Just Off Divina

[cruiseguyinorl]

Strange how people's opinions can be so different. Actually I guess it's a good thing. Otherwise life would be so boring.

 

I had both clients and friends on this sailing. They returned absolutely thrilled with no complaints whatsoever! Not trying to minimize anyone's experience but it certainly shows that one shoe doesn't fit all.

 

Bret

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[spearnreel]

From embarkation to end, with the exception of Bermuda, this cruise was the worst of 60 cruises we've taken on Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, NCL and Royal Caribbean. The line was very long outside the terminal just to get into the building - took us an hour to check in and that was at 12:30. Instead of taking your credit card at check in, they direct you to one of the kiosks on the ship to register your credit card for use on board which we stood in line once again to do. That is one of their new procedures we were told. The lifeboat drill was a complete joke - our muster station was the casino where they did not even make sure people were trying on their life jackets and we never even saw a demonstration on how to put them on. If one was given, it was nowhere near where we were standing. Now for the cabin - we took the Fantastico pkg which was supposed to be a superior balcony cabin in category 2A. Nowhere on the website deck plan of deck 9 shows any of these forward cabins having any obstruction or any notations showing obstructions. Our balcony was a "steel" balcony where you could only see out if you were standing. When we complained at guest relations, we were shown their diagram of deck 9 which did show our cabins as having obstructed balconies. They said their Miami office was closed on Saturday and they would try to do something on Monday. Well - the following Thursday, they called us and offered us another cabin - with 2 days left of the cruise, we were not going to spend it moving. They didn't so much as offer us a bottle of wine for their mistake and never even admitted their error. Now for the dining experience. When we found out that they had anytime dining, we called and spoke to a Mario who told us just to come and see him at 6:30 that evening and he would change us to 6:30. When we appeared at 6:30 to see him, after missing our 5:30 regular dining time, he looked at our room keys and told us he didn't realize we were on the fantastico pkg and therefore could not change us to anytime dining. So - we missed our dining room dinner that night and had to go to the buffet. Now as to dining in the Black Crab - tables are extremely close together and waiters are having to serve over your head in a lot of areas. The food was mediocre at best - pencil thin prime rib and not much variety.. Food upstairs in buffet was pretty good though with much variety. The ship itself is beautiful - probably the prettiest on the sea and kept very well. The entertainment also was exceptional. We cruise several times a year and generally are not critical people. We realize things are never perfect and have never given any ship such a negative review. After hearing so many other passengers complaining about various things, we felt this review was warrented.

 

Just to be clear...

1. Took all of one hour to check-in.

2. Had to "stand in line" at kiosk for sail & sign card.

3. Did not learn "how to put on a life jacket" at muster drill.

4. Booked next to lowest "experience" and received next to lowest style balcony.

5. Feeling that hard hats should be required in the MDR.

= worst cruise ever out of 60?

[stuart2468]

You said you were on the cruise with them not a bus, which is it? Had you received confirmation you would have received a Voyager Loyalty Club #. Did you print out the confirmation and bring it on the cruise?

 

I think this tells us a lot about the picking an choosing of information to be given!

 

No wonder at 6.30pm on the first night in the MDR, they were declined the 'my time' package! A quick mention of Fantastica on the phone, and the reservation at 5.30pm could have been met!

 

Its a shame that something so trivial can be seen as part of 'worst cruise in 60'

Edited April 19, 2016 by stuart2468

[stuart2468]

Just to be clear...

1. Took all of one hour to check-in.

2. Had to "stand in line" at kiosk for sail & sign card.

3. Did not learn "how to put on a life jacket" at muster drill.

4. Booked next to lowest "experience" and received next to lowest style balcony.

5. Feeling that hard hats should be required in the MDR.

= worst cruise ever out of 60?

 

Couldn't agree more! Baffling!

 

Whilst my experience of Divina was not perfect, and probably the worst (purely by comparison) of the 3 MSC ships I've been on, it was certainly my best ever cruise! Contradicting? No not really. Its what I and the people around me make of it. I'd be on board tomorrow in a heartbeat if i could!

