Best Cat Mom

Here's the Pillow Menu. We always get the first one on the left -- really firm and great for side sleepers like us:

Those are the exact scissors I always have in my checked luggage. I've never had problems at airports or with MSC.

If it is helpful to anyone, I've posted 17 days of Lunch menus in this thread: This is from a transatlantic that began in Barcelona and ended in Miami so it's likely the menus are a mixture of what will be on both Europe and Caribbean menus.

If it is helpful to anyone, I've posted 17 days of Dinner menus in this thread: This is from a transatlantic that began in Barcelona and ended in Miami so it's likely the menus are a mixture of what will be on both Europe and Caribbean menus.

Just found out that there is more than 1 Pepe in YC: Pepe (Guiseppe) Terminiello is indeed still on Divina as YC Director Pepe Arru (I believe that is the correct surname) is Food and Beverage Director on Lirica, currently in Brazil

And it'll only get better next time -- because you know what to expect and how to handle any blips. I can't wait to read about your next YC adventure! 🙂 Wait, do I see June 2024 in your signature? Only 5 months to go...

Just read through your entire trip comments while on the treadmill (only use it at home, never on the ships though). At first, I felt really bad that I wasn't around on CC to offer suggestions as to how to handle some of the difficulties you had early in your holiday. But as I kept reading, I saw that things were improving for you. And then when you mentioned Pepe, Rudy and Simone by name, I thought "Aha!" she's gotten to know the people who can help. 🙂 I hope that in the end you feel that this is just the first of many YC cruises for you! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

Here are some more images of Ryan -- he loved having BCD take his picture. He said it was so he could send them home to his girlfriend. 🙂

Me too -- I meant that the retrieval process felt so uncoordinated which us led us to fear that we would not get it back.

This was outside of Le Muse after our Italian Night dinner, which was also our last night (sniff). The two additional people are the "extra" pair of servers that did not have a section assigned in Le Muse. We interacted with them frequently, especially at breakfast and lunch. We like how the whole staff at Le Muse works well together to take care of guests. It's never about just "your" server team -- everyone lends a hand to help everyone else.

Here are some images of Glenn and Ryan, our wonderful server team in Le Muse. Glenn is the Server (gold tie) and Ryan is the Assistant Server (black tie). On theme nights, their attire is slightly different as well, so as to distinguish between the two positions. Ryan talked to us about how hopeful he is to be promoted to Server. He said that the position pays twice what he makes now. We usually tip the assistant half of what we tip the server (if all service goes equally well from both), so I guess we're aligned with MSC there.

We were surprised to hear from many YC staff that they prefer Divina to the newer ships. They said that they enjoyed the smaller venue so that they could get to know guests better. They felt that the bigger and newer ships have so many people that it's hard for them to give the type of individualized service that makes YC so great. We told them we agreed -- though we've only been on Seaside so far to compare. We have a Seascape 14-day coming up in September for another comparison.

The One Deck on Divina has been upgraded with cushions on loungers and chairs (I only have images of the loungers):

Agree. We were on Seaside and it was similar to what you describe for Seaview. We considered Divina to be a "non-event" even for a freebie. We never went on our last 17-day cruise on Divina.

We were on Divina for the transatlantic from Europe to the Caribbean in November/December. Pepe (Guiseppe) Terminiello was the YC Director and he had told us that he would still be on board for our next Divina cruise in April. Not sure if that has changed, though...

