lIVE from Divina :)

[vicocala]

Thanks for your review. I hope you were able to get some of those menu pictures. For some reason they seem to be a state secret! :)

[Mikesa1721]

No comedy show at all; but they did try quest for the first time. Family version. Not quite as fun as RCL quest, but they may get the hang of it eventually :)

 

Thanks Bermuda!!!! I guess the comedy show Andre posted was for just the one sailing,,,guess we'll have to wait for Seaside to get a comedy club!! :)

[BermudaBound2014]

Here are some photos of the room. Notice how well my luggage matches the color scheme? :)

 

 

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

And here are pictures of the lounge chair on the balcony. The lounge chair fit with both chairs and the foot stool, however since I was traveling alone and the cabin had extra room I used one of the chairs at the inside desk for most of the trip (there isn't a chair there, just a cube). As stated, the aft balconies on deck 10 and 11 are much larger (there is a great youtube clip of a balcony on deck 10). The aftbalconies on deck 10 and 11 come with the garnet red color scheme. So if you are looking for the biggest balcony, choose 10 or 11. If you just want one lounger, deck 12 is more than enough room.

 

Here is the lounge chair not on an angle (just to show the balcony depth)

 

 

 

Here is the lounger with both chairs and the foot stool.

 

 

And here is the other angle with the lounger, 2 chairs and footstool on the balcony.

[BermudaBound2014]

And here is the menu from the Specialty Pizza Restaurant someone was asking about:

 

[alexkrn46]

Here are some photos of the room. Notice how well my luggage matches the color scheme?

 

Is that Samantha Brown luggage ? And it does match nicely.

[BermudaBound2014]

Here are some photos of the room. Notice how well my luggage matches the color scheme?

 

Is that Samantha Brown luggage ? And it does match nicely.

 

Bingo! It is Samantha Brown. I love it. I took only that wheeled carry on w/tote for an 8 night trip and it held more than enough. :)

 

More pics coming tomorrow. Must get back to work :)

Edited April 4, 2016 by BermudaBound2014

[vicocala]

Thanks for the pizza menu. I guess the rest is still a state secret. :)

[jamon]

Thanks for the info..........

[BermudaBound2014]

Sorry, back to work got the best of me. I'm going to try to finish this review today :).

 

Let's talk food, which is super subjective. I did not choose the 2.5 hour "You'll eat when I tell you to Eat" plan - aka assigned seating in the MDR. I was assigned to early seating which is 5:30. Seriously, the sun hasn't even set at 5:30. I did stand in a pretty long line at embarkation to speak to the restaurant manager about changing to late seating and obtaining a table for one. Let's just say, he was less than friendly or accommodating. In the end, I told him no worries, I'd eat at the buffet. In all fairness, this was probably the least customer friendly exchange I had all week. Basically, the restaurant vibe was, 'you'll eat when we tell you to eat and with whom we tell you to eat". I was able to obtain a table for one once during lunch, but was refused a table for one in the mdr for breakfast. No biggie, I can be sociable when needed, but this was indeed, an odd exchange from a customer standpoint.

 

As a result, I choose to take nearly all my meals at the buffet and found the breakfast buffet more than delicious. There is a gentleman cooking omelettes, but you need to go outside next to the pool for those. Mostly I stuck with the oatmeal and fruit which was really good.

 

Here are some breakfast buffet photos:

 

No Salmon, but there was herring for those that like seafood at breakfast. And the usual cold cut section for breakfast that seems more prevalent in European culture.

 

[/img]

 

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The meat was bacon or sausage every day.

[BermudaBound2014]

I so wanted to try this fruit and fresh whipped cream on waffles, but never got around to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[/img]

 

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

The Lunch Buffet was also quite good. Breakfast and Lunch are the only times that both sides of the buffet are open. I highly recommend walking the entire loop before making your selection as often there are different items on each side.

 

At the aft end of the buffet is an International Station which is only open from 12-4 where you can find a variety of foods depending on the day (curry, sweet n sour, etc..). The far aft of the buffet is also the least busy area if you are trying to find a seat and want a little less noise.

 

Like all cruise ships, the lunch buffet can get quite crowded and the European feel to MSC means queuing in line isn't always done the "American" way. Some of ducking and cutting is the oddity of how MSC sets up the Divina Buffet. Several of the drink stations are dead ends, which makes getting a drink somewhat challenging when it is busy. Also, there are some oddly placed poles in the buffet which prevents straight lines along the food areas. Finally, not all stations have a plate/silverware section which provides a clue for customers where the line 'should' start. All of this combined with a ship that doesn't have a terrific passenger:space ratio to begin with and you have the recipe for a certain level of frustration, as demonstrated by several passengers. Of course, this is greatly minimized by avoiding peak dining times (12:30-3:30).

 

Here are some lunch buffet photos. For lunch, I mostly chose the salad bar which is not a traditional "American" salad bar (notice the cold corn in the picture below), but it does provide opportunity to experiment and the food was always very fresh.

 

[/img]

 

 

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[BermudaBound2014]

There was also a small taco station every lunch (not available for dinner). There was beef or chicken for the tacos and the traditional toppings (cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, guac).... but it would certainly cure a Mexican fit.

 

[/img]

 

 

 

Each day for lunch there was 3 international dishes provided at the far aft of the buffet. I did try some curry one day which was decent. These 3 entries on the day I snapped the pictures:

[musik07]

Is that soy and other dairy free milks I see right on the breakfast buffet? That would make me super happy!

[sfaaa]

 

Never did try these, which looked delish

 

 

]

 

Fresh Donuts. YES!

[Kruizin'Kath]

Thank you for your wonderful review!

[CampbellCrewZ]

Sorry, back to work got the best of me. I'm going to try to finish this review today :).

 

 

 

Let's talk food, which is super subjective. I did not choose the 2.5 hour "You'll eat when I tell you to Eat" plan - aka assigned seating in the MDR. I was assigned to early seating which is 5:30. Seriously, the sun hasn't even set at 5:30. I did stand in a pretty long line at embarkation to speak to the restaurant manager about changing to late seating and obtaining a table for one. Let's just say, he was less than friendly or accommodating. In the end, I told him no worries, I'd eat at the buffet. In all fairness, this was probably the least customer friendly exchange I had all week. Basically, the restaurant vibe was, 'you'll eat when we tell you to eat and with whom we tell you to eat". I was able to obtain a table for one once during lunch, but was refused a table for one in the mdr for breakfast. No biggie, I can be sociable when needed, but this was indeed, an odd exchange from a customer standpoint.

 

 

 

As a result, I choose to take nearly all my meals at the buffet and found the breakfast buffet more than delicious. There is a gentleman cooking omelettes, but you need to go outside next to the pool for those. Mostly I stuck with the oatmeal and fruit which was really good.

 

 

 

Here are some breakfast buffet photos:

 

 

 

No Salmon, but there was herring for those that like seafood at breakfast. And the usual cold cut section for breakfast that seems more prevalent in European culture.

 

 

 

[/img]

 

 

 

[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The meat was bacon or sausage every day.

 

 

 

Hey Bermuda...great review! We were on that sailing with you and I just wanted to pop in and say those breakfast sandwiches at the buffet with the egg on English muffin were the best! I happily stood in line for them every morning.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[BermudaBound2014]

Hi Campbell......... I never did the egg mcmuffin, but how about the pizza? That was amazing :).

 

The least favorite buffet for me was the dinner buffet. To me, here is one area where you can see MSC cutting some corners when compared to other mainstream lines. Only 1/2 of the buffet was open for dinner. An entire section was devoted to hot dog and hamburgers with fries. Not the good kind they had during lunch with the spicy mustard, just some rather unappealing looking burger/dog affair.

