MSC Divina 4rd July, 2015 - Review with pictures

Having enjoyed so many reviews here on CC and found them useful in planning our cruises, l have wanted to post a photo review for some time now but have been frustrated by computer issues and ignorance. I think part of that has been resolved so here we go. We booked a last minute cruise on MSC Divina, embarking at Civitavecchia, calling at La Spezia, Cannes, Palma, Majorca, Barcelona and Naples. Due to flight prices, we opted to fly in to Ciampino airport the night before, allowing a half day to explore Rome before embarking. I'm not a great photographer, and l'm lazy, so no great expectations please. Also, we sailed on MSC Preziosa last September and the two ships are almost identical, so l didn't bother with many ship photos. For a definitive review of Divina, have a look at Gambee's superb review here; http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2092580

Arrival at Ciampino -

Our flight from Dublin was delayed so we exited the arrivals hall at about 9.30pm. There are two booths in the arrivals hall selling bus tickets. On your left is the Schiaffini booth. This was closed and the guys inside counting money said the bus was finished. Over to Terravision which is on your right as you exit the baggage hall. She said ‘just pay on the bus’. Exited the terminal. Buses are opposite the door about 100m. This is a daytime picture of the bus rank

Terravision bus was full and departing. Their employee was quite gruff and said next bus would be 1 hour, i.e. 10.30. Approached other coach/bus drivers who, if they bothered to reply, grunted and said ‘not to Rome’! There are 3 bays for the transport, Terravision, SIT and Schiaffini, from left to right. At about 9.45, the SIT bus arrived and we managed to squeeze on, no logical queuing. 45-50 minutes into Rome Termini. Fare €4 pp.

There is also a bus which does transfers to Fiumicino airport. I think it’s called Prontobus. Ciampino transport site: http://www.ciampinoairport.net/getting-to-rome-ciampino-airport/rome-ciampino-airport-buses.htm

B&B in Rome - We looked up Tripadvisor and found a highly rated B&B near Termini, Smart B&B. *http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d506220-r288830022-Bed_and_Breakfast_Smart-Rome_Lazio.html

I Google mapped the building but could not make it out. As it happened, the bus drove right past it but there were no signs. We walked back from Termini(5mins) and found the doorbell on the appropriate building. Door was buzzed open, then an inner gate and Isabella, the hostess, arrived down in the small lift. She was wonderful and tried to wrestle the large case from me. We had to go up in two lots but the apartment was clean and spacious. Our room had high ceilings, quirky wallpaper and aircon. Private bathroom was down the hall. Isabella asked what time we would like breakfast and at precisely 9am, knocked on our door with a simple continental breakfast. There are also two ensuite rooms. There are plenty of restaurants nearby, very reasonable for pizza and wine.

Walking around Rome - Next morning, Isabella agreed to hold our luggage (actually, she let us use our room until 2pm). We walked to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

and from there to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli

Michelangelo sculpture of Moses with horns at St. Pietro in Vincoli

St. Peter's chains in the glass case!

We walked on a few hundred metres to the Domus Aurea, a favoured residence of the Emperor Nero.

Turning around, the Coliseum is just behind the trees.

Lines were huge there so we walked on past the Arch of Constantine

towards the end of the avenue, along the side of the Forum to the Circus Maximus, where the Ben Hur chariot race would have been set. Alas, there is only a set of walls at one end of the oval field to see now.

OK, that's enough for now! Tell me: are the pictures too big and/ or is the text too small? Let me know!

Yea, the pictures are pretty large. Print of txt is good size.

Enjoying though....

great start! looking forward tomthe rest of your review! thanks!!!

Hi Ken

So glad you started your review. I'm heading in nine days so you'd want to get a move on!!! :rolleyes: :D ;)

Circus Maximus covers a large area. Here's a photo of some of the excavations and a wider shot of the oval track:

Continuing along the outside of the Forum, opposite the Circus, we came to a farmers’ market which was interesting, in a covered building. Clean toilets were available, free, in the market. It's an octagonal building. Toilets are on the right when you enter.

We climbed up along the outside of the Forum towards the Campodoglio.

My favourite Forum pic.

Campidoglio

I have other pics but they're on another device so will post at the end.

From there we descended into modern Rome traffic, and into a maze of streets. We found the side streets so much quieter and more peaceful, we just wandered, discovering the Palazzo Mattei di Giove, https://www.google.ie/search?q=Palazzo+Mattei+di+Giove&safe=active&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCMQsARqFQoTCNfqh5r3gscCFUfYHgodriEHVg&biw=1152&bih=597 *

Some pics of the Palazzo in the next post..

