g8rfan94

We are sailing on Saturday. I just looked at the website and it appears that all cabin categories are sold out. I am a little concerned with the crowding of 4600 people. I think the most I've been on board with is a little over 2000, with both Celebrity Summit and Millennium. This will be a big difference. That being said, there have been some great tips on CC on where to go to steer clear of the crowds.

Not a lot of folks dressed in the themes, but those who did wore their clothes to dinner. MSC does not really promote the theme nights, pre-cruise, so I don't believe most cruisers know about them until onboard.

I have seen other posters say this as well over the past few months. It would seem to me that if MSC wanted to have a "theme night", then wouldn't it kind of make sense to let cruisers know about it before hand so they can be prepared for it if they choose to be? At least the CC people who read these threads are privy to it. But the other 3000 people on board will be fairly clueless while everyone else will be in Black and White or any of the Italian flag's colors and wonder how or why they didn't know about it.

Jayne,

Thank you for a wonderful, informative, extremely well written review. We are going on the same cruise in January and after all of the negative reviews I have read over the past few months about Divina, I was really starting to question our decision and to say that I was beginning to become apprehensive would be an understatement. Thank you very much for restoring my excitement and anticipation :)

I look forward to reading more questions and answers as I continue to follow this thread as long as it goes.

Neil

I then add all the items up per day, including a couple of extras, like Gelato, (Lots of Gelato) another soda at the pool, an extra bottle of water and look at the total for the two of us.

 

If it's not adding up to $399 a piece, then I probably would purchase the drink coupons or smaller package combinations.

 

For us, we like the convenience and the opportunity to drink what ever we want, when ever we want, and where ever we want.....oh my goodness, now I sound like NCL on the MSC Boards....no pun intended!:D

I think this is great advice right here. And may be exactly what people are looking for in all of these threads.

We took the drink packages on both previous Celebrity cruises and I felt that we benefited both times, just in cappuccino and virgin cocktail consumption. Then toss in the bottles of water each day as we were leaving the ship or sitting by the pool, and I think we did OK.

Plus, as you mentioned, it was very nice not to have to sign anything everytime we wanted a beverage, whatever it was. Sometimes it's about more than the money.

This is how we broke it down and why we are going with The Allegrissimo or AllYouCanDrinkissimo Premium Divina Package. Okay we are drinkers, but also never like to have a bar bill at the end of a cruise.

 

The Caribbean Divina Premium Package includes EVERYTHING. The Classic Package only gives only a minimum priced or what is called "well drinks", bottom of the barrel, cocktails.

 

Premium Everything means:

 

Wake up and have a Cappuccino with a shot of Baileys

Have a Mimosa with Fresh Squeezed OJ in The Spa (Fresh Squeezed Juice is in the Spa!!!!!) Better yet, just order a Fresh Squeezed OJ! It's included. Have one and add Vodka to it! Yes!

Have a Soda or Seven per day, like me, it's included

Have a mid morning Gelato then one later on, then one at midnight. It's included.

Have a Bloody Mary with Grey Goose, not cheap head ache laden, well vodka, then add Celery and Olives. I may make it two the second morning because it's included.

Have a Virgin Mary or Virgin anything all day and night, yep included as well.

Have a Single Malt Johnny Blue ($22.00 a shot), it's okay, it's included in the package, have two while we are at it.

Have a Top Shelf Martini, then another and perhaps one more like me.

Have a "Wine Flight" with Dinner. One different glass per course. Yes, The Sommilier will adore us! No limitations, just order and enjoy.

Have a Beer, Have another and another. Taste every beer on board like we did on the Celebrity Reflection. (We tasted 7 different beers a day and still could not drink all the 64 different varieties on board!)

Grab a $4.00 bottle of water for the pool from any bar, each! It's included so we won't pay a dime. Grab another as we get hot, hot, hot. Refresing!

Enjoy a Cocktail Mini or a Bottle of Sparkling Water from our Mini Bar in the cabin. Go ahead. It's included with the Premium Package and NOT with the Classic or coupons.

 

But what am I saving, JW? I don't drink.

 

Take two bottles of water back to the room for overnight thirst. (That's $8.00 per day times, seven days, equals $56.00 just in two waters per night)

If we each have a Coke or a Diet Soda each day, just one, that's $2.50 per soda, $5.00 per day times 7 days equals $35.00. But what if we have two or three per day?

If we were to both have just a plain not fancy Cappuccino each morning without the Baileys (because that is $6.50 per shot) each coffee runs us $5.00, so that is $70.00 for the week.

If we were to each have a Gelato per day, that is $3.50 each, $7.00 per day equals another $35.00 How can we resist just one per day?

 

Gelato, Soda, Bottled Sparkling Water, Specialty Espresso and Cappuccino Coffee is included in the Caribbean Premium Package....we can consume and drink all we care to experience with no hassles.

 

Then lets add the cocktails.

 

Only just One Martini top shelf $9.00 per day. $18.00 for two people. $126.00 total

Two Beers at 4.00 each, $8.00 per day, $56.00 total, but only two beers a day, really?????

Just a glass of wine each, Two Glasses of Wine at dinner, at $9.00 per glass (but the prices go all the way to over $12.00 per glass and beyond) is $18.00 per day, $126.00

One Drink of The Day each $6.50 per drink, $13.00 per day $91.00

Baileys shot for coffee per day $6.50 per shot, $13.00 per day $91.00

 

That is only a total of 5 drinks per day. Over $500.00

 

$700 total if we were to add in, for the non alcohol and alcoholic beverages.

