Motegi

The Cave Tubing lunch was a beliean chicken tamale.  Much different from a Mexican tamale.  It was so tasty I wanted another one! 

Yesterday’s excursion we booked on our own with Butts Up Cave Tubing.  After we rendered ashore they picked us up port side in a large motor coach.  The entire adventure with lunch was $35 Cash per person.  
 

It was a bucket list item for us as it had been cancelled the last time we were in Belize four years ago due to high water levels inside the caves.  

So what did we think?  We loved it!  The guides were funny and informative.  The tubes were delivered to us by to the river (most of the others require you to carry them up yourselves).  And we were on the river much longer than the others. I think it was one of the best excursions we’ve done in the Caribbean in recent memory.

Tonight we did the second of our specialty dinner package at the onboard seafood restaurant, Ocean Cay (how confusing is that?).

Here is the menu and some photos of the food.
 

With the dining package one is allowed to order one appetizer, one entree, and one desert from a preselected list.  
 

Our group ordered the following:

Prawn Carpaccio - Delicious.  Great prawn flavor

Crab Cake - Well seasoned.  Moist.

Tartare - Fresh.  Clean. 
Bottarga - Our friends seemed to enjoy it.

Black Cod - This is what I ordered.  The cod was prepared perfectly and absolutely melts in your mouth.  It was as good as the Black Cod we had at Nobu a few months ago.  

Tiramisu - served in a cup.  It had the typical flavor but the consistency was different.  

Cheesecake

Creme Brullee
 

Meraviglia Bar Menu as of Dec 10, 2019
 

14 hours ago, mikelan6 said:

Great review so far ... thank you.

 

Can you please mention if tissues provided in the stateroom? I've read about issues with the tissues. 😉

The stories are correct.  There is still a slot for tissues in the bathroom but none are provided. Not sure why.  Maybe people were flushing them down the toilet and they were clogging the plumbing system? Just a thought based on where they used to be located.

FYI there is a time change between Costa Maya and Belize.  The Cruise Director, Gene Young, told everyone to set our clocks 1 hour back.

The evening finished off with the White Party on the pool deck!  

This evening we attended the Cirque du Soleil performance called Sonor with our triple specialty dining package. Photos were not allowed during the actual performance but I did get some other photos beforehand.

The show was amazing!  It began rather slowly with a string trio followed by an extended violin solo performance. Personally,  I like classical violin so I was entertained but some other members of our party were having difficulty staying awake during this part.
 

Once the actual Cirque performance began the show was high energy with some amazing acts.  They make use of the entire space in some very unique ways.  The beatboxer was my favorite act and an unexpected surprise to me.  

Earlier in the day there was a major hiccup as we had all received a notice in our staterooms requesting that we place our dinner selection orders between 9-11AM either by phone or in person at the Carousel theatre.  Unfortunately the Meraviglia Safety Officer decided to schedule a multi hour ship wide safety drill for all crew members during that time.  So nobody was available to answer the phone or attend to the Cirque reservations until the afternoon.   We ended up calling at 6pm after we were back onboard.   We placed our requests with the Cirque attendant but when we got to the show the servers had not been notified at all.   We actually had to tell them two times during the dinner to two different people.   Luckily they had prepared extras of everything and there was plenty to go around.   The food itself was fantastic.   We enjoyed the lobster and mango salad and the lamb shank was massive and so tender and full of flavor.  Our friends ordered the Sea Bass and despite a few bones they said they really enjoyed it.   The chocolate dessert was great but unfortunately with my clumsiness I got some on my white party outfit.  If any of you eat like I do I recommend bringing a Tide to Go pen! LOL!

Please excuse some of the food photos.  The lighting in the theater is dim and we were surrounded by black lights.
 

Overall, we’ve been to multiple Cirque performances over the years in Orlando, Las Vegas, and elsewhere I’d say this was just as entertaining but on a smaller scale.   

Here are some photos of the Flamenco themed show today called Paz.  
 

Wow what a show!  The dancers were phenomenal.  
 

Honestly, Pam and I were just in Barcelona this past June and saw some flamenco shows there and this was much better than even some of those!  We spoke with some other passengers after the show who commented the exact same thing!  
 

8 hours ago, FIREFIGHTERCRUISER said:

Loving your review so far. Very detailed! We will be on the same cruise in March in cabin 10088. 

