WhiteWineInTheSun

Buffet only, the MDRs are open for dinner seatings.

That said, there was a very good selection on the buffet for that first meal.

We had vouchers for our cruise and I was able to tuck several of them into my swipe card lanyard that I normally use for work. Put my cruise card and 3-4 vouchers into it, and we left the rest in the safe.

I barely went into our fridge, it had bottled water, cans of soda, and I think three different bottles of beer, all domestics that husband and I don't normally drink (so Bud Light, Coors, and Miller or along those lines). Didn't notice any liquors. There were also cans of pringles and other snacks.

We boarded around 2pm (April 7th sailing) and our bags arrived sometime around 4pm, as we were in our stateroom getting our lifejackets for the muster drill.

I noticed that the bags that had the preprinted tags arrived sooner than the ones without, but all arrived within 10 minutes of each other.

We picked up our vouchers in the casino once we got on board the ship.

Yep, unfortunately, both of her after-cruise reviews were not very favorable at all. (MSC and NCL). I enjoyed the Divina very much! Although I have just booked a fall cruise on the NCL Getaway, I am not letting her burst my bubble!

I do feel sorry for the next cruise line that she chooses. Hopefully, they will be serving complimentary cheeses and crackers to go along nicely with her whine!

They do have a very nice antipasti bar on the buffet towards the rear, with a variety of cheeses that complement the whine perfectly. ;)

 

EXTRA CHARGES

We felt nickel and dimed at every turn. The “free” room service had a $3.50 service charge. The 3D virtual reality ride cost me $17 for 3 people and lasted 5 minutes. Bowling was $7 per person per game. You could not purchase a drink card unless everyone in your cabin bought one. So if I wanted a soda card, my husband would have to buy one (whether he drinks soda or not) as would my son (he would be required to buy a kids drink card). Really??? Unbelievable! If you needed shade on the private island, it was $29 for a clamshell and 2 chairs stained with bird poop.

 

If you'd bothered to read the MSC website or here, which an experience cruiser would tend to do one or the other, you would have known that there are voucher packets for sodas, wines, and alcoholic beverages. IIRC, the soda voucher pack was $30 for 15 drinks. MSC does this to offer an alternative to the 'everyone has to buy a package' unlimited drink packages.

 

TIPS

This is a sore spot with me. I think having tips added to the bill has brought about the demise of service.

At MSC tips are added automatically and if you tell them to remove the tips, you are told OK, but that they cannot be removed until the last night of the cruise. This was the first cruise ever that I did not even give them my credit card as I had no trust in tips being removed! I still give cash tips based on service.

Tips are NOT added to the bill, you paid a 'service charge', which as we've recently debated here, is not a tip.

One has to wonder if this attitude you display in the review is similar to the one you gave to the servers (i.e., treating them like they were your minions). If so, it is hardly a surprise that they avoided you.

 

ATTITUDE

At MSC, Customer Service has an attitude, and it is not a good one. Seemed the customer was always wrong or being ridiculous. It appeared as if every request was a burden to the staff, instead of their job. This is a very bad way to run a business.

 

I'd like to know how, in two weeks, the staff that, without exception, was friendly and helpful to me and my husband (insisting on carrying my plate in the buffet, for example) got such a sour attitude. Sometimes you get what you give-no one wants to deal with the crabby passenger.

 

The Ugly, The Ugly, The Very Ugly and The Very Very Ugly:mad:

NO DRINKS AT THE TENDER

On the day of the private island stop it was extremely hot and sunny. I was looking forward to a drink of water before boarding the tender back to the ship. In over 30 cruises I have never encountered a company that does offer a drink upon tender boarding. Well, MSC has water for employees, NOT for guests! How rude & inconsiderate.

 

BIRD POOP AND BROKEN CHAIR

As there was no shade on the private island, I paid $29 to rent 2 chairs and a clamshell sunshade. The chairs were covered in bird poop and one of them did not recline. I asked the person collecting my ticket (showing I had paid for the chairs/clamshell) to please clean the chairs and find one that functioned. I was told that there was nobody who could do this! Again, how rude & inconsiderate!

