MSC Divina from Orlando in the fall?

[Elkins45]

I know nothing about MSC. I have learned that certain MSC cruises have fairly economical rates for solo travelers so I’m thinking about doing a solo cruise while my wife is working in the fall. One of the cruises I’m considering is the Divina out of Orlando to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Good? Bad? Anything odd I should know?

[shipgeeks]

Have you sailed with other cruise lines?

We sailed on MSC Seaside last year, and enjoyed it so much we immediately booked two more.  (Haven't been able to do them yet, sadly.)  We had previously sailed with a number of other lines, but MSC became our favorite.

What we liked, apart from beautiful ship, excellent service, nice food, etc., was the passenger mix.  Americans were a minority; there were many Brazilians, Europeans, British, etc.  Whether this will remain the case once US cruises begin again is still unknown, of course.

If you have a loyalty status with any other cruise line, it is worth applying for Status Match with MSC.  It's also worth reading up on the different "experiences" onboard, each of which has different extras.

I hope this helps.  Please continue to ask.

[Elkins45]

We’ve cruised with Princess and Carnival, but it’s been infrequent enough we don’t really have much in the way of status. I think it’s just the bottom tier for both.

[Até]

Before the shut down, on US based sailings MSC would eliminate/decrease the solo supplement on sailings that were not selling as well as MSC wanted and also very close to sail date when cabins were still available.  On some sailings there is just no offered discount and you will pay the full two person cabin rate.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Até

[paceyswife]

45 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

We’ve cruised with Princess and Carnival, but it’s been infrequent enough we don’t really have much in the way of status. I think it’s just the bottom tier for both.

MSC will status match to hotel loyalty status, if that helps. I matched my husband and I with our Norwegian points not knowing I could have done hotels. We would have had a higher status had I known that at the time. 
Divina was the first MSC ship we sailed (and largest). We always went with the smaller ships. We loved it so much we booked Seaside and Meravilgia. Our next cruise will be Armonia (oldest and not a mega-ship)🤞.
I could be wrong but just joining their voyagers club will get you 5% off.

[rkacruiser]

33 minutes ago, paceyswife said:

I could be wrong but just joining their voyagers club will get you 5% off.

 

That is correct.

 

1 hour ago, Elkins45 said:

We’ve cruised with Princess and Carnival, but it’s been infrequent enough we don’t really have much in the way of status. I think it’s just the bottom tier for both.

 

It's easy to join the Voyagers Club and the 5% discount for making your first booking is attractive.  If you have cruised with either Princess or Carnival more than the other, you might be surprised at what your status may be.  (It's too bad that the Carnival family of brands don't combine loyalty credits.)  

[Elkins45]

It won’t let me join the Voyagers Club because I’ve never sailed with them and don’t have an active booking.

[Até]

You need to do a status match from any other cruise line or hotel chain.  Even matching to the most basic Voyagers Club level gets you the 5% discount.

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match

Edited April 21, 2021 by Até

[paceyswife]

55 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

It won’t let me join the Voyagers Club because I’ve never sailed with them and don’t have an active booking.

I joined with my first booking. Once I booked, I registered and then MSC applied the discount. (I did have to call back for that). It was five years ago but I don’t think that policy has changed. 

[dexddd]

When you say fall, what month?  MSC still has July bookings out of US which I'd question as we've heard nothing about their plan or of working with competitors to sail again so fall may still be an issue.

 

 

As far as Divinia, it is a beautiful ship with lots to do and well designed.

[NCTribeFan]

My first MSC cruise was on Divina.  Beautiful ship but just a bit too large for my tastes.  On an 11-night sailing, I found myself wandering around on that last sea day and discovering venues I hadn't even seen up to that point!

 

I enjoyed it enough that when I got home, I booked Armonia the next May to Cuba.  Smaller, older ship without all the bells and whistles but I really liked her.  More to my tastes.  We were the next-to-last to get to port in Havana.

