Our First MSC Experience (Pros and Cons of Yacht Club vs. NCL’s Haven)

Ship: MSC Divina

Dates: January 6 - 14, 2017

Ports Visited: Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Oranjestad (Aruba), La Romana (Dominican Republic), and Nassau (Bahamas)

Stateroom: 16007 (YC3 Royal Suite - Sophia Loren Suite)

Let me start by saying that some here will probably disagree with my opinions and perceptions, or don’t even care about the same things DH and I do. That’s ok with me and why I truly believe everyone should judge each cruise line for themselves. The last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from trying MSC, especially not based on our one MSC cruise. I think the beauty of having so many cruise lines to choose from is that hopefully, one can find the line that is right for him/her. For us, MSC doesn’t “wow”… well, with the exception of the beautiful Swarovski staircases, but I don’t regret our cruise as MSC isn’t a bad cruise line.

During our cruise I posted a brief message that DH and I preferred NCL’s Haven over the YC. While this is still true based on the great experiences we had on our two cruises in the Haven, YC grew on both of us as the cruise progressed and given the cruise and package prices we paid, we would sail MSC again. A couple of days into our cruise DH said he would not, BUT by the end of our cruise he was willing to keep our cruise booked on the Seaside for next year, though he would also like us to keep our options open and research other possibilities.

We discovered that our sailing wasn't a typical one in the YC, which I will go into below, so what we experienced could be completely different on future sailings. My comparison is based on our Haven experiences on the Jewel (2014) and the Escape (2015).

Before I really go into my pros and cons, I have to say the Divina is a beautiful ship and very well maintained. I read reviews here that workers have been spotted cleaning at all hours and this is true. The use of mirrors is some areas did drive me crazy, in particular one by Eataly Pizza that every time I passed, I thought it led to another seating area until I almost walked into myself.

Having said this though, my favorite ocean cruise ship of the nine I’ve sailed on is the Escape. I love the colors used, especially in the Haven, the spa, and the outside areas.

Divina's Top Sail Lounge

Escape's Haven Lounge

I apologize for the large photos. I just figured out how to post them, but not how to reduce them.

PROS

Attentive YC staff. Though the language barrier we found with some staff members (including our butler and steward) is a con on our list, our butler and steward were always eager to please, even when we told them not to worry about it. For instance, when we asked our butler about where the Wii was located, he basically said they no longer have them in the suites, but he would look for one. We both told him it was ok, not to worry looking. Still, later that day he came back with a Wii and set everything up for us. Have to say however, our experiences with staff members in the Haven on the Jewel and Escape were just as great, if not more so because we didn’t have any communication problems.

YC bed was extremely comfortable. We have also found the beds in the Haven to be just as comfortable.

We enjoyed having breakfast and lunch by the One Pool bar, though it could be quite windy when sailing. It was relaxing though and the service was very good. We ate outside on the Escape as well, though the Haven restaurant’s outside area had less tables. On the NCL Jewel there was only Haven breakfast and lunch in the Moderno restaurant which did not have an outside eating area.

DH and I agree that the snack selections in YC was larger than in the Haven on the Jewel and Escape. The snacks were very good on both lines.

Free Drinks in YC is a definite plus for everyone and we had a lot to drink. All of the bartenders were generous with the alcohol. Anna, the female bartender in the lounge, made some of my favorite drinks and I fell in love with Mango Daiquiris, with and without alcohol. On the Escape we received the ultimate drink package for free which we could use on the entire ship BUT it did not include our minibar, unlike the YC. We’d love to see NCL follow MSC’s footsteps and include the minibar for all suites, not just the owner suites and garden villas. The minibar was even included with our river cruise suite.

