Many surprises without expectations
MSC Meraviglia Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 51
Caribbean & Antilles from New York
Sail date: April 07, 2024
Ship: MSC Meraviglia
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 8227
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 6 months ago
Review summary
This review was as unbiased as possible. This was our first MSC Cruise. We will come back. But we are going to be careful about room selection. Everything else was very good all things considered. The most important thing is, the cruise line did not change itinerary, and we ended up going as planned and the sailing was smooth. Our main purpose was to see the ship and islands, and sail on a cruise ship in the open ocean as we love. This was accomplished. The passengers ended up to be the international bunch, and I loved it. There were American, Chinese, Dutch, Eastern European, French, German, and Japanese prevailing. Bar crew should work on the upscale drinks. Market place needs to work on their soups and cleanup in the Aft outdoor area. MDR keep making effort with the food quality. Overall maintenance was good but could be better in several areas, including spa and room shower drainage. Big shout out to all of the crew who spoke English and Italian fluently. This includes the Englishman cruise director...on the Italian ship.Embarkation
All is well. Expected wait time at the port, polite staff, no extra hustling from security. Staff on board could've said welcome. But I can't complain.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We ate at main dining room and market place. Main dining room: We ate there 11 times. Of 11 times, the food was good to excellent 7 times. Twice the food was quite bad, specifically Lobster was overcooked and as result was flavorless. We did mention it, and they made it right by giving us free lobster on another night. Also, there was an Italian beefsteak with sauce. I don't remember exact name of the dish. It was offered the last evening of the cruise. It was impossible to eat, as it was really tough. So we ended up eating seafood of some sort. Aside of that, a couple of time there was tough fish. But the rest of the time food was quite tasty and easy to eat. Also important to note, that at times we requested second entree, and while it is $5 extra, we weren't charged 3 out of 4 times. It's good to know that you won't be nickel-and-dimed.
Market place was ok. Majority of food was repetitive, even during dinner time. I did stop by to see what was offered and was glad to stay in MDR. Breakfast and lunch was usually the same with the exception of a few new dishes I haven't seen before. I want to emphasize Indian food and mashed potatoes, which were spot on. Many other items were good as well, but fairly repetitive. Desert station had a handful of sweets and the same croissant pastries daily. They also had arepas, twice, which made me very happy. In summary, comparing to other cruise lines, the buffet was a little scarce with the choices but there was enough to have small variety. Omelet station was different, since you placed an order with staff that was standing near, they would take your order and give you the number. Once done, you got your plate. The soup at the market place was more often a miss than a hit. Not a lot of people liked it.
There was also a fast-food station by the pool, which we never had a need to use as we were eating what was offered in the market place.
Drinks were ok. But if you want something serious like Old Fashioned, don't hold your breath. They don't know how to make it. Even piña colada was watered down. I did ask one of the bartenders to make me a special drink from another cruise line, which he gladly made a few times.
Chocolate factory boutique was really great.
Onboard Activities
The pool we mostly used was the main pool. It was easy to get into and out, as it had underwater steps. We also tried the aft pool Both pools have salt water. We did not try inside pool Every pool has lifeguards. Main pool, which is split into two smaller but fairly large pools had two guards. We spent most of the time by the pool as this is something we like to do. While at times the chairs were scarce, there was no experience of discomfort. Warning: the towel station at the pool is for exchange only, unless you are in a premium cabin. So make sure to bring your towels from the cabin.
I had a free one hour spa pass. I tried all Spa facilities. It was fun and interesting.
There is a Sportsplex area with different options, which we did not use. But they are all for a fee.
Entertainment
We did Carousel Production, the rock show. We paid $12 each before sailing. It was worth it. You get a special beverage of three choices. The beverage was quite good and seemed to have some herbs flavor. It was offered in a special glass. It's safe to say you could call it a libation and not a drink. Once seated in one of the seats, you are faced with the round stage. For the most part the show was very good. They did make a couple of errors, which worth to note, but it wasn't that big of deal.
