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Daily Programs scanned along with the Welcome Aboard and Departure letters. Meraviglia Daily Program 8-6-21 3 Nights OC.PDF

Pandemic protocols on board. This post is to provide insight to the protocols on board. I kindly ask you to avoid debating protocols or providing opinions about protocols here in this thread. I am posting this so that people can decide if the protocols on board are acceptable based on their personal preferences. MSC tested everyone that boarded. That was a quick and easy nasal swab without going deep to "tickle the brain". Masks were required at all phases. This includes everywhere on board except the cabin. That included outdoors when you weren't actively drinking, eating or in a pool. I knew that boarding the ship and the drink package helped to keep a drink nearby much of the time. Most bars block off the bar seating. The Horizon bar did not, the Sky Lounge and the Pub did not block bar seating. At these venues people had a drink in hand and were not masking between sips. Some venues like the pub are a designated vaccinated area but there were often children with their parents inside the pub. This seemed to be allowed. With reduced capacity it was never an issue keeping distant so it worked. The casino was also a designated vaccinated area. I did spend time in there but didn't really focus on the protocols. It just seemed to work. Not sure if smoking is permitted because it wasn't smoky at all while I was there. For the most part social distancing worked but at times such as when there was a queue people quickly forgot to distance. The daily temperature checks were also almost not worth mentioning.

Cruise Summary Since this was my first time sailing with MSC my approach for this cruise was to basically forget everything I knew about cruising. It's too easy to fall into the trap of comparing everything to a cruise line you may have sailed last or more frequently. Walking onto a ship with a "I've never sailed before" mentality lets you relive that special first time you walked onto a cruise ship and it helps to remove any preconceived notions you may have about a different cruise line. I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise and for the price it was outstanding value. Ocean Cay is beautiful. While fairly young as a cruise line private destination it checks all the boxes for this type of "port of call". With the drink package covering Ocean Cay it does perform better than some other cruise lines that don't allow their drink packages at their private destinations. Meraviglia is a modern beautiful ship and it's a shame to see so many areas underutilized with reduced capacity at the moment. Clearly she has space to handle more guests while keeping everyone happy. The Marketplace Buffet did lack some diversity at dinner but it's not fair to compare a ship on it's second voyage after restarting during a pandemic operating at dramatically reduced capacity to a cruise experience before the pandemic. The status match loyalty program is very much appreciated. Every loyalty program is different and the perks were really nice. The included dining experience was great. I did bring a bunch of single bills and tipped every drink above the included service charges included in the drink package I bought. These folks have been out of work for 16 months so a few extra bucks is well worth it. I didn't see anyone else tipping above the included gratuity and I could tell the bar staff really appreciated the gesture. At the end of the day the most important question... would I sail them again? Absolutely! In a heartbeat. In fact the MSC Divina is moving to Port Canaveral for a few months this fall and I am looking over her dates to see if I can make it work. I am also eyeing some more Meraviglia itineraries that are a little longer. I feel like there is so much left to explore on the ship including the main dining room for dinner. I was worried that some cruise acquaintances declared that you only enjoy MSC is you sail in Yacht Club. That may be the case for them but I was very pleasantly surprised I had no YC envy. If you've got the money, sure why not YC but I'll have no problem sailing MSC with the Fantastica experience again. I also like the budget friendly "Easy" drink package. While it only includes well drinks and not any top shelf liquor that was good enough for me on this cruise. Meraviglia is a great ship and I'll have no issues booking her again. It may not be the same experience compared to my "regular" cruise line but that's a good thing as not everything that line does is perfect either. I hope this helps you decide if Meraviglia is the right ship for you and I thank you for viewing.

Mini bar is not included except for the most expensive beverage package. Here is the price list for the rest of us. A note about the internet on board. Meraviglia uses the newer Medium Earth Orbit satellite platform from satellite provider SES/O3b. A number of other cruise lines also use this platform, some only on their newer ships. Each cruise line implements the technology slightly differently. MSC offers internet plans that include one or more devices. Their service records the unique address of each device (called a MAC address) when you first sign in and this becomes the device authorized for your plan. Unlike some other cruise lines you cannot switch devices by logging in and out. The device you first sign in with becomes the one device that is allowed to sign in and access the internet for your plan. Speedtest: Results over several days: Having purchased ship internet over many years I always appreciate when I find a ship that uses this newer technology. The lower latency provides a much better user experience. That being said satellite internet is still subject to weather related issues such as rain fade which I observed during the Lighthouse Spectacular show on Ocean Cay and the heavy downpour that occured that night. During this downpour the internet was unavailable. That happens with satellite services and there is nothing any cruise line can do about it with the technology available today. As far as comparing this internet service to other lines, Princess arguably has the fastest internet at sea at the moment. From the lines I have sailed Meraviglia is second to Princess with Royal Caribbean following behind MSC in terms of speed.

Time lapse of our arrival into Ocean Cay: