A good cruise but there is room for improvement

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 26

Review summary

MCS Meraviglia Overall, the ship was very nice although a little bit on the disco side with lots of chrome, however the food and the entertainment were high points. The ship has been well maintained and the rooms were comfortable although, as with most cruise ships, storage is at a premium. The majority of the frustration was associated with packages or the need for some information systems improvement. On the positive side was definitely the food which was above average and on par with a premium cruise line. The gala night was a particular stand out with excellent lobster and steak that can stand up to most specialty restaurants and is included in the complementary restaurant. My suggestion is to ask your waiter on the first night when the gala night will be so that you can make sure to be in the restaurant for that meal even if you make no others. The entertainment was also very good with a variety of different shows providing excellent entertainment in the evenings with a 45-minute timeframe. The staff was friendly and accommodating although at times not particularly well-trained for the position they were occupying. Although the ship was at full capacity other than a few key spots such as the buffet or the central corridor just after a show the amount of people was not that noticeable. This is definitely a family-oriented ship and on our cruise, there were a high percentage of children and young adults. The ship does however have several adult areas which the staff actively strives to keep the proper age bracket in these areas. Taking away from the experience was some of the areas which need improvement or better training. One of these examples is the drink package which depending on the level of package you get does not work in many of the locations such as any of the specialty restaurants or the pub (which also charges for the food) and because of the limitations of the package it?s very easy to think that you were going to get money off on a drink when in fact you will pay the full price plus gratuity. An example of this would be that you get only one beer selection and any other beer is excluded from the drink package or the pricing discount. These difficulties are further exaggerated by crew that either don?t know or won?t take the time to give you your discount on drinks which are not included in the package. This is particular true in any of the high-volume bars such as the pool or the entertainment venues. Since MSC has decided to go completely paperless in many cases you never see a receipt and many of the crew members do not inform you that you will be charged above the drink package. During our cruise we had to go back to a bar or customer service 3 times to get charges corrected and reminded crewmembers several other times to include the drink package discount. In addition to the drink package the dining package may have some ?features? which may make you feel a bit underwhelmed. Although the food in the specialty restaurants was excellent, if you?re using a dining package you are only allowed to select off of a submenu for the ?dining experience? in some of the venues. Although there are several selections on these menus, some of the more popular items such as crabcakes appetizers or Seabass were not part of the allowed selections. You could buy them for a 50% reduction to the standard price in addition to the price already paid. Outside the packages the other MAJOR point of irritation was the speed of the IT systems. This was particularly true whenever you are trying to get on or off of the ship it took 3 to 4 seconds from the time the cabin card was scanned until the information came up for validation. To put this in perspective when you come into port if only two thirds of the passengers wanted to get off (2000 people) it will take anywhere from an 1.5 -2.0 hours if you are at the end of the line and believe me the line is long and slow, as typically there is only one or two stations running. The slowness was also seen at other places such as the bars slowing down drink service considerably. In summary I would say that MCS Meraviglia was an enjoyable cruise and a good value with meals and entertainment as high points. But you must read and understand carefully what you are buying with the packages and where are these limitations. You can also expect delays any time you are either getting on or off the ship.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Nassau, Bahamas

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas

Brooklyn, New York

Port Canaveral, Florida

Disembarkation

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