APDMOM

Our Cabins: We had planned on booking a balcony with an adjoining interior cabin, like the ones seen on deck 11 here (11273 and 11271 OR 11289 ad 11271). However, all the interior adjoining cabins were sold out, so we looked at the price of two balconies. Price for double occupancy in aft balcony: $1621 - $200 OBC = Net $1421 with all taxes and port fees Price for single occupancy in aft balcony: $860.90 - $200 OBC = Net $660 with all taxes and port fees It was a no-brainer to book the two balconies at those prices. Soon to come - pictures of our cabins.

Hair Salon: This is our third time on MSC ships and the third time I got my hair done while on their ships. Previously, you could buy highlights, a haircut, and style for $60 pre-cruise. This is no longer available. They still had a good deal today - with Color, Treatment, Scalp massage, Cut, Style for $109 (though the planner said $119). TIP: If you plan on giving an extra tip for your spa service, bring cash. They only add a standard tip that is generally shared and I was told you can not add an additional tip to the tab. The service ad value is definitely worth this treat! The view after the hair treat (DH did not get anything done with his hair 😂):

MDR Breakfast Menu: (We will eat there most mornings, but I had a hair appointment this morning.)

We enjoyed breakfast in the quiet part of the buffet again. It was still empty when we left, while the front half was almost filled to capacity again. There was even an omelet station on our side with no customers in line. (Pretend you don’t see the Royal Caribbean logo on DH’s jacket 😂 - he has switched his loyalty to MSC, so I may need to find him a new jacket)

My View: Day 2 - Nassau, Bahamas

We have not noticed any noise. The seas were a bit rough last night and this morning and we felt more movement than what we are used to. It was nothing major - just interesting how the cold weather has impacted the seas. We had 11390 in 2019 - I have more about that location in my review from that cruise, which you can find in my signature. I am organizing pictures of our current cabin so that I can share soon.

My View: End of Day 1 I usually like to close out with a sunset picture or favorite view. Unfortunately, we had some rainy weather. So, I am ending day one with my favorite view - the fact that I can have one of these in my pocket!

Dailies: Day 1 Port Canaveral

TIP: Book your shows in the app as soon as you board. If you just want to attend the regular shows, not the ones in the Carousel lounge, you can make free bookings in the app. This his what it looks like in the app: TIP: If you want water and don’t have a drink package, bring a water bottle. Be sure to fill it during less busy times in the buffet. Use the cups provided to fill the bottle. I say this, because after the show we tried to find some water. There was only one water station open in the buffet and there was quite a line of people filling water bottles, anything from 24 ounces to 64 ounces! I am sure you could ask at a bar for a cup of ice water, but the one bartender we asked told us we could get it in the buffet. After 9, only one water station was open.

Show for Tonight: TOP HITS The show was entertaining enough but not quite as good as the shows we had in the past on MSC. I think the performers are very talented but they don’t quite mesh well yet. There were a few beautiful moments in harmony with the singers. It think the parts I did not like had more to do with the arrangement than the singers.

Also forgot to post: The sailaway party was moved indoors due to inclement weather. It was quite fun, but we were in the wrong spot for a great view… TIP: If the sailaway party is moved indoors, find a spot by the pub to enjoy the full effect and view of dancers on the Galleria.

Good morning! I will try to wrap up day one before I go get my hair done… Thanks for all the ‘likes’! Forgot to post one of our ‘bucket list’ ships, which was sailing away yesterday:

Time to call it a day! I will finish day 1 out sometime tomorrow. 🙂

MDR Menu Day 1:

Dinner: Day 1 We love that we were assigned a table for 3, since I have hearing loss that makes it very hard to socialize in such a noisy venue. We have an amazing wait staff team. We enjoyed all our selections tonight. DH usually helps finish half of my main course, since it is just too much food for me. He says he liked the salmon better than the grouper. DS opted for the shrimp without the horseradish cocktail sauce. Our Selections:

