MSC Divina Cruise Reviews - Reviews

MSC Divina was the first cruise I ever went on and I loved the experience! The ship inside is beautiful and full of activities for everyone -we could not do everything in one week and found new things to do on the last night. The entertainment team is awesome!!! The shows were mind blowing and full of unexpected talents. Every night topped the show from the night before, even my in-laws who have been in many many cruises thought they were better than other popular cruise lines. There were a lot of older folks so do not expect to see a lot of young people and nonstop partying. The food was great! It is an Italian cruise so there was pizza all the time and it was awesome. There were all kinds of food for all tastes. The cabin steward was very efficient and kept our room clean and stocked at all times. Our server was not that great but the language barrier was a huge element to poor service. I would definitely travel with them again and recommend to other people.

This was our third MSC cruise, the first two having been on MSC Opera and MSC Orchestra.  We chose it not so much for itinerary as for the various dancing venues available on MSC.  We flew to Fort Lauderdale on Southwest and took Go Shuttle Private car shuttle to Miami.

We had booked a category B2 balcony, 11305, and found that when we got to the room we found that it had an extended aft view balcony.  The ones on decks 10 and 11 are the only ones with the extended aft balcony.  Ample storage for two but could be tight for three or four.  It has a solid plastic shower enclosure.  Flat screen TV but only about 19 inch screen.

MSC offers a 7 bottle wine package for $160.  They also had an 18 drink package available for $72.

They offered an Internet package of 5 hours for $99, or 8 hours for $130, in addition to per minute rates. Speed was satisfactory.

We enjoyed the buffet area for breakfast, although they had no made-to-order omelettes.  They did have omelettes on the buffet trays, and pre-fried eggs.  My only complaint is that they needed to have a separate line just for the egg items, as the buffet line can get long when people are trying to get something other than eggs, like toast or English muffins, as people didn't want to let you in just for that.

While we were initially assigned a larger table in the Black Crab restaurant for dinner, we were able to arrange a table for two by contacting the maitre de' the first afternoon.  He had us meet him at dinner time and he escorted us to our table in the Villa Rosso restaurant.  Menus were varied.  My wife enjoys seafood, and had haki, corvina, seafood kabob, salmon, Mahi Mahi, Lobster and hake in parchment.  I enjoyed rack of lamb, prime rib, osso bucco, leg of lamb, Italian pasta with sausages, Lobster, and strip loin steak.  Don't believe those who tell you that they only serve Italian food on MSC.  On the second formal night they even had flaming Baked Alaska.

The wine bar offers flights of Italian wines, or reasonably priced wines by the glass.  They provide antipasto plates with the wine.  This area also sells custom-made pizza by the yard!  There was also winemaker from a vineyard in California aboard offering winemaking classes twice a day, and you get to keep the wine.

The evening shows all used prerecorded music.  The first show was a tribute of Frank Sinatra songs.  The second was Wonderland, a mix of dancers, acrobats, vocalists and elaborate costumes.  In the afternoon of the third day they had a performance of an excerpt from an opera, La Traviata, with a male and female lead, and after a terrific performance they received a standing ovation from the entire theatre.  That evening they had a performance of Italian love songs, with two excellent vocalists.  On the fourth day the show was The Witches of Paris, in a format similar to the second day show, but a French variety show, ala Moulon Rouge style.  Next was a Michael Jackson music tribute, and on the last night the show was a series of great opera songs.

There were a significant number of children aboard and they were mostly enrolled in the children’s programs.  Periodically you would see them parading with their children’s program staff, holding hands and chanting together. 

We found a group called the Golden Duo to dance to in the evenings, and a soloist in the open air Garden Bar for dancing, and the Black and White Lounge had a mix of mambo, Caribbean, etc in the evenings.  The evening of the Italian night they had some activities and refreshments in there, too, and that was also the location of the MSC Club get together, a much better location than a theater, as used on some other lines.

Announcements by the cruise director were solely in English.  The boat drill did use five languages.  We found all the crew we met to be conversant adequately in English.

Ports were St Maarten, San Juan, and Great Stirrup Cay, which has been greatly expanded and tender piers developed since our last visit.

Luggage didn’t have to be out on the last night until 2am, but we did have to vacate the stateroom by 7am the last morning.  We didn't leave the ship till after 10, as we had a later flight home.  We could relax in the buffet area while we waited.