One of my Mango Daiquiris

PROS LIST CONTINUED

For what is included, the price we paid was very good. This cruise (not including pre-paid packages and purchases onboard) cost us $257 per person per night (8 nights). The packages we prepaid cost an additional $837 and we spent $283 on board including the service charge which totaled $192 for the two of us. I do not recall how much we spent onboard, but our cruise on the Jewel was $465 per person per night (7 nights), and the Escape cruise was $327 per person per night (7 nights) plus $168 for the service charge for each cruise.

Using YC cruise cards on the elevators. This is something DH really enjoyed as he isn’t the most patient person. I really appreciated it at the end of the safety drill with the mad dash everyone made to go back to enjoying their vacation. This would be great for the Haven as the worst part of our cruise on the Escape was trying to get an elevator at times.

We enjoyed the Nutella crepes stand. Yummy!

While our memories could be failing us, we think there were more stores on the Divina than on the NCL ships we’ve been on.

Receiving slot free play money was fun, though $3.00 goes pretty quickly. They offered $3.00 on three days, each for an hour.

DH won $3.00 one day, but ended up cashing out with 13 cents :-). Also, though we only went to the casino 4 times, we both really liked the fact that it’s non-smoking. Smoking was allowed on the Escape when we sailed.

MORE PROS

- Great deals with pre-purchase packages

We paid $175 for the unlimited internet package on the Escape, whereas we paid $119 on the Divina for 3000 mb. Only downside was sometimes it took a while to connect and for some reason we could no longer access the internet on our last evening and we had over 1,000 mb left. Had our cruise been 7 nights instead of 8, it would have cost only $79, which is a great price.

On the Escape the specialty dining package for 7 meals per person was included with our cruise fare, as was the drink package and $300 in onboard credit. For the Divina we pre-purchased the Three Dining Experiences package for $50 per person, which included a meal at Eataly Steakhouse, Galaxy Restaurant and Eataly Pizza. At the end of our first meal at the steakhouse, we were wishing we had purchased an additional meal there. Everything was delicious (I had the caesar salad, surf and turf with a baked potato, and the fiordifragola for dessert).

Once the dessert came photos weren't on my mind so I only have an after photo

On the way back to our suite, we stopped by the concierge desk and asked if we could cancel our reservation at Galaxy and have a second meal at the steakhouse instead with the package. The concierge on duty called her manager who approved it. We were extremely grateful for this as DH wasn’t wowed by the menu at Galaxy. We were even more grateful when we went for our second steakhouse dinner and found out that it was against the rules to change/substitute restaurants. Fortunately, the staff in the restaurant were also very friendly and accommodating and we had another excellent meal. If we sail on the Seaside I will be sure to pre-purchase at least 2 meals at the steakhouse!

MORE PROS

A 50-minute facial cost me $113 without the gratuity on the Escape, while a prepaid 55-minute facial on the Divina was only $65 and it was excellent, definitely one of the best I’ve ever had! On the Escape we had two 50-minute Swedish couple’s massages each costing $249 without the gratuity. For the Divina we pre-purchased the All Exclusive package for 2 for $475. This package included 3 massages for each of us (among other items we did not use): a 50-minute Candle Massage, a 45-minute Himalayan Dream Massage with fossil salts, and a 45-minute Aurea Del Mare Massage with sea shells. We asked and they willingly and easily made them into 3 couples massages, at no additional cost :-). I prefer Swedish massages, but the ones on Divina were very good and you can’t beat the price. My favorite was the Himalayan followed by the Aurea Del Mare. The All Exclusive package and being in the YC both included unlimited access to the sauna, steam room and relaxation room, whereas on the Escape we paid $199 per person for access. Granted, the thermal spa on the Escape is much nicer than on the Divina (loved the heated tile loungers and DH enjoyed the pool on the Escape), but value wise the Divina wins. I also have to say the therapists on the Divina only tried to sell me products after my first massage and the facial and my simple “no, thank you” was the end of it. On the Escape, after every spa service I had (massages, facial, hair and make-up) someone tried to sell me something. I will be sure to write “no sales” on the paperwork for any future cruise.

During the cruise there were various “deals” offered in the spa, I think even more than on the Escape.

