balcony is 9009. From what I understand, there are two similar balconies on each deck, but they do have a slightly different floor plan depending on which deck. We just chose this one because it was the last balcony with the hot tub available by the time we booked.

[JamieLogical]

I lost Internet after typing up my entire post about yesterday. Guess that's 45 minutes of my life I won't get back! Will try again after breakfast.

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

11 hours ago, cruzlover said:

Thanks so much for your Live Report. We’ll be boarding Apr 29 from Brooklyn. Thanks as well for the bar list. I read the following and it sounds like you can get a drink and just pay the difference, meaning you can get a $16 drink for $6 if you have the Easy Plus Package. This is not what I understood to be the case. Wondering if you could get confirmation on this. 

 

“Upgrade Your Drink Choice
If you’re thirsting for a cocktail, favorite spirit or special glass of wine that’s not included in your purchased beverage package discounts are available to ensure you quench your thirst.
Easy Package holders
save $ 8 on all beverages $ 8 or more.
Easy Plus Package holders
save $ 10 on all beverages of $ 10 or more.
Premium Extra Package holders
save $ 16 on all beverages of $ 16 or more.
Enjoy your beverage package responsibly and treat yourself to a discounted upgrade.”

Someone on Seascape (I think) confirmed this is the case now...which is awesome! And hello fellow Canadian! See you on the 29th.

[pirate4me2]

Loving your review so far, thank you for taking the time to do it. I hope I enjoy MSC as much on my first cruise with them come August! 

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

I lost Internet after typing up my entire post about yesterday. Guess that's 45 minutes of my life I won't get back! Will try again after breakfast.

I have had CC remember what I was typing and restore it later.

[JamieLogical]

Okay. Here goes attempt number two to type out my full recounting of yesterday.

 

The day began with a knock on the door of our room service breakfast being delivered. This was a surprise, because we ordered delivery between 7:00 and 7:30 and my husband NEVER sleeps that late.

 

Despite all experience indicating it would be foolish, my husband decided to try to order a hot breakfast from room service. He does this at least once on pretty much every single cruise and it is always a mistake. Everyone knows that eggs get cold in precisely 12.5 seconds, yet he still somehow thinks he is miraculously going to receive hot eggs from several decks and many yards away with multiple stops at other rooms before they reach us. It is a physical impossibility, yet he continues to try. No surprise, the eggs were cold.

 

I was content with my coffee and chocolate croissant. I was very happy to see chocolate croissant as an option since they were not available on Princess.

 

We weren't able to eat on the balcony, because everything was still wet from all the rain and rough seas the night before. We took our sweet time getting showered and dressed and I updated my blog while my husband played on his Steam Deck. The. We made our way out in search of our morning juice (mimosas).

 

We tried the Infinity bar in the atrium first. They were open and we ordered our first round. Unfortunately, the stools around the bar are much more form over function. You felt like they were rejecting you and trying to just dump you back out of them. So, we headed up the the Edge bar and found some more comfortable seating and played some rummy.

 

I had two mimosas and and then remembered the mimosa blossom I had the day before, so ordered one of those. It wasn't until I was contemplating a 4th round before I realized I had a job interview at 1:30, so I should probably cut myself off.

 

We dropped out stuff back at the room and headed to Waves, which was the only MDR serving lunch. They were only open from 12:00 to 1:00, so we got there promptly at noon.

 

It was here I realized what everyone was complaining about regarding tables being ridiculously close together in the MDRs on MSC. Our first night in the Panorama Dining Room, there was a good 3 feet between our table and the nice German family of four seated next to us. At Waves, there was barely 3 inches between us and the tables to either side of us.

 

It didn't bother me, though, as I am a pretty social person. But I could definitely see where anyone wanting a private, intimate experience would be upset. We ended up spending the entire lunch chatting with the solo gentlemen seated next to us and had a great time.

 

I am sorry to say that I forgot to take a photo of the menu. I had the Signature Burger with fries and my husband had the fish fry. Both were perfectly good. Have we had better versions of both? For sure. But we have certainly had far worse as well. We shared a piece of the Boston cream pie for dessert.