 

There was also a carving station each night which I typically look forward to. On other lines I've been able to get prime rib (or at least a carved beef of some sort along with items like wellington, etc..). Msc was serving a bit less expensive nightly specials: They actually had meatloaf as a special of the day one eveing :(. They also had a roast turkey one night, baked salmon one night (which was good, but again, this is typically something on a dinner buffet daily on other lines), something called 'wild foul" that tasted like chicken so I went with it. Two nights they had corned beef (which is certainly good, but not something I think of as a special for dinner, maybe lunch, but I don't think anyone can claim corned beef as a decent cut of meat).

 

Basically, the items were all 'good' but not at all what I would consider top shelf items. One night they had BBQ chicken legs (but not white meat). Never spare ribs on the buffet for dinner, one time they had ribs for lunch though. There was a fish dish nightly, but salmon was only on once. They serve a lot of something called hoki fish. They did have a cajun cod one night and one night they had a fish and chips (english style). They always have 3 different pasta's each night which were always good, but I can not possibly eat pasta daily and still fit into my clothes. Again, it's not that any of the food was BAD.... it's just the variety was not there.

 

The evening buffet ran from 6-9 (on the dime) and then things got pretty slim. There was pizza until 2 a.m. (and the Pizza is DEVINE!) so that was always fine with me. At 10:00 they bring out cookies and fruit. At 11:30 they take away the cookies but bring out 'make your own sandwiches' until 1:30. The station had tuna salad, chicken salad, various lunch meats, and cheeses along with various breads to make a cold-cut sandwich. They had potato salad and cole slaw to go alone with it. But that was the extent of the late night buffet. All in all, I didn't go hungry, but I didn't gain weight either (hurray!).

 

Here are a few photos from the dinner buffet: This is the pasta station. Each night they had 3 different pastas:

[/img]

 

More food typical to find on the buffet:

[/img]

[Yorkvillain]

Great job BB. Love it.

[djiles52]

I am so very thankful for these posts. I am cruising on this ship 6/4 and will be on the 10th floor. With these wonderful pictures I just cant wait to go now!

 

Thank you so much for all the posting. This is my first time on MSC and my first time on cruise critic. I have sailed on RCCL, NCL and Carnival too.

 

OH and I have Samatha brown luggage too (work for HSN) but its pink. Should I ask to change my room?:):):):):):)

[BermudaBound2014]

I am so very thankful for these posts. I am cruising on this ship 6/4 and will be on the 10th floor. With these wonderful pictures I just cant wait to go now!

 

Thank you so much for all the posting. This is my first time on MSC and my first time on cruise critic. I have sailed on RCCL, NCL and Carnival too.

 

OH and I have Samatha brown luggage too (work for HSN) but its pink. Should I ask to change my room?:)

 

No need to change luggage color because on the 10th floor the color palet is red/garnet! Your luggage will also match perfectly. I expect a pic upon return :)

[BermudaBound2014]

Now I'm always astounded at the amount of people who approach me when I travel as a solo. So many are surprised that in today's day and age a woman would choose to travel alone. You should see their faces when I explain that I've also backpack through Europe as a solo and did a six-month stunt in Alaska all by my lonesome too. If that wasn't shocker enough, when they find out I actually have a DH at home Many have actually asked me how I got him to "allow" me to travel by myself. Of course this response shocks me, which means there's a whole Lotta shocking going around :)

 

The point of all that is not only do people randomly strike up conversations about the ship, as a solo I often overhear those around me. I try not to listen (pinky swear); but at times it's impossible. Seriously impossible. As such, I was privy to LOTS of complaining. Not sure why so much complaining was done on Divina, but there was more negative comments from other travelers than I've ever remembered.

 

The top two complaints by far were about kids and smoking. Either adult travelers complaining there were far too many kids on the ship (like what did they expect with kids sail free??) OR those with kids (and the kids themselves) were whining there was nothing for the kids to do.

