MSC Divina - Dinner time companions

[SandhyaPapineau]

Hello,

 

This is only my 2nd cruise and my 1st on MSC.

 

We are booked on the Divina in Feb 2019. I have a question about dinner time. Would my husband and I be allowed to eat by ourselves (sans any other dining companions) or is it required that you are seated at a table with others for the duration of the trip?

 

Thank you in avance.

[Essiesmom]

What experience did you book? I believe if you are in the Yacht Club, you will not have a problem. If you booked Aurea experience, you may be able to. If you are Bella or Fantastica, your chances are slim. But you can always ask. EM

[SandhyaPapineau]

Hello,

 

We are in the Bella category so I think we will likely have the dinner companions.

 

Thank you for your answer.

[joeyjeremiah]

You can always request it but may not get your request. You never know you might end up seated with people who don’t use the dining room (some people eat at the buffet every night) but have to select a dining time.

 

 

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[SandhyaPapineau]

Thank you. It's true some prefer the buffet experience. Perhaps it would be better to request just in case we are lucky enough to get our wish. To whom should I request?

[joeyjeremiah]

Place the request with your TA or booking agent (if you booked direct) but otherwise wait until you are onboard and talk to the maître d’ and see if he can help you out.

 

 

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[SandhyaPapineau]

Excellent, thank you for the information!

[sidari]

Better to go to the dining room you are allocated on boarding the ship and see the Matre'd or Head Waiter, that way you may have a better chance of a table for two.

[pukekolive]

Hello,

 

This is only my 2nd cruise and my 1st on MSC.

 

We are booked on the Divina in Feb 2019. I have a question about dinner time. Would my husband and I be allowed to eat by ourselves (sans any other dining companions) or is it required that you are seated at a table with others for the duration of the trip?

 

Thank you in avance.

We were on Preziosa for 23 days in Aug Sept 2018 and had 4 dinner companions however on several occasions the others did not come to dinner and sometimes we did not either, it was a good balance. The Maitre D' seems to try and group people by language so we had Australians, Americans and South African couples, we are from New Zealand.

 

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[riclop]

Hello,

 

We are in the Bella category so I think we will likely have the dinner companions.

 

Thank you for your answer.

With Bella you don't have much choice. There is always the buffet.

[CruisingFox27]

We were on Preziosa for 23 days in Aug Sept 2018 and had 4 dinner companions however on several occasions the others did not come to dinner and sometimes we did not either, it was a good balance. The Maitre D' seems to try and group people by language so we had Australians, Americans and South African couples, we are from New Zealand.

 

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We've never had dinner companions, I'm curious how that works. Do you have to wait for everyone to arrive to order? If you all order a different number of couses are you all served at different times. If some people are not going to be dining that evening, Is there a set time to wait before they decide to continue without them and proceed to serve you?

[diesel1973]

When we cruise we are never fussy about how many people we dine with. We find it makes the cruise more interesting as we meet an array of people. Of course most of them are interesting but sometimes we meet some very peculiar people which makes it very interesting. It' just a roll of the dice!

[pukekolive]

We've never had dinner companions, I'm curious how that works. Do you have to wait for everyone to arrive to order? If you all order a different number of couses are you all served at different times. If some people are not going to be dining that evening, Is there a set time to wait before they decide to continue without them and proceed to serve you?

Usually the Main Dining Room doors shut 10-15 minutes from the scheduled time. Usually 2nd dinner is 8.30pm but depending on All Aboard time and special Theatre performances it can be different. So everyone who is coming for dinner should be there by 8.40 to 8.45pm.

 

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[pukekolive]

We've never had dinner companions, I'm curious how that works. Do you have to wait for everyone to arrive to order? If you all order a different number of couses are you all served at different times. If some people are not going to be dining that evening, Is there a set time to wait before they decide to continue without them and proceed to serve you?

Per my other reply the waiters hand out the menus when you get there then take all the orders at the same time. They will sort out your drinks if you arrive first of course. You need to ask to be served your main with the other mains if you opt to skip entree. Portions may appear to be quite small but you can ask for more of the same or an additional dish if you want to.

 

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[CruisingFox27]

Thanks Olive, we've sailed regularly with MSC so I'm familiar with the dining portions and ordering options but we've only ever had a table for 2 so was just curious how it worked. I was forgetting that they close the doors, so you wouldn't be sitting waiting and wondering on your companions.

 

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[bigAWL]

We've always mentioned to our table mates and servers if we know we won't be dining in the MDR the following night.