I am sharing some overall thoughts about our trip, in case others will find the comments helpful -- though we know that our experience is subject to our own personal opinions and expectations. 😉 It was nice to have the ship and the YC only at about half capacity. We've sailed Divina before and have never felt crowded in YC, even when it's close to full. I'm not sure if that is because YC people have availed themselves of the rest of the ship or because we don't go out at most ports and get to enjoy YC when the rest do go out. YC on this cruise seemed to have a nice, small mix of passengers from a variety of countries, but all of a great temperament. Maybe because we all knew we were stuck together for so many days? There was only one child as I recall. To my untrained eye, it appeared to be a pre-school age kid. To my ears, it was well-behaved. LOL We were surprised that there were not more people dining late, given how many Europeans were in YC. We even had some non-US people tell us that they ate earlier than us. We really like how Le Muse doesn't rush through meals. We normally take around 2 hours just for 2 courses. When we'd have dessert or linger over the last glasses of wine, we never felt rushed and we appreciated that so much. It was also nice to have menus with covers again. Our last 2 cruises (post-Covid) were only pieces of paper. For us, the Italian flair of MSC is so important. But there are some Italian customs that we don't need. In nearly all the hotels in Italy, we've always had towels that are more like tablecloth material and really big like one too. We don't miss those. But the bathrooms always had towel warmers and those would be nice (though they're probably a fire hazard, so we'll likely never have them on board). Also, we always travel with washcloths but it's nice that MSC has them on board. We still pack them for any pre- or post-cruise hotel stays in Europe, though. It's also nice to be able to put the toilet paper into the toilet, not like most restrooms in Italy where they have wastebaskets next to the toilet for all paper so as not to clog the old pipes. I always laugh when I see the pictures in the MSC bathrooms showing to put the paper in the toilet, not in the wastebasket. It's exactly the opposite in most bathrooms in Italy. I never answered the knock that brought our morning Baileys and coffee as I'd normally be in the shower. When I would ask BCD who was the butler who brought it, he'd swear he'd never seen the butler anywhere else in YC. I had thought that he was just too sleepy to have registered who was bringing the order. Finally, on one of our last nights of the cruise, the butler was in TSL. He was the "night butler" and I guess they only had him working nights. Hard to believe we could go two weeks without seeing him anywhere else. Even in a small YC like Divina, I guess there could be staff that we don't see. On the other hand, Pepe the YC Director was everywhere, all the time. He would even show up in Le Muse at least once a night while we were dining. We know from our past cruises that since the maitre d' does not report to the YC Director, they might not welcome the intrusion. (They report to the Hotel Director.) But our Mehmet did not seem to mind at all. I guess he and Pepe work well together and that has to be a good thing for YC guests overall. The music that played in TSL during the day on Divina was more recognizable to us than what we heard on our last cruise on Seaside. On this cruise, we heard lots of old standards and some contemporary stuff. Seaside had familiar songs covered by unknown artists and sometimes in completely different music genres. Imagine rock songs redone with an upbeat Jamaican flavor, for instance. We much preferred Divina's music. BCD swears that Ashish in TSL had the best spicy Bloody Mary he has ever had on a cruise and closest to what he makes for himself at home. Ashish was the bartender in the morning and midday, before Hubert came in for the afternoon and evening. On this cruise, they had regular tomato juice in TSL. On our previous cruises they only had Clamato or a pre-made Bloody Mary mix. I don't like spicy anything so instead of a Bloody Mary, I'd drink tomato juice and gin (gin instead of vodka for me). I do not think there is a big difference in taste using Clamato, but I've heard and read some people that refuse Clamato. Now that Divina is back in the Caribbean, Clamato might be back. If it matters to you, ask before you order. We've always been pleased with TSL service and butlers, but this cruise seemed the most doting of all our cruises. Maybe it goes back to the transatlantic aspect of this voyage and how they know they're stuck with us for 17 days so they'd better keep us happy? LOL The sea was much calmer than we'd expected on this cruise. We were probably just lucky with the weather. One day the sea was so calm it looked like glass. Wish all cruises could be like that! Our cabin was on the port side of Deck 16, which is one deck above the concierge desk. We chose port side because we'd read on CC that having a southern exposure for a westward crossing would