 

FOOD SHORTAGE ON PRIVATE ISLAND

The private island was open for 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Food was ONLY offered from 12:00 to 2:00. I got on line with my two small children at 1:40 PM. There was a long line in front of us and a long line formed behind us. Much of the food was already gone and was not being replaced. I managed to grab some fries and the last 2 burgers. There was no catsup or ice tea left, and water was only available in one spot and there was another long line. At 2 PM prompt, with a long line of people who had gotten on line before 2 PM, the staff began to put away all of the remaining food! Excuse me, that was just craziness. I can understand closing the line at 2 PM, but at least serve the people on line prior to 2 PM. It is not their fault that the line is so long and the food is slow to arrive, if at all. MSC should be ashamed!

 

HANDICAPPED BULLDOZED AT ELEVATOR

Coming back from port stops, there was always a crowd waiting for elevators. Those of us in my party who could, walked upstairs and across the ship to less busy elevators. My Mom was in a wheelchair and had to take the elevator. One day it was taking forever to get the elevator as people were pushing to get in and ignoring folks in wheelchairs or with babies in strollers. My daughter asked a staff member for help and was told, “It is not my fault passengers are rude. There is nothing I can do about it”. What a load of crap! I guarantee that if that staff member stood in front of the next elevator to arrive and announced that it was for handicapped passengers and those with babies, the “rude” passengers would have stepped aside. MSC should be quite embarrassed with the failure of the staff to offer help to handicapped folks. In fact, the last day of the cruise we were waiting and waiting on floor 12 to go down to floor 6 to disembark. All the elevators that stopped were completely full. I walked to floor 6 and got an empty elevator going up. At each stop, I announced that the elevator was picking up wheelchair passengers. Nobody tried to get in. I arrived on floor 12 with the empty elevator to pick up Mom in her wheelchair and the baby in the stroller. Had I not done this, we would have missed our plane.

 

In five days aboard using an electric scooter, I learned which elevators were the best options for not being crowded (the two rear ones to the atrium just outside the entrances to the Black Crab, for instance). Debarkation meant I had to wait for four or five elevators to go by before I got in.

 

Another note: here on CC and on MSC's website, there have been several suggestions to allow yourselves a substantial gap in time for debarkation. Additionally, passengers with wheelchairs were placed in the second debarkation group that met at 7:15 to avoid such crowds. Had I not overslept, I would have been off the ship in 20 minutes. As it was, I waited for 4 elevators for less than 10 minutes, and was off the ship and at my car in about 40 minutes. This was better than the 2 hours other veteran cruisers told me to budget.

 

If you're a veteran cruiser, you should know this. This was my FIRST cruise, and I came aboard knowing to allow ample time for debarkation, especially with a wheelchair!

BALLOON MAN LEAVES KIDS CRYING

OK, one last incident. There was a staff member making balloon animals for kids from 4 to 5 PM. At 5 PM there were three toddlers left in line. Rather than quickly making balloons for them, the staff member got up and left, leaving three small crying children and several bewildered parents in their wake. This kind of behavior is totally shameful and should not be tolerated.

 

PLEASE DO NOT SPEND YOUR HARD EARNED DOLLARS ON MSC!

My advice to you: instead of complaining about KNOWN situations aboard an MSC ship, spend the time doing research about your cruise before you board the ship. You've spent a lot of money, don't leave it up to chance. It'd be akin to buying a car and not knowing whether it was automatic or manual transmission, used gas or diesel, or had 2 or 4 wheel drive.

I was on the April 7th sailing and only had one MINOR quibble about the food in five days aboard the ship. (Buffet has very few offerings for those arriving around 8pm-but that is my fault for not liking the MDR selections that night).

If you'd done your research before boarding you would have already known that bowling is an extra fee and that the games and VR rides are also an extra fee. I knew it, because I spent time here on CC and on MSC's website.

Never got close enough to a single server to notice their breath, but had plenty of them provide good service. In fact, I loved that they didn't hover over us.

I use an electric scooter to get around. In total, I think I had two trips out of dozens where I had to wait for an elevator because they were full. Didn't have anyone shoving in front of me the entire time. (now walking in front of me and stopping short, that's a different story)

Unless you specifically pre-paid tips, the 'service charge' that you paid prior to boarding does not cover tips.