The shows in theater were ok. For some reason, I found them hard to like. I caught myself falling asleep every time, which is not something I am used to when watching the show. The exception would be last show of the cruise. It was pretty good. Once the show was over, as we were leaving the theater, the cruise line timed it perfectly to start another show in the shopping promenade, which was always upbeat and fun, with ceiling canopy displaying something different every time. Tip: Finish your drinks before going into theater. No drinks allowed inside.
Pool activities were mostly family oriented that included different sports and trivia.
The DJ was good with many unique tunes.
Children's Programs
Two adults in our party.
Service and Staff
Overall, the crew made an effort to make me feel like I was part of the family, through their interactions, constant effort to entertain in variety of ways, and their availability from a cleaning person to the captain, who was just strolling around the MDR area and I happened to seize a moment to snap a picture with him. He even did one over when it wasn't taken right. A side note, the captain looks like early aged version of James Cromwell.
I want to take a moment and acknowledge Maitre D, supervisors, and our wait staff at the MDR. They all went above and beyond to honor our requests. There are absolutely no complaints about service at MDR, and only good memories.
Market place buffet: Oftentimes when I ask for something, I would get a response like "Its on the other end." This was quite unusual and annoying. Having said that, many times staff would offer the support. Once, when we did not get a bar service for a long time, a person cleaning the tables offered to bring our juices. This was a pleasant surprise. In the aft open area dining section, there was only one person cleaning the tables, and the tables were frequently unattended for a long time. We ended up eating with dirty dishes next to us a couple of times as well. However, when asked, the cleaning person would come by and clean up. So it is not on them, but on the ship to assign at least two more people.
Our room steward was pleasant and cleaned our room well. For the most part there were no issues with communication.
As mentioned before, bat staff was great. But the specialty drinks we had, not so much. Beer was good. Also, bar staff was very generous...if you know you now. This in itself numbed my upset I might have had with the quality of the drinks. Just to clarify, drinks were strong, they just didn't taste as good as I am used to. The exception was my special drink and Margarita.
Guest services were very good as well. They called us three times to make sure our accommodations were met.
Ship Quality
The ship was clean, and washed and painted outside at every stop. The design is also pretty good. What you see on the outside as bland black and white color scheme, will turn into a beautiful marvel once on board. I do have a problem with their choice of paining part of the ship black (and white only), since black attracts heat and doesn't look very attractive. But I digress. The layout was easy to navigate outside and difficult on the inside. On the map there are more than two elevator banks. However, only two banks are available to the public. So make sure you get a room closer to the actual elevator banks. We had difficulty walking all the way and zigzagging left and right and left and right on deck 8.
Maintenance: some of the screen in the shopping promenade and main theater have a lot of dead pixels. Also, some items in the SPA weren't working. For example cold/hot way scented pressure shower area. Also, once of the heated rock beds didn't work. I will speak about my cabin later.
Wi-Fi was not good. It was dropping every few minutes even when we didn't move.
Cabin / Stateroom
I give this cabin 1.5 stars. This is an outside room. Meaning, you get a window to look through. It is obstructed view. However, there was not much obstruction, except the lifeboat mostly below.
The cabin has a very strange placement of the beds due to the fact that if beds were placed next to each other, there would not be any way to get to the window. So one bed was placed facing the wall and another facing the window. This ended up having us sleep with my feet towards my travel companion's head. The bed was very narrow as expected, however it was quite uncomfortable to sleep on.
The telephone had a screw screwed in instead of a hook. TV had many cruise line channels, including starboard and port camera views, which was nice. However, there was a very limited a mount of live television, and no music channels. There was on-demand movies including 18+ available.
The bathroom was completely terrible. It had this ongoing stale and foul stink. We did complain, several times. Ultimately an officer came by and said he didn't smell anything. We did get a bottle of champagne and some hors d'oeuvres as good will. They did manage to do something about the stink a bit, but it was in the last two days. We were also offered to move, which we declined due to cruise coming to an end.
