MSC Divina Yacht Club April 7-18 - “She Said/He Said”

[Cathy in Boston]

A little background - we had previously cruised three times, all with Celebrity.  First cruise was in 2013, and most recent was in April of 2022.  We’d been hesitant to try a different cruise line, but were not treated well by Celebrity after they canceled the cruise we’d booked while onboard our last one, and were not particularly accommodating in getting us booked on another cruise.  That and reports of service and pricing issues overall finally led to our looking into other options.  We ended up booking a Western Caribbean cruise, through a travel agent (a first for us), on the Divina, in the Yacht Club. We wanted to share our thoughts here, in case others are thinking of giving MSC a try. The “we” here is Cathy and Mike, a married couple over 55. We will share our thoughts separately, by topic.  Here goes!

 

EMBARKATION  

 

She Said…

I was very impressed by the speed and smoothness of the boarding process.  I would estimate it was maybe 45 between the time we arrived at the port in Miami and the moment we saw that crystal staircase!

 

He Said…

I looked at my watch when we got in the cab at the Intercontinental.  It was 11:03.  Reading the trip reports on here, we knew where to tell the cab driver to drop us off.  We were in the Top Sail Lounge at 11:45.  Very easy and well organized.

 

CABIN

 

She Said…

Very spacious, with plenty of storage.  The Divina is an older ship, and nowhere is that more evident than in the cabins.  That being said, we found ours (16033) very comfortable, if in need of some updating.  The bed was comfortable, the balcony was a decent size, and the tub/shower was good size.

 

He Said…

The cabin was the weakest part of the trip.  It was a good size, but it could use a refresh.  The carpet had seen better days. I did not like the bathroom.  There was zero ventilation.  When you looked at the tub, the grout was peeling off, and there was rust around the door.  In addition, the tub did not drain well.  None of this ruined my trip, I suppose I was spoiled by Celebrity.

 

Top Sail Lounge

 

She Said…

We had seen a number of YouTube videos, and we both felt like we would love the Top Sail.  Boy, we’re we right!  What a lovely, inviting and comfortable space.  We spent some very nice afternoons there playing cribbage, and some relaxing evenings having cocktails.

 

He Said…

Wow!  It was everything we hoped it would be and more.  We spent quite of bit of time in there.  I can definitely see why some folks book interiors and then spend their time in the Top Sail.  Loved it!

 

Le Muse

 

She Said

I was most nervous about what the food would be like. I felt like, after our last cruise (our first experience in a Celebrity suite), nothing would be able to beat Luminae.  I’ve never been happier to admit I was wrong,  Le Muse is beautiful, inviting and elegant, without being at all intimidating. We’ll talk about the service later, but the food was absolutely delicious!  Before the start of the cruise, we’d booked a Specialty Dining package with dinners at Butcher’s Cut and Galaxy, thinking it would be a nice change of pace.  I ordered a filet mignon at BC.  It was good, but it wasn’t as good as the one I’d already had at Le Muse.  Not even close.  We never made it to Galaxy, deciding we didn’t want to miss another meal at Le Muse.

 

He Said…

The food was fantastic.  All of the food was seasoned well.  The fresh made pasta was amazing.  Highlights for me was the lasagna, and the bolognese.  The variety of risottos were excellent.  Risotto is easy to cook, but not easy to cook well…no problems with that here.  Desserts were great as well.  The portions were smaller than we had on Celebrity, but I actually appreciate that, as I never walked out of there feeling overly full.  The only thing I think could be improved here is the wine list.  That being said, we found a nice Beaujolais that we both enjoyed, as well as a nice Prosecco.

 

One Pool

 

She Said…

I loved the pool itself.  It was maybe a little on the small side, but that didn’t bother me.  Since I’m 4’10” and not a particularly strong swimmer, I really appreciated that the depth was under 4 feet.  The problem I had with the overall One Pool area was the lack of much shade.  
 

He Said…

I thought this was a very nice area.  I do wish there was a bit more shade, and the hot tubs were hotter, but overall, I enjoyed my time up there.  The loungers were quite comfortable.

 

Other Parts of the Ship

 

She Said…

We’d heard that the pizza on MSC was very good.  Pizza being probably my favorite food, I was skeptical, but anxious to try it.  The only options (as far as we could tell) for Yacht Club guests having the pizza are room service and the buffet.  We did both, twice.  Room service resulted in a lukewarm pizza the first time, and a piping hot pizza the second time.  However, neither time were we provided with plates, napkins or utensils.  The buffet at least allowed us to remedy that situation, but the buffet was super crowded and not exactly inviting.  The pizza itself.  OMG.  I’m being very serious when I tell you it was probably the best pizza I’ve ever had outside of Italy.  The crust is amazing. 

As much as we loved the Top Sail, we did visit several of the other lounges on board. We really liked the house band in the Black and White lounge, so we spent a couple of evenings there.  Nice atmosphere, comfortable seats.  We also liked the vibe at the Golden Jazz Lounge, plus it was the only place where I was able to get a properly-prepared Aviation.  We would have tried a drink at La Luna, the piano bar, but nobody ever came around to see if we wanted one.

 

We never used any of the other pool areas, but walking around and looking at them, I felt we would not have enjoyed them.  They were crowded, very loud, and there were a LOT of young kids.

 

Overall, the ship is beautiful.  I loved the crystal staircase, and the overall decor is lovely.

 

He Said…

Yeah, Cathy pretty much covered it.

 

Entertainment

 

She Said…

This is one area where Celebrity has it all over MSC.  The shows were just “meh,” even the one comedian wasn’t really my cup of tea. 
 

He Said…

I thought the singers around the ship were pretty good, particularly the Groovy Band, and the saxophone player in Top Sail.  I wasn’t much of a fan of the theater shows to be honest.

 

Staff/Service

 

She Said…

WOW.  The Yacht Club staff is absolutely fantastic.  

Our butler, Elvin, and our junior butler, Jerwell, were super nice, friendly, and took great care of us during the entire cruise.

 

The Yacht Cub concierge team was wonderful,

 

The bartenders and servers at the Top Sail were great, too.  
 

Special mention must be made of the Le Muse staff.  Our servers were Glenn and Ryan.  They were both absolutely amazing.  Personable, efficient, charming.  Always made sure we had everything we needed.  Mehmet, the Maitre’d, was lovely as well.  Ishmael was another server who deserves a mention, just a sweetheart.

 

He Said…

I agree with everything Cathy said here.  However, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a very special shout out to Kaoutar.  She was one of the concierge staff at Top Sail.  On day five, I took a wrong step and pulled my calf muscle pretty badly.  I was reluctant to go to Medical, and they were closed when we went to Top Sail.  Kaoutar was at the concierge desk and I asked her if she could find me a cane or a crutch.  She told me she was unsure, but she would see what she could do.  Ten minutes later, she walked in with a crutch.  I can’t thank her enough, and I made sure to tell Tizinia (sp.), who I believe was the Yacht Club Director, how awesome she was.

 

Final Thoughts

 

She Said…

We’re the sort of people who tend to keep to ourselves.  That being said, there were so many really great folks we met from the Yacht Club!!  We really enjoyed talking to and getting to know them, especially @Best Cat Mom and her husband.  Really terrific folks!

 

I would not hesitate AT ALL to sail MSC again.  That being said, I’d also book the Yacht Club again.

 

He Said…

How much did I enjoy this cruise?  Well, next year, we will be celebrating our 35th anniversary on a Mediterranean cruise on Virgin.  Somewhere around day eight, I started looking at MSC in the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately, they only have seven day cruises, and the itineraries don’t vary.  If they had longer cruises in the Mediterranean or they had back to back cruises where the itineraries were even slightly different, I’d try to convince Cathy to cancel Virgin for another Yacht Club experience.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

It was great meeting you both!

 

I hope you find another MSC YC cruise to enjoy -- and hope we happen to be onboard with you. 😉

[TheycallmeDrew]

"Somewhere around day eight, I started looking at MSC in the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately, they only have seven day cruises, and the itineraries don’t vary.  If they had longer cruises in the Mediterranean or they had back to back cruises where the itineraries were even slightly different, I’d try to convince Cathy to cancel Virgin for another Yacht Club experience.  "

 

I am not sure if it's because you are looking at YC but MSC has tons of cruises longer than 7 days in the Mediterranean. We have an 11 days booked on Poesia in Oct and it's only 11 days because I wanted to get on and off at the same port. You might want to look at a different booking site if you are only seeing 7 days. I also liked this smaller ship because it's going to a bunch of ports I have not seen offered by other cruise lines.

[DaKahuna]

@Cathy in Boston The only disappointing aspect of Divina's Top Sail Lounge for us was the seating and the windows.  I do not know if they managed to clean them or not but the windows in the TSL were defiantly needing of replacing and or a good cleaning.  Fortunately the furniture was positioned in a way in which your back or side was toward the windows.  There were only two places both far corners where you really could sit and look almost straight out at the bow of the ship.  

 

[rego007]

@Cathy in Boston  Thank you for this submission!  My wife and I will be in cabin 16033 on May 31 and I was wondering about its condition.  I know Divina hasn't seen a drydock in a while and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned, especially as she'll be the oldest MSC ship we've sailed on.  Based on everything else in your review, however, we're looking forward to another great experience.

[Cathy in Boston]

The most serious “issues” with the cabin - which we loved overall - were the bathtub drain, which drained verrrrrry slowwwwly - and the grout.  The only other annoying thing, really, was the dresser in the walk-in closet.  When we arrived, one of the drawers was removed, as it was misaligned.  That got fixed pretty quickly.  However, a different drawer then started acting up!  That got fixed too, though.

 

On the upside, the cabin is really well positioned, as it is about a 30-second walk to the elevator that takes you to the Top Sail, and not far from the regular elevator bank.  It was quiet, too, and the bed was comfortable.  If you’re fussy about pillows, ask your butler for the pillow menu.  I got a memory foam and a down pillow, a huge improvement over what was there originally.

 

I think you’ll be pleased with 16033.  My husband did a ton of research before deciding on that cabin!

[rego007]

Thanks so much for the feedback!  I tend to be picky with cabin selection too, so your husband is in good company in that regard.  Otherwise, we've always enjoyed Yacht Club, so I'm sure this one will be great too.  Like anything in life, it's all what you make it.

[Sharon_and_TC]

@Cathy in Boston

 

Loved the feedback - especially the two views.

 

As for the pizza delivered to the room - and lack of plates, utensils, etc.    We had the same thing happen!   Mentioned it to the butler who walked over to the credenza, opened the drawer by the mini-fridge, and pointed to the plates, silverware, etc. provided as part of the YC goodies.

 

Glad we were not the only ones that forgot about that added touch.    

 

 

[Cathy in Boston]

OMG!  Never even thought to look there!  THANK YOU!!!