Wonderful experience on 10 Divina

[Markanddonna]

I didn't get in to see the MSC Yacht club, but the videos show an area that surpasses the Haven on NCL which I have been on.

[Captain-John]

1 minute ago, Markanddonna said:

I didn't get in to see the MSC Yacht club, but the videos show an area that surpasses the Haven on NCL which I have been on.

 

Aren't Haven prices just outrageous these days too?! Maybe not if using the bidding system, but sticker price is quite a shock. I would agree that the YC complex seems to surpass the Haven offering, at least in photos, videos and reviews - I've yet to experience either, although have 2 confirmed YC bookings. I won't touch the Haven at current pricing.

[Whaleofatime]

On 2/14/2019 at 12:49 AM, ladylawyer888 said:

Thanks for your review!  We are on the Divina  May 17 . . first time MSC.  We've been on about 20 cruises:  mostly Celebrity (now becoming too expensive) and NCL. Like you, we wanted to try something new and we are very frequent travelers to Europe.  So, being with Europeans should be nice.

 

We also have found that the loudest, rudest, and most "entitled" passengers are Americans.  How sad for us fellow Americans.

 

One question:  we are going as "gold" status.  So, is coffee, tea and juice included in the MDR and buffet?  I couldn't find any reference to that anywhere and don't want any surprises.

 

Again, thanks!

 I have been looking to see if anyone else is cruising Divina at the same time as us as there doesn’t appear to be a roll call for the 17th May sailing. Nice to connect 👍🏻. I have been looking at shore excursions and have not been tempted by much on offer. I think we will just walk around doing our own thing in Palma and Valencia  but would be interested to hear any recommendations  for the other ports. We are tagging on a stay in Nice and the Monaco F1  GP at the end too.

[Markanddonna]

Our roll call in January wasn't very active but LOTS of people showed up for the Meet and Mingle.  No one from the group spoke at the M&M either.

[sparks53]

We were on the 9th - 20th Jan Cruise from Miami on Divina

I notice you stayed in your room until 9.30am on disembarkation day.

It that a black card perk.?

We were told to vacate our room, latest 7.30am.

We chose express walk off, along almost everyone else judging by the queue snaking through

the ship.

[Markanddonna]

2 hours ago, sparks53 said:

We were on the 9th - 20th Jan Cruise from Miami on Divina

I notice you stayed in your room until 9.30am on disembarkation day.

It that a black card perk.?

We were told to vacate our room, latest 7.30am.

 

 

Yes, I believe it is a black card perk, but to be honest, I didn't see any crew knocking on doors to get rid of you.  I asked a few days before departure about the policy and the service desk said that as long as I was taking off my own luggage (which we did), we could stay until the last call at about 10:30. I wish we would have stayed until 10:30 because Fort Lauderdale airport was CRAZY at 11:00-12:00- no place to sit, no luggage check-in until two hours before, no place to eat, etc.

 

"Late disembarkment" is a black status privilege though.

[Bluewake]

On 2/14/2019 at 2:17 PM, cruiseguyinorl said:

Great positive review of the Divina. She has become one of my favorite ships. In all fairness to Guadeloupe, this was the view from my balcony.

 

Bret

 

 And here are two locations at which I spent my time on Guadeloupe.

 

 

 

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

Great pictures of Guadeloupe. 

[Markanddonna]

Internally and on the beaches, Guadeloupe is lovely.  Here is one of the National Park- botanical gardens. 

[cindyanne]

On 2/17/2019 at 11:03 AM, sparks53 said:

We were on the 9th - 20th Jan Cruise from Miami on Divina

I notice you stayed in your room until 9.30am on disembarkation day.

It that a black card perk.?

We were told to vacate our room, latest 7.30am.

We chose express walk off, along almost everyone else judging by the queue snaking through

the ship.

Interesting......we are Black card and were told we had to vacate by 7:30 because it is required in Miami.  We were on the 01/20/2019 cruise.  

 

[Markanddonna]

Late disembarkment is one of the Black Status perks. I have no idea about how anyone would start to get suspicious until about 10:00.  We didn't inform our cabin attendant, and he never knocked or entered.

[Caymus88]

On 2/14/2019 at 2:25 PM, Captain-John said:

 

I echo the thanks for your review, Markanddonna.

 

Lady Lawyer - I find your comment about Celebrity becoming too expensive quite interesting. I am finding NCL the same - outrageous, actually. I am NCL Platinum and have sailed with them for over a decade. I have two MSC YC cruises in the calendar for this year.

 

For comparison - I found Celebrity's pricing very reasonable - next year I have booked to sail on Reflection (in a 1C balcony) - 11 nt Southern Caribbean cruise for a bit less than $1700 each (incl. classic drinks package but no other perks).

 

For 7 nts on Epic at the same time of year - same stateroom (balcony) plus drinks package and dining perk - including gratuities for those packages - $1670 each. For a week. 4 extra nights on Celebrity for virtually the same price.

 

In that context, NCL prices are just off this planet. Or else I'm getting a great steal with the Celebrity deal. Don't know which, but I'm happy with it.

 

Likewise - if you find a good deal you can get the MSC YC for about $1700 for a week - so compare that to an NCL balcony cabin for the same price - it's a no brainer.

Compare the Celebrity Edge. Very expensive

[love2cruiseforfree]

love your review...thank you ....

we were on the divina in 2017 and loved it.  we too were matched from RCCL diamond to black card.

we are thinking of sailing again on the Divina in the future.

one question i have is....in the sports lounge, do they still offer appetizers at no cost.  we liked being

able to go in to the sports bar and enjoy the apps with a few drinks.

also...what apps were offered.  hoping they kept them all....!

thank you 

[cruiseguyinorl]

Yes, the Sports Bar food menu was still complimentary and served food until 12:45 AM. Mostly the same as I remember it from the year previous.

Bret

[styles27]

I really enjoyed reading your positive review.  We are sailing on MSC for the first time 4/28/2019 on this ship so you have definitely set my mind at east.

 

We’ve been cruising since the late 80’s early 90’s on all the major lines and honestly we’ve found that they all have their positives and negatives.  

 

Vacation is a state of mind for us and we always go with a positive outlook...we feel very fortunate to be able to go away and any day on a cruise ship is better than one at work!

 

Did you book any of the specialty dining restaurants prior to sailing?

[XLVIII]

Markanddonna, 

Thanks for your review. We're currently finishing up our first MSC cruise aboard the Divina and feel very much the way you do.

Was this the best cruise we've ever taken? Probably not. But it may be the best value we've ever gotten on a cruise. We're cruising MSC again in May (this time Europe), and are very much looking forward to it. 

[Markanddonna]

We ate at Eataly and booked two days before we ate there.  Their specialty dining places were NOT crowded.

 

[Kmkub]

Thank you for the very thorough review. We are new to MSC and sail Divina next January. Very exciting!

[marco]

We were on the Divina on the Jan 31 cruise.  We were on last Jan, too.  IMHO, they've upped thier game since last year when it comes to the MDR.  While last year was "OK",  We thought selection,preparation, presentation, was much much better!  No complaints.  I don't know where "Mr. same cake every night" is coming from.  Shows were some of the best we've seen at sea.  Live music in several lounges every evening.  Have to agree with your post.  MSC Divina provides a really good product at a very reasonable price.  We've been on well over 100 cruises/TA's on just about every line and will sail on MSC again!  My review is somewhere on this thread as well.

[nikkiw60]

 I have been looking to see if anyone else is cruising Divina at the same time as us as there doesn’t appear to be a roll call for the 17th May sailing. Nice to connect [emoji1303]. I have been looking at shore excursions and have not been tempted by much on offer. I think we will just walk around doing our own thing in Palma and Valencia  but would be interested to hear any recommendations  for the other ports. We are tagging on a stay in Nice and the Monaco F1  GP at the end too.

Shame, we are boarding the following week.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DeckLife]

We will be on the Divina leaving Miami March 14 and arriving in Genoa in April. This will be our first time on MSC, and we are looking forward to it. I've read conflicting info about the dining room dress code and practice. Can one wear jeans to the MDR? Is it true that shorts can't be worn in public after 6 pm? (It will probably be too cold for that anyway but I thought I would ask.) I've always dressed up a bit for dinner but sometimes the nice top with jeans works well too. What can you tell me?

I enjoyed reading your review!

[Tracey/Thom]

I am really enjoying this review. We're about to take our 6th cruise, and to date, the MSC Divina remains our favorite ship, for all the reasons stated by the OP.  Can't wait to go back, one day!

[newistcruiseaddict]

Love the balanced review! We have been on approx a dozen cruises but have also found NCL prices to be getting too high. We have a deposit credit to use by next year and its been a struggle to find a good value. This is not really an apples to apples comparison but we just did 7N in the Caribbean on the NCL Getaway in a balcony with open bar for $2400. We have the Divina booked this fall, 20N transatlantic in an inside for the same price (no drink pkg). 

 

It is too bad we have to leave the cabin so early! I too have a late flight out of FLL. Any suggestions on how to kill time, "affordably?" Carnival offers a debarkation city tour and they hold your luggage and drop you off at the FLL airport afterwards. What are my chances MSC does the same? Ha! Every tour I look at specifically states they wont store luggage.

 

I'd also like to know the rule regarding shorts in public spaces...surely they only mean the dining room, right?

[XLVIII]

5 hours ago, DeckLife said:

We will be on the Divina leaving Miami March 14 and arriving in Genoa in April. This will be our first time on MSC, and we are looking forward to it. I've read conflicting info about the dining room dress code and practice. Can one wear jeans to the MDR? Is it true that shorts can't be worn in public after 6 pm? (It will probably be too cold for that anyway but I thought I would ask.) I've always dressed up a bit for dinner but sometimes the nice top with jeans works well too. What can you tell me?

I enjoyed reading your review!

You can absolutely wear shorts after 6pm on the ship and jeans in the MDR. We even saw some jeans on formal night. 

[DeckLife]

Oh, that is great! Thanks so much.