Live from MSC Divina 12/30-01/13

[styles27]

2 hours ago, Zephyr173 said:

Jeeez. When we enjoy MSC from Europe, we just show up around 11 and hop on the ship.  Things seem complicated on our side of the pond.

We were on the ship by 11:15 on 12/30th which is why we were so surprised at the delay today. I guess it changes week to week. 

[Longimanus]

6 hours ago, styles27 said:

We were on the ship by 11:15 on 12/30th which is why we were so surprised at the delay today. I guess it changes week to week. 

Interesting to read through this live report. It almost completely lines up with our Divina experience last November.

 

We are a young couple (both 31) from Belgium and have cruised MSC a couple of times before in Europe. We've always enjoyed what they offered at that price point in Europe. We booked our November cruise when they still had the 20% Voyagers Club discount, so that was great and the Colombia, Panam, Costa Rica itinerary pulled us in.

 

For us there is no comparing MSC in Europe to MSC in the Caribbean. I can't put my finger on it, but something just feels off. Service at bars was spotty (at best), our waitstaf seemed uninterested and a lot of people on board were really loud or wanted to be noticed. It felt like the Carnival cruise we took 6 years ago and that made us realise that the low fares MSC is marketing might be attracting the wrong crowd (not that all Carnival cruisers are bad fellow passengers). Our cruise also had a lot of cruisers from Latin/South America (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Argentina, Brasil) and without them being rude per se, their way of behaving just didn't match up with ours. 

 

The embarkation/desembarkation was also quite the same. When we got on the ship it had just done the 4 night Ocean Cay cruise and we were on the ship by 11:15 (arrived at the port at 10:45 and it only took 30' because of computer issue at check-in). After our 11 night cruise however, things didn't go that smoothly. Immigration seemed overwhelmed, the process was halted about 4 times because of the amount of people in the terminal and 'extra checks'. We were off the ship only around noon. Seems like they double or triple check the cruises that go that way, but just forget the amount of work that takes.

Reminded me of our experience at Miami airport, where we were in line for immigration for over 2 hours. I can assure you that's not what your waiting for after a 10h+ flight. It just felt like a power-play and we were being treated like criminals, even though our personal immigration check only took 2 minutes. A few flights from Latin/South America came in around the same time and the people from those flights seemed to be given a harder time at immigration. It might just be me, but I'm starting to sense a pattern there.

[styles27]

5 hours ago, Longimanus said:

Interesting to read through this live report. It almost completely lines up with our Divina experience last November.

 

We are a young couple (both 31) from Belgium and have cruised MSC a couple of times before in Europe. We've always enjoyed what they offered at that price point in Europe. We booked our November cruise when they still had the 20% Voyagers Club discount, so that was great and the Colombia, Panam, Costa Rica itinerary pulled us in.

 

For us there is no comparing MSC in Europe to MSC in the Caribbean. I can't put my finger on it, but something just feels off. Service at bars was spotty (at best), our waitstaf seemed uninterested and a lot of people on board were really loud or wanted to be noticed. It felt like the Carnival cruise we took 6 years ago and that made us realise that the low fares MSC is marketing might be attracting the wrong crowd (not that all Carnival cruisers are bad fellow passengers). Our cruise also had a lot of cruisers from Latin/South America (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Argentina, Brasil) and without them being rude per se, their way of behaving just didn't match up with ours. 

 

The embarkation/desembarkation was also quite the same. When we got on the ship it had just done the 4 night Ocean Cay cruise and we were on the ship by 11:15 (arrived at the port at 10:45 and it only took 30' because of computer issue at check-in). After our 11 night cruise however, things didn't go that smoothly. Immigration seemed overwhelmed, the process was halted about 4 times because of the amount of people in the terminal and 'extra checks'. We were off the ship only around noon. Seems like they double or triple check the cruises that go that way, but just forget the amount of work that takes.

