MSC Meraviglia

The MSC Meraviglia is undeniably a beautiful ship. The balcony cabin in the Aurea experience was lovely and very comfortable. The service from the dining and hospitality staff was excellent and they really worked hard to give us a personalised experience. The food particularly in the dining room was of a high standard. The shows were of a very high standard. For us, this ship is too big. So as a consequence the buffet was overcrowded and despite there being lots of lifts, it was really difficult to get one! Also, most of the entertainment was aimed at people wanting to dance to loud electronic music. There were few venues suitable. Fortunately we found a jazz bar where we ended up going every evening after the show.

The design of the ship, in particular the buffet and main bar areas made the ship feel very crowded. The food was average. Often the tea and coffee in buffet was cold. Some of the staff were curt. The shows were average. There was a lack of differeng places to eat and drink that were included in the cost of thd cruise. The cost of the speciality restaurant packages was very high. It felt as though MSC just wanted to make money from both the onboard services and by packing on as mang people as pissible with no thought for ghd communal areas. The cabin was kept cleanband tidy. The housekeeping staff were friendly and helpful.

Worst cruise in 11 we have had! Made to wait for 3 hours in New York in the cold to board without any apology or explanation. Only ate in the restaurant for 2 nights as food was inedible. Completely ruined my wife's 50th birthday as a large part of cruising for us (and what you pay for!) is getting dressed up for the evening and going to a lovely meal. We had a missed port due to the fact that MSC failed to ensure staff at New York could deal with large number of passengers and luggage, which was the stop my wife was most looking forward too. Delays also meant we missed the second day in Quebec as were forced to leave Quebec at 1am so staff at New York had enough time to disembark passengers. This meant we missed daylight sailing up the St Lawrence river, which was a big reason why we chose the cruise. We were charged 15 % on every drink we ordered even though we sat and ordered at the bar ! What company charges you for taking your money ! We had 1 show and 1 excursion we pre-ordered and paid for, changed. Despite hitting very rough weather TWICE during the 10 days, during which lots of passengers were ill (including my wife) the captain only addressed the passengers the second time it happened to inform us how long it was going to last etc. This was a horrendous holiday and we will never cruise with MSC again. The fact that this was my wife's special 50th birthday celebration and the places she had wanted to see as a child, and was so excited about for the 18 months prior to us booking it, made it even worse. Never again.

It was much better than expected