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

[tony s]

20 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

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.

Sounds great the commute as we live in St George SI and plan to take ferry in August for cruise. How often does ferry go from pier 22 ?

[JamieLogical]

1 minute ago, PistolPete13 said:

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. 

 

Ah, yeah, they won't do the turndown if you have the DND light on (or the morning service for that matter). That explains it!

[AstoriaPreppy]

@PistolPete13 We were also on this journey, and echo many of your thoughts as first time MSC cruisers. Based on talking to people on other lines, we booked the Yacht Club to give us a bit of a buffer from some of the issues. 

 

The weather theme for the trip seemed to be wind, constant and strong. It's not normally like that out of NY, having done the sailings out many times. Oddly, we didn't seem to get much of the up/down rolling, hitting waves motion, but more of a pitch/yaw sort of shimmy that seemed nearly constant some days. We're not normally remotely seasick, but one of the days I had to bust out the emergency Bonine with our location high and forward in YC. The Meraviglia didn't seem to handle the winds well... I'm still shocked we were able to dock in Ocean Cay. 

 

We found the ship itself very impressive, but there were some quirks. Our inside YC stateroom was completely lacking in storage, other than two closets. If not for our packing cubes, I'm not sure where we would have kept 11 days of underwear/socks, much less shorts, pants, shirts, etc. We also found it odd that there was no nightclub/disco on a European ship, only to discover that the aft Horizon pool doubles as a nightclub, even in cold weather.  We also noticed some major maintenance issues with the LED screens on the ships, including panel failures and glitching that was especially noticeable in the theater.

 

We found the Carousel Lounge to be... oddly underused? It's a massive space, with huge windows, a giant bar setup, and views off the stern... that is only open in the evening for two paid shows with all the windows covered? Overall though, the ship seemed well maintained and staffed... including an inordinate number of activities staffers who seemed to be a constant presence, and were constantly hosting trivia, dance parties, karaoke, etc.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the YC, and found the rest of the ship to be chaotic, but at the most random times and places. We've been on 20+ cruises, and never experienced *anything* like what we saw on the Meraviglia. TBH, we've sort of chalked this up to the passenger mix and some cultural differences.

 

We were present for the screaming fights at the $10 knockoff sale, and also heard reports of the fruit hoarding and mussel-fist fight in the buffet. The theater seemed to be a hotbed of bad behavior. Lots of coming in 10 minutes before the end of the show, shoving over everyone in a row to get to two open seats, then deciding you hated the show and leaving after 5 minutes sort of stuff.

 

Overall though, we enjoyed ourselves, and will be back to MSC in the future. The YC was a welcome respite from the rest of the ship, but we enjoyed having the chance to get out and socialize whenever we wanted... we met lots of fantastic people, and it's been years since we had such a good people-watching cruise.

 

We were also surprised by the "there is no flavor" comments we've seen on CC, as we found the food in/out of the YC to be consistently well-prepared. The specialty dining we went to was across the board better than NCL, especially Hola Tacos which we wish we'd visited earlier on in the trip (to make some repeat stops), and the Carousel lounge shows are actual do-not-miss entertainment. We also didn't seem to have any of the issues with bar service I've seen reported, although we were never able to get into the Edge cocktail bar as it was constantly mobbed (especially with half of the Champagne bar having been converted to casino space.

 

We'll absolutely be back to MSC in the future!

 

Edited January 27 by AstoriaPreppy

[mets07]

3 hours 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!

 

We did not have evening turndown service on Meraviglia in November. Our stateroom attendant left the next day "schedule" either at our door or on the bed. He asked us at the beginning of the cruise if we would prefer morning or evening service. We chose morning.

 

We did not have do not disturb on....

 

 

[PistolPete13]

3 hours ago, tony s said:

Sounds great the commute as we live in St George SI and plan to take ferry in August for cruise. How often does ferry go from pier 22 ?

During weekdays it seems to be at least once an hour if not more rapid.  Weekends can stretch out to 90 mins.  The phone app they use has all the details but for some reason I had problems nailing down some of the times.

[Fogfog]

@AstoriaPreppy

 

glad you liked the YC. We find it to be a great product and value.

 

Re the Car. lounge aft.. The first two sailings we did--they offered a Cir de Soleil show with dinner. Two different shows. We had the 2 top table port side on those amazing windows for both. Great vies during dinner and unobstructed views for he shows.

Food was good. Starters like Burrata and I think it was either a lamb shank or short ribs entree.  It was a great use of space with the aeriel things and that wave of digital board along the whole front of th theater. (Feb 2020 B2)

 

Fast fwd to 2022 and Cirque wasn't there, though if they used the space for daytime activities- we don't recall. At night different bands played the venue. Had one rock band that did great covers and the place was packed. 

 

We agree- the space is too pretty to underutilized. 

 

TY re the YC interior info. We had done only YC1 w bal and thought the interiors online looked tight-no storage -- so quite impressed it worked for 11 days. Recently saw a youtube of another of MSCs ships and the YC interior was larger than Merav. interior... 

 

[PistolPete13]

Here are the daily activity sheets for the cruise.

MSC-1-15-24-Daily.pdf

[AstoriaPreppy]

55 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Fast fwd to 2022 and Cirque wasn't there, though if they used the space for daytime activities- we don't recall. At night different bands played the venue. Had one rock band that did great covers and the place was packed. 

 

We agree- the space is too pretty to underutilized. 

 

 

This provides great context! The space is still configured with dining tables and seating but they're completely unused. Only the chairs and cocktail tables surrounding the stage are used for seating. At the two shows we went to, there were maybe 50-60 people max in each audience. The lounge is only used for the shows, which only happen at night and only with the blinds drawn. It's inaccessible during the daytime, which makes me wonder what you'd do if your muster station was there? 
 

