My humble opinion - MSC Divina Yacht Club

[bnorris10]

The first thing I want to say is that of all the ships I have been on this is the most beautiful one - They are constantly cleaning and maintaining the boat to keep it in the beautiful shape it is in

 

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Embarkation - Pulled up to the Yacht Club area - had to roll down the window to ask the guy if this was where I should be and he was like yah - I then stepped out of my car went to my vehicle expecting that someone would have come and helped me with my luggage as they were doing for the people whom were not in the yacht club however the porter just stood there staring at me when I realized I was going to have to get my own luggage out of my vehicle I struggled doing that all the while other guests are staring at me trying to get all my bags out and trust me we had a lot not sure how we ended up with so many - Needless to say it was not an easy task and the porter was of no help until I got all the bags out of my car and I literally put them down in the path so no one else could walk up to the yacht club area - Not on purpose of course and not to be mean to other guests but I am only one person as my oldest daughter was on crutches and my hubby was parking the vehicle and my youngest daughter had her hands full so I had no choice but to leave them where they lay - Finally when it was blocking people the porter decided it was time to go get something to put my luggage in and move it out of the way

 

After this ordeal we had to wait for a wheelchair for my daughter as it was to much for her to walk the terminal no big deal waiting for that - Smooth sailing after that we were walked passed every one else and taken to the yacht club lounge had a drink and a snack while we waited for our badges and a butler to escort us on board

 

Our butler for this trip was Izzy and let me tell you we absolutely fell in love with him - he was attentive to my oldest daughter making sure she was okay - lent his personal charger to her for the week so her scooter could be charged that we rented for the cruise (they deliver it onboard and pick it up when done) - he played with our youngest daughter always making her happy and putting a smile on her face - the ongoing joke for them was that she was going to stay onboard and do all the cleaning and he would go with us to have fun .... While I know they bring everyone treats he always went over and beyond bringing them extra stuff

 

In the top sail lounge we met Anna from the Ukraine and let me just tell you she is absolutely AMAZING! we loved her so much so if you ever go on the boat look for her and she will take care of you!

 

We were able to connect with both of them on facebook before we left so we could keep in touch

 

My main problem with top sail lounge is food - yes they have food in there from breakfast to lunch to snacks - but the problem is you can't bring outside food in there - so one day i was going to bring eggs in because it was far to Windy on 18 to eat so I got my food and came down and I mean seriously they have some breakfast items in there already but they had an issue with me bringing eggs in there - okay fine no big deal can't have eggs in there - next day i asked if i could grab bacon and bring it in there since they serve other meats in there figured bacon no big deal - Nope absolutely not needless to say I did not have a pleasant look on my face after this as it made absolutely no sense to me but was like okay what ever and went back and sat down to eat my cereal as I was not going to sit on 18 as it was just to windy for me I don't like being concerned about my food flying off my plate when I am eating - They came back in the lounge like 5 minutes later telling me I could bring bacon in there I told them no thank you I would pass as I was already irritated with them (now had they took the extra step and went and got the bacon for me and brought it in there I would have appreciated that) but for me honestly i felt like they were just giving in because they did not want me mad --- a couple of nights later my husband ordered a sandwich from room service and they delivered it to him in the lounge - the next night we ask to have sandwiches brought in again and this black lady told us absolutely not that we could only have it brought to our room - This makes no sense you serve sandwiches in the top sail lounge most of the day so WHY can't we have them brought in --- So needless to say we were disappointed in this - this is a lounge that they serve food in we should be allowed to have food brought in and being that this is a bar/lounge it would be nice if they had some sort of food menu to begin with - Sorry but after 4 martini's I need meat not dessert --- AGAIN we LOVED ANNA and IZZY!! And we also loved Alex he worked when Anna was not working!! It was the concierge lady that kept telling us no we couldn't do this or that!

