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The Solo Budget Traveler
United States
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 14 ก.ย. 2024
I'm a retired teacher stumbling the world and having adventures. I've made my share of mistakes, and also some of your share. Join me on my journeys for cruise reviews and new discoveries.
MSC Divina 2025 Review – Affordable, High-Quality Cruising for Budget Travelers
Join me as I share my in-depth review of the MSC Divina-a cruise ship that combines affordability with a high-quality onboard experience for solo and budget travelers. In this video, I'll take you through every detail, from a seamless boarding process and smart cabin design to standout dining options, onboard entertainment, and exclusive pro tips to enhance your cruise experience.
In this video, you’ll learn about:
🌟 The streamlined boarding process and cruise card pro tip
🌟 A comprehensive tour of cabin features and upgrades
🌟 Dining highlights, including must-try buffet items and specialty options
🌟 Onboard amenities, from the vibrant atrium to live music and entertainment
🌟 Insider tips for solo travelers and smart budgeting strategies
==Chapters==
00:00 - Introduction
00:31 - The MSC Divina by the numbers
01:05 - Boarding the MSC Divina
02:09 - The atrium
02:30 - The cruise card
02:55 - The cabin
04:25 - The bathroom
04:49 - The buffet
05:36 - Drinks
06:03 - Advice on how to save
06:18 - WiFi
06:48 - The MSC for Me app
06:56 -- Exploring deck five
07:36 -- The staff
08:10 -- Traveling solo
09:00 - The theater
09:44 -- The casino
09:56 - The Piazza del Doge
10:16 -- The Duty Free Shop
10:30 - Ship cleanliness
10:51 - The piano bar
11:09 - The Golden Jazz Bar and sports bar
11:24 - The Café Italia
11:30 - Specialty dining
11:39 - The Black and White Lounge
11:00 - Ocean Cay
12:27 -- Aqua Park
12:45 - The outdoor pool, gym, and spa
13:05 -- Exploring deck fifteen
13:13 - The waterslide
13:23 - The Yacht Club
13:50 -- The cost
14:09 -- Conclusion
In this video, you’ll learn about:
🌟 The streamlined boarding process and cruise card pro tip
🌟 A comprehensive tour of cabin features and upgrades
🌟 Dining highlights, including must-try buffet items and specialty options
🌟 Onboard amenities, from the vibrant atrium to live music and entertainment
🌟 Insider tips for solo travelers and smart budgeting strategies
==Chapters==
00:00 - Introduction
00:31 - The MSC Divina by the numbers
01:05 - Boarding the MSC Divina
02:09 - The atrium
02:30 - The cruise card
02:55 - The cabin
04:25 - The bathroom
04:49 - The buffet
05:36 - Drinks
06:03 - Advice on how to save
06:18 - WiFi
06:48 - The MSC for Me app
06:56 -- Exploring deck five
07:36 -- The staff
08:10 -- Traveling solo
09:00 - The theater
09:44 -- The casino
09:56 - The Piazza del Doge
10:16 -- The Duty Free Shop
10:30 - Ship cleanliness
10:51 - The piano bar
11:09 - The Golden Jazz Bar and sports bar
11:24 - The Café Italia
11:30 - Specialty dining
11:39 - The Black and White Lounge
11:00 - Ocean Cay
12:27 -- Aqua Park
12:45 - The outdoor pool, gym, and spa
13:05 -- Exploring deck fifteen
13:13 - The waterslide
13:23 - The Yacht Club
13:50 -- The cost
14:09 -- Conclusion
มุมมอง: 1 197
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The Secrets to Affordable Cruising: Insider Tips for Budget Travelers
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Dreaming of your next cruise but worried about the cost? 🌊 In this video, I reveal the secrets to affordable cruising that have allowed me to travel often without breaking the bank. From finding the best deals to saving on drink packages and excursions, this guide is packed with insider tips every budget traveler should know. You’ll discover how to use tools like Cruiseplum.com to simplify your...