In summary, we loved MSC Divina and enjoyed it so much we purchased a future cruise certificate and can look to 2016 for Divina, or possibly another MSC ship which may be homeported in Florida.

I booked a balcony for myself and my Daughter for her Birthday. The first evening I went into the bathroom and picked up a glass to take my medication and did not realize it was dirty until I taken a swallow from it.Upon checking both glasses were filthy and looked as if the previous passengers had stored their toothbrushes in them.I complained at once and was given clean glasses.A few day;s later I came down with a virus and was sick for 3 weeks, going to urgent care and the ER upon returning home.I have traveled with MSC many times and am a Gold member with them.I tried to contact them several times about this matter with no response. I had been very satisfied on previous cruises but they were on different ships both in the Caribbean  and the Mediterranean. Needless to say I am very unhappy to say the least !!!!!!

The MSC Divina is absolutely a magnificent and beautiful ship.  The staff were all wonderful, friendly, outgoing and helpful.  The food was good, the atmosphere amazing.  Entertainment was outstanding! .  I have never had a more relaxing and enjoyable cruise! I can not wait to book another cruise on the Divina.  MSC is definitely the way to travel.

Loved this ship, we travelled with our kids and enjoyed New Year’s Eve party. As well we travelled with another family friends who also said their experience was positive, food was great staff was courteous and very helpful.

We sailed on the MSC Poesia 3 years ago and could not say enough great things about our trip. This time we Chose a back to back eastern and western caribian on the Divina she is a beautiful piece of art absolutely amazing. The food however was not to the same standards as we experienced on our last MSC voyage. The pasta was almost inedible the sauces were so salty you could not eat them. A real shock coming from an Italian ship,the rest of the food was absolutely first class in all the dining rooms and was very good at the buffet as well. All the excursions were safe and well organized. It was a trip to remember for sure,we had a good time. TO ALL OUR FELLOW TRAVELERS WHO CAME ABOARD SICK WITH THE FLU NEXT TIME DON'T WE ARE BOTH VERY SICK THANKS FOR THE EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!!!!

We really enjoyed the MSC Divina. She is one beautiful ship with entertainment you don't find on other cruise lines...opera, ballet, classical music. It was so romantic.

This was our 6th cruise - the first on MSC and we would DEFINITELY cruise with them again.  The ship is relatively new (2 years), beautifully maintained and beautiful overall.  The staff is friendly, but in some cases has a hard time understanding English. We found the food delicious and the portions were normal sized portions  (not Americanized huge portions).  If you want more, ask for it.  The buffet had different choices everyday and the food was very good but it is very spread out - the pizza is to die for!  The breads were absolutely fantastic!  Entertainment on board was fabulous - the shows were well done, professional and different than most you see on a cruise ship.   The entertainers in the Divina Lounge in the evenings (the Amsterdam trio (violin, cello, piano) were fabulous and the piano player Luis was wonderful as well.  Highly recommend.  There weren't bar staff attacking everytime we sat down.  They would ask if we wanted anything, and if we said no, they would leave us alone.......what a breath of fresh air.    The drinks were reasonably priced.   They did not have silly poolside games everyday (another refreshing change)  but they did have plenty of activities to keep people busy.  Our steward was fabulous - we couldn't have asked for better service.  The overhead announcements were few and far between - and only when necessary - another pleasant change.  They didn't announce every little thing going on - they left some of that up to the passengers.   They weren't trying to sell something everytime you turned around. They had plenty for sale, but announced it in the daily paper and kept it all contained where is wasn't in the main area where passengers are trying to walk.  Disembarkation was a breeze - other lines should take lessons from MSC.

There are a few negatives - the embarkation process is extremely disorganized and wall to wall people pushing to board when it's not time for them yet.  Guest services on embarkation day kept closing down stations while the line was getting longer and longer.  The advertised a piano bar (la luna) but it was actually two karaoke singers with a click track.  Yes, there is a piano, but they never used it.  The jazz bar advertised jazz music that was really reggae.  The "adults only" area was an additional charge of $10.00 per day but that wasn't made known until later.  There was a show we wanted to see that was to start at 4:15, but the group using that lounge ran over by 15 minutes making everything else late.  It seemed the crew (including officers) that were walking around the ship had no desire to communicate with the passengers.  They rarely said anything unless the passengers spoke to them first.  This may be a European thing, but it was bothersome for me.  In some cases, bar staff was hard to find, but I'd rather have it that way than to have them hawking every 10 seconds.