Reminded me of our experience at Miami airport, where we were in line for immigration for over 2 hours. I can assure you that's not what your waiting for after a 10h+ flight. It just felt like a power-play and we were being treated like criminals, even though our personal immigration check only took 2 minutes. A few flights from Latin/South America came in around the same time and the people from those flights seemed to be given a harder time at immigration. It might just be me, but I'm starting to sense a pattern there.

Reading your post is like deja vu 

Been on this ship two other times once in Europe and last year in Caribbean out of Cape Canaveral 
We are not liking what what we see as far as the type of pax MSC is attracting. Definitely has a Carnival vibe. 
Yesterday when the new pax started boarding we were by the pool. 
In a matter of an hour hot tubs were taken over by what looked to be Spring Break aged pax swearing and drinking one after the other. 
The last 10 days we were not allowed to have a drink while in the hot tub. Yesterday the bar service people were bringing drinks to the people while in the hot tub. 
I heard a lady question the server and he just shrugged. 
Dinner was long in the MDR last night. 
Our server Genarose kept apologizing that the food wasn’t ready etc. 

 

Wish we had gotten off yesterday. We shall see what the next couple of days brings our way. 
 

Not liking the Miami based cruise on MSC as much as we liked our first two cruises. 
Really feel bad for the crew if this is what they have to endure the next few months. 
 

No need to post menus and planner as it is a repeat of our first days on board. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by styles27

[styles27]

On a positive note I’ve heard a lot of “excuse me” and “sorry” the last 12 hrs lol

 

 

[Markanddonna]

Styles27.  We will be on the B2B Jan 20-Feb 6 Divina cruises. If you hear any news about numbers of passengers, I'd sure appreciate it!  

[styles27]

2 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Styles27.  We will be on the B2B Jan 20-Feb 6 Divina cruises. If you hear any news about numbers of passengers, I'd sure appreciate it!  

I will ask our DR manager tonight if he has that info 

 

From what they have told us Christmas and New Year’s week had the most people of any sailing in 2022.

He told us the avg had been between 2400-2800 pax 

 

 

[styles27]

Carnival Liberty, Mariner of the Seas, Divina and Seascape in Nassau today. 
Photo taken from the boat over to Blue Lagoon Island (so beautiful here) 

[styles27]

We did the Blue Lagoon excursion through MSC. Purchased it on board asked the MSC rep if it included food or drink he said no you must bring cash to buy food. 
Guess what?

It included a lunch buffet and a drink. So much for the excursion desk knowing what is included in the excursions they sell 🙄

 

Anyway…we recommend it. It was a fun day and the water is beautiful there. Lunch was very good too 

[styles27]

Just had the pleasure of meeting @ABC XYZthank you for finding us in the dining room! 
We’ve met a lot of friends from Cruise Critic! 
It’s so nice to put a face to a name!

[BoundForSea]

I believe the cruise industry and the clientele is changing these days. We’re MSC repeat clients and been in Divina a few times. We will be on in Feb. we sailed Celebrity on Thanksgiving on a 4ni out of Miami. Same sailing as last year for my family. The crowd was not the typical X client base and it was a loud obnoxious s*** show for 5 days. It really upset me at the time as it was a harsh wake up call to the reality of the new normal… 
 

With the mass demand for leisure travel being the highest in decades now, at an unprecedented level we are seeing a wave of new cruise clients. 
 

The best cruising ever was and probably ever will be, was from June 2021 (we were first Americans back at Sea on Celebrity out of SXM) through first quarter 2022. My opinion of course. I remember being on Divina with 400 guests on board. Only a handful in YC with us..
 

This travel wave of short timers will subside and when it does us the loyalists of long tenure we be left and the cruise lines will again need to raise the bar and meet the level of service demanded. They lower the bar of service because they can. The crew and staff are treated worse now than ever and it’s very hard on them compared to 2019 and prior. The cruise lines are making up for lost time and revenue through quantity and harnessing the demand of this wave while its here. 
 

for now despite the cruise line you may be traveling if you’re a veteran cruiser, we will just need to either stay away until the wave clears or just be patient and take it for what it is….

