Newly homeported in Brooklyn, New York, the MSC Meraviglia is a popular option for guests looking to leave from the New York City area, for a reasonable price.
In July 2023, I sailed aboard the MSC Meraviglia with my family, which was a group of close to 20 people. While we had a great time together, I wouldn’t count the MSC Meraviglia as my favorite ship I’ve ever sailed on.
But, there’s a few things I wish I knew prior to sailing that might have been able to manage some of my expectations. I hope these things will give a little insight on what to expect if the MSC Meraviglia is on your travel agenda.
If you’d like to see a full review of the MSC Meraviglia, click here. I also provided a full breakdown of the Dining Menus and Food onboard that you can find on my blog.
1. The Rooms are Small
During my cruise, I sailed with two other adults in my cabin, making a total of 3 adults in one cabin. We’ve done this before and we’ve never really had an issue with space or sizing of the cabin. That wasn’t the case onboard the MSC Meraviglia. Aside from the room feeling small, there was definitely a lack of storage space available in the room that you should take note of.
I think that because of the lack of storage, it made the room feel small in itself. For example, the suitcase usually fits underneath the bed. I know I’ve mentioned this before and people have said well I fit mine under the bed on the MSC Meraviglia. We tried putting a 29” suitcase that wasn’t even stuffed under the bed and it would not fit. It was also a tight squeeze to get anything into the closet since it was right on top of the sofa. We ended up putting one suitcase on our dresser, one under the dresser (which took up walking space) and one in the closet.
Aside from the few drawers inside of the closet, there weren’t really any drawers in the room or places to store things if you wanted to. I understand I am on a cruise and the rooms aren’t huge, but I think that the layout of the rooms really contributed to the room feeling smaller than it should have.
2. There’s Lots of Disorganization
If I had to pick one word that described the MSC Meraviglia, I would have said unorganized. From the minute you enter the port of Brooklyn to boarding and other experiences, it was all just very unorganized. Let’s break down a few examples.
Port of Brooklyn
I get it- there are approximately 5700 guests getting on and getting off of a cruise ship and there’s just one port to accommodate it all. I’ve been on 20 cruises so I know the drill and how it works. But, the port of Brooklyn was one of the most chaotic situations I’ve seen and I didn’t even run into the most chaos.
First, there is only one way to enter the port- meaning you are sitting in a long line across the back of the port to even get to the main area to drop off your luggage. I actually saw people who got out of their cars and started walking a ridiculous distance because the line was so long. From the time that we entered the port to the time that I actually was in front of the ship was around 30 minutes. I’ve left from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal many times and we usually just pull up and we’re on our way. I think they need to find a more efficient way to get you over to the port quicker.
Once inside the port, security and check-in were fine, it was the waiting to get on the ship. The room was mobbed and everytime they called a number for boarding, people pushed through to the employee to give their number and run through. I think they needed a better system. I was at the port at 10:00 am and I was given boarding group 23. The time from check-in to boarding was around 45 minutes.
Now, my experience was unorganized, but happened relatively quickly. I had some family members who arrived at 11:00 am and they weren’t onboard until close to 1:30 pm. They said it was extremely unorganized and inefficient. You should have some contingencies in place no matter what time people arrive at the port.
Ocean Cay
Now, I get it- the cruise line can’t control the weather and I place absolutely no blame on them. But, if you see that there is weather coming through like a tropical storm, prepare.
We visited their private island, Ocean Cay and had a great day. It was cloudy but nothing terrible and the sun popped through a few times. At around 2:30 pm it got really dark and a bad storm came through. Like us, everyone decided to head back to the ship.
Imagine 5000 people trying to get back onto the ship with 1 gangway. Initially, that’s what was happening. You had most of the ship there waiting to get back on with only 1 gangway open and checking for seashells as they had told us. People were pushing and shoving, with the elderly and babies stuck in this mess. When I tell you we waited almost an hour in the pouring rain to get back on the ship I am not kidding. After an hour, they decided to only open 1 more gangway. When we finally made it to the gangway, they only had 1 security guard checking cards.
That’s being extremely unorganized and unprepared for a situation. You can’t say we were the first cruise to experience something like this so contingencies need to be in place.
3. Be Cautious of the Photo Package
I am a big photo person. I love documenting my trips and taking pictures to remember all of these amazing memories with my family. I decided to purchase the photo package, called the All-Inclusive Digital Photo Package for $140 prior to my cruise.
First, don’t let the name deceive you. It’s not all-inclusive. To me, that sounds like any photo I take will be included in the cost… Well that’s not the case.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I traveled with a large group and there were 3 of us in our cabin. Once onboard, I was told that I could only get the photos of the 3 guests in the cabin and that’s it. I’ve purchased photo packages on many cruises and I’ve never heard of them before. I was told this very rudely by a photo shop employee.
But, something else important to note is that these photo packages do not include group photos. Every cruise we go on, we like to take a group photo all together. We waited in line at the Swarovski Crystal staircase for 15 minutes and were then told that he couldn’t take our picture. He told us to go to the gallery and that they would explain. When we did they said they would charge us $12 for every adult in the photo, which would cost around $156 for that picture, whether we liked the picture or not. We obviously didn’t take the professional photo and had someone else take it for us on another staircase with my phone.
The reason I say to be cautious is, if you’ve been on other cruise lines, you will most likely expect those types of photos to be included in the package and they are not.
4. Lack of Food Quantity/Quality/Variety
Cruises are known for an abundance of food… usually. The MSC Meraviglia did not follow suit on this. Whether it was the main dining room or the buffet, I didn’t find either impressive in quantity, quality or variety.
The buffet for breakfast and lunch lacked variety and was always lower quality than what was expected. I was very disappointed in this and actually didn’t eat lunch at the buffet most days because of that. Snacks and desserts were lacking at off times as well. The only thing that was really available late was pizza.
Dinner was another mess to be quite frank. Our food was always a small portion, cold and not the most tasty. I felt that the dining experience was lacking very much compared to meals I’ve had onboard Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.
If I can recommend anything, I’d say try Hola Taco and Cantina. The food was some of the better food I enjoyed on the ship.
5. Lack of Pool Space
If you are excited to head onboard the MSC Meraviglia to enjoy the pools, you’re not the only person. Given the immense size of the ships and number of guests it accommodates, there simply weren’t enough pools. There is the Bamboo Pool, which has a retractable awning, the Atmosphere Pool, which is the main pool and the Horizon Pool, which is the adults only.
The Bamboo Pool was always crowded and you ended up standing like a sardine in the pool- absolutely no swimming was happening. We were able to find seats, but they were always either tables or benches- no laying down chairs.
The Atmosphere Pool, which was outdoors, was always extremely mobbed. Don’t expect to find a seat by this pool unless you’re up super early. It’s also hard to even get into the pool because there is no room. The same is true of the adults only pool. It’s essentially a little box with no room to walk or move.
We definitely think this ship needs more pools or a better layout, but either way, we suggest you take advantage of the water and sun if you port in a warm climate.
Those are our 5 things you need to know about the MSC Meraviglia before you sail. Again, I don’t want to portray that I had a bad time, because I was with my family and I didn’t have a horrible time. But, I think the Meraviglia is lagging behind other ships. I think that Royal and Norwegian do a lot of things better and I’d be curious to see if this is something consistent across MSC or it’s just on the Meraviglia.
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