Divina YC next Week, how has your experiences been and… Where’s Arnold?

[BoundForSea]

We were on Divina last September in YC. She was good. A few new changes to the infamous mini bar (always some drama with the mini bar changes) which caught us by surprise, however other than that it was good. We will be doing another 4ni short getaway next week to OC and was curious what’s all happening on board YC there these days? 

 

Arnold has always been a YC Restaurant fan favorite and he’s been good to us, any sightings recently? He truly knows his way to a great tip! haha. 

 

Thanks!! 

 

Ps Ill be bringing my own can of chocolate covered peanuts with me!! Haha. If you get the humor in that then you’ve been around here for a while! Ciao!!

[dexddd]

Arnold?  Do you mean Arthur?  If so, I've only seen one report that he is in Europe in a MDR.  

[blueskadoo]

We're fresh off Divina YC last week. Now, Divina is the only YC that we've been in, but we feel like it was excellent service all the way around. Luis is the maitre d of Le Muse and was making sure everyone was happy and would go above and beyond. I couldn't believe how good the grilled chicken was (from the "always available" portion of the menu). Dwi our butler was a joy!  The only bad part of the entire cruise was that the TV wasn't working (worse than normal- 2 channels (Travel Channel showing a ghost show all the time, and the MSC safety video) intermittently, and the internet wasn't great for our streaming services even with the upgraded internet. We're weird and spend more time in our cabin than most people, so this probably wouldn't matter to anyone else.  I can't recommend the Divina YC enough...I wish I could go back right now! 

[BoundForSea]

5 hours ago, dexddd said:

Arnold?  Do you mean Arthur?  If so, I've only seen one report that he is in Europe in a MDR.  

Yes that’s him… Whoops sorry Arthur!! 
 

Thanks for that info

[BoundForSea]

3 hours ago, blueskadoo said:

We're fresh off Divina YC last week. Now, Divina is the only YC that we've been in, but we feel like it was excellent service all the way around. Luis is the maitre d of Le Muse and was making sure everyone was happy and would go above and beyond. I couldn't believe how good the grilled chicken was (from the "always available" portion of the menu). Dwi our butler was a joy!  The only bad part of the entire cruise was that the TV wasn't working (worse than normal- 2 channels (Travel Channel showing a ghost show all the time, and the MSC safety video) intermittently, and the internet wasn't great for our streaming services even with the upgraded internet. We're weird and spend more time in our cabin than most people, so this probably wouldn't matter to anyone else.  I can't recommend the Divina YC enough...I wish I could go back right now! 

I’m glad to hear that!! I’d be just as happy if they turned off the internet so no loss here!! Our last experience on her in YC was good, better than Seashore a month later last year, and were looking forward to it. Thanks for the report!

 

Did they still ask you for your choice of one bottle of spirits or a bottle of wine as part of the mini bar offering to use in the room rather than the old nips? 

[blueskadoo]

Yes, we had one bottle we could choose. The bottle this time however was a fifth, when it had been larger in the past. They had Absolut, Tanqueray, Bombay and I must confess I do not know the wines. We had previously (two months ago) had Belvedere, so the Absolut was a little bit of a let down, but it seems to be based on what they can provision. For us, it's not a huge deal as you can get all you can handle in the lounge, but just a change nevertheless. 

[phissy]

23 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

 

Ps Ill be bringing my own can of chocolate covered peanuts with me!! Haha. If you get the humor in that then you’ve been around here for a while! Ciao!!

We still have some from our stash.

[rkacruiser]

10 hours ago, blueskadoo said:

Luis is the maitre d of Le Muse

 

Arthur and he were a team on MSC Meraviglia when I sailed.  Both provided excellent service, but, I remember Arthur as the human rendition of the Energizer Bunny.  

[BoundForSea]

17 hours ago, phissy said:

We still have some from our stash.

