MSC Divina Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I will never use this cruise line again. The dinners were bad we waited two hours before we got served. The crew workers were miserable people and rude. The ship entertainment was not fun as other ships I've been on. When we came to port for disembarking they made us go through smoke infested casino weaving the passengers in and out of the slot machines . The most unorganized and frustrating departure from the ship ever! I,m pissed , yes. I asked for a towel for god sakes the maid told me to dial for it wtf is that. other cruise lines would go out of their way to get you one. Seemed to me no interest in customer care. The MSC Divina crew should hang their heads for the poor customer quality care. The ship wreaked of cigarette smoke. We should not have to breath the fowl smell of smokers. My son had a noise loud one in the wall of his sweet and contacted customer service of it. They sent engineer to room and he said there was nothing they could do for it ...they also had sewage back up in the shower stall they did take care of it , Every once in a while you could smell sewage in my room .

We were quite pleased with this cruise. We had read some bad reviews, but we didn't have a bad experience. We felt it was a lovely ship, had great service and wonderful food. We even booked another MSC cruise while on this cruise.

The MSC Divina is a beautiful ship. Service was great! The ship is kept immaculate. We are Carnival fans and tried something new. We have already booked 2 more cruises with MSC. The food was great and a good variety.

Had a great trip, but 7 days is too short. Has the feel of a Mediterranean cruise on the caribbean

I absolutely loved the divina, she's a beautiful ship and wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again. The food was great, the crew was phenomenal and the shows are some of the best. I will not be cruising carnival again. Msc was way better than carnival in almost every aspect and has some great deals. I loved divina and msc so much I booked a cruise on the seaside for next summer while on board and got some amazing benifts. Let the long countdown of 349 days begin!

Elegance, fun, and absolutely worth the money. The MSC Divina is currently the only MSC ship on the fleet that currently sails from the US, but with the Seaside coming soon, Americans will have even more of an opportunity to see why MSC is a wonderful choice.

We sailed with a group of 13 including a 10 month old and we had a blast. We flew into Miami the day before just because we like to be safe travelers and never know if there could be any delays with our flights or other issues so going in the day before worked great for us. We stayed at the Embassy Suites by the Miami International Airport and it was a nice stay. They have a shuttle from the airport to the hotel that runs constantly every 20 to 30 minutes so we only had to wait for about 15 minutes after retrieving a luggage. The entire Embassy Suites hotel was undergoing a refurbishment so it was in a little disarray, but we had a nice clean room to sleep for one night.

The next morning they have a transportation company that can provide shuttle from the hotel to the Port of Miami for $10 dollars per person. This has to be scheduled with the Concierge once you arrive but the process was seem less.

We arrived at the Port around 11:45 am which apparently was the same time for all 4300 passengers to arrive because the drop off area was packed with the line going into the building being about 100 yards long, but we were ushered in fairly quickly and got out of the south Florida humidity.

The MSC Divina is one of the most beautiful ships I've been on, now I've only been on 4 different ships, but still it is a beautiful ship from the crystal inlaid staircases in the main atrium to the very nicely decorated state rooms extremely well maintained and clean ship in every area that I saw. With more than 5600 people on board that in it's self had to be a chore.

The check-in process was extremely slow, but with 4300 passengers trying to disembark the mere volume of getting that many people checked-in has to be a slow process. Once on board we went straight to the buffet which was delicious. Now after 7 days you would think eating the same things from hamburgers to pizza it would get old, but to me it tasted really good and eating the same thing everyday wasn't an issue. Of course there were different things to choose from each day but the staples (hamburgers, hotdogs, & pizza) were there 20 hours a day and were excellent. The buffet seating area is fairly large needless to say but with the floor to ceiling windows the views were spectacular. We actually chose to eat in the buffet a couple of evenings just because it was great food and it was nice to not have to be there at a set time.

Just know that as soon as you get on board they are pushing their drink packages so if you can endure the first day it eventually stops, but they are extremely efficient in making sure everyone has at least 20 opportunities to buy the drink package. 

No the drink package is a little expensive but if you like sodas and cocktails and other specialty coffee drinks then this is the way to go since on a 7 day cruise you can drink a lot of them. However, juice, water, tea & regular coffee is always available in the dining rooms and at the buffet so if you don't get the drink package there is still ample to drink. Plus there is soft serve ice cream out by the pool every day.  That's ice cream every day. It doesn't get much better than that.