 

 

KIDS AREA:

11 year old and 15 year old both went 1 time and both agreed it was lame and they never went back - I did take my 11 year old to the chef program and that was cool and I think they should do more stuff like that on board

 

We really can not be a fair judge on this area since they really did not participate in it

 

 

FOOD:

Well I am picky so I basically stuck to eating the same thing the whole trip - cereal (and bacon if i left top sail) and then for lunch I would do hot dog and fries (They have a taco station problem is meat is not hot enough and cheese is to cold) I was not impressed with pizza especially when it says ham and cheese only and after taking a bite of it there is onion - and for dinner i ate steak every night

 

Now my daughter and my hubby they are foodies and they really enjoyed the different meals in the yacht club restaurant Le Muse - We loved our waiter - he really got a kick out of riding our daughters scooter in and out - beautiful singer and was entertaining

 

The buffet for them was okay they did like that they had different things then other ships but we missed having fresh made sandwiches made to our liking or Mongolian bar like on the carnival ships - again I know its a different line so for what it was they liked it enough

 

 

Drinks:

Since we are in the yacht club we had drinks free up there I was disappointed that we had to go back to yacht club to get free drinks but they are fixing that so that problem will be solved next year

 

Drinks were all good no matter what was ordered and it was nice for hubby to be able to try different drinks - unlike with carnival where you have a 15 drink limit it is not like that in the yacht club - not that we need 15 drinks but it was nice to be able to try stuff and not feel bad about not drinking it

 

 

Casino:

I love roulette and that is where i spent most of my time - one major problem is it is HOTTTTT in the casino I was constantly sweating within 30 minutes of being in there which made it hard to continue playing several times I had to leave because of that

 

the only other game i tries was the coin pusher machine and I just have to say they are nothing like the coin pushers that i play at other places they sucked big time and on many ships i found those machines to be slammed and that was not the case here

 

this casino was not very busy at all was surprising to find many tables empty thru out the day

 

SPA:

Never done anything but had pedicures at the spa before so I was quite nervous but went ahead and booked the massage package $250 for 3 massages - And as a big girl I was rather nervous - So I just kept my eyes closed the whole time and surprisingly enough I was okay with it - very relaxing the only nerve racking part was on my 3rd massage when I flipped over to my back this lady did not add an extra towel to cover my chest area which left me feeling rather exposed and I do believe she got an eye full as I said I am larger in size so my chest is as well - Either way they were relaxing

 

My husband used the thermal areas and LOVED them

 

I also took advantage of doing a 20 minute massage poolside for $23 and that was pretty good but honestly I suggest only doing 10 minutes at a time to give your butt some time to relax LOL

 

POOLS:

Salt water is all I have to say make sure you bring goggles for the kids

 

WIND ON 15:

DECK 15 IS EXTREMELY WINDY I have never in my life been on a ship that was as windy as this one I literally was shoved into a wall by the wind and as this happened I looked over just as a lounger flew up in the air and hit a lady - They should really do something like secure the loungers to make sure they don't do that

 

Debarkation:

Izzy walked us out we found a porter to grab our bags as I mentioned earlier we had tons of them so we knew we would need a porter - we expected the porter to drop us by the sidewalk and my hubby would get the car and we would load our baggage ourselves and this guy straight up offered to take us to the garage where are van was because it was across the way - needless to say this guy earned his $20

[bnorris10]

I may have more to say but can't remember off hand

 

 

Does anyone have any questions

[riclop]

Thanks for the review. They make sandwiches at night and have pre made sandwiches during the day and they vary everyday in the buffet.

Edited December 31, 2016 by riclop

[Clarea]

Excellent feedback, thank-you.:)

[mafig]

It's hard for me to tell. Did you like the YC or not?

[bnorris10]

It's hard for me to tell. Did you like the YC or not?

 

I did like the YC other than the fact that I could not bring outside food into the top sail lounge

 

 

I like that we are not crammed like sardines - Many times we were swimming alone or with one other family - It was easy to get a hot tub to enjoy alone - when we book in regular areas of the boat we tend to swim early in the morning to avoid the crowds

[OzCanuck]

It's hard for me to tell. Did you like the YC or not?