Edited April 19, 2016 by stuart2468

[lawra09]

Just to be clear...

1. Took all of one hour to check-in.

2. Had to "stand in line" at kiosk for sail & sign card.

3. Did not learn "how to put on a life jacket" at muster drill.

4. Booked next to lowest "experience" and received next to lowest style balcony.

5. Feeling that hard hats should be required in the MDR.

= worst cruise ever out of 60?

 

Evidently my review wasn't too far off base when cruise critic's former passengers give this ship a 58% rating compared to Celebrity and Princess who get 80's.

[stuart2468]

Evidently my review wasn't too far off base when cruise critic's former passengers give this ship a 58% rating compared to Celebrity and Princess who get 80's.

 

Cruise critic is a predominantly American Website.

 

MSC is a Mediterranean style cruise line. And usually at quite the price reduction compared to Celebrity & Princess!

 

European way of service is different to American. Not worse! Different! And Americans can struggle with this and see it as a negative. Criticism? No. Fact!

 

Resulting in....... An american viewpoint on review averages.

 

This is what i paid....

1 week Divina Aurea balcony £752pp/$1080pp

 

1 Week Allure, Balcony, Drinks & Massage - £1312pp/$1885pp Thats 75% more expensive

 

Don't even begin to tell me that RCI gives £560/$800 worth of more service than MSC does. And Divina is by far a more beautiful ship that Allure. Food on par with each other. Entertainment slightly better on Divina. (only because everything has to be booked on Allure)

 

I know where my buck is going!

[Mikesa1721]

Cruise critic is a predominantly American Website.

 

MSC is a Mediterranean style cruise line. And usually at quite the price reduction compared to Celebrity & Princess!

 

European way of service is different to American. Not worse! Different! And Americans can struggle with this and see it as a negative. Criticism? No. Fact!

 

Resulting in....... An american viewpoint on review averages.

 

This is what i paid....

1 week Divina Aurea balcony £752pp/$1080pp

 

1 Week Allure, Balcony, Drinks & Massage - £1312pp/$1885pp Thats 75% more expensive

 

Don't even begin to tell me that RCI gives £560/$800 worth of more service than MSC does. And Divina is by far a more beautiful ship that Allure. Food on par with each other. Entertainment slightly better on Divina. (only because everything has to be booked on Allure)

 

I know where my buck is going!

 

[artypharty]

If I didn't take a cruise because I'd read a few bad reviews, I'd have missed some fantastic trips! I can't say from experience, because my first MSC cruise is not until June, but I am thoroughly excited about it. It's always interesting to read different view points, as in this review. I do thank you for it because, for me, if those were the only things you found to complain about, I think I'll be one happy cruiser!

 

Understanding that it is a European experience is paramount. In Europe, most tables in a restaurant are almost literally on top of each other. Service is relaxed and slow. Isn't that what traveling is about though?... experiencing and embracing new things and cultures?

Edited April 19, 2016 by artypharty

[SUSIEK]

Evidently my review wasn't too far off base when cruise critic's former passengers give this ship a 58% rating compared to Celebrity and Princess who get 80's.

 

 

All in who you ask. We are Elite on Celebrity...many cruises with them. Our last sailing on The Reflection made me want to never sail with them again. Princess is the "bomb" to us..... LOVE LOVE them. Personally I think they do everything right.

 

I really don't go by the ratings of the ships. You will have 10 people voice their complaints and 1 who will write a positive review. I think people enjoy telling the bad more than the good. Human nature? I think I have written 2 reviews of all our cruises and 99% of the cruises were great. We've been cruising since the 80's.

 

We have been on many Carnival ships that have had less than stellar ratings.... always had a good time and great service. I will say Carnival food was way better than Royal. But, of course this is MY opinion.

[mjonis]

Next time book the Yacht Club.

 

You mean if you have Yacht Club you get better/faster service in the MDR?

[Essiesmom]

For your first Divina cruise, you came here and asked about your cabin on this thread, post 300, with reply in post 301 (and you didn't thank Bret for the info):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2021386

 

Why didn't you check before this cruise? You stated you had a 2A cabin on deck 9. There is no balcony cabin designation 2A. Only B1 (Bella), B2 (Fantastica) and B3 (Aurea). I think this one disappointment colored the rest of your cruise, causing you to look for little things...

