TravelLovingGal

We did the dolphin swim and ride with food and drinks. If the in-laws don't want to actually get in the water they might have fun just watching the grandkids interacting with the dolphins. Not sure if you can get a price break for that though.

We got off the MSC Divina at the Port of Miami Terminal F on February 18. There were signs for a Global Entry line but it was blocked off. We had our cards and I went to the front of the line and asked about Global Enrty but the attendant at the front of the line said they weren't doing it. ☹️ Fortunately the line wasn't long.

I have seen several posts about the buffet being crazy crowded during peak times. What is considered peak times for breakfast and lunch do you think ?

Be open to asking to share a table with open seats. We met wonderful people from all over the world doing this. Conversations were sometimes limited but we always managed to communicate and make a new friend. Then when you pass them on the ship later you can smile and nod.

We prepaid for speciality dining at Restorante Italia. We could order one appetizer, soup or salad, one main and one dessert from the à la carte menu. It was $30 pp. Drinks were extra but we had a drink package that covered what we drank. There were also couple of prix fixe options on the menu, one that included wines. Those were not an option with our prepaid package.

We thought the food and service was excellent. There are only 5-6 tables in this restaurant.

What we were getting was clearly described on the MSC website. I called MSC and purchased the package over the phone vs. the website. I think their website is clunky but their phone customer service people were always efficient and very helpful. They will tell you what you are getting with the package.

I can't comment for sure about the other restaurants, but I think the prepay packages for all of them is similar.

On our cruise in February:

-Sunday, at sea - Formal night

-Monday, Ocho Rios - suggested theme, White

-Tuesday, George Town (and Valentine's Day) - suggested theme, Green-White-Red

-Wednesday, Cozumel - suggested theme 70's-80's

-Thursday, at sea - Formal night

-Friday - Nassau - no suggested theme

The activity staff dressed accordingly and but I can't say I really remember all that many people dressing for the themes. There were Theme Party's on those night at starting at 10:30 or 11:00 but that is after my bed time 😴so I don't know if people dressed for those. On white night there probably was more white but that is an easy one. I wouldn't worry about dressing differently for theme nights unless you really want to.

Don't book online in the last couple of weeks before you cruise.

 

I did in December, two weeks before we sailed and couldn't print out our documents and luggage tags. The website said that we had an unpaid balance.

I found their customer service over the phone to be quite good. I had problems booking a couple of things online, but when I called they quickly took care of things. They even emailed me updated documents to print when I prepaid for something 9 days before our cruise.

Thank you! Do they ever arrive earlier than scheduled?

 

 

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Yes, we were on shore at Grand Cayan before we're were supposed to arrive. Would guess they try to be conservative and make the published arrival time a little later than they think they are going to get there.

But there are things that are out of their control, weather, island officials..... so I wouldn't count on being early, just consider it a bonus.

That wasn't our experience last week. We picked our seats, then I sent my husband out for drinks and he brought them back. Perhaps we just got lucky? Kim

We didn't have any problems taking drinks in either. Lots of people were.

Hi NoName. I am looking at Deck 9 and trying to figure out which elevators you are talking about. Does this "secret" elevator show up on here? Is it the one circled in yellow? From your description it sounds like it should be somewhere between the red and purple.

 

The "secret" elevators are in the purple circle. They are in the bank of four towards the left side of the circle. The outside two are the "secret"elevators and the two middle elevators are service elevators that are separated from the outside"secret" ones by walls or doors, depending on which deck you are on.

We were Scheduled in Cozumel from 10am - 6pm. And from memory i think we made the ferry that left at 11am. This is about 40 minutes to cross. The car hire took about 30 mins to sort out with about an hours drive to Tulum. I think we spent about 2 hours there before we began out journey back. I remember we we had to drop 2 of our part at the ferry whilst me and my partner had to drop the car and run back to be able to get the ferry. I think we got the 4.30 ferry back.

 

I think going that little bit further to Coba may be cutting it too close

This February our all aboard time for Cozumel was 5:30.

My advice would proceed with Caution on this.

.....

To note, the MSC excursion that day to Tulum actually arrived back late to the ship and they had a private ferry linking them directly to where the ship was moored. obviously the ship waited as it was a ship organised excursion, but they wont allow the same luxury to private excursions.