Ha! Love it.  You could probably sell those for 100$ a can on here!! The amount of time some of us have spent discussing that can of peanuts on here is just mind boggling and classic!

[BoundForSea]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Arthur and he were a team on MSC Meraviglia when I sailed.  Both provided excellent service, but, I remember Arthur as the human rendition of the Energizer Bunny.  

We first had him on Mera right before the shutdown in Feb of 2020. Yes he was indeed, what a great person and man he knew how to earn a great tip. We later had him post shutdown twice and he was much much more low key. My wife and I were actually concerned maybe he wasn’t ok, however he was still as attentive and amazing to us as ever. Probably one of MSC’s greatest. 

[phissy]

We are sailing Divina in October. Look forward to your review of current staff and offerings in YC. 
Thanks again for all the fun reminders of past  MSC YC .

. When we were on Meraviglia in October, we did B2B.

Between the two weeks, YC changed from mini bottles, multi snacks etc to the one bottle and one snack.
Our butler knew how much we enjoyed the little cans of mixed nuts and choco nuts.
He brought us a generous supply to “ sustain” us through our second week.😎

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

what a great person and man he knew how to earn a great tip.

 

A very interesting comment; thanks for making it.  I never considered his "energy" and pleasantness was anything less than a "joy of serving and assisting his guests" that he had.  I never felt that he expected a tip for what he did for me.  And, on the last evening before arriving in Miami, he was not on duty in the YC Restaurant.  I had two envelopes.  One had Luis' name on it which he received.  The other envelope had Arthur's name on it which he did not receive.  

 

Am I being naive about what I perceived in Arthur's service that I experienced?  

[BoundForSea]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A very interesting comment; thanks for making it.  I never considered his "energy" and pleasantness was anything less than a "joy of serving and assisting his guests" that he had.  I never felt that he expected a tip for what he did for me.  And, on the last evening before arriving in Miami, he was not on duty in the YC Restaurant.  I had two envelopes.  One had Luis' name on it which he received.  The other envelope had Arthur's name on it which he did not receive.  

 

Am I being naive about what I perceived in Arthur's service that I experienced?  

So wasn’t meant to be analyzed really but maybe this will help explain my perspective

 

My wife and I (more her than me) has become friends (close) with two great girls who are crew members full time for another line (contract). They are both in food service. Both are just great humans to begin with. Here’s the thing, crew are there to make a living, the best living and income possible while spending months away from their own children, spouses, and families and friends. They put their best foot forward to bring in the best possible income. They are there to work, not for any other reason. Like landslide service staff they make your experience as great as possible to earn the most money because, again they’re there to earn a living and money. The same concept holds true to people who tip with trinkets or tangible items. They don’t want candles or trinkets or hand made wool scarves, they will typically throw it in the trash. They want cash. Money. It’s why they’re there thousands of miles from family for months on end. 

 

We’ve heard stories (some sad some funny) about non-tippers and trinket gifters. I’m not making this up. 

 

So my comment is just that. He’s an amazing human, but really does an outstanding job and makes a passenger‘s experience the very best it could be because he’s there to earn the best pay possible while he’s on a contract. We always tip service staff well that go above and beyond and provide an unforgettable experience like he does, but that’s us. Everyone is different. 

 

YMMV but that’s how I see it. 

 

Now to finding Choco covered peanuts for the sailing!! Have a great weekend all. 

[dexddd]

On 7/8/2022 at 10:30 AM, BoundForSea said:

We first had him on Mera right before the shutdown in Feb of 2020. Yes he was indeed, what a great person and man he knew how to earn a great tip. We later had him post shutdown twice and he was much much more low key. My wife and I were actually concerned maybe he wasn’t ok, however he was still as attentive and amazing to us as ever. Probably one of MSC’s greatest. 

We saw Arthur in September on Divinia.  He was his normal self but I think he thrives on the challenge to handle lots of activity.  When we were in Le Muse there were no more than four tables seated so I think the energizer wasn't needed to be so energized.  Plus the whole getting back to cruising was like a first date in your teens.

