Cruise on MSC Meraviglia with 4 yr old and 13 month old baby

[desperatehousewife2]

Hi

We are thinking of booking a cruise of western Med in the Meraviglia next March. We will have a 4 year old and our baby will be 13 months. Thinking of getting a cabin with balcony.
Does anyone have any experience of MSC, the Meraviglia and travelling with kids of this age? Is it a ridiculous idea and we should wait until they’re older?
It’s nearly €500 to include the drinks package, is this worth doing?

This will be our first holiday abroad in years, so we want to get it right.

Thanks in advance!

To make myself clear, it’s obviously an extra €500 for the drinks package!

Hi Desperatehousewife2,
Is there any reason you've picked March to cruise the Med? Most of the "quality" cruise companies (Royal Carribbean, Celebrity, P&O, etc) are still in the carribbean at that time and don't come back into Europe until mid April. So what you've left with are the lower price, lower standard (by UK standards) lines such as Costa, MSC and Marella.
The ship you're talking bout is well appointed and is well designed. However, when you read the reviews by well travelled customers on Cruise Critic, you'll find that the service and staff training is "variable".
If you really have to go at that time of year, I'd only recommend the P&O cruise (prices are in £, drinks tend to be pub prices (but not always) and staff levels / service is a better standard than the cruise lines above.
If you really want a cruise, especially for a 4 year old and 13 months, you'll get better entertainment on the summer cruises with Royal Carribbean, P&O and if your budget can stretch to it, Celebrity cruises.
You'll get better weather and choice of destinations.
I know what it's like to wait for a few years before you can really get a good break so if you'd like any other options, please let me know and I'm happy to help with sugggesting a good cruise or a few alternatives if you'd prefer that.
You'll get solid cruise and ship reviews here

We cruised with a 3 and a 5 year old and it was great - but under 3's couldn't use the childcare. We didn't bother with drinks because there was complimentary fountain drinks, tea coffee and milk, with kids we weren't going to drink much!

Thanks both of you. The reason we’ve booked MSC for March is quite simply the price, got a good deal. Also have spoken to several people in the last few days who’ve cruised with MSC and really enjoyed it. Thanks for your input.

I've been on cruises with MSC and found them great.

They seem to be a marmite cruise company. Some hate them for not giving them a British experience. Some love the European flavour.

I liked the assurance of a GF diet for DS2 and I like the ports they go to.

I can recommend this FB group for information from a UK slant (cruise critic tends to be more US based when it comes to MSC)

www.facebook.com/groups/236487727160427/

Thanks Bumply. We’re Irish, not British and as this will be our first cruise have nothing to compare it to. Will have a look at that FB group.

Hi desperate, I'm Irish and I've been on 3 MSC cruises in the Med and loved them. I've been on the MSC Splendida, Orchestra and Divina. Last year the all inclusive drinks package was €26 pppd, we thought that was great value.

I think it's mostly Americans that complain about MSC because it is a more European style than US.

We've always sailed in April during the school holidays and we're lucky with the weather.

Where are you sailing from and what ports are you calling at?

Desperate have a look on boards.ie in the holiday section, there's a massive thread devoted to cruising.

Oops just noticed the date of this thread.