NCL cruisers considering Divina, questions about cabins and kids activities

[Mom2B&Z]

We are platinum on NCL, just applied for our status match with MSC. We usually cruise in a two bedroom suite (Jewel class) or aft penthouse (Breakaway), as we prefer to have a living space big enough for the 4 of us, with a private sleeping area for my husband and I.

Our questions:

There’s lots of talk about YC being a similar experience to NCL suite/Haven, but I can’t seem to find a suite layout that has a private bedroom area. Suggestions? The alternative is adjoining balconies, but I prefer the suite perks if I’m paying this much for a trip. Are there suites that have adjoining non-suite cabins? How does that work with suite perks? If we have a suite, I want everyone in the cabin to have suite benefits and am willing to pay for it.

What does MSC have for kids? Our boys will be 14 and 11 yrs, the oldest will live on the sports court, youngest likes trivia, scavenger hunts, water slides and the pool. They are not into arcades but enjoy the WiiU in the atrium on NCL.

We enjoy the freestyle nature of NCL, from what I read MSC seems similar. True?

Any other thoughts for longtime NCL cruisers considering MSC? I tried searching the forum but (as usual) very little came up. I did find the 12 year old boy’s review, and will eagerly await his future posts!

TIA

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Até]

A a past frequent NCL suite & Haven customer who loves the 2br suites there is not anything on Divina to compare it to. First thing to know is MSC has the Yacht Club experience level which is much like NCL's Haven and then Aurea experience "suites" which have very basic suite privileges like priority embarkation and anytime dining, which is also a bit different than NCL's freestyle concept. Aurea suites do not have access to the YC areas/dining room, but do have a access to a private sun deck with hot tub. On Divina in the Yacht Club are there are only balcony cabins which are about the size of a Haven H5 or Spa Suite. There are also three larger YC level cabins on deck 12 called Executive Family suites, they are true suites with a separate bedroom, but have no balcony. In the front corners on deck 9, 10 and 11 there are Aurea true suites that do have a balcony. They book up fast and I'm not sure if the ones on deck 11 are true suites. There are no suites with adjoining non-suite cabins, in fact I don't think any Aurea suites join to each other. Two of the YC Family suites join.

 

While I don't have children MSC seems to be at least, if not more, family friendly. Divina had an active kids club and MSC offers very good rates for children. The biggest complaint I've seen is some kids are put off by the multiple languages that may be spoken. I will also say MSC falls a little short compared to NCL regarding activities. I'd rate the theater shows about the same. MSC has not embraced true freestyle dining because even at Aurea and YC levels you are still urged to choose and then keep to a set dinner time. Divina has less specialty dining options than what you will be used to.

 

Seaside has two YC Royal suites which are large single bedroom true suites and also three Aurea Grand Suites which actually are two bedroom/two bath design - be careful as they are not well identified from the more common one bedroom versions.

[Mom2B&Z]

A a past frequent NCL....

 

 

Thank you so much, this is exactly the type of information I’m looking for! I will look into the suites more closely with your descriptions.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[deanimal]

We recently cruised on MSC Seaside in a one bedroom grand suite with Aurea experience, one year after doing a similar itinerary on NCL in a one bedroom aft suite. Like you, we loved the Haven experience and were looking for something similar. We were torn between the space of the one bedroom suite vs the perks of the Yacht Club but in the end went for the suite. A few thought:

 

The one bedroom grand suites (we were in 13003) are huge and well laid out. The bathroom isn't nearly as nice as the NCL suites and there's no tub but the bedroom and living space are larger. The cove type balcony is pretty small if that's important to you. Overall we loved the suite.

 

The perks are are definitely a step down from yacht club. I find it really odd that the nicest suites on the ship, and actually all of the suites except for two, are at Aurea experience level. Priority embarkation was nice, but there was no priority for tendering. We did like having the anytime dining in the main restaurant, there's a separate section with it's own entrance. One huge perk, though, was the all inclusive drink package. We're not big drinkers, so we've never felt that a drink package would be good value for us, but on MSC it really was all inclusive and having unlimited gelato, specialty coffees, smoothies, etc was a great perk, especially for the kids. Tips were included too.

 

As for kids activities, we can only speak for ourselves, but out 8 and 9 year old felt quite strongly that the MSC experience was not nearly as good as the one they had on Norwegian the year before. The kids clubs look fantastic, and my son was very excited about the Lego theming, but the kids complained that it was disorganized and boring. They're normally very social and we had to drag them out of the NCL clubs at closing. They said that the MSC leaders had to explain everything in so many different languages that they spent most of the time waiting during activities and they ended up spending their time clustered around the gaming consoles, waiting their turn to try to grab a controller when someone left. After day 2 they refused to go in. I know every kid and every cruise is different, but that was our experience. The Seaside had the zipline, which we only did once since it was mostly closed for winds, some decent slides and okay pools. The Breakaway had the ropes course, rock climbing, bungy trampoline, water slides and of course the awesome pool and hot tubs in the Haven. Seaside had the Aurea sun deck, which we found far too exposed and windy to enjoy with the kids on sea days. There was no shade at all over the hot tubs and it was actually quite crowded at times.

 

Still, for the price of a Haven suite that same week we got our Aurea suite, the all inclusive package, and still had enough money left over to cover our flight costs from the west coast, a great excursion in each port and 4 nights pre-cruise hotel costs. I'm glad we tried both, but I honestly couldn't say which I'll chose for our next cruise. Both trips were amazing overall.

[TrinaLC]

As to the YC Divina mentioned that has a separate bedroom but no balcony— I would trade the no balcony to be in the YC. There is so much public space dedicated to the YC that I would not miss the balcony that much, and we always cruise with one. But for YC plus the extra BR I would do that in your case.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums