Divina extreme reviews, is it the Divina, or the Reviewers!

[AmoMondo]

Thanks! I guess nobody knows about the Nutella crepes.

 

Sorry no, I don't eat Nutella. I would not expect them to be included in the Classic package though, just the Premium. You'd need to factor in the individual cost as it may still work out cheaper to get the classic and pay for the crepe than incur the additional cost of the premium, unless of course you're going to be eating loads of them!

[American Bear]

Thanks! I guess nobody knows about the Nutella crepes.

 

Allegirissimo Premium Pkge.

Unlimited consumption of alcoholic and nonalcoholic

beverages including wine (from the“by the

glass” menu), draught and bottled beer, soft

drinks, mineral water, hot drinks and all drinks from

the bar (including champagne cocktails, single malt

whiskies, superior brandies and other premium

spirits), drinks from your mini bar and mineral

water in your cabin, as well as all items from the

‘Gelateria’ menu and Pastry Shop and food from the

Room Service menu. The drinks included in

package can be consumed in all bars and

restaurants, including the à la carte restaurants and

themed venues. Not included in this offer: cigars,

cigarettes, bottles of wine, sparkling wine and

champagne, souvenir glasses and drinks served in

souvenir glasses, all food consumptions in

restaurants on payment (Sushi bar, Chinese

restaurant, Tex-Mex, Restaurant à la Carte, Sports

bar, Eataly, Pizzeria).

 

Allegrissimo Classic

Unlimited consumption of alcoholic and nonalcoholic

beverages including wine by the glass

(white, red, rosé and sparkling chosen from the

“Allegrissimo selection”), draft beer, soft drinks,

mineral water, hot drinks and a wide selection of

drinks and cocktails from the bar list, as well as

take away ice-cream in a cone or cup. The drinks

included in package can be consumed in all bars

and restaurants, including the à la carte restaurants

and themed venues. MINI BARS and MINERAL

WATER IN CABINS: EXCLUDED. Not included in

this offer: cigars, cigarettes, champagne, premium

brands, mini bar, room service, souvenir glasses,

food on payment. Some of the drinks from our bar

and wine lists are excluded from Allegrissimo

package; for your convenince, they are indicated

with”asterisk”.

 

Sorry we didn't have any experience with the Nutella.:eek:

Nutella isn't mentioned so we suggest you call MSC if its important to you!

Our experience with other cruisers on the Divina who bought the Allegissimo Pkges. was they were happy to have bought the Premium Pkge. because of its convenience, and it included the Mini Bar, the Gelateria, Pastry Shop, the choice of bottle or draft beer, and the list of premium brand liquors!

But it really comes down to which one you get the most out of!:)

Edited June 3, 2014 by American Bear

[ioneblair]

*clapping* thanks.....I need the repetition to help me make a decision :)

Edited June 3, 2014 by ioneblair

[Bosjoe]

*clapping* thanks.....I need the repetition to help me make a decision :)

 

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

all you can drink premium

 

Is that enough? :)

 

Since I can tell the difference between grey goose and the cheaper vodka, I go with the premium. On my Indy TA I converted a Absolute guy to Grey Goose, since it was on the package, he said wow its smoother and could tell the difference. :)

[sidari]

On my Indy TA I converted a Absolute guy to Grey Goose, since it was on the package, he said wow its smoother and could tell the difference.

 

But still nowhere as good as Swedish Branvin ..... :D Absolut is rubbish by comparison.

[ioneblair]

LOL Bosjoe

 

I am another Grey Goose convert and Ketel One does it even better imo

[Katgoesonholiday]

You need to try 42 Below. It's a really smooth vodka and has a marketing campaign that is quite quirky and irreverent.

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2014 by Katgoesonholiday

[Bosjoe]

But still nowhere as good as Swedish Branvin ..... :D Absolut is rubbish by comparison.

 

Gotta go with whats on the ship. :) Absolut was golden when I was 20. That was over 25 years ago, we didn't know better.

[Bosjoe]

LOL Bosjoe

 

I am another Grey Goose convert and Ketel One does it even better imo

 

I gotta try that Ketel one the next time. :)

[sidari]

Gotta go with whats on the ship.

 

Bosjoe .... For sure, but that said you cannot get Branvin outside of Sweden unless of course someone goes and gets it for you.

