Things I Loved About MSC Meraviglia

Hola Beaches!

As promised, I compiled a list of all the things I loved about MSC Meraviglia. My previous post, 7 Things I Disliked About MSC Meraviglia, was a smaller list based on my experience with MSC and MSC Meraviglia. My "love" list is a bit longer so I will jump right into it! Enjoy!

Things I loved About MSC Meraviglia:

• First things first, let's talk cruise fare. We can not ignore the fact that MSC Cruises price really well. This is great news for passengers that just love to cruise no matter the cruise line or new cruisers who want to test the cruising waters without breaking the bank 😉. You can always upgrade your experience if you want but, as far as the pricing of cruise and add-on's, those always price very well. If you're new to cruising and want to know what's included in your cruise, here is my list of What's Included in Your Cruise Fare.

• The ship: You embark on the sixth deck, which puts you in the heart of the promenade, Plaza Meraviglia. From the Swarovski crystal staircases to the LED ceiling, this ship definitely has a WOW factor. Even walking into the casino is an experience. She was definitely designed with glamour in mind. I joke that some places aboard the ship were difficult to photograph because of how shiny and sparkly everything is. It is easy to go into sensory overload. MSC Meraviglia makes one heck of a first impression!

• This ship was designed with passenger flow in mind. There are quite a few elevators on the ship. The forward bank has 10 elevators, eight are located in the aft bank and there are 2 more single panoramic elevators both located on port and starboard sides. Amazing views during the day on these 2 elevators. I would love to see how this helps with overcrowding issues when she is sailing at a 100% capacity. Since that the was the idea behind the design.

• Cabin: I chose an ocean view balcony midship cabin. I thought the room was spacious and nicely designed. I was traveling alone, so its was strange having all this space to myself. I thought the layout was great. Not sure if I would book a family of 4 in one cabin but they offer connecting cabins as well as different categories. The bathroom is comfortable enough, gone is the shower curtain and in are the shower doors, if you have cruised before you know what I am talking about! There was plenty of storage in the bathroom. With some shelves and some counter space. Like other cruise lines, there is a shower gel and shampoo dispenser inside of the shower, incase you forget to pack these items or just rather not pack them at all. Of course the shaving bar and the retractable clothes line. The closet space was adequate. One side of the closet had some shelves as well as a mini safe. The safe is not big enough to hold a laptop but I was able to keep my iPad, travel wallet and other smaller items in it. The other side of the closet had plenty of space to hang your clothes and store your shoes. I also utilized a shelve to hold my backpack that was on the one side of the closet. Two small night stands, one on each side of the bed offer a bedside lamp as well as a reading light. The bed can be configured either as one full/queen bed or two twin beds. Nice couch to sit when you want to relax inside your cabin and when you're getting ready, a nice vanity table with a huge mirror with over-head lighting, making the cabin feel more spacious. The hair dryer is in a drawer at the vanity table nicely tucked away. The one negative is the lack of outlets. The only outlets in the cabin are in this vanity area. I like a usb by the bed but, being that I was alone the outlets that were there worked for me. Not sure how well this would work if Steve was traveling with me. We travel with a few electronics. A smaller flat screen TV, with some channels and movies on demand at an extra charge. The balcony was my favorite. It is a smaller balcony but it worked, and I was able to keep the door open and have all that fresh sea air coming into my cabin. It was wonderful! It was also the place where I would have my coffee first thing in the morning. I can not speak enough of how clean and well kept everything was.

*Shout out to my room steward, Sherwin, he was great*

• Activities: There are plenty of activities both indoor and outdoor on this ship. Sunbathers and pool lovers will be happy to know that there are plenty of both loungers and pools. There are a total of four pools and several hot tubs both outdoors and in the solarium (indoors). When it comes to the loungers, have no fear, you will not have a problem finding somewhere to lounge, whether under the sun or shade. One of the great things about the loungers is that they are not only located around the pool. You may have to do a bit of walking but, loungers can be found in both expected and unexpected places! I spent most of my time at the horizon pool area. Great place to connect with the sea!

*Fun Fact: All pools are salt water pools*

• For the thrill seekers there is the Himalayan Bridge rope course, 200 ft. above sea level a on deck 19. The Polar Aquapark can be found on the same deck, featuring three water slides and a kid's splash area. Inside the ship you can find the casino. In the Sportsplex area you will find; the bowling alley, basketball court as well as the 4D movie theater. Of course there is a theater which offers a variety of shows. I only got to see one show and I thought it was petty good. I love musicals and this one was a compilation of a few of my favorite ones, I really enjoyed myself. *Something to note, there are no drinks allowed in the theater. Some passengers like to have a cocktail while watching the shows, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

• Speciality Dining: There are your usual specialty restaurants aboard MSC Meraviglia, steak house, tapanaki , seafood, English Pub among others. I can only speak to my experience at Hola Tacos & Cantina since it was the only one I had a meal at. Actually 2 meals. At Hola, you can order a la carte or there's an all you can eat option for a set price. During my sailing its was $17.99. This would allow me to order anything I wanted from the menu, and as much as I wanted. The only thing not covered were the drinks. I tried Hola on a sea day at lunch and enjoyed my meal so much that on my last night, instead of eating at the Main Dining Room (MDR), I opted to have my final dinner at Hola. The food was delicious, the passionrita I had was fantastic and I can't say enough about the staff. If you get a chance to try them, do your self a favor and order the guacamole, queso fondito, and the Chili Pescado tacos (fish tacos). O M G, to die for and anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a taco lover. But Hola may just turn me into one!

