seahags

Any 'special' theme nights or has that gone with Covid?  Have had fun on 'white' nights and others...Thanx for any info...am on 12/3 with a GF (DHs both staying home)🍹

I've just booked the offer and happily upgraded to Aqua.  Has anyone asked if an upgrade to Retreat is available?  I'm about to all them back and ask, but the wait times are LONG!!

Sorry if I’m repeating info but am at sea w limited internet time. Just read that two boys from Chicago area died and parents are still missing...so very sad. But we all are responsible for our actions and choose to take excursions!  It’s a failure of today’s world that lawsuits are the common answer to every event. All IMHO

8 hours ago, rool said:

Not too sure about a totally Brazilian menu on our cruise from Rio in December 2020. There's only so much churrasco and feijoada one can eat lol.

A wine package option sounds interesting though.

...having cruised out of Brazil, one must hope they don't provision there!  Unbelievable how things go down!😮🤨

4 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I notice from your signature that you have not sailed on HAL.  Consistency of the cruise product offered from ship to ship was once a hallmark of Holland America Line.  No more;  inconsistency ought to be expected.  And, when one sails on a HAL cruise, if that inconsistently is not experienced, more reason to enjoy one's cruise.

 

MSC seems to becoming no different.  Why?  I have a theory.  The fleet is becoming too large to well manage.  That, in my opinion, is what has happened with Holland America Line.  

...seems to me that MSC is in such a hurry to 'join the crowd' that the proverbial left hand is disconnected from the right!  No, I've not cruised HAL, but have an abundance of both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and am hard-pressed to find such glaring inconsistencies!  ...agree with you!

8 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Yes and no. It is giving notice but how about making the change with more notice than someone boarding the ship and finding the note in their stateroom? I have been cruising long enough that very little surprises me anymore but I have read enough on this very forum that it seems MSC makes changes on a whim. More then their competition. 

Absolutely agree with you!

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

Call a butler and drinks will be delivered to your balcony.

 

MSC are still better than NCL. Their drink packages doesn't include drinks delivered to the cabin.

Butlered drinks are included?  Sorry, question from an MSC virgin🤔

15 minutes ago, sidari said:

WOW!!  Guess we'll not be entertaining in the cabin!  Our first MSC cruise is on the Divina in YC, it's beginning to look like they're going the way of the other lines from this!  Thanks for posting, there's so much to be gleaned from the experiences of others on Cruise Critic!!

19 hours ago, George C said:

We will be doing our first msc yacht club in a month , do not care for celebrity mdr , but love luminae there suite restaurant, buffet is also good on celebrity. Would not cruise celebrity again other than in a suite. 

...have to agree with George C!  We've done numerous Aqua and Suite cruises on X, don't like MDR, love Luminae and won't go back unless it's Suite (but the $$$, oh my!).  We're doing our first YC in December and very much looking forward to it.  Considering it is about 1/3 the cost of X it may be hard to go back after YC!  Good luck with your choices!

1 hour ago, hmmm said:

This is our first MSC cruise.  We will be on the Davina in December.  I was wondering if the Top 18 Solarium listed on Deck 18 is exclusive to YC?  I can’t seem to find any info on it.  Thanks........,I am anxiously following your review.  It is such a help.

hmmm, are you on the 6 Dec sailing?  See you on board, if so.  I believe that I read somewhere on these boards another cruiser's question about Top 18 and the answer was yes, it is available to YC.  This will be our first MSC as well...certainly hungry for all/any information!

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

We spend a lot of time hanging out in The One Lounge unless we are up on the pool deck.   It was actually hard to meet many folks at last year's M&G because there was a big turnout.  We did run into an old HAL friend who had worked as a senior Officer on the Prinsendam.  He thought MSC offered him better opportunities so "jumped ship."  We also met one of their future cruise folks who had previously worked on Celebrity.  MSC is expanding very fast (about 2 new ships per year) and struggling to find supervisory folks who have a lot of experience.  In fact, our biggest complaint on the Divina was that a lot of the staff outside of the YC seemed very "green" and lacking necessary training (a lot of their bar staff seems to learn on the job).  Within the YC all the staff were terrific and several of the bar waiters told us they were chosen because of their language skills.  Many of the YC staff were truly multi-lingual.

 

Hank 

Well I can say for sure that the four of us are excited about the prospects of MSC and YC!  We're under the 60 day mark now so time will go quickly.  We, too, will most likely haunt the same places as you.  We're pretty easy to recognize...a tall couple and a short couple...two blonde gals and the guys both still have full heads of wavy dark hair, LOL!!  Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Jim & Eileen and Vince & Carol🍷🍷

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You might have seen one of my posts about our Meet and Mingle experience on the Divinia.  We normally consider M&G's akin to having root canal and avoid them on most cruises.  But since it was our first MSC cruise we decided to give it a try.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and was hosted by the CD with the Captain taking on a big role.  MSC provided us a large lounge, live entertainment (guitar player/singer) and served free drinks.  Many of the Senior Officers were present and did stay for about an hour.  The Captain got the entire group to form-up for a group photo and had free 8x10s delivered to each cabin.  Not sure I can convince DW to go again this year.

 

Hank

We feel your pain, LOL.  After many years of them on RCCL and Celebrity, we have avoided them like the plague!  This is our first MSC, too, and it might have been one of your posts that encouraged us to go!  Hope we meet you two one way or the other over the 11 nights!  We're long-time PA transplants to DE!