[American Bear]

Well this former Russian Bear, now American Bear can state that there is either a 'large, full' bottle of Absolut, or Grey Goose in our Freezer at all times!:D

PS Russian Tradition is if you open it, you finish it, that's the reason for a 'large' bottle!:D And men drink it straight, only 'women' drink cocktails!:D Gotta admit my hangovers were less drinking it straight, but my Fav. is still Vodka/Tonic with a lime,,,,no lemon, so guess I'm a woman drinker on this subject!:D

I can tell you a story about visiting a friends Dacha on the river Karma near the Ural Mtns. where we went through 6 large bottles the first night, so our friend decided to go to the local store and pick up a little bottle of the local brew for breakfast, well that stuff took the skin off my tongue on the first shot!:eek:

Braver, tougher then me, I stuck to the orange juice after that!:D

[AmoMondo]

Well this former Russian Bear, now American Bear can state that there is either a 'large, full' bottle of Absolut, or Grey Goose in our Freezer at all times!:D

PS Russian Tradition is if you open it, you finish it, that's the reason for a 'large' bottle!:D And men drink it straight, only 'women' drink cocktails!:D Gotta admit my hangovers were less drinking it straight, but my Fav. is still Vodka/Tonic with a lime,,,,no lemon, so guess I'm a woman drinker on this subject!:D

I can tell you a story about visiting a friends Dacha on the river Karma near the Ural Mtns. where we went through 6 large bottles the first night, so our friend decided to go to the local store and pick up a little bottle of the local brew for breakfast, well that stuff took the skin off my tongue on the first shot!:eek:

Braver, tougher then me, I stuck to the orange juice after that!:D

 

My sister in law has Russian parents but was born in the Ukraine and now resides in the UK (has 3 passports). Anyway she is a big vodka drinker and will happily knock it back straight or with cranberry juice or OJ.

[tarheelmjfan]

Sorry to derail the vodka discussion, but crepes are extra?:eek: I could imagine myself having at least one crepe daily. I'm addicted to sweets. :o We're going to have to put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer the Yacht Club or a balcony & pay as we go. First, I'm going to have to figure out what is an additional fee other than specialty restaurants & alcohol of course. We usually purchase bottles of wine, but would go with a package if getting wine for our balcony is convenient enough. Without seeing next fall's prices, it's impossible to predict. It kind of looks like YC may be as cheap as "pay as you go" for our vacation style.

Edited June 4, 2014 by tarheelmjfan

[Bosjoe]

Sorry to derail the vodka discussion, but crepes are extra?:eek: I could imagine myself having at least one crepe daily. I'm addicted to sweets. :o We're going to have to put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer the Yacht Club or a balcony & pay as we go. First, I'm going to have to figure out what is an additional fee other than specialty restaurants & alcohol of course. We usually purchase bottles of wine, but would go with a package if getting wine for our balcony is convenient enough. Without seeing next fall's prices, it's impossible to predict. It kind of looks like YC may be as cheap as "pay as you go" for our vacation style.

 

Just know you only get drinks free in the Yacht club areas only.

[tarheelmjfan]

Just know you only get drinks free in the Yacht club areas only.

 

Yes, I've see that mentioned. :) We don't go to many shows or other entertainment. If we do, we wouldn't mind to order a drink & pay extra. The question would be how easy it is to get wine/sparkling wine by the glass to our balcony in YC. If DH could quickly run out & get refills, that would be doable. We'd just rather not have to buy many bottles for the balcony after paying for YC. If we're still going to have to order bottles, we'd probably be better off paying as we go.

[Katgoesonholiday]

I prefer drinking my vodka straight. And we always have a bottle on the go because a) it's damn good stuff; and B) we have six kids so need the extra support :P

[American Bear]

I prefer drinking my vodka straight. And we always have a bottle on the go because a) it's damn good stuff; and B) we have six kids so need the extra support :P

 

6 kids:eek: you 'deserve' the extra support!:D

[itsnowjoke]

Hi Kids! I rarely post anything on Cruise Critic, but found this thread to be very interesting. Prior to sailing on the Divina on May 19 MIA-RIO, I had no experience whatsoever with MSC so I came here to learn something. Yes, some people had an awful time on the ship. Others broke out the flamethrowers and chastised those people for having an awful time on the ship. I saw reviews in which folks loved the ship. So I was very curious as to what the reality of the situation would be. I'm a Royal Caribbean diamond, and have been on RCCL, Celebrity, and their Azamara brand, so that's my baseline as far as judging a "new" cruise line.