Some photos of the Palazzo..

We left here and wandered on until through quaint streets and piazza

until we came upon the Synagogue. There was a police presence in that street and I think it was because of the synagogue. This brought us out alongside the Tiber and we decided to stop for a sandwich on Via Arenula. Two huge ham & cheese paninis plus two diet cokes came to €12. We were going to walk back but it was very hot and there is a bus stop right outside the small cafe. We purchased 2 tickets from the Tabachi next door, €1.50 each and soon we were standing on a bus(designated H) back to Termini.

After retrieving our bags, we walked into the people scrum that is Termini station. http://www.raileurope.com/europe-travel-guide/italy/rome/train-station/termini-train-station.html * *

Looking around for information boards and ticket offices, we were approached by people wearing official looking lanyards and asking if we wanted ‘information’. I realised these were unofficial touts, at best. I politely shrugged them off and walked around to where there are loads of ticket machines. The machines are simple enough to use but I have always used my credit card in them as I have seen numerous people put notes in time after time, only to have them rejected. Press the flag for the language of your choice and follow the instructions. ‘Compra’ means ‘Buy’. Don’t know why they did not translate that. Tickets to Civitavecchia are €5pp on the Regional train. Intercity or Freccia trains are dearer but allow reserved seats.

Most trains at Termini run from main platforms 1-24. The Regional trains to Civitavecchia run from platform 25-29 which are located 400m from the entrance to the lines along the right hand side, at the higher end, i.e 24. You will pass cafes and left luggage signs and the railway police office. Many ‘helpful’ people with official looking lanyards will offer assistance. They are not staff. At the last line, 29, the train sat with no indication on the screen as to what train it was. A ‘helpful’ chap questioned ’Civitavecchia?’. I said yes, and he pointed to the last train. He then pointed to the validation machine which I was heading for anyway. He was a bit miffed when I said ‘thank you’ and didn’t offer him a tip. We hauled our baggage onto the nearest carriage and resigned ourselves to standing for the entire journey. In fairness, I had booked the next train so we were just lucky to get on an earlier one. After a while, I noticed that we were standing in front of the bikes/large luggage room and when the ‘conductor’ came out I could feel a blast of cool air. So, when he went out at the next stop, we sidled in with our luggage, clearing a lot of space in the hall and stood in the bikes compartment. There was a rough, very bouncy, office chair and we shared that and, when he came back, I looked exhausted and breathless, so he just ignored us! We rode this way in reasonable comfort to Civitavecchia. Our private, air conditioned carriage:

Civitavecchia – Shuttle to the shuttle!

The port entrance at Civitavecchia has been moved further away, to Via Turco, 3. This is a considerable walk from the train station in heat, dragging luggage. On exiting the station, there will be probably be a coach or orange bus across the street. These are the paid shuttles. Coach is €2, orange bus is allegedly €.80. We used the coach as it was the only one there. Buy your tickets in the coffee shop in the station to avoid the mass retreat to do so. The shuttle trip is about 5-10 mins and we arrived at the port. We unloaded from the shuttle and waited for the free ship shuttle. This drops at all ships so don’t get off until you see your ship. At this stage it was about 3.30 and there was no crowd. Dropped off check in case and walked next door to check in. 5 minutes later, had embarkation picture taken, including the obligatory one of us standing behind a ship’s wheel, and on we went.

We entered near a bank of elevators and went straight to our room, which was ready.

We had booked a B2 balcony on starboard side, aft and I had been a bit concerned about movement. Apart from one rough night, we had smooth sailing all the way. There was a steady engine whine while at sea as the funnel was directly above us, albeit a few decks above. Not disturbing at all. Safe in wardrobe. Careful as if you enter the wrong code it will reset and you may struggle to remember or reconstruct the ‘wrong code’ to get it open again. We went through 3 codes all week! Bathroom small but well equipped. Shower had folding doors and a small clothes line. Shampoo and Body wash in shower dispensers and liquid soap by washbasin. The only TV channels in English were for ship tours etc and news channels. Interactive features on TV worked fine for account checking. Room steward was ‘Suparman’ and he was very efficient. We only saw him twice and we received no towel animals. Other guests we spoke with received towel animals every night. This did not bother us at all. Pool towels are found in the room and we had them replaced when we left them on floor of bathroom. We were on Fantastica so we had evening turndown as well and we got 2nd seating at dinner as requested although we did not get the requested table for two, but there are few of them. We were seated with 4 Irish people and we had great chats all week, often last to leave the dining room. Some room pics..

