Divina review, part 1, Yacht Club and cabin

hi all,

We just disembarked yesterday from our first MSC cruise, Miami western Caribbean, 8 days with the Divina. I will post our review, possibly in parts, as we are still on vacation.

We stayed in YC with our family of 4, in cabin 16006. all in all, it was a great experience and we'd be happy to book again with MSC.

The YC experience was great, what I loved most about it, was the going on and off board with priority. Especially the checking in, skipping the lines with the butler easing us through this crowded hall.... makes you feel like a VIP, which we enjoyed. Also with the port days, getting on and off the ship so quickly, wonderful.

The butler service was great, although I still don't quite understand what his role was. Room service? Whenever we had a real question or issue for him to solve, he would send us to the Concierge, so I'm just not sure what his role was. He was friendly enough! His name was Manoj. But still it didn't feel very butlery to me, but then perhaps my expectations were too high, expecting Downton Abbey type butler antics ;-)))

We are not very experienced cruise people, so we don't have much to compare, our past trip was with AIDA and once with Club Med 2.

We loved our cabin and balcony, there were four of us in one room, so we were happy we had the slightly bigger room for handicapped. Beds were great for us, we discovered a big hole in the sheets the last day , I think that was a one off. The fold out bed for the kids wasn't great. The beds weren't flat, so they kept sliding towards each other. Also the mattresses didn't seem very substantial. Luckily, they are still young and able bodied, so we didn't hear many complaints. ;) Bed was folded in and out (hey! That was probably a butler thing!! Or housekeeping?) every day, this was great, so you'd have a sitting part during the day.

It would have been handy to have more possibilities to hang stuff (hooks etc) but that's all. Wardrobe space was a bit tight for 4 people, we needed every drawer we could find to store our stuff, and we travel quite light.

Bathroom was very spacious, towels of fabulous quality. Soap and shampoo etc wasn't restocked. We did bring our own, but is something I would have expected to happen?

Balcony was huge, even though large part of it cannot be used. We still loved being in the front of the ship. It was also so silent!! Didn't hear a thing, no engine, no noise from anything. What a great experience ending the day looking up at the stars and the storms ... no trouble from the wind in the front because we were behind the glass.

More later!

Hi Lou! Nice to have met you - our family and their friends enjoyed our time together with you.

Was your bed two singles pushed together or did you have a real queen? We had two twins pushed together and the first night I ended up in the center crevice. My bed had a slant to it that rolled me into it so from there on out I had to use countermeasures to keep me from ending up in the "ditch".

Have a great time the rest of your week.

We were in YC on Meraviglia and were given soap and shampoo replacements during the cruise which I was very surprised about as they don't usually replenish them automatically. Having said that, we had a wonderful cabin attendant. Can't say the same for our MIA butler.

Looking forward to reading more.

We had Manoosh (sp?) too. We liked him. He was always around, sometimes even helping the room steward vacuuming the hallways. A couple of times I opened the door and we scared each other 'cause he was putting the morning newspaper on the door.:D Our soap and shampoo was replenished, don't know by who, though.

I don't recall us asking anything special of him, but if he saw us in the lounge, he'd ask if we wanted a drink. He escorted us off the ship, and in Puerto Rico gave us a little bag with water, rain ponchos and little umbrellas, because he thought it might rain. He said he felt very fortunate because his wife was able to not work and stay home with the children to "keep them on the right track."

Thanks for starting the review.

Hi Lou! Nice to have met you - our family and their friends enjoyed our time together with you.

 

Was your bed two singles pushed together or did you have a real queen? We had two twins pushed together and the first night I ended up in the center crevice. My bed had a slant to it that rolled me into it so from there on out I had to use countermeasures to keep me from ending up in the "ditch".

 

Have a great time the rest of your week.

We had a queen bed, if I remember correctly. Ouch, that sounds uncomfortable, that crevice. :(

We had Manoosh (sp?) too. We liked him. He was always around, sometimes even helping the room steward vacuuming the hallways. A couple of times I opened the door and we scared each other 'cause he was putting the morning newspaper on the door.:D Our soap and shampoo was replenished, don't know by who, though.

 

I don't recall us asking anything special of him, but if he saw us in the lounge, he'd ask if we wanted a drink. He escorted us off the ship, and in Puerto Rico gave us a little bag with water, rain ponchos and little umbrellas, because he thought it might rain. He said he felt very fortunate because his wife was able to not work and stay home with the children to "keep them on the right track."

We asked Manoj until when he'd be on the ship and he answered January. Must be so difficult to be apart from your family for such a long stretch of time. I don't assume they live on board with him. What a kind gesture to give you umbrellas! That's wonderful.

Nice start. Will be following along.

I started a new thread for part 2, hope that's ok! Thanks for your feedback.

Enjoying your report.

Keith