Meraviglia at Ocean Cay
MSC has varying levels of service and cabin choices that go along with the level selected. Of course the higher the level the higher the price so all of the suites are in the aurea category. The most basic level is bella, the mid-level fantastica, and the top level aurea. Balcony cabins are available at all three levels with cabins in the prime locations selling as aurea, average balcony cabins as fantastica, and those with blocked views, solid structure rather than plexiglass in front of the balcony, or located near noisy areas of the ship or at the extreme front or back the most likely to have the bella designation.
stateroom artwork
We had a fantastica balcony cabin on MSC Meraviglia. It was located at the middle of a mid-level deck, so about as mid-ship as it is possible to get. Meraviglia has two sets of stairs and elevators that connect all of the main passenger decks and we were nearly exactly halfway between them. Which is pretty handy for getting just about anywhere on the ship because you just go to whichever stairway is closest to wherever it is you want to go. There was also a lone elevator a bit closer to midship on each side, but you could not cross over from port to starboard at the cabin deck from those elevators so it was necessary to use the correct side to avoid a walk to the nearest main elevator/stairway to cross over when using that elevator to return to the cabin.
the hairdryer is hidden in a drawer that looks like angled trim under the desk
The cabin itself was about average size for a cruise ship cabin. We’ve stayed in balcony cabins on some other ships that were smaller and some that were bigger. This one did seem a bit lacking in storage space compared to most though. The closet was fairly small and it didn’t have many drawers. At first it seemed like there wasn’t even a hairdryer, but asking the steward where it was located, he pulled forward what appeared to be an angled bit of trim under the desk that turned out to actually be a drawer in which the hairdryer was contained. Our particular cabin may have had issues with the seal on the sliding door to the balcony because even when it was fully closed, locked, and latched if it was windy outside some noise howled through the edge of that door.
balcony on the deck above the one behind the lifeboats
The balcony was a bit on the small side with just room enough for 2 chairs and a small footstool. We were on the deck above the lifeboats so our view was not blocked by them, but we did look over the top.
average size cruise ship bathroom
The bathroom was about average size for a cruise ship cabin with a shower, sink, and toilet, towel racks, a bit of a counter, and 3 shelves above the counter. The shelves were of a reasonable size for cruise ship bathroom shelves, but the bar on the front edge was placed too high to keep small things from falling off the shelf.
separate shampoo and body wash, but no conditioner
Bathroom products seem to be one of the things cruise lines are currently cutting back on. The little bottles of hand lotion most ships used to provide have been non-existent lately. There’s still a soap dispenser by the sink, but where there used to usually be separate dispensers in the shower for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, now there’s often just one all-in one. The Meraviglia still had separate shampoo and shower gel so that was better than some. It did not however have conditioner anywhere so it’s a good thing I always bring my own since you never know what you will find provided onboard.
Bathrobes are another thing that used to come standard already hanging in the closet of all the cruise ship cabins upon arrival, but lately I have had to ask the steward for one on every ship. This one was no exception. They do at least still bring one when asked for it. The other thing I had to ask for on this ship was washcloths, which normally are included with the other bath towels as standard bathroom supplies. Probably because this is a European ship, and for some reason Europeans don’t seem to use washcloths much. Very few hotels we’ve stayed in anywhere in Europe had any.
balcony cabin
The room had two beds that can be pushed together to make one, as is found in the majority of cruise ship cabins. The bed on this ship was quite comfortable. The room had a full-sized couch. The small refrigerator was set up as a mini bar, stuffed full with items that you have to pay for. We asked the steward to remove them so we could just use it as a refrigerator. There was no room to put anything else in there with all the mini-bar items taking up all the space. Stewards will always remove those items if you request it.
good to see that this ship does recycling
The garbage can out in the main room was lined with 3 bins of different sizes and colors, presumably one for garbage and two for recycling, though none of the sections was labeled as to what was expected to go in them. We just ended up putting whatever we had the most of in the bigger section and whatever else we wanted to get rid of in the smaller ones and let the steward figure out from there what was garbage and what was recyclable.
finishing drying on the wall
Like all modern cruise ships, the walls in the staterooms on the Meraviglia are magnetic. This comes in quite handy if you bring magnets to keep any paperwork organized and within easy reach on the wall. Also good for magnetic hooks, which can be used for more hanging space for clothes or other items. The hooks also come in handy for holding laundry lines. There is no self-serve guest laundry on the Meraviglia and sending laundry out to have it done by the crew is always expensive on cruise ships. The line provided in the shower is barely big enough for a couple swimsuits and this shower had structure only on one side so the magnetic hooks came in really handy for zig-zagging extra line through the shower to dry things. Stuff didn’t dry well in that bathroom even with the door open though, so once things were no longer dripping and more damp than wet lines could also be zig-zagged on the cabin wall using magnetic hooks for things to finish drying.
keeping the paperwork organized
Rather than having a sign for the doorknob or magnet for the door to indicate whether you wanted the room cleaned or didn’t want to be disturbed, this one had a switch that turned on various colors of lights above the door outside of the room. You could set it to service wanted, do not disturb, or just leave it off. It was the sort of room where you had to put your key card into a slot to make the lights inside the cabin work and it had an indicator light on the outside that let the steward know if there was a card in that slot or not so even if you turned on the light for wanting the room cleaned if there was a card in the slot he would assume someone was in there and not come in. On some ships we’ve put a business card in that slot so we didn’t have to use the key cards for it, but on this one leaving a card there all the time would have kept the steward out. Then the room never would have gotten cleaned so we just used a key card like people are supposed to. They do that so the lights are off when you leave the room whether you actually turn them off or not. That way they don’t have to generate a bunch of electricity to power lights in empty rooms. We do always turn the lights off when we leave the room whether there’s a card in the slot or not. It’s just easier with a business card so there’s no problem with the person whose card it is leaving the room and taking their card while the other person is still there, getting left sitting in the dark.
magnetic hook
With fantastica service we had twice daily cleanings, which used to be standard on all cruise ships, but is getting more and more rare these days. Our assigned steward was out sick for a portion of the cruise so a different one had to fill in. He may have been doing additional rooms to whatever he was actually assigned, but he did a good job. Probably better than our actual steward who had a tendency to miss obvious things like a vent that hadn’t been cleaned in so long it was choked completely full of dust when we first arrived.
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