Divina Med Cruise Yacht Club Review – May 17-24 2024

[RavenCruiser]

Due to our oldest son’s destination wedding, we traveled to Italy in May.  We decided to do a cruise prior to the wedding.  I had been researching YC, including reviews on this board, and had long been interested in trying the experience so this seemed the perfect opportunity to try it out.  Our other requirements were an Eastern Mediterranean itinerary and a cruise that would fit well between our arrival and our need to be in Ravello by May 25 for the wedding.  This Divina cruise met all the criteria so we booked a YC Deluxe Suite.

 

On this cruise were myself (62), DW (64) and DS (24).  We’ve only cruised every several years and, as such, are willing to pay a higher price for a better experience.  Our four prior cruises were on RCCL (2), Carnival, and NCL, so we are not brand loyal.  All four prior cruises included our oldest son and the most recent in 2019 was in NCL’s Haven so I will do a brief comparison of my thoughts between the two at the end of the review.

 

Once we decided on the cruise I decided to book a non-stop flight from Dulles to FCO to lessen the opportunity for lost luggage.  As we were arriving the day prior to the cruise I chose to book an accommodation in Civitavecchia.  Now I will address different aspects of the experience from arrival at FCO through debarkation.

 

 

Arrival at FCO to Civitavecchia:

 

As I had never been to Italy before or traveled via train in Europe I did a lot of research to understand how to navigate the Italian rail system.  Having now experienced it I agree with so many others that it is a very easy process.  We breezed through customs (wish I could say the same about our return at IAD), retrieved our luggage, and connected to the main terminal, whereupon I chose to purchase train tickets from the Trenitalia office rather than a kiosk just to make sure I got everything correct.  Total fare for three of us was ~12 Euro.  Due to the wedding and DW’s desire to bring far more than we would ever need, we had two medium sized roller suitcases, each of us had a standard size carry-on, and DS and I had a backpack.  I mention this because there is little to no luggage space on the standard rail car.  Fortunately both of our trains were thinly populated so we were able to use open adjoining seating for our luggage.  Other than wrestling with the luggage, both trains (we transferred at Rome Ostiense) were very pleasant, very clean, nicely air-conditioned, and on-time.  Station announcements were in Italian and English.

 

 

Civitavecchia:

 

After a good bit of internet research I chose to book our overnight stay at La Casa Sul Mare.  I will not get into the details of this B&B here but simply direct you to their Tripadvisor page.  It gets superlative reviews and everything described there is true and then some.  It is a wonderful property, if a bit challenging to find, and the hosts (Loris/Amber/Rita) couldn’t be nicer or more accommodating.  We were one of four groups at this five room property and each of the others were also taking cruises the next day.  In fact, I’d bet a couple of the May reviews were from those people.

 

I believe we arrived at Civitavecchia station around 1100.  For those who arrive the same day as their cruise, as you exit the small station you will find the green shuttle buses (6 Euro/PP) that will take you to the place where the free shuttles then take you to your ship.  Also, the white taxis offer to transport you for the same fare as the shuttle, which I believe is a better option, particularly if you are luggage bound like we were.  As we were spending the night we chose to walk to our B&B.  It was no more than a ten minute walk and would be faster for less burdened people.  BTW, when we left La Casa the next morning it was a simple five minute walk to the free shuttle pickup point so in my opinion walking from the station to the pickup point is very doable.  Very hot or inclement weather may impact your decision to walk.

 

There are many here who consider Civitavecchia a waste of a day with little to do.  As we had never been there or anywhere else in Italy before, we found plenty to do and see.  Also, there’s a lot to be said for getting to one’s cruise departure point and having a quiet relaxing day after having endured overnight economy class travel with very little sleep.  Even though we arrived much earlier than check-in time we were warmly greeted at La Casa, shown to our room and given a walk-through of everything.  BTW, they provide power converters in case you don’t have any.  They also provided a number of dining recommendations, including business cards, of which we gladly took advantage.

 

As this review will be long enough I won’t get into any Civitavecchia specifics here as you can easily find that yourself on the internet.  I will say that we had two fantastic meals.  The first was lunch at Crudo which is in an area of restaurants that overlook the sea.  In fact, I believe the seafood pasta dish I had was the best meal of the entire two weeks in Italy, YC included.  Quantity and quality of seafood on all our dishes was phenomenal and the prices were great.  Our evening meal was a fantastic pizza at Pizzeria Del Ghetto, which is a block and a half from La Casa.  Be forewarned it is an extremely limited menu of just four types of pizza (somewhat reminiscent of the old SNL cheeseburger, cheeseburger skit) along with what was a far less English proficient/accommodating staff than any other place we were at over the two week trip.  Again, you can consult Tripadvisor for specifics.

 

After a great night’s sleep we awoke to a fantastic continental breakfast spread and communal table.  This is where we met the other cruisers/guests.  The food and convivial atmosphere were a great way to start the day.  Unfortunately, the pictures on the Tripadvisor page do not do the breakfast setup justice.  They should update them.  As we were preparing to leave, Loris made sure to look up the pier assignment for Divina, show us the exact location of the free port shuttle pickup point as well as carry our bags down to the street level

 

Overall we greatly enjoyed our stay in Civitavecchia and if we were to ever cruise from there again I would stay there and the first thing I would do would be to book La Casa Sul Mare.

 

 

Embarkation:

 

As I previously mentioned, it was a five minute walk to the shuttle stop.  After we boarded the shuttle, it seemed to drive around in a bunch of loops before dumping us off at the transfer point for the next bus that would take us to the pier.  Unfortunately for us, Divina was not at the main pier locations of 10-13 which are adjacent to the main terminal building.  Instead it was at pier 25, which is off by it’s lonesome.  This required a different bus, which had a longer line and seemed to run less frequently than if Divina had been at the main pier area. 

 

Once we finally arrived at the temporary structure that serves as a terminal for pier 25 the magic finally started and continued throughout the cruise.  We quickly located and directly proceeded to the YC tent.  Here our documents were checked and our checked bags were tagged and taken.  We were then escorted into the “terminal”.  This facility is a very large rigid tent-like structure that is just a large open area that is then quite loud.  Think of a very large exhibition hall at your state fair.  Therefore, the YC waiting area is simply a roped off seating location towards one end of this structure.  I assume the main terminal has a nicer waiting area.  We presented our documents to the dedicated check-in staff and received our card keys after which we returned to the seating area to be offered refreshments.  Fortunately we were only there for a few minutes, or about a half glass of Prosecco, before we were escorted onto the ship and to the Top Sail lounge by one of the butlers.

 

 

Top Sail:

 

By noon we were enjoying the amenities of the lounge, I with a Miami Vice and a Peroni.  Within a half hour of our arrival we were notified that our cabin was ready.  As it has been adequately described and documented elsewhere I will simply say our experience mirrored what others have said.  We took advantage of the continental breakfast spread on a couple of our excursion days and stopped by for a drink to take back to the cabin on a couple of post excursion days.  Otherwise we only tended to go there for a post dinner nightcap or three.  There was a piano player who provided the entertainment every night we were there.  Our one minor disappointment regarding the treats/snacks was the lack of olives.  We love olives and based on some of the videos I had seen I expected them to be freely available, particularly as we were in the Mediterranean.  Alas, I only saw them on a single day.  Similar situation with pistachio nuts.  BTW, Top Sail serves as your assembly point for any MSC excursions.

 

 

Cabin:

 

We had Deluxe Suite 16021.  I would have preferred the Grand Deluxe Suite given there were three of us but they were sold out when I booked.  Nevertheless, it was fine for us, if a little tight when trying to get to the balcony while the sofa bed was deployed.  There was ample storage for all of our luggage and belongings and we didn’t really feel too crowded.  That said, it did make me long for the 2BR, 2BA suite we had when in the NCL Haven.  Spoiler alert, cabin sizes is one of only three areas I rate Haven above YC. 

 

One thing I found quite irritating is the half glass partition for the tub/shower.  These things seem to becoming quite the rage, we even had that in one of our Rome hotel rooms.  Personally I hate them.  If they are going to have them I wish they would extend them further along the length of the tub.  I don’t like having to maneuver myself and the water flow to keep water from hitting the bathroom floor. 

 

TV was worthless to us.  Besides the multiple channels with MSC programming, including one with an endless loop of the safety procedures, there was but a single English language channel which just had Sky News,  Unfortunately, the one channel I like, which is the ship information/position was somewhat flaky.  No worries for us as we aren’t there for TV.  Just wanted to make the observation for others.  The one time we actually did watch a program was when we had room service.  We enjoy Master Chef and found one of the channels showing the Italian version.  All I have to say is the Italian standards are much lower and what we witnessed would never pass muster with Gordon, Aaron, and Joe. 

 

As with everyone else, the pre-cruise selections I made regarding pillow, paper, and liquor preferences were not conveyed to the butler.  Once we (including the room attendant) met later that afternoon, I made my preferences known, including the mini-bar.  Unfortunately, I was told the down pillows were unavailable but there was another choice that was quite nice.

