Ottawa_Cruiser

The towels on sun loungers isn't an MSC issue. It's a rude/entitled passenger issue. I have sailed with MSC twice now (Meraviglia). For the price, I'm not sure what people expect. For the price, I'll continue to sail MSC, but perhaps not out on NYC anymore.

The only cruise line that I'm aware of that allows kids in swim diapers is Disney.

So it seems to be hit or miss whether cabin stewards leave the envelope.

First review here:

No it doesn't.

I was on your sailing and just completed my review too. Please don't rule out a NYC sailing again. I have sailed many time from NY and this is definitely the worst I have experienced. In the Sprinf and Summer it's amazing. Even the early Fall is great.

I've had several days to recover from my vacation. 🙂 This was our second sailing on the Meraviglia, our first being April 29. I do have a review of the April 29th sailing, but I'm having issues finding it. Once I do, I'll link it here. This review will be short and sweet. Embarkation As was our experience the first time, this process was flawless and very well organized. From the time of arrival at the terminal to the time on board was 40 minutes. Overall Experience This sailing we didn't have the luck of the weather. We actually had terrible weather for the most part and we had to miss Ocean Cay, going to Miami instead. One of the vast differences between this cruise and our first one was the service in the MDR. Breakfast always arrived cold and coffee was hard to get, let alone get a refill. Dinner in the MDR was also not nearly as good. There were 4 of us sailing, my hubby, myself and our two kids. Every single dinner two of us would receive an appetizer, while the other two waited...and waited. The first two were finished by the time the other two got appetizers. The same for the main course. It was an awful experience to be truthful and most dinners took 1.5-1.75 hours. On our pervious sailing, they were all around 45min to an hour. The buffet was often short of coffee mugs. Tea ran out (thanks to a certain passenger group) on day #2. The ice, water and juice machines mostly didn't work also. Plates, cutlery, bowls were also missing at various times. Want a mimosa on the first 4 days? Good luck. Orange juice was nowhere on the ship. As usual, the staff are mostly incredible. I have never had an issue getting a drink within a couple of minutes. I do tip each time I order something. We didn't particularly enjoy our MDR waiter, Frezer. He didn't have much personality and the service was subpar. Our cabin steward was on his second sailing, so still very very new. Unfortunately he likely needed more training. On day #1 when we arrived in the cabin, I went to the washroom...only to realize we had NO toilet paper. I'm not sure how one manages to completely forget toilet paper. We also had no bath mat. I called about both of these items and they were promptly delivered. Unfortunately the consistency in which we received toilet paper and the bath mat through the cruise was an issue. At times, we were also short towels. Despite having to make numerous requests for items that should be basic knowledge for a cabin steward, he still had no issue leaving his card and an envelope for an additional gratuity at the end of the cruise. Give the weather (almost gale force winds, rough seas, storms, etc) - many activities outside were closed. This made for a rather boring experience for the 13 year old. Disembarkation We always walk our luggage off the ship. Again, this process was flawless and we were off the ship 10 min after vacating out cabin. Final Thoughts MSC is a bargain cruise line and I can't expect it to be like NCL. However, despite this, they definitely need to improve on several factors for us to consider sailing with them again. This trip was far worse than our first sailing.

Yes, Boston, Portland and St John. Trust me, having just disembarked, the weather we had was awful!

I was so sad to miss OC, but I do understand the decision. It’s unfortunate as I had my son with me on this trip and weather played a major part of a less than enjoyable cruise for him. He was so bored.

We just did this on Monday. It was under $20 before tip.

Just got off her today and they did have ketchup every day. The trouble is, it’s not consistent throughout the buffet. Each section should have a pump, but usually only two of the four do.

That's a fantastic deal! Can't even get two cocktails at a restaurant for $24 now.

You're able to link your booking by either calling MSC or doing this upon check in on the app or computer. This will allow you to dine together.

If anything, it's a good lesson. Insurance is such a small cost relative to the vacation. I don't really understand why they won't refund the drink though.

Pizza, pasta, arancini (OMG!!).

If you've booked a second cruise, it should appear in the app in the "profile" section. If it's not there, I would touch base with the Voyagers Club.

My December 9th cruise is now $380 less total with the Black Friday sale. 😝

It would depend where you are cruising from. If it leaves from the US and you want to get on at a US port, that will violate The Passenger Vessel Services Act.

Ah okay - I was hoping for something other than Bermuda and Canada/New England.

I've been keeping an eye on this as well. Actually, either MSC or NCL and neither have anything for May 2025 and beyond yet. I'm hoping within a few months they'll have these sailings posted.

Fellow Canadian here. If you want to book/pay in USD, you will need to do it through a US agent (I suggest Vacations to Go).

Loving your review so far @Captain-John! Have an amazing cruise.

TED!! How are you? I feel like you're everyone's friend now. Sorry to hear about Jamie, Jim and Maureen.

I'm glad to hear you're still testing negative and I'm sorry to hear that Jim tested positive. It's hard to believe we are almost 4 years into Covid. I was so naïve in the beginning, thinking I'd return to in office work within a couple of weeks and I'm still working from home.