Mikesa1721

Do you save any money pre-booking your excursions prior to departure over booking them on board the ship?

Not really Island. By reserving on-line,,you are guaranteed a spot on that shore excursion. Once you embark the ship,,that same shore excursion may be "Sold Out" and not available to book.

Keep in mind that the big ships won't be allowed in the Grand Canal so you may want to consider one of the smaller ones. Downside is NO YACHT CLUB:eek:

 

Early booking isn't always the way to go. I've just picked up an amazing deal on an 11 nighter to the Canaries on Dec 4th €360pp (€400 before 10% discount). With flights of €109pp I couldn't resist it :D

This is where I may need some help Bea. Yacht Club is not a deal breaker for us. We would love to sail on one of the Musica class ships just for a different experience. A b2b perhaps on a Fantasia and Musica class ship??? Sooooo many options!!!

No, that happens all the time with MSC. My Aug sailing price was on offer up 'til the end of February. It then went up in price - we ended up saving almost €2000 by booking when we did! The same has just happened with my upcoming March TA - it's been on offer since it was released back in April. It has gone up in price in the last couple of weeks. We're paying €1800 for a balcony cabin (YC on that sailing is not being sold in Ireland :mad:) It would now cost us €3094 so we've saved €1294 thank you very much :D

We're looking to do a Med cruise in the summer of 2016 so I'm keeping my eye on the MSC USA site. We want to see Venice and since my girlfriend is half Greek,,of course the Greek Isles have to be included in that itinerary as well. Booking early definitely seems to have it's price advantages!!

Hi Mike

All I know is that the rep at the Clubcard Point told me it wasn't possible to book onboard. I've only sailed on Med cruises up 'til now so don't know about the Divina out your way.

I've purchased the future credit voucher and am getting €400 OBC for my September next booking as it's on the "Early Booking" price.

I read your post about how you managed to avail of the OBC!! MSC are much stricter at enforcing the T&C's in Europe :mad: You're very lucky in the US - you're getting a lot more sweeteners than on this side of the pond.

In order for us to receive our $400.00 OBC we had to cancel our original booking and then rebook the same sailing once again under the "Early Booking" like you have Bea. I will say,,,after the experience packages were released here in the states,,I've been keeping an eye on the pricing of the TA we are booked on next October. When we booked,,the price was $2550.00 pp for a YC1 category. I just looked on Friday and saw the price is now $4150.00 pp. An increase of $1600.00!!! I'm hoping the increase is just due to supply and demand and not the beginning of a trend. :eek:

You won't be able to book a future cruise onboard. Unfortunately MSC doesn't facilitate that.

They sell vouchers for €10 which can be used on sailings with "Early Booking" or "Brochure Prices" rates. You will receive OBC up to the value of €400 per cabin depending on the type of cabin you book, eg €100 for Inside, €400 for YC bookings (can't remember for balcony - I think it's €200 and then €300 for suite).

Bea,,,is it just on European sailings where you can only purchase the future cruise credit and not book a future cruise?? On Divina back in August, I purchased a future cruise credit,,,$400.00 OBC for our TA next October,,Thank You very much!!,,,but a friend booked the same TA while onboard.

There is a MSC fan page on fb..oh i cant find it :(

Jessabella,,,there are 3 which I like,,,,search FB for "MSC For Ever" or " MSC Fans" or "MSC Cruises Fan Page". The first two are primarily Italian, and the third is U.S.

Hi all cruise enthusiasts!

On October 4th, I and my husband go on our very first cruise. We'll go with MSC Preziosa, route: Venice, Bari, Olympia, Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik.

 

Now I'm wondering and hoping to get some responses from you, more experienced, out there:

 

Tell me, One thing, you just don't want to miss on a cruise?

 

Looking forward to your reply.

The shows at night!!! :D

Great review Aussie!!!!! Our cousin would love to play roulette with you. He won $1200.00 the last night playing,,now he's hooked!!! So when is the next Divina sailing Aussie?? We're going on the 3 day sailing in January just for a weekend getaway,,,I think you need to join us!!! :p

We've just returned from our September 27-Oct 4 cruise on the Divina (full review in the next few days). I tried to use the app on my android Motorola smart phone and android Samsung tablet. The problem is that the ship wifi did not extend to our 9th deck midship cabin. In order to use the app, I would have had to take the device to one of the wifi zones (lounges, mostly).

 

That essentially made it useless for us.

That's odd JK!!! You didn't see any wireless access points in the hallways on your deck??

This access point was just outside our stateroom door:

BTW, very cool signature picture Mikesa1721:) Love it:D Are you in for the maiden voyage? :)

 

MsTabbyKats, all the slotmachines have English instructions :) Happy playing

Thanks Norwegian!!! Oh absolutely!!!! I'm hoping the maiden TA will be available for us to book here in the states. I may need to get to Black Level status to have a chance. If not,,,we'll definitely be on the very first sailing if she is ported out of Miami. Heck,,,we might make a b2b out of it!!! :D

I hate to sound stupid.....but;

 

Does the Divina issue 2 cards? A room key and a sea pass?

 

And you put the room key in the slot? How do you add money to it? Something you program on the slot?

 

And how do you cash out? It's all on the room keys? Or is there a Tito?

 

And what do you bring to the cashier?

 

And at the end....the money you put on the room key is part of your final bill.

 

I hope the slot attendant speaks English !

You are issued just one card Tabby which functions not only as your room key, but as well as your onboard charge card. When you sign in at the terminal you will be asked for a credit card in which all of your onboard spending will be charged to. An immediate hold of $150.00 will be placed on your credit card and then once onboard, if your onboard spending is close to reaching that $150.00, another $150.00 hold will be placed on your credit card.

In the casino, if you were to play any of the table games,,you can request a dollar amount in casino chips once you hand the dealer your room key. The pit boss will take your room key,,swipe it,,and then bring you a receipt to sign for the amount of chips you would like to purchase at the table. The slots are similar in which you insert your room key and tell the machine how many credits you would like to purchase. Once you are finished playing, cash out of the slot machine and take the receipt it prints for you to the cashier.

Those ships look amazing! But he will be back on Divina in January. :)

Great news!!!! We're looking forward to hopefully seeing them all in January.:)

Yes, Cpt. Scala said you could follow him on twitter!

He's not very active on Twitter but at least if he does join another ship not named Divina, he'll let us know which ship he's on!! :)

No idea as we left this morning. But the old captain will be back in January after his vacation. I forgot his name already. :P

Ugghhhh!!! First our butler Johnny left on September 27th, and now Captain Scala leaved for his 3 months. I just hope both of them are onboard when we sail in early Janurary!!! :mad:

How bad are the balconies on the 8th floor? Specifically, 8137 & 8139. Anyone have photo of how much the lifeboats block view. Have cruised many times but never had what other cruise lines call obstructed view. When booking this cruise my TA never mentioned these cabins having an obstructed view.

 

Since I convinced my friends to join us and the lure was a balcony cabin. Now I am feeling bad that their first experience in a balcony may not be very good.

Here's a link to CruiseTrail's cabin review. Scroll down to post #113 and you will see the view from behind the lifeboats.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2085097&page=6

Just some quick thoughts!

1) They look great, can't wait!

2) Gotta get a Black Card!:D

3) Promenade!!! Even with a 'REAL PROMENADE' I know a self proclaimed expert who'll still 'Hate' the new designs!:mad:

Don't name names, just wink if you know!;)

;););)

I didn't know this was you Per!!! I was posting on the MSCFANS Facebook page under my girlfriends name Kim. I finally created my own FB account and now am posting under my own name. Still can't believe we never ran into each other while onboard!!! :mad:

This is a virtual representation of the aft pool deck area for the Seaside project. A glass elevator between what appears to be staterooms would make for incredible views of the pool deck as well as the wake of the ship.

Mike, Sometimes at night, when I was enjoying an adult beverage in the wine bar, there was a guy in a red jacket with epaulets hanging around. I assumed he was a butler or concierge or something picking up pizzas for the upper crust. (:D Get, it? Upper CRUST??:D) The last day, I asked the waiter who the guy in the red jacket was and he said he was the printer? I don't think we were talking about the same guy. This guy's jacket kind of looked like Captain Obvious.

 

 

Was he one of the butlers, do you know? Thanks, Maureen

Maureen,,I've never seen any butler wearing a red jacket in The Yacht Club. They all wear long black jackets. Hmmmm,,,I'll have to do some investigative research Maureen. :)

Interesting Mike I guess they have all types, I don't recall someone like that and we always hang out in the aft pool area. I will look out for the "wench" at the end of the month, although maybe not?:D

I saw her in the morning walking around the One Pool area in The Yacht Club when I greeted her Riclop. That was the only time I ever saw her or any security officer for that matter.

They are almost all Israeli and some are even ex Mossad. Some are friendlier than others. One took 18 days to wear down until he eventually cracked a smile and spoke other than a grunt. Can't take the credit for that either, it was my friend who wore him down - she was relentless!

 

They may not all be the most friendliest but they are seriously on the ball when it comes to safety and security. So do not under any circumstances bring a knife with you, regardless of why you think you may need it. Most of them don't give a monkeys about enforcing drink policies though.

They're definitely not the most approachable bunch on the ship Amo,,but if their services were ever required,,I have full confidence in them handling their business!! It's funny how it took 18 days to finally wear one of them down though!!! Your friend was on a mission,,,or was it a friendly bet between you two to see if one of you could crack him???:)

Will disagree with you, the other cruise lines have far more announcements over their intercoms all promoting something for you to spend money on, and you will be bothered approx. every 3 mins. on the pool deck if you want a drink, not on the Divina!

Also no one is demanding, pushy as you put it, to buy something from tables of items set up to browse through! You could just walk by, and no one would say anything on the Divina cause they aren't pushy!:eek:

Completely agree American!! We walked by the tables that were setup near the AquaPark and no one said a word to us. If we had a question,,then the attendant would answer, but never were we given a hard sell for anything.:)

Thanks for your review and I agree with all your points especially that they should make the aft pool adults only and enforce it.

Yeah Riclop,,there's one woman security officer,,,she was a wench!!! That's who I would station there. I was sitting at the One Bar one morning and she came walking by so I said good morning to her. She looked at me,,gave me a half grin,,and kept walking,,,what the h*** is that??? So the One Bar bartender told me that she was ex-Israeli military and that they are all mentally broken!!! :eek:

I read somewhere that on the Divina there was a $3.95 charge for room service. Does that mean if we order breakfast in our room there's a charge? On any other ship we've been on I only had to gave them a tip.

hairy,,it depends on which experience package you select. If you select the Bella package, there is a $3.95 room service charge. If you have the Fantastica or Aurea experience,,a $3.95 room service charge will be billed if you order between 11:00pm and 6:00am. Room service is free 24 hours for The Yacht Club experience.

A Wii...lol does it come with games?

We've never used the Wii, but I believe you have to request the console and games from the concierge.