Solo on the Divina 09/20/2014

[American Bear]

:D:D There was some when I got there, but, it was all in my belly when I left! :D:D

 

If you like shrimp, don't forget to order several orders of coconut shrimp in the MDR at lunch!:D

Remember, there are 2 desert parades by the waiters during the week in the evening in the MDR, ask your waiter when!:D

[mom2tcdx2]

Love seeing a review from another Virginia native and a cat lover too. We will be boarding in 19 days, and I totally can't wait. Hope to read more about your travels.

[maureencruiser]

So, here are my spacious accommodations for the week.

 

 

 

The TV and the minibar.

 

 

 

 

This made me laugh and it also prevented the remote on the TV from working. I had to keep putting it behind the TV and Chandra, the steward kept putting it in front. Maybe she got a commission if I ordered pizza.

 

The contents of the minibar.

 

 

[maureencruiser]

 

Everything in the minibar was included in the package I bought. Luckily for MSC, the only thing I took from it was one bottle of water. Now, don't get me wrong, I would have taken more, but, Chandra never replaced my water. I'm sure she would have if I had asked her, but, I assumed it would be restocked every day. No worries for me, I just picked up bottles of water at various bars throughout the cruise. And, don't let me lie to you, I did consider grabbing all the nips every day and taking them home with me. :o

 

I have never had Scotch and my package included the premium Scotch, Johnnie Walker Blue, which they sell for $22 a shot. :eek: I told my boss I would have to become a Scotch drinker so I could get my money's worth and he gave me a few pointers. I considered starting with this Red in my fridge, but, ultimately never did try Scotch. Wuss! :p

 

I have some sundresses that I wore to work with tank tops under them that I brought on the cruise. I didn't bring my tanks because I figured I'm on a cruise, let it all hang out! Well, it turns out I'm not the free spirit I thought I was. :rolleyes: I decided I needed to put a stitch or two in the neckline to keep them a little more modestly closed. The hotel had sewing kits at the front desk, but, both times I went downstairs I forgot to ask for one.

 

Imagine my delight when I opened the drawer to this.

 

 

Thanks, MSC! And, I did bring both of THEM home with me.

[maureencruiser]

The bathroom had plenty of storage space.

 

 

 

See the warning sign in the shower? It says- Hot Water- Test! Don't people test the water before they get in the shower at home? I hope they didn't add that sign just for the Americans. :cool:

 

The shower doors folded together kind of like an old fashioned phone booth. I have read about people having trouble with leaks, but, I had the driest floor I have ever had on a cruise. The doors do *click* when they are properly closed, so, maybe some people just aren't doing it right. The only problem I had was one day when I bent over to shave my legs, my bum popped the door open. :eek: I missed the Allure's foot rest for shaving, it gets harder and harder to bend over in that shower as the cruise (and my weight) progresses. :D

 

I had read *multiple* reports about lumpy pillows and I was concerned. I figured it worst came to worst, I could fold a towel and put that in the pillowcase as well to add a little firmness. Y'all know I like things firm in the bedroom. :eek:

[Sea Turtle]

Love seeing a review from another Virginia native and a cat lover too.

 

She may be a cat lover but this gal is far from a native of Virginia. :D Just ask her what she does with her car when she enters the garage or what she calls that dark, hot drink also known as Java. ;)

 

Mcruiser, an AI card?? Shocked!! How far down that cocktail list did you make it?! :p:cool:

 

As always loving your words/photos. What's up next for you cruise wise? I'm RCI Legend in 27 days--won't be the same without you onboard the little RCI ship like Grandeur.

[russianmom]

This is hilarious!

Can't wait for more

[mom2tcdx2]

She may be a cat lover but this gal is far from a native of Virginia. :D Just ask her what she does with her car when she enters the garage or what she calls that dark, hot drink also known as Java. ;)

 

Mcruiser, an AI card?? Shocked!! How far down that cocktail list did you make it?! :p:cool:

 

As always loving your words/photos. What's up next for you cruise wise? I'm RCI Legend in 27 days--won't be the same without you onboard the little RCI ship like Grandeur.

 

Well maybe not a native, but at least lives here now. She is only about 75 miles from us, we live outside of Charlottesville. My husband is from Indiana, though he hasn't been there in quite sometime. He has been in Virginia since 1994.

 

I can't wait until our sailing date gets here. Love reading everyone's reviews though.

Edited October 8, 2014 by mom2tcdx2

[alexkrn46]

I am loving your review! I had to go back and read your other reviews you are very funny.

[riclop]

Did you have the small inside room 138sq ft.?

[maureencruiser]

RCI Legend in 27 days--won't be the same without you onboard the little RCI ship like Grandeur.

 

Turtle! My friend from the Grandeur! When I said I had Elderflower before, it was because Turtle gave me some on the Grandeur. She didn't like it, either. That's why she gave it to me! Where are you going on the Legend?

 

Sorry, folks for not posting more last night. I had a post ready, just had to hit submit and my laptop locked up on me. I waited two hours, it never finished loading. So, let me try to recreate what I said yesterday. It's not easy to reproduce such witty gems, but, I'll try. :p

 

Now, where was I? That's right, lumpy pillows!

 

Hmmmm, they look innocuous enough.

 

 

 

But, you know what? They were lumpy. Even worse, they were soft, they did this when I picked them up.

 

 

 

Now, y'all definitely know I don't like things that go limp in my hand. :D

 

I figured if all else failed, I could use the little brown pillows, if i could get my giant noggin to fit on them. But, they were surprisingly comfortable. I guess my scalp lacks the tactile discernment to realize they are lumpy. I slept like a baby, even took a midday nap most days.

 

My roll call had agreed to meet at 3pm at one of the bars. I was particularly excited to meet another Maureen, from Canada, whose birthday was also Wednesday. Maybe we were separated at birth!

 

Speaking of that, I brought some old school pictures to work one day and one of my coworkers said I looked like Molly Ringwald when she was on The Facts of Life. I didn't even know she was on that show. So, what do y'all think, me and Molly Ringwald- separated at birth?

 

 

 

[maureencruiser]

Well, I just spent over an hour composing my next post and CC locked me out and won't let me post. Feeling very frustrated right now.

[maureencruiser]

I found it, let me repost it really quick. I had to delete my pictures, but, I'm sure I can add them back in.

 

 

So, I headed up to the bar to meet my people. The bar was hopping!

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm, wait, 6 staff members and 3 customers and I'm pretty sure one of the customers is a child. If any of these 3 people was on my roll call, sorry, you didn't look like you were looking for people. I never did find any of my people. A huge storm blew up, pouring rain and deck chairs blowing around, so, I sought out what looked like the safest place to be in a storm- the Nutella stand.

 

 

 

 

I had been sooooo looking forward to having a Nutella crepe. Who am I kidding, several Nutella crepes, but, I never found the stand open. One day, they were advertising BOGO on the crepes, but, I napped right through it. That's always a hard choice on a cruise- sleep or food?

 

So between not finding my people, the storm and the Nutella stand, I was clearly in need of some comfort and I found it.

 

 

 

 

 

Chocolate gelato. It was good, but, not great. It was my first time trying gelato, maybe i just need to develop a taste for it. I decided to try another flavor, but, I never did.

 

 

So, what else was there for me to do but move on to the next drink on the list- the Painkiller.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, this I did not like. I looked at the ingredients and decided maybe it was the rum I didn't like, it was just too rummy. I looked at the list of drinks and of course, a lot of them had rum. I decided at this moment to abandon my quest to work my way through the list and just drink things that I truly thought I would like.

 

I was feeling a little sad about not meeting my people, usually I am just unabashedly alone and I am fine with that. I expected to spend more time with people this cruise, also, because I would be eating at a set time in the dining room, not just hitting the buffet like I usually do.

 

I attended some sort of introduction to cruising, shore excursion talk just to have something to do before muster. Muster was held in one of the lounges. We had to bring our life jackets and then they showed us how to put them on, in several different languages. I don't recall them taking any kind of attendance, maybe they swiped my card and I'm just forgetting? Anyway, muster only took 20 minutes and when I got back to my cabin, my suitcase was there. I unpacked and got ready to go to dinner at 6pm in the Villa Rosa.

 

Now, I had read on these boards that they assign tables based not on what country you're from, but, what language you speak. Awesome! I wouldn't have to worry about being seated with people I couldn't talk to and I might even meet some nice people from England or New Zealand or something.

