MSC DEVINA Please help few questions

Hi All,

We are an Australian family traveling to USA for a month holiday which includes two back to back cruises departing Miami on 23rd September to Jamaica, cayman islands, Cozumel, Nassau and back to Miami. We then go again same ship to Philipsburg, San Juan and Nassua before completing the two weeks again in Miami. We bought our cruise from Australia and booked balcony on Fantastica. Unfortunately, we haven't got the great drink packages that USA Residents have when they bought there packages. I have a few questions hoping people can help me :

Drink Packages : I am two beer a day man and I dont mind a soft drink once a day but LOVE LOVE my coffee and would have 3 a day. Wife doesnt drink alcohol, happy to drink water mostly , occasional soft drink. Teenage Kids are both soft drinkers and would be at least 2 a day, a few hot chocolates and smoothies. Looking at the website, I was shocked to read that WATER is not available and not FREE.

Looking at purchasing $125 all inclusive drink package ( 18 drinks for me ) , 3 x $69 all inclusive drink packages for the family. IF we are doing BACK TO BACK cruises and dont use our vouchers on the first week can we use them on the second cruise ? Any other suggestions for our situation ?

If you are doing back to back Cruises and you have the same cabin, after cruise 1, do we have take all our bags etc off and re board as if we were a new customer ? Or do we just leave it all in there, alight for the day and walk back on at appropriate time ?

Schedule & Timings :

Are the timings given for each port locked in ? Do you get much variance with them ? I understand in the event of a storm event things change but I booked an off shore excursion and the PORT had a different time to the booking schedule I have and it was out an hour both ways.

KIDS on Board :

My two kids 13 & 16 want to know roughly how many kids would be on board at any given time. Impossible I said, but based on some trip reports it appears that 700 is roughly the number.... I have tried to get that information out of MSC but no luck. Hope the kids club is good like Carnival & RCL..

Thank You ad sorry about the long winded questions.

Take care..:)

Hi Bigmaan,

I think you will be pleased with the answers to all your questions. Instead of giving you the answers I would suggest you start reading on this Msc site. Remember...there is a difference between Europe and America...you get water in America...LOL! I am sure you will get lots of advice here.

Go to the MSC Roll Calls here on Cruise Critic and post your questions there also. You will find me on the Sept. 30th. sailing of Divina. Also go to the Sept. 23rd. sailing and post there.

Looking forward to meeting you on Divina!

In late September there will be fewer teens/kids then you would find during a school break, Here in the USA, most kids go back to school in late August....so parents are not generally pulling their children out of school that soon after the beginning of the school year. As to water,keep in mind that you can drink the water out of the tap, in the buffets (where they have dispensers) out of water fountains, etc. The discussion about water refers to bottled water which can cost some money...if its not covered under your drink package.

As to back to backs, you will not have to pack (between cruises) or take any of your stuff off the ship. But you (and your family) will have to leave the ship (on that back to back day) so that the US Authorities have time to "zero out" the ship which simply means accounting for every soul aboard. If you plan on doing some kind of excursion or going off on your own during that turn around day, you will simply get off the ship in the morning (you will have to leave pretty early (likely by 9:30) because of that zero out process. By the time you return from your few hours ashore (enjoy Florida) you will be able to reboard. If you did not want to go anywhere on that turn around day, you would still have to disembark the ship, wait in a holding area inside the cruise terminal...and then you would be told when you could again reboard the ship. This process will usually take about an hour...but the time does vary depending on the US Immigration folks.

Hank

As to kids programs, they do have them. I don't know how elaborate they are. The drink coupons can be used both weeks, and usually on another cruise if left over.

Hi All,

 

We are an Australian family traveling to USA for a month holiday which includes two back to back cruises departing Miami on 23rd September to Jamaica, cayman islands, Cozumel, Nassau and back to Miami. We then go again same ship to Philipsburg, San Juan and Nassua before completing the two weeks again in Miami. We bought our cruise from Australia and booked balcony on Fantastica. Unfortunately, we haven't got the great drink packages that USA Residents have when they bought there packages. I have a few questions hoping people can help me :

 

Drink Packages : I am two beer a day man and I dont mind a soft drink once a day but LOVE LOVE my coffee and would have 3 a day. Wife doesnt drink alcohol, happy to drink water mostly , occasional soft drink. Teenage Kids are both soft drinkers and would be at least 2 a day, a few hot chocolates and smoothies. Looking at the website, I was shocked to read that WATER is not available and not FREE.

 

Looking at purchasing $125 all inclusive drink package ( 18 drinks for me ) , 3 x $69 all inclusive drink packages for the family. IF we are doing BACK TO BACK cruises and dont use our vouchers on the first week can we use them on the second cruise ? Any other suggestions for our situation ?

 

If you are doing back to back Cruises and you have the same cabin, after cruise 1, do we have take all our bags etc off and re board as if we were a new customer ? Or do we just leave it all in there, alight for the day and walk back on at appropriate time ?

 

Schedule & Timings :

 

Are the timings given for each port locked in ? Do you get much variance with them ? I understand in the event of a storm event things change but I booked an off shore excursion and the PORT had a different time to the booking schedule I have and it was out an hour both ways.

