Live from MSC Divina 12/30-01/13

[styles27]

It doesn’t help that we woke up to this today! 

[tkwbear]

4 minutes ago, styles27 said:

You’re welcome!  I always feel like I need a shower after walking by those DI stores/barkers lol so I’m happy to hear that you did that. 
 

I’m a glutton for punishment. After reading that you got a great price on this repositioning cruise I just priced out the itinerary you’re doing🤦🏻‍♀️ 

It’s during school vacation for our little grandson so I included him in the pricing. 11 days in a nice balcony for 3 is under $3k all in. 
 

Didn’t I say back on page 2 or 3 of this review that I wouldn’t book MSC again in anything but YC?

 

I need to step away from the internet and go grocery shopping. 🤪

They are having a flash sale that ends today though they often extend it. Depending on how you book it you can get different prices. Using the flash sale and assuming your grandson is 2-3 I got $ 2,138.81

midship balcony on 11 or 12. (I'm on 12). My cruise was under $1200.

 

I think this should be a good cruise. The short cruise partiers and the fun bunch from Miami will not be aboard. I know much of the crew I liked will still be around for this cruise so that was what got me over the hump. 

[styles27]

2 hours ago, tkwbear said:

They are having a flash sale that ends today though they often extend it. Depending on how you book it you can get different prices. Using the flash sale and assuming your grandson is 2-3 I got $ 2,138.81

midship balcony on 11 or 12. (I'm on 12). My cruise was under $1200.

 

I think this should be a good cruise. The short cruise partiers and the fun bunch from Miami will not be aboard. I know much of the crew I liked will still be around for this cruise so that was what got me over the hump. 

Wow that’s a great price. I just realized I hadn’t added my VC number and I had included drinks and WiFi. Did you include that?

Our grandson is 9 

 

I agree. I think it will be a different type of passenger. 
I like that we can use points for the one way flight to FL and take a train home from NY, we’re only a few hours from there. Hmm 

We were going to take him on the Pearl from Boston to Bermuda because that’s so easy for us living  an hour from the ship but 7days for 3 of us in a nice balcony is almost $4k all in. 

[tkwbear]

13 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Wow that’s a great price. I just realized I hadn’t added my VC number and I had included drinks and WiFi. Did you include that?

Our grandson is 9 

 

I agree. I think it will be a different type of passenger. 
I like that we can use points for the one way flight to FL and take a train home from NY, we’re only a few hours from there. Hmm 

We were going to take him on the Pearl from Boston to Bermuda because that’s so easy for us living  an hour from the ship but 7days for 3 of us in a nice balcony is almost $4k all in. 

No, I didn't include the beverage package or the internet.  I did not get a Diamond member discount, so I called today and asked about it. The clerk couldn't give it to me either, evidently because it's a flash sale. So she gave me $100 SBC, which I am happy with. My final price was actually $1063 for the midship balcony on 12. I tried to get my favorite cabin stewards on starboard but those rooms were booked so I got port which is actually a better fit for this cruise. I can get by without the internet because my T-Mobile plan works everywhere (so far). I do drink but not that much.

 

Lots of website issues with them, more than normal. No specialty restaurants can be booked, she saw the same thing. My first attempt to book the beach excursion hung up so I booked it again, and was charged twice. So she refunded one, but the email says the refund is $0. Unable to register credit card due to "service unavailable" so she told me to wait until 2 weeks before sailing. 

 

 

[styles27]

@tkwbearI ran this by my husband and asked him what he thought and his response was, and I quote “no, too soon book the Pearl” 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

 

 

 

[tkwbear]

1 minute ago, styles27 said:

@tkwbearI ran this by my husband and asked him what he thought and his response was, and I quote “no, too soon book the Pearl” 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

Well, good luck on the Pearl then! Boston is a nice place to sail out of, but I've only done it in the summer and early fall.

 

 

 

[styles27]

1 minute ago, tkwbear said:

 

Thanks! We went the same week last year and it was chilly going down to Bermuda the first day at sea but Bermuda was in the high 70’s low 80’s. 

They heated the pool on the ship to almost 92 degrees…it was like a huge hot tub. Of course the kids all loved it!

[tkwbear]

Bermuda is nice with pleasant weather. The Meraviglia will be doing those cruises later in the year from NYC. Their Caribbean itineraries don't look that good. The Canadian itineraries are also a bit lame, with no visits to Quebec.

 

It looks like overnights at Ocean Cay are pretty much going away. 😞

Edited January 24, 2023 by tkwbear

[styles27]

8 minutes ago, tkwbear said:

Bermuda is nice with pleasant weather. The Meraviglia will be doing those cruises later in the year from NYC. Their Caribbean itineraries don't look that good. The Canadian itineraries are also a bit lame, with no visits to Quebec.

 

It looks like overnights at Ocean Cay are pretty much going away. 😞

I noticed that Mera was doing Bermuda from NY.
We have family in Manhattan and they would like to try it so we may book it for Sept although it’s hurricane season. 
I wish the Canada/New England included Quebec City as well. Nova Scotia is beautiful but we've done that itinerary already. We really would love  to get up to Quebec City on a ship. 

[tkwbear]

1 minute ago, styles27 said:

I noticed that Mera was doing Bermuda from NY.
We have family in Manhattan and they would like to try it so we may book it for Sept although it’s hurricane season. 
I wish the Canada/New England included Quebec City as well. Nova Scotia is beautiful but we've done that itinerary already. We really would love  to get up to Quebec City on a ship. 

The September sailing might be under the current flash sale, many NY sailings are.