 

I liked that enough that I booked the same cruise (minus Cuba, of course) for 6 months later, as a solo.

 

I should be on Armonia right now on a B2B.  Sigh.  Debating about using my FCC to book her again in December but I'm also looking at other ships for the fall (again as a solo).  I'm not that fond of sailing from Port Canaveral because I just don't like flying into Orlando (so many screaming kids) and the long shuttle ride to the coast.

 

I'm fully vaccinated and I'm hoping that MSC's experience in Europe will show their safety/health protocols work and we can sail at least by October.

[vintagegarage]

I haven't cruised with MSC before, but after reading this thread, I need to give them a second look.. I had avoided booking with them, because I thought they had a "kids are free" policy.  I might be wrong about that, but the last thing I want to be on is a cruise full of kids.  In any event, I hadn't heard of their loyalty match program until this thread, and that got my attention.  But more than that, the practical return to cruising plan that MSC is executing right now in the Mediterranean, while Holland, Princess, Carnival and Royal continue to kowtow to the politicians, show the kind of industry leadership that I want to support.  I like to cruise solo as well, and am elite on Princess, 4-star on Holland, and medium on Royal and Carnival.  I will put aside my dislike of kids on cruises, and dislike of mega-ships and now I plan to book on the next available MSC cruise out of Florida, even if Royal and Carnival have resumed cruising at the same time. I am starting to see Carnival and the other timids point to MSC's success in the Mediterranean as proof that cruising can resume now.  I am now on the MSC train..

[shipgeeks]

Re kids on cruises:  We've cruised on RC and X a lot, but usually in January or April, due to my job.  Very few kids.  One time we sailed in August, there were quite a few.  We were usually on a ship with just over 2,000 passenger capacity.

When we sailed on MSC Seaside last year, in January, it was by far the largest ship we've been on.  There were lots of families, but the only time we felt the crush was on the stairs heading to the dining room each evening.  We were a bit surprised at the number of young people, but as most passengers were not American, perhaps the school holidays were different.  I do think that time of year is the biggest factor in whether there will be many kids aboard.

I agree that MSC's policies in the Med, so far, have set good standards, and make them very appealing for cruising here, IF they are able to do so.  We are booked on two; fingers are all crossed that they will happen.

[Elkins45]

I’m less enthused that I was initially because all of those bargains I found were all booked up when I actually tried to register. It’s annoying when their own website tells you a cruise is available only to tell you it isn’t when you try to book a date.

[cellfree]

5 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

I’m less enthused that I was initially because all of those bargains I found were all booked up when I actually tried to register. It’s annoying when their own website tells you a cruise is available only to tell you it isn’t when you try to book a date.

Sorry to hear that, MSC is a very nice experience, I am wondering if it is the way you are searching/registering - not sure what registering means. Most recently I have found several cruises that include the "All In" package at less than $100 per person than the regular rate. We discovered MSC about three/four years ago and now cruise between Carnival and MSC - very different experiences on both - thoroughly enjoy both - we are not young, we have retired, and we are anxiously awaiting our next cruise. We have four MSC cruises waiting for us (ha)- have been busy re-booking all our cancelled ones - pushed next one out until September 2021 - hope it is a go!

[paceyswife]

4 hours ago, vintagegarage said:

I haven't cruised with MSC before, but after reading this thread, I need to give them a second look.. I had avoided booking with them, because I thought they had a "kids are free" policy.  I might be wrong about that, but the last thing I want to be on is a cruise full of kids.  In any event, I hadn't heard of their loyalty match program until this thread, and that got my attention.  But more than that, the practical return to cruising plan that MSC is executing right now in the Mediterranean, while Holland, Princess, Carnival and Royal continue to kowtow to the politicians, show the kind of industry leadership that I want to support.  I like to cruise solo as well, and am elite on Princess, 4-star on Holland, and medium on Royal and Carnival.  I will put aside my dislike of kids on cruises, and dislike of mega-ships and now I plan to book on the next available MSC cruise out of Florida, even if Royal and Carnival have resumed cruising at the same time. I am starting to see Carnival and the other timids point to MSC's success in the Mediterranean as proof that cruising can resume now.  I am now on the MSC train..