provide more sunshine and warmer temperatures. Deck 16 was the only deck with port side cabins available when we were booking. We usually like to be on the same deck as the concierge desk and TSL but gave that up for the southern exposure. Our cabin was just about at the top of the YC stairs though, so it was easy to get to TSL and the desk when needed. The YC elevator was only a few steps in the other direction so that was easy to get to also and we never heard any noise from the elevator dinging. On our MSC cruises, we always try to smile and wave whenever we go by the concierge desk. If they are not busy with a guest, we might just stop by to chat and ask them how their day is going. We think that it is always a good idea to let them know when you’re happy and having a great cruise. Then if something goes awry at some point, they know that you're usually quite content but now there's just a little something where you might need their help. I don't know if that really makes a difference, but to us it seems like the right thing to do. I want them to know that if there is a problem, it's just a little blip in an otherwise great holiday. At various times of day, you'll usually find the Head Butler, Head Concierge and YC Director in the office by the concierge desk. If there is some issue where you need assistance, usually the right person to help you is close by. Also, if you've forgotten your needle-nosed pliers -- or had them confiscated -- the Head Butler hanging around the concierge desk might be able to get a pair for you to borrow for the length of the cruise. LOL The process for getting BCD's Leatherman back after disembarkation seemed a bit weird, especially since MSC did not specify the process at the time of confiscation. However, after considering that it was not simply a bottle of liquor but a potentially hazardous weapon, I like knowing that they are not giving dangerous items back to anyone when they are still on board. We had been walking past a cabin we have booked for our next Divina cruise in April and chatting about it when a butler we knew from TSL passed us in the corridor. She asked us which cabin and we told her and she said that she'd be our butler for that cruise. (It was Dwi, in case anyone knows her. I have heard good things about her as a cabin butler. I know she was a great butler in TSL.) Thinking about it later, we figured that must mean the butlers usually keep their same cabins for their entire contract unless something unusual occurs. Good to know. Since we missed lunch in Le Muse on boarding day, we ordered a pizza to the room while we unpacked. We also had a pizza when we packed on our last afternoon on board. We say pizza in the cabin is now a must-have to make packing/unpacking more fun! I saw something on CC about a potential 22 drink per day limit. As I read that thread more, I saw that the poster stated that it was for a South African cruise. Then I thought about it more and realized that it could not be for YC since they don't ask for our cruise cards when we order drinks. Whew! I don't know that only 22 per day would work for us. LOL Another thread on CC said something about Divina potentially now being a "smart ship" because her IT had been upgraded. I'm wondering if it will be as robust an offering as on the "full" MSC for Me ships and we'll be able to check our schedules on the displays all around the ship. That would be a nice upgrade. If they add the bracelet functionality, that would be even better! In conclusion -- which I hate to type because this truly signals we're wrapping up our cruise… We loved our cruise. We truly enjoyed having so many days in one long cruise. We weren't sure if that would be the case, given that we don't partake in many of the activities on the ship. We were worried that we'd be bored. We were not at all. We loved relaxing every day and spending time together. We liked that we had a few excursions, but not so many that we were exhausted every evening. We enjoyed the Divina, as we have in the past, since she is a smaller ship and the YC feels more cozy. We also like that Le Muse is at the other end of the ship, since it gets us out of the YC enclave for a little while several times a day. We especially like returning to the YC and feeling the serenity envelop us when the door swooshes closed behind us. The two less-than-optimal parts of the cruise were the confiscation of the Leatherman and the delay in serving the entrées at the last Gala Meal because of the lobster tail shortage. These were not big deals to us but if pressed to pick what MSC could do better, these are two events that qualify. We liked this cruise so much that we booked the same transatlantic for next year on Divina in the same cabin. It does cross a few weeks earlier in November and we'll be on for a few more days. We're so looking forward to it! We have 2 more cruises in YC before the crossing, one on Divina in April and one on Seascape in September. We're eagerly looking forward to both. I'll share some random images in a few more posts. I especially have lots of images of Ryan presenting us wine in Le Muse. 🙂

