max996

I'm cruising next month; I'll take mental notes and put something in my review to be posted when I get back.

Good for you you can easy to book Yacht Club but I believe not every one can do it. Plus last time I wanted to book YC it was sold out for my sailing

Yeah, those Yacht Club suites do sell out fast. And I do realize that everyone is not financially able to do that, but if she can that's an option to explore as well.

I would book different cruise, but if you can't just don't think about it and enjoy.

Or if you still want to take that particular cruise, I'd say upgrade to a yacht club suite. That way you won't have to worry about meal seatings, vegan food and all that; you just go over to Le Muse whenever you want to eat, and eat. And there's always food out in the Top Sail Lounge.

Whenever I leave the country, even on closed loop cruises, I take my passport with me. I would disagree with one comment on purchasing a passport being a "racket." It is required documentation when coming back into America from a foreign land. If, for some strange reason, the ship can't make it back to port and you are forced to fly back into the U.S., you will find it a little difficult to get home.

Please excuse the analogy, but I think of a passport like a condom - better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Hi Max996......did the beauty pageant contestant cruise hinder your cruise at all with dining time issues?

Our cruise hasn't sailed yet. We depart June 24, but we are sailing in a Yacht Club suite so we can eat whenever we prefer; there is no set time.

I found out out the beauty pageant contestants on our cruise from someone on our Cruise Critic Roll Call boards.

Great review! Thank you. I can really appreciate your kids having the experience of interacting with people from other cultures. We are a military family (now retired), and my kids (now young adults) have lived on three different continents while growing up and I think it has helped them in life now that they are older.

We are sailing aboard Divina on June 24th, and will be on board with the "Beauties of 5 Continents" pageant contestants. I'm going to try to get some pictures and post a nice review about my experiences with that group, but my wife is probably going to kill me first. I'm quite certain that I'll be spending the last few days of the cruise walking around with blinders on like some old horse pulling a carriage down a city block. LOL!

I've was able to book excursions for my cruise 5 or 6 months out. The thing that I noticed that's different about MSC than from Disney is that you have to pay for your excursion at the time of booking, to which they reimburse you if the ship doesn't make the planned dock at a particular island. With Disney, you reserve the excursion then pay after you have gone on the excursion.

An option that we have exercised on other cruise lines is to purchase onboard credit (OBC) for use during our cruises. For our cruise in June, I've purchased $1000 in OBC for our family. When they close out your account on the final night of the cruise, they take any OBC first, then charge your card for any remaining balance (or they put any OBC back on the card used to make the purchase). For example: You have $500 OBC remaining at the end of your cruise, and you've got $750 of charges to be settled. They apply the $500 OBC first, then charge your credit card for the remaining $250 to settle your final bill.

As someone pointed out, online check-in is definitely the way to go. It makes embarkation day a little easier. Get onboard, get everyone fed, then get the kids registered at the kid's clubs (age dependent of course). Those lines can be a little congested later in the day after the sail away party. And if you're on the Dream, get your first ride on the AquaDuck out of the way too. That line will be long for the remainder of the cruise, except for Castaway Cay Day and who wants to be on the ship while docked at CC?

She is right, you only have to purchase one from each cabin. I called a few days ago and had this confirmed:) I am also going to buy this package, seems like a good deal!

Are those 100 photos both in print and digital format?

On our two MSC cruises we arrived at Nassau about 12:00 with everyone on board at 5:30. Not much time in port.

Thanks for the info. I think we'll just stay onboard again, or do some shopping locally.

Hello Cruisers,

We taking our first MSC cruise aboard Divina (June 24 - Jul 1); our itinerary says we dock in port at Nassau at 12:00 noon. Is that the usual time the Divina docks?

The reason I ask is that I found a great website (Resort For A Day - http://www.resortforaday.com) and I'm thinking about purchasing a day pass at Breezes Resort & Spa ($85 per person). But if we don't dock until noon, the day pass is only good until 6pm meaning we'll need to leave by 5pm giving us just over 5 hours at the resort.

Thanks everyone.

Fred

I booked my cruise without a discount initially. Then about 3 months later, my MSC Vacation Consultant and I were talking about excursions and I happened to mention that I was there during my days in the Marines. She then said "wait a minute, you retired from the Marines? We didn't apply your military discount." I sent her a photo copy of my military ID and within a matter of minutes, she had applied the 10% military discount.

