It's official. Flights purchased. Doing the Divina out of Rome...

[Stockjock]

I booked a 10 day cruise on Divina out of Rome last July or so. Paid around $1k for a mid-ship balcony, which seemed pretty reasonable considering that it's such a pretty ship and terrific itinerary.

 

Stops in Italy, Sicily, Malta, Corfu, Cannes, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, La Spezia, Naples, etc. Was supposed to stop in Tunisia, but that was cancelled due to recent Isis violence against tourists.

 

Long flights from San Diego, but should be fun. The flight situation was a bit tricky, although in the end I thought we got pretty decent, but long, flights.

 

Really looking forward to it. And I think Sept will be a nice time of year to visit. I'm a bit concerned about so many hot dogs and burgers for lunch, but I guess we'll just deal with it. No idea what we'll do yet in most ports, but we'll figure it out. Always open to suggestions though!

Edited April 7, 2015 by Stockjock

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Good for you, Stockjock, sounds like fun! (Except for the flights, of course.;)) DH and I haven't done a European cruise yet so I'm very envious.

 

Bon Voyage!

:D

[FTLcruisers]

hot dogs and burgers? how about the awesome pizza? Best on any cruiseline; actually better than what we can get at home! And don't forget the international section of the buffet where they have fresh cheeses made on the ship and too many other yummy things to name!

 

Marianne

[Mikesa1721]

hot dogs and burgers? how about the awesome pizza? Best on any cruiseline; actually better than what we can get at home! And don't forget the international section of the buffet where they have fresh cheeses made on the ship and too many other yummy things to name!

 

Marianne

 

Incredible pizza!!!! We'll be making a bee line straight to La Cantina Di Bacco once we board in two weeks time!!!:D

[Stockjock]

Glass half full attitude for sure

 

 

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[Skier52]

Good for you, Stockjock, sounds like fun! (Except for the flights, of course.;)) DH and I haven't done a European cruise yet so I'm very envious.

 

Bon Voyage!

:D

 

If you were to do a Western Med itinerary like this you would visit some fabulous destinations.

 

The big ones IMHO are Civitavecchia (Rome), Barcelona, Naples (Pompeii) and Valletta, with Messina ( for Mt. Etna ) a close 5th. The other ports are les intersting.

 

 

 

 

 

[Stockjock]

Yes this is the exact itinerary.

 

 

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[JuneauWhatIMean]

Thank you so much for the great information, Skier52. I've always had my heart set on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise because of the scenery/historical landmarks of Greece and the little islands of Italy and thought maybe we'd do a land tour of mainland Italy someday so that we could spend more time there. But.......Stockjock, your iten. looks awesome. ;)

 

I have to choose carefully because we really hate the 11+ hr. flights from LAX to London, et al. And I'm the TA for us, albeit non-professional, so I will get the blame if things go awry.

 

I've always considered Oceania to be my/our choice for a Mediterrean cruise in the future. But I/we've recently jumped ship from NCL and will sail on MSC Divina this December to the Eastern Carribean. I can't wait to try MSC and hope we love her enough to trust MSC for our future bucket list cruises!

 

Again, thank you so much for your input Skier52. It really helps!:)

 

Did someone say real pizza Mike???:D

[Mikesa1721]

Thank you so much for the great information, Skier52. I've always had my heart set on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise because of the scenery/historical landmarks of Greece and the little islands of Italy and thought maybe we'd do a land tour of mainland Italy someday so that we could spend more time there. But.......Stockjock, your iten. looks awesome. ;)

 

I have to choose carefully because we really hate the 11+ hr. flights from LAX to London, et al. And I'm the TA for us, albeit non-professional, so I will get the blame if things go awry.

 

I've always considered Oceania to be my/our choice for a Mediterrean cruise in the future. But I/we've recently jumped ship from NCL and will sail on MSC Divina this December to the Eastern Carribean. I can't wait to try MSC and hope we love her enough to trust MSC for our future bucket list cruises!

 

Again, thank you so much for your input Skier52. It really helps!:)

 

Did someone say real pizza Mike???:D

 

The pizza onboard Divina is no joke!!!! All of their ingredients are imported from Italy and the pizza chef at La Cantina Di Bacco makes them fresh for you!!! Don't even get me started on the plank of appetizers you get before your pizza arrives!!! Can't wait,,,just two more weeks!!!!!!

Edited April 7, 2015 by Mikesa1721

[JuneauWhatIMean]

WHERE can we get this???:eek::D:o

[Mikesa1721]

WHERE can we get this???:eek::D:o

 

You'll have to first,,,get onboard MSC Divina,,,then head to deck 7, and there you will find La Cantina Di Bacco!!! Or,,,,just follow your nose,,,it will lead you there!:D

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Not in the YC? :(........ I don't think I've read about La Cantina Di Bacco.... that's okay, kippee ki yayyy, Baby! I could LIVE on pizza! Thanks, Mike!

[Mikesa1721]

Not in the YC? :(........ I don't think I've read about La Cantina Di Bacco.... that's okay, kippee ki yayyy, Baby! I could LIVE on pizza! Thanks, Mike!

 

You'll have access to the pizza in the YC,,,but for oven fresh pizza you'll have to venture out of the YC to get it.

[riclop]

It sounds like you're savoring the pizza already Mike. Have a great cruise!!!

[Mikesa1721]

It sounds like you're savoring the pizza already Mike. Have a great cruise!!!

 

You have no idea Riclop!!!:D

[Skier52]

Yes this is the exact itinerary.

 

 

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Be sure to be on deck for the sail past Stromboli on the evening / night that you depart Messina. (it's about 1.5 - 2 hours cruising from Messina. As you depart at 18:00 I woild expect you to be able to see it around 19:30 - 20:30)

 

Notice the white houses of the fishing village which is still inhabited.

 

would you live on an active volcanoe with only boats for emergency evauation ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the active steaming crater

 

 

 

 

Pete

Edited April 8, 2015 by Skier52

[FTLcruisers]

It sounds like you're savoring the pizza already Mike. Have a great cruise!!!

 

I'll be on Divina in 3 weeks (the Grand Voyage) and the pizza is one of the things I'm really looking forward to. On our last Divina cruise, our group met up in the buffet at 11:30 each evening and there would be a line waiting for pizzas to come out of the oven! Once a pizza hit the pan, the 8 slices would be gone in minutes. Generally they put out 6 or more different kinds of pizza but the pizza chef will take your request and make one of your choice as long as he has the ingredients.

 

Just think, I'm going to have 20 days to enjoy pizza, pasta and great entertainment onboard the beautiful Divina!!

 

Marianne

[Jenna1983]

I'm on the same sailing as you, StockJock. I'll be with my immediate family (parents and brother) and then a set of friends. We have tentative plans for some ports- working on booking the tours now with the tour company we befriended last time (La Spezia). I think we may do a cruise tour in Naples since time is limited and we want to do Capri. Planning to just taxi to Taormina.