mktgmaven

IHG Gold Elite matched to Classic/Silver this week. Oh well...lol

This was my favorite spot to meet up with my husband for our predinner cocktail each afternoon on the Glory. The three bartenders were great and always made drinks that suited our taste. I love the "40 is the new 20" but you can ask them to make anything you would like. We took the class and it was terrific. Just be prepared to have a good buzz on as those martinis are STRONG!! :eek:

I got home from my cruise yesterday, Carnival Valor ( had a fabolous time!). I checked my credit card while I was away and I saw that Carnival had placed their hold of $200 on my credit card. When I checked my card this morning, that amount has been removed and there is only a charge of $6.00 and change. When will the my card be processed?

On my last cruise (MSC) it took 5 days for the final charge to post to my account (I used my debit card).

We took the spring break cruise on Glory last year with our kids (14 and 16 at the time) and we ALL had a great time! San Juan is amazing - we went back again on our last cruise in November (twice in one year!) because everyone loved it so much. The ship is beautiful with so many things to do. We enjoyed the shows and the comedians, definitely kept us entertained. Save the $800 for shore excursions or cocktails at the Alchemy Bar. You will love the Glory! :D

I have sailed many times out of the Port of Miami, I also have AT&T. I don't shut my phone off until we are out of the channel, I have never been charged extra for this.

We have always used our phones up until we set sail (we have Sprint) and never been charged extra while docked.

But I also wanted to mention that we had early seating for dinner (6pm) so we were still in the dining room when we began sailing away around 7pm. We waved goodbye to Miami through the porthole windows. :rolleyes:

I forgot to mention in my Divina review that when we checked in at the port, the young man that was processing our paperwork declined our ability to use our debit card for our onboard account at first. We have always used our debit card on other cruise lines so we asked to speak with his manager. She came over and informed him that they are allowed to accept debit cards that are Visa cards as well. They are NOT allowed to use cards that are ONLY debit card and not partnered with Visa. So if you plan to use your debit card, make sure it can also be used as a credit card.

Just a reminder, they will put a hold on your account (right now I have 5 pending charges for $100 each from MSC) until the actual account balance clears. We have been off the ship since Saturday so I am assuming our $295 balance will officially be debited within the next day or two but until then, that $500 is unavailable (which I knew would happen).

Just thought I'd share my experience with others in case you plan to use your debit card. :)

Lovely review!!!!

 

By any chance, do you recall if there were any Yacht Club upgrades available at the pier or onboard?

They didn't mention anything when we were checking in but the young man that processed us was really, really new. Perhaps now that they have a sailing under their belt they will work harder at upselling folks that are checking in! :D

Could the pictures taken by the MSC be viewed on the in room TV ?

 

Were there better deals available by purchasing the pictures at the end of cruise ?

 

Thanks,

SAL

We didn't really turn our TV on very much other than to check the ship's position so I don't have an answer for your question. Sorry!

We waited until the last day to buy our photos, I think there were deals like buy 3 get 2 free, etc. We bought a 16X20 for $30 and two 8X10's for $35, I believe.

The photos taken on this ship were the best we've ever had done! They have hired some terrific photographers that take the time to pose you, fix collars, move hair out of the way, etc. They arrange them so you can easily find them the next day and if you miss it, you can look through the bins that are clearly marked. I give high marks to MSC for their photography!

Was there a big delay getting off Deck 7 for private excursions these? I read a review this morning saying it was chaotic.

Thank you

Barbara

I didn't hear about this - we always walked right off the ship within minutes for our privately booked excursions. The only delay I heard about was coming back from San Juan, some of the passengers had to wait to reboard the ship until after the HAL ship was tied down properly (it arrived in port much earlier than expected and MSC was not happy about it).

I wondering the same thing. I thought that stuff (bowling, theater, etc..) was included?

We have sailed a couple of times on the Royal Caribbean so I would love to know how your MSC Divina cruise compared?

