Ok cruise, but Divina is a better ship and experience
MSC Meraviglia Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 9
Helpful Votes: 107
3 Night Bahamas (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 16, 2023
Ship: MSC Meraviglia
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
When I booked this cruise, I was not considering the spring break crowd. There were lots of families, children and college kids on the ship. It was very very crowded and I won’t book during this time of year again. I think this was also my last “short” cruise. It seems longer cruises that are generally more expensive attract a more well-behaved clientele. There can be bad apples in every bunch, but the vibe on this one had me much more cautious of my surroundings than usual. There is no comparison to 7 nights on Allure of the Seas and 3 nights on MSC Meraviglia.....completely different experience. This ship was fine, but I liked Divina much more. They had lot of activities and it was nice being ported at Ocean Cay overnight. It would be great if they took a cue from Royal's playbook with their approach to their safety drill. After watching the video on the cabin TV and calling the number on the in-cabin phone to confirm, everyone was STILL required to visit a muster station to “check in”. This is fine, but they shut down all the elevators during this process and everyone on 14 had to take the stairs down to 7 then go back up. I watched an elderly couple really struggle to get down the stairs. By all means, have people report to their muster station, but shutting down the elevators makes it a challenge. They did the same drill the next day for those who did not attend the first day and they all had full use of the elevators. It was an ok cruise, but nothing really stood out. I'll cruise with MSC again, but definitely on a different ship for a longer duration.Embarkation
The embarkation process was as smooth as it could be considering the full capacity of the ship. I did not have to wait too long as it seemed like every desk was manned with attendants to check you in. My check in was for 3pm but I was in line by 2:30 and was on the ship by 3pm.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
This is so subjective, but here goes: I ate only at the buffet with the exception of once in the dining room for breakfast. I found breakfast to be lacking in both the buffet and dining room. The lunch selections at the buffet were hit or miss in terms of quality and taste, while dinner seemed to have more hits than misses. They did have special items on the buffet on St. Patrick’s day such as cabbage and Bangers & Mash and a beef and Guinness stew that was particularly good. I’m still on the fence about their pizza but only because it has been hyped up so much. It was better on this ship than Davina, but still nothing that blows me away.
It is my understanding that MSC has halted all drink packages on cruises of only 3 nights and I got that directly from two bartenders on the ship. I get they are doing this to curb the behavior of those who drink too much. I had a total of 2 beers and 2 mixed drinks so I don’t need to purchase an alcohol package but it’s unfortunate that if you want just a soda package that includes bottled water, you don’t get the option to have that either. With that said, beverage service was lacking everywhere. They simply did not have enough servers at any bar. The casino during off hours was one of the best places to visit to get any type of beverage. Also, it was difficult to find the large bottles of water which I preferred to take back to the cabin.
Onboard Activities
Service and Staff
No one went out of their way to do anything with the exception of my room steward who brought me some distilled water for my CPAP. Outside of him doing that, he really was not present or easy to find.
They had a great spa package special and I went to book it in person. The young lady assisting me scheduled me for 5pm, then her colleague whispered something to her and she informed me that she was sorry, but she forgot to refresh her screen and the last massage package for the day had already been booked. That was disappointing.
Also, no one answered the phones when I called to try to book a table at any of the specialty restaurants. When I visited Butcher's Cut at noon on that Friday, the restaurant was open (and totally empty) and no one was working there to take reservations. Once someone finally did answer (on Saturday afternoon) I was told, unsurprisingly, that all the specialty restaurants were fully booked. I've never had that much difficulty trying to book specialty dining.
Ship Quality
The ship was clean and some areas were quite beautiful. If you can follow the maps, you’ll be fine. It’s always a bit of a challenge getting the layout down, but I never got lost.
Cabin / Stateroom
I was on deck 14 and I was directly below the pool. It was as noisy as I’ve always heard it was but I also don’t recall ever looking at the deck plan before I booked to know where I would be. It was a standard balcony cabin but it had a huge balcony. I sleep through anything, so once I got used to the fact that it was just a noise-prone area, I was good. The shower always had great water pressure and hot water. The bed was very firm but not uncomfortable. However, if you like softer mattresses, you will not like these. The thermostat worked well and when I adjusted it, the temperature changed in a reasonable time frame. I did notice the cabin had a somewhat stale odor that smelled like it had been sprayed with something to mask the odor and it was noticeable every time I came back to the cabin. Also, because this cabin is recessed, my view to the left was obscured but I had perfect views straight ahead and to the right.
Ship tip
Do yourself a favor and track your expenses on the TV but also go to one of the kiosks the night before you disembark to make sure you don’t have any balance to settle whether it’s credit or debit. You don’t want to get pulled from the disembarkation line and lose your place because your account is not at zero
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas
Disembarkation
It started great because they allow “Express” disembarkation so those with luggage can leave at 7:30 am or as soon as the ship is cleared. I was probably number 15 in line and when they scanned my card, I was told I had “an outstanding balance” I needed to settle and I was pulled from the line. Here is what happened: MSC GAVE ME a $200 onboard credit as a promotional offer. I used $125 of it and had $75 left. I spent very little on the cruise and my credit card had no charges since the OBC never got fully used. My logic was since it was MSC’s “money” to begin with and just a promotional thing, I didn’t care if it was left because it’s not real money….right? WRONG! I had to go to one of the self-serve kiosks where you settle your accounts and I collected $74.84 in cash. I actually made money. The $200 was not OBC that I paid for…they gave it to me so I am still not sure how this happened. Am I complaining that I got money back? No. But I had to get back in the Express line (which was no longer express at that point) to get off the ship. So thanks, MSC, for paying for my port parking! If anyone has any insight into how a cruise line can “refund” money that someone is not owed, please share your thoughts!
Traveler Photos
12 Comments
loretalt 1 year ago
I travel with disabled 85 year old mother, and we never had problems using elevator after Muster drill. We were on MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seascape. They had cruise personnel at every landing who would let disabled people use elevators while guiding everyone else to use stairs.
Sorry for your experience
SeaNotes 1 year ago
@CaBaDavis....I'm well aware of how muster drills work. On RCCL Mariner, Independence and Allure, they offer e-mustering so passengers have all day the first day of the cruise to visit their assigned muster station and check in after watching the safety video. They never shut down elevators and do the old outdated method of herding an entire ship of passengers to muster stations at once. It would be nice if MSC would follow suit, as I already stated.
Next, I'm well aware that my OBC was a promotion. This means I did not pay for it. That's why I questioned how it could be refunded. It's hard to get a refund on something you never paid for.
I had a credit card "on file" with MSC long before I boarded the ship. MSC can't refund a credit card that was never used.
If you are going to comment on a review, how about reading it and understanding what you read?
CaBaDavis 1 year ago
@yk07us I agree about shutting down the elevators as in an actual emergency. I don't understand why people complain about that, what is their plan in the event of an actual emergency: that is the exact point of having a muster drill! I know for a fact Disney does not allow you to take the elevators and I just assumed RCCL doesn't bc we never have, on any cruise line, we've been on 4 others. Also, regarding your OBC, it was probably a promotion, that's how I received mine. That's nice they gave it back, bc mine says nonrefundable, but maybe if u ahd a credit card on file, it would have just gone on that?
CruzeFan 1 year ago
The 3-4 day cruises are typically “booze cruises” and are not even close to the same experience as the 7 day and longer cruises on MSC. MSC usually reminds you multiple times prior to and after boarding to register a card or cash at one of the kiosks onboard. It’s very quick and easy.