I've sailed several times on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, and I really wanted to experience the MSC brand and Meraviglia, despite the mixed reviews, because the ship seemed very impressive in videos. I got an excellent last minute deal and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the bad aspects of it outweighed the good ones.
The Good:
- Our cabin was very nice, very clean, ...
Some aspects of the cruise were very good and some were very bad. We stayed in the Yacht Club so please keep that in mind when reading.
Embarkation / Disembarkation
This is a big benefit of the yacht club. Both embarkation and disembarkation were pretty seamless. When we got to the port we checked in and were escorted to the lounge where we were greeted with champagne, food, etc. It is ...
Our travel agent raved about MSC and their new man-made private island. Our trip on the Meraviglia was a cruise to remember it was horrible. Embarkcation went ok even though the lines were long, they went fast. Upon entering the ship, no staff and no welcome drink. Entering our balcony cabin #11069, there was no toilet paper nor tissues. Had to get our steward to give us a roll of toilet paper ...
New to cruising, this was my 4th, other trips have been with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Started out that we paid for a priority embarkation and not one Norwegian employee could direct us to where we were supposed to go or seemed to know what we were talking about. So we stood in all the lines though we paid for a service. The Sky "boasts" that it was refurbished 3-4 months ago but when you ...
The reason for choosing this cruise was the time of year it cruised and to try a different cruise company. This was my ninth cruise and the first on Celebrity. We had a Concierge Cabin on Deck 10 cabin 1204. I have 4 people in the cabin my advice maximum 3 persons should be the maximum. The cabin is narrow and needs refurbishment as does the ship. Not enough space for 4 persons. The Dinning was my ...
Pockets of good and bad service made the cruise average or less.
Good to excellent were the stateroom attendant, bar tenders, casino staff, Steamers upcharge venue (add the lobster and crab for $12 more), and Ray Coussins on piano! Poor were the dining rooms for spotty service and errors in billing drinks; at least the food was good... Also the Ocean Medallion system did not work well except ...
Wanted to try a different ship. Usually go with a group of family and friends of 20
Money grab. Drinks package $59 plus 20% a day. We said No but waiters fairly insistent. One wIter argued that it was 20% OFF .. no such thing.
Music Trivia very boring .. no fun at all. On P & O we laughed till our faces ached. Constellation staff shuffled us off as soon as possible because every afternoon ...
I chose this cruise because of the perks and the price. The perks were nice, but as for the food, it was definitely below my cruise standards. The specialty restaurants- The Cagney Steak House burnt my lamb chop, and the sides were sub par. The Moderno Brazilian Restaurant was excellent and should not be missed. The buffet was very limited and very poor selections. My dininig rooms selections ...
Friends asked if we would travel with them
Positives...parking, check-in, security and boarding are very easy. Terminal is set up well for those who need assistance. Our spacious ocean view cabin(8532) gave us plenty of room, even with my wife's scooter. Slept like a baby. Entertainment was good....not great.
Negatives.....not a fan of larger ships. Very few quiet places to sit on board. ...
We have sailed Yacht Club Suite on MSC Divina and it was fantastic. Yacht Club Suite on Meraviglia was the complete opposite. Other than the Cruise Critic Party, which MSC does better than any other cruise line, service, food quality, and staff attitudes were not up to the standards we experienced on the Divina.
Problems were listened to intently, apologies were prolific, but no actions were ...