Semi-Live MSC Meraviglia 11-night Caribbean round trip from NYC (Jan. 15, 2024)

[PistolPete13]

Hello all,

 

Starting my semi-live review of a 11-night Caribbean round trip from NYC on the Meraviglia starting this coming Monday, 1/15/24.

 

Some background info.  Still consider myself a rookie cruiser with 38 nights under my belt since my first cruise in 2019.  All of the sailings had been NCL out of NYC.

Here is a link to my last semi-live back in Feb of 2023.
 

NCL didn't have any interesting iteniaries from NYC this winter and they were sailing with the same ship as last year so I decided to give MSC a try.  MSC has been on my radar since they came into the NYC market a few years ago with some very aggressive pricing.  For this sailing the price and ports hit the right notes for me so it was a go during the "Black Friday Sale" this past Thanksgiving.  I had not been tracking prices so I'm not sure how much of a sale it really was but it fit my budget and time frame so here we are!

So far my experience post booking has not been great thanks to the very clunky website that MSC has.  Just for some background, I've been in the software and IT field for over 30 yrs so I've seen and problem solved a lot of issues on similar client facing systems.  That being said, here has my experience been so far:

 

1. Online booking and payment was straightforward.  I had created an online account and status matched my NCL rewards for the equivalent MSC early last spring.  I found that the benefits on MSC were not as extensive as what I got with NCL.  No matter.

2. 30 days before sailing and it was time for Web Check in and this is where the fun begins!  I'm not a big fan of mobile apps so I start the check in process via the website login.  I completed all the requirements EXCEPT for the photo (the website didn't recognize my webcam for some reason) and linking of a credit card to my account because that option was never present on the website.  No big deal right?  Once the web portion was completed, I received a confirmation email that was completely in Italian.  Again, no big deal, google translate.

 

3. I download and install the mobile app to my iPhone to complete the missing items in the check in.  Take a horrid photo, and link a credit card to my account.

 

4. Once that process was completed, I log in back to the website to try and get my e-Docs.  No go.  Each time I press the button to send the docs after entering my email address, I'd get an error pop up.  I ended up calling customer service and they were able to generate and send me the big PDF file to my email.

5. I'm a bit of a planner so I wanted to book a few excursions beforehand but was unable to on the website.  Error messages would pop up or no excursions would be listed for the port.  I continued to check every day and on the third or fourth day, the excursion screen worked and I was able to book two of them.  Payment make and email sent to confirm.

6. At this point I should be all set.  A few days later I tried to log back into the web account just to make sure nothing has changed because the entire process had left me feeling unsure about the website.  This time around I was unable to log back in with my user ID and password.  It would kick me out saying I need to connect from the right country.  There are two other threads happening here with others having the same issue so I won't rehash the details here.  I'm still not able to login but my mobile app works and I'm not about to "rock the boat" this close to my sailing!

The booking # login still works but you're limited in functionality with that login.

So at this point I have hard copies of all my paperwork and plan to book one more Costa Maya excursion AFTER I get onboard.  Packing has commenced and I look foward to seeing how MSC will compare to my NCL experience.

If you haven't fallen asleep by this point reading, let me just say that I look forward to having you along from the cruise!  If there are others that are on this sailing and would like to add their experience to this thread, please feel free to do so!

 

-Pete

 

 

[TLG40]

I have cruised on the MSC Meraviglia from FL - beautiful ship!

My words of wisdom - Check your bill at the end -- I assumed it was a charge and it was a credit on my account idk how -- but they wouldn't let me disembark -- It was less than $10 -- having an early flight to catch I had to sign a paper waving the cash -- BUT it did hold up the line and it was very annoying & totally my fault for not reading the final account correctly.

I will be following along:) Enjoy your trip!!!

Edited January 13 by TLG40

[Laurab23]

Looking forward to your review. We sail on MSC on Meraviglia for the first time the end of March.

