Onboard Meraviglia now 1/24 ..my observations..

[momrox1]

Boarded Jan 20 for a 10 day b to b. Checkin was really a breeze.  We did our covid test at Walgreens and it was the quick test and had no problem. They checked our documents then we went to the testing area..simple nasal swab..negative results in less than 10 minutes.  I wanted to mention that as you're waiting for your test results there is a table filled with bottle waters and the gentleman told me to take as many as I wanted. I thought that was a nice touch for people who didn't have the drink package.

It was around 12:30 and rooms were ready. We always bring a can of lysol, even precovid, but  I was happy to see the remote was sterilized and packaged. Lunch served only in the buffet. It was pretty good. There are about 703 people on board I am told 😊   I was surprised that when I asked if there were any aft cabins available I was shown 1. In the end we decided to stay in our own balconies as they were side-by-side. (I'm traveling with another woman friend.. we each have our own balcony)  

 We are finding the staff to be unbelievably friendly and willing to go above and beyond to help us. We were curious about the yarcht club and they arranged a tour for us. Let me say it is just as beautiful as I had anticipated.. Having your own pool in that area is worth every penny I think.  If anyone can answer this question it would be helpful as I'm confused about it. I know we get offers for an upgrade to the yacht club. I have conflicting reports that say all benefits would be included. There is a YouTube video that says benefits are not included. Anybody have any insight on this?

 We are finding the food in the main dining room to be very bland. I would suggest you bring your own container of salt as they have to grind it for you every time you want some. They cannot leave it at the table because of covid.  Also while I remember bring a Box of tissues as they are not supplied in the room although I did call to get a Box sent to me and they promptly did that.

 Even though the 1st leg was only a 3 day cruise booked separately from the 2nd I was matched as diamond status and received chocolate covered strawberries,  prosecco and dinner in  the butcher's cut. The butcher's cut was absolutely delicious.

 On that note. My friend never got status match even though like many others I tried over and over and over online. We were able to get her matched by the future cruise  director Susanna. I heard many others complaining of this and it is a shame really that the website is so bad . 

 While on board I inquired about staying for the next 5 day leg and was told it would be 416 each with everything included which is a steal but it turns out I have prior commitments.  And that price was for a single balcony.

 It is very evident that the cruise is empty with no lines anywhere, the spa all to ourselves and everyone willing to help. I am treating it like a private yacht lol

I'll check back if anyone has any specific questions I can try to answer...

[Fogfog]

@momrox1

 

TY for the update

We board on Sunday for B2B2bbs

Looking fwd to the quiet

YC is lovely though spendy $$$$  I realize many say that for the price of YC they can sail like 3 times in a bal room... At this time with so few pax it is probably a better buy to sail in a bal room

During peak season with a full ship then YC is a nice option

 

 

[G-DawgMN]

 We just got off yesterday and had stayed in the Yacht Club. You would receive all perks that come with the experience.

  For us it was worth it for the food, it's levels above what you would get in the main dining room. The service was also amazing. It probably didn't hurt that there were only 41 people in the Yacht Club. Usually there were only 2-3 tables occupied for meals and many times we were alone in the Top Sail Lounge.

 

 

[RAC630]

35 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 We just got off yesterday and had stayed in the Yacht Club. You would receive all perks that come with the experience.

  For us it was worth it for the food, it's levels above what you would get in the main dining room. The service was also amazing. It probably didn't hurt that there were only 41 people in the Yacht Club. Usually there were only 2-3 tables occupied for meals and many times we were alone in the Top Sail Lounge.

 

 

We are by boarding next Sunday 1/30 and will be in the YC. What time did you arrive at the port and did you wait long for the testing process? Did YC have any priority with that?

[G-DawgMN]

9 minutes ago, RAC630 said:

We are by boarding next Sunday 1/30 and will be in the YC. What time did you arrive at the port and did you wait long for the testing process? Did YC have any priority with that?

