Year 2 Day 290 – “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 2/12/2023. Day 8 of 7-night MSC Meraviglia Caribbean cruise. 21 days of fun in the sun is over. Be sure and read to the end of this page for my review comparing our cruise on the Wonder of the Seas to the MSC Meraviglia. The cakes on display in the Marketplace are works of art.
After dinner last night we visited the AquaPark on Deck 19.
We are up eating breakfast at 6am.
We pulled into terminal 10 in Port Canaveral at 7am. We decided we would do express walk off and carry our luggage. We would have been one of the last ones to get off at 9:40am. Our luggage tag number was 79 based on our room. We walked out of our room with our luggage at 7:30am and were in our car and on the way home by 7:50am. It was quick and easy with facial recognition for US Customs.
As nice as it is to travel and do new things. I love the feeling of being home in the United States.
Driving home is the time to think about the pros and cons of the two different cruise lines and ships we were just on.
1) The buffet:
—Wonder of the seas
Windjammer Buffet. Poorly designed and the food counters were messy with spilled food. No one seemed to bother cleaning the spills up. It was always very crowded. They did have nice big sinks to wash your hands. Everyone must wash their hands to enter buffet. They served mostly carbs!! One morning our omelet had a long black hair cooked into it. The coffee was good. The one night we walked up to the Windjammer buffet after having dinner in the main dining room. They had a cart and were walking around dumping the dish waste in the buckets and clearing the table. People were eating and they are scraping plates right by them. It was disgusting. I have never seen that in a cruise ship before. Only ever saw that at CeCe’s pizza.
— MSC Maraviglia
The Marketplace buffet is fantastic. There was lots of different food, and it was well laid out. The pizza is Awesome. The tables were kept very clean. Handwashing was not enforced. It appeared as though they saved the buffet food to serve again.
2) Elevators
— Wonder of the Sea
Elevators were very crowded most of the time.
— MSC Meraviglia
No issues with elevators on this ship.
3) Staterooms
— Wonder of the Seas
Smoothest ship ever. You never felt it moving. This ship also had the largest balcony room of any ship we have been on. There was not enough storage space though. The bed was soft and not so comfortable. The room was very bright which was really nice.
— MSC Meraviglia
The balcony room on the MSC Meraviglia is smaller and darker than the one on the Wonder of the Seas. Bed was super super comfortable. Even less storage than Wonder of the Seas. Bathtub in room was really high to step into. Room was dark
4) Crew
— Wonder of the Seas
Mostly inexperienced help. Really trying hard and very friendly.
— MSC Meraviglia
Help was better qualified, but not as friendly. Very short staffed. One cashier in casino with huge line. Long waits at bars.
5) Internet
— Wonder of the Seas
Excellent quick internet best I have ever had on a cruise ship. You can also move the connection from one device to another.
— MSC Meraviglia
The internet was terribly slow. Once you hook up a device it cannot be moved to another device.
6) Embarkation
— Wonder of the Seas
Quick and there are a lot of people to assist you at guest services, at the internet desk, at the beverage center, and at the spa. Staff made you feel welcome.
— MSC Meraviglia
You did not feel welcome getting on the ship. The crew had no enthusiasm or smiles. The casino cashier was absolutely sullen faced.
7) Casino
— Wonder of the Seas
Total take. Could not even play.
— MSC Meraviglia
You could play and did not lose your money so fast.
8) Gratuity added to on board account for balcony room
— Wonder of the seas
$16.00 a day for each person on room
— MSC Meraviglia
$14.00 a day for each person on room.
The farther north we drive the colder I feel. I am ready to go back to the Caribbean. I forgot it was winter!!!
Today’s product recommendation is for the Rev-A-Shelf. I love this for my pots, pans and lids. The one we recently installed is the 21 inches with a spot on the top shelf for the lids. We will also be installing a smaller one for baking dishes. These are awesome. https://amzn.to/3CzOwwq https://amzn.to/3ZcBuyq
To view the complete daily diary, click here: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count