RussianSwinga

I think the AC only turns on when a YC card is inserted!

I would totally bid on that, if I knew for sure they would still be accepted on the Seaside in December.

Finally called MSC. I have a cruise on the Seaside on Dec 8th. Got the cold shoulder.

- We no longer the Coffee Cuddle (12 premium espresso drinks) package

- We no longer offer the 12 or 18 drinks package

- It's a-la-carte for coffee and drinks or all-inclusive for $325 / 385 (premium) per person, all adults in stateroom must buy the package ($650 for wife and I)

- Some Caribbean sailings have some alcohol included at all levels as a promo (wine w/ dinner even at Bella level), but those are select dates, ours is not on them. Our date has no free wine / no free internet, the week after hours does.

This really sucks as a single 18-drink package (was like $90 back in the day I think?) was exactly what I needed to get me through a 7-day cruise. I will spend more money for less alcohol now, but nowhere near enough to justify an all-you-can-drink package. My wife drinks even less (under 10 drinks for an entire cruise)

Just booked our trip on Dec. 8th. I will be calling MSC in a few days to get my Voyager's club discount on the sailing, in addition, I will enquire about the drink vouchers.

Can someone please clarify if this is indeed the case? It's one of my main reasons for sailing MSC repeatedly - on the Divina my wife and I would regularly buy 3 18-drink voucher books between the two of us, and it was just a bit more alcohol than we could consume in the entire trip. It cost a lot less than "all you can drink", and a lot less than if we were to purchase 54 cocktails at face value. Thinking of booking Seaside for later this year, but with expensive alcohol, that will change my decision.

Been on Divina twice -

Best meal - Veal Carpaccio

Worst meal - ANY SOUP. AT ALL. They're all terrible.

French onion and clam chowder tasted the same (awful) - it was like they threw clams into a bad french onion soup.

When on Divina, don't order the soup!

The book of 18 vouchers is by far the best value. If you're a spirited drinker, but don't quite want the all-you-can-drink packages, buy 2 books for yourself.

You pick them up at the Casino bar on embarkation day.

Movies are free on a giant LED screen above the pool deck stage. I know they have sitting chairs, I don't recall if they take away loungers or not. They call it Movies under the Stars or something. Movies are played in English (if it's a Brazilian-heavy cruse, they may have Portuguese subtitles). Movies are generally out-of-theatre but not-yet-to DVD selection, so same as you would get on an airline.

I've cruised the Divina twice, and written as many reviews.

I have a 3rd cruise booked on her.

The best, shortest review I can give you is it's Princess level of beauty, comfort, and service for the price of Carnival.

Other than that, service is a bit more hands off. You won't be hassled for drinks, etc, you have to go ask for them. If you need something, just ask.

Any updates on this?

Going on our 3rd Divina cruise in January 2017 and would like to know what changes were made.

Did they scrap that useless steakhouse? Any layout changes to the buffet?

So, since the charter is from Oct 20 to 24th, and the ship leaves for its TA crossing on the 25th, looks like dry dock maintenance is indeed scrapped. I hope they're able to get their maintenance in on the TA journey - it's usually a maintenance-heavy time on the ship as well as training time for new staff and theatre crews.

So since it's chartered the week before, did they scrap the dry dock before the TA re positioning?

I sail on her in December and really hope they re-seal the men's public restroom tile, had a bad soaked-in urine smell in all public restrooms when I sailed on her last year. Seems the tile masons did not seal the tile or the grout at the time. Although this seems like a repair you could do at-sea by closing one restroom at a time.