Day 17… Disembarkation day dawned with rain and wind. The ship was really rocking overnight. How did we know? The hangers make a lot of noise when they are the only things in the closet. I think we woke up as soon as we approached Miami given that the rocking calmed down so much. We were close to the port before dawn, though I'm not sure exactly what time we docked. We lingered in the cabin until our Baileys and coffee arrived for the the last time even though we could have gone to Le Muse a bit earlier. We left our carry ons and 1 suitcase with the concierge to hold until we were ready to disembark and walked to Le Muse for our last breakfast. The rain and wind were so bad that we had to walk inside. BCD had finished two more cars to fulfill his last requests for this voyage so he brought those as well and delivered them to two more happy crew. We were surprised to find that Glenn and Ryan were there to greet us. It was pretty empty in the restaurant; maybe only one other table was occupied. I ordered an egg white omelet with bacon and cheese and BCD ordered the MSC Express breakfast. We had capuccinos and mimosas, with Moet and Chandon now. I forgot to mention that yesterday they had run out of Pommery and were now substituting Moet and Chandon. We had a Caribbean cruise last year on Divina where they served Moet and Chandon in YC for the entire cruise. I had asked yesterday what would they serve if they ran out of Moet and Chandon; they said with certainty that they would not run out. I guess they keep a lot of it on board! On the way to Le Muse on Deck 7, we walked past the solo cruiser who'd we sat with at the casino bar the day before. We wished her "safe travels" and she did the same for us. Isn't it amazing on ship with thousands of people that you can run into someone more than once? We chatted a bit with Glenn and Ryan while we ate breakfast. They told us that their dinner section had been changed to the front of Le Muse beginning with the next cruise. We did not ask if that was a permanent change or if it might change again. If you're going on Divina and want to request that awesome duo, I guess ask for them by name and not by table in case they wind up with another section someday. I also wonder if Mehmet is trying to make 6 sections in Le Muse so all the gold ties have a section in the Caribbean? As we finished up our meal, they stopped by to say goodbye. It's nice to know that we'll be back to see them again in April. Most of the crew that we asked said that they'd still be around as well. I think only one of the TSL butlers will leave before our April cruise. Mehmet and Warsha expected to still be the team in charge of Le Muse when we return. Since we had no complaints with our service or meals in Le Muse, we were very happy to know we'd see them all again. We headed back to TSL to wait to disembark. Pepe had said the day before that he wanted everyone out of YC by 9am. We knew that they were still calling group numbers for the remainder of the ship to disembark. There were many tables of people hanging out in TSL and servers were circulating taking drink orders and chatting. Around 9:30am, Pepe announced in TSL that we all needed to go "now." It was kinda interesting seeing the butlers' reactions. But we made our way out via our butler Elvin escorting us to the disembarkation line. For us, there was absolutely no wait and we were escorted all the way to the front of the line. Yesterday, BCD had asked Elvin about how he would be reunited with his Leatherman that had been confiscated by MSC ship security from our checked luggage. Elvin had previously said that it would be returned either the evening before or the morning of disembarkation. BCD was getting anxious yesterday evening and asked about it at the concierge desk. Elvin gave BCD the form letter from the initial confiscation and told BCD to have it handy for when he would get the item back as part of disembarking tomorrow. So as we were waiting to disembark today, we asked Elvin what to expect as to getting it back this morning. He stated that it would be as we were exiting the ship. When Elvin brought us to the front of the line where we would show our cruise cards for the last time, he asked security where the Leatherman could be retrieved. Security told Elvin that it could be retrieved inside the terminal, which Elvin conveyed to us. This seemed implausible, given that the confiscation happened on the ship and not in the security of the terminal. At that point, we had no choice but to follow the instructions from Security. BCD approached every terminal employee that we encountered to ask where he could retrieve his item, fearing that we'd walk past a point where we missed retrieving it but would not be able to go back for it. When we were about to pass through the customs checkpoint, BCD was again told the item could be retrieved on the other side. We did not actually need to go through that customs check, since we'd already been cleared by US Customs in Puerto Rico. We did have to walk through that customs hall area though to get to the exit on the right. Once through there, BCD asked again and was instructed to walk back in through the other side -- the entrance side -- where he should find a security desk to retrieve his item. I hung back with all our luggage, which by the way was waiting for us right before the customs area in a group with other YC luggage and was so incredibly easy to retrieve, though we did not notice how easy since we were preoccupied with the Leatherman retrieval. BCD proceeded to the right to find this security desk. I believe that the two doorways are called East and West, though I never saw a label on either of them. To be clear about which I am discussing here: we exited through the one that is on the left when your back is to the ship (which it is when you are exiting) and BCD went to his right to enter the other one, which is to the left when the ship is in front of you (which it is when you are entering). At the left opening (when ship is in front of you), BCD waited in a line for port people to check boarding documents that justified entry. He showed the confiscation letter which they acknowledged granted him entry and instructed him to go just inside the door to a counter on the left, before the security scanners. At that counter were two agents and behind the counter was a wall with several bins containing with confiscated items each bound by rubber bands with paperwork attached. They asked what the item was, were able to locate it quickly, checked that paperwork matched what BCD had (matching name, cabin number and the description in the paperwork) and they returned the Leatherman to him. He might have had to sign or initial something; he can't recall now. Then BCD came back out the way he went in -- fighting against the crowd this time -- and walked to his left back to where I was waiting. We ordered an Uber, it arrived in less than 5 minutes and we were on our way to the airport. We checked our bags, went through TSA Pre-Check (which was a much shorter line than Clear) and I believe we were in the Delta Sky Club lounge by around 10:30am. I am estimating the time based on us barely making it there for their breakfast offerings. Lunch came out shortly after we arrived. We knew we'd be there for several hours, as we had a late afternoon flight to Atlanta, with a later connection to Cincinnati. Fortunately, the weather did not affect our flights and we were safely home by around 1am on "Day 18." LOL I'll share some final thoughts in a separate post.