PROS CONTINUED

- I had debated whether or not to pre-purchase a laundry package on MSC’s website said it could not be combined with YC reserved promotions. I’m glad I went ahead and pre-purchased as I never saw any laundry promotions for YC, just the same packages as on the website (20 items for $30 and 40 items for $50). We selected the Back Home Clean All 40 laundry package, which saved us quite a bit of money. Without the package, which cost $50, we would have spent over $269 on the 40 items we had washed and ironed. The best laundry deal we’ve had so far though was the unlimited free laundry we had on our river cruise.

- Butler escorts when disembarking. This is a feature we like with the YC and the Haven, though the YC wins here. Unlike the Haven, a YC butler would escort us from the concierge desk off the ship (with the Haven they escorted us from the concierge desk to the checkpoint). If we were going on a tour, they would escort us to the bus and we’d board before the nonYC passengers. At our first port, we just walked into town. When we got back to the pier, we were greeted by a butler who escorted us onto the ship, cutting through the checkpoint lines again.

- We both liked that there were two bars in the YC area :-).

- As with the Haven, there is a section of the theater reserved for YC (Deck 7, port side). I found the view to be great. I did see a bit of The Show Must Go On where a woman was on stage by herself and singing. Was not impressed with the little I saw. The next night, we went to the only show we saw in its entirety, Treasure Island, and we really enjoyed it. The fact that most of the music was from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies certainly didn’t hurt :-). I wanted to go to a couple of the other shows, but we couldn’t make them in time due to dinner and didn’t want to go to the later ones. We both liked the fact that Treasure Island was less than an hour long. We really enjoyed the shows on the Escape but thought After Midnight was a little too long.

According to the Daily, food and drinks were not allowed in the theater and there are no tables or cup holders. Despite that, people (DH and myself included) brought drinks and nothing was said. In fact, I saw a crew member deliver drinks to a couple of YC passengers.

- The food was very good in the Yacht Club and Eataly. I wasn’t always happy with the selections for lunch at the One Pool, but they always had burgers as an option and they were really good. We both enjoyed our meals in Le Muse, though what we ordered did not always look appetizing. Have to say, I tried the Gelato by the Aqua Park and though it was good, I LOVED the ice cream in the steakhouse (fiordifragola dessert) and the ice cream that came with the flourless chocolate cake in Le Muse. I’m salivating now just thinking about them!

There was a much wider breakfast selection in the buffet than in the YC, but I preferred breakfast by the pool. We did not go to Le Muse for breakfast or lunch so I cannot comment on them. Almost forgot, we also loved the fish and chips in the sports bar. I also ordered a phenomenal burger there, even better than the ones at the One Pool.

The dinner menu in Le Muse changed nightly, which is both a pro and con for me. Pro for having something new that I would like to try, but con when I found something I really liked and wanted to have it again. However, I will say that if you find something you enjoy eating, you can actually call and request it 24 hours in advance and they will try to have it for you. The Haven restaurant’s menu did not change nightly when we last sailed with NCL. This wasn’t a problem for me at all as I loved having the surf and turf and had it every night we ate in the Haven restaurant, but some people may find this boring. We both loved the food in the Haven restaurant and ate there for breakfast, lunch and dinner, though we mostly had dinners in the specialty restaurants, which were also very good. I will say I prefer the decor of the Haven restaurant on the Escape over that of Le Muse. I also prefer the location of the Haven restaurant as it was in the Haven and people could not walk by the windows and stare at you.

Escape's Haven Restaurant (I didn't like the decor in Le Muse so I didn't take any photos there)

The Haven outdoor eating area

THE CONS

Not having a pre cruise concierge like the Haven. Really missed being able to select snacks, teas, pillows, etc. ahead of time. It took three days and a couple of notes to only have grapes in the fruit bowl. At the same time, I will admit the fruit bowl was an issue on our last NCL cruise on the Escape. However, with the Haven it was an issue of too much fruit as we received the standard bowl and the fruits I requested pre-cruise! While not a big issue by any means, with YC we missed having canapés in our suite everyday as with the Haven.

Some of our Haven snacks and canapés

With Haven, we pre-selected coffee pods, tea, pillows, and even made our spa reservations.

It would have been nice to know about the YC’s pillow menu beforehand, though I liked having photos on the menu in our suite. I don’t know which pillows were on our bed, but they were comfortable enough that we did not even use the pillow menu.

YC's Pillow Menu

We sailed on the Escape this past October in the Haven and there was nothing like your picture of the lounge. We just had a nice room with a bar and a number of couches. There was nothing that resembled your picture of the lounge. We'll be sailing on the Divina this coming October in the YC and I'm anxious to make comparisons.

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THE CONS CONTINUED

- DH wasn’t happy that they actually ran out of espresso pods. Yes, he could and did go down to the Top Sail lounge for espressos, BUT he actually enjoys making his own espresso every morning to start the day, even at home. Maybe with a pre-cruise concierge, they wouldn’t have run out of the pods.

- Dining times. DH and I are big fans of NCL’s freestyle dining and enjoyed not having a set dining time and going to the Haven restaurant to eat whenever we wanted, which varied according to what was going on each day.

- Language barrier was the biggest con for us. In fact, this was our worst experience on any line we’ve sailed (Ama Waterways, NCL, and Carnival) and the first negative on day one. This doesn’t apply to every crew member we communicated with on the Divina, but it was an issue with the majority, including our butler and steward. We like speaking with crew members, tour guides and drivers when we travel as we feel they really make a vacation great and have given us some wonderful memories and experiences, usually because we can joke with them at DH’s or my expense :-). With this cruise, we felt the language issue somewhat dampened the mood of the cruise. One crew member in particular, with whom we had no problem communicating, was phenomenal and we had a lot of laughs with her. Not related, but she told us usually there are about 700 or 800 American passengers on board, while our cruise had 2,000.

Were we able to live through the experience? Of course we did, and even laughed about it at times. For instance, on the day before disembarkation we decided to use room service to order a pizza before our last massage. I told DH I wasn't sure if Eataly Pizza was open so he called the concierge desk. The concierge that answered said Eataly Pizza was not open, but we could have a Margherite pizza delivered, which they serve by the One Pool during lunch. We said ok and waited. Some minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. DH opens it and greets our butler who had a Margarita on his tray. We eventually received our pizza but the incident didn’t help DH’s perception of our cruise as it was icing on the cake for him. I laughed and took a photo as I know he’ll laugh about it too later on.

Incidents like this happened to others as well on this cruise and I found the best thing to do was see the humor in all of it. On our tour of the Dominican Republic a woman asked the tour guide about the poverty rate. Our guide replied with information about properties on the island :D.

We find that staff members on NCL and the other cruise lines we’ve sailed with were easier to understand and understood what we said better. Regardless, for the most part and definitely in the YC, the crew members were extremely friendly and aimed to please, as with our experiences with NCL and the Haven.

MORE CONS

- Suite’s bathroom was small. The main issue with the suite was the size of the bathroom. We both couldn’t believe how small it was in relation to the Haven or even the bathroom we had on our much smaller river cruise ship.

Our Bathroom on the Divina (Sophia Loren Suite)

We have sailed in the Haven twice so far, a 1 bedroom courtyard penthouse (380 sq. ft. interior with 60 sq. ft. balcony) on the Norwegian Jewel, and a 2 bedroom family villa (492 sq. ft. interior with 48 sq. ft. balcony) on the Norwegian Escape. We recently also had a suite on the AmaStella river cruise ship (350 sq. ft. total with outside balcony included). All three of these suites had considerably larger bathrooms than the one in our Divina suite, which I think has spoiled us. Did we survive with one sink and not having a separate shower and WC? Yes, we did, but we definitely missed having our own sinks and roomy shower, not to mention there is something relaxing about taking a shower with a view of the ocean. Just sayin’ :-).

