A group of us, friends, for the past several years enjoyed cruising as a fun alternative to all-inclusive vacations at beach resorts. Our prior experience on another MSC ship, Poesia, a few years ago was very good, and the lingering memories lead us to take a cruise on MSC Meraviglia this year.

Besides the behemoth form factor, fancy displays, technological innovations, gleaming stainless steel, and shimmering Swarovski crystal embedded staircases, a cavernous promenade with a long LED roof, with many shops, and restaurants, a water park with water slides and a Himalayan rope course: the ship is attractive in many ways. The top two decks are stacked with play, games, and spa areas.

Buffet is nothing spectacular either, just run-of-mill, the usual fare. Buffet restaurants are crowded always due to the volume of passengers. There wasn’t adequate staff in the buffet restaurants to keep the busy place ‘ship-shaped’. Dishes were not picked up properly or the tables were cleaned promptly. Too many people, too less staff especially in buffet restaurants was very noticeable. No water or juice were served at the table, everything was self-serviced. Read more