I'm an avid cruiser being on at least 40 Cruise's since 1983. Having cruised on RCCL (diamond member), Princess, Carnival, NCL, HAL, Celebrity, Red Boat, Admiral I have a reasonable idea what makes for a good cruise. I booked an inside cabin and pre purchased the Thermal Spa pass in place of a balcony. This usually works out great on NCL and Holland since they have great spas with large window views. Due to the Covid19 virus I called to see if I could postpone my cruise. I was told sure no problem. They took all the information made it sound like everyone is doing this not to worry. Then I was transferred to the "response team." Well he was just another customer service rep who said no you can only cancel trips to Asia. I then asked how much to upgrade to a balcony just in case we get stuck at sea for awhile. I was told it would be an additional $1477. I passed on the up grade since it would have been cheaper to cancel loose all my money and rebook for less. (They were giving balconies away for $299pp 7 days at that point). I call again the next day to make sure they knew what they were doing. The svc rep said no to canceling so I again asked about upgrading. After a few minutes she comes back on the line and says okay your new room is xxxxx and we can bill you $400 for the upgrade. I told her I just wanted a quote and no I'll stay with my inside room. Of course now she had to change everything back puts me back on hold and after 10 minutes tells me I lost the room and can't get it back. She did give me 5 other's to pick from. When I asked her where these rooms were she had no idea and told me to pull up MSCs web site. She also said she never cruised on MSC? Wow... Now I had to boot up the laptop and start over picking a room closest to the Spa which she also had no idea where it was located. When all was said and done a total of 2 hour's was wasted between the two calls and I had to reprint everything again. So we were off to a bad start. Got to Miami around 12:30 to check in. Got on line which was doing okay and then it just stopped for about 20 minutes. One agent was taking guest the other 15 were just standing there. Nobody said anything we were all looking at each other confused. They could have made up something like we're sorry the computer's are down anything would have be reassuring. Finally got on the ship and went to the room. Had a bad smell in the bathroom like cat piss. Waited on purser desk line almost an hour to report the room problem and ask about an upgrade to balcony. I was quoted $240. I said great I'll take it to be told we'll get back to you tommorow. They sent a cabin attending to the room to clean the bathroom again. A supervisor came by and everything seemed okay till the next morning when it stunk again. I ended up opening the vent over the shower and got rid of the problem myself. So for the rest of the week I had to listen to the vent blowing like a wind tunnel to keep the room smelling good. The room is a terrible layout. Bed is against the back wall instead of the side. The TV is located by the bathroom wall so far away that unless you get out of bed and walk up to it you can't read much. Only 2 draws for your clothes. One shelf. Just a poor design for such a new ship. Announcements will drive you crazy since everything is in 5 or 6 launages. Especially the muster drill. Buffet was just okay. Same exact food ever day. Never really changed. Burger, hotdogs,salad, tacos,desert,bread, just nothing special. And forgot the late night food. Literally more like midnight scrap's than midnight buffet. Pizza, leftover fruit and leftover small sandwiches. Thermal Spa was another poor design. I pre paid $140 pp per week. No windows anywhere. The hot tub had 6 spots to lounge in. There were only 3 heated loungers never available. Another hot tub without built-in loungers usually no more than 3 or 4 people would go in at the same time. Any more and you would feel like your sitting in someone's lap. 3 rooms with regular lounge chairs. Also thin towels in the bathroom only. No robes or slippers (not included). No water station. And I pre paid so those who paid on the ship were probably charged $150 or more each. If you want a great thermal Spa experience try NCL or Holland America for the same price. They have whirlpools with plenty of room and lots of heated loungers. Restaurant service was great but I was surprised at how poor the food quality was for an Italian line. Stakes were half fat and had veins running through it so a lot went in the garbage. No surf and turf night unless you paid extra. Just not all that good. Even the lasagna was just okay. The ship is beautiful, new and clean. The shows were great. And the new private island was great. Only problem there was the food line. Which was long and hardly moving so I decided to skip and went back to the buffet on the ship. All said and done I'm sorry to say I probably won't be going on another MSC cruise. Read Less

This was my third MSC Yacht Club Cruise and my first Solo Cruise. A last minute work conflict prevented my wife from accompanying me this time. We have sailed all the major lines and have determined that the MSC Yacht is the best value and the standard for outstanding service. We have booked another Yacht Club cruise in October 2020. Embarkation was quick and painless. On the ship in about 30 minutes, including the temperature check. Having sailed on the Seaside several times, I found the Meraviglia a beautiful ship with some differences in the layout that some like and others don't. I myself believe that the crew makes the difference, not subtle differences in the layout. I personally like the Yacht Club layout of the Seaside better. But, when I saw my friend Justin behind the bar and Arthur, the Head Waiter, it fell like home and the comparison went out the window. They took very good care of me, which compensated for me being solo. The Suites are laid out a little different. However, they are very open and spacious. There seems to be less storage space. But, it seems be plenty adequate for two people. My butler wasn't on par with the other butlers we have had in the past. He and his assistant kept the room was spotless and fulfilled each and every request. However, he didn't anticipate my needs and follow-up, as I have grown accustom to. Not a bad butler, just different. In the Top Sail Lounge Justin, Mary and the rest of the crew provided excellent service and made each visit to the bar fun throughout the week. I ate all my meals at the Yacht Club Restaurant. Can can't say enough how I enjoyed a week of service by Arthur. The food was excellent. However, a little more European than the food on the Seaside. I was never hungry or disappointed. I must say, if you don't dine internationally, you may be a little shocked at the menu. However, they feature steaks and etc. daily. Also, if you don't see what you want, ask your server. They try to be very accommodating. Even with the circumstances of the cruiselines shutting down and many of the crew left uncertain about their futue, they were extremely professional and made it a magnificent trip. I seldom left the Yacht Club. But, I saw a good bit of this beautiful ship. Disembarkation was excellent. I was at the Miami airport in less than 45 minutes after being escorted off the ship. Read Less

We like MSC, wanted to try the new ship and was not disappointed (except for cancelling Ocean Cay but can't do anything about the weather). In spite of some reviews, the crew is friendly and accomodating, there is toilet paper, tissues, and washcloths, food is as good or better than most cruise lines, the buffet has a lot of variety. It's a personal thing, but wish that MSC did not stray from their Italian roots. While the pizza in the buffet is the best NY-style available outside of NYC, and the buffet includes Italian cold cuts like prociutto and cheeses like asiago and grana padano, there is not an Italian restaurant on board or the pizza bar like on the Davina. Also, the food in general is under-seasoned but that is the trend trying to appeal to a wider market. The ship is beautiful and well maintained. We only had 3,800 passengers (capacity is 5,600) and never seemed crowded, even on sea days. Entertainment was excellent. Three theater shows per night allowed for easy scheduling and the MSC for Me app made reservations easy. Except for the magic show, the performances were primarily singing and dancing with a variety of music over the week instead of the more acrobatic shows on other cruise lines that we have been on. There are two Cirque shows but we did not attend. Getting the MSC for Me app is highly recommended and is cost-free. Not only for reservations, but you can check your bill, view the daily schedule and dining room menus, and communicate by text to your travel companions. Read Less

We choose this cruise because of the beautiful ship, price and itinerary. Embarkation and disembarkation were very smooth. We were able to board the ship at the time of our scheduled arrival. The disembarkation was amazing. We could stay in our rooms until 8:00am and then had access to a full buffet breakfast. We could also go anywhere on the ship until it was time to get off. The ship was awesome. It was spotless and the crew was constantly cleaning it. Our cabin fit our family of four very well. Our children are 11 and 13 and they slept in the bunkbeds. The bunkbeds were awesome because each child used them as her designated space. We also had a balcony on the 11th floor. We loved it and used to to relax and play card games. We ate in the Waves dining room for all but one dinner. The staff was outstanding. We had Christian as our main waiter and Nicole as the assistant waiter. They put sparkling water on the table for us each night, since our girls loved it. They knew our preferences and were amazing with our cocktail orders and dinner selections. We enjoyed the food. The portions were very reasonable and not overwhelming. I loved the variation in menus each night. Most of our table tried something from the local menu each night, but my 11 year old stuck with the pasta and ceasar salad most of the time. We did eat dinner in the buffet one night and ate outside, overlooking the water. Again, the food was great and the pizza was amazing. The entertainment was good and there are some very talented people onboard. We liked the music and performers outside of the Broadway Theatre. Since there are so many people from so many different places, the big stage productions didn't include a lot of spoken word. They were a little cheesy and we left in the middle of two. There was a staff talent show during our trip and it was AMAZING. Staff from all over the ship performed and I've never seen anything like it. The ship butcher sang an Italian opera, two waiters sang outstanding show tunes, and one crew member even performed a standup routine. The highlight was when the Samoan firefighters performed their native dances. The show was a hightlight of our trip. Gene the cruise director did a one man show one afternoon. It was amazing and a lot of fun. He shared some funny and touching stories. He does have an amazing voice. I suggest attending if he offers this on an upcoming cruise. Our kids loved the kids club. It gave them a place to go and hang out with other young people. My 11 year old was allowed to go to the Young Club with her 13 year old sister. We just had to sign a waiver. They had a blast playing board games and doing activities with other teens and preteens. We also knew they were in a safe, supervised place while we enjoyed music in the pub or lounge. We loved the Cirque show onboard the ship. We've seen a lot of them in Las Vegas and with a local troupe in Minnesota. The performers were very talented and the show was a lot of fun. Service throughout the week was outstanding. We ate breakfast most mornings in the buffet and had the Easy Drink package. The morning buffet crew could make excellent cappucinos and fancy coffees. Breakfast was outstanding and had many selections from all over the world. The Easy Drink package was great for our family. All of the wines were pretty good, but we are not super big winos. My husband seemed fine with the mixed drinks. Our children liked getting sodas and frozen drinks whenever they wanted them. We loved our shore excursions. In Costa Maya we took a taxi to the little nearby town and went to 40 Cannons Beach Club. It was $40 a person for lunch, non-alcoholic drinks and a beach chair. We loved our Belize City trip to the Crystal Caverns and Ziplines with Peter from Chukka Excursions. We booked through the ship and the service was outstanding on that trip. In Roatan we rode horses on the beach and had some beach time. The service was very good and we booked through the ship for this activity as well. I suggest booking through the ship for Belize City and Roatan. Travel is pretty slow and if you are late, they have to wait for you if you booked through the cruiseline. If you were late on your own, you'd be stuck in that city. Our kids loved the ship and we prepurchased a fun pass. We didn't get to go to Ocean Cay because of weather and the fun pass was a lifesaver! The virtual games, bowling and aviation ride were a big hit with our family. My 13 year old competed in the Junior Master Chef at Sea and it was awesome. She was technically too old for it, but lots of big kids from the kids club did it with her. We received a big refund from the cancelled stop at Ocean Cay. We had to wait in line for two minutes to get the refund. They gave it to us in cash. The crew kept us up to date on the weather and changes to our cruise, but they didn't yammer on and on over the intercom. We attended the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. They made us feel very special and shared some good tips about how to best experience the ship. We went to the casino a few times but didn't gamble. It can be very smoky. The pools were fine, but we prefer to swim in the ocean so we didn't spend a lot of time there. We loved the Bamboo Pool and hot tubs best. The kids loved the water park and ropes course. Even on the at sea days we didn't have long lines. We enjoyed spending time on the decks, but stayed away from the smokers' area. There is hardly any ventilation and the air is terrible for non-smokers. Our room steward, John, was fabulous. He kept everything very neat and tidy and we barely saw him. He was very fast and efficient! We are pretty easy going people and really loved this cruise. We liked MSC's ala carte way of business.We felt like we didn't ahve to pay for things we didn't use. We travel overseas a lot and enjoyed spending time with people from all over the world. I look forward to seeing the new MSC terminal in Miami in a few years! Read Less

Our background: My Husband and I are in our mid 60’s and have enjoyed approx 35 cruises on various lines: Carnival, Princess, RCL, Celebrity, MSC, NCL. Majority of our cruises have been in the Caribbean & Mexico. We chose the MSC Meraviglia because she is a pretty new ship & we have enjoyed our time on the MSC Divina & Seaside. We wanted to go back to Roatan, one of my favorite ports and our itinerary included this port. Embarkation was one of the fastest ever. We arrived at 11:30, dropped our bags with the Porter and checked right in (no line at the Aurea desk) we walked right on to the ship from there. We chose the Aurea package & stayed in cabin 11011. I can’t say enough about this stateroom. It was a suite with separate bedroom & had one of the largest balconies on the ship. We were on the front of the ship with a balcony that included our own Jacuzzi❤️ Best decision ever!! We had one of the Best room Stewards, Emmanuel. We saw him everyday & he always had a smile & a kind word. I hope we meet again on a future cruise❤️ We enjoyed eating in the Panorama restaurant 4 of the 7 nights. We had anytime dining & sat at the same table for 2 near the window in the back of the ship. Ravi was our waiter every night & always made recommendations for us. He greeted us every night & had our selected wine delivered right away! Anna Maria the Dining Room Director stopped by every night to be sure we were enjoying ourselves & asked for feedback of their service & food. I wasn’t disappointed in the food, I actually enjoyed trying new things. Our package included a dinner & Cirque show. I was worried about the seating arrangements if you had the dinner/show combo based on previous reviews, well I think we had the best table in the room. It was a corner table for 2 with excellent viewing for the show. As I looked around I didn’t think there was poor seating if you have the dinner/show package & I thought the dinner was great! The Salmon was excellent. You did have to pay for wine, you couldn’t use your drink package (if you have one). We ordered a delicious half bottle of Toscana Bianco, it was perfect with our meal. Our show was Viaggio, it was high paced and raucous. We went to the theater on 3 evenings & always made a reservation. Seemed to be plenty of seats available in the event you didn’t make reservations. We enjoyed the shows. The Cruise Director Gene did a Great job. Ship days we enjoyed the Top 19 deck for relaxation & walked around trying drinks at a variety of bars which never seemed crowded. We had massages at the Aurea Spa. The massages were great but we were disappointed in the thermal area. The thermal area was small in comparison to the Seaside & the whirlpool was weird. I enjoy Casinos on cruise ships but MSC’s casinos are on the small side & don’t offer enough table games, ex; Let it ride. Played, had fun, could’ve been better Read Less

