Mikesa1721

There are 3 phone numbers for the Divina

international area code: (011) 870

765.097.163 or 765.097.164 or 765.097.166

Please dial the international area code before calling one of the phone numbers above.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1682605

Giles Hawk just tweeted: #MSCSINFONIA 11 night east med 8th dec fly cruise just £749 lead in. Unbeatable value

It doesn't seem to work for ANY cruise. Twice this year I noted they'd added the points for onboard spend but not the cruise itself. Each time I contacted them the situation was remedied.

 

Out of curiosity I decided to check DH's account. I've never thought to do it before as my account gets the bulk of points as the onboard spend is added to my card. I discovered that he hadn't received points for the last three cruises. I emailed them immediately on a Wednesday - he received his Gold card (which level he had since attained) and gold pin on Friday!!!! And that was posted from UK to Ireland - swift or wha...:cool:

Bea,,,,the same exact thing happened to us. I checked on both our accounts on Monday. I received 7 points for our trip in August, and my girlfriend received zero points. I was told it can take 6-8 weeks for the points to show up,,so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt,,,key word here "DOUBT", and call them in November to straighten it all out.

Sailed on MSC for the first time back in May,,signed up for the loyalty club before we sailed,,,looked in the mailbox today,,,and our membership cards finally showed up,,5 months later!!!! :confused:

I must admit, I'd like to try the YC for the peace and quiet and the use if the better dining room. The butler part just doesn't appeal at all. Like your girlfriend, Mike, the thought of someone unpacking for me. Not only do I not want a stranger touching my things, I wouldn't have a clue where they put everything and that would drive me nuts.

 

Had the sue of TA butler at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. Lovely guy but I could not think of anything for him to do for me. He ended up delivering my room service breakfast and that was it. He did lay it out beautifully for me. He was quite put out that I didn't want him to run baths for me or unpCk or anything else.

Yes Amo!!! That's exactly how she feels. She really has this thing about someone putting her things away for her,,,heck,,she doesn't really like me putting her clothes away.

We're fine with breakfast delivery,,escorting us on and off the ship,,and the occasional beverage carry from the Top Sail Lounge up to our room,,but other than that,,we barely use our butler.

We're in San Juan today so I have internet again YAY!!! some quick remarks about the cruise so far. The ship is absolutely gorgeous. Plus the fact that my wife and I love the modern design makes it even more appealing. Food has been hit or miss, our party of 6 try to order different things so we can try most of the stuff on the menu. We always found at least one dish every night were we all thought was very good. The rest varies by opinion even among the 6 of us. Dinner and lunch was very slow in the MD but our waiter is very nice and is very accommodating to our requests. The slow service seem to be by design and not cause the servers are slow. We loved our upgraded staterooms and our room steward. Overall I will say many of the negative reviews do have some truth to it but it does not bother me as much as some people on here. Our biggest dissapointment so far is non Divina related. We made plans to go to El Yunque today but couldn't go cause one of us in the party wasn't feeling well. So we're just strolling old San Juan. El yunque was the place we were looking forward to the most.

Sorry you missed El Yunque Jzx!!! The rain forest is beautiful!!! There's still lots to do and see nearby the cruise terminal. You can hop on and off the free trolley and see the forts,,do some shopping,,etc. You better hurry though,,,ship leaves at what,,,4:00pm???? Enjoy the rest of your cruise!!! We'll be here waiting for your review when you return!!!:)

I surely don't require it and have done without it many times. But if I am paying what I consider to be an enormous amount of money for something I am going to try to utilize it to it's fullest.:D

Absolutely Moon, as well as the concierge!!! I would like to try the unpacking service, but my girlfriend doesn't like the idea of someone going through her things,,,which I can understand. I'm going to try the shoe polish service in January,,but instead of leaving my shoes in the hallway for the butler to collect,,I feel more comfortable handing them to him. :)

I can try but not sure how I can get into the cabin and check the balcony

 

Jzx,,,,not to worry,,,Joyce moved her staterooms up to deck 11. Enjoy San Juan today!!! Looks like you have great weather!!

Knowing the butlers Oreo,,,they won't let you touch your luggage,,they'll move it all for you. :D

That balcony in the YC3 suite is weird, really!

