Day 3, Sea Day
I will begin this day with some of my uncle’s pictures of the sun rise aboard MSC Divina. He woke up very early that morning just to take some amazing pictures of the sunrise. That is something that you don’t see often in my reviews. As a matter of fact, I think this is a first on my reviews.
So with let’s get going!
I woke up at around my average time 7:30 or so and I decided to check on my blog. I had failed to do so the day before, and I knew that I had missed a lot by doing so. That is really a full-time job, I have never dedicated so much time, energy and money to a single project. Well, I lie, maybe college is much more. But at least I got time off from college, with the blog, I never get a day off. I believe that this is something that I have learned to appreciate a lot when I cruise. Just being disconnected from the Internet gives some time to relax and enjoy life the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed.
So anyway, I grabbed the computer and opened the lid. The first thing I see?
When I saw that I almost had a heart attack! I am pretty good with technology and I knew that this was a major issue. A million things came racing to mind, but the most crucial one was that I had not backed up the Day 1 pictures and the only copy were in the computer. I tried diagnosing the computer for about 30 minutes, and the conclusion was simple. The SSD of the computer had a major error and it was not even showing in the system. I knew I was in big trouble. Not only that, but if something happened to my blog, I had no way of working on it. I really depend on that computer for a lot of things. It is the moment where you realize how much you depend on machines. The worst part of it all, was that I had the external drive there and for some reason I did not back up the day 1 pictures.
I think the problem was caused by installing the BETA OS Yosemite, which is the last time that install a BETA version. I have installed many BETA versions of numerous programs, and I have always had minor issues with them. But I have never had a computer completely die on me because of that. I guess you live and learn. I am back on Mavericks now and hope that everything continues to work well. As you tell I managed to recover the pictures, but that took a lot of perseverance.
I pretty much gave up trying to start the computer. There was nothing I could do at that point in time. I decide to leave it charging and head to my mom’s room to use her iPad to check on my blog.
Here are the plans available for WIFI on MSC Divina.
I bought the 1-hour one and it worked great for that cruise. Let me tell you something, MSC has the BEST Internet out of all the ones that I have tested in the past. The system is near flawless, you get charged by the second vs. by the minute like all the other lines. Not only that, but the Internet is ridiculously fast. Virtually LTE speeds in some parts of our voyage. I was very impressed with this, since MSC is not particularly strong in the tech/website area. Other cruise lines should look into this system and try to emulate it. I loved the Internet connection on MSC Divina.
We logged in and I checked the blog, nothing major to report there, everything was running smoothly. My mom decided to send a few picture emails and we did that as well. I also updated my social media sites, and posted a few updates, and the best part is that it was all done in a few minutes of Internet.
I sat on the balcony for a little while, and waited for everyone to get ready.
When they were ready, we headed out to the buffet for breakfast.
Here is mine for the day.
And the rest.
While my aunt was out getting a drink, my uncle did a little perverted joke on her. Needless to say that her face when she saw it was not the best. But by now you know my uncle. He will do anything to have a great time 
Breakfast was really tasty, as a matter of fact, I wish I had a breakfast as such today.
We left and went to check the formula 1. I knew for a fact that there was no way MSC had fixed it already. But my uncle had his hopes up and who was I to tell him otherwise.
On the way, there we noticed Galaxy was getting setup for brunch. The elevator is not located on the best place. If the Galaxy restaurant is open then this elevator is only good for the restaurant and the port side of MSC Divina. Forcing you to access the Formula by going one deck down and taking the stairs. MSC Divina was a little complicated to navigate at times. I think it was the first time that it took so long to get to really know the ship.
The formula one simulator is really something else, do not think of it as a video game. The simulator has servos that move it around. It was actually one of those servos that broke and why it was out-of-order.
As expected, we got there and it was still busted. I asked the guy if my uncle could at least get a few pictures inside the formula. He wanted to at the very least say that he went on one
That thing is really realistic, just look how he sinks in that cockpit
With the blow of the formula we decided to try out the bowling lanes again, my mom had told me that she saw them working late the night before. We agreed to head down there and try our luck out.
I would love to try this restaurant!
This is the shore excursion desk. It is located on the deck above the guest relations desk. I rarely saw a line in any of these services. They have plenty of staff at all times there.
MSC Divina Shore excursion office
We got to the sports bar and the lanes were free and working
. I took off my flip-flops to perform better at my game . What we did not know was that the token was only good for one person. I think I already explained how the system works. I was about to head down to buy another token and my uncle said that we should just alternate that token. My mom for obvious reasons could not play and my aunt had no intention of playing, she was relaxing, just the way it should be on a cruise.
I started playing, the lanes are pretty much the same as breakaway’s and the balls as well. Again, my issue here is that for $7 per person they should give us the full 10 turns per person. 5 turns are more of a tease than anything else. My uncle and I alternated, I did one strike and the rest of the game I played poorly. There was no way of tracking anything since we were playing the same lane. The scores are displayed on the screens right next to the lanes.
We both took pictures on that little scooter. Something to note is that the crew is extremely relaxed on MSC Divina, you can pretty much do whatever you want without anyone telling you otherwise. I could never pinpoint the why as to this happens, but I do have two theories. The first is that MSC does not pay the staff enough and they do not care enough about the ship to even bother to tell people to stop doing whatever it is that they should not be doing. I already spoke about the tip system and how appalling it is. There was also that case in Brazil where one lady working on the ship called on the Brazilian authorities told help her off MSC Divina and reporting of slavery working conditions on the ship. There are some other cases, but I won’t go into all of them. The point is that there are plenty of articles circulating that tend to indicate that MSC is not the best cruise line to work for. You can see that on some of the crew, it reflects on their face. They just try to put on a smile, but they struggle to do so. I don’t blame them, if I was not getting paid well for my hard work I would not be happy to be away from my family for it.
The other theory is that MSC simply does not tell them to enforce the rules. Muster was a mess, my uncle was taking a ton of pictures, and no one said a word. The Zen pool area usually had children in it. Kids playing in the casino. People crossing the line to get pictures in what looked like restricted areas. People taking pictures of the ships pictures. I saw many cases.
The only other cruise line that it’s flexible is Carnival, but never to this extreme. Carnival has rules on a lot of things and they enforce them. So anyway, I am not quite sure what it is, and in a way this all works in my benefit. However, I am still pointing it out.
The sports bar is very nice, I also saw a few games at night and some people congregating there to see the games. I am not much of a sports fan, so I cannot tell you of the programing and what they show. But overall this is a nice area that usually goes uncrowned for most of the cruise. It tends to get loud when there is a group of children playing there, but since the games are so short, it does not tend to last long.
My uncle pointed out some really old roller skates. They have some displays with older and or famous sport equipment.
We chose to walk around and check out more of MSC Divina. There is always something you’re missing. As a matter of fact, it was only until I got off MSC Divina that I realized that I had not gone to the specialty restaurant Tex-Mex. I wanted to kick myself in the butt for that.
We went out to the promenade first. I wish it was a little more open. It has a few open spots here and there, but for the most part the view is compromised.
Here is the big BOY!
The time on MSC Divina was off by a few hours. I told them we were way past dinner time!
I wish the balcony I had slanted that way. Still not perfect, but at the very least it had a better view than mine.
My uncle went to lean on the rail and then he noticed it was a small door, it moved slightly. He said “No Thank You!” and moved a little to a normal rail. I checked it out, it seemed very safe to me. Nothing to worry about
We then headed inside and checked out the Black and White Lounge. This was the first time I went there. It was a spectacular space! There was a crew member there setting up for a jewelry event. He tried to persuade my mom to stay there for it.
This lounge is utilized for most events at night, and it is a perfect setting for pretty much anything. But here is the problem with this space, well actually the problem is not with the space itself. Unlike every other cruise I have been on. MSC only has one event each night. You can check the Daily I posted to verify what I am saying. By doing this MSC creates 1 very chaotic event! Let’s take for example Karaoke night… It was packed to the gills! Even if you manage to find a nice spot, like my family did once, there are so many people there than most of them have to stand. The people standing block the view for the ones who went there early and took all nice seats. And then there are the children, this is at 10:45 pm, you think that most kids would be sleeping by then. However, now they are screaming and running everywhere, on the dance floor jumping and whatnot. This was not an enjoyable event, each night we attempted to attend an event there, we ended up leaving within 10 minutes.
I think this all falls on the cruise director. How is it that there is only one event per night? Every other cruise line has multiple events, thinning out the masses and making the ship comfortable for everyone. Events like this make MSC Divina feel very crowded! There was also only on karaoke event during the entire cruise and we could not even enjoy it.
So yeah, this lounge is absolutely phenomenal, but it is not being utilized in the best manner.
Someone asked about the dance floor?
Just look at that view. Like I said the area is PHENOMENAL!
A few illustration pictures.
My uncle is so funny, whenever he goes to take a picture, he starts dancing or singing. We all yell at him telling him that it is not video, and if he moves the pictures come out blurry, lol. He does not care. He keeps on doing it anyway and then he finds himself deleting a bunch of blurry pictures. He was just having a great time .
We kept on walking toward the MSC Logo Shop. My mom had her eyes set on those shoes and since the day before they did not have her size she was hoping that they brought more shoes out. Plus, she was hoping that the shoes had anti-slip material in the sole… Ummm, yeah that was not the case
Here are a few of the pictures I took on the way to the logo shop
Notice there are much more cameras now.
They had origami classes there.
While my mom went with my aunt to check out her shoes, I decided to try one of the spiced coffees from the coffee shop.
At first I thought it was chocolate milk. I have never seen that type of carton before.
I ended up getting a Baileys coffee, it was a little bit too sweet for me, but my aunt loved it so I gave it to her.
After some time my mom managed to find a pair of shoes from the logo shop. The employee there was not the easiest to work with. He had a rough personality. But finally he agreed to check back inventory and found a pair in the back room that fits my mom. She was really happy with her purchase, if I recall correctly, they were $35, but don’t quote me on that.
They gave her a really nice bag. I wonder what happened to that bag.
We then went up to the room and got changed into our bathing suits. While we were there they dropped off another set of fruits, I kind of wished they dropped off another bottle of Asti instead
We left the room and headed towards our designated Jacuzzi area.
The view from up there is not the best because of the high dark glass, but it is a really nice quiet area.
Mom’s new shoes. I hope they are not slippery, for our next cruise I am going to order anti-slip shoes and flip-flops for her.
We spent some time there, my uncle left on one of his journeys. Since we had failed to see the gold by the inch the day before, my mom just wanted to give it another try. After the fiasco the day before, I was not going to let her go there alone. So I went with them.
I am not entirely sure were my uncle was, lol.
The main pool had some action.
This is truly a very neat area! One of the nicest main pools that I have seen, if not the best one!
