JoLoca2208
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Posts posted by JoLoca2208
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We couldn't decide which ship, so we are going on both - back to back, except it will be Divina's other itinerary (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Great Stirrup Cay) ;)
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Checking in! Thank you for posting :)
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As far as remember, on Fantasia and Splendida, which are same class as Divina, there were about 10 treadmills, 5 bicycles, 4 cross trainers and two steppers. Small weight lifting area, two benches only. Also, there are few resistance machines and folded mats for stretching.
I have to queue for a treadmill, but never waited longer than few minutes. They expect you not to exceed 20 minutes, which is fine with me, but I know some people like to run longer.
Overall, for the size of the ship and capacity, gym is very small and poorly equipped, but I try to make best use of it
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Service in the main dining room was not bad. Our server got everything right and he always has a nice manner about him. The problem is that I am not used to 2-hour dinners, I like things fast. The Food took forever, even when we rushed to put in the order, the food would simply take its sweet time to come out. I have already commented that Divina should appeal more to the US market. This is one area that needs revision ASAP. Then again this is nothing more than my honest opinion. I know I may get blasted by saying that, but it is exactly what it is.
That was my issue as well on my first MSC cruise - looong dinners. On the second one, I just accepted long wait
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Signing up!!! Love your reviews! Thanks for posting
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We are booked on Getaway for 18th of October sailing. Initially we booked inside cabin on 11th deck. Now after final payment prices dropped, which seems to be the usual thing, so we upgraded to balcony on deck 12 for just......$40.
We asked our cruise assistant if we would decide to stay in inside, would we get OBC for the price difference, he said no, they don't do that anymore. They used to, but this has changed now
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Hi Martin,
One of our friends had a birthday on our last cruise. There was no decorations in the cabin or anything like that, but during dinner a group of waiters came over singing Happy Birthday and presented him with a birthday cake.
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Is this pistaccio tiramisu?
Loving the food porn! :D
It is indeed. It was very nice, not too sweet
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Lots of lovely stuff!
Kalua, Baileys & Gran Marnia.
Personally I like them heavy on the Kalua, light on the Gran Marnia.
You can either sip them nice and civilised or neck them in one.
Agree!
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Dinner...
We ate in the MDR every evening, food was mostly great... No complaints...
Hi,
Caveman's wife here,
This was actually our lunch in MDR :)
Squid salad, Parma ham, Mussels soup, grilled veggies and...
absolutely amazing Nutella cake
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Cant remember the place's name :o
It was Cathédrale La Major :)
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Okay, as my signature indicates, hubby and I went on a cruise in 2012 with Celebrity. Overall, I was underwhelmed. I am not sure what it was exactly, but perhaps the stuffiness, or rude lady (passenger, not service) at the bar turned me off, not to mention the faux class so many passengers displayed. Also, we love to immerse ourselves in a culture making the port heavy itinerary we had a mistake. But, after the less than stunning experience with Celebrity, we are considering giving another cruise line a try. What I do like about NCL is the vibrancy and what appears to be an attitude of taking everything less serious. If we decide on this, it will be islands. We have been to the Caribbean several times, so culture immersion is less important or an island itinerary (the Canaries, for example). Why do you cruise with NCL? If you have done NCL and Celebrity, what are the similarities and differences? By the way, I love to dance, and is there lots of dancing on board? Celebrity pretty much went dead about 10:00 PM most nights.
:D
I've never sailed with Celebrity, so can't speak about that, but I've sailed with Carnival, NCL and MSC and NCL remain my favourite. Mainly because of their Freestyle. I've done Caribbean and Canaries and would highly recommend :)
I also like to dance and I can assure you, on NCL real fun is starting after 10pm :)
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Since both of you have sailed the cruise we will be on, I have a couple of other questions.
-- What nights are the Gala nights? How dressed up did people get?
--Also, how tightly is the dress code followed? Per the MSC website, it says "After 6:00pm, jeans, t-shirts, shorts, and bare feet are not permitted in the ships' public areas." Is that adhered to, especially shorts, is my question. Are jean/denim capri pants ok? We're from the USA and have only done Carribean Cruises before, which were casual and did not have any specific dress code in public areas after 6, except the MDR. (At least not that I knew of)
Any other hints would be greatly appreciated, too!!
Thank you!
Hi again,
Yes, myself and my husband are in the process of doing the review :) Should post it here in a couple of days.
Gala nights - as we embarked in Barcelona, it was first and fifth night for us (Barcelona and Messina stops).
As to the dress code, true, I didn't see anyone wearing shorts after 6pm in the public areas, but long jeans, capri pants are ok. On the gala nights, not everyone were dressing up for dinner and it wasn't really enforced. Some people were wearing smart/casual clothes and that was fine. We did dress up, maybe not over dress, but we did make some effort :)
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hi,
As MM42 stated above, port in Messina is based in downtown. You can just walk in from the street, no need for bus shuttles etc.
When we were there two weeks ago, we saw queue of people for check in, but it wasn't huge and it seemed it was going pretty fast.
I can't speak about transportation from the airport, as we didn't embark in Messina.
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We don't even look at co.uk website. We did at the beginning and it was a rip off. Always booking with US NCL agent and works out the cheapest.
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You will probably have to bring your passport to the reception on the cruise the night before your arrival in Turkey. They will arrange for your clearance with Turkish authorities. That's what happened to my husband last year on Fantasia, but with arrival in Dubrovnik (Croatia wasn't part of EU yet).
Also, you will need to bring your passport again to the reception before arrival back in Venice, as there is no immigration at Venice terminal. Italian authorities are coming on board and checking all non-eu passports. Please note, you will not be able to leave the ship until all passports are checked. That might take additional hour or two or even more after ship is docked in Venice.
Last year it was absolutely disaster the way they handled it, as there was no order in giving back passports.
Just bear that in mind when you make your travel arrangements after the cruise
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We had lunch in SKIZA CAFE in Oia. Restaurant is on the terrace with magnificent views. Not sure if it's officially rated 5* restaurant, but definitely worth of visit.
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Is this extra charge for adult area only on Divina?
Last year on Fantasia it was free, no matter what piece of furniture you were using.
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Thank you for posting
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This review is hilarious :) I suppose you need a drink to fully understand what OP was saying ;)
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Great review and pictures!
Thank you for posting :)
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Thanks OnlyMe for the reply.
Caveman's wife here :) This is exactly how we've been booking our cruises with Carnival and NCL - via their US agent and we've never had any problems. We were just wondering if it's also possible with RCL.
MSC cruise line, for example, reserves the right to cancel your booking if they discover that you've booked with US agent by US fare, but you are not US citizen.
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Thank you for doing this review :) Love the pictures and all comments!
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I've received same email yesterday about upcoming cruise on Sunshine. Then second email followed apologising for the error.
All the Negative Reviews Had Unintended Benefit
in MSC Cruises
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love it! :d