Mikesa1721

Nada. I only asked, they said NO. Our friends asked and they offered them an upsell of $1050 for the Yacht Club. :D

We had a great time.

Are you following the Bermuda thread???

I think I mentioned before about our cousins being offered a Yacht Club suite for 900.00 before our sailing as well. Good to know you had a great time though!!! I'll be checking in on the Bermuda thread soon,,,been busy researching and planning our repo in October 2015.:)

It was all fine, I know they don't want to shuffle people around. I had an afternoon nap daily in the dark. Something that I never do at home. We had a wonderful time. This was my 3rd MSC cruise and third ship. Love this line.

Welcome home Joy!!! Hope you had a wonderful trip!!! Would love to know if you were able to upgrade your stateroom.:)

Thanks Mike, I know I need to be open to new things. But the person who posted that there were only ~20 English-first-language speakers on board really swayed me.

Andrew was referring to a sailing from Italy. If you sail the Med, you may encounter fewer English speaking pax onboard but a lot of pointing and hand gesturing is usually enough to get by. I wouldn't worry about Divina though,,there'll be plenty of English speaking pax onboard.

Thank you so much to the original poster for the patient and informative advice. I've seen these language barriers with the staff on every cruise... almost always solvable...sometimes writing your request down on a note can help.

 

I've been looking into the MSC Divina for a cruise, but hadn't realized that it would have such a diverse PASSENGER pool. A diverse group of employees is common and easily worked around, but it would be a difficult trip (for me) if there were only 20 other English-as-a-first-language passengers.

 

I can only speak English. My fault, I know. I have been on a past cruise where I was seated with ESL folks for the week, and conversation was difficult. By the end it became so stressful that I'm almost paranoid about cruising again. I'm not a social butterfly to begin with, so the extra challenge of not understanding someone's words isn't enjoyable for me, at all. MSC Divina seems to have many positive attributes, but a language barrier that extreme (i.e. meaning almost nobody on the ship shares my background) is a deal-breaker.

 

I'm not closed-minded, I'm just single-languaged & don't want to spend a week where I can't relate to anyone. Too stressful.

Styx...you will not find a language barrier onboard Divina. A good percentage of the pax onboard are American and just about all of the crew you will encounter do speak English,,some better than others.

What do msc on their bigger ships offer for a 2 year old. Any baby sitting group or in room. Happy to pay extra

NEW! MSC Baby Care Services

MSC has thought about moms and dads too, offering you the opportunity to drop your children off at the Mini Club where they will be looked after by qualified and dedicated staff who will let them play. Subject to prior booking, limited availability, for children between 1 and 3 years old (not inclusive). Available at the following times, exclusively when the ship is AT SEA : between 1:00-2:00p.m. and between 6:00-7:00p.m. Completion of a registration form is required. Ask the Mini Club staff once you’re on board. Diaper changing and feeding must be provided by parents

MSC Baby Time

Mom and dad, we’re waiting for you and your child at the Mini Club, which is reserved for our youngest guests (under 3 years old) for hours and hours during the day, allowing them to play with you and other children of their own age from many different countries. In the meantime, you can make friends with other parents holidaying with their children. You can enjoy the Mini Club, a dedicated facility for young children, with your child at these times:

Baby Time hours* in the Miniclub are:

In Port: 9:00a.m-11:00a.m | 4:00p.m-6:00p.m | 8:00p.m-9:00p.m

At Sea: 1:00p.m-2:30p.m | 6:00p.m-7:30p.m

*Times may vary by ship or itinerary

Activities with Chicco Toys

You’ll find the most modern, fun and educational toys, chosen for you by the Osservatorio Chicco, Baby Research Center.

Activities include:

Let’s speak English: let’s play in English with Chicco bilingual toys

Rhythm and music: playing with music is such fun

Mini Olympic Games: start by crawling and then...

Meet our mascot Dorebaby

Discover our partnership with Chicco.

Chicco is available on select ships

Sorry to hear that - although she may have a very accommodating employer, who knows? Here's hoping.

 

 

 

I don't know that there is a waiting list. I was going on what you've said in past posts about asking your PVA to put you on one so I assumed it existed :roll eyes:

From my experiences with MSC I very much doubt it. I think it would be down to a very good PVA keeping a watchful eye.

 

On the subject of booking deposits MSC recently brought in a policy whereby we in Europe can now book for €100 pp - it came in with the new "Experiences" pricings and we can make changes (subject, of course, to T&Cs) to the bookings so we're beginning to catch up with the good oul' US when it comes to customer service :D

That's good Beam!!! I saw in Pete's post where he was paying a non-refundable deposit which seemed to be higher than what we pay here in the states. I'm guessing now that MSC has rolled out their new booking system in the UK, that has changed which is good news for all of you!!!:D

I'd be very careful, if I were you, Mike, that you don't lose those valuable bookings for the sake of it. As you know, yourself, they're not easy to come by and if they're returned to the system as a cancellation there could be a waiting list attached to nab them!

