Seaside or Meriviglia?

[deliver42]

For people who sailed on both. I'm booked on the Meriviglia for Feb, 2020, and am looking at the Seaside for the same time. Western Carib. Price is about the same for both in the YC. Which do you think is the better of the two? Any response would be appreciated. Thank you.

[dexddd]

Book em both!

 

They both look great and have two Seaside next year plus Meraviglia Mar 2020.

 

I seem to recall you from NCL pages - have you done YC yet?

 

Eta see you just did Divinia.

Edited December 12, 2018 by dexddd

[Skier52]

37 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

For people who sailed on both. I'm booked on the Meriviglia for Feb, 2020, and am looking at the Seaside for the same time. Western Carib. Price is about the same for both in the YC. Which do you think is the better of the two? Any response would be appreciated. Thank you.

Seaside is definitely a better design than Meraviglia, especially in sunny climes, with far more outside spaces available. We have been on both, and I would only go on Meraviglia if I as in the YC (which is where we were) as the ship feels very crowded.

Seaside, despite having almost the same number of guests, never felt crowded, we had an Aurea cabin which gave access to the Top 18 sundeck which may have helped with the feeling of spaciousness.   

I would happily go on Seaside in any cabin category but only go on a Meraviglia class ship in the YC.

 

Pete

[deliver42]

Thank you ,Pete. That's what I wanted to know.

 Mel

[deliver42]

DEXddd, I've been on NCL. Thanks for remembering. I was in the YC the first time on the Divina, but the last cruise on her, we went Aurea. Glad you enjoyed the Seaside.

[Tapi]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:40 AM, Skier52 said:

 I would only go on Meraviglia if I as in the YC (which is where we were) as the ship feels very crowded.

Interestingly, when we sailed on Meraviglia. my wife and I commented about how uncrowded the ship feels and how wonderfully laid out it is. About the only place where it would get crowded was along the Galleria Meraviglia later at night (since bars, specialty  restaurants, shops, and the main theater all connect along this area). Otherwise we pleasantly found very little crowding, even in places like the Marketplace Buffet. 

 

We booked an Aurea Duplex Suite so we had access to the private solarium on deck 19. But besides going there once or twice to check it out, we didn’t use it. Pool decks are expansive and the Polar water park was absolutely wonderful. I lost count of the times we went down the various waterslides. 

 

While I can’t comment on the Seaside, I thought that the Meraviglia was a fantastic ship with a wow factor along the lines of Royal’s Oasis class ships. The Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows on Meraviglia contribute to elevating the entertainment to Oasis levels. 

 

Even though this was a completely new ship for us, we learned or way around the ship very quickly. Easily one of the most impressive and best ships I’ve ever sailed on. 

Edited December 14, 2018 by Tapi

[sidari]

Tapi ... Were those Suites on the front of the ship ? we have one of the corner front suites with the whirlpool booked for Xmas 2019.

[Beamafar]

We were on Meraviglia for one of her first sailings and I posted at the time in my review that we, too, would only ever sail on her in YC (which we've booked for next October out of New York).  We've yet to sail on a Seaside-class ship (booked Seaview in YC for August next) so can't offer an opinion on which is the better of the two (yet!)

Edited December 14, 2018 by Beamafar

[Debde]

Is there a major difference between the YC on these ships?

[Tapi]

8 hours ago, sidari said:

Tapi ... Were those Suites on the front of the ship ? we have one of the corner front suites with the whirlpool booked for Xmas 2019.

Yes! We were two cabins over from the Aurea corner suites that you have booked. We had a forward facing view which gave us wonderful views going in and out of port, but I somewhat missed having a side facing balcony without a floor to ceiling glass wall. 

 

Even though these Aurea suites are not in an “exclusive” part of the ship like YC staterooms are, it felt private and quiet since we were all the way forward and all the staterooms along that hallway were suites. 

[SirWolf]

14 hours ago, Debde said:

Is there a major difference between the YC on these ships?

following... the YC floor plan design is different. The cabins on Seaside/Seaview are on 2 decks (decks 16, 18) and the cabins on Meraviglia/Bellissima are on 4 decks (14, 15, 16, 18). Similarities: YC Restaurant on deck 18 , Top Sail Lounge on deck 16 , YC Pool on deck 19. 

[Beamafar]

On 12/15/2018 at 3:22 PM, SirWolf said:

...  Similarities: YC Restaurant on deck 18 , Top Sail Lounge on deck 16 ...

 

Difference:  YC restaurant on Seaview is on a mezzanine overlooking TSL;  on Meraviglia, they are 2 separate venues.

[Arzeena]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:40 AM, Skier52 said:

Seaside is definitely a better design than Meraviglia, especially in sunny climes, with far more outside spaces available. We have been on both, and I would only go on Meraviglia if I as in the YC (which is where we were) as the ship feels very crowded.

Seaside, despite having almost the same number of guests, never felt crowded, we had an Aurea cabin which gave access to the Top 18 sundeck which may have helped with the feeling of spaciousness.   

I would happily go on Seaside in any cabin category but only go on a Meraviglia class ship in the YC.

 

Pete

 

On 12/14/2018 at 12:28 PM, Tapi said:

Interestingly, when we sailed on Meraviglia. my wife and I commented about how uncrowded the ship feels and how wonderfully laid out it is. About the only place where it would get crowded was along the Galleria Meraviglia later at night (since bars, specialty  restaurants, shops, and the main theater all connect along this area). Otherwise we pleasantly found very little crowding, even in places like the Marketplace Buffet. 

 

We booked an Aurea Duplex Suite so we had access to the private solarium on deck 19. But besides going there once or twice to check it out, we didn’t use it. Pool decks are expansive and the Polar water park was absolutely wonderful. I lost count of the times we went down the various waterslides. 

 

While I can’t comment on the Seaside, I thought that the Meraviglia was a fantastic ship with a wow factor along the lines of Royal’s Oasis class ships. The Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows on Meraviglia contribute to elevating the entertainment to Oasis levels. 

 

Even though this was a completely new ship for us, we learned or way around the ship very quickly. Easily one of the most impressive and best ships I’ve ever sailed on. 

 

Thanks to both for posting your experiences.

It is refreshing to read about varying experiences good or not good.  I have future cruises on both ships this year. I am very excited to see what my experience will be.

Is the Meragvilia a bit more on the elegant/formal side than the Seaside? Just wondering and mentally comparing a 7 night summer cruise to a 13 night fall cruise.

 

Tapi, I have been on Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships and love them , so I am sure the Meragvilia will not disappoint. I have been on the Divina with a not so great experience, but hopefully will have a better one next time we try her.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Arzeena

[Arzeena]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:05 AM, dexddd said:

Book em both!

 

They both look great and have two Seaside next year plus Meraviglia Mar 2020.

 

I seem to recall you from NCL pages - have you done YC yet?

 

Eta see you just did Divinia.

I am going to ask you how you would compare Haven to YC, in June.

We have only stayed in the Haven once, when we got an upgrade. DH said don't get used to it. LOL!😁
I see YC has a more affordable price range comparatively.

[dexddd]

4 hours ago, Arzeena said:

I am going to ask you how you would compare Haven to YC, in June.

We have only stayed in the Haven once, when we got an upgrade. DH said don't get used to it. LOL!😁
I see YC has a more affordable price range comparatively.

 

I certainly can give you all the comparisons, but if we see you at the M&G I'll probably let the others in our party tell you their more unbiased thoughts.  We've typically stayed in the top suites on NCL so at least in that comparison to the regular YC Deluxe suites they'll probably mention the rooms not being as nice.

[CelebrationFamily]

On 12/14/2018 at 12:28 PM, Tapi said:

Interestingly, when we sailed on Meraviglia. my wife and I commented about how uncrowded the ship feels and how wonderfully laid out it is. About the only place where it would get crowded was along the Galleria Meraviglia later at night (since bars, specialty  restaurants, shops, and the main theater all connect along this area). Otherwise we pleasantly found very little crowding, even in places like the Marketplace Buffet. 

 

We booked an Aurea Duplex Suite so we had access to the private solarium on deck 19. But besides going there once or twice to check it out, we didn’t use it. Pool decks are expansive and the Polar water park was absolutely wonderful. I lost count of the times we went down the various waterslides. 

 

While I can’t comment on the Seaside, I thought that the Meraviglia was a fantastic ship with a wow factor along the lines of Royal’s Oasis class ships. The Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows on Meraviglia contribute to elevating the entertainment to Oasis levels. 

 

Even though this was a completely new ship for us, we learned or way around the ship very quickly. Easily one of the most impressive and best ships I’ve ever sailed on. 

My experience is very similar to Tapi...generally speaking, I don't love mega ships...for instance, I much prefer DCL's Magic and Wonder to their larger sister ships Dream and Fantasy. The Meraviglia, however, is laid out in such a way that it rarely felt crowded and was easy to learn as a first time passenger.