Msc Divina with kids

Looking for information what to do on shores and on the boat with the kids, age 8,5,1.5. We are sailing in Europe. Thank you!

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Which Ports will You visit?

Genoa, Marseille, Cagliari, Palma, , Palermo and Valencia

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On the ship (in the Caribbean), DD liked the kids program--games, face painting, making pizza and they'd take them to the shows. Unfortunately, they claimed that policy is that children under 6 are not allowed in pools--only the splash area around the pools with 2 inches of water in it which was frustrating.

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On the ship (in the Caribbean), DD liked the kids program--games, face painting, making pizza and they'd take them to the shows. Unfortunately, they claimed that policy is that children under 6 are not allowed in pools--only the splash area around the pools with 2 inches of water in it which was frustrating.

 

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I believe you seriously misunderstood - the only children not allowed in pools are those still in diapers. Now, if you mean the kids' program does not take them swimming, I'm not aware of any that do. That is the parent's responsibility.

To the OP - what to do on the ship largely depends on the cruiseline and ship.

We are doing the same itinerary! I looked up each port on Tripadvisor, and then went over the options with my girls (6 and 3). We are going to do the HOHO bus in a couple places, the Aquarium in Valencia, and just walk around in the others. The only place we really have a "plan" is Rome, and we're keeping our expectations low. This trip is about experiencing the Med for them, not sight-seeing or trying to cram everything in at each stop. We've done trips like that, and with kids it only lasts about 1 1/2 days before everyone gets miserable and tired.

The Divina also a race car simulator and small bowling alley; you can buy a package for your stateroom that allows unlimited use once onboard.

I believe you seriously misunderstood - the only children not allowed in pools are those still in diapers. Now, if you mean the kids' program does not take them swimming, I'm not aware of any that do. That is the parent's responsibility.

 

 

 

To the OP - what to do on the ship largely depends on the cruiseline and ship.

Actually, I thought there was a misunderstanding with the officer who told me this so I went to Guest Services. They were adamant that was indeed the policy and that the only ships where children 6 & under (potty trained) children were allowed in pools was on their ships with water play areas (larger ships in Europe). The only "pool" they were allowed in on that ship was the area around the pools with a few inches of water. The signs for that area said kids must be potty trained, but there were many young infants in there with & without swim diapers.

I would never expect any children's program to take children to pools (nor would I want my DD to go with them). I am always with DD at the pool and at that time I was always within an arms length of her in the water with her.

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We are doing the same itinerary! I looked up each port on Tripadvisor, and then went over the options with my girls (6 and 3). We are going to do the HOHO bus in a couple places, the Aquarium in Valencia, and just walk around in the others. The only place we really have a "plan" is Rome, and we're keeping our expectations low. This trip is about experiencing the Med for them, not sight-seeing or trying to cram everything in at each stop. We've done trips like that, and with kids it only lasts about 1 1/2 days before everyone gets miserable and tired.

 

 

 

The Divina also a race car simulator and small bowling alley; you can buy a package for your stateroom that allows unlimited use once onboard.

Thank you, do you have some good tips that can help me during this cruise. We have never been on a cruise.

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We've only done one with the kids--a Disney cruise, last year when they were 2 and 5. My best advice is, No or Low Expectations as to what they will enjoy. My oldest was a little shy at the time, so I thought we would spent time doing crafts, going to shows. Instead, she fell in love with the Kids Club and we had to drag her out just to eat with us occasionally. For this trip, all she's talked about is the Kids Club, even though she knows it will be a different cruise line. My two-year old ended up LOVING just sitting on a lounger with her own "big girl smoothie" and watching people walk by. We went to one show, and she asked to go to another the next night. The weather was AWFUL, so I was expecting meltdowns when we couldn't use the pool, but neither seemed to care. We have a pretty tight schedule here at home, but I really just let them take the lead on what they wanted to do and relaxed all the rules on healthy foods, bed times, etc. Even though this resulted in one napping in the theatre and another at dinner, we had a lot of good times walking around the ship at night. On this cruise, since Europeans tend to stay up later than Americans anyway, I'm expecting to let them go to some of the dance parties and other late-evening events, if they want. (Oh, when our daughter fell asleep at dinner, they simply pulled over an extra chair for her to stretch out on so we could keep eating.)

As for more practical tips: unless you are carrying all your luggage on board yourself, ABSOLUTELY pack a change of clothes and swimsuits for everyone in a backpack or something. Divina has a indoor pool (retractable roof), so swimming will be possible even if it's cold. On our previous cruises, we had access to our rooms early, but it was a few hours before the porters got our suitcases there.

Don't be afraid to ask for anything you need, especially at meal times. If your kids just don't like what's offered, things like plain buttered noodles or chicken are easy, and likely part of what's already on the menu. Our little one went several meals only wanting cheese slices, so the wait staff brought her some with every course. I even ordered off the kids' menu once because their desserts were just awesome! And several times I ordered two appetizers instead of an entree. Once, my husband mentioned he liked Indian food (I forget how it came up) and every night after that, there was a different type of curry dish at our table, even if the menu was "Tex-Mex". Apparently, the chef just like cooking Indian food.

Let your cabin steward know if you need something, especially for the children. I've heard of people asking for a lounger for their balcony so they can relax while the little ones nap inside, extra blankets/pillows if one kid decides to sleep on the floor, plastic cups/plates for snacking in the room, you name it.

I always pack lots of extra plastic bags for taking things like dry cereal or fruit off the buffet for the girls to snack on if we leave the ship. They have a mid-morning snack at school, and I've found no matter how much breakfast they eat, their bodies just get hungry around 10am, and I don't want to deal with cranky children while trying to relax.

Finally, I ended up getting pretty sick on our last cruise (as I mentioned, the weather was AWFUL), so this time I'm taking medicine the day we board. While I ended up taking medicine the second day and felt better by that afternoon, that whole first day was miserable, and seems to taint a lot of memories for me, because the girls were excited and jumping around, and I just wanted to lie down. From now on, I will always back Dramamine and take it at the first sign of a problem. I just waited too long last time, thinking it would go away...It didn't bother our kids at all, but the ship's nurse had chewable seasickness tablets that I think even the girls would have liked.

I hope this helps! I'm happy to answer any specific questions you may have, too.

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You are great! such good answer!

I am pretty worried about the laundry, my 1.5 years get dirty 5 times a day...

Honestly, I try not to worry about that stuff. Kids get dirty. And, I've found, it's amazing what you can wash in a bathroom sink with a little bit of hand soap. Hang it in the shower to dry, or better yet, drape it over the A/C vent, if you can. It dries super quick and acts as a natural humidifier! Often, the t-shirt my kid wore to dinner and got a little food on becomes the play shirt for the next day :) Then, at dinner, we start with a new, clean (or washed to semi-clean) shirt.

I hate checking bags, so we don't, BUT the nice thing about little ones is their stuff is super small, so you could easily pack 2-3 shirts for each day and still take up less space than one pair of adult pants!

Thank you!! Have already been on the Divina?

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I haven't, but we've done a previous cruise with our girls, and traveled internationally with them before, so I've learned alot on those trips. :) I also go waaaayyyy overboard on researching trips, so I've spent hours on the MSC website, watching Youtube videos, visiting chat boards like this one, etc. Sometimes it takes a little bit of the awe and excitement out of it, because I feel like I already know exactly how everything's going to be and look, but otherwise I'd be terrified of missing something. My husband is the go-with-the-flow one, so it works out.

We never had a problem with our twins using the pools on Divina (at age 4, 5.5, and 6.5) though that last cruise was 2 years ago and she was in the Caribbean so it's possible things have changed due to the move to Europe.

FWIW, MSC does mention access to the pools on the check in form:

JUNIOR CLUB (7-11 YEARS) SIGN IN/OUT POLICY: Children from 7 years old are free to sign themselves in and out of Juniors

club and have access to the adult swimming pools, on condition that authorisation is given below:

I give my consent for my child to sign herself/himself in and out of the Juniors Club YES NO

I give my consent for my child to have access to the adult swimming pools YES NO

I give my consent for my child to participate in non-supervised activities around the ship (e.g. treasure hunts)

This is from our preregistration form for Seaside next month. It is not clear if this means they'll take the kids... which doesn't make much sense given the need to change, etc. However, if the kids can check themselves out and therefore the club has no knowledge of what they are doing, makes no sense for them to pretend they have some control over pool access. It is a bit confusing unless there are circumstances where the kids club might access the pool or water play areas.