I was on that same ship in May and I had one of the best experiences considering the mix reviews that so many people post about MSC the ship is beautiful as well!
I really enjoyed my stay on the MSC cruise ships. I was on the MSC Seashore and they did allow us to choose a dinner time. I agree with the crowded buffet… and the cleaning 2x a day is so awesome!!
You always have the best videos! This was super informative and I made note about the buffet closing at 2pm on embarkation day. That is very useful information. Thanks for sharing!!
This was an excellent video. You did a very good job displaying the positives and negatives of this cruise. Thank you very much for the review. You helped me become a better consumer. I appreciate you.
I absolutely agree. I’ve watched other cruise reviews that do not share the info that is useful. This really gave me a sense of whether I would want to take this cruise.
What a great review! We’ve always wondered about MSC and you definitely covered every aspect of cruising with them. I know now that the noise level in the MDR would be too much for me and we’d have to get a dining package. We are only 14 points from making Diamond Plus on RCL, so we just HAVE to do that before we experiment with other cruise lines. But I think an MSC cruise is in our future. Thanks for all the info!
Thanks Sally- it's our pleasure! 😊 I think at Diamond you can match to MSC's Gold tier already, as Diamond plus will still match to Gold. Here's the conversion table: info.msccruises.com/rs/271-DJN-199/images/Status%20Match_Conversion%20Table.pdf The MDR was super-loud. It's probably okay for big groups traveling together, but yeah for couples or a family of 3 or 4 it might be too much. Overall a lot of fun though, so probably worth a try though especially on the Meraviglia or one of their newer ships.
Nice review. We were on the same cruise, I saw myself in a few of your shots! We were in Yacht Club which was wonderful. You must try it. Thanks for the memories.
Our pleasure! It was a fun cruise, and sounds like you guys had a great time too. Thanks for the comment! We'll have to look into Yacht Club next time.
I agree. We were on the same ship from Brooklyn. We were not able to change from late dinning, even though we booked early from booking. We did go directly when we boarded to the MDR. But we were not Dimond level on MSC. But you can always eat your meals at the buffet instead, that had almost the same food all week and no organization with a staff not wanting to help at all.
You were discussing the $5 charge for more entrees. We actually got full with just one appetizer, entree and dessert. We’re old though and our appetites are smaller than it used to be to be.
Yup the $5 extra wasn't a big deal, especially since the cruise price were very good. It's worth it for some really good dishes to pay $5 more for another. Plus you can still order multiple appetizers & desserts without extra charge.
I loved this ship. The buffet had lots of different cheeses that were my favs :) I also got the late dinning when I requested early . The one thing I didn't like.
Thanks for sharing your experience on the ship! Yeah the manager told me that the regular "Bella experience" results in not adhering to the early seating requested at booking. Not the best practice- may as well make early dining not available when booking.
very good review. I too am considered diamond status on MSC due to my high status on another cruise line. Although ive never sailed an MSC ship before. Thanks for the heads up on the main dining room seating. I’m an introvert so seating with other people as a no go for me. I’m definitely gonna have to do specialty dining or a book a suite in the yacht club. Also good to know they have limited free food options outside of the buffet. Very informative video thanks a lot.
Thank you- glad it's helpful! 😊 Yeah MSC should get with the times and allow more flexibility for guests at the MDR dinner. I forgot to mention that they did have a "My Choice" dining but those are only for guests who booked Aurea suites, but not necessarily Yacht Club. That's silly though limiting "My Choice" to just suite guests.
@@donaldcook4061 I do believe this is only for leaving from US! From Southhampton you can still have as many as you like at no extra cost! I was on Euribia in April and just booked 2 on the Virtuosa x
That ship has soft-serve ice cream on the pool deck in the back. It's really good. And the pronunciation of Meraviglia is "Meravilla" both "LL" have a "ya" sound like tortilla.