 

I'm with you. Couldn't tell either. I guess if not being able to transport eggs to and fro is the biggest complaint, probably a thumbs up? I think I would have asked my butler to get my food - then no problems. I didn't find the top deck windy at all - we had breakfast out there every day.

[gotcha3]

May I ask the dates of your cruise? Thank you.

[bnorris10]

I'm with you. Couldn't tell either. I guess if not being able to transport eggs to and fro is the biggest complaint, probably a thumbs up? I think I would have asked my butler to get my food - then no problems. I didn't find the top deck windy at all - we had breakfast out there every day.

 

All 3 times I went up there to eat my food kept trying to fly off my plate

lol

 

May I ask the dates of your cruise? Thank you.

 

I was there 12/23 - 12/30

[Xildanis]

Just wanted to say thank you for the review; I've been slow to write mine (my wife and I were in the YC on the Divina earlier this month) and it was fun to read your review and see a few familiar names. My wife had a similar spa experience as yourself, with the 'eye-full' comment!

 

All 3 times I went up there to eat my food kept trying to fly off my plate

lol

 

I'll second this; we loved eating at the One Bar, particularly for breakfast...but the wind up there could be pretty crazy. We'd end up pushing all our plates and glasses together to try and keep things from flying away!

[mafig]

Did you try LeMuse for b'fast?

[vea52]

I was on the Divina the same dates but not in the YC. We had the fantastica experience and was on deck 11. We enjoyed the cruise. We had room service breakfast every morning as I really need coffee & didn't want to head to the buffet that time of day. We did not usually have lunch but did have a hot dog on a couple of occasions & they were fine. We were in the Vila rossa (sp?) dining room. We found it a bit cramped, not much room between tables. Also there was a partial wall that created sections so you could not see the whole dining room. And we could not see the servers coming in with the baked Alaska. The food was very good but very small portions, did not take long for my husband to request 2 portions of an item. We had wings in the sports bar one evening instead of dining room or buffet and they were very good. We decorated our cabin door & had a couple of decorations inside. Also I brought disco outfits for the 70's party & had a great time. I have already booked another MSC cruise

[sugarnyc]

Anna & Alex in the Topsail were great on my cruise too. Anna super sweet. She made my fav drink on the cruise! One evening the butler in topsail apologized that my drink was not brought over fast enough and then she came over to where I was sitting and apologized too- neither of them needed to do that.

I too was wondering why food from outside the topsail couldn't be brought inside- maybe they should have posted a sign so everyone had a proper explanation.

I had breakfast in Le Muse. Jose said after day one- he didn't need to bring over the menu since he knew exactly what we wanted & he remembered. My wait staff at dinner were great too! Pasquale & A.Willis very good! Loved that Pasquale is from Italy especially with being on an Italian cruise line and enjoying Italian dishes everyday!

[bnorris10]

Did you try LeMuse for b'fast?

 

No waiting for dinner was enough for me during 1 day the rest of the time I wanted my meals quickly

 

I was on the Divina the same dates but not in the YC. We had the fantastica experience and was on deck 11. We enjoyed the cruise. We had room service breakfast every morning as I really need coffee & didn't want to head to the buffet that time of day. We did not usually have lunch but did have a hot dog on a couple of occasions & they were fine. We were in the Vila rossa (sp?) dining room. We found it a bit cramped, not much room between tables. Also there was a partial wall that created sections so you could not see the whole dining room. And we could not see the servers coming in with the baked Alaska. The food was very good but very small portions, did not take long for my husband to request 2 portions of an item. We had wings in the sports bar one evening instead of dining room or buffet and they were very good. We decorated our cabin door & had a couple of decorations inside. Also I brought disco outfits for the 70's party & had a great time. I have already booked another MSC cruise

 

In Le Muse we ended up with the best view in the whole place for the entire trip as it faced the entrance and we saw wait staff come in and out we had a wonderful server and I am gonna spell it wrong but his named was pronounced like DayShawn

[bnorris10]

Anna & Alex in the Topsail were great on my cruise too. Anna super sweet. She made my fav drink on the cruise! One evening the butler in topsail apologized that my drink was not brought over fast enough and then she came over to where I was sitting and apologized too- neither of them needed to do that.

I too was wondering why food from outside the topsail couldn't be brought inside- maybe they should have posted a sign so everyone had a proper explanation.

I had breakfast in Le Muse. Jose said after day one- he didn't need to bring over the menu since he knew exactly what we wanted & he remembered. My wait staff at dinner were great too! Pasquale & A.Willis very good! Loved that Pasquale is from Italy especially with being on an Italian cruise line and enjoying Italian dishes everyday!

 

They are very polite and so apologetic for everything - with the exception of the black lady who kept telling me no no no - I remember a few times feeling a little uncomfortable about how apologetic they were had to tell them really it is okay we are fine LOL

 

The food was very good but very small portions, did not take long for my husband to request 2 portions of an item.

 

Yes I only ate protein at dinner and after the first name I simply had them bring me 2 steaks instead of 1 and then nothing else but some pineapple before the meal came

[computerworks]

They are very polite and so apologetic for everything - with the exception of the black lady who kept telling me no no no..

 

That's the second time you were compelled to use that description... I let the first one pass...

 

But, frankly, it is an unnecessary description and casts doubt on everything else you report. :mad:

[helen haywood]

Um, no it doesn't. Its like saying the woman with blonde hair. The OP doesn't remember the person's name and is giving a description instead. Is there a PC way to describe the attendant?

[computerworks]

Is there a PC way to describe the attendant?

 

Yes, there is... "one of the attendants." :D

[bnorris10]

Yes, there is... "one of the attendants." :D

 

one of the attendants can be any of them ... there was only one black lady i saw working in the YC the entire trip so it specifies exactly who I am speaking about - If you find a description offensive well that sounds like a personal problem - feel free to move on if my "report" is not helpful to you

[computerworks]

If you find a description offensive well that sounds like a personal problem - feel free to move on if my "report" is not helpful to you

 

Not a personal problem for me.. just an unfortunate appellation on your part.

I won't argue with you...

 

yes... no longer helpful... I will move on. :cool:

[bnorris10]

ANOTHER UPDATE:

 

I forgot to include the review on the pictures I will also add it to the initial post but wanted to write this separate post in case people just read the updates via email

 

 

So I decided to go for the $98 100 picture package that you are able to purchase before you get on the boat - By far the most amazing deal ever

 

So of course we stopped and took several pictures spots every night for like 4 of the nights to ensure we had the most amount of pictures to choose from - I figured since I was getting 100 pictures that I could get copies of the ones I really like and use those for our christmas pictures

 

Anyhow I absolutely loved the pictures they turned out better then I have seen on any cruise ship ever - the first day we asked about the multiple sizes if they were all included which we were told yes any pictures were included and also how to save the pictures in one spot by creating a folder

 

But now here is the problem I ran into

on the 4th night we took pictures and there just so happened to be an a set up in the yc concierge area by the stairs so I asked the lady if these were included in my package I prepurchased and she said yes - So she took tons and I do mean tons of pictures - I asked if they would be downstairs the next day and she said no they will be delivered to your room

 

The next morning I went to check on the pictures we took after we left the yc area and since they were just getting them out I asked if they still had the yc ones or if they were already being sent to our room and of course they did not have them and I reconfirmed that they would be included and asked how we would get them added to our folder we started downstairs (you can start a folder with all the pictures you like so you can choose later what you want) he told me to just give them to concierge and they would get them to them

 

So that night I get them delivered to my room and the YC pictures were more beautiful than even the ones we took over the rest of the boat - I thought it was weird because they was a special promo added to it saying something along the line of if you don't want to keep the pictures return to concierge by 7 pm last day other wise you would be charged for the pictures at the price listed on the paper which was about $30 a pop per picture - I found this weird since I had a package and so I went to concierge to inquire and he said these were special pictures and they were not included - I told him that the lady there and the man downstairs said they were included so he called and talked to the manager and the manager again confirmed that they were not included - So I was like well let me take them downstairs and I will talk to them - he was like okay but they are not included