This was our first time sailing MSC, and while I want to give a detailed and honest review of our cruise; keep in mind our cruise was the one that made the news when both Jamaica and Grand Caymans would not let us disembark for fear of flu as such I will not be able to provide any information on how shore excursion or disembarkation worked (except to say Many Thanks to Cozumel for letting us off (the testing took over 12 hours, but getting clearance to disembark and be able to get off in Miami was worth it) We decided on MSC after a just ok cruise on Norwegian. We looked at other lines and were enticed by what MSC was offering; this ship and the chance to have our own large room with private balcony/hot tub for a great price was too good to pass up (also they do offer military discount, which we were able to take advantage of), we booked this 2 years ago and decided to not do so during spring Break in the hopes of missing out on a lot of teens/young adults (nothing against this age group, I work for a college and sometimes your vacation needs to be away from the people you deal with) MSC does 'experiences' so given our room choice we got the Aurea this came with the following: Drinks Package, 2 complimentary massages, full access to the thermal spa, access to Deck 19 private solarium, My Choice Dining in the Panorama Restaurant, Priority Embarkation Aurea Experience: Priority Embarkation – This by far rocked our world, literally 15 minutes from dropping off luggage to getting on the ship! Once on board we were directed a certain way, so we followed those prompts to the nearest bar and had a drink. We located our room, not ready but our Steward allowed us to leave the carry on in the room. Thermal Spa – We enjoyed access to this area- both the dry spa and the dark sensory (eucalyptus infused) were our favorites. We also enjoyed both hot tubs. Access was easy- show up give them your card they give you a key on a bracelet lock your stuff in a locker and relax. The massages are not transferable (although given the fact that our cruise almost went no where but sea, I was able to talk with guest services and get them to transfer my husband’s massage to me) I did the Bali Massage and the Himalayan Sea Salt, both were good but hands down the Himalayan Sea Salt was one of the best massages I have had. (during the massage they take heated blocks of the salt and massage over the areas) Upgrades When we initially booked we had a better drink package, but at some point MSC changed this to the ‘Easy Drinks’ which is everything $6 and under. My husband prefers cocktails (I will also drink these) and I prefer Sauvignon Blanc or Champagne and there was very little information on what wines were included in the ‘easy drinks’ so we decided to do the upgrade to the ‘Premium Plus’ this did not actual get billed as an upgrade and we ended up paying for it out right, but I will say we got our monies worth, while not huge drinkers we made our drinks count! Also this allowed me to have a glass or 2 of Matua every night in the dining room with dinner. Add Ons: Fun Pass – this was strictly for my husband, he had $100. worth of fun Vinotherapy Facial, Body Scrub and Massage – worth it! 2 hours of bliss my first day at sea, my skin looked and felt better. Cirque Du Soliel Drink+ Show: Sonar (early show) Viaggo (late show) both of these were spectacular, we booked one early time slot and one late time slot. The drinks were ok, they make then en masse and you take in, nothing to write home about but the shows were amazing! The early show with drink gives you a much better view and seating. (The early showing does the dinner option, so those with just drinks got the first 5 rows- the late show we were much further back at a table facing forward so not as great as row 4) Regardless both were amazing performances and when we sail again on MSC we will check out the other ships shows. Because of the setbacks (no stops at Jamaica or Grand Cayman) we added a couple of onboard extras: Hola! Tapas restaurant for lunch and a haircut at the Spa for myself to make our days more fun. Hola! Tapas – We tried this for lunch one day Amazing food and service – upon hearing that I had the Premium Plus Package and discussing my wine tastes, the server suggested a glass of Torres Milamanda ($24/glass) We did a few tapas and then ordered the Langostinos Al Ajillo and the Basque Burger. Haircut/Style at the Spa – I was a little skeptical about getting my hair cut on a ship; I read reviews before hand and there were no horror stories, plus I was overdue for a trim so at $37, I figured why not. Denilson came out to greet me, asked what I wanted (about 3” off the back, no layers and trim up the bangs) wonderful shampoo/conditioner and then during the blow dry discussed that my hair was pretty dry and did an up sale that equated to buying an Aveda hair mask for $49 and get the cut free. I agreed to this, because not only was it a great deal I was very aware at this time that we were being refunded 100% and also it’s a vacation and that is my time to splurge. Original Excursions Jamaica – Green Grotto Caves (until things simmer down and we can do this cruise again, we’ll never know) Grand Caymans – Best of Grand Cayman I am probably most bummed out by this one because I really was looking forward to getting my passport stamped with Hell and to visit the Rum Cake Factory and by a rum or 3. Cozumel – Mixology Session Chocolate and Tequila (to date we have never had a successful excursion in Cozumel, which is why we decided to book something that was not beach/snorkeling related, but alas it is just not meant to be) Ocean Cay – we originally booked a deluxe cabana – the first night of the cruise we got a notice on our door that these were not available and that other cabanas were, but it was limited. So we headed down to the Excursion desk to find out what are options were. These cabanas will eventually get food service – we were not interested in that as much as a place to store our things, the beach mats and snorkel gear that came with this choice. The attendant, Détári Dora – explained this and then listened to our concerns, asked questions, made a call and then refunded our original reservation, booked us for a regular cabana and added scuba gear – so while we did not get to go to the Cay we were very happy with how the Excursion Desk initially dealt with this issue. Major props to Ms. Dóra for not simply dismissing us but actually listening to why we wanted the cabana and then making it happen. Panorama Dining Room – The food was good, they have several ‘classic’ options that are the same each night, add ons (steak/lobster, lobster) and then a rotating choice. Some of the portions were small (pastas, kabobs) but you could always order an additional one no issue. We really enjoyed the Salmon, Steak Tournedos as entrees. Our waiter was Sudarta – he was simply the best! After the second night he knew what we wanted to drink (Matua and Bubble Water) and laughed at the fact that I ordered the shrimp cocktail appetizer every night (sometimes 2) Market Place Buffet – we did some breakfasts and lunches here- the roasts (beef and pork) were most excellent, great selection of breads, cheeses, fruit was always abundant, Pizza was delicious, the salad bar could of used more toppings (as an American I have a salad bar notion in my head) Pastries were good and my husband really enjoyed the desserts. Private Solarium Deck 19 This area overlooked the main pool and deck and came with a large hot tub/pool that overlooked the area. There was an attendant who got the door, offered towels and basically you got to keep your seat even if you left. (This was nice because if you wanted to grab a bite or head back to your room, you were not taking chances) the also had a small mini bar set up and you could get drinks and they did send someone to take drink orders from time to time so we were able to get better frozen drinks. Other Pools/Areas The main pool area was always busy/crowded, the Horizon Pool deck area was crowded and had smokers but the pool was less crowded and nice. The bar here was always busy but I managed to get waters as needed. We did not try the bamboo pool- which is covered this was a very family friendly area. Skylight Lounge – A few times this was closed for private events, which was sort of disappointing because we enjoyed the space. Great drinks, nibbles and good places to sit and have a conversation. This was our nightcap spot. Music – we listened exclusively to 2 bands during our cruise: the trio from Brazil and a quartet (not sure where they were from) – both were amazing, entertaining, played exceptionally. Can’t say enough about how great they were! My only complaint is I wish the quartet had cds for sale because we would of bought one. Casino - Small casino, but ok. I played a few slots and came out about $20 on top. Champagne Bar/Lounge – they ran out of Veuve Cliquot which was sad but up until that point I had a glass or two a night and felt like I got my monies worth. This was a good lounge for hearing the music below and people watching. Gelato Bar – they did not have gelato until the second to last night! This was an actual gripe, because you can’t boast a gelato bar then not have it! But when we did get our gelato fix on it was delicious! Shopping – gift shop for MSC, Duty Free liquor, make up/perfume/watches and general supplies. Good selections – bought a few souvenirs for folks. Chocolate shop – excellent chocolates bought a variety of items to hand out. Swarkovski Crystal store with some beautiful items jewelry and trinkets. Higher end shopping – Guess, Armani Exchange, Izod, Calvin Klein. Water Park/Ropes Course – both of these were enjoyable! The water park has 2 slides one uses tubes and you must queue up at the bottom to get a tube, the you go feet first and end up in a basin, we enjoyed riding these, the surrounding water park area is mostly kids/families and everyone looked like they were having a great time. The Ropes Course requires closed toe/ankle shoes, shorts and shirt (only go pros allowed) and was exceptional – great view of the aft and you could look down on everyone in the water park having fun. It was challenging but not super difficult. Seating – the seating in the various bars was ok, but not great and this is one place where I think MSG could improve. A lot of them just were not comfortable or like with the stools were sized tall person only. Communications On our first excursion day, we ate breakfast then headed down to the theater to get our numbers and wait to disembark. After about 30 minutes Gene (activities director) announced that we were still waiting to clear customs, this happened again with the suggestion to not sit around exits or line the hallways. Not the best news, but I grabbed my book and headed to deck 19, after the second hour the Captain came on to explain what was going on. (Announcements like these were repeated in several other languages, with Gene always finishing in English for those of us that are less cosmopolitan) We would not be stopping in Jamaica because Jamaica has refused to let us disembark because one crew member had the flu (the regular flu) and that we would be reimbursed for our cancelled excursion and be given a $100 per stateroom shipboard credit. Our next notification came to say that Grand Caymans was also refusing us- again the Captain stepped up and made this difficult announcement. Excursions were to be refunded, we now had a $200 per stateroom credit, 30% off our current cruise and 20% off a future cruise. (also made in writing and at our door) We were told that Cozumel would let us dock and we were heading there to allow us excursions, however rough seas that night meant we could not dock and the next morning it turned out that Mexico wanted to test the now 2 sick people- so no Cozumel excursion and some very what the heck moments. It was at this point we were told our cruise would be 100% fully refunded and that internet would be made available to everyone that day. It was not until 12:34 am that we were told we could disembark in Cozumel. This of course sadly meant no Ocean Cay. It says a great deal about the integrity and professionalism of the Captain to get on the speaker and make these sorts of announcements; none of what he had to say was easy or good news but he did it and that counts for a whole lot! Proper communication is the golden key (yes we were unhappy with the unforeseen events, but we got over it and made the best of a beautiful ship and wonderful crew) Overall thoughts – I am not sure if we will do the Meraviglia again; the ship itself was beautiful but the layout seemed a little off and neither of us enjoyed the acoustics in the galleria when there was a band playing or dance lessons. Theme nights were a little to late for our tastes, but we did enjoy formal night not only dressing up but people watching. The spa was great, I will say book early! And when you do know your excursions because the front desk has a list of times and can tell you when you should expect to be back at ship, which I found quite useful. This was also our first thermal spa pass ever and something we will do again. There were plenty of ship activities for folks (bingo, crafts, scavenger hunt, poolside games and it seemed like extras when it turned out it was just us and the sea.) Since this was 2 years in the planning I did a lot of research prior to our cruise and I think MSC is trying very hard to listen to the US Market- our room came equipped with tissues and wash cloths, which were two items that were points of contention for several cruisers. People – as Americans we were in the minority on this cruise, nothing to complain about just an observation. Some cultures are more loud than we are used to, but when you are on an international cruise line; you learn when to find a quiet table or when to tell someone to button it. I will also say that because of this, there were a lot less smoking violations than on other cruises. There was a designated area and those that smoked, stuck to it, and I can not stress how much this was a major plus! We met some lovely folks during our trip (Danes, Canadians, Norwegians, French and Lithuanians.) Consensus was everyone loved the Cirque shows and for those that attended the Broadway shows were really good. Above all the crew and musical entertainment are why we will sail MSC again. It is not easy dealing with what we experienced, but no one was unprofessional, in fact they all went above and beyond to make the best of the situation. Read Less

