Underwhelmed and disappointed

Item: MSC Meraviglia
Rating: 2.4
Author: anonymous21

MSC Meraviglia Cruise Review to Caribbean

anonymous21

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

2.4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 24, 2019

Ship: MSC Meraviglia

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8103

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

I was originally so excited to go on this cruise, but the level of food, beverage and service was the worst I've ever been on. The food is not only uninspired but awful, and many nights inedible. The wait staff at our assigned dinner was beyond awful - rude; slow; it would take over 2 hours to dine and they would be out of a lot of things, others were awful, and they wouldn't accommodate our requests for wine, drinks except when we first sat down each night. It's billed as high-quality and couldn't be further from the truth. The all-you-can drink (and we upgraded for a cost) is very misleading. Many of the things on the upgraded list were "out" in most of the bars by the 2nd day of 8. In addition, there is marketing to make you believe there are all these different bars and experiences, and they are sometimes barely acceptable as a walk-up bar. The bartenders were clueless in general; no idea how to make the drinks; not willing to re-stock liquor from another bar throughout the cruise. No one seemed to care about the experience of the customer. I was overall very disappointed with the quality and experience, and this doesn't come close to lining up with the price and their promises. Delta Vacations should reconsider their support of this line.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Overall good service and fairly easy.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

I was incredibly disappointed in how bad the food was in both the dining rooms and buffets. The dining room experience was exceptionally poor - the food was often inedible, the service terrible.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

The activity options were limited - some closed very often (like sea days). Very average and uninspired.

Entertainment

2 out of 5

The Cirque show experience was awful. Every night the "party" was strangely in the main hall and it just didn't work. It was watching the boat staff and not involved with guests at all. The DJs on the back deck were terrible - worst I've ever seen on a ship.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

The service from the waiters at dinner was awful and rude. We never heard from or could find the rooms stewards. Lines to talk to the service desk were hours long; no one would answer phones.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Overall, the ship was fairly clean with one exception. Our hallway constantly smelled terrible - they kept trying to wet-vac, but it was making it worse.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The cabin was nice compared to other ships but nothing amazing.