Best Cat Mom

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Do you know what champagne they have onboard?  I have noticed that you mentioned having it pre-meal a couple of times and was wondering what they might have for selections?

We do have champagne every night in Le Muse while we're deciding what to order. I also like it during the afternoon when we are in TSL. They are currently pouring Nicolas Feuillatte. We've also had Moët & Chandon as the house champagne on previous Divina sailings from Florida.

3 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

The MSC Divina and Queen Victoria on the webcam in Funchal today.

Indeed! We walked past the Queen Victoria on the way back to the ship. I have always like the look of the Cunard "ocean liners" -- as they call their ships. I have always wanted to sail from Hamburg to New York the way my immigrant Lithuanian great grandmother did, but I've never found an itinerary that worked for us. However, I'm not giving up the search! 🙂

19 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Is there a fixed wine list for Le Muse or is there a sommelier that will assist with selections.  I am not normally found of Chianti but I do enjoy a good Primitivo.

In our sailings in general, we've never seen a "fixed" wine list. Usually, the wines will vary depending on availability and whims of the staff of Le Muse. We were told there is no sommelier in Le Muse for this sailing. Our last two times on Divina, the maître d' was a former sommelier in Napa Valley, California, and chose the wines himself (that's Mauricio, if anyone knows him as well). He would often bring us "special selections" depending on the food we were eating or conversations we'd have with him about the grapes we preferred.

According to our maître d' now -- Mehmet from Turkey, the food and wine on this sailing are not the typical ones for a Caribbean sailing, as the ship is still stocked from the Mediterranean supply chain right now. Once the ship is home ported in the US, the supply chain will change and other foods/wines will start to appear and the menu may be tweaked.

We've enjoyed this chianti though I cannot recall the house. I'll try to get an image to share if we have it again. Primitivo is not a favorite of BCD, but I will have it when I'm having a dish where a tannic cabernet sauvignon is not what I want. I'll see if I can find what they have stocked for that grape.

Day 3 Dinner menu:

Day 3 Lunch menu:

Day 3…

Today we were scheduled to port in Cádiz, Spain, at 8am. Our tour tickets that had arrived the night before stated that our time to meet in TSL for the tour was 8:10am, so we scheduled our coffee and Baileys in the cabin at the ridiculous time of 5:45am! This would give us time to get to Le Muse for breakfast at their opening time of 7am so we could eat before the tour.

We had our coffee and then headed to breakfast. BCD had the MSC Express with some flaky pastries and I had an egg white omelet with ham and cheese and some more ham on the side. We each had 2 mimosas and 1 cappuccino and headed back to the TSL to meet the butler for our tour.

We were a few minutes early and the ship was still docking when we arrived in TSL so we ordered cappuccinos. The ship was a bit behind schedule so it was a few minutes past our 8:10am time when the butler led us and a few others to our tour buses.

We had purchased a half-day panoramic tour with a tasting at a local sherry vineyard. Within minutes of boarding the bus and while we were still waiting to depart the parking area, rain began pouring down quite heavily and then stopped in just a few minutes. The rest of the morning was like that -- rain, stop, rain, stop. It did not affect our tour too much since most of it was on the bus or in buildings at the vineyard. The tour was informative and allowed us to see a lot of the area so we were pleased that we purchased it.

As we were returning to the ship, it was nearing 1pm. Le Muse had been listed as being open until 1:30pm so we were worried about getting there before closing time. We went through security in the port building with all other cruise passengers and then headed for our ship. There was only one gangway open and people were still exiting so we had to wait. There was not a separate line for YC at all at this point. As the last few people were exiting the ship, a YC staff member (holding a paddle so everyone could see he was YC) walked by us and asking if we needed anything. We asked him when Le Muse was closing and he told us 2pm. Perfect! We had time to go back to the room and freshen up.

We proceeded to Le Muse for lunch, arriving at nearly exactly 1:30pm. It looked like everyone else either had not left the ship or had half-day tours as well since many tables were already filled.

