tarheelmjfan

Does Yacht Club receive more points per night? Our onboard spending would be substantially less, if we book YC. Normally, we'd get a lot of points for onboard spending, if in a balcony.

It might be worth checking the US website because a lot of the time the deals are different.

Thanks, I will when they post the Divina fall schedule.

We are Americans and we love 'European style' service if that's what you call it, I call it 'stop bothering me' service!: D

When did American style service become constant loud speaker announcements reminding you about things you should know if you have a brain, and constant efforts by ship employees for you to buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, every other minute? I must have missed the notification that rude service was to be called American Style!: D

We've been to Europe many times over the years, and European Style service isn't 'making you' order your entire meal at once, that's a figment of imagination!: D

On the Divina, you 'could' order your entire meal including desert at the beginning, some on the forums even suggest it if you were not ordering every course, and didn't want to wait for others at your table eating a course you didn't order! But we didn't hear of, or see anyone being 'forced' to order their entire meal! That's more imagination!: D

As I noted in my other post, we prefer slower more professional service also. I don't think the service was due to it being a European server. This didn't sound anything like service you'd typically receive in Europe. Unfortunately, no restaurant is immune from a bad server. It sounds like the OP drew the short straw & got one. It's not uncommon for 2 parties at the same restaurant to have totally different experiences. It's how MSC responded to the complaints that makes the difference. It appears the poor service was corrected. The maître d is a bit more disconcerting. He would have worked his way into that position. You would hope a business wouldn't promote rude people into a level this high, but we've experienced it ourselves. It does happen. Power can change people or bring out their true nature. Hopefully, MSC took care of this issue months ago. As I said before, I highly doubt this was the first complaint for one or both of these employees. The cruise line wouldn't have been so quick to offer to remove the daily service charges, if it were. FWIW, Celebrity is our cruise line of choice. The fact that they don't make a lot of announcements & hawk their wares is part of that. I'm not sure why people have the impression that all Americans enjoy that type of thing. It's not like the US is a one size fits all country.

The rest of the review was nitpicky to me, but starting a cruise with issues can cloud your opinion of the whole experience. To me, the responses were harsh considering the OP obviously had negative experiences with the maître d & server. There's no reason to assume the OP was rude to the maître d to warrant his response. We definitely weren't, when we encountered the "holier-than-thou" maître d on a Celebrity ship. My DH is one of the most laidback people you'd ever meet & doesn't do rude. He'll walk away first. Perhaps the harsh reaction was due to the obviously bogus negative info & review posted by a member recently. Not everyone has an agenda though. It's entirely possible that the OP had a different experience than others who have sailed on Divina. It only takes a bad server or room steward to change one's experience from an outstanding cruise to a less than positive experience. The OP may have very well felt this way about Divina. That doesn't mean everyone else does nor does it invalidate her opinion. It's just one person's opinion which was obviously negatively influenced by the encounter with the maître d & server.

Hi we are only the port fees for our daughter she is only 14. I have done a dummy booking on the uk website and this is the pricing I got for 3 adults for cabin 15028 I chose 7th march 2015 just a random date.

 

Cabin type: Deluxe Suite

 

Number of guests: 3 Adults

 

1° guest

 

Cruise rate £1,589.00

 

2° guest

 

Cruise rate £1,589.00

 

3° guest

 

Cruise rate £529.00

 

 

Judith

Thanks so much for taking the time to look for me. That's not bad for the 3rd person. Paying port fees only for you DD is a great deal. I wish those deals applied to all 3rd persons in a stateroom. DS is old enough to partake of the alcohol, so I can see why anyone over the legal drinking age isn't free. I wouldn't turn it down though. ;)

Does MSC ever offer good deals for the 3rd person in YC? From posts I've read here, it appear kids sail free doesn't apply to those staterooms. (DS is 22 & wouldn't be eligible anyway, if the third person must be a minor to sail free.) I'm going to try to convince him he'd rather take an MSC cruise next fall/winter than a multi-city land trip he wants us to take in the fall. :D FWIW, Divina's fall 2015 schedule isn't available on the US site, so I can't even check to see what the regular 3rd person rate is.