 

Now, it's Pretty clear that The Divina was not built to cater to child/teen with high activities in mind. MSC does not have (nor does it claim to have) the WOW experience in terms of activities. There is no flow rider. Forget the zip line. No putt putt, rock climbing, and the water slide often requires self Propelsion. However; if I had gotten to go on a cruise as child onboard you can bet your last dollar I wouldn't have been whining (my parents would not have tolerated) and that I would find something to keep myself busy.

 

To keep the kids busy, kids flocked to the pools. All the pools! All day long! Here comes the problem with smoking. The port side of the entire main pool area is devoted to smoking. That's nearly half the outside space. The other half of the space was turned into a shopping mall selling purses, perfume, etc. What this means to the consumer is that if you want a pool lounger you should hit the deck by 8 AM and if you want to find a quiet and relaxing spot near the pool (any pool) you should choose another line until MSC changes adults only policy.

 

Speaking of changing policy, MSC if you are listening (and I don't suspect you are), you are missing an entire segment of the population by not making (and marketing) an adults only pool. You have 2 perfect venues. The solarium pool is located forward and the only thing farther forward are adult only spaces (the gym and the spa). If not the solarium, the infinity pool is also a prime adults only spot as it is one deck up, all the way aft, and comes with its very own bar :).

 

Of course, all ship pools are busy. But when you take into account the kids sale free (therefore doubling the amount of kids on board,) the entire Portside devoted to smoking leaving half of deck space available for non-smokers, and much of the non-smoking deck turned into the Mall of America with no lounge chair space at all- you have a recipe for quite a few disappointed people. Me- I had my lounger on my balcony, but without that this cruise would have been an entirely different experience.

[BermudaBound2014]

The following pool photos were taken on Thursday (third sea day) at approximately 2:00 p.m. As stated above, all ship pools are crowded but MSC is a bit more crowded than others and there is no adults only pool to retreat too. The good news is that if you are willing to stay ON the ship while she is in port the pools are beautiful! On St. Thomas day I came back onboard around 2:00 p.m. and shared the infinity pool with only 2 other couples and 2 children. On Nassau day I never left the ship and had the main pool all to myself (literally, alone inside the pool) from 12:00-1:30. I watched all of the Cirque show on the big screen which started at noon from in the pool. It was heavenly! :)

 

Main Pool:

[/img]

[BermudaBound2014]

St. Thomas is always a beautiful stop. I have had great fortune sailing with Nightwind Yacht in the past, but this trip was about rest and relaxation. Havensight does have free wifi (but it's slow and as you know, very crowded).

 

You can normally EASILY walk from Havensight to downtown Charlotte Amelia. It's only about 1.5 miles. Hot, so you may want water, but you typically can get there faster than the $4.00 pp cab that spends lots of time stuck in traffic.

 

Unfortunately the path was closed the day I was there. I probably could have negotiated around whatever construction was going on, but the truth is I enjoyed just hanging around the St. Thomas Yacht Club. It is a very short walk from havensight and also has free wifi, but what it doesn't have is massive amounts of people. The shops are a big higher end (think Ralph Lauren), but the area is somewhat quaint which is hard to find in populated cities. I spent part of the morning just wandering around the Yacht dock looking at the fish and coral.

 

This is the Divina from the Yacht Club deck:

[/img]

 

Quintessential St Thomas shot:

[BermudaBound2014]

The Entertainment on Divina was extremely good. I wasn't overly fond of the Opera or just the only singing shows (personal taste), but the aerobatic shows were exceptional. If you find a plot in any of the story lines you are a far better viewer than I, but a plot isn't what it's about. The shows are geared to a much more international clientele.

 

 

I was skeptical about the Michael Jackson show everyone raved about. Every resort I've ever stayed at in the CAribbean claims such a show, but this one was a cut above the rest. including a standing ovation. I liked the show so much I went to both the early and late version and I've NEVER done that before. It was even emotional, which is hard to describe. IMO, the last night Michael Jackson show is not to be missed.