Speaking of ice cream...;-) They have Italian Gelato I believe is how you spell it, but spell check disagrees with me. This is an extra cost and probably not my favorite but many in our group really enjoyed it and you can get sundaes, milk shakes, etc... These are all at an additional expense so keep that in mind.  However, the drink packages also can include the gelato, milk shakes ect...

Outside of the buffet they have several dining options. They have two included restaurants in which we were in the Black Crab restaurant for the cruise each night at 6pm. I think I would have preferred the 8:30pm seating just because we were so rushed on the days we were ashore to get back and get ready for dinner by 6pm was tough.

The food and service was excellent. Some of the best food I've had on a cruise. from the appetizers to the dessert...everything was great. Of course when dealing with an extreme multi-cultural environment, there were a few selections that we had that were a little weird for our taste buds, but overall the food was excellent e. 

Our servers were John & Ivan and they were great. We only had one evening were it took a little longer to get our entres but it seemed they were a little under staff that one evening, but every other night food was quick, drinks were refilled, and we were usually done within an hour to an hour and a half.

There is another dining room that the other half of the ship goes to, but we didn't dine there so no review about that. Also there are a couple of other additional cost restaurants that you can make a reservation to eat at, but we didn't and usually don't just because the food is good to me and it doesn't cost me anything extra, but if you like to mix it up...go for it.

After dinner each night we had the 9pm seating for the show and let me just say as a professional musician and performer, this has to be the best entertainment on a cruise line that I've ever experienced, with Disney being the only exception but who can ever compare to Disney is my point of view. Yours might be different, but the entertainment on Divina was a close second.

Each night was a different theme, different type of music, and experience. With acrobatic acts and novelty entertainers; it was amazing. It was a little bit of Broadway meets Cirque in each performance. Now that being said, we are so spoiled in our society where we are always wanting to push the envelope to be wowed with something even grander than before. Because of this mentality some of the acrobatic acts began to seem redundant yet extremely well done.

The theater that the shows are performed in is a beautiful, modern two-story venue with beautiful decor, yet the seating is a little snug for a full figured person like myself especially after eating in the buffet for several days on a cruise ship, but for an hour not too difficult to sit through an amazing show. 

The highlight of the week is the Michael Jackson night which they have a performer that does an excellent impersonation of the late great King of Pop. This was probably my favorite show since I am a huge MJ fan. The arrangements of some of the songs were a little strange but overall, my favorite performance of the week.

The only other thing I would say in regards to the shows would be the sound was a little weird just because it seemed like the sound man had just found the echo/reverb effect and used it to death. Maybe it needed it to fill up the room, but again, as a musician this was my only pet peeve. Other musicians will understand this.

The first two days of our cruise were at Sea, which all though the ship is beautiful and the common areas are great hang out spots. Two days at sea with 4300 people trying to go to the same pools was a little overwhelming. We only enjoyed the pool at one of our stops because most of the folks had already gotten off the ship and so we had the pool pretty much to ourself. We also enjoyed it one evening when it seems that if the sun goes down you can't go swimming, which I enjoy swimming at night more any way because this fair skin white boy gets burned easy.

One of the days at sea my wife and I enjoyed a couples message in the really beautiful spa on board. We had a 45 minute message and it was great. Would definitely recommend this.

After two days at sea it was finally time to start arriving at out our ports of call. Our 7 day cruise took us to St. Marteen, Puerto Rico & Nassau.

St. Marteen is a beautiful island with a very unique tourist opportunity. This is the place where the airport is right by the beach (Maho Beach) where the planes almost land on your head. Pretty surreal experience since most of our airports in America are so guarded with fences keeping you at least 200 yards away from the nearest airplane, so this was a very unique experience.

Puerto Rico had to be our favorite stop on the cruise just because we have been to Nassau several times and in St. Marteen we were kind of rushed in our time frame there to really enjoy for any length of time. 

In San Juan we were able to wander part of the grounds of the vast Castillo de San Cristo'bal Fort. This place was amazing and the views from atop the fort were spectacular. You could really experience how this fort was so crucial as a look out for not only wars and attacks in the 17th & 18th century on Puerto Rico, but was even crucial during WWI & WWII as a look out for America to the threat of sea attacks to the US.  

After the Fort we drove around the Island stopping at the capital building and touring Old & New San Juan with a final stop to shop around the town and then were able to walk back to the ship which was only about 10 minutes away. If you have the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico, you should. It was a great experience.

Our day at Nassau was nice with a jaunt down to Junkanoo Beach for a little while to swim and enjoy the day, but the vendors in Nassau from the port just about wear you out to take their tour or ride in their taxi or horse drawn carriage or come and buy their goods which they say are hand made, but if you look under the bottom or on the tag they say made in China or somewhere else. Love Nassau because the water is so beautiful there but the vendors need to tone it down a bit.

