Divina with kids

[ufyellowfin]

Have done some research but having a hard time deciphering some of the posts. The food usually tends to get a bad rap on this ship but is that just in the main dining room? Is the food in the pay restaurants better? Is there a place where I could see prices for the restaurants? I'm trying to find what's included and what's extra once ur on the ship.

 

 

Also how is the kids club? Some comments about the crew not speaking good English is ok with me but I'm not sure if my kids will do well without being able to communicate.

[parallax]

We stayed in the Yacht Club so I cannot comment regarding the main dinning room. The speciality restaurant we tried was very good but not great. The pricing is a la carte. We ordered an app and a main course. The meal came to about $50 for the both of us.

 

I do not understand why MSC gets a bad rap regarding the crews ability to speak English. I find their ability to converse perfectly fine and no different than what I have experienced on other cruises.

 

Even though we went on Spring Break and over Easter, the kids club was perfectly fine. My daughter loved it. My guess is that it would have been even a better experience if it wan't over spring break.

[ufyellowfin]

Well I booked today, so we will see.

[skyking]

Well I booked today, so we will see.

 

How old are the kids?? Our 4 year old LOVED the kids camp and the staff was awesome and very attentive. Where is this food is bad coming from??? I thought the food was the best of any cruise I have been on.

[ufyellowfin]

How old are the kids?? Our 4 year old LOVED the kids camp and the staff was awesome and very attentive. Where is this food is bad coming from??? I thought the food was the best of any cruise I have been on.

 

 

Your report was the reason I booked this cruise. Daughter will be 6 at that time and son will be 3. We also live in orlando and thanks again for your trip thread.

Edited April 24, 2015 by ufyellowfin

[mikesteg]

Also how is the kids club? Some comments about the crew not speaking good English is ok with me but I'm not sure if my kids will do well without being able to communicate.

 

The kids club is generally quite good. We've been on Divina x2 and Poesia x1. The first 2 times were head and shoulders above Carnival. On this last cruise on Divina, the club was so overrun that most of the activities that made MSC so much better just didn't happen. Still a good experience, but the kids weren't quite as apt to go to the club all the time.

 

Language is not a problem: the kids club staff on MSC (and Carnival, and most likely others) is drown from places like Australia and Europe. They all speak English as a first language, quite understandably. This is for the mini-club, but I can't imagine it would be different for the older age groups.

 

Perhaps the language comments you're read are more about the room and dining staff? That can be a problem, except that perfect communication with those folks isn't really necessary. This is the case on every cruise on every line we've ever been on, not at all unique to MSC.

[skyking]

Your report was the reason I booked this cruise. Daughter will be 6 at that time and son will be 3. We also live in orlando and thanks again for your trip thread.

 

Wow that is sooooo awesome:) I'm glad it did someone some good:) let me know if you have anymore questions, I'm always happy to help!!!

[coldflame]

Also how is the kids club? Some comments about the crew not speaking good English is ok with me but I'm not sure if my kids will do well without being able to communicate.

 

As for food, I've yet to step on any cruise that has had memorable food (except on their premium restaurants). At the end of the day it boils down to mass-produced "gourmet" food at MDRs.

 

As for language, also something you shouldn't worry about. One of the first DCL trips I took, neither our server, nor our stateroom host could speak conversational English. Very caveman-ish, broken English, but it didn't really matter. They both were very friendly and did their jobs superbly.

 

As for kids, this was the first question we had. Coming from 7 x DCL trips under our belt, we were concerned our kids would be unhappy or bored aboard the Divina. However, after showing them all the pictures and videos of the Divina, they are so exited. Larger pools, the simple but cute kid's club, the restaurants, the huge theater, etc. They are definitely looking forward to it and so are we. Our kids will be 5/10 at time of cruise, fwiw.

[mikesteg]

As for food, I've yet to step on any cruise that has had memorable food (except on their premium restaurants). At the end of the day it boils down to mass-produced "gourmet" food at MDRs.

 

I assume that you meant to say "and cruise that has had memorably good food". Surely you've had some memorably bad food. :eek:

 

I actually had one on Divina, the grand seafood entree on Italian night. The 'giant' prawns were not giant, but still bigger than the single 1" scallop or the 1" square of monkfish. Very disappointing portion size, and not well prepared.

 

At the same dinner, the calamari appetizer was fantastic (but also tiny). In fact, I was compelled to offer some to my 5 year old twins so their first calamari wouldn't be their last... and they ate all but the first and last ring. Had I known the entree was going to be so bad, I would have ordered 4 more portions of calamari!

 

Just to bring it back on topic (slightly): the chicken nuggets on the kids area of the buffet are really good. Just whip up your own honey mustard sauce or such with the bottles near the salad bar. The popcorn shrimp was decent also. Meaning that the food on the kids menu isn't total crap. :D

[kathiean]

Also how is the kids club? Some comments about the crew not speaking good English is ok with me but I'm not sure if my kids will do well without being able to communicate.

