How’s the Divina?

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We’re looking at hopping off the Seaview and onto the Divina next summer. We would book the yacht club. I seem to recall reading some poor reviews of her. Is it a nice ship?

[Morgsmom]

The Divina is an older ship and the YC definitely needs a refurb (especially Topsail).  Le Muse (the YC restaurant) is NOT in the YC as it is a retrofit, so you have to go down to 7, walk across, then up to the restaurant.  The Divina is lovely, but does not have the bells, whistles, etc of the newer ships, but it is quaint and intimate.  The thermal spa is poor in comparison to the newer ships so if you value that I would not recommend.

 

On a plus side, the YC is much smaller and more personalized (IMO) since the concierge, director, etc have many fewer guests.  

[NCteacherlovescruising]

38 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

The Divina is an older ship and the YC definitely needs a refurb (especially Topsail).  Le Muse (the YC restaurant) is NOT in the YC as it is a retrofit, so you have to go down to 7, walk across, then up to the restaurant.  The Divina is lovely, but does not have the bells, whistles, etc of the newer ships, but it is quaint and intimate.  The thermal spa is poor in comparison to the newer ships so if you value that I would not recommend.

 

On a plus side, the YC is much smaller and more personalized (IMO) since the concierge, director, etc have many fewer guests.  

The restaurant being outside the YC would only be a minor inconvenience. I can deal with that. The spa is the least of my concerns. I’m really not much of a spa person, outside of facials and massages. Lol Service, cleanliness, pool deck and itinerary would be important. 

 

 

[Mark_T]

We were on Divina a week ago, and loved the YC experience.

 

Service was impeccable, and we viewed the walk to the restaurant as a vital part of our daily exercise.

 

Cleanliness seemed to be perfect as well, no issues.

 

Enjoyed it so much we are booked to be back onboard in February...

[Morgsmom]

@NCteacherlovescruising Then I say go for it!  

[awatt]

Sailed both Divina and Meraviglia in Yc last year. Loved both. We were fortunate however at the  time there were low pax counts in YC (Meraviglia 57 people!)so am sue our next sailing will be different. As noted above on Divina the restaurant is not within the YCbut it was a nice stroll before and after dinner. And also noted above, the thermal suite on Mera is outstanding.

[Tierun]

My pet peeve on Divina was no MSc for me app. I really like having connectivity for planning purposes. 

[Mark_T]

That's a valid point if you are trying to fit a lot of things into your cruise, we were just relaxing so it didn't really bother us.

[bundtkate]

We'll be on her (much older) sister ship, Splendida, in October. We'll be outside YC for this one since the last minute nature of our booking put the few remaining YC cabins out of reach. That combined with the age of the ship does have me a bit nervous, but the itinerary was so nice I think it'll be worth it regardless.

MSC is different from pretty much everything to be sure, but we've found ourselves on older and smaller ships a few times on other lines and never found it detracted from our cruise. Yes, the decor will look a bit dated (and in MSC's case occasionally a bit tacky) and you'll be missing some modern amenities you may be used to seeing (slides, apps, USB outlets, etc) but the service has never suffered in our experience.

If you're not bothered by any of that, then I'd say go for it. You'll find good and bad reviews of any ship. Heck, sometimes you'll see both types from the same sailing. It all comes down to individual preferences and attitude. Just think about the more objective aspects of the ships and decide based on what's important to you. Price, itinerary, available amenities, etc. If you're happy with those things, chance are you'll be happy with the cruise. I'm sure there have been sailings where service and food truly were inexcusably bad, but most of the time I think it all comes down to attitude. Letting your vacation be ruined is usually a choice so just choose to adapt and you'll be fine.

[Essiesmom]

4 hours ago, Morgsmom said:

The Divina is an older ship and the YC definitely needs a refurb (especially Topsail).  Le Muse (the YC restaurant) is NOT in the YC as it is a retrofit, so you have to go down to 7, walk across, then up to the restaurant.  The Divina is lovely, but does not have the bells, whistles, etc of the newer ships, but it is quaint and intimate.  The thermal spa is poor in comparison to the newer ships so if you value that I would not recommend.

 

On a plus side, the YC is much smaller and more personalized (IMO) since the concierge, director, etc have many fewer guests.  

I almost choked when I saw a 140,000 ton ship referred to as ‘quaint and intimate…’.  Now if you were talking about an Armonia class ship…. EM

[NCteacherlovescruising]

4 hours ago, Morgsmom said:

@NCteacherlovescruising Then I say go for it!  

We are strongly considering it.  Waiting till we get on the ship next week to make sure we like MSC. As noted above on Divina the restaurant is not within the YCbut it was a nice stroll before and after dinner. And also noted above, the thermal suite on Mera is outstanding.

1 hour ago, Tierun said:

My pet peeve on Divina was no MSc for me app. I really like having connectivity for planning purposes. 

That’s odd but not a big deal to us. 

27 minutes ago, bundtkate said:

We'll be on her (much older) sister ship, Splendida, in October. We'll be outside YC for this one since the last minute nature of our booking put the few remaining YC cabins out of reach. That combined with the age of the ship does have me a bit nervous, but the itinerary was so nice I think it'll be worth it regardless.

