Mister White

Does anyone know if there is van transport to Orient Bay? We would like to go to the clothing optional beach and also do the para sailing.

Dan's pre-cruise hotel is booked up and waitlisted now.

Ouch.....I wonder how someone could host stowaways at the pre-cruise hotel? Is that risky? Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Thanks for the feedbacks, Hobie and boytjie! Yes, flying directly to Miami from Los Angeles. I will seriously consider your advice, and possibly re-book. Thanks again guys!

If you can get you flight changed and need a hotel, I have a suggestion.

We booked a pre-boarding room thru Dan Howell Travel. He is promoting a bear cruise contingent under the RSVP umbrella. You do not have to part of the bear contingent to get the pre-boarding hotel reservation.

Dan Howell has booked a block of rooms at a Best Western. The cost is around $200 and includes transfers from airport (hotel shuttle) and then transfer to ship by other vendor. A dinner is provided as well as a shuttle to area bars if interested. Whilst not at one of the male only places in Ft. Lauderdale, you will be up to your eye-teeth in gay soon enough the day of the cruise.

The concerns the other posters have about your afternoon arrival on the day of the cruise are warranted. Please let us know how all this works out.

Below is a web page for Dan Howell showing a phone contact for the pre-departure accommodations :

http://www.rsvpcruises.org/RSVP_Divina_Caribbean_Cruise.htm

According to the MSC boards where I did a search there are no self-help laundromats on the Divina.

Thanks

Does anyone know if there is a self-serve laundry on the ship? This will help determine what I pack. I always send my shirts and trousers out to be laundered - but by midweek I like to do all the tees, shorts, undies, socks and such so as to use it all again for the last half of the cruise.

BTW: I have always found on-ship laundry services invaluable. That and a self-serve laundry means that I can pack all I need for 7 days in one garment bag.

Any info would be appreciated.

Alan

I am kind of glad there is not a formal night. All that stuff slung on my back just gets too heavy as the evening wears on. Plus, my tux is over 10 years old and beginning to show its age.

I

 

 

The Allegrissimo Escape and Allegrissimo Classic packages include vouchers and the vouchers are good for mini-bar purchases, per Randle's post on RSVP Cruisers.

 

Best,

Jeff

Jeff, thanks for your response. I thought that MSC offered unlimited minibar on their Allegrissimo package.

a wide range of cocktails... there it is right there. It must just be well drinks and such. No call drinks or specialty ones. I wonder how one finds out what the allowed drinks are on the voucher list.

You are not too far off in your suspicions. I had friends go on an MSC Cruise and all the bar menus had red dots on some items that indicated items not included in the drinks package. This includes most top shelf items, any decent single malt scotch (according to my friend) and alot of bottled beer and draft beers. I fear this may well be the case here. If you go online - you can find a few bar menu photos that show where items are ticked that are not included in the drinks package. And look at the drink prices too: Well drinks are around $6-8. Wines $12-15 a glass. Not cheap.

Also, previous posts on CC have indicated that there is a charge for coffee. This may have been changed in the NA market. Don't know. Also, there is a charge for room service items (except Cont. B'fast) Room service is not included in any package. Neither is mini-bar.

Both Room Service and mini bar are included in the premium drinks package offered by MSC. BTW: MSC premium drinks package is $57pd and the parallel offering from RSVP is $44pd. A pretty good deal - but still with limitations. I am going to get both the top end drinks package and the soda package. I am thankful that RSVP has worked hard with MSC to create drinks package options for us.

It would be nice to get a clearer understanding as to what there WILL be charges for (room service, coffee at dinner, etc.) I believe the onus for shedding light on these questions is on MSC. There have been some posts directly from MSC on this thread and others addressing problems such as these - but that was all before the repo to NA.

MSC is getting our money for these drinks and it would be nice for MSC to address the particulars of these drinks packages tooled specifically for this charter.

If you do not use all 15 vouchers on a day, will they carry over to the next? I am interested in this package, but not sure if it will be useful on the days that we are in port.

 

Thanks!

The Allegrissimo package offered by MSC also includes items from the room service menu. That does not seem to be included in the package available to us.

But, the premium package offered by MSC is $57pd so at $44pd offered by RSVP the lower cost would offset any room service monies spent.

I hope that one could buy more than one package - like a soft drinks or wine package that could net you savings by what type of voucher you used.

As for carrying over vouchers - I don't know the answer to that. I don't see why you could not bank them. Unless they are on automatic self-destruct.

 

I share this because I hope that someone from RSVP might speak to someone from Al & Chuck and perhaps get these issues resolved before February 15th with MSC. I am not a big drinker so not too worried for myself, but I am nervous about all the bad things I am hearing about the food.

Good food is one of the top reasons I go on a cruise. And the majority of reviews on CC seem to call out the food as one of the worse problems. If it walks like a duck, etc.

Also, I was looking forward to securing a Premium drinks package from MSC before the cruise to cover most all of the beer, liqur, wine by glass, coffee, room service, minibar, etc. I did not want to be 'nickled and dimed' by MSC as has been told by previous posters.

I got a response to this issue from RSVP (on the facebook page) that on charter ships packages such as these are re-tooled by the tour group. (RSVP) Well, I would like to know what the package options are and the pricing so as to budget that cost.

Also, packages by MSC could have been purchased beforehand which would have helped my pocketbook. Now I understand that the packages will be available after boarding and applied to my on board account.

Alan

I was just reading an interesting thread here on Cruise Critic about a scam artist in San Juan, PR who has been working the streets for several years with the same story. He asks if you speak English, then says he and his father were walking from the fort and stumbled into a neighborhood where they were beaten and robbed by several men. (He has a skin condition that makes him look like he was beaten up). He says the police have been no help, and his father has been taken to the hospital. He asks for $6.00 for a cab ride to the hospital, and of course some gullible people give him more. You should read the thread...quite amusing that so many people know about him and actually hope to run into him when they visit. He is well dressed, speaks English, and is very polite. We should have a contest to see if anyone can snap a photo of him!

Can you link us to that thread? Is it in the MSC board?

2 Atlanta guys here really looking forward to the Caribbean cruise next February. Seasoned cruiser - first time with RSVP. Looking forward to meeting some good, fun guys.