davy jones

We sailed MSC out of NYC on a 10 day in the fall.  It worked for us and we would go again on a similar cruise at the right price.  Some of what I say may not be applicable to you, since you will be travelling with children.  We sail as a couple,  typically off season to avoid the peak season crowds.  Most of our cruises these days are in the 10 to 14 day range, which tend to be less crowded.  We don't need many of the bells and whistles of some large lines and will retreat to our balcony if it is crowded on sea days.

We had the Fantastica experience and purposely chose an "obstructed view" balcony because it was beneath the pool deck overhang, thus insuring shade at all times of the day.  Here are my general comments about our cruise.

1.  We did not see many of the reported issues like crowding and difficulty getting drinks.  That may be due to our sailing which also had a number of travel agents.

2.  We prefer to choose our dining time, but did not want to pay the Aurea premium to get it because we weren't interested in the other features.  We made do with early seating.

3.  Overall, we found the food to be pretty good.  It not on a level with Celebrity, Holland, or Princess, but definitely better than our recent Royal sailings.

4.  The entertainment was generally good.  It tends to be production shows and travelling headliners.  Don't expect Broadway type shows on some other lines.  Note that reservations are advised for many shows.  Daily activities were pretty typical for a mass market line.  (Side note.  Trivia prizes are better than average.  I won a bottle of bubbly for a trivia game.  Others won t-shirts, backpacks and other branded items larger and more useful than a key chain)

5.  The ships are beautiful and our cabin was well maintained.

6.  The often offered Easy-plus drink package works well for us as we tend to soft drinks with an occasional beer or boat drink..  Upgraded coffees available at many bars.

7.  The ship was not overly crowded, but I did see the potential for it during peak season sailings.

8.  We found the service to be acceptable.  Dining room service varied day to day.  Cabin steward was fine and customer service followed up on a problem that we had.

There were youth programs and a small water park, but there were not many children on board and the majority were preschool.  There may be better kid options.

On 12/15/2023 at 11:05 PM, MinnesotaMommy said:

We are cruising on HAL and this will be our first time at a private island. If we don’t book any extras, what is the experience at HMC?  Are there loungers on the beach to use for free?  What is available for lunch or drinks?  If I have a drink package on the ship can that be used on the island?  I’m wondering if I should reserve one of the clamshells so we have a place to sit on the beach?

Been there on both HAL and Carnival.  Imo, it has the best beach of the private islands that I have been to.  There are plenty of free loungers.  The further that you walk down the beach, the less crowed it will be.  HAL serves a better lunch than Carnival.

Down side is that you have to tender to the island.  

Are there loungers and umbrellas by the pool?

20 hours ago, doghog said:

Same here. Enjoying a Budweiser as I'm reading and typing. Thanks for posting the Beers and More menu.

Mine is Yuengling lager.  If you walk into a bar where I live and ask for a lager, that is what you will be given.  I like it better than Sam.  It is available on MSC, but I haven't seen it on any other cruise line.

I am not a "beer snob" or craft beer aficionado.  My go to brew is mass produced, but not listed.  Therefore, I must seek other beers.  I also like to try new beers when on I have a beverage package.

I don't recall ice cream in the buffet on Meriviglia.  There is soft serve by the pool, but the hours are limited (1 to 5 PM) compared to other lines.

You can get scooped ice cream for dessert in the MDR.

We will be sailing on Enchanted Princess.  Looking at the menu below, the beer selection shows a list of mass market beers.  I can find a couple to drink on the list, but are there any venues with more interesting options?

It all depends on your tastes and preferences.  We can make Princess Plus work for us, but not Premier.   Using round numbers, tips and wifi cover about half of the $60 cost.  One or two boat drinks/ beer per day and a couple of fancy coffees probably make it a break even for us. The rest is a bonus.

If you are a foodie and wine buff, then the better wines and specialty restaurants could make it worthwhile for you.

On 1/22/2024 at 4:22 PM, klfrodo said:

Okay. I'll ask, what's a freakin EFFY?

It is grossly overpriced mass market jewelry sold on cruise ships with a lot of come ons and "deals".  IMO, it is best avoided unless you have a huge amount of nonrefundable OBC that you have to get rid of.

1 minute ago, doghog said:

According to Princess the old app goes bye, bye sometime in February 2024. 

Thanks.  I think that I will wait until at least March.

We are booked for November.   I see that you must request dining preference through the Princess app.  Is it prudent to download the Princess app now or wait until after final payment

There are a number of very nice embark departures, but IMO NYC (Manhattan, not Brooklyn or Bayonne) is best.  Bonus points for Manhattan at night.

18 hours ago, jerseyjjs said:

You mentioned that football was shown on the big screen on Sunday.  Did you happen to notice if any of the bars/lounges showed football games anywhere else around the ship?

I know that the pub had football games on.  There was a game where you could reserve a table in the pub, but I don't think many did.  You could still go in on your own to watch.

It appeared that most games were broadcast on my Meraviglia on the cabin TV.  It seemed to be much more than other lines.

Take it with a grain of salt.  This guy's video list comprises of Cunard, P&O and MSC.

Comparing two luxury lines with a mass market line tells me that he has not done his homework.  

Perhaps he should do the same on the monster ships on the other mass market lines.