 

Having said that, I can assure you that I will NEVER sail on MSC again. It was just that awful. Seriously. During a pre-trip issue with obtaining a Brazilian Visa, we sought advice and help from MSC. I was told to talk to or email several people within the company. No one returned my emails, and the one guy that I did talk to was very rude. Although I talked to him kindly, it was obvious that his rudeness was a coping mechanism for his incompetence.

 

On the ship: The food lacked imagination, quality, presentation, and most of all taste. Before you get the idea that I'm a food snob, I'm not. But for instance on Lobster night we were presented with small, mushy lobsters. When we asked for drawn butter, none was available. And so on and so forth, for 18 nights. Yay.

 

The pool area was clean and chairs were always available, which was a pleasant surprise. One day the pool was yellow and it reeked of having not been cleaned. But I've occasionally seen that on other cruise brands as well, no harm, no foul. Only it was foul, ha ha.

 

I must say that the ship was clean and the housekeeping staff was top-notch. The drinks were very good. Maybe they want to keep you drunk so you just don't care about anything else?

 

One strange thing was the motion theater. It was rarely in use, and when we stopped by, the employees running it seemed dumbfounded that anyone had showed up to ride it. Even the young ones in our group thought 9 bucks for a five minute ride was excessive, so we passed. Yes, I knew in advance there was a fee for this. But given it's lack of use, why not just run it complimentary several hours per day? Like the flowrider on RCCL? Just a thought. The motion theater didn't make or break the cruise, it was just odd.

 

A bunch of us passengers were actually wondering if this is a cruise company that actually wants to stay in business? It was that awful. And like I said, I will never, ever give MSC another chance, given the complete lack of customer service on the front-end of the cruise. I haven't hit on everything, because I want to keep this relatively short, and I generally don't like to whine. Overall I'd give the cruise a 2 out of 10. which in my book means that I could have spent the time and money having much more fun elsewhere. Like a RCCL Transatlantic. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm not even going to put this cruise in my signature page under cruise count. It's actually kind of embarrassing to advertise that I've been on it!

 

So for you MSC regulars, get your flamethrowers out and scorch me if you love the brand. The cruise on MSC just solidified my loyalty to RCCL.

 

Lastly, for those of you who say it's all about attitude and it's the cruiser, not the brand? I'm extremely easy to please, always friendly to the staff, and always have a great time wherever I go in the course of my extensive world travels. It's my impression that the Divina and MSC in general has a management problem, not a labor problem, as everyone on the ship seemed eager to please.

Edited June 10, 2014 by itsnowjoke

[ioneblair]

not a flamethrower but thank you for the entertainment....my 16 year old granddaughter would have enjoyed this and thought another teenager was writing this....or better yet, tween.....

 

you really embarrass yourself with this, I would suggest ducking and hiding henceforth...or just going up in flames?

[tarheelmjfan]

A bunch of us passengers were actually wondering if this is a cruise company that actually wants to stay in business? It was that awful. And like I said, I will never, ever give MSC another chance, given the complete lack of customer service on the front-end of the cruise. I haven't hit on everything, because I want to keep this relatively short, and I generally don't like to whine. Overall I'd give the cruise a 2 out of 10. which in my book means that I could have spent the time and money having much more fun elsewhere. Like a RCCL Transatlantic. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm not even going to put this cruise in my signature page under cruise count. It's actually kind of embarrassing to advertise that I've been on it!

 

I'm not an MSC cheerleader. I haven't been on one of their ships yet. You actually had me, until you posted the above. Now, not so much.

[MSC Cruises USA]

Hi Kids! I rarely post anything on Cruise Critic, but found this thread to be very interesting. Prior to sailing on the Divina on May 19 MIA-RIO, I had no experience whatsoever with MSC so I came here to learn something. Yes, some people had an awful time on the ship. Others broke out the flamethrowers and chastised those people for having an awful time on the ship. I saw reviews in which folks loved the ship. So I was very curious as to what the reality of the situation would be. I'm a Royal Caribbean diamond, and have been on RCCL, Celebrity, and their Azamara brand, so that's my baseline as far as judging a "new" cruise line.

