Tobias10

My husband and I have sailed 3 times now in an aft cabin and i don't know that i can go back to any other. The rooms are basically the same size but the balconies have been larger than balcony cabins on either side of the ship. Large enough, in fact, that I bring along a hammock and string it up so i can rock away while reading a book. The big difference I notice is the decreased noise. You don't have that constant foot traffic and rude travelers outside your cabin door shouting to each other and banging doors. Because there are usually only 6-8 cabins across the back of the ship you have very little traffic in the hallways and few conversations outside your door since I have never encountered cabins across the hall from an aft cabin so far. Being back there does mean you have to walk farther to get to activities but it's good exercise - plus, the dining rooms are most often located towards the back of the ship so all 3 times we were just one elevator away from dinner. Unfortunately, now that they have become so popular some of the cruise lines - RCL and NCL in particular - ten to almost double the price for a balcony cabin if you request an aft cabin. I refuse to pay that much for any cabin, so i just wait patiently for a super deal and then book.

We had our first opportunity to book an aft cabin on the MSC Divina in March 2014 and LOVED it. There were only 8 or 9 cabins back there and the hallway was so quiet. the balcony was almost twice the size of other balconies - we even hung up a hammock so i could relax and read my book on the balcony. we had views of so much more from back there than being on one side or the other. we went on the Divina again in November 2014 and specifically requested an aft balcony and we were, once again, not disappointed. that location on the ship would be my first choice, but not if you have someone who cannot walk long distances in the event that the things you like to do on ship are toward the front - but great if you want to include this in your exercise regimen each day.

on a more humorous note - the first morning i noticed a ton of cigarette ash on our balcony (which was the end one) and we called the front desk. they immediately sent someone up to look and then spoke with the guests in the cabin above us because the man had been smoking and flicking his ashes off the rail (he denied to the manager that he was smoking but we watched him every day and after that event he would flick his ashes into his cupped hand). toward the end of our cruise, after a very windy night, we found long hair extensions on our balcony that we assume came from the cabin two doors up from ours - we had seen these ladies several times and they had long hair weaves. we assumed they went onto the balcony to take in the view and the wind took their hair right off of their head. the cabin steward was kind enough to dispose of them for us.

Dress was pretty casual onboard - my husband went to dinner in the evening in the Black Crab dining room in shorts and a polo shirt and i wore capris all week with sandals. one evening i had a blister on my foot and my shoes all hurt so i wore my bedroom slippers all around the ship (they are little slip one ones - not ones with big animal heads on them or anything like that). we saw girls dressed up every night in sequins and high heels and others who wore knit slacks, while others wore skirts or shorts.

my husband and I only went to the pool on the last day and we went early so we got a table with no problem. there are 3 pools with lounge chairs and tables and chairs around them. you have to check out the towels using your room key. when we were up on decks 14 or 15 the areas seemed pretty full, so I don't know how hard it would be to get a deck chair unless you went during someone's meal time or early.

I thought the Michael Jackson show was great - there were comments that the entertainment staff person who was dressed like him did not keep up with the lip sync of the music but I could not see his mouth that closely to tell if that were true or not. the music was great and the dance staff is awesome. I would have liked to have a couple more songs in the show, but all in all it was great. you will be so impressed with their shows - they are the best I have ever seen so far on a cruise. I am watching for another super special and would definitely sail on the Divina again - I may try the Musica next.

there is a daily bingo at 8 pm on days in port and twice a day while at sea. earlier ones are in the Aqua Spa on deck 14 by the pool so be prepared to try and find seating if you cannot play with the paper tickets on your lap. the evening one is in the pantheon theater on deck 5. they charge $10 for one sheet of 3 bingo grids and they play one cover-all game for that price. if you buy two sheets you get a third one free. if you get all numbers by number 40 the prize is $25,000, by number 45 the prize drops to $10,000 and after that the prize is whatever they sold in bingo tickets for that game. they sell the paper sheets where you fold back the number - not my favorite type of bingo sheet, but I still played. we could not go into Great Stirrup Cay on Friday due to high winds and waves so they held 3 bingos that day. no one won the big prizes last week.

At the beginning of the week I did see limes in several Mojitas coming from the bar near the atrium down the hall from the Black and White Lounge - maybe they ran out or maybe they only stocked them in certain bars where fruity drinks are most popular. since I don't care for lime I wasn't really looking for them. it's possible that there is a shortage and they just did not get a supply that they ordered. I certainly would not judge how enjoyable a week at sea was based on whether or not there were limes. My husband recently survived prostate cancer, so I could every day with him as a day to cherish and I just had 7 of them on the Divina!

Thanks for your excellent review of last week's cruise on the Divina. My husband and i also took advantage of that fabulous price for a balcony cabin and ended up at the back of the ship - super-quiet back there. It was hard to believe at times that there were 4000 people on board because you only saw them in the public areas such as the dining room, around the pools or in the theater. The food was good and there was enough variety to please everyone - i always figure you can order two of something you like and skip the rest if it is not to your liking. The ship is beautiful, clean and impressive. The entertainment staff is by far the best we have encountered in more than 12 cruises. We found the ship to be very relaxing and had an amazing week.

thanks so much for the accurate drink pricing - that sure helped with the decision to purchase the vouchers. i am excited to try this different cruise line - despite the negative comments i've seen posted. everyone says the ship is very clean and i'll take that over anything else any day!

Addendum - i have tried emailing MSC twice in the past week and gotten no response. my travel agent will not even try to call them unless it is to book a cabin because it takes so long to get through to them. when you go to their website the "online chat" is always "offline". i got a great deal on this cruise but i sure hope the service on the ship is much better than the pre-cruise experence.

i am sailing on the Divina on 3/22 and i am still so confused about the drink packages. i may have 1-2 mixed drinks a day and my husband may have 1-2 beers a day. he drinks pop and i drink iced tea. i found a bar list for the ship and most beers are less than $4 each plus the 15% gratuity. most mixed drinks are around $5 plus the gratuity. the packages allow for 14 vouchers - take 14 x approx. $5 a drink for mixed drinks and that is $70 - the package costs $72, yet they claim you will save more than 15% on the package. Beers (not the exotic ones) are less than $5 with gratuity so the $72 would also be no savings. Pop is shown as $1.90 a serving plus gratuity would be less than $2.50 - 14 vouchers x $2.50 saves just pennies. are the prices on the bar list i found totally wrong? i called MSC and finally got through to an agent who assured me that i would be foolish to not purchase the packages but it seems a waste to use vouchers for alcohol to purchase pop and juice. plus, we will both have to purchase the alcohol voucher and then if we have to add the pop vouchers in addition to that the cost starts to add up. every other cruise i've gone on sold pop cards that were "unlimited" so this voucher system seems petty on the cruise line's part.