Divina yacht club may 28th, 2016

[Flying Solo]

Cabin 15011, 15012, 15018, and we had a single person staying

in a non-YC room 11122

 

I’ll give you my overall view first. Then if you’d like you can continue to read more about our week on Divina. During the week I jotted down a few thoughts and filled in with some details when I got home. Sorry if I tend to ramble at times. This will never make the best seller list but hopefully someone will find it useful.

 

We have been on about 2 dozen cruises and I thought this was one of the most beautiful ships I’ve been on. Of course not everyone will agree. It’s true that you don’t really connect with the outdoors and it can be very dark in places, but I really liked it. We’ve stayed in suites on RCCL and NCL, and the service in the Yacht Club is second to none. I’ve never been this impressed by service on any ship. Friendly, helpful, and always available. The room was always clean and had what I wanted. They replaced unused drinks in our fridge with diet coke, water and our favorite beer because that’s what we wanted. They escorted us off the ship for excursions and at the end of the cruise. We could have had an escort for every trip to Le Muse but only used it once to learn the best route. At Le Muse it was the same thing. If you wanted or needed anything, someone was right there. I never saw a garden salad on the menu in Le Muse. It didn’t matter. All I had to do was ask, and I had my salad. And it was good.

The Yacht club is quiet and never crowded. Always a waiter available. Always a lounge chair available. Always food and drink with quick and friendly service. We were never pushed to buy anything. Up-selling is a big thing on cruise lines these days. I was never asked to buy something extra. I’d go as far as to say that they are missing some opportunities to make some extra money.

I thought the crowd on our ship was a bit more formal than I expected but it never felt stuffy. There were enough activities to keep everyone busy and have a great time. In the YC you can choose your dinner time which we really like. If I were in a regular cabin I’m not sure I’d like having the early seating every night and I know I wouldn’t like the late seating. But unless you’re really a foodie, the buffet has a lot of choices and it’s reasonably good.

I wouldn’t hesitate recommending an MSC cruise to anyone. Although it does have a more European feel than the more popular lines I didn’t find any of the small differences to be an issue. And, if you consider some of the amazing prices I’ve seen for this ship, I’d say it’s a bargain that’s too good to pass up.

 

 

 

REVIEW DETAILS:

We arrived at about 2 pm. We never waited for anything. It was like we had our own personal check in. Initial check in for the Yacht Club is a small tent. No need for anything more since they just check to see who you are, take your bags, and a butler escorts you into the terminal. I kept my carry on bag so I could have a few things with me as soon as I got to my room. Inside the terminal they take your picture and give you your key card.

This is where the drinking and snacking starts. I had a mimosa and a chocolate chip cookie. For the next 7 days the snacks were in the room fridge, there were new snacks on the table in the room each day, a fruit bowl in the room that was always full, continuously changing snacks in the Top Sail lounge at the end of the hallway, chocolates on the pillow each night, and of course we ate at least 3 full meals every day. Yes, I did gain weight on this ship!

A butler took us to our the concierge area. We used a small machine in the there to connect our credit card to our on board account. It seems like this could be done when you get your key card but it only took a minute. Another butler took us to our room and pointed out a few features of the room.

 

There is a slot next to the door where you put your key card in. When you leave your room you take your card out and after about a minute it shuts off the room lights. It also turns off a small light outside our door so the butler knows you are out. I tend to forget things if they are not in my pocket so I used a museum membership card. As long it’s the same size as a credit card it will work. It saved me from locking myself out of the room a couple of times. They go in the room at least twice a day but I don’t think I ever actually saw them in the room. It’s just magically clean all the time,,,,,and of course snacks are replaced.

 

The non-Yacht Club room on deck 11 was basically the same size as our room. The balcony was also the same size. The 2 differences in size between YC and non-YC were the closet and the bathroom. I don’t remember the deck 11 room having a closet at all and the bathroom only had a shower instead of the tub/shower. The only problem with the tub as stepping into it for a shower. I was fine with it but I would think some people would find it difficult. The YC club room was also decorated much nicer with marble in the bathroom and much more wood in the cabin. For both rooms, when you close the curtain it is amazingly dark. I had no idea what time it was every morning until I looked at my watch.

