Terrible Service

MSC Divina Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 62

Overall rating:

1 out of 5
Verified Review
MSC Divina

United States, Bahamas

Sail date: January 21, 2016

Ship: MSC Divina

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 12190

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Very disappointed. I went on this cruise because I am a travel agent and wanted to experience MSC first hand to recommend it to my clients. The MSC Divina ship itself is beautiful but that's where it ends. The website for booking excursions and on board packages was difficult to use and was unavailable most of the times I tried to use it prior to sailing,  having to check in before boarding and then having to stand in multiple lines once on board to set up my on board account and to collect drink coupons was not the enjoyable start of vacation I am used to from other lines. The majority of staff on board spoke little or no English. There were only 2 servers that were friendly and seemed to enjoy their job...our main dining room server and one waitress at the Cafe Italia. Bartenders would not acknowledge you at the bar, servers did not come around to the lounge chairs to offer/take drink orders, the bartenders at the wine bar were not even familiar with the names of the 13 wines offered. ..when ordering a particular wine each night before dinner (to the same and multiple bartenders), they did not recognize the name and even when showing it to them on the menu they had trouble picking it out from the small line of choices on the wall display. There were very few daytime activity options onboard. The weather was poor for the entire weekend which was no fault of MSC and I had expected the weather to be bad but they did nothing to offer things to do since the outdoor pools were unusable and indoor ones very crowded. There seemed to be a lot of late night activities in the various bars but we are not night owls so we did not benefit from that. The entertainment shows were excellent with the exception of the lip syncing. And finally the food was boring and prepared poorly. Steak in the main dining room was no more than half an inch thick, risotto was sticky and tasteless - our entire table had to send it back. The buffet was boring with exception of the excellent pizza station. Overall it was the worst cruise I've been on and not only because of subjective reasons such as food preferences but mainly due to the poor quality service standards. One major issue I forgot to mention was cleanliness. .on multiple ocassions we had to tell cleaning staff that thete was not soap available in the public restroom, one time immediately following it being serviced and our stateroom did not have soap in the dink dispenser. When brought to the attention of our room stewardess she only added water to it. There were minimal hand sanitizer stations compared to other lines and no attention to requesting that guests use sanitizer when entering food areas.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ship tip

I would not recommended this ship.

Was this review helpful? 62

14 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

BZwrA754yl3ujCgmi7d7vLuD7    8 years ago

Huskerfan, you can get all of that online. Go to before you cruise and search for what you want

MSCCruisesUSA    8 years ago

Your review & feedback is very important to us and we're sorry to learn the experience you had did not exceed expectations. If you would like to speak with someone in Customer Service or share more details, please send an email to ta.feedback@msccruisesusa.com with your contact info. 

huskerfan    8 years ago

Brochure that gives drink and cruise information can't even get a call or email very disappointed

BZwrA754yl3ujCgmi7d7vLuD7    8 years ago

What catalog?

huskerfan    8 years ago

Getting a response when requesting a catalog is a joke they will not answer only contact

BZwrA754yl3ujCgmi7d7vLuD7    8 years ago

you will love it. mandatory that all staff speak English

pamgriff12    8 years ago

I am a travel agent as well, going with my family on March 26 sailing. Haven't seen the best reviews, but from what I have read, I am taking my Italian-English dictionary, hand sanitizer in my purse and not to mention my own hand soap. Plenty of Ibuprofen for the long lines and Zantac for the food. 👍🏼😊. Taking an open mind and buying a larger drink package. Lol

BZwrA754yl3ujCgmi7d7vLuD7    8 years ago

never had to use mens room. they are always right next to each other on this ship .

monicascott    8 years ago

I am used to other lines of sail away party at the deck never seen one! Restrooms in common areas are limited to nothing! ladies goes to mens or disable room. Hhhmm different!

captainflynn    8 years ago

Yes they have to cook for thousands just like Celebrity and Princess do but they are not even on the same playing field

BZwrA754yl3ujCgmi7d7vLuD7    8 years ago

I am also a travel agent and I just booked my 4th cruise on the Divina. I found the staff always willing to help. as for the food, they are cooking for thousands of people and not everyone can be happy. I didn't have to cook it or do the dishes, so no complaints.

qQLz3X9hzkN3LUAbWnC3n7jNc    8 years ago

Just got off a cruise on this ship less than a week ago. Don't know what staff you are referring to because everyone we dealt with was very friendly and eager to help. I do agree with your assessment of the food as a whole but many dishes I had were very tasty. They weren't very big servings but, given the chance, we Americans tend to overindulge. Lines were long but on a ship this large, how could they not be.

breneil2016    8 years ago

Thanks for the review probably wouldnt go on the ship but its good to get information from travel agent. I have never travelled with msc, mainly Princess and have never had problems with staff not understanding English or speaking it. Hope its a better one next time.

Other reviews of this sailing