 

Our first and only experience on MSC was not perfect. It was the inaugural cruise on Divina from Miami, 3 nights. You think an hour was long...We were outside the terminal forever, then inside just as long before we could board. I think it was because there were tons of travel agents sailing who were boarded first, and lots of media (who may not have been sailing). We are both diabetic and need to eat early. But early seating was taken...they assigned all of the travel agents to it, in all of the window seating. (There were some onboard who had done the TA, and maybe the cruise before that who were not happy about being bumped from their tables)..We met some of the travel agents who said they would have preferred late seating.

We like a large table. WE had a long table for ten, and were the only ones there. Seating was at 9p. Was the food bad? No. Different? Yes. The dining room was probably half empty.

We had an inside cabin on deck 13. At the time, I don't remember the Bella designations, but it was Bella. Small, but I thought it was standard. It wasn't until the morning of debark when I ran around taking cabin pics that I realized there were larger insides.

Our only port was Port Canaveral on a rainy day. My sister went to the Kennedy Space Center. I stayed onboard (had been before). We missed the private island.

Debark was no picnic, either. How did we evaluate our experience? Well, we thought MSC needed to get their act together, and would be worth another try in six months. Events intervened, but we are now sailing again after 2-1/2 years. Did I think I knew everything about MSC and Divina after one cruise? Heck no. I came here and asked about my cabin, after reading all the pages of the previously linked thread. We are doing a Bella balcony on deck 8. We will have a couch and a tub, and probably a nice view of the top of a lifeboat, but we are thrilled. We are still hoping for early seating, even if it is in the buffet. We have status matched to black (from our Celebrity rank) and our TA has linked it to our booking. Hopefully, that will get us priority boarding.

It's a cruise. We will enjoy it. EM

Edited April 19, 2016 by Essiesmom

[Cruiser21]

You mean if you have Yacht Club you get better/faster service in the MDR?

 

No, She said she would be happy to pay more and enjoy ourselves. When you book YC you have a separate dedicated dining room for YC members. Dedicated lounge area, bar area and pool deck area.

[LMaxwell]

Interesting. Our neighbors (very experienced cruisers) across the street just returned from the same cruise and loved every minute of it.

 

I don't understand how you had a line out the street to check in when they told me they arrived at port a little after 12:30 and had a fast check in and were on the ship faster than any other cruise they have ever been on.

 

I guess ymmv.

I pulled in to parking garage at 1142 am. Got in line at 12pm on the dot. We were onboard by 1240 including everyone taking bathroom breaks in the terminal and we changed the baby in the terminal before boarding. If we skipped the baby chsnge we would have been on by 1230.

[LMaxwell]

My husband and I were on this cruise as well with 48 other people and never heard one good thing. From the time we got our key cards it was down hill from there.

As all other ships, before you board they want you to take a picture, after many cruises, we no longer need or want these. The gentleman (and I'm being nice to use that term) tried to get us to take a picture, I said "No thanks" he said come on...again "No thanks to which he said "You have to" again, "No thanks, at that time he placed his hand on my shoulder, he removed it very quickly when I told him he didn't want to do that.

 

Agree about having to swipe your own CC, this is crazy.....why not take the extra 2 minutes when the do your room key to do that?

 

We are D members on another line, and they were suppose to match that. Never got one thing. We went down to ask about it, and they said it would take 2 months for that to take affect. That's not going to happen......they had all my info since the beginning of the year.

 

The dining room was horrible. Agree with the first post, it is so tight and a bad layout. Food was uneatable on most nights. Chicken was hard as a rock, steak paper thin and nothing had flavor. We never were offered anything to drink, and when we asked for something we would wait a half hour or more. They would serve 3 out of 4 of us our meal and then the last person would get theirs when we were all done. Would order desert and coffee and some nights I thought they were roasting the beans!!!! We would be getting ready to leave when we got it.