Whoa guys - no need to attack monn_a! Ive read lots of things and I think I could believe these statements. There have been some bad reviews about the service and its not that off par Im sure. Im going to chalk it up to the fact that since this was months ago, MSC was still working out the kinks. It sounds like theyve had a difficult time transitioning since theyve been in the states, but every review I read it sounds like they get better and better. Im going in September and expect nothing less than wonderful : )

I agree that most of the replies were harsh. People get very protective over their vacation preferences. :confused: Most of the review went in one eye & out the other. ;) It certainly wouldn't deter me from booking MSC. The rude maître d & server is a different story. We encountered a rude maître d on Celebrity & it definitely affected our enjoyment of the cruise. This was the only Celebrity cruise we wouldn't have repeated. The others have been fantastic. When you encounter rude employees, it's difficult to not allow it to affect the entire cruise. We are all human, after all.

Why does MSC have to change its service style to be "good"

 

It's different, it's European, it's not American. That doesn't mean it's not good (I'm of course not referring to "rude" encounters)

 

Just because a bar server or MDR waiter doesn't act like he / she's been your best friend since school doesn't mean the service is bad.

Some Americans, including us, are fine with European service. We actually prefer it to overly chatty service. We're not looking for a new best friend & we're good with 2 to 2 1/2 hr. dinners. All we expect is efficient service. That said, if having a waiter that expects you to order your entire meal at once, then is rude when you don't is part of European culture, you can keep it across the pond. :p It's contradictory to expect an entire meal ordered at once, but say you should expect meals to be relaxed & can take over 2 hrs. Which one is it? I'm guessing the maître d & waiter's behavior would be considered rude in Europe also. If this was the first complaint for either, there probably wouldn't have been an offer to remove tips.

Put parking meters next to the pool loungers. At least it might stop the chair hogs.

Sounds great to me! We don't lay out by the pool. Let the people who want to pay extra for the privilege. :rolleyes:

I have to disagree with Avalon1025 about the Princess decor being bland, because I love the pastels and light woods. To me, that makes spaces look clean, bright, and airy. Just a matter of personal preference, I know.

I agree with you, but I think we may have boring/bland taste. ;) I like open, light spaces with no clutter. When my sister comes to visit, I have to fight her the whole visit to keep her from adding some color to the walls or setting up decorations around the rooms. :p I had a friend's DH once say my house reminded him of an operating room. :o It's the way I want it, but experience has shown me that most people prefer a more homey feel.

The second, which is on another cruise line, is a disaster. It was started by a small group that traveled together recently. They dominate the roll call. They respond to each other but rarely to those outside of their group. And now they are beginning to wonder why no one but them is posting!

 

We experienced this same scenario on a roll call for a different cruise line. The original group ganged up on everyone who didn't want to do things their way. One guy was the "organizer" & took it upon himself to dictate where we were allowed to post information or questions. The main roll call was to be used for non-cruise related chit-chat only. There were subcategories that we were told we must post in. They had their organizers already established. Any others who were interested in organizing activities were told it was already taken care of. The "organizer" ran several people off that a few of us tried to defend. The rest of the group defended his behavior, so getting people outside their group to stay was almost impossible. Eventually, they ran us off too. We canceled that cruise, because I honestly had no interest in sharing a ship with some of them for 14 days. IMO, it's good to have one or more people who want to organize activities. They should be organizers only. They shouldn't be dictating anything. People should feel free to post what & where they want as long as it's not rude or derogatory.

If it were me going with that many kids, I'd cruise out of NYC or Miami to get the bigger ship. Another thing to consider is price of flights + pre & post cruise hotels, etc. How much difference in price is there between NYC & Miami? Something to consider at least. FWIW, I wouldn't worry about hurricane season in June for either itinerary.

