Our MSC Divina Yacht club review part 1

We just got home after our first time on MSC cruise and I wanted to write a review while things were fairly fresh in my mind.

We have sailed on many many cruises on many different lines though lately we have mostly been on Celebrity, we always take a suite so it is easy to make comparisons.

We chose the only YC3 available which was 16008, after reading many negative reviews we were a bit skeptical but the price was SO much less than a suite on X that we figured, if we don't like it, we won't sail on MSC again, after all, how bad could a week on a cruise be.

First thank you to CC for many tips etc that proved so helpful so for those that have not seen this before, I want to pay it forward.

MSC has a wonderful loyalty match program, whereas if you have a higher loyalty with another cruise line, all you need to do is fill out a form online, showing proof of your loyalty with another brand and they will match it, in most cases, ELITE or above on Celebrity or Diamond and above on RCCL, qualifies you for MSC's black ( highest loyalty program) this gives you several extra perks, such as 2 complimentary speciality restaurants, some cocktails party's, 20% off the higher internet packages etc.

Okay, sorry to digress, first impressions on MSC were amazing, taxi pulled up to the white tent, they tagged our luggage and we waited with two other couples for a butler to bring us in, wait was less than 5 minutes. After introducing himself as the head butler we were whisked inside to the concierge lounge, offered a drink, and spoke with the Matre d from La Mise ( suite only specialty restaurant) to arrange what time we would prefer to dine,mhe 229206757walked us through registering a credit card and we were told our suite was ready so off we went.

The suites as others have noted are not as large as in other lines, but lovely and nicely appointed. Rigs are showing a little sign wear and tear ( not terrible but noticeable ) bathroom is quite small for a suite but really overall really lovely, nice balcony that goes the entire length of the cabin and bedroom.

Our room attendant was Rudy whom we might not have " seen" a lot but he kept the room immaculate and was very suite. Our butler was Putra....OMG, I can't say enough good things about him, he was like a quiet ninja appearing whenever we needed him without being intrusive and still kept us inform d about things around th ship.

We have had some wonderful butlers but Putra's service surpassed them all. Despite caring for 10 suites, he treated us as if we were his only clients. Service in general on MSC is truly amazing. There was only one gentleman who work d a lot in the concierge who seemed to not want to go much out of his way but everyone else was amazing.

Food, if you go out of the yacht club, everything seemed VERY different, very crowded and noisy. We went to the general buffet several times, the food was fair at best except for their pizza ( amazingly great, as good as Princess for Pizza) burgers and fries were pretty good, other than that the food did not even look appealing.

Now if you don't want to do La Muse from r a sit down lunch today r breakfast, choices are limited, yacht club pool area has a tiny little buffet, a couple of main entree type foods, pasta or rice, salad and some toppings,while food is good, choices are very limited, top sail lounge has a small buffet of tea type sandwiches, sweets etc..

Part two to come....

Thanks for your report.

Putra is absolutely, positively, the most AMAZING butler! We love him dearly! He treated my 6 month old like he was his own child. But all the butlers, in my humble opinion, are just wonderful! We will be back on Divina in the Yacht Club (our 7th time...that's how much we love it!) for the Bermuda run in 3 weeks and cannot wait to renew old friendships and make new ones!

Thanks for starting your review and glad you enjoyed it.

Enjoying your review.

Keith

Thank you for the review :)

Making me feel more positive for my YC cruise after the terrible booking experience I've had :rolleyes:

Looking forward to hearing more of your trip :D

Thank you for your review. I'm not booked in a Yacht Club on the Divina, but I am on the Seaside, so your review is important to me.

Doing our first Yacht Club experience in a few weeks so really enjoying your review!!! How was dinner in La Muse?

Question for you, the food you say that looked unappealing, did you try any of it? I found the food in the buffet area to be better than any ship I have been on. The chefs work very hard on everything they cook, every thing is made from scratch, sauces, and all which is very unique and time consuming.

Thanks for the review, following along.

I wanted to address the questions asked before I forget ☺️

Someone asked if we tried the food in the main buffet, yes we did, as a disclaimer I must say that on every line the food other than the speciality restaurants has declined, the area first of all seems very very congested, most of the food was not good, greasy, just not even looking appealing, very disappointing again other than a delicious cheese burger, fries were great and pizza was amazing other than that we didn't even care for breakfast there.

Food:

La Muse, is a beautiful restaurant again, service was exceptional however the menu is VERY limited, in the top sail lounge every day you can see what the menu will be ( dinner menu is put out after 2pm) we did not have breakfast there as we like to sleep in a bit and prefer either room service or buffet breakfast . They have a selection that is always available , Caesar salad ( you can get chicken or shrimp with that if desired) French onion soup ( we did not care for it), salmon ( absolutely delicious) chicken ( ( hubby thought it was a bit dry without much flavor) and a few other everyday selections than about 4 choices.

As a comparison we did not like Celebrity's new suite restaurant, while service was great, we did not care for the food and found it very disappointing however most things we had at La Muse were very good, as a side note, the second formal night they serve Cold water lobster tail ( on most lines you only get warm water) it was absolutely wonderful if you like lobster tail do not miss the second formal night. They even offer if you would like additional.

