MSC Divina Yacht Club 2/11 - 2/22 Live Review

[TrinaLC]

19 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I spoke with him at lunch a few minutes ago and he said his contract was scheduled to end April 18 but he extended until May and will be making the transatlantic.

 

Awesome, that is what we were hoping for!

[TrinaLC]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@Best Cat Mom

 

 

How did you like it? We did it once, but they don't have any GF options for me. 😞

 

We did not have any of the food, just the tea.

 

I see Dwi was one of the butlers serving you. She had said that she'll be our butler in April -- if she still has the same rooms on thestarboard side of deck 15. Who did you have for your room butler this cruise?

 

I am not sure which rooms she has as we are on deck 15 and I believe she’s on deck 16. 
 

Our butler was Putra and our assistant butler was Peter.  Found out the Putra was the one leaving us the towel animals.

 

 

We had Dwi a month ago. She is terrific.  Her assistant butler Richard is wonderful as well. We were in the non-YC area on 12 (“family suites”) so not sure what YC area they had. 

[DaKahuna]

Debarkation was relative painless.  When we decided to head down and collect our bags, Pepe stopped us, said his good buys and handed us off to a Butler, who happened to be Mark’s butler, so he was a familiar face. 
 

He took us to the gangway on Deck 7 forward and bid us good bye. 
 

We walked a long, virtually empty gangway, passing one other couple along the way and eventually came to where the bags were, close to the aft end of the ship (we were moored port side to the pier) .  Customs was a physical process where we scanned our drivers license and presented our passports and waived us on our way.  Quick and painless. We grabbed our bags and then proceeded to walk all the way back to the front of the ship where the crosswalk was for Taxi’s and ride share pickups.  
 

I did a price check and selected an Lyft XL, that arrived 11 minutes later.  
We boarded our Lyft ride about 22 minutes after departing the YC. 
 

We were at FLL, bags checked, through TSA, which was way faster than clear, and in the United Club by 1003.  
 

Now I’ll start collecting my notes, thoughts, impressions, etc., and will post my final about MSC YV vs Celebrity Retreat tonight or tomorrow.  
 

Thank you all for following along and hope it was not too boring. 
 

 

[Jim_Iain]

John,

Really enjoyed your post.   Looking forward to your final review and finding out if you would consider MSC again. 

 

What's you're next cruise?

[bjahil47]

Thank you for your detailed review and pictures.  Looking forward to your comparison!  Safe travels home!

[jcpc]

I really enjoyed reading your posts and am anxiously awaiting your thoughts regarding MSC YC vs Celebrity Retreat.  MSC and Celebrity are truly "two different animals" but it's pretty hard to beat the YC experience which typically prices out at about half of the cost of a Retreat experience.

 

I found on my first MSC sailing the ship was full and the main areas of the ship were a real zoo.  Last week, however, the ship sailed at way less than capacity and I actually enjoyed most of the main areas of the ship (i.e., lounges, shops, etc. - did not go to the main buffet or pools at all since there was no need).

 

I am also, I believe, in the minority as I think that the food is YC Restaurant (at least on my 2 Meraviglia sailings) was far superior to what I've recently had in Luminae.  YC cooking is very low in salt content whereas Luminae's food is loaded with salt, in my opinion. 

 

Again, thanks for all the posts and pictures.  And isn't Pepe just the most gracious man ever?

 

 

[Cathy in Boston]

This was awesome and is getting us very excited for our April trip!  Also looking forward to your MSC vs Celebrity post.

[George C]

Great review and photos, we still have 283 days to seaside yacht club 😁😁,

luckily we have a royal suite on summit 3 weeks from today. 

[DisneyJen]

Thanks again @DaKahuna🥂

 

Looking forward to your Retreat vs. Yacht Club verdict!

 

We've 87 days until we board MSC YC 🚢

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, DisneyJen said:

Thanks again @DaKahuna🥂

 

Looking forward to your Retreat vs. Yacht Club verdict!

 

We've 87 days until we board MSC YC 🚢

 

Same here.     Looks nice but so fare the size of the ships and passenger load are a deterrent to examine further at this time.   We have gravitated to smaller ships like Oceania and SilverSea.   Each has their advantages and disadvantages as we seek a better fit than the recent X experiences.

[mnpurple]

Thanks for sharing your review. We were on a similar itinerary on Divina last January and really enjoyed it. Now we get to look forward to the Euribia in almost 3 weeks in Northern Europe! I think I'll need to "up" my game with wine at dinner and ask for suggestions to go with my meal. 

[mac_tlc]

As I am seated in Luminae on Beyond, I am awaiting your comparison!!

 

 

mac_tlc

[DisneyJen]

25 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Same here.     Looks nice but so fare the size of the ships and passenger load are a deterrent to examine further at this time.   We have gravitated to smaller ships like Oceania and SilverSea.   Each has their advantages and disadvantages as we seek a better fit than the recent X experiences.

 @Jim_Iain we love SeaDream and Seabourne but their itineraries don't work for us since DH retirement as he teaches fullime at our alma mater.

 

This May cruise is a test run for us. It leaves from NY which is a three-hour drive for us. We probably won't leave the YC enclave. For us the ship is the destination.

 

Right there with you  on recent X experiences.

 

 

 

[George C]

42 minutes ago, DisneyJen said:

 @Jim_Iain we love SeaDream and Seabourne but their itineraries don't work for us since DH retirement as he teaches fullime at our alma mater.

 

This May cruise is a test run for us. It leaves from NY which is a three-hour drive for us. We probably won't leave the YC enclave. For us the ship is the destination.

 

Right there with you  on recent X experiences.

 

 

 

Only port I will leave the ship for on my cruise will be their private island . 

[DisneyJen]

1 minute ago, George C said:

Only port I will leave the ship for on my cruise will be their private island . 

Us too @George C.

 

We're hoping it will be open for our cruise.

[George C]

1 hour ago, DisneyJen said:

Us too @George C.

 

We're hoping it will be open for our cruise.

We were on first cruise after it opened on seaside about 5 years ago

[Mark_T]

On 2/21/2024 at 6:59 PM, DaKahuna said:

After relaxing for a bit we took all our casino tickets down and cashed them out. So we have now used all our OBC, plus a few of our own dollars.

We similarly cleared out remaining OBC through the casino, and actually ended up ahead thanks to fortunate win as we just did one spin on the machine after loading our last OBC.

 

Nothing major but still good to come out ahead and get the OBC converted to cash.

 

It was a great cruise, thanks in no small part to our regular evening conversations with you and your wife, hopefully we will be able to do it again at some point in the future.

[DaKahuna]

On 2/22/2024 at 11:14 AM, Jim_Iain said:

John,

Really enjoyed your post.   Looking forward to your final review and finding out if you would consider MSC again. 

 

 Short answer yes, but don't think my wife agrees.  Details in my summary to follow. 

 

On 2/22/2024 at 11:14 AM, Jim_Iain said:

 

What's you're next cruise?

 

 Best of Japan on Celebrity Millennium May 2-15 out of Yokohama.  Will be going over 3-days early and returning 3-days after the cruise. 

 

[DaKahuna]

On 2/22/2024 at 1:21 PM, jcpc said:

Again, thanks for all the posts and pictures.  And isn't Pepe just the most gracious man ever?

 

 I'll address your other comments in my summary but yes, Pepe is amazing.  I do not know when that man sleeps -- he's everywhere all the time. 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Well here goes.  This may come out a bit disjointed but wanted to cover the highligts and then try and answer any specific questions anyone may have. 

 

As I have already told @Jim_Iain above, I would definitely sail MSC YC again.  The staff in the Lounge, pool, and dining areas were fantastic and as good as, if not in a couple of ways better than we have experienced in the Retreat.  The majority of the time where were at least two, if not three, service staff coming around and taking drink orders in the lounge, replenishing the snacks, and clearing tables.  During the peak times, there more, late hours (after 10 pm maybe only one).   The little time we spent in the pool area we did not lack for servers.  The small buffet they had was manned by waiters and assistant waiters from the YC dining room during the hours it was open.  Choices on Divina were limited but you definitely could find something for everyone.  I'd have to give the YC the win for this area, not to mention how well stocked the bar in the YC was. 

 

The biggest difference between the Retreat and YC experience for me, and one that I have never understood about Celebrity, is that while Lumine is closed on port days Le Muse is open on port days.  Evern Royal Caribbian Oasis and Quantum class ships keep Coastal Kitchen open on port days.  We did go to the ship's buffet for lunch one port day, as my wife wanted pizza and while there were a lot of choices, the food was not impressive but it was not 'horrible'.  As it was a port day we did not experience the massive crowding and pushing and shoving others have reported.  However, I have no doubt this takes place as we saw some examples of it in the public areas in the evenings. 

 

Food is one area where my wife and I disagree regarding sailing MSC again.  She was not a fan of the food and I am sure the low sodium content in the food may have something to do with that.  She found the menu strange, as did I, but I found the dishes I had to be enjoyable with one or two minor exception (see my comment regarding the "crab cake").  She still cannot get over the fact that they had a menu item named Udon Noodles which was no where near what a udon noodle is.  I mean they have udon noodles in the Galaxy restaurant so it's strage they would call a very thin noodle 'udon'.   Celebrity's flexibility in Luminae's menu on M and S class ships is better than MSC menu but the quality and quantity of food in both are very good.   Two of the best steaks I have had on a cruise line were the filet's that I had in Le Muse.  It was so delicious, prefectly prepared and tender it rivaled any filet's I have had at Murano or Tuscan.  Butcher's cut was a unique experiences, as was Galaxy but while Sushi / Raw on Five beats out Galaxy, the extensive cuts selection and the more reasonable pricing of Butcher's Cut puts it above Murano or Tuscan.   Only twice did I go off menu, and both times they were aable to accommodate my order and that was the penne bolognese.  Additionally, after asking for it to be prepared the next night, my wife received French Onion Soup multiple times without requesting it again.  When is the last time you saw the Retreat Manager come to Luminae while you were having a meal and ask you how things were going?  This happend quite frequently as the YC Directory was everywhere and very visible. I cannot recall a single time anyone from the Retreat, Manager or Host/Hostess came to Luminae while we were dining. Not only that, the Le Muse Maintre'd was visiting tables two and three times a meal making sure things were okay.  There was a separate hostess that greeted you and escorted you to your table each meal.  On our last cruise the Luminae Maitre'd was also the host, greeting and escorting guest to their seats and maybe stopped by once a meal to see how things where going.  Bottom line, my wife thought the food on Celebrity taste better and I like the multiple menu choices better on Celebrity but found that both are equally well prepared.   

 

I said earlier in my review that I really like the YC Lounge better than the Retreat Lounges on the M and S class ships.  Granted Divina which is one of their older and smaller ships has very large YC Lounge.  We spent a lot of evenings there talking with @Mark_T and his wife while enjoying a drink and live entertainmentment.  This was something both my wife and I enjoyed.  The experience was very different than what we had in the public areas but even that was tolerable most times.  If you wanted a quite place you could find one in the public area as there are many lounges throughout deck 5 and 6 of the ship. Did it get very loud and crowded in places, of course.  Then again I've seen the martini bar four and five deep and at times you could not hear yourself think during some of the atrium entertainment activities on Celebrity. 

 

From an economical standpoint MSC YC offers everything the Retrat does but a more reasonable price.  We paid half of what our 13-Day Aqua Sky Suite price for an 11-day YC suite that includes SPA access.  Even the daily gratuities on MSC is less than Celebrity.  I do not consider MSC YC cheap, I do it consider it more economical. 

 

So yes, I would definitely sail MSC YC again and plan to do so just as soon as I can talk my DW into joining me as there is no way I'd risk going without her.  Whether we will sail Celebrity again after our upcoming cruise is the question.  

 

p.s. I also ran into a nice lady and her husband in the YC who are Zenith's who also were doing their first MSC cruise and had the impression they were thoroughly enjoying their experience as well.  

 

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

Short answer yes, but don't think my wife agrees.  Details in my summary to follow.

It’s not clear to me from your summary why your wife might be less willing to sail in Yacht Club again. Is it simply a food preference?

[MsTabbyKats]

@DaKahunaSorry you're wife was disappointed with the Udon noodles...but if she's from Japan (or really any country other than Italy).....chefs will interpret ethnic food with their own slant.

 

You should see what I've encountered with "bagels".  Just because it's round, with a hold in the middle....no, that doesn't make it a bagel.

[TrinaLC]

On 2/22/2024 at 5:03 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Same here.     Looks nice but so fare the size of the ships and passenger load are a deterrent to examine further at this time.   We have gravitated to smaller ships like Oceania and SilverSea.   Each has their advantages and disadvantages as we seek a better fit than the recent X experiences.

I’d highly recommend a small ship like Divina. Keep it on your list 🙂

[morpheusofthesea]

16 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

So yes, I would definitely sail MSC YC again and plan to do so just as soon as I can talk my DW into joining me as there is no way I'd risk going without her

Damn noodles.

[George C]

13 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@DaKahunaSorry you're wife was disappointed with the Udon noodles...but if she's from Japan (or really any country other than Italy).....chefs will interpret ethnic food with their own slant.

 

You should see what I've encountered with "bagels".  Just because it's round, with a hold in the middle....no, that doesn't make it a bagel.

I moved from New York City to Dallas in 1982 , it was impossible to find a real bagel , once ordered a pastrami on rye , it was cold and had tomato and lettuce on it . Luckily things have improved.