Exceptionally clean ship, friendly waiters, food fair and filling, photography staff not very friendly.Missed the Stirrup cay due to inclement weather . great value.

MSC touts this ship as their "American" ship.  I have to say that while the ship is beautiful and I had a very good time onboard, They have not yet hit the mark on "American."  The ship itself probably deserves a four star rating but I feel I have to score them down a notch for missing the mark on their claimed target.  The staterooms are very nice and the balconies large enough to actually enjoy.  The entertainment was first class and the kids club got two thumbs up from my 5 year old.  The food was quite good in the dining rooms but the buffet was actually quite excellent.  So you may ask how they missed the mark?  This story probably best exemplifies the statement:  The daily program listed the NFL game would be on in the Sports Bar at 1:00pm.  My family was taking a nap on this sea day so I figured I would have a beer and watch some football.  I arrived at the bar at about 12:45 and there was soccer all on the TV's.  OK, I'm still early so I sit down for a beer.  1:00pm comes and goes without a change on the TV's.  A crowd is bveginning to filter in looking for the NFL.  We all start making comments about "where is the NFL game as advertised?"  Finally, the barman makes a call.  Having worked on ships, I know it is not always as easy as changing the channel so I am a bit more patient.  But the rest are getting a bit upset.  By 1:30pm, the game was still not on.  In the mean time, a gentleman has come up to the bar and asked for a Budweiser.  The barman responds "We are out of that."  Now I know the ship is not out, they have just not restocked this bar at that time.  But seriously, a Sunday during football season and you are not running the game you promised and did not restock the bar with Budweiser.  A little tough to say you cater to Americans.  The ship was still a beautiful experience and frankly, it did not matter to me.  But I feel it is only fair to set the correct expectations.  This is still a more European ship that is working on being more American.  All in all, we had a great time and I cannot fault MSC on the ship or its value.

SHIP WAS VERY CLEAN, WORKERS ON BOARD WERE VERY NICE.

This was our family’s  first cruise on MSC, and having read both positive and negative reviews, we went into this cruise with fairly low expectations.  We are a family of easy going travelers who enjoy both sea and land based vacations, and I do most of the vacation planning.  I figured how bad could it be if I didn’t have to cook or clean for a week, and we were going to be entertained ? 

Just to preface this review, I booked this cruise in February ( 9 months in advance), with a balcony and an inside for the kids.  We upgraded the kids to a balcony on a 4th of July flash sale, and paid in full at that time.   This was all done through our TA and all MSC  paperwork emailed to me.  Then, 3 weeks before the cruise, I called MSC to prebook packages, but they wouldn’t speak to me as I had booked with a TA.  I had our TA contact MSC to prebook AND prepay all our drink packages and excursions, as I didn’t want a hefty bill at the end of the cruise.   It took them a while to get it all figured out, but it finally got done, credit card charged and receipt from MSC emailed to me outlining what I paid for.  Then I went online and did online check-in for all of us, and printed out the Web Check-in document MSC provides.

Day of Embarkation we arrived at the terminal around 1:30 pm, and waited in line about 30 mins.  Not terribly long, but it was fairly chilly in there with the AC being very strong at some points in the line.  Once we got to the front, DH split off with DS and I took DD.  We were both notified that they could not locate our reservation, and they were going to have to contact a supervisor.  25 minutes later, and no updates in between at all, we are told “we have you on the manifest, but no other record of you.”  15 minutes after that, they were able to print us cruise cards, and we boarded the ship.   At this point we knew we needed to switch room cards to put the kids in their own room, so we headed down to guest services to take care of this.  This was actually handled fairly smoothly.  Then off to the casino to pick up my prepaid packages (which I wasn’t feeling very confident about, considering my lost reservation).  I was right to be concerned, as they had no record of them, and sent me back to deal with guest services.

This is where my whole cruise was soured, as I had to spend the next 5 days, and 15 encounters with the desk to finally get resolution to my problem.  Apparently MSC has a “process” that they MUST follow if a guest has a problem onboard, which involves them emailing the problem to the home office, then waiting for a reply back.  I understand that this would be more efficient for an international traveler, but I was booked through the US office, and a quick phone call would have cleared my problem up immediately. 

I had printed documentation outlining exactly what I had booked and paid for, including copies of my credit card charge, as I had previously read of others having problems.  So I figured it should be a quick matter to clear up, and be on my way. NOPE… The desk informed me that it could be up to 2 days before I received a resolution.  They sent off an email, and told me to check back with them that evening.  At this point, I needed to also go see the Maitre ‘D as we had no dining assignment either, due to them losing our reservation.   This had to be the longest line I waited in all cruise.   After waiting 45 minutes we were finally assigned a table for 4 for early dining.  But after all this running around on board, we were just too tired to get ready for dinner, so skipped first night.

I went back to our room, called my TA and let her know what was going on.  She called me back in 20 mins, said a supervisor at MSC was working on it, and it would be cleared up within the hour.  At this point I figured let it go,  and check back with the desk later.

Checked back 3 times that night, no resolution.  And apparently I wasn’t the only unhappy passenger, as the lines on both sides of guest services was long, and people were yelling!!  Yikes!

The next day, I checked in with the desk 4 times, and was finally told they would contact me if they heard anything.  That afternoon they called and said they finally heard back, everything is ok and paid for( like I already said and had proof of) and to come down in 3 hours and my packages would be ready.  So I show up 3 hours later, but they’re not ready yet.  But come back in 15 minutes, and they’ll have it ready!!  At this point, it’s time for the GALA dinner, so I say we’ll be back later.  We go to dinner, and tell them our assigned table, and get seated.  The waiter asks to see my card, as he says we’re not the guests who sat there the evening prior.  No problem, I show it to him, and on with our dinner.  Then back to the desk to pick up packages.  Ask about my prepaid excursions, and told to check in with the excursion desk the next day.  Also I  need to clear up all beverages already purchased one by one with drink tickets….. one receipt at a time…. which took another 30 minutes.

Show up to the excursion desk the next morning, and SURPRISE! they have no record of my booking.  I explain to the gentleman all the issues with my prepaid bookings, and he has to go straighten it out with the desk.  30 minutes later I finally have my excursion tickets in hand.  Then back to desk to see if prior drink charges are cleared up yet.  Nope… told to give them time to take care of it.   Show up for dinner on 3rd night, get seated, then told we’re sitting at someone else’s table.  WHAT?!?  Mario the asst. Maitre D explains to us that he doesn’t know how we got assigned that table, as it isn’t logged in the system.  He tells us that he has a table for us, but we need to move. At this point the other people decide to let it go for the night, but we need to move the next night.

On the 5th day of the cruise they finally cleared up all the previous drink charges, but I realized that the 2 bottles of Asti Spumante I prepaid  to have for sailaway on our balcony had never arrived.  So another call to the desk to ask if they would please credit these back to our account, as we didn’t want or need them this late in the cruise.  NOPE… no credit allowed, but we could get them delivered to the cabin.  Fine…. Get back to cabin, and we have 2 bottles of Brut.  Now I know that this isn’t a big deal, and I could have called to have it swapped, but after everything else, this was a real you-know-what moment. 

I can say with all certainty that we will NEVER sail MSC again. 

Was the cruise a total bust?  No… we had a good time despite all the hassles…. We enjoyed some of the food, and the ports.  The evening shows were for the most part good, although the acts toward the end were just repetitions of the earlier shows.  And we ended up with some amazing family portraits I will always cherish.

BUT… the dinner buffet was severely lacking in options which was surprising, as the lunch buffet was amazing in variety.  There was no evening entertainment other than music or the main production, and there is nothing for older teens past kids club age to do onboard.  The lounges used for entertainment are too small for the amount of people who want to participate, and the pass through area on deck 7 is amazingly congested for a main thoroughfare as the photo gallery is smack in the middle.  The only way to get from front to aft in a fairly straight line is on deck 7 or deck 14. 

I had a great time cruising with my wife on the MSC Divina. My wife and I are in our 20's without children. I have been on two other cruises both with Princess before this cruise. This was the first time for my wife. I will be brief but explicit in why we enjoyed our cruise on the MSC Divina:

Positives:

Most beautiful elegant ship I've seen (Many people who have been on all other cruise lines agreed)

Awesome nightly entertainment in the gorgeous theater (Mostly singing, dancing, acrobatics, unfortunately little magic)

Balcony stateroom was big and luxurious

Amazingly friendly staff

Buffet was diverse in food options

Nightly dinners were almost always good with few exceptions

Ports were great (Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Bahamas) and un-boarding/boarding worked well

Ship was very smooth and only on bad waves could you feel the ship moving

Negatives:

Poor drink selection (water/juice) unless beverage package was purchased

Most food was great but occasionally inedible (Mostly because food is sometimes cooked for a European taste palate)

Occasional announcements in room were a nuisance early in the morning

Entertainment is occasionally on the risque side (women/men clothed in close to nothing)

Entertainment is unfit for families with children for this reason

Daily activities on-board were lacking (We weren't interested in lots of it)

No movies shown in the pantheon theater but a nightly movie was shown by the pool which was usually an older movie (On Princess they showed newly released movies on their screen)

Overall we loved our cruise with MSC and we would cruise with them again!

Excelent service. Restaurant care Top of the Line. Time in the partial destinations (islands) should be revised. San Juan requires more than six hours (9:00 an-3:00 pm)

Had a great time was surprised how big the ship was and how they did such a great job with all 3500 guest, never ran into other people ship was so big, 

The entertainment was excellent. The crew very attentive. Food was good. Ship was gorgeous and very clean.

The MSC Divina is a very beautiful ship. It is a large ship so many times it is very crowded. The food was always attractive and tasteful. Would have liked to seen more of a variety of entertainment with some comedy mixed in on some nights with the musical and dancing.

I realize that some people cannot be satisfied but having many cruises under my belt, I feel immenently qualified to give this cruise two thumbs down.  First off, we found a rotting pear and partial chocolate chip cookie and crumbs behind our bacony curtain.  The food in the dining rooms was mediocre at best.  Veal Parmesan consisted of a thin piece of fried veal with a small slab of cheese melted on top with a dollop of mashed potatoes.  Prime Rib was worse, a paper thin piece of meat would have been impossible to cook as per my request medium rare.  Realizing how bad the fare was in the dining rooms, we decided to chance the Buffet deck on the fourth day of our cruise for the evening meal.  What  a mistake, not only were there minimal Buffet stations open but the variety was very limited.  Now let's face it a cruise is pretty much a culinary experience.  All night sandwich (make your own) was non-existant although it is prominently advertise in the brochure.   Beverage stations were only on the main Buffet area and few and far apart located in tiny cubbyholes.  Water and tea.  Plastic drinking cups ran out almost immediately and relegated to styrofoam cups which when empty flew all over the place in the wind.  Finding rest rooms was a challenge.   Enough of the bad, now the good.  Pizza was outstanding but crowded due to hungry passengers late night.  Pay-For bars and restaurants were all over the place.  Used to be a time when there was one Steak House you could opt for.  Seems they forcing us to spend extra to eat.  The entertainment was OUTSTANDING.  The shows were top notch and proffesionally done! Lastly, since when do past cruisers not get a free cocktail party or free drinks at the "Meet the Captain Party".  Talked to many people of the same opinion on the cruise.  Overall Ok, but would definitely not recommend this cruise when the others are so much better.

I just got off the Divina, the ship was beautiful but the food was awful. Main diving food was cold or barely warm. The buffet was always running out of food and when the did replace it,  it was cold nothing like cold meatballs and the sauce tasted like Ragu. I'm Italian and thought the European style ship would be good, I was so wrong. Up in the buffet cold dry out burgers could never find catsup and when I finally did fine 1 it was like water. Like the ports of call. The service personal were not friendly you walked by them no good morning or afternoon or a simple acknowledgement. My cabin Stewart was great Arie on deck 10 cabin 10154 was one of the nicest people on the ship. In the dining room I witness the head waiter acting like a jerk you don't yell at the staff in front of the people who are sitting trying to eat the awful food. Everything had to much rosemary on it and when I order prime rib steak I expect it to be a steak not a thin slice of beef.

I do not recommend this cruise if your looking for good dining. Its a cheap cruise but you get what you pay for poor service and bad food.

MSC DIVINA is one of the best if not the best we have been on. Beautiful ship great rooms, food & service . Infinity pool is the place to plant your self . Get spoiled. With the food & specialty court mid ship . Grand Cayman was absolutely beautiful and layer back . Did not ever get botched by vendors . Would spend a week easily here or longer. Jamaica there are a lot of things to do and go explore but .... beware you will be overwhelmed by vendors and everyone to buy something or anything everywhere. Tuff to enjoy because of it . Questioning if I would ever go back or stay on the ship if if I where on another cruise that went there. Cozumel get ready to eat & drink if you do it right . SturipCay a blast !