MSC Divina Yacht Club 2/11 - 2/22 Live Review

[Mark_T]

4 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I absolutely agree with you.  We ate there 2x on Divina and loved it.  Much better than YC fillet.

Got to love the consistent inconsistencies  🙂

I’ve had the filet twice in the YC and both were cooked (med rare) to perfection.

 

I thought the 2nd one was going to be a fail when I saw it, but it was just a plating error as I was served something ordered as ‘well done’. This was rapidly corrected. 
 

I have to wonder if at least some of the reported ‘misses’ were just the wrong steak…?

 

I’ve yet to have a poor med rare steak there…

 

[Mark_T]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

We have not encountered a sommelier at all.  All wines we have had have been by the glass and ordered from our wait staff. 

With the smaller size of the YC on Divina they don’t seem to see the need, but most of the senior waiters are pretty good with the wine.

 

We have only ordered one specific bottle so far and paid the up charge, the rest of the time we have been happy with Glenn, our waiter’s suggestions. 

Edited February 17 by Mark_T

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

Got to love the consistent inconsistencies  🙂

I’ve had the filet twice in the YC and both were cooked (med rare) to perfection.

 

I thought the 2nd one was going to be a fail when I saw it, but it was just a plating error as I was served something ordered as ‘well done’. This was rapidly corrected. 
 

I have to wonder if at least some of the reported ‘misses’ were just the wrong steak…?

 

I’ve yet to have a poor med rare steak there…

 

They were ok.  Not as good as Butcher's.

[DaKahuna]

7 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

They were ok.  Not as good as Butcher's.

I do not know what to attribute it too but I agree with @Mark_T, my filet in the YC was more tender than mine in Butcher’s Cut. Do not get me wrong, they were both very good just the tenderness was better on the YC one. 

[DaKahuna]

Good morning from Colon Panama.  
Last night we received a weather warning as well as a message from our daughter about a winter storm warning for home.   Our daughter said they were forecasting up to six inches of snow.  
 

We woke and too a look at our doorbell camera

 

 

no where close to six inches and we did not even have to worry about a nasty gram from the HOA for not shoveling our sidewalk. 
 

 

[MsTabbyKats]

@DaKahunaWhere do you live in NOVA?  My son lives in Rosslyn, Arlingon...and his running clinic somewhere in NOVA was canceled.

[DaKahuna]

We decided last night that we would have room service breakfast and requested 0800 delivery.  Promptly at 0800 our Butler and assistant knocked on the door and delivered our order. 
 

 

We also had a pot of hot water delivered and made green tea to go with our food.

 

We enjoyed it while the ship was docking here in Colon.

 

we still have not decided if we are going off the ship or not so we grabbed our iPads and are relaxing in the Top Sail Lounge while they call tour numbers and groups to go ashore.  In a wY I am glad we are not doing any excursions this cruise.

 

Meanwhile I’ll just relax and enjoy a tequila sunrise.

 

[DaKahuna]

Some pictures I took from our balcony this morning as we approached the ‘pier’ 

 

 

 

Rhapsody of the Seas 
 

 

 

The Atlantic Bridge iirc.  We sailed under this bridge on our Panama Canal transit last year. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The smallest pier I have ever seen a cruise ship use. 

 

 

 

[jean87510]

22 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I do not know what to attribute it too but I agree with @Mark_T, my filet in the YC was more tender than mine in Butcher’s Cut. Do not get me wrong, they were both very good just the tenderness was better on the YC one. 

They probably read my review in January. 😁

[DaKahuna]

A few more pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, jean87510 said:

They probably read my review in January. 😁

One can only hope.  I know I read it and was glad we did not encounter a steak like that but the cruise is not over yet. 
 

[DaKahuna]

24 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@DaKahunaWhere do you live in NOVA?  My son lives in Rosslyn, Arlingon...and his running clinic somewhere in NOVA was canceled.

We are north and west of the city.  Between Leesburg and Winchester.

 

[no1talks]

13 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

"We have not encountered a sommelier at all.  All wines we have had have been by the glass and ordered from our wait staff." 

 

This is a bit disconcerting, as we are planning to be on Divina in '25. My wife and I have very different tastes regarding wine. This prevents us from having a bottle of wine at dinner.

 

Because of this, we always let the YC somm surprise us with their choice of wines by the glass for the appetizer and main courses. It is also the sommelier's choice for our drinks while we peruse the menu and to accompany dessert, all within YC inclusion. (I don't need a surprise serving of "Louis Tres.")

 

We have yet to encounter a somm who didn't light up when offered this carte blanche.

[Jim_Iain]

John -  I was reading on @JamieLogical description of disembarkation in Cartegena today.   Does YC give Suite Passengers priority embarkation like Celebrity?    I didn't recall is Jamie is traveling in YC but was surprised them having to get tickets.  

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

John -  I was reading on @JamieLogical description of disembarkation in Cartegena today.   Does YC give Suite Passengers priority embarkation like Celebrity?    I didn't recall is Jamie is traveling in YC but was surprised them having to get tickets.  

 

I am most DEFINITELY NOT in YC. But yes, MSC does give priority for getting off and on the ship at port stops.

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

John -  I was reading on @JamieLogical description of disembarkation in Cartegena today.   Does YC give Suite Passengers priority embarkation like Celebrity?    I didn't recall is Jamie is traveling in YC but was surprised them having to get tickets.  

