4-Day Mediterranean Cruise Aboard MSC MERAVIGLIA

We are a family of four (2 adults/2 kids) currently finishing a 14-day Mediterranean cruise on MSC Sinfonia (June 13–20 from Bari) followed by MSC Maraviglia(June 20–27 from Naples).

What made this trip particularly disappointing is that we previously sailed with MSC in Northern Europe and had an excellent experience. We expected similar food quality, service, and atmosphere, but this cruise felt completely different.

The ports were fantastic. Greece was absolutely beautiful, and destinations such as Corfu, Kefalonia, Olympia, Santorini, and Mykonos were the highlight of our vacation.

Unfortunately, the onboard experience did not meet our expectations. Both ships felt extremely crowded, but Maraviglia was especially overwhelming. Public areas were constantly busy, elevators were packed, and finding a quiet place to relax was difficult. Even our children commented on how loud the ship felt throughout the day.

The buffet was chaotic during most meal times, with long lines and limited seating. The dining room experience at Panorama Restaurant was also disappointing. We booked the Aurea Experience with My Choice Dining, but service was consistently slow and the food quality was well below what we experienced on our previous MSC cruise. Simple requests, such as a refill of water, often took much longer than expected.

Our cabin also had an unpleasant odor at times, and we experienced several toilet issues during the voyage.

As English-speaking guests, we were surprised by how much of the entertainment and onboard atmosphere was geared toward the local market. American guests are not welcome.

One area that deserves special praise is the Pub Bar team. They provided outstanding service throughout the cruise and were consistently friendly, professional, and attentive. It was one of the few places onboard where we truly enjoyed spending time.

Overall, the ports were wonderful, but the onboard experience left us disappointed. Based on our previous MSC cruise in Northern Europe, we know the company can deliver a much better product. Unfortunately, this Mediterranean itinerary did not provide the relaxing family vacation we were hoping for.

The ship was very large and had about 6000 people. Plus 1,500 crew. Many passengers commented that it was very disorganized. I agree with that assessment. The buffet was on the 15 floor and very crowed. Always out of coffee and hot water. Breakfast meats were very greasy. Most of the food was blah and I called it the ' barff' buffet, as half of the food I took went into the trash. Lunch at the buffet was only slightly better, usually the carved meats were very good. Burger station was below average. Pizza, though people raved about it, was only average. I have had much better pizza. Everything else served was only average or below average. It's only two giant buffet lines on the whole ship, as a result, very crowed and noisy.

Dining room food was much better. Tia, my server was excellent. Dinner was usually a 90 minute to a two-hour affair. That is average for most cruises.

My single cabin only had a stool. Bathroom was very small. No sofa or chairs. Television only had six channels, three of them British news channels. Movie channels on t.v. were $12 each! I refused to pay!

Most cruise lines provide complimentary movies in your stateroom.

My steward, Constanio, did an excellent job keeping my cabin neat and tidy.

Most of staff did a good job, not quite as friendly as other lines, and most appeared overworked.

Entertainment in the main theatre was below average. Most shows ran 35 minutes and only had canned music, no live orchestra. Most major cruise lines have live with in house bands. Most of the live entertainment was rock music. Even the ' soft' music played was too loud, making it impossible to enjoy the music or a soft conversation. Even the quiet bars played music much too loud.

There is no movie theatre or library. No guest lectures, no complimentary movies. They did have outside movies on the pool deck, but no blankets!

I joined a clay class. As the instructor began to speak, she was drowned out by a loud aerobics class in the main corridor.

I finally found a quiet sundeck on the 16 floor, but at 7;30 pm. they begin collecting the lounge chairs. And blaring loud music to inform you it is time to leave. Why not leave the lounge chairs out until midnight? They have a 24-hour crew.

Excursions were good. I took three jeep tours. I did make a complaint since I was wearing a knee brace and should be assigned a front seat due to limited mobility. Staff did ensure I had a front seat after that and sent a complimentary appetizer platter and a bottle of Champayne to my cabin. I was happy with the excursions I took and they were explained in detail before you sign up.

Alcoholic drinks averaged close to $20 each. There were no half price happy hours.

I discovered staff does not receive tips on prepaid gratuities. It is added to their base salary. I then had the front desk removed that charge and tipped employees with cash. I saw red on that policy!

There is no quiet place on this ship. Loud music, lack of activities, lectures, and decent music or entertainment. I would not sail on this ship again, though it was a good value, you pay in other areas, such as peace and quiet.

Our family of 8 recently took a cruise onboard the MSC Meraviglia from Naples for a 7-day cruise. Our overall experience was less than we had expected from this cruise line.

From our initial check-in at Naples the staff were the rudest people we have ever encountered. My guess is that they are 3rd party vendors who had zero customer service experience and should not be at the jobs of welcoming people on board.

The cruise ship itself was nice with a relatively modern ship but their configuration of restaurants were extremely limited. They have one buffet for the entire ship which holds over 5,000 passengers. It was absolute chaos trying to get a meal with various stations serving a variety of food but it was the same food every single day of our trip. Our dinners were classified as “complimentary” dinner (they have a number of different restaurants onboard but all of them were $$$ extra). During dinner, the waiter said we had to pay for water service which is the most basic of necessities for a meal. After complaining about the water, they eventually gave us water at the table but had charged us for our first night at dinner.

They have no Live TV stations and if you wanted to watch a movie it was €10. They charge for absolutely everything and their prices for things like excursions are outrageous for what you get.

They know they have a captive audience (especially the days at sea). Everything was overpriced and not worth the money. They did have free shows at night which were (for the most part) quite good.

The one thing that stood out were the staff. From our housekeeping to our waiters, the staff were amazing. Always very polite and helpful with anything that you needed or wanted.

We felt completely ripped off at the end of the cruise and would not choose MSC Cruises again. It was similar to taking a low end Carnival Cruise with tons of kids running around (even in the Adult Only sections).