Exploring MSC Seashore: Ocean Key, Dining Options & Cruise Tips for Solo Travelers
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Discover the MSC Seashore: Solo Travel Tips, Dining, and Excursions! Join me as I share my experience aboard the MSC Seashore, one of MSC’s stunning Seaside-class cruise ships. From breathtaking balcony views to dining options, entertainment, and tips for excursions, I’ll cover everything you need to know to make the most of your cruise. In this video, you’ll learn about: 🌟Dining options, inclu...
First-time traveling mistakes in Europe
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I traveled to Europe on a three-week adventure when I retired. I'll try to save you some time, trouble, and money by telling you what I did not do right.
"First Trip to London: Top Tips to Save Time, Money & Stress!"
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Join me as I share tips and stories from my first trip to London! Discover how I saved money by staying outside the city, mastered the London Underground, and navigated the unique quirks of British culture. From must-visit attractions like the British Museum and National Gallery to practical advice on using Google Pay and avoiding tourist pitfalls, this video has what you need for an unforgetta...
First time cruise aboard the MSC Magnifica
มุมมอง 2K4 หลายเดือนก่อน
I took my first cruise aboard the MSC Magnifica, and in this video we'll explore the ship. I'll tell you about the food, the entertainment, and my experience as a solo traveler. I’ll also have a few tips that may save you some money.
Super informative! Thank you for sharing! :) However, I can never see a bella fare available when im looking to book, only the fantastica fare was only shown which I could pick the room...
All ships sail from Port Canaveral NOT Cocoa Beach. The correct term is ship not boat.
This guy is the absolute standard for amazing cruise reviews! That entire video was a pleasure to watch! Great Job!
I love the tip of getting phrases on the language of the country you visit. Super great tip.
Wow, very interesting and informative, I did not get to see all of that because of sea sickness.
For some reason, I never got sea sick, but 2 of my friends did
Hello Enjoy your content.
Thank you.
Great video! I’m also a retired teacher who loves cruising. Thank you for the great information.
Thabk you for watching. I'm happy that the video was helpful.
Disappointing to hear the buffet is subpar, hope the dining rooms are good 🤞🏼
The food at the buffet was good and varied. My concern was with the buffet's management. I sailed the MSC Divina last week. They keep their buffet at least partially open between their busy times, so there is never a rush of people trying to eat all at once. The dining room had good food, but I was surprised to see that the menus were the same on three different ships. That said, I think you will have a good time on the Seashore.
Too many people to handle. Main dining rooms jamed because Specialty dining way to expensive . Not a good cruise. Inexpensive cost is not the way to cruise. Yuk.
You cruised out of Port Canaveral not Cocoa beach.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy yourself. You are correct; Port Canaveral is a municipality. Cocoa Beach is a couple of miles north. I apologize for the error.
IMO - since the cruise lines added the specialty restaurants, the main dining rooms and buffet food and service has declined. Cruises def are NOT all inclusive, as we all know, so I’m going in with an open mind (I hope ;)
Are you able to find many cruises that don't have the 100% single occupancy fee?
Absolutely. I have found cruises with no solo supplement. It depends on the cruise line and the populartity of a cruise. Good luck. I hope you find something exciting!
NCL has solo suites. No supplement
@@2468Jean I will sail on NCL from Miami to Southhampton in the UK in two weeks. I won't be in a solo cabin, but I hope to learn about them.
Thanks for the thorough review, it was extremely helpful and I'm looking forward to riding the MSC Seashore this weekend!
Thanks for commenting. I hope you have a great time. Please come back to let me know if your impressions of the ship are different from my experience.
I'm a retired teacher too and I'm looking to do a lot more cruising. I hope these hints help me make it possible. Thanks
I hope you have a wonderful retirement. I’m happy I could help.
Thank you for the helpful Cruise search platform. The port of miami, is it still $22? It was last August, but I heard they raised the price to $35 per day.
I’ll find out tomorrow morning and let you know. I thought $22 was steep. I will have to rethink port parking at that rate.
I love this video, keep posting more!
Thank you. I’m on the MSC Divina right now and I’m off to Europe on the Norwegian Breakaway next month.
Great video! You were fortunate to receive free upgrades on both of your MSC cruises. We have done Bella on three MSC cruises. We only received an upgrade on one.
