phissy

No Ocean Cay is part of Bahamas and regulated by them.

Our experience yesterday is a perfect example why scheduling flight before noon May not be best idea. Divina arrived MIA port 7am. Ship did not get clearance until 8:45. Those doing walk off reported reported barely making 11:30 flight. Terminal C has been an issue for MSC recently. Many not sure where to send passengers after checking out of ship. We were sent two different ways, with port employees fighting over who is sending people the wrong way. Customs had 3 stations to clear an entire ship of passengers. One passenger passed out while waiting in line. We were in line for 1 1/2 hours. Facial recognition not working. Agents did manual passport with taking photo process. I asked if Global Entry would help…no. We were in YC so, did not have to wait in lines on the ship. Those waiting in lines just to check out of ship had it much worse.

It seems the length of the cruise or the heat may be getting the best of some. Yesterday, witnessed a few upsetting interactions from guests and staff. Guests treating staff disrespectfully is not acceptable in my book. At lunch, up on YC pool deck, table next us to ordered drinks. When delivered, a loud lecture ensued. “ what is wrong with you, do you see the words diet on the can? Do you see the words no sugar on the can? I wanted Coke, the one in the red can. This is not a red can. Can you see that ? “This is a silver can, bring me Coke in the red can.” The served returned with “correct color” can of Coke. Then I watched her go out to area with loungers and wipe away tears and take a minute. This was horrible. I was going to make a comment to couple at next table but, they got up and left. A few minutes later, 2 couples sit down and order drinks. Same server. She tells them they are out of diet Sprite or Diet 7 Up. They tell her to go and make sure. She confirms this. Outrage from guests, “ How is this possible? What kind of ship does this? Go to restaurant manager and find out why. This is not acceptable.” OMG, poor staff. Then….yes, there was more. Another couple arrive and ask what pasta sauce is that day. Were very unhappy with answer, -Calamari with red sauce. “ I hate squid, why do you make such disgusting food.? “ Server started apologizing …when they start fighting between themselves and expletives start flying. I gave John (server) look like -“just walk away.” Wow. I went and talked with Patricia and John, discreetly, and told them how we appreciate them and thanked them for giving us a great cruise.

Yes. The complete answer is when did you book with MSC? There is a time limit for transferring a booking to TA. My memory is 30 days, but it may be different now.

Dmhines - Thanks for posting pics of excursion. It is a very interesting process to watch. Yes, this cruise changed twice since we booked it. Each time 1 day added. It was 10 day when we first booked it. 12 days now . More ports added as Covid restrictions in these countries were lifted. As I mentioned earlier, we were the first cruise ship back to Limon , Costa Rica .

CC company probably had 2 pending charges. They put 1 through as it appeared to be duplicate charge. MSC would have authorized charge #2. You need to submit dispute for second charge online with your credit card company. Mine have a place on website when looking at account for Dispute a Charge. Comments box for explanation of dispute. CC company will submit credit to you while they investigate the charge.

Deb, just want to follow up on Panama Canal excursion. The 8 hour Panama Canal in excursions is the one most on ship did. It was bus ride to ferry boat. Police escorted bus out of town. Many reported they liked it but very long day. If you do not want to do it…. I think you should be able to cancel and get credit. We had to cancel excursions for Frank. He wrenched his back and unable to do much walking. They gave us refund for 48 hour notice of cancellation. Pat

We are currently on same cruise with BCM. Also, in YC. Our first cruise on Divina. ok, Deb , so hope this helps. we had many of these ports on this cruise. Jamaica is dependent on which dock you get. Last year , we had industrial dock. No where to walk. This year, we had nice dock obviously for cruise passengers. Easy walk to all sorts of areas. Shops, hotel beaches, restaurants etc. live music all afternoon. Much nicer. Crew noticed the nice port , this time. Columbia stop, definitely need to use excursions to get to town. Traffic is like Bangkok. Traffic jams with scooters going everywhere. We saw a couple trying to rent a car and then saw accident and changed their minds. We did bus to old town, walking tour around an hour then back on bus for drive around Little Miami ( modern Part of city) , then back to ship. Panama ( Colon) is very dangerous to go out and walk. Some tried to go out to do some shopping etc.Turned right around and came back onboard. Very sketchy and cops outside at ship. One passenger told me she was from Panama and would not go out there. Many did the excursion I think you signed up and reported they really liked it but it was very long day. We stayed on ship as we have done complete transit ( both sides) on another cruise. It takes all day to get from one end to the other. It was interesting to see the ships still in bay, waiting their turn to transit, Costa Rica was Puerto Limon. Ours was the first cruise ship in port yesterday since the Covid shutdown. they had ceremony with our ships captain and officers. Nice welcome from locals. Water cannons when we entered port. We opted to pass on our excursion, last minute. Heavy rain and thunderstorms all night. It would have been fun to do rainforest zip line wildlife adventure. Buses returned late due to accident on highway. ocean cay for two days is great. Always beautiful. We have sea day today and Costa Maya tomorrow, most are going to private beaches for the day. Hope this helps…..it should be fun.

We regularly enjoyed Club Med’s around the world ( before Covid) Our family loved the Family Club Meds when our kids were small. staff spoke French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Our kids were used to hearing many languages on a daily basis. Made friends from around the world. Always heard the basics, “Good Evening, Good Morning, Happy to see you, Please and Thank you “ in at least French, German and Spanish . We enjoy being world travelers and appreciate any effort to share and communicate with others, 😎

We ended up getting 2 papers. Not sure why. Perhaps one butler asked DH during check in for his choice. Our Butler, from last cruise recognized me and came over to say Hi. He asked me for newspaper choice also. We did have sparkling wine in YC cabin as Diamond perk.

