Mikesa1721

I'd be delighted for you if I was wrong, and the "computer is having a laff and saying:- YES" and you get the extra points

i'm can't wait for the answer you get, though I suspect it will be more than two weeks.

 

of course you'll get your two points at the expense of my two cruises, well in my dreams i put the bet on :D:D:D

 

Pete

Well Pete,,my invoice shows Location 7000(Entertainment),,,I'm hoping my PVC was right,,,I could use 2 or 3 extra points,,and you're probably right,,,more like 3 -4 weeks I'm thinking as well.

do you know when it receives documents (with labels)? I'm leaving on 18 October and I have nothing received. I did my registration on the Web.. Thank you.

Saphir,,,normally 30 days before your embarkation date.:)

Houston - thinking we're likely neighbors on the 10/4 sailing! Pretty sure we're 5 cabins down (10262) best I can guess . . .

 

. . . and now, back to Mike! (thank you so much for this review and all the awesome info)

You're welcome nacdcruiser!!!! Have a great cruise!!!! I hope you enjoy Divina just as much as we do!!!!

Thanks Mike......will do........now as we are in "steerage" should we go to the shore excursion desk as soon as we board to ask for our cabana #....we have done that before on the other lines........I truly wish GSC was our first stop............I find it quite maddening that we have the day to relax and party only to get back onboard and hit REALITY with packing etc to get off the next day............to truly make it a relaxing experience it should be first out of the gate.......and two sea days back..........now that's just my opinion......I'll have a chat with the captain about that when I see him......:D

Absolutely Aussie!!! Get to that Shore Excursion desk first thing and try and lock up cabana #1,,,,I didn't realize you had a cabana??? Don't bother bringing water with you,,save that space for more beer!!! There will be water inside the cabana refrigerator for you along with stale chips and salsa and fruit.

I agree,,,lying in the sun all day and then on the tender ride back to the ship knowing you have to pack was a horrible feeling. That was the last thing we wanted to do after a great day on the island!!!!

So Mike the mini bars only have certain drinks in them....can you request anything else.....or do they stick pretty much to the plan......we have the premium drink package.........hey we're Aussies.....you can't possibly expect anything less............:D....so we would need to stock up for GSC.....love the idea of packing a cooler.....thanks for that...........Mikey doesn't get around as much as he used to so the more beer we can bring into the cabana the less I'll be running to the bar........however........cruising, boozing, eating.....the exercise could be a good thing...........:)

Aussie,,we had our butler only stock the beer Kim liked to drink,,,Mic Ultra. There are nips of Johnny Walker, Absolute Vodka and Gin as well as soda, juices, nuts and pringles. Have your room steward stock your refrigerator with only the beer you like to drink. Once you pilferage your stateroom fridge,,hit one of the bars in the morning and grab some more beers for the road. If you have the Allegrisimo Premium,,they'll give you a few to take with you. You'll definitely want to bring some water with you as well,,it is hot on that little island.

What odds do you get on him being wrong?

 

I'll have some of that bet, Yes Please!!

 

even if it's an evens bet, I'd double my money; so if I put the balance of my next cruise on that i could get 2 for the price of 1 :D:D:D

 

A little knowledge of the T&Cs and their billing system goes a long way

 

it'll have the 4 digit casino code in the LOCATION COLUMN and the "computer says NO" :D:D

 

 

See the invoice above

 

 

 

From the T&Cs

2. MSC CLUB POINTS SYSTEM

.

.

.

2.2 You will gain 1 point for every night actually spent on board an MSC Cruises

ship and 1 point for every 200 euros/dollars spent on board (excluding casino

expenses). Applicable for cruises beginning on or after 15 October 2008.

 

Pete

 

BUT I COULD BE WRONG !!!!!!

I was hoping you would see this post Pete!!! I asked him,," So, If I purchase $400.00 of chips at the blackjack table using my room key,,and I lose those $400.00 in chips, I get 2 loyalty points??" his response "YES",,we shall see in a couple of weeks if what he told me is true or not.

So I talked with my PVC today regarding one of our future cruises and had asked him jokingly if my points had shown up in my account yet. Seven points for the nights I sailed had shown up, and I had remarked that I wished my losses in the casino counted toward my loyalty points,,and he paused and then stated that they do!!!! I said "WHAT???", he put me on hold, and then came back and said if you use your room key to buy chips at the table, and then you lose those chips, that is considered an onboard purchase and will count toward your loyalty points. I am still a bit skeptical about this, so please don't take this as 100% accurate. I'll wait a couple of weeks to check my points again and see if I get more than the 2 more I should be receiving from our last sailing.

Hello All - I found out two weeks ago that I am being sent on a cruise on MSC Fantasia for my company - sort of a business and pleasure event. We sail from Venice on Oct.5. I am trying to get up to speed on all of this quickly, needless to say! If anyone has any words of wisdom about Fantasia or MSC procedures, etc. I would be grateful to hear from you. This is my first cruise so I"ll be combing the forums here on Cruise Critic for advice and tips. Thanks in advance!!

Come join us over at the MSC boards Pancpete. There are some great posters over there who can answer all of your questions.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

We have the cabin about 4 or 5 down from the standing people in about a month. So excited to finally have a prime aft balcony.

Nice Houston!!! Those staterooms have very deep balconies. Perfect place to be during sail away!!!! Have a great time!!!

I am confused- to bring water or soft drinks on- do you put in a suitacse or put by itself?

Just leave them out in the open. Once your suitcase is sent through the scanner, if security sees them, an officer will escort you to the naughty table where they will open your bags and go through everything!!! The security officer told me,,"next time,,just keep it out where we can see it and you can avoid having your bags gone through."

Mike, great tips there. I just wish we were in the Yacht Club.:( (By the way, great review and photos of the Yacht Club Area)

We are down in the low life steerage section. ;) Although, we were assigned a deck 11 aft balcony. :D Our first ever aft balcony and those balconies look huge. So we are looking forward to that and couldn't beat the price!

 

I know you checked in through Yacht Club and had the issue with the bloody mary mix but did you or your cousin's family see many people check in with bottle water or soft drinks. I know the rule is that none can be brought on board but it seems many have reported to take it on. I think we will try. So be it, if they take our $4.00 pack of water from us at check-in. It would be nice to bring some bottle water especially to take to GSC.

 

The no waiter deal is no big issue, just curious. As long as they don't run out of beer at the GSC bar everything will be ok. :D

 

 

 

Oh, one last thing, do you remember if the GSC bar serves wine? I am sure the girls in our group will be asking about that.

 

Thanks again,

 

Roger

If I was sailing in the regular part of the ship,,that's where I would want to book. Those staterooms have huge balconies!!! Great choice btw!!! I've heard of people bringing on water and soda,,just keep it out in the open and not concealed,,they will take you to the naughty table like me. At least I know better for the next time thought right?? As far as wine?? I'm not sure,,,we never had a need to go to the bar,but you might want to check on your way to your cabana.

Deck 11 would be the deck above the people standing on their balcony:

Mike, thanks for the quick response and great photos. The beach in front of the first cabana pic does not look that crowded. Was it taken early in the day? Was the beach ever really crowded in that area.

 

Is the bar close by or do they have waiters coming by the cabanas?

 

Last of all, why do you prefer the number one cabana so much? Location?

 

Thanks again,

 

Roger

Roger,,,The last pic is from the ship,,I had a 100mm-400mm lens and zoomed in as far as I could just to see the island before we actually set foot on it. The first two pictures were taken about mid afternoon,,between 1-2pm. The beach was never really crowded at all. It was so hot there that everyone seemed to be in the water most of the day.

It is about a 5 minute walk to the bar and to the buffet area for lunch. I do have a tip for you,,,bring some small collapsible cooler bags. You can fill them with beverages of your choice,,add some ice,,and then once you get to the island,,put them in the refrigerator. We sailed in the Yacht Club, so we went to the concierge desk and they handed us 4 of them. Since our drinks and mini bar is included,,we loaded them up with beer, soda, juices,,and never had to go to the bar once. Sorry,,no waiters taking drink orders,,,would be a nice touch though,,if they had golf carts to do it in I think??

As far as location,,,I have read countless threads of cabana locations from previous NCL posters and cabana#1 always seemed to be everyones favorite. It's the first cabana you come to, and like I said,,just a 5 minute walk back to board the tenders.

thank you so much mike!!!

You're so very welcome Pluca!!!!:D

Hey Mike, I saw you posted about the GSC Cabana over on the PVT. Island Page. Figured I would ask here since not sure how often you check that page.

 

You mentioned you reserved a large cabana. What is the difference between a large cabana and a small one? Do you have any pics by chance?

 

I called about a month ago and reserved a cabana for our October trip. Nothing was said about large or small cabana and the confirmation e-mail just says " 1.GSC02:Cabana on the Cay 10/17/2014 1 249.00".

 

Thanks in advance for any input you may have.

If you paid 249.00, that will be for a large cabana Rad798. We requested cabana #1 the second we boarded the ship with our concierge and was pleasantly surprised when our request had been granted. Here are a few pics from our cabana:

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There's a hammock which is not pictured as well as a shower behind the cabana. I'm so glad we had this cabana,,all nine of us were so happy not to be in a lounger or clamshell on the beach somewhere. It really made our day at GSC that much more enjoyable.

Mikesa1721, you mentioned in another post, that you ate breakfast near the one pool area. Do you happen to remember if there were rolls/croissants/marmelade and such? (Like my breakfast sweet :o)

 

Thanks a lot!

Yes Pluca,,,everything you mentioned is available at The One Bar buffet. Kim had croissants with jelly every morning. You can also request items which may not be available at the buffet. There were several times we saw children having pancakes which are not a buffet item, but were brought by request.

Thanks again for the great pictures Mike.

Thanks Riclop!!!! Appreciate that!!! I made the mistake of using my GoPro for a lot of these shots and because I had it set to "wide",,some of the pics looks like they are taken with a fish eye lens. I had my DSLR but only brought a 50mm and a 100mm-400mm lens with me. I really need to look into purchasing a wide angle lens, something with a shorter focal length. I have a few more sailings to get it right at least.:D

Thanks. I tried my best to get a free shot of the plane and ended up getting some folks backs in the pic too! Just an excuse to go back and get a video.

 

We just upgraded our equipment ahead of our upcoming Alaskan cruise, so I can't wait to try it at Maho. Folks on twitter posted this video recently which is just plane awesome...http://t.co/xfZbKVtMqe

 

I thought the beach seemed tight, but if it gets even smaller than I have no idea what folks must do. That little road near the airport was a traffic and pedestrian nightmare when we were there in January.

 

Still an amazing site to witness.

I had my GoPro and my Canon DSLR with a 100mm - 400mm lens on it. I really needed a wide angle lens to accurately capture the sheer size of that plane. We'll be back in April,,I'll be better prepared as well. Hopefully there will be more beach so I can get a belly shot of a few planes as well,,no where to really stand and do that today as the beach is completely gone.

Was the glass too slanty as well? :D

I know exactly what you mean about the "slanty" glasses. The rim of the glass is angled, rather than having a flat rim. I have two pics of them,,there was only one of these glasses on our bar tray. The slanty glass is the glass which is in front of all the other bar ware,,the second pic is a bit out of focus, but you get a better look at the infamous "slanty" glass on the left.

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Gambee: did you notice if the casino is smoking or non? We have both smokers and non that are taking Divina on Sept 27 and we are curious. Appreciate all the hard work on your VERY in depth and INCREDIBLY helpful review. Thanks in advance for your answer. Much appreciated. Your neighbor in FLL, Shawn.

The casino is 100% smoke free Bashfu. However,,you can smoke an e-cig, at least I was allowed to sitting at the tables,,not sure about the slots though. There is also no drink service unless you are sitting at the tables, sorry slot players,,you have to get your own!!!