We’ve cruised on Disney, Norwegian, Carnival (never again) and MSC.   I will say MSC had the least amount of children onboard. I don’t remember feeling like the ship was overrun with them like on Disney (which is to be expected) and Carnival. 
 We cruise during February winter break with our boys.  Our last cruise we had friends with their kids join us. They would never have booked MSC if we didn’t encourage them. Both said they would book again. 
MSC has great prices/deals, status match, ships are beautiful and clean, a diverse group of travelers and friendly, helpful crew (our experiences).

My husband and I are hoping for Armonia in October without the kids! 
Good luck in your decision! 
 

[paceyswife]

19 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

I’m less enthused that I was initially because all of those bargains I found were all booked up when I actually tried to register. It’s annoying when their own website tells you a cruise is available only to tell you it isn’t when you try to book a date.

Have you tried calling? Their website can sometimes be hard to navigate. I was just on as we were considering switching our 4 day cruise to a 7 day cruise and the prices on some we looked at were less or about the same as last month. 

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, Elkins45 said:

I’m less enthused that I was initially because all of those bargains I found were all booked up when I actually tried to register. It’s annoying when their own website tells you a cruise is available only to tell you it isn’t when you try to book a date.

What date{s) are you thinking of?  Divina, right?  Let me know, and I can check my TA's website for availability.

[Elkins45]

11 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

What date{s) are you thinking of?  Divina, right?  Let me know, and I can check my TA's website for availability.

That’s very generous of you. I was looking for any seven day Bahamas & Caribbean sailing out of Port Canaveral in September or October. 

[shipgeeks]

September 5 and 19, and October 3 and 17 are all showing cabins available in all categories.  However, all of them also have a "limited availability" flag showing.

??

I hope you are able to get something!

[cellfree]

Just checked MSC website for 2021 and there are seven night Divina cruises available in September and October - the first price you see is always for an Interior - when you click on See Details you then see the prices for Oceanview, Balcony, etc. - the seven night Divina cruises listed are September 5, 19, October 3, 17, 31, 2021.

[Elkins45]

37 minutes ago, cellfree said:

Just checked MSC website for 2021 and there are seven night Divina cruises available in September and October - the first price you see is always for an Interior - when you click on See Details you then see the prices for Oceanview, Balcony, etc. - the seven night Divina cruises listed are September 5, 19, October 3, 17, 31, 2021.

It shows those to me as well, but when I attempted to book one last night it gave me a pop up that says it’s fully booked. Now it’s working fine. Hmmm...

[rkacruiser]

2 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

It shows those to me as well, but when I attempted to book one last night it gave me a pop up that says it’s fully booked. Now it’s working fine. Hmmm...

 

Why people try to work with the cruise lines web sites for a booking when the web sites often don't work well has mystified me for a long time.  Work with an experienced travel agent.  It does not cost anymore; such service may provide additional perks that the agent/agency will provide.  The easiest way to sign up for Voyagers Club is to let your agent do it for you.  If "problems" occur with your booking, your travel agent has a better/more direct connection than you do with the cruise line in order to get the "problem" resolved.  

[cellfree]

6 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

It shows those to me as well, but when I attempted to book one last night it gave me a pop up that says it’s fully booked. Now it’s working fine. Hmmm...

Good to hear. We have been on Divina three times, fourth booked for September 2022, really hope September 2021 goes, we are booked on Meraviglia out of Miami that month.

[shipgeeks]

OP, check out the roll calls for those dates, too.  One of them has several solo cruisers, plus you might get some further ideas from people who are booked.