JamieLogical's Live from the MSC Meraviglia 9/24

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I think I am going to cancel our upgrade offer for the YC Interior. We discussed it quite a bit last night and I am really worried about the lack of storage space, lack of a couch, and lack of natural light. I just don't think we can get enough value out of the YC amenities to justify the downgrade in cabin space PLUS an extra $500/person. If we could keep our same Balcony Cabin and pay $500 per person, I am sure the YC amenities would be worth it. Unfortunately, the minimum bid to upgrade to a YC Balcony is over $1500/person.

 

 I agree with you.  There is a lot to be said about the value of natural sun light, especially on a cruise.  We cruise in suites mainly for the additional room.  We informed out children when we started sailing that we spending their inheritance.  Neither seemed to have a problem with that!. 

 

[mnpurple]

As I read this, I think we've "down-graded" progressively on each of our cruises. We started our first MSC cruise in a YC Deluxe Suite on the Seaview that was very spacious. Last Jan, we were in YC Deluxe on Divina, which was quite a bit smaller room and bathroom. Our next cruise we begin a six week European adventure in a YC Interior on Euribia out of Southampton. We're planning on each having one back pack, so I would hope space won't be an issue.  We've been married for over 30 years, so we can manage in a smaller space for a short time (with lots of YC area to stretch). It will also make the remaining five weeks of travel feel like we have so much more space!

 

Looking forward to hearing more of your cruise reporting @JamieLogical.  You are booked on the same cruise itinerary we took last January.  We really enjoyed it, but it was a very rough sailing almost the entire time. We weren't able to dock at OC. 😪  Hopefully yours will be smoother. Divina is a lovely ship and staff were great, however we preferred the Seaview more. Personal preference I guess. 

[JamieLogical]

5 hours ago, ms sjsky said:

Hi Jamie, Always enjoyed reading your reviews from NCL and now MSC.  Super excited that I will get to go along for the ride with you before our NE/Canada cruise in October.  I've been on the Meraviglia out of Miami, but have never sailed NE/Canada so will be interested in what you are doing in those ports.  Have you pre-booked any excursions?

 

Nancy

 

We do not have any formal excursions booked. One of our friends who has family ties to Newport is actually going to be meeting us there (he is driving there from Rochester the day before our port stop) and he is going to show us all around.

 

For the other ports, I think we will play it by ear. We currently plan to get off in each port at least, so long as the weather is cooperative.

[PTC DAWG]

Storm should be long gone..

 

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Storm should be long gone..

 

 

Yep, I am keeping a close eye on it. Mainly I am worried about ports being closed due to damage or any cascade effects from delays on the sailing before mine.

[PTC DAWG]

57 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Yep, I am keeping a close eye on it. Mainly I am worried about ports being closed due to damage or any cascade effects from delays on the sailing before mine.

I expect it will weaken significantly when it starts hitting cooler water..so that should be in your favor.  
 

I will say I really like that itinerary, looks fun. Lots of things to see. 

Edited September 14, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[vllygrrl]

8 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I think I am going to cancel our upgrade offer for the YC Interior. We discussed it quite a bit last night and I am really worried about the lack of storage space, lack of a couch, and lack of natural light. I just don't think we can get enough value out of the YC amenities to justify the downgrade in cabin space PLUS an extra $500/person. If we could keep our same Balcony Cabin and pay $500 per person, I am sure the YC amenities would be worth it. Unfortunately, the minimum bid to upgrade to a YC Balcony is over $1500/person.

Some perspective on this... my husband and I are normally the type to spend a lot of time in our room.  23 cruises, mainly balconies but a few Haven suites on NCL and exactly 2 oceanview cabins that were so cheap we couldn't pass them up.  We upgraded to YC on Divina in 2021 and the overall experience was so spectacular that I joked to my husband that I would take the YC Inside if it meant being YC again.  We spent less than 45 minutes total on our balcony that trip, preferring to chill in the lounge or on the deck by the One Pool.  Yacht Club isn't really about the amenities that come with it... it's getting whisked through security on arrival, having a quiet space with people who want to simply make you happy... it's completely intangible.  We will be on Meraviglia in November in a YIN... our very first interior cabin on any line.  And I'm not mad about it at all.

