Just of the Meraviglia - a few thoughts

[GPPhilly]

We just got of the Meraviglia yesterday a 7 days to Port Canaveral, Ocean Cay and Nassau.  We were in the YC and loved it as always. 

 

Service -

We felt the service was good.  Our butler was good but we have been spoiled on our last 2 YC cruises as we had amazing butlers that seemed to always be anticipating and offering.  Our butler did exactly what was asked of him.  Our servers in the YC restaurant were great.  Jerome was the waiter and Putra was the assistant.  They were so attentive and friendly.  Jerome was excellent when he saw something we didn't care for without asking he would bring a replacement.  We were warmly greeted by our old friend Raj at the concierge desk.  He is a pleasure to see.  He makes you feel like an old friend.  The Top sail staff was excellent as well.  We did see a lady that was not happy about her butler and let everyone know about it.  There was one glaring miss in service that we had and that was with the sommelier.  We had him on a previous cruise and found him to be the same way.  We drink wine every night with dinner.  On other ships the sommelier would come by the first day or two and ask if we needed any suggestions or had any questions.  One both cruises we had with him he never came to our table.  Now we did not request him but as a person in the position you should see we have wine each night and stop and introduce yourself.  He only seemed to cater to a few tables.  Not a deal breaker but it was noticeable when the service in general was good. 

 

Ship-

The ship was sold out but the YC never felt crowded and only a few times in the rest of the ship did it seem full.  The ship is beautiful just showing its age in a few areas.  The steps in the YC from deck 15-16 definitely need to be replaced.  It is worn down.  

 

Food-

The YC food was good as usual.  It was nice to see a newer dish on the menu once in a while.  The food was always at a good temperature which was great.  

 

Casino-  The dealers were mostly friendly and fun.  The casino host was new to this ship.  It was her 2nd week.  She wasn't has attentive as most but after talking to her she is feeling her way and how the Casino Manager works.  I just wish that the casino was non smoking again because the smoke was strong throughout the casino even at the table area.  I know there was a non smoking area outside the main casino but that was just slots and it was so hot out there. 

 

Now to the more controversial topics.

 

We do not have kids but have no problem with well behaved kids.  We were lucky as this was the first week back to school for most districts.  We were told they had 75% less kids then the week before.   The problem is the parents, if you are going to bring babies or kids be considerate of other passengers.  If your baby is going to cry and scream for periods of time during dinner or shows, take them out.   The ship is not your baby sister.  We saw 2 boys probably 8 -10 yo.  They were running around the ship at 1 am and a guest stopped them and asked were their parents were.  The boy said my mom said I can stay out as late as I want.   

 

Other guests

It seems to be a different crowd that leaves from NYC.   I have not seen more rude guests then I saw on this cruise.  

 

I liked leaving from NY as it is just a train ride and uber to the port.  Left the ship at 8 am and was in my house around 11 am.  

[GPPhilly]

A few more items.  Our last cruise was in April on the Euribia out of Southampton and I miss the daily afternoon tea service.  Also, on the Euribia in the YC Top Sail Lounge,they did not have snacks out like they used to and they were on request only.  The Meraviglia had snack out all day in the Top Sail Lounge

[GPPhilly]

I did post in another thread but someone had asked the concierge about not getting the welcome email from the YC asking for your pick of newspaper, pillow and alcohol for the room.  He was told they are not sending them any more because the requests never made it to the ship and people were frustrated.  May be MSC is finally addressing some things.  

 

Also in the YC we received the paper version of the daily planner but I heard in the regular area you needed to use the APP.  

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, GPPhilly said:

The ship is not your baby sister.  We saw 2 boys probably 8 -10 yo.  They were running around the ship at 1 am and a guest stopped them and asked were their parents were.  The boy said my mom said I can stay out as late as I want.   

 

In addition to being annoying to other guests, unsupervised children at that time of night (with few witnesses) are also potentially in danger. 

[kjbesq69]

I'm sailing Meraviglia in YC October 6th. Who were the YC Director and the maitre d' and how were they?

 

Also you mentioned some newer dishes on the menu, anything of note?

Edited September 9 by kjbesq69

[GPPhilly]

The YC director is Hugh Gibbs. He wasn't around much but seems to have the crew in good shape.  I remember this from our last trip with him.   The Maitre d, I do not know because he never once came to our table or introduced himself.  I believe he was a younger Italian

[GPPhilly]

There was a cheese cake ice cream with raspberry that was outstanding.  There were many different vegetarian choices I had not seen before.  There was a scallop dish I had not seen before.  The chef is from India and if you ask he will prepare some great Indian food that was not on the menus.  

[rrraydon]

Thanks for the review. I just booked on Meraviglia to Bermuda in April about an ago. 😍

[Georgia_Peaches]

We will be on Meraviglia for NYE cruise and I really appreciate your review.  Would you mind expanding more on the clientele?  You mentioned they were rude...was this in the YC or in other areas of the ship?