Everything was extra - I believe the F1 simulator was $7 and the 4D cinema was $5. Not sure about bowling - I never saw anyone doing that. Also, room service was very limited, unlike on other lines. There was a charge to have pizza delivered to your room so we always just walked to deck 14 for our late night slice. :D

In terms of MSC vs. RCCL, I think we preferred RCCL. Not that we didn't have a great time on the Davina, I just think we had more fun and found more to do on the Liberty of the Seas. MSC is definitely more upscale and even though there were a lot of kids on this sailing, we felt there were many more senior folks that went to bed really early. Some nights there were only a handful of people in their 40's and 50's in some of the bars! It appeared to be a huge gap - either couples were in their 20's and 30's or in their 70's and 80's. Having said that, we still had a great time and made some friends while hanging out at the Golden Jazz Bar. :cool:

By the way, does anyone know whether the plug sockets on MSC Divina take american or Europeak plugs?

 

regards,

 

Terry

Both. There are 2 American plugs and two European located at the desk area. It worked perfectly as we brought my daughter's camera charger and it had adapters for both so we were able to charge more than 2 things at once.

Thanks so much for your review. I thought the YC had there own elevators? Would you say that you are better off going to the buffet instead of the dining room? Did they have steak everynight?

I don't believe they have their own elevators, however, they get priority once they swipe their cards in the little reader next to the buttons at each bank.

We always enjoy getting dressed and having dinner in the main dining room so we always chose that. If that's not your thing I am sure the buffet would be fine as well - just not the variety of food you'd get in the dining room. Yes, they had steak on the menu every night and my husband got it a few times but he was very unimpressed. He said it had very little flavor. If they offer the pumpkin ravioli again - I highly recommend - that was my favorite dish since it was so unusual.

Angela,

Thank you for the great review and for the info on the teen card. Do you mind if I post your review on our thread for the cruisers that are sailing on the 21st for Christmas.

We have 2 teens going with us and I was glad to read about the fact ahat we can load money on their cards for them to spend on the bowling, F1, and 4d theater.

Hope you have a great weekend,

Gerry

Feel free to share the info. We only learned about it once we got onboard - there was a blurb in the Daily sheet. We decided it would be a good idea for our son so he felt he had control over what he wanted to spend his money on. The 4D theater was pretty cool - I did the roller coaster with my daughter and it was great fun!

The "teen area" is mostly a meeting spot for the kids. Once they get to know each other, they tend to form groups and go do things on their own. It's not segregated by age like other ships so the younger kids (12-14) were in with the older teens. Mine are 15 and 17 and were not happy about that as there is a big difference in maturity level between a 12 and 17 year old! :eek:

We got off the Divina today and it felt really crowded most of the time. We made the best of it but the lunch buffet could be a real free-for-all in terms of finding a seat. I had a lady nearly knock me down as she ran in front of me to take the table I was about to sit at. Having said that, the food choices were quite extensive and truly enjoyable for lunch. HINT: keep going toward the back and there are better options under the "Ethnic" and "Daily Specials" sections. The front has mostly "American" items like burgers, hot dogs, fries and pizza but the further back you go, your choices are yummy items like Jamaican jerk chicken, curried cod, fajitas, etc that really tingle the taste buds. The desserts were varied each day so my family always got a few items to share.

The shows were SPECTACULAR! Wonderland (a sort of Cirque du Soleil version of Alice in Wonderland) and the Pirates show were nothing short of amazing. There was also an impressionist that had all of us in stitches with his impersonations and we were sad when his show ended. HINT: get to the show at least 20 minutes ahead of time to get a good seat. The later you go, the closer you are to the stage, which sounds counter-intuitive but trying to climb the stairs afterwards is very challenging when the ship is really rocking (no rails and I saw many older people struggling to keep their balance).

The best part of our evening was the Dueling Piano guys (Keith and Ben). Head to the Golden Jazz Bar right after the show to catch their late show (9:30-11) and prepare to be blown away by their ability to play just about ANY request you throw their way. HINT: Bring cash (yes, actual money, not just your ship card) as they really appreciate that your requests are accompanied by some greenbacks. :D We caught their show 3 nights out of 7 and had the most fun singing along and trying to stump them with our oddball requests. These guys were much better than anything we've had on Carnival or RCCL in terms of "fun".

