MSCDivina cruise May 19th Miami-Rio (for those who are sailing back to Miami July 14)

[bigalex72]

As requested, here is a mini-review of our 19 day cruise from Miami to Rio on May 19, for those who will be sailing on the reverse cruise Rio to Miami July 14th.

That was our 5th cruise with MSC, and 3rd on the Divina. We sailed with 2 kids - 4 and 1 y/o in the Aurea suite. MSC Divina is a beautiful ship, we truly like it, and keep coming back. It is well reviewed here, so I will just give some highlights particular to the cruise.

- It is important to keep in mind how much you paid for the cruise... for us, with two kids sailing for free, price for the suite has been a great value proposal.

 

- There were 2000 Brazilians on the ship (probably, same on the reverse cruise), which is not typical, but brings unique flavor. Many of them use it as a shopping tour to the US. Things are incredibly expensive in Brazil.

 

- Embarkation in Miami was easy and smooth; disembarkation in Rio was a disaster. Tight, but incredibly disorganized security; luggage carriers did not prioritize the luggage, so we almost were late for our plane - the only way I got our "priority" luggage was by involving one of the officers.

 

- Standard shows were spectacular, as always. There are not enough of them for the longer cruise, so half of the nights they had to fill in with impromptu shows, which were a bit less spectacular, but still good.

 

- A lot of qualified staff left home for the period of this adventure, as they did not want to go to Brazil, so some services are weaker then before. DO NOT GO TO THE HAIRDRESSER!!! We had excellent experience before, but this time they are completely clueless... For the massage go with the blond girl from South Africa - she is excellent, other ones - not so much.

 

- Food: Buffet is much better then before, soups are WAY better then before, salads are still unimpressive. Service for breakfast and lunch improved significantly.

 

- it is a long cruise, so might want to check specialty restaurants. Eataly Steakhouse was good; brunch in Galaxy is a must!

 

- there were 4 formal nights, instead of 3 - nice!

 

- Internet was uneven, as expected...

 

- Impressive availability of the Captain. He is constantly rounding, and talking with the passengers about any concerns. I never saw anything like that.

 

- Despite common excitement, we were quite unimpressed with Brazil. It seems to be not clean, overpriced, relatively unsafe. People are great though - open, friendly and helpful.

 

- Kids club was excellent, as always.

 

- Overall, the cruise was a great value, relaxing and pleasant.

[Beamafar]

Thanks for the review. Although I'm not sailing on Divina, I'll be on Preziosa which also does the Galaxy brunch so was very interested in hearing that your experience was a good one!

My trip is to celebrate a wedding anniversary so it's a tempting prospect (although being in the Yacht Club was to be our treat :rolleyes:).

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[JazzDrew]

Bigalex -- thank you for posting the review. Would you mind a few questions?

 

Do you recall what beer is on tap? Still trying to decide on the best Allegrissimo package for our tastes.

 

Is tap water served with MDR meals, and available in the buffets?

 

We laundry specials offered (as has been mentioned MSC runs for other cruises)?

 

Thanks again for sharing all this information!

[bigalex72]

Sure, no problem.

Selection of beers on tap was limited to Heineken and Bud (I think). Not much... but they had plenty of bottled beers.

Yes, MSC made an adjustment to the US market, and regular water plus tea/coffee are served in MDR, as well as the buffet. Breakfast and lunch they have good selection of juices (variable quality though)

Laundry special was excellent - $25 for 20 pieces of laundry, including shirts. Amazing... I am paying more here, in the US.

I took the tour of the ship. The laundry room is very clean, and they separate various kinds of laundry.

[JazzDrew]

Sure, no problem.

Selection of beers on tap was limited to Heineken and Bud (I think). Not much... but they had plenty of bottled beers.

Yes, MSC made an adjustment to the US market, and regular water plus tea/coffee are served in MDR, as well as the buffet. Breakfast and lunch they have good selection of juices (variable quality though)

Laundry special was excellent - $25 for 20 pieces of laundry, including shirts. Amazing... I am paying more here, in the US.

I took the tour of the ship. The laundry room is very clean, and they separate various kinds of laundry.

As long as Heineken is one of the tap choices we're happy campers. :) I was hoping they would offer that great laundry special, and good to hear the laundry room is clean and things are separated I always wonder......

 

Thanks again!

[moomoocow]

Thanks so much for this Bigalex.

 

I was wondering about the staff and passenger make up to and from Brazil especially after reading a particularly hateful diatribe over on the review section from someone who was on your cruise and us suing because it wasn't "English speaking"

 

I also have a few questions if I may?

 

I'm glad about the laundry specials. Was there anything else that was good value on offer eg Top 18 sun deck etc? Was the programme of entertainment similar to a standard Divina cruise despite the length of the cruise? Was the ship full?

 

 

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[Beamafar]

 

I took the tour of the ship. The laundry room is very clean, and they separate various kinds of laundry.

 

I've done the tour on Preziosa - it was really interesting to see how they managed to keep everyone's laundry separated - I'd often wondered how they did that! And the effort put into ironing items - had to be seen to be believed.