Our bathroom on the Jewel

On the Escape

On the AmaStella

- No free “on demand” movies or dvd player. I know, most people don’t cruise to sit in their stateroom and watch movies, but there are times when we like to wind down the night with a movie. I decided I wanted to watch one while I unpacked, only to find I would have to pay for it, so it didn’t happen. Our first Haven cruise included a dvd player in the living area and a list of movies we could request from our butler. On the Escape there weren’t any dvd players, but a really good selection of recent on demand movies for free. We even had recent on demand as well as some great classic movies for free on our river cruise.

- Not having free drinks outside of the YC. This wasn’t a big issue as most of the time we would get a drink before leaving the YC so we only purchased drinks when dining in the Sports Bar, Eataly Steakhouse and Eataly Pizza. Still, I’m glad to know that this is something that will be changed this year.

- Dress code. This one is tricky because while we definitely prefer NCL’s freestyle as it’s more comfortable for our vacations as well as makes it a lot easier to pack, it was also disappointing not seeing the dress code enforced on the Divina when we made the effort to adhere to it. One night in Le Muse DH and I noticed multiple women in shorty shorts, one of whom looked liked she just came in from the pool. We couldn’t believe they were all allowed into the restaurant.

- Cannot have food from a specialty restaurant delivered to your suite as you can in the Haven. I asked one of the concierges if this was correct and was told the only way this would be possible is if an exception is granted by the hotel manager. We only did this twice on an NCL ship when we were full from dinner and wanted our desserts later, but it’s a definite plus for NCL in my book.

- DH was not happy that we had to use MSC’s laundry service to have our clothes pressed, rather than let us borrow an iron and ironing board in our suite as allowed in the Haven on the Jewel and the Escape. Fortunately, as I mentioned in our list of pros, we had a laundry package.

- No Wii in our suite until we asked about it. I was happy to read about having a Wii in the YC suites as I thought it would be fun to use on sea days. We asked the butler and though it took a bit to figure out what he said, we found out that MSC is removing/has removed Wiis from the Divina’s suites. As mentioned above, our butler brought us one and set it up.

- Our cups for the in room coffee maker were not replaced after the first four days. It wasn’t a big deal since they ran out of the espresso pods for DH, but it would have been faster and nice to have a regular cup of coffee without going down to the lounge or having someone come in to deliver it.

- The One Pool breakfast hours did not change for early tours, which would have been nice. Simple solution was to go to the buffet, which we did though I do not like buffets at all (years ago I witnessed someone do some disgusting things at a local buffet restaurant).

- I do not mean to offend anyone and apologize in advance if I do, but another issue for us with the YC on our cruise was the majority of fellow YC cruisers were considerably older than we are, and in comparison to those we cruised with in the Haven. I’m in my early 40s and DH is in his early 50s. After speaking with a crew member and a passenger who was on her third cruise in a row in Divina’s YC, I learned that this passenger make up was not usual. The fellow passenger said that of the three cruises, ours was her and her husband’s least favorite because it was duller as far as the YC atmosphere. She said with the other two cruises they were going to bed around 2 a.m. because they would socialize in the Top Sail Lounge (where we would meet up with them) and converse with a lot of other passengers. But during our week, Top Sail lounge was pretty dead at night and they were calling it a night much earlier, as did DH and I. I also want to mention that this same passenger said she noticed there had been preferential treatment for a particular passenger within the YC as he was handing out a lot of tips during the cruise.

There were also less children in YC than in the Haven. We’ve never had a problem with children in the Haven, but some people find them disruptive to their vacation. If you fall into this category, based on this trip I would recommend the YC. I didn’t see more than 5 children, never all at the same time, and they were all well behaved.

