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Beamafar
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MERAVIGLIA REVIEW

 

 

 

Having booked this cruise on the day sales opened almost 2 years ago (22 June 2015), we're finally onboard MSC Meraviglia.

 

 

 

I'll be using my phone for quite a lot of this report so please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors, as it's not my preferred means of posting on this forum. The auto correct (and my awkward thumbs!) drives me nuts at the best of times!

 

 

 

Depending on internet access, I will update this as I go. I will try to answer any questions you have. I expect there will be many as it's early days for this ship and there are a lot of people anxious to get as much info as they can about her so I may not get to answer all queries. Also, forgive me if I don't answer directly sometimes as I'm planning to prepare some posts in advance and upload them. Answers may not be immediate.

 

 

 

So ............. here goes!

 

 

 

We usually fly in on the morning of embarkation which means we leave home around 2am so, by the time we get on-board around lunchtime, we're usually feeling the worse for wear. This time we overnighted in Barcelona. Although we were given a 14.32 embarkation time we decided to head down to the port to get ahead of those flying in this morning. By getting a good night's sleep we were looking forward to getting on early and exploring the ship with a clear head. We arrived at 10.40am. We were told boarding would begin @ 11am. At 11.20 a crew member came over and took our passports and embarkation forms for processing. At 11.40 we were escorted to the Yacht Club concierge desk where we were told our cruisecards and wristbands were in our cabin. (Even the priority desk hadn't opened at this stage).

 

 

 

A butler escorted us to the room where we left our bags and headed straight for the restaurant to check it out. We asked about booking tables for dinner and were told that basically it's first come first served. The advice was to arrive at either 6pm or 8pm if you want a table by the window.

 

We had lunch in the restaurant - it was very enjoyable.

 

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More to follow.

 

 

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I can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post!

Appreciate the pics of the menus !!! Keep them coming ;-)

 

Also: If you get a chance, could you find out about the drinks outside of the yc for yc-members? (s.o. on Facebook mentioned that you get all drinks, even the ones with the asterisk??)

 

Have a great time !

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Bea,

Thanks for taking the time out of your cruise to post and answer questions. I am looking forward to your onboard review.

 

We are staying in YC 14014 in March. If you can get some pics of a similar or exact cabin it would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know your thoughts of the location and cabin style.

 

The more pics the better.

 

Thanks again in advance

 

Bon Voyage

 

 

Djp

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Thank you soooooo much for posting YC menus! I have really been eager to see them! Also, your steak looks delicious! Hope you enjoyed it!

 

I would also appreciate knowing which pastry/cupcake and gelato items are included with Yacht Club.

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Looking forward to reading your review especially the parts that don't relate to Yacht Club - have a good explore and let us know about the rest of the ship. Thanks and enjoy

 

 

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Bea - so excited you are aboard finally & posting! I hope you have a great cruise. Looking forward to hearing more about what you think of the ship!

 

 

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Random things learned so far (in no particular order)

I can confirm that YC guests have the Premium (deluxe) package included which means drinks with one asterisk (red has been replaced with black) and gelato/sundaes are covered. Yesterday, the barman in the Brass Anchor could not confirm if the food served there was included. There's still uncertainty around a number of things onboard. In this case, I would have had to order something from the menu so he could see if the system generated a charge against my account. I didn't want to do that so I'll follow up later in the week. He went on to say that the food comes piping hot as it is cooked next door in Kaito! Draught Guinness is not good here as he doesn't know the correct way to pull a pint of one!

Drinks are not included in speciality restaurants with 'all-inclusive' packages!!

Breakfast room service menu has only expanded to include pancakes and waffles with a selection of toppings.

The grill at the One pool is only used for breakfast items - no burgers (*mad* emoji here if I had one).

Coffee is served in YC restaurant after dinner. Maybe that's not new?

I have yet to find my way around the ship - it's disorienting once you leave the Galleria area. There doesn't seem to be a good flow through and between the lounges and other areas. Maybe it's just all too new. The layout is so different to the other ships. This ship is nothing like Fantasia class!

No sign of teething problems in YC. Apparently the same can't be said for the rest of the ship. Crew that we know from previous cruises have all - to a man/woman - told us of problems, both in the bars & MDRs. The three restaurants on deck 6 share an entranceway which is divided in three by two rope-lines creating distinct lines for access to each MDR. These are where the flexi and myChoice diners are assigned tables. We did a walk-thru' after having dinner in YC - there were queues outside which just looked odd on an MSC ship! We've been told that things aren't going too well with the system yet and there are many complaints. Those who have Classic (Early/Late) dining are in Waves restaurant on deck 5. Here in YC we're insulated from any grievances others have, but if what the crew are sharing with us is anything to go by, there are quite a lot of people unhappy with some things onboard.

Bar staff have told us that the tablets they've been given to work with are giving them a lot of problems, too.

No more 'Italian' night - it has been replaced with 'Mediterranean' night, something we had experienced on Fantasia last Feb. MSC seems to be moving away from the traditional Italian influence on their ships to a more international one. With the innovations and style of ship I'd say they're trying to be Royal Caribbean/NCL/Celebrity all rolled into one. It remains to be seen if the new concepts onboard will be successful. Trying to please everyone may end up pleasing no-one.

There is only one indoor smoking area and it's out of the way on deck 16. This policy is under review. They're considering have a dedicated smoking area in the Brass Anchor and the Top Sail lounge. I envisage that when the weather isn't as pleasant as it is now, they will have to allow for more indoor smoking areas - especially in YC as guests will be less than happy if they're forced to leave the enclave to have a cigarette when it's too cold/wet/windy to go outdoors.

'Gala' has now been replaced with 'Elegance' night. Apparently on this sailing, they will fall on the night we're in Messina and the following night of the day we're at sea!! So, it can't yet be stated definitively what nights they will fall as they're trying things out. It's gonna be a little weird having them on consecutive nights!

It was quite windy last night and the wind whistled through the balcony door. I spoke with the concierge this morning and she said that the whistling was throughout the YC and the engineers are working on figuring out how to address the problem.

More to follow and some pics, too. Kikki, I'm sure you're anxious for some info about the spa. I haven't been there yet but I'll post as soon as I have anything to share on the subject.

 

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Thank you all so much for your comments.

 

Dpal: I'll do what I can about checking out your cabin location.

 

Helenb: I haven't got round to the pastries place. But the sundaes as well as gelato are included. As I've mentioned, YC guests have what was once known as the premium package.

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Bea - thanks so much for your checking in with us! If you could actually take photos of the drinks menu & post them on here that would be great! Spa opening hours would also be good. [emoji4] and of course if you happen to befriend anyone with one of those corner Aurea suites hehe!

It's a bit worrying about the dining situation, being Aurea, we have flexi dining but I hope all the kinks will be sorted out by the time we cruise! Enjoy Marseille!

 

 

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I'm enjoying reading your review of the ship, we're due to sail on her in November. As we also leave from Barcelona and are staying the night before (and after) there, could you recommend a hotel in Barcelona? Just wondering where you stayed before you sailed? We don't know Barcelona at all. Many thanks.

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