After Nassau we headed back to Miami where we were docked early. Miami is a beautiful city and the people are just as friendly as anywhere don't let the astigmatism of overrun with immigrants mentality affect you. I met a man from Cuba that drove us from our hotel to the port that loves america more than any born native I've ever come in contact with. His out pouring of appreciation to have the greatest opportunity for his family in a country where we have such amazing freedoms humbled me to respect the country that I have had the privilege to be born in. So thanks Eddie for reminding me of that. God Bless the United States of America!

Overall I would and have already recommended the MSC Divina to anyone looking for a new experience from the Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean fans, just understand that this is an Italian owned company and their appeal to European cruisers is great and they accommodate them greatly with many language interpretations of all of their communications, with most of the crew speaking multiple languages with English being the main language used throughout. I would choose MSC again. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

This is not my first cruise so I had high expectations from this cruise line.  I took a 7-day cruise from Miami to the Caribbean and it was just one thing after another.

First, when I got to my room there was a horrible odor, but I dropped my things and went out.  When I returned the whole carpet was wet and I could assume they knew the problem and just shampooed it, but no one said anything.  It stayed wet for another day and the smell was still there.  I complained about the smell and all they did was ask me to leave the room to shampoo the carpet again and this time would use a fan for a quicker dry.  Again the smell is still there.  Next, I was assigned a cabin before the cruise but that changed when I arrived.  I was put on the floor below the pool, entertainment and buffet.  All I heard in my room all day and night is furniture moving, doors slamming, running and loud banging.  After everything, I spent the whole cruise smelling something like old wet laundry or mildew and did not rest because of the noise.  No one offed a room change, upgrade, refund or perk.

I brought my son on this ship because I knew of all the entertainment for him onboard.  I was wrong!  The ship has a basketball court with no basket balls.  A game room, but each game was $1.50 for each play.  A water slide, but the kids didn’t have a chance because all the adults were on it.  My son is 12, so the majority of the activities planned were for kids under 11.  I had to pay for excursions or figure out the things on the boat he might like just so he would not be bored.  There were a few teenager things, but none of the kids seemed to enjoy it.  I just made the best of it and did my best to entertain him.

The food in the restaurants was good, but the buffet was hit or miss.  Some meals I barely ate anything, but the fruit (I would have expected to be really good and sweet, NOT!)

I would not recommend this cruise line.  No matter what happened they just acted as if I should tolerate everything.  I will never go on this cruise line again.

Absolutely loved the ship! Had a ball, everything we ate was delicious. Franklin, Fabian, and Alen in the Divina bar were amazing!! We will back on her over Thanksgiving and I cannot wait. Most beautiful ship I have been on.

Glad it's over B. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

As a beginner cruiser with only 3 other cruises under our belt my husband and I were nervous and excited to try MSC. We had read so many mixed reviews, but for the first time being able to afford a balcony we were expecting the best.

It started to go down hill from the get go, embankment. No signage for where to put bags, you had it off to a little old man in a white drs coat, who you hope just didn't steal your bags and walk towards MSC sign. announcements in the building not able to be understood at all.

My suitcase didn't appear till 10pm and no crib in sight, even after 3 times standing in the 45 minute reception line for help and on hold with house keeping. 

Still no crib in the morning, but optimistic that the cruise will be amazing. Scary looking pack n play did arrive about 2pm and was so scared all cruise it would fall apart. 

We choose buffet for a lot of our meals after the first night, waiter was not happy, didn't introduce himself, and no bar staff in sight. Meal took two hours and the food was just adaquate, our main complaint it was all just so bland! And no fun songs, no happy waiters like in other cruises, and they kinda treated my kids like an inconvience!

Kids club was just ok, my kids didn't really want to be there though.

We did want to do some night shows, as we had a babysitter with us, but they night shows were just too long, hoping for a comedian or illusionist show, something maybe an hour long and more adult.

We did try the fancy strak house and pizza place on board, steak was so bland and was not impressed at all! Pizza was ok, but we had kids with us and with no pepperoni for us uncouth Americans it was a little weird. 

We wish we read more reviews and realized pool was sea water pool because it was so salty and even kids with googles had issues. 

Also another thing husband said to comment on, was the buffet at 2-5:30pm when you came home from excursion it was horrible, hardly anything and so starving.

