How can Divinia offer such cheap fares???

[Janet&Carl]

 

 

BTW by design the Divina is the closest to Celebrity S-Class.

Service concept and space per person make them different.

 

and price makes them much different. And the friendly family atmosphere counts as well.

 

For me I choose MSC because I cruise with my family. They offer a lot more benefits for the younger members and I don't pay for them to cruise with us so its cheaper.

 

I have looked at many HAL cruises in the past - but I don't think my younger family memeber would enjoy it. I have personal friends who we have swapped cruising stories with - none have enjoyed HAL most have said that you have to have a walking frame to fit in !! On MSC you can party all day and night if you wish (our older kids) or find a quiet spot to chill out and read like we do.

[Janet&Carl]

I haven't been on here for a couple of years - I got disillusioned with people banging on who had never sailed on MSC. I don't visit other pages and bad mouth their brand - I have no right to do that as I have never sailed on them. The only other pages I post on are ones where I ask questions for my up coming cruise - like port information etc.

 

There used to be a poster a couple of years ago who was here all day singing the praises of HAL disguised as a well travelled, across the board companies, cruiser. His moniker was pmacher61. I guess things do not change.

[cruisetrail]

 

 

I have looked at many HAL cruises in the past - but I don't think my younger family memeber would enjoy it. I have personal friends who we have swapped cruising stories with - none have enjoyed HAL most have said that you have to have a walking frame to fit in !! On MSC you can party all day and night if you wish (our older kids) or find a quiet spot to chill out and read like we do.

 

They are not too many.

The Eurodam (1) and the Nieuw Amsterdam (2) do 7 days Caribbean (Eastern and Western), 12 days Mediterranean (2), 12 days Baltic (1) and 7-10 days US & Canada (1). That's it.

Other HAL ships is not my business.

Party people will likely choose Carnival & NCL & MSC & Costa over these two.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Lido cabanas take about 6-7% of central pool deck space on the Nieuw Amsterdam. A bit more on the Eurodam.

Always booked.

 

 

don't tell me how much space they have on Eurodam beacuse I did cruise on that ship not looked for it on web like you are. never saw anyone in cabanas .

[cruisetrail]

don't tell me how much space they have on Eurodam beacuse I did cruise on that ship not looked for it on web like you are. never saw anyone in cabanas .

 

Sounds like you never cruised on this ship.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Sounds like you never cruised on this ship.

 

 

Sure :rolleyes:

[American Bear]

My folks (almost 30 years cruising, over 40 cruises across all the mass market lines and to many various types of itineraries) are onboard right now; they booked the $249 Balcony deal. They have only checked in twice since departing but have been very pleased with the ship and their trip so far.

 

I look forward to hearing their impressions considering their vast experience with other ships and their actual real life experience with Divina.

 

If I had a choice between a 4 day cruise in an inside cabin on a 20 year old Fantasy-class Carnival ship for $249 and Divina 7 day Balcony for $249 I know where I'd go!

 

Obviously MSC is operating at a loss on some of these fares in order to build brand awareness. I would not anticipate that the prices stay low on this ship forever.

 

WOW $249. Balcony!

That's a truly great deal!

We got $399./balcony and I'm ready to make my own bed for that price!:D

As far as the prices go, don't be that sure, MSC announced 2 new ships to be built over the next couple years that are bigger then the RCL Freedom class!

RCL announced plans to build 2, maybe 4 more Oasis class size ships, and the other lines are following too with building bigger ships!

More cabins available, lower prices, or at least stable prices!

[American Bear]

I don't think that MSC Divina pricing is that much different from general travel industry practices where the operator tries to fill the ship or a plane. Our pricing for Mar 15 departure where quite high until about 30-40 days prior to departure, then they significantly dropped & went up again. And I believe that ship close to capacity on our sailing. Same was true for our flight, cheap 60 days, way more closer to departure & full flight where we couldn't get 2 seats together.

 

It makes sense to have a full ship as fixed costs such as crew wages, port charges, fuel, etc are still to be paid whether ship is full or not. Also more people will generate more revenue for paid charges such as drinks, casino, merchandise purchases, etc. So why not try to fill the ship at any cost?

 

You are exactly right!

We are casino club members on RCL and get quite a few free cruises each year! Why, because we gamble, and they figure if we are on the ship, they want a chance at our gambling money!:eek: