!!! DIVINA !!! Eastern Caribbean ^_^ The Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide

[gambee]

I am enjoying your review. I can honestly say, this is the most beautiful ship I have seen, but one I would never sail. It seems to be missing the fun factor, the statues are not really family friendly, and the food and service seem mediocre.

 

Two suggestions got your review, some of your text does not correlate to the photo, and please don't overuse the illustration mode. I know you love it, and knew or two pictures are nice, but those photos don't really add anything yo the review.

 

I appreciate your thoughtful and indepth reviews...especially the Breakaway one, which was invaluable to me before my breakaway cruise last year.

 

The ship is gorgeous, but as you say it was missing an element that was just not present.

 

I am truly sorry you feel that way, writing a review that appeals to the masses is particularly hard. But I try to go with my heart and follow that. The illustration pictures were appreciated by all back in my Disney Dream review. I also have to say that I love them. If you look at how many pictures I post, you can see that they are still at about 1%. Quite honestly, I don't think that is bad at all. I really like the punch of color they give, not to mention the effect itself. I try to share my best pictures, and those are part of them.

Edited September 1, 2014 by gambee

[gambee]

I totally disagree, I love the writing style and all the pictures. Keep it coming please gambee :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you :)

[gambee]

Gambee I love this shot, we are in cabin 11103 which is one of these cabins that faces aft, the second one out from the wall. I can't wait!!!!

 

Those definitely look like nice cabins, the view from there must be amazing!

[gambee]

I, too, am loving this in depth review! Not wild about the illustration mode but hey, it's your review.

 

How would you say the dress code was in comparison to your other cruises? The cruisers look more stylish to me. About to book Divina for January...

 

And thank you again!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Well, that is a hard topic. You know I am not much of a dresser, and I got away with what I wore during the entire cruise. People tend to dress nicer, especially the European crowd. I would say that I was among the underdressed aboard the ship. Not that it mattered to me, but I am still pointing it out. I was never told to dress nicer or denied access to any venue.

 

So yeah, people tend to dress a little nicer. But not by much, quite honestly, I would not worry about it. Like I said, I dress rather light :D

 

Have a great cruise!

[mitsugirly]

GAMBEE!!! So glad to see this review. I figured I would wait a little bit to give you a head start, then come here to find our you're already on like...page 27??? Yikes. I have spent the last 2 days playing catch up.

 

Man, this ship is gorgeous! I'm loving the pictures as usual and your description of the daily activities is wonderful. Your uncle sounds like a hoot and a fun person to cruise with. I'm so glad you had him and your aunt along. It's making the story even more interesting with all the silliness.

 

So sorry to hear your mom fell. Ouch. Also so glad to know that she didn't break anything. I broke my hand falling on our 2010 Epic cruise, so I can completely relate.

 

You are so awesome to provide your family with this experience and especially bringing your aunt along and on here BIRTHDAY! What a great thing to do for her and one she'll never forget! It will be my husbands birthday on our next cruise and I plan to really do it up on that day! We will be in Belize and I'm taking him to swim with the sharks!!!! He thinks I'm trying to kill him on his birthday. :D

 

I really need to invest in a point and shoot Sony. I love Sony as well and my dslr is a Sony a77, which I never take on the cruises with me because there's just too much to lug around with me and I just find that I can't enjoy myself as much. However, if I had a smaller camera (and I have a lot of the Minolta & Sony lens), that wouldn't be as bad. I completely LOVE the illustration photos. I really wish my Olympus had that. I might have to use this as my new excuse to get, yet another camera. :p

 

I can't wait to read about the rest of your adventure and especially the ports. :)

[Bosjoe]

I am enjoying your review. I can honestly say, this is the most beautiful ship I have seen, but one I would never sail. It seems to be missing the fun factor, the statues are not really family friendly, and the food and service seem mediocre.

 

Two suggestions got your review, some of your text does not correlate to the photo, and please don't overuse the illustration mode. I know you love it, and knew or two pictures are nice, but those photos don't really add anything yo the review.

 

I appreciate your thoughtful and indepth reviews...especially the Breakaway one, which was invaluable to me before my breakaway cruise last year.

 

Just shaking my head. He has done an excellent job, those pictures are cool. As for the statues, you don't have taste or very prudish, TV shows show a lot more then this art. I'm sorry you think this is inappropriate for families, but all this is very tastefully done.

[KSTAZMAN]

Those statues are nothing compared to one we saw on a main stream cruise ship. Can`t remember which one it was. But it was a full sized copy of Michelangelo`s David. On one balcony it was very on display as you walked past. The ones on Divina compared to that one.

 

Reign on Gambee!

[cruiseclues]

You have an absolutely Outstanding Cruise Review...Your Photos are Fantastic...looks like your new camera's doing the trick for you...you may be the best photo reviewer on Cruise Critic...Your level of detail is remarkable...I can't say enough. :):):):)

[American Bear]

Julie. I love the writing style and all the pics too. It is just so many that look like cartoons that I am talking about

 

Everyone has different tastes, for instance, we found the food on the Divina superior to the Getaway!:) (same ship as Breakaway basically, recently off, but haven't reviewed yet!)