 

 We arrived around 10:30. The YC tent is right at the escalator to go in, check in with them and they'll usher you in and get you priority for testing. We were able to get right on the ship after our tests were negative.

 

 

[RAC630]

14 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 We arrived around 10:30. The YC tent is right at the escalator to go in, check in with them and they'll usher you in and get you priority for testing. We were able to get right on the ship after our tests were negative.

 

 

That’s great. I was hoping to be able to get on quickly and have lunch in the YC. Any other thoughts about the YC?

[mscdivina2016]

11 minutes ago, RAC630 said:

That’s great. I was hoping to be able to get on quickly and have lunch in the YC. Any other thoughts about the YC?

Probably won't happen.

Was on 1/9 sailing and we were all escorted to the lounge where we waited. Drinks and snacks abound and around 12.30 we were told rooms and restaurant was now open.

We too wanted to eat right away. 

We wanted to go at noon when it usually opens but we're told no. I am beginning to assume that it may be all hands on deck to get the YC rooms ready first.

[RAC630]

25 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Probably won't happen.

Was on 1/9 sailing and we were all escorted to the lounge where we waited. Drinks and snacks abound and around 12.30 we were told rooms and restaurant was now open.

We too wanted to eat right away. 

We wanted to go at noon when it usually opens but we're told no. I am beginning to assume that it may be all hands on deck to get the YC rooms ready first.

Could be that for sure. I was hoping with such low passengers numbers that rooms would be ready pretty early. Lunch around 12:30 is fine though. 

[G-DawgMN]

29 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Probably won't happen.

Was on 1/9 sailing and we were all escorted to the lounge where we waited. Drinks and snacks abound and around 12.30 we were told rooms and restaurant was now open.

We too wanted to eat right away. 

We wanted to go at noon when it usually opens but we're told no. I am beginning to assume that it may be all hands on deck to get the YC rooms ready first.

 

 It must depend on the sailing, we were able to eat at noon when it opened. Rooms were ready when we got on the ship.

 There were also only 41 people in the YC for our sailing, so that might have made a difference.

[RAC630]

5 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 It must depend on the sailing, we were able to eat at noon when it opened. Rooms were ready when we got on the ship.

 There were also only 41 people in the YC for our sailing, so that might have made a difference.

Did you go to the Ocean House restaurant on Ocean Cay? How was the menu and beach area?

[G-DawgMN]

1 minute ago, RAC630 said:

Did you go to the Ocean House restaurant on Ocean Cay? How was the menu and beach area?

 Our Ocean Cay experience was a total letdown. We were told that due to rain, the restaurant would be closed, but they would serve the menu on the pool deck.

  We got off the ship (our butler was a no-show to take us off), there was no transportation or anyone at the YC tent when we got off. We decided to walk over, it's a hike but wouldn't have been bad, except for all the water and sand all over. We got to the beach, there was only a lifeguard there. There were no towels, nobody serving any drinks, no water, etc....

  We headed back to the ship for lunch, had to walk again since there wasn't any transportation...the beach by the ship did have umbrellas and a bar, but it was really crowded, there was an inside beach that was really nice, and empty, but we would have had to pay for umbrellas, which we didn't want to do.

  I really wish they would have just setup a little YC area on the main beach and had some services there, after we had lunch on the ship we decided it wasn't worth getting back off again.

 

 

[RAC630]

6 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 Our Ocean Cay experience was a total letdown. We were told that due to rain, the restaurant would be closed, but they would serve the menu on the pool deck.

  We got off the ship (our butler was a no-show to take us off), there was no transportation or anyone at the YC tent when we got off. We decided to walk over, it's a hike but wouldn't have been bad, except for all the water and sand all over. We got to the beach, there was only a lifeguard there. There were no towels, nobody serving any drinks, no water, etc....

  We headed back to the ship for lunch, had to walk again since there wasn't any transportation...the beach by the ship did have umbrellas and a bar, but it was really crowded, there was an inside beach that was really nice, and empty, but we would have had to pay for umbrellas, which we didn't want to do.