 

 

So, I arrived at my table for eight and there was one couple there. And, they didn't speak English. And, I surely didn't speak Spanish. :(:(

[maureencruiser]

We tried the best we could, we exchanged a few one word sentences, nodding a lot and smiling. I'm quite certain they were very nice. I kept looking at the table next to us, 3 young American couples and a single lady, all yukking it up about the trip so far and thinking I would LOVE to be at that table.

 

Since I had no one to talk to and nothing else to do, I pulled out my notebook and took very specific notes about what time everything happened at dinner.

 

6:00- We were seated, we nodded and smiled and were given water and menus

 

 

 

 

6:05- We ordered and I ordered a glass of White Zinfandel.

 

6:25- More smiling and nodding. The waiter wandered by and I reminded him about my wine. Trust me, I needed it by that point. They have 2 kinds of WZ on the menu. He said the one I wanted was out. I said, That's fine, I'll take the other one.

 

6:35- More smiling and nodding. Still no food, not even bread. Another waiter came by and told me both WZ were "out of order". Charming, but, not what I wanted to hear the first day of the cruise. He suggested a similar wine, Rose Rocca. Fine, bring me two glasses.

 

Let me interrupt this detailed recapping to explain something. There is much talk on these boards about "slow" service in the dining rooms and everyone says it is the European way to linger over a good meal and enjoy good conversation and the Americans just don't get it. So, I went into this expecting that. Plenty of good conversation and, as long as I made it out in time for the show, I would have been happy. Well, there was plenty of good conversations at dinner that night, they just weren't happening at my table, so, I was getting a little antsy to get on with dinner. Sitting there in silence was EXCRUCIATING! I was trying to decide if I should stay at this table the next night or speak to the Maitre d' about moving.

 

6:40- Bread! And wine!! Much more animated nodding and smiling with a little pointing thrown in for good measure.

 

6:45- Real food arrives! I had the shrimp cocktail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very good, I smiled a lot. It was 4 shrimp, it was gone in 2 minutes.

 

7:00- My Gardener's salad arrives and the ship starts moving. I point out the window at the ship moving and they smile and nod very excitedly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was good, it was salad. Not really smile-worthy.

 

 

7:20- My hoki fish arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fabulous, the little salsa they had to go with it just made the meal- wonderful!

 

 

When we were finished, they brought the dessert menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7:40 -I had the Torta Caprese, it was divine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

7:45- we finished dinner, smiled and nodded at each other and ran for the exits. I'm sure they were just as relieved as I was to get out of there. The food was wonderful, but, not being able to communicate was awkward and embarrassing and horrendous. For one hour and 45 minutes.

[maureencruiser]

Sorry for the small font on that last post. I'm terrified of losing my post again so I copied it to Wordpad and Wordpad made it small.

 

I'll try to type (and think) faster. The show was at 8:00 , so, I just had time to hit the bathroom on my way there. It was a tribute to Frank Sinatra and it was OK. Honestly, I was falling asleep during it. I guess I was worn out from all that talking during dinner. :rolleyes: One thing struck me as odd, he sang That's Amore, I associate that with Dean Martin, but, maybe Sinatra sang it too.

 

One thing I did notice was people were tripping all over this ship. Is this common and I just never noticed it before? In the lounge, at the Muster, there was a step up to the seating area and no one saw it. Those of us who were already there made a game of watching the newbies wander in and predict who was gonna trip. Oh, she's talking to her husband, she's gonna trip. :cool:

 

When I went to the show, I went all the way down to the front, so I could see. When I go up or down steps, I have to do it with my lead leg arriving on the step and then my following leg arriving on the same step, not the next, so, it takes me twice as long. So, I carefully worked my way down all the steps to where a nice young man said something to me. I looked at him, nodded and smiled ;) then proceeded to trip down the last step which is a good two feet away from all the previous steps! All the people sitting there laughed and the man said, I said watch your step! So, now I was there and proceeded to watch as several other people also tripped in the exact same place.

 

After the show, I was wandering around and ended up in the Piazza again and there is a step up there as well and many people did not see that either. Maybe we were all drunk from our drink packages, I don't know.

 

Around 9:20, I went to my room to finish unpacking. My room was made up, but, there was no Daily Program for the next day. I figured Chandra had forgotten it, so, I went to the room I had seen her working in. She had told me earlier she got off work at 10. She told me now that the Programs weren't ready yet , but, she would bring me one when they were. I thought that was odd, to be so late.