Currently, the two shows on the Meraviglia seem to be produced in-house by MSC under the "Carousel Productions at Sea" banner.  "House of Houdini" is the more avant-garde, Cirque-style show, while "Rock Circus" is a bit more direct, but still features cirque style performances. From what we could tell, the performers in the Carousel lounge shows perform exclusively in those productions, and never appear in any other entertainment offerings onboard. The singers and dancers were notably better than the performers in the Broadway Theater shows, which I guess justifies the fee.

 

The space, technologically and design-wise is amazing... tracks in the ceiling for performers on wires, rotating lighting rigs, elevators up and down for the performers to enter in, LEDs, fog, snow machines, turntables etc. It's a shame they aren't really using it much now, other than the two nightly performances. 

 

 

 

Edited January 27 by AstoriaPreppy

[njhorseman]

7 hours ago, tony s said:

Sounds great the commute as we live in St George SI and plan to take ferry in August for cruise. How often does ferry go from pier 22 ?

FYI, the ferry to Red Hook leaves from Pier 11 at Wall St. and the East River. IIRC Pier 22 was location of the original Fulton Fish Market.

You can find the ferry schedule here:

https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/south-brooklyn/

[Seas2mountains]

On 1/26/2024 at 7:53 AM, PistolPete13 said:

 

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.

Do you think the 11 hockey puck hash browns had anything to do with that? 🤣
 

When I saw the photo of them on your plate, I wondered if you might be saving them to take off the ship to sell to NCL cruisers in a port or at least to taunt them around breakfast time. 
 

MSC can introduce a new marketing slogan targeted to NCL cruisers similar to Arby’s “We have the meat” but with hash browns instead. 
 

Thank you for your great review. While I will probably book again with MSC, you convinced me to stick with YC. 

[benjaminnicholas]

On 1/17/2024 at 11:32 AM, PistolPete13 said:

The gym was an absolute zoo at 9:30AM.  It’s not very large at all and I want to say it was even smaller than what was on the Prima.  You had people camping out to use the treadmills (limited to 25 mins) and other machines.  The free weight area only had two benches.  Towels and sanitizer was in chronic short supply.  I’m not sure why the gym was so popular with passengers on this sailing.  I did noticed that the gym was also packed during sail away as well when I peeked in the windows.  Based on my unbiased observations, I think many of the passengers found the gym equipment to be a novelty for their instagram photos.  I’m trying to be kind OK!

 

The sole reason I wouldn't cruise on Mera again is that their gym is entirely too small for the number of pax.  They undersized it...  And for what reason, I don't know.

 

It's almost always a zoo, without enough room or any mirrors.  If you're fit, this is a terrible ship to try to stick to your workouts on.

[PistolPete13]

Took a break from the photos to avoid burning out.  Moved onto some videos of the trip.

Here is the full Ocean Cay lightshow!
 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

On 1/27/2024 at 9:15 AM, PistolPete13 said:

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. 

 

Do you usually put them away?  I have always left my MacBook Air and iPad laying out in the room and I have never had an issue.

 

[PistolPete13]

23 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Do you usually put them away?  I have always left my MacBook Air and iPad laying out in the room and I have never had an issue.

 

I put them away just to have less clutter on the desk for cleaning.  I was much more paranoid with leaving electronics out when I first started cruising but I've relaxed a bit now.

[Essiesmom]

You can go to guest services and ask for a blank card to leave in the slot.  I was having trouble with the a/c.  It was very cold, and I tried to raise the temp to moderate, but every time I came back to the room the thermostat was back down to the bottom.  I asked the steward about it, and he said he never touches it.  But he had the electrician come, and he said that when I removed the card it would reset down to its previous low, and to get the extra card to leave in the slot.  Of course, I could have got the bracelet and left my card in the slot.  EM

[PistolPete13]

Cozumel snorkeling excursion
 

 

[Turtles06]

@PistolPete13 a slightly belated welcome home! 
 

Thanks so much for taking the time you did to share your trip, your thoughts, and your always beautiful photos.

 

You’ve been very helpful in our thinking about trying MSC. 

Enjoy your return to the real world, and your photo and video editing. 

 

[PistolPete13]

Most unique photo I took of this trip, aircraft carrier CVN-73 George Washington undergoing sea trials and landing aircraft next to us off the coast of Virginia.  I don't think anyone even noticed on the top deck.

[PistolPete13]

Costa Maya port stop

 

[Mark_T]

On 1/29/2024 at 12:01 AM, PistolPete13 said:

Most unique photo I took of this trip, aircraft carrier CVN-73 George Washington undergoing sea trials and landing aircraft next to us off the coast of Virginia.  I don't think anyone even noticed on the top deck.

Great to be close enough to see the activity.

[sammee]

Omg, I thought about you and the mussels. They had them today, no fights but huge piles. Jokes on them. Half of the shells were empty.

 

Also they roped off a line for those sales with an enter and exit today.

 

I love the ship, service and crew. But the BS from some of these passengers makes me wish I had yacht club.

[PistolPete13]

Interesting interior design elements on this ship!

 

[JamieLogical]

Great photos!

[nferr]

On 1/27/2024 at 12:40 PM, mets07 said:

We did not have evening turndown service on Meraviglia in November. Our stateroom attendant left the next day "schedule" either at our door or on the bed. He asked us at the beginning of the cruise if we would prefer morning or evening service. We chose morning.

 

We did not have do not disturb on....

 

 

 I just got off the Maraviglia this morning. I had twice a day twice a day turndown service for the entire cruise.  

[sammee]

2 minutes ago, nferr said:

 I just got off the Maraviglia this morning. I had twice a day twice a day turndown service for the entire cruise.  

Same here, just got off this morning too.