I am responding from a balcony cabin aboard the MSC Divina. My balcony has an obstructed view, but it is still a great cabin and it makes me three for three with upgrades. From what I’ve been told, your odds of an upgrade are very good when the kids are not in school, but less so during family cruise season. I hope you had a great time on your cruise!
@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s We'll be on Divina next month. No free upgrade yet. We have received the emails to bid on upgrades three times already.
I’m so happy I happened upon this video, especially since it was just posted two days ago! I literally just searched “cheap places for solo travel in USA” on TH-cam and this is one of the videos that came up. (It’s like TH-cam knows I like cruises. 😂😉) Thank you!
I’m so pleased that you liked the video. I’m currently aboard the MSC Divina and hope to have that video up with a couple of weeks.
If you’re a retired teacher from Canada - you’re on EASY STREET!!!
I’m from Florida. I’m grateful for the life I have in retirement but I do have to say within budget. I saved and paid off my house early. That’s the best advice I can give younger people because I’m proof that planning ahead makes retirement a lot more fun!
This video popped up and it's great , thank you. I sailed with Magnifica in 2023. I've been on the Divina 3 times. Except for the Swarovski staircase and the buffet seating at the very back of the ship, I preferred the MAGNIFICA. The pizza was also better on the magnifica. Looking forward to future videos
I appreciate your kind words. I will be on the Divina tomorrow and hope to have a video ready shortly after I return.
Excellent, high-quality video! You may have swayed me to finally give MSC a try! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. I think you will find that MSC cruises are a great value.
I imagine that any 'card' of that standard size will work to keep the power on... Don't have to do without your cruise card. And, MSC now offers only the one, highest level, alcoholic drink package.
Unfortunately, I learned of the change the day the video came out. I'll be on the MSC Divina on Monday without a drink package, so I'll find out if a la carte prices have increased. As for using any standard-sized card to keep the power on in your cabin, I can't speak to that, but I do know that you can use a card from a previous cruise, at least on the Seashore.
@@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s I tried using a former Magnifica card on Magnifica, and it didn't work. You can ask your cabin steward for an extra card that you can use to keep power on while you are out of the cabin.
@@ilovecruising2024 Good tip! My Magnifica card did work this week on the MSC Divina, but it also created another problem when I returned to my cabin yesterday. The door would not open because I took the old Magnifica card with me and left the valid card in the slot. The front desk immediately printed a new card, but I did not know that I reeded to link the new card to my credit card. Apparently, the connection toi your credit card is throiugh the cruise card and not the cruise account.
Thank you very much for sharing! Great video! Like 113
Terrific first video! Fond memories. I sailed on the MSC Magnifica solo in May of 2024. Beautiful ship. Quality vacation. Thank you.
This man is living life, good for him 🫡
Hello Solo Budget Traveler, we are heading on this ship in Feb. and really enjoyed the Tour and information. Looks like you are a new channel, we are as well. Your video popped up on my TH-cam this morning. When doing a search for your channel, it comes up, but on the main page it says there is NO Content for this channel. May I suggest you add a Highlight video in customization of your channel, it will start as soon as people click on your channel. Go to customization - Layout and Add section spotlight if you chose to do so. Much Success with your channel, we are all a part of this content creator community. Growing together. PS. We Subscribed
Thank you for the tip. I will be on it today. I'm happy you like the channel. I subscribed to TravelCake Trips and look forward to watching your content.
@@TheSoloBudgetTraveler-q8s You are very welcome, and thanks for Subscribing to our Travel Cake Trips Channel, we appreciate you.
Very good video Mr. Dowling, the editing was spot on and you made some very informative points about the pros and cons of your cruise experience. I can’t wait to see your next video, keep up the good work 👍👍👍
Great video… you have a nice personality for this!