Muster Drill: TIP: Make sure you get to your cabin before the scheduled muster drill time (ours was 5 PM). You have to watch the safety video in your cabin. As soon as it is done, you have to dial a specific number from your cabin phone to confirm that you watched the video. You will then be directed to your muster station to just get your card scanned to ensure you know where to go. I must say, although it sounds like this should be very easy and without glitch, the muster ‘drill’ was a hot mess. The way they had it planned caused a bottle neck in the stairwell, something they wanted to avoid by having you in the cabin for the video. Problem is, they called from the top decks first to go to the stations - Since all the stations are on lower decks it caused everyone to show up at deck 10,9,8 stairwells at the same time. Talk about a crowd!! Tip for MSC (If you are reading this)…Just call from the lower decks first and this will fix the bottleneck problem. I do love the idea of watching the safety briefing on the TV though. It is much easier to hear and pay attention.

A few views from our walk after lunch:

Well, posting from Notes is not looking too good. 😬🙈Will try a different way next time.

Document received at Boarding: Buffet: TIP: When you get to the buffet, don’t just grab the first empty table you find. Walk all the way to the back. We enjoyed our lunch there for almost an hour without anyone sitting at the neighboring tables. Even at 3 PM when we went back to get water, the front half of the buffet was packed while the back had tables empty. Rooms were ready at 1:30 PM. Our luggage arrived soon after and we were unpacked and ready to cruise by 3 PM (Nap for DH, taking pictures for me)! TIP: If you purchased the wifi package, you can find the internet ID on your seapass card. Go to www.mscwifi.com and follow the instructions to create your login. No need to stand in line at guest services to find out where your wifi package is. CHANGE in wifi: I am disappointed to see that the ‘one device’ wifi no longer means “one device at a time”. In the past, you could log out of one device and log into another device. Now, only the first device you register can be used. So, I will need to air drop my review drafts to my iPhone.

That is what we have too. Will post pictures later or tomorrow. 🙂

We had 10 a.m. check in time. There was a slight delay with clearing the ship, so we boarded at 11:30. We were in the third group after the diamond/aurea boarding. You should be fine at 12:30.

Thank you! We are still waiting to get on, but at least we have our boarding number and our key cards!! Several others from our social media page had the same issue and had to be checked in by a supervisor. Hopefully, it will be ‘old news’ and ‘smooth boarding’ next week when you get here.

To test or not to test… Moment of panic!! Almost denied boarding… We dropped our luggage at 9:53 AM and smoothly entered through security. We walked straight up to the check in counter. The lady asked for our passports, boarding docs, health questionnaires and vax cards or test. We told her we did not have tests because they changed the rules on Wednesday. Her response went something like this… “Sorry! We can not check you in without it. You will need to go to number 38.” We walked to the empty counter at 38 and waited less than 5 minutes to be directed to a different counter. The gentleman there checked us in with, “Passports, boarding passes, heath questionnaire, DNA sample, please!” -he was clearly just joking about DNA 🤣 I would have gladly provided it to get on this ship though! Now we are checked in and ready to board.

Boarded the Mazda aka LANDSHIP at 9 AM from hotel: First closer up glimpse of Meraviglia at terminal 10:

Our Itinerary: Excursions: Only the lighthouse on Ocean Cay for APDMOM (to take pictures) 🙂 We missed cruising so much that we will mainly spend time on the ship. This is cruise #37 for us, so we have been to all these ports. We will walk Ocean Cay to see what it looks like 3 years later and will probably walk around in Cozumel to practice a bit of Spanish. Cabins: We booked 2 large aft balconies on deck 12 for the 3 of us - hoping they will open the connection on the balconies - will report back. Keep watching this space for pictures. 2 Balconies on Meraviglia were cheaper than 1 balcony on Royal Caribbean, so this was a great option. Our son recently turned 18, so the 2 cabins will be great for extra space and privacy. Check-in time: 10 AM according to our tickets… hopefully this will be reality. Pre-Cuise Stay: TownePlace Suites in Titusville for $160 We are glad we booked early because that price kept going up until it was well over $300 last week. We have 2 queen beds, a large bathroom and a nice kitchenette (including dishwasher).