- Something that I really did not like was a crew member giving some people a tour of the YC actually went into our suite with the people on the tour. Our door was opened because our awesome steward was wiping down the balcony and I had just made my way back from breakfast to find people in our suite. Not cool.

After this cruise we realize that we have been very fortunate to have had great Haven experiences, but we know that this may not always be the case depending on the crew and other passengers cruising. This is why I would try MSC again instead of writing them off after only one cruise. I won’t deny our experiences with NCL have been better, but I still enjoyed the Divina and the YC experience, for the most part. So basically, you just never know what type of cruise you’ll have, no matter which cruise line.

We sailed on the Escape this past October in the Haven and there was nothing like your picture of the lounge. We just had a nice room with a bar and a number of couches. There was nothing that resembled your picture of the lounge. We'll be sailing on the Divina this coming October in the YC and I'm anxious to make comparisons.

 

 

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Are you talking about the top two photos of my second post? If so, those photos are of the YC's Top Sail Lounge on the Divina. I tried to label the photos at the top of each one.

An excellent review and very nice pictures too. Thanks.

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thank you very much for your extensive comparison. although I will not be able to afford a haven suite, it was nice to see what it could be like!

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Thank you for the comparison.

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Thanks for the effort of putting up this review 😀 I will be having my first suit experience this September on MSC. I'm very excited about it after reading your post 😀

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Interesting read. Thanks.

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Thank you for your extensive review. I enjoyed it. Having found strangers in your suite for a tour is not just "not cool" I would have flipped out!

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Having found strangers in your suite for a tour is not just "not cool" I would have flipped out!

 

Agree.

Just bang out of order.

 

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A very measured, pragmatic review. Thank you. Having a great time on a cruise, not unlike real life, means not sweating the small stuff. Makes life so much easier!

Your experience seems to mirror ours though our point of reference is somewhat different (traveling with a 5 year old). We used to prefer NCL suites and the Haven but having tried Divina once, we like both brands equally, for different reasons (some of which you have outlined).

We are doing a 14 night on the Preziosa in July (to the arctic), again in the YC. We'll see if they continue to work for us.

Thanks again for your review.

Are you talking about the top two photos of my second post? If so, those photos are of the YC's Top Sail Lounge on the Divina. I tried to label the photos at the top of each one.

Yes, today I got the other photos and saw the Haven Lounge. The only one I saw was the whole lounge and the buffet type picture. Sorry if I jumped the gun. Still looking forward to our Oct. Divina cruise. I was shocked that the "Sophia Loren" suite had such a normal suite bathroom. I guess I was expecting more opulence. We were in. Haven Spa suite on the Escape and our bathroom didn't have a tub, it had this double-sized walk-in shower. Our tub (whirlpool) was in the room. We loved the suite, did not like the Escape. Could've been it was because we were on a sailing right after a norovirus outbreak and everything was less "special". We didn't have menus, we had paper. All mirrors were streaked with disinfectant. No salt and pepper shakers, you had to ask for the little packets. Don't get me wrong, we appreciated all of the precautions, but because of all of them, service was lacking and more disgruntled employees.

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Thanks for such a comprehensive review.

Thanks for the comparison... you have reminded me to do the same re: our last cruise in the YC on the Divina.

I have sailed in the NCL Haven on every ship that has one.. and found the YC to be quite a bit better in almost every respect.

Of course, your 'cons' are personal and subjective... and, that you are allowed. ;)

Most of the issues could have been resolved easily onboard...

e.g....we got our favorite canapes and much more every day in the cabin, simply by giving the butler a list of what we wanted on the first day.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise, but our 'Con" list is quite a bit shorter... :cool:

An excellent review and very nice pictures too. Thanks.

 

 

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Thank you Easyboy.

I appreciate your comparison! We have sailed in the Haven on the Breakaway and will be sailing on the Divina in 16008 next month. I am sad about the bathroom, too, but I will live.

Were you able to enjoy the balcony at all? I'm a bit concerned it not being very functional.

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