Still one of my favorite ships!
MSC Divina Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
First Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 11
Helpful Votes: 166
11 Night Western Caribbean & Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 10, 2023
Ship: MSC Divina
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 11035
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
This was my 3rd time on Divina, all solo cruises. It's a good size: not too big, not too small, and you can always find a quiet spot to yourself or a lounge chair somewhere. I chose this one yet again because they were advertising a GREAT sale for solo cruisers! ** Thank you MSC!!! ** My room was spacious and comfortable. Deck 11 Forward, Inside Cabin. Service was great, as usual. Everyone is nice and they try to accommodate your needs. Food was good overall, but dinners in the Main Dining Room were hit-and-miss for my tastes. * I enjoy the Buffet food on MSC ships much more than on other cruise lines. They always seem to have rice and some kind of Asian selection such as curry or butter chicken, Oriental beef, etc... which I love!! And try the Focaccia bread!! So soft! One day for lunch there was Mexican street corn, and chicken and pork fajitas - both delicious! **The pizza at the buffet area is delicious -- I tried pepperoni, and pesto, and their chocolate breakfast pizza (!) YUM!! - I LOVE that they had chocolate croissants or twists every morning. - There was a station in the evenings for ice cream with toppings - you have to go down the right side and look for it. Desserts were really good most days: my faves were key lime pie, a cold chocolate "cake" one day (looked like mousse), and all flavors of cookies. I enjoyed snacks at Piazza del Doge (Deck 6) also, available every day. So, the Main Dining Room menus seemed too fancy for my tastes: a lot of duck and veal, and seafood. I tried a "Steak Diane" for the sit-down lunch and was not impressed. The first night dinner on my 4-night Bahamas portion, the wait staff at my table was less than exceptional, so I didn't go back for three nights. There was no butter for our bread, I had to ask for a glass of water and a refill, there were no smiles at all, and it took FOREVER to get them to take our orders and bring out our food. (There were only two of us sitting at a table for 8) We didn't leave until about 10:30 that night! For the 7-night portion, I sat at the same table as before, but there were different waiters -- much better! Whew! The best meal I had was an appetizer salad with Jerk pork with pineapple!! Delicious!! Entertainment was great, but some people expect more. It's not Broadway style shows, which I am glad about. It's more casual singing, dancing, {having fun!}, juggler, acrobatics, basketball dunking, magic show, etc... **The volume in the theater was just right. Most other lines have it way too loud, and I have to plug my ears. - They showed a movie in the theater one night, but the sound was not good - muffled, and too loud at the same time (?!) Musicians around the ship were a big plus! There were a few singers, a pianist, a saxophone / clarinet player. They would shift around and play in different venues each night. La Luna Lounge was my favorite venue. And the Black & White Lounge had lots of fun stuff, like dance lessons, karaoke, band music. The Cruise Director was good, and his Entertainment Team kept things hopping! They seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is great! The main pool deck always seemed to have something going on: dance lessons, games, even a "fair" for families one day, with ice cream and kids games. (And I dipped in the pool once - it was nice!!) The itinerary was a plus! I LOVE their private island, Ocean Cay!! The beach I went to our second day there was SO nice, secluded, calm & quiet! (over by the Spa) The water is crystal clear and not too icy cold. A float plane even landed that day and came right up to the beach to pick up it's private passengers. SO COOL! Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel were all great ports for snorkeling. That's what I did since I've been to all of them. MSC did have us change our clocks to the different time zones we were entering. It would be nice if they could make an announcement each morning reminding us what the actual time is!! (I was questioning myself one day!!) There are no clocks around the ship like I've seen on other lines. And the MSC app does not work for the Divina, so it's paper Daily Schedules. Overall, I had a GREAT vacation!! I will definitely cruise again with MSC, and on the Divina if the deal is good enough.Embarkation
Good embarkation. Everything went smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Food was good overall, but dinners in the Main Dining Room were hit-and-miss for my tastes.
* I enjoy the Buffet food on MSC ships much more than on other cruise lines. They always seem to have rice and some kind of Asian selection such as curry or butter chicken, Oriental beef, etc... which I love!! And try the Focaccia bread!! So soft! One day for lunch there was Mexican street corn, and chicken and pork fajitas - both delicious!
-The pizza at the buffet area is delicious -- I tried pepperoni, the pesto, and their chocolate breakfast pizza (!) YUM!!
** I LOVE that they had chocolate croissants or twists every morning.
Onboard Activities
The Cruise Director was good, and his Entertainment Team kept things hopping! They seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is great! The main pool deck always seemed to have something going on: dance lessons, games, even a "fair" for families one day, with ice cream and kids games. (And I dipped in the pool once - it was nice!!)
Entertainment
Entertainment was great, but some people expect more. It's not Broadway style shows, which I am glad about. It's more casual singing, dancing, {having fun!}, juggler, acrobatics, basketball dunking, magic show, etc...
**The volume in the theater was just right. Most other lines have it way too loud, and I have to plug my ears.
- Musicians around the ship were a big plus! There were a few singers, a pianist, a saxophone / clarinet player. They would shift around and play in different venues each night. La Luna Lounge was my favorite venue. And the Black & White Lounge had lots of fun stuff, like dance lessons, karaoke, band music.
Children's Programs
Traveled solo this time. No kids with me.
Service and Staff
First waiter, for 4-night, in MDR was not great. Next one, for the 7-night portion was wonderful! Room steward was so friendly and sweet, even though he was overworked.
Ship Quality
The ship is very shiny and fancy inside - lots of sparkly staircases, mirrors, and cool art work.
Cabin / Stateroom
Deck 11, Inside Room
It was very spacious, clean, and had everything I needed. Nice cold fridge too.
Ship tip
Check to see what's going on in La Luna Lounge, or the Black & White Lounge, and don't miss the snacks and goodies at Piazza del Doge (Deck 6).
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Did a snorkel boat tour through MSC this time since I was traveling by myself. Didn't want to have to walk through streets to find any local excursion operators. The snorkeling was OK. They gave us a yummy snack once back on shore. They showed us a few stops along the way.
I took a cab from the port to Krazy Lobster Beach Club. I had booked a snorkel boat trip in advance. Christian met me at the Beach Club and set me up with a table. When it was time to go out on the snorkel boat, he showed me where to go. There were 8 people on the snorkel trip. Our guide, Jared, was terrific. After a short ride, we all got in the water (including Jared) and saw lots of cool stuff!! Jared took underwater pictures the whole time, while helping and guiding us. We saw 5 or 6 sea turtles - two which were really BIG! There is still live coral, and we saw schools of fish. The water was not cold.
When we got back to shore, I spent the afternoon at the Krazy Lobster Beach Club. Ordered lunch, had a drink, sat out in the sun in one of their lounger chairs. Listened to their music, both live and piped in. It was nice because it wasn't super loud, like at other clubs.
I took a cab from the downtown cruise port to Sky Reef. (Ask around to compare prices. I got 3 different quotes)
It's just past Chankanaab Park, so the snorkeling was really good. There is no sandy beach, but they do have lounger chairs in a sandy area between their restaurant and the water.
To get in the water, you walk out on their short pier, and climb down the ladder into waist deep water. I saw SO much stuff here, it was crazy!! There are purple sea fans everywhere you look! Saw some spiny sea urchins, a small sea cucumber, and some little Christmas tree-looking things attached to one of the fans. I was staying in the shallow part, taking my time, just floating along, you have to look close.
There was the biggest porcupine puffer fish I've ever seen! And a long skinny striped eel. Schools of yellow fish, some barracuda, needle fish, parrot fish, blue & green fish (I call it the Bahamas flag fish!!). I looked up two fish online, because I couldn't identify them. One was maybe an Ocean Triggerfish, silver with a fin on top and bottom. The other was maybe some kind of file fish (?): yellow with blue, flat looking, with a snout and an underbite. Really cool!!
Lunch was delicious too!! I got chicken nachos and a Dr Pepper. Service was great!
I asked when I arrived, if I could just order off the menu, and hang out to go snorkeling. They were fine with that. Otherwise you can pay one price that includes food, drinks, snorkel gear, a massage, and a tequila taste.
Disembarkation
I always leave my bag outside the room the night before. Easy Peasy. Went smoothly.
Traveler Photos