 

Went downstairs talked to one man and he was like no they are not included - I retold my story about how I was already told twice they were included and he again was like sorry they made a mistake they are not included - So I asked to speak to a manager and a guy turned around and asked what the problem was and I told him he was like its no problem they are included and we left the pictures with him so he could put them in our folder - went back upstairs let concierge know where the pictures were

 

We decided we were not gonna take anymore pictures as we had plenty of good ones and so we decided to beat the rush of late night and last orders so we went as soon as they opened on the 6th day to sort all our pictures and figure out what we wanted - Was great because we were able to spread them out all over a table to sort and then go thru what we wanted to keep and maybes - Then of course figure out which ones we needed extra copies of or smaller copies of (Not sure if you know this but when they do the pictures they come in multiple sizes - 10x13, 8x10 and then a multi picture one that has an 8x10 and 2 smaller size like 5x7 or 3x5 don't recall which) - So we got it all sorted went to the counter and he marked each of the ones I needed extra copies or changes of others (like one large black and white I wanted in color 8x10) - he had us take the pictures that we did not need anything additional of but wanted to keep and said the rest would be ready next morning

 

The next morning we had our pictures delivered to our room which was weird as I thought they would be downstairs - And so now we run into problems again - All the pictures we needed extras of were the "special" yacht club pictures and so again we had a paper saying return by 7 or be charged and this time there was 73 pictures and at 30 bucks a pop yah needless to say I needed to make sure I was not going to get charged for these pictures - went back to concierge about it with all the pictures included the ones we took the day before and he was confused because apparently only the 8x10's are supposed to be included with the $98 package which of course was not what we were told we were told any picture - concierge counted all the pictures and sizes and then said he would figure out what exactly was going on as he knew we had already done a bunch of back and forth and said he would let me know as soon as they were open

 

By the end of the day it was determined that this was a big ol cluster mess and apparently everyone in the photo department needs to be retrained to make sure they are all on the same page in regards to packages - but because of all the issues I had going back and forth with misinformation they gave me all the pictures I wanted in the size I wanted for my package

 

It was frustrating but let me just say these pictures were breathtaking so I loved every bit of it

[Crzyfrk62]

I had no problem bringing food into the Top Sail. In fact we ordered a pizza had it sent to the room because the concierge on duty told us we couldn't have it sent to the Top Sail. I went to the room grabbed the pizza and we ate it at the bar. I also brought bacon into Top Sail. Yes, all 3 concierge staff told us it really wasn't allowed. (Notice how I referred to them as concierge).

Loved the YC and was excited when Anna joined us in the Top Sail.

 

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[Bra_BE2014]

one of the attendants can be any of them ... there was only one black lady i saw working in the YC the entire trip so it specifies exactly who I am speaking about - If you find a description offensive well that sounds like a personal problem - feel free to move on if my "report" is not helpful to you

 

I must admit it bothered me too. We usually don't refer to the 'white person' when its for a caucasian, we would usually describe the hair, body type or accent, for example. But a darker person we rush to describe the colour of the skin. I guess being Latin myself and having my origin being described before my personality makes me sensitive about that. Oh well, thanks for the review :-)

[bnorris10]

Well people need to get over it my description is what it is - feel free to call me the white lady - there was nothing discriminatory with what I wrote it was simply a description of a person to point out whom I was speaking about

 

Everyone is making a mountain out of a mole hill

 

 

Now if you have anything else to ask about my review feel free to do so - if you have a comment about how described somebody well just get over it

Edited January 2, 2017 by bnorris10

[rojoand8]

Does the menu in LeMuse change daily, same but different specials, or stay exactly the same every day? If the main dining room is having a special dish offered, can you ask that be served?

 

 

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