Yacht club experience

[Nextcruise42]

We sailed Meraviglia in the yacht club and loved it. Now I see the Divina will be sailing from Manhattan next year. Can anyone comment on the Divina yacht club?

[QueenofEverything]

We were on the Divina in the Yacht Club a couple of weeks ago.  It was wonderful.  The crew is just amazing.  The only negative about the YC on the Divina is that the restaurant is at the rear of the ship.  So if you want to eat in the restaurant you have to schlep the whole length of the ship.  It's not a huge deal unless you have mobility issues, but you have to wonder - what were they thinking??

 

[Nextcruise42]

Good to hear that you enjoyed it!  Walk to the restaurant won't bother me as much as DH.

[Nashna]

From what I understand, The Divina was not originally designed with a YC section.  I actually enjoyed the walk to the restaurant on Divina.  The only negative was passing by the smoking section on Deck 15.  We also were told that the food served at the YC Pool was not as extensive on the Divina.  I loved the entire YC area and am looking forward to our 2021 cruise on Seaside.  

 

[mafig]

I was on the Divina and unless they changed it I agree that the food served at the Pool 

Deck was not as extensive as what we experienced on Seaside.

 

I didn't mind the walk to the restaurant.  However, when we did it on Deck 7, it seemed like the whole ship was walking in the opposite direction.  😟

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, Nashna said:

From what I understand, The Divina was not originally designed with a YC section.  I actually enjoyed the walk to the restaurant on Divina.  The only negative was passing by the smoking section on Deck 15.  We also were told that the food served at the YC Pool was not as extensive on the Divina.  I loved the entire YC area and am looking forward to our 2021 cruise on Seaside.  

 

 

2 hours ago, mafig said:

I was on the Divina and unless they changed it I agree that the food served at the Pool 

Deck was not as extensive as what we experienced on Seaside.

 

I didn't mind the walk to the restaurant.  However, when we did it on Deck 7, it seemed like the whole ship was walking in the opposite direction.  😟

 

Is there a reason you didn't do the walk on e.g. deck 13?  No smoking and should be little traffic in either direction?

[mafig]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

 

Is there a reason you didn't do the walk on e.g. deck 13?  No smoking and should be little traffic in either direction?

 

 

I don't remember.  It was several years ago and our butler took us this way the first day and told us this was the best way to go.

[Toofarfromthesea]

5 hours ago, Nextcruise42 said:

We sailed Meraviglia in the yacht club and loved it. Now I see the Divina will be sailing from Manhattan next year. Can anyone comment on the Divina yacht club?

 

I did the Mera YCA on a 14 day Baltic, and Divina YC on a 7 day Med.

 

The biggest difference is the location of the restaurant.  On Mera the restaurant is forward, within the YC enclave.  On Divina the restaurant is aft, so you have to walk the length of the ship to get to and from it.  The first night a Butler will walk you to the restaurant as it involves going down several decks, across the length of the ship and back up again.

 

As a general matter I found the food and the service on Divina noticeably better than on Mera.  On Mera it seemed like the butlers were poorly trained.  They suffered from both tunnel vision and a lack of multi-tasking, neither of which I experienced on Divina.

 

Given a choice, in identical circumstances and conditions, personally I would choose Divina.  We'll be doing the Seaside YC in Nov. in the Caribbean, and I am hoping for the better restaurant location of Mera, and the better food and service of Divina.  We'll see.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

32 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

 

Is there a reason you didn't do the walk on e.g. deck 13?  No smoking and should be little traffic in either direction?

You have to walk outside on Deck 13.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

You have to walk outside on Deck 13.  

 

On Divina?

MSC Divina Deck Plans.pdf

[Nashna]

Walking outside on Deck 15 in the evening was quite delightful.  I actually enjoyed walking on Deck 7 as there was always something to see.   The people watching was fantastic.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

On Mera it seemed like the butlers were poorly trained.  They suffered from both tunnel vision and a lack of multi-tasking, neither of which I experienced on Divina.

 

Having been a guest in Meraviglia's YC in January, I'd appreciate your definition of "tunnel vision" and "a lack of multi-tasking".

Edited February 26, 2020 by rkacruiser

[CGTNORMANDIE]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

On Divina?

MSC Divina Deck Plans.pdf 3.82 MB · 3 downloads

My bad...I meant Deck 15!  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

4 hours ago, Nashna said:

Walking outside on Deck 15 in the evening was quite delightful.  I actually enjoyed walking on Deck 7 as there was always something to see.   The people watching was fantastic.

