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

[PistolPete13]

Day 8. Ocean Cay Marine Reserve

 

The word for the day is wind and cold!  According to the ship info display, winds were between 20 and 24 knots.  The captain was very careful docking the ship to the pier.  At times it seemed like we stood still for a while.  Based on the waves, no way would NCL have been able to tender on their private island.

 

Once docked, I was so happy to have my winter hoodie to wear while walking around the island.  The ambient temperature was 68 degrees but it easily felt like the 50’s with the constant wind.  All excursions having to do with the water were cancelled and only the bravest tried to venture into the water.

 

With my boat excursion cancelled, I decided to climb the 165 stairs to the top of the lighthouse for the bargain price of $20!  Sheesh.  Some folks really need to head the warnings before the climb as there was a lot of heavy breathing and pauses on the way up for the group.  Worked out for me since I had more time on getting some photos of the ship from almost “eye” level.

 

I wish I can give a more comprehensive overview of what Ocean Caye is like, but the wind was just too much.  After the lighthouse climb I abandoned my plans to circumnavigate the island on foot to report on the more remote beaches.  And this was basically it for the island.  Just a lot of quiet beach areas.  No waterpark or pool for the kids.  A big food pavilion with the standard buffet lunch.  There are winding paths along the island just wide enough for the frequent transport buggies but not enough for a person and a buggy.  Be aware you’ll be sharing the road with them if you decide to walk.  

 

I witnessed an uncomfortable encounter between a staff driven golf cart and a passenger on foot.  After a quick beep from the cart’s horn warning him, the gentleman lost it and started yelling at the workers saying they wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for him, etc.  Not sure where this sudden anger came from unfortunately.

 

We had 12 hours on the island which meant you could spend it on the beach to watch the sunset.  The main beach next to the ship even had fire pits set up for some small bonfires.  There were two 5-minute light shows with the illuminated light house which was a lot of fun.  I got decent video of the entire show and will post it once I’ve had time to process things.

[PistolPete13]

Day 9 Miami

 

Welcome to Miami!  We had a predawn sail in to the city.  This is my first time here and I was looking forward to seeing what this place is like.  Earlier in the month I found out that latest RCCL ship Icon of the Seas was going to have her naming ceremony in Port Miami the same day we arrived and I was on the top deck ready with my camera.  She did not disappoint, this huge monstrosity (in a good way) already docked in the RCCL terminal.  I was on the top deck of the Meraviglia and was eye level with the bridge of the Icon.  We even had a friendly horn salute of the new ship when we passed her.  The ship looked really top heavy with an entire shopping mall and amusement park perched so high up above the waterline.

 

I was curious and looked at the pricing (!!!) and sailings for this new monster and was disappointed to find only the usual 7 day Caribbean runs for the next year.  For a ship this size I’d expect it to be perfect for global circumnavigation cruises.  You can stock the hold with 3 months worth of hockey puck hash browns no problem!

 

Side note, we’ve run out of the has browns already and hope they will be restocked in Miami.

 

Port Miami is a busy construction zone with a least one new terminal building being built out.  I believe this will be the new MSC terminal.  We parked in a generic terminal between the Carnival and NCL buildings.

 

Since Miami will be the first US port of call after a foreign port, everyone will been to exit the ship for US Immigration checks.  The night before we received a schedule of when we should plan on departing the ship based on what floor your stateroom is on.  Several announcements were also made asking people to be prepared to stay off the ship at until at least 3PM.  For reference disembark times ranged from 9AM to 11AM.  Due to regulations, no food or refreshments would be offered in the terminal.  It was strongly suggested that people make excursion plans or independent plans to visit the city and not just sit in the terminal during this process.  All that being said, I still saw posts from unhappy people on the facial books site throughout the day from those that chose to stay in the port terminal.

 

I had a friend pick me up from the terminal and had a fun day playing tourist around the city.  South beach was fascinating and I felt completely out of shape walking around there.  My guilt of giving up my daily gym visits 3 days into this crew weighted heavily on me, until my Cuban sandwich lunch!  In fact I’m writing this blog right now on the morning of a sea day on the way back to NYC.  I had planned to goto the gym but ahh, forget about it.  I’ve fallen off the wagon and will stay off until I return home and get back to my normal routine!

 

It was still a windy and cool day but the beach area was packed.  It never ceases to amaze me how that on a midweek afternoon there can be so many unemployed people driving around in their Ferraris and having a lazy lunch at the cafes.  Bunch of slackers I’m telling ya.

