MSC Divina vs Celebrity S-Class Ships

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, emmas gran said:

Hi

We have done a few cruises incl 308 days with X only done Royal suites and Celebrity suite on M class ships but Sky suites on both M & S class. MSC gave us Black card to match our Elite Plus level.

We have booked 3 YC cruises for 2019 on 3 different ships Preziosa 2 weeks Caribbean , Splendida 4 weeks Dubai to Yokohama and 10 days on Meraviglia end of October these are picked to celebrate a birthday --the destination and cruising with friends (in that order) 

Celebrity is for us pricing itself out of our budget when we cruise maybe 8-10 weeks each year.

I will post honest feedback after the Caribbean

Liz

 

I will look out for your reviews!

 

We do love Celebrity and are finding cruise prices not too bad for the Caribbean and Asia, what we are finding unacceptable is the cost of their European itineraries. 

[Devo1459]

Can someone comment on the smoking policy that MSC ships have.  I always worried since it’s Europeon based it would have a lot of smokers and more designated areas. 

Thx

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

 

.... what we are finding unacceptable is the cost of their European itineraries. 

 

Sadly, I couldn't agree more 

[champagne123]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

 

Thanks, I think I was hoping that someone who had cruised in the PH and RS might have also tried a similar room on MSC....If we become more serious in our search we will go to the MSC threads....It is a line we had not considered but I do value the opinions of the OP, hence my browse and question...

 

 

As do I.  I am actually on another thread with him right now and he has given me such great info....

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2610134-who-has-switched-their-primary-cruise-line/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-56420259

[dani negreanu]

On 12/25/2018 at 8:32 PM, Hlitner said:

.....But for the past 3-4 years we had noticed some major degradations in service/quality on Celebrity....

 

.....the food, service and even atmosphere blew away anything we have experienced on Celebrity...especially during the past few years during the era of Celebrity cut-backs.  

 

We hope some at Celebrity read this post, wake up, and restore more of the quality we used to find in the MDR, Aqua Class, etc.

 

 

I also value very much the opinions of the OP.

 

Just returned from a X cruise, after cruising for the past 4 years with Royal mostly. I even brought with me friends, telling them that X is a cut above Royal, and well worth the additional price.

 

We're foodies, and were very disappointed by the huge decline in the quality, quantity and variety of the food. Whereas it was always a "struggle" trying to decide between all the appealing offerings in the MDR, I found myself going back to the "classics".... tried the Ocean View also, no luck there either. One evening I even took an unedible corn soup to the "in charge", who thanked me, and immediately brought to our table the big chef, who had no choice but to agree that it was more cornflour than soup. We let him know our overall disappointment, and it seemed that something will be done. For example, we mentioned the complete lack of seafood. He promised "tomorrow, you'll have calamari". Sure enough, I saw him at lunch. He asked if everything is OK. I asked about the calamari😀.... He mumbled something, and I let it pass. After a few minutes, he brought a portion of fried calamari to our table, just for us. Those were the only calamari we got to eat on a 14 days cruise....

[maggie.1008]

I was also concerned about smoking on MSC. After 26 cruises on X we have also started to look at other lines. In the past two years we have cruised with Oceania, Crystal and Seabourn. ( Hank you are going to love Seabourn ) The move has been the cost of X suites and AQ. Rather pay a bit more and sail with fewer passengers. 

[yorky]

18 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

I also value very much the opinions of the OP.

 

Just returned from a X cruise, after cruising for the past 4 years with Royal mostly. I even brought with me friends, telling them that X is a cut above Royal, and well worth the additional price.