  I really wish they would have just setup a little YC area on the main beach and had some services there, after we had lunch on the ship we decided it wasn't worth getting back off again.

 

 

Wow that's a huge disappointment! We have 2 full days at Ocean Cay and it would be awful if that was the service provided. I hope it was because of the weather, but really that's not a good excuse for the lack of having anything available.

[G-DawgMN]

6 minutes ago, RAC630 said:

Wow that's a huge disappointment! We have 2 full days at Ocean Cay and it would be awful if that was the service provided. I hope it was because of the weather, but really that's not a good excuse for the lack of having anything available.

 

 I agree, and the lack of communication about having nothing there. The concierge and butler both said the restaurant was closed but nothing about not even having towels. On the upside, there were only 2 other people on the beach with us while we were there...

 

[RAC630]

3 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 I agree, and the lack of communication about having nothing there. The concierge and butler both said the restaurant was closed but nothing about not even having towels. On the upside, there were only 2 other people on the beach with us while we were there...

 

Haha,  I guess having the beach to yourself is a plus? Who were your butler and concierge? 

Edited January 24, 2022 by RAC630
grammar

[G-DawgMN]

1 minute ago, RAC630 said:

Haha,  I guess having the beach to yourself is a plus? Who was your butler and concierge? 

 

 I don't recall the concierge name, there were a few of them. Since it was a 3 day cruise we didn't need them for much.

 Our butler was Mark, seemed nice but we never saw him so he didn't add a lot of value. I asked for Room Service menus but he never got them. The only other ask we had was an escort out when we were at Ocean Cay, we talked to him about it in the lounge and asked to get off when it opened up, we waited but he never showed. Not a huge deal since the ship was so empty, but I figured since we paid for YC we should get the perk!

 

[RAC630]

4 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 I don't recall the concierge name, there were a few of them. Since it was a 3 day cruise we didn't need them for much.

 Our butler was Mark, seemed nice but we never saw him so he didn't add a lot of value. I asked for Room Service menus but he never got them. The only other ask we had was an escort out when we were at Ocean Cay, we talked to him about it in the lounge and asked to get off when it opened up, we waited but he never showed. Not a huge deal since the ship was so empty, but I figured since we paid for YC we should get the perk!

 

We sailed on the Seaside in 2019 and had a really great Butler and the service was phenomenal. I will be super disappointed is service is not as good on this cruise. We usually sail Royal, but tried MSC after friends raved about the YC. I agreed it was an incredible value and experience on our last cruise. This may be our last MSC if the service has declined. Did you think you will try MSC again?

[G-DawgMN]

3 minutes ago, RAC630 said:

We sailed on the Seaside in 2019 and had a really great Butler and the service was phenomenal. I will be super disappointed is service is not as good on this cruise. We usually sail Royal, but tried MSC after friends raved about the YC. I agreed it was an incredible value and experience on our last cruise. This may be our last MSC if the service has declined. Did you think you will try MSC again?

 

 The restaurant service was phenomenal. Lounge service was spotty at first, but was much more attentive later on. I didn't really know what to use the butler for, so that might have been part of our issue. We really are pretty self-sufficient.

 We will for sure sail MSC again, we're Diamond due to status match and the perks are nice. We also sailed the Seaside which was a really nice ship. Our next cruise we might just skip the YC and buy a specialty meal package to make up for the not so great food in the MDR. Overall their prices really blow away other lines.

[Laleemc]

Hello all Cruisers. I hope you are having lovely times. CC is having www difficulties and this thread is the only current one for any MSC that I can find currently. I had B2b's scheduled for 25 days on Divina and had to cxl. My dentist infected me. How are quarantines? Would you overall say cruise now...yes  or no?  We still have time for last 2 itineraries. Thank you!

[mscdivina2016]

5 hours ago, RAC630 said:

Did you go to the Ocean House restaurant on Ocean Cay? How was the menu and beach area?