@@vincentnnyc Yes! The ice cream is very good and it's FREE. They will make you a cone or a cup (at least it was like that when I was there). I always got a double dip. Even though its soft-serve it's very good. It's located on deck 15 at the Atmosphere Ice Cream Bar outside the main buffet and BEFORE you get to the pool. So basically go into the buffet and exit towards outside and you will see the ice cream bar AND the hamburger/hotdog/pizza bar. And the regular alcoholic drinks bar all in the same place.
@@GlobalAdventurer since it is free…i guess there must be a long line there everyday? What are the hours of operation? It runs from morning till evening? And does it break down a lot?
@@vincentnnyc The lines move really fast. Longest wait I had was probably 2 minutes. I was on there for 14 days and went for ice cream every day. It's open until about 7pm. Not sure when it opens, but I think during lunch or right after. There's buffet tables right there so you can get sandwiches, pizza or hotdogs and the ice cream and sit down and eat them outside. There's three stations so not everything is served in the same station, which makes the lines move quickly. I basically lived out there most of my cruise. I would get a hamburger/fries, alcoholic drink and later get a double scoop of ice cream. They have chocolate and vanilla and sprinkles/et. The area is sheltered even though it's outside. The bar further back pass the pool is open late when the other stations close around the ice cream bar. So you can get sodas/alcohol etc in the back later at night. But you will have to go inside for food.
Great video. As much as I like your video, I am not ready to pull the trigger on an MSC ship. It reminds me too much of my ONLY Costa cruise. I will admit that I have seen a couple of MSC cruises out of NYC in the vicinity of $68 pppd to the Bahamas and Bermuda. But I just booked a 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Magic for $37 pppd. I cannot match that price at a Super 8. I will be the first to admit that the food looked a lot better than I have seen on other videos. I do not think that I could handle all that noise and all those people as the ship would be the largest one that we have been on. Have you folks done a Transpacific cruise at this point? We are planning to finally make our trip to the Philippines and Singapore and would like to cruise one way. Nice to see you cruising again.
Thanks JL! 😊 Wow that's a tremendous rate- great find! Yes on the Meraviglia they really pack the tables so close together at the MDR, and without high ceilings, it gets super noisy. Food was definitely much improved- we'll have a lot more to show on what they had. We haven't tried a transpacific yet but sounds very interesting! Never visited Philippines, but Singapore is amazing. You should definitely do that cruise and stay in Singapore for a few days.
Hi just wanted to know how the food compared to Princess please? I know you have done many princess cruises and is it really worth the difference in price? I’ve only ever done MSC and have 2 more booked, but I have nothing to compare it to x
i hear conflicting response about food and drink in msc ocean kay. i heard the buffet and drink are complimentary when you are on the ocean kay island and when i call msc and talk to a rep...they said i have to pay out of my own pocket. can someone confirm if we have the food and drink in ocean kay extra and that we have to pay out of own pocket or not? does that mean we should eat first before we leave the ship or come back to the ship to eat if we want to eat for free?
Yup the buffet is complimentary, and so are the beach shack food trucks. We were looking forward to doing a video of it, but the ship missed the port. Here is MSC's official info on the free food (and other useful info) about Ocean Cay: www.msccruisesusa.com/faq/ocean-cay
It was pretty fast, though we only bought it for 2 days of the cruise and used our cellular plan (which has international service) when at the ports. If you want to purchase for the entire cruise, be sure to buy before at least several days before your cruise starts as there should be a discount for the package.
Thanks, David. I have heard so many positive and negative things about MSC, that I’m not eager to give them a try. You’ve convinced me NOT to go there. Compacted, loud dining is a gigantic turn off.
Our pleasure Brad! 😊 Yeah we can see how the noise can put many guests off. If you can get a good rate you might be able to have a specialty dining where it's much quieter & drinks package included and still be cheaper than base fare for some other lines.
The seating with other guests is not true. It depends which dinning room you are assigned to. I sailed 2x’s on this ship & both times we sat by ourselves.
Husband and I will no longer consider a cruise with MSC. It is my understanding that they do not allow smoking in the casino. That IS odd considering that it is an Italian based company.
All they did was refund the port taxes for Ocean Cay. It wasn't their fault with the weather, but yeah they could've been more generous such as offering future cruise credit.