 

We're foodies, and were very disappointed by the huge decline in the quality, quantity and variety of the food. Whereas it was always a "struggle" trying to decide between all the appealing offerings in the MDR, I found myself going back to the "classics".... tried the Ocean View also, no luck there either. One evening I even took an unedible corn soup to the "in charge", who thanked me, and immediately brought to our table the big chef, who had no choice but to agree that it was more cornflour than soup. We let him know our overall disappointment, and it seemed that something will be done. For example, we mentioned the complete lack of seafood. He promised "tomorrow, you'll have calamari". Sure enough, I saw him at lunch. He asked if everything is OK. I asked about the calamari😀.... He mumbled something, and I let it pass. After a few minutes, he brought a portion of fried calamari to our table, just for us. Those were the only calamari we got to eat on a 14 days cruise....

Personally I think the quality in the ocean view is very good and better the RC. The MDR however average at best, but to be fair the quality in MDR’s has dropped on every mainstream line. We now factor in the cost of eating in the speciality restaurants most nights into the total cost of the cruise and make a decision based on that. When doing that we still find Celebrity cheaper than other cruise lines of a simular quality when the drinks package is factored in. I like the idea of the YC but just doing a quick dummy booking it’s double the amount we have paid for a balcony cabin  next September with Celebrity even factoring in eating every night in a speciality restaurant. 

[sptrout]

19 minutes ago, maggie.1008 said:

I was also concerned about smoking on MSC. After 26 cruises on X we have also started to look at other lines. In the past two years we have cruised with Oceania, Crystal and Seabourn. ( Hank you are going to love Seabourn ) The move has been the cost of X suites and AQ. Rather pay a bit more and sail with fewer passengers. 

 

On the Seaside, smoking was limited to just a few areas. No smoking in the cabins, main theater, or the dining rooms for examples, and I am sure many other places. My wife is more sensitive to smoke than me and she never said anything about it. In the few areas that do allow smoking, you can walk through the area very quickly. Overall, I would say their policy is close to Celebrity, but not identical and it would not keep us from booking MSC again.

Edited December 28, 2018 by sptrout

[Hlitner]

45 minutes ago, maggie.1008 said:

I was also concerned about smoking on MSC. After 26 cruises on X we have also started to look at other lines. In the past two years we have cruised with Oceania, Crystal and Seabourn. ( Hank you are going to love Seabourn ) The move has been the cost of X suites and AQ. Rather pay a bit more and sail with fewer passengers. 

We assume you share our dislike of smoke.  This was a major concern when we booked MSC, but we were dissuaded from our concern by some CC posters.  So here is what we found on the Divina.  Within the Yacht Club the only smoking area was a small port side section on the private "One" Sun Deck.  There was no problem sitting in loungers far from those smokers and the eating/bar area is on the opposite side of the ship...far from any smokers.  Outside the YC we noticed two main smoking areas, one of which was in the Casino.  They did try to limit smoking to only one side of the Casino and the area for Black Jack and Roulette were on the no-smoking side.  But the casino smoke did rise to the Luna Bar (above and accessible by a major stair case) which caused us some issues since we enjoyed the entertainment in that bar.  But the smoke was tolerable in that venue.  The other, very popular, smoking area was at the Garden Bar located outside on deck 15 aft.  This also happened to be the most popular bar on the entire ship and it was always crowded (mostly with smokers).  It was not an issue for us unless we decided to walk to Le Muse (our restaurant) using the outside access (which takes you past the Garden Bar).  One could also access Le Muse from inside the ship and completely avoid that smoking area.  There also was an indoor smoking lounge which never caused us a problem (but it was not a place we would enter).

 

Bottom line was we found smokers no more of a problem then on most lines.  Celebrity remains the best line for non-smokers (since they allow no indoor smoking).  Fellow YC cruisers told us smoking was not a major problem on other MSC ships as they have lately been limiting indoor smoking on more of their ships.   I should add that we did smell some smoke on our balcony (a few times) in the morning which had to be coming from another YC balcony. Smoking is NOT permitted on any balcony, but just like on other lines you do sometimes get a person who ignores the rules.

