On Divina now 05/23/2016

[FLACRUISER99]

We sailed the Divina last week as well. A few thoughts:

Pillows - Terrible! but my husband uses "My Pillow" at home and loved them....as did my cousin who ordered "My Pillow" when we got home!

Food - Mediocre at best! But pizza was awesome!

Customer service - THE WORST! This sentiment share by others on the ship!

Itinerary - Terrible! Long stops and short stops. IMHO they need to NOT stop at Nassau' date=' stop earlier in St Maarten and less in San Juan

[b']Value[/b] - The best! $1250.00 for 2 in an aft balcony on deck 12!

 

All in all - probably would not book again! Looking forward to NCL in October!

You forget some folks like Nassau. I feel it's a great port as you can walk into town, has a great transportation system if you use the Jitney's. The USD is accepted everywhere. Also there are many things to do for free or very low cost and the food prepared by the locals is wonderful. Edited June 4, 2016 by FLACRUISER99

[Diver2014]

Four of us in two cabins are booked for the end of July on Divina....a last minute idea last night. Got great rates, plus I've always wanted to sail on Divina since when I was working, my window in downtown Miami looked out over the port and I always said I'd sail on her someday.

As far as Nassau.....don't go on an itinerary that includes Nassau if you don't like it! Fer heavens sake! The scuba diving at Stuart Cove's is worth the entire cruise (although not offered by MSC but going on my own anyway!)

Plus Nassau has a lot of history, the forts are interesting and if you haven't been to Atlantis, you haven't been to Nassau! What do you expect? People need to have a broader outlook on traveling before trashing a port like Nassau. Stay on the ship if you don't like seeing the sights and enjoying the sounds and the people.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Diver2014

[Tapi]

You forget some folks like Nassau. I feel it's a great port....

 

 

Here's what I think about Nassau. I understand that it's a logical port of call on quick getaways out of Florida because of its convenient, nearby location and because it does have some attractions that many travelers do find appealing. I don't mind going there on short weekend cruises because the focus is on getting away for a few days and not on visiting new destinations.

 

BUT, on a 7 night cruise, where you have an entire week to visit SO many other fantastic ports of call throughout the Caribbean, it's almost insulting that the cruise line still shove a stop in Nassau in those itineraries. You can't get away from Nassau on short itineraries and you can't get away from it on long ones! [emoji36] It really narrows down the options for those who are interested in checking out new ships without repeating the same old ports.

 

When I was planning our last family cruise, I automatically eliminated the Allure and Oasis of the Seas as well as the Norwegian Escape simply because they stopped in Nassau. The MSC Divina had also been on the chopping block until I priced it out and realized that the fares were just too good too pass up (literally a fraction of the others).

 

Glad to see that Ocean Cay will be replacing Nassau on many itineraries when the Seaside comes out. Hopefully MSC will still have similar specials to the ones that I took advantage of on the Divina!

[nikkiw60]

For us it was our first time in Nassau and we loved it! (We went to the Ardastra gardens) For a lot of the people on the Caribbean cruises they may be from Europe (as we are) and it may be their once in a lifetime trip (not ours hopefully!) so Nassau would be part of a great itinerary. As we are all not as lucky as you folks from the States who have a place like Nassau on your doorstep and who can get super cheap cruises. We are actually going to do the reverse itinerary on the Divina next spring and already looking at what we can do there that we missed this time. We saw a lot of people off the docked ships who all looked to be having a great time!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[BermudaBound2014]

Just a FYI: The Bahamas is one of the most cost effective places to leave cruise ship trash. Freeport is even cheaper than Nassau right now, so I'm guessing we will start to see more Freeport itineraries again.

 

Next time you're in Nassau, notice the garbage containers being filled and hauled away. I've stopped in Nassau twice in the last 9 months, and each time EVERY ship docked there had their trash removed. There was an article published many years ago listing the prices of garbage removal in each port. I'm sure I can dig it up if anyone is interested in the raw data.

 

This isn't to say Nassau doesn't have it's own beauty and fun things to do. I'm also a huge fan of Stuarts Cove (snorkeling with sharks, amazing experience if you're into that sort of thing); but ultimately I think we (as consumers) need to follow the money trail to understand why ships do what they do :).