![25 Things Cruisers MUST Know Before Your First MSC Cruise [MSC Cruise Tips 2024]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k0NLxi5ZzMI/mqdefault.jpg)
![25 Things Cruisers MUST Know Before Your First MSC Cruise [MSC Cruise Tips 2024]](/img/tr.png)
I was on that same ship in May and I had one of the best experiences considering the mix reviews that so many people post about MSC the ship is beautiful as well!
We had a great time too- thanks for sharing your experience on the Meraviglia!
Kann ich nicht so bestätigen, wir waren auch im Mai...
Nie mehr...
We were on it in May also and had a good time. I'm glad we kept an open mind after reading the reviews.
I really enjoyed my stay on the MSC cruise ships. I was on the MSC Seashore and they did allow us to choose a dinner time. I agree with the crowded buffet… and the cleaning 2x a day is so awesome!!
That's great to hear that you had a good time on the Seashore and that they allowed you to pick a dining time. Thanks for sharing!
You always have the best videos! This was super informative and I made note about the buffet closing at 2pm on embarkation day. That is very useful information. Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you very much Tee- glad you found it helpful! 😊
Thank you so much for another amazing video. I loved that you showed the daily. Thank you, thank you!!!
Our pleasure- glad it it helpful! Thank you very much for the comment! 😊
A very good review. You should do that for all your cruises.
Thanks! 😊 Will look to to do that.
I loved the tone of your voice while giving your tour of the Meravigla. I am hoping to try this ship in the very near future.
Thank you very much! 😊 The Meraviglia is a lot of fun and certainly worth a try!
Nice ! For dollar value MSC would be a great choice.
Not worried of the noisy Dim Sum MDR.
Your son will be 6 " 5 in no time.
Thanks JT! 😊 This cruise was definitely a terrific bang for the buck!
My wife and I are booked on a cruise for late September. This video was informational.
Glad it was helpful- have a fun cruise!
Me and my friend leaving September 23rd on this ship 🚢
This was an excellent video. You did a very good job displaying the positives and negatives of this cruise. Thank you very much for the review. You helped me become a better consumer. I appreciate you.
I absolutely agree. I’ve watched other cruise reviews that do not share the info that is useful. This really gave me a sense of whether I would want to take this cruise.
Thank you very much- we're happy to hear that it was helpful! 😊
Much appreciated! Very glad it's helpful! 😊
Great review. Your tone is perfect. Fine analysis & delivery with pertinent information ..
Thank you very much! 😊
What a great review! We’ve always wondered about MSC and you definitely covered every aspect of cruising with them. I know now that the noise level in the MDR would be too much for me and we’d have to get a dining package. We are only 14 points from making Diamond Plus on RCL, so we just HAVE to do that before we experiment with other cruise lines. But I think an MSC cruise is in our future. Thanks for all the info!
Thanks Sally- it's our pleasure! 😊 I think at Diamond you can match to MSC's Gold tier already, as Diamond plus will still match to Gold. Here's the conversion table: info.msccruises.com/rs/271-DJN-199/images/Status%20Match_Conversion%20Table.pdf
The MDR was super-loud. It's probably okay for big groups traveling together, but yeah for couples or a family of 3 or 4 it might be too much. Overall a lot of fun though, so probably worth a try though especially on the Meraviglia or one of their newer ships.
Nice review. We were on the same cruise, I saw myself in a few of your shots! We were in Yacht Club which was wonderful. You must try it. Thanks for the memories.
Our pleasure! It was a fun cruise, and sounds like you guys had a great time too. Thanks for the comment! We'll have to look into Yacht Club next time.
I agree. We were on the same ship from Brooklyn. We were not able to change from late dinning, even though we booked early from booking. We did go directly when we boarded to the MDR. But we were not Dimond level on MSC. But you can always eat your meals at the buffet instead, that had almost the same food all week and no organization with a staff not wanting to help at all.
Sorry to hear you couldn't change your dining time. Agree with you about the dinner buffet- it was pretty good! Hope you had a good cruise!