 

Also - how clean and organised the kitchens are. Nothing like you'd imagine.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Beamafar

[danielle1009]

Thanks for the review. We are on the reverse sailing in 2 weeks and very much looking forward to it.

 

Can you share a bit about activities on board during the many sea days we've got? Any advice on things not to miss!?

[American Bear]

Sure, no problem.

Selection of beers on tap was limited to Heineken and Bud (I think). Not much... but they had plenty of bottled beers.

Yes, MSC made an adjustment to the US market, and regular water plus tea/coffee are served in MDR, as well as the buffet. Breakfast and lunch they have good selection of juices (variable quality though)

Laundry special was excellent - $25 for 20 pieces of laundry, including shirts. Amazing... I am paying more here, in the US.

I took the tour of the ship. The laundry room is very clean, and they separate various kinds of laundry.

 

Thanks for the review!

We found the drink prices, the laundry prices, the internet prices, and the excursion prices some of the best offered by any cruise line!:)

[bigalex72]

Yes, I read that review. The guy is simply ignorant. It is an "English-speaking cruise", as well as German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French speaking. It is a common knowledge that MSC is offering an International experience, and you have to appreciate it to be there. It was a great opportunity to talk with all kinds of people, as well as immerse into Brazilian culture on board. We made some very good friends. Yes, many Brazilians do not speak English, but many do.

The only annoying thing for us (he is right about this) was that the second show has been moved back for an hour. With little kids - it was too late for us. So, we adjusted our schedule to eat dinner within an hour, and see an 8pm show. Not a big deal.

Personnel is international, somewhat more Indonesians this time. Everyone spoke English, some better then the others. I am amazed how they all were able to speak 7 languages...

Days at sea were OK. Unfortunately, many activities were on the pool deck without the cover. Does not work with our skin... Nevertheless, there are plenty of things to do on the ship, and explore various areas. I tried to exercise more.

One day at sea is Baptizing by Neptune at Equator crossing - this is an event NOT TO MISS! Paint yourself, get messy, and get lots of pictures and a certificate to display!

I agree - one thing I love about MSC is that everything is much more affordable, comparing to other cruise lines.

Deals:

- Get the wine package right away! Excellent Italian wines for $22 a bottle for the dinner.

- Get larger Internet package (1 or 1.5 hours) - you will need it at sea.

- Spend half day at the excursion "Behind the scenes" of the ship. It was great

- If you have a haircut, as them to buy a product - the haircut is free then.

- Buy everything AFTER you'll leave Brazil. The prices will go down

- Movies are $8, so just upload some on your laptop, before going on the cruise

- if you have $10 - $200 voucher from the previous cruise, have a written confirmation that it was applied to your account. I have issues with it every time.

[moomoocow]

Yes, I read that review. The guy is simply ignorant. It is an "English-speaking cruise", as well as German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French speaking. It is a common knowledge that MSC is offering an International experience, and you have to appreciate it to be there. It was a great opportunity to talk with all kinds of people, as well as immerse into Brazilian culture on board. We made some very good friends. Yes, many Brazilians do not speak English, but many do.

The only annoying thing for us (he is right about this) was that the second show has been moved back for an hour. With little kids - it was too late for us. So, we adjusted our schedule to eat dinner within an hour, and see an 8pm show. Not a big deal.

Personnel is international, somewhat more Indonesians this time. Everyone spoke English, some better then the others. I am amazed how they all were able to speak 7 languages...

Days at sea were OK. Unfortunately, many activities were on the pool deck without the cover. Does not work with our skin... Nevertheless, there are plenty of things to do on the ship, and explore various areas. I tried to exercise more.

One day at sea is Baptizing by Neptune at Equator crossing - this is an event NOT TO MISS! Paint yourself, get messy, and get lots of pictures and a certificate to display!

I agree - one thing I love about MSC is that everything is much more affordable, comparing to other cruise lines.

Deals:

- Get the wine package right away! Excellent Italian wines for $22 a bottle for the dinner.

- Get larger Internet package (1 or 1.5 hours) - you will need it at sea.

- Spend half day at the excursion "Behind the scenes" of the ship. It was great

- If you have a haircut, as them to buy a product - the haircut is free then.

- Buy everything AFTER you'll leave Brazil. The prices will go down

- Movies are $8, so just upload some on your laptop, before going on the cruise

- if you have $10 - $200 voucher from the previous cruise, have a written confirmation that it was applied to your account. I have issues with it every time.

 

 

We've already booked Allegrissimo classic. Despite it being more expensive than the EU version it's still good value.

 

I'm thinking internet might be a good way to go because five days at sea without contact with the outside world will drive me mental.

 

Which leads me onto a follow up question (because I'm cheeky!) - did the TV channels change as you neared Brazil? I'm assuming the US/Caribbean centric ones vanished?

 

 

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[dazza74]

Thanks so much for this Bigalex.

 

I was wondering about the staff and passenger make up to and from Brazil especially after reading a particularly hateful diatribe over on the review section from someone who was on your cruise and us suing because it wasn't "English speaking"

 

I also have a few questions if I may?

