Beautiful ship

We began the cruise by discovering I had left my medications on the bus from the airport. We located an officer and he immediately became involved in stopping the bus so the medications could be retrieved.  After that problem, the cruise on board the MSC Divina was absolutely fabulous.  We purchased the Yacht Club package (Cabin 15018) with balcony. The cabin was provided with a personal butler, on call 24 hours and access to the restricted Yacht club areas of the ship. Lounge, pool, dinning, etc.  My favorite was the lounge, all food and drink provided in the package. The lounge in in the forward section of deck 15 and has a panoramic view of the bow. Snacks of all kinds are available 24 hours.  A great place to watch the ship sail to the next port.

Our cabin was exceptional. room service 2-3 times per day. Turn down, fresh fruit, champagne, free room service at any time. The TV news service was somewhat skimpy, only CNN and was not current daily. Since satellites are available, one wonders, why not? Bed comfort was beyond reproach, firm and good support.

Dinning was private for the Yacht Club, with personal waiters, if you sit at the same table. Our waiter was experienced and entertaining.  Food was well above average. Smaller portions, but whatever you wished from the daily menu. The soup and deserts were excellent, and seconds were OK.

The main attractions(as stated in the Divina adverts) is the crystal staircases. My wife was amazed at the sight and absolutely insisted on pictures on the staircase.

During our cruise, there were 3500 + crew people on board, but due to the privacy of the Yacht Club and the size of the ship we did not really notice any crowding or standing in lines.

As shown on our rating of 5 stars for the ship and crew, we did have some exceptions to note about the cruise overall.

Shore excursions were not the best organized.  Several buses were not air conditioned and had the be replaced (Med temps were 95+ humidity) We noted the excursion information provided by the ship did not fully disclose or detail what would happen on the excursion. Example: Palma Mallorca catamaran trip, nothing was said about bringing a swim suit for swimming at anchor.  The bus ride to Cannes and St Raphael was nothing. We were dropped off in the middle of town to roam around for 2 hours.

Overall rating for the shore excursion is at best a 3...probably 2+.

After the cruise, MSC provides bus to the Hotel Melia, Civitavecchia.  This hotel appears to have been built in the late 60s or 70s. Very old. Clean, but not in a very nice area of the city. We were provided a somewhat skimpy breakfast for two days until bused back to the airport.  After leaving the ship, at the end of the cruise, one gets the impression that "So what"? They have your money and you are now on  your own.  After becoming accustomed to life in the Yacht Club you are now back to reality. Something of a "Let Down".

Air trip back to Miami (Alitalia) 10 hours. Food served 3 times, choice of new movies (7) but seating is close together for a 6'4" person.  Price was included in the package. 

Bottom line:  Over all experience. We were very pleased. I rate the entire cruise as a 4.5.

WRKTEM