 

 

Room Service:

 

We only availed ourselves of room service one evening when our excursion got us back too late for dinner.  This at least gave us the opportunity to try the world renowned MSC pizza.  When I placed the order I mistakenly pressed the concierge button on the phone rather than room service.  I apologized and said I pushed the wrong button.  He insisted on taking the order, which I believe probably went much more smoothly than had I dialed room service and convinced me that is the way to go for room service. 

 

We ordered two pizzas plus a smoked salmon sandwich.  Everything was delivered by the butler, along with plates, napkins and utensils.  When I looked at what we had I figured there was no way we would finish all of it.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  And the pizza was outstanding, just as advertised.  Wish I could get that back home.  When finished we called the concierge who sent the butler back to collect everything.

 

More to follow later...

 

[RavenCruiser]

A couple of errors to correct.  Train fare to Civitavecchia was 11 Euro PP and La Casa Sul Mare provides power adapters, not converters.

[TheBeardedCruiser]

Thank you for your review! It was very thorough. 

 

I couldn't agree with you more about the pizza! I too wish that I could get their pizza at home!!

 

Question about the pizza, in the YC... Could you order any toppings that you wanted, or did they limit you to a preselected list of pizzas? Thanks!

[Morgsmom]

1 hour ago, TheBeardedCruiser said:

Question about the pizza, in the YC... Could you order any toppings that you wanted, or did they limit you to a preselected list of pizzas? Thanks!

There is a preselected list of pizzas, all of which are delicious, but I suspect that you could omit an item if needed.

[RavenCruiser]

We went with the pepperoni and the supreme, which had most everything you could think of, from the menu options.  I believe there is also an option in which you can create your own up to a max of five toppings.

[Best Cat Mom]

5 hours ago, RavenCruiser said:

I believe there is also an option in which you can create your own up to a max of five toppings.

Yes -- we always create our own, usually with tomato sauce, arugula, sausage and cheese. If you do create your own, don't forget to ask for tomato sauce and cheese because they won't necessarily assume you want both with your other toppings.

[DaKahuna]

 My DW does not eat pepperoni or salami.  We went with half margarita for her and half supreme for me. It was delicious .. 

 

[RavenCruiser]

Second review installment:

 

Butler/Room Attendant:

 

As mentioned, we met our butler Elvin and the cabin attendant, who I’ve chosen to not name, the first afternoon at which point we made our desires known as I documented in the cabin section of the review.  We are very low maintenance and rarely ask for anything beyond whatever is considered basic service.  This is particularly true regarding butler service although this time around circumstances would change that.

 

My DW developed a knee problem a little more than a week before boarding, naturally after we had booked all of our excursions that required a good bit of walking over uneven surfaces.  Consequently, I made sure to request the cabin attendant fill the ice bucket in the morning and evening so we would have ice available for her knee if needed.  When making the request I made clear the reason behind it.  Unfortunately, the ice supply was haphazard at best.  As he stationed his cart outside our door during the day I generally had no trouble finding him but I would have thought after having me ask/remind him a couple of times that he’d get his batting average up.  Alas, he did not, which I found mildly annoying.  While he did a very nice job of cleaning and freshening the room, including replenishing the water bottles and providing pillow chocolates, which we’ve enjoyed at home, I can’t really say he did anything worthy of note.  He was also inconsistent in returning the sleep sofa back to a sofa in the morning, so that we had to occasionally do it.

 

As far as butler service, there’s really nothing we particularly want.  There’s more than enough food available between Top Sail, One Pool and the restaurant, that we don’t need anything extra.  The small butler treats were dutifully delivered in the acrylic container but other than one night when they were some sort of pistachio confection we had no interest in them.  There was a thread on the board earlier asking what one requests of a butler to which I would have responded “pretty much nothing” but, as I said, circumstances changed that. 

 

I always bring a backpack on these trips.  When exiting the car at Dulles parking it caught and caused the strap to separate from where it attaches to the bottom of the backpack.  It was at this point I noticed the other strap had previously separated.  Frustrated at the thought I’d have to carry it around for a week by grasping the top of the bag or not using it at all, I tried driving a bunch of staples through it to no good end.  Knowing there are a bunch of skilled people on ships who are very adept at repairing anything you can possibly think of I decided I’d test the butler with this one once we boarded.  I explained the request to Elvin, emphasizing I’d understand if it couldn’t be satisfied.  He said he knew some people and would take the backpack the next day.

 

Before we could score him on that test we came up with another.  My over-packing DW only brought two pair of dress shoes for dinner, both of which broke on day two.  One was deemed un-salvageable.  On the better pair, one of the tips broke off the heel.  I don’t have to tell you this was a major crisis.  Fortunately, her wedding shoes came with extra tips so we asked Elvin if someone could repair the shoe using one of these tips (in the interim she found a pair of shoes to her liking in Santorini which caused my cruise experience to improve).  I’m happy to report that he came through with flying colors and both items were returned by day five.  In fact, when I looked at the way the backpack strap was stitched it was far better than what had been done by the manufacturer.