Day 16 Dinner menu:

Day 16 Lunch menu:

Day 16… Today was full of "lasts" for our cruise -- last full day of cruising , last sea day, last dinner, last… just about everything for this cruise. 😞 The morning was a little overcast but the seas had calmed a bit. We were up before the alarm. I always say that you know your internal clock has fully adapted to vacation when you don't need an alarm to wake up. Great, we're fully rested -- and now we go home. Not fair! We enjoyed Baileys and coffee in the room (not our last though!) and then headed to Le Muse around 8:30am. Today, BCD tried something different -- he ordered European-style plates of cold cuts and cheese and selected a few croissants from the bread tray to have some breakfast sandwiches. I opted for an egg white omelet with bacon and cheese, a little different for me as well. We had two cappuccinos and two excellent mimosas, made with our newest friend, Pommery. Our British suppliers came in for breakfast and BCD thought about going back to the cabin to get the black car for them but decided to wait until later in the day. We saw them in TSL before dinner when they stopped by our table to check production status. BCD had the black car ready and gave it to them. They seemed really appreciative and said that they'd give it to their grandson. BCD thanked them and stressed that they were such a big contributor to his success. We had drinks after breakfast in TSL (it's worked for us every other day, why not?) but this time we changed our orders. I had an orange juice with coconut rum and BCD ordered <something different> (no notes, sorry). The butler was astonished and commented, "You two have never ordered those drinks before!" In case there was any doubt, they notice who orders what even if they don't wait on you every day. We needed to firm up our cabin for next year's cruise so we checked the available rooms on the MSC website. Our same cabin was not available since the Future Cruise Consultant had put a hold on it for us. I was concerned that between when the hold expired and when our TA went to reserve it, someone else might get it. If that did occur, I wanted other options. I went to the corridor to try determine which port-side rooms had the bed on the left and ran into Jehwell, our junior butler. He told me which of the available ones fit our criteria and I let the TA know. We were happy to find that she was eventually able to reserve our same cabin, but I was pleased to have other choices just in case. We had just two more things to accomplish today that were not part of our daily routine -- tips and packing. Packing always starts later in the day and finishes after dinner, at least for us. So tips were next on the agenda. We had visited the casino one time so far and had vouchers for a part of the amount. We knew we’d need more, but did not have an exact amount yet. We started our list with the names we knew (Glenn, Ryan, etc.) and then added descriptions of the people where we needed to find out names. Some of the crew move so fast that the name tags are not large enough to see their names! We knew that the YC concierge would be able to help with envelopes and names -- even with our crazy descriptions of who we meant. We picked up the envelopes and went back to the cabin to total up our amounts, and then we headed to the casino for the additional funds needed. The casino was pretty empty so we decided to have a drink at the bar first. We chatted with a solo cruiser who told us she was a regular at the casino bar and had 2 rounds of Sidecars and Rusty Nails with her. The drinks were good, but not as good as Hubert's in TSL. We said our goodbyes, found a slot machine to charge some funds to the room, played for a few minutes, paid out the machine and headed to the cashier to cash out our 3 vouchers. We knew the ship was on Euros until the end of this cruise. We also knew that tips from the last several months would have also been in Euros and that the exchange rate to US Dollars was pretty close right now, so we did not concern ourselves with exchanging currency. We asked for smaller bills from the cashier, but knew we'd probably need some more later. The YC concierge can do that too. The YC concierge can do almost anything. LOL We headed back to the cabin to fill up the envelopes and label them appropriately. Then the most fun and (sometimes) hardest part began -- finding everyone to thank them for helping us to have an absolutely wonderful holiday! The stress of the last cruise day -- collecting names, getting cash, getting change, filling envelopes and finding people -- does not end for us until we place the last envelope into