This is NOT an American ship, the company is based out of Italy. I did expect some language barriers and the only one my husband and I encountered is that the servers in the bars were not familiar with Southern Comfort. Not a big deal, though.

In fact, we had such an enjoyable experience, that we're hoping that our charter is on the Divina again next year.

My experience is not the best to gauge, as we had anytime dining as part of the charter (within the hours of 6 and 10 pm).

We ate in the MDRs for dinner 3 nights (2 at Black Crab, one at Villa Rosa), and one lunch at Villa Rosa. (we did the buffet one night and Eataly our last night).

Service was generally 1:15 to 1:30, which didn't seem too fast or too slow. My husband had four courses at every meal, I would usually have two, maybe three.

I saw all the complaints, too, and thought that those who are complaining of it being too slow might not realize that the kitchen is trying to push out 800 to 1000 meals at the same time! (assuming capacity is close to the 4,000 and everyone dines in the MDR).

As AmoMondo says, different people have different expectations. Some people can be really nitpicky about timing and how present their servers are. Others figure they won't leave hungry and don't sweat over the time or the service, knowing that the servers are nearby, if needed.

This was my first cruise. Here on CC, many others were complaining about the service in the MDRs, but husband and I loved how no one hovered over us. As a result of enjoying this type of service so much, we're now a bit leery of cruising on other lines. I believe in being friendly to those who help us, but I don't want them to pretend to be my friend.

Once we found our preferred drink (language barrier, I suppose, first two days we couldn't find Southern Comfort), the bartender took note. Mind you, he was in the Sports Bar serving us the drink of the day at the time. Later that night, he saw us in La Luna and came over and said "I have your drink!". From then on, the servers and that wonderful bartender just kept supplying our SoCo and ginger ale.

I've heard of people on another cruise line asking for the same servers over and over, then sending FB friend requests to them. That's kind of strange to me. I will seek out the team at La Luna (and the Sports Bar) early on if we're on the Divina for the next CTTE, though.

It has been stated somewhere that the positions we in the US would normally view as tipped are hourly roles on these cruise lines. For instance, a server on land (using Florida as an example), gets $4.91 minimum wage, as opposed to the $7.75 a non-tipped role would get.

So aboard ship, the salaries are probably similar for a bartender as compared to say, a member of the excursions desk team.

It doesn't stop me from tipping bar staff, but I realize it's not the only way they make their living. (cannot undo growing up in a restaurant business family, they get tips)

The Galaxy on deck 16, just above the pool deck. Did not try it, cannot vouch for whether it is worth it.

Pizza, mid ship, deck 7. Made to order, several people on my cruise told me they lived on it, heard it was really good. Plan to try next time. (didn't know if there was a charge, but another CCer reports that there is)

Sports Bar-ordered a Sampler Platter one evening for $12 so that I could have a late 'meal', since I'd be at the prog jam (part of our charter) until 2:30 or 3:00am. Was really good, I especially liked the chicken wings (not buffalo style, breaded in a cornmeal-type dredge).

Eataly-The steakhouse. Haven't tried

Restorante Italia-The dining experience. Part of Eataly with a 4 course Prix Fixe menu/$34 pp for dinner. Dined here the last night. Loved the food and the service and will be doing this again on future cruises.

Hope this helps

We got lucky in the shadow of NY-plenty of album side programming where prog was played. (LI here, central Florida the past 10 years)

Very cool, Thraak. I saw Jonny Lydon and Public Image in my college ballroom on LI. Good old SUNY schools. ;)

Sign up on the CTTE mailing list, you will want to keep posted. Rumblings are the same big names this time around. On FB, there are groups for CTTE and for finding roommates. DH and I are debating upping to VIP and getting two to share with us, but we have enough friends who didn't go last year who might be swayed this year after hearing about our experience.

Marillion took this from 'oh, that would be really nice' to 'we ARE going' for me. Saw 11 of the acts, 13 performances. Totally wiped me out, but was worth it. Both Marillion shows were fantastic.