We have been to OC 3 times in the last 2 months.

We had decent weather.

Food was real good at the restaurant all 3 times.

We had the towels, umbrellas, bar service for the seashore sailings, Meraviglia was poor. Friends had a cabana and once there we had plenty of service.

[RAC630]

30 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

We have been to OC 3 times in the last 2 months.

We had decent weather.

Food was real good at the restaurant all 3 times.

We had the towels, umbrellas, bar service for the seashore sailings, Meraviglia was poor. Friends had a cabana and once there we had plenty of service.

The responses from people who have recently cruised Meraviglia don’t give me a lot of optimism for our upcoming cruise this weekend. 

[ChattTenn]

8 hours ago, momrox1 said:

Boarded Jan 20 for a 10 day b to b. Checkin was really a breeze.  We did our covid test at Walgreens and it was the quick test and had no problem. They checked our documents then we went to the testing area..simple nasal swab..negative results in less than 10 minutes.

MSC tested you again even though you already tested at Walgreens before boarding or they tested you because you are on B to B.

[momrox1]

50 minutes ago, ChattTenn said:

MSC tested you again even though you already tested at Walgreens before boarding or they tested you because you are on B to B.

Yes..they test everybody upon arrival at the pier.  We were then tested the last night of our cruise for our next leg.

 I think after reading some comments I will clarify that the ship is beautiful. The staff is super friendly. The dinners are OK. The appetizers seem to be better than the actual entree's. You couldn't ask for a more peaceful restful vacation. Even the spa is deserted which seems too good to be true.  Everything I have requested has been granted me including a discount on a spa pass. I'm about to upload a copy of the wine list prices if anyone is interested.

[ChattTenn]

1 hour ago, momrox1 said:

Yes..they test everybody upon arrival at the pier.  We were then tested the last night of our cruise for our next leg.

 I think after reading some comments I will clarify that the ship is beautiful. The staff is super friendly. The dinners are OK. The appetizers seem to be better than the actual entree's. You couldn't ask for a more peaceful restful vacation. Even the spa is deserted which seems too good to be true.  Everything I have requested has been granted me including a discount on a spa pass. I'm about to upload a copy of the wine list prices if anyone is interested.

 

 

Thank you for the response.  Have a wonderful cruise and looking forward to see your pictures.

 

Second to you about MSC service/staff.  We were on Divina in late October and are checking a  cruise on Meraviglia. 

[dexddd]

We hit OC and OH four times in September.  Everything set up and working fine.  Plenty of towels and staff.  In fact, they seemed bored with wanting to give drinks but not many there.  Seems to dwindle after lunch.  We were at beach with only two others at times.

 

Biggest issues we had was first few feet of water sharp rocks and second was trying to open the nice cans of water they gave you.

 

I posted pictures at the time.

 

Menu has been posted.  Not huge menu, but we all found things we liked.

 

Had the stretched golf carts always ready right off ship and then back.  Walked one day, maybe ten minutes.  Note about 1/3 of island closed down but not a problem.

[Fogfog]

@KSSS2013

Bummer about OC

Sounds like a big communication issue re the YC services on OC that day..

We will eb sure to clarify if we get bad weather

 

There is no reason a butler should do anything for OC - as you take the YC elevator to the lower  deck and get off... and typically once inside the gate you head to the tent for YC tram to the YC beach. Sometimes there is a bit of a wait yet its all good, chairs and bev are there.

 

Everything for OC (bev/food) arrives with the ships. There is limited stock left behind/coordinated with the other MSC ships. At least that is what they told us in Feb 2020 and it may have changed

We learned this re what was in the bar at Ocean House at the YC beach

 

Re embarkation/lunch

We have always been able to have lunch in either the YC restaurant or pool deck on embarkation... 

and rooms were generally ready then.

Last time we dropped carry ons in the room (not quite ready) and went to lunch.

 

With as many CCers boarding this Sunday (per various threads)-- it's quite a group--