MSC Meriviglia 4 nights August 23, 2021 - trip report with photos

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We (me 48, DH 49, DS 15) booked this trip on the MSC Meriviglia as a splurge. Several of our trips have been cancelled or postponed over the previous 18 months because of the pandemic. When MSC announced the return of cruising to the U.S., we looked at a few options and settled on the August 23, 2021, cruise from Miami.

 

We reserved cabin 12010 which is a suite on the bow of the ship. The splurge was the suite because it has a separate bedroom, large living area, and spacious balcony with a whirlpool tub.

 

I used jetBlue travel bank funds from a cancelled trip to book direct flights from Boston to Fort Lauderdale and returning from Miami to Boston. About one week prior to the trip, I was tracking the progress of three hurricanes Fred Grace and Henri. Fred and Grace would not impact us at all, but Henri was a different story.

 

Our initial plan was to take a bus from Maine to Boston's Logan airport on Sunday, the day before the cruise. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 4.30 pm. Watching the storm track, this seemed too close to hurricane impact time. So, I spent several hours on Saturday, August 21 moving our next day's flight to 11 am from Boston. Later that same day, JetBlue cancelled our outgoing flight with a message that they would reschedule it and be in touch.

 

This gave us a just a few minutes to decide if we would cancel the cruise. MSC had a cancel 48 hours prior rule in effect. For a multitude of reasons, my husband and I decided we would still try to make the cruise since we had time to drive the 24 hour trip to Miami from Maine. After all, our bags were already packed.

 

My husband laid down to try to sleep since we would be driving into the early morning in order to get past the predicted landfall of Henri. I picked up our son (DS15) who was at a friend's house. And by 7 pm, we were at the local gas station filling up.

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We drove through the night to Newark, New Jersey. We lost about half an hour at a disorganized McDonald's, but we managed to cross the George Washington bridge around midnight. While en route, I booked us a room at the Holiday Inn express near Newark airport. We arrived there around 1 am. The hotel was perfectly fine for less than one night.

 

I woke at 6 am and started searching for flights from Baltimore.  I had tried on the previous night but did not find anything suitable. After about 4.5 hours sleep, I had better luck and booked us Southwest flights roundtrip from Baltimore to Miami. I am leaving out the details of cancelling other reservations and finding a new hotel near the Miami airport for the night, but you get the idea. We showered and were back on the road by 8 am.

 

Are you wondering if we beat Henri's landfall? Yes we did. We were impacted by some heavy rain for about 15 minutes in Newark and again for a few minutes on Sunday morning. But by and large we were able to make good time on the road. We arrived at the Baltimore airport four hours before our 3:45 pm flight to Miami. We parked in the long term lot for $8 per day.

 

By 7:10 pm, the Ramada Miami Springs shuttle had picked us up at the Miami airport. We had stayed at this location twice before for Miami cruises. The fabrics in the room are starting to show wear and tear. But the very spacious room with two king beds was fine for the night. The next morning, I did a load of laundry since we hadn't packed for an extra day of travel. So with clean clothes, we were ready for the Meriviglia.

 

Our last cruise in February 2020 was on the Meriviglia. So we knew what to expect and were looking forward to being back on board.

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On Monday, we had a late checkout at noon. We used the Lyft app, and our ride was only about 5 minutes away. When I requested the ride, I looked online to find MSC's terminal at the Port of Miami. It was incorrect and we ended up having to circle the port to get to the correct terminal (C). None of the signs in the port were showing which terminal for any of the three ships embarking that day. I apologized profusely to our Lyft driver and gave an extra large tip in the app for her inconvenience.

We arrived at the terminal around 12:30; the entire process until we boarded took about 1 hour. After dropping off three bags with the porters, we got in line for security. No one checked our boarding time. We went through the security line and then went through the health screening. Boarding papers that we printed at home had a health form for each of us. It was a good idea to have this filled out before we got to the port. Several people were slowed down with their paperwork.

Once we turned in the paper, we were each handed four labels to be used for the covid test. Interestingly, our labels had our exact number of years old we are...down to the hundredths place. I will be 49 in November and my age was listed as 48.79.

The three of us went into the same testing area at the same time. The swabbing is very quick and not very deep. We thought it seemed cursory and not as thorough as the test we had done at Walgreens two days prior. We each got a numbered sticker put on our shirt and then was directed to waiting area number four. 

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After waiting about thirty minutes, our entire waiting area was cleared to go to the check in area. This was a very quick process and there was essentially no line. It was here that our vaccination cards were copied and we got our cruise cards and a white band was attached to our wrists to show our vaccine status. The entire process from dropping off the luggage until we were on the ship was about one hour. It really was not onerous. I will say that we walked quite a bit in the terminal to get to each station. If someone was mobility impaired, they might benefit from a wheelchair.

Once onboard, our cruise cards were scanned and we were each given a tracking band.

Next we took a boarding photo. This was easy to bypass if not wanted.

 

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Straight from the photo, we found our cabin number 12010. Here's what it looked like.

 

The entrance

 

The hallway mirror

 

 

The main living area set up as a bed

Edited August 28, 2021 by Match Game 72

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The desk in the main living area. We asked for the mini fridge to be emptied and used it to store bottled water from the Easy drink package.

 

 

 

The walk-in closet with three robes and pairs of slippers

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The bedroom has its own closet and a tv.

 

 

 

 

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The forward facing balcony was very large. We spent quite a few hours enjoying it. While the ship was underway, it was windy, but much of our cruise was in port at Nassau and Ocean Cay.

 

 

The whirlpool was very nice to have. We used it every day. The lounger is large enough for a man over six feet to lie down comfortably.

