Reviewing our MSC Meraviglia Mediterranean cruise
MSC Meraviglia entirely lives up to its name (The Italian word “meraviglia” translates to “wonder” in English). This amazing ship launched in 2016 and currently sails the Mediterranean from Genoa, Italy .
We began our early spring visit to Italy with a 7-day cruise on MSC Meraviglia. The cruise provided an ideal way to decompress, recover from jet lag and get our European groove on.
MSC Meraviglia
We had our first MSC experience sailing on Divina during her 2-day inaugural voyage in 2013. Since then, we’ve observed the cruise line’s expansion with their newest ship Seaside , now sailing the Caribbean from Miami.
MSC is aggressively going after the North American large-ship cruise market and this line should be on your radar. Seaside , in particular, looks like a vessel that could be a game changer.
MSC Meraviglia ‘s decor will please fans of Italian design. (Mark majored in art and design and has worked for decades as a graphic designer, while Dale is a longtime architecture buff — is it any wonder we appreciate this cruise line?) We especially love the MSC signature Swarovski Crystal staircase in the atrium between floors 5 and 6.
Dale channels his inner diva on the Swarovski staircase.
The ship boasts a two-story “inside promenade” with a 5,000 square-foot LED screen on the barrel-roofed dome. Lined with shops and specialty dining venues, the promenade becomes a focal point when various shows occur using the LED display.
So how was our experience aboard MSC Meraviglia ? Let’s start with a huge thumbs up for entertainment.
Entertainment venues and options
The entertainment aboard Meraviglia was the finest we’ve experienced at sea. Hands down, no question, this is the cruise line to book if you want to experience amazing onboard entertainment.
The ship’s Broadway Theater accommodates about 12 dancers, the largest troupe we’ve ever seen at sea. Additionally there are several singers, some classically trained, most contemporary, all excellent.
Shows aboard Meraviglia are performed several times each week and on different days. No more “Oh Jeez, we’re too tired (or tipsy!) to catch the show.” More like “No problem, we can catch it tomorrow afternoon.” Passengers can reserve show tickets using interactive screens throughout the ship, on the in-room TV or on the app. You can also simply walk in, as we did, and be seated within 5 minutes of curtain when space is available. We appreciated this entertainment flexibility, especially on a large ship with so many more activities available.
Currently available shows
Virtual: This thoughtful, contemporary piece examines how we interact with technology and each other through smartphones and online dating. Ship entertainment with a social message! While the musical score wasn’t exactly Steven Sondheim, the dancing, singing, and production values were excellent.
Paz: Subtitled “From Picasso to Flamenco with Passion,” this show featured far and away the best dancing we’ve seen onboard any ship. Spectacular dancing to a flamenco-infused score created an exhilarating night in the theater. It didn’t hurt that the principal solo male dancer possessed not only talent but powerful sexual charisma. This production packed an emotional punch similar to that of our fave dance group, The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. We weren’t alone in our appreciation for this performance. The crowd went crazy!
Come Il Mar: This oddly-named show offers an abbreviated version of Pucinni’s Opera La Boheme for soprano, tenor and dancers. Opera snob (and former member of the Chicago Lyric Opera chorus) Dale was impressed by the well-trained voices. Whether you’re a classical music buff or an “opera virgin,” you’ll find this performance well worth your time!
Cirque du Soleil: See below under “Specialty Dining.”
Bars and Lounges
Just outside the Broadway theater on deck 5 at one end of the promenade, lies the Meraviglia Bar & Lounge . In the evening, we regularly saw large numbers of staff asking guests to dance, and wow, did the mostly European crowd respond! We can honestly say that we’ve never seen a ship bar on a (straight) cruise where there is such energy on the dance floor. There was an unusual sense of community and social vibe in this room on a consistent basis.
The Meraviglia Bar and Lounge, located on the inside promenade.
We witnessed a beautiful interaction between staff and a young girl, profoundly disabled, who was having the time of her life being enabled to dance. In fact, in the evenings this spot is the beating heart of the ship. Excitement and joy spills out into what effectively serves as the ship’s “Main Street.”
We enjoyed tasty and generous appetizers in several of the bars before dinner, while others offered snacks. Bartender service is good, although sometimes it takes a few minutes to catch the eye of a cocktail server. This more European style of bar service has both positive and negative points from our American point of view. On the one hand, you won’t sit down and get the attention of server immediately, but neither will overeager cocktail servers hound you after every sip of your drink.
We especially enjoyed Sky Bar on deck 18, situated in a quiet adults-only area overlooking one the three pools and with a panoramic view of the ocean. Our regular cocktail server there was Sydney from South Africa, whom we enjoyed getting to know. Aside from her celebrity connection (Trevor Noah of The Daily Show is her uncle!), she also provided excellent service.
Fitness
We may not be the best judges of this feature. Dale visited the gym only twice (although we took long walks both on deck and in every port). While the gym offers excellent equipment, it is too small for a ship of this size. Dale found it particularly busy on a sea-day, but still managed a decent workout. Coming back from port on another day, the gym was far less crowded.