[Streblo]

We were on Preziosa for 23 days in Aug Sept 2018 and had 4 dinner companions however on several occasions the others did not come to dinner and sometimes we did not either, it was a good balance. The Maitre D' seems to try and group people by language so we had Australians, Americans and South African couples, we are from New Zealand.

 

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Did you speak rugby (union) at all? I'm a die hard Springbok fan myself but confess am in awe of the skill, composure and dedication to the code shown by the All Blacks. Much deserved respect. We did beat you guys at The Cake Tin though. I'm hoping we can get our act together in time for the world cup next year and give you another run for your money. We are two of the greatest rugby nations with the strongest rivalry. But, lets see what happens this weekend first!

[hakko808]

Don't be too discouraged if you don't get a table for two. I am not so good with strangers, but have met some nice folks in the MDR, and if there is an issue just mention to the waiter who can forward to

Maitre D who can do some rearranging. Most of the tables as I recall seat 6 and often at lease one other couple does not show up.

[pukekolive]

Did you speak rugby (union) at all? I'm a die hard Springbok fan myself but confess am in awe of the skill, composure and dedication to the code shown by the All Blacks. Much deserved respect. We did beat you guys at The Cake Tin though. I'm hoping we can get our act together in time for the world cup next year and give you another run for your money. We are two of the greatest rugby nations with the strongest rivalry. But, lets see what happens this weekend first!

No we didn't really go down the Rugby trail - we did get quite a bit of insight into current SA politics - the SA couple were seriously considering moving to OZ or NZ! They say that a lot of people are not feeling safe at the moment ...They are from Pretoria area

 

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[movingimages]

Hello,

 

This is only my 2nd cruise and my 1st on MSC.

 

We are booked on the Divina in Feb 2019. I have a question about dinner time. Would my husband and I be allowed to eat by ourselves (sans any other dining companions) or is it required that you are seated at a table with others for the duration of the trip?

 

Thank you in avance.

 

We cruised the Divina shortly after the 2016 US election, and I absolutely did not want to sit with any other people at dinner to avoid even the hint of political discussions. On the first day we spoke to the maitre d'. We had to sit at our assigned table for 8 the first night, but they squeezed in a table for 2 for us the remaining 9 nights of the cruise. The first night, only 1 other couple showed up, and they also requested their own table for the rest of the cruise and their request was met (we saw them a few tables over in the dining room). We have the gold card and were in Fantastica experience; not sure if that influenced getting our request met in any way?

 

On most cruises, we always eat in the dining room, but we skipped it several times on that cruise. The buffet, especially the pizza, was good, in our opinion. The room service (enjoyable with a balcony) has an excellent salad with the best feta cheese (seriously, the cheese on this cruise is amazing!). At that time, one could also order food in the sports bar, which we did 1 or 2 nights. Not sure if it's still the same, but I'll find out next month when we return. :D :)

 

We really loved sailing on Divina. Hope you enjoy your cruise!!

[pukekolive]

We cruised the Divina shortly after the 2016 US election, and I absolutely did not want to sit with any other people at dinner to avoid even the hint of political discussions. On the first day we spoke to the maitre d'. We had to sit at our assigned table for 8 the first night, but they squeezed in a table for 2 for us the remaining 9 nights of the cruise. The first night, only 1 other couple showed up, and they also requested their own table for the rest of the cruise and their request was met (we saw them a few tables over in the dining room). We have the gold card and were in Fantastica experience; not sure if that influenced getting our request met in any way?

 

On most cruises, we always eat in the dining room, but we skipped it several times on that cruise. The buffet, especially the pizza, was good, in our opinion. The room service (enjoyable with a balcony) has an excellent salad with the best feta cheese (seriously, the cheese on this cruise is amazing!). At that time, one could also order food in the sports bar, which we did 1 or 2 nights. Not sure if it's still the same, but I'll find out next month when we return. :D :)

 

We really loved sailing on Divina. Hope you enjoy your cruise!!

We were on Preziosa in Aug Sept for 23 days and the dailies said food was complimentary in the Sports Bar but in the event we never ordered there.

 

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[movingimages]

We were on Preziosa in Aug Sept for 23 days and the dailies said food was complimentary in the Sports Bar but in the event we never ordered there.

 

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Good to know, thanks!

[CruisingFox27]

We were on Preziosa in Aug Sept for 23 days and the dailies said food was complimentary in the Sports Bar but in the event we never ordered there.

 

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Where were you sailing olive? I'm guessing Northern Europe to Mediterranean being Aug Sept. I'm sure I'd read, although my memory does often fail me these days, that the complimentary food in the sports bar on Divina was only available on US & Caribbean sailings.

We sail on Preziosa next month so I'm hoping the food in the sports bar is included.