MSC Divina
4-Night Western Caribbean
04/22/2015: Miami, Florida
04/23/2015: Sea Day
04/24/2015: Cozumel, Mexico
04/25/2015: Sea Day
04/26/2015: Miami, Florida
https://www.facebook.com/cruiseaddictjunkie.blogspot
04/23/2015: Sea Day
04/24/2015: Cozumel, Mexico
04/25/2015: Sea Day
04/26/2015: Miami, Florida
"From best to worst"
Well here we are again after our 2nd trip on the MSC Divina. As you remember from our last trip, the cruise was absolutely amazing, not much to complain about. It was by far one of our best cruises yet, this time around....not so much. We were pretty disappointed at our trip this time around for several reasons.
We booked this cruise a few months before sailing and made it a short family cruise. Now after a month or so we learned that our sailing was a 60s & 70s themed cruise. Which if we knew this at the time of booking we would have never choose this and would have went with our 2nd option on Regal Princess. Well instead of eating the amount we paid we decided to go.
Getting to the port was actually very quick and easy. Jumped on I95 south and in no time we were at the port. Getting through security was a breeze, and that is pretty much the best part of that experience. Once we got into the terminal area it was a complete nuthouse! We never seen so many people in the terminal at that time (11am). We went to the deck and checked in and got our cards where we noticed our first mistake, we had 2nd seating dining. The desk said go to the main dining room onboard and fix it there. Which is a story later on. We were also told that the rooms wouldn't be ready until 3pm later today. Now I don't ever remember our last sailing having to wait until that late nor any other sailing on any other line. So we then went from the check in deck to find a seat and wait until we were called. Now getting there was just a battle. No one was moving an inch and people were just getting annoyed. Past noon everyone was wondering why we still weren't boarding yet. They finally got the call to start boarding shortly after 12:30. At that point we ended up somehow someway taking the escalator upstairs to board the ship.
Once we got upstairs we were trying to find a spot after the escalator since MSC's photographers decided it was best to do photos right off the escalators causing lines to back up. Now we never take these photos and were getting really pissed off at the crew for making everyone who didn't want pictures taken to have to wait for everyone else. They blocked it off so you had to wait. So we we're pretty frustrated at this point. Then as I was saying outloud that we don't want to do pictures and we just want to get on already a woman turned around and gave me that lovely evil eye! Well my thought was to get to the photo shop early and buy her photos and shred them and place them in front of her cabin door, but I was nice. So when they getting ready to take their pictures we were simply going to walk right past, nope the photographers were getting rude and literary put their hands on me to tell us not to go anywhere until they were finished taking the picture. Causing me to tell them to screw off and I wasn't taking any picture. So yea all and all MSC you might want to rethink putting the photography in a bad spot and not allowing people to pass. I get people want to do that and that is perfectly fine, but people like me just want to get on the ship already and settle down.
Now finally we get on the ship and head down to Guest Services. For the dining situation they said to just head to the main dining room once they are open and they will try and fix it. Okay, not a big deal we will take care of it then. The other question we had was why was it going to take until 3pm for the rooms to be ready? Um, simple and fair question I think. Well she said that they always have done that. I said we were on last October and we didn't wait until 3pm, that is something I think we would have remembered. She replied rudely and said well I been here since October and yes they have always been at that time frame. So I laughed and we headed upstairs.
Onto the buffet, well this time the most crowded it got was near any of the drink machines. Around the buffet it really wasn't too bad. Could also have been the lack of selection of food options. So needless to say we didn't really eat much this cruise.
So after lunch we said screw it and tried to go to our cabin. Our room was towards the back so take the elevators to deck 10 and get off and go to the port (left) side of the ship and our room was the first interior room. So we got there and as soon as we get to the cabin our room steward caught us. We asked if it was okay to go in and drop off our luggage, he said yes go right ahead. So we unpacked and hung out until the rest of our family got on board the ship. So once they did, they were two cabins down from us. Once we saw them we all went to the dining room to fix our dining reservation.
We got to the dining room and the maitre d's were unable to accommodate us. We said when we both booked in January we picked 1st seating. They said they cut it off in January. We call BS on that, didn't matter if we said last April they would have said it would have cut off then. So we later realized that the people on for the theme cruise took over first seating, screwing us up and having us not getting out of dinner until after 10pm. When we normally eat at 6pm on every single cruise. So yeah that was another bummer we encountered. It may not seem like much but when we have a show at 7pm and dinner at 8:45pm to 10:30pm that really kills the entire night of things we may have wanted to do. Normally we would eat at 6pm and then a show