Dining Rooms
Meraviglia guests can choose from one of four dining rooms: Panorama , Waves , and two smaller identical dining rooms L’Olivo d’Oro and L’Olive Dorée . You may order beer and wine in these dining rooms but not cocktails.
All these spaces have first and second seatings at set times with assigned tables. Don’t worry, most of the tables are for two or four, so we don’t imagine a scenario where you’re caught with undesirable table mates. You can also request a table for two if you and your companion prefer to dine a deux.
We like the consistency of dining with the same waiter and table throughout a cruise. In this case we also had a wonderful time with couples at neighboring tables from Germany and Italy.
We loved the food! Each night’s menu included good choices with an emphasis on Mediterranean cuisine. As we’d hoped, the pasta was outstanding every time. Our waiter Mahendra who was warm and friendly, and did a great job of remembering our preferences.
Buffet
More than once, we had difficulty finding seating in the Marketplace Buffet. We wish the ship assigned staff members to assist guests in locating a table.
Having said that, we found the food here outstanding. For instance, we’ve never had such consistently good salad options onboard a ship. Guests can build salads with a variety on extremely fresh ingredients and generous accompaniments such as sliced almonds, wonderful ham, and or other cured meats. Salad options also included crispy and not-too-vinegary flavored pickled vegetables — delicious!
Meraviglia’s seemingly omnipresent creamy, fresh-tasting pesto sauce was terrific; a real highlight. Dale says he can’t even do as well and he grows his own basil! We’d sail MSC again just for the pesto!
The buffet also featured a “cold cuts and cheese” section. In the US, the phrase “cold cuts and cheese” frequently means mediocre deli selections, but on Meraviglia we found tasty, high quality salami, prosciutto, and carefully chosen cheeses. These options were available consistently all week at all three meals.
Earlier we mentioned the quality of the pasta in the dining rooms. On MSC, we found excellent pasta even in the buffet. No soggy, limp noodles here. We still don’t understand how pasta can be so beautifully cooked and kept al dente in a buffet setting. (To be fair, we both chose pasta dishes that were already sauced, not the “choose your own pasta and your own sauce” station.)
Specialty Dining
We enjoyed our neighboring table mates and the food in L’Olivo d’ora so much that we only took a single foray into specialty dining. We saw the show “Viaggio” in the purpose-built Cirque du Soleil dining room and theater called the Carousel Lounge. With it’s revolving stage, dramatic lighting design and varied content the show was all we expected from this iconic entertainment brand, but of course in abbreviated form.
A large wrap-around LED screen on the ceiling above the stage adds to the spectacle. A terrific Brazilian duo of guitar and female vocalist served as a warm-up for the main event.
Viaggio is a great addition to the already strong entertainment options aboard Meravigila . The show had the flair and creativity of a full-length land-based Cirque event. And yes, there were plenty of muscles on display!
To see the Cirque show, you can opt for either a dinner and show, or cocktail and show at a reduced price. The food there was a very fine three course dinner with three different entree options, but for us it was all about the show itself. Cirque at Sea is unique to MSC and their Meraviglia -class ships and is an option we’d recommend.
Onboard Staff
If you react with impatience when people don’t speak or understand English perfectly, you may become frustrated with cruising in general, since shipboard staff members on any line tend to hail from many countries. After all, the adventure of travel lies in leaving behind familiar surroundings, including language.
Since Meravigila hasn’t yet come to the “new world,” a few staff members are unaccustomed to interacting in English. With a tiny bit of extra patience, we found we could communicate effectively with everyone. The staff members we met were all friendly, helpful, and good-natured.
Aboard Meravigila in the Mediterranean, employees regularly serve people who speak Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Asian languages. No doubt they will all develop good working English after a few weeks in the Caribbean with North American cruisers.
Summary and a quiz
In our experience, when pre-booking online, the MSC website and app were clunky and at times non-functional. We suggest buying your drink package, excursions, etc on the ship for that reason.
Would we consider MSC again? Definitely. We hope to sail on the new MSC Seaside soon. Will you enjoy MSC? That depends on your preferences. We’ve created a mini-quiz to help you determine whether you and MSC make a good cruise match.
Do you:
- enjoy the food and culture of the Mediterranean?
- welcome the opportunity to interact with multicultural and diverse guests?
- appreciate the traditional two seatings at dinner with the same wait staff each night?
Are you:
- a theater nerd? (this may be somewhat redundant to ask on an LGBTQ-oriented site)
- interested in an excellent large-ship experience at a very good price?
- traveling with children and looking for what seems to be an excellent children’s program?
The more times you answered yes to the questions above, the more likely that you will enjoy an MSC cruise.
*Note: Mark and Dale sailed with MSC Cruises at a reduced fare. Read our disclosure policy here. From Mark: “Our gay opinions can’t be bought. We say and write exactly what we think—and we’re capable of throwing shade when necessary.”