 

Speaking of our future Seabourn cruise (referenced in Sptrout's post) we have been pretty concerned with the negative posts on the Seabourn boards regarding wine and drink issues.  But we did book one of the smaller Seabourn ships which seem to get more favorable reviews.  Keeping our fingers crossed that we like Seabourn.   Like many frequent cruisers here on CC, we find ourselves moving away from mass market lines (the YC is an exception) because of numerous cut-backs on nearly all these lines.  

 

Hank

[villauk]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

....what we are finding unacceptable is the cost of their European itineraries. 

 

 

Yes, prices are off the chart! Appears many of us are considering other options 😉. 

[grandgeezer]

1 hour ago, yorky said:

Personally I think the quality in the ocean view is very good and better the RC. The MDR however average at best, but to be fair the quality in MDR’s has dropped on every mainstream line. We now factor in the cost of eating in the speciality restaurants most nights into the total cost of the cruise and make a decision based on that. When doing that we still find Celebrity cheaper than other cruise lines of a simular quality when the drinks package is factored in. I like the idea of the YC but just doing a quick dummy booking it’s double the amount we have paid for a balcony cabin  next September with Celebrity even factoring in eating every night in a speciality restaurant. 

 How did it compare without the free perks such as drinks, internet and obc? Not everybody wants them us included.

[yorky]

8 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

 How did it compare without the free perks such as drinks, internet and obc? Not everybody wants them us included.

We only got the one perk being the drinks package which the cost being £2700 for the two of us in a balcony cabin. Just pricing up the YC for a cruise 3 days longer and in a balcony cabin also in September, also including a drinks package as such it’s £6800. 

[grandgeezer]

45 minutes ago, yorky said:

We only got the one perk being the drinks package which the cost being £2700 for the two of us in a balcony cabin. Just pricing up the YC for a cruise 3 days longer and in a balcony cabin also in September, also including a drinks package as such it’s £6800. 

 Occasionally there are deals out there. A couple of weeks ago we booked the YC suite, on the Seaside, in October. It's 14 day Caribbean for a little less than $5300 usd. It came with internet and drink package that included the minibar. 

[chemmo]

4 hours ago, champagne123 said:

 

 

As do I.  I am actually on another thread with him right now and he has given me such great info....

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2610134-who-has-switched-their-primary-cruise-line/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-56420259

 

Thanks will continue to follow....

[emmas gran]

I remembered a RC cruiser did a long review of YC when travelling with her husband. She normally cruised in RS on Royal so I found it quite interesting and she seemed impressed so searched it out!!

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2657566&page=28

Come Sail Away With Us…LIVE from the MSC Seaside (Yacht Club) …July 21-28, 2018

By Lovetocruise2002, July 19 in MSC Cruises 

 

Liz

[garda]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Outside the YC we noticed two main smoking areas, one of which was in the Casino. 

 

Did MSC change their smoking policy?  I was on the Divina in February 2018 and there was NO smoking in the Casino .  Only indoor smoking was in the Cigar lounge.

[Hlitner]

22 minutes ago, garda said:

 

Did MSC change their smoking policy?  I was on the Divina in February 2018 and there was NO smoking in the Casino .  Only indoor smoking was in the Cigar lounge.

I cannot speak to what existed last February, but on our two cruises in Nov-Dec, there was lots of smoking allowed in the Port side of the casino (near many of the slots).   Much of that smoke would drift up to the Luna Bar (above).  It could get pretty bad right after the 7 and 9 shows (in the main theater) and we assume that the smokers who had been in the theater would stop at the casino to have a smoke.  

 

On the last night of our cruise I had about $100 in remaining OBC (our cruise agency gave us lots of OBC) so I stopped in the Casino to use those funds at the Black Jack tables.  On that (starboard) side of the casino the smoke was not much of an issue but smelled more like a dirty ashtray.  I quickly made some money, cashed out, and went to the Top Sail Lounge to breathe some clean air :).  If it were not for those smokers in the casino I would have kept gambling and likely lost money.

