Beautiful Ship-Meh Food
MSC Meraviglia Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 18
7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 06, 2022
Ship: MSC Meraviglia
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
To me ANY cruise is a good cruise. So based on that this was a good cruise. I do think MSC sometimes gets some undeserved bad reviews. This was my 4th cruise with MSC and I would cruise with them again. That being said in summary the service on this cruise and the engagement and friendliness of the crew was as good as I’ve ever received. The ports of call were good and the weather was great. I have seen some improvement in the music on board the MSC line since my first cruise with them. They had more upbeat music on deck and in the bars and lounges. They played island and beach type music on Ocean Cay. On the other hand the food (in the opinion of me and my wife) HAS to improve if they are going to appeal to an American clientele. The buffet was not good except for breakfast. The dining room food was just meh. The selection was lacking. The dining quality is a large part of the cruise experience and is one area that carries a lot of weight in choosing a cruise. I will probably give MSC another go in the future (especially if I get a great fare like I did on this one) but if the food isn’t improved it would probably be my last. Also I might add that there were benefits to a low passenger count like better service, no waiting in line, etc but having only 500 passengers made many times and events having a feeling of a party where only a few guests showed up. Everyone on the cruise had to have their vaccines and were given a Covid test before being allowed to board. I think having to wear a mask inside was redundant. We will not be cruising again as long as there is a mask mandate. We also won’t cruise until the situation gets closer to normal numbers. Having 500 passengers on a ship that normally has 4000 is somewhat eerie.Embarkation
Embarkation even with having to get a Covid test was smooth. Only about 500 passengers on this cruise was a big reason for that. Only 1 hour from arriving at the pier to being on the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I’ve been on 23 cruises counting this one. This is my 4th on MSC. Unfortunately I have to say the food was worse than any of my other cruises including my other 3 on MSC. This is one area MSC is going to have to improve on. Other than the breakfast buffet the food in the buffet at lunch and dinner was repetitive and not good with a few exceptions. We gave the buffet 2 tries and ate in the dining room the rest of the dinners. The dining room food was some better but still below the dining on other cruises I’ve been on. I would give the buffets a D and the dining room a C. We didn’t try the specialty restaurants. I still remember the days when the dining room food was as good or better than the specialty restaurants.
Onboard Activities
There were less activities than normal but I blame that on Covid protocols and the lack of passengers. There was Bingo at the pool and dance classes at the pool. They had a VR Formula 1 simulator and bowling lanes but I didn’t see many using them. They had the water park and rope bridge but not much action there, probably because of few passengers, and fewer children.
Entertainment
We only saw two shows in the main theater. One was a tribute to the Stars of Rock which was good and a magician that was pretty good. There was a rock band most nights in the Carousel Lounge which was almost as big as the main theater. The band was very good and the venue is beautiful. I hope MSC continues to have more rock entertainment and less opera, etc.
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
This is where MSC excelled. The crew from the room steward to the bar staff were the most accommodating of any cruise we’ve been on. They were very friendly and engaging and bent over backward to make sure we had whatever we needed. How much this was because of so few passengers to crew ratio I don’t know but I couldn’t have asked for more.
Ship Quality
The Meraviglia is a beautiful ship. The atrium with the Swarovski staircase and the promenade with the long LED ceiling are beautiful. Some people said they had trouble maneuvering the decks and hallways but we had no trouble. To the contrary we found everything fairly easily and one of the benefits of so few passengers was availability of elevators.
The crew was constantly cleaning and sanitizing. Painting and varnishing was being done both inside and the exterior. Passengers were given temperature checks once a day as they entered the dining venue and were required to wash their hands.
Cabin / Stateroom
We had an aft cabin at the rear of the ship with a larger than normal balcony. The best part was the cabin next to us wasn’t being used so our steward opened up the divider between the other balcony and we had two balconies! Another plus of having less passengers. Our steward Mervin was great. He cleaned our cabin twice every day and was always asking if everything was OK.
Ship tip
Skip the buffet except at breakfast.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
No excursion. The parking garage was right next to the pier and was just a short walk. It was easy as pie to get to the ship and get off.
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas
We did no excursion here but the island is great. Seven beaches though a few were understandably closed. You can’t possibly keep them all staffed for so few passengers. There were several bars and the beach had bar servers to bring drinks (most of the time.) They had shops but they didn’t seem to be doing much business. There were skidoo and kayak rentals available. The lighthouse light show at night was great. You could watch from the decks or from Lighthouse beach next to fire pits. They had a free buffet lunch on shore but again I wasn’t impressed. Overall though we really enjoyed this 2 days. The weather was nice but the water was a little chilly.
Again we did no excursion but went to a beach bar/restaurant. They had good food and beer prices and a $20 one hour massage. A lady we were sitting with that was on the RCCL Liberty had a massage and said it was much better than the $150 massage she had on the Liberty! There were a lot of vendors walking the beach with items to sell but they were not pushy and would accept a polite “no thank you.”
I always like Cozumel but having been here about 15 times we’ve done about everything already. We just took in the main street and the Plaza. Had a few cervezas and bought a couple of gifts and returned to the ship. Another beautiful day and not too hot.
Disembarkation
We docked at 7 AM and were in our car leaving port at 8.00. That was the fastest ever. We didn’t have to fill out a customs form at all and didn’t have to talk to a customs agent. We did have to go through what I assume was a facial recognition camera.
Traveler Photos
