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The few times I dared navigate my way there, I found people pushing each other out of the way and cutting in line, which did not result in much friendly feeling among the would-be diners. Margaritas are also a must if you're craving an adult beverage. There's also a selection of Spanish beer, fresh fruit juices, spiked milkshakes and other fun concoctions. The service was so great there that I returned on a different night just to order drinks. The largest — L'Olive Dorée and L'Olivo D'Oro, which are mirrors of one another — are found on Deck 6, across from one another and flanking the hallway that eventually leads to Panorama. All four dining rooms offer set seating, except Panorama, which also accommodates passengers with Aurea bookings who have anytime dining.
MSC Cruises Review — Ships, Destinations, Dining, and More
There's no fee to use the space, but you'll need to sign a waiver and obtain a wristband before riding the waterslides. If you're looking for a more sauna-like experience, head to the Solarium's covered Bamboo Pool; check out the aft Horizon Pool for better views and more peace and quiet. My go-to was the Brass Anchor Pub, reminiscent of an English local where you can snag a bottle or a pint and some extra-fee pub grub. TVs throughout the space broadcast a variety of sporting events (subject to satellite availability), and trivia and live music take place there throughout the sailing. As with most cruise ships, you don't have to go far to find a stiff drink on MSC Meraviglia. At the cafe just across the way, you can buy chocolate replicas of the ship, chocolate bars with fun toppings like nuts and berries, macarons and candy by the pound, as well as gift boxes of sweets.
MSC Seascape Deck Plan Prioritizes Crowd Control
However, depending on the size of the ship, they could be farther from entertainment and dining areas. On big ships, there may be 10 or even more flights of stairs between your cabin and the pool, sun deck, buffet, and other amenities found at the top of the ship. There will be elevators, of course, but you should expect queues at busy times. On other cruise lines, I would expect prices online to be cheaper than what I would find on the ship. So when I got onboard and saw a “Laundry Special” paper in my stateroom, I was shocked to see a 40 piece laundry package being offered for the same price as the 20 piece package I booked online. There were two main buffets on the MSC World Europa, but they were almost always crowded at peak hours.
MSC Seascape Dining Options Abound; Specialty Restaurants Take the Cake
Appetizers include burrata and beet salad, Caesar and house salads, hearts of palm, a goat cheese tart, shrimp, crabcakes and oysters Rockefeller. Or, if you're feeling extra-spendy, try one of the featured starters, such as caviar, a shellfish platter, bone marrow, Kobe sliders and foie deviled eggs. I ordered the Samurai, and the salmon and sirloin were absolutely delicious. All options include egg fried rice and a dessert of caramelized pineapple, ginger ice cream and mint. Drinks are limited to what's on the Kaito-specific menu (Japanese beer, whisky and sake, plus a small selection of wine by the glass and Champagne by the bottle). My butler, Meri, went above and beyond to help me make spa and specialty restaurant reservations, and she met us each evening to escort us to dinner and to the theater, where reserved Yacht Club seating was waiting.
You might start your day with a free guided morning stretch or aerobics, or pop into the gym for a self-led session or a for-fee class like yoga or spin. The ship's TV Studio & Bar is where you can find the cruise director filming the ship's daily morning show the night before. It's also the site of trivia competitions, several of which were standing-room-only. If you've done one teppanyaki restaurant, you've done them all. Or at least that's what I thought when I grudgingly made a reservation at Kaito Teppanyaki, another of MSC's extra-charge dining choices. It comes out hot and fresh, and it's available by the slice in several types from two separate counters in the buffet.
Sails To
Decide how much you’re willing to spend and remember that while the cabin is important, you’ll also want to budget for on-board activities, excursions, beverages, and other expenses. While no cruise ship or cruise line is perfect, the MSC World Europa is definitely a top-notch vessel worth considering. Overall, my time on the MSC World Europa led to a great vacation experience, and even though there were a few things I didn’t love, I wouldn’t hesitate to sail with MSC again. While I’ll have to wait and see if the rumors of bad service hold true on my upcoming MSC Seaside sailing this summer, I would be shocked if this were the case after my lovely service experience on the MSC World Europa. Upon boarding the MSC World Europa, I was shocked to find relatively low prices on specialty dining. I booked teppanyaki for only €30 and all-you-can-eat Mexican for just €18.
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Some ships offer cabins with direct access to the promenade deck, while the largest ships, including MSC World Europa, offer balconies overlooking an internal courtyard or promenade. As soon as I got onboard, though, I discovered that the cost of drinks on an MSC cruise is much cheaper than other cruise lines. Most cocktails were only €9 each ($9.70 USD), with a few specialty cocktails priced between €12 and €15. My first night onboard, I was surprised to see spaghetti alla nerano (pasta with sautéed zucchini) on the main dining menu, a dish you’d be hard pressed to find on an American cruise line.
A combination of espresso, vanilla syrup and coconut milk, either hot or iced, it's far and away my favorite coffee drink anywhere, ever. MSC Meraviglia's buffet, Marketplace, spans the entire aft of Deck 15. It has a decent variety of stations, but the food is often the same from day to day. The layout is confusing to navigate, too, with lots of nooks and crannies that can make it difficult to find what you're looking for.
Expect fees starting around $25 per person per day for the non-alcoholic options and around $70pp per day for the top tier wine, beer, cocktails and soft drinks package. I know from personal experience that you'll wait in queues on all big-ship cruise lines, especially on embarkation day if you haven't pre-booked shore excursions or you want to change your dining time. I definitely experienced a terrible muster drill on one of the first sailings of Carnival Sunrise, when the crew was new and working out the passenger flow of the upgraded ship. The line is known to attract a diverse crowd, including a high percentage of international guests plus a mix of English and Spanish speakers from Florida. The combination of cultures and languages makes the line's onboard vibe a bit different than on other cruise lines that sail from mainland U.S. ports. A much different story is served up on all five of MSC Seascape's specialty restaurants.
The simulators can be purchased on a per-ride basis, and bowling is charged in chunks of either 30 or 60 minutes. My travel companion and I inexplicably wound up in Sportplex after dinner on formal night. We played for half an hour — enough time for two games if it's only two people and you move quickly — and were ultimately joined by the Yacht Club director, Craig (who won easily). It was a ton of fun, but I don't recommend bowling in a ballgown. Sailings from Miami will likely attract a higher number of North American passengers, but cruisers from Europe and South America traditionally make up about half of MSC's travelers, so this may likely still be the case on MSC Seascape.
The storage space for toiletries could also have been more generous. There were only two small metal shelves, which weren't enough for two people's things. The rest had to be stored inside cabinets where the garbage can was located. However, some of that was offset by the fact that the shower in my bathroom had no lip, so water leaked all over the first time I used it. Each time after, I put towels outside the door to sop up the mess.
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