2019 Anniversary Cruise Day 2 cont’d - yacht club on the MSC Meraviglia

Boarding in Yacht Club

Once we arrived in port, our first sighting of the ship took our breath away. She is a gorgeous ship!

Boarding the MSC Meraviglia was about to be different than any other ship we have ever sailed. Because we booked a Yacht Club Interior Room, we were in for a special treat of service. Oh boy, we were not ready. For boarding, a special line through security, and we were onboard in a matter of two minutes max! We met with the Yacht Club staff and taken to a waiting area. This was no ordinary waiting area. Posh leather sofas and chrome coffee tables. And because Terry and I were the only ones boarding at that moment, we had it all to ourselves!

They offered us our choice of breakfast pastries, fresh squeezed orange juice, or champagne/sparkling wines. Of course, we got the champagne. While we enjoyed the champagne, the Yacht Club staff finished our check-in. Less than 5 minutes later, we were ready to go to our cabin.

Butler Service

One of the butlers (yes, a butler!) from the ship greeted us; he then took our luggage and escorted us onboard. We went on a mini tour of the ship, basically all of the main parts in the Promenade. Our butler then led us to a private elevator for Yacht Club guests. He took us to the main floor of Yacht Club and then gave us a mini tour of the Yacht Club area. He showed us the Concierge desk, the Yacht Club Restaurant, and the Yacht Club Lounge. Then we went to our room.

The price that we paid to get the "ship within a ship" experience of Yacht Club with an interior cabin was the exact same price as getting a Spa Balcony. We opted for the Yacht Club interior cabin to celebrate our anniversary and make the trip more special. Because we were traveling to the Mediterranean at the end of February, the tail end of winter, we didn't think that a balcony cabin was such a great idea anyways. We didn't foresee the need to spend time on a balcony in 40 degree weather.

We Can Get Used to This

Our inside cabin was HUGE. It was unexpectedly big. Big enough to where if I really wanted to I could fully lay on the floor and roll around and still not bump into the bed or desk! Although we didn't have a sofa, we did have the space for an extra chair and a small table. On top of the bed were all of our documents and our wristbands. Our butler then explained that if we needed anything that we were not to hesitate to ask. I immediately asked for more pillows for the bed. He also asked if we needed anything to go to the included Laundry service, so Terry asked him to come back after we unpacked. Then our butler offered to unpack our luggage for us! We declined and then felt bad because he seemed like we hurt his feelings. After welcoming us aboard, he let us be in our room.

It was time for muster drill by the time we finished unpacking and getting our room situated. That was pretty standard. We headed to the Yacht Club Restaurant to have dinner afterwards.

Dinner OnBoard

Dinner in Yacht Club isn't like dinner on the regular parts of the cruise ship. Basically, when you are ready for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you go to the restaurant. There is no wait for a table and there is no bad table as they all have a gorgeous view during the day or sunset from the panoramic windows. The food and the service is amazing.

Dinner our first night, I had a delicious soup for a starter, a pasta with a creamy truffle mushroom sauce as my entree (so YUM!), and a classic tiramisu (again, so YUM!) as dessert. Being a pastry chef, I am usually pretty skeptical of cruise tiramisu because it is never good. But this one was delicious!

After dinner, we toured and got more acclimated to the ship. We needed to see where things were. During this walk through however, jet lag smacked us over the head and so we decided to go back to the cabin to turn in early. Our next day was Palermo, Sicily; we wanted to be rested. Terry was so excited to be in Italy.

Once we got back to our cabin, our fabulous butler, Luc, had already picked up our clothes for laundry service and delivered a mountain of pillows and turned down the bed. He even gave us some ice in our ice bucket and chilled our complimentary bottle of Prosecco in case we wanted to drink it. We did not drink it that night though. As jet lag was finally starting to set in, exhaustion overtook us. I did raid the mini bar fridge though. Yacht Club rooms include mini bars and refills!

Up next, our self-guided walking tour of Palermo!

Click here to read about our day in Rome.

Click below to watch our video of this day.