its proper hands. We won't even think of packing until the bulk of this part is over for us. Don't get me wrong. We enjoy it, but it is stressful if you can't find someone. The people in Le Muse are usually easy because we know where to find them, though service can make them elusive in the restaurant that last night. But some of the others can be tough to find. Here's where the YC concierge comes to your rescue once again. They know why you're looking for people and they're happy to help you find them. They are the first envelope we hand out, for obvious reasons. Somewhere in the middle of the day, we had our last lunch in Le Muse. I know it was in Le Muse because we watched them setting up for Italian night, but it's kinda a blur now. I think we both started with the salmon tartare, one of our favorites. We definitely skipped the prawns, so maybe we both had burgers? I really can't recall. And I have no notes. Busy day with the envelopes. 😞 We did most of our packing that afternoon, but left the last of it for after dinner. The YC butlers are usually collecting luggage long into the night. We've been told that midnight or later is still not too late. When we do put out the last bag -- because we'll put them out as we go, not all at once -- as long as there are other bags in the corridor, we know that we're not too late. If ever we did not see another bag, we'd just let the YC concierge know. This time, we ordered a pizza to facilitate our efforts and BCD got us some generous double pours of red wine from TSL that helped even more. I always find packing at the end easier. It's pretty much all ready to be laundered, so who cares if it is wrinkled? Also, a domestic flight out of Miami allows us 70 pounds maximum for each suitcase (versus 50 pounds international on the way to Barcelona for this holiday), so we don't have to worry about balancing everything as carefully between the 4 bags. Yes, we traveled with 4 checked bags, 3 hard-sided suitcases and one traditional garment bag. We each had a small carry on with our electronics, prescriptions and jewelry as well. Next we went to dinner, which I remember. Italian night! The staff were dressed in the traditional Italian colors of green, white and red and the tables were adorned with runners and napkins in the same colors, not like the Mediterranean dinner with just a light green. I recall us having champagne to start and then switching to an Italian red. We both ordered carpaccio to start. For entrées, we shared the osso bucco and both had lamb chops. Our saying when we eat lamb is that "Mary is sobbing uncontrollably." After we shared that quote early in the cruise, Glenn would sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" every time he brought some to us. Not sure if we had dessert, though BCD does think he had crepes suzette each time it was offered. I would imagine I had some cheese with the last of my Italian red. Honestly, it's a blank to us now. We handed out the rest of our envelopes during dinner. Two of the people thanked us and then said something like "no car?" BCD knew that he had 2 more cars nearly complete and decided that he'd finish them for delivery at breakfast. Production would continue at least a little bit longer. After dinner, we headed to TSL for our last night of after dinner drinks. The piano player was there tonight and Hubert told us that he'd be singing with her later in the evening. He was excited that Pepe had given him permission to sing -- and so were we. We have heard him various times on this cruise singing along when he's been behind the bar and we'd also heard him on the YC pool deck on a previous cruise. He has an excellent voice. As the time for the end of entertainment approached in TSL, Hubert went up to the microphone and we were surprised to find that he was a bit nervous. We and others seated at the bar encouraged him as much as we could. He sang a few songs with the piano player, but it was clear that they'd not had any time to rehearse so their timing was not quite in sync. As it was late, she packed up and headed out. Then Hubert chose to sing a few more songs a cappella -- and he was absolutely wonderful! I wish that we could have heard him sing a little every night. He is that good. If you are ever fortunate enough to be on a cruise with him, you'll find out. Maybe give him a bit of encouragement to help him with his nervousness. You won't be disappointed, I'm sure! We then thanked him and the other butlers, said our goodbyes to the other passengers we'd come to know and headed back to the cabin to put the rest of our luggage outside our door. Day 17, disembarkation day, comes next… 😞

Day 15 Dinner menu:

Day 15 Lunch menu:

Day 15… [I may not be as detailed now given that it has been some time since the cruise, but I'll include as much as I recall. I did have some notes from the earlier part of the day luckily.] Today was a sea day and we were relieved not to have to get up early. We had our usual Baileys and coffee in the room and then headed to Le Muse for breakfast. I believe that the sea had started to get quite rocky by this morning, as we had been sharing the waters with a new storm that was building in the Caribbean. Rough water has never been a problem for us, but sometimes it makes for interesting walks around the ship. BCD had the MSC Express and I again ordered the soft boiled eggs with a side of bacon. We had one mimosa and one cappuccino each. I've come to expect that the eggs are served upside down in the egg cups as I learned with my very first order of boiled eggs. At least, they are upside to me, with the big air pocket facing upward. I'm not sure if that is "normal" in Europe. As I was carefully peeling my eggs, our server came over to the table to ask if I needed help. (Maybe I was peeling too slowly?) I was flabbergasted, but in a good way. Could you imagine having the server peel your eggs? Perhaps we've been underthinking services in YC all this time? LOL By the way, I did decline the offer of help, if anyone wondered. I'm sure we headed back to TSL after breakfast, stopping on our regular route to beg, I mean -- ask, for more car supplies. In TSL, we were gifted some supplies by a British couple who had earlier admired BCD's creations. They've helped with supplies for a few days now and had told us about a male relative (Maybe a grandson if I'm remembering correctly? They were certainly very proud of him.) who was in the automotive industry. BCD has decided that he will be gifting them the black car when we catch up with them later today or tomorrow. Since we've been enjoying our cruise so much I spent some time with the Future Cruise Consultant to investigate the same crossing in 2024. I got a quote that seemed fair, along with the extra OBC for booking on board. In addition to pricing and OBC, one of the touted advantages of booking onboard is the added flexibility of changes. The change window increases to one year and re-booking can be on any MSC ship for any destination. I have read here on CC that people have difficulty getting MSC to honor this additional flexibility, but it is still a named benefit. I checked with our personal TA later and found a better deal, both price-wise and OBC-wise. In fact, the OBC was nearly $1,500 more from our TA. I think the deposit is lower when you book on board as well. Our TA only needed a $600 deposit so that did not sway us from better pricing and OBC and neither did the more flexible change rules. We decided to book with our TA. I still needed to check which cabins would be available however. We prefer a room with the bed on the left side whenever possible. We also knew that port side was considered better for a westward crossing, due to the southern exposure adding warmth if the weather was cold during the voyage. If you looked at my signature, you'd notice that we did indeed book again -- and in our same cabin! I hope everyone in 16013 between now and November are kind to the furnishings. 🙂 For lunch at Le Muse today, they were out of Nicholas Feuillatte champagne and were serving Pommery instead. I liked it very much and thought it a nice upgrade. It had a more subtle flavor and smaller bubbles. BCD liked it as well but not because of the taste; he liked it because the wires were a nice bright blue color. He had acquired some of these wires already in our collection of supplies, but now he thought he could look forward to more of them. He set his sights on creating a completely blue car. As for food, we both had foie gras for our first course and BCD also had the crab. For my entrée, I had the Waldorf salad from the Starters section since the entrées seemed a bit heavier than I wanted today. This was the first time I've ever tried the Waldorf salad on MSC; I guess there has always been something else I wanted instead on the days it was offered. I loved it -- great flavors and not too heavy. I have discovered another new favorite on this cruise. BCD had the swordfish. BCD had sauvignon blanc with his meal, while I tried my best to drink enough Pommery to get some more wires (I was successful -- they had to open another bottle. Is anyone surprised?) For dessert, I had coffee ice cream with Kahlua and BCD had a sundae. I guess