Now for the bad. Service in the dining room is incredibly SLOOOOOW. We learned to hit a bar ahead of time to get our beverages (a martini for me, my husband a beer). The first few nights we waited nearly an hour for our drinks to arrive so we learned to just bring our own instead of ordering at the table. Food was always slow to arrive but our waiters were really attentive so we gave them great marks. They provided fabulous breads and rolls and kept our water glasses filled between courses. The food itself was good, lots of variety but my husband was not a fan of the beef dishes. I always chose the pasta, chicken or seafood and was happy each time. The lobster tail was fantastic! Desserts were always good and my husband usually ordered at least 2 each night. My favorite was the berry creme brulee - it was always creamy inside with a wonderful smoky sugar topping. One night they presented Baked Alaska in a fun and dramatic way!

We had a balcony room and it was elegant and always tidied by our room steward. My only disappointment was that we were in the front of the ship and our balcony was made of metal, not glass, so you could only see the ocean by standing up and looking over the railing. The rooms to our right all had glass but it would have been nice to know ahead of time and I might have tried to change our reservation (we were in 10032). Our kids traveled with us so our couch was always pulled out into a queen bed after we went to dinner. This made it a bit cramped for the night but not a big deal.

I can't speak to the Yacht Club other than it was incredibly annoying with regard to elevator usage. The YC folks have priority by swiping their cards when requesting/using the elevators. Many times we stood at the elevator banks and watched them all pass us by, as they were being used by the YC members. It's a great perk for the 5-10% of passengers but a HUGE dissatisfier for the remaining 90%, especially those with mobility issues. On the flip side, we found ourselves using the stairs MUCH more often than other cruises so I am sure we are healthier for it! :rolleyes:

We missed the stop at Great Stirrup Cay as the seas were too rough to tender over. I was sad but I understand - safety is much more important. Our other stops at San Juan and St Maarten went great and their debarking and reboarding processes were incredibly smooth. Even when our son's Teen card didn't scan properly as his barcode had worn off, they were able to enter him manually to keep the line moving.

Speaking of the Teen card, this was a great idea. We pre-loaded $50 onto the card and MSC adds anther $10. This allows your kid to buy his own sodas, try the F1 simulator, etc, without racking up crazy charges on your account. Unfortunately, my son spent $60.01 somehow so when we tried to disembark this morning, they made us turn around and go back to Guest Services on the deck below to pay that penny that we owed. A penny! We had to stand in line all over again and it took nearly an hour and a half to get off the ship. They did have issues with Customs officials holding things up - MSC had requested 10 agents for this first sailing and there were only 3 to handle all the passengers getting off. There were some pretty angry people, especially those that had to stand in line for a few hours when they were expecting a quick 30 minute process. Not MSC's fault but a black eye for them, no doubt. :(

Overall, we had a really relaxing cruise and enjoyed our vacation. There were quite a few kids on board so my teenagers had a good time making friends. My husband had a fun time in the casino (coming home with an extra $200 in his pocket) and I really enjoyed the lido deck. HINT: there are usually loungers available in the very back of the boat where the "infinity pool" is, however, there is a distinct odor coming from the smokestack that might turn some people off. There was always something going on (we took the winemakers class and really enjoyed talking to Greg from California - we bought 2 bottles of our own design to bring home) but you can also choose to just sit in one of the MANY bars or lounges and just people-watch. :D The cruise director and entertainment crew were great.

I hope they iron out the kinks (service in the dining room, flexing bar staff) but overall, a great value and an impressive ship. I hope everyone enjoys their cruise on her - she will take your breath away.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Angela

Just cruise on Splendida this past may and I used my debit card. No problems here. Be mindful though that they do place holds that lift and then they charge so you could get slammed for a few days if you're not careful.

I am glad to hear you had no issue. We used our debit card on our Carnival cruise no problem so I was hoping to do the same for the Divina next week. The money didn't actually clear from our account until 3 days after our cruise. :D

anything to report on James Quigley on the Carnival Glory?

James was very good - we had a blast closing down the bar a few times!:D