 

I'm glad about the laundry specials. Was there anything else that was good value on offer eg Top 18 sun deck etc? Was the programme of entertainment similar to a standard Divina cruise despite the length of the cruise? Was the ship full?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Hi. Where's this bad review. Can't find it. Curious. See you soon.

[moomoocow]

Hi. Where's this bad review. Can't find it. Curious. See you soon.

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=256908

 

There you go.

 

 

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[bigalex72]

Honestly, we did not watch much of a TV - that is something I can do at home :-)

That said, I truly enjoyed NOT to have Internet connection for 5 days. It is a luxury to be fully disconnected from work, and recharge your batteries. That's why I like those days at sea...

[AmoMondo]

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=256908

 

There you go.

 

 

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Oh my!

 

Loved the bit about him speaking to Guest Dervices about everything being geared towards Brazilians. More than 2000 of them onboard (and he could not have predicted this?). What did he expect them to say. OK I'm sorry about that, we'll change everything into English only, play music you recognise and to hell with the majority onboard?

 

I missed the review because it say it was Western Caribbean. Maybe that's where he thought he was going or that Brazil and it's people are the same as those he'd see in Te Caribbean.

[jkgourmet]

BigAlex, thanks for taking the time to share. A couplr of questions?

 

The wine package - at $22/bottle? Is that some kind of premium package? I thought there was a lower priced package? If I am correct, can I assume you did not like the wines in that lower priced package? (We drink reds.)

 

The ship tour excursion - cost and how long was the tour?

[bigalex72]

AmoMondo,

overall, that is not a true statement that the cruise was not English speaking. Most of the announcements, Portuguese was a 3rd or 4th language. We found this as an opportunity to learn more about Brasil, and learn some language...

[bigalex72]

Wine, overall, I think, is a strong side of MSC. Other cruise lines we sailed with had wine at the starting point of $35-40 a bottle. On the MSC it starts at $19-22, with VERY decent wines. The wine package at the MDR is $150 for 7 bottles of wine (which was enough for me for the entire 19 day cruise). Selection is limited to about 20 wines with the price range of $29-32 a bottle, so it is a 30% discount. I found it of a great value. Try Barolo - it was the best. Remember, there are 4 formal nights with free drinks. I did not purchase an Allegrissimo package, as I am not drinking more then 1-2 drinks a day. BTW, if you did not like the cocktail at the bar - they usually re-do it for free, which was nice.

[JazzDrew]

Wine, overall, I think, is a strong side of MSC. Other cruise lines we sailed with had wine at the starting point of $35-40 a bottle. On the MSC it starts at $19-22, with VERY decent wines. The wine package at the MDR is $150 for 7 bottles of wine (which was enough for me for the entire 19 day cruise). Selection is limited to about 20 wines with the price range of $29-32 a bottle, so it is a 30% discount. I found it of a great value. Try Barolo - it was the best. Remember, there are 4 formal nights with free drinks. I did not purchase an Allegrissimo package, as I am not drinking more then 1-2 drinks a day. BTW, if you did not like the cocktail at the bar - they usually re-do it for free, which was nice.

Free drinks on the formal nights? :) Is this at a pre-dinner cocktail reception or in the MDR?

 

Do happen to recall the cost of a mocha or latte at the coffee bar? That's my morning vice....

 

Thanks for all the information!

[AmoMondo]

AmoMondo,

overall, that is not a true statement that the cruise was not English speaking. Most of the announcements, Portuguese was a 3rd or 4th language. We found this as an opportunity to learn more about Brasil, and learn some language...

 

Thanks for the clarification. I've done 2 repos - one from Brazil and the other to Brazil. My experience and opinion are pretty similar to yours. Yes we had loads of Brazilians onboard but English was still spoken. Found the Brazilians great fun too! I toddled along to the Brazilian Portuguese classes thinking it would be a cinch as I know a bit of Portuguese only to find the pronunciation was different and so were some of the words.

 

Some people enjoy overseas travel because it provides the opportunity to experience different things and meet people from different cultures. Those people don't want things to be like they are at home. Others seem to want the rest of the World to be like their own backyard and if it isn't, they get it a tailspin! They also get paranoid thinking the other nationalities are getting priority and they are being picked on. Once had someone whinge to me that it wasn't fair that the Italians were being told twice as much as English speaking people at a talk by a Sommelier. I asked them if they spoke any Italian and they replied, not a word. What makes you think they're getting told something you aren't, I asked. Well he must be they said, because it seems to last longer when he translates into Italian. I speak a bit of Italian and tried to tell them that he was saying the same thing in both languages but there was no way they'd believe it.

[bigalex72]

Pre-dinner one hour reception in all the bars. They serve unlimited free champagne, and 2 types of martini. Nice touch...

Coffee is around $3

[JazzDrew]

Pre-dinner one hour reception in all the bars. They serve unlimited free champagne, and 2 types of martini. Nice touch...

Coffee is around $3

 

That's exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you!