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Yes, we are on that cruise.  We would have done back to back (like last year) but it didn't work for our criteria of being home on both Thanksgiving and Xmas.  As a consolation prize we are diving down to Key West (we like this town) for a few days pre-cruise.  Already booked back to back 7 day cruises on the Seaside for the same time period next year.  We really loved the YC Experience, which is the only way we would cruise on MSC.  

 

Hank

Great to hear!  Hopefully we'll see you at the Meet & Mingle?  We, too, looked for a longer trip (two couples sans kids) hoping to be away over Christmas & New Years but that didn't work out either.  This is our first trip with MSC, however we're booked next year out of Barcelona in YC if this works out well.  SO looking forward to our bit of time in MIA pre-cruise and then boarding the Divina.  Looking forward to meeting you!

Eileen

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We spent 21 nights (11 and 10) on the Divina (YC) last December and will be back again for an 11 night in December.  I actually brought along a Tux (no biggie since I own it) and both DW and I did dress quite formal on the Gala Nights.  I do not recall if there were 2 or 3 on the 11 night segment, but we did feel overdressed on those nights.  While some folks did dress formal, a majority dressed the same as every other night which is smart casual.  In fact, on our last gala night I did not bother getting dressed up and simply wore a collared shirt.   The YC is kind of an isolated enclave (from the rest of the ship) and if there were theme nights we did notice anyone caring...in the YC.  I am thinking about taking along a Blazer for our next Divina cruise and wearing it (sans tie) on the so-called gala nights.  I just asked DW what she was packing this year and she said "formal stuff" which means some nice designer outfits...but not what I would consider formal like with a long gown.  The truth is that on MSC I don't think anyone cares what you wear so you are primarily dressing for yourselves.

 

Hank

Thanks, Hank!  I think we'll leave the tux at home this trip...jacket and slacks maybe a couple of ties for the guys, cocktail dress will suffice.  Are you on 12/6 11 nights?  If so, we'll see you there!!  

Thank you both!!!

3 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I was on the Divina in the Caribbean last February so I might be able to answer questions but your choice of font makes your post almost impossible to read for me. I guess I'm getting old! 

Sorry, sverigecruiser!  There are for of us in YC this December for 11 nights.  It seems there are many threads about Gala and theme nights (mostly on the Seaside), but it also seems like Divina is a completely different story.  Wondering how to pack...do we need 'theme' things, or how many Gala nights are there and is 'cocktail attire' sufficient.  Thanks so much for your reply!

We'll be on the Divina for 11 nights (our first MSC).  Am I right that there will be 3 Gala nights?  Are there also theme nights (as I continually read about on Seaside)?  We are two couples in YC.  How to pack, LOL!  Thanks anyone for the help!

10 hours ago, SailBreakaway said:

MSC is gonna shake the earth when they drop their capacity here. I can’t wait. 

 

Now if they can just get their IT i infrastructure and corporate support infrastructure scaled to the operation here that would be great! lol. 

It will be a welcome drop...prices have gone completely out of sight!  Hoping that the capacity increase will force the re-adjustment of all of them!

10 hours ago, George C said:

Crown loft cost on my Oasis in November 2018 was same as our cost for YC November 2019, we did upgrade to owners suite. But was not at all impressed with costal kitchen, free drinks just for a few hours compared to all day on YC ,  do love food on celebrity suite restaurant and drinks in suite lounge but cost for that is way more than YC or RCCL suites. Our first YC is on seaside in November. 

Agree...LOVE Celebrity for Luminae and the lounge, but MSC YC is way less expensive, thus our foray onto Divina this December.  Yes, the cabins are smaller than Celebrity suites, but hopefully the chair hogs, etc. won't be as prevalent in YC.  We've also booked MSC from Barcelona November 2020, (still holding Celebrity November 2020), so in a few short months we'll have more to compare!

We, too, have been long-time RCCL Celebrity cruisers.  We are anxiously (and happily, I might add) our December trip on the Divina.  We're booked in Yacht Club for a fraction of what we would pay on either of the others...we are well aware that it will be a different experience as MSC is a European owned line as opposed to USA.  We're really excited!

Bringing this thread back to the top , hoping that someone can update entertainment on the Caribbean cruises...for us, particularly Divina as we sail her for the first time in December.  Like OP we are long-time Celebrity cruisers and would love to know what's in store on Divina!

Thanks to all who have any insight!

On 8/27/2019 at 9:08 PM, SailBreakaway said:

Thanks for those posts. Appreciate it. Were sailing Dec and Feb 9, so hopefully it will be done for the Feb sailing. 

 

Things change so much with MSC I wanted to get the latest scoop. 

We're sailing on December 6.  They have now posted availability of OC "excursions" (5 pages worth) including YC cabana choices to our booking.  Difficult to find any info, however, on any impact Dorian might have on the readiness of the Cay.

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

You haven't sailed NCL?  They'll pass through any local sales tax on "Free" drinks while in ports that charge tax.

Yikes!  Nope, haven't sailed NCL...😬

48 minutes ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

Perhaps the poster is getting confused with sales tax.

,..perhaps, but there wouldn't be sales tax on a cruise?

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

 

Where?

 

I'm in the US and have never had 18% added and then be expected to tip another 15% in any type of establishment.  There are circumstances - usually in tourist cities with lots of foreign visitors not accustomed to tipping - where restaurants add a tip for large (6+ people) groups but then no additional tip is expected.  We've also experienced that when traveling with parties of 6 or more in Canadian tourist areas.  Those restaurants note the mandatory tip on their menus.

Agree with this.  It is highly unusual for tips to be added in the US unless it is for a large group and then nothing additional is expected.  And, as stated, this is noted on the menus.  I just can't comprehend a 33% tip unless some uber-outstanding service has been rendered!