MSC Meraviglia - 50th Birthday Cruise

[PawlingCruiser]

Just booked a cruise for the family next December on MSC Meraviglia - Barcelona, France, Italy, etc. - in part to celebrate my 50th birthday. This will be my first time on MSC after several cruises on Royal Caribbean and Princess. I could not resist the deal - great itinerary, new ship, two story duplex stateroom that will easily accommodate us all, drinks and other extras thrown in.

 

For those who have cruised with MSC previously a few questions:

 

1) How much does the experience differ from Princess, RCI, etc.? I have no problem with a more international (less "American") experience, but I assume there are no language issues.

 

2) How does MSC's food compare to what you would get aboard RCI or Princess?

 

3) What about staff/service?

 

4) Anything else I should know?

 

Looks like a beautiful ship - can't wait!

[Love2Cruz2015]

Very nice! I'm going on my first MSC cruise this year so I can't personally comment...but my parents have both gone on MSC and they had a great experience and loved the Italian spin.

[Clarea]

Congratulations on the cruise and 50th! Great way to celebrate.:)

[Keith1010]

Just wanted to congratulate you on booking this cruise.

 

What a wonderful way to celebrate your milestone birthday.

 

Keith

[AmoMondo]

Well you may well be the only Americans onboard, there are hardly ever any on Medcruises. English speakers are always in the minority sometimes a small minority. One of the onboard languages is English, so you will get your programme and menus in English. At dinner they will seat you in a section where the waiter is reasonably fluent in English. Bar staff, reception staff etc will speak English but yiu have to remember they will be speaking it as a second or third language. So don't talk too fast use loads of colloquialisms and be patient. There will be an English speaking host onboard to help you with anything more complicated. They will speak English as a first language but could be British, Australians, Douth African etc, so there can still be an issue with accents and local sayings.

 

You may find it more difficult to communicate with other passengers. Not all will speak English.

 

I don't find language an issue but I can also speak French and Dpanish to an extent and some very basic Italian and German - I only really use it when I want to communicate with other passengers. Since you're travelling in a family group it may not be an issue.

 

So because of the very international passenger mix, you'll find entertainment , especially the evening shows being musical and /or visual. So no stand up comedians.

 

Dinner will probably be later than you're used to. It is a seven course leisurely affair but you don't need to order from all courses though. You may think portions are small but that is because it is not a standard 3 course affair. Pasta and Rice dishes are a seperate course before main courses.

 

The biggest difference you're likely to notice though is the onboard vibe and behaviours of others. Many Europeans, particularly Southern Europeans don't queue, it is not rude it is just not a custom there. So you'll see people not observing lines in the buffet. Just gomwithnthe flow and don't bother about it. They're not going to adopt your customs any more than you will theirs.

 

If you have visited places like Spain and Italy before, you'll find onboard pretty similar to the onshore experience. If this is your first visit, it may be a bit of a culture shock.

 

Some love the difference and feeling truly overseas onboard, others not so much.

 

Can't make comparisons with those other lines you've mentioned as I haven't sailed on a US line - well technically Costa is US owned but it is almost as over the top Italian as MSC!

[PawlingCruiser]

Well you may well be the only Americans onboard, there are hardly ever any on Medcruises. English speakers are always in the minority sometimes a small minority. One of the onboard languages is English, so you will get your programme and menus in English. At dinner they will seat you in a section where the waiter is reasonably fluent in English. Bar staff, reception staff etc will speak English but yiu have to remember they will be speaking it as a second or third language. So don't talk too fast use loads of colloquialisms and be patient. There will be an English speaking host onboard to help you with anything more complicated. They will speak English as a first language but could be British, Australians, Douth African etc, so there can still be an issue with accents and local sayings.

 

You may find it more difficult to communicate with other passengers. Not all will speak English.

 

I don't find language an issue but I can also speak French and Dpanish to an extent and some very basic Italian and German - I only really use it when I want to communicate with other passengers. Since you're travelling in a family group it may not be an issue.

 

So because of the very international passenger mix, you'll find entertainment , especially the evening shows being musical and /or visual. So no stand up comedians.

 

Dinner will probably be later than you're used to. It is a seven course leisurely affair but you don't need to order from all courses though. You may think portions are small but that is because it is not a standard 3 course affair. Pasta and Rice dishes are a seperate course before main courses.

 

The biggest difference you're likely to notice though is the onboard vibe and behaviours of others. Many Europeans, particularly Southern Europeans don't queue, it is not rude it is just not a custom there. So you'll see people not observing lines in the buffet. Just gomwithnthe flow and don't bother about it. They're not going to adopt your customs any more than you will theirs.

 

If you have visited places like Spain and Italy before, you'll find onboard pretty similar to the onshore experience. If this is your first visit, it may be a bit of a culture shock.

 

Some love the difference and feeling truly overseas onboard, others not so much.

 

Can't make comparisons with those other lines you've mentioned as I haven't sailed on a US line - well technically Costa is US owned but it is almost as over the top Italian as MSC!

 

Thanks very much for the thoughtful reply! I lived in France for a year and a half and have traveled pretty extensively in Europe and elsewhere, so I am perfectly comfortable with a lot of what you describe. I also have no problem eating later or having longer meals with more courses. I was mostly curious about the standard of service, but from what I can tell MSC has made big improvements in that area. When I compared the price to what I would have to pay on RCI or Princess for a comparable itinerary/stateroom/extras, this was a no brainer.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies! Should be a lot of fun - and on top of all that I've never visited any of these cities before, including Barcelona.

[riclop]

Just booked a cruise for the family next December on MSC Meraviglia - Barcelona, France, Italy, etc. - in part to celebrate my 50th birthday. This will be my first time on MSC after several cruises on Royal Caribbean and Princess. I could not resist the deal - great itinerary, new ship, two story duplex stateroom that will easily accommodate us all, drinks and other extras thrown in.

 

For those who have cruised with MSC previously a few questions:

 

1) How much does the experience differ from Princess, RCI, etc.? I have no problem with a more international (less "American") experience, but I assume there are no language issues.

 

2) How does MSC's food compare to what you would get aboard RCI or Princess?

 

3) What about staff/service?

 

4) Anything else I should know?

 

Looks like a beautiful ship - can't wait!

 

Don't worry and enjoy your cruise.

[stealthy]

Well you may well be the only Americans onboard, there are hardly ever any on Medcruises. English speakers are always in the minority sometimes a small minority. One of the onboard languages is English, so you will get your programme and menus in English. At dinner they will seat you in a section where the waiter is reasonably fluent in English. Bar staff, reception staff etc will speak English but yiu have to remember they will be speaking it as a second or third language. So don't talk too fast use loads of colloquialisms and be patient. There will be an English speaking host onboard to help you with anything more complicated. They will speak English as a first language but could be British, Australians, Douth African etc, so there can still be an issue with accents and local sayings.

 

You may find it more difficult to communicate with other passengers. Not all will speak English.

 

I don't find language an issue but I can also speak French and Dpanish to an extent and some very basic Italian and German - I only really use it when I want to communicate with other passengers. Since you're travelling in a family group it may not be an issue.

 

So because of the very international passenger mix, you'll find entertainment , especially the evening shows being musical and /or visual. So no stand up comedians.

 

Dinner will probably be later than you're used to. It is a seven course leisurely affair but you don't need to order from all courses though. You may think portions are small but that is because it is not a standard 3 course affair. Pasta and Rice dishes are a seperate course before main courses.

 

The biggest difference you're likely to notice though is the onboard vibe and behaviours of others. Many Europeans, particularly Southern Europeans don't queue, it is not rude it is just not a custom there. So you'll see people not observing lines in the buffet. Just gomwithnthe flow and don't bother about it. They're not going to adopt your customs any more than you will theirs.

 

If you have visited places like Spain and Italy before, you'll find onboard pretty similar to the onshore experience. If this is your first visit, it may be a bit of a culture shock.

 

Some love the difference and feeling truly overseas onboard, others not so much.

 

Can't make comparisons with those other lines you've mentioned as I haven't sailed on a US line - well technically Costa is US owned but it is almost as over the top Italian as MSC!

 

 

 

Well said and your spot on AmoMondo. Great insight as what to expect when on a Med cruise.

[AmoMondo]

Service is a very subjective thing. What one culture considers great service another considers intrusive or not friendly enough. MSC in Europe is very much old school Europena style. Sure some of the crew will interact with you and chatbut mostly they stay in the background. At the pool for example they will never approach you and ask you what you'd like to drink. They assume you don't want to be bothered. All you have to do is make eye contact and smile and they'll come over, or indicate in some other way that'd you'd like to be served. Some don't understand that, and complain the service is non existent.

 

There are of course, some crew who just don't care. You get that everywhere. Sometimes they're just having a bad day.