With just over three weeks to go before departure day, guests booked to sail a Bahamas voyage aboard an MSC Cruises’ ship got the bad news: Cruise cancelled.
MSC Meraviglia’s 7-night Bahamas sailing from New York’s Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on May 11, 2025 was nixed due to a mechanical problem that is impacting the ship’s cruising speed, guests learned in an April 16, 2025 notice from MSC Cruises.
The sailing was slated to visit Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, the cruise line’s private island in the Bahamas.
“Due to a mechanical issue affecting the ship’s ability to operate at standard cruising speeds, we must proceed with necessary repairs. As a result, and with deep regret, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel your upcoming sailing,” MSC Cruises’ notice to guests stated.
“We understand how disappointing and disruptive this news is, especially since you’ve been looking forward to your vacation with us,” it added.
The cruise line is offering two choices to booked guests. Cruisers can select any other MSC Cruises’ sailing, to any destination and with any departure date. Guests who booked their cruise through a travel agent should contact the advisor, while those who booked direct with the cruise line should call MSC Cruises.
All payments made to the cancelled cruise will be transferred to the new voyage, and those who arrange for a new booking by May 2, 2025 will receive an onboard credit of $100 per person, for a maximum $200 per stateroom.
Additionally, those who rebook will receive a 50% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) based on the cruise fare they paid for the cancelled sailing. The FCC can be used toward any future MSC Cruises sailing.
Guests can also choose a full refund rather than booking a different cruise. In that case, if no new cruise is booked by May 2, 2025, the line will automatically process the refund to the guest’s original form of payment. They also will receive the 50% FCC as a gesture of appreciation.
Disappointed Guests Cope With Disrupted Travel Plans
Disappointed guests turned to social media to voice their frustration, with one calling the decision “a real bummer.” And for some booked guests, neither option offered by MSC Cruises will smooth over related travel problems.
“This screwed me. I have flights booked from Toronto to New York for this cruise. Their 200 credit offer doesn’t cover my cost. Vacation planning in vain,” a guest wrote on Reddit.
Another booked guest chimed in, writing that port of call arrival times on his May 4, 2025 Bahamas voyage aboard MSC Meraviglia were altered. The April 16, 2025 notice advised that the ship will reach Port Canaveral three hours later than scheduled and that all shore tours were cancelled.
The ship will also arrive at Nassau one hour late, the notice said. However, guests will receive a $100 onboard credit per person.
“Have been watching pretty closely and this has been an ongoing situation that has had a lot of different ‘excuses’ . . . at the very least now the line is coming clean to it. Wouldn’t be surprised if ours gets cancelled too, so we’ve put some plan B options in place,” the guest wrote.
The Meraviglia-class ship, which launched in 2017, appears to have had some speed issues at least during the past month. Posting on recently, one former guest noted that his cruise in March 2025 was altered when the ship arrived late to two port of calls and all excursions had to be cancelled.
“It’s about darn time they fessed up,” the guest posted.
The cancellation of the MSC Meraviglia sailing was the second such case for an MSC Cruises’ ship in less than a week’s time.
The April 12, 2025 departure of the line’s MSC Sinfonia on a 7-night Mediterranean sailing was cancelled, also due to “technical issues.” Booked guests learned of the cancellation just one day before embarkation in Bari, Italy.
The 4,400-guest MSC Meraviglia has been based at New York’s Brooklyn Cruise Terminal since 2023, and was the first ship in the fleet to homeport in the Big Apple.
