GenerationX

Not to put spoilers in my own review, but from a style and design perspective, it gets worse. There’s also a planter in the yacht club that has what I’m pretty sure is a real Sonoran cactus in it. I didn’t think you could even grow cactuses like that indoors. Full post about my stateroom to come, but my bed has a mauve velour headboard with matching two-toned zebra print duvet and curtains.

Hello from onboard Divina! When it was time to board, several butlers came to the lounge and escorted the yacht club passengers in small groups of 8-10 people onto the ship. The butler who escorted me insisted on carrying my luggage so it was “follow the man with my new Gucci bag”! When we got onboard the butler took us to the yacht club lounge where waiters came around to take drink orders and there was a buffet of hot canapés. My first impression is that Divina is a beautifully kept up ship, but the design aesthetics aren’t as much my style as Celebrity’s. Just a little too ornate and overstated. I texted Red at the airport and told her that I feel a little like I’m in Scarface’s mansion. 😂 It took me a little while to find my way here from the yacht club lounge, but I’ve just settled in for lunch at the Le Muse Yacht Club restaurant (whose decor reminds me a lot of a high end version of Olive Garden). To get here I had to cross both the indoor pool (which seems much bigger than the solarium on Celebrity) and the outdoor main pool (which seems much smaller than the main pool on Celebrity). A report on my first meal on MSC to come soon!

I agree. For the most part we do specialty dinning if not in suite or aqua with the better dinning rooms. There are a few dishes in the main dining room that I still love (like the escargot and lamb chops), but for the most part it seems like the food quality and atmosphere in the MDR remind me a little too much of being at a big, moderate budget, wedding banquet. I thought it was much better though in the smaller MDR’s on the Edge. But I heard a lot of rough feedback on the MDR’s on Beyond (I didn’t try them personally as I was in Aqua), so maybe that’s not a full solution either.

It was cooked well, but it had almost no flavor. I really had to salt and pepper it and add a lot of sour cream and butter. If they just brushed it with some olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt before baking it would’ve made such a difference. I only ate a few bites then saved the stomach space for steak and lamb.

Unless we start dipping into Gen Z’s college fund I don’t know that I can afford to be royal suite addicted! That being said, my luck in the casino continued on Silhouette and I decided to treat myself to a new handbag. But I passed on the Louis Vuitton and went with a much less expensive (but still lovely, and likely to give Jeremy a heart attack if he ever sees the sale receipt) option, so that I still have the budget to do a strong move up bid to a royal suite for my March cruise!

This is my concern as well. I’ve heard very mixed reviews of the food. But these days you see mixed food reviews on every cruise line and it is somewhat subjective. A UK couple that we met on Reflection a few years ago sail MSC in Europe and told us that they’ll only do MSC in yacht club because the food in the main dining room was almost inedible but the yacht club restaurant and one pool food were wonderful. I figure worst case if the food is a disappointment, I have a few pounds to shed from everything I ate on Silhouette anyway! 😂

It was delicious! I wanted a Shiraz but they didn’t have one so I think I did a Mouton Cadet Bordeaux blend instead. Yes in the royal and penthouse suites specialty restaurants are complimentary.

We’re staying here! Mostly for selfish reasons as I think keeping two threads going will be too much of a time suck for me. I’ll take no offense though if some want to drop out of following for the MSC half!

Unfortunately they are not. They’re much wider and shorter than the celebrity tags and when I tried to put them in the celebrity holders the width made it really hard to get them in and some of the info didn’t show, so I had to buy MSC holders on Amazon.

Ok so, [sigh] as a Celebrity loyalist, I’m somewhat regrettably admitting that MSC Yacht Club knows how to make a first impression. After I got off the Silhouette, I got a porter to help with my bags and when he found out I was just going 2 piers down to Divina, he offered to just walk me there with my bags and his dolly rather than mess with flagging a cab that would have to loop around the port to get back there. When we got to the terminal after tipping him generously for the extra help, I saw the white tents outside for yacht club. As we walked up, I was greeted by a smiling face in a full suit and tie who waved over another porter to take my bags. He took down my stateroom number and then offered to take my rolling carryon bag and one of my totes for me as I embark and escorted me past a line waiting to be admitted to the terminal, through an empty security line marked “Yacht Club Only” and took me up to a small room in the terminal building where I was greeted by another smiling face, this one in a FULL TUXEDO with tails (I suddenly felt under dressed), who got me seated, poured me a glass of champagne, delivered it on a silver platter and then confirmed my stateroom number and asked what newspaper if any I would like delivered to my stateroom each morning. The lounge isn’t anywhere near as nice as the retreat boarding area in at terminal 25 in Fort Lauderdale. But it’s on par with the one in Miami where we were when we boarded Silhouette. Plus champagne. Served on a silver tray. I got to the port about 9:45 and the butler who brought my champagne informed me that they expect to start the boarding process in about an hour pending customs sign off and zero count from the previous cruise. In the mean time, I’m sitting here enjoying the bubbly and tea sandwiches. More to come from onboard Divina.

Good morning from disembarkation/embarkation day in Miami! Ok guys, this just feels weird. So weird. It’s the end of my cruise but also the start of a cruise and I’m this weird mix of a little sad and a lot excited. Im dressed in map dress #2 and having a breakfast snack in Luminae while filling out my health survey and luggage tags for Divina. On my elevator ride down a couple asked me “so when is your next cruise?” And it was so much fun to answer “Today.” I’ll be staying onboard until the latest time possible (9:15 for this sailing) then will grab the worlds shortest cab ride to the MSC terminal. I know I still have a few catch up reports for this cruise to do and promise I’ll get them in during my time on Divina.

Late night pro-tip from Silhouette: You know that crankiness and slight dismay that one sometimes feels when your cruise is ending and the ship is making its way ever steadily back into port? Well I think I’ve found the cure and it’s surprisingly simple (if financially and logistically challenging)! You just need a royal suite where you can spend said sail in in a bubble bath sipping a Super Tuscan and also have a second cruise booked that you’re leaving on on the same day. You're welcome. 🤣

Your influence didn’t ruin me at all. Actually it was cruise line policies that did me in. When I was in duty free I did see some very attractive whiskey options for my home bar, but then I remembered there was no way I’d be able to get them on the Divina with me for the next cruise! I guess a really good thing too that my husband decided against wanting me to bring back tequila from Cozumel!

A few quick sea day updates: 1-If you’ll be onboard Silhouette and cruise director Mike is giving his beyond the podium presentation on the Titanic and her place in the ocean liner industry, I highly recommend attending. If you’re a big cruising history nerd like me, a lot of the info may be things you already knew, but he’s an engaging, funny and dynamic speaker and he provided some really interesting comparisons to how ship design, marketing and operations go down on modern cruise ships. 2-I think someone asked me to check on scotch and Hennessy Pure White availability in duty free. It was crowded in the shop so I didn’t get to look super well, but the scotch selection didn’t seem especially exciting. Looked like the usual wall of Johnny Walker. However, I did see the Hennessy well stocked. 3-These are the loosest slots I’ve had on a last sea day in several cruises. I only had a little time to play before lunch so I popped $20 in a quarter machine and max bet till I was down to my last spin then hit a great bonus! I promptly gave nearly a hundred back (boo), but then switched to a wheel of fortune machine that turned out to be hot (yay!). I ended up sitting at up about $190 in like 20 minutes of play. Not a bad start to the day!

Good morning from Luminae breakfast on my last full day on Silhouette! 😭 Last night before I put myself chin deep in a bubble bath, I had dinner at Lawn Club Grill. When I last ate at the restaurant pre-refurb I remember it being pretty windy up there. It looks like they’ve put in better wind covers around the restaurant because last night it wasn’t windy at all. The only down side is that thick sheeting that blocks the wind also really blurs the views of the ocean and lawn and kind of makes you feel like you’re eating in a greenhouse. I started with the sausage and pepper flatbread (which the chef was able to make a bit smaller for me since I was solo). I wasn’t impressed. The sausage had almost no flavor. It doesn’t hold a candle to the outstanding sausage flatbread at the rooftop restaurant on E-class. For dinner, I was torn between the lamb chops and ribeye and my server told me the chef could cut just one or two chops of lamb if I wanted to have both. I ordered both medium rare and both were cooked perfectly. I think the ribeye was even better than the one at Tuscan! For dessert I had the warm chocolate chip cookie a la mode. How could that not be good? I’m gearing up for a very busy last day at sea. Today’s Agenda: -Beyond the Podium lecture on the Titanic -A little shopping and slot machines -lunch at the Porch -Premium wine tasting -taking a bath on my veranda before chefs table dinner -Packing and preparing to swap ships tomorrow!