Nothing on the YC lunch menu appealed to me so I asked for a mixed green salad with grilled chicken as my starter. BCD had a Caesar salad with grilled chicken. BCD had fish and chips for his entrée and I had a burger (sans bun, of course). We had a pinot noir with the first course and BCD changed to a Heineken for his entrée while I continued with the wine.

We wondered if the One Pool area had been open today for breakfast or lunch since the weather had been so uncooperative. Pepe had told us on boarding day that the One Pool was temporarily closed while he made it "perfect" for everyone and he hinted that there would be some noticeable improvements up there. We had not heard if the area was finished with its facelift yet but if it was and today was the day for the unveiling, the weather might have postponed it.

We spent the afternoon in TSL with drinks and snacks. When dinner time rolled around, we were content to change into casual clothes as was the suggested attire for today and head back to Le Muse for dinner. We arrived around 7:45pm and there were hardly any tables occupied. Our server Glenn told us that many people had eaten early, which seemed strange given that we were turning the clocks back one hour giving everyone an extra hour to stay up.

We had our usual glasses of champagne with our menus and then both ordered the vitello tonatto as our starters and filet mignon as entrées. We have always loved the vitello and this night did not disappoint. The filets were cooked as ordered (we like ours medium).

BCD again is trying to make me sound like I don't know him -- he ordered the black Forrest cherry gateau for dessert -- LOL. I ordered some grana padano so he wouldn't eat alone. We had a Fantinel cabernet sauvignon with all the courses.

Pepe stopped by our table during dinner and told us that the One Pool Deck had been ready this morning and that he had been looking forward to everyone seeing it. But then it started to rain and he had to remove all the chair cushions (cushions? Divina never had cushioned loungers before; this could be good). Then the rain would stop and he'd have the decks squeegeed and the cushions placed on the loungers again. And then the rain would start again and the cycle would continue -- well, it sounded like Deck 18 was never quite ready for the YC guests all day. We were very intrigued though and are looking forward to seeing it on a nice day in the near future.

We headed back to TSL for live music. I had 3 sidecars and BCD had 3 old fashioneds and we called it a night just before 11pm.

More to come...

22 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Wish I had known that.  When I check the chart on-line it showed Marriott Titanium as matching to Gold, same as my RCCL Diamond + and Celebrity Elite

I had reported our results previously. I don't know why it did not make the chart.  😞

Day 2 concludes…

We spent a few hours in the TSL with some drinks and our newly discovered Truffle Chips. I'm sure that they have been available before, but they never caught our eye. Now we are constantly on the look out for them. Yumm!

By 7pm, it was time to change for dinner. I went back to the cabin to get started and shortly after that our Butler Elvin knocked on our door with the requested hangers and to introduce himself. I found out that he had just boarded in Barcelona as well and was starting a new contract. He asked about our complimentary bottle of alcohol and I couldn't recall what BCD had wanted. Last cruise we took home a Glen Grant (part of the same Scotch family as Glenlivet) but I did not want to choose incorrectly so told Elvin that BCD would have to let him know later. I also reaffirmed our desire for coffee and Baileys each morning and asked for our ice bucket to be kept full. After confirming these desires, Elvin left me to continue prepping for dinner.

Even though the evening was designated as "casual" dress, BCD and I had already decided that we'd get dressed up since it was a sea day and we had enough time and energy for the extra effort. BCD donned his suit and tie and I chose a dress and heels. We arrived at Le Muse via the inside path of Deck 7 so we would still look decent for dinner.

We enjoyed our waitstaff last night and had indicated that we would be pleased to sit in their section each evening. We were seated in the back in the raised section that belonged to Glenn and Ryan. We again sipped champagne while we made our selections from the menu.

Steak tartare was a past favorite of ours so we both chose that as a starter. Some of the sauce needed to be eliminated from my portion to keep it GF, but it did not diminish the dish at all. I could have eaten several more and skipped my entrée!

BCD had prime rib and I chose a GF pasta with a pesto sauce for entrées, with an added risotto to share. We had a pinot noir with the tartare and continued drinking it throughout the meal because we liked it so much.