Any chance you can post some of the bar menus when given the chance? Also, was the Opera show the one titled Paz?

Keep the details coming, and have  a great cruise.

 Paz was a Flamenco dance themed show.  It was on the schedule today.  Phenomenal!

The operatic show was Come il Mare. They only had it on the schedule once in the daytime. 

Dec 9 - Meraviglia’s operatic performance of Come il Mare, featuring highlights from La Boheme.  

December 10

Costa Maya, Mexico

Highlights: 
White Party

Meraviglia 12/9 Elegant Night Panorama Main Dining Menu and food photos
 

Lobster Bisque 

French Onion Soup

Caesar Salad

Greek Salad 
Lobster Ravioli <- Loved it!
Beef Tournedos <- Excellent!

NY Strip steak
Poached Pear <- Delicious!

Royal Cake

Banana Ice Cream

Kaito Sushi menu and photos.

After the food sampling tour we decided to have a light lunch at Kaito Sushi.   The items were priced a la carte.   The drinks were included with our Premium Beverage Package.  However, they had no Japanese sake on this sailing which I thought was strange.  
 

The sushi and sashimi were good.   The yakisoba was literally soba noodles stir fried with some vegetables.   It was not the traditional Japanese recipe and I felt this version was a little heavy on the salt. 

Today they had a Specialty Restaurant Food Sampling Tour.  It began at Hola tapas restaurant on the Promenade on deck 6 and ended at Butchers Cut on deck 7.  Each restaurant served small bite sized samples of a few of their dishes.  They were promoting the Specialty Dining packages as well as the Chefs Table and Cooking Classes.  
 

Some of the adult coffee beverages offered at the Edge Bar.  These are included with the Premium Beverage package.  The Caffe Shakerato gets my vote!  

MSC Voyagers Club Party was held on the main promenade on Deck 6 in a separate roped off area by the Chocolate shop and the Meraviglia Bar.  Complimentary champagne and fruit punch were served.  The Cruise Director introduced some of the officers from the walkway on Deck 7 and they had a special parade by the Meraviglia Dance Troupe.  

Cruise Critic Party Photos
 

The Cruise Director, Gene Young, said that this was the most well attended Cruise Critic party so far.  

Invitations were checked at the door.

Complimentary champagne, vodka martinis, and fruit punch were served.  On the tables were a selection of hors d’ouvres, chocolate covered strawberries, and potato chips.  
 

The Captain and the officers were introduced and a group photo was taken.
 

A special cake was displayed and was served at the end of the party.  It was delicious!

3 hours ago, Chas2227 said:

Great pictures, my wife is on that ship, Cruise critic group Nolagrandma her name is Debbie cabin 10214 , as the ship was leaving the port she informed me that the ship could not find her luggage and I have not heard a word from her about the luggage yet can you help me with that by asking her if received her luggage?

Thanks

Charles

Charles, we will try to look for her. 

5 hours ago, brandy3415 said:

Thanks for posting.   First timer on MSC, on Meraviglia in January.  Bella Balcony looked good to me.

 

Were you assigned Panorama or did you have to request it? 

We are sailing with another couple and linked our reservations.  We have a table for four in Panorama for the 6 o clock seating.  

The MSC Voyagers Club Silver level reward fresh fruit basket:

The MSC For Me wristbands we purchased this afternoon for $5 each at Guest Services.  For those who are not familiar, these act just like your cruise card while onboard and can be used to make purchases, order drinks, open cabin door, etc.   You will still need to use your cruise card for getting on and off the ship in port.  
 

We did notice that the bands are not as reliable with opening the cabin compared to the cruise card.  It takes multiple tries for us but the bands do work.  
 

Also it doesn’t appear that our bands are compatible with the Friends and Family locator service in the MSC For Me app.   The app asks to scan a QR code on the band which none of ours have. 

WIFi Internet Speed in our cabin:

12/8 Panorama Main Dining Dinner Photos:

Bay Scallop Ceviche

Potato Gnocchi

Rollo de Cochinillo y Patatas Bravas

Catalan Cream

The ceviche was quite spicy.

The gnocchi was very lightly seasoned.

The Rollo was AMAZING.  
The Catalan Cream was similar to a creme brûlée without the carmelized sugar on the top.
 

Dinner took approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.  The waitstaff and bar server were very attentive and each course was brought out in quick succession.