We attempted to make a reservation at any of the pay for restaurants, and have never been spoken to so rudely before. Told that they had nothing available anywhere anytime for the rest of the cruise. This was the 2nd day.

The best one was I needed to mail a post card, I already had a stamp on it, no mail box around. Sent to photo, that was closed, customer service said, Oh well, don't know what to tell you. Went back to photo and the charged me $3.00 to mail it! WTH??? Never have I heard of that.

I could go on, but I feel my blood pressure going up. Feel free to ask questions, will do my best to answer.

We blew right past embarkation photo without having it taken.

 

I am D member on RCI. I did my status match at end of December and had my black cards within 72 hours.

 

Was brought to front of line (no wait) at check in.

 

We had robes and slippers waiting in our room (interior Fantastica)

 

We received two 1 hour passes to thermal area of spa. Was able to use without prebooking.

 

Got 2 canvas back packs in room

 

Got a chocolate ship.

 

Bottle of Prosecco and plate of chocolate strawberries delivered. Twice.

 

Invites to black card cocktail party and welcome back cocktail party.

 

Made reservations on day 4 for Eataly on day 7 with our free meal voucher. Were offered various times to use our other voucher at Galaxy but liked MDR too much to skip.

 

First seating in Villa Rosa. First evening wine steward was at table waiting to introduce himself. From them on never waited more than 5 minutes for bar server to appear on any night and I was the only one at table ordering drinks w vouchers. Got cocktails in under 10 minutes. Sometimes under 5.

 

Some nights I would order two mains and no apps. One main would be served with the apps and the second main when everyone else's came out. We asked for speedier service bc of the baby and from sitting to finishing mains was 60 minutes. Only had dessert in MDR 3 nights. We had coffee mugs and creamers waiting on our table all nights and roaming server had regular and decaf. We were always asked if we wanted coffee.

 

Water poured continually by roaming server. Only once all week did we run low and have to ask for him to be sent over for more.

 

Paper thin food? Uneatable? What ship were you on. The MDR was easily as good as Princess and definitely better than RCI. Buffet better than RCI by a mile.

 

I totally 100% agree on the credit card setup. That was stupid.

 

Staff said this cruise had way less families and many more retirees than regular. I think there were a lot of Celeb/RCI/Princess folks that had minor fits when something wasn't done "their way" that they are used to.

 

This is the surf and turf from night 2. Paper thin? Not hardly

[LMaxwell]

What status did they match you to? Maxwell was on the same cruise and it looks like he also did the status match and all benefits. I hope we get them on boarding next weekend. Our letter said that our benefits start immediately.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I brought copy of the letter with me. That's how I got on the priority line at check in. My seapass was black and gold. Wish I didn't skip embarkation photo now; that one would have been free. Also Italian night dining room photos are free if you are Fantastica or Aurea so watch out for those

[SUSIEK]

We blew right past embarkation photo without having it taken.

 

I am D member on RCI. I did my status match at end of December and had my black cards within 72 hours.

 

Was brought to front of line (no wait) at check in.

 

We had robes and slippers waiting in our room (interior Fantastica)

 

We received two 1 hour passes to thermal area of spa. Was able to use without prebooking.

 

Got 2 canvas back packs in room

 

Got a chocolate ship.

 

Bottle of Prosecco and plate of chocolate strawberries delivered. Twice.

 

Invites to black card cocktail party and welcome back cocktail party.

 

Made reservations on day 4 for Eataly on day 7 with our free meal voucher. Were offered various times to use our other voucher at Galaxy but liked MDR too much to skip.

 

First seating in Villa Rosa. First evening wine steward was at table waiting to introduce himself. From them on never waited more than 5 minutes for bar server to appear on any night and I was the only one at table ordering drinks w vouchers. Got cocktails in under 10 minutes. Sometimes under 5.

 

Some nights I would order two mains and no apps. One main would be served with the apps and the second main when everyone else's came out. We asked for speedier service bc of the baby and from sitting to finishing mains was 60 minutes. Only had dessert in MDR 3 nights. We had coffee mugs and creamers waiting on our table all nights and roaming server had regular and decaf. We were always asked if we wanted coffee.

