JamieLogical's Live from the MSC Meraviglia 9/24

JamieLogical · October 5, 2023

4 hours ago, afn10305 said:

Jamie, so I am curious and would like your honest opinion. With regards to food and drink how does MSC stack up (or not) vs. NCL?

We're in Quebec City waiting to board the Pearl on Friday.

Oh! I also should have mentioned that I think NCL's specialty dining is generally better and there is more selection of specialty dining in their ships.

afn10305 · October 5, 2023

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Oh! I also should have mentioned that I think NCL's specialty dining is generally better and there is more selection of specialty dining in their ships.

Thank you. 👍🏻 We just turned Sapphire on Latitude rewards and had been contemplating a future sailing on MSC.

Mark_T · October 5, 2023

5 hours ago, afn10305 said:

Thank you. 👍🏻 We just turned Sapphire on Latitude rewards and had been contemplating a future sailing on MSC.

If you do try MSC don't forget to do a status match, Sapphire should get you Gold on MSC...

afn10305 · October 5, 2023

11 hours ago, Mark_T said:

If you do try MSC don't forget to do a status match, Sapphire should get you Gold on MSC...

Yup. That's why we've been considering. 👍🏻

buffet24 · October 6, 2023

Hi Jamie,

What general tips would you have for people on the embarkation day?

We (family of 3) are driving to the port from a hotel nearby and parking at the dock (Brooklyn)... so I am most curious about the best time to arrive there... and then anything else you can tell us as we're taking one small step at a time through the long wait in line... 😊

Sakura Tomoe · October 6, 2023

Thank you for this review. It was really helpful to see some options of what I can expect onboard, and kind of how it stacks up to my NCL experiences. Now I can start looking forward to my February cruise on the Meraviglia!

JamieLogical · October 6, 2023

53 minutes ago, buffet24 said:

Hi Jamie,

What general tips would you have for people on the embarkation day?

We (family of 3) are driving to the port from a hotel nearby and parking at the dock (Brooklyn)... so I am most curious about the best time to arrive there... and then anything else you can tell us as we're taking one small step at a time through the long wait in line... 😊

This time around, we arrived at the pier at 12:15 and were onboard at 12:38, so I don't know if many tips to make it faster than that! Check your big bags with the porters and only bring whatever bag has your meds and electronics onboard. Have your passports and boarding pass handy. That's about it. Otherwise, things were smooth. Also, for our sailing at least, there was plenty of parking. When we sailed away, the parking lot was only about 1/3 full.

Edited October 6, 2023 by JamieLogical

buffet24 · October 6, 2023

23 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

This time around, we arrived at the pier at 12:15 and were onboard at 12:38, so I don't know if many tips to make it faster than that! Check your big bags with the porters and only bring whatever bag has your meds and electronics onboard. Have your passports and boarding pass handy. That's about it. Otherwise, things were smooth. Also, for our sailing at least, there was plenty of parking. When we sailed away, the parking lot was only about 1/3 full.

Very grateful for that answer. Thank you!😊

EllieinNJ · October 6, 2023

Jamie. My husband just watched a video about the ship and they said it was very loud and crowded everywhere. Are there places you remember that are less crowded and less noisy? I don't want to spend all my time on my balcony LOL.

angelofjoy23 · October 6, 2023

On 10/2/2023 at 10:02 AM, JamieLogical said:

I called down to the specialty dining reservations desk and booked us a table for Kaito for dinner.

Do you know if you can just call the desk on embarkation day to make reservations rather than waiting in line?

buffet24 · October 6, 2023

7 minutes ago, angelofjoy23 said:

Do you know if you can just call the desk on embarkation day to make reservations rather than waiting in line?

Or is it also possible to make dining reservations before you get on board through the MSC App?

Or in general, what do you guys recommend is the best practice to reserve dining options?

JamieLogical · October 6, 2023

3 hours ago, angelofjoy23 said:

Do you know if you can just call the desk on embarkation day to make reservations rather than waiting in line?

The phone number seems to be hit-and-miss. Sometimes, when attempting to call, it would just ring and ring and we gave up and physically went to the desk in Ocean Cay to make reservations.

JamieLogical · October 6, 2023

3 hours ago, buffet24 said:

Or is it also possible to make dining reservations before you get on board through the MSC App?

Or in general, what do you guys recommend is the best practice to reserve dining options?

You cannot make dining reservations prior to boarding through any means.

JamieLogical · October 6, 2023

5 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Jamie. My husband just watched a video about the ship and they said it was very loud and crowded everywhere. Are there places you remember that are less crowded and less noisy? I don't want to spend all my time on my balcony LOL.

On our sailing, the indoor bars/lounges did seem to be exceptionally crowded because it was a cold weather sailing, which forced people indoors. On our previous sailing in April, which had warm weather, it felt far less crowded indoors during the day time. Also, on our port days, even on this cruise, there were less crowded places to hang out. In the evenings, the Meraviglia Lounge was usually both crowded and loud. The Brass Anchor was usually pretty quiet and uncrowded, though they do Pub Trivia and occasional live music in there that could cause it to fill up and get loud. The Edge was usually pretty crowded, but not loud, just music coming up from the Infinity Bar area. The Chapagne Bar was ALWAYS uncrowded and the only music again would be from the Infinity Bar area below. The sky lounge was usually pretty quiet, as the musical acts in there tended to be more subdued, but it could get pretty crowded after dinner. Hope that helps!

BoundForSea · October 7, 2023

On 10/4/2023 at 3:41 PM, JamieLogical said:

Made it home safe and on time! See you all again when I start my 10/25 Live Blog!

I’ve got my popcorn and cocktail for this one!!! I have to join one of these solo cruises y’all do next year. I’ll be on an NCL TA on the 25th. Any plans yet for a ‘24 one?

buffet24 · October 7, 2023

image.png.c539307cf671532b5dbe74224d31a20e.png Hi Jamie,

If you purchase these dining packages, are there any other extra charges (other than drinks and tip) added at the restaurant? Also, do you have to dine at everyone of these or can you choose to skip one and go to another one twice? Say skip the Mexican and go to Teppanyaki twice? Thank you.

JamieLogical · October 7, 2023

13 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

I’ve got my popcorn and cocktail for this one!!! I have to join one of these solo cruises y’all do next year. I’ll be on an NCL TA on the 25th. Any plans yet for a ‘24 one?

Nothing planned yet, but I am sure we will talk about it when we are onboard.

JamieLogical · October 7, 2023

52 minutes ago, buffet24 said:

Hi Jamie,

If you purchase these dining packages, are there any other extra charges (other than drinks and tip) added at the restaurant? Also, do you have to dine at everyone of these or can you choose to skip one and go to another one twice? Say skip the Mexican and go to Teppanyaki twice? Thank you.

I believe that if you do a dining package, you can only do Butcher's Cut once and Teppanyaki is an additional $10 charge. We did a 3-meal package on our first MSC sailing and used it a Butcher's Cut, Ocean Cay, and Teppenyaki. They were all good, though Teppanyaki was WAY too much food. At Butcher's Cut and Ocean Cay, we were limited to one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert from their "tastings menus," which was plenty of selection for us. If you want something off the a la carte menu in place of a tastings menu item, you get a 50% discount from the a la carte price.

Slyfox16 · October 7, 2023

Many thanks for your review and great pictures. We are on the 10/25 sailing of the Meraviglia and found your information very helpful in planning for our cruise.

JamieLogical · October 7, 2023

1 hour ago, Slyfox16 said:

Many thanks for your review and great pictures. We are on the 10/25 sailing of the Meraviglia and found your information very helpful in planning for our cruise.

See you then!