 

I’m a little nervous to be taking Mera in Feb for 7ni, we travel in YC only, and even so I’m just a little nervous after our experience on Celebrity over Thanksgiving. 
 

Ciao!

Edited January 11, 2023 by BoundForSea

[styles27]

On 1/10/2023 at 8:57 AM, Markanddonna said:

Styles27.  We will be on the B2B Jan 20-Feb 6 Divina cruises. If you hear any news about numbers of passengers, I'd sure appreciate it!  

Looks like they’re expecting approx 2800 for the Jan 20th cruise according to the manager of Black Crab dining room. 
 

But he told us there would be 1800 on this cruise and I’ve heard we have 2400 and 2600 so I don’t know who to believe. lol
 

One thing for sure, it is a heck of a lot better this cruise than it was the prior 10 days. 

We feel Divina can’t handle 3800 pax. Especially in South America where everyone wanted to be on deck because it was so nice and warm and sunny. 
 

It is like night and day even the “youngins” have proven to be better fellow pax than the horrible group we had last week. 
 

 

 

[styles27]

8 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

I believe the cruise industry and the clientele is changing these days. We’re MSC repeat clients and been in Divina a few times. We will be on in Feb. we sailed Celebrity on Thanksgiving on a 4ni out of Miami. Same sailing as last year for my family. The crowd was not the typical X client base and it was a loud obnoxious s*** show for 5 days. It really upset me at the time as it was a harsh wake up call to the reality of the new normal… 
 

With the mass demand for leisure travel being the highest in decades now, at an unprecedented level we are seeing a wave of new cruise clients. 
 

The best cruising ever was and probably ever will be, was from June 2021 (we were first Americans back at Sea on Celebrity out of SXM) through first quarter 2022. My opinion of course. I remember being on Divina with 400 guests on board. Only a handful in YC with us..
 

This travel wave of short timers will subside and when it does us the loyalists of long tenure we be left and the cruise lines will again need to raise the bar and meet the level of service demanded. They lower the bar of service because they can. The crew and staff are treated worse now than ever and it’s very hard on them compared to 2019 and prior. The cruise lines are making up for lost time and revenue through quantity and harnessing the demand of this wave while its here. 
 

for now despite the cruise line you may be traveling if you’re a veteran cruiser, we will just need to either stay away until the wave clears or just be patient and take it for what it is….

 

I’m a little nervous to be taking Mera in Feb for 7ni, we travel in YC only, and even so I’m just a little nervous after our experience on Celebrity over Thanksgiving. 
 

Ciao!

Completely agree with you.

Our server in the MDR was with Celebrity for 13 yrs before coming to MSC two months ago.
 

Covid played a role in her retiring from Celebrity and MSC made her and her husband an offer they couldn’t refuse. He is also a server but in the other dining room. 
She is in agreement with what we, you and others are saying. 
She was especially bothered by the pax last week and without getting into details with us she said she’s never had that many rude people on one sailing before. 
 

We love to cruise but we certainly don’t like what we’re seeing. 

 

We took a break from cruising about 10 yrs ago and did the all inclusive resorts for a while but sadly we saw the same thing happen with those. Even the very expensive all inclusive resorts attracted jerks. 
 

It’s to be expected that you’ll come across some obnoxious people but when it’s the majority it’s hard to swallow. 

Where does your Mera cruise go?

[mnpurple]

I'm glad to hear this group is an improvement for you! I was wondering if what you saw on the first day was the "normal first day excitement" and hoped that was all. After two cruises, the last one I took my kids (18-25) on they said they needed to remember not to have too much fun on the first day so they felt better on the second day! 

 

It is disheartening to hear how some people feel entitled to treat staff and other guests poorly. I just don't understand it. I wasn't raised that way and certainly raised my kids to be respectful. When my kids were younger, I'd always tell them to hold the door open for people. The number of times that grown adults just walked through and didn't even acknowledge them always surprised me.  I guess too many times people are just in their own worlds. I also think after Covid some people need to re-learn basic people skills again.