Love these videos! It's one coming out for the Meraviglia Main Dining Room? Going in two weeks and your videos get me ready lol
Thank you! 😊 I'm releasing the lunch video soon but will work on the mdr dinner after that 🙂
You were discussing the $5 charge for more entrees. We actually got full with just one appetizer, entree and dessert. We’re old though and our appetites are smaller than it used to be to be.
Yup the $5 extra wasn't a big deal, especially since the cruise price were very good. It's worth it for some really good dishes to pay $5 more for another. Plus you can still order multiple appetizers & desserts without extra charge.
@@TravelTouristVideos I’d try more of both.
I loved this ship. The buffet had lots of different cheeses that were my favs :) I also got the late dinning when I requested early . The one thing I didn't like.
Thanks for sharing your experience on the ship! Yeah the manager told me that the regular "Bella experience" results in not adhering to the early seating requested at booking. Not the best practice- may as well make early dining not available when booking.
We just booked this cruise today for October🐸🐸
Nice! Have a fantastic time! Would love to hear how you liked it when you get back.
very good review. I too am considered diamond status on MSC due to my high status on another cruise line. Although ive never sailed an MSC ship before. Thanks for the heads up on the main dining room seating. I’m an introvert so seating with other people as a no go for me. I’m definitely gonna have to do specialty dining or a book a suite in the yacht club. Also good to know they have limited free food options outside of the buffet. Very informative video thanks a lot.
Thank you- glad it's helpful! 😊 Yeah MSC should get with the times and allow more flexibility for guests at the MDR dinner. I forgot to mention that they did have a "My Choice" dining but those are only for guests who booked Aurea suites, but not necessarily Yacht Club. That's silly though limiting "My Choice" to just suite guests.
@@donaldcook4061 I do believe this is only for leaving from US! From Southhampton you can still have as many as you like at no extra cost! I was on Euribia in April and just booked 2 on the Virtuosa x
I’m checking it out.
That ship has soft-serve ice cream on the pool deck in the back. It's really good. And the pronunciation of Meraviglia is "Meravilla" both "LL" have a "ya" sound like tortilla.
Thanks for the heads up!
Was the soft serve ice cream free? What deck was it?
@@vincentnnyc Yes! The ice cream is very good and it's FREE. They will make you a cone or a cup (at least it was like that when I was there). I always got a double dip. Even though its soft-serve it's very good.
It's located on deck 15 at the Atmosphere Ice Cream Bar outside the main buffet and BEFORE you get to the pool. So basically go into the buffet and exit towards outside and you will see the ice cream bar AND the hamburger/hotdog/pizza bar. And the regular alcoholic drinks bar all in the same place.
@@GlobalAdventurer since it is free…i guess there must be a long line there everyday? What are the hours of operation? It runs from morning till evening? And does it break down a lot?
@@vincentnnyc The lines move really fast. Longest wait I had was probably 2 minutes. I was on there for 14 days and went for ice cream every day. It's open until about 7pm. Not sure when it opens, but I think during lunch or right after. There's buffet tables right there so you can get sandwiches, pizza or hotdogs and the ice cream and sit down and eat them outside. There's three stations so not everything is served in the same station, which makes the lines move quickly. I basically lived out there most of my cruise. I would get a hamburger/fries, alcoholic drink and later get a double scoop of ice cream. They have chocolate and vanilla and sprinkles/et. The area is sheltered even though it's outside. The bar further back pass the pool is open late when the other stations close around the ice cream bar. So you can get sodas/alcohol etc in the back later at night. But you will have to go inside for food.
Was there any sort of accommodation for the delayed arrival to one port and missing one entirely ?
Would not like the crowds or the noise level. But, loved Joanne's outfits. Food looked good.
Thanks Kathy! 😊 Yeah the MDR was super crowded and loud, but the food was pretty good.
EXCELLENT info, thanks! BTW ....It's not "Mera VIG LEE AH" ...it's pronounced "Mera VEEL YA"
Got it! Thanks for the correction! 😊
Great video. As much as I like your video, I am not ready to pull the trigger on an MSC ship. It reminds me too much of my ONLY Costa cruise. I will admit that I have seen a couple of MSC cruises out of NYC in the vicinity of $68 pppd to the Bahamas and Bermuda. But I just booked a 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Magic for $37 pppd. I cannot match that price at a Super 8.