 

Water poured continually by roaming server. Only once all week did we run low and have to ask for him to be sent over for more.

 

Paper thin food? Uneatable? What ship were you on. The MDR was easily as good as Princess and definitely better than RCI. Buffet better than RCI by a mile.

 

I totally 100% agree on the credit card setup. That was stupid.

 

Staff said this cruise had way less families and many more retirees than regular. I think there were a lot of Celeb/RCI/Princess folks that had minor fits when something wasn't done "their way" that they are used to.

 

This is the surf and turf from night 2. Paper thin? Not hardly

 

 

Thank you so much for the info. We are sailing May 7th. I matched my Elite Celebrity to get Black MSC. All seems good so far. We booked the Aurea Suite Level. Price was to good to pass and we are celebrating anniversary, bday and mothers day. We are so looking forward to something different.

[sfaaa]

 

Entree portion should never be an issue on cruise ship. Portion too small? Order two. Still not enough, order two more and double up on dessert.

[LMaxwell]

Entree portion should never be an issue on cruise ship. Portion too small? Order two. Still not enough, order two more and double up on dessert.

Exactly. Many nights I ordered two diff entrees to try them and share w my wife. That was not small shrimp but huge prawns. I'd say the steak was 4 to 6 ounces

 

Sent from my B1-730HD using Tapatalk

[LMaxwell]

Thank you so much for the info. We are sailing May 7th. I matched my Elite Celebrity to get Black MSC. All seems good so far. We booked the Aurea Suite Level. Price was to good to pass and we are celebrating anniversary, bday and mothers day. We are so looking forward to something different.

You will have a great time. Check out my review for more info on entertainment, ship layout, activities. Expect some things different than you are used to. The cruise director activity staff is super friendly and engaging. The ship is immaculate. Enjoy

 

Sent from my B1-730HD using Tapatalk

[Mikesa1721]

You will have a great time. Check out my review for more info on entertainment, ship layout, activities. Expect some things different than you are used to. The cruise director activity staff is super friendly and engaging. The ship is immaculate. Enjoy

 

Sent from my B1-730HD using Tapatalk

 

LMaxwell,,,Andre Schlemmer who is MSC Divina's normal cd will be back onboard to replace Darren McColl on May 5th. Andre is excellent!!! He's been the cd on all 3 of our Divina sailings,,hoping he will join MSC Seaside once she starts sailing from Miami in 2017. :)

[cruisinfanatic]

Yes we did the status match before hand. Told we were all set. As for booking Yacht Club next time......there will be no next time!

Obviously you weren't if you didn't get numbers

[maureencruiser]

LMaxwell,,,Andre Schlemmer who is MSC Divina's normal cd will be back onboard to replace Darren McColl on May 5th. Andre is excellent!!! He's been the cd on all 3 of our Divina sailings,,hoping he will join MSC Seaside once she starts sailing from Miami in 2017. :)

 

Andre will be back for my sailing? Yay, love watching him and Mike? the activity director. They're like Laurel and Hardy. :D:D

[stuart2468]

Andre will be back for my sailing? Yay, love watching him and Mike? the activity director. They're like Laurel and Hardy. :D:D

 

That's so true. lol. A great pair.

 

What is interesting is that when i was on board in march, I spoke with Andre on our last night, which is where he told me he was leaving the position of CD and being taken over by this 'Darren' who was on board during our cruise.

 

I got the impression that this was to be a permanent change, of which Andre claimed to be fine with [although i didn't believe this to be the case].

 

My feeling is that Darren, for whatever reason, didn't work out. But its great news to be having Andre back. I too hope he gets upgraded to CD on Seaside. I love his dry humor.

[mjonis]

No, She said she would be happy to pay more and enjoy ourselves. When you book YC you have a separate dedicated dining room for YC members. Dedicated lounge area, bar area and pool deck area.

 

oooh, sounds nice. Too bad all YC was sold out on the 10-night Exotic I'm on (plus I don't think I could've afforded the difference, but since it's sold out I don't even know what the difference would've been). Dedicated pool/bar area is something I could go for.

--LOL

 

I guess it means I'll just have to save up and try it sometime.