If it weren't for MSC US, this would have been 5-Stars

No real complaints other than they messed up my wife's photo so, when she went to get on the ship, there wasn't one associated with her even though she had it taken.

I must say, the food was awesome. Whether in the MDR or on the buffet, the food never disappointed. Well, I take that back, had the fillet mignon one night and it was tough, which was surprising. Others at our table had the same complaint. Had no other complaints about the food in the MDR other than that. The buffet food rivals the buffets in Las Vegas. Maybe not in the sheer number of food items--although they have quite a few on Divina--but certainly with the quality of the food items. In fact, we only ate in the DR for breakfast one day and did the buffet after that because it was so good. The pizza is some of the best pizza I've had. I'm originally from NJ where you can get some kick-ass pizza so I'm a pizza snob for sure. I had pizza every opportunity I got because it was so good. I will say, the more popular items on the buffet were sometimes tough to get. They would run out quickly on the most popular items. Problem is, many people tend to just skip the line on the buffet to get what they want. Was a bit annoying at times but that's not really MSC's fault. This tended to be a trend with people being like this. The crazy part is you always hear about how bad Americans are but it was never the Americans who were doing these things (at least not that I saw), it was people from other countries who were rude. Just an observation and no, it didn't ruin even a second of the trip. I will say they are a bit weak on their desserts. Not that they aren't good or anything but I was a bit surprised they weren't better. Their brownies were kind of dry, still tasted great but a bit dry. I did love the chocolate eclairs. Unforatunately, I only found them one evening. I'm ok with that to be quite honest but was a bit surprised the desserts weren't more impressive. The wait staff everywhere was great. Took about as long as I'd expect in the MDR (1.5-2 hours with a party of 8). So no worries there. But they always took great care of us--even on the buffet. Honestly, the staff on the whole ship was awesome. Like every MDR I've ever been in, it takes a long time to get any drinks from the bar. Wish the cruise lines would work this out. We found out they make almost everything from scratch on the ship--even the ice cream. I can tell you, my insides can tell the difference. Usually, after a few days on a cruise, my insides are telling me I'm taking in a bunch of crap. Never once did my body tell me this. I attribute this to the freshness of the food and lack of preservatives, etc. The buffet area is a bit tougher to find a seat during peak times (as you may have heard) but we always found one after a bit. It's a bit crowded in the walkways but they have as many tables as they can fit there. Mainly, people just stand in the middle of everything taking up space and holding things up. Then again, this also happens when I go to BJ's at home.

Nightlife I'm not a heavy drinker but I hate going to bed early. I like to have fun in the evening after dinner. On other cruises we've been on, things sort of die down anywhere from 10pm - 11pm. Not so with the Divina. The boat is HOPPIN' late into the night. They have a lot of bars/lounges with various things happening all of the time. We went to the Galaxy Disco a few nights--that place is jumping! Was a little surprised to hear so much Latin music, I thought I'd hear a bit more Euro music. Again, not really a complaint, just an observation. They played movies out by the main pool each night. It's a nice area to enjoy a movie--not that I sat through any movies. They did the White Party out by the main pool. Honestly, I thought that party was going to suck. Man, it was a good time! Lots of music and lots of people. Was a real party. I only gambled the last night in the casino (won, btw). The casino is a very nice casino. Like the rest of the ship, it's spotless. Lots of newer slot machines (if that's what you're into), a couple of roulette tables and a few card tables. No craps table though (I was bummed as I enjoy craps.). One thing to note, they do NOT give you free drinks while gambling! I thought this was a bit, well, not good especially since I ordered a drink and they didn't let me know so I paid for it on the room when I could have used a drink ticket. If you're gambling, they really should give you drinks for free. Sports Bar When I heard there is a sports bar on Divina, I got excited. I've been complaining for years on the cruises we go on that they don't have a sports bar. With the number of people (mainly men) who are into watching sports, it would make sense to have a place to gather to watch whatever is happening at that time. So we went there the first night on the ship. First, the food there is included, so that's a good thing. I got a burger, fries and cheese sticks and my wife got a salad. Like the rest of the ship, the food was great. When I asked about a specific sporting event, I was informed they only have 2 channels there--ESPN and ESPN 2. Huh? This is odd as, well, ESPN is more about sports news and less about showing actual sports. I really wish they'd add some channels to watch real sports there. They have the bowling game there. We did that one evening. Was fun enough. $8 per person for 5 frames. Cruise Critic Meet and Greet I signed us up for the M&G and had a blast there. They really did a nice job welcoming us aboard. There were about 20-30 of us and they gave us champagne, juice and I think a rum drink along with some finger food. The senior staff came to speak with us, which was a great touch. I spoke with the Captain--who is happy to speak with ANYONE and is very visible--who gave me a lot of great information about the ship and MSC. Super-nice guy. Also spent time speaking with the head chef. Learned he came from RC and finds the proteins to be better on MSC but is fighting for MSC to get fresh veggies rather than frozen. He was very honest about things and was a great chat. Also spoke with the head of hotel services. Again, great guy. Oh, they also had a special cake for CC members and they took a group photo and delivered a printed version of it to our cabin. They really made us feel welcome. Welcome Back Reception Thanks to MSC's status match program, my status was upgraded and I got an invite to the Welcome Back Reception. Apparently, they do this and welcome back cruisers who've cruised with MSC previously, They had a band, drinks, food and, again, senior staff to chat with. Again, they did a great job making us feel welcome.

