Just Off MSC Meraviglia 7-30-2023 Review

[jenngirl]

Hi Everyone,

Just got off the MSC Meraviglia this morning and put this review together. 

https://thehappiesttravels.com/2023/07/30/msc-meraviglia-cruise-review/

 

I have all menus from MDR and specialty restaurants as well as some bars and the daily programs I will upload separately. Hope this helps and let me know if you have questions!
Thanks! 

[JCCruises]

37 minutes ago, jenngirl said:

Hi Everyone,

Just got off the MSC Meraviglia this morning and put this review together. 

https://thehappiesttravels.com/2023/07/30/msc-meraviglia-cruise-review/

 

I have all menus from MDR and specialty restaurants as well as some bars and the daily programs I will upload separately. Hope this helps and let me know if you have questions!
Thanks! 

Great review! No 70s theme night then?

[jenngirl]

Thank you! They didn’t call it a 70’s night, it was just called music night! I thought there was a 70’s night as well. But they did play 70’s music during that night hahaha and they had a Frank Sinatra Tribute I heard. 

[JCCruises]

Just now, jenngirl said:

Thank you! They didn’t call it a 70’s night, it was just called music night! I thought there was a 70’s night as well. But they did play 70’s music during that night hahaha and they had a Frank Sinatra Tribute I heard. 

 

Thanks! 

[JamieLogical]

Sad to see you had an overall negative experience on the Meravglia. It differs greatly from my experiences in April and makes me a bit worried for my upcoming September sailing.

[jenngirl]

3 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Sad to see you had an overall negative experience on the Meravglia. It differs greatly from my experiences in April and makes me a bit worried for my upcoming September sailing.

I had a nice time since I was with my family. But my experience with MSC was totally different than what I’ve experienced with other cruise lines. I think the biggest shocker was the food and all of the little things in the cabins. 

[Morgsmom]

Thank you for the review.  I'm not sure that I'd downgrade a cruise line for lack of availability of Chicken Tenders.  In addition, if it rains on Ocean Cay OF COURSE people are going to flock back to the ship.  That's no one's fault and I'm sure two gangways were open but it's just more people than can be processed in a few minutes.  

[JamieLogical]

12 hours ago, jenngirl said:

I had a nice time since I was with my family. But my experience with MSC was totally different than what I’ve experienced with other cruise lines. I think the biggest shocker was the food and all of the little things in the cabins. 

 

Food is subjective and I have read frequently that many people who have sailed other cruise lines aren't fans of MSC's food. I liked it very much and I hope that your negative experience with it was just preference and not a reflection of a decline in quality since I sailed in April.

 

As for the cabin, while the bathroom is small, I found it serviceable and INFINITELY better than the Emerald Princess, which I sailed in December. That was definitely the worst cruise ship bathroom by far. It was teeny tiny (definitely smaller than the Meraviglia bathrooms) and the tiny shower had a cloth shower curtain instead of a door. Within seconds of getting in the shower, the curtain was just physically stuck to me. The shower curtain and I became very intimate. My husband just gave up altogether, showered with the curtain open, and just put towels down on the floor.

 

As for storage, there certainly isn't a ton of it, but I found it to be plenty of space for my 10 day sailing. No less storage than I am used to on the NCL Breakaway and Breakaway Plus class ships. Why didn't you just put your suitcases under the bed?

 

I am worried that you said you didn't receive nightly turndown service. That was one of my favorite things about MSC in April: that they were still servicing rooms twice a day when the other big three lines had cut out turn-down service. I am going to be VERY disappointed if this is the case on my September sailing.

 

I was shocked to see your photos of poor maintenance and cleanliness. That was very counter to my experience in April when my husband and I joked that they kept the ship "Italian Grandma Clean." It seemed like I couldn't walk 10 feet without tripping over someone cleaning. I will be sad if they are no long living up to the high standard I expect after my previous sailing.

[jenngirl]

21 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Food is subjective and I have read frequently that many people who have sailed other cruise lines aren't fans of MSC's food. I liked it very much and I hope that your negative experience with it was just preference and not a reflection of a decline in quality since I sailed in April.