Ours came within 5 days before cruise. One email for each passenger. We assumed we would each receive preferences offered. Not the case. After embarkation, butler informs us they do not receive this information passengers have submitted. No pillow choices, etc. he asked for newspaper choice and choice of 1 small bottle of liquor per cabin. It appears this new YC feature in not active yet or MSC is using it for marketing .

Yes to both.

Some kind of cover up over suit is just fine. Men wear t shirts or loose shirts over trunks. Women wear cover up etc over suit. I wear a larger loose sundress over suit with flip flops. Shoes are required. Enjoy it. Tables out on lawn with umbrellas are great.

We also boarded then. I expected they would do their own luggage tags for YC, as they did in MIA when we sailed last. (Then,they removed what we attached and redid Tags.) This time, Porter asked where our luggage tags were. Had them printed out but(, we don’t travel with stapler), not attached . He attached our printed ones and we did not get anything new added from YC check in. So, MSC remains unpredictable. Cartagena today….😎

We are sailing Caribbean on Divina now. Noticed big improvement in TV channels from when we sailed November on Meraviglia. Those wondering if there are more English language channels, here is the current lineup. ESPN , 2 channels, we have been able to watch NFL football games 😁

All Yacht Clubs are not created equally. We notice differences everyday between the two. Divina loungers do not have pads and have frayed edges. Divina does not have flat top at food area of One Pool. Food choices at breakfast and lunch very limited to what they bring out. Ordered burger from One Pool grill. Not even close to the quality we had on Meraviglia. It had thin, dry patty on thick roll. When we had lunch today in YC restaurant, burger ordered by next table, was the one we had on other ship from the pool grill. Divina YC restaurant at extreme aft of ship, while YC is forward. Food delivery is an issue outside of the restaurant . Meraviglia has YC contained in one area of ship. No Nespresso coffee machines in cabin. They said it is because Divina is not a smart ship. How hard would it be to add coffee maker to cabins? Have to order room service to get “coffee” in the morning. Not very good quality. Probably from buffet. It is hard to bring ourselves to walk to other end of ship for breakfast. One Pool grill is same as buffet food served below. Tonight is Italian night. noticed menu from main restaurant had much better choices for dinner. Hoping YC will allow us to request one dish from the restaurant. YC restaurant has same three choices for dessert every night. Cheese, ice cream or Tiramisu. Other options looks like ones available in buffet. We had better food on Meraviglia.

We are on Divina , 12 day itinerary. There are 2 Halloween events scheduled. Some on our RollCall brought costumes,

We are currently on Divina. Last 3 YC cruises were on Meraviglia. We have noticed a distinctive difference between this ship and newer ships. Our YC experience has been not at the same level as before. Seems that MSC has removed some things that have been available. One funny anecdote, received the pre- cruise questionnaire for liquor for each, newspaper and pillow preference. Once onboard, they had no idea of what we were talking about. No pillow choice, and one bottle of liquor. Choice was Prosecco, 2 vodka brands, 2 gin brands and 2 Whiskey brands. Went with Bombay Sapphire Gin. I asked about Cab. Sauvignon I had pre selected. Not on list or a choice . Only 1 bottle per cabin, not per passenger. That solves that matter. YC lounge snacks pretty limited and not too enticing . . It’s a good thing….I have already gained back the 10 lbs I lost over the summer🙄. Lobster tail last night at dinner. Weird, tonight is Gala night and dinner menu does not look that special. Just had chocolate ships delivered…dark chocolate. No one has heard anything about white chocolate ships here. Nap time……😴

You are absolutely correct. The issue we had was with B2B process. They held us for 3 hours and then spent 1 1/2 hours taking us around terminal, long hallways and up and down long flights of stairs. I had to assist several older passengers who could not do stairs . I asked if elevator or escalators were available for handicapped passengers. We were told No. “ If you want to get back on ship, you need to take the stairs.” We passed same MSC poster several times. Finally, I questioned the 2 staff if they knew where we were going and finally received acknowledgement that they were lost and did I not know how to get us back on ship. several older passengers needed to sit and recoup. I told them to find out where we should go and then come back and take the group. . This is why we went to YC Director. This was completely unacceptable. He agreed and had heard about it . He looked into it. His claim that staff was unfamiliar with this terminal. Still made the treatment of the elderly passengers terrible. My husband had to use knee brace after this. I found the fact that he had to get permission from corporate just to offer us the comped meal, pretty sad. Being charged for comped meal is just so MSC, luckily we did not order much .🫤

Currently on Divina for 12 day repositioning cruise. Our RollCall had 24 travel agents on it. Seems MSC has offered free cruises to them and increasing fares for paid passengers.

Robbie Sherrif is YC Director. He is from Scotland and a very pleasant fellow. Most call him.Mr. . Robbie ( Robert Sherrif) He was our YC Director on Meraviglia last November. We are currently in Divina, YC. Not at the same level of service or quality as Meraviglia, last year.

Would be great if MSC would sail Alaska out of Seattle. Sailing out of Vancouver can be difficult with airport and port back ups. Obviously , we would prefer a Seattle port.😎

Same for us. We sail on Sunday and had docs already printed. Received same email. Change was check in time…now 11:00. Was 11:30😮🤔 Just chalked it up to MSC and their ways. Now just have to resist putting “one more thing” in the suitcase.

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