Wonderful overall

We recently were on the Divina for the week of New Years 2015. It was my husbands first cruise, my second (Carnival years ago). We were traveling with none of our 6 children.

The Great....

The decor...the ship was beautiful. Such a pleasure to be in gorgeous, and not gaudy surroundings. It was relatively easy to navigate the ship (if I could do it anyone can). The cleanliness...this ship was spotless...we were very impressed with the cleaning staff, hand sanitizers located everywhere, bathrooms being very clean, and our room steward was AWESOME...so friendly, and did a superb job, never intruding and cleaning our room spotless every afternoon and evening. I never saw anything on this ship that was not spotless. Most of the staff...now we did not run into ANY staff that was rude...some were not particularly "friendly" but most were very friendly and helpful. A few were stellar. Our waiters at the Black Crab...the best. We had so much fun with them. Febri...and Minguel. (sp) We didnt want to leave them! The people who worked at the Casino...my husband had to have his picture taken with several...they were a joy. The entertainment staff...so fun and friendly. 

The Good...

The food was good. Some was great...desserts were out of this world...the gelato, the baked Alaska. The buffet, was good. A good selection. I have to say the American food was probably the worst...and it was ok. Black Crab was very good. We had one night when our prime rib was overdone but they were happy to fix it. And they did. 

The Entertainment...

Some shows were great! The Michael Jackson show, the Pirate show. We didn't see all of the shows. (Sinatra and the Opera)Some shows were a bit repetitive...(some of the same acts over and over in different costumes) but overall worth watching. But they were very talented, full of energy and Andre was always entertaining.  We enjoyed very much the acoustic performances by  Leandro...and my husband even sang with him. Karaoke was ok...they cut it very short which was too bad as many wanted to do it, and many were very good. Their equipment and song selections were horrible I must say. 

The Casino...

Now this is big for us as my husband is a gambler...mostly poker. The casino only scored good as they do NOT have real poker. Only video poker at the table which he did not like at all. We were very disappointed in that. But overall the staff, and decor, the games....were all good.

Not so great...

Pools/Hot tubs/Decks....

Eh....They were beautiful....but TOO CROWDED. The entire 7 days we were never able to get close. SO many people. AND...we never saw a hot tub that was not jam packed (once, 12 at once) with children. That is likely our biggest complaint. TOO MANY kids. Now, our bad, we did not research enough to know that kids cruise free. Thats explains it...and it was school vacation week. We are teachers...so...we wanted some kid free time. Didn't happen...kids were everywhere...which I could be more ok with if there were areas that kids were NOT allowed. BUT, we never found any. Kids crying and screaming and running around in restaurants, the casino, bars, pool decks...everywhere. My biggest peeve besides every hot tub having kids (some in swim diapers no less ewwww) was kids in the dance club and bars at 11, midnight and LATER. COME On...parents??  really?  After midnight we watched 2 women strut into the dance club with a girl about 4 years old who was covering her ears and they left her on a chair while they danced. 1am...infants in strollers in the bars crying. kids playing slots!  NOT OK in my book...not sure who to blame...MSC for lax rules or parents for stupidity.

The stops/excursions....

St Maarten was our favorite. We loved it and plan to go back there asap. We had paid for an excursion that was canceled by MSC, so we were bummed about that.

San Juan...ok...we ended up going off and finding our own excursions off ship and saved money.

Stirrup Cay...Boooo....3 hours to get off the ship to tender to the island...that was a living nightmare...and the island was a letdown. It was a man made island...a pile of rocks chiseled into attractions...not natural at all...food was not good...will not go there again and wish we had skipped that one. Met some nice folks on the tender though.

Miami...great!  Booked a tour excursion as we had a late night flight on the day we left, and getting off the ship was quick, easy and everything went very smoothly. They handled our luggage well and it was very organized.

New Years Eve on MSC was an unforgettable experience. The best time for NYE we have ever had and we will always remember it.

Oh, on the day of embarkation...all went smoothly except they made mistakes with our cruise card...had to stand in long lines to fix our dining information (their mistakes) and then, our drink package was a nightmare to get going and right, but once it was fixed it was good.

Overall...we had a great time. Next time I think we will not cruise...unless it is a no kids cruise...lol...but if you have kids to travel with or don't mind that...I recommend MSC.