 

Well done on discovering the source of the rattling - we had an unmerciful racket in the cabin during the bad weather but it seemed like the ceiling was creaking. I don't think any amount of cardboard would have sorted it :rolleyes:

 

Would you advise FireEater to change cabins? I know I would but that would just be my personal opinion.

It would be my personal opinion as well Bea. I like the size of the balconies in the forward staterooms,,but not the location of the railing or the wind screen. However,,,I like the openness of the side stateroom balconies, but not the size, so it comes down to personal preference it seems. Hopefully, the YC stateroom balconies on the new builds will be a little different.:rolleyes:

I was in a forward-facing cabin (16003) on Splendida and, personally, would not recommend it (unless, like Mike, you're in one of the YC3 cabins). The view was limited due to the hull in front and it was windy most of the time to the point where you couldn't have the balcony door open. Saying that, it was in February in the Med and we had some extremely bad weather - the wind howled and rattled that door something terrible at night.

 

I don't think there were any chairs being moved above us - not in Feb in the Med, LOL so I can't comment on whether that would be a problem or not!

 

I would only ever book a side cabin after that experience. On my recent cruise I was in 15027 on Preziosa (she's identical to Divina) and it was perfect with a great balcony with glass panel. I'll be on Divina next September and, again, I've booked a side cabin. I've chosen Deck 15 as it's on the same level as the Top Sail Lounge :D

Bea,,,Our pvc booked us in stateroom 16001 for our TA next October. Once I received the documents and saw that stateroom number I immediately called him back and had him move us to a YC1 stateroom off to the side. I'm not a fan of the forward facing staterooms just because of the balcony with the glass wind screen. We really didn't care for the balcony on our YC3(Royal Suite) stateroom either, but loved the separate living room and bedroom areas.

We experienced horrible rattling of our balcony divider at night when we sailed in 16009 back in May Bea. I noticed the metal spring was sort of bent in the divider door,,wedging some folded up cardboard between the door and the latch took care of that problem!!!:)

Hi Mikesa,

 

I was going by this (from another thread)

 

 

 

I can't really imagine just keeping your minibar stocked; isn't that something that they should be doing anyway?

Yes Moon,,,it is. We are very simple people who don't require that level of service even though it may be available. We book the Yacht Club for it's exclusivity from the rest of the ship and that is the value for us. Everyone is different and may have different requirements while onboard. If you're sailing on Divina,,I can tell you that our butler along with other butlers would serve drinks at The One Bar during the day and then resume their butler duties later in the evening. I would have to assume their would be a butler who would cover for the other, while he/she was working up at The One Pool and Bar.

How many cabins share one butler?

 

What is and isn't it reasonable to ask a butler to do for you?

Moon,,,Our butler took care of the 10 forward suites on deck 16, staterooms 16009 through 16010. Some may service more or less staterooms.

A far as what is reasonable to ask??? For us,,,we wouldn't ask him to do anything we couldn't do ourselves. We did ask him to keep our refrigerator filled with certain types of beer,,but that's about all we asked from our butler,,,other than our Yacht Club polo shirts!!:eek:

Thanks for the info Mike, we will miss Capt Scala.

Captain Scala is just on vacation for a few months,,,he'll be back onboard Divina Riclop. :D

This cruise has caught my interest as of late. I'm currently booked on the Carnival Pride for a 5 day Bermuda Cruise in April 2016, but am considering making the switch to this cruise because of the 3 days in Bermuda. I have been reading the boards here and reading reviews and it seems like the Divina is a great ship!

 

My concern is, as I understand it, MSC committed to having a ship in the US full time and then they changed their minds and the Divina is sailing in the Med next year with the plan on coming back to the US. Should I be worried about them changing their minds and cancelling their US cruises for 2016? I just don't' want to cancel my Carnival Bermuda cruise, book with MSC only to find out that they changed their minds and won't do the US anymore.

Tennessee,,MSC will be returning in the fall of 2015,,,I'm actually booked on the Trans-Atlantic sailing from Genoa back to Miami in October of 2015 so she better be coming back!!!;)

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Pete just left for 21-day cruise....he said he was available till late night yesterday:).

Really??? Uggghhhh!!!! I'd like to be on a 21 day cruise right about now!!!

When you get a chance, can you check your daily and tell us the name of the Captain. Thanks!! Heard a new one came on board today.