Personally, I'm not into singing/dancing in shows but I did go do a few shows. The ones I saw were very good. All very talented performers. I do like that they do quite a bit of acrobatics in the shows. I liked the pirate show the best. Other people were saying how great all of the shows were. Also, people we met who were big Royal Caribbean cruisers said the entertainment was better on this ship. I found that interesting.

Our 11 year old had a great time but didn't enjoy the kids' club because it goes from 7-11. That's quite a wide range at that age. Our 14 year old was being a teenager and didn't really take advantage of the teen club. However, we were traveling with a 16 year old boy and he had a blast every night with the teen group.

Staff was absolutely outstanding. They created a group of MSC customers. After the problems we had dealing with MSC US--and the horrible technology with the company--I was ready to cancel the cruise and book with someone else but it was too late. The staff on the Divina made me totally forget (ok, maybe not totally) those problems. Because they were so good, we booked Seaside for June of 2018.

I've not been on as many cruises as many people here have been--have been on like 6 or so now--but the ship is absolutely gorgeous. Love the design and the decor. I'd read people complain about navigating around the ship, I didn't find any problems. I like how it is segmented so the ship feels even bigger than it actually us (it's a big ship with 4300ish passengers). More importantly, the ship is SPOTLESS! They are CONSTANTLY cleaning every area of the ship. Never saw plates/glasses sitting around for very long. Always someone to come along and clean things up. Even in the crew areas--we did the behind the scenes tour--things are absolutely spotless. You could eat off the floors back there. Very impressive and shows the crew cares about the ship. Another thing was, we did encounter pretty calm seas but the Divina was the smoothest ride I've ever had on a ship. Whatever they're doing for stabilizers works quite well. Although I do like a good roll from time to time. There are so many things to do on this ship. Many bars, clubs and other activities. I'm not one who likes sea days but there was plenty to keep me occupied. I never made it to the F1 simulator--well, I did make it but they were working on it. The ship is big but seems to have about 500 people too many on it. I understand the economics of the situation but it does make things a bit more crowded and harder to get an elevator at times. Not a huge complaint but something to think about.

We get two cabins--one for the wife and I and one for the kids--we do a balcony and an interior. We got one of the smaller balcony cabins, which I was slightly surprised at. No couch and barely a desk. Not that the room was tiny but, I still had work to do and a bigger desk would have been nice. But, not a true complaint. The balcony was nice, two chairs and a small footrest/table. Nothing you don't see on other cruise ships. There was a note about mid-week saying they were cleaning the balconies and to not keep anything on them. Balconies were certainly clean like the rest of the ship. I'm sure many of you have seen the bathroom photos/videos all over the Internet. They do an interesting thing with the shower. They have glass/plastic doors that open inward for storage to give you more space in the bathroom. This was nice. However, the shower is TINY. I'm a big dude and there isn't much room in there. Again, not a major complaint but it is what it is. I still got clean. The interior cabin was about what you'd expect. Nothing special but nothing wrong either. The cabin steward was awesome. Not in your face all of the time like some cruises I've been on. They just kept the cabins tidy when we were away.

MSC has this down to a science! We carried our bags off the ship and just walked off. Other cruises we've been on, we've had to stand in line and wait...and wait...and wait... Not with MSC.