I was going to reply with the same warning "proceed with caution" and then saw Stuart2468's reply. The same thing happened on our trip this February. Our cabin was over the entry to the ship so we had a great people watching perch each day. We were on our balcony and knew it was past time to leave and wondering what was up. There was no line left to board. They had taken down all the usual stuff they set up on the pier each day but the gang plank was still out and there were ship officers walking around the pier talking on their phones. After a few minutes a ferry packed with a tour group(s) arrived. It docked at our pier (not the usual place for ferrys) and within a few of minutes of when everyone from the ferry had boarded we were on our way.

They won't do that for you if you are on your own.

We have vacationed in Cozumel twice and I always considered the trip to the mainland a full day trip. I generally prefer to book my own excursions, but I would never book a trip off the island on my own.

The decaf coffee that we ordered with our breakfast to be delivered to the cabin was a hot pot of water and two small packets of Sanka.

I had a different experience. We only ordered breakfast room service once, but I got a pot of decaf and my husband got a pot of regular.

I know this thread is from last year, but I remember a thread that I posted on a similar topic seemed to get a little more strict responses as to the dress code on gala nights. Has the dress code changed on Divina?

We sailed Feb 11. In the dailies it gave the "Suggested Dress Code" for the night. So it is just a suggestion. Most dressed up more on formal nights but I don't think they would turn you away. I didn't really look to see who was in dress code and who wasn't.

I'm REALLY hoping they make a good cafè latte. I mean, it IS an Italian ship, right?

 

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We had a drink package and I drank a lot of lattes and cappuccinos. I thought they were good. I like bold coffee.

To get tender tickets...does only one person from the cabin have to stand in line for the tender tickets or does each individual have to get their own tickets?

I don't know. We both went to get the tickets with our stuff for the day. They ask you to be ready to go when you get your tickets. (See quote below from the Daiily.)

After we got our tickets we waited for disembarkment to start in the lounge just outside the Eaterly Resturant and watched them lower some of the tenders. It was interesting. They annunced our group over the intercom and we went down. I'm not sure we would have heard it if we had waited in our room.

Tickets are issued for boarding groups, not times. We were in the first boarding group and boarded not too long after we got our ticket. In the Daily it said the first tender would leave "around" 8:30, but we were already on shore well before 8:30. If you aren't in the first group don't worry. The were several other tenders lined up ready to move in when ours left. They each hold 120 people (according to the sign on the side).

This is from the daily. The bold type is is theirs.

"...please pick up your tender ticket in the Eaterly Resturant, deck 7, between 7:45am and 11am only when you are ready to go ashore. Please do not collect tickets until you are ready to disembark.

...Disembarkation with tender boats takes longer than the ordinary disembarking procedures. Therefore, to ensure a quick and smooth disembarkation, we kindly ask you to follow our instructions, do not overcrowd the Reception area on deck 5, but instead wait comfortably in any of the lounges on deck 6 or 7 until your tender ticket letter is called."

Does MSC still use their own tender/life boats vs. the larger ones from the port? Last time we were there on NCL with 4 ships (one being Divina), MSC was the only one using their own, smaller boats.

 

Line going back to ship was super long but others recently said it wasn't too bad.

Yes, the Divina does use its own boats. There was no line when we got back from our tour but I don't know about later in the afternoon.

I know I've seen other posts about this but how necessary are passports? We are going to Cozumel and Progreso but only getting off the boat in Cozumel. Please tell me we're not crazy for not having passports [emoji4]

 

 

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About 17 years ago when we were returning from Mexico with our three kids, who did not passports. My husband and I did. The customs and immigration officer told us that birth certificates were a hot commodity with identity thieves. They have all the information a thief needs. Also, anyone with a birth certificate in their hand that is close to your age and can use it for all kinds of mischief that, at best, will be a headache you. Birth certificates do not expire. I've had mine for 60 years☺️. So anyone who gets ahold of yours can use it forever.

Yes, you will keep yours locked in the safe in your cabin during the cruise. That is what we told the customs guy we had done. He wasn't impressed. It is volunerable between your home and the ship.

Before we traveled internationally with kids again we all had passports. The passports have traveled the world and the birth certificates stay locked up at home. Modern passports have a chip in them so if they are lost or stolen they can be invalidated and no one can use them.

Can I ask a procedural question about MSC?

We have only cruised on HAL and cannot understand how the wife could have got off the ship in Katakolon and not be noticed.

On HAL your ship card is scanned as you leave and scanned again as you reboard, thereby they know if all passengers have reboarded before they leave port.

Does MSC have a similar security measure?

Yes they do. Also, when we boarded the Divina and got our ship cards they took our picture. So when our card was scanned each time we got off and on the ship our picture pops up on their computer screen. The security person looked at our picture and us. If we had sunglasses on, we had to take them off so they could get a good look at us.

Thank you :D

 

Julie

If you do book with Acquarius, they will send a reservation confirmation.

In the Meeting Point section of the confirmation there is a CLICK HERE link after:

Captain Mario or a representative will collect you at this point at the meeting time

DO look for him carrying the ACQUARIUS SIGN

Click on it and you will get a picture of Captin MARIO with his sign. But even more important, there is a map of the harbor with the 3 different terminals the ship tenders use and the location where you will meet up. Unless you have a fantastic memory and a great sense of direction, 😁 print that out and take it with you. The terminals are not as far apart as they look on the map. We were dropped off at the south terminal, which was the farthest one from where we needed to be, but it just took a couple of minutes to walk there.

It also has their phone number. We got there early, before Mario. When we couldn't find him I showed the flyer to some of the vender/tour people who were there and one used the number to call and find out where he was. It was reassuring to know we were just early and hadn't somehow missed him.

My husband and I did a tour with Aquarius Sea Tours two weeks ago. I don't remember it being difficult to get up the ladder, but send them an email. I had some questions too and they were very easy to work with.

The tour was great! Also, they photograph the tour and then give you access to download the photos for FREE!

Hi, did you do this trip, how was it?

 

We are hoping to do in July but are worried about not having enough time to get off the tender and get to the meeting point, any info you can give would be great.

 

Thanks

From joren

I did the tour two weeks ago. It was no problem at all. They announced that tender tickets could be picked up from 7,45. I was there 7.15 and one of the first to be in line. We got on the first tender and had plenty of time. Ship time was the same as cayman time. Will recommend Stingray Sailing. Check them out on TripAdvisor. Simply the best

We did the exact same thing as Joern and had no problems at all.

Acquarius Sea Tour was fantastic! We would definately go with them again. They also photograph the tour and give you access to the photos to download for free!!!!

Thanks for all the great pictures! Quick question (as I seem to be getting different answers and hope you can settle it..) Is there an Ala Carte menu for the Ristorante Italia or is it always a pre-set menu?

I just ate there last week. Ristorante Italia has both ala carte and a pre-set menus (at least two options that I remember.) we had prepurchaced our meal so ours was ala carte. We had the choice of an appitizer or pasta, main, and dessert. It also included bread and a glass of prosecco. Sorry, I don't have pictures.

The food was wonderful.

Just got off the Divina Saturday. Our disembarkation time was 10:15 and the last group's time was 10:45. It took us about 1/2- 3/4 hour to pick up our luggage, get through customs and immigration (the line was very short) and get our Uber (who was dropping off a Carnival passenger so she was close.) If you are in the last group, your plane will be in the air before you are off the ship, not to mention the time you need for check in. The only way to make it for sure is to walk off with your luggage. Express disembarkation was at 6:30 and 6:45.

I don't think you would have been safe with the noon departure.

We were on the Divina last week in cabin 11146. I get terrible motion sickness. I used a scopolamine patch and didn't have a problem. It was a calm week and I wondered if I really needed the patch, but because of my history of getting REALLY sick I didn't want to risk it. Maybe I'll try it without on another cruise. I had ginger tea and candies but didn't even open them.

Because fresh air and being able to look on the horizon helps with motion sickness, we purposely booked a balcony, but since I wasn't sick we got to enjoy it just for the view 😀.

When you ate at Ristorante Italia was it a set menu or could you choose items from the ala carte? Curious because there are three of us in our party but one doesn't like seafood and the prix fixe menu seems to lean strongly towards the sea creatures! Any info is appreciated =)

We ate there last week. It is an ala carte. 1 appetizer or pasta, main and dessert each. There is bread (very good bread) on the table and you get a glass of prosecco. We thought it was very good.

There are only 3 tables for two and 2 tables for 4 so not too many can eat there each night. It was a quiet reprieve from eating in the main dining room and buffet.

I called reception the first day to find out which nights were formal nights and which were speciality nights. They also gave me the number to call to make reservations.