Our invite to returning cruisers' reception.

La Spezia is located on the Ligurian coast and very close to the Cinque Terre villages. By train, they are a short trip away and a major attraction for cruisers. Based on this, my logic was to take the train to Pisa which we sacrificed on our cruise on NCL Epic, in favour of Florence. The port provides a free shuttle to port exit where there are taxis available.

View from our balcony of LA Spezia port.

Not being a mug, I had decided we might easily walk to the train station, it couldn’t be far, right? A helpful staffer at the port exit gave me a *small brochure on La Spezia which contained a map of the town. She drew a line along the seafront and then right turn straight up the centre of town to the station. Looked to be about a mile. Not too bad huh? Normally, it might not be but in the mid morning heat, it was a hellish walk, especially since the #17 bus stops at the port exit and the train station – I hadn’t done enough research! There was a very pleasant seafront which was hosting a competition for detailed and tuned cars, with a separate category for outrageously oversized speakers, tweeters and woofers. Some pictures of the cars.

On our somewhat bedraggled return walk that evening, the audio section of the competition was in full swing. These things were unbelievably, earsplittingly, loud!

Much of the town was closed as it was Sunday morning. The walk was long and hot and we eventually arrived at Stazione Centrale Ferrovia – I’m throwing in lingo lessons for free. Queue for tickets at machine for what seemed like an eternity. A couple in front of me kept slipping a €50 note into the machine whereupon it promptly spat it back out! After numerous attempts, they finally inserted a card and collected their tickets. I put away my €20 and used my credit card. There are other ticket machines out on the platform that are less busy. Tickets to Pisa were €7.30 each single. Validate your ticket in the box on the platform before you board the train. Train arrived and the carriage was air conditioned, thankfully. I worried I might catch a chest infection as I was a ball of perspiration at this stage.

Journey is about 1 hour and we got off at Pisa Santa Rossore, which is quite close to the tower. I did try to buy tickets to this station but that threw the machine into a strop so I had bought tickets to Pisa Centrale. The difference is significant as you have a 20 minute walk back or a bus trip. Exiting the station a P. S. Rossore, turn left and about 70-100m along, the first right takes you to a view of the tower, about 100m up a street to the Campo Miracoli.

First view of the Tower

While the bell tower of the Cathedral, known as "the leaning Tower of Pisa", is the most famous image of the city, it is one of many works of art and architecture in the city's Piazza del Duomo, also known, since the 20th century, as Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), to the north of the old town center. The Piazza del Duomo also houses the Duomo (the Cathedral), the Baptistry and the Campo Santo (the monumental cemetery). The medieval complex includes the above-mentioned four sacred buildings, the hospital and few palaces.(wiki) Admission to the area is free but, to climb the tower€18, pre-booking is essential and there is a charge to enter the Duomo.

More pics of Pisa in the next post.

Entrance to the Piazza

The big three..

Lion atop the old wall

The Gyroscope

Romulus & Remus monument

The return trip on the train was less comfortable, very hot. The walk back to the ship was tortuous but at least we had the deafening entertainment from the tuned up cars to enjoy!

The pics are great, Ken. I love the 'first view of the tower' one!

We've booked a tour to Florence and Pisa, though it's a DIY once we arrive in each of the towns so the info for Pisa is great.

Hopefully, you'll have more on the other ports before we head off on our adventure. I'll be particularly interested in what you did in Naples. We're planning on getting the hydrofoil to Capri.

Sidari has already given me some great tips re Palma and Cannes. Looking forward to you sharing your experiences in these places.

We're boarding in Barcelona, but we'll have the whole day after disembarkation so we can treat it as a 'port day'. I'll be following your day here, too.

We're going to stay onboard in Civitavecchia and enjoy the Yacht Club while everyone heads off to Rome :)

Keep it coming and don't forget to share the onboard experience, too!

I really wish I had researched better for La Spezia and taken the #17 bus! On the walk back to the port, the fancy cars were showing off their sound systems. They were deafening!! Car porn!

