WhiteWineInTheSun

We've cruised the Divina twice. Charges came from Geneve, France both times, and I'd alerted my CU ahead of time that there would be out of country charges. No problems from them.

Meanwhile, my husband's employer deposits their checks to a debit account that comes with a Master Card, and his was declined, despite telling them he expected charges to come through France. Our lesson is that we just use the credit union card for charges. (We booked two staterooms on our last cruise, one had him, one had me)

Thanks so much everyone for the great info!

Our only concern is that we do not get the cabin category we want by the time the ticket sales open up to the general public...we will be aprox 8 or 10 people.

Sounds like an Amazing time!

I checked it yesterday, because friends are going this year and have to wait for general booking.

The only category sold out right now is deck 4 in the non-VIP. In VIP, the only thing left is the Mini-Suite, but I understand that the Penthouses are extremely limited in number.

The website isn't completely up yet, but Cruise to the Edge 2015 has Yes, Marillion, Allen Holdsworth, PFM, Lifesigns, Nektar, Caravan, Big Elf, Jolly, Thank You, Scientist, and many more. My husband and I went last year and had an amazing time.

Dr. Football, you will want to check out the After Hours Electric Prog Jam. It's all prog fans, pro or semi pro musicians, who get together after the nightly performances are over and with no practice, they play prog songs. Last year's had some 'guest' musicians who will appear very familiar (for instance, Geoff Downes playing 'Video Killed the Radio Star' with Jammers!). Type in the name as a URL, it goes live in January with choosing songs.

As it's jumping to a different cruise line, not sure if the 'drink vouchers' will be happening this year. For CTTE14, you got 50 tickets for $220 and it got you any alcoholic beverage.

The itinerary is Key West and a private Island somewhere in the Bahamas. I'm wondering if it will be Coco Cay, as On the Blue (the promoter chartering the ship) was just there last month with one of their other charters.

Alums were able to start booking today, with the general population booking in January.

We barely slept for 5 nights because we had so much to to do and see. If you like prog music, this is a must do cruise.

I travel with a therapeutic pillow, which I am very grateful for because both times on the Divina, the pillows were very lumpy, like a PP said. They are very squishy and on the small side, but there were 4 on our king size bed.

Just off the Divina, second cruise. I've never seen sushi in the MDRs, Eataly's Ristorante Italia, or the buffet.

I like the ethnic corner, mainly because there is one local Indian restaurant with extremely limited hours. That said, I complete agree with the salami, pancetta, and other meats being incredible. My husband had raved about them to our boys, and we found our older one kept going to the buffet for pizza and salami (he's our picky eater).

It's nice to know that the international passengers won't miss the cruise because of a delayed flight.

Enjoy that upgrade!

When you return, I'd love a comparison of the Divina and the NCL Pearl. Seems the charter we enjoy will be switching to the Pearl for 2015.

Oh, and Martin in the Sports Bar (also the pool bar and martini lounge) is a top notch bartender. Alas, with a 15 month old, I'm not sure you'll get much opportunity to check those places out!

From reports I saw today, there are about 100 staterooms left. I don't work for OnTheBlue or MSC, so not sure how accurate that information may be.

Any idea where we purchase this? :)

TIA

The Allegrissimo? It's best to do that before boarding through the MSC America website, though we can make the purchase on board with a 15% service charge tacked on.

The gelato? Deck 14, near where they'll probably place the pool stage (If you're in the main elevators, on deck 14, exit to your right, go out the doors instead of into the buffet and the gelato place is on the right.

There's another one on Deck 6. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202758269091564&set=a.10202758260291344.1073741857.1045042427&type=3&theater (that album is from my time on Cruise to the Edge. If you haven't been aboard the Divina yet, take a look)

Word is (from the FB groups) that we won't have vouchers this time around. The Allegrissimo or the other packages that are offered on the non-charters are what we have to choose from.

This after I told both my sons about that gelato over and over, too!

I agree with you. The Divina was our first experience cruising, and we really enjoyed it. So much so that when the opportunity to join another charter from the same company that held the April cruise, we jumped on it. Especially since the next Cruise the the Edge won't be until November 2015.

Different strokes for different folks. Sure, there were things I didn't like, but no one is going to be 100% satisfied.

I agree that the Sports Bar is never crowded. The Black and White lounge at the rear of the ship, Deck 7, is also very nice. You can get a nice banquette in the back and look out the windows.

Kept meaning to get to the Garden Bar on our first cruise, but we were so busy with the shows we saw. It is on the list for our upcoming trip. :)

I'm checking whether this Celtic Thunder Cruise (November 8-12) is for real. Supposedly we received a letter saying I won from the Facebook drawings, providing I pay taxes and gratuities.