[Kruizin'Kath]

Four of us in two cabins are booked for the end of July on Divina....a last minute idea last night. Got great rates, plus I've always wanted to sail on Divina since when I was working, my window in downtown Miami looked out over the port and I always said I'd sail on her someday.

As far as Nassau.....don't go on an itinerary that includes Nassau if you don't like it! Fer heavens sake! The scuba diving at Stuart Cove's is worth the entire cruise (although not offered by MSC but going on my own anyway!)

Plus Nassau has a lot of history, the forts are interesting and if you haven't been to Atlantis, you haven't been to Nassau! What do you expect? People need to have a broader outlook on traveling before trashing a port like Nassau. Stay on the ship if you don't like seeing the sights and enjoying the sounds and the people.

Many itineraries include Nassau and we have been there several times! We had happily planned to use this as an extra sea day, which we did, and enjoyed a quiet day on the ship! Yes, we have been to Atlantis, toured the island, and done beach excursions! And no, we don't dive or snorkel. My husband is 70 and I am in my 60's, but for the life of me, I don't know why I am explaining this to you! I said it was MY opinion!

Jet Blue left one of our suitcases in Boston, which was supposed to meet us in Nassau. Because it didn't, we had MANY interactions with customer services. I estimate over the course of the cruise, I spent a day waiting in line for/speaking to them!

Granted, it wasn't MSC who lost my luggage, and they did offer us free laundry until the suitcase met us in St Maarten, but dealing with their front line was not pleasant. They actually accused us of lying when they called our cabin and asked us to come to CS to call the airline! I ended up buying minutes for social media to have my family at home call the airline! With the exception of Raymond, and many officers we encountered in the office, no one even smiled. They would say one thing, and later their associates would deny that that was their policy! A smile or kind word (empathy) goes a long way!:(

[Kruizin'Kath]

Here's what I think about Nassau. I understand that it's a logical port of call on quick getaways out of Florida because of its convenient, nearby location and because it does have some attractions that many travelers do find appealing. I don't mind going there on short weekend cruises because the focus is on getting away for a few days and not on visiting new destinations.

 

BUT, on a 7 night cruise, where you have an entire week to visit SO many other fantastic ports of call throughout the Caribbean, it's almost insulting that the cruise line still shove a stop in Nassau in those itineraries. You can't get away from Nassau on short itineraries and you can't get away from it on long ones! It really narrows down the options for those who are interested in checking out new ships without repeating the same old ports.

 

When I was planning our last family cruise, I automatically eliminated the Allure and Oasis of the Seas as well as the Norwegian Escape simply because they stopped in Nassau. The MSC Divina had also been on the chopping block until I priced it out and realized that the fares were just too good too pass up (literally a fraction of the others).

 

Glad to see that Ocean Cay will be replacing Nassau on many itineraries when the Seaside comes out. Hopefully MSC will still have similar specials to the ones that I took advantage of on the Divina!

 

Where is the like button, Cruise Critic!

[BermudaBound2014]

Jet Blue left one of our suitcases in Boston' date=' which was supposed to meet us in Nassau. Because it didn't, we had MANY interactions with customer services. I estimate over the course of the cruise, I spent a day waiting in line for/speaking to them!

Granted, it wasn't MSC who lost my luggage, and they did offer us free laundry until the suitcase met us in St Maarten, but dealing with their front line was not pleasant. They actually accused us of lying when they called our cabin and asked us to come to CS to call the airline! I ended up buying minutes for social media to have my family at home call the airline! With the exception of Raymond, and many officers we encountered in the office, no one even smiled. They would say one thing, and later their associates would deny that that was their policy! A smile or kind word (empathy) goes a long way!:([/quote']

 

Hello KruzinKath, after all the troubles you had with the website I was truly routing for you to have a fabulous vacation. I am so sorry to hear about the luggage mishap and subsequent treatment at guest services :(. Have you done a review yet, or posted your encounter here (maybe I missed it)? I think all experiences hold valuable information for the cruise community. Wishing you happy sailing!