We were so unsatisfied with this cruise we were praying atvbingo not to win another cruise as the prize.

Poor MSC could have had life long cruises in us and missed the mark. 

The MSC DIVINA was great. The staff was friendly and very helpful. We celebrated my daughter's Sweet Sixteenth birthday party in the Black and Whire lounge. They reserved a great area for our family and friends. It was perfect!  We would have dinner at The Black Crab Restaurant and the food and menu was wonderful. The buffet in the other hand was not as great. The type of food is very different didn't like it very much but the pizza was delicious and 24hrs. It was always so very crowded especially around 8:00. Remember it is an European cruise so you won't find much American food in the buffet. Shows were good and the Michael Jackson tribute was the best. Tips: Take travel cups to fill in the buffet cups are too small, can of sodas, and a gallon of water.

Looking at other reviews, I don't think I was on the same ship ! First time MSC ( numerous other cruises to compare with) ship spotlessly clean, food catered for European and American tastes, burgers , hotdogs, fries, steaks, very similar menu to Carnival, deserts were more European but still very nice. Entertainment was second to none, shows were of a very high standard, the usual trivia and bingo activities were as entertaining. We ate every night in the MDR with 6 of us dining, all in all it took 90 mins on average from start to finish . My reason for 4 not 5 stars is because our dining waiter was extremely unfriendly and at times rude, he was definitely exception to the rule as everyone else at the tables around us appeared to have great fun with their waiters, we were obviously just unlucky, on the other hand our state room attendant was 10 star. a big shout out to Claudia deck 12 😘. All in all a brilliant trip, we will definitely sail MSC again.

Disappointed to say the least. I don't know if was a language barrier or just rudeness with a majority of the crew. I don't want to say it was because I'm American. The food was just ok, buffet was the same everyday with a few minor changes. Breakfast buffet was cold everyday. It took 4 days before they had a guy making omelettes. Constant wait for water and food at dinner. I give this cruise 2 stars that's being generous, thank goodness for the other 8 people we were with.

Great Cruise! The staff is great and very diverse!! Loved the theatre entertainment and my cabin had ample space and kept clean ... did have to request that they clean the shower curtain though.

This is a difficult review for me. This was our first time cruising with MSC and we deliberately chose them because we've mostly cruised with RCCL but I was very interested in trying something different, in particular international and MSC seemed to be the right way to go. I'll keep this review restricted to the ship only in at the destinations imports we stopped at. Let me first highlight what I liked about the cruise: THE GOOD: 1. Boarding The boarding process went smoothly. My wife and I had chosen a package they gave us a priority boarding and because our daughters were with us they were allowed to join us and avoid the long lines. 2. The Ship The Divina was absolutely beautiful. I definitely like the artistic design and effort that was put into the ship. It had a very unique layout which in some ways it was good and in other ways bad. But I'll get to that in a minute. 3. The Food For the most part was delicious but in the dining rooms it definitely lacked in the area of presentation. It also seemed that as each day went by there weren't trying to impress us with the next day's meal. One of my daughters actually up-charged her dinner every day to Surf n Turf because she was afraid of being disappointed by an upcoming meal. But overall the dinner offerings were varied such as prime rib, duck, and lasagna. The buffet on the other hand offered a wide variety of foods both the Mestic an international. Of course the problem there is you are fighting with the crowds during busy times but we were able to usually find a seat without a problem. 4. The Price On this one I would say it's great and it also say you get what you pay for. There were a few times when I up charged my meals because I wanted something a little better than what was being offered for dinner. On some cruise lines I may have to pay more money but I would've gotten more consistency with the quality and presentation of the dinner selection. As far as our accommodations were concerned they were fabulous. We were in room 10005 which is toward the fore of the ship. Even though we didn't have a balcony we had an expansive view from the front of the ship in a very large room which gave us a table accounts a desk and plenty of room to move around. The bathroom was also a full-size bath in that one of the standup glass showers. 5. The Casino & Bingo Hallelujah for a non-smoking casino! That was rather moderate and size that was quite a variety of games and tables available for passengers to try. There was also a bar nearby for those who wanted something to drink and refresh themselves. We also have plenty of time to enjoy daily bingo games which I wish we're done a little bit differently. There were was only two games played and only three prizes per day that could be won. They should have staggered the prizes from $10,000 to $5,000 to $2,500, to $1,000 to $500 and $250 (considering cards were $20 each or 3 for $50). 6. Entertainment We truly enjoy the entertainment on the Divina. It was an interesting mix of pop music, opera, and theater. We saw a tribute to Freddie Mercury and Queen, a take on the Pirates of the Caribbean, excerpts of Italian opera and lastly a tribute to Michael Jackson. Each show was better than the one before. Lastly, I cannot say enough about the cruise director. He made every performance and day awesome aboard ship! THE BAD 1. The Demographic Traditionally we've always taken our cruises during the month of June. Let me say first that I realize the families for the most part may travel during this time and also the children are out of school but Divina had more than his share of family is on board. Maybe it's because on our CCL there seem to be plenty of areas designed for young people and small children. Our ship had a few areas for them but they didn't seem to cater to children on an 12-16 hour basis. This put parents in a tough situation. For example, at night when most adults like to relax and enjoy jazz, karaoke or conversation in a bar or lounge we often found ourselves accompanied with families with children under the age of eight years old down to small kids in strollers running back-and-forth playing skipping yelling across dance floors and bar room areas. And I'm not talking about in the earlier part of the evening I'm talking about 10 PM to midnight maybe even later sometimes. I understand that for the parents to be cooped up in their rooms with your kids all evening might be a bit nerve-wracking but I grew up in a time where after 9:00 pm small children would be in bed. This is rather frustrating throughout most of the trip. 2. The Invisible Valet During the whole trip I never saw my room valet. There were occasions when our room wasn't even made up, I never saw a note or anything until the very last day when he left his name card. I was a little perturbed by this considering my wife decided to pay the gratuity fee before the cruise and he left his card as an afterthought or a reminder that we should leave something for him. 3. Ship Noise and Motion As far as the ship noise I'm referring to when ever the ship was reversing into port. Whenever the engines were put into reverse there was a huge amount of cavitation which vibrate it throughout the entire ship. I know this because as I mentioned earlier our room was in the front of the ship and it was loud enough that it would wake me in the morning when I was sleeping and that's how I knew we'd be pulling into port. Also there was a tremendous amount of motion with the ship. Don't give me wrong it didn't bother me swaying left and right. Walking down the hall never got me to a point of feeling seasick but that feeling of the ship waving back-and-forth was felt quite often in the evening. I don't know whether it was because we were in rough waters or the design of the ship. I will say this the ship is extremely narrow you can literally stand on one side and easily throw something across to the other side of the ship. Wider ships seem to be more stable and I attributed this motion situation to that. 4. Design/Layout Earlier I stated that the Divina was a beautiful ship and it is but I think there are flaws in the design. I'm not referring to the mechanical or technical design as much as I'm talking about operationally. For example on one deck three or four lounges that are located inside the length of the ship. Instead of them being located down the middle of the ship with doors enclosing them they actually extend the width of the deck and people who need to walk to the ship walk through the lounges this is whether you're listening to music dancing or participating in a karaoke contest. So there's a constant traffic of people children strollers people in wheelchairs walking through these areas good I would think and preferred be secluded from the public. It felt like you were more in a common area instead of a close space. Overall my family enjoyed their time aboard the Divina but aren't too thrilled about returning anytime soon. They are a relatively new cruise line and from what I've read from earlier reviews they are getting better each year. My wife and I are willing to give it a try again (during the time when school is in session). While playing Bingo we won a trip for 2 for a 7-10 day cruise anywhere MSC goes and were still debating on whether to use it. Their international destinations look great but to go through all we did for 10 days would be challenging to say the least. If we go I'll be sure to post a review and let you know! So do I recommend MSC and the Divina, yes. They have a lot more to do to make it a #1 cruise in my book but they're at a 7 out of 10 for me.

Overall the cruise was a good trip. Food was decent, our cabin person was there when we needed them and the ship was pretty clean. 

Compared to other cruise lines we have gone on though we felt they just werent as good. Small things details were missing and sometimes the service just wasnt on point.

So excited for my 4th cruise on the MSC at Christmas. They go out especially for the kids..Many Christmas activities and they gave away alot of Christmas favors .such as hats bells. Enjoyed by all.

Slowest bar staff I've ever seen! Charged for a $9 drink when handed bartender a drink coupon and bar manager argued it and refused to remove from my bill. Took an hr to get staff to pull down bunk beds for my kids when calling 3 separate times. Other than this....good. Restaurant staff was excellent!

We just got back from our first cruise. We had an amazing time aside from a few rude staff but that was taken care of right away. We felt as if the cruise staff cared about our trip right up to the point that we go off of the transfer to the airport. The shows that the Divina has to offer will not disappoint you, and will give you chills that run down your spine. Thank you MSC for an amazing vacation, we definitely will be back.