16 hours ago, New2Cruise76 said:

 

 

So here are some of my concerns (focused on Meraviglia):

 

1) Is there enough activities to kids to keep them occupied? Kids clubs, and other activities. They like to do active stuff, but also like gaming and tech.

 

2) is steerage, gen pop, the plebs, whatever really that raucous? I obviously don't want the kuds to have a ton of stress, but these are also kuds that live to go to big theme parks, so how does the ship compare to that.

 

3) Any recent experiences with room swapping, we're looking at two balconies side by side, and there's no way to have the kids in one and the parents in the other. Is the wristbrand talked about an option to allow my wife to stay in the same room. If not, with a shared balcony, there's definitely work arounds.

 

We're looking at the 6/2 or 6/14 Bahamas cruise out of New York. I don't see any available connecting cabins, but I'm assuming that if we get side by side balconies, we can join the balconies and have a super sized balcony.

 

I

Just off Meraviglia (first MSC Cruise).  Here are my summarized thoughts.

1.  MSC, NCL, RCI, and Carnival are similar in concept, but different in execution.  The differences may be more important for you than us.  We are a semi retired couple who look to relax and go to the shows.  We also use the onboard gym for exercise.

2.  It was overall a very good cruise.  No line is perfect, so we adjust to the differences between lines and will retreat to our balcony at times for quiet sea viewing.

3.  I saw very little, if any, of what is mentioned in the bad reviews.  The ship was no more crowded than the previously mentioned lines, perhaps less.  Service, including bar service, was good and IMO, the MDR food quality is better than the above three.

Now to your questions.

1.  There are kids clubs, but I can't speak about them   In addition, off season cruises do not attract very many school aged children.  The kids pools, water areas, ropes courses, etc. are better on the other three lines. The water slides and ropes course seemed a bit smallish and less elaborate than other lines.   Also, there is no mini golf on Meraviglia, which is good for kids and adults alike.

2.  Meraviglia seemed about the same as the other lines out of NYC for the time period during which we sailed.  That said, all ships out of NYC are much more crowded and have a younger crowd than the sailings that we typically sail while school is in session.

3.  I doubt that they will issue "extra" keys, but you could go to guest services after boarding and they will switch room keys for your family members to meet your desired arrangements.  You could also just book the rooms with the passenger arrangement that you desire.

Good luck.

Baltimore or Bayonne because I can easily drive there.

No problems at all.  We went in the walk off group in a successful attempt to beat any unnecessary delays.  We went across the Brooklyn Bridge, and through the Holland Tunnel.  We arrived at our home in PA at 9:00 AM.

The drive home took 90 minutes.  The drive to the pier took 3 hours, with most of the delays in the Newark area.

I watched the video two days before embarking on our first MSC cruise.  I was encouraged because of many of the "reviews" have many complaints about MSC food.

After eating MSC food for 10 days, I pretty much agree with the video.  MDR food is generally good, definitely better than recent MDR food on their primary competitors, NCL, Royal, and Carinval.  Some meals have been better than others, but overall, it has been a pleasant surprise.  Buffets are a little more hit or miss, but they are comparable to the previously mentioned lines.  Note that we are not in YC, so I am referring to the food for the common folk.

One thing that could improve is the choice of "starters".  Appys are OK, but soup and salad selections are sparse, except for the everyday Caesar salad.  Most salads are offered as entrees and many are similar to starter salads.  I usually get one of the pastas as a starter.

Our only foray into specialty dining was a dinner at Hola.  The food was fine and the dining experience was good compared to a standard US Mexican restaurant."

Update:  The bag was finally found and delivered to cabin around bedtime.  It was not in the naughty room.  There was a room that I checked with naughty and baggage missing tags.  It was not there.  I did use the paper tags that you print out with 4 staples.  Apparently, it ended up on another deck without a bag tag.  It was the first time this has happened to us in 40 cruises.  I don't know why it was not sent to the room that I checked 4 hours earlier.  We have returned to full low stress vacation mode.

I am still interested to see how many times this has happened to people and how it got resolvesd.

All I dropped off luggage for myself and DW upon arrival at pier at 10AM this morning.  DW bag made it to cabin before 1:30.  My luggage never arrived and the ship sailed 6 hours ago.  They won't even acknowledge that it is lost.  "We're still looking for it".    All clothes and grooming supplies for 11 night sailing are in the bag.  So far, MSC won't do anything.  What are my options, besides filing a claim with cruise insurance, which doesn't help very much right now.

Does the onboard internet package support wifi calling and texting?

On 10/8/2023 at 5:29 PM, ChinaShrek said:

WOW. Why are they so bad?

My theory is that they use minimal amounts of sugar to keep costs low.  Bread uses little or no sugar.

BTW - I find this to be the case on many cruise lines.

We are sailing Mera so we will have a shower door.  I may bump up against the door, but water does not spill onto the floor.

Thanks for the information.  Most, including me, prefer shower doors over showers, but it has never been a deciding factor for us.

How difficult will it be for passengers disembarking on marathon day to drive into Manhattan to the Holland Tunnel?  You are west of the marathon route and could take the Battery Tunnel or Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan where we will be well south of Central Park.  I plan to self disembark and hopefully will be off the ship by 8:00 AM.