 

Laura

[mking8288]

Bon Voyage - found the post here on MSC, going to follow ... timing is near perfect to get out of expected cold weather ahead next week & beyond, while some of us are suffereing from winter blues.  Have a great one !  

 

Are you taking your 50 lbs+ pro gears along, LOL ... Henry 

[Maleficent's Dad]

Pistol Pete,

From a fellow NY'er, I'm right with you about NCL out of NYC.  Really interested in hearing about MSC!

[JIMESOPUS]

@PistolPete13 Welcome to the other side of the river " Brooklyn ". Agree about the current NCL situation in NYC and it's not getting any better, we headed south this year for our winter NCL but next year it will be the Meraviglia. 

The first day was crazy since the buffet was the only thing open to have lunch on our cruise.

Wishing you calm seas and fantastic weather.

Jim

[PistolPete13]

38 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Bon Voyage - found the post here on MSC, going to follow ... timing is near perfect to get out of expected cold weather ahead next week & beyond, while some of us are suffereing from winter blues.  Have a great one !  

 

Are you taking your 50 lbs+ pro gears along, LOL ... Henry 

Hi @mking8288!

Yes, I'll be taking the "compact" but heavy setup.  There is an outside chance to catch a SpaceX launch on 1/17.  I say outside chance because that will be a manned launch and the safety standards are probably much more stringent.

What are the predicted sea conditions for Tuesday 1/16 with this cold front passing by?

[Two Wheels Only]

8 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

Take a horrid photo, and link a credit card to my account.

 

Don't be surprised if you have to do both again on embarkation day. Sometimes, those things don't carry-over to the ship. 

[Av8tor]

4 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

 

There is an outside chance to catch a SpaceX launch on 1/17.  I say outside chance because that will be a manned launch and the safety standards are probably much more stringent.
 

Manned flight safety standards are indeed more stringent, but that probably doesn't apply to the exclusion zone for personnel safety.  That's to protect those on the ground & sea from spacecraft debris, not the astronauts themselves inside the spacecraft, so it sould be the same restricted area for manned or unmanned flights...

[mking8288]

13 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

What are the predicted sea conditions for Tuesday 1/16 with this cold front passing by?

Well, should be a fine sailing for others & you tomorrow on this southerly run ... ahead of the nuisance snow & ice forecasted.  Assumed you loaded "Windy" App on your iPhone/Android - the usual light choppy sea and maybe a bit of wind, nothing to challenge these mega ships - nothing to worry about.  

 

Have a great cruise, eager to read about different perspectives outside of the YC experience.  

 

Edited January 14 by mking8288

[PistolPete13]

Received a text message that has pushed back my boarding time from 10AM until noon.  Not a big deal, I had planned to get there early anyway.

For those that may not be aware, tomorrow is a Federal Holiday and traffic should be lighter than normal.

On NCL I've always been able to get a solo table for dinner.  Not sure if that is the case for MSC dining.  Better pack an extra collared shirt in case my tablemates start to notice I'm wearing the same thing for 10 nights....

Edited January 14 by PistolPete13

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, PistolPete13 said:

Received a text message that has pushed back my boarding time from 10AM until noon.  Not a big deal, I had planned to get there early anyway.

For those that may not be aware, tomorrow is a Federal Holiday and traffic should be lighter than normal.

On NCL I've always been able to get a solo table for dinner.  Not sure if that is the case for MSC dining.  Better pack an extra collared shirt in case my tablemates start to notice I'm wearing the same thing for 10 nights....

Just tell them all your shirts are alike.  Or my other reply would be ‘It’s my favorite and I wear it as often as I can.’

[xcell]

For msc....I have a TA and have her deal with the mess....plus, with some TAs they give an additional bonus with booking with them.

 

With that being said, I've never been able to put my cc is....but I'm from Canada, maybe that's the issue and just do it onboard.

 

Check your cabin number...on this last cruise, what I booked originally was not what I had on my final document.   It was a better room, so I didn't mind but curious as to how that happened.

