MSC Divina - 09/29-10/06- Review of experience- Lots of Photos

[woody867]

This will be a mostly photo heavy review- I purchased a new Samsung Note 10 and wanted to test the camera- all photos were taken using this phone.

 

We booked this cruise extremely last minute, 3 weeks before we found a good deal on a YC1 cabin and decided to experience the MSC Yacht Club, having cruised previously with NCL Epic Haven, we was keen to see if MSC could match or even exceed our experiences on NCL.

 

We embarked in Roma, as this was the easiest and cheapest flights we could find such short notice, as usual we flew out the day before as we never like to take the risk of flying in same day. We used RomeCabs booking for the transfer from central Rome to Civitavechia - it took around 1 hour 25 minutes and we did hit a lot of traffic.

 

On arriving at the port, we saw the famous white tent and we was excited to board the ship, we dropped our bags off and headed inside being led by one of the Butlers- we ended up in the small lounge, we waited for the Butler to check us in and he offered us Sparkling Wine, Water or Juice with some snacks but these did not look appetising , pictures of the lounge below we was only here for 10 minutes before being led onto the ship to start our adventure!!

[woody867]

We was quickly led onto the ship onto deck 7- we bypassed all the queues which clearly annoyed some of the other waiting passengers, you embark on deck 7 and we walked the length of the ship to reach the FWD elevators to take the special YC elevators , our butler showed us the swipe card trick to priority the elevator. We was sat in the YC reception area, near the TSL and introduced to some members of the YC team- the Maitre'D of Le Muse introduced herself, and informed us she wanted us to dine later, as due to so many couples on the ship there was no tables in the YC Le Muse between 7-8.30 that evening, we simply agreed to do what was easiest for them and dined at 8.45 that evening- Some photos of the cabin YC1 below- 15018 was our cabin

[Captain-John]

Beautiful lounge compared to the 'grittier' version in Genoa (below):

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, woody867 said:

some snacks but these did not look appetising

 

I said exactly the same thing about the items in Genoa.

 

3 minutes ago, woody867 said:

 informed us she wanted us to dine later, as due to so many couples on the ship there was no tables in the YC Le Muse between 7-8.30 that evening,

 

Not surprised and interesting that the Maitre'D  is so proactive in managing the dining arrangements - we had the same experience on Preziosa.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review! 🙂

[woody867]

We then had Muster Drill - this was absolute chaos and MSC simply do not have any idea how to manage with so many different countries citizens on the ship, they make you take your lifejacket with you, people are unsure where to go, they lead you to your Muster Station but nobody explains anything, they need to get a grip of this, we then went to the Top Sail Bar on deck 18 for a drink before sailway, this was the first experience we had of the constant sell sell sell, we had Spa, Speciality Dining, Drinks etc, we ended up booking the Butchers Cut restaurant to  simply get rid of the staff member, and we fancied seeing if it compared to Cagneys on NCL!

[woody867]

Once we had started our sailway from Rome, we started to explore the ship and see what our home for the next 7 nights had to offer, once again we was stopped to offer drinks upgrades and further Spa packages, we declined politely but already was starting to grate on us, some first photos of the ship below- it is in amazing condition and so so clean, compared to our  cruise on NCL Jade they are really miles ahead with this.

 

Piazza Del Doge was stunning and a beautiful area to grab Gelato or Coffee anytime of the day, we also found the Coffee bar and the Jazz Bar-(weirdly we never heard/saw any Jazz music in here) 

 

More photos to come- and the first Port of Call Palermo!!

 

[woody867]

We didn't take any photos of our first night in Le Muse- we arrived at 8.45 after our butler insisted he walk us to the Restaurant- this was rather frustrating as we could have found it ourselves and made us look pompous - don't get me wrong there were some people in the YC who loved the attention and walked around with their Butler like a bodyguard, but we are very self sufficient, the food was okay-good on the first night, the situation with the Wine was rather annoying- you pay for a better experience and yet they offer you Jacobs Creek, a budget cheap wine in UK- after asking for something better a Chablis appeared, drinkable but for an Italian company they should have fine selection of ITA wines- Pecorino, Grigio, Frascati etc, the service in Le Muse was okay- you don't get the same waiters each night- so a mixed bag for day 1 , but still great to be on-board

 

Please feel free to ask any questions of YC Divina and I will do my best to answer .

[woody867]

Day 2 - Palermo Sicily 

 

We woke up and saw we was already coming into Sicily and the historic port of Palermo, it looked absolutely beautiful from a distance and we was excited  for a day exploring the historic capital of this stunning Island.

 

We headed off the ship and into a waiting throng of touts and bus agents, we decided to take the HOHO bus as we always found it a great way to see a lot of the city and saves legs in the heat, as you can see from the photos it is a stunning historic city and worth a visit, the bus picks up right outside the port and cost 24EUR per person, we felt a little over priced for the length of the route but we was happy to head back to the Top Sail Bar for some drinks and food...

[hmmm]

This is our first MSC cruise.  We will be on the Davina in December.  I was wondering if the Top 18 Solarium listed on Deck 18 is exclusive to YC?  I can’t seem to find any info on it.  Thanks........,I am anxiously following your review.  It is such a help.

[seahags]

1 hour ago, hmmm said:

This is our first MSC cruise.  We will be on the Davina in December.  I was wondering if the Top 18 Solarium listed on Deck 18 is exclusive to YC?  I can’t seem to find any info on it.  Thanks........,I am anxiously following your review.  It is such a help.

hmmm, are you on the 6 Dec sailing?  See you on board, if so.  I believe that I read somewhere on these boards another cruiser's question about Top 18 and the answer was yes, it is available to YC.  This will be our first MSC as well...certainly hungry for all/any information!