[DaKahuna]

@JamieLogical  I have been cruising YouTube video's of MSC Divina and from what I can tell there is quite a bit of storage in the Yacht Club Interior staterooms  I have seen the typical shelves with a safe occupying one shelf, adjacent to that is a set of four or five drawers, and next to that is a hanging closet.  You may want to take another look before making a final decision on whether to upgrade to YC or not.  Just saying.  🙂

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by DaKahuna

[Essiesmom]

23 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

@JamieLogical  I have been cruising YouTube video's of MSC Divina and from what I can tell there is quite a bit of storage in the Yacht Club Interior staterooms  I have seen the typical shelves with a safe occupying one shelf, adjacent to that is a set of four or five drawers, and next to that is a hanging closet.  You may want to take another look before making a final decision on whether to upgrade to YC or not.  Just saying.  🙂

 

There aren’t any Yacht Club insides on Divina.  EM

Edited September 14, 2023 by Essiesmom

[JamieLogical]

24 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

@JamieLogical  I have been cruising YouTube video's of MSC Divina and from what I can tell there is quite a bit of storage in the Yacht Club Interior staterooms  I have seen the typical shelves with a safe occupying one shelf, adjacent to that is a set of four or five drawers, and next to that is a hanging closet.  You may want to take another look before making a final decision on whether to upgrade to YC or not.  Just saying.  🙂

 

 

This is for our Meraviglia sailing and there is definitely MUCH less storage in a YCI than a standard balcony. On. 10-day sailing, the extra storage will make a difference.

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

There aren’t any Yacht Club insides on Divina.  EM

 

Damn, that's correct.  Guess those video's were no Divina. 
 

[JamieLogical]

Found out we'll be able to meet up with our friends in NYC for breakfast before we sail next Sunday. Really looking forward to that as we haven't seen them since April.

[JamieLogical]

Six days to go!!! I didn't get a whole lot of cruise prep done over the weekend, unfortunately. My husband got all of our 360 videos from our LAST trip on the Meraviglia in April moved off of the camera and uploaded to YouTube (link to the channel is in my signature), so now the camera has plenty of storage space for new videos next week.

 

I got my Microsoft Surface laptop charged up and updated with the latest Windows updates, so I will be able to continue my liveblog onboard with that. I only ever use it when I travel, so hadn't charged and updated it since my last conference in July.

 

I made a to-do list of all the things I need to do before the cruise. Hey, making the list still counts as doing something!

 

Oh, I did inventory all of my pills/vitamins and went ahead and loaded up my daily pill boxes to make sure I had enough of everything to get through the rest of this week and all of the cruise. I am only low on vitamin D, so will get some of that today or tomorrow.

 

My husband did all his laundry last night, so I am free to do mine whenever I get around to it. Probably Wednesday?

 

I had planned to go to the bank on my lunch break today, but there was a thunder storm with torrential rain, so I opted to skip it with the hopes of going tomorrow.

 

I checked the long-range forecast for all of our port stops for next week and right now every single one is supposed to have a high in the 66-70 range with showers. Let's hope the showers don't materialize at least. It's too far out for me to trust any of these forecasts right now anyway.

 

I spent a good portion of the weekend trying to persuade my dad to go on an MSC cruise with us next April. I had originally talked to my mom about going on the Seascape out of Miami and she was gung-ho about it. But when I talked to my dad about it, he poo-pooed it quickly, not wanting the hassle of flying. He is really only interested in sailing out of NYC.

 

I remembered having looked at sailings on the Meraviglia for the spring, but maybe only looked at May and June? Somehow I missed two sailings in April, an 11-day and a 10-day, that go to the eastern Caribbean out of Brooklyn. The 10-day seems like the perfect fit. It runs from a Thursday through a Sunday, so I would only have to miss 7 days of work. It sails out of NYC like my dad wants. And it goes someplace other than Bermuda. My parents have only ever cruised to Bermuda and my mom was really itching to go someplace new, which is why she had been interested in the Seascape sailing. By this time, my husband and I might be getting a little sick of the Meraviglia (I will have sailed her 5 times in a row then), but it's worth it to get to cruise with my parents. I don't know how many times I will have the opportunity to do that still. My dad will be 82 for the April sailing.

 

So, I am going to keep giving my dad the hard sell. My husband and I are going to look into what deals we might get for booking it onboard next week. I also submitted the MSC status match on behalf of my dad so they can get the 5% Voyager's Club discount if/when they book. They are only Silver with NCL so will be matched to Classic on MSC, but with as rarely as they cruise, I don't think it really matters much beyond the 5% discount.

[DaKahuna]

@JamieLogical You certainly have been busy.

 

 I always carry two or three space 64GB SD cards for my camera but I don't think I took more than 50 or 60 pictures with it on our last cruise.  I use my iPhone predominately for all pictures.  I have it set up to automatically sync photo''s to my MacBook Air and upload them to CC from there. 

 

 Organizing medications can be a challenge.  It's gotten to the point I take two pill cases as I can only get two weeks worth in the normal 7-days pill case.  Our upcoming cruises are 11 day and 13 days respectively and I since we stay before and in the case of the 13 day one, after the cruise, I normally end up having to take more than 14-days worth of meds. 

 

 I am looking forward to following along here on CC. 

[optimusprime82]

Anyone have any MSC experience with Boston? Will they be using Flynn Cruise Terminal this fall when docking for the day? We're trying to determine the viability of just walking off the ship to explore.

[JamieLogical]

Five days to go! Last night we got our COVID and flu shots. I printed out our eTickets and luggage tags. I got my Kindle charged and synched so I have all my latest books downloaded. And I got the instructions and schedule typed up for our pet sitter. My husband started doing a little packing.

 

So, we are making progress. Tonight we have trivia, so I probably won't get much done, but tomorrow night will be laundry and then I can start some of my own packing. I have everything on my ToDo list mapped out as to what tasks I need to do which days. I am feeling like I am on track.

[JamieLogical]

3 minutes ago, optimusprime82 said:

Anyone have any MSC experience with Boston? Will they be using Flynn Cruise Terminal this fall when docking for the day? We're trying to determine the viability of just walking off the ship to explore.

 

I am not aware of any other places for cruise ships to dock in Boston.

[Boschmann]

1 hour ago, optimusprime82 said:

Anyone have any MSC experience with Boston?

In 2019 Meraviglia docked at Flynn Black Falcon.  Not much within easy walking distance.   We walked over to Harpoon Brewery and had planned to walk to the Institute of Contemporary Art, but after drinking a few beers decided against it.

[Sakura Tomoe]

1 hour ago, optimusprime82 said:

Anyone have any MSC experience with Boston? Will they be using Flynn Cruise Terminal this fall when docking for the day? We're trying to determine the viability of just walking off the ship to explore.

That is the only cruise terminal in Boston that they could use.  As far as exploring, based on where the terminal is (middle of nowhere) you'll either want to familiarize yourself with the public transit system (the T) or get an Uber, since it would take a good deal of walking just to get to places that are interesting.  The T can get you all around Boston for cheap.  I'm somewhat local, so I'm very familiar with the T and can get to anywhere I want pretty easy, but if you don't know the lines and where they stop, it could be tough.

[Fissues]

2 hours ago, optimusprime82 said:

Anyone have any MSC experience with Boston? Will they be using Flynn Cruise Terminal this fall when docking for the day? We're trying to determine the viability of just walking off the ship to explore.

Four blocks away is the Seaport District. It has fantastic shopping and food. Other than that, I would take an Uber to the North End, and have at it! Best Italian food. Go to the Daily Catch you will not be disappointed.

[RosieCanberra]

Thank you for writing this thread, I'm on the 4 October cruise, same itinerary. Will be my first MSC cruise so I'm looking forward to your updates.

 

Happy cruising! 

[melissy123]

I'm doing the October 4 cruise as well, same itinerary. Looking forward to seeing the daily calendars, especially as to the timing/variety of the shows and what's happening on sea days.  We did our first MSC cruise to Greek Islands this summer on one of their old ships. I found the food to be blah but that's also because I caught Covid at some point on that cruise.  Looking forward to the Meraviglia.

[JamieLogical]

Yesterday was mostly a waste of a day. Thankfully I hadn't planned to do much cruise prep anyway, since I was scheduled to do trivia. The COVID/flu shot combo had me pretty miserable. Sore muscles, stiff joints, headache, and a mild fever. Feeling much better today. Made it to the bank to get cash out for the cruise and I am doing laundry right now with the hopes of getting most of my backpack packed tonight. My husband is off getting a haircut.

[nycfa]

On 9/18/2023 at 2:38 PM, JamieLogical said:

 

I remembered having looked at sailings on the Meraviglia for the spring, but maybe only looked at May and June? Somehow I missed two sailings in April, an 11-day and a 10-day, that go to the eastern Caribbean out of Brooklyn. The 10-day seems like the perfect fit. It runs from a Thursday through a Sunday, so I would only have to miss 7 days of work. It sails out of NYC like my dad wants. And it goes someplace other than Bermuda. My parents have only ever cruised to Bermuda and my mom was really itching to go someplace new, which is why she had been interested in the Seascape sailing. By this time, my husband and I might be getting a little sick of the Meraviglia (I will have sailed her 5 times in a row then), but it's worth it to get to cruise with my parents. I don't know how many times I will have the opportunity to do that still. My dad will be 82 for the April sailing.

 

 

You didn't miss it......originally they were only going to be 7/8 day cruises and at some point they changed to the 10//11 day ones.  I saw people talking about it on other groups....some folks were happy...longer cruise same price....some not so happy...can't take off that much time at work etc....

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, nycfa said:

You didn't miss it......originally they were only going to be 7/8 day cruises and at some point they changed to the 10//11 day ones.  I saw people talking about it on other groups....some folks were happy...longer cruise same price....some not so happy...can't take off that much time at work etc....

 

I was disappointed to see today that the last two Aurea Balcony Suites w/Whirpools were sold out now. I had hoped to book one of those when we got onboard this weekend. Who knew they would sell the last two just days after I had noticed the cruise? I am going to have to keep an eye out to see if any open up after cancelations.