 

I'm a little stunned at this point.[/quote

 

Same here. It is for real. I called and chose a cabin and made payment and two days later got the confirmation email and booking number. All charges are sent directly to MSC and I have already been able to register on line with MSC.

 

I will look for the roll call and the FB site for this cruise. We will be on the following cruise from the 12th of Nov. So 14 amazing days on the beautiful Divina. That is why I signed up to try to win a free cruise just before the one already booked. I think the CT travel group is trying to fill up the ship by offering the "free" cruise for only the port taxes and fees.

 

I understand dining will be open seating but will we still given a assigned time? Never been on a charter cruise before so lots of questions.

 

Sounds like fun.

 

Hi, I did the Cruise to the Edge with the same charter company, and just booked CT for my family.

 

Dining is open seating, no assigned times for it. For CTTE, we had to choose a time, mainly to place us into performances for the 5 top acts (we had 'blue' and 'pink' groups and our lanyards were these colors). It may have spoiled me, as i preferred the anytime dining option.

Actually, I'd suggest the drink coupons and/or a wine package - but remember that when you buy the wine package by the bottle, you can only drink it in the dining rooms.

 

Seriously, those vouchers bring the price of a drink down to $4.80 and if you order them pre boarding, no 15% service charge is added! Price for a bottle of wine can go as low as $12/bottle!

I was going to suggest the coupons, too. We did a charter in April, had coupons, and loved them. Only onboard expense we had to settle up was our meal at Ristorante Italia.

We totally agree with you.:)

Most countries copy whatever restrictions the US has placed on their citizens traveling to the US!

We even copy the picture page of our passports, and the visa page/stamp etc. page just in case! Then we hide them in a different place then our passports!:D

Another option, if you use your phone to take pictures, take photos of these items before you board, then delete when you've finished travel.

It is not MSC's (nor any cruise line's) responsibility to keep tabs on whether a passenger has the appropriate paperwork if they haven't boarded with it. From a business perspective, they have to establish a guideline, and no papers, no boarding seems extremely logical. I'm sorry you don't see it that way.

Well i can only say in the dining room one night for dessert, they offered Nutella gelato! UH-MAZ-ING !!! If i wasn't in such a public forum ie dining room i would have licked the bowl!( i aint ashamed to say:o) But i resisted as it was not 'lady like' nor good etiquette :D:p

Zap some nutella in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. spoon over ice cream. Heaven. (Nutella pancakes are equally good)

Thank you for sharing that, Cruisergal!

We loved the experience in Ristorante Italia, found out about Galaxy after we got off the ship. We know we're sailing Divina again in November 2015, and trying to prepare. :)

I am curious, as well. I did not realize there was dining up there, as the times we were at the Gallery on the Divina, the bar and restaurant were closed.

The only concern I would have is that the game room is directly behind it, which may mean more foot traffic through this dining room while you are eating.

Anyone able to tell of this experience?

I'll be honest, you're not getting my views for your 'valuable information'.

You haven't answered some direct questions already, so why urge others to post more that you won't answer.

Still wondering-

Room number in YC? (or are you still trying to figure out which room the picture you lifted came from and the Divina map is of no help?) Specifics about boarding as a YC guest that we should know as first timers?

Why did you post about the MDR dinner experience, then later say you stayed in the YC? MDR is not for YC guests for dinner, but you would know this if you'd been aboard-your butler and staff would have informed you.

Why no discussion of Le Muse meals, Mr. "I had a friend allow me access, oh wait, I actually stayed in the YC"? No mention of the service or the food specifically. That would have been useful, as DH and I are contemplating YC for next year's CTTE. What's silly is that all you have to say about Le Muse is that 'people treated the windows as mirrors'. Those of us who review the maps of the ship already knew Le Muse's location and we're not there to look outside the windows, we would be there for the food and service INSIDE the restaurant. (That 'crawl' through the unwashed masses you complain about? Not such a big deal if you use the 15th deck, FYI...)

Why do the majority of your digs on the Divina sound like retreads, as if you trolled every single Divina review and pulled them from about 20 other posts on these boards to cobble together a mostly negative review?

Why no picture of your cruise card? You can black out your name easily in your computer's photo editor, the rest of the card will be sufficient. Again, you lifted from other cruiser's complaint posts and no one helped you by posting a picture of their cruise card to 'borrow'.

Why no specifics about anything but the buffet and the MDR? Could that be due to the heavy posting on these boards about those two things? Kind of glad I saved all my specifics on things for elsewhere, but then, I had a mostly positive experience and you wouldn't want that kind of information to sully all the digs at the Divina.