[LorraineP]

Would love to see dinner menus for YC. 

[Essiesmom]

I believe there are plenty of YC menus in the pinned threads above.  In addition there are menus in Pirates live from thread and although there may be subtle differences across the fleet, or even cruise to cruise, they are quite representative.  Also, at the top left of the threads page you will see See posts about…>Select ship.  Click on Select ship and you get a dropdown menu of MSC ships.  Click on you ship and you will get a page of threads mentioning the ship.  You may even get some YC live from threads.  EM

Edited September 9 by Essiesmom

[NYcruzzer]

We were on the same sailing as you. In YC as well. This was our first time in YC. We had a great cruise. We are booked (non YC) for 1/12 11 night cruise..I'm thinking it will be much harder to win a YC upgrade bid on that cruise. The outright YC fare is a bit rich for my blood..I know, first world problems...

[MsTabbyKats]

6 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We will be on Meraviglia for NYE cruise and I really appreciate your review.  Would you mind expanding more on the clientele?  You mentioned they were rude...was this in the YC or in other areas of the ship?

I'm interest too.  When I was on the ship in april...there were a lot on non-americans with different cultural norms 

[bluefish17]

16 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We will be on Meraviglia for NYE cruise and I really appreciate your review.  Would you mind expanding more on the clientele?  You mentioned they were rude...was this in the YC or in other areas of the ship?

I was on the same sailing and have to agree with the poor manners by some in YC as well as elsewhere on the ship. Worst example was on Ocean Cay YC beach. We walked over to North beach to swim since it was so much nicer and when we returned, the group sitting near us had taken our loungers, took off our towels, and pulled them over to their area. And were using our towel clips to hold their towels on. Of course  when we asked for them back, they pretended not to understand English and mumbled something in Chinese.

Also people walking three abreast on the running/walking track slowly, people butting in line, etc.

[JamieLogical]

I don't think bad parenting and rude passengers are unique to MSC, the Meraviglia, or sailing out of NYC. On my recent 14-day Princess sailing out of FLL, there were roving bands of screaming,  unattended children late at night on the lido deck in and around the pool an buffet, crying babies in the shows and MDRs, and people bringing kids to bars and PG13 comedy shows. I saw people wearing swimwear in sit-down restaurants and walking around in carpeted, interior spaces with bare feet. On disembarkation day, I had a guy literally cuss me out at the elevator when all I did was object to another couple that had tried to jump onto an elevator when my husband and I and the guy who cussed me out and his wife/girlfriend had been waiting a long time for one. I might have understood if the couple I interjected with cussed me out, but no, it was a guy who had been waiting almost as long as I had and I was trying to advocate for!

[MsTabbyKats]

39 minutes ago, bluefish17 said:

I was on the same sailing and have to agree with the poor manners by some in YC as well as elsewhere on the ship. Worst example was on Ocean Cay YC beach. We walked over to North beach to swim since it was so much nicer and when we returned, the group sitting near us had taken our loungers, took off our towels, and pulled them over to their area. And were using our towel clips to hold their towels on. Of course  when we asked for them back, they pretended not to understand English and mumbled something in Chinese.

Also people walking three abreast on the running/walking track slowly, people butting in line, etc.

Were the people who took your loungers etc....in the YC?  My guess is "no".....  Even if they were....that's what I meant in my prior post...about non-Americans with different cultural norms.

[GPPhilly]

I will try to answer this a nicely as possible.  I felt in the YC there were a few groups of people that didn't have manners.  They felt the Topsail lounge was their own private bar to get drunk and a bit rowdy and that they could yell at each other in the restaurant.  There definitely were cultural difference but the rude New Yorker is how I felt some of the guests came across. I know it is very stereotypical but it is the best way to describe them.  I have experienced some attitude on previous trips with being escorted to the front of lines being in the YC but on this trip some guests seemed extremely mad and voiced their anger at the butlers.  While these are always isolated cases, they seemed great in number on this sailing out of New York.  

 

If I used the terms my travel mates did regarding these guests, they would get censored.

[GPPhilly]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I don't think bad parenting and rude passengers are unique to MSC, the Meraviglia, or sailing out of NYC. On my recent 14-day Princess sailing out of FLL, there were roving bands of screaming,  unattended children late at night on the lido deck in and around the pool an buffet, crying babies in the shows and MDRs, and people bringing kids to bars and PG13 comedy shows. I saw people wearing swimwear in sit-down restaurants and walking around in carpeted, interior spaces with bare feet. On disembarkation day, I had a guy literally cuss me out at the elevator when all I did was object to another couple that had tried to jump onto an elevator when my husband and I and the guy who cussed me out and his wife/girlfriend had been waiting a long time for one. I might have understood if the couple I interjected with cussed me out, but no, it was a guy who had been waiting almost as long as I had and I was trying to advocate for!