 

As for the cabin, while the bathroom is small, I found it serviceable and INFINITELY better than the Emerald Princess, which I sailed in December. That was definitely the worst cruise ship bathroom by far. It was teeny tiny (definitely smaller than the Meraviglia bathrooms) and the tiny shower had a cloth shower curtain instead of a door. Within seconds of getting in the shower, the curtain was just physically stuck to me. The shower curtain and I became very intimate. My husband just gave up altogether, showered with the curtain open, and just put towels down on the floor.

 

As for storage, there certainly isn't a ton of it, but I found it to be plenty of space for my 10 day sailing. No less storage than I am used to on the NCL Breakaway and Breakaway Plus class ships. Why didn't you just put your suitcases under the bed?

 

I am worried that you said you didn't receive nightly turndown service. That was one of my favorite things about MSC in April: that they were still servicing rooms twice a day when the other big three lines had cut out turn-down service. I am going to be VERY disappointed if this is the case on my September sailing.

 

I was shocked to see your photos of poor maintenance and cleanliness. That was very counter to my experience in April when my husband and I joked that they kept the ship "Italian Grandma Clean." It seemed like I couldn't walk 10 feet without tripping over someone cleaning. I will be sad if they are no long living up to the high standard I expect after my previous sailing.

I agree that food is subjective and many of these things depend on who is working onboard at the time and things like that. Please don’t get me wrong, I am usually the positive person in the group who will look past things and I am just grateful to be on vacation. But they are things I just wanted to put out there from our experience. 
 

I was actually concerned as well that we didn’t receive nightly turndown service. It was something totally new for me. Like I said though, a cousin on another deck did receive it one or two nights and a rowel animal so I’m not sure if it’s just an inconsistency between room stewards. 

 

We were three adults in the cabin, not two which might have made the experience a bit tighter. Our suitcases didn’t fit under the bed. We always put them there on every other cruise we’ve been on but it wouldn’t fit underneath the bed here. Not sure if these beds are lower to the ground or anything. They also didn’t fit in between the sofa and the closet. 
 

I was shocked as well at some of the poor maintenance. That’s why I took photos of everything to show rather than just say since I know this could be subjective as well. That was just a few things I found. My bedspread was dirty, there was a layer of dust on the counter, a lot of mugs were dirty at the buffet. 
 

I am definitely not trying to sound picky by any means. Like I said, a lot of variables influence peoples experience onboard and this was just mine. In ocean cay, when we couldn’t get back onboard we were talking to other guests and they had similar experiences too. 

 

 

[jenngirl]

59 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Thank you for the review.  I'm not sure that I'd downgrade a cruise line for lack of availability of Chicken Tenders.  In addition, if it rains on Ocean Cay OF COURSE people are going to flock back to the ship.  That's no one's fault and I'm sure two gangways were open but it's just more people than can be processed in a few minutes.  

I definitely didn’t downgrade them because of their lack of chicken tenders. I just added that point in there since you never know who is reading and if you have kids especially, that might be something important to you. I sailed with 5 kids and it was something that was noticed. 
 

In terms of Ocean Cay, I didn’t think we were going to walk back onto the ship like nothing was wrong. But, there was no organization whatsoever.  It was a mob of people pushing and shoving to get back to the ship and the crew just watching. Fine I can stand there and wait to get back on. But there were people in wheelchairs, with walkers, baby carriages that the crew straight up said had to wait. They were more concerned about stopping the line every 2 minutes to tell people about sea shells than to address the issue of people.

 

[Illbcruzn4life]

Curious to know why you didn't put your suitcases under the bed, or at least 2 of the 3?
 

I wonder if you had the same cabin steward as we had on our cruise. We were in 9181. Never met him or saw him til the last night when we came back from dinner. 
He was not on par with any room stewards I have ever had in 40 cruises.

[jenngirl]

2 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Curious to know why you didn't put your suitcases under the bed, or at least 2 of the 3?
 

I wonder if you had the same cabin steward as we had on our cruise. We were in 9181. Never met him or saw him til the last night when we came back from dinner. 
He was not on par with any room stewards I have ever had in 40 cruises.

Hi! Believe it or not, our suitcases didn't fit under the bed. We tried and they just didn't go underneath- they stopped halfway under the bed. We use 29" inch suitcases so I'm not sure if it's just our suitcase or if the beds are lower, but we usually put one suitcase under the bed on every trip. 

