Divina 9/2 sailing

[MISTER 67]

This was the first time in 53 cruises that we had a severe weather problem. First of all let me say that MSC, Captain Marco Massa and the crew did a great job in keeping all passengers informed of Hurricane Irma and all the logistics involved. Right after sailing on Saturday Captain Massa informed of us of the itinerary change which we expected.

We spent Sunday at sea and visited Montego Bay on Monday. On Tuesday we were in Grand Cayman.

After departing Georgetown we were informed that we would miss our last port of Costa Maya and would return to Miami today.

We had a beautiful day at sea on Wednesday. The main reason we had to return to Miami today was the port would be closed on Friday.

All passengers had the option of leaving the ship or staying on and sailing to Cozumel and staying there until the port of Miami re-opens. We live in Florida and decided to leave the ship. We dis-embarked this morning at 6:45 hopped in our car which was parked in the port parking lot and made it home to Sebring by 10AM. I had heard that 820 passengers left the ship with the rest remaining aboard. The Divina was going to depart Miami after all passengers had left the ship and after Divina took on some more fuel and supplies, last we heard departure time was 11:30 AM. Sebring is located in South Central Florida on US 27 which had a little bit more traffic than normal but we still made it home in the usual 3 hours. Different story on I-95 and I-75. A friend of a friend said it took 16 hours for him to drive from Miami to Jacksonville on Wednesday, ouch.

Most gas stations had some lines with some out of gas completely.

MSC will refund a pro-rated amount for the 2 days we missed plus a 25% discount on the next cruise to all passenger aboard.

All passengers received free internet after leaving Grand Cayman.

Once again kudos to MSC and the way they handled a very tough situation.

Edited September 8, 2017 by MISTER 67

[riclop]

Kudos to MSC, they did much better then Carnival etc.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback, nicely handled by MSC.

[Beamafar]

Wonderful to hear how well the Captain and crew handled the situation and so glad to know that you've arrived home safely. Hope you're not hit badly by the hurricane. Best wishes to you & yours - our thoughts are with you.

[MISTER 67]

Wonderful to hear how well the Captain and crew handled the situation and so glad to know that you've arrived home safely. Hope you're not hit badly by the hurricane. Best wishes to you & yours - our thoughts are with you.

 

Thank you, right now the cone has it passing almost right over us on Sunday afternoon as a category 2.

[Kateann61414]

Sounds like it was handled very well. Glad to know how they handle emergencies. Hope you got to enjoy your mini cruise!

 

 

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[thegraminator]

Glad to hear you are home safely . Thanks for sharing this information . Please be careful if you decide to weather out the storm in your home , and if possible , let us know you are okay sometime next week . Our hearts and prayers go out to you and all those facing this storm Irma.

[danhockey04]

We ate on the ship right now. We decided not to get off and head home to orlando. We left port miami at 1230. We are arriving in cozumel at 6am and staying til Sunday 11pm. That is the earliest we will leave to head back. Internet is free the rest of the cruise. We are still getting all our yacht club benefits. MSC had gone above and beyond with this whole situation. Especially receiving 25% discount on a future cruise. The longer cruise was enough for us but they know how to communicate on board and take care of their customers. They are top notch and very likely to be cruising solely MSC after this. They are repeating a couple of shows. Voices a second time tomorrow and something else on Sunday.

[BermudaBound2014]

This is excellent news! I am genuinely impressed. Based on my experience with divina, I was expecting to read that MSC dropped the ball with Irma. This company really does have a chance to compete in the US market, I just wish they would tighten up some of the other loose ends.

 

 

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