MSC Meraviglia Review
Western Med cruise on the Meraviglia 22 - 29 Nov 2018
Rating by category
Additional details
We were concerned about the likely service, food etc - having read many poor reviews and bad comments. But our experience was almost nothing but everything was fine. We were very content. The ship's customers were much more heavily Asian and of course there were plenty of Italians. Their nature is not to 'stand back' and wait patiently in line, unlike the Brits or Americans they certainly don't say 'after you' - so that was noticeable.
The ship was immaculate and is quite stunning, good lifts, restaurants, bars, our steak in 'Butcher's Cuts' was one of the best we have ever tasted! Restaurant food was good, not five or six star, but good. The Panorama restaurant was very smart and very good indeed (and spacious) the Marketplace Buffet could be crowded and rather noisy (but no worse than Celebrity, RCL or NCL) and we always found a table without difficulty. The evening entertainment was overall very good, the Cirque du Soleil very good. Lively and good fun.
The ship went to Marseille, Genova, Palmermo (had to miss Malta because of a storm) but then Palma de Mallorca.
Cabin Review
Aurea Balcony Stateroom
Good, typical facilities.
Port Reviews
Palermo (Sicily)
You need to ignore, the scruffy aspects to Palermo.........there are plenty of them. But there are plenty of outstanding aspects to the city and island. Over the centuries much wealth was in a small number of hands - so there are fabulous buildings, churches, theatres fountains and other features. Teatro Massimo opera house is a must!
Again on this visit we found the people friendly, cafe/street food super, we admire their resilience coping with adversity. We had a great day in Palermo.
Malta (Valletta)
The ship could not dock in Valetta - due to the inclement weather - so we went to Palma, Majorca instead. Palma is a very good city to visit. Smart and popular.