 

I believe our steward's name started with an E. I only saw him the first day during the muster drill and then after that we kept seeing different people around. It was quite strange. But I agree, I've been on 20 cruises and it was not quite the same type of room service I've had before. Maybe I was spoiled but back in 2019 I was on Freedom of the Seas and we had the best room steward ever. He knew our names, was always around, we even took selfies with him. He was such a nice guy. Didn't feel the same way on this sailing. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

9 minutes ago, jenngirl said:

Hi! Believe it or not, our suitcases didn't fit under the bed. We tried and they just didn't go underneath- they stopped halfway under the bed. We use 29" inch suitcases so I'm not sure if it's just our suitcase or if the beds are lower, but we usually put one suitcase under the bed on every trip. 

 

I believe our steward's name started with an E. I only saw him the first day during the muster drill and then after that we kept seeing different people around. It was quite strange. But I agree, I've been on 20 cruises and it was not quite the same type of room service I've had before. Maybe I was spoiled but back in 2019 I was on Freedom of the Seas and we had the best room steward ever. He knew our names, was always around, we even took selfies with him. He was such a nice guy. Didn't feel the same way on this sailing. 

Thanks for the reply on the suitcases.

The room steward did leave a lot to be desired. Hope your next cruise is better.

[Frode]

Thanks for a great review

On 7/31/2023 at 1:13 AM, jenngirl said:

Hi Everyone,

Just got off the MSC Meraviglia this morning and put this review together. 

https://thehappiesttravels.com/2023/07/30/msc-meraviglia-cruise-review/

Thanks for your great, extensive and honest review 🤗

[jenngirl]

7 hours ago, Frode said:

Thanks for a great review

Thanks for your great, extensive and honest review 🤗

Thanks so much for the kind comment! I appreciate it and hope it helps! 🙂

[lcpagejr]

Nice review... However, I find it interesting after cruising 20+ times....you decided on a MSC cruise especially with family. As a seasoned cruiser...Im sure you've reviewed and read past experiences other cruisers had on MSC (outside YC). So many inconsistencies.  I have to assume it was likely due to proximity/convenience to where you live? But RCL also cruises out of the NY area. 

 

I too tried MSC (Seaside) in 2018 after 20+ cruises.... However after carefully reading numerous reviews and comments on cruise critic....I got 2nd thoughts and  hedged my bet by booking Yacht Club.... Best decision I made and my observations of other areas of ship confirmed my decision! My experience was so positive we went on Seaside again in 2019 also in Yacht Club. MSC has beautiful ships but they still are far behind the other main stream lines for a consistent and a  minimal issue(s) cruise!  

 

 

 

 

[oceans.calling]

Also just off the Meraviglia 7/30. We were able to put all 4 suitcases under the bed without issue. We, grandparents with  twin grands, also had no problems but that could be because we only book YC.  Have done 7 MSC cruises and have 7 more booked until 2025, 5 of which are Meraviglia ex NY. Our favorite ship without having to fly. 👏🏼. 


 

 

[jenngirl]

On 8/1/2023 at 9:34 PM, lcpagejr said:

Nice review... However, I find it interesting after cruising 20+ times....you decided on a MSC cruise especially with family. As a seasoned cruiser...Im sure you've reviewed and read past experiences other cruisers had on MSC (outside YC). So many inconsistencies.  I have to assume it was likely due to proximity/convenience to where you live? But RCL also cruises out of the NY area. 

 

I too tried MSC (Seaside) in 2018 after 20+ cruises.... However after carefully reading numerous reviews and comments on cruise critic....I got 2nd thoughts and  hedged my bet by booking Yacht Club.... Best decision I made and my observations of other areas of ship confirmed my decision! My experience was so positive we went on Seaside again in 2019 also in Yacht Club. MSC has beautiful ships but they still are far behind the other main stream lines for a consistent and a  minimal issue(s) cruise!  

 

 

 

 

Hi, thank you! Yes, it was a few things. Of course I’ve heard the reviews before but again, I did travel with a large group and this is what they wanted to go on so I figured we would try it out. We’ve been on Royal and Celebrity out of NJ, NCL out of NY so yes a lot is proximity as well. We tried to bid on YC but we didn’t get the bid so unfortunately we had the regular experience. I’m not doubting that the YC was a totally different experience. We’ve done the Haven on NCL and that is definitely a different experience. But, MSC left a lot to be desired. I’m not saying people don’t love this ship or the staff, but it seems our experience was vastly different. 