 

I wandered up to the pool deck to get some air and ordered a Margarita.

 

It was good, but, I was a little disappointed by the presentation. This was the glass it came in.

 

 

To me, that is a water glass like you would find in the bathroom. When I order fruity drinks, I want them to look like the pictures on the menu, vacation-y, you know?

 

 

 

[maureencruiser]

So, I explored some more. This is Le Sirene, the enclosed pool.

 

 

Here's me, posing in front of the pool. :D

 

 

 

To no one's surprise, I ended up in the buffet, looking for a little late night pizza. Here is a small crowd gathering, waiting for pepperoni pizza.

 

 

I wanted pepperoni, too, but, I decided it wasn't worth waiting for, I would try the Margherita instead.

 

 

Oh, sweet fancy Moses, that was good! The dough was to die for and the sauce had a brightness to it that was just fabulous. Maybe it was the basil? I don't know, but, that immediately became my go to late night snack for the whole trip. I tried the pepperoni later and it paled by comparison.

 

At 10:45, there was a game show called Hollywood Star. The description said the Entertainment Team would act out famous movies. What it really was, was, they showed clips of famous movies (in Italian) and you had to guess the movie. The Entertainment Team often dressed up in funny costumes and they were wandering around looking cute. I didn't pay much attention to the game, I was too late to join any of the teams, so, I ordered a glass of WZ, I figured maybe the lounges would have it, even if the DR didn't. Nope, the waitress said they were out for a minute, might get more tomorrow. On a day at sea? OK, maybe they brought it on board, but, just hadn't unpacked it yet, I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

 

I ordered an Italian Flirt for my last drink of the day. It was so dark in there with the movie clips playing, I didn't even try to take a picture of it. I was exhausted, so, I headed to bed. let's see what my total spent was.

 

The Traveler, the Painkiller and the Margarita were each 7.25, the Flirt was 6.75, the coke was 2.50, the gelato was 2.70 and the 2 glasses of wine at dinner were 11.00. Total spent - 44.70, not too bad considering I wasn't on the ship till 1. I looked for a waiter to get some wine while I was eating my pizza, but, I didn't find one. It wasn't until later in the cruise that I realized there is a bar right next to the pizza station. That definitely helped me to increase my daily consumption. :D

[Beamafar]

 

The Traveler, the Painkiller and the Margarita were each 7.25, the Flirt was 6.75, the coke was 2.50, the gelato was 2.70 and the 2 glasses of wine at dinner were 11.00. Total spent - 44.70, not too bad considering I wasn't on the ship till 1. I looked for a waiter to get some wine while I was eating my pizza, but, I didn't find one. It wasn't until later in the cruise that I realized there is a bar right next to the pizza station. That definitely helped me to increase my daily consumption. :D

 

Don't forget to include the (ONE) bottle of water from the mini-bar LOL. I'm assuming you took it on the first day as you say it was never replaced.

[A&L_Ont]

Maureen, that turtle looks like it was showing you it's back end :eek: or someone ate its head. The ship looks beautiful. The review is great!

 

Hope you had a wonderful birthday. I was going to gift you one the steps in the stairs, but I thought it would exceed your baggage restrictions for the flight home. Anyway you might have trip on that stair too, after you removed it.

 

I will get you next year. ;)

Andrew

Edited October 8, 2014 by A&L_Ont

[American Bear]

Try to get to the shows early, they have a terrific 4 man comedy group who are in the audience playing with the audience as they come in to sit!:)

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Excellent review so far and lovely photos, looking forward to more:)

[MsTabbyKats]

Nice fun review....love your sense of humor.

 

Thanks for all the warnings about "tripping".

[windjamming]

Yay, another maureencruisah review! (Thanks to Yorkvillain for pointing us here.)

 

Your reviews are so much fun.

 

Can't wait to read more!

[murph219ca]

Am enjoying your review (and sense of humour) immensely, and can't wait for the next instalment. DH and I are Divina in a few weeks - hope that margherita pizza is still "sweet fancy Moses" fantastic :-)

[DENIE]

Love all the pictures, and your sense of humor....keep it coming! :)

[Aussiegrlfl]

Great job Maureen....loving your sense of humour so sorry we didn't catch up.......