Cabin 15029 YC1
MSC Divina Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 41
7 Night Caribbean & Antilles (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 20, 2019
Ship: MSC Divina
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 15029
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 4 years ago
Review summary
7 day Christmas cruise to the Caribbean. First time on MSC. The ship was very elegant, we were in the yacht club, the staff was amazing, the food was good. The kids / tween clubs need improvement. This was a relaxing cruise it was not a fast paced cruise packed with back to back activities like we’ve experienced in the past. If it were just my husband and I it would be perfect but for a 12 year old MSC needs more stuff to do. Overall I give it 4 stars and we would cruise with them again.Embarkation
Fairly seem less embarkation. Arrived at the port at 1120 for an 1130 boarding time. We were escorted to the Yacht Club lounge area. There was only 1 person working the counter which slowed the check in process down significantly but we had decent hors d’oeuvres to snack on while we waited. We boarded the ship at 12:20 ish. The staff was very friendly. One thing I’ll add is regarding curbside porters, when they found out we were yacht club they wouldn’t touch our bags we did have to take them over to the yacht club tent ourselves. Not a big deal I just thought I’d add this information. We are certainly able to roll our own bags ourselves. Other than that the embarkation process was smooth.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Food was pretty good in my opinion. We loved the deserts. The fresh pasta was AMAZING! I didn’t care for the Asian noodles it was tasteless but that’s my opinion. We ate in the yacht club restaurant most days so I can’t speak to how the other restaurants were. The pizza was really good too.
Onboard Activities
The usual on board activities. Bingo , pools, spa, hot tub, games. The water slide was closed the majority of the trip but it’s not a very exciting water slide compared to other ships. We did the 4D cinema show it was fun but short and $8 per person . I will say this, I’ve cruised other cruise lines and the MSC Divina is a more “relaxing” cruise. We’ve cruised Norwegian and it was a “fun exciting “ cruise that we needed time to rest after the cruise was over because it kept us on the go constantly. MSC have us time to relax and enjoy the elegant ship. We had time to relax and spend time as a family. It’s not like comparing apples to apples because they are 2 totally different cruise lines. We’re going to cruise MSC again when we want a relaxing elegant cruise but when we want thrills and excitement we’re going on Norwegian
Entertainment
This review is for entertainment that is separate from kids activities and programs. The overall entertainment in the Divina was ok. The shows were great, the acrobatics were amazing and we enjoyed it. The cruise director was very good and kept us informed. The Christmas show was amazing! The DJ did the white night was great too. They did a version of America’s got talent it was a blast!
Children's Programs
I’m giving this 3 stars because I have a 12 year old my child was bored at times which is insane to me on a big cruise ship. The water slide was closed the until day 5 of the cruise. They put her in the teen club but she’s only 12 and there was not enough security. There was only 1 crew member and He was preoccupied. There were no activities besides video games and Foos ball, there was a teenager with a beer in the club which was enough for me to decide this wasn’t the place for my daughter. The kids clubs at Norwegian we’re much better, they had crafts and games and more interaction than MSC. I’ve been told the Divina has the least amount of kids activities verses their other ships.
Service and Staff
Yacht Club staff was AMAZING!! They went above and beyond our expectations!!! I would give them 10 stars if I could.
Ship Quality
Elegant, classic ship . Extremely clean and well maintained. The layout is a bit odd. To get to the back of the ship to deck 15 you had to take the elevator to deck 7 then walk to the back of the ship and take the elevator back up to deck 15, otherwise you had to walk outside and unfortunately part of our cruise was very cold and dangerously windy outside.
Cabin / Stateroom
Spacious. This was one of the wider square cabins in Yacht Club . There are only a few of them.
Ports of call
One of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!!!!
The downside..... the local people will not let you enjoy the beach without trying to sell you merchandise. It was getting annoying. We paid for our beach chairs and umbrellas to lay out and enjoy ourselves but people kept coming up to us on the beach offering to rub our feet and sell necklaces and beach towels . We were approached no less than 15 times by people.
I feel bad writing this because I am a visitor in their country and this is how they make a living but literally we already bought trinkets from 2 of the women already and the parade of sellers was nonstop
Thumbs Up
0
I’m staying on the ship next time. The port is sooo overcrowded and dirty and congested it’s difficult to get around. I decided to get off because I want to invest in their recovering economy but the Bahamas you see on TV is not the Bahamas we were at.
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
I gave Tortola 4 stars this time last year I would have given it 2! This time we didn’t book an excursion we just got off the ship and took a taxi for $12 a person to the beach and it was amazing! I can’t remember the correct name of the beach but it had the word “long “ in it. It wasn’t crowded at all!
I love Puerto Rico. We didn’t get in until 4ish and left at 1am. I wish we arrived earlier so we could enjoy daylight in the island.
Disembarkation
Quick and orderly. No complaints. The butler escorted us off the ship.
Traveler Photos