 

After lunch, we headed back to the room so I could take the phone call for my interview. It went well. This was just a pre-screening interview conducted by the guy from HR. We are now working to schedule an actual, full interview with the hiring manager for one of the days that I am in port and have strong cell signal.

 

After the interview, we got straight into the hot tub, which was now truly HOT. A little too hot, honestly, so we turned down the temperature a bit for next time.

 

We tried to dry out on our loungers, now that it is was warm enough to do so, but it started raining almost immediately after we laid down.

 

We ended up going back inside and getting dry and dressed. We then headed back to Edge for coffee and cards. One thing I really like about this ship is that most bars have an espresso machine and you can get high quality coffee and lattes without having to go to a designated "cafe." I got some coffee with Bailey's and it was perfect. The coffee onboard is definitely the best cruise ship coffee I have had.

 

Also, when we went to Edge this time, before our butts were even in our chairs a server came over and took our drink orders. I had seen a lot of complaints about slow bar service on MSC, but that had not been our experience AT ALL so far.

 

A few rounds of cards and a mojito later and we were ready to explore the ship some. It was still raining outside, so we had to keep the the interior, but we explored all the upper deck indoor spaces and the rest of deck 7. I am sorry to say I didn't take any photos at all on our tour, but I promise to go back through and take more later.

 

While we were in the sports zone, we booked a reservation for bowling on Wednesday. We also learned that the flight simulator is out of order, so that's a little disappointing, since emew pre-purchased the fun pass. I am sure we will still get our value out of it with some more bowling later in the cruise, some time in the arcade, and the F1 racing simulators.

 

We also took a tour of the thermal suite area of the Spa. We get free access as Aurea guests and I am trying to decide whether to buy a pass for myself for the next sailing. I just don't see us making it there much this sailing, when we have our own private hot tub on our balcony.

 

After our exploration, it was time to stop back by the room and get ready for our early seating (5:30) at Teppenyaki. We were seated next to a lovely couple from Canada, who we had a great time chatting with between noisy performances. The experience was a little different from what we are used to on NCL. If you have the dining package, you need to pay an extra $10 per person and you can order one of the cheaper meal options or the vegetarian option. For the more expensive meal option that included lobster and filet, you had to pay an extra $30 per peron.

 

We both ordered the Samurai, which was the more expensive option that was still only a $10 upcharge. It was WAY WAY too much food.y favorite parts were the miso soup and the salmon. I don't even like fish, but that salmon was delicious and cooked perfectly!

 

Also worth noting, sake would have been covered under the easy plus package, but they didn't have any available. Apparently there is currently some provisioning issues with sake. We ended up drinking plum wine, which was also covered under easy plus and was quite good.

 

After dinner, we decided to go to the comedy juggling show in the main theater. We got seats and watched the cruise director, who is American, do the introduction, but then my husband realized we would miss sail away if we stayed. So we decided to leave. Sorry I can't report on the quality of the show.

 

Also, side note: not only do they not serv drinks in the main theater, but they won't even let you bring them in. I saw a girl being turned away until she finished her glass of wine.

 

We headed back to our room to watch sail away from our balcony. It was very pretty, but we could see right away that we were in for some rough seas as soon as we go out of port.

 

We were right, because we soon heard an announcement that the Rock Circus shows were cancelled for the night. They said the passengers who had the reserved would get their reservations moved to the next performance.

 

My husband decided to stay in  the room and relax, while I headed to the champagne bar. It was completely dead in there. Just one couple playing cards and then a few people passing through only to find out the bar didn't serve beer or liquor and leaving. I found that there were several cocktails covered under the easy plus package. I tried the Amaro Amare and the Elderflower Spritz.

 

I chatted with one of the servers for a bit. She said it's always dead in this particular lounge because not many people want champagne. I promised her I would come back with my husband, as we are both fans of prosecco-based drinks.

 

I then headed off to the casino to pay my tithes to the Sun God. Then it was off to bed.

 

Hopefully I didn't forget to include anything in my second typing of this post. If I remember anything I left out, I will post back.

