BLAND FOOD ~ SMALL PORTIONS ~ POOR ENTERTAINMENT
MSC Divina Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 18, 2017
Ship: MSC Divina
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 13061
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
After over a dozen Carnival Cruises where we saw them cut back on quality we decided to try an MSC cruise to see if they were any better.
Our representative should have made us aware that when we spent the extra money for a high 13th Level balcony, we would have an obstructed view!
We were not happy with the food quality and the portions were small.
There was no "anytime" seating for the restaurants so you had to eat ether too early or too late. The food arrived cold on a few occasions. On the first formal night there was no lobster special, unless you paid extra. The surf and turf filet mignon special that they offered was a hockey puck size piece of meat and ONE shrimp. The onion soup was inedible mud. I expected more from an Italian cruise line. The buffet was pretty much the same food every day and the staff was slow to buss the tables so there was usually no place to eat without walking across the entire ship to find someone getting up and waiting for them to buss.
The entertainment was mostly pre-recorded with poor or no sets or stage design. I heard YMCA at least twice at different productions. The musical staff around the ship were also mostly playing along to recorded music.
The pool areas were taken over early in the mornings by people laying out their towels for the entire day so no chaise lounges were ever available.
They charged extra for things like gelato and bowling which they show on their website like it's all included.
They list times on the itinerary that we will spend at each port that are not actually true. When they say in their advertising we will be in San Juan from 7am till 4pm and then when we get there it's changed to 9am to 3;30 They are not being truthful and cheating you out of beach time.
ON THE PLUS SIDE: Carnival tries to sell you booze everywhere you are every day, and there is always someone trying to take your picture so they can sell it to you later. This is not the case on MSC. There were very few photographers taking photos and there was no drinking in the pools and hot tubs which means much less drunken idiots to deal with.
I don't think I would try another MSC Cruise, mostly due to the poor food portions and quality.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Expect small portions of food arriving cold.