JamieLogical's Live from the MSC Meraviglia 4/9 (semi-B2B)

[Buckeyefrank100]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Once out of the terminal, we had to head to the left, down to a sheltered area where taxis and ride shares could pick people up. I couldn't get Lyft to work on my phone. It said it only had "E" signal. What does E even mean? I had to restart my phone and once I did, I had 5G. I ordered our Lyft and we were on our way. We got to our friends' apartment at 9:50.

 

Typically the E means you only have Emergency calling available at that time.  It happens sometimes when going in and out of service.  A reboot typically works to reset the connection when in range.

[sammee]

4 minutes ago, Buckeyefrank100 said:

Typically the E means you only have Emergency calling available at that time.  It happens sometimes when going in and out of service.  A reboot typically works to reset the connection when in range.

Same thing happened with my phone on Divina, yes emergency calling only came up too. Once I restarted the phone, it was back to normal. Not sure why, but MSC connection is not as easy to deal with as Royal or Carnival. I never could get it to work on Ocean Cay even doing as instructed of logging off before getting off ship and than going in. I gave up quickly, as I really didn't need it.

[JamieLogical]

55 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

How long did you wait for the Lyft?  Did you have to tell the driver where you were going before you got in the car?  I ask because I need to return to NJ and some drivers may refuse.

 

We waited about 5-6 minutes for the Lyft, but I have Lyft Pink, so get their priority pick-up or whatever it's called. I didn't tell the driver where I was going, but I obviously told the Lyft app...

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, EllieinNJ said:

How long did you wait for the Lyft?  Did you have to tell the driver where you were going before you got in the car?  I ask because I need to return to NJ and some drivers may refuse.

The driver should know where you are going when he accepts the job.

[EllieinNJ]

15 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

The driver should know where you are going when he accepts the job.

I don't think that is true.  In November we went to Brooklyn for a 1 way cruise on Princess.  When we told the driver where we were going he said if he knew in advance he would not have accepted it.  But it was a beautiful Saturday morning with no traffic so he did not complain too much.  

 

This time our Miraviglia cruise returns the same day as the NY Marathon so we are a little worried.

[MsTabbyKats]

2 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I don't think that is true.  In November we went to Brooklyn for a 1 way cruise on Princess.  When we told the driver where we were going he said if he knew in advance he would not have accepted it.  But it was a beautiful Saturday morning with no traffic so he did not complain too much.  

 

This time our Miraviglia cruise returns the same day as the NY Marathon so we are a little worried.

Hmmm....interesting.  I take Lyft often from Westchester to Manhattan, and the driver always has my address.  But, they keep "finding another driver" until they get one who will actually make the trip.  Maybe your driver didn't bother to check the instructions.........

[EllieinNJ]

1 minute ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Hmmm....interesting.  I take Lyft often from Westchester to Manhattan, and the driver always has my address.  But, they keep "finding another driver" until they get one who will actually make the trip.  Maybe your driver didn't bother to check the instructions.........

I think it might be a little different between NY and NJ.  Our driver said by law he is not allowed to pick up another passenger in NY so he loses out on a return trip 

[MsTabbyKats]

1 minute ago, EllieinNJ said:

I think it might be a little different between NY and NJ.  Our driver said by law he is not allowed to pick up another passenger in NY so he loses out on a return trip 

Same thing here....by law the Westchester drivers cannot pick up in NYC, so he has to go back to Westcheter alone.  I guess it depends how far in NJ you are, and if tolls are involved...if it's worth it. 

[CruizinSusan70]

6 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

How long did you wait for the Lyft?  Did you have to tell the driver where you were going before you got in the car?  I ask because I need to return to NJ and some drivers may refuse.

As an alternative you could just get a car service set up from NJ to pick you up.  We'll be on a 14 day repo cruise on the Enchanted Princess in August of 2024 that starts in Fort Lauderdale, ends in Brooklyn and stops in Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, St. Maarten, Barbados and San Juan, along with 6 sea days. We live in South Jersey so we will be pricing out local car services to pick us up.  I'm assuming it'll run about 350. Obviously yours would be cheaper since you're from North Jersey.