Jamie

 

I agree you see this type of behavior on a lot of ships but I have been on 20 cruises and I have not witnessed this amount of bad behavior as I did on this sailing out of NYC.  In the YC we had 2 babies that cried and screamed so much and the parents did nothing.  We ended up going to dinner later as to avoid them.  

[bluefish17]

4 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Were the people who took your loungers etc....in the YC?  My guess is "no".....  Even if they were....that's what I meant in my prior post...about non-Americans with different cultural norms.

Yes, unfortunately there were YC.

[GPPhilly]

33 minutes ago, bluefish17 said:

Yes, unfortunately there were YC.

It is ridiculous as there were so many available loungers on that beach that day.  I commented to my travel partners how empty the beach was that day.  

[NowVoyager2]

5 hours ago, GPPhilly said:

I will try to answer this a nicely as possible.  I felt in the YC there were a few groups of people that didn't have manners.  They felt the Topsail lounge was their own private bar to get drunk and a bit rowdy and that they could yell at each other in the restaurant.  There definitely were cultural difference but the rude New Yorker is how I felt some of the guests came across. I know it is very stereotypical, but it is the best way to describe them.  I have experienced some attitude on previous trips with being escorted to the front of lines being in the YC but on this trip some guests seemed extremely mad and voiced their anger at the butlers.  While these are always isolated cases, they seemed great in number on this sailing out of New York.  

 

If I used the terms my travel mates did regarding these guests, they would get censored. 

Unfortunately, this horrible type of behavior is rampant & generational.  I find that teens to 50 somethings have a self-centered righteousness and are totally clueless in what is proper behavior. Everything from the baseball caps & daisy duke shorts in nice restaurants to loudly cursing at other people to being rude to service people.

I spent 3 1/2 months in Europe from May to July this year.  Thankfully the behavior was few & far between but when it did occur it was mostly Asians &  Americans as the biggest offenders.

In one restaurant in Rome I actually apologized for some rude obnoxious Americans - i simply said I was sorry & not all Americans behave like that.

 

As far as the children - I found the Europeans teach their children how to behave & respect those around them.  Families would gather for meals - NOT ONE PERSON YOUNG OR OLD HAD A TELEPHONE IN USE!!!  As someone else pointed out there were no "Children's menus" and in Italy McDonalds can't get a foot in with  the locals - even one outlet closed right next to an elementary school.

Unfortunately, with  travel being so affordable to all these days - anyone can get on a ship, plane etc.  I guess the Trailor parks are emptied & those released for good behavior head straight to the nearest airport & cruise ship!!

[Georgia_Peaches]

50 minutes ago, NowVoyager2 said:

I find that teens to 50 somethings have a self-centered righteousness and are totally clueless in what is proper behavior.

Wow!  That's quite an age spread.  As a 50 something, I try very hard to use couth and grace whenever I'm in public.  Unfortunately, the older I get the harder it has become for me to hold my tongue when witnessing bad behavior.

[Georgia_Peaches]

@GPPhilly thanks for the tactful answer to the clientele question.  I was curious because we will be on the Meraviglia over NYE and our party is a group of 10.  We are civilized folks and seasoned travelers but I can imagine how our group might be perceived as 'loud' while having a drink in the TSL.  While none of us are so rude as to shout across a restaurant, I do have some concern about our presence.

[MsTabbyKats]

7 hours ago, GPPhilly said:

I will try to answer this a nicely as possible.  I felt in the YC there were a few groups of people that didn't have manners.  They felt the Topsail lounge was their own private bar to get drunk and a bit rowdy and that they could yell at each other in the restaurant.  There definitely were cultural difference but the rude New Yorker is how I felt some of the guests came across. I know it is very stereotypical but it is the best way to describe them.  I have experienced some attitude on previous trips with being escorted to the front of lines being in the YC but on this trip some guests seemed extremely mad and voiced their anger at the butlers.  While these are always isolated cases, they seemed great in number on this sailing out of New York.  

 

If I used the terms my travel mates did regarding these guests, they would get censored.

As a New Yorker....born and raised and will die here....I can tell you...those "rude people" are not New Yorkers...such as me, who live in the city.  I rarely meet other New Yorkers (I mean real NYers...from the city) on cruisers.  Lots of people from the "greater NY" area....NJ,  the outer boros and the surrounding counties.  Think "Jersey Shore"....not Big Apple.

[morpheusofthesea]

15 hours ago, NowVoyager2 said:

with  travel being so affordable to all these days - anyone can get on a ship, plane etc.  I guess the Trailor parks are emptied & those released for good behavior head straight to the nearest airport & cruise ship!!

A great observation. And it is just not out of NY......This is found on every low priced cruise line.