I saw them perform Kayleigh during the Misplaced Childhood tour, they opened for Rush's Power Windows tour for selected dates. (Didn't get into the arena early enough because my ex husband locked his keys in the car).

Saw them in '95 for the Afraid of Sunlight tour and we were supposed to see them in 2012-this was sort of the payback for missing that one. We would have spent as much for that one show as we did for one of us to go on the cruise. (Spent $250 on 4 tickets, hotel, airfare for four-son had summer school at the last minute and we had to skip it)

Yes, I Cruised to the Edge-and they just announced that 2015's will happen, but the date hasn't been given. There are rumors that it will be in November instead of April, to better accommodate Yes and Marillion returning. Yes has a tour, Marillion has their weekends in March.

I suggest saving for it now, Thraak. The experience was incredible, mingling with musical legends we'd been hearing our whole lives. I'm in the process of blogging about our trip, but school and work have kept me from writing all of it.

http://www.suzannesez.blogspot.com/2014/04/2014-cruise-to-edge.html

http://www.suzannesez.blogspot.com/2014/04/cruising-on-msc-divina.html

http://www.suzannesez.blogspot.com/2014/04/2014-cruise-to-edge-performers.html

Michael, the company that charters (On the Blue) offers up the staterooms and sets the rates for us. For instance, we did a category 3 inside stateroom and for double occupancy, it was $999 per person. If we had that room with two other people, it would have been $699 each. Not really possible, because we had a handicapped room, but we know others who did book with 3 other people, finding roommates on a FB group for the cruise.

As we left Miami and were watching it fade away from near the Infinity pool, I said to my husband 'you know, if you do a cost analysis for the shows...' and he laughed. It really worked out to $83 per show for us, but that included a room and nearly all our food.

When we attend a show at home, we have to drive at least 30 miles, pay for parking, tickets, and possibly a hotel room and meals. Not to mention that some of these bands don't play the US (PFM and Lifesigns coming to mind), so it'd be more expensive to see one. For us, it was a bargain.

Others reported that the food was better than last year on the Poesia, but people still complained about the food. Either my husband and I aren't that picky, or we had better luck with the buffet, we only had the one night where most of the buffet was closed down. My lesson from that is that we must go to eat before 7:30pm or we remind ourselves that if the menu options at a MDR don't appeal, there are the alternative menu options, which we do like. Supposedly, the food is different on the charters, but I have no evidence of that.

One friend got off CTTE and immediately got on a Celebrity cruise and raved that their food was much better. Though each time I saw him on the cruise at meal time, he was in the buffet at lunch. Not sure if he did any MDR dinners through the cruise.

MSC would get more money from sales in Europe by bringing the Divina back for the summer season, i fail to see how it would attract more North Americans to sail Europe unless the cruises were only bookable by North Americans and i doubt that would happen.

 

Then there is the cost of return flights which many find prohibitive, unless of course MSC find a deal with one of the airlines.

Excellent points. The airfare is what keeps us from heading to Europe, as the Euro is still very strong against the dollar. The family has to bite the bullet and head over there next year, but I'm thinking we won't be able to add on a cruise, unfortunately.

thraak, no complaints here. A bit thicker crust than I'm used to, but the sauce and cheese were good. I'd eat it again.

Next cruise, if the Divina is chartered again (and I hope it is), I'll probably go try at least one made to order, and get more of the gelato. ;)

It makes sense for them to head to the Med for the summer. Hurricane season generally means lower capacity for all cruise lines, and it probably is worse for MSC, being the new cruise line in town.

I'm not sure, maybe someone else can answer for you.

From what I remember, extra charges for food were incurred at the Galaxy, Eataly, and the Sports Bar. Room service for breakfast is complimentary, but is charged at other times. Once I find my Navigators, I'll double check whether the pizza was listed as having an additional fee.

In the Black Crab, we saw tables for 2, 4, 6, and 8. We were seated at a table for 8.

Villa Rosa definitely has tables for 4-we were seated at those for both meals we dined there.

I returned from a recent charter of the Divina, so I know what we experienced will be different than most.