 

[Zephyr173]

2 hours ago, hmmm said:

This is our first MSC cruise.  We will be on the Davina in December.  I was wondering if the Top 18 Solarium listed on Deck 18 is exclusive to YC?  I can’t seem to find any info on it.  Thanks........,I am anxiously following your review.  It is such a help.

The Top 18 Solarium is not exclusive to YC. It is included fo Aurea guests, and an extra for anyone else - although I don’t know if there is an extra cost for YC patrons, as I have not been to the solarium when traveling YC. 
 

There  is really no reason for a YC club guest to go there. The exclusive YC area on deck 18 is much better with its dedicated bar, grill, ample chairs and the One Pool. Not to mention more attentive butler service, and the private elevator from there to your deck in YC. 

Lastly, the “bar” at the Top 18 Solarium is merely a cart with a few offerings.  Nowhere near as extensive as any other baron board, and certainly not on par with YC on deck 18. 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Zephyr173

[Captain-John]

Only reason to go there would be to avoid children - I believe the Top 18 is adults only but the YC area is not.

 

I don't believe there is an extra charge for YC guests.

 

(I have never had a problem with children in the YC area, just pointing it out).

Edited October 12, 2019 by Captain-John

[Zephyr173]

I have seen a comment by Sidari on another thread indicating that Top 18 is not child free. In my recollection, there is only one outdoor lounging area that is child free. I think it is the Garden Pool, deck 15 aft, where the infinity pool is..

[Captain-John]

Ah OK, apologies. I thought I had read the opposite a few weeks back. I don't recall from any personal experience so I should probably stay quiet. 🤐

[Zephyr173]

12 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

Ah OK, apologies. I thought I had read the opposite a few weeks back. I don't recall from any personal experience so I should probably stay quiet. 🤐

I don’t recall from personal experience either. We only went there twice, and that’s 3 years ago. 
 

Patrick

 

Sorry OP for temporarily hijacking your great thread. Looking forward to returning to MSC Divina in about 3 weeks 😍

Edited October 12, 2019 by Zephyr173

[Até]

My Divina experience is that Top 18 is essentially kid-less.  While I saw no prohibition there is very little reason for minors to have any interest in going up there.  Perhaps at times they may be drawn to the usually open hot tub.  In fact for adults there is little reason to go there other than ease of finding an open lounger in the sun, on an 11 night sailing we went up there once for a couple hours and left.  Bar service consisted of a side room with a cooler on the floor.  There is absolutely no reason for a YC guest to go there other than if The One pool deck is full of children, but Divina does not necessarily draw lot of kids in the YC.

[skings]

Keep the photos coming

[woody867]

We annoyingly didn't take any photos of the Menus each night- but there is a very good review on the Preziosa on here that has the same menu that we had, so may be helpful, we was not at all really impressed with any of the shows, we ducked our head in the door briefly and found a terrible Queen impersonator so gave it a miss, we headed to the Golden Jazz Bar for some very nice cocktails, I had a Tropical Spritz and my partner had a Bellini with peach and orange a very random combination but worked really well, most cocktails on menu were under the threshold, you would really struggle to find something you didn't like... 

[dritan]

Enjoying this thread - I'm thinking of taking this itinerary with the kids next year. - but not in YC 😊

[woody867]

If anyone is interested in what the free minibar looks like- this is images of what is inside-n nothing too exciting- low level spirits and soft drinks but its a nice touch and something other budget lines do not do, soft drinks in the cabin was very handy.

[woody867]

Day 2 was Cagliari- Sardinia- this is not the most exciting port and we spent around 1 hour off the ship- we thought it was almost not worth the stop- we could have had an overnight in Valencia which was our favourite port and somewhere I would highly recommend, there is a shuttle bus MSC charge 13.99EUR for, this is rather expensive but we wanted to at least say we had seen some of the town, I spent the afternoon wandering the ship taking photos 

[woody867]

Below is some images of my walk around the ship- note the very important Credit Card machine-once on board you MUST insert your card into this machine and it pre-authorises EUR250 as a deposit, if you do not do this then your card will not work very quickly for any purchaes- its really easy and takes 2 minutes at start of your cruise.

[cmdchiefthom]

On 10/12/2019 at 12:07 PM, woody867 said:

We then had Muster Drill - this was absolute chaos and MSC simply do not have any idea how to manage with so many different countries citizens on the ship, they make you take your lifejacket with you, people are unsure where to go, they lead you to your Muster Station but nobody explains anything, they need to get a grip of this, we then went to the Top Sail Bar on deck 18 for a drink before sailway, this was the first experience we had of the constant sell sell sell, we had Spa, Speciality Dining, Drinks etc, we ended up booking the Butchers Cut restaurant to  simply get rid of the staff member, and we fancied seeing if it compared to Cagneys on NCL!

 

[cmdchiefthom]

As for the Bucher's Cut versus Cagney's, I have to put Cagney's well above my experience in the Burcher's Cut aboard MSC.  I've ruled out the steakhouse on my upcoming cruises aboard the Divina and Seaside for that reason.  I'll not starve aboard MSC's YC dining rooms.😉

[Capricruiser]

We just disembarked from Divina on 13 October.  We've sailed in Yacht Club on all four Fantasia class ships (third time on Divina), and can assure the YC ambiance and service is basically the same.  One chef can be a little better than another, one Maitre'd of chief butler more attentive than another, but if you've cruised YC several times all the ship and food photos are the same you've always experienced.  That said, we've never felt the need to go to one of the specialty restaurants because the YC restaurants and staff have always been excellent. Yacht Club is the only way to go.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Capricruiser