 

Gambee keep up the good work!

Edited September 1, 2014 by American Bear

[sonicbuffalo]

Gambee....really enjoying the pictures...and you haven't overdone it with the illustration mode. Heck, it's like Bedrock and Fred Flinstone. Yababdabado. Sorry about your Mom falling. Your uncle sounds like he needs to get out more! He is crazy/funny. That was very kind of you to pay for your aunts cruise! You are a very kind man. Glad you're enjoying the cruise (or should I say enjoyed the cruise? Your camera is taking awesome shots. Love the colors. The entire ship looks first class.

[Seago2]

Those statues are nothing compared to one we saw on a main stream cruise ship. Can`t remember which one it was. But it was a full sized copy of Michelangelo`s David. On one balcony it was very on display as you walked past. The ones on Divina compared to that one.

 

Reign on Gambee!

 

That would be the Pride! Worst decor ever. She's going in for a dry dock though, we're holding our breath...

[gambee]

Day 4, Daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Day 4, St. Maarten!!!!!

 

 

Well, let's see… Those who follow me know that I have been sailing the Western route for the longest time, mainly because of the cheaper rates that it offers. But mom and I had been dying to hit the eastern side of the Caribbean for the longest time. This was a huge deal, I have never been in St. Maarten and I really wanted to check everything out. I had done a lot of research on the island, and I came to the conclusion that the best thing to do with 4 of us was a tour so we would get to see the best of the island without the need to worry about anything else.

 

It was such a good thing that I decided on doing a tour of the island. We learned so much about St. Maarten, and even more so that the two countries agreed to share the island instead of fighting for it. St. Maarten was a good example of how two nations decided to share a territory and divide it evenly. Well, not really, we also learned how the French managed to cover more territory by sleeping less and drinking more :D. Kind of a funny story really, I guess you can google it, unless our tour guide gave us bogus information.

 

I also learned how the French side tends to be the boring side and the Dutch the fun side. Anyway, also people from the french side tend to go to the Dutch side to buy their good because they are usually less expensive.

 

Phew, ok, let's get on with the review.

 

So I woke up and the weather looked quite nice from the balcony.

 

 

 

 

I went to the safe to get all my money out and documents for port. I also took a picture of the safe. The safe is a good size. I think possibly the largest that I have seen on a cruise ship?

 

 

 

[gambee]

And as usual, I tried to give my computer some CPR, and guess what?!?!?!?!!

 

 

It gave sign of life, and I rushed to extract all my data!

 

[gambee]

The sad part was the fact that it died immediately and I was not able to rescue anything. But that was good news. It meant that there was a chance at saving my precious information! That made me feel very happy, and it pretty much made my day. It was the first thing I told my mom when I saw her. She knows how much my information means to me. After all, I spend half the day just playing with batteries and lenses, and knowing that all that is for nothing is just devastating!

 

 

When I got to my moms room, they told me about my uncles second big score!!!! I am telling you. This guy is as lucky as they get!

 

 

We all headed out to the buffet to get some yummy breakfast!

 

 

I think you’re noticing a pattern with my food here :D

 

 

[gambee]

We sat there and talked while the ship pulled into port. St Marteen is truly gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BugsyCruiser]

Great pictures of your approach to St. Maarten. I agree... St. Maarten is gorgeous, really enjoying going there a lot.

[gambee]

 

 

We ate our food and headed upstairs since we were about to dock. I also want to talk as to why the captain backed into port, instead of bow forward. IN the Q&A, he said that the swells hit that port and the make the ship move uncomfortably if the ship is not backed in. So he makes the decision to back the ship in, to main the passengers as comfortable as possible while the ship is docked.

 

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures while the ship was docking. I hope you like them :)

 

 

 

I like the looks of Getaway much more than Breakaway! Although I have to say that NCL Escape looks much better than all of them put together.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

I love the old rugged look of the rope course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

I hope they are all not sleeping in that room :D

 

 

As usual NCL has loud music and a fantastic party while you get off the ship. It was so loud that I could hear it from up there. I love that!

 

 

Loved it!

 

 

Those water slides are some of the best at sea!

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

I never had a picture like this, and I always wanted one. You can really tell the real size of those balconies.

 

 

I am glad to see that they added a real table on those larger balconies, vs that ridiculous tiny one on the other ones.

 

 

[gambee]

Cruise Ship Canyon!

 

 

Is breakaway like that? I never noticed those tarps…

 

 

How much $$$ is that room again? :p. You won’t see Gambee there, anytime soon ;)

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

Isn’t she Gorgeous?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

Is that a helipad?

 

 

 

These folks are paying major bucks to be there! I love DCL!!!!

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

I got some really nice pictures of Divina’s indoor pool without anyone inside.