Margaritabill's Aug 5th MSC Divina news and notes

[havanadaydreaming]

EMBARKATION- fastest ever. we had priority boarding with Voyagers Club loyalty match black card, didn't even use it. walked right on board roundabouts of 1230-100pm.

 

FOOD - very, very good. we ate at MDR 3x, Eately steak 1x and buffet 3x for dinner. we enjoyed MDR, had zero issues with slow service. we did encounter that at steakhouse, despite there only being 6-7 tables occupied. we thought the lunch buffet was far superior to dinner buffet...we found it difficult to find pasta area and Mediterranean areas (among others)open during regular dinner times.

 

view from back of buffet

 

ENTERTAINMENT - as my kids say, frickin' awesome. we saw the The Mask, Queen Tribute and Michael Jackson. all were enjoyable, consensus was the queen tribute took #1 slot. But MJ was close.

 

 

 

 

 

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[havanadaydreaming]

EMBARKATION- fastest ever. we had priority boarding with Voyagers Club loyalty match black card, didn't even use it. walked right on board roundabouts of 1230-100pm.

 

FOOD - very, very good. we ate at MDR 3x, Eately steak 1x and buffet 3x for dinner. we enjoyed MDR, had zero issues with slow service. we did encounter that at steakhouse, despite there only being 6-7 tables occupied. we thought the lunch buffet was far superior to dinner buffet...we found it difficult to find pasta area and Mediterranean areas (among others)open during regular dinner times.

 

view from back of buffet

 

ENTERTAINMENT - as my kids say, frickin' awesome. we saw the The Mask, Queen Tribute and Michael Jackson. all were enjoyable, consensus was the queen tribute took #1 slot. But MJ was close.

 

 

 

 

 

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Cruise Critic Meet and Greet hors d'oeuvres. yummy.

 

Andre (cruise Director) and the Captain making rounds at CC M&G

 

the famous Savorski stairs

 

bowling area in sports bar, a first for us

 

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[havanadaydreaming]

race car simulator, another first

 

Divina at dawn from downtown Miami hotel room

 

Divina and Harmony of the Seas in San Juan

 

Divina all by her lonesome in Nassau

 

first bottle of wine I've ever made (details to follow)

 

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[havanadaydreaming]

DRINKS - had the all inclusive premium package, which was well worth it. minibar drinks and snacks are included in this package. I loved that feature. that said, drinks are more affordable on MSC than I expected. much less than Norwegian, pretty much in the Carnival price point. not everyone will get max value in unlimited beverage plan (each person in room must enroll in program).

 

pro tip - order drinks at the bars from the servers, not the bartenders. that seemed to be preferred manner.

 

if you are ever at the Garden Bar deck 15 search out Reymond for drinks at table. holy snapple did he hustle. in the heat. yet he remains full of joy and attention to detail. we visited him 3-4x.

 

prepaid gratuities - do your research. there is some word of mouth amongst passegers that bar servers don't get paid on prepaid packages, but they do when purchased onboard with auto gratuity feature. that seems accurate. there wasn't a spot to add tip when using room card, cash only. not many folks were tipping that I could tell (we sure as hell did).

 

SMOKING - cigar bar is popular. and smoky. but serviceable.

 

CASINO - let's just say machines are very tight. and that's all I'll say about that.

 

sparsely occupied until well after darkness falls.

 

 

 

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[havanadaydreaming]

OUR FAVORITE THINGS

 

Wine Experience - offered at Sea days 1 and 4pm. got to mix and rate own blends of white or red wine. I chose red. Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah. $40, comes with one free bottle of your personal blend. I wound up with three and I'm not a wine guy. I had a ton of fun. the winemaker instructed was a kind man, very pleasant and informative. A+ dude!

 

I eventually made bottles of 40% cabernet, 40% merlot, 10% syrah and 10% malbec. we took one bottle to the steakhouse for dinner and the two others are for Xmas.

 

wine making set up

 

 

 

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[Arzeena]

Cruise Critic Meet and Greet hors d'oeuvres. yummy.

 

Andre (cruise Director) and the Captain making rounds at CC M&G

 

the famous Savorski stairs

 

bowling area in sports bar, a first for us

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks for posting! Love reading reviews.

 

What time and day was the Cruise Critic M and G? And how were you notified about it?

[deliver42]

Thanks for your review. We were on the Divina in 2016, and loved it. next MSC cruise is on the Seaside in April, 2018.

[lovelearnteach]

Thank-you so much for sharing, trying MSC for the first time on the Divina in Oct., so excited :).

[havanadaydreaming]

Thanks for posting! Love reading reviews.

 

What time and day was the Cruise Critic M and G? And how were you notified about it?

meet and greet was Monday 1030am, got invite in room Sunday night.

 

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[Arzeena]

meet and greet was Monday 1030am, got invite in room Sunday night.

 

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Thank you.

I am looking forward to reading more of your review.

[havanadaydreaming]

EXCURSIONS

 

we only booked one, a catamaran snorkel in nassau. it was only $59. we pretty much got what we paid for, no more no less. no beef at all.

 

in St maarten we went to Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, an all inclusive resort for the day. wonderful. fantastic. strangely I missed getting a photo of planes landing.

 

 

In San Juan we just walked old san juan, loved it. our adult kids went to Yunque Forest for ziplining. we saw the forts and ate local....Cristobal Colon:

 

 

Red snapper:

 

my favorite view in Nassau Harbour:

 

 

 

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[spidybabe]

Thanks for all the info and pictures. We are going on our first MSC cruise on the Divina after 20 NCL cruises very soon and we are trying to absorb as much info as we can.

Thanks again

Safe sailing

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Very nice photos!

[CarrieAP]

Thanks for the review!! Soaking up everything Divina in anticipation of our December cruise on her!