MSC is different from pretty much everything to be sure, but we've found ourselves on older and smaller ships a few times on other lines and never found it detracted from our cruise. Yes, the decor will look a bit dated (and in MSC's case occasionally a bit tacky) and you'll be missing some modern amenities you may be used to seeing (slides, apps, USB outlets, etc) but the service has never suffered in our experience.

If you're not bothered by any of that, then I'd say go for it. You'll find good and bad reviews of any ship. Heck, sometimes you'll see both types from the same sailing. It all comes down to individual preferences and attitude. Just think about the more objective aspects of the ships and decide based on what's important to you. Price, itinerary, available amenities, etc. If you're happy with those things, chance are you'll be happy with the cruise. I'm sure there have been sailings where service and food truly were inexcusably bad, but most of the time I think it all comes down to attitude. Letting your vacation be ruined is usually a choice so just choose to adapt and you'll be fine.

I’ve never had a bad cruise, just some have been better than others. 

20 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

I almost choked when I saw a 140,000 ton ship referred to as ‘quaint and intimate…’.  Now if you were talking about an Armonia class ship…. EM

It is compared to all these mega ships out there now. 

[Heartgrove]

We sailed in YC on the MSC Splendida last October and it was in wonderful condition including the Top Sail deck area. It has "MSC for Me" onboard. so easy to keep track of onboard events. Having the L'Olivio restaurant at the rear of the ship was not a problem. We either walked outside on Deck 15  (wonderful in the morning or evening) or other days after maneuvering as suggested on Deck 7, we used Deck 13 without the crowds. Either way it helped our digestion. On sea days and sometimes while onboard for lunch we would eat at the Top Sail buffet.

 

There is only three years difference in age between the MSC Splendida and MSC Divina. Actually we are trying to decide for next year after sailing on the MSC Opera in September 2024 to stay in the Med and sail on the MSC Divina in the Med. The other option is after the Opera, travel North to board the MSC Euribia for Norway. After that we need to get to Rotterdam to sail home on a Transatlantic aboard the HAL Rotterdam. Decisions, decisions!

 

I am concerned about the nice intimate 150 passenger YC on the Divina vs 400 YC passengers on the Euribia. Reports of the MSC World Europa YC 600 YC passengers are no better off than being non-YC.

[bundtkate]

19 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I’ve never had a bad cruise, just some have been better than others. 

100% agreed and an excellent attitude to have. Based on my admittedly casual research, Splendida does have some significant differences from Divina and of course I am not in the YC, but if you have questions I might be able to answer by exploring her sister ship, do feel free to ask. 🙂

[NCteacherlovescruising]

9 minutes ago, bundtkate said:

100% agreed and an excellent attitude to have. Based on my admittedly casual research, Splendida does have some significant differences from Divina and of course I am not in the YC, but if you have questions I might be able to answer by exploring her sister ship, do feel free to ask. 🙂

What was it like sailing with mostly Europeans?  We’re they friendly?

[Heartgrove]

Onboard the Splendida in YC we were somewhat a novelty to the crew. It seems not many Americans sail on MSC in Europe. We really enjoyed it as we had spent a week in Florence before the cruise sailed from Genoa and another week after the cruise in Venice. On one of our excursions in Sicily we ate lunch with an older couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. It was fun!

[Morgsmom]

3 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

What was it like sailing with mostly Europeans?  We’re they friendly?

 

4 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

I almost choked when I saw a 140,000 ton ship referred to as ‘quaint and intimate…’.  Now if you were talking about an Armonia class ship…. EM

Lol. The YC on the Divina is intimate.   But the whole ship seems teeny weeny vs the new builds 🤷🏼‍♀️ 

[Giskard]

We did Divina in April for 10 nights South America, it was our first MSC cruise and our first YC. We didn't know what to expect. We enjoyed the size of the ship and our YC seemed pretty empty to tell you the truth. We almost booked a Europe trip on Virtuosa  for September 2023 but really don't know that I want to do a ship with 6000+ passengers. We had a great experience on Divina and learned the ship very quickly. We have booked a back to back Seaside southern Caribbean for November. Since part is a repositioning we have an issue getting a YC on the second leg. Weird timing thing, the ship gets into Martinique but the "real" 7 day starts the next day from Guadeloupe. We were so impressed with the YC experience instead of settling for an Auruea for the next 7 days i think we are going to get off the reposition in Martinique enjoy an afternoon then do a puddle jumper flight to Guadeloupe and reboard there for the next 7 days 🙂 At this point in our cruising it has become finding itinerary's which offer new ports and a 40 min flight and a night on an island won't be a big hiccup in my book!

[GPPhilly]

We have sail on all three classes, the Seashore, Meraviglia, and the Divina.  For me the Divina was ok but not like the Seashore.  The YC I feel is better on the Seashore.  The spa on the Divina is a waste of space.  

[bundtkate]

19 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

What was it like sailing with mostly Europeans?  We’re they friendly?

I'll make sure to share my thoughts after the cruise. FWIW, we've traveled in Europe a fair bit and always found folks to be friendly. I've not been to Italy before so can't speak to Italians, but we've made friends in Germany, France, Turkey, the UK, and Spain in the past. Still, it's definitely different when on a ship together. Not much opportunity to cut the buffet line on land (at least in Europe). 😉