 

Enjoy ..I'm sure the weather is better than what we are having now ..

 

Following.

[PistolPete13]

Morning all!

Here we go.  The NYC temps are 23 degrees F this morning.  I decided to go with plan B and get a ride directly to the Brooklyn port vs my original plan of taking the ferry from Wall St.  At these temps the less time I spend outside the better!

Checked and rechecked that I have all my paperwork.  Cargo pants are a must for embarkation day given how full your hands are with luggage.  Hopefully my next post will be at the pier!

[Mike C]

We just got checked in. They are asking for paper copies of the boarding passes

[JIMESOPUS]

@Mike C and @PistolPete13 Bon Voyage, have a great cruise

[PistolPete13]

11:12AM and sitting around waiting to board.  
 

I’m group 30 and they just called groups 6 and 7.  
 

Arrived at the terminal around 10:30am.  A ton of people but the lines were moving well.  Six security scanners helped. 
 

check in was painless and they even accepted my horrid photo taken during online checkin. 
 

 

[mking8288]

Bon Voyage ... Pete.  Looks like a nice, no-frills warehouse operations they got in Red Hook.  If not for the roped lines, could easily mistaken it for shopping at the nearby Ikea store behind the waterfront.  

 

@Jimespus - part of the NCL gang are coming over to check things out.  BTW, happy New Year 2024.  

[PistolPete13]

Yes, very basic and no frills but roomy!  So far not many huge differences with the Manhattan cruise terminal except maybe a few more security scanners (six). 
 

Yacht club members have another line but boarding for them had already started so I’m not sure if there is a separate waiting area. 
 

Traffic was moving well into the port area.  I jumped out of the car before the gate and walked the short distance while my friend did a U turn and got outta there. 

[PistolPete13]

I’m impressed that some people have figured out a cheat code for the long lines that double back over each other. 
 

just push your luggage under the ropes into the next line.  By the time you reach it, rinse and repeat for the next row.  Bingo no need to lug your trash. 
 

Nevermind everyone has to walk around your crap now.  Good thing I didn’t see anything worth taking.  If there was a GoPro case…

Edited January 15 by PistolPete13

[JIMESOPUS]

7 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

Yes, very basic and no frills but roomy!  So far not many huge differences with the Manhattan cruise terminal except maybe a few more security scanners (six). 
 

Yacht club members have another line but boarding for them had already started so I’m not sure if there is a separate waiting area. 
 

Traffic was moving well into the port area.  I jumped out of the car before the gate and walked the short distance while my friend did a U turn and got outta there. 

There is a separate entrance to the left of the main entrance, a butler meets you there and walks you to the YC check-in counter, after checking in there is a room with snacks and drinks. Also, there is a blue tent across from the entrance where the YC luggage is dropped off.

[PistolPete13]

Why do people insist on crowding at the boarding entrance waiting for their group to be called?  Causes a traffic jam. 
 

You can tell I don’t fly right? 
 

oh no. I just heard nail clippers.  This is going to be one of those cruises isn’t it…

Edited January 15 by PistolPete13

[nferr]

I'll be getting on when you're disembarking on Jan.26. 

[cruiseny4life]

59 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

Why do people insist on crowding at the boarding entrance waiting for their group to be called?  Causes a traffic jam. 
 

You can tell I don’t fly right? 
 

oh no. I just heard nail clippers.  This is going to be one of those cruises isn’t it…

Gotta have them toe nails looking good before getting onboard!!

[PistolPete13]

Mandatory safety drill at 2PM.  All bars and the buffet was closed since everyone was supposed to be in their rooms watching the video and then confirming via phone call before walking to muster station for card scan. 
 

I walked by the buffet around 2:50 to get outside for the sail away and the buffet is still closed.  A lot of annoyed people standing there with empty plates…

 

good thing I managed to drop my luggage off in front of the room and go get my eats right after boarding!
 

 

Edited January 15 by PistolPete13