8 adults of our family just got off the MSC Seashore for the Dec. 22-29 cruise. Good: Our waiter, "Martin" was EXCELLENT!!!. The MDR food was pretty good. The Prime Rib, Braised Short Ribs, Chilean Sea Bass and desserts were notably excellent. Our room A/C was great and kept us cool. Our bed in our balcony room was comfortable. The Captain was very pleasant, as was the Cruise Director. Our Hispanic female bar attendant in Up Town Lounge was fun, and fabulous. She even danced with us and made everyone in the bar smile. She was great. Now the bad: The buffet was not only a joke, it was the worst we've ever had on a cruise. Very limited variety compared to other cruise lines, and what was there was not only blah, it really didn't change much at all from day-to-day. Trust me when I say we were disappointed. The A/C in the common areas and elevators was hot! Like steaming saunas! Also, the way the elevators are called to floor definitely did not work and could not keep up with passengers moving about. The poor room stewards seemed almost overwhelmed and could barely keep up. In their defense, the ship was booked to full capacity. Embarkation was fast, but once on board, the ship had a hard time feeding everyone as we waited for our rooms to be ready and our luggage to arrive. Debarkation was relatively smooth and painless due to how many were on board. The showers were very small, but functional. This is an honest review and there were many other passengers we met and spoke with who had the very same experience and complaints!!!
What an awesome review! Fortunately, the ship wasn't as crowded for my cruise. The video script was longer than I wanted so I omitted "Dr. E.," the Cruise Director when I sailed. He made even mundane announcements fun by singing them. Dr. E was also hysterically funny and engaged the audiance wherever he was. I hope MSC makes correcting the issues in the buffet a priority. Thank you for adding your comment.
Hi, You actually cruised out of Port Canaveral just north of Cape Canaveral. Cape Canaveral turns into Cocoa Beach about 3-4 miles as you travel south. That's as far as I've gotten but looking forward to seeing the rest of your video!
I stand corrected. I did not know that Cape Canaveral was also a city. Thank you for commenting.
❤new subscriber. I loved your vlog. So informative and easy to follow. I'm interested in solo cruising now tht my children are young adults. I'm also interested in msc for the value and that they cater to solo cruisers. Ready to see your next adventure. Happy New Year 🎉🥳
Solo cruising is a low-risk gamble if you live reasonably close to a port. You'll have a great time, and even if you don't, so long as you don't get a drink package, go on excursions, or gamble, you're only out a few hundred dollars. A short trip will give you a taste of what cruising is like.
Thank you for the excellent review of this cruise. I love the narration and editing. I think this channel will really take off because of your superior editing skills! Also I wanted to let you know I got into FAU High.
Oh wow good job on getting into FAU High shafi!!!
@Shafirm123, I'm proud of you. You will be awesome at FAU. For people reading the comments, I was a middle school teacher before I retired. @Shafirm123 and @StylerBenson are two of my former students. I'm honored that they follow my travel videos.
Mr. Dowling, your cruise video was fantastic! You captured the atmosphere perfectly, and your enthusiasm made it so fun to watch. Can’t wait for your next adventure! 🚢🌟
Excellent review! Great narration and camera work. My first MSC cruise was in August on the Seascape. I plan to embark on some solo trips in 2025, so I look forward to more reviews and tips.
Thank you for your kind words. I will sail on the MSC Davina in the middle of January.
The Magnifica is my favorite ship so far! I enjoyed the fresh fruit and veggies, the shows, and the quiet nature of this ship. Your video is very good! I subscribed!😊
I'm happy you enjoyed the Magnifica and I appreciate your subscription.
mr dowling pls answer i love you
I love you mr dowling
Glad to see you enjoy yourself Very nice video.
MISS YOU FROM JORDYN H 1ST PD 2022-2023
Last summer I went to London. I visited almost every attraction you did. But I will say, the British Museum was extremely humid with how many people where in it. I felt most places were missing AC. Did you have the same experience?
I was at the British Museum in late September. The weather was, I'm told, as good as it gets in London. I don't know if my hotel room was air-conditioned because I didn't need it.
nicely done
Thanks!
Great video !! Thanks
Love this all this information, makes me want to go check it out.
Hi Mr. Dowling, Conner finally got his Nuke Button
Very well-done Mike! You have a second career waiting for you.
Hey Mr. Dowling this is Landon from 2021-2022 . Most of us have found your TH-cam , and hope you have a great time in Europe . This was a great video .
Very informative, great advice.
I'm happy you enjoyed the video. I will have more once I return from my European adventure.
Great video!!I can't wait for my magnifica cruise on October 14th!!I'm definitely taking notes😊
I hope you have a wonderful adventure.
Oh my goodness am going that same date to!