If you had to tell me ONE thing about the Divina

[moomoocow]

Then what would that be?

 

I've cruised MSC before. I've cruised on Divina's sister before. I've holidayed in both USA and the Carribean. No stranger to MSC or the American way of doing things.

 

I want to know something about the Divina that surprised, delighted, infuriated, annoyed, impressed, comforted or uneased you.

 

Anything at all. Except bacon. Let's try and make this a "Things to do in Divina before you....." thread

 

Thanks in advance.

[thraak]

Was thoroughly impressed with the Sunday-Thursday evening shows. After attending the Sunday evening show, I couldn't wait until the next night and so on. Very professional and a first class act!!!

 

 

p.s. the bacon was very good so I give it my vote to keep the bacon just how it is!

Edited May 18, 2014 by thraak

[neptuno]

Our recent cruise on Divina had more live music and dancing venues than any of five others ships we have sailed. Of course Divina was the largest ship with her 4300 passengers, perhaps why she was dancing from stem to stern. And something for everyone, from Latin to Motown to Country and some classical and that great pianist in the crystal staired atrium.

[riclop]

Entertainment is the best at sea especially the theatre shows and the buffet food was also fabulous. Bacon much better than carnival and rcl.

[Danbee46]

The Yacht Club is the most extraordinary experience we have ever encountered on the many cruises we have been on.

[kathiean]

YACHT CLUB YACHT CLUB YACHT CLUB!!!!!

'Nuf said!

:)

[neptuno]

YACHT CLUB YACHT CLUB YACHT CLUB!!!!!

'Nuf said!

:)

 

WOW, yc at those prices just make us steerage fools drool.

[Bosjoe]

LARGE shrimp cocktail in the Main dining room, unlike the cruiseship I was just on.

[Mikesa1721]

YACHT CLUB! YACHT CLUB!! YACHT CLUB!!! Just off the Divina today. What can I say, from being escorted by one of the butlers, from the curb at the port, to a private Yacht Club area to check in. Once on-board, another butler escorts you to the Yacht Club where the Concierge explains all of the benefits of the Yacht Club and the included spa amenities. We were then handed off to the Maitre-De,(Giovanni) of the Yacht Club dining room, (LeMuse), to go over our dining options.

Jonathan, our butler, had items we drank from our in-room mini bar, replaced after we had left for only 10 minutes. I am not kidding you when I say this,,,it happened on multiple occasions, and we have yet to try and find out how they do it. Juliano, Naomid, and Danilo at the One Bar, what can I say,,their service is absolutely incredible. Lying by the pool, our drinks were refreshed without having to even ask for another drink,, again,,just first class service all the way.

One more thing regarding the Yacht Club which maybe not everyone may know. There are card readers in some of the elevators, once you insert your Yacht Club card and select the floor you would like to go to, the elevator will bypass any of the other floors that were selected and take you to your floor immediately. On more than one occasion I had people in the elevator with me, asking why the elevator didn't stop on their floor,,I wasn't about to tell them why.

[cruiselover87]

Some of the entertainment seemed repetitive to me, the dancers and performers basically did the same stunts just in different costumes.

 

You really only have to see three shows: Michael Jackson, The Opera and just one of the shows inbetween.

[cruiselover87]

YACHT CLUB! YACHT CLUB!! YACHT CLUB!!! Just off the Divina today. What can I say, from being escorted by one of the butlers, from the curb at the port, to a private Yacht Club area to check in. Once on-board, another butler escorts you to the Yacht Club where the Concierge explains all of the benefits of the Yacht Club and the included spa amenities. We were then handed off to the Maitre-De,(Giovanni) of the Yacht Club dining room, (LeMuse), to go over our dining options.

Jonathan, our butler, had items we drank from our in-room mini bar, replaced after we had left for only 10 minutes. I am not kidding you when I say this,,,it happened on multiple occasions, and we have yet to try and find out how they do it. Juliano, Naomid, and Danilo at the One Bar, what can I say,,their service is absolutely incredible. Lying by the pool, our drinks were refreshed without having to even ask for another drink,, again,,just first class service all the way.

One more thing regarding the Yacht Club which maybe not everyone may know. There are card readers in some of the elevators, once you insert your Yacht Club card and select the floor you would like to go to, the elevator will bypass any of the other floors that were selected and take you to your floor immediately. On more than one occasion I had people in the elevator with me, asking why the elevator didn't stop on their floor,,I wasn't about to tell them why.

 

WOW youre sailing on the Divina a LOT! Just curious what the average rate is for the Yacht Club and if its all inclusive with drinks, airport shuttle etc.. Seems like a great experience.

[Mikesa1721]

WOW youre sailing on the Divina a LOT! Just curious what the average rate is for the Yacht Club and if its all inclusive with drinks, airport shuttle etc.. Seems like a great experience.

 

We just came back from a 3 day, 2 night sailing to the Bahamas. Our YC1 (16009) with taxes and pre-paid gratuities came to a little over $1400.00 for the two of us. This includes all of your drinks within the Yacht Club itself, drinks in any of the bars or lounges outside of the Yacht Club are extra unless you purchase the Allegrisimo package or vouchers, as well as dinner at the LeMuse restaurant, Yacht Club members only dining room. On deck 18 there is the One Bar as well as different buffet items throughout the day. The food here was outstanding!!!! We ate breakfast and lunch here. Just a quick plug, the bacon is phenomenal!!! A good mix for those who like their bacon crispy and not so well done.