Edited April 21, 2023 by CruizinSusan70

[JamieLogical]

A couple of random updates, since I am not back onboard until tomorrow. My husband and I took the subway a lot and went back and forth between Manhattan and Brooklyn a few times yesterday and today and we saw a lot of advertising for MSC in the subway stations. Apparently they are advertising heavily to NYC residents.

 

Also, big news in packing. I got a new, giant backpack today from the Away store. I was excited to find out they have two physical locations in NYC. I had ordered my current carry-on from them online. Now I should have no issues re-racking all my stuff now that my laundry is all clean.

 

Almost weird to think I will be back onboard tomorrow. This semi-B2B thing is really strange.

 

Oh! Not sure if I mentioned it yesterday, but I did find two cheesey NYC magnets for the crew member that asked me to bring some back for him. Also got a Mario pin from the Nintendo Store as a surprise for one of the servers at Edge who was always interested in what video games my husband was playing on his Steamdeck.

[Mark_T]

8 hours ago, Buckeyefrank100 said:

Typically the E means you only have Emergency calling available at that time.  It happens sometimes when going in and out of service.  A reboot typically works to reset the connection when in range.

The E stands for EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution), but it is only 'enhanced' when compared to GPRS, it is part of 2G.... it has a maximum download speeds of up to 384 kbps, but is often a lot slower than that.

 

Personally I read EDGE as 'don't bother'... wait until you can get a better connection.

[KarenGretz]

@JamieLogical would you mind doing me a favor? When you reboard tomorrow in Brooklyn, will you keep an eye out for vending machines inside the terminal waiting area? Thanks! I embark on 4/29 and I can't wait!

[nycfa]

4 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

As an alternative you could just get a car service set up from NJ to pick you up.  We'll be on a 14 day repo cruise on the Enchanted Princess in August of 2024 that starts in Fort Lauderdale, ends in Brooklyn and stops in Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, St. Maarten, Barbados and San Juan, along with 6 sea days. We live in South Jersey so we will be pricing out local car services to pick us up.  I'm assuming it'll run about 350. Obviously yours would be cheaper since you're from North Jersey.

Wow that cruise sounds great!!!

[nycfa]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

A couple of random updates, since I am not back onboard until tomorrow. My husband and I took the subway a lot and went back and forth between Manhattan and Brooklyn a few times yesterday and today and we saw a lot of advertising for MSC in the subway stations. Apparently they are advertising heavily to NYC residents.

 

Also, big news in packing. I got a new, giant backpack today from the Away store. I was excited to find out they have two physical locations in NYC. I had ordered my current carry-on from them online. Now I should have no issues re-racking all my stuff now that my laundry is all clean.

 

Almost weird to think I will be back onboard tomorrow. This semi-B2B thing is really strange.

 

Oh! Not sure if I mentioned it yesterday, but I did find two cheesey NYC magnets for the crew member that asked me to bring some back for him. Also got a Mario pin from the Nintendo Store as a surprise for one of the servers at Edge who was always interested in what video games my husband was playing on his Steamdeck.

I sometimes take 95 home from work and there is a big billboard for MSC in Westchester too

[CruizinSusan70]

9 minutes ago, nycfa said:

Wow that cruise sounds great!!!

It's a great itinerary and instead of flying home, it'll be a car service from Brooklyn.

[Nikita4]

We were also disembarked yesterday and have to problems to get an Uber at the terminal. The mobile Signal was also first Edge, but then it was ok and very easy. Within 5 minutes we have an Uber XL.
There are a lot of people that not unterstand the process with the numbers... we were YC and leave the ship around 9 after breakfast.
The lines for cabs/taxis were very long and the had to wait for a long time.