I will be the first to admit that the food looked a lot better than I have seen on other videos. I do not think that I could handle all that noise and all those people as the ship would be the largest one that we have been on.
Have you folks done a Transpacific cruise at this point? We are planning to finally make our trip to the Philippines and Singapore and would like to cruise one way. Nice to see you cruising again.
Thanks JL! 😊 Wow that's a tremendous rate- great find! Yes on the Meraviglia they really pack the tables so close together at the MDR, and without high ceilings, it gets super noisy. Food was definitely much improved- we'll have a lot more to show on what they had.
We haven't tried a transpacific yet but sounds very interesting! Never visited Philippines, but Singapore is amazing. You should definitely do that cruise and stay in Singapore for a few days.
Hi just wanted to know how the food compared to Princess please? I know you have done many princess cruises and is it really worth the difference in price? I’ve only ever done MSC and have 2 more booked, but I have nothing to compare it to x
Princess had slightly better food at the main dining dinner. Both have pretty good buffets, and the pizzas were similar.
i hear conflicting response about food and drink in msc ocean kay. i heard the buffet and drink are complimentary when you are on the ocean kay island and when i call msc and talk to a rep...they said i have to pay out of my own pocket. can someone confirm if we have the food and drink in ocean kay extra and that we have to pay out of own pocket or not? does that mean we should eat first before we leave the ship or come back to the ship to eat if we want to eat for free?
Yup the buffet is complimentary, and so are the beach shack food trucks. We were looking forward to doing a video of it, but the ship missed the port. Here is MSC's official info on the free food (and other useful info) about Ocean Cay: www.msccruisesusa.com/faq/ocean-cay
Some of those crowds looked a bit too big for my liking. I had good luck on RC's Voyager, Grandeur, and Navigator OTS.
Can get very crowded for sure, but it's mostly at the MDR & buffet do they seem more so than the other big ships
we were on this cruise June 23 - 30th...When was this video filmed?
We left the cruise on the 16th, so 2 weeks apart. Hope you guys had a good time!
Was that in the beginning of the month? we are looking to go Jun 1st
Yup ended on June 5
We want to try it June 1 2025, hoping now too crowded
@@andrismith2472 Yeah it was very crowded for us, but still a lot of fun.
How is the internet connection
Is it worth getting it
It was pretty fast, though we only bought it for 2 days of the cruise and used our cellular plan (which has international service) when at the ports. If you want to purchase for the entire cruise, be sure to buy before at least several days before your cruise starts as there should be a discount for the package.
i have to share table as a solo cruiser. not so happy
Thanks, David. I have heard so many positive and negative things about MSC, that I’m not eager to give them a try. You’ve convinced me NOT to go there. Compacted, loud dining is a gigantic turn off.
Our pleasure Brad! 😊 Yeah we can see how the noise can put many guests off. If you can get a good rate you might be able to have a specialty dining where it's much quieter & drinks package included and still be cheaper than base fare for some other lines.
180 Gulgowski Hollow
The seating with other guests is not true. It depends which dinning room you are assigned to. I sailed 2x’s on this ship & both times we sat by ourselves.
Lol I went there at August 25
Nice! How did you like it?
Carroll Pass
Husband and I will no longer consider a cruise with MSC. It is my understanding that they do not allow smoking in the casino. That IS odd considering that it is an Italian based company.
More cruise lines are shifting towards banning smoking in casinos, but yeah for now many are stilling allowing it.
Sounds like the dining room rules are not conducive to your food videos (paying for extra entrees, sitting with other). 😄
Pretty much! 😁
Roberts Circle
That ship just looks too big…
You don’t pronounce the g….its pronounced m e r - a - v i - l i a
Was there any sort of accommodation for the delayed arrival to one port and missing one entirely ?
All they did was refund the port taxes for Ocean Cay. It wasn't their fault with the weather, but yeah they could've been more generous such as offering future cruise credit.