Agreed...I think the walk to Le Muse was no problem.  If you are physically incapable the butler will take you in a wheelchair.  We rather enjoyed the nightly routine of walking the ship while going to dinner.  Some pax never leave the YC.  We loved the vibes and music throughout the ship in the evening.  

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

  Some pax never leave the YC.  We loved the vibes and music throughout the ship in the evening.  

 

My experience on Meraviglia:  staying in the enclave is an error if one wants to experience the MSC cruise experience.  Like you:  the music, the entertainment, the vibes throughout the ship added to my enjoyment.  Never had any difficulty as a YC guest ordering a beverage at a bar outside of YC.  In fact, a bartender seeing my Black Cruise Card, acknowledged it.  Then, seeing I was a YC guest, there was additional recognition.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

15 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

My experience on Meraviglia:  staying in the enclave is an error if one wants to experience the MSC cruise experience.  Like you:  the music, the entertainment, the vibes throughout the ship added to my enjoyment.  Never had any difficulty as a YC guest ordering a beverage at a bar outside of YC.  In fact, a bartender seeing my Black Cruise Card, acknowledged it.  Then, seeing I was a YC guest, there was additional recognition.  

Hi RK,

We really enjoyed going out at night and taking in all the entertainment.  We also did a late lunch in the buffet...pizza and draft beer...great!  We never had any problem ordering at any of the bars.  Divina gave us one of the best cruises we ever had!

[Toofarfromthesea]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Having been a guest in Meraviglia's YC in January, I'd appreciate your definition of "tunnel vision" and "a lack of multi-tasking".

 

By tunnel vision I mean not noticing when people needed service because they were focused on one thing without peripheral vision.  

 

By a lack of multi-tasking I mean making separate trips between the tables and the bar to take an order, a separate trip to pick up used glasses and plates, with 2 separate trips for each table.  A separate trip for each individual task.

 

When I was a teacher we talked about having a soft focus where we were aware of everything going on in the room.  The TSL butlers seemed to have the opposite kind of focus, very focused on one thing with a lack of overall awareness.

 

I didn't experience that on Divina.  And FWIW, this was late April to early May, 2019, just to provide time context.  And the Divina trip was in Sept, 2018.

[sverigecruiser]

 

I have been on Meraviglia and Divina and liked both.

 

The location of the restaurant was much better on Meraviglia, I think.

 

The worst thing on Divina was that the Yacht Club manager didn't knew that Champagne was included so it took two days before I could get that in the Top Sail Lounge! 

[cruisingnewtoit]

I just sailed on the Mera. I had Arthur as my main waiter because of my diet and the service he provided was fabulous.

 

I'm hoping Divina will have someone as fantastic as him.

[Nashna]

42 minutes ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

I just sailed on the Mera. I had Arthur as my main waiter because of my diet and the service he provided was fabulous.

 

I'm hoping Divina will have someone as fantastic as him.

Manuel was terrific on Divina.  He was super conscious of my husband’s GF restrictions.  Actually, everyone was great.

[Shippy]

  Not sure about the Meraviglia......but on the Divina, unlike the Seaside, they have a YC2 category.

On a different deck then most of the yacht club, you still get access, but we LOVED those cabins. Gigantic.

[Nextcruise42]

Does  YC2 have a balcony or just windows?

[Nextcruise42]

We also thought it was more enjoyable to explore the entire ship, rather than stay in yc all day.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

10 minutes ago, Nextcruise42 said:

Does  YC2 have a balcony or just windows?

 

The 12001 and 12004 are two room suites that are bigger than the Royal Suite.  They have floor to ceiling windows and no balcony access.  This did not bother us 

at all.  You have the entire pool deck to relax on.  We thought 12001 was the best suite on Divina...loved it.  The views over the bow are super.  The bathroom is to die for!  

[mnpurple]

Well, guess this is where I finally jump in.  I've been lurking/learning for months.  

1 hour ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

 

The 12001 and 12004 are two room suites that are bigger than the Royal Suite.  They have floor to ceiling windows and no balcony access.  This did not bother us 

at all.  You have the entire pool deck to relax on.  We thought 12001 was the best suite on Divina...loved it.  The views over the bow are super.  The bathroom is to die for!  

 

We will be on the Divina 3/13 in YC 12002.  I believe I read it wasn't as big as the others on either side, but I assume still pretty nice.  It will be my DH and 15 yo, so we basically wanted two rooms.  My only question is if we'll be forgotten by YC staff being so far away.  I don't want to hijack, but my DH gets motion sick, I'm hoping it won't be too bad in the front like we are - anyone know?