 

I forced myself to have lunch with my friend at one of those fancy cafes lining the beach.  After 8 days of buffet and MSC dining, I’m ready for a one month fast.  The food was decent but damn the prices.  Ugh.  Lunch cost more than that overpriced ship model I purchased a few days ago!  Yes, I did get the model because MSC has a nice detailed pewter model of the ship that can do double duty as a weapon because it weights so much.  I could never justify buying any of the NCL ship models because they looked like something I made in 3rd grade art class and it would piss me off knowing how much it cost if it was sitting on my bookshelf.

 

Besides South Beach, I took a tour of the downtown area with the dozens of new condo towers being built.  With the amount of apartments there I would’ve expected the streets to be filled with people but it was deserted.  Maybe they were all driving their Ferraris up and down the A1A.

 

We had a full 12 hours in Miami and sail away was at 9PM.  Unfortunately Icon of the Seas sailed away in front of us so no nighttime beauty photos of her.  I’m sure there will be tons of photos plastered all over social media the next few days as her first revenue sailing is this coming Saturday.  I’m a little biased in feeling that very few people can take bland technical photos of inanimate objects like I can but hey, don’t ask me for a smiling selfie in front of that thing.

 

Tonight I had my first bad dinner onboard.  It was at the buffet because I needed the flexibility to be on deck for the sail away.  The carving station had some sort of roast and while it looked good, it was inedible due to how tough it was.  I couldn’t make any headway trying to chew any part of that thing, and I still have all of my natural teeth!  Very annoying so I just ate my salad.  I was not about to dive back into the buffet chaos for another round. 

 

[PistolPete13]

Day 10 Sea day.

 

It’s too damn windy and cold to be sitting outside again.  So on this 11 day sailing, there were only TWO days I could comfortably sit outside with the weather we had.  For reference I keep my home thermostat at 62 degrees during winter to save on heating costs so I know cold and this was too cold for me.  No thank you.  Figured it was just bad timing this year for a January cruise.

 

I also somehow caught a cold after the Cozumel stop on Saturday.  I’ve been very careful about avoiding people and hand washing too.  Oh well.  This affected my writing on the previous posts I think but I’m not going back to edit them now.

 

What else can I rant about today?  Let’s see.

 

Passenger demographics.  Very few kids as expected during a long cruise and not over any holidays.  I saw a lot more kids on my previous January cruises with NCL.  The largest group on board seems to be Asians, followed by Russians.  I could write an entire book on the interactions I observed in the buffet but I’ll leave that to your imagination.

 

My room steward said the passenger count was about 4700 for this trip.  I think the ship is rated fro 5700 or so.  There are always quiet places to be found on the ship if that is what you crave.

 

I really enjoyed the entertainment staff on this ship, especially the nightly dance parties in the atrium.  The kids (can you tell I’m old?) did a great job getting people involved and keeping the energy up.  They even got me thinking of what could’ve been if I ran away to join a cruise staff instead of doing the whole college and work a 9-5 job for the last 30 years thing.  Some of the most successful people I know never even bothered with school.  Wish someone would’ve told me that when I was 20 yrs old!

 

One evening a person gave me a long lecture on how this was the first and last time they would sail with MSC due to the fixed dining times and the difficulty with trying to change things around.  For me the food in the dining room was a step above the buffet but it wasn’t the be all end all of dining experiences.

 

This got me thinking on how we all sort of end up in our comfort zones for many things including cruising.  I’ve had four cruises in my life so far and all with NCL.  The first three days on this trip all I could think of was well, this it not how things are done, etc.  But I kept an open mind and adjusted.  For example, having a normal gym routine is important for me.  The gym on this ship is not big and there seem to be a lot of fitness nuts on this sailing.  So the place is always packed and it’s hard to use any of the equipment.  Ehh, so I’ll skip the gym.

 

The only ice cream available is the soft serve and you need to wait in line for a tiny serving.  But hey, turns out you can get scooped ice cream at dinner in the main dining room.  So I added a bowl of ice cream to my other two deserts.  You adjust.

 

I was horrified at the prospect of having to sit with a group of strangers at dinner but it all worked out.  Even if it doesn’t, service is only 90 mins and they’re super efficient in getting you out of there.

 

The daily activity sheet is filled to the brim with things to do.  You can choose to do it all or just do nothing.  I plan to scan all the daily sheets and post them here once I get settled back into the real world.

 

The forward observation lounge can get very loud at times and the chairs are set up for single seating so you can’t really lie down and sleep on them like with NCL.  I confess I did manage to nap a bit in those chairs with a large Russian group yelling at each other behind me.  But I use to nap on the subways during my commute so no big deal.

