JT1962

MSC solo rates are excellent, at least currently. I heard they are stopping the solo promo next year, but hope that isn’t true. I have 7 night cruises solo on the Divina from Miami in January and May in a balcony for $ 649 total (port fees & taxes) plus $ 200 OBC.

Try again. I got no reply with my first attempt, but got a reply within 24 hours on my second email and was matched HiltonHonors Diamond to Diamond (Black Card). MSC pre-cruise customer service, website, etc. are horrible. The onboard experience and pricing are excellent, especially for solo pricing.

AMEN!!! We bring our own plastic straws as well. I’m not going to be washing out and trying to keep up with a reusable straw while on vacation.

Yes, it’s true.

No need to buy water. Just take a refillable water bottle and fill it at the buffet or from the sink in your cabin bathroom

I recommend the Chichen Itza, Cenote & Buffet. I did a similar independent tour and loved it. Chichen Itza is amazing to see with lots of history given of the site, activities and lifestyle. The Cenote is very good as well. It’s a long day, but worth it.

You can check reviews on this and other cruise websites for possible reviews of MSC excursions. I don’t believe their website has excursion reviews like some other cruise lines. You should be able to find reviews of similar excursions on other cruise lines or independent vendors. Many of the cruise lines use the same vendors. On my recent Divina cruise I did a private tour with Dora the Explorer that was good. I believe the MSC Walled City Excursion (or similar name) would be equivalent. http://www.cartagenatour.com/ In Limon, I did the TORTUGUERO CANALS & VERAGUA RAINFOREST ECO-ADVENTURE . I enjoyed it, but probably would only do the Canals portion again (you can do this as a separate tour). The Veragua Rainforest portion was somewhat disappointing as I expected to see more wildlife than birds, snakes, amphibians and insects. We saw monkeys, sloths, caimans on the Canals portion of the tour, but were rushed because the Rainforest tour and bus ride took so much time. I would have rather spent more time at the canals and skipped the Rainforest portion.

The general policy seems to be no adjustments after final payment. I tried to switch to the free balcony upgrade promotion that came out a few days after my final payment date and was told I was locked into the pricing at the time I booked. They said I could upgrade to a balcony, but wanted more than I paid for the entire cruise, including taxes / fees, to upgrade. I said no thanks, lol.

I was there twice in October. The water looked fine (see one of my photos in a previous post above). There was only a minimal amount of sargassum / sea weed, since it is primarily an issue in Spring / Summer.

I was on MSC Divina last month on the repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral to Miami. Boarding from dropping off my bag at the curb until I was at the buffet was less than 15 min. I went quickly through security, waited in a short line for the next available agent at check in, showed my printed boarding pass with barcode, Passport & vaccine card, was given my key card and walked directly to the ship. The debarkation in Miami was not as pleasant. The ship was not cleared until 90 min after originally scheduled. I was in the first group called for those not taking there own luggage and it took over an hour to get through Customs & Immigration. There were only 3 immigration officials working and no facial recognition screens. I was told later that the delays were a combination of the ship repositioning to a new home port, a large number of International passengers (around 75%) and a shortage of employees due to many attending the funeral of an agent that was killed in a training accident. Hopefully those were anomalies and not the norm since I will be on Divina from Miami again in January.

There is really no need for an excursion if you just want a beach day. Just get a taxi to nearby Mahahual and find one of the restaurants / bars / beach clubs along the beach that rent loungers or offer them free with food / drink purchase. Krazy Lobster is a great option if you don’t want all-inclusive. Jamie’s at the Blue Reef and YaYa Beach Club are good all-inclusive options. If you want to snorkel, there are several operators along the beach. I used The Dive Center last month and they were excellent. As an FYI, the beach / water in Costa Maya is not the bright white sand / blue water that you will find in much of the Caribbean. The water is clean and swimming is fine, it’s just not what many expect. First photo is Jamie’s at the Blue Reef. Next 2 photos are from Krazy Lobster.