We chose this cruise to celebrate my birthday. We traveled with 3 other coupled. There were quite a few children on board but we didn’t have any with any of us. Unfortunately we had a crew member that got the flu and prevented us to visit 3 of our schedule stops. The crew did a great job keeping the ship clean and sanitized and encouraging everyone to wash your hands often. The captain and his staff did all he could to try to get us off at Cozumel. They finally did get us clearance for a whole day at Cozumel. The crew did all they could to entertain everyone and make the most of everyone’s vacation. The company MSC did a very good job compensating us for disappointing cruise. We were up dated on what was happening and most of the passengers were understanding as it was an unfortunate situation. The ship is beautiful and was very clean. We had a balcony stateroom and our cabin attendant was friendly and did a good job. The food was good and the service was excellent. The entertainment was good but not to everyone’s liking or style. We have done several MSC cruises and won’t let the problems on this cruise keep us from going again. Read Less

Had an opportunity to do a cruise this year. This was a deal with Sunwing vacations. First of all I’ve been on other cruises to the Caribbean on Holland, Princess and Carnival. Most of our vacation south are at 4.5-5 star resorts so we are familiar with quality and standards. This cruise even with a few issues along the way with no stopping at Jamaica or Cayman Island ( this one I really wanted to stop and see) we still made the best of the situation. The meals we had in the restaurants and buffet were good. The drink package was fine for what they offered. The staff and it didn’t matter if they were the early morning cleaning crew, the cabin staff, restaurant servers or bartenders, everyone was very pleasant and always said hi with a greeting. After reading some of the negative comments posted from this trip I talked to my wife and friends we travelled with and we didn’t see the same issues. Matter of fact the complete opposite and wondered if we were on the same ship. It’s funny to see that many on the complaints people had I didn’t see too many of them mentioning that this trip got $200 credit on their account plus a “FULL” cruise refund. Really how big were their issues? So when people read comments about trips sometime you have to review many of the negatives and also the positive ones to help you determine a choice of how and where you spend your vacation. I felt MSC went above and beyond on satisfying their guests for this trip. Read Less

I “survived” the pseudo-coronaviris scare on the MSC Meraviglia and I can still say I had a great vacation even though we missed 3 ports. The staff remained friendly, and the cruise line did great damage control by giving us a 100% refund and $200 ship credit per stateroom. Prior to leaving, one of our rooms got upgraded from an interior to a balcony. The shows and live music were great, there was always something to do, and the ship itself is modern, clean, and absolutely beautiful. Not sure what these other reviews experienced but my experience was not that. My only critique was the food. The dinner was a hit or miss. Breakfast and a la carte lunch was good, but the best thing was the in-house pizza and mozzarella. AMAZING. Even after what I experienced, I would still travel with MSC. The staff was overworked especially with the unexpected days on ship yet they still were friendly and professional. Again, there was always something to do for all ages, and even till the wee hours of the morning. Read Less

My husband and I herd wonderful things about the MSC cruises. We decided to go on one for our honeymoon. We have cruised several times before on royal Caribbean and carnival. When we first walked in you didn’t get that “wow” feeling...it was either u turned left or right like you were coming back onto the ship from a cruise port. There was no one directing us where to go or how to tell where our room was... we finally got to our room after 20 mins of searching...the ship is so big it is actually ridiculous how far we had to walk from the elevator to our room. We payed for a balcony and it was nothing impressive... the balcony was dirty and sandy and the bathroom had makeup all over the wall and sink... we then ventured to the buffet and it was ok... had dinner at the formal dining restaurant that night and didn’t go back... cheap pieces of steak and meat...very disappointed... we sat in the middle of two other couples and were very uncomfortable.. mind u we had our own table but it was just that close together... our first stop was Jamaica.. unfortunately we couldn’t get off the ship because one of the crew members had Flu A... ok fine that happens.. we were bummed but moved on.. next port.. can’t get off again.. now we are over it... the activities on this cruise are awful... you have to make reservations to see any kind of show and if u don’t have a reservation you can’t go unless they have room at the very end... the circ de soile performance was absolutely terrible.. I’ve never been so disappointed... and this we had to pay for extra... most of the activities like bowling, 4D cinama and stimulation rides you have to pay for as well.. $20 and up.. that’s crazy! I’ve never been on a cruise where u pay for most of the activities they offer... they had a handful of specialty restaurants we thought we would try since we didn’t like the original one... nope they are full and we need a reservation... we had to call 3 times for them to come and get us a queen bed... we originally had twins... also went down to customer service a few times for them to refill our mini bar... we also payed tips before we embarked and they charge u an additional tip for everything! My husband got a chocolate bar from the store and they charged him a $2 service fee. What!!! For a chocolate bar! They offered to give us invites credit for the time we didn’t get off the ship but that doesn’t hit until the next day! We are very disappointed with this cruise and will not be back.. we will stick to carnival or royal Caribbean.. Read Less

Room: Dirty. I found pills under the bed, nuts on the floor and a friend found hair stuck on balcony railing. Food: Bad. Their 'lobster ravioli' tastes exactly like canned dog food. I can literally say this because I tasted it once on a bet. Rest of the food was mediocre. There were a few decent things in the cafeteria buffet, but few and far between. Misc.: Didn't have water for 2 days, received a $50 dollar credit. We couldn't go to the Bahamas due to inclement weather. But, an hour after the announcement was made, the skies cleared and the water calmed. Dopplar radar showed nice weather for the rest of the day, but they wouldn't change their mind. Instead we were encouraged over the ship's PA to go do some shopping in the ship's stores. Really?! $3.25 for a can of Coke? Even several of the other guests who have used other cruise lines said that their MSC experience was the worst compared to the other lines. The only plus was the crew's attitude - everyone was smiling, happy and said hello. I will never take an MSC cruise. Even if MSC offered me a free cruise, I absolutely wouldn't take it and believe me, I am far from rich. It will be a long time before I can afford a cruise again. The only thing I would accept from MSC is a refund. Read Less

A friend of mine chose this cruise after being referred by a travel agent who had never sailed on the ship. I had read the reviews but hoped for the best. What we liked: very friendly staff who clearly work their butts off. The Cirque du Soleil show was excellent as was the Born to Rock show. We splurged on dinner at Butcher's Cut, which was excellent, too but cost close to $150 for 2 people. We met very friendly people from all over the world and also enjoyed the Ports of Call. What we didn't like: check in was chaotic. Lots of waiting in long lines. At least three before we actually got on the ship. The ship opens up into the main shopping area. As soon as we entered it was again total chaos. The crew were really strongly pushing everything from drink package upgrades, spa and photo packages and onboard specialty restaurants. Excursions were heavily pushed too. Nothing like being bombarded when you are trying to relax. This was highly annoying and reminiscent of the mall kiosk workers. We met friends for dinner in the main dining area the first night and all I can say is that the food was the WORST I ever experienced on a cruise ship. MSC should be embarrassed. Food was stale and dry. It was more like 3rd rate hotel food at best. After the first night we ate at the buffet. That wasn't much better. We stuck to burgers, hot dogs and french fries most of the trip. Instant mashed potatoes, microwaved toast and powdered eggs were just a few of the items that were supposed to pass as palatable. The first day the ship had no hot water. After being at sea and hanging out in the pool, we couldn't really shower. Formal night was that night so we didn't partake. No sense dressing up for bad food and no shower. The ship however, did give everyone a $50 credit to make up for that which was greatly appreciated. The hot water was fixed and then broke again. Luckily it was fixed for good shortly thereafter and there were no other issues with it the rest of the trip. While the staff were friendly, they seem to not be very knowledgeable about the ship. We asked a few times where to get off the ship at different ports and were directed to incorrect areas. We also asked what time the stores opened in the morning because we needed sunscreen and were told two incorrect times by two different people. We were looking forward to visiting Ocean Cay but it was cancelled understandably due to bad weather. At this point I was really ready to go home rather than stay another day. I looked forward to getting off the ship and having a decent meal that didn't cost an arm and a leg. Don't think I will cruise with MSC again. I've had much better experiences on other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Read Less