Jim, as @JamieLogical said, YC is given preferential treatment for debarkation and embarkation.

 

If you are in YC and you have a scheduled ship’s tour you go to the Top sail Lounge and when you enter there will be one of the YC staff with a list of cabin numbers, tour bus numbers and times.  As they are informed that the busses are ready they will come and collect you and escort you to the tour bus.  
 

If you di not have a scheduled tour and want to grt iff, you go to the Concierge desk at the entrance to the Top Sail Lounge and let them know you would like to leave The concierge will find a YC butler or other staff member who will escort you to the security station on the gangway.  YC members do not have to have of the ‘group number’ tickets Jamie showed earlier.

 

For reembarkation you look for one of the sraff holding a YC paddle and attract their attention and the will direct you and get you to the head of the line.9.  
 

[DaKahuna]

We had lunch onboard at Le Muse.  The restaurant was open at 1200 and we walked in around 1215 and found ourselves as the only guest. 
 

We were seated and when our waiter arrived I immediately asked if the penne pasta was available with bolognese sauce.  She said she would check with the chef and let me know.   She came back and yes, we could have the penne with bolognese sauce if we wanted.

 

Lunch was wonderful.

 

My DW had the classice Caesar salad with shrimp

 

 

I had mine plain

 

 

She had the penne with marinara sauce

 

 

and I had the Cannelloni stuffed with veal

 

 

and to share a penne with bolognese sauce

 

 

The penne with bolognese was very delicious and I already gave a heads up We would be wanting it again for sure.

 

i had wine with my meal, and my wife stck with water.

 

Here’s Glenn displaying my wine.

 

 

My wife had vanilla i e cream and I had a Sunday for lunch. Both were so delicious, we started eating before I even thought to take a picture.

 

 

Edited February 17 by DaKahuna

[DaKahuna]

After lunch we had to walk all those carbohydrates off so we came back to the room, grabbed, ID’s, passports, credit cards, & cash and walked off to see the shops in the vicinity of the shio.

 

We were gone maybe 30 minutes before we were back onboard in the air conditioned comfort ! 
 

 

The Duty Free Mall at the cruise terminal.  A lot of empty shops.

 

 

 

 

The line is passengers waiting to embark on Rhapsody of the Seas.  Note, photo’s taken around 2:15

 

 

 

 

local artwork 

 

 

 

 

 

[JamieLogical]

Glad you were able to obtain some Bolognese sauce!

[DaKahuna]

@JamieLogical Did you replace the deck of cards or were the ones you mentioned getting doused still usable? 
 

If you don’t mind I’d like to try and catch up tomorrow and hear more about your excursions.  
 

Edited February 18 by DaKahuna

[DaKahuna]

After returning to the ship we stopped at the first open lounge and had a soda to cool off.  
 

Then it was the same thing for us, a couple of drinks in the Top Sail Lounge and then to the room.  We did some YouTube browsing, showered, and I took a nap before dinner.

 

Dinner was once again in Le Muse.

 

We both had the iceberg lettuce salad,

 

my DW’s with Italian dressing

 

 

and mine with the Blue cheese.

 

For her main course she had the mahi mahi

 

 

and i had the grilled prime rib (delivious)

 

and we were given a plate of rice

 

 

We both had desserts, her the Tiramisu, and I had the delicious Red Velvet Cake.  There are no pictures as we immediately dug into them.

 

We ended our meal with coffee americano, mine with Bailey’s of course.  I still cannot get over how wonderful the coffee on this cruise has been.  If only Celebrity or Royal Caribbean served such delicious coffee in their restaurants.

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

After dinner my DW just wanted to relax in the room and watch some nature video’s on YouTube. 
 

I went to the Top Sail Lounge and sat and chatted with a friend I saw for the first time in about 10 years, her mother, husband, and some friends of theirs.  
 

After a couple of rounds of drinks, LIIT’s  for me, we all decided to call it an early night.

 

We set clocks back an hour tonight so it is indeed an early night.  I am currently reading the third book in James Clavell’s Asian saga, King Rat,  and my nightly lounge experiences has put me a little off my usual reading pace 🙂😉 🙂 

[George C]

25 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

After dinner my DW just wanted to relax in the room and watch some nature video’s on YouTube. 
 

I went to the Top Sail Lounge and sat and chatted with a friend I saw for the first time in about 10 years, her mother, husband, and some friends of theirs.  
 

After a couple of rounds of drinks, LIIT’s  for me, we all decided to call it an early night.

 

We set clocks back an hour tonight so it is indeed an early night.  I am currently reading the third book in James Clavell’s Asian saga, King Rat,  and my nightly lounge experiences has put me a little off my usual reading pace 🙂😉 🙂 

Really enjoying this thread , I am also a James Clavell fan , new Shogun miniseries is starting shortly.

[no1talks]

2 hours ago, George C said:

"Shogun miniseries is starting shortly."

 

I, too, look forward to this miniseries. I enjoyed the 1980 miniseries when I was a lad.

[Fogfog]

Unfortunate to see that mall of shops all empty. Given the ships are there. I wonder about the reasons they are not open/stocked. Could be many. When we stopped there years ago there were handcrafts and snacks etc. We bought a few things and had a cold Panama beer before getting on the ship after out canal transit excursion.