we spent the entire afternoon in TSL as usual, though I cannot recall right now. I'm sure adult beverages were enjoyed and BCD toiled away at his blue car. This evening was the last Gala Dinner in Le Muse and the first one with lobster. We figured that the ship must have taken on provisions in the Caribbean that were of the US-menu variety and that's why we would (at last) have lobster tails. We were definitely looking forward to our meals tonight. We dressed for dinner in our finery for the last time on this cruise -- suit/tie and dress/heels (guess who was in which?). Interestingly, the daily planner had today's attire listed as casual. I'm not sure if there was a gala dinner in the MDR tonight as well. Since Divina is not a "smart ship," I'm not even sure how to check the MDR menus. I have read on CC that Divina has had her IT upgraded and the MSC for Me app is now functional, but I don't know if it as robust an offering as on the "full" MSC for Me ships. We arrived at Le Muse at I-don't-remember-o'clock but I do remember weaving my way to our table in Glenn and Ryan's section. Why does it seem the sea is rougher whenever I wear heels? LOL I can just blame it on the alcohol, though sometimes I think more alcohol helps me to sway WITH the rocky seas. Warsha, the hostess, immediately put herself directly to my side and I could tell that I was not the first person she had escorted quite so closely that evening. She has really been great the whole cruise. We've seen her circulating among tables when it is later in the service and there are no more people coming in to seat, chatting with people and in general making sure all is well. Mehmet has a great assistant in her and they seem to work well as a team. Once we were (safely) seated, we could see it was a quite busy time in the restaurant. We did spend a little longer than usual with our menus but no matter to us. Pommery kept us company until Glenn came by to take our orders. 😉 BCD started with the snails. We had loved having them on the everyday menu on Seaside but they are not a standard offering on Divina, at least not yet or maybe not until Divina is based in the Caribbean. On Seaside, they were always able to make me a special GF version of the snails, but I knew better than to expect it on a busy night like tonight in Le Muse. I opted for the octopus carpaccio as my starter, one of my favorites. We both ordered filet and lobster tail, plus a champagne risotto to share. We enjoyed our starters and champagne. As we were waiting for our entrées, we noticed the Hotel Manager circulating amongst the tables. He stopped by ours and asked how all was, and we told him we were very pleased with Mehmet and his staff. After a little while, we realized that many tables around us were also in between courses. I think around this time Glenn came by to apologize for the delay in our entrées. We hadn't really noticed until just then, as Pommery was there to occupy our time. The entrées did finally arrive and we learned that the kitchen had run out of the lobster tails and had to start a new batch -- apparently, caught unaware of the demand timing. We saw at least one table voicing their displeasure with the Hotel Manager, but everyone else seemed to take it in stride. I know we did -- BCD, Pommery and me. The dinner was excellent. I think BCD had a red wine with his filet. I may have had both red and champagne available for alternating bites of filet and lobster. BCD had the crepes for dessert and I either had some cheese or more Pommery to keep him company. We stumbled back to the cabin -- it was the rough seas, not the I-cannot-recall-how-many-glasses-of-Pommery-between-courses beverages we enjoyed that caused our stumbling. No nightcaps in TSL for us tonight -- because of the rocky seas. Yes, blame it all on the rocky seas. LOL Day 16 coming up next…

In our opinion, one nice thing about Divina (and Fantasia, and likely all the Fantasia-class ships) is that there are more tables in the shade right by the bar. On Seaside, the "best" shade is around the sides of the bar and one of those sides is also the smoking section. Selection of food may be less on Divina, but selection of shady seating is more. Of course, others may prefer the sun and consider Seaside better.

I checked all of our daily planners. Every sea day, Galaxy was open 12:00 to 14:00 for lunch. Every day, including embarkation day, Galaxy was open for dinner 18:00 to 21:30. I would imagine the specific times might change for a different mix of passengers, but being open for sea days seems to be the norm.