Important: The toilet placement in the room makes it be very close to the sink and shower door. It was therefore very difficult landing on the throne and maneuvering afterwards, considering I am a large and tall person. So if like me, stay away from this room. In fact, I was told that all rooms are like this, except the rooms with the bathtub and ADA rooms. Ultimately between the bed and toilet, I ended up having my chronic back pain come back. I am still dealing with it two weeks after the sailing.
No towel animals...for grown people.
I will end on positive note, the room is cleaned twice a day.
Ship tip
Finish all your affairs with guest services while on board. It is impossible to resolve our matters afterwards. Do your research about the ship cabin placement. Order a carousel and excursions before sailing. Casino, when playing the slots, familiarize yourself with a minimum bet. I played slots with 1 cent games. But you have 88 point minimum. Be nice to a crew even if you don't like something. Tip: Finish your drinks before going into theater. No drinks allowed inside.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
We did a resort excursion here. Otherwise, there is nowhere to go. Resort was quite old but ok to sit int he pool and drink included drinks and go to buffet to eat food. The food was just ok even at the restaurant.
Always a pleasure to come to PR. We wanted to do some self excursions, but ended up walking around old San Juan. It was pleasant experience.
Due to weather conditions, they did not allow us to the paradise point. We were looking forward to is for many years, as this would have been a great return. We did go to Megan's bay. A man who sold us beach chairs, was almost insisting on me paying tip on top of already paid entry and paid beach chairs.
After visiting the island for the fifth time, and being downtown and Orient bay, we went to Maho Beach. It was a cool experience, watching families having fun getting blown away by the airplane engines, and coming back for more. I got hit as well a bit. But in all seriousness the view and experience of watching airplanes take off and land was great. I had my favorite Desperadoes tequila beer all day long. We did get some wings, which were ok. But there is a big kitchen and dining area. I must say, the dissipating over time fumes from nearby cars and four wheelers on the road and airplanes can be overwhelming. But they don't last. Still, it was somewhat bothersome. So get a beach chair closer to the water. Lastly, with the beach being fairly remote, there were only a couple of annoying ladies selling stuff. But once they remember you, they don't come by, as opposed to the downtown area, where it is of pandemic proportions.
Ride was good, beach we went to was pleasant. It was Valley Church Beach. Drinks were ok. I recommend beer. There is also a guy walking around selling coconut and rum. For about $8 you get ok. So look for that guy. He will even cut up your coconut so you can eat the inside later on. Tip: ask taxi people in yellow shirts by the port shopping area, for beach recommendations. Some beaches are not recommended due to the proximity to local population who is not well off.
Disembarkation
The disembarcation was ok on the ship, but once you get off the ship, it took a very long time in a very long line.
Traveler Photos
7 Comments
AlanSchiff 6 months ago
I love aft balconies and on my 1st Meraviglia sailing I didn't realize the aft elevators are crew only. From the aft balcony cabins is it approximately 150 steps to the mid ship elevators. Personally, I am Ok with that and rationalize I am working off multiple desserts (at every meal. My 2nd sailing I was in YC Balcony. Although wider than a standard side balcony, it was not any deeper. I liked many of the YC benefits, I was uncomfortable with a few of them (escorted to other parts of the ship and taking over elevators for YC guests and making everyone else leave the elevator). Ultimately I missed the big aft balcony and booked a aft family cabin for the bigger balcony. I liked it so much, I booked the same balcony cabin for my next Meraviglia cruise in Nov. Needless to say, I really like this ship. The value for a solo traveler (who does not want a tiny single cabin) is better than all other major cruise lines (even Margaritaville, which is not my style). I enjoyed reading your review and agree with everything you wrote. Pro Tip: if your bathroom has a stink, just ask for a Med Diffuser, that solved the problem.