 

For those wondering how it worked with one person in a non-YC room. I wouldn’t really suggest it. It worked fine for us because he was looking for time to himself anyway, and he knew that right from the start. They do watch for anyone who doesn’t belong there. If I remember correctly, there are less than 200 passengers in the YC and it’s quite impressive how they know who everyone is. For one day we did buy a YC day pass for $110. There is no guarantee that you can get a day pass. You have to know someone staying in the YC and it has to be approved by the head person. This includes access to Le Muse. He joined us for dinner that night. For a $50 charge, he joined us on another night just for dinner in Le Muse. Of course when we went ashore or if we were going to the casino it worked fine but it would not have worked well if we were really trying to spend most of the cruise together.

 

Top Sail lounge is the best view on the ship. A It looks out the front with a wall of windows giving you a 180 degree view. The only other place passengers can get that view is in the gym. (side note: it’s a good size gym but at times people were waiting in line for machines)

Top Sail lounge is usually very quiet. They always have a nice variety of small snacks, little sandwiches, tiny hamburgers, nuts, and little desserts. By the end of the week I found that I could have used a bit more variety but really that’s just because I ate so many of each of the snacks all week long. Quick note: I asked for Grey Goose and they said that there was an extra charge. No problem. I was fine with Absolute vodka for the week.

 

 

Quality of food is such a subjective thing that I won’t say too much about it. My opinion is that the food everywhere was average. Some things stood out but for the most part the food was just ok. Le Muse was good food but nothing remarkable. The buffet was what I would expect from a buffet. There was a good variety. I always saw pizza, hamburgers, some kind of fish, some kind of beef, some kind of chicken, a good salad bar. (Tip: if you’re looking for a place to sit in the buffet, go all the way to the back of the ship. I always found an empty table back there and it’s a beautiful view.)

 

For breakfast I usually ate in Top Sail. They have a variety of cereal, a choice of breads, and, and, of course, a lot of snack type food. The snacks change every 2 hours all day long. One morning I wanted an omelet so I went to Le Muse. Very nice breakfast but it closes at 9 am. I’m a slow mover in the morning and the Le Muse is all the way to the other end of the ship. ( I know, it’s only about 900 ft away but it also requires that you go up and down a couple of decks.) I found out about half way through the week that you can get an omelet until 10 am at the One Pool bar, which is just 2 decks straight up. It was omelets for me the rest of the week,,,,,,followed, of course, by some morning snacks in Top Sail.

 

The buffet can be very busy at times and the main pool on deck 14 gets crazy busy. I don’t have any idea how people get a lounge chair. Also, I found the service in most bars to be rather slow.

The Yacht Club avoids all of this.

 

There were a couple of times when the One Pool/Bar area was busy but it was still easy to find a lounge chair. The rest of the time it was like your own private yacht. Plenty of lounge chairs, always a waiter within site, a small pool, a hot tub, and of course,,,, snacks. At lunch they had some pasta or some other fairly simple food. I could have used a bit more shaded area. There were 5 tables completely shaded next to the bar. The pool had a shade over it, and at the very front of the ship was an area with loungers in partial shade. I never found it to be a problem though.

 

We found the crowd on this sailing to be a bit more formal than we’re used to. We saw some tuxedos on formal nights and some people wore suits on other nights. We prefer to be more relaxed on vacation. I wore Dockers to dinner every night, including formal night. For formal nights I wore a button down shirt, no tie. That seemed to be fine. Although I’d say we were a bit more casual than most. There was a family next to us who’s kids wore shorts to dinner one night. They were asked to wear pants for dinner.

 

We loved the YC but we definitely got out to see the rest of the ship. I found it rather confusing to navigate. It took me most of the week to figure out my way around.

 

The casino was very busy at times but if you just waited a while table would start to open up. The shows let out right into the casino so it was packed in there when a show finished. Dealers were very friendly although some only spoke a little English. We don’t gamble a lot but we enjoyed doing some gambling and chatting with the dealers. I was disappointed that there was no craps table but we had fun. They had roulette, 3 card poker, and black jack.

 

The sports bar had 2 bowling lanes. The lanes were fairly short and it used small hard plastic balls. It was fun for a couple of games. I was surprised that they charged for food in the sports bar but the food was pretty good. Classic bar food: chicken nuggets, wings, onion rings.

 

The slide was a complete disappointment. 4 us tried it. Ages 18 to 55. It was very slow. We all got stuck and had to push with our hands. When I walked by it on the 2nd sea day, no one was there even though it was open.

 

I thought it was a good idea to buy the 18 drink package. All drinks in the YC were free. You could even take a drink out of the club if you wanted to. But, if we were in a another part of the ship we would just order a drink at the closest bar. It saved a couple of bucks by having the 18 tickets for drinks.