[PistolPete13]

Day 11 Sea Day

 

The gym finally cleared out this morning.  I think everyone just gave up, best intentions and all that.  Saw another show last night and I thought it was very good.  I got some good 8K video of the performance and will post some highlights if my home computer can process the files without melting down.

 

The atrium party was a Gatsby, roaring 20’s themed event and everyone was having a lot of fun.  Can’t compliment the entertainment staff enough for creating a great atmosphere for people to let loose.

 

The restock stop in Miami seems to have restored some more food variety in the buffet.  For the first time this cruise we saw mussels being offered.  You’d think they were giving away lobster tails with caviar the way they were being hoarded up.

 

My final weigh in at the gym this morning was still 154 lbs.  I was a bit shocked because I jumped from 150 to 154 after the first day and basically stayed there for the rest of the cruise.

 

The MSC mobile app has been stable and updates quickly with all my excursion cancellation credits due to the weather.  Quite a contrast to the confusing NCL accounting on their app during my last sailing.

 

Departure instructions were received via the mobile app.  It seems that we will leave in groups based on your deck number.  No early departure for those hand carrying all their luggage like with NCL.  My group meets in the main theater at 8:10AM

 

I’m writing this while sitting on the top deck outside.  The wind finally died down enough for it to be comfortable enough.  The temp is 64 degrees.  So as this long trip draws to a close, what are my thoughts?  I liked it, even without factoring in the bargain cost compared to similar itineraries from NCL leaving from NYC.  This is not a young and party crowd at least for this sailing.  Definitely heard a lot more foreign languages spoken than English.  

 

Food in the buffet was OK but not a lot of variety.  Certain items seem to run out quickly between restocking stops.  The main dining room food is a step up but the portions are tiny.  You can order unlimited appetizers and desserts but an additional entree will be $5.  During formal night they actually served lobster tail which was a complete shock to me.

 

The buffet logistics can be a zoo especially around the drink areas.  After a few days you figure out which stations have duplicate food and which drink areas are less used than others.  I also didn’t like the lack of sinks or portable hand sanitizer stations in the seating areas for when you want to clean your hands after touching all the common serving utensils.

 

I did not like the lack of viewing choices in the cabin television.  It was basically CNN, ESPN, Cartoon Network, and TCM.  For the tech savvy that download and take their content offline with them, not a big deal, but I’m a dinosaur who will likes to be surprised with a movie that I haven’t seen in years while channel surfing.

 

I liked that buffet stays open until midnight even with a limited selection.

 

I had read that the crew can be pushing in trying to upsell you photo packages and other things but I didn’t find this to be the case at all.  A no thank you with a smile and they will leave you alone.

 

I won’t give a verdict on the Ocean Cay private island due to the horrid weather that day.

 

That’s all for now.  Time to finish my book and maybe get a nap.

 

By the time you’re reading this I will be home with Internet access again.  I’ll be happy to answer any questions about this trip.  I have 4500 photos to review and 200 Gigs of 4k and 8k video to edit so expect weeks of continuing updates to this thread!

[Essiesmom]

On 1/24/2024 at 4:56 PM, Fogfog said:

@Essiesmom  Have meant to tell you-- I love the humor in your signature!🛳️

Thank you.  I keep wondering if I should add the New York City Circle Line to that list.  Loved doing that when I lived there.  EM

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, PistolPete13 said:

I’m back!!!   Right now on Staten Island ferry. 
 

Went from MSC to NYC Waterway ferry to Staten Island ferry. Three boats before 8am. 
 

Where is my longshoreman membership application. 

Be sure to add those to your cruise history.  EM

[Fogfog]

17 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Thank you.  I keep wondering if I should add the New York City Circle Line to that list.  Loved doing that when I lived there.  EM

That is a fun trip. Took one of our young adult kids on a tour of that - we had a great time

 

When I was in hs-- our PROM was on one of the tour lines that goes around. Bussed over to the pier, did the tour around (band on board) I forget if there was food. 

 

I am thinking I need to add the ferries etc. Such fun and a nice wink/humor 

Best

fog

[caribsun]

Thanks for the review, At your MDR table did they seat you with other solo's? Any events or meet ups with other solo/singles onboard. 

[PistolPete13]

19 minutes ago, caribsun said:

Thanks for the review, At your MDR table did they seat you with other solo's? Any events or meet ups with other solo/singles onboard. 

They had an initial solo meetup set up with the staff during the second day and an independent solo get together daily.

My table consisted of other solo travelers, most likely on purpose.

[PistolPete13]

MSC Day 12

 

Day 12 Arriving back in NYC

 

 

I’m now back home and looking to get as many of my thoughts down before they begin to fade.  I also want to do this before I lose myself in my photo and video editing.

 

The last sea day was a quiet one.  With the sun out and the wind finally reasonable, I was able to sit outside until about 10:30AM when I felt the first chill in the air.  Spent some time in the now empty gym before lunch.

 

Yesterday and today they had the normal end of cruise sales at some of the shops in the Atrium.  It pains me to learn (via the facial group) that apparently it was almost a full blown riot of pushing and shoving to get at some of the items that cruise critic pros like us don’t care two cents about.  More about this later.

 

In the buffet for lunch they rolled out the fancy chocolate desserts and had some low quality seafood (shrimp and seafood ceviche).  I happened to get there just as the lines opened at high noon and was caught in the middle of the chaos.  The only word that could describe how I felt was incredulous.  I didn’t see anything that came close to this on my NCL trips.

 

Plates were piled high and items hoarded like there was no tomorrow.  I saw some uniformed ship crew try to remove some of the larger serving lunch serving places from those waiting on the chocolate dessert line which had their own smaller plates.

 

It took me over 30 mins to get a sample plate of chocolates and some of the shrimp.  It was totally not worth the effort.  The chocolate was nice, probably straight from the fancy chocolate specialty shop down in the atrium, and the shrimp was barely edible completely overcooked to the point it had the consistency of mashed potatoes.

 

The main dining room dinner and show afterwards saved the last day for me.  The MDR entree tonight was swordfish and I enjoyed spending one more evening with my interesting table mates.  I even managed to help out with a unique solution to a much more experienced traveler at the table who ran into a last minute snag with his plans.

 

The last show of the cruise in the main theater was a mixture of all of the entertainment acts on the cruise minus the comedians.  It was great with a lot of energy and left me on a high note for the trip.  I didn’t record this show because I decided to put my camera away at this point and just enjoy.  It was good enough that I had to use the phone to record some bits of it but I’m not sure if the quality will be good enough to post.

 

I woke up around 5:15AM and checked the external cameras just in time to see us going under the Verazzano Bridge.  I headed up to the buffet around 5:45 hoping for a cup of coffee and was surprised that had everything up and running already!  Someone ahead of me hoarded all of the hockey puck hash browns (sensing a theme here?) and I only got one half broken leftover (at least it wasn’t half chewed).

 

My designated departure time is based on my deck and was scheduled for 8:10AM.  I will scan and post the full schedule in a later post.  Meanwhile, “walk-off” folks who are carrying all their luggage were allowed off starting around 7AM.  I knew my room steward had 20 rooms to turn around so I decided to vacate ASAP to make his busy day a little easier.

 

It was a bit of a walk to get off the ship and you actually had to walk UP the gangway a bit due to the timing of the tides I guess.  There was no immigration check at all.  I guess that was all done after our Miami stop.  Soon enough I was one the rainy sidewalk.  I made my way to the NYC Ferry stop right outside the gates of the port.  The cost of the quick 10 minute ride to the Wall Street stop in Manhattan was $4.  Once there, it was just a short walk to the Staten Island ferry terminal for me and my normal commute home.

[mcmomny]

PistolPete13

Thank you for your informative review, we too are long time NCL fans and are booked on our first MSC cruise this fall and have read many negative reviews and a few nice and informative ones like you and @Jamielogical which help us to understand the differences and I know we will have a great time!

 

[Fat Mike]

Thanks for the posts Pete! I was also on this ship. First time on a cruise. There were highlights and lowlights--had a bout of food poisoning (from the buffet) the Costa Maya night--but for the price this was a decent vacation.

 

Just a few notes going off of some things you mentioned:

 

• It seemed like the best time to hit the gym was around 8:30 or 9:00 PM. The crowds were pretty much gone by that point.
• I got a laugh out of your hockey puck hash brown thing. They were my favorite part of the breakfasts there!
• I have more "insulation" than you, so to speak, and found the outside temps largely quite nice except around NYC. I do agree that it's too bad Ocean Cay was so windy.
• Re: the mussels, one of my MDR pals mentioned that it got so bad that night that security was dispatched to prevent a brawl. Over mussels!

[njhorseman]

@PistolPete13, thanks for taking the time to do the review.

 

Like a number of others who regularly cruised on NCL from New York, we've been looking for alternatives. Your report has confirmed what suspected, that we would only consider Yacht Club on MSC, while on NCL although I prefer Haven Suites, I can usually accept a balcony cabin if necessary.