 

HAL's Zaandam still goes all the way to Montreal, which I also love. I'm a 5 star Mariner on HAL but the idiot President they hired years ago (who had never been on a cruise ship) screwed up HAL. He was canned early during the pandemic, and is now ruining Azmara.

[styles27]

 

2 hours ago, tkwbear said:

The September sailing might be under the current flash sale, many NY sailings are.

 

HAL's Zaandam still goes all the way to Montreal, which I also love. I'm a 5 star Mariner on HAL but the idiot President they hired years ago (who had never been on a cruise ship) screwed up HAL. He was canned early during the pandemic, and is now ruining Azmara.

HAL is my favorite hoping the new President will get it back to what we loved about it. 
The older we get the more we appreciate the smaller ships. 
 

Yes I think the Mera Bermuda cruise is included in the flash sale. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by styles27

[tkwbear]

3 hours ago, styles27 said:

 

HAL is my favorite hoping the new President will get it back to what we loved about it. 
The older we get the more we appreciate the smaller ships. 
 

Yes I think the Mera Bermuda cruise is included in the flash sale. 

That's interesting. I had 200 days on the Rotterdam, which I loved. It's now sailing for Fred. Olsen cruises, along with the Amsterdam, which I had over 100 days on. It looked like the Rotterdam but it my opinion, Rotterdam was far superior. I also loved the Maasdam (95 days). I did the Voyage of the Vikings (35 days) on her in 2009. She was slated to return to service as the Renaissance next month, but while being worked on in Brest, France she broke away from the dock and hit a bridge. Now the cruises are delayed until May. It's a startup French cruise line that bought her as their only ship.

 

I cruised the Konigsdam last May in Alaska. It was a noticeably worse experience. The ship was shabby and the crew didn't know their jobs. It was over an hour in Ketchikan for them to get the gangway set up. Heat went out one cold night and they told me a blanket was on the way. It arrived the next day after the heat was back on. Also for my convenience, the single supplement is now ALWAYS 100%. I looked at sailing a cruise on the new Rotterdam to Curacao, but an inside room was more than an MSC balcony. So they won't be seeing me aboard anytime soon. Also for the newer class of ships, you had better be on the 5th floor or higher or you will be pounded by music all evening.

 

I priced that Bermuda sailing in September. It's higher than my 11 day cruise in April and it's only 6 days. If you want sticker shock take a look at the European cruises in June and July. 

[styles27]

Wow that’s an impressive resume on HAL!
I’m sorry to hear that your Alaska cruise on HAL last year was a disappointment. 
We cruised on Eurodam to Alaska and loved it. Of course that was pre Covid. 
 
Call me crazy but I miss the Veendam. Nothing like parking on Front St in Hamilton, Bermuda. So sorry they got rid of her and now it’s almost impossible to find a ship that can dock there.  Are there any?

I love the old smaller ships that look and feel like a ship. We don’t need the water slides and bowling alleys. 

 

HAL is more expensive for sure and it used to be worth it because it kept away the party crowd. 

What date did you price the Mera Bermuda for?

I’m looking at 09/04 and it’s about $2k for a deluxe balcony 

(the port charges are higher than the Boston to Bermuda on Pearl.)

 

[tkwbear]

22 hours ago, styles27 said:

Wow that’s an impressive resume on HAL!
I’m sorry to hear that your Alaska cruise on HAL last year was a disappointment. 
We cruised on Eurodam to Alaska and loved it. Of course that was pre Covid. 
 
Call me crazy but I miss the Veendam. Nothing like parking on Front St in Hamilton, Bermuda. So sorry they got rid of her and now it’s almost impossible to find a ship that can dock there.  Are there any?

I love the old smaller ships that look and feel like a ship. We don’t need the water slides and bowling alleys. 

 

HAL is more expensive for sure and it used to be worth it because it kept away the party crowd. 

What date did you price the Mera Bermuda for?

I’m looking at 09/04 and it’s about $2k for a deluxe balcony 

(the port charges are higher than the Boston to Bermuda on Pearl.)

 

I believe that was the date. 6 days, right? However I didn't include any packages so mine was less.

 

I just got off the phone with an MSC rep. I didn't get any help for my issues with their website/IT. When I purchased the beach tour, it gave me no notification, so I bought it again. I got a notification for that, but my credit card was charged twice. So yesterday I had them refund one of them. The refund on the email was $0.0 when it should have been $52.00. No change on the bank statement.

 

There are no specialty restaurant packages for sale on the website. Plenty of other stuff I don't want though. Also embarkation is 4pm! That's way too late. No times are given for ANY shore excursion. It's just a mess. I expect chaos when arriving in NYC because I was on the Meraviglia when it first came to Orlando and it was a comedy of errors. I was told there are NO transfers to the airport, though they have some sight seeing tours that end at the airports, but there is no "for guests with flights after 3pm" help. I would like to buy my ticket soon, not the day of disembarkation.

 

Also I keep seeing ads about MSC selling flights and hotels. I save a lot of money on some flights on Princess, so I am hoping I can do that on MSC but all I can find on the website is that "we do it".

 

Regarding the Veendam, it was my least favorite ship (though Island Princess is MUCH worse). Venndam was once a normal Statendam class vessel. I loved the other 3. However they threw a bunch of balcony cabins on the stern (that looked like they could fall off easily), took out the rear pool, and made the ship overcrowded. I sailed it to Hawaii and it listed to the starboard side the entire cruise, so my ocean view room got a REAL GOOD look at the Ocean. That was my second and final time to sail Veendam. 

 

I've only visited Bermuda once. There was a ship docked down there, it was an Azamara. I talked to people from that ship and they seemed to like it, but the new President (who hates old and small ships) will fix that. I believe all Azamara ships are refits from other lines.