LMCruise

I talked to an agent around noon. She couldn't hear me and said they were having phone problems. Called me back on another number.

She "fixed" something, but didn't. I now have a balance due for a fully paid cruise. Tried 3 times this afternoon to get through but gave up around 30 minutes. I'm guessing their phone lines are down.

We were told 4 shows on the Seaside by the senior staff on the Divina.

We had the same choice to make and chose YC after our recent Divina cruise.

The dining room was fine for the very low price we paid, but we usually left wanting better. We hope to have that in the YC dining room.

The pool deck was basically a madhouse on Divina. If you didn't get a chair at 8 am, you weren't getting one until dinner. We saw zero enforcement of the "don't save a chair all day" rule. The Aurea level will have a sundeck on Seaside, so that helps, but not a pool. We want a calmer deck with a pool.

I think you need to wait and see with the Seaside. The theater experience will be different than with Divina. On my last cruise, it was said that the theater will be smaller, with more performances, and will likely be booked via the new app.

We boarded a few weeks ago with a bottle of soda and three bottles of water in our carry on backpack. Nobody said a thing. We had a drinks package, so we didn't care if they took them away. They were freebies from our hotel, and we took them thinking we might want something to drink in the terminal while waiting to board. We boarded so quickly that we didn't have time to drink anything. We also had an orange, banana, and a bag of chips. I specifically asked if I needed to toss any of those, and the answer was no.

It's done automatically. No need for guests to do anything other than pay their bill.

If you don't pre-pay them, they will be added daily to your on board account. We were not given vouchers or envelopes to hand out at the end of the cruise (as is done on other cruise lines). We did not ask for them, and the above line was printed in the daily program.

I think I'd be disappointed with that too!

On our Fantasia sailing, the risotto and pasta were amazing. On Divina, they were just merely acceptable. I noticed a lot of "meat and potato" type dishes on Divina, both in the dining room and buffet. There was certainly more beef on Divina, and the cuts were larger/thicker.

For pasta or risotto on Divina, dine in Eataly or Italia. We met the chef that runs that kitchen. He's from Naples, third generation chef, and does an amazing job with the pasta dishes.

About the drinks for $8 and under m that is what my agent said when i booked

Sounds like the more for less package. It makes sense that they would just tack on an existing package for YC guests, as it would cause the least confusion for workers and no rewriting of bar menus. As it is now, your drink package is shown with a code on your cruise card. The servers and bartenders know before swiping if you are eligible for whatever you've ordered.

Throw in a new code, and everybody gets confused. We had this happen on our sailing, as the code on our cards was for specialty dining and not our drink package. Nobody had seen that code before, and even though our card worked when swiped, we had new cards made because it was such an issue.

I just looked and there are 4-5 person YC1 in April. I think you need to look on the computer.

This morning I booked a YC1 for a family member on an April 18 sailing. It gave me 4-5 cabin options. This was for 2 persons, and the cabins were 3 person cabins.

Are you trying to book 4 or 5 people?

I think the key differences you'll note with MSC are that the food is different - expect 6 or 7 courses.

This is not true for current Divina sailings (and I suspect upcoming Seaside sailings). The meal is three courses: starter/app, main, and dessert. Of course, you can order as many as you like and your server will offer them accordingly. Some servers better than others...ours last week brought my cheese plate before my baked Alaska. I had to request the baked Alaska because I could see it melting on the servers stand.

The food on the Divina was much more similar to our cruises on Royal, Carnival, etc. In fact, we were a bit disappointed in the "Americanization" of the menu (as compared to our experience on the Fantasia).

Not what I wish I would have known, but what I wish I would have done differently...

I would have pre-booked specialty dining for every night of the cruise and skipped dinner in the main dining room entirely. The main dining room was fine for the price paid. The specialty restaurants were great though, and a huge improvement for about $150 per person or less (if you prebook).

I would book the 4 restaurant package and add an additional 2 restaurants (probably Eataly and Italia). That would give me 2 Italia, 2 Eataly, 1 Galaxy, 1 pizza night, and one night to play by ear or eat at the buffet. Once on board, I would go make my reservations ASAP.

What time of year?

The biggest problem I saw for the pre-teens and teens last week was just the low number of them on board. This was a vacation week for our schools, but obviously not a vacation week for most. In the summer, I think you'd have a much better shot at them enjoying themselves.

Language probably isn't going to be a huge barrier. The European teens I saw tended toward being well traveled, well educated, and somewhat affluent. Many (most?) will have a solid grasp of English. I spoke to a few Italian teens in the elevator and a few Danish teens at the ice cream bar. Their English was very, very good.

If you are south of Florida, you are in Cuba, which is not yet a state.

Puerto Rico. Also not yet a state, but closer in the process than Cuba. ;p

I was on the Divina last week and never saw a water line coming on to the ship while in any port. As such, I was under the assumption that the water on board was all made via desalination (which is common and normal on ships). If that's the case, I'm not sure why there would be sulfur in the water. Desalination makes pure water, and then various things are added back to improve taste (like salt). I'm not sure why sulfur would be added back, given it does the opposite. But alas, I am no cruise water expert.

If your friend thinks the water is unsuitable, I would think he/she would need more than a case to last a week. I think you're looking at a situation that could be dependent on the person working the scanners. MSC might tell you it is allowed in advance, but the employee working might disagree. Do you want to start your vacation off by arguing with someone?

If I was in the situation, I would just look at purchasing a drink package to minimize my stress. You could purchase a water package or the Cheers meal package. With the Cheers package, you can get extra bottles of water (or cans of soda) and save them for later use. I did this on the Divina with soda, since I like to have a soda for breakfast and drinks are only included with lunch and dinner.

We boarded with the first group (black card) and were on the ship at 11:30. We were some of the first people at the buffet when it officially opened at noon (some food was out earlier).

We only had one instance where language seemed to be a barrier.

A breakfast one morning, my father asked for eggs with ham steak on the side (as listed on the menu). The server responded "no steak." My dad said something like, "no, I want HAM steak." The server responded back, "I bring you cold cuts." This went on back and forth for another minute, even after my dad pointed to the menu where it said "ham steak."

My son ordered waffles with stewed bananas, again as listed on the menu. He got waffles, no banana. We inquired to the server, and he brought us a whole fresh banana.

I like to drink a soda with breakfast. Knowing it would be difficult to get in the dining room, I had purchased one elsewhere and needed a glass of ice for it. I asked for a glass of ice, and got a bowl of ice.

The whole meal was frustrating.

On Divina last week, there was a service of some sort in the library on Sunday. Not sure who was leading it or what denomination it was, as we walked by after it was over. There was a cross at the front of the room, so obviously it was a Christian service.

You will have PLENTY of time. Only do an excursion if you are actually interested in the excursion.

Guests disembark based on assigned "group." If you book a ship transfer or an excursion/transfer, you will be assigned one of the first groups. The groups after that are arranged by cabin location. On Divina last week, the last group was scheduled to disembark at 11:45 am, although I believe they were off well before that.

Once you are off the ship, you will collect your luggage in the terminal (provided you left it to be collected outside your cabin the night before). In Miami, you collect it on carousels similar to the airport. Then, you take your luggage and walk through customs. Outside the terminal, there will be buses waiting for the transfers/excursions and taxis to take you to the airport. The excursion buses will hold your luggage underneath until you arrive at the airport.

For what it's worth, here's what happened to us this past weekend. Hopefully it will show you how much time you really have.

Our group was scheduled to disembark at 9:15 am. They closed the gangway for a bit, so we actually didn't get off until about 9:35 am. We were through customs and standing outside looking for our rental car shuttle at 9:45 am. We didn't get a shuttle until 10:45 (don't book through Avis!). We went to Avis downtown and were told they didn't have a car for us (again, don't book through Avis!). We called an Uber and drove to the airport for a car from a different company. We had our car by noon.

How do you feel about specialty dining? Seaside will have more options, including sushi/pan-asian/hibachi. I'm just off the Divina. Our party had meals in all 3 specialty restaurants and 4 nights in the dining room. If I were to sail her again, I'd probably pre-purchase specialty dining for every night (depending on which ones you choose, this would be about $150 per person on a 7 night). The dining room was underwhelming, but we enjoyed all of our specialty meals.

How do you feel about shows/entertainment? The 14 night Seaside is actually two 7 night cruises, which means you'll repeat shows. But, it will also have a comedy club.

How do you feel about a day in Miami while the Seaside switches over?

Hopefully this works:

https://goo.gl/photos/vbGJF3rp2SK26udZ8

If you click on them, you should be able to make out prices.

On the Divina last week, it was $60 per cabin for unlimited bowling, F1, and movie. We didn't use the package, and the only place we saw it advertised was on a sign by the mini and juniors club.

I posted pictures to Facebook and used the messenger app on my phone last week on the Divina.

You cannot click through to web links posted on Facebook though. Using social media as a browser is blocked.

I've been trying to figure out which night is Italian Night?

Which night is White ?

Which night is 70's night?

 

Was formal night Sunday (Nassau day) and Thursday night sea day?

 

Thank you so much, I haven't been able to figure this out for our itinerary. I am looking forward to your review.

Hi there, I also just returned from this cruise. I think perhaps your itinerary is different than ours, so the nights may not line up. Ours was:

Sat-casual

Sun-sea day, formal

Mon-sea day, flower power/70s/80s

Tues-St Martin, white night

Weds-San Juan, Italian night

Thurs-sea day, formal

Friday-Nassau, smart casual