 

So my grade for this portion is A+ for Elvin and C- for the cabin attendant.

 

 

Le Muse:

 

On embarkation day we were escorted to Le Muse at the aft end of the ship by one of the butlers for lunch.  This was to be our only lunch in Le Muse.  This is not due to any failing of the restaurant but is a personal choice.  While we do enjoy a nice big lunch on that magical first day, we aren’t prone to eating three large meals daily so we passed on lunch here for the remainder of the cruise (have done the same on all prior cruises).  On the days we didn’t have excursions the One Pool offerings were very satisfying, not to mention I could dine in my swim trunks in the warm sun.

 

Breakfast was another matter.  While in the Haven we made a point to have breakfast in the dining room every day.  Admittedly, there is no One Pool alternative as with Yacht Club, but it was worth the time to us.  The Haven restaurant includes a small buffet area with a lot of fruits, cereals, yogurts, continental selections, etc., similar to what you find at the One Pool.  Beyond that, I also thought the menu choices were better and better executed.  At Le Muse I ordered French toast.  I received two small triangles that weren’t really anything special, whereas the Haven version was far better in terms of quantity, quality, and execution.  Same goes for French toast I got in Royal’s suite breakfast.  And I don’t think the smaller European meal sizes explain the difference.  Overall, there wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with what we got.  DW’s omelet and all our sides were well executed.  It’s just that to us it wasn’t really worth the walk and the time investment when we could get much of the same thing at One Pool.  So Breakfast is the second area in which I give the edge to Haven.

 

Dinner was everything we hoped and expected it would be.  We thoroughly enjoyed our nightly experience here.  The menus were a good bit different than those on the Caribbean sailings and very much to our liking.  Try as we might, we rarely seemed to be able to get here before 8:30, which at least meant it was at the point in the day where we would not be looking at people in their swimming attire on the other side of the restaurant glass.  We typically ordered two appetizers each as they were all so enticing.  In addition to our mains, we ordered the risotto, or sometimes the nightly pasta dish to share, which is a wonderful idea that I think came from Best Cat Mom.  The only thing I got that I didn’t think worked was the Twice-Baked Blue Cheese Souffle’.  I just thought it was bland and flavorless.  I had actually seen a video review in which the diner said the exact same thing but I decided to get it anyway as it sounds so good.  I should have heeded his advice.  I also thought the quality of the filet on the filet special could have been a little bit better but that is just nitpicking because I thought the entire dish was excellent, particularly the sauce.  I changed my mind on ordering the New England clam chowder based on the waiter’s suggestion.  We had wine throughout dinner, largely letting the wait staff recommend for us.  We passed on desserts most nights.  I didn’t find many of the offerings very exciting and decided to spend my calories on the apps and mains.  Overall we greatly enjoyed our evening meals.

 

As I mentioned on another thread, the Le Muse team is outstanding and we enjoyed their camaraderie as much as their service.  Our servers were waiters Glenn, Joey, and Sukran as well as assistants Ryan (Mauritius) and Ryan (Philippines).  The maitre d Georges was wonderful as was Cazy the hostess who is an absolute doll.

 

One last thing to say regarding the location.  Normally, walking to the back of the ship wouldn’t be a big deal for us but it was a problem due to DW’s knee.  I would have preferred to not have to expend extra steps on that.  Also, she wasn’t very keen on exposing her hair to the wind tunnel that can exist when walking on an outside deck of a ship underway so we mostly went down to deck six or seven before heading aft and back.  This would have been an excellent time to be on a ship in which the restaurant is within the Yacht Club.  I look forward to trying that next time out.

 

One Pool:

 

We thought One Pool was wonderful and wished we had more time to spend there.  We only had two sea days, which were both spent there.  As we thought this would be our only time in the Med we chose to do excursions at every port call, although based on what I experienced in Santorini (more on that later) I would have been better served to stay on the ship and enjoy One Pool.  We did spend time there before and after excursions as time permitted.

 

There were always ample sunbeds and seating options available throughout, although I never saw any of the pergolas others have mentioned.  There was a distinct lack of shade except in the bar/buffet seating area and directly over the pool.  It was not an issue on our cruise as the weather was fairly warm without being uncomfortable but I’m sure that would be a different story at the height of Summer and in the Caribbean.