This was our 4th sailing on MSC and 27th cruise overall. We are very easy going and though there has never been a perfect cruise we have enjoyed all except this one. Don't get me wrong, there were good moments on this cruise and we were sailing with some great friends so managed to enjoy ourselves regardless of the ship. The ship is beautiful, clean and most of the crew we encountered were friendly but there were some crew that were either rude or just did not know their job. We were constantly given wrong information from one crew member to the next. Prior to sailing we booked 3 upcharge restaurants. The first day at sea we went to one of the specialty restaurants because we were told that is where we needed to go to make sure our bookings for the restaurants were linked with the 3 other couples in our group. There they told us we had to go to Guest Services. After waiting about a half hour in line we were told that we needed to go to the Butchers Cut restaurant to make sure we were linked. So, I proceeded to Butchers Cut where then I was told to go to Ocean Cay and someone there would be able to help. Upon going back downstairs to Ocean Cay I sat and waited in an empty restaurant for 10 minutes. Just when I got up to leave someone came in and finally got me help. Even though I booked these on line and scheduled all of them for 6:30, they didn't have our booking at Ocean Cay and the Asian restaurant was booked for 8:30 instead of 6:30. We were given a bottle of champagne from the CEO of MSC in our cabin. We decided to the bottle with us to our first specialty restaurant the Butchers Cut and share it with our friends and family. Upon arrival the Sommelier Sir John told us there would be a $10 corkage fee. I took the bottle back from him, set it on the table and told him no thanks. I told him that it was a gift from the ship and that it was crappy to charge us to open it. For me it wasn't about the $10 but the principle. He said he would check with his boss and see if it could be waved. He never came back. He also did this to one of our friends who had the Premium Drink Package, which by the way they do not honor in this restaurant or in the Cirque de Soleil. They wanted to charge her full price for a glass of wine that was on the Premium Package. When dinner was over I tried getting the attention of the Sommelier but he purposely ignored me. I finally had to get up and confront him directly. All I wanted was his name so I could include him in a review. He refused to give me his name and covered his name tag with the wine menus. He then told me how he did not like my attitude when I took my champagne bottle back. This blew me away. Aside from this arrogant jerk, the food was good and the food servers were good. The Sommelier was just one of the issues during this week long cruise. From here on out I will summarize the other issues otherwise this will be a million words. The ship lost it's water heaters for 2 days due to mechanical issues. I understand mechanics and stuff happens so this did not bother me too much. We did get a $50 cabin credit. On embarkation day we always see our cabin steward. This trip we did not and when we went to the cabin at 9 PM to go to bed the cabin had not been turned down and there was no ice in the ice bucket. I looked on the phone to see if there was a number for the cabin steward but there was not. I took the ice bucket and had to go the Marketplace Buffet and got ice myself. The closet door in our cabin kept getting stuck and screeching when you tried opening or closing it. Finally it just got stuck so we could not get in it. I tried calling Guest Services and let it ring about 20 times with no answer. I tried calling a bit later and finally reach someone. They sent maintenance to our cabin and got the closet doors fixed while we were at dinner. This is an issue the cabin steward should have known about prior to us getting on the ship and had it fixed. We went to breakfast the first day as it was a sea day. It was the only time we went to the dinning room for breakfast as the people seating guest and the servers were rude and rolled their eyes a lot when we asked for things like hot sauce. We did not get the hot sauce until the end of the meal. Out of 27 cruises I have never had such rude and unfriendly behavior from dining staff. Sticking with dining, the first night on the ship we went to the Main Dining Room. As usual on the first night things seemed to be rushed and out of sorts. I get that and understand. The dining staff did a good job overall and were friendly. The food was just okay but we had a big issue with the Shrimp Cocktail. 5 of us ordered the Shrimp Cocktail. 4 of us got what looked to be dried out and freezer burned shrimp. I took one bite and spit it out. My wife was the only one who got good shrimp. We complained and the staff quickly returned with good shrimp. I'm just wondering why they would even serve the bad shrimp. I love coffee and often have a cup at dinner when dessert is served. The creamer they gave us with our coffee was hazelnut flavored non dairy creamer. I asked if they have regular cream and just looked at me funny. Just so you know, this ship does not have cream or half and half for coffee. It is either skim milk or non dairy creamer. That is in the buffet too. How cheap can they go? When getting on the ship there were cruise trying to get you to upgrade alcohol packages and upsell you on restaurants and shows. A couple of my friends decided to upgrade to the Premium Beverage package. The offer was that only 1 person in the cabin had to upgrade and it would only be $200. I decided not to do it but then when we were at the buffet I changed my mind. I asked one of the drink people and she said she could do the upgrade. She took my Sail and Sign card and then was gone for 20 minutes. When she returned she told me both guests in the cabin had to upgrade. I told her that is not what we were told downstairs. She said she would check again and left for another 20 minutes. Finally when she returned she told me only one person could upgrade but it had to be to the Premium Plus Package. Huh? I asked how much that would be. She went over to a terminal to look but said she could not find the price. All our friends were ready to leave the buffet so I told her I would check later and got my card back. Later when we were going to dinner I decided to look at my billing account on the MSC App and found that they charged me $347 to upgrade the beverage package. I did get it correct while at dinner but good grief! Again there is so much inconsistency with rules and knowledge on this ship. We had the Easy Drink Package and were still charged full price for drinks at one of the bars. Once again I had to stand in line for about a half hour to talk to someone at Guest Services to get this corrected. I have never been on a ship where the cabin and balcony door just slam shut but if you are a light sleeper, this cruise is definitely not for you. I wear ear plugs at night and was woken up all night long to slamming doors. If it was close to our cabin the cabin would shake. That is a very poor design not to mention rude people letting the doors slam at 2 AM. Announcements will likely drive you crazy. It did me. Every announcement on the ship was in at least 7 languages and they were always very loud. We could not go to their private Island Ocean Cay the last day of our cruise because of high winds. That's fine. I get it but then they did an In Cabin announcement at 8 AM in 7 or more languages to inform us. I am on vacation and sleeping in and unless there is an emergency, I don't want to hear this. Just so you know, the Muster Drill is also in 7 languages. Here is a suggestion to MSC. Do your announcements in English and maybe Spanish. All other languages can go on the TV and read the announcements and Muster Drill in one of the other languages. All other ships I have been on have an adult area for at least the hot tubs and to lay out. Most even have an adult pool usually in the back of the ship. This ship has not outdoor adult areas and even though there were not very many kids on the ship, they occupied every pool and hot tub. I am not anti kids as I have my own but there still needs to be adult space where you can relax and enjoy conversation without kids slamming into you and screaming. We did find hot tubs open at night in the solarium and they were nice and hot. The issue was the ship over chlorinated the hot tubs. It was so bad that our eyes were burning and it was hard to breath. We only went in the 1 evening and passed the rest of the cruise. It is a shame as this is one of the things I like to do on the ship. Enjoy the pool and hot tub. I think this ship has a lot of issues and a lot to fix. They want to be part of the American market but do not cater to Americans. At some point, with social media, they will lose the American market. I think one of the biggest problems on this ship is they spend more time trying to upsell you once on board then spending the time to make sure the guests are happy. Read Less

We chose Meraviglia because it's a newer ship. We were not disappointed. We have been on 59 cruises and this is the most beautiful ship we have been on. It had wonderful production shows every night and a matinee performance of "Boheme". Each night as you walked around the ship, the music was everywhere, such a party atmosphere ! The food in the dining room was good, not great, but I did not leave hungry.The Buffet at breakfast and lunch had everything anyone could ask for. Crew was very friendly. They had wash basins directly outside the buffet to wash your hands without having to enter the public restrooms. They did not have toilet seat covers or facial tissue in their public restrooms. The casino was very good. I played slots and they had many new ones. The Meet & Greet that was put on for Cruise Critic was the best of any ship where I attended one. They offered Champagne and Punch, very nice appetizers, including Chocolate Covered Strawberries! The biggest disappointments were the cancellation of the Marine Reserve port because of rough weather and a day and a half without hot water due to an issue with the hot water system ship wide. We were reimbursed somewhat for the missed port and the hot water issue, without cruisers having to ask, much to MSC's credit. Embarkation was very slow but debarkation was super easy. Read Less

Choose this cruise for the price and to try MSC to see how they stacked against the competition. Over all I liked it and will consider them again if they are going to destinations I like. Here is a list of the good and bad: GOOD: 1) The ship is well maintained compared to the competition. 2) Ship layout is good, and easy to figure out within the first day. 3) Drink prices are good for those who elect to not take a drink package 4) Circ de Soleil was actually better than I thought it would be 5) Food was better than other reviews have indicated, it's right there with other cruise lines 6) If you have kids, the facilities are TOP NOTCH to keep them entertained. 7) No premium upgrade for aft facing balcony BAD: 1) Lacks in the activities (that I like), unless you participate in them on the pool deck amongst the sea of humanity who reserve their chairs at 5AM 2) Entertainment (no comedian) layed heavily on it's dance/singing team. The team was better any other team I had seen, but they were on stage everyday!!!! 3) Only your dining room and buffet for complimentary dining options. Buffet so crowded at times you had to leave to think. 4) Went in February thinking ship would not be crowded, that was not the case. When this ship is near capacity it feels like a lot of people! 5) Staff to customer ratio seemed a little low in comparison to others, staff was still friendly but appeared overworked 6) Lost hot water for over a day, was given $50 onboard credit for compensation 7) Unable to dock at Ocean Cay due to high winds, wasted another day at sea. 8) Smoking area near the walking/running track and pool area at back of the ship. 9) Another case of a ship not having proper placement of the walking running track. Sea of humanity sunbathers always in your way making the track unusable 10) Rooms seemed smaller in comparison of other ships Read Less

This was my first and last time cruising with MSC. I travelled with my sister, and we were both super excited to try a new cruise line. We had an “Aurea” balcony room. I’m not very hard to please, and the room was ok despite having no storage space besides the closet. The first night on the ship the hot water went out, and was not fixed until the first stop at port over 24 hours later. After a couple of days I noticed the condition of the room wasn’t so great... there was a huge stain on the couch that took up half the couch’s seating area. The carpet also had multiple large stains in the entry way, it made us wonder what had happened there that they couldn’t clean it up. We had dinner in the complimentary restaurant all nights, and I would rate the food 2 out of 5 stars. Some nights I didn’t even finish dinner, which was disappointing as the food is usually one of the highlights of the cruise for me. I always look forward to returning to the cabin after dinner, when there is usually turn down service, chocolates, towel animals, etc... but not with this cruise line. There was no evening service or surprises in the room at all. The buffet was very unimpressive as well, I felt more like i was in a school cafeteria as far as quality of food. The service at dinner left a bit to be desired as well. My sister has an allergy to gluten, and the head waiter who is in charge of allergies on board didn’t show up at our table until the 5th night of a 7 night trip. Up to that point she had to guess what she could order and didn’t have any options for dessert which was disappointing for her. Also unless you buy a drink package for a couple hundred dollars per person, you don’t get anything to drink at dinner except water. My sister wanted a soda one night, which was $4 extra. I’ve never been on a cruise line where you cant get a soda or juice included with your dinner. Mid cruise in the dining room I asked the waiter if I could celebrate my birthday one of the nights at dinner, as it was the week after I got home from the cruise. He actually laughed at me and said I was funny, and then he said no we aren’t going to do that. I thought they were joking but turns out he actually meant it. As far as the pools, it was always impossible to find a deck chair anywhere on the ship. It was acceptable for people to leave a towel on the chair and fold the top down, and it was “taken” for the day. When I went to the pools I had to sit on the deck to sunbathe. Excursions were ok, but there was quite a bit of confusion as to who was in what group as there are so many accommodations for different languages on board. All announcements are done in 5 different languages, even the ones that come into your cabin. My sister and I usually love to attend shows on cruises, but after 2 shows on this ship we were done. The quality was equivalent to a high school or college music performance, with the exception of the Cirque Du Soleil show, which requires an upcharge of $20 per person to see it. We saw the show “sonor” which was good, but the cocktails that went with it were very watered down. Staff on board were sometimes helpful and friendly, but the most part I would say the service left a lot of room for improvement. Some staff in onboard shops wouldn’t even look at us or crack a smile from entering the store, to checking out and exiting. The fourth port call of the itinerary, to the private Bahamian island, was canceled due to wind The day of, which was a huge disappointment. My sister and I purchased a $200 photo package onboard the ship where we would receive digital downloads of all the photos from our whole cruise. When we got home we logged in to the website, and there were 31 of our 150+ photos we took onboard, but we couldn’t download them because we were never given a code which the website required... we are still trying to resolve the problem now, but it seems we lost most of our photos that we paid for already. The process to disembark back in Miami was horrible, we had to be out of the stateroom by 8am, but our group wasn’t allowed to disembark until 11am. So we were out of the room with nowhere to go for 3 hours... all of the onboard acticities, pools, waterslides, movies, games, gym... were all closed. So there was nothing we could do but sit on the deck for 3 hours and wait for our turn to get off the ship. Overall, compared to other cruise lines I have travelled, RC, Carnical, Disney... this trip couldn’t even compare. I would choose any other cruise line over this one for my next vacation. Read Less

My wife and I recently cruised on the MSC Meraviglia. I was very anxious to experience this ship since we had a very good time on the sister ship MSC Seaside a few months ago. I hardly ever write a negative review but there were some significant differences in the two experiences. First of all... it is a beautiful ship. Not as elegant as the Seaside but a step up from other cruse lines. We have cruised almost all other cruise lines at some point over the last 20 years. Embarkation and demarkation was relatively easy and quick. Also, our room was ready on time and the luggage was delivered quickly. Since we had cruised the Seaside we were not expecting great food but this ship was even a bigger letdown. We only ate twice in the main dinning room and did not want to go back since no one at our entire table liked the food. Some things... even like soup was not eatable. I know this is strange to some folks but we normally really like buffet style dinning. The problem was the food was just okay. There was nothing outstanding. The biggest issue was that every day was basically the same thing for.... breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The service was not as good as expected as well. They did have a button on the table... supposedly for drink service but seemed to only work sometimes or very slowly. We also had a couple of days with no hot water on the entire ship. I know things happen but this seemed a little excessive. They did give us a $50 credit. You really didn’t want to get close to other people. Probably the biggest issue is what some of other reviews referred to and that was the odor on the ship.... mainly the hall ways. Even our room smelled like a sewer most of the week. It got so bad in our shower that maintenance had to come a do something in the walls of our shower.. Really didn’t help. We realized that this would be more of a very international type passenger mix than most other cruise lines out of Miami ....but it got very annoying that every announcement was in 9 different languages. As with all cruise experiences there are some crew members that are so friendly and make you feel good. Don’t expect as many of these on this ship. Over all other aspects of the ship are very nice. The pool areas were crowded ... but aren’t they all. For the most part the shows were very good. The Cirque shows were probably a little overrated but still entertaining. It could have been nicer. Great facility, and they charge $18 per show but you get a watered down drink on the way in. Only 3 choices ...all terrible which most people didn’t even drink them. Why couldn’t they have just had seat service and let people order what they wanted? That’s just one of several things that just seemed like someone didn’t really think it through enough to make sense. We did excursions in every port. The destinations were great...it was just an ordeal getting there. I realize that they are at the mercy of the excursion companies to some extent but this was the worst we had every experienced. They should demand better from those excursion companies. For example in Roatan the bus was so small and crowded it was actually miserable for a two hour round trip excursion that could have been so much better. In Belize we visited a snorkel spot that was amazing. Swam with sharks, stingrays, barracudas, etc. It was just getting there was the problem. We were on a small boat that was so packed that you could not even get up or move for 45 minutes each way.... Just warning people that may have a bit of claustrophobia. In Costa Maya we had a catamaran snorkel trip that was really great. Great boat, great pirate crew and phenomenal snorkeling. Overall our philosophy is the worst day on a cruise is better than the best day at work. So we don’t usually complain very much and this is probably the most negative I ever get. Just felt other cruisers should know what to expect on this ship. Read Less

This is a very pretty ship but I am afraid that didn;t make up for the bad service. We were a girlie group (3 sisters and my daughter) holding a reunion to celebrate two birthdays. Two of us came from UK to meet the ship and two from USA. Our party included a Business Manager, a Lawyer, an Travel Agent and a Diamond Class Cruise Queen! So we were not naive with our expectations. The problems started not long after we booked the cruise. We were offered a discount in a balcony sale, the TA was assured that the beverage and internet package would be included in the discounted fare, as it had been before. Without this, we would not have taken the discount as it would add up to more than the original cost! Obviously it wasn;t honoured and for months, right up until 48 hours before embarkation, we disputed it. Fast forward to embarkation which took longer than I have ever experienced and was a little like a cattle market, but our Diamond Cruiser was horrified at the time and treatment at this point. At the final stage of embarkation two of our party were told their cabin had been switched and there was nothing we could do about it until we had boarded. When we got on board we were told we couldn't switch cabins because the ship was full! We hadn't asked for a switch they did it. When we saw the cabin they had allocated it was an ante-room that you would put children in. It had a pull out bed that was set up leaving barely 8 inches around the bed. That was it! To expect two ladies (albeit sisters) one of whom is 70 to share a camp bed for a weeks holiday is ludicrous and unacceptable. As this was a reunion all four of us tried to find our luggage to offload ourselves. Minutes before the ship left dock they found us another cabin which was as expected but in a terrible location so that even the Diamond Cruiser experienced sea sickness. The Dining was OK The Market Place was renamed the Cattle Market by my daughter who was on her first cruise. On Day one there was nothing for vegetarians until I asked at one stall if they could find us something vegetarian and they kindly provided veggie burgers. At this point I would like to point out the two/three nicest crew members on board. One is 'Sydney' a bartender who was mostly in the TV Lounge. Such a nice person. The other is Nicole who was our server at dinner in The Waves, she was lovely and so kind and helpful. The Maitre D' was also helpful. However, the Diamond Cruiser says this is the first tie she has lost weight on a cruise! On board activities were very mixed but overall good. The Opera on the first sea day was amazing. The other shows were good to outstanding. The Cirque D'Soliel was disappointing. The activites around the pool were lively and for some who would like a bit of peace, possibly too noisy for too long. Other sea day activities were non existent. Not even the obligatory napkin folding! Our cabin was adequate,but given that the ship is still relatively new, I was shocked at how dirty the furnishings were. The coach was so yukky we wouldn't sit on it. Wefound chocolate balls and tissues on the floor. The room was not cleaned properly all week nor the towels changed - they just folded them and put them back. We did actually get one towel animal which is more than most. We only went on one excursion with the cruise line. We left late and got back dead on the last boarding time. The coach was old and smelly and I suffered from sickness due to the motion and fumes. We didn't have a guide on the way, and on the way back he didn;t tell us much about the area, more about his grandmothers brewing skills. It was also twice the price of the ones we booked the rest of the week - the other excursions were absolutely amazing. Value for money - yes this is a reasonably priced cruise line but they should honour their sales. They say all calls are recorded and we had the exact time and date of the original call so they could have listened to us. It end up costing us more than the original booking to get the same experience. CRUISE CRITIC MEET AND MINGLE was fantastic. It was so nice to meet people we had been talking to for weeks. Thanks CC Read Less

The Ship is BEAUTIFUL....But the Main Dining Rooms are TERRIBLE and the Buffet is the Escape to Marginal restaurant quality.....I should have known better from the rediculous LONG waits to MSC cruise line for direct booking.....you can wait forever....I have been on over 30 cruises and even though MSC has gorgeous ships....the Management, restaurants, and cleanliness is REDICULOUS!!! I and my family Are ALL Italian, MSC is Italian.....Long gone are the days of finest cruises for food and service were ITALIAN!!!! MSC Needs a Presidential Campaign to prior travelers for this family Ever. Ever to go on MSC again.................NEVER Cabin cleaning was Marginal, the drink package was Also rediculous 3rd class....and AGAIN the Main Dining restaurants were ABSOLUTELY Rediculous BAD FOOD.... IT's A SHAME...All Newer Ships and terrible Management and Product..... The OWNER Management is Italian and Brilliant in producing gorgeous ships which are ruined by terrible food and this is NOT THE ITALIAN Way and Methodology!!! Read Less

Before you cruise on the MSC Meraviglia you should read this review. Let me start by saying that I had read previous reviews, but having gone on the MSC Seaside believed that this ship would be as nice. Not one experience was good. After getting on the ship went to a bar to order a bud light you guessed they did not have any (yet). We had purchased the premium drink package went to another bar and finally was able to get one. Everyone was being hounded to purchase drink packages and specialty dinner packages every day. There is hardly any entertainment in the day except maybe a violinist in the atrium and the main pool area, by the way the "Chair Hogs" would save an entire row and you would not see anyone using them for hours at a time. There is a large screen that states towels would be pulled after thirty minutes, I went to the pool attendant and said he was told not to pull towels because it would upset the guests, what about the ones that were never able to use one? We decided to go to the English pub for fish and chips and a Guinness, no Guinness waiter said they have never had it, why advertise. On to the second day no hot water for two days so could not get a shower, finally fixed and instead of any refund given a $50.00 shipboard credit, how insulting . Next on Wednesday we had pre purchased a Cirque Soleil Show, we got there told it was canceled and no refund, finally a supervisor came out and the first words out of his mouth to the men was are you threating me, again he said no refunds and that we were to come Friday at 3:00 p.m. what else do you have to do this is a sea day. Remember MSC Meraviglia this was our vacation and we booked when wanted to see the show. Finally went down to the guest services told no re fund on prepaid packages, but would this once give us back on a shipboard credit. They also have a scam of charging people for pictures, do not give them your ship card, had to go back to guess services for them to remove the charge. So after we missed our dinner went up to the buffet to get something to eat they were displaying, clams, shrimp and scallops, we asked where are they and they said for display only. So what put it out, also you were lucky if you could get a slice of pizza they would only put two out at a time. Talking about food not one time was prime rib offered in the main dining room, this is the first ship that I have ever been on that is so cheap and forcing people to use the Specialty dining. On to Friday went to breakfast in the dining room when leaving around 8:00 a.m. Captain announces we will not be docking in Ocean Cay due to inclement weather, the weather was not that bad and did this ship not come over from Europe? Second time we had been canceled to go in, the first on the Seaside because of the previous hurricane that was understandable, Captain gave us a $200.00 shipboard credit and a voucher for 20% off our next MSC cruise, the Captain on Merviglia gave the Americans and Canadians $55.00 back to cover port charges. Here is the only good our cabin steward on deck 9 was very good, bar tenders in the Infinity Bar, Mateos and Patricia excellent and Santos in the TV Studio bar very goo. Again be warned and do not book this ship, it needs to go back to Europe they do not understand the American Way of doing thins. The Europeans were very rude and pushy would take your chair and say I need it, unreal. Such a let down when people work hard spend a lot of money and are looking for a nice vacation. We will be going back to Royal and Carnival in the future. Read Less

We are seniors who have sailed 25+ times on 7 different mass market cruise lines. We always sail in inside or OV cabins as we don't see value in spending our money on where we sleep. We had sailed on the MSC Divina 4-5 years ago and enjoyed the cruise enough to book another. This time, we selected the Meraviglia. It was our first experience on a super-sized ship. Embarkation was very slow. Not enough personnel to handle the number of people. The inside cabin is roomy, but the lack of storage is simply ridiculous. We travel lightly - two carry ons and that's it. The drawers barely held my clothing, so my husband lived out of a suitcase all week. Storage in the bathroom was adequate. The bed was comfortable. The cruise was a week of contradictions: Getting a drink at some bars could be frustrating, at others easy and pleasant. Some of the staff smiled, others walked around looking bored or angry. The ship is indeed gorgeous, but the furniture and layout is uncomfortable. It's been designed for aesthetics instead of usefulness and comfort. The food in the MDR for dinner was quite good, and we enjoyed it. The food in the MDR at lunch was poor (except for the bacon cheeseburger, which was terrific). Service in the MDR for dinner was some of the best we've ever had on all our cruises! Service in the MDR at lunch was so lousy that we actually gave up after waiting more than 30 minutes to be served (and no, they weren't busy). The breakfast and lunch buffet was abysmal. The roasts were overcooked to the level of shoe leather. No sandwich bar, chicken or tuna salad. The charcuterie was excellent on our last MSC cruise - high quality imported meats and cheeses. It's been replaced with basic supermarket quality items - not a slice of prosciutto in site. The "ethnic" area was mexican every day, and visually looked like it had been there for days. An Italian ship and no Caesar salad on the buffet? Yep - only Caesar salad dressing. Want an omelet at breakfast? Be prepared to wait and don't expect much customization - for example, if you want onions, they are pre-mixed with bell peppers. Want cheese? It's cheddar or nothing. But the staff did an excellent job of busing the tables. The Easy Alcohol Package is incredibly annoying. Wine = one cab, one merlot, one chardonnay, one sauvignon blanc (which magicalliy turned in the pinot grigio in some venues). Given the price, the wines weren't bad - but boy, we got sick of drinking the same wine all week! Easy package includes a few basic mixed drinks with brand quality alcohol. BUT - Want a bloody mary? You're going to ask for a virgin mary and a shot of vodka, then play bartender yourself. Same thing with the frozen drinks. You'll have to settle for straight gin in your martini because they won't mix in any vermouth. It's really a ridiculous program. To add insult to injury, you can't use the Easy package AT ALL in the specialty restaurants (hence, we didn't eat in the specialty restaurants.) And if you want a higher priced drink than allowed on your package, you're paying the full price, not just the difference. The ship IS gorgeous, but the interior design and furniture decisions were selected for their looks and aesthetics. Comfort and function has been lost in translation. And the basic design of the ship doesn't always work with 5000+ passengers. With the exception of certain areas, we regularly felt like we were in an ant farm. Of course, chair hogs exist on all cruises, but on this one they wake up before dawn, plant their flag and go into port for the day. Asking the staff to do something is fruitless. After 9am on a sea day, forget about getting a lounger. BUT the entertainment! OMG was it great! The MSC productions and the entertainers are professional quality. They make other cruiseline entertainers look like a high school music production. Cirque de Soleil was a treat and well worth the $19 (though the included drink was undrinkable.) One other disappointment: The night that we reserved the Cirque show it was cancelled due to "technical issues." It was rescheduled for 3pm on the last sea day. Unfortunately, that was the exact same time as the only showroom entertainment offered on the sea day. We had to chose. That's a scheduling mistake that shouldn't happen. We did need to contact guest services several times over minor issues or questions. Rather than going to the desk and waiting on line, I used the phone and always received efficient, quick and personable service. Many consider MSC to be bargain/value based quality, and our expectations were exactly in that place. And if one is used to paying the high prices for high end cabins on other cruise lines, MSC is a good bargain/value proposition. But for those of us who travel in the cheap seats of inside and OV cabins, the pricing on MSC is not dramatically cheaper. Would we sail MSC again? Unlikely. Would we recommend it to others? Yes, but with reservations and explanations. Read Less