 

The Kid's Club, hand's down, is the BEST on any ship...and I've been on over 30 cruises. We've been on Divina 4 times with my toddler...at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and two years old...the two directors and their staff are absolutely AMAZING! I cannot sing their praises loud enough! They treated my little guy with love, patience, and an unbelievably positive attitude to not only him but every other little person in their program. Please tell Josh and Wes that Malachi says 'hi'!

[coldflame]

I assume that you meant to say "and cruise that has had memorably good food". Surely you've had some memorably bad food. :eek:

 

Yes, that's exactly what I meant :) And yes, I had one truly BAD experience with DCL in our last voyage. The Tuna Nicoise salad was so damn awful. The tuna tasted like it had gone rancid two days prior -- and I mean I honestly thought I was going to get food poisoning from it, thankfully didn't. The greens were soggy and tasted as if they had just microwave-unfrozen a bag of lettuce and dump in the bowl. It was the worst salad I've eaten anywhere. ugh, can't even think about it w/o getting a regurgitation sensation.

[skyking]

Also how is the kids club? Some comments about the crew not speaking good English is ok with me but I'm not sure if my kids will do well without being able to communicate.

 

The Kid's Club, hand's down, is the BEST on any ship...and I've been on over 30 cruises. We've been on Divina 4 times with my toddler...at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and two years old...the two directors and their staff are absolutely AMAZING! I cannot sing their praises loud enough! They treated my little guy with love, patience, and an unbelievably positive attitude to not only him but every other little person in their program. Please tell Josh and Wes that Malachi says 'hi'!

 

I am with you 10000%....I should post the video from the kid talent show my son was in, they made it so awesome for him and all the kids.

[ufyellowfin]

We are booked in 11042 for an April cruise to bermuda. Any idea what the drink packages start at?

 

Also, I booked with a TA but I can't log in to MSCto view the booking since he booked it. Is there a way around it?

[skyking]

We are booked in 11042 for an April cruise to bermuda. Any idea what the drink packages start at?

 

Also, I booked with a TA but I can't log in to MSCto view the booking since he booked it. Is there a way around it?

 

I also booked with a TA and had no problem, you need to go to already booked then to MSC web checkin. We used the drink coupons and they worked PERFECT for us, we drink A LOT on cruises and I got 8 books for my wife and I, we had two left at bed time on the last night:) worked great for us.

[ufyellowfin]

I also booked with a TA and had no problem, you need to go to already booked then to MSC web checkin. We used the drink coupons and they worked PERFECT for us, we drink A LOT on cruises and I got 8 books for my wife and I, we had two left at bed time on the last night:) worked great for us.

 

 

Still trying to get this checkin thing figured out with my TA. Are the coupons good anywhere on this ship? Are they only for alcoholic beverages or would they work for kids drinks as well?

[Saint Paul]

We are booked in 11042 for an April cruise to bermuda. Any idea what the drink packages start at?

 

Also, I booked with a TA but I can't log in to MSCto view the booking since he booked it. Is there a way around it?

 

We've recently returned from the Bermuda cruise.

We stayed in a balcony cabins 11147 and 11123.

 

We had the premium all inclusive drinks package (approx $406.00 per week, per adult), which included all premium brands. The wife took advantage of the champagne and brandy and the brother in law acquired a taste for the Johnnie Walker Blue Label which was priced at $44.00 for a double. We got our moneys worth.

[skyking]

Still trying to get this checkin thing figured out with my TA. Are the coupons good anywhere on this ship? Are they only for alcoholic beverages or would they work for kids drinks as well?

 

They worked all over the ship and are good for smoothies and the gelato:) for us it was the way to go cause we could all the same drinks and we saved money.

[Lerin]

Wow that is sooooo awesome:) I'm glad it did someone some good:) let me know if you have anymore questions, I'm always happy to help!!!

 

Could you post a link to your review? We're cruising in a few months with 4 kids and would love to read a review with a family perspective. Thanks :)

[ufyellowfin]

He has a review just search Divina under MSC cruises and I believe it's a October 25-Nov 1

[Mikesa1721]

A true testament to how good the kid's club is, is watching 2 little one's crying their eyes out because they didn't want to leave their club to be with their parents. We just disembarked Divina today and witnessed this first hand!! We also watched all the little ones come into La Cantina Di' Bacco singing the DO-RE-MI song as we all clapped and cheered them on!! Josh is just incredible with kids,,,he was definitely put on this earth to do this kind of work!!!

[ufyellowfin]

Called my TA to see if I could upgrade from Fantistica to Aurea. It hinges on if the drink packages you receive with Aurea are inclusive of children. Does anyone know?

[ufyellowfin]

Upgraded to Aurea.... 347 days till sailing. Looking forward to this one more than the one I'm going on in 11 days.

Edited April 28, 2015 by ufyellowfin