May I jump in? I am preparing to take my third cruise with my DGS (darling grandson) who is just now 19 months old. His first cruise was on Divina at 14 months, his second cruise on Carnival at 16 months, and now his third cruise on Divina once again. He has been AWESOME, and I must say, he is a typical almost two year old...into everything! The staff on both ships was absolutely remarkable and so kind to him...engaging him before even engaging his mom and grandma! Granted, we were in YC on the first cruise and will be again on this cruise, but the fact of the matter is the staff was fabulous to him no matter where we went on the ship, and he had so much to keep him entertained! I will continue to cruise with him...such a joy!

We had the same experience with our nephew who is 3 Kathiean. Everyday he would ask our cousins, "what time am I going to my club?" "I want to go to my club momma". The staff in the clubs really do a great job with these little ones. They even get front row seats to see all the shows. MSC reserves a section in the front row just for the kids club!!! We hope our cousins decide to bring him along again in April,,it was very rewarding to have had the opportunity to experience his first cruise with him, we had so much fun with him!!

We were in San Juan last Wednesday. It was excruciatingly hot there that day and we live in South Florida so you would think we'd be used to it by now. You can see San Cristobal from the cruise terminal and it's a fairly short walk,,uphill, to get to San Cristobal. We unfortunately didn't go inside, we had walked to Barrachina's for Pina Colada's first,,,,we do have our priorities,,and then stopped by the fort on our way back. Here's a few pics though:

[/img]

Picture of the fountain near the square

Waking up to this view every morning!!!!

Yes!!

 

but not if you spent $20,000 in the casino

 

 

 

Here are the relevant T&Cs from the MSC Club web site

 

2. MSC CLUB POINTS SYSTEM

2.1 Gaining points for previous cruises (points for nights and on-board

spending): When registration for the loyalty programme is confirmed, the

points for nights and on-board spending pertaining to the new member’s most

recent cruise (taken prior to registration for the programme) will be added to

his or her MSC Club card. If a passenger has taken more than one cruise before

registering for the MSC Club, points for nights and on-board spending pertaining

to earlier cruises cannot be requested or obtained (only the points for nights

and on-board spending pertaining to the most recent cruise will be recognised).

2.2 You will gain 1 point for every night actually spent on board an MSC Cruises

ship and 1 point for every 200 euros/dollars spent on board (excluding casino

expenses). Applicable for cruises beginning on or after 15 October 2008.

2.3 Points are non-transferable, i.e. you cannot allocate your own points to another

member or non-member.

2.4 Points have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for cash. They only determine

benefits on MSC Cruises holidays

2.5 The MSC Club points system is used to determine your eligibility for benefits

under the following membership types:

- Classic Membership: 1 to 21 points

- Silver Membership: 22 to 42 points

- Gold Membership: 43 to 99 points

- Black Membership: 100 + points

 

Great info Skier!:)

But I think if you lost $20,000. in the casino, the Aponte family might just give you a Black Card!:D

 

Haaaa!!! I wouldn't need to worry about the Black Card at that point,,my girlfriend would throw me overboard if I lost 20k in the casino.

Wow Mike the pics are great........maybe one day I'll get up there...........why didn't your cousins like "steerage"?.........should I be afeared.....:D

Aussie,,,they had our 3 year old nephew with them so trying to walk with him through the chaotic buffet lines, or getting him some pool time was difficult for them. We had them up in the Yacht Club on a few occasions just so he could

swim. Our cousins will be sailing with us again in April and have vowed to sail in The Yacht Club this time.

'Great info Mike' of the OBC when you book on board!

I'd like to talk my wife into that TransAtlantic Oct. 2015!:D

You're going to be in the top category of the MSC loyalty club really quick!:)

Actually, American,,you don't need to book anything onboard. I already had these sailings booked before we left on the 23rd. You can buy the vouchers and use them whenever you decide to book another cruise,,just have to book within 18 months of the purchase date.

I was playing Extreme Texas Hold Em' with a couple of guys we met on the ship, and I was telling him about the future cruise credit. He says to me "They never said anything to me about that when I booked the Repo sailing from Genoa to Miami yesterday". I told him we had booked that sailing already and he couldn't believe we'll be on the Divina again together!!! You need to convince your wife American!!! This will be a fantastic Grand Voyage!!!