The real value here is the service though. Oh,,and you also have your very own crystal staircase for those of us who's female counterparts like to have their picture taken of their sparkly shoes on the staircase.:eek:

[quattrohead]

It is not as good as the Poesia.

[neptuno]

It is not as good as the Poesia.

 

I agree. Poesia was more intimate, not so crowded. But, Divina, with it's big 4300 capacity, had more live music and dancing all over. Food was less impressive, shorter menu, but still the best value in the Carib!!!

[TNGALOHA]

We just came back from a 3 day, 2 night sailing to the Bahamas. Our YC1 (16009) with taxes and pre-paid gratuities came to a little over $1400.00 for the two of us. This includes all of your drinks within the Yacht Club itself, drinks in any of the bars or lounges outside of the Yacht Club are extra unless you purchase the Allegrisimo package or vouchers, as well as dinner at the LeMuse restaurant, Yacht Club members only dining room. On deck 18 there is the One Bar as well as different buffet items throughout the day. The food here was outstanding!!!! We ate breakfast and lunch here. Just a quick plug, the bacon is phenomenal!!! A good mix for those who like their bacon crispy and not so well done.

The real value here is the service though. Oh,,and you also have your very own crystal staircase for those of us who's female counterparts like to have their picture taken of their sparkly shoes on the staircase.:eek:

 

When you get back onboard tell Giovanni hi from Tom and Gerry, Linda and Hil and tell him we will see him on the Christmas cruise!

 

Thanks and have a great evening,

Gerry

[Mikesa1721]

When you get back onboard tell Giovanni hi from Tom and Gerry, Linda and Hil and tell him we will see him on the Christmas cruise!

 

Thanks and have a great evening,

Gerry

 

Gerry,,will do. Giovanni wasn't a very happy camper this past weekend though. He rubbed some people the wrong way and unfortunately a few guests left LeMuse screaming at him. It's in my nature to give people the benefit of the doubt but he rubbed our group of 4 the wrong way as well. Even though there were plenty of available tables to accommodate our party of four, he told us we had to come back 45 minutes after our scheduled dinner time of 9:00. I understand he may have been under a certain amount of stress trying to accommodate everyone for dinner, but you need to check the attitude at the door especially when you work in the hospitality business, as they say, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. We'll hesitantly try him again in August if he is still there. The food in LeMuse was superb but unfortunately Giovanni left us with a bad taste in our mouth.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Mikesa1721

[cruisetrail]

I agree. Poesia was more intimate, not so crowded. But, Divina, with it's big 4300 capacity, had more live music and dancing all over. Food was less impressive, shorter menu, but still the best value in the Carib!!!

 

Neptuno, I don't know how you measure "the best value" but looking back to our cruise on Divina a few weeks ago and comparing it to that one last fall when we switched from Divina to Nieuw Amsterdam due to better price for four... Oh, my...

I saw that cabin we would have had on the Divina..:eek:

And the food, amenities - different world.

What we liked more on the Divina - a couple of shows. Very good.

You were right about seats in MDR - never seen that on other ships.

 

Answering the question of the thread:

ONE thing: ersatz.

 

In three words:

- inconsistency

- controversy

- lost opportunities

[American Bear]

The Divina receives the 'Best Value Cruise' from American Bear!:D

Its not even close right now with the Divina's prices and the excellent value you receive for these prices! Even our benes. from other cruise lines wouldn't have given us a better value for what we paid for the Divina!

 

We spent 14 days on the Divina, and 'never' had bad service, bad food, in fact our service was excellent, as was the food!

But if you walk through life with a dark cloud around your head, don't blame the cruise company, look in the mirror!:eek:

 

 

We found in our 14 days on the Divina that unhappy people we would occasionally run into were being totally ridiculous in their demands, and were actually quite entertaining in their childish temper tantrums! :D

Its really something to see people expecting the world to stop for them, rules should change for them, like they are so important to the world beyond the joke they really are!:eek:

 

In our several encounters with Giovanni he was kind, considerate, professional, and accommodating, so again those complaining should look in the mirror!:eek:

[Mikesa1721]

The Divina receives the 'Best Value Cruise' from American Bear!:D

Its not even close right now with the Divina's prices and the excellent value you receive for these prices! Even our benes. from other cruise lines wouldn't have given us a better value for what we paid for the Divina!

 

We spent 14 days on the Divina, and 'never' had bad service, bad food, in fact our service was excellent, as was the food!

But if you walk through life with a dark cloud around your head, don't blame the cruise company, look in the mirror!:eek:

 

 

We found in our 14 days on the Divina that unhappy people we would occasionally run into were being totally ridiculous in their demands, and were actually quite entertaining in their childish temper tantrums! :D

Its really something to see people expecting the world to stop for them, rules should change for them, like they are so important to the world beyond the joke they really are!:eek:

 

In our several encounters with Giovanni he was kind, considerate, professional, and accommodating, so again those complaining should look in the mirror!:eek:

 

American,,I am simply posting an observation from this past weekends experience. Like I posted above, I am willing to give Giovanni the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was stressed trying to accommodate everyone for dinner because of the short cruise duration, I don't know, but this one minor incident doesn't detract us from cruising with MSC again, in fact we are booked for 3 more sailings and I am looking to book another to fill the gap between our August and April sailings.

[wwwfla]

One thing, Giovanni in Black Crab was horrible! Dine in Villa Rosa, much nicer with Mario!

[bltrn]

YACHT CLUB YACHT CLUB YACHT CLUB!!!!!

'Nuf said!

:)

 

I TOTALLY agree!! :D