 

We never lacked for opportunities to use the hot tubs.  People went in and out, without living in them so there were many times they were unoccupied and even when they were it was usually just a couple of people so one could join them if so inclined.  I never saw anyone use the pool beyond a couple of families with small children.

 

Service was very attentive.  The pool attendants were constantly making the rounds, as were some of the Le Muse waiters occasionally, checking on people so there was never an issue getting a drink.  They also brought around snacks, with pizza rolls being the most predominant, as well as ice cream and cold towels.  They were also constantly freshening vacant loungers, replacing towels, etc.  They worked very hard and efficiently and were a pleasure to talk to.

 

Prior to the cruise I did my usual intensive research to know what I would experience and was delighted to see the elaborate One Pool buffets.  It wasn’t until shortly before we left home that I managed to find a Divina video review that showed their buffet was less than what I had seen on the “Sea” class ships.  While somewhat disappointed, and I would definitely like to experience one of those in the future, I can honestly say we were more than satisfied with what the Divina had to offer. 

 

I already touched on breakfast when discussing Le Muse but there was plenty from which to choose.  In addition to the buffet, there was someone making omelets and other egg dishes to order.  One oddity was the bacon.  The first couple of days it was nice and crisp.  The next couple of days I assumed it wasn’t available as what I saw on the buffet did not resemble bacon at all.  The last couple of days I realized it was bacon but was ridiculously under cooked. 

 

We really enjoyed the lunch selections.  Plenty of hot and cold items, with meats always including chicken, pork and beef selections.  There were also two or three fish selections, such as swordfish, as well as rotating options of scallops, calamari, and shrimp.  In addition to that there was always a carved meat selection along with roasted vegetables.  Two of the three days was a delicious pork loin while the third was a whole turkey.  There was also a daily special cooked to order pasta dish, which I did not try.  I did get the burger and fries one day which I enjoyed but would have expected something beyond a basic grocery store bun, given the upscale nature of everything else.  After lunch time the buffet area was set up with a lot of tasty small snacks, similar to what you can find in Top Sail.

 

Overall, One Pool was an excellent experience and completely unlike anything I’ve experienced or read about on any other cruise line.  I can certainly understand why many say for them the ship is the destination, not the ports.

 

Non-YC Areas:

 

I walked around the upper decks a couple of days and to me the standard pool decks didn’t seem overly crowded compared to other cruise line ships.  Perhaps the ship was not at capacity.  If it was then kudos to MSC for those areas not being overwhelmed as with other lines.  Similar observation for the adult area adjacent to Le Muse.

 

We are not casino people so I can’t tell you anything about that.  We did walk through the area while it was empty and it seemed to have everything one would expect. 

 

None of the shows we noticed in the daily planner really jumped out at us.  Combine that with the fact that we always arrived at Le Muse at a time that wouldn’t enable us to attend them anyway meant we confined our entertainment to Top Sail after dinner.  As others have noted, there are no comedians, magicians, etc.  Shows seem to be largely musical tributes to the Beatles, ABBA, etc.

 

We typically explore the ship but didn’t really do that due to DW’s condition.  Most of what we saw was when passing through going to/from Le Muse.  We did make a stop at the apparel store while trying to find replacement shoes.  To me the shops seemed more limited in their offerings compared to other cruise lines.  When passing through and seeing some getting pictures taken on formal night it struck me that I hadn’t seen any photographers.  That was the only place I ever saw them.  Certainly not complaining, just noting.

 

DS likes to work out and seemed satisfied with the fitness center.  I should note that Haven has their own, albeit smaller, fitness center as well as their own sauna/spa areas.  While on the surface that would give them the edge in these niche categories, I don’t use them so they aren’t part of my score card.

 

Next up will be ports/excursions and final thoughts.

[Best Cat Mom]

41 minutes ago, RavenCruiser said:

In addition to our mains, we ordered the risotto, or sometimes the nightly pasta dish to share, which is a wonderful idea that I think came from Best Cat Mom.

Glad you liked the risotto too. We love having someone else prepare it -- what a time-intensive item to prepare at home!

 

43 minutes ago, RavenCruiser said:

Our servers were waiters Glenn, Joey, and Sukran as well as assistants Ryan (Mauritius) and Ryan (Philippines).

Great that you were able to enjoy service from Glenn and Ryan (Mauritius). We were so pleased with their partnership while on Divina for both our transatlantic last fall and then another sailing in the Caribbean earlier this year. I did not realize that Sukran was now on Divina -- he took great care of us on Seaside in September 2023. One of the best things about sailing YC is seeing those familiar faces pop up on future cruises. And I'm constantly amazed that they also remember us. Sometimes we might forget where we saw them, but the memory of their impeccable service remains. 🙂