Dessert for BCD was crème brulee and I again had some grana padano.

Then we headed back to TSL for some drinks and live music.

Day 3 next…

Day 2 Lunch Menu:

Breakfast menu:

Day 2 begins…

Today was a sea day as we sailed to Cádiz, Spain. The temperature was okay for a quick walk outside to Le Muse for breakfast, though it was a bit windy. There were no people in either the regular main pool or in the adult aft pool just outside the Le Muse windows. Loungers were set up all around both pools and we thought the staff was quite optimistic, given the not-so-tropical temperature.

We had already had coffee with Baileys Irish Cream in the room, delivered exactly on time. We needed to hustle a bit to get to Le Muse before they closed, per our usual morning time challenges (that's my nice way of saying that we're always running late). At breakfast, we each had a mimosa and a cappuccino. BCD had Eggs Benedict with a few pastries; I had an egg white omelet with ham and cheese and some grilled ham on the side.

After breakfast, we made a quick stop in the cabin to pick up our paper (Wall Street Journal, as requested) and devices to go to the TS lounge. Our Assistant Butler Jewell had already serviced the room while we'd been enjoying breakfast. Since we've been on Divina before, we have a few tables in the lounge that we prefer over others. There is one table in the exact middle of the front-facing windows, with love seats on both sides and a single chair in the middle, facing the stern. I sat there so I could soak up the beautiful view of the open ocean.

We had a few rounds of drinks and then it was lunch time. We dropped our stuff in the room and headed back to Le Muse. Such a busy morning!

For lunch, I started with pea soup. I remembered it from a previous cruise where I did not care for the mint and plain yogurt dollop served in the middle of the soup so I only ate the soup and did not mix in the yogurt. BCD had L'Olivio salad. Then we both chose beef for our entrees: he had a burger from the Always Available section of the menu and I had Roasted Veal, which was a selection from the Gluten Free menu. There is a GF menu that they share with me when none of the "regular" YC selections are easily altered to be GF or they don't seem appealing to me. (I don't have an image of the GF lunch menu unfortunately.) We each a San Nicolas Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with the starters and changed to a chianti with the entrees. BCD had the Apple crumble pie for dessert (unlike our usual skipping of dessert -- maybe starting a new trend for himself).

After lunch, we headed back to the TSL for some drinks and relaxation. After all, two meals had made for a very busy day so far. LOL 

I think it was after lunch that Pepe, the YC Director, stopped in and made the rounds to greet and chat with every guest in the lounge. When he came by us, we asked him if he was the same Pepe that had been our maître d' on our first MSC cruise on Seaside back in 2018. He confirmed he was and even said that he remembered us. I'm not sure if he was just trying to be gracious but he did seem sincere. Regardless, it was a nice gesture.

At some point during the afternoon, I stopped at the concierge desk to inquire about our butler. We'd already been told that Elvin was our butler -- don't ask me who told us that because I cannot recall -- and asked if maybe he could come by when we dressing for dinner around 7:30pm to introduce himself. I also asked for 14 more hangers as we did not have enough between what we brought from home in our garment bag and what was already in the closet.

YC breakfast and lunch menus will follow (I'll only attach the breakfast menu this one time since it does not change).

More to come…

1 hour ago, Beachin2 said:

Not shiny new & glitzy, but the Divina is our favorite YC ship.

We've heard a lot of the crew say that Divina is their favorite as well, even when we were on Seaside. They mentioned that getting to know all the YC passengers was easier in the smaller footprint.

11 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Interesting about using Deck 7.  Is that the way the Butler takes you or did you learn that one on your own?

Our butler Rodwin taught us that on our first Divina cruise. 🙂

MSC gave me Diamond status (formerly known as Black) for my Marriott Titanium status match. My spouse received Gold for his Hilton Honors Gold status match.

Maybe check the roll call for the cruise before yours or do a mock booking to find out?