 

Day's Drinks: Mimosa X2, Mimosa Blossom, Americano w/ Bailey's, Mojito, Plum Wine x2, Amaro Amare, Elderflower Spritz

QR_F_TEPPANYAKI_OTHER_DAYX_EN_1681166404.pdf

[JamieLogical]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JamieLogical]

Before I forget, I really need to mention the amazing level of cleanliness on this ship. Literally everywhere I go, there are people cleaning every single surface. Constantly vacuuming throughout the hallways, polishing the chrome that is EVERYWHERE, wiping down mirrors and handrails, dusting the artwork and sculptures.... I mean, every cruise line I have been on has had hard working cleaning crew, but this is a whole other level of clean.

[harrco]

On 3/28/2023 at 1:25 PM, JamieLogical said:

Hi everyone! I am very excited to soon be doing my first live blog from an MSC ship, the Meraviglia. I am doing a semi-B2B and plan to post about both sailings on this thread. The first sailing is the 4/9-4/20 repositioning sailing out of Port Canaveral, going to Aruba and Curacao, and ending in Brooklyn, NY.  I will be doing that sailing with my husband in an Aurea Balcony Suite with a hot tub on the balcony! The ship is then porting in NYC for two days, presumably to take on new crew and provisions and maybe do some press tours before its new homeport inaugural sailing. We will be spending those two days with some friends who live in Brooklyn (those who followed my Emerald Princess live blog in December know @megaphone84 and her husband from that cruise). I will then be sailing solo in a Fantastica Balcony cabin on the 4/22-4/29 round trip cruise to the Bahamas. The solo sailing is a bit of a "reunion" with several solo sailors I met on my October NCL Breakaway cruise, including @ESCARGO and @reeinaz.

 

This past weekend I did an inventory of everything on my packing list to make sure I stocked up on anything I needed. A $300 grocery bill and a $200 Amazon bill later and I think we have everything! It's tough packing for 12 days (we are flying down to Orlando a day early) with no intention of doing laundry onboard. I have heard some horror stories about MSC's laundry service. In addition to it being expensive, it seems they are prone to damaging/shrinking clothes. So I am going to try to do the whole first sailing without doing any laundry and then hopefully be able to do laundry at my friends' place in between cruises.

 

We are flying Frontier down to Orlando on 4/8. It is our first (and probably last) time flying Frontier. We initially booked it because it was a direct flight. Direct flights are rare from our home airport of Rochester, NY. Almost every destination requires a layover for us unless it is a major hub we are flying into. Frontier was one of two airlines in Rochester that flies some direct flights to airports in Florida, because we have a lot of snowbirds here. It also appeared to be pretty cheap, but we learned quickly that looks can be deceiving. By the time we paid extra to select our seats and bring bags (carry-ons aren't even included), we paid as much or more as we would have for a Delta flight. But it did still have the advantage of being direct. The reason I say this will likely be our last Frontier flight is that the airline announced it is leaving the Rochester market in May.

 

We are staying at the Avid Hotel in Orlando and taking a GO Port shuttle to the cruise port the next day. I will definitely be posting to let you guys know how that all goes.

 

My husband will be flying home from JFK on Delta on 4/22 after staying those two extra days with me in Brooklyn. I will be taking the exact same flight a week later when my solo cruise disembarks.

 

I will post here about my pre-cruise preparations over the next 12 days and then the real fun will begin!

 

I am on the MSC with you 4/9/23 and continuing. I need help   following you .  I am in 13104 now and would like to follow and meet you live.  My name is C Harris.

[ddlb]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:17 PM, JamieLogical said:

Not a lot of updates yet. Pre-cruise prep is scheduled to go into overdrive tomorrow, when we are done with all of our social obligations for the week. I did get tip/casino cash out from the bank yesterday and finished typing up the instructions for our pet-sitter. I am planning to print out all of our cruise documents, hotel confirmation, etc. this afternoon. Tomorrow the packing begins!

You probably know this, but you can use your OBC in the casino unlike NCL.