A bunch of us passengers were actually wondering if this is a cruise company that actually wants to stay in business? It was that awful. And like I said, I will never, ever give MSC another chance, given the complete lack of customer service on the front-end of the cruise. I haven't hit on everything, because I want to keep this relatively short, and I generally don't like to whine. Overall I'd give the cruise a 2 out of 10. which in my book means that I could have spent the time and money having much more fun elsewhere. Like a RCCL Transatlantic. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm not even going to put this cruise in my signature page under cruise count. It's actually kind of embarrassing to advertise that I've been on it!

I'm not an MSC cheerleader. I haven't been on one of their ships yet. You actually had me, until you posted the above. Now, not so much.

YOLO

Lobster Bar

Royal Pig

Timpanos

401 Grill

Cheesecake Factory

Big City Tavern

Cheese Culture

Sweet Nectare

Roccos Tacos

 

Also, the name is either Meatball Kitchen (the sign is now on the building) or Fork & Balls (what has been in the media) is opening in a couple of weeks and is being opened by the same people who have YOLO, S3, and Tarpon Bend. Since I really like all three of those, I cannot imagine it will not be really good.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into them.

If you don't find downtown Fort Lauderdale of interest, and don't want to go to the beach, then I have no idea what to suggest. If you think a mall would be more interesting, the closest mall is Galleria.

We only drove Las Olas Blvd. There's obviously much more than what you see on that street. I'm going to ask, if they want to go there. It works for me, but it's their vacation. They'll probably be fine with it. Do you have a downtown restaurant recommendation? Thanks again for your help.

There is a ton to do on Las Olas. Water taxi, IMAX, Museum, shopping, dining, etc. What are you looking for?

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. :o My sister said anything was fine with them. That makes it hard to plan for. I'm open to any suggestions.

Certainly we have enjoyed our time on the Water Taxi, we have done it a couple of times.

This may be a dumb question, but do you think they'd enjoy the water taxi after being on a cruise ship for a week? What did you see from it?

They won't be able to check their luggage that early before the flights. They can either use luggage storage at FLL or use your trunk. Las Olas Blvd is pretty close to the airport and is a lovely place to spend the day dining and shopping boutiques.

I think they're planning to store their luggage. Thanks for the Las Olas Blvd. suggestion. I'll have to look into it more. We've been by there & didn't see that much to do. We must have missed a lot of it.

My sister & niece are flying into Ft. Lauderdale for a cruise out of POM. We live between the 2 cities, but are fairly new to the area. Their plan is to take the shuttle back to FLL after disembarkation hoping to leave their luggage. We'll pick them up there & spend the day with them, before their 6:30 pm flight out. I need suggestions for an attraction & restaurant in the area. High impact activities are out. Both my sister & I have health issues. Also, they don't want to go to the beach. For a restaurant, we're looking for a non-chain. If I don't come up with a better option, I'll take them to Gulfstream Village &/or Aventura Mall, which are very close to where I live. I'd rather take them somewhere in Ft. Lauderdale, if there's a better option though. That would be safer considering they need to catch their flight. Thanks in advance for the help. :)

Your kids can wear t shirts or polos to dinner especially in Alaska. Its much less formal than other destinations.

 

Donna

This surprises me. I've been to Alaska twice. Once was on NCL, which is known as the most casual cruise line. That was my only NCL cruise, but people were dressed nicer for dinner on that cruise than our Island Princess Panama Canal cruise. Our other cruises have been on Celebrity & people dressed nicely for all itineraries, so you couldn't really judge dress vs. itinerary by those cruises. With the NCL & Princess cruises, I assumed it was an Alaska vs. PC thing, with people normally dressing up more for Alaska. I'm surprised to see people would dress even more casually on PCL in Alaska.

Just know you only get drinks free in the Yacht club areas only.