I may have to cancel my 2 April sailings sadly Beam. My girlfriend will be starting a new job next month and we don't think the new company would much appreciate her asking for 2 weeks off after only working there for 6 months.:( But that's ok,,we still have our 3 day in January and our 19 day repo to look forward to.

I am curios though Beam,,,how does the waiting list work??? I told my PVC when we booked our repo sailing, that I wanted to be put on the waiting list for stateroom 16008. Currently we have 16035. How would my PVC know if somehow this stateroom became available???

Mike, that didn't work for me. I was booking my August sailing in Feb knowing I would be Gold level after May. I asked the TA if MSC would be willing to give OBC as a gesture as I wanted to book then and not wait 'til I'd come back from the May sailing for the extra discount. He contacted MSC and was told it would be considered. However, when the booking was finalized, they wouldn't entertain it.

 

Having said all that, the reason I was booking beforehand was I was getting YC for almost HALF-PRICE so I can't really complain about not getting an extra 2% discount which would only have amounted to €50 whereas I saved €2000!!

What I was going to do Beam, was to have my PVC cancel the sailing and then rebook it using the Silver discount rather than the Classic Level discount. It seems as though OBC is a blasphemous phrase around MSC,,,they don't like to give any and it was a struggle even to get the $400.00 OBC after I claimed my future cruise credit voucher. My PVC told me I was booked under such and such promotion and that I couldn't use it for some reason or another. So,,,,he had to cancel the sailing and then rebook using a different promo,,,ughhhhhh,,,what a mess!!!!!!!

Sadly, 11270 is gone already. :( No other aft balconies available on deck 12, 11 or 10. Oh well, we'll enjoy all the extra space of our extra wide balcony and sideways cabin 9146.

Uggghhhh!!! Story of my life as well JK,,,,a day late and a dollar short!!! Hopefully you'll get lucky and something else will become available,,,,:)

Odd indeed! We're way beyond the age of rock - heck, we invented it! But we have no interest in hanging with crowds of head-bangers, lol.

Still on the fence, sounds like such a good deal, but hubby is leaning away from it now. Wish some of the MOR folks would chime in and provide more info.

Oh good!!! I see you posted your concerns in the Roll Call for that sailing. I was going to link you there. I know Cruisergal is sailing,,,she would be a great reference for information!!!

Yes, I know the full MOR cruise is next spring, but they're also promoting a MOR Alumni cruise for Nov. 8 - 12, 2014. Check out this site:

 

http://monstersofrockcruise.com/2014-alumni-cruise/

 

The Celtic Thunder site is still advertising this as a "full-charter" Irish - themed cruise, a bit misleading I would think.

How ODD!!!!! After reading their promo,,it looks as if they will just have a couple of artists playing acoustic sets late night. I think you would be fine booking this as it doesn't seem that any of the MOR artists are going to encroach on the Celtic Thunder Artists performances. Book it and have a blast!!!!

JK,,,I'd snatch up one of those aft balconies if I were you!!! If we didn't sail Yacht Club,,I would definitely look into one them myself!!

I got all excited today when I received a "runner-up" reward for entering the Celtic Thunder cruise give-away - $190 pp incl. taxes, fees and gratuities for an inside, $290 for a balcony. I'd looked at this cruise several months ago but the prices I saw were too steep for us. So when I got this notification, we were ramped up.....until I discovered that Monsters of Rock also has a group on the same sailing.

How in the world can they combine these two disparate groups? I have absolutely no wish to hear heavy metal music or be in the party "mix," and I can imagine the "rockers" would be bored to death with the Irish music.

Can't see how in the world they can mix these two on the same sailing. I was ready to book, have my credit card out, but think we'll pass.

Flahagan,,The Celtic Thunder Cruise is November 8th through the 12th 2014.

https://www.celticthundercruise.com

The Monsters Of Rock Cruise is April 18th through the 22nd 2015.

http://monstersofrockcruise.com

I wonder whether when you get to higher levels it will be advantageous to cancel your booking ( the 4 you have already booked) and immediately rebook the same cabin with the new discount.

It's probably a quite close calculation as the extra discount is only 3% when you get to silver but will 5% extra when you get to gold. It wouldn't be worth it in the UK as we pay very high (~10% or £200 {$320} whichever is the higher) non refundable deposits

 

Pete

I have thought of that Pete. I'm waiting to see what my onboard spending point total will be in the next few weeks to see where I am. After our January sailing,,I'm hoping to get to Silver. I'll then call my PVC and have him discount the next 3 sailings. Hey,,3% is 3% right?? BTW we only pay $100.00 per person deposit on any sailing here in the U.S. Pete.:)

Mike....use the free online language lessons from Duolingo. Very similar to Rosetta without the cost.

 

Trish

Thanks Trish!!!!! I've already signed up for a year of Rosetta Stone,,but I'll look into this as well. I think it was Amo who had suggested the Michael Thomas courses as well. All great suggestions and hopefully between them all, I should be able to read and speak at least some Italian before October 2015.

Can you tell me where the hair dryers are located? Bathroom or dressing table?

Depending on the type of stateroom,,,you can find two of them if you are booked in a suite. For a normal stateroom,,you will find the hair dryer in the top drawer of the dressing table. If you are in a suite, you will find one in the top drawer of the dressing table, as well as in the top drawer of the walk-in closet.

Are robes provided in balcony cabins?

You can request them from your cabin steward if you do not find them in your stateroom already.:)

Actually we are very happy the Divina will go back and forth in the spring and fall, we're planning on Transatlantic cruises every year starting in 2016!:D

That 20% will be a nice extra!

 

PS MSC has a 2nd ship, MSC Musica that sails the Caribbean out of the Dominican Republic in the Summer!

American,,,you're going to have to let me know when you start planning those trips!!! We're thinking about doing the same thing. The Caribbean has become boring for us, so we're now looking to explore Europe and especially the med. Greece and all of Italy are very high on our wish list.

With only 1 ship full time for now, and after April next year it will become seasonal, so if you want to cruise MS, you will have to fly to europe.

Correct,,for the time being. I'm a lowly Classic Level Member, but I still enjoy a 5% discount on my total cruise bill. It won't take us long to get to the black level though,,with 4 sailings booked on MSC including a 19 day TA from Genoa to Miami,plus one point for every $200.00 we spend onboard,we'll get there soon.

Might be a bit useless if you live in the USA.

What makes you say that Topo???

That is the point, but not sure if I like being that far forward. In case of good weather it is nothing to worry about. SO I can be positive and hope for good weather. The convenience of staying in one cabin is great, as long as the cabin is a good one.

Camo,,we stayed in 16008 which just about as far forward as you can get, and we hardly felt any motion at all. The Caribbean is relatively smooth right now and Divina's stabilizers do a very good job controlling the roll of the ship. I would definitely secure the same stateroom for both legs of your b2b. :)

Well if you don't mind being topless on a beach with ppl everywhere.......what the heck.....give the captain an eyeful.............:D....just so long as he doesn't get distracted and hit an iceberg

Haaaa!!!!! I guess you're right Aussie!!! He just might send us up a bottle of bubbly as a gesture of his gratitude!!!:eek:

After typing in info several times, I still don't know if any of it took.

 

 

After booking excursions and drink wine and beer packages, if I submit Am I locked in or can you change them b4 cruise?

 

I thought I read that certain wine packages ( the 4 bottle vs the 6) can be used in bars and not just the main restaurant, does anyone know?

You can edit your reservations up to 4 days before you sail. I never trust the information on the website so I made sure I had taken care of all our reservations 7 days before we sailed. Make sure you print the list of your reservations and bring a copy of it with you as well,,sometimes the shoreside paperwork doesn't match the onboard paperwork.

Glad you found it funny!

 

I can take just about any negative statement (except slippery conditions by the pool) and find humor in it....

 

"I paid next to nothing"...."but wasn't treated like royalty".

 

"No towel animals...."but I'm over 6 years old".

 

"They should get Carnival cruise directors/staff".....why? If you want Carnival...go to Carnival.

 

"Nobody speaks English!"....C'mon....The USA isn't the entire world. If you need to be the BFF of the stewards and servers....sail an American line.

 

Anyway...I personally can't wait to eat REAL pizza for an entire week...have quality entertainment...not have people run after me for photos or drinks etc. And if my fish is dry....I'll squirt some lemon on it.

 

Ciao Bella Divina

MsTabby,,,you may find interest in this article:You can use Google Translate at the top of the page to view the English version: I would love to be on one of those sailings,,,pizza,,pizza,,pizza!!!

http://www.primapaginanews.it/dettaglio_articolo.asp?id=253890&ctg=2

Your balcony works well:)

Hmmmmm,,,wondering if anyone on the bridge could see onto our balcony. Captain Scala did wave to me one morning!!!