Are all ships leaving Ocean Cay early?

[Markanddonna]

We just got off the Divina and they shortened the time to leave Ocean Cay at 7:00 instead of 10:00. No explanation but the daily planner obviously predicted bad weather, which never happened. The planner said to watch the lighthouse show at 6:45 from the ship. That means early diners miss out. I asked about our next 10 day cruise and the csr said we will also leave at 7:00 instead of ten. So, saying it was weather was a lie. I think it is cutbacks. 

 

We also had to leave even earlier than 7:00 because ora medical emergency.

Any other experiences?

[Td6462]

4 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

We just got off the Divina and they shortened the time to leave Ocean Cay at 7:00 instead of 10:00. No explanation but the daily planner obviously predicted bad weather, which never happened. The planner said to watch the lighthouse show at 6:45 from the ship. That means early diners miss out. I asked about our next 10 day cruise and the csr said we will also leave at 7:00 instead of ten. So, saying it was weather was a lie. I think it is cutbacks. 

 

We also had to leave even earlier than 7:00 because ora medical emergency.

Any other experiences?

Last week we left at 9pm as scheduled. We are to be there again tomorrow until 9pm so I'll let you know. On Seascape 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Td6462
Information add

[styles27]

Hmm no we stayed the full time on our b2b. 
First day New Years Eve stayed til a little after 6 which was our scheduled departure time   
 

 

Did an overnight on the second part of the B2B and left at the scheduled time the second day.

 

OC felt understaffed when we were there.

 

How was your cruise other than that?
Saw there was a medical emergency on another social media  site yesterday 

Edited January 27, 2023 by styles27

[Markanddonna]

5 minutes ago, styles27 said:

How was your cruise other than that?

Saw there was a medical emergency on another social media  site yesterday.

This was my test cruise to see if we will continue to cruise with Msc. After the seven day one, I would say we were both disappointed. Food, except for Butcher's Cut was mediocre. Entertainment was fine and there were production show of the same type six of the seven nights. 

 

CD Pedro disappeared last night with a much jollier replacement. Pedro was the most boring cd ever. Both Voyagers and Diamond parties were a step down from the past. 

 

First time I ever witnessed really strict enforcement of no chair hogs in adult only area. The guy even stopped a seven AM chair hog from even attempting to do so. He also abided by the word of others who wanted the loungers with no people at them. It appeared a certain country group worked together to get a large group chairs this way. The guard would fold up the towels and place them on the pool deck. 

[Markanddonna]

Btw, we are disappointed Diamond status members with lots of cruises under our belt. MSC is really cutting back. I will report back in 10 days.

 

Crew was just fine.

[styles27]

1 minute ago, Markanddonna said:

This was my test cruise to see if we will continue to cruise with Msc. After the seven day one, I would say we were both disappointed. Food, except for Butcher's Cut was mediocre. Entertainment was fine and there were production show of the same type six of the seven nights. 

 

CD Pedro disappeared last night with a much jollier replacement. Pedro was the most boring cd ever. Both Voyagers and Diamond parties were a step down from the past. 

 

First time I ever witnessed really strict enforcement of no chair hogs in adult only area. The guy even stopped a seven AM chair hog from even attempting to do so. He also abided by the word of others who wanted the loungers with no people at them. It appeared a certain country group worked together to get a large group chairs this way. The guard would fold up the towels and place them on the pool deck. 

Agree about the CD, nice guy but boring and we never saw him other than when he introduced some of the entertainment in the theater. 
 

Yes the aft pool lifeguard was doing that on our sailing as well but we actually appreciated it because I saw some chair hogs who somehow got extra towels and they would save chairs in the sun and some in the shade and then go back and forth depending on how they felt. He put a stop to it lol

 

Lido deck lifeguards/pool attendants didn’t care if chairs sat empty for hours they wouldn’t take the towels. 
 

We didn’t attend the Voyagers or Diamond parties…they were at odd times when we were in port on excursions on our sailing. 
 

Sorry your cruise was disappointing. We got off feeling the same a couple weeks ago. 

