KruiseKween

I talked to the buffet bar person.. he said there are no free wines in the buffet. Only main dining room... said the selection is different.... We had galaxy last night and steakhouse tonight. So I'll ask tomorrow night.

 

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Thank you so much!

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Go to msc website under the repurchased stuff.. you will see the meal time be package.. I assume u got it free for booking. And 50 inc?

 

We are onboard right now and love the mealtime package.. I. The buffet for lunch we go to the back bar as it's less crowded... they said no breakfast drinks with the meal time... on top of that the fantastica drinks... awesome package.

 

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I will be sailing in Sept and have the same package as you. I'm glad to hear that you think it's worth it! Could you tell me which wines and beer is included in this package? On the website it only says the house whites/red and rose. I've been trying to figure out which brands they're but no luck. Do you know if it includes any sparkling white wine? Thanks so much in advance!

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Mine wasn't PT either on the trip. I asked specific if they were allowed in the shallow area and the pool guards/attendants/customer services said it was fine as long as they stayed in the shallow area supervised. If you are in port I would suggest taking a short taxi ride or walk to the nearest beach. That's what we did at least.

I'm not sure which islands you guys are hitting up. But you can always ask the locals or the excursion people will know of the nearest beaches. I hope this helps.

(Also, MSC provides free stroller rental for the week)

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Hey there! I went with my little one in May and they were 20 months at that time. There is a shallow area that surrounds the main pool area but doesn't connect to it directly. She just splashed around in there. There is also a shallow area in the in door pool as well. They really enjoyed it, as there were other kiddos the same age joining in on the fun so it was lots of fun. The only thing is on port days, that area is drained. So they won't be able to use it unfortunately. On those port days we took her to the kids area for the younger ones and they have a shaded play ground for them to run around in. Hope this helps!

Enjoy your cruise, we will be back on the divina in Sept! That's how much we loved it. :)

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Just hail a cab and tell them you would like to go to the port where all the cruise ships are. We told the driver which ship we are sailing on and they will know. It's cheaper by cab too, 27 dollars usd. There are usually MSC reps holding up a MSC sign at the baggage area. They can tell you exactly which gate at the cruise terminal to go to. Hope this helps.

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Here's what I've found concerning this:

 

Unlimited wine (a choice of 2 white, 2 red and 1 rosé house brands), mineral water, draft beer, sodas and fruit juices during lunch and dinner.

 

The drinks included in this package are for consumption in the main restaurants and the self-service buffet, but not in the specialty restaurants.

Hope this helps,

 

~Brian

Thanks Brian, I had already seen that one. I'm just more curios as to which brand and what type more so. But thanks for taking the time to help anyways!

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I'm going to keep this short. I just came off the Divina on Saturday, and I have to say that this by far was my favorite ship, cruise, etc, out of four (other three were 2 on Carnival and 1 on Princess).

 

Who we are: 2 31 year old single ladies from New Jersey. My fourth cruise, my friend's first.

 

Embarkation- Arrived in Miami at 9 (6 am flight out of Newark, NJ). Got to ship at 9:45. Had to wait outside in the heat until 10:15, on ship by 11:30. (but we had seats, drinks, and stuff to read).

 

The cabin-Balcony 13157 (Fantastica experience). Room was nice, but I would not recommend the 13th deck, simply because all you hear 24/7 was the scraping of chairs at the buffet.

 

The food-For the first two days I would say the food was okay, not great, but okay, but gradually got better by the end of the week, it was really good! (this includes buffet and MDR (Black Crab Upper)). Dont miss the short ribs the last night for something amazing! If you want a good desert, try the different panna cottas they have alternating. So good! Downside was that fruit wasnt ripe at buffet. Kiwi fruit especially.

The ports: We did the Eastern Route which included St Maarten (been there before), Puerto Rico, and Nassau. We took an excursion off the ship for each. St Maarten we did the Panaromic Tour and Orient Beach. Best one by far out of the three.

 

Puerto Rico we did the Bacardi Tour which we felt was a waste of money. Short bus ride/someone talking about public housing. Bacardi was a quick tram ride to the visitor's center, which was a room with a fountain, a 9 minute video, a replica of the original distillery, some original documents, and barrel sniffing. Not a fan of that at all.

 

Nassau, we did the 360 tour. Not bad, included some time at Balmoral Island. I can really live my life without going back there (had some money stolen from me by a vendor but no biggie (I'm not crying over $3)).

 

We also did the ship's behind the scenes tour the last sea day. I recommend that highly, it really puts a different perspective on how things really work on board.

 

The crew: I heard from the grapevine that many people had different experiences, but every single crew member I interacted with from the vacuum person, to the captain always had a smile on their faces, willing to joke and talk with you. And very helpful. I can say enough about Gusti (our Steward), Gowry and Mandish (our waiters in the MDR), Gary (entertainment staff), and Andres (tours). These are just a few of the many people who bent over backwards for us.

 

The entertainment: I really enjoyed the shows and the various activities they had on board. One of my biggest complaints about Carnival and Princess was that they had too much going on at once and you couldnt be in more than one place at once and therefore missed out. Not here, everything was one at a time, and if you really wanted, you could make an attempt to do everything, which I certainly tried to do, but due to the size of the ship, it was hard.

 

The people: Due to MSC being an Italian cruise line, there was a big amount of international people on board. But I felt that that added to my experience. Personally, I love learning about other cultures, and talking to people from different areas. Other Americans I spoke to found that to be a downside, but I dont understand how that can be. Sure, there was a language barrier, but everyone understands numbers, excuse me, and hold the elevator (more on that in a second). MSC tried to include everyone by having 6 official languages, I found myself actually learning some Italian, Spanish, and German. Thats bad?

 

The Ship: What can I say? Beautiful ship, clean ship, elegant ship. Only bad thing I experienced was the elevator situation. Okay this was a biggie throughout the entire ship. You press the button for an elevator, and you waited and waited. Finally it came, but then literally the doors were open for 4 seconds. If you hesitate. You missed it, and had to call another one. I'm not even talking about the hijackable aft ones for the Yacht Club. This was all of them. I literally waited ten minutes for an elevator, I should have taken the stairs (which I found myself doing more often than not).

 

Disembarkation:Since we were on the 13th deck, we had the next to last group to be called to leave. We had a 6pm flight back home, but theres nothing to do but sit and wait. Finally we got annoyed at 9:45, they had a comedy reel going in the theater, and found out we could go. We were off by 10 and at Jungle Island by 10:30. I highly recommend that if you have a few hours to kill before your flight home. You can feed all sorts of birds, and they store your luggage for you for free and will call a cab for you.

 

Overall great time, would I sail MSC again? In a heartbeat! Would anyone like to join me on the Seaside?

 

Took way too many photos btw, would anyone be interested once I get them to my computer on seeing a 150+ almost complete photo tour of the ship?

 

Any questions?

Just got back from the same cruise. Totally agree about the short ribs,I got 2 orders!

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I just got off the Divina on Sundayand loved it so much we just booked our next one in September! This time we opted for a fantastica balcony and got the Meal time drink package. Does anyone know what the wines that are included in this package are? Do you get to choose from any or are you limited to a select few? They mention that I can select from white red or rose, does that include sparkling white wine as well? Any help would be really appreciated!

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Anyone been on Divina before and know if I should take a stroller for my 9 month old? Or just wear here with a strap on carrier? Should I bring a Pack n Play for her to sleep in? What about a portable high hair seat for dining?

I just got back on the 20th from the divina. You don't need a pack and play, they have a large one for your baby with really nice comfy mattress,pillow and blanket if you choose to use them. You can rent a stroller from the mini club,it was so nice to not have to bring ours. That being said, my 9 month old was big enough to sit up straight in a stroller for a 1+ year old. They have high chairs in the dining room if you need. We had a blast with our 20 month old, she made so many friends and the ship is super kid friendly. Enjoy your trip!

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It's a term from the Carnival forum. They serve you the bacon from the buffet - you can't grab a plateful. Sort of like rationing it...EM

Thanks! I figured it was something like that. Lol

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This might be a stupid question, but what is the bacon police?

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If anyone wants any more sample MDR menus I can post them.

 

 

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Yes please! Thanks for doing this...it's been hard finding current menus.

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Entertainment: Absolutely fabulous, there was always something going on and the theatre shows were just spectacular and far superior to the previous Carnival ones!

We went to the Queen Tribute, The mask, Treasure island and Michael Jackson oh and one of the singing ones....loved them all

 

Kids Club: This is were we hit problems. Our three year old daughter goes to regular day care and has always attended kids clubs on holiday. One of the key workers "Marsi" was so abrupt one day my daughter burst into tears and refused to go in again. She was extremely rude and I had no choice but to complain.

Meanwhile, my son who is eleven had attended the older kids club all week with his sister who is aged 13 without a problem, that same evening (day 5 of the cruise) they threw him out without warning and said he was too young!

It was too much of a coincidence, my son came to the cabin sobbing and it was a clear attempt at payback on their part which was rectified by the kids club manager in the end.

 

Divina Pools and general decor: Stunning, what a beautiful ship. Immaculate throughout we particularly loved the garden pool (non smoking side)

 

Value for money: None of the other lines can compete with the sheer value for money the MSC Divina is offering there is something to suit every budget. We like a couple of drinks and used the 18 coupon books which were perfect for us!

After reading a couple of comments about the photo packages we also pre-purchased a package of 10 photographs which saved us loads of money and we have beautiful professional photographs of our children to treasure.

 

Debarkation: excellent se were off the ship in no time.

 

Any questions please ask....sorry I cut off half way through the first post but my son is only 8 months old :)

My little one will be 20 months when we go in April...when you went, did they allow you to have your baby in the shallow watered area around the pool (not the actual pool) as I know they are not allowed to be in the pool if they are in diapers. Thanks!

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My DD cruised first time when she was 1 year old. Here is some of my points.

 

1.Even if you can drop your kid for 1 hour in kids club dose not mean she /he will want to stay there.:p Don't count on it too much.

2.Kids in diapers are not allowed to use a pool or hot tub.

3.Be ready to eat in buffet during cruise. Dinner in DR takes too long and one year old has no patience for this .

4. Seat in very back in theater and be ready to leave any minute :o

5.Book cabin with balcony if you can.

6.Consider to book resort vacation :o It's much more easier with one year old child.

Are they allowed in the shallow water area around the pool, just to get their feet wet?

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Do you know if Princess allows you to bring a hair dryer? I believe not, but just making sure. We had a travel iron confiscated once (on RCI), and I don't want my blow dryer confiscated as well.. :)

I have always brought my own hair dryer on princess and once on NCL. I've never had mine taken away. I just don't want to have to anymore. I'm trying to streamline my luggage. Lol

Does anyone know if the hair dryers on the Royal princess better than the ones on the grand class ships? I have long thick hair and the ships in have been on with princess didn't have the best ones. I want to minimize what I need to bring. Thanks!

The game shows in Princess Live are often quite fun as well. Silly and corny, but a good laugh and the cruise directors staff is fun as well.

Do you happen to know if they do Zumba on the royal?

The production shows were 3 per night @ 6:45, 8:15 and 10:00. They are right around 35 mins long. The 8:15 show was always full and you had to arrive at least 30/40 mins early.

On the evening of the deck party there are only two shows one early and one at 8:15. The deck parties have improved. There are two, the Latin deck party and a 50th Anniversary theme deck party. Both are nice, but the Latin one is better. They alternate them every other cruise, so don't know which one you will get.

I Think there were only two Beatles Tribute shows. The tribute group are actually guest entertainers, not part of the on board staff. They come and leave. Their concert/show is one hour long and you have to arrive very early to get seats. Their performance in the Piazza is also an hour long and takes up half the dance floor. The other half is open for dancing, and is crowded. To get a seat for the Piazza performance you have to arrive at least one hour early.

Do they still do the international crew show? I always enjoyed those.

They presented the "Beetles Thing" on the Mar 13-23rd cruise, and YES it was very good. They also played in the atrium one evening. IMO, entertainment overall was very good on this cruise. ;)

 

"SKY"

How long are the theater shows now (approx)? Sre they still 2 shows a night, i herd now that its 3 shows a night but just shorter duration.

The production shows take years to change but they do rotate the guest performers (although their numbers don't change that much either).

That is what i herd. My dad had his heart set on seeing the beatles tribute group. He sae them last time and really enjoyed it. Hooe they live up to what he remembers.

Thanks a bunch!

I am sailing on the Royal with my family from April 12-20th. Does anyone know what the main theater shows are during this run? Who the cruise director is? Thanks!