Safe77

Chocolate ships on Divina 11/4/2022. I've waited patiently for a couple of years and now have no idea of what to do with two of these. They're too pretty to eat, so they sit in the fridge turning whitish. I'm betting wife and I will have a desire for something sweet one of these days and the ships will slowly disappear.

Thanks, we will. We've never had anything less than a fantastic cruise with MSC!!

SteerageJoe: No, my Divina cruise departs from Terminal E, according to the ticket. We've always sailed her from Terminal C in the past. That's why I was seeking other options to the deck across from C.

Thanks to all of you who responded. I greatly appreciate your help and your advice. In one week and three hours, wife and I will be boarding the MSC Divina, our favorite ship!! I'm beginning to don my cruise attitude!

Thank you very much, morpheusofthesea! The building was there and we spent much of the day on the covered patio and the indoor bar was open, but no food prep area. Still, everything was excellent!

rhacruiser: Thanks much for your response. By the way, you have a very impressive cruise experience record! I think you're my new hero. 

The last time my wife and I were at Ocean Cay was immediately prior to the pandemic. Meals on the Yacht Club area were prepared and served from mobile kitchens. Is that still the situation, or are they prepared in a hard facility now?

Sailing on a 10-day cruise out of PortMiami in early November. I have two questions about parking at the port:

1. Have you ever had difficulty finding a parking spot in one of the lots or garages when parking for a cruise?

2. There is an open-air parking lot across from Terminals E/G. Is this available for cruise parking, or only short-term parking?

Thanks in advance for your considered responses!

believe123:  Thanks for the info? Where did y'all go for the test?  Your husband is correct that a PCR is a type of NAAT. And the at-home tests made available by the USPS are antigen tests, not molecular-whatever tests like the PCR. Like you, this is just one more thing I don't need the hassle of dealing with. I'm kind of the "organizer and planner" for this cruise which includes my wife, myself, and my sister and her husband who live far away and have never sailed on MSC. I suspect that the PCR test may be a requirement for entry of some of the counties being visited and NOT MSC's requirement. Then again, who knows? 

I foolishly purchased onboard credits prior to one cruise (just so that everything would be prepaid) and then didn't use all of it. MSC owed me $600. It took 6 months of weekly emails and phone calls before I finally received the check. Everyone I spoke with agreed I was due the money (no one ever responded to any emails), but it just seemed that no one could actually write the check. I love MSC when we're on the ship. All of our problems have been from the on-shore staff. BTW, I NEVER buy OBCs now.

Is there such a thing as an at-home RT-PCR test? We're sailing on the Divina on November 4th from Miami to either the Bahamas/Caribbean or the Southern Caribbean (depending on which MSC call-taker I speak with). Southern Caribbean apparently requires the RT-PCR test while Bahamas/Caribbean does not. We're traveling the day prior to sailing, so that doesn't leave us much time if we have to go to a physician's office to get the test. I need help, please, as I have never had to get this kind of test before and MSC is giving conflicting information. Thanks!!

On 1/15/2022 at 8:52 PM, Safe77 said:

Haven't seen this addressed yet. Perhaps not the right forum. My wife and I, fully vaccinated, tested positive and come off quarantine tomorrow (1/16). We are scheduled to sail on 1/31. We are concerned that pre-cruise test results may come back positive, even though we will have been sufficiently recovered. Has anyone experienced a similar situation? if so, what was your outcome? Thanks in advance.

Following up on this post. My wife and I took the Binax proctored test on Saturday, January 29th and both tested negative, not quite two weeks after having completed our 10-day quarantine. I actually took a different drive-through test on 21st and it, too came back negative. BTW, the cruise was great!

Haven't seen this addressed yet. Perhaps not the right forum. My wife and I, fully vaccinated, tested positive and come off quarantine tomorrow (1/16). We are scheduled to sail on 1/31. We are concerned that pre-cruise test results may come back positive, even though we will have been sufficiently recovered. Has anyone experienced a similar situation? if so, what was your outcome? Thanks in advance.

Has anyone had an "inconclusive" result using these test kits? Okay, what I really want to know is, there are two of us sailing. Do I need to buy a kit with two more than two tests in it? 

On our last cruise (March 13-20, 2020 - the last cruise to depart the US), I bid the minimum $500 and that was long before COVID was a thing. It resulted in us being upgraded from a deluxe Yacht Club suite to the Sophia Loren suite on the Divina. It had been our heart's desire for years to sail in that suite. We got quite a bargain, as the rack rate for the suite on that cruise was $7,500. The suite was nice, especially for what we paid. But it isn't worth the full fare. Not even close. Still, we were very happy! And it turned out to be the nicest cruise we've ever had. A lot went wrong on that cruise--COVID-related closures--but MSC took this lump of fecal matter, squeezed it hard and made a diamond out of it! They really recovered very well!

Don't you think we've done some of this to ourselves? My wife and I have been sailing with MSC ever since I discovered the Yacht Club shortly after MSC's appearance here in the US. I was skeptical of the opulence and level of service presented on their website for the price, but we tried it and found it was true. Obviously, it seemed, this new-to-the-US-market cruise line was trying to establish a customer base in the US by offering low fares. Then we (the collective "we") all came home and raved to our friends, neighbors, co-workers, online discussion board buddies and anyone else who would listen about what a great deal we'd found in this new onboard experience called The Yacht Club. They tried it, liked it, and told others. So, now our secret is out and in high demand. It's only natural that MSC would raise fares, especially in a high service-level enclave, in response to their now firm footing in the US market, our desire for the Yacht Club experience and their need to recover COVID-delayed revenue. I wish I'd never told anyone else about The Yacht Club!! (I'm only half-joking.)

Best of luck to all of you. I’ve been waiting since December 27th for a refund of $352 in unused prepaid onboard credits. I’ve been calling MSC every two weeks since January and am repeatedly told that Accounting has approved the check and I should have it “soon”. MSC at sea is fantastic! MSC on land, not so much. Yesterday I was told by a fill-in customer service rep that MSC furloughed 90% of their CSRs this week. So, I doubt anything is going to happen quickly or even at all “soon.”

We arrived at the port terminal around 11:35 AM and had no difficulty whatsoever finding willing porters. Thank goodness...we're not light packers!

First time at Ocean Cay. All I can say is amazing! And it’s so nice to see the butlers and juniors less staid, more relaxed. Service on the island continues to be outstanding, even if a bit laid back. We’re definitely on “island time” and loving it!!

MSC knocked it out of the park with the way they’ve managed this cruise!! I thought for certain we’d be returning to Miami after San Juan closed its port and the Divina turned northward. MSC recovered beautifully and is giving us a cruise that is beyond amazing! Cheers to MSC!!

Just boarded the Divina this morning (Fri 3/13). Crew tell us this is the last sailing of the Divina for an undetermined period of time. They are being transferred to other ships.


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Scheduled to sail on the Divina out of Miami and Friday, 3/13 and am hoping my wife will still be on board 😆with my desire to board the ship as planned. The way I look at it, fewer people (due to cancellations) means less exposure for us. My only concern is the possibility of an extended quarantine.

1 minute ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Actually, everyone has lost their minds.

LOL!!! I agree. My concern isn't so much acquiring COVID-19 as it is undergoing a two-week quarantine because someone else on the ship has. What happened during yesterday's turnover?

The  "Cruise Assurance" link given above doesn't seem to be working now.  11:53 AM EST

I imagine we'll be on board with you, Postcards. I have a feeling we'll be sailing on Friday regardless of what MSC's policy is, unless they cancel the cruise completely.