Divina review part 2 - food and drinks

Ah, the food!! This is going to be part positive, part negative. Positive first: the quality of the food in YC is outstanding.

Breakfast: we never had breakfast in Le Muse, only in the lounges. Small selection in the Top Sail lounge, but was enough for me. A little more on deck 18, eggs and sausages etc. bread was good, as was cheese and cold cuts, great yoghurt selection and some fresh fruit. If you're a picky breakfast eater, you may have been better off in Le muse, where I believe there were more options offered.

Lunch we didn't always had on board, buffet on deck 18 was very minimal, kids tried the buffet in the MDR and advised against going there,as it was so busy and crowded. If they managed to get a chair, they simply couldn't reach the food, as there were so many people.

Dinner in Le Muse was great. We loved the staff there, very friendly, steaks were great (we do love steak) and even cooked well, enough variation in the menu, good wines, desserts, all perfect.

What is the negative? The only thing bothering was the lack of dining options. YC is supposed to be my choice dining, as opposed to fixed seating, but on embarkation we were offered two dining times for the entire week: either 6pm or 8pm. Not much choice there... we picked the 8pm slot, but how is his 'my choice'? Maybe we didn't know the tricks. We tried to find out if there were other places we could eat, just for a change, but this was actively discouraged. Tried to get a table in Black Crab or Black and White lounge, only option was the early sitting, which didn't suit us. 7 days straight in Le Muse felt a bit too much for our taste. Would like to know how this is viewed by other more experienced cruisers.

Buffet in the top sail lounge with snacks was great, lots of choice, good quality. Cocktails were great everywhere , as was the quality of the wines. The girls loved the virgin cocktails.

And service in Le Muse was great, lovely waiter named Jose, who took really good care of us. Minibar always full, fresh fruit and chocolates in the cabin, and sometimes macaroons and biscuits.

So apart from the lack of options and flexibility, food and drinks are fabulous.

They have a buffet in the MDR????? WOAH I have heard heard of any ship ever doing this. That is kinda cool but I could see how it could be crowded. What about the regular buffiet area and the sports bar for lunch? How crowded are those?

We were also onboard last week and varied our dining time in Le Muse every single night - because of show times, excursions, very loud children the first night, etc...they had no problem with it at all. I'm surprised you weren't able to vary yours. They were extremely accommodating to us.

We joined friends in the Black Crab for lunch one day but didn't see a buffet. Our server wasn't quite as friendly as our usual in Le Muse and they were certainly much busier but everything was fine. We had a late night snack one evening in the buffet and it wasn't that crowded. We found a table right away. We also had a late lunch there the day we were in the Bahamas and again, got a table right by the pizza 😊, no problem. Everything was hot and they were constantly refilling the selections with more before they were gone with piping hot food. I tried the pastas,pizza, and salad. All very tasty. I love their pasta sauces and I'm Italian 😀 I'm sure at prime meal times the buffet must have been packed. It was a full ship last week. We waked through the sports bar several times but never ate there. Evenings were busy.

They have a buffet in the MDR????? WOAH I have heard heard of any ship ever doing this. That is kinda cool but I could see how it could be crowded. What about the regular buffiet area and the sports bar for lunch? How crowded are those?

We were also onboard last week and varied our dining time in Le Muse every single night - because of show times, excursions, very loud children the first night, etc...they had no problem with it at all. I'm surprised you weren't able to vary yours. They were extremely accommodating to us.[/quote

 

Hi Prosecco, i also noted that other guests weren't in le muse every night, so I also suspected that other guests did manage to make other arrangements, but we couldn't. I thought it was our inexperience at the whole thing...

 

So did you decide

On the day what time you wanted to eat? We really had to tell them

Upfront for the whole week.

I think OP "mis-spoke". The buffet is the buffet. It is not located in the Black Crab MDR, which is table service.

OP, do you mind me asking, who were you working with when you were given the choice of 6:00 or 8:00? We found one person in Le Muse who seemed fixated on early or late seating, while everyone else worked with us when we "flexed" our dining time.

Lou and Sunshine, it was originally Robert, the maitre' d who nudged us towards an earlier time. We asked for 7:15, he said 6:30-7. I think because there were many European families that requested 9:30 and 10 and they needed someone to go early.

We originally tried the earlier time but the first night there were 5 very young children crying, screaming, and throwing bread. We decided to go later the next night and told them. Another two couples did the same thing. The staff was fine with it. Another night there was only one show so that day at lunch we told our waiter we'd be closer to 8:45. He said no problem. Another day we mentioned it to the YC concierge.

Sorry they were more strict with you. Were you on 8/12 or 8/5?

We were on the 8/12 sailing.

 

Hi Prosecco, i also noted that other guests weren't in le muse every night, so I also suspected that other guests did manage to make other arrangements, but we couldn't. I thought it was our inexperience at the whole thing...

 

So did you decide

On the day what time you wanted to eat? We really had to tell them

Upfront for the whole week.

Interesting report, thanks.

A buffet in the MDR??

A buffet in the MDR??

No self help allowed but you do get to order as much food as you want in MDR.

Nice to know that the food quality is outstanding.

Thanks for the feedback.

We were also onboard last week and varied our dining time in Le Muse every single night - because of show times, excursions, very loud children the first night, etc...they had no problem with it at all. I'm surprised you weren't able to vary yours. They were extremely accommodating to us.

We know of the loud children you speak of. We ran into them several times, the first being first day at lunch with the kids running around the table. That was just the start of it.

Lou and Sunshine, it was originally Robert, the maitre' d who nudged us towards an earlier time. We asked for 7:15, he said 6:30-7. I think because there were many European families that requested 9:30 and 10 and they needed someone to go early.

We originally tried the earlier time but the first night there were 5 very young children crying, screaming, and throwing bread. We decided to go later the next night and told them. Another two couples did the same thing. The staff was fine with it. Another night there was only one show so that day at lunch we told our waiter we'd be closer to 8:45. He said no problem. Another day we mentioned it to the YC concierge.

Sorry they were more strict with you. Were you on 8/12 or 8/5?

We were on the 8/12 sailing.

 

 

The OP was on the 8/12 sailing with us. Regarding the Le Muse dining, we met with Robert in the YC just after boarding and given a 6ish or 8ish option. Choose the later. While they might be flexible and you can let them know it did "feel" a bit like they wanted you to go at the time you told them but the last couple days we did go about 15 minutes early and the table was ready.

 

Missed the kids throwing bread but not surprised at all.

Dex, I just figured out who you are, lol. FB is easier than these names on CC, plus the advantage of a pictures.

Maybe because we were only 2 people they didn't mind us changing our dining times as much. Robert - as manager of the dining room - definitely seemed the most concerned with times. So we always told our waiter or concierge. That is actually why we told the concierge one day. I didn't want Robert to tell us that they couldn't change it.

Those kids were a handful!

Lou and Sunshine, it was originally Robert, the maitre' d who nudged us towards an earlier time. We asked for 7:15, he said 6:30-7. I think because there were many European families that requested 9:30 and 10 and they needed someone to go early.

We originally tried the earlier time but the first night there were 5 very young children crying, screaming, and throwing bread. We decided to go later the next night and told them. Another two couples did the same thing. The staff was fine with it. Another night there was only one show so that day at lunch we told our waiter we'd be closer to 8:45. He said no problem. Another day we mentioned it to the YC concierge.

Sorry they were more strict with you. Were you on 8/12 or 8/5?

We were on the 8/12 sailing.

 

 

The OP was on the 8/12 sailing with us. Regarding the Le Muse dining, we met with Robert in the YC just after boarding and given a 6ish or 8ish option. Choose the later. While they might be flexible and you can let them know it did "feel" a bit like they wanted you to go at the time you told them but the last couple days we did go about 15 minutes early and the table was ready.

 

Missed the kids throwing bread but not surprised at all.

OP, do you mind me asking, who were you working with when you were given the choice of 6:00 or 8:00? We found one person in Le Muse who seemed fixated on early or late seating, while everyone else worked with us when we "flexed" our dining time.

I'm not sure I'm OP, but I'll answer regardless :). We talked indeed to the maitre d' (the big man, I think it is Robert?), that was on embarkation. But later we asked Manoj, and the concierge for other times and places and they both advised against it. Being a party of 4 might have had something to do with it.

We didn't actively tried to change the starting time in Le Muse, that worked out quite well, but I would have liked to try another place.

Oh did I confuse the buffet with the MDR? I thought they were the same!! Sorry!!

We asked if we could have dinner in the Black Crab or Villa Rosa to dine with our friends one evening and they said that would be difficult. I'm kind of glad because I didn't want to miss a dinner in Le Muse! So we had lunch in the Black Crab with them instead. It was busy, food was fine, but service and atmosphere definitely different than Le Muse. We sailed on the Divina 3 years ago and ate in Villa Rosa every night and loved it. It's interesting how quickly you get used to the YC experience.

Oh, I'm sorry you didn't get to dine with your friends, but I'm almost glad you did experience the same response, I'm starting to think it was something personal that we couldn't, lol!

Sure, we had our children with us but they are well behaved, and usually don't throw bread. Well, not on a daily basis , lol!

Good to hear that you liked Le Muse better.

I'm not sure I'm OP, but I'll answer regardless :). We talked indeed to the maitre d' (the big man, I think it is Robert?), that was on embarkation. But later we asked Manoj, and the concierge for other times and places and they both advised against it. Being a party of 4 might have had something to do with it.

 

We didn't actively tried to change the starting time in Le Muse, that worked out quite well, but I would have liked to try another place.

 

Oh did I confuse the buffet with the MDR? I thought they were the same!! Sorry!!

Robert was the Le Muse manager/maitre D. He took excellent care of us as did Arthur but he did seem pretty firm with dinner times when you first met him although he did tell us they were suggested times and we could go whenever we wanted. Being we always went to the first show it gave us about 40 minutes until our dinner time so it worked out pretty well for us.

Enjoying Florida?

Oh, I'm sorry you didn't get to dine with your friends, but I'm almost glad you did experience the same response, I'm starting to think it was something personal that we couldn't, lol!

 

Sure, we had our children with us but they are well behaved, and usually don't throw bread. Well, not on a daily basis , lol!

 

Good to hear that you liked Le Muse better.

I'm not sure if you know the reference (you can do a search) but we referred to the mother as the "Octomom".

The last day the group was complaining how bad the trip was and how there wasn't anything for the kids to do and that the kids had nothing to eat all week.

They have a buffet in the MDR????? WOAH I have heard heard of any ship ever doing this. That is kinda cool but I could see how it could be crowded. What about the regular buffiet area and the sports bar for lunch? How crowded are those?

On our first cruise on Norwegian Wind 2004 they had a buffet in one of the MDR for breakfast.

MSC does have a small buffet in the MDR for breakfast and lunch on other ships. I've seen it on Sinfonia and Fantasia. I thought it was a great idea. DH never used it. But I did when there was nothing on the set menu that appealed. Interesting that Divina hasn't introduced it.

Ah yes, no I did know who the family was, I knew it wasn't us, I was only joking, trying to find a reason why they were apparently less flexible with us than with others. I know it wasn't anything personal.

;-)

And yes, we're very much enjoying Florida!! A few fun days in Key West, and now we are spending our last days of the vacation in Miami. It's really great, we're loving it. But we do miss Manoj, we have sighed many times to each other that we wished he was here. :-)))

Hope you all settled back in ok!

Oh my gosh, Lol, I just read this now.

Did you see her marching back and forth by the pool to the bar and back with the two little ones behind her the day we were in Nassau? I think your kids were by me that day. She was complaining to herself how dirty their room was and how no one could keep it clean. She was quite angry!

I'm not sure if you know the reference (you can do a search) but we referred to the mother as the "Octomom".

 

The last day the group was complaining how bad the trip was and how there wasn't anything for the kids to do and that the kids had nothing to eat all week.