Buffet:

We tended to gravitate toward the Mediterranean Corner, pastas, antipasti, and vegetables. Dined at the buffet for lunch all but one day, and took the advice of other CCers-we sat all the way in the back.

The Mediterranean offerings were all enjoyed, although the pork souvlaki had almost no seasoning whatsoever. The Tzitziki was chunky, husband didn't care for it that way, but it had good flavor. One day had a chicken and rice Samoan dish that was very spicy, probably my favorite of all the offerings.

The antipasti had a different assortment of cheeses every day, as well as prosciuttos and salamis. We were fans of the prosciutto crudo and would get some of that each time it was available.

Salad bar typically had an iceberg blend, a romaine or spinach, shredded carrots, cucumber, wedged tomatoes, sliced peppers, onions, radishes and a small assortment of mayonnaise based salads (which I didn't note, as I don't eat them). Then, there would be toppings: ham, bacon bits, croutons, sunflower seeds and four or five dressings.

My suggestion, based on my experience: grab fruit off the bar at the entrance if you like to snack between meals. The activities on our charter often ended after 2am and we'd be hanging out until 4 and hungry-should have done this.

There would be one soup per day, and as a huge soup fan, none on the buffet appealed to me all week. I'm just going to avoid bean soups when I know I'm attending a lot of activities with fellow passengers. ;)

Many times, I found many grilled vegetables along with the days entrees, and I loved the choices: eggplant, zucchini, peppers. Not sure how it would be for a strict vegan, but it appeared that there was enough variety for vegetarians (most of my plate would be meat or dairy free, for instance-just because those options looked good).

The carving station ranged from roast beef, to turkey, then veal, then pork (and didn't see the last day's option, we went to Villa Rosa that day). The pork was served with applesauce on top. However, that night, we didn't decide to go get dinner until about 7:15, found the menu at Villa Rosa unappealing(really didn't think about the alternative options, unfortunately), and the Black Crab was closed and only available to the artists and their crews.

As a result, we got up to the buffet at 8pm and found about 80% of it closed. The only meat option was the same pork I'd had at lunch, served in brown gravy. I was kind of bummed at having the exact same pork for two meals. Husband was shocked that he had to resort to burgers and pizza for dinner, as the choices were minimal (the vegetable options were things he does not like, I made due, but ate lightly).

I did have a couple of bites of the margherita pizza from the buffet. It was decent, but this NY metro girl is a little picky. Never got down to Deck 7 to have the made to order pizza. It is on the list for next year's CTTE charter, as others told me they lived on this pizza all week. To me, the crust was a little too thick compared to a NY Neapolitan pie, but that density. It had crunch. The cheese and sauce were perfect, IMO.

The main dining room situation for us was VERY different than a normal sailing of the Divina, in that we had anytime dining between 6 and 10pm. We ate at the Black Crab the first night and were seated with another couple using a wheelchair (they consistently sat us at the first table inside the dining room because I use a scooter).

I'm not a huge eater, so the ability to skip courses and only get the ones I really wanted was appealing. First night's soup (Black Crab)was a tomato with cheese in it-these were like having mini mozzarella balls throughout, we both liked. Another night, the appetizers included a portobello mushroom polenta. This was very creamy.

My husband opted for the pasta course every night and raved about them. My luck, too many of them had gorgonzola and I had to pass (allergic). Entrees are not sized as we find them in the US. For me, this was perfect. If you tend to finish an entire restaurant meal with a salad-choose all four courses or double up on one.

We dined in Villa Rosa once for dinner and the last day for lunch and both meals and service were good. I had beef tenderloin for the dinner and would have eaten more. The lunch was a stuffed turkey roulade and it was a bit dry, but very flavorful.

I'd heard they were skimpy with breads and rolls, but this was not the case in the MDRs. The rolls were very similar to NY style hard rolls. It's funny, I'd take one, then a second later in the meal when offered again. One of the other nights, a table mate took several slices of bread when first offered, because she said they never offered again, so I guess it depends on the serving team.

Our last night, we dined in Restaurante Italiano, the dining experience section of Eataly. My husband and I discussed doing this long before we'd boarded the ship, as we've wanted to visit Eataly when in NYC. This experience is worlds apart from that one, but the white tablecloth service was impeccable.

