Horrible experience

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 14

Review summary

A week ago, I sailed on the MSC Meraviglia from New York. The listing originally was a 8 day 7 night trip to the Bahamas. Prior to the trip, I checked the weather and it stated that it was going to be in the 70s. We anticipated warm weather so my mom and I packed up our suitcases in accordance with the weather. The night before the trip, we suddenly received notification that the ship will be rerouted. The message sent by MSC stated this: “this is to inform you that we have significantly altered the itinerary of your cruise due to adverse weather conditions expected across Florida and the Bahamas during the week ahead. Heavy rain is expected across most of the destinations that we planned to visit, as well as wind gusts surpassing 40 knots which would render our maneuvers to enter destination ports unsafe.” The message goes on to state that we would be sailing to New England and Canada instead because it would be “safer”. Upon receiving the news, my mom and I were obviously very upset and enraged. We scrambled to repack our entire suitcase. We took out all our warm weather clothes that we originally packed and replaced them with winter clothes such as sweaters, jackets, and thick pants. Why would you tell people this the NIGHT before? This had everyone scrambling. Onboard: Food: The food on the ship was mediocre at best. They made the same stuff to eat most of the time and there were not many food options. The bread was generally very hard and tasteless. Regarding dining options, 3 meals were included every day. (breakfast, lunch and dinner, not including specialty dining which of course you had to pay for). The main buffet area was where I ate most of the time. Food was free here but drinks you had to pay for such as soda, juice, alcohol, etc.) They provided hot and cold water, but bottled water we also did have to pay for as well. Aside from the food, the second concern I had was regarding the staff. Staff members would constantly swarm around you and try to get you to buy the drink packages. Activities: The activities on the ship you also had to pay for, for the most part. They did have a couple of free shows at the main theater, the Broadway Theatre. My mom and I decided to go bowling which ended up being 30 dollars for 30 mins. The other activities such as rollercoaster, flight simulator, F1 racing, etc. all ended up being kind of pricey so I opted out of those. Excursions: Due to the itinerary change, we ended up going to Boston, Portland Maine, and St. John’s Canada. The ship docked in Boston for THREE days. This is outrageous. On top of this, these are all places that I have already been to so I was unsure if I wanted to leave the ship and explore these places but ultimately I decided I would at least go to one of the destinations so I could at least do something while I was on the cruise. I decided to go to St. John’s. I visited the excursions desk on the ship so that I could see if there were any available tickets for the shuttle bus (the bus that would take us on a tour of these destinations). I greeted the staff member at the desk and informed him that I was interested in going to St. John’s. He was extremely dismissive and rude. He said to me “why didn’t you come earlier? You should have come earlier because now there’s barely anything left” in an extremely nasty tone. I ended up not going to any of the excursions. It was also FREEZING cold every single day. Staff: The staff members were the worst part. I did not have a good experience with any of them. Aside from the staff from the excursions desk, I felt hostility from other staff as well such as the front desk staff, staff from the shops onboard and the photography staff who were outright racist to me by speaking Chinese to me assuming I did not know english. I would also like to point out that the majority of the people on this cruise were predominantly asian. It is extremely disgusting the way Asians were getting treated. The staff were only interested when they wanted your money. Also, when we were leaving the ship, the staff members kept forcing and rushing me to get off even though there was still lots of time. In conclusion, this was my experience aboard MSC Meraviglia. I did not feel valued or appreciated as a customer (especially being an asian female) that paid my own hard earned money for my mom and I to go on this cruise. I have sailed with multiple cruise companies (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian) and I have not had a problem with any of them. They were wonderful and extremely pleasant in every way unlike MSC. I do not recommend this cruise line to anyone. Do not sail with this company, especially if you are a POC like me. They will treat you horribly. Instead, take your money and sail with a company that actually cares about you, and not just your money.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Brooklyn, New York

Disembarkation

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