Having our loyalty match black card we had two complimentary speciality restaurants, Putra suggested Eataly steakhouse and Galaxy .

Eataly Steakhose, as others have said it looks nothing like a Steakhose, very minimalist type atomisohere and in fact if you saw it , you might. Decide not to eat there as it looks more like a pizza joint, DO NOT make this mistake!

With he black card they have a pre fixe menu, amazing, their pasta dish was so amazing that upon first taste DH decided that we had to come back. Wonderful meal. Side note again for those in yacht club, drinks ( even soft drinks and water) are a charge when you go out if the yacht club.

It was a fabulous meal with great service.

Galaxy, beautiful ocean views,very romantic setting, again for black card members they have a pre fixe menu, food was superb and again we liked it so much that we decided to go back and pay for both of these venues, second time in both did not disappoint, btw, if you eat at Galaxy and like chocolate the 2nd time we had some kind of chocolate lava cake that was absolutely sinful, be sure to ask about it!

The top sail lounge always has light food available, sweets etc, service is incredible.

We had mostly room service for breakfast as we didn't want a heavy meal then go to the gym., however, we would write on the breakfast order form, for a bowl of grapefruit and cantaloupe and had that brought to us each morning.

Entertainment, was really very good, I usually do not care for cruise ship production shows however the singers and dancers were incredible, the ,dad singer reminded us if Celine Dion and has a voice of an angel. The first two nights and the last night were our favorites.

I'm sure I am forgetting things but will be hapoy to answer any questions.

We will definitely go back to MSC yacht club again!

Wendy

Another convert. Soon this will no longer be the best secret in cruising. We have sailed predominantly on Celebrity but YC experience on the Divina changed our cruising habits. Just made the final payment for our June YC trip on the Divina.

Do you know if you can use the sauna and steam room and the Thermal Suite (not sure if that is something different than the steam room) for free if you are staying in the Yacht Club? Thanks.

Thanks for the review. We are booked for the Seaside in 2018 and were originally in a fantastica suite with free beverage packages. But I was able to convince my wife to give up the balcony for a YC interior cabin. It was the same price basically and I am very excited to try the yacht club. It will be our first sailing in an exclusive area of any ship.

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are booked in the YC this fall and it will be our first MSC cruise as well.

Zoey1, I am sorry we didn't get to meet while in the Yacht Club. I never did have a chance to ask if anyone was on CC. We sat with another couple in about the middle of the tables each day. You probably saw us. I came down with sinus and chest congestion when we left San Juan and the butlers were serving me hot tea with all kinds of things in it to help soothe my throat. I spent the last 3 days in my cabin as I didn't want to be around others with all my coughing and I was running a fever. We were in cabin 16035 and our butler was Darwin. Going to doctor today and will keep up with your review. Thanks for writing it.

Do you know if you can use the sauna and steam room and the Thermal Suite (not sure if that is something different than the steam room) for free if you are staying in the Yacht Club? Thanks.

yes, you can use them if staying in the yacht club!

Thanks for the review. We are booked for the Seaside in 2018 and were originally in a fantastica suite with free beverage packages. But I was able to convince my wife to give up the balcony for a YC interior cabin. It was the same price basically and I am very excited to try the yacht club. It will be our first sailing in an exclusive area of any ship.

IMHO yacht club is the only way to do MSC, it was truly amazing!

Zoey1, I am sorry we didn't get to meet while in the Yacht Club. I never did have a chance to ask if anyone was on CC. We sat with another couple in about the middle of the tables each day. You probably saw us. I came down with sinus and chest congestion when we left San Juan and the butlers were serving me hot tea with all kinds of things in it to help soothe my throat. I spent the last 3 days in my cabin as I didn't want to be around others with all my coughing and I was running a fever. We were in cabin 16035 and our butler was Darwin. Going to doctor today and will keep up with your review. Thanks for writing it.

Hope you are feeling better! I too, am so sorry that we didn't get to meet you or anyone from CC, I did not even see where a meet and greet was posted. On other lines we always got a notice in our stateroom and it was usually the morning following embarkation.

I have been feeling a bit under the weather since yesterday and was wondering if I got a little bug as well but tonight seem to be feeling better myself.

We are also trying Divina YC for the first time this fall. Looking forward to the new experience. Thanks so much for yor review!

Sherry

Thanks for your review. I agree about the Galaxy restaurant where we had a wonderful meal with a fantastic view and beautiful music provided by a musician playing a saxophone. I hope they have a similar restaurant on the new Seaside where we are booked in the Yacht Club in January of 2018. It's going to be a long wait!

Question for you, the food you say that looked unappealing, did you try any of it? I found the food in the buffet area to be better than any ship I have been on. The chefs work very hard on everything they cook, every thing is made from scratch, sauces, and all which is very unique and time consuming.

I agree with you and i had no problem with buffet food and thought it was very good.

I agree with you and i had no problem with buffet food and thought it was very good.

we are on the divin right now and really like the food. the only problem is that it is really really crowded.

we are on the divin right now and really like the food. the only problem is that it is really really crowded.

But that's the beauty of Yacht Club, both the restaurant, lounge, and pool deck. They're never crowded.