MSC Divina 10.08.2016

We were a party of six. All have cruised many times on various lines. This was my 39th cruise. My first on MSC.

We were fortunate that Hurricane Matthew went north in time that our cruise was not impacted. Our flights to Fort Lauderdale arrived within an hour of each other which allowed us to travel to the Port of Miami together using our favorite livery, Jiffy Jeff Transportation (Google). We have used Jiffy for years with complete satisfaction, Very nice Mercedes Sprinters. Very reasonable ($15/pp + tip)

Embarkation was fast and painless. DW and I went directly to our cabin, an aft balcony on deck 11. 11297 is the aft port corner. The aft balcony's are LARGER than usual. Very nice. The cabin was very nice albeit smaller than Celebrity. The bath is workable but the shower is small. Shampoo and conditioner in the pumps in the shower and that is it. No bar soap for the sink.

I found it odd that there was no backup TP and we actually ran out ounce.

The "put the card in the slot" for lighting has been covered here on CC. You have to put a card, any credit card sized card, in the slot just inside the cabin door to activate the lighting. I used a cruise card from a previous cruise I had in my luggage. If you haven't read, there is a discreet light above your cabin door (in the hall) that allows the cabin steward to monitor if you are in your cabin. A good idea. Oddly it allowed our steward to do a fine job without being intrusive. First cruise that I never met the steward face to face. He would greet us from down the hall and was very pleasant but we never met him or knew his name. We communicated our needs/wants via post-its on the cabin mirror.

Lots of mirrors in the cabin (and the entire ship) which make it appear more spacious than reality.

We went to the casino to collect our drink coupons purchased pre-cruise. Their system is different than the other lines we have cruised. By purchasing in advance... No 15% "gratuity." We purchased two 18 drink books for $84 each but ended up purchasing two more during the cruise. Paid the 15% on the two additional books. Although there is confusion (get used to it on MSC) about the books being available only on the first two days, they are available all week. I believe the "all you can drink" packages are available only on the first two days.

I mentioned confusion. This was the first cruise following a 20+ day dry dock. Ask the same question of three crew. Get three different answers. Our first experience was with the credit card kiosk event. Guest services and the casino staff seemed to have no clue. Several crew members appeared to blame the smallest issues (no bloody mary mix...hey crew use tomato juice) on the dry dock. Most of those instances made no sense whatsoever. It was a little crazy.

If I could suggest one thing to the management it would be training, training, training. There were crew members missing as a result of Matthew causing transportation issues but it seemed to be a very "green" crew.

Off to the muster drill. Held in various locations (ours in a lounge). Bring your life vest. Drill was not on time and consisted of a video on a small video screen that most attendees couldn't even see. It was impossible to hear the audio portion, The second phase was instructions on how to put on the vest.

to be continued

Thanks so much for writing a review! I can't wait to read the rest of it. We sail on Divina January 28th and I love to read all I can about her!

Kim

Following the Muster drill it was time for dinner. Houston we have a problem. Our group was supposed to be assigned to the same table. Four of us were at a four top in Black Crab deck 5 and the remaining two were at a large table in Black Crab deck 6. The Maitre 'd was of no help and didn't seem to care. Something I learned long ago is don't take NO for an answer. After considerable interaction with various parties we were assigned to a six top for the remainder of the cruise.

Much has been written here on CC about the pace of service in the MDR. It is all true. Dinner the first night took FOREVER. We spent the evening exploring and having a few cocktails.

Being a big fan of Eggs Benedict and Smoked Salmon I like to do breakfast in the MDR. Day two was to be Nassau but due to Matthew damage it became a day at sea. Nassau was replaced with Grand Turk on day 3. I considered it a big win. Nothing against Nassau but having been there several times....

The Eggs Benedict in the MDR on day two morning were spot on. Perfect poached eggs. It would be hard to screw up Smoked Salmon and it was yummy. Service was again very slow. Unfortunately on the following mornings the Eggs Benedict were not good. Yolks looked like hard boiled eggs.

I asked the waiter each time for runny yolks. I don't think they understood which brings me to the language barrier. Many of the waitstaff - bartenders didn't understand much English. Made it difficult to communicate.

Four of our 6 ventured to the buffet on multiple occasions. Same comments each time. COLD FOOD. W heard the same thing from many others. On my two visits (mostly just to see) I found the same thing. COLD food. The selection is very different from other cruise lines. I am not trying to kill the golden goose but fact is fact and MSC needs to start all over on the buffet.

They did recently hire a new Executive Chef and the Food and Beverage Director is fresh from Norwegian. More on him later.

Sea days are a challenge if you want a chaise. MSC states in the "Daily" that unattended towels etc. will be removed in 30 minutes but as with almost all lines, that threat is not enforced. I will give them and hour but it is very abused.

More to come.....

thanks again....looking forward to your up to date thoughts.:)

Did the ship look fresh out of drydock? Did you notice or hear of anything not finished?

Will be following this thread :-)

Thanks in advance

Sea ya

Eric

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Thanks for the review. Can't wait to see the rest. We are doing a b2b in march.

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Thanks for your thoughts.

Freddy, thanks so much for taking the time to do this... so many of us have a need to know... :p

Your tips are great and hopefully we'll learn from them.

Just a quick question, is the MDR open for on embarkation day, or is the Sports Bar... I have this thing about buffets... lots of grabbing with hands that haven't been washed kind of thing... :eek:

Thanks for your honest review...looking forward to the rest of it.

following - we just booked for April

Freddy, thanks so much for taking the time to do this... so many of us have a need to know... :p

 

Your tips are great and hopefully we'll learn from them.

 

Just a quick question, is the MDR open for on embarkation day, or is the Sports Bar... I have this thing about buffets... lots of grabbing with hands that haven't been washed kind of thing... :eek:

OP-only the buffet was open on embarkation day for lunch- there is plenty of hand sanitizer though! :)

Great job to the reviewer!

OP-only the buffet was open on embarkation day for lunch- there is plenty of hand sanitizer though! :)

Thanks, our sailing has a 7PM sailaway so lunch prior to boarding seems like a good option to me. :p

Freddy, when you get a chance, tell me your observations of dress on the two formal nights. :)

Is the buffet open all afternoon on embarkation day?

Dress on formal nights... All over the board. Many pax dressed up but more slacks and shirts on men and resort casual for women. I think MSC has not moved to less dressy on formal nights. I wore black slacks and a white linen shirt and had no problem. Other nights I wore black dress shorts and a polo.

Not sure about times in the buffet on embarkation or any other day. After giving the buffet a try I made every effort to avoid it. They don't seem to adhere to the times posted in the daily. I am sure the sports bar is open on embarkation.

Coming next... Cruise Critic Meet and Greet

Thank you for your response. :-)

I have one more question. I just read somewhere that you have to put money on your onboard account and use some machine to do so once you are onboard. I was wondering if I could just register my credit card at check in? Is there a certain amount?

On MSC the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet is held at 11am on the first sea day. You DO NOT need to register. The location will be listed in the Daily which is delivered to your cabin each evening. Our itinerary was changed due to Matthew and thus our first sea day was Sunday (day two).

It was very worthwhile. We met (about 25 people) in the Silver lounge with the assistant cruise director. He came to MSC from Disney and was a very positive person. He spoke for several minutes and then asked us to meet again at 4pm (not sure why we had to meet twice). He asked that we write down three things we liked about MSC and one thing we thought could be improved. When we met at 4 most of the morning CC people returned. The Hotel Director, the Food & Beverage director and the head housekeeper attended. They seemed sincere and listened to each passenger. I left the meeting with the feeling that they really did care and welcomed our input. I encourage you to attend.

Freddy, I think there's a misunderstanding. I think CM77 means when boarding the ship, there is apparently a Credit Card Machine that you need to register your card to cover onboard expenses.

I've read on a couple of reviews that this is done just after you board. I've also read that you can't do this until you're actually boarded, is this correct?

BTW Freddy, thanks for the info regarding the Meet & Greet, the New Years Eve cruise might be busy so hope we have a nice turnout.

MSC does not register a credit card shore side when you check-in at the terminal as other lines do. There are various kiosks on board where you register a credit card (if you are in the Yacht Club there is one there) and I think you have until the second day to do this.

Thank you for your response. :-)

 

I have one more question. I just read somewhere that you have to put money on your onboard account and use some machine to do so once you are onboard. I was wondering if I could just register my credit card at check in? Is there a certain amount?

You only put money into your account if you use cash (have to go to Guest services desk) or debit card.

Credit card just has a pre-authorization but does not put money on your account. It's all done on the little machines. I got a guest services person to assist me when I did mine as we wanted to register individual accounts, for myself and DW, for the cabin (Because of the way Loyalty club points are awarded)

Pete

When you check in before boarding they do not take your credit card. You have 24 hours after boarding to use one of several kiosks (looks like a mini ATM) to register your credit card. Very easy and quick. You can use your cruise card before you register at the kiosk. True... if you pre-purchase your drink coupons you avoid the 15% service fee. I didn't pre-purchase enough. I pre-purchased two and ended up purchasing two more on board. Saved money when compared to the package price.

thank you. :-) Were there enough kiosks to do the registration? How bad was the line up?

Also, do you happen to know what time the terminal opens on embarkation day?

thank you. :-) Were there enough kiosks to do the registration? How bad was the line up?

Also, do you happen to know what time the terminal opens on embarkation day?

What time terminal opens very much is up to USA customs . Can be 10 am can be 12 pm

We did not even look for a kiosk until day 2 as I had read on CC that you had 24 hours to complete it. Walked past a kiosk with no line and a couple minutes later we were finished. :D

Strange ...I've done Divina in the past with a credit card and never had to do this Kiosk thing. When I did my check in that's where they asked for it. Is all that new ?

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