[JamieLogical]

Some quick notes about embarkation. I arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:34. There was a line outside just to get into the building. There was a pretty obvious designated area for Yacht Club. I got inside the building in the line for security at 11:50. Fortunately the weather was nice.

 

I got through security at 12:17 and then it was waiting in line for check-in. I got to check-in at 12:33. I got on the ship at 12:40. So still just over an hour. There was some sort of medical emergency in the line for security. Also, there were A LOT of people with huge bags who didn't check them and held up the security line, because they wouldn't fit through the x-ray machines.

 

Once onboard, I went straight up to Deck 5 to see about changing my dining time. I was assigned 8:30. Do they not understand that I am old? I had set my preference for early dining. So much for that!

 

I was able to get it changed to 6:00 by talking to a gentleman outside of the Panorama dining room. I will be at a sharing table, but don't mind that at all while sailing solo.

 

After I got that resolved, I went straight to Edge for a start-of-cruise drink. I gave the Mario pin I had bought from the Nintendo store to one of the servers from last week and my husband's $20 tip to one of the servers he wasn't able to catch on the last day.

 

I got on the wifi eventually. It stupidly wouldn't let me use the account I created last week, so I had to make a new one. Then it occurred to me that we didn't have to wait for our rooms to be ready, so after finishing my mojito, I was going to drop my bag aty room. But I saw that Hola! was open for lunch! I chatted with one of the servers just outside and he told me they were only open until 1:30. It was 1:06, so I decided to take my bag with me into Hola! and avoid the cage match at the buffet.

 

Lunch was quick and delicious. I, of course, had the classic Margarita and clued a group of other people into the fact that Classic Margarita at Hola! is now included in the Easy Plus package.

 

I got up to my room and realized it was better than I thought it would be. The balcony is very large and I do NOT have life boats right under me, which I expected since it's on deck 8.

 

We are about to have muster.

 

Forgot to mention, my bag was already to my room by the time I got there!

Edited April 22, 2023 by JamieLogical

[JamieLogical]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by JamieLogical

[PTC DAWG]

What, no husband or hot tub? 🙂

 

Here’s to a great second cruise. 🥂

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Looking forward to another week! You had posted the menu of champagne cocktails for me. Does the menu have the different champagnes by the glass?

Edited April 22, 2023 by cruisebeachgirl703

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Looking forward to another week! You had posted the menu of champagne cocktails for me. Does the menu have the different champagnes by the glass?

 

I will if there is more to the menu.

[mimi7ccr]

I've read every word of your "live" from your first week on Mera.  We are going on the 9/24 sailing out of Brooklyn, so I am eagerly awaiting all of your posts from this week.  The embarkation looked like a huge crowd and we are in our 80's, so not looking forward to that.  Maybe requesting a wheelchair for my 85 year old self will make it easier.  Thanks so much for doing this live again.  Your writing style is very easy to read.  

 

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Lunch was quick and delicious. I, of course, had the classic Margarita and clued a group of other people into the fact that Classic Margarita at Hola! is now included in the Easy Plus package.

Was that the only alcoholic drink that was covered by easy plus?   I noticed they had beers and also an alcoholic milk shake with rum and Kahlua that was only 7.99, one would assume they would be covered, by of course this is MSC.

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Was that the only alcoholic drink that was covered by easy plus?   I noticed they had beers and also an alcoholic milk shake with rum and Kahlua that was only 7.99, one would assume they would be covered, by of course this is MSC.

 

I am sure they have some beers available. I never drink beer on a cruise. I will try to find out about the milkshake and get back to you. Anything $10 and under should be covered. I just know all the specialty margaritas are all over $10.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I am sure they have some beers available. I never drink beer on a cruise. I will try to find out about the milkshake and get back to you. Anything $10 and under should be covered. I just know all the specialty margaritas are all over $10.

The milkshake sounded really good.  Came with rum and Kahlua and either vanilla, chocolate or coffee ice cream.  Would get it with coffee.