Travelled with family. Ship was beautiful. As embarking we were hounded by in-your-face sales/photo people. This continued throughout ship. Very annoying! Cabin very clean. Compliments to room cleaning crew. Seated dining was terrible, being rushed thru dinner for 2 other later seatings. Staff was pressed to get food served. Food mediocre. Pasta portions too small. Buffet crowded and people pushy and rude. Food ok. Entertainment was good. As leaving theatre after show, passengers were blocked by dance/singing group. Very loud and noisy. Service at bars were packed and slow. Too many people to handle. Smoking in casino was terrible. No smoking preferred. Pool area was terrible when at sea. Too crowded not able to get table/lounge chairs. Too little staff to take care of drink requests. Many arguments erupted because of no pool area seating available. Should have security more available there and throughout ship. More ice cream stations needed. Or serve yourself. Bathrooms near pool were disgusting as staff could not clean up fast enough for so many on board. Getting off/on ship for ports was organized. Visiting ports was nice. Did not like Ochos Rios as bombarded with salespeople. No shore excursions, too expensive. Embarkation/disembarkation was organized. I would not go again, too many passengers which gave way to customer service. Smaller ship, better quality and service. Read Less

we love msc! never disappoints, great staff, great food, plentiful and a great variety. excellent staff! its our 3rd msc cruise, hopefully many more to come! beautiful pools, great entertainment, clean cabins! the meriviglia is a beautiful, stunning cruise ship!! hand sanitizer everywhere, touch less bathroom faucets, and soap dispensers! spotless staircases, buffet and mdr. wonderful entertainment! great choice of excursions available, lots of activities for children and teens! beautiful cafes, restaurants, casino, shops, , , . . embarkment went by smoothly, screening was thorough, staff very kind and friendly. refreshments available while waiting to board! the ports of roatan, french keys, belize, costa maya were just beautiful!! we were unable to go to ocean cay due to the strong winds. hopefully we will be able to go on our next msc cruise! The pools were great! the pizza options were amazing! disambarkment went smoothly, we walked off on our own! Read Less

This was our 15th cruise. First time with MSC. Won't be the last. There were good and back things. But overall a wonderful time and great value! Pros: Staff were all wonderful. The welcome back parties at the ports were very nice extra. Our servers in Waves, Martin and Hasel were attentive and gave great service. The ship was absolutely stunning. Loved the Swarovski crystal staircase. Loved the LED screens on the Promenade deck. The pizza in the Buffet was amazing. Best of any other cruise line. I may sue MSC for weight gain, ate Pizza every day. Cinnamon Rolls at Breakfast were so soft and delicious. Our balcony room was comfortable and clean. The shows on this ship were absolutely outstanding. We arrived 30 minutes early every night just to make sure we were front and center. The singers, dancers, band all so talented. We have seen a lot of the Broadway shows on other ships, Chicago, Legally Blonde, We will Rock You, Blue Man Group. Yes they were all magnificent, but the shows on Meragilvia were every night consistently AMAZING!!! I think the shows may have been the highlight of this cruise for us. Cons: Food was mainly just okay. I think a few more different dishes offered would be nice. In main dining room most nights ordered and wasn't really sure what we were going to get. But we found plenty to eat and didn't starve. The chair hogs were awful. Staff needs to start policing this. There are not enough chairs for all the passengers and chair hogs made it impossible to find a chair most of the time. Babies allowed in the pools was gross. We got out of pool due to 3 different babies in diapers allowed in the pools. Mentioned it to lifeguard, he said as long as baby was with an adult it was allowed. Not sure the signs at pool agreed with this thought. The parties at night need to start a little earlier. The White Party and Silent Disco didn't start until 11:45. That is just too late with early ports the next day. My whole group of 10 skipped the White Party due to this. I think starting at 10 and going late would allow more to attend. Two of us did stay up for the Silent Disco. It was so much fun, but not getting to bed until 1:30 was rough, rest of my group missed the great time. Coming back on the ship from the ports took way too long. Only one X-ray machine was in use at each entry point. The line always moved so slow. The closet in the cabin was a pain. It was on the small slide and using the sliding door to it was little difficult. The balcony doors on the way back to Florida started rattling and making a lot of noise. Which was awful at night when trying to sleep. We missed our stop at Ocean Cay. I was expecting this. The day before the wind started picking up in speed. I was very disappointed. Ever since I heard about Ocean Cay being built, I have wanted to go. Roatan we hired a private tour thru Victor Bodden. We had Chris and Blue Eyed Johnny. We had a wonderful day. Highlight was going to Victor's and holding the sloths. I think we could have all stayed there all day. We then went to West Bay and snorkeled. Belize we booked Cave Tubing thru Butts Up. Was excited to do this tour since it was all the rave back on the ship after our last trip to Belize. We had a great time. Is it something I would do again? Probably not. Long drive out there and tubing really didn't last as long as I would have hoped. But can say we did it! And the tour guides were great. Very attentive and friendly. The whole bus ride they described the island and things we were passing. Costa Maya we took tram to town. Walking along beach we had a local stop us with offer of a hour snorkel trip, locker, chairs and umbrella at Crazy Lobster. We took him up on offer. Great time. The snorkeling was really good. We had a guide to take us along and make sure we saw sea turtle and sting ray. Just wish we would have had more time at this port. Day felt rushed. I had read a lot of reviews before this cruise. And most of them were bad. I tried to go in with an open mind. And I was pleasantly surprised. Read Less

A great price for everyone's budget. Our group had a wonderful time in Miami before the cruise. Travel to and from the ship went smoothly. Our embarkation also went very smoothly. We were allowed to board ship before our boarding time and enjoyed walking around and exploring the ship before our room was ready! This is a beautiful ship and we loved all the little secluded spots around the ship to sit and have a cocktail with our group of friends. The excursions were well handled and we all enjoyed the time off the ship. The dining experience was a little disappointing the first night, but the quality of the food in the main dining room slowly improved each night there after. The buffet in the Market Place was always kept up and food was freshly replenished. We did splurge and enjoyed a specialty dinner in the Japanese Steakhouse on board and that was lovely!! Food was top notch. We only participated in breakfast in the main dining room one morning and that was not a pleasant experience. Although the food was good, the service was lacking. We had to ask the hostess to send a waiter to our table after sitting for 10 minutes and there weren't lot of guests in the dining room at the time we went!! We did enjoyed the Cirque Show that we had booked with our travel agent prior to our boarding. We also enjoyed one of the Broadway Shows on another night. Both were well done and delighted the audience. There was a rope course and a water slide on board that were both fun and challenging. Be on the lookout though for "pushy" guests in these areas!! We have traveled around the world and the US and I have to say the guests aboard the Meraviglia were the pushiest and rudest people I have ever cruised with!! I don't understand where politeness went, but it sure wasn't aboard this ship. I found the Americans were the most polite people on board and always being courteous to others. Also, there were many children on board that would run and cut us off while walking around the ship. Parents were not around to monitor their behavior and if there was a parent close by, they never corrected their child's behavior!!! Just appalling! As for the overall service....well, let us say that MSC needs a long, good course on customer service. It was very evident that the ship was poorly staffed for the amount of people on board. The staff also made it very apparent that they were not happy working on the ship. It was rare that they smiled. At one point, early in the cruise, we encountered 2 bar staff members arguing about break time in front of guests! Having been on several cruises, this was a first for us!!! It got to the point that there were long lines for drinks at the bar because there was rarely a staff member serving guests on deck and there would only be one bartender at the bar. When you did find a good bar staff member on deck, we think they were overwhelmed with drink orders because they were only ones being nice to the guests. Read Less