For someone who isn't big on seafood (but loves shellfish), the two courses of fish could have left me walking out seeking the pizza place, but the first course smoked salmon was divine. The entree was described as fish lightly coated in cornmeal, then fried. Instead, it was between a tempura and cornmeal, and the dish contained fingers of trout, prawns, calamari and julienned vegetables, all were expertly fried.

Desserts were solid all week long, and the gelato is something I urge everyone not to skip.

Unfortunately, the only time we had breakfast was when we snuck into the buffet at 5am and had some cereal and danishes. Our late nights meant we typically woke up around 10am.

I took a lot of pictures of the food, as I normally do food reviews on my blog. I can go back through and give specific feedback to those MDR meals, but I skipped pictures of buffet plates, because there is no way to make them look appetizing.

Oh, and I also got the appetizer sampler plate from the Sports Bar. They nailed bar food perfectly. They had boneless buffalo chicken, but the chicken wings were coated in cornmeal and fried-I loved them. Onion rings were my other favorite, but there really wasn't a dud on the platter.

This was our first cruise, so we can't really compare this experience to other cruise lines. I'll be able to compare to DCL after we sail with them in late June.

I didn't come across anything that was completely inedible, but there was a soup at Villa Rosa that disappointed. They offer a cold watermelon soup, but it had a ball of honeydew and cantaloupe in it. The cantaloupe flavor overwhelmed it to the point that I didn't taste watermelon. Others might like that, but I really wanted it for watermelon. That said, we aren't overly picky people and enjoyed most of what we had. No, it wasn't Michelin star food in the MDRs or buffet, but it wasn't hospital/dormitory food, either.

Looking forward to your review. You got on the day we got off.

My review would have too many atypical things, but I'm probably going to put one up (full ship charter for Cruise to the Edge)

I've been back a week from my Divina cruise.

Those plastic chairs in Restaurante Italia are surprisingly comfortable (I have some neurological problems, and was worried about them). They did bring my husband another chair without him asking. The service was top notch.

To be honest, I was afraid of a meal with two seafood courses (not a big fan), but it was incredible. Smoked salmon starter, lasagna napoleon pasta course, fish in light batter main course (prawns, calamari, trout, and julienned vegetables in a very light batter, not quite tempura, and a chocolate mousse cake for dessert.

We would absolutely book it again, the maitre d' was very engaging, the two waiters pleasant and attentive. Considering how little we spent elsewhere on the ship (not gamblers, drink package was pre-paid before we departed), we were of the mind that $34 per person was a good deal.

As we were on a chartered cruise, one of our activities ended nightly after all the food options were gone-and eating pringles out of the minibar was not appealing at all. I went to the Sports Bar and ordered that Sampler Platter just before 11pm.

They didn't want to let me bring it to the other venue (La Luna lounge), but finally agreed. It was perfect bar food, and those wings rivaled a place near me (not Buffalo style, but a really good cornmeal batter on them). Definitely meant to be shared, which I did. The daytime bartender in there is an absolute doll, too.

Only went through the Galaxy during a time it was closed and there was substantial foot traffic back to the F1 simulator, so I'm not sure I got the impression they are hoping for that place.

Did not have the pizza, but others on our cruise told us they lived on it and now miss it.

And the gelato that everyone raves about? Absolutely worthy of the praise it gets.

No limes? How do they ward off scurvy? ;)

I'm glad this isn't an MSC problem, I love my mojitos!

I sail in 15 days. Many of my friends are TAs and very curious about the Divina and asked for tons of pictures (definite photohound here).

There probably will be tons of photos coming from me when we return, perhaps some video as well. However, I'm on a music charter, so there won't be any photos or reviews of the shows. Everything else is fair game. :D

I noticed there were many elevators. A tip I'd gotten from someone who cruises DCL frequently was to use the aft elevators. My room is actually very close to those, so I'm good. The nice thing is that if we want to dine at the buffet, that brings us out by the rear section of it.

If I'm understanding correctly, that's where all the international dishes can be found, as well as it being less crowded. Perfect for me. :D