 

Thanks again

[sammee]

Welcome home, I boarded this morning. It was a breeze getting on and room was ready before noon. We are not doing self assist next week. Getting off is definitely an uphill battle. Hopefully we don't have to deal with the hunger games.

[PistolPete13]

Day 1 Photos.  Note the location of the NYC ferry and how close to the dock it is.

 

 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Pete, enjoyed your review. have read you on NCL. We sailed Meraviglia last July. If you happen to have any pics of the wine list would love to see it. thanks. sailing again in feb.

[Fogfog]

@PistolPete13

 

TYVM for your review and info

 

You last post re the havoc in the buffet (aka "the trough")  and saying you haven't seen that before reminds me of the movie Vantage Point. Meaning we have seen it on many lines

 

We have seen bad behavior on Carnival, Celebrity, NCL and MSC... sometimes alcohol related, other times just plain selfness, greed, gluttony, wastefulness, envy.

 

Could be sex in pubic spaces, ignoring muster station calls, drinks and food in hot tubs, cutting lines, handling food and then leaving it on a buffet, extreme drunks including  falling off a stool (and medics called), piling plates and food waste, chair hogs/towels, sneaking into reserved lounges/decks for suite class, and and complaints about and to those who paid for perks like suite class/priority boarding etc. We even know of an event where the security had to separate a couple and put the spouse in a separate cabin! 

 

Sadly those behaviors exist. If only something could be done about such people...

 

TY for your review. 

Bon  Voyage

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 27 by Fogfog

[JamieLogical]

I love the comments about someone else hoarding all the hockey picks when you yourself posted a pic with 11 on your plate!

[PistolPete13]

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

I love the comments about someone else hoarding all the hockey picks when you yourself posted a pic with 11 on your plate!

Very valid point, but I semi justifed it for being day 1 after a restock and there was still plenty left in the bowl and at other stations.  I'm still trying to digest the behavior I saw later on and how to present it here in a just the facts fashion.  It was so bad that I was standing there with a server and asking if this was "normal".

The amount being taken was impossible to consume in one sitting but I think I figured out the reasoning when departing in NYC today.  It was always drilled into me no fruits or any fresh food can taken off the boat or customs will get me in trouble.  Basic common sense I thought.

In Cozumel there were half a dozen garbage bags with food at the port exit where they had dogs sniffing all the bags.  I'd figured this was a possiblity at the Brooklyn port as well.  But, after immigration in Miami, we basically waltzed right out at NY without even a cursory check.  In hindsight that makes sense, but it also provided a loophole for a ton of food taken off probably.

 

[PistolPete13]

4 hours ago, sammee said:

Welcome home, I boarded this morning. It was a breeze getting on and room was ready before noon. We are not doing self assist next week. Getting off is definitely an uphill battle. Hopefully we don't have to deal with the hunger games.

Thank you.  The room stewards in my section were definitely on top of their game when it came to cleaning.  My guy has been with MSC since 2010.  He mentioned he was responsible for 19 cabins.  Not sure if that is typical nowadays but maybe others can chime in.

[no1talks]

44 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

"Sadly those behaviors exist. If only something could be done about such people..."

[caribsun]

12 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

Thank you.  The room stewards in my section were definitely on top of their game when it came to cleaning.  My guy has been with MSC since 2010.  He mentioned he was responsible for 19 cabins.  Not sure if that is typical nowadays but maybe others can chime in.

Was cabin service 0ne or two times a day?

[PistolPete13]

3 minutes ago, caribsun said:

Was cabin service 0ne or two times a day?

Once a day.  Probably not physically possible to do 2x a day given 19 rooms.  My cabin attendant was active from 9am until after 8pm most days. 

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, PistolPete13 said:

Once a day.  Probably not physically possible to do 2x a day given 19 rooms.  My cabin attendant was active from 9am until after 8pm most days. 

 

Interesting and possibly disturbing that you didn't receive evening turndown service. I always had evening turndowns on my Meraviglia sailings in the past, including as recently as late October. I hope they haven't cut this out like other cruise lines have!

 

Edited January 27 by JamieLogical

[PistolPete13]

2 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Interesting and possibly disturbing that you didn't receive evening turndown service. I always had evening turndowns on my Meraviglia sailings in the past, including as recently as late October. I hope they haven't cut this out like other cruise lines have!

 

It’s possible that it was still being offered and I just didn’t know.  After the morning service I just flicked on the do not disturb light and put out all my electronics again not expecting it to be disturbed.