Cool manhole cover in Pisa

Cannes is a tender port. The arrangement was to get tickets at Eataly and approach the tender only when you wanted to go ashore, from 7-11am. We set off about 11.00 and walked to the gangway without tickets. Short delay as they counted and organised the groups. Sea was flat calm but tender still bobbed a bit. Crew help you on/off tender which was full and very warm. Exiting pier at Cannes, Tomsportguides mentioned White Palm Hotel opposite but I only could see Radisson Blu. Walked left from there and did not find the steps up to old town, so we walked on and turned right and meandered our way up to the church and museum at the top, Notre Dame d’Esperance(closes from 12.00 to 14.00 – doh!) and the Musee Castre. Great views from there and walked down the narrow streets to the promenade. There is a covered market and further on, pedestrian streets with many shops including a Carrefour. As it was very hot, we walked back along the marina and went back on the tender. There is free Wifi at the port waiting area.

Getting off at the pier

There are many vendors along the pier.

Cannes Can!

Seems like a good idea!

Finally reached the church at the top!!

There is an easier way up!

The Musee Castre is just around the corner from the church.

View from the grounds

We headed down the narrow stepped streets to sea level.

Back at the port. Departure point for other destinations.

View of Divina from the tender.

Arriving back.

What did your actual time in Cannes show like? We show as 10:30 to 19:00? If you were that time scheduled on brochures, were you allowed off earlier? Thanks!

What did your actual time in Cannes show like? We show as 10:30 to 19:00? If you were that time scheduled on brochures, were you allowed off earlier? Thanks!

For Cannes, we were scheduled 9.00am til 6.00PM. We sauntered along to the tenders at about 11.00. I have no idea at what time 1st tenders set out. Ken

Ken- thanks for the photo review of your Med cruise.

Early on you asked about the photo size- can you go down to a smaller setting,please? I am viewing on a 13 inch monitor and about 4 inches of text and photo are out of the frame. How does it look on your screen at home?

Can you adjust?

Thanks,

Norris

Yeah, l am open to instructions on reducing from 1600x1600. Other numbers don't work. I will piston next set smaller. By the way, I'm using a tablet so l just decrease the page to view.

Trying larger font and smaller photos. The tenders were lifted on our side, starboard.

View from the balcony as we sail into Palma at about 1.00.

Divina tied up at Palma

Costa passengers get to use escalators

Costa Diadema from Divina

Late arrival into Palma allowed a view of the island from early morning and a view of the cathedral as we entered the port. We walked off the ship and went straight to the bus stop for the 001 bus. This is located to the right of the Hertz rental area just at the terminal. €1.50 each to the city. The bus turns left before the cathedral and we stayed on a few more stops to get into town centre. Walked down Las Ramblas and up into a shopping centre underneath Placa Maior. Leaving Placa Maior we walked down through narrow streets to the Cathedral. Entry is to the left of the cathedral itself. Admission is €7 including audio guide. This was a great way to explore the magnificent cathedral, including some church treasures in the museum before you enter the cathedral itself. Gaudi, of Barcelona fame, had a major role in the redesign of the interior.

Walked back towards port and stopped at 1st bus stop with green No. 1 on it. Got off at port and walked up to Porto Pi shopping Centre. Some good shops and McDonalds’s there has open wifi.

Streets of Palma

Wandering around Palma.

Las Ramblas

Real Madrid team store

Tempting as it was very hot!

Tempting someone else!

We arrive at the cathedral.

The cathedral is fabulous and well worth the €7 admission which includes the audio guide.

The Royal Palace of la Almudaina

View back towards the port.

Statue of earliest known selfie!

Statue of earliest known selfie!

 

:cool: :eek: :)

This is the statue honouring the "Foners", which were baleric men / warriors that threw stones at high speed using a cord.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondero_balear

Our ancestors were so good at it, that the Phoenitians, Carthago and then the Roman Empire hired them as highly skilled warriors.

When the Roman Empire invaded the Balearic Islands in 123ac, they had to cover their vessels with leather so that the "Foners" did not sink them with direct stone hits just in the flotation line. As a result it took them two years to conquer the islands.

Hannibal himself hired 2000 of them in the famous invasion plan of the Italian peninsula.

Later the "Foners" helped the Romans conquer France and England, sorry about that.

Legend says that in order to train the kids their parents put their meals on top of the trees so that they had to hit them with a stone in order to eat.

Just a little reminder not to annoy the natives :D

Glad you had a nice time in Palma

Lol! You got me! I was gonna post the truth in the next post...

Mallorca is one of our favourite places. We honeymooned there 29 years ago, but l still like it:p..