Mikesa1721

Once you open the door to our suite, there is a short hallway which leads into the living room. On the back of the door, you will find your muster station information. We were group "D", and our muster meeting area was on deck 7 in the "La Luna" Lounge.

Wi-fi onboard Divina is the fastest I have ever used on a cruise ship. I clocked 7 megs download speed,,1 meg up. All of Divina's networking equipment is Cisco Enterprise Grade. Here is a picture of just one of the hundreds of wi-fi access points you will see throughout the ship:

Our stateroom was located forward starboard, in the front corner of the ship so to say. This is the hallway which leads starboard to port:

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Now moving on to our stateroom: We booked a YC3, stateroom 16008 (starboard). There are only two of these on Divina. We wanted to try the Sophia Loren suite, but it is almost impossible to book. I think this is the first stateroom to go when new itineraries are released. In any case,,the stateroom has a separate living area, and bedroom area. There is a walk in closet with 3 feet of clothes rod, and a bank of 6 drawers, with the safe above. There is a shelf above the clothes rod, where the life jackets are stored, and a shelf above the safe. You will also find two Yacht Club bathrobes and two pair of Yacht Club slippers to use while onboard.

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The liquor locker behind the One Bar,,my favorite place to sit, relax and have Dayman make me up some of his one of a kind cocktails. We didn't care for the Jamaican Paradise,,,but try one and see if you like it. After all,,,it is FREE!!!!

The bench area on the pool deck:

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Here are some random pictures from the Yacht Club One Pool Area.

This is your view from the aft of the One Pool Area. This is the retractable roof of Le' Sirene:

The port side of the One Pool area is designated for smokers, here you will also find the uni-sex bathroom and 4 showers, along with the pool attendant handing out towels. No need to check them in and out or bring them back,,,everything is taken care of for you by the pool attendant.

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At the aft section of the Yacht Club One Pool area,,there is a set of double doors, both on the port and starboard side of the ship. These doors lead into an elevator vestibule. We used this elevator to go back down to deck 16, but we were never able to select deck 18 when trying to use this same elevator to get back up the The One Pool. I have no explanation as to why this is so.

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Walking past this point will lead you to a glass wall with a door which is magnetically locked. There is a push button on the inside and a card swiper on the outside of the door. The door needed a good push to get it to open, I'm wondering if the heavy rains we experienced had something to do with this because it worked fine before then. You will also see the retractable roof of Le' Sirene from here. Walking through the glass door will take you to a stairway which leads to deck 15 just above the Aqua Park.

Walking past the One Bar and to your right is an ice-cream machine. While we were onboard,,only the vanilla dispenser was working,,I was told that they had fixed the machine so, chocolate, vanilla, and the combination dispensers are now all functioning: The ice cream is only available between certain hours, I believe 2-5pm.

I forgot where I left off here??? Ok,,,I think I remember,,,Walking past the jacuzzi's and sky light towards the starboard side of the ship you will come to the One Bar, just past the glass wall:

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I realize there are many reviews of the Divina, with GiantsFan and Mike giving their takes on the same trip, but I thought I would throw in my two cents on our experience on this ship and trip.

 

To set some background, my wife and I [48 and 52, respectively] have cruised a few times but always on Holland America and always in their SA class suites. We cruise to relax...get out enjoy some of our favorite places in the Caribbean and just try to restore some sanity lost in our daily lives.

 

We chose MSC because it had a decent itenerary and in order to try out the Yacht Club and see what that was all about. So here is a brief summary of what we found.

 

Negatives - I am not sure what actually to call this section because while we did find some things that I feel are probably nitpicky...none of them would prevent us from sailing with MSC and in the Yacht Club again. With that said there were some things that, based on our past cruises, were not stellar.

 

We arrived at the port around 10:45 and the taxis dropped us off right in front of the Yacht Club tent. The proceeded to remove my baggage tags and put new ones on...I tipped the porter very well and he took both bags. I dont understand how, but it was almost 8:30pm before my wife's bag was found and delivered to our room. We literally were concerned about it being lost. Mine was delivered sometime between around 12:30 and 2pm. We had to eat dinner in our traveling clothes, which the Concierge and our wonderful Maitre D Giusseppe brushed off as no issue. However I don't understand how this could happen and my wife was not impressed to start the trip this way.

 

The suite [YC1] was beautifully decorated...however small. We dont spend that much time in the room but it still felt cramped to be classified as a suite. Bathroom was also a bit small but really could have been off the list if they had just added 4-6 inches of counter space depth on either side of the sinks. That alone would have removed this from my list. The shower was great and not sure what people are doing that constantly leave the floor covered in water but we never had the issue. The balcony was ok...again, the SA suites on Holland's ships leave you spoiled with suite and balcony space.

 

Couple of nights someone on Deck 16 [we were on 15] was letting their kid run up and down and up and down and [well..you get the picture] of the hallways above us. That is not something I would expect of folks in TYC. Just annoying to be honest.

 

My biggest critique of this ship is that there are way too many employees who literally speak little to no English. To the point of not being able to communicate. One night we were walking through Deck 7 to get to Le Muse and ran across a young lady in a wheelchair with 2 small kids in her lap. One hers...the other her friends, whom she somehow had lost track of in the crowds. She was speaking to an MSC maintenance worker [assuming by the jumpsuit] asking for help and this guy just could not speak a word of English and she was very frustrated by the time we came across them. I tried to explain to him what she was asking for or if he could get someone to help her and he just walked away to the elevator and left. While everyone on the ship was genuinely nice and helpful, communication I think is a problem on the ship and I observed it several times.

 

Everything else [aka The Good] - So let me start by saying...we felt truly spoiled sailing in the The Yacht Club...it is truly everything it is built up to be. Embarkation was such a breeze. They took us to the waiting lounge and with the exception of a group that "forced" their way in to use the lounge and proceed to pack their purses with the cookies and bottles of fruit juices it was great. They escorted us to the concierge on deck 15 and setup our dinner times and table, then took us to the room. Rai, our butler, was amazing. The Top Sail Lounge on Deck 15 felt like our private lounge as it just seemed there were hardly people in it most of the trip. The One Bar and pool area on Deck 18 were fabulous. It was a big surprise when we went up there after getting on the ship and being shown the room so that we could get a drink to find a lunch buffet and some beef filet that was so tender you could eat it with a fork.

 

Le Muse was fantastic. The angus beef filets they serve are as good and well prepared as I have had anywhere. There was nothing that we ordered that was not just fabulously well prepared and the service was impeccable. Whether breakfast, lunch or dinner, it was just an amazing place to eat and relax.

 

The ship itself was gorgeous. We found it a bit of a challenge to navigate where we wanted to go at times, but she is a beautiful ship.

 

It was amazing that the bars/lounges just never seemed that busy. I know there were a ton of people on board because we thought we would try the Buffet for lunch one day and we knew where everyone was LOL. We never once heard anyone in the suites on either side of us...never once saw or heard them on their balconies or coming or going from their rooms during the cruise. My wife swears no one was in those suites but I know they were all sold out when I was trying to get one for us. It was the quietest floor we have ever been on be it cruise ship or hotel.

 

We watched a couple of the shows and echo what has been said...those performers work their tails off. I thought they were kind of redundant with the use of some of the acrobatics, which appeared to be the same across a couple of different shows, but otherwise very well done.

 

We would sail with MSC in the Yacht Club without hesitation...and my wife even said that it may be hard not to sail that way again after the pampering and relaxation.

Excellent review Laser!!! I'm glad you and your wife had a great time!!! I will agree with you on a couple of your negative points. The YC1 staterooms are a bit smaller than a suite you might find on perhaps Holland America. We've stayed in 16009 which is a YC1 and found that we will have to manage our clothing a bit differently for our 19 day sailing in October 2015 because of the limited space.

We too heard the kids running up and down the hallways,,we were on deck 16 and I believe they were running the hallway near our stateroom. I had made mention to this to our butler and junior butler so I'm not sure if the information was passed on to the butlers who service the staterooms where those children were staying.

As for the luggage,,we received all three pieces of our luggage right around the time you received yours, between 12:30 and 2:00. We weren't really sure when because we dropped off our carry ons and made a beeline right to The One Bar.

When we returned to our stateroom,,our luggage was inside our stateroom already. I'm wondering Laser,,if maybe MSC saw something in your wife's luggage that made them hold it to further examine it??? Just a thought, but an explanation should have been given I think.

As for LeMuse,,,we had the Angus fillets every night!!! The crepes Suzette, the creme Brûlée,,the chocolate muse,,AMAZING!!!! The food and service in LeMuse is simply exquisite!!!

I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet Laser,,I'm sure we crossed paths during our trip,,hopefully in the future we can get together for cocktails if we ever find ourselves sailing on Divina together in the future!!!:)

Other people on these boards have had issues with you and you always put the blame on the other and not yourself. Maybe you should be more clear.