You make general statements about the public areas, but nothing specific is said about them. How could you spend more than a day aboard and not talk about a single coffee bar, the casino, or lounges. Surely you passed through at least two of those in your 'crawl' to Le Muse, even if you lived in the YC areas and just took the elevator directly down to the Pantheon for the shows.

I read for amusement, as does anyone who has actually been aboard ship-because it is long on telling us what is wrong with Divina, and very short on information that would confirm that you actually were aboard ship.

Tiffygirl,

It is impossible to see it all in two days. Heck, we were aboard for five days and I know we missed a few things. At least we got the announcement that Cruise to the Edge will occur next November, and will be on the Divina again.

The good part of our charter is that we made quite a few friends who also enjoy Progressive rock, so we're all talking amongst ourselves on a FB group and preparing for next year's journey. Strangely, not ONE person (and we have quite to compliment of people from Europe and South America among the passengers) has mentioned afternoon tea, not even the Brits who have been raised with such a tradition.

Your pictures are beautiful!

Thanks!

I have about a dozen friends who are TAs, all were curious about the Divina. I promised them as many pictures as possible, there are probably another 75 pictures that need minor tweaking (sharpening, brightening) that will go up. Shot 2500 pictures, but the majority of that was from the performances we attended.

Judging by some of your other (as yet unpublished) photos, it seems like there were loungers in the aft pool area, and that the dry hot tiled area was enjoyed by many of the guests who opted to spread their towels there and soak up the sun. But it does seem that there was plenty of room and the only people who would find it inadequately small and impossibly crammed may have been those whose preferred method of enjoying a pool is to flail around like a beached whale.

 

 

 

I want to share one of the pictures I took during departure from Miami: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202758266171491&set=a.10202758260291344.1073741857.1045042427&type=3&theater (made the whole album public, but I'll move the images to Flicker or elsewhere to share soon).

The infinity pool has no lounge chairs? I use an electric scooter, and had to move quite a few of them to get to the back railing to take pictures as we departed.

I'd also like to know where these fences were that obstructed views, as most of deck 15 looked like this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202758266731505&set=a.10202758260291344.1073741857.1045042427&type=3&permPage=1, enclosed in glass that we could SEE through.

Too bad my album wasn't public before Tail posted this bogus review...

Noted, you did say 24 days!

Were you in Europe at the time?

That's been our holdup from doing Med Cruises, the cost of air round trip makes the Med Cruise costs skyrocket for us, and far more expensive then a Caribbean cruise!

Here we drive to Miami/Fort Lauderdale for about $35.one way, or Port Canaveral for $20. one way since we live in Florida!

Total costs (including air) for us is still far less in the Caribbean on the Divina then even the low price you got on the Med. 24 day cruise!

That said, we are looking at 2015/2016 to a transatlantic on the Divina (when they announce their schedules), over in the spring, visit family/friends in Europe, and back in the fall! Better then flying anyday!:D

And the cruise fare will probably be equivalent to booking a flight from Florida! They are NOT cheap.

Sorry.

You do pay more doing it mid-cruise, but I'm not sure if they will do that.

As a charter, we had a voucher program (50 drink vouchers for a set amount). However, we did not know this until a month before sailing and were back and forth on which was the best package.

My husband and I are both the type to do a cost analysis, and if you use the Divina price for the Allegrissimo classic prior to boarding, it came down to the break even being 7 drinks per person per day to be worth it. If we decided after boarding, it'd be 8.5 drinks per day to be worthwhile, thanks to that 15% service charge.

We ended up with 75 vouchers (we were afraid that 50 wouldn't be enough, so we split a second set with someone else) for 5 nights. 7.5 drinks each per day. Came home with ONE voucher, and that was to have a memento. ;)

If I had it to do over, I would get more gelatos and charge the coffee drinks to the room-they cost less than the price of those vouchers. (Husband had 4 total, and 2 sodas).

No complaints at all with the drinks. We tried a variety, going with the drink of the day, some classic mixed drinks, some tropical, and once we found a bartender who noticed in the sports bar that we saw the bottle of Southern Comfort on the shelf, then later saw us in the Martini lounge and said 'hey mon, I've got your Southern Comfort'.

For the rest of the time, when we were at his bar, he and the servers got us our favorite drink. They did not skimp on the alcohol. In fact, we're talking about how we want to handle the vouchers for our charter next year.

Probably way more information than you wanted, but cheaper to book it ahead of time. You don't realize it, but 7 drinks a day isn't that hard to do (wine with dinner, for instance, then while relaxing).

Oh, we were off the ship in Cozumel for two afternoons, not the whole day for either, but I don't think it would have made that much of a difference in our consumption, as we tended towards water, tea, and juices at lunch, which are free.

Hope this helps.