[Markanddonna]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:47 AM, styles27 said:

Agree about the CD, nice guy but boring and we never saw him other than when he introduced some of the entertainment in the theater. 
 

Yes the aft pool lifeguard was doing that on our sailing as well but we actually appreciated it because I saw some chair hogs who somehow got extra towels and they would save chairs in the sun and some in the shade and then go back and forth depending on how they felt. He put a stop to it lol

 

Lido deck lifeguards/pool attendants didn’t care if chairs sat empty for hours they wouldn’t take the towels. 
 

We didn’t attend the Voyagers or Diamond parties…they were at odd times when we were in port on excursions on our sailing. 
 

Sorry your cruise was disappointing. We got off feeling the same a couple weeks ago. 

We are on day two and the atmosphere is better. Our mdr waiter is much better as are our tablemates. More crowded though and pool area is crazy. Dancing in the Latin lounge was great.

[styles27]

4 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

We are on day two and the atmosphere is better. Our mdr waiter is much better as are our tablemates. More crowded though and pool area is crazy. Dancing in the Latin lounge was great.

Happy to hear it’s a better start!

Are you doing the B2B on Divina?

[Morgsmom]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:42 AM, Markanddonna said:

First time I ever witnessed really strict enforcement of no chair hogs in adult only area. The guy even stopped a seven AM chair hog from even attempting to do so. 

This brings joy to my heart 🥰

[Markanddonna]

1 hour ago, styles27 said:

Happy to hear it’s a better start!

Are you doing the B2B on Divina?

Yes, we did the Jan 20th seven day and are on the same ship, same cabin on the 10 day. We found a quiet place to play cards and games: 7th deck in the balcony area for the theatre.

Fewer children's and twenties on the 10 day. Many more internationals. 75% of ship and that doesn't count non English speaking Americans.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Markanddonna

[styles27]

31 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

Yes, we did the Jan 20th seven day and are on the same ship, same cabin on the 10 day. We found a quiet place to play cards and games: 7th deck in the balcony area for the theatre.

Fewer children's and twenties on the 10 day. Many more internationals. 75% of ship and that doesn't count non English speaking Americans.

Nice! You must be doing the itinerary we did to Colombia, Panama etc 

Have fun! I’ll be interested in hearing how it goes for you. 
 

[Markanddonna]

On 1/28/2023 at 3:59 PM, styles27 said:

Nice! You must be doing the itinerary we did to Colombia, Panama etc 

Have fun! I’ll be interested in hearing how it goes for you. 
 

We have 3,500 on the 10 day. Very crowded. Yesterday at breakfast, they ran out of cups and glasses in the buffet. Pool chairs and loungers are only for those who wake up really early on sea days. Three evening meal times. 

[styles27]

15 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

We have 3,500 on the 10 day. Very crowded. Yesterday at breakfast, they ran out of cups and glasses in the buffet. Pool chairs and loungers are only for those who wake up really early on sea days. Three evening meal times. 

Sounds like our 10 day experience we had 3800. 
 

Divina is a beautiful ship but she simply cannot accommodate that many guests comfortably, especially on sea days. 
 

Our best day was when we stayed on the ship in Panama when most got off. It felt like we could finally breathe lol

We gave up on the buffet for breakfast after the first couple of days. It was just so crazy there. 
 

I hope you’re having nice weather!

 

[Markanddonna]

The weather is great but my dh has bronchitis now with COPD so we are laying low. Will venture to port Oasis today. The ship doctor was great but just verified all the meds and antibiotics from home were the right ones. 

The line to the Black Crab at breakfast was insane. 

 

I understand they added 600 passengers at the last minute. Casino club?

[styles27]

Oh no I’m sorry he’s not feeling well. I hope the meds kick in and he starts getting better soon. 
 

We had a lot of casino people on our cruise. We got pretty friendly with a lady and her daughter who had a table for 2 near us at dinner. 
She was doing something like 6 weeks in a row on different ships all from casino credits. 
My husband jokingly said “wow you must have gambled in the 5 figures to get that many days free” and her 21 yr old daughter said “yes she did…she has a little problem” 🙃