Best Cat Mom

We are on the Divina once again for a Caribbean cruise in the YC (Yacht Club). Here's the itinerary for our 11-night voyage:

Happy to share our experiences for others since we've gleaned so much information from here over the years. Please let me know if you have any questions and we'll do our best to answer.

Room service pizza allows you to choose your own toppings, though. 

How fortunate that you still had the HAL booking to use as a backup! We haven't gone through the Panama Canal yet, but it is on our list for the future. We've sailed YC both in Europe and in the US. We think YC "smooths out" the differences in the different passenger mixes. I'm sure you'll enjoy it all. 🙂

@Heartgrove Have you found a comparable Grand Voyage to book? We're looking at Seaside in late October 2024 but not sure where we might want to embark yet.

If all else fails, remove the light bulbs.

Also cancelled is the return in Spring 2025. I think Divina may not be returning to the Caribbean in the future. 😞

We're looking at Seaside's transatlantic crossings in October now to replace our reserved Divina cruise.

4 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

At least now I know haven't missed out on anything these past 50 years.

Because of you, we know this now as well. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on Regent as compared to (our favorite) MSC YC. We will not have to ever give them another thought. 🙂

Does anyone know if Antonio is still Le Muse chef on Divina? We knew that Mehmet, Warsha, Glenn, Ryan and Susmita expected to still be on board for our cruise next week, but weren't sure about the chef.

6 hours ago, Cathy in Boston said:

We’re starting a cruise on the Divina in less than three weeks.

We'll be on that sailing also. Looks like we're okay so far. 🙂

After we get envelopes from the concierge desk and fill each of them, we put the person's name on the envelope. We keep a list of the names and amounts for future reference and for the formal feedback to MSC. We'll carry a few envelopes around at a time and look for people in the YC area. If we haven't found someone and the day is almost over, we'll ask the concierge if they have seen the person recently. The concierge knows why a guest is looking for someone on the last day. They've even called around for us and had the person come to the concierge desk. This is why we make sure that envelope(s) are given to the concierge(s) earlier in the day. 🙂

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I try hard to be incognito.

Did you realize that your name is on the laundry images?

(At least one of us had already figured it out from that other social media site though. LOL)

On 3/14/2024 at 4:05 PM, mnpurple said:

I'm trying to recall who on this board mentioned a "special" cruise coffee they like to order?  Something with Baileys and amaretto?

We do have a regular iced coffee that we "teach" them to make for us -- 1 shot espresso, 1 shot Baileys, 1 shot Kahlua, 1 shot coconut rum. We call it Holiday Coffee. Maybe that was what you were remembering? Even if not, give it a try and let me know what you think. 🙂

On 3/16/2024 at 4:46 AM, mnpurple said:

Are you the one who has the special coffees made?

We did have Baileys and coffee delivered to the room every morning, but nothing else special in the way of coffee.

We've been Regent-curious so are eagerly following. 🙂

Hi mnp -- I believe we were with you once on Divina last year in YC. Looking forward to reading about your latest cruise on Euribia. We had read that Onel, our wonderful gold tie server on Divina, was on Euribia now. If he is, we can recommend him -- he was absolutely wonderful! Enjoy your time and please share when you can. Buon viaggio!

We always bring up our choices when we meet our butler for the first time. No need to wait for them to ask you -- tell them what pillow you desire and which bottle(s) you'd prefer. Usually we are asked at boarding about the newspaper. If not, stop by the concierge desk or ask the butler. (The concierge desk is where the paper originates each day so it's easier to go right to them vs. having the butler be your go between.)

Here is the full explanation of the options in the Pillow menu:

13 minutes ago, KimPossible1 said:

T&C states within 5 days and notification no later than noon on day of embarkation which is what we did

You should check with your attorney. Even if this is not their field of expertise, they should be able to offer you guidance. 

5 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

One side of the ship (starboard) allows smoking out there.

This is exactly why we choose a cabin at least 6 or so from the front when booking on the starboard side on a Sea class ship -- to avoid the possibility of smelling the smoke on our balcony. If smoke matters to you, keep this in mind.

17 hours ago, iceberg1116 said:

They had this small swinging screen in the shower that was too small to prevent a lot of water from splashing out into the bathroom floor.

You will find this same type of shower/tub set up in nearly all hotels in Italy.

If you choose to tip extra on YC -- totally your choice to do so -- the concierge desk can supply envelopes and can help you with the spellings of names.

How did you like it? We did it once, but they don't have any GF options for me. 😞

I see Dwi was one of the butlers serving you. She had said that she'll be our butler in April -- if she still has the same rooms on the starboard side of deck 15. Who did you have for your room butler this cruise?

VC gifts can be drawstring bags, pens, hats, Vencchi chocolate,  etc. Check with the concierge desk or ask your butler if they have given them out yet.

Susmita was partnered with Kumar, I believe, in December. They were the "extra" team without a dedicated dinner section in Le Muse at that time. She was so wonderful to us at breakfast and lunch. John gave her one of the last F1 cars on departure day as a thank you for always remembering to bring him a big glass of ice. Great service!

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Hubert sends his regards and says he will start collecting wires soon.

Too funny!

I hope that Hubert gets an opportunity to sing for you in TSL one evening. He did that the last night of our transatlantic. He was quite nervous, but should not have been. Hubert has a wonderful voice.