 

Plus, we would now have to add the 15% gratuity service charge on each, as that is already included in the pre-ordered Premium Package bringing the total now to roughly $805.00

 

This outline is as real as it gets based upon our history. Our bar bills always have run over a thousand dollars and we have had sticker shock as it's nickel and dime, nickel and dime. I prefer not to have a bill at the end and know that I can have as much or as little as I want without skimping that extra what, maybe $50 bucks?

 

That is why the Premium drink package is so successful. Jerome drank 51 beers on our last trip. 51 times $5 equals $255.00. Not saying that you will consume that much, but it is nice to know that we don't have to deal with coupons, or drink chits, or are restricted on drinking a certain brand or well cocktails and domestic beers.

 

Heck, Jerome will probably have two Johnny Blue's per day, why? Because he can, because it's INCLUDED!

 

"Oh my gosh, I left my coupons in my cabin", or "Oh my gosh, they don't take the coupon for my drink", or "Oh my gosh, I ran out of coupons mid way thru the cruise"......heard that the most often.

 

Think. No gratuity needed on the advance order pre-pay Premium Package. Have everything at your beck and call whenever you want without restriction.

 

Or, play with coupons, and perhaps will have to buy more on board the ship, at a higher price, lower quantity, plus the added 15% gratuity. And then maybe waste a coupon on a soda or water or coffee or gelato. Oh wait! Coupons are not good for Soda, Water, Gelato or Specialty Coffees. They are included free, Only if you have the Premium Beverage Package.

 

There is nothing worse than sticker shock at the end of the vacation when we get our final bill and realize our alcohol consumption and feel ripped off. I have already budgeted $1,000 for beverages for this cruise, I feel with the Allyoucandrinkissimo Package, which is $798.00 total I am $202.00 ahead of the game that I can drop in the Casino.

 

We are Ultimate believers in The Allegrisimo Premium Drink Package. We live it!

 

I value my peace of mind and contentment knowing that I can have it all if I want, with just the nod of my head instead of thinking, "Oh crap, there goes another coupon" or "There goes another $30.00".

 

It works for us and makes total sense. Less stress, more cocktails, more fun, more vacation.

I've read several of your posts since I've been looking at taking this MSC cruise over the past few weeks. They are always informative. This one is probably the most informative. I appreciate the work put into it. It is very helpful as I cannot decide what the best package is for us. We really don't drink, but to be honest, the children's premium package would be ideal if they would sell it to us. In absence of that, we were thinking about combining 2 different voucher packages, which we still may do. But that being said, your analysis may have me rethinking that.

Since we're not cruising until January, we have plenty of time to decide. And MSC might change it two or three times between now and then anyway.

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One other note: make sure you check your fees regularly. I had the 90 min package rate and it was fine while I was using my laptop. But I used the Computer Lab twice and was charged the non-package rate both times. I got the charges removed with no problem the day I noticed them, but the point is, they were there.

I also found that my laptop was pretty fast in certain parts of the ship, like the Cova Cafe for example. Well, faster than other areas of the ship anyway.

I was there about 2 weeks ago. We rented a taxi for $15 each (Jerry, I think), and he drove us to Champagne Reef, giving us a wonderful, informed tour of the island on the way.

Upon arriving at the beach (???), he guided us down the long pier and long rocky area where we could keep our things, and then showed us where we could probably find the best snorkeling and bubbles. We were there for a couple of hours and it was probably enough for that day. Our group saw lots of fish, someone saw an octopus, someone saw a baraccuda, and many, many fish. And the bubbles, of course.

Not bad for 15 bucks each. With a nice little tour of the island. We certainly felt that we got our money's worth and did better than the folks on the ship's excursion who took the catamaran and paid much, much more.

May I ask how long it took you to get any answers to your emails from Glory tours? I am trying to decide on which tours we want to do in the beginning of December, and I emailed some questions yesterday and am awaiting a reply. I read somewhere that email may take a while in the islands, so I was wondering when I should start to look for a reply. Thanks for your help.

I have been emailing with Sarah with no problem back and forth for several days this week. Her response time seems to have improved for some reason. We're going on the Best of Barbados Tour next Saturday and can't wait!

When I called I was told cappacchino would be included on classic but I do not know about the smoothies

Thanks. I'll call in the next day or two and see what they say and go from there.

There is a lot of very conflicting info out there, which is really no one's fault but Celebrity's for not making it as clear as possible.

The bottom line for me is, if the cappaccinos and smoothies are included in the classic alcoholic package, than it's probably worth it for me. If not, than the premium NON-alcoholic package may be a better bet since I may have only a couple of drinks a day, and pay the extra for them.

The biggest problem is that I don't drink enough to make this an easy decision. I feel like I'm right on the line whichever direction I go.

jg, have a great cruise...

This has been a great, extremely informative thread. Thank you all for your valuable info, particularly jg51, for all of your hard work that you have put into this for us and for staying on top of it for as long as you have.

One thing that I haven't been able to determine, and maybe it's my own denseness, is: If I purchase a classic alcohol package, does it also cover things like smoothies and all of the things in the Premium NON-Alcohol package?

I know my wife will only benefit from the Premium NON-Alcohol package, for cappaccinos, non-alcoholic smoothies, etc.. but I would probably enjoy a couple of Mojitos or Rum and Cokes or Mai Tais by the pool or in the afternoon or before/with dinner. Plus the Cappaccino with her in the AM and/or PM on our veranda.