 

Having said that, I can assure you that I will NEVER sail on MSC again. It was just that awful. Seriously. During a pre-trip issue with obtaining a Brazilian Visa, we sought advice and help from MSC. I was told to talk to or email several people within the company. No one returned my emails, and the one guy that I did talk to was very rude. Although I talked to him kindly, it was obvious that his rudeness was a coping mechanism for his incompetence.

 

On the ship: The food lacked imagination, quality, presentation, and most of all taste. Before you get the idea that I'm a food snob, I'm not. But for instance on Lobster night we were presented with small, mushy lobsters. When we asked for drawn butter, none was available. And so on and so forth, for 18 nights. Yay.

 

The pool area was clean and chairs were always available, which was a pleasant surprise. One day the pool was yellow and it reeked of having not been cleaned. But I've occasionally seen that on other cruise brands as well, no harm, no foul. Only it was foul, ha ha.

 

I must say that the ship was clean and the housekeeping staff was top-notch. The drinks were very good. Maybe they want to keep you drunk so you just don't care about anything else?

 

One strange thing was the motion theater. It was rarely in use, and when we stopped by, the employees running it seemed dumbfounded that anyone had showed up to ride it. Even the young ones in our group thought 9 bucks for a five minute ride was excessive, so we passed. Yes, I knew in advance there was a fee for this. But given it's lack of use, why not just run it complimentary several hours per day? Like the flowrider on RCCL? Just a thought. The motion theater didn't make or break the cruise, it was just odd.

 

A bunch of us passengers were actually wondering if this is a cruise company that actually wants to stay in business? It was that awful. And like I said, I will never, ever give MSC another chance, given the complete lack of customer service on the front-end of the cruise. I haven't hit on everything, because I want to keep this relatively short, and I generally don't like to whine. Overall I'd give the cruise a 2 out of 10. which in my book means that I could have spent the time and money having much more fun elsewhere. Like a RCCL Transatlantic. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm not even going to put this cruise in my signature page under cruise count. It's actually kind of embarrassing to advertise that I've been on it!

 

So for you MSC regulars, get your flamethrowers out and scorch me if you love the brand. The cruise on MSC just solidified my loyalty to RCCL.

 

Lastly, for those of you who say it's all about attitude and it's the cruiser, not the brand? I'm extremely easy to please, always friendly to the staff, and always have a great time wherever I go in the course of my extensive world travels. It's my impression that the Divina and MSC in general has a management problem, not a labor problem, as everyone on the ship seemed eager to please.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write and for share your candid comments. At MSC Cruises, we always hope to exceed your expectations and it appears that we did not accomplish that goal. If you'd like to share more feedback about your experience, please feel free to email our Customer Service Department at customer-srvc@msccruisesusa.com with more details.

 

Regards,

[itsnowjoke]

not a flamethrower but thank you for the entertainment....my 16 year old granddaughter would have enjoyed this and thought another teenager was writing this....or better yet, tween.....

 

you really embarrass yourself with this, I would suggest ducking and hiding henceforth...or just going up in flames?

 

Whatever! (rolls eyes)! So my motive in writing this would be...what exactly? Yes, I've made up my mind that I'm not going again. So I guess that I wrote this as a warning to others who are thinking of going. Thanks for the insults.

[moomoocow]

Hi Kids! I rarely post anything on Cruise Critic, but found this thread to be very interesting. Prior to sailing on the Divina on May 19 MIA-RIO, I had no experience whatsoever with MSC so I came here to learn something. Yes, some people had an awful time on the ship. Others broke out the flamethrowers and chastised those people for having an awful time on the ship. I saw reviews in which folks loved the ship. So I was very curious as to what the reality of the situation would be. I'm a Royal Caribbean diamond, and have been on RCCL, Celebrity, and their Azamara brand, so that's my baseline as far as judging a "new" cruise line.

 

Having said that, I can assure you that I will NEVER sail on MSC again. It was just that awful. Seriously. During a pre-trip issue with obtaining a Brazilian Visa, we sought advice and help from MSC. I was told to talk to or email several people within the company. No one returned my emails, and the one guy that I did talk to was very rude. Although I talked to him kindly, it was obvious that his rudeness was a coping mechanism for his incompetence.