Right? Furthermore, OP is so happy and excited that they wanted to take the time to share their experience with others. Which I always appreciate! I’m sailing on Solstice in a couple of months and was just happy once I clicked in to see that the post wasn’t bad news about food/service/ship condition onboard. As that Disney song goes, “Let it go…”. Wow actually now that I think about it, Disney Cruises should make THAT the horn song on their ships! 🤣

Well that’ll teach your husband about letting the Mexican liquor do the thinking and following a bunch of drunken stragglers instead of his clever wife! If you don’t mind, I shall use this anecdote as an example for my tequila loving husband! I’ve always warned him that if he’s ever fool enough to split from me and end up being late to the ship, I’m going to be onboard telling guest services when they page me: ”He has a travel credit card on him and knows better than this and I also quite enjoy solo cruising. Raise the anchor and let’s get going. Btw can I get an onboard credit for his port fees for the remainder of the cruise?” 😂

Quick real time update: As I was taking in sea breeze up by the lawn club tonight I noticed quite a wild DJ party starting up on the pool deck. My love for this royal suite (including a surprise treat delivery from Clayton) won out though, so I’m spending my late evening seeking my entertainment elsewhere…

It was on the wine list in Murano! If you do want to bring some wine on with you and are in the Brickell area pre-cruise, there was a decent wine shop right down the street from my hotel. Prices were comparable to Celebrity when accounting for the taxes charged at the shop and the beverage package wine bottle discount that celebrity gives. They didn’t have anything I was so interested in that I wanted to spend money out of pocket on in lieu of spending onboard credit to buy during the cruise (the guy behind the counter mentioned they’ve been having supply issues too). But may be worth a look if you’re in the area.

You chose! Red gets hers over easy.

Thank you Norma! Honestly the negativity has gotten to me too on occasion but I’m a realist. I’ve spent time on the boards for most of the other cruise lines (in my budget anyway) looking at options and I’ve yet to find one where no one is complaining about some kind of cutbacks, higher prices for premium accommodations, and/or extra charges. Even on the MSC boards I’ve been following for my next cruise there’s regular posts about yacht club perks “not being what they used to be” and complaining about how much fares have gone up. I have to resist commenting “um, have you guys SEEN the prices for NCL Haven and Celebrity Retreat recently???” And I’ve never seen people so salty about no longer getting a free chocolate mold. This industry went over a year making almost no revenue and I can’t imagine what it takes financially to keep things going and keep shareholders happy while trying to make up for that. I knew once the global suspension drug on past 6 months that when cruising did come back fully, it probably wouldn’t be the same experience I was used to for a long time, if ever and my choices were to adapt expectations or stay home. And I was quite over staying home. There definitely are some once great things about Celebrity that now aren’t what they used to be. But at least from my experience there’s also a lot of great things about Celebrity that are still very much here and I’m not prepared to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet. Now depending on how my MSC cruise goes, I may well find my loyalties surprisingly shifted and be eating these words…hopefully without an extra entree up charge. 😂

Thank you! The huevos rancheros is my favorite Luminae breakfast and this one was done really well. The avocado was at perfect ripeness and the scrambled eggs were perfectly soft without getting to runny. I thought they had great flavor too and we have our own laying hens at home so I’m an egg snob.

I feel so bad guys. I over slept my afternoon nap and missed the captains club party 🤦🏾‍♀️ Oh well I’m all dressed in a breezy weather friendly outfit, with cardigan stuffed in purse, for my sunset dinner at Lawn Club. At 20 minutes past all aboard the captain hadn’t pulled up the gangway and I heard a couple paged to call guest services immediately. Sure enough…Pier Runners off the port bow! The best part was as they finished their sprint, it looked like the man argued bery briefly with a waiting officer about not being able to bring his take home box of Mexican leftovers onto the ship. 😂 Now that all are accounted for, looks like we’ll set sail soon!

I’m doing a little Agatha Christie this time! Hoping to inspire myself to save for a Nile River cruise. 😁

oh twist my arm to go shopping! Lol So glad you’re enjoying the review! I’ll make a stop by duty free tomorrow when it’s open for our sea day.