 

We had our Diamond meal dilemma and as usual Arthur provided a solution I would have never thought of or asked for.

[jvsnana]

On 7/9/2022 at 11:34 AM, dexddd said:

We had our Diamond meal dilemma and as usual Arthur provided a solution I would have never thought of or asked for.

Hey Dex...I would love to hear what Arthur's solution was!

Hope all is well with you and the Family!

[dexddd]

20 hours ago, jvsnana said:

Hey Dex...I would love to hear what Arthur's solution was!

Hope all is well with you and the Family!

Hi JVS.  All well here.  Hope all is well with your family too.

 

We have 75 days until Prima TA, give or take.

 

You been cruising?

 

I'll see if I have a picture of the solution.

[jvsnana]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

Hi JVS.  All well here.  Hope all is well with your family too.

 

We have 75 days until Prima TA, give or take.

 

You been cruising?

 

I'll see if I have a picture of the solution.

Would love to see a photo of Arthurs solution...he was great on our last Divina cruise.  DH has lots of weird dietary issues and he choose our meals every day and made them special!

 

Family is all well.  Sailing on the Breakaway in Sept. and a Divina 11 day in October.

 

My friend will be on the Prima TA with you!

Edited July 11, 2022 by jvsnana

[frank808]

From a couple weeks ago on Seashore, butlers that know Arthur say he is now MDR manager on Virtuosa. He has been promoted twice from what I was told by a few that keep in touch with him. Arthur is truly the best waiter we have ever had in almost 80 cruises on RCL and MSC. Others are good but Arthur took it one step above and is the best.

[Preziosa]

There were a waiter called Arnold in the Yacht club on MSC Seashore

[bac513]

On 7/6/2022 at 6:21 PM, BoundForSea said:

We were on Divina last September in YC. She was good. A few new changes to the infamous mini bar (always some drama with the mini bar changes) which caught us by surprise, however other than that it was good. We will be doing another 4ni short getaway next week to OC and was curious what’s all happening on board YC there these days? 

 

Arnold has always been a YC Restaurant fan favorite and he’s been good to us, any sightings recently? He truly knows his way to a great tip! haha. 

 

Thanks!! 

 

Ps Ill be bringing my own can of chocolate covered peanuts with me!! Haha. If you get the humor in that then you’ve been around here for a while! Ciao!!

Just returned from a 4 day in YC. Best service we have ever received on a cruise ship for waiters, Maitre’d, butler and YC staff in lounge and pool deck. Internet sucked as did the daily trek to Le Muse. Outside of YC, basically a Carnival (or worse) environment.

[GA Dave]

I was on Divina in the YC on the June 9 cruise.  Had a blast!  It was interesting comparing Divina's YC to Meraviglia's YC, which I had sailed last August, January and March.  I found the Deluxe Suite cabin smaller on Divina than Mera, but loved the pool deck and One Bar up top on Divina.  Seemed more upscale and integrated on Divina than Mera.  The restaurant being at the back of the ship really did not bother me that much, as I also loved going to the Garden Bar.  Two birds, one stone.

I will be on Divina again in September, then on Mera in November and December, so I will be truly spoiled by the service in both ship's Yacht Clubs!  😁  

[BoundForSea]

Just as a follow up to my thread. We sailed Divina 4ni in July and it was one of the best MSC sailings in YC yet of 6. Great crew, great service, Ocean Cay days were great as always. No issues believe it or not. We received our 750ml bottle of Tangueray and yes! our Butler found me a can of choco nuts! 

 

We had a bad experience on our Christmas ‘21 cruise on Seashore and this brought back my hope, however I really feel like Divina is a better ship in terms of YC service than the larger in terms of consistency. 

 

Everyone always posts the bad and I wanted to make sure I shared some good news.