 

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We did not use any room service. Here is the menu if you are interested in the offerings.

 

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We went to deck 15 to have lunch at the buffet. Passengers entering the buffet were directed to wash their hands.

The buffet was a very calm experience. Unlike most embarkation lunches there was plenty of room between occupied tables as well as entire areas with no one sitting in them. As we left the buffet, my husband asked a staff member how many passengers were expected. She said it was about 1,250 passengers. This is around 25% of the sailing that we experienced on the Meriviglia in February 2020. We consistently saw fewer people in the public areas and never had a problem finding an empty seat or lounger. 

We went back to the cabin, unpacked our bags, and then headed to the Edge bar for a drink. After that we spent some time exploring the ship. We met the teen club staff. Then we went to the spa and made reservations for our Aurea-included massages for me and my husband. 

 

 

We thought the Easy drink package choices were improved when compared to our prior Meriviglia cruise.

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At around 5:15 pm, an announcement was made to return to our cabins to begin the safety drill. We watched the safety video (again since we had it running while we unpacked), and this time there was a number to call at the end of the video to confirm we had watched it.

Next several decks were called to go to our muster stations. Ours was located in the Broadway theatre. We walked in a quick line, had our cards scanned and then walked right out. Going to the muster station was the only time we were in a crowded situation onboard.
 

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We ate dinner at 7pm at the Kaito sushi restaurant. All specialty restaurants were 15% off for the first evening. We had enjoyed this restaurant on our last cruise, and my husband requested it again. For the three of us, we ordered one tasting experience and one sashimi combination plate. It was plenty of food for all of us.

Some of the dishes were new to us like the octopus, but we enjoyed trying them. The tasting menu comes with one serving of matcha ice cream. Our fifteen year old was game to eat it. We all had one bite, but then we left it. Were we too full? Maybe. But the ice cream also had an unusual texture. The best word I can use to describe it is dusty. I'm not sure how an ice cream feels dusty, but this one did. So, we left most of it on the plate.

[rkacruiser]

54 minutes ago, Match Game 72 said:

None of the signs in the port were showing which terminal for any of the three ships embarking that day.

 

The Port of Miami's signage for people driving into the Port is pitiful.  Such a lack helps to create the roadway chaos that I experienced.

 

Excellent report and photos, OP.  Please continue.  

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Next our son went to the teen club. On other cruises, he has had good luck making new friends to hang out with on the cruise. Actually, he still hangs out virtually with friends that he made on two MSC cruises. But tonight, he would be disappointed in few teens and in broken video game controllers in the teen club.
I took the following pictures earlier in the day.

 

 

 

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We all went to the 10:30 show, Life is Magic, at the Broadway theatre. This was the third show of the evening and was for vaccinated passengers only. The show was entertaining. The magician executed the tricks well, and we were happy. It had been a good first day.

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More to come...

[rkacruiser]

13 minutes ago, Match Game 72 said:

The tasting menu comes with one serving of matcha ice cream. Our fifteen year old was game to eat it.

 

You have a son who is exceptional in being willing to try different foods!

 

I googled Matcha Ice Cream.  Based on what I read, I don't think I would care for it either.  

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7 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

You have a son who is exceptional in being willing to try different foods!

 

I googled Matcha Ice Cream.  Based on what I read, I don't think I would care for it either.  

When he was much younger, we started a tradition when we are cruising. Every day we try something new. If we don't like it, that's ok. But it is surprising at how many things we have all liked.

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Tuesday
My husband and I had an 8:45 spa reservation for a couple's massage. Included in the Aurea experience, we enjoyed the massages in the same room together. I felt like a limp noodle afterwards. Staff did not try to sell us anything additional and were very good at communicating about pressure. We tipped them and headed back to our cabin to pick up our son for breakfast.

 

Nassau

Carnival Magic was docked across from us.

 

 

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Our plan was to walk to Junkanoo beach. We walked about 25 minutes or so and found the beach. Unfortunately once we got there, I needed a restroom, and we went back to the ship. The guys went swimming in the Bamboo Pool, and I had no more GI issues.

 

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The afternoon snack was an enormous plate of french fries that we shared.

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We had a late buffet lunch at 3 pm. Clearly, we were on vacation with our late lunches and later dinners. Oh and did I mention the old vacation standby of a good nap? DH went back to our cabin for a nap. DS and I walked around, played ping pong and got a drink at Edge lounge.

We ate dinner in the Panorama main dining room for the first time. Our servers were excellent - friendly and professional. Tables were spaced apart, and the dining room felt a bit empty each evening.

 

 

 

Caesar salad

 

French Onion Soup

 

A fancy-named beef dish made with red wine that DS said tasted like my pot roast

 

Swordfish and roasted vegetables which was one of the best meals we ate all week

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After dinner we listened to a trio in the atrium. Smooth jazz with a calypso beat. They were very good.

 

Our cabin steward made towel animals every evening.

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Wednesday 
We arrived on time at Ocean Cay. By 8 am, we were tied up to the dock. I took some photos from our balcony.

 

Lighthouse Beach

 

Panoramic picture

 

Then, I decided I should go to the gym since I had signed up the day before. It was completely empty at 9 am...even the staff was not there. The gym is vaccinated only from 6 am to 10 am. After about 15 minutes I saw another passenger and of course the staff had returned.

By 9:45 an announcement was made that due to the rain and wind which had started while I was in the gym, the gangway was closed. It later reopened at 1 pm. During the interim, we played cards in the Meriviglia lounge in the Galleria.
 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Match Game 72

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View of the stormy conditions from the port hole window in the Meriviglia lounge