Yes, I've see that mentioned. :) We don't go to many shows or other entertainment. If we do, we wouldn't mind to order a drink & pay extra. The question would be how easy it is to get wine/sparkling wine by the glass to our balcony in YC. If DH could quickly run out & get refills, that would be doable. We'd just rather not have to buy many bottles for the balcony after paying for YC. If we're still going to have to order bottles, we'd probably be better off paying as we go.

Sorry to derail the vodka discussion, but crepes are extra?:eek: I could imagine myself having at least one crepe daily. I'm addicted to sweets. :o We're going to have to put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer the Yacht Club or a balcony & pay as we go. First, I'm going to have to figure out what is an additional fee other than specialty restaurants & alcohol of course. We usually purchase bottles of wine, but would go with a package if getting wine for our balcony is convenient enough. Without seeing next fall's prices, it's impossible to predict. It kind of looks like YC may be as cheap as "pay as you go" for our vacation style.

Just talked to my PVC and he told me the 2015/2016 rates for 2015/2016 should be released later this month.

Thanks for the update.

ETA: If they want to build up the American market, they're going to have to start putting up the new schedules on all sites at the same time. People won't be happy to not have a shot at booking the most desirable cabins, because they live in a lower priority country. If they're uploaded at the same time, it would be your fault if you snoozed & lost.

The UK site won't let you book. It pops up a redirect to the US site. I saw a nice 10 day sailing on the 11th of November that is enticing me,,I'm sure by the time I get my shot at this sailing half the Yacht Club will already be booked.:mad::mad:

I'm wanting to check Yacht Club prices too. It just occurred to me that converting the UK prices to $$$ may not really help. We may not have similar pricing to them.

http://www.msccruises.co.uk/uk_en/homepage.aspx

Thanks

So why is it that the sailings for Divina in the fall and winter of 2015-2016 are available to book on the UK site but not here in the US? I guess now I know how my favorite suite is always booked no matter how far ahead I plan.:mad:

Seriously, they need to get them up for us. I may have to break down & do the $$$ conversion to check prices. It would be nice, if they'd do it for the though. :p

The Divina will be back Nov 11 2015 and it will be doing a 10 night cruise departing on Nov 11.

Thanks. :) I'm hoping I can find prices somewhere.

The Divina schedule until April 2016 is out (or at least it is here in the UK). I'd not expect Autumn 2016 to be out until late this year or early next year.

What am I doing wrong? I've checked Divina & Caribbean on the MSC/USA site & see dates through April 2015 only. Maybe, they're only released in the UK. :confused:

When can I expect Divina's fall of 2015, then fall of 2016 schedules to be released? I'm guessing they would be released at a similar time of year, but I'm hoping the delay in the 2015 release is due to them changing their minds about leaving Divina in the Caribbean year round. ;) It would stink to have wait another year to see the fall 2016 schedule. :o I'm ready to check prices & book now. :D

In my honest opinion, having just sailed Celebrity, HAL and Princess all over the past 10 weeks, I'd have to say Princess is a step below the other two lines often compared in the same breath. The Princess ship was a floating nursing home with more scooters than on the HAL ship, dead after 11:00, mediocre food, crowds and lines. Celebrity, though the largest of the ships was not as crowded, much better food and restaurant selection. The HAL ship was uncrowded, great service and top notch lido and alternative restaurant food. Also, Celebrity and HAL have a far better suite experience (if you book suites). It's sad to see Princess become the bargain basement mass market line.

 

I'd put HAL and Celebrity on par with each other, with the choice being style and decor, and Princess aligned with Royal Caribbean with more sedately ships in decor (think beige)

 

Ships sailed were:

Celebrity Silhouette - Aqua class

Crown Princess - Cate BA

Westerdam - Neptune Suite

We haven't sailed HAL, but I'd also put Celebrity ahead of Princess. Since the OP didn't mention Celebrity, it may not be an option. IMHO, if it's an option, it should get strong consideration over the other mass market lines.