 

I’ve read some reviews that talk about the terrific wifi. We did not find that to be the case. At times it was impossible to connect in our room. We went to Top Sail where we might or might not be able to stay connect. For some reason I could never connect from anywhere on my iPad.

 

Overall: I didn't really know what to expect from a small cruise line trying to break into the US market with low prices. Now, I look forward to cruising on MSC again. If I get another chance to cruise in the MSC Yacht Club again, I will jump on it.

[Cruiser21]

Thanks for your review. We will be in the YC in two weeks in suite 15011. Can't get here fast enough.

[Flying Solo]

Thanks for your review. We will be in the YC in two weeks in suite 15011. Can't get here fast enough.

 

I'm jealous. You're going to love it. All the rooms on 15 and 16 are a good location but 15011 is close to the concierge and close to Top Sail. I expect Harrison will be your butler. He's terrific.

[Ctrinh225]

Did any in ur party use the spa or services? How was it? Did y'all do room service? And if u did....was menu abundant or not? Thanks for the review !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[FLAMOM24]

Thanks for your review! We LOVE the YC. Do you know if Putra (butler) was on board and/or if he will be there through next month?

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Flying Solo]

Thanks for your review! We LOVE the YC. Do you know if Putra (butler) was on board and/or if he will be there through next month?

 

I didn't see anyone by that name but I'm sure I didn't meet all the butlers.

[Flying Solo]

Did any in ur party use the spa or services? How was it? Did y'all do room service? And if u did....was menu abundant or not? Thanks for the review !

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

One person had a massage in the spa. They said it was good. I'm not sure of the cost since it was a gift.

A few of our group went to a spin class twice during the week. They liked the class. It seemed as hard as the ones they are usually in. They wanted to burn off a few calories.

We ate so much all day, every day, that we never really considered room service except to order pizza. We wanted to try the pizza that people were talking about. There is a charge in most rooms but if you're in the yacht club the pizza can be delivered to your room for free. Only available after 8 pm. It was very good thin crust pizza.

[Flying Solo]

I almost forgot. I do have all of the daily programs for the week. I can scan them if anyone is interested.

[berylde]

Did any of the YC suites have a stand-alone Shower?

If not, was the tub/shower wall a high one, making it difficult to climb into?

[BermudaBound2014]

Excellent review Flyingsolo. Thank you. Can you confirm that LeMuse is no longer requiring a specific arrival time for reservations? I'm so thrilled with change this I keep pinching myself. :). Also, did you have any favorites for dinner? Dessert? Bartenders? TIA :)

 

Thanks for your review. We will be in the YC in two weeks in suite 15011. Can't get here fast enough.

 

We will be neighbors Cruiser21! Well, technically I'm just across the hallway. I am also ready . :)

Edited June 6, 2016 by BermudaBound2014

[deliver42]

Berylda, the tub wall is about the same height as home.

[Flying Solo]

Did any of the YC suites have a stand-alone Shower?

If not, was the tub/shower wall a high one, making it difficult to climb into?

 

I only saw the 3 YC rooms that we were in. They all had a tub/shower combo. The tub wall is fairly high. More than a foot high. I didn't think it was a very good design for the tub. It could be difficult for some people to step into it.

[Flying Solo]

Excellent review Flyingsolo. Thank you. Can you confirm that LeMuse is no longer requiring a specific arrival time for reservations? I'm so thrilled with change this I keep pinching myself. :). Also, did you have any favorites for dinner? Dessert? Bartenders? TIA :)

 

We will be neighbors Cruiser21! Well, technically I'm just across the hallway. I am also ready . :)

 

I thought I had read that Le Muse wanted passengers to come at the same time every night but we didn't find that to be true.

We showed up between 6 and 6:45 every night and there was no problem at all. The only problem you might run into is Le Muse filling up. At 6 pm there was no one in the restaurant at all. By 7:30 the restaurant was full. Since the ship does have a European feel to it, when we showed up at 6 pm they looked at us like we were crazy, eating that early. But, they welcomed us in and even suggested it was a good time since the kitchen wasn't busy yet. They did ask us to let them know if we weren't going to come to dinner at all so they could plan for the night. I'd suggest calling Le Muse directly since communication between the concierge and Le Muse seemed unreliable.

 

Our waiter was Dan and he was particularly friendly and helpful, but we found everyone to be terrific. Unfortunately Dan is going home after this week, but I'm sure you'll still have great service. We really enjoyed going to Le Muse.

The meals were all good but I didn't find anything to really stand out except 2 of the desserts. Everyone loved the brownie sundae and the chocolate chip cheesecake.

[riclop]

Thanks for the great review.

[bnorris10]

I almost forgot. I do have all of the daily programs for the week. I can scan them if anyone is interested.

 

yes please

[Fredric22]

Thanks for your review! We LOVE the YC. Do you know if Putra (butler) was on board and/or if he will be there through next month?

 

Putra was our butler last week so I can confirm that he is still on board! He was awesome. Not sure if he is going home soon though.

[FLAMOM24]

Putra was our butler last week so I can confirm that he is still on board! He was awesome. Not sure if he is going home soon though.

 

Awesome! We've had him a couple of times. He's uh-mazing! :) Hoping he's still there on the July 2nd cruise!

Thank you :)

Michelle

[Flying Solo]

Daily_Specials_a.pdf

 

Daily_Specials_b.pdf

 

Day1a.pdf

 

Day1b.pdf

 

Day1c.pdf

 

Day1d.pdf

Day2.pdf

Day2 1.pdf

Day2 2.pdf

Day2 3.pdf

Day2 4.pdf

Day3.pdf

Day3 1.pdf

Day3 2.pdf

Day3 3.pdf

Day3 4.pdf

Day3 5.pdf

Day4.pdf

Day4 1.pdf

Day4 2.pdf

Day4 3.pdf

Day4 4.pdf

Day4 5.pdf

Day5.pdf

Day5 1.pdf

Day5 2.pdf

Day5 3.pdf

Day5 4.pdf

Day5 5.pdf

Day6.pdf

Day6 1.pdf

Day6 2.pdf

Day6 3.pdf

Day6 4.pdf

Day6 5.pdf

Day7.pdf

Day7 1.pdf

Day7 2.pdf

Day7 3.pdf

Day7 4.pdf

Day7 5.pdf

Day8 2.pdf

Day8.pdf

Day8 1.pdf

[Flying Solo]

You asked for the Dailies. Scroll down and enjoy. They are the Yacht Club version.

[BermudaBound2014]

You asked for the Dailies. Scroll down and enjoy. They are the Yacht Club version.

 

Thank you for taking the time to scan these. I know that couldn't have been a 5 minute job :). You mention they are the Yacht club version, but I don't see any differences at all. Can someone point me to the place where the YC dailies differ from the regular dailies?

[Fredric22]

I originally posted this in the wrong thread, so I apologize for the duplication:

 

 

We were on this cruise too and in the Yacht Club and can also echo that it was another great trip. The Yacht Club is still an amazing experience that is really hard to beat.

 

I will say that overall I thought the food in Le Muse was very good. I did notice a decline in the quality of the filet mignon they use. It used to be a very big, thick piece and now it seems to be the typical cruise ship variety. However, the chateaubriand with fresh truffle sauce was AMAZING. This dish is served on the second formal night, along with the delicious Maine lobster tail. Our water combined both dishes for us and we all had a surf and turf. This was one of the best meals I have had anywhere, land or sea. Some other stand out dishes were the lasagna, the seafood risotto, the salmon ravioli, the veal chop milanese (at lunch), mushroom risotto, and more. Also, the pizza at the buffet is very very good. It is hard to imagine anyone complaining about it.

 

The service in Le Muse was always excellent. The way the tables are spaced out is also very unique for a cruise ship restaurant. I really hope the same is true for the yacht club restaurants on the new ship.

 

They have also improved the small bites they serve in the Top Sail lounge, especially before dinner. However, they still do not have much at night aside from small desserts. It would be nice if they kept a few savory dishes out at night too.

 

Overall, another wonderful trip. I cannot wait to experience the Yacht Club on the Seaside!

[Mikesa1721]

Thank you for taking the time to scan these. I know that couldn't have been a 5 minute job :). You mention they are the Yacht club version, but I don't see any differences at all. Can someone point me to the place where the YC dailies differ from the regular dailies?

 

The only difference between the regular dailies and the Yacht Club dailies is the Yacht Club dailies have the Yacht Club banner on the cover page,,,everything else is exactly the same as the regular dailies. :)

[rtn]

Flying solo...really enjoyed reading your review, thanks so much for all the great info. We will be in the YC this Saturday and really excited. Did the YC tent supply luggage tags upon arrival?

[susanrobert]

Thank you for taking the time to scan these. I know that couldn't have been a 5 minute job :). You mention they are the Yacht club version, but I don't see any differences at all. Can someone point me to the place where the YC dailies differ from the regular dailies?

 

The only difference I noticed was on the sheet that had the dining options. It gives the times for Le Muse as well as the top sail and one pool.