The key is when does the ship arrive in port? If there are no unusual events (we've heard of boating accidents in the waters around the port,  TSA and/or US Customs issues, etc.), you probably can board within two or three hours of the dock time. If you don't mind the potential of sitting in the YC port lounge, go as early as you want and enjoy! 🙂

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the real Italian experience I "enjoyed" on our MSC cruise was real Italians completely ignoring the queue of people at the buffet bar and literally barging in right in front of you to place their order. They spoke Italian, pretended not to understand the unhappy people in line, and, worse yet, yelled out to their companions at the nearby table to see if they also wanted something from the bar.

That is pretty much what you'll get in Italy 

23 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Not sure what cultural differences have to do with lower quality of food and customer service on an MSC cruise.

If you holiday in Italy, you will likely experience the same quality of food and customer service unless you are paying top dollar for your trip. There are vastly different tiers of service for what type of experience you'll have on the ground in Italy.

22 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

30 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

An MSC cruise out of Florida is a two-hour flight to Italy for us.

What does this even mean?

That we don't have to fly ~10 hours to enjoy the Italy that we love. We can fly ~2 hours to Florida and board an MSC ship and enjoy the Italian experience. Sorry if that was not clear.

Theoretically, you can check in as early as they let you in the doors of the terminal and when port employees are available at counters. Your boarding will need to wait until it begins in general and then YC is usually one of the first to board. Your signature does not state where you are embarking, which will be part of the time equation.

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Many people on our cruise (on FB) said it was going to be their first and last MSC cruise. And not only due to food.

We are not cruisers. We are people who like to travel to Italy. An MSC cruise out of Florida is a two-hour flight to Italy for us. We've spent over 150 nights on land vacations in Italy. If some people decide that MSC is not for them, then they probably will not be spending a few weeks of their holiday time in Italy either. Cultural differences are not always welcome, unfortunately.

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Do you know if you can order off menu items in Le Muse, e.g. something from the MDR, or are you strictly limited to what's on the menu?

I have been offered the MDR gluten-free menu and Le Muse staff would need to fetch it from there for me. We have not yet asked for anything else non-standard, but it does usually depend on the maître d' and/or the chef. Advance notice is always best -- the more notice, the more chance they can fulfill your request.

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Was Le Muse open for lunch on embarkation day?

Well, technically -- yes. But for our embarkation day, the ship did not dock in Barcelona until 1pm. We could not make it to Le Muse by 1:30pm but everyone already on board could dine there. Every cruise we've taken where the ship docks in the morning, we've had lunch in the YC restaurant on embarkation day.

(For Mediterranean cruises, the ship has passengers embarking and disembarking at just about every port. It makes for a less hectic day without complete turnover of everyone at once. We wish that the US cruises could also follow this model, but I doubt that will ever happen.)

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

In a later post your mentioned you had a preferred way to get from the YC area forward to Le Muse which is aft on deck 15.  From looking at the deck plans, we had intended to either take deck 15 and use the port side walking track or to drop down to deck 13 and walk the interior, if it was very windy, before going back up to deck 15 to Le Muse.  What is the route that you prefer?

For breakfast, we walk on Deck 15 since that is a direct route from YC to Le Muse. If the weather is bad (raining) or really windy, we might walk through Deck 7 -- which is how we almost always walk for dinner. Deck 7 takes you through bars, the pizza restaurant, the photo "place" (I have no idea what the proper name is). We'll take the elevator just outside of YC to 7, walk all the way to just before the Black and White club/disco (never been in there so not sure of the type of venue) and take either of the two middle elevators back up to 15 (the left-most and right-most elevators only go to 14). Le Muse is to the right just off the elevators.

Once we chose a cabin-only deck to walk, thinking that with the carpets and simple long hallways it would be a good choice instead of 15, especially in my heels. However, all the debris -- room steward carts, used plates from room service, etc. -- made us realize just how nice YC is and we never did that again. 😉

40 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Are you able to post pictures easily with just the browse WiFi?

I was able to post the itinerary and dinner menus with no issues just with our browse WiFi. I have been told that we may lose connectivity during the times we are far from land, but I won't know that for a few more days. You'll know if I can't post when everyone starts asking what happened to this thread. LOL