• If you have a sweet tooth, head on over to deck six where French chocolatier and pastry chef Jen-Phillipe has a permanent presence on MSC Meraviglia. The chocolate shop is full of amazing made-on-the-ship chocolates as well as delicious coffees. I indulged a couple of times with decadent ice coffees that rivaled any fancy coffee shop on land.

• Jean-Phillipe Crepes & Gelato was as good as I expected. I did not try the crepes but did learn that hazelnut gelato is one of my favorites. The only negative I have is the nickel and diming. $1.00 for each topping you wanted on your gelato!!! Not a huge deal for for me since all I asked for was whipped cream, but again, something I thought was worth mentioning, specially for family with littles or on a budget.

* Tip: Make sure that if you order a sundae, you are sharing with someone or multiple someones. I didn't know when I ordered a sundae, that you could feed a family of 4-5 with one!

• The food: This is a controversial topic among cruisers who have sailed on MSC Meraviglia and other ships within the MSC brand. Specially for the American cruiser. The food is something that gets a lot of negative reviews. Here is my experience. I actually really enjoyed the food 😱. From the coffee and pastries that were delivered to my cabin every morning (the coffee was delicious), to the dessert at the MDR and choices at the buffet. First let me start by saying that I am keto. In order to get the whole experience, I went off plan for the week to make sure I was fair and honest in my review. If I were to follow a keto way of eating, MSC would not be for me. That being said, the only bad meal I had the entire week was the one night I decided to order a steak at the MDR. If you're not adventurous when it comes to your dining choices, and are set with the choices that the main stream cruise lines offer, MSC may not be for you. I enjoyed their different nightly menus, definitely different than what I was used to. Pasta is made on-site and the seafood always fresh. The portions I thought were perfect and the desserts were not overly sweet. One negative for me was the lack of salt and pepper. I know Mediterranean style food is never overly seasoned, but for me a little salt and pepper goes a long way. Other than that, I never left the MDR hungry or disappointed (except the night I ordered the steak). Unpopular opinion, I thought the food was good.

• The buffet, was your typical cruise line buffet. You have your different stations; carving, bakery, pizza, deli, etc. I ate pretty much the same thing at the buffet. Breakfast was either, waffles, pancakes, or French toast, with bacon and a cappuccino and a sparkling water. Some fruit here and there. I have one negative, the eggs. I don't know what possessed me to ask for scrambled eggs at the buffet one morning, I never eat scrambled eggs anywhere. They were horrible. I can't even begin to explain how bad they were. Their omelette station was ok, nothing to write home about. For lunch I really enjoyed their pizza and the cheeseburger with caramelized onions and bacon. That was really good. Their dessert station had something different every day and they offered a sugar free option that you have to ask for. I tried a few of their sugar free options and thought they were really good as well. Overall, it was also good.

• Bars: The drinks at the bars were fantastic. I usually don't drink much and even less on a cruise because I find that there's a lot of over pouring. If all I'm tasting is the spirts, I don't fully enjoy my drink so I tend to stick to sparkling water and specialty coffees. The bartenders on MSC Meraviglia made some of the best drinks I've had on a cruise. So I had at least one or 2 drinks all at different places and bars. Really enjoyed them all!

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• Internet: In my line of work it is important that I bring my followers along on my trips. So being able to stay active on my socials in real time is a must. I purchased the stream and browse internet package. I know wifi on ships tend to be spotty at best, but I had no problem aboard the ship. I was able to stream, post, chat, everything I needed to do. One negative was the wifi on Ocean Cay ( MSC Private Island), We were told we had to disconnect off the ship's wifi and reconnect to Ocean Cay's, I was never able to connect the island's wifi so while I was there, I was disconnected which actually made for a relaxing beach day.

• Ocean Cay: Their private island is beautiful, it is still being developed so it makes for a great beach day. We were supposed to spend the night there and have a night beach party and light house light show, but due to itinerary changing, we left at about 6pm. I can not wait to go back to see how it evolves. I was told that there are plans for huge pool and some more things to come. The beach bbq was ok, again same of what you get at any other private island. A couple of bars and some shops, makes it for a great beach day.

*Tip: Drink packages transfer over to the island.

• The staff: Ok, again, something of a controversial topic amongst cruisers. I am not sure if they are changing the way they do things, or maybe is the fact that we were sailing at such low capacity but I thought the staff was wonderful. Everyone was attentive, super nice and really went out of their way to make your sailing experience a positive one. Our waiter and assistant, Julius and Theresa, were phenomenal. Theresa was so much fun to chat with, and Julius always made sure we were happy with our meal. We got to sit with a gentleman that was on a back to back x 3 on the Meravigila, he was a well of knowledge and had nothing but great things to say about the staff. The waitstaff at the pool was very attentive as well. Nothing but glowing reviews from my end. The cruise director was fun, as well as her staff, I laughed quite a bit. Everyone I encountered during my sailing were wonderful. Would be really interested in sailing again when its at a 100% capacity to be able to compare. I think I need to bring my family along next time!

As you can see my overall experience was a good one aboard MSC Meraviglia. A few negatives because no cruise line is perfect. If you're not into the European-style cruising or are set with the food choices on the other cruise lines, MSC may feel like is not for you. If you have never been on a cruise before, MSC is a great place start or if you're not married to a particular cruise line, you will have a great time on a MSC ship. I never want anyone to return from their vacation disappointed. But sometimes, when you step out of that comfort zone, you end up being pleasantly surprised just like I was! Again, this was based on my personal experiences.

Cruising is back!!! ❤️

Have you cruised MSC Cruises? If so, did you love it? Hated it? Would you cruise MSC again? Share your experience in the comments!

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