I'm interested to hear what some fellow cruisers have to say on this question.

For the most part, I'd say that tipping is a personal choice, when it come to when to tip and how much. As for me, I've never "pre-tipped" anyone. We've cruised Haven (with RCI) and Concierge (with Disney) and have always received great service from the very start which resulted in a great tip on the final day of the cruise. But, I can say that I tipped the bartender on the Disney Dream very well on the first day of our cruise last summer and the service level I received from him for the rest of the cruise went through the roof! I didn't even need to order my favorite drinks for the rest of the week! He'd see me coming and instantly pour me a tall Kona Longboard, and nice shot of single malt scotch. So I can see how tipping well on the first day can provide a little motivation.

Our first MSC cruise is aboard Divina (in 62 days!) and I'm interested to see how YC compares to the other cruise lines. I may try pre-tipping this time and see what happens.

Good question!

Great post stealthy! That’sgood to hear; my family and I are taking our first MSC cruise aboard Divina inthe Royal Suite this summer (in 68 days) and we’ve heard nothing but greatthings about MSC’s YC. We have taken several cruises on other cruise lines –most recently with Disney aboard the Dream in one of her Concierge suites lastsummer. Like you, we work hard and save our money, so that we can go big on thesummer vacations. My wife is a teacher, so we’re limited in our ability tovacation outside of her summer breaks for the most part, so we always try to gobig when we do.

I can’t wait to see howDivina YC compares with Disney, but really I’m just looking to enjoy anothergreat vacation. Thanks for the post, and I’ll be sure to check back in with myreview following our cruise later this summer.

My family and I rented a mini-van from Hertz for our cruise and stayed at the Conrad Hilton. The Hilton has a Hertz desk in the lobby, so when we arrived I checked in the vehicle to avoid the $30 parking fee. I rented the van about 5 months before the cruise and paid at the time I made the reservation. Total cost was $58 plus the cost of topping off the gas tank (about $3) before we arrived at the hotel.

Food is subjective !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the correct answer right here. Everyone of us has a very different idea as to what "good food" or "good entertainment" or "good excursions" means to us and our wants. It's been posted already about the food available for Yacht Club cruisers. I'd also add the availability of the Eataly Steakhouse, and a few other specialty restaurants onboard MSC ships that offer upscale dining choices for the more discerning food critic. Having said all that, I think you're going to enjoy your cruise next month aboard MSC Sinfonia as long as you don't go into to it looking for "Bad Food." Just go with an open mind and expect to have a good time and see what happens.

And be sure to come back here after your cruise and let us know what you thought about your food experience please. We'd all love to hear what you have to say.

Anyone else think they messed up right at the end of the video where it shows the balcony, I think it is showing deck 18 which would actually be a HC YC Deluxe? The deck above is rounded and would be deck 19 and it appears there is another Royal Suite below. I like the room aside from that it could really use an inside dining area. Does MSC discourage in suite dining?

I think the Royal Suite on the Seaside is on deck 16. The deck above it would be deck 18 - more YC suites.

My wife and I are getting that suite, summer 2019! That voyage is going to be epic!

This is great information! Thank you! I think the MSC general announcement about the "bottomless" drink expansion for YC guests said Summer 2017. I'm glad they're ahead of schedule!

I had to bump this wonderful thread from earlier this year that provides a great look into a cruise aboard Divina but also answers many questions that you may not have even thought of yet. Thanks again Nikki! We're boarding Divina in 73 days, and your photos have me ready to go right now!

How early can you board for the 7pm sailing? :confused:

I've never cruised MSC before, but if it's like the other cruise lines they will start the boarding process once the ship clears customs. That usually happens between 11:00 AM and 12:00 noon. Sometimes it may be a little earlier, and sometimes a little later depending upon what time the ship actually arrives in port and gets the previous voyage passengers off.

On a previous Disney cruise my family and I took, they're weren't able to start boarding until 3:00 PM because the previous voyage couldn't get into port because of the weather (the winds and waves were really high because of a passing tropical storm off the coast of Florida); the ship didn't pull into port until almost 10:00 AM that morning - but that's pretty rare.

102 days until we cruise the Divina - June 24 embark date!

I take the Universal Studio motto - "Vacation like you mean it!" Go with the Royal Suite! ;)