Just received this tweet from Andre Schlemmer: The current captain is Captain Francesco Saverio Veniero.

Captain Veniero started his career with MSC in 1993 and was promoted to Second Officer in 1999. After serving with other cruise companies he re-joined MSC Cruises as Staff Captain in 2005. He held this rank for six seasons until he was promoted to Captain in 2009. Today he is on his 6th season on an MSC ship. Captain Veniero has commanded Lirica and Musica class ships.

First Thanks to all for your support & patients with my cabin issues.

 

First We were booked in cabins 8137 & 8139 Thanks to cruise critic discovered these cabins had poor visibility to ocean due to lifeboats. Then we changed to cabins 9066 & 9062. Once again Thanks to cruise critic found these cabins to be slightly more desirable then our first choices. However, they are not typical balconies. So now we switched to cabins 11281 & 11285.

 

I'm almost afraid to ask but.......what's your opinion of these.

 

Maybe I should not ask....Ha! Ha!

I think those two staterooms will be perfect for you and your friends!!!! Much better choice,,,just waiting for Skier52 (Pete) to post some pics,,in 3,,,2,,,1,,,

I was just about to say I'm surprised at you Mike when you said that it looks like the Top Sail Lounge. You've since edited your post and, in the meantime, I figure you were trying to say that it looks similar.

 

Bytheway, it is the Galaxy.

You are correct Bea!!! It hit me once I looked at the picture again. I've only seen the Galaxy Restaurant once but have been to The Top Sail Lounge quite a few times, so the glass wall threw me a little bit.;)

 

Another perfect place for a great view of Venice.

Is that the Galaxy Restaurant Alex???

can you forward this picture to my e-mail. robertzega@yahoo.com

I sent you the image Joyce&Bob. If you don't see it in your inbox,,check your spam folder.:)

sailing on the Divina 10/18/2014 sailing. Originally I had 2 cabins booked 8137 & 8139. Was told this forum that these cabins were the worst balcony cabins on the ship.

 

Called my TA and he got us moved to cabins 9066 & 9062. Posted again on here of our change. Asking for any information on these cabins. Received a response saying they also were not good. Said they were cabins that had sliding door out but once you were out all you had was a cut-out (picture window). Sort of like an ocean view. If you were sitting could not see out at all. Had to stand up and look out window type opening.

 

Needless to say called my TA again, this time in tears. He assured me that was NOT the case. He said he had MSC on the line for 20 min. And they said cabins 9062 & 9066 had normal type balconies.

 

Now what do I do. Is there a way I can check with MSC to verify? I did try calling them direct this morning but was told to go through my TA. Anybody have a name of a person at MSC a who would take my call.

 

Has anybody stayed in these cabins or near them who could give me a first hand report.

 

Thanks to anyone who can give me some HELP!

Try my PVC David. He's very good. He won't be able to change your stateroom for you because you booked through a travel agent,,but he can advise you on rooms which may be available. Before you call,,arm yourself with a deck plan so you have an idea of where on the ship your stateroom will be:

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/us_en/Images/Deckplans_DI_June2013_tcm12-80769.pdf

Here's David's direct number: 954.958.3286

"They" (MSC rep) told me they are 15 per cent more if you book on the ship.

Ahhhhhh,,,forgot about the service charge,,,sorry about that MsTabby!!!

Mike, I've just checked out Cruisetimetables.com and had a look at the sailings from Venice for May 2016 - nothing showing for MSC from there. Only 2 showing at the moment - Silversea and Azamara.

I did some checking on the ports of call for our TA next October on http://ports.cruisett.com. They don't show the Divina in any of the ports on the dates we are to arrive so I'm guessing they haven't updated their site yet???

First World problems, Mike :rolleyes:

 

Bytheway, avoid school holidays like the plague! Late May could be a nice time to sail the Med - especially if you're considering embarking in Venice. Cruises from there often take in Istanbul which is hell to visit at the height of the season. I've been there in both May and early September this year. We visited the Blue Mosque with no problems in May. We heard from fellow passengers on the Sept sailing that the Blue Mosque was a nightmare!

Great info Bea!!! Thanks so much!!! We are pretty flexible so late May would work for us. Just have to wait for the itineraries to be released on the US site.:)