[jenngirl]

On 8/1/2023 at 9:56 PM, oceans.calling said:

Also just off the Meraviglia 7/30. We were able to put all 4 suitcases under the bed without issue. We, grandparents with  twin grands, also had no problems but that could be because we only book YC.  Have done 7 MSC cruises and have 7 more booked until 2025, 5 of which are Meraviglia ex NY. Our favorite ship without having to fly. 👏🏼. 


 

 

Oh wow, we were on the same sailing! Yes, we usually put our suitcases under the bed and we tried the first day but they got stuck halfway through and wouldn’t go. That’s awesome that you’ve had a great experience with it. 

[lumofny]

Where in NYC did you leave from to get to the terminal? Bus, ferry or drive there yourself? We're in upstate NY, planning on taking Amtrak the day before, and finding a hotel for the night somewhere. Right now it seems hotel prices are crazy expensive but we're still 250+ days away from our sailing so I expect them to drop.

 

So either a hotel somewhere in Manhattan and take the ferry to Brooklyn or a hotel in Brooklyn and take the bus to the terminal. Any recommendations or suggestions?

[Laurab23]

3 hours ago, lumofny said:

Where in NYC did you leave from to get to the terminal? Bus, ferry or drive there yourself? We're in upstate NY, planning on taking Amtrak the day before, and finding a hotel for the night somewhere. Right now it seems hotel prices are crazy expensive but we're still 250+ days away from our sailing so I expect them to drop.

 

So either a hotel somewhere in Manhattan and take the ferry to Brooklyn or a hotel in Brooklyn and take the bus to the terminal. Any recommendations or suggestions?

Where in upstate NY are you coming from? 

 

Laura

[lumofny]

Just now, Laurab23 said:

Where in upstate NY are you coming from? 

 

Laura

Syracuse. Planning on taking Amtrak or a flight down the day before. We did this on our last cruise with NCL but we left from Manhattan. Haven't left from Brooklyn before.

[Laurab23]

6 hours ago, lumofny said:

Syracuse. Planning on taking Amtrak or a flight down the day before. We did this on our last cruise with NCL but we left from Manhattan. Haven't left from Brooklyn before.

Have you heard of Yankee Trails out of Albany. I live near Ithaca and drive to Albany the day before and get a hotel that night and take Yankee Trails in the next morning right to the port. Yankee Trails is $120 pp person round trip. You can leave your car right at Yankee Trails parking lot. You might want to check them out. Yankee Trails cruise express.

 

Laura

[CruiseCruiseAndMoreCruise]

I was on the sailing after yours and that electrical outlet by the Bamboo pool is still broken (in fact, it was pulled out of the wall even more than in your picture).  Your food reviews were interesting and pretty much meshed with what I experienced, though I thought the lemoncello cake was one of the best desserts on the ship, while the grouper was probably the worst thing I had onboard, it tasted like rubber!  The key lime pie tasted like cheesecake to me (there was no key lime in my slice, just some lime zest on the top).  

 

While folks were always cleaning, it seemed like they only cleaned what they were told to.  I noticed the same thing with trash overflowing and dirty areas on the ship.  One day we saw them cleaning the lifeboats and I thought "that's what you think needs to be cleaned right now"?!  

 

I never officially met my cabin steward, but I had turndown service every night except one, which was when they made up the room in the evening.  I thought it was odd the bathroom had a cutout for a box of tissues, but they blocked it off with the metal cover.  I also thought it funny that in your bathroom picture the holder for plastic bags for feminine products is empty, it was in my room as well (mine wasn't attached to anything though).  

[Brighton Line]

22 hours ago, CruiseCruiseAndMoreCruise said:

 One day we saw them cleaning the lifeboats and I thought "that's what you think needs to be cleaned right now"?!  

Right not maintaining life-saving equipment is totally unimportant compared to an overflowing garbage bin. Sure it is disgusting that passenger areas are skipped but I don't even think hotel staff are cleaning lifeboats that is an area for the ship's deck and engineering departments who aren't the ones emptying trash bins or probably even allowed to.