Live from the Meriviglia August 27-30 - ask me anything!

[slk1000]

13 hours ago, SkierRobUMN said:

I would guess sometime around 11am

 

Yes they have different dining rooms for Vaccinated vs. Non Vaccinated. 
 

Buffet however is all blended. 

Thank you.

[drugdog]

Going on her Oct2,with unvaccinated 11 year old granddaughter,need help on venues open to her, excursions open, are there any excursions where she can shop,and do they have the shopping desk open so she could get coupons for free items if she/we visit the store ex. bracelet,charms sunglasses etc,etc. She’s 11 years old and likes to shop.

[Shippy]

16 hours ago, 9876 said:

I am not the OP on the ship but I thought I would chime in.  October will be all vaccinated since the Bahamas is prohibiting nonvaccinated tourists until October 31st.

A few days ago, we were reissued our boarding passes/tickets for our 9/25 cruise.

Under included things....childrens activities was totally eliminated.

I have read on blogs for other cruise lines that all the spaces for kids activites were closed.

[Cruise Gopher]

1 hour ago, drugdog said:

Going on her Oct2,with unvaccinated 11 year old granddaughter,need help on venues open to her, excursions open, are there any excursions where she can shop,and do they have the shopping desk open so she could get coupons for free items if she/we visit the store ex. bracelet,charms sunglasses etc,etc. She’s 11 years old and likes to shop.

Most venues are open to all, in the daily program it will show specific times where certain venues are open to vaccinated only. 
 

As far as shops go, I did get a flyer in the daily to get a free Effy pendant necklace so there should be something like that for you to do. They have lots of shops on this ship and they are always totally empty so I’m sure they will be happy to have you visit. 

[travelwide]

13 hours ago, travelwide said:

Can you find out who the hotel director will be on the September 13th sailing? Glad you are having a great time and looking forward to boarding the ship on September 13th.

Has anyone been able to get this info?

😊

[styles27]

3 hours ago, SkierRobUMN said:

You’ll likely just be seated by yourselves. There are so few passengers sailing that they can spread people out and not combine people. 

Thanks so much for the response! 

[Cruise Gopher]

Italian night dinner in the MDR made up for the low quality food the rest of the cruise. (I’m looking at you frozen chicken nuggets from the buffet). 
 

The veal osso buco was probably one of the best entrees I’ve ever had on a cruise. 
 

One observation and I don’t know if this is a MSC thing or what, but the dining room staff work in absolute chaos. People running around like crazy but seemingly zero method to their madness. The other night the wine steward took my wine order, tonight my assistant waiter did my wine order and my entire meal order and served all of it.
 

For how empty the dining room is it just seems like a lot of people scrambling. Maybe they are short staffed, I don’t know, just doesn’t seem like it. 

[Native Floridian 26]

8 minutes ago, SkierRobUMN said:

Italian night dinner in the MDR made up for the low quality food the rest of the cruise. (I’m looking at you frozen chicken nuggets from the buffet). 
 

Did you take a picture of the menu?

 

[Cruise Gopher]

2 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

 

Menu for Italian night… 

 

QR_A_MD_DINNER_DAY4_EN_1630169582.pdf

[Cruise Gopher]

And for those doing the 4 night cruise, here is the other dinner menu. 
 

QR_A_MD_DINNER_DAY2_EN_1630169582.pdf

Edited August 29, 2021 by SkierRobUMN

[Cruise Gopher]

Here is the sea day MDR lunch menu. 
 

QR_A_MD_LUNCH_DAY2_EN_1630276422.pdf

[9876]

Could you please post what terminal you go into?  I am in my way over got the next sailing in the morning.  WOOHOO!  

[Geobugs]

Terminal C

[Portr8s]

On 8/28/2021 at 12:17 PM, SkierRobUMN said:

Gorgeous day on Ocean Cay. Plenty of seating at the beach. I love the moon pod/bean bag chair things. They are super comfy. I grabbed one under a palm tree at the far end of the beach closest to the lighthouse. 
 

Love this! I wondered where to park myself when we go in a couple weeks from now. ♥️

[rkacruiser]

On 8/27/2021 at 7:40 PM, Shippy said:

not catch of the day

 

"Catch of the Day" is appearing on the dinner menus of the Nieuw Amsterdam as she cruises in Alaska.  I agree; this is a disappointing development.  

 

It could be due to cost cutting.  It could be due to unreliable supply chain issues for seafood.  The former reason is more disappointing to me than the latter for not being able to specify what fish is being offered,  

[Cruise Gopher]

Final thoughts after leaving the ship yesterday.

 

I did the express walk off. Lined up at about 6:30am and we were cleared for debarkation at 7am on the dot. The bus situation to go to the parking garage G was a bit of a cluster as the drivers weren’t really organized as to who was taking people to the G garage. But I was at my car by about 7:15am and on my way. 
 

Overall, this was a wonderful short weekend getaway. For the price paid I am content and satisfied with what I received. 
 

With only 600-700 people on board, the ship just didn’t have any life or energy to it. The bars and venues were just all empty in the evenings. Hopefully things will pick up soon.
 

My room steward was so nice and we had many long conversations because he was so bored. He only had two staterooms to look after. He said it was much busier early on in August when they first re-started but things have dropped off. 

[blacknj]

Do you have a copy of the excursions that are offered? The MSC website seems to make me believe more is offered than what is reality.

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, SkierRobUMN said:

The bus situation to go to the parking garage G was a bit of a cluster as the drivers weren’t really organized as to who was taking people to the G garage.

 

So, there are shuttles to/from the G Garage.  Is this because the ship docked at a different Terminal than Terminal F?  

[Cruise Gopher]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

So, there are shuttles to/from the G Garage.  Is this because the ship docked at a different Terminal than Terminal F?  

The ship docks at terminal C and there is an empty garage there right at terminal C but they aren’t allowing passengers to use it. So they are making all MSC passengers park at the very end at garage G and then they bus you back to terminal C. 

[Cruise Gopher]

8 hours ago, blacknj said:

Do you have a copy of the excursions that are offered? The MSC website seems to make me believe more is offered than what is reality.

My 3 night sailing only stopped at Ocean Cay. Are you asking about excursions available there? Do you have questions about a certain one?

[Anded]

Thank you so much for the great report and the menus.  Is it possible to see the Daily Activity sheet or send it to me?  I go out on Monday and I'm an overplanner.  Thanks!

[Kruizin'Kath]

Thanks for ta!king the time to post a great review!

[rkacruiser]

On 8/31/2021 at 7:24 PM, SkierRobUMN said:

there is an empty garage there right at terminal C but they aren’t allowing passengers to use it.

 

I wonder what the reason for this may be.  

 

I have gotten so many different answers to the question of shuttles to/from the garages in the Port of Miami and I am no longer going to deal with the issue.  I won't ever again drive into the Port of Miami.  I'll let a taxi driver deal with the chaos and confusion.  

[blacknj]

On 8/31/2021 at 7:25 PM, SkierRobUMN said:

My 3 night sailing only stopped at Ocean Cay. Are you asking about excursions available there? Do you have questions about a certain one?

I was interested in the Miami ones that are listed as tours/transfers to the airport.