 

Hank

[sptrout]

I thought that I noticed (smelled actually) smoking in Seaside's casino also. However, we never did anything in the casino except walk through it on the way to other places so I may be remembering incorrectly.

[39august]

I asked earlier about "free" drinks. Some said all drinks are included with YC. However, now I'm seeing references to a drink package. So, do we get included drinks with the YC or do we have to buy a separate drinks package?

[helen haywood]

You do not have to buy a beverage package.  The confusion stems from the beverages “package” that was included in your fare for the YC and minibar and elsewhere on the ship has changed names.  And there seems to be some question as to the price point of drinks included in YC and whether the chocolate shop items and gelato and crepes outside YC are included.

 

Rest assured, just about anything you want to drink will be included with the exception of some special high ticket items.  And you can pay for an upgrade to make these available as well.  Personally I never had the need to upgrade.

[George C]

How does it work for the higher end drinks? We like upper end wine so with drink package on rccl limit on last cruise was 13 so if I order a 17 dollar glass I pay 4, is msc similar.

[andymattmom]

Thanks for your review! We had a Mediterranean cruise set for the Apex in August 2020. I started reading about MSC and the Yacht Club a few days ago. We love the Equinox (have done Concierge and Aqua Class) - also enjoyed athe Haven on NCL. 

 

I just booked a similar itinerary on the MSC Seaview for May 2020 in the Yacht Club- trying an interior room as the public spaces in Yacht Club look beautiful and we aren’t in cabin much. This was $3300 cheaper (I received a 10% teachers discount- had to supply my license via email). 

 

 

[gkbiiii]

I was in an inside, Seaside YC cabin, which was only $1,250 pp, which included $450 on-board credit, and comped wi-fi.  It was a great week, the YC & Spa (which is included) was outstanding.  YC includes Premium Drink Package, (used to cover gelato & crapes) but also includes unlimited custom mini-bar drinks & snacks. Black Cards get a comped Specialty Dinner:

Roy's Asian/Teppanyaki/Sushi, were outstanding! 

Edited January 12, 2019 by gkbiiii

[Texed]

We were considering MSC until we were in Grand Cayman Island.  When we were returning to Celebrity Equinox, we walked by the line returning to MSC.  It was at least an hour and a half wait.

 

We went to the line to return to Equinox.  We walked directly to the tender.  😁

[kelmac]

Hi Everyone,

 

My wife and I have cruised Celebrity since 1993 (30 cruises) and this is still our "go-to" cruise line.  Having said that, we have been experimenting with other lines as of late.  Last spring we picked up Black Card status with MSC and sailed for a week in their newest ship the Seaside (Yacht Club inside cabin).  Very impressive experience!  The regular area of the ship was more like a European version of NCL, but beautiful.

 

I'm not down on Celebrity because of their product, it's just that the competition is stepping up their game.  Celebrity prices are too high right now and let me give you an example.  Since my wife is recently retired we can now take advantage of off season travel, including cruising.  She was a high school teacher and we were force to travel only during winter break, spring break and a few summer weeks.  Next fall we are chaining four 7 day cruises together, all on different lines, and leaving out of South Florida:

Week 1 = MSC Meraviglia; inside Yacht Club cabin; all inclusive; total cost $1,564 per person.

Week 2 = Crystal Symphony; OV cabin; all inclusive; total cost $1,782 per person.

Week 3 = Celebrity Edge; inside cabin; no perks; total cost $1,257 per person.

Week 4 = HAL's Nieuw Statendam; inside cabin; no perks; total cost $644 per person.

 

The Meraviglia, the Edge and the Nieuw Statendam are all new ships.  Of course, Crystal is a luxury line.  Which of these four would you consider a "bargain" and which would you consider "a bit expensive"?

 

 

As always, Enjoy!

Kel😀

 

--Full disclosure -- I have a booking on all four of these ships.  Nov 10th -- Dec 8th and none of these cruises include pre-paid gratuities.