Not surprised at anything regarding price increases these days. The excursion vendors are having to pay more for salaries, wages, food (if provided), etc. As far as Alaska, I have found there is not as much price difference on cruise line excursions vs independent excursions as there is in the Caribbean. The main difference in Alaska is the independent excursions are usually smaller groups and may last longer than those booked through the ship. Specific to the Tracy Arm Small Boat Excursion, it is only available through the cruise line since you board directly from the ship. The only alternative is to use Adventure Bound roundtrip from Juneau, but you need to be docked in Juneau from at least 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM for that to be an option. Most Carnival ships are not in Juneau that long.

I booked a cruise for next year while on board the Divina recently and found the same price on the website once I returned home. There did not seem to be any real advantage to booking on board, other than possibly an additional $ 25 onboard credit I see in the booking. If you see a price that looks good to you, I would recommend booking it now.

One night was a tribute to rock songs from a number of artists, another night was a tribute to love songs from various artists, another was called Extreme and had a mix of music types, etc. I was familiar with all the songs and they were hits in the US. I don’t care for the typical song and dance production shows on most cruise ships or Broadway plays and would much rather see an acrobatic artist, comedian, magician, etc., so their mix of entertainment is good for me. My Divina cruise was a 7 & 12 night back-to-back. The shows were the same for the most part, other than there were 2 completely different shows each night on the 7 day and two performances of the same show each night on the 12 day. The passenger mix on the 7 day was around 75% US passengers and the 12 day was about 75% International passengers.

On my recent cruise on the Divina from Port Canaveral, they had two lines prior to security - “Arriving During Check-In Window” and “Arriving Prior to Check-in Window”. I arrived during my check-in window, so I don’t know what difference there was for the people who arrived prior to their check-in. From the time I dropped my bags at the curb until I was at the buffet was less than 15 minutes.

There are numerous things you can do prior to boarding your cruise with other websites that you cannot currently do with MSC, such as using onboard credit prior to boarding to pay for excursions or other items. It seems obvious to me that the website, customer service and other parts of the pre-cruise experience are not a priority for them. Maybe with enough complaints and poor feedback on the post-cruise surveys, they will get better. It seems they have focused on offering more “American Friendly” food options on cruises from the US. Hopefully the pre-cruise issues will be improved at some point.

On my Divina cruise last month the entertainment was similar to what I have seen on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, other than including some acrobats during the production shows. There were themed production shows with singing / dancing, 2 comedians, a comedy juggler and a crew talent show.

I enjoyed the shows on my 2 MSC cruises this year, but nothing really “wowed” me. I did like the fact that they included acrobatics into most of their shows - I’m not a big fan of just singers / dancers / production shows on most cruise lines. There were 2 comedians and a comedy juggler on my Divina cruise last month, which I prefer over production shows. They also had a crew talent show on the last night of the cruise.

That was the same Gala Night menu on Divina last month. No extra charge for Surf & Turf. A man at my table had 6 lobster tails, but no filet mignon. On non-gala nights, lobster was $ 19.99.

I was on the Divina last month and the menus were different than Meraviglia in January. They seemed to have a few more entree options that were trying to appeal to American tastes - Chicken & Waffles, Pulled Pork BBQ Mac & Cheese, Jack Daniels Short Ribs, Meatloaf, Shrimp & Grits, etc. I didn’t take any pictures or I would load them.

I was on a B2B on Divina last month and a 7 day on Meraviglia in January.

I would agree if you were not also usually giving up a 4-5 course meal in the dining room that is already included in your cruise fare.

I think the price increases will continue as long as there is inflation and until Carnival begins making a profit again. The new CEO may have decided that making too many announcements about price increases puts a spotlight on it when some may not otherwise notice. Those that have not regularly ordered bottled water may think that $9.95 is a bargain, especially compared to what other cruise lines charge.

I believe less people attend the second formal night than on the first formal night. Also, many notice their clothes being a little tighter by that point of the cruise and decide to slow down on how much they have been eating.

If you are still before final payment, you should be able to change it. After final payment will likely not be changed or be subject to cancellation penalties, based on prior experience.