[shipgeeks]

mnpurple, You just reminded me of a neat experience I had on MSC a while back. I held the door for a young lady whose hands were full with plates of food for her kids. As she walked through, she said "Merci!"   It just felt so international, so MSC.

[mnpurple]

@shipgeeks We just need to remember the nice people and try not to let the rest get us down!

[Seas2mountains]

@styles27 Thank you for the updates!  
Are you able to ask the same manager how many pax are expected on the Jan. 13-16 Divina cruise? 
 

 

[styles27]

14 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

@styles27 Thank you for the updates!  
Are you able to ask the same manager how many pax are expected on the Jan. 13-16 Divina cruise? 
 

 

Sure, will ask tonight at dinner!

[styles27]

4 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

@styles27 Thank you for the updates!  
Are you able to ask the same manager how many pax are expected on the Jan. 13-16 Divina cruise? 
 

 

They are expecting 4,000 for your cruise…definitely pack your patience 

Edited January 12, 2023 by styles27

[morpheusofthesea]

52 minutes ago, styles27 said:

They are expecting 4,000 for your cruise…definitely pack your patience 

Someone must be 'pulling your leg'. the capacity of the Divina is 3502 passengers.

[styles27]

16 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Someone must be 'pulling your leg'. the capacity of the Divina is 3502 passengers.

We had 3800 last week. 
The MDR manager showed us the print out. I saw it with my own eyes. 4,000
 

[morpheusofthesea]

45 minutes ago, styles27 said:

We had 3800 last week. 
The MDR manager showed us the print out. I saw it with my own eyes. 4,000
 

 

I just find it interesting that wiki :

MSC Divina in Istanbul, Turkey

History

NameMSC Divina

OwnerMSC Cruises

OperatorMSC Cruises

Port of registry Panama

RouteCaribbean, Mediterranean

BuilderChantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire  France

Cost$550 million

Yard numberU32

Launched3 September 2011

Christened19 May 2012, by Sophia Loren

Completed16 May 2012[1]

Maiden voyage

27 May 2012, to 2 June 2012

to the Mediterranean

In serviceOperational

Identification

Call sign: 3FFA5

IMO number: 9585285

MMSI number: 373178000

General characteristics

Class and typeFantasia-class cruise ship

Tonnage139,072 GT[1]

Length333.33 m (1,093.60 ft)[1]

Beam124.41 ft (37.92 m)[1]

Height219.2 ft (66.81 m)

Draft28.38 ft (8.65 m)[1]

Decks18 total, 13 passenger decks

Installed powerDiesel (40,000kW)

PropulsionTwin propellers

Speed23.7 knots (43.9 km/h; 27.3 mph)[1]

Capacity

3,502 passengers[2]

(405 inside cabins, 1,134 outside cabins)[2]

Crew1,388 crew[2]

Notes17 elevators, post-Panamax

 

 

Maybe only 3,502  "comfortably".....Brings to mind a circus and how many 'clowns' can fit in a VW.

[hiccups]

2 hours ago, styles27 said:

They are expecting 4,000 for your cruise…definitely pack your patience 

Yikes!  We’re on this sailing as well, our first with MSC.  We’ve booked Yacht Club, though, so hopefully that will help.

[no1talks]

25 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"Brings to mind a circus and how many 'clowns' can fit in a VW."

Yet another reason clowns should choose a designated driver . . . 

[Seas2mountains]

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

Yikes!  We’re on this sailing as well, our first with MSC.  We’ve booked Yacht Club, though, so hopefully that will help.

We are thankfully in the YC, too.  This is our 2nd MSC and the last time was in YC, too.  We love the One Pool area and the Top Sail Lounge is so nice and convenient. We have not been on this ship but I have heard great things from past Divina YC cruisers. 
 

thank you @styles27 for getting the count and for generously giving of your time to post such a great review!  Enjoy your last day! 

[morpheusofthesea]

8 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

 Enjoy your last day! 

So soon ? I was just getting interested, now that I'm not cruising, with your adventure. See if can stay longer.