 

KIDS on Board :

 

My two kids 13 & 16 want to know roughly how many kids would be on board at any given time. Impossible I said, but based on some trip reports it appears that 700 is roughly the number.... I have tried to get that information out of MSC but no luck. Hope the kids club is good like Carnival & RCL..

 

Thank You ad sorry about the long winded questions.

 

Take care..:)

You have to read the USA site, water is free and plentiful, your drink tickets are good for that week, you can leave your bags in your room and an MSC rep. will escort you off the ship and back on before the rest of the new people board.

Just as a heads up about the water situation, you will have free access to water, ice tea, a strawberry drink, a mango drink, lemonade and coffee at pretty much all times in the buffet. We brought along water bottles and refilled them regularly with absolutely no problem. In the dining room you will have plenty of water but that was the only free drink offered.

As for port times we were pretty much right on time for everything however we had an issue where our port time was changed after we booked and MSC did not update our documents. I would be extremely cautious if I ever booked with them again as this was a disaster for us.

We are booked on the 30 September sailing and I am actually hoping that there are very few kids on board. As earlier poster mentioned, schools in North America will have just restarted, either in late August or right after (American) Labor Day. Parents don't usually pull children out of school that early and it is also Hurricane season in Miami during that time. On a positive note, the "few" kids onboard should get extra attention because (I am hoping) it won't be such a madhouse.

Hi Everyone

Thank you great advice and reassurance. My kids are 13 & 16 and cant occupy themselves unless they have an IPHONE in their hand. Hoping they can meet some nice kids in their club and the wife and I can catch up a bit... Feel lot better now with the back to back process...... will plan a day trip in MIAMI between disembarking and re boarding ........ make the most of it.

.

Drink packages still up in the air.....

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE....... take care and cant wait to join the Cruise and experience the sights.

Hi Mr. Bigmaan!

Glad to see you are finding your way. I am sure you will get more info on the way. I see you have already met Morgsmom. If you leave this thread and go out to the boards you will find the Roll Calls. Please go to MSC Roll Calls and go on and you will see Divina Roll Calls...just arrow down to September 30th. and go on and say Hello...there are more than 40 people who will respond to your questions and you will be able to meet and mingle and I will be onboard too. Looking forward to be able to say "G'Day Mate!!

Hi Everyone

 

Thank you great advice and reassurance. My kids are 13 & 16 and cant occupy themselves unless they have an IPHONE in their hand. Hoping they can meet some nice kids in their club and the wife and I can catch up a bit... Feel lot better now with the back to back process...... will plan a day trip in MIAMI between disembarking and re boarding ........ make the most of it.

.

Drink packages still up in the air.....

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE....... take care and cant wait to join the Cruise and experience the sights.

Hope you have a wonderful time. We did both trips on different occasions and enjoyed them very much. A note on the drinks for the kids; we took "bubba kegs" which are ugly, heavily insulated keg style coolers which we filled at Breakfast with juice, and then kept in the mini fridge for later in the day, in case anyone wanted a nice cold juice drink. Also, see if you can buy the "coffee cuddle" tickets. They are a fantastic value if you can, covering most of the (non alcoholic) coffee drinks in coffee bars. A final thought on your Miami day; plan ahead. Some areas of Miami are very nice and worth a visit, but parts of it are unpleasant and quite dangerous. Hope you have a wonderful trip:)

Hi SG1812

Thank you for the reply. Really Appreciated.

We arrive in Miami the night before but wont have any time to explore before the Cruise. I am looking at trying to do something for 6-8 days on the changeover day...... ANY SUGGESTIONS please ? Red Bus Tour or short tours ? Open to your thoughts. Definately dont want to do the dangerous areas with the kids.

Thank you guys - brillant assistance.

Hi SG1812

 

Thank you for the reply. Really Appreciated.

 

We arrive in Miami the night before but wont have any time to explore before the Cruise. I am looking at trying to do something for 6-8 days on the changeover day...... ANY SUGGESTIONS please ? Red Bus Tour or short tours ? Open to your thoughts. Definately dont want to do the dangerous areas with the kids.

 

Thank you guys - brillant assistance.

Nice to have you here. We are on the second part of your voyage as well. I would second the invitation for you to come join our roll call.

Hi SG1812

 

Thank you for the reply. Really Appreciated.

 

We arrive in Miami the night before but wont have any time to explore before the Cruise. I am looking at trying to do something for 6-8 days on the changeover day...... ANY SUGGESTIONS please ? Red Bus Tour or short tours ? Open to your thoughts. Definately dont want to do the dangerous areas with the kids.

 

Thank you guys - brillant assistance.

Sorry for the late response, got a little busy. Yes I would probably choose something "organized" in Miami. The area around the port is not particularly nice. We quite like the vibe of South Beach, with all of the art deco buildings, but the area does have some topless sunbathing if this is deal breaker for you. I am sorry we cannot help more, we tend to only pass through Miami on our way elsewhere. Perhaps Trip Advisor could assist you? Either way, I hope you have a wonderful time :)