 

On the ship: The food lacked imagination, quality, presentation, and most of all taste. Before you get the idea that I'm a food snob, I'm not. But for instance on Lobster night we were presented with small, mushy lobsters. When we asked for drawn butter, none was available. And so on and so forth, for 18 nights. Yay.

 

The pool area was clean and chairs were always available, which was a pleasant surprise. One day the pool was yellow and it reeked of having not been cleaned. But I've occasionally seen that on other cruise brands as well, no harm, no foul. Only it was foul, ha ha.

 

I must say that the ship was clean and the housekeeping staff was top-notch. The drinks were very good. Maybe they want to keep you drunk so you just don't care about anything else?

 

One strange thing was the motion theater. It was rarely in use, and when we stopped by, the employees running it seemed dumbfounded that anyone had showed up to ride it. Even the young ones in our group thought 9 bucks for a five minute ride was excessive, so we passed. Yes, I knew in advance there was a fee for this. But given it's lack of use, why not just run it complimentary several hours per day? Like the flowrider on RCCL? Just a thought. The motion theater didn't make or break the cruise, it was just odd.

 

A bunch of us passengers were actually wondering if this is a cruise company that actually wants to stay in business? It was that awful. And like I said, I will never, ever give MSC another chance, given the complete lack of customer service on the front-end of the cruise. I haven't hit on everything, because I want to keep this relatively short, and I generally don't like to whine. Overall I'd give the cruise a 2 out of 10. which in my book means that I could have spent the time and money having much more fun elsewhere. Like a RCCL Transatlantic. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm not even going to put this cruise in my signature page under cruise count. It's actually kind of embarrassing to advertise that I've been on it!

 

So for you MSC regulars, get your flamethrowers out and scorch me if you love the brand. The cruise on MSC just solidified my loyalty to RCCL.

 

Lastly, for those of you who say it's all about attitude and it's the cruiser, not the brand? I'm extremely easy to please, always friendly to the staff, and always have a great time wherever I go in the course of my extensive world travels. It's my impression that the Divina and MSC in general has a management problem, not a labor problem, as everyone on the ship seemed eager to please.

 

 

It's not flaming if people question the motives. It seems reasonable to ask why you've posted so little on these forums despite your extensive cruising history.

 

But no worries. Your extensive world travels won't be troubled by MSC again. Thanks for your input.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Bosjoe]

Funny I am a RCCL cruiser, and I liked the MSC brand on the ship. Take it I didn't have to deal with customer service front end, I will definately sale this ship again. You went on the ship already fuming with customer service. You most likly held on to that. I am proud to have MSC in my list because RCCL is getting annoying with all their cutbacks and their mall type attitude on the ship. When they started passing out flyers on Oasis for their sidewalk sales, and people lining up, I can stay home at my local mall for that crap.

[ioneblair]

Dear itsnowjoke, I will spare you one more comment....it's not your opinion that is lacking O Cruising One, it's your laughable lack of substance and immature approach to cruising....I hope for your sake this does not characterize your approach to life's other doings....

 

These come across as very fishy, not credible....... and why would your lack of help getting a visa for your travels by a cruiseline affect your actual cruise? Have you not dealt with rude people before in life? If so, it really had this much affect on you? Aren't you the one responsible for getting your own required travel documents? You want me to believe that notably clean pool area one day was reeking???

 

During a pre-trip issue with obtaining a Brazilian Visa, we sought advice and help from MSC. I was told to talk to or email several people within the company. No one returned my emails, and the one guy that I did talk to was very rude. Although I talked to him kindly, it was obvious that his rudeness was a coping mechanism for his incompetence.

 

The pool area was clean and chairs were always available, which was a pleasant surprise. One day the pool was yellow and it reeked of having not been cleaned. But I've occasionally seen that on other cruise brands as well, no harm, no foul. Only it was foul, ha ha

 

Seriously!!! ok I will stop there because in fact your entire "review" lacks real weight and substance and as I read it, it looked like a lot of smoke and mirrors....I would give weight where it was due but your "evidence' is puny and whiny and gives me no real facts to make anything of....

 

I am not one lead by silly words or emotional outbursts when I am looking for facts to help me plan my travels.....

 

lastly you make my point by your subsequent post and gave me more laughs when you posted this:

 

Whatever! (rolls eyes)!

 

:D:D:D

Edited June 11, 2014 by ioneblair