 

 

Send from Danny

Very interesting,,,first I've heard of this, but ok???:roll eyes: Thanks for the advice though,,I'll be more mindful when commenting on your posts in the future!!

Those bikes are for a fee and part of the spinning class. Know what you are talking about before making a wise comment.

 

 

Send from Danny

I was simply asking if these are the bikes you were speaking of,,,but thank you for taking my comment completely out of context!!!!

9 treadmills and 3 ellipticals. They have 4 bikes but on our cruise two were broken. Cruise ships gyms are all too small and overcrowded. They really don't realize how many people like to exercise on a cruise.

 

 

Send from Danny

DWPOLICE,,these bikes????

Now I find that VERY FUNNY, but then I've got a strange English sense of humour (or do i have to spell it Humor?)

 

Pete

I understand English humor very well Pete!!! We met a fantastic family from Manchester last week,,the stories they told had us crying in laughter!!!! Thank God we exchanged contact information,,,,,we all could use a good laugh every now and then!!:):)

Oh dear you mean Giantfan13 won't get a free cruise after all, and there was me ready to distribute my massive lottery win from last weekend, Oh well i'll just have to spend it on the wife.

 

Anybody know if you can get a cruise for £7.40 :D:D:D

 

 

Pete

 

 

PS Thanks Len (Giantfan13) for a well balanced review, good reading

Check the Carnival website Pete!!

Mike, did you notice any car rentals in the port area if St. marten and any idea of the cost

There is Sharon: http://portcars.com,,,be careful,,on our way back from Maho Beach, a woman who hitched a ride back to the port with us had told us that she rented a jeep from there and it broke down on her. She lost half her day dealing with a broken down car and the rental company.

If you can find deck 17 in the yacht club on Divina I'll pay for B2B cruises of your choice on DIvina!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If you can find any cabin number ending 17 eg 10017 or 8117 i'll pay for a 17 night cruise in the YC on Divina :D:D

 

The one deck in the Yacht club is on Deck 18, YC cabins are on decks 16, 15, and 12.

 

Pete

I knew there wasn't a deck 17 because the Italians believe 17 is an unlucky number,,never knew none of the staterooms didn't end in 17 either!!! Thanks Pete for that info!!!

Interesting story behind this as well:

In Italian culture, the number 17 is considered unlucky. When viewed as the Roman numeral, XVII, it is then changed anagramtically to VIXI, which in the Latin language it translates to "I have lived", the perfect tense implying "My life is over."

Yep I fully understand that may be true, just clarifying the fact that "Coke Light" is available far wider than Europe.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I gotcha CruiseReg,,,I thought you may have been wondering why, since Divina sails from the US, that Coke Light was served rather than Diet Coke.

Just ignore him Mike he is always that way.

No biggie really Riclop,,I'll take the high road on this one,, he obviously has a reputation to uphold!!!:)

It looks like Europe is the test bed for the new system - so I think you are OK.

 

Annie

Oh good Annie!!! Please let us know if MSC discontinues their online booking in the UK. I'm a control freak, and leaving my vacation plans in the hands of a travel agent makes me a bit uneasy.

Hi Mike and Anyone else that can help.

 

It's my DH birthday and was thinking of booking a limo - either from the airport to the hotel or hotel to cruise terminal. Not being from the US of A. Anyone got any suggestions.

 

As I've said before new to CC so sorry if this is not the place to ask.

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions:):)

Here you go JPR61: http://www.southfloridatransportation.com

They are very popular in South Florida.

Hi Mike

 

I'll pass on your regards. Shopping and food sounds good.

 

We've not booked any excursions at the moment, but are planning to book a few, either through msc or private. Any suggestions, I'm a wee bit confused with everything thats on offer??

 

Jean

Sure,,,I can't comment on the Western part of your itinerary,,we've never been to Cozumel, or Jamaica. St. Maarten,,I would highly suggest Bernards Tours:

http://www.bernardstours.com

We had a great time back in March when we first went to St. Maarten with them. Excellent,,Excellent Tour!!

San Juan,,,maybe El Morro, San Cristobal, Bacardi Factory, Rainforest, Zip Lining.

You have many options there, just choose something you think you and your family would like.

Great Stirrup Cay,,,you'll definitely want to look into reserving a cabana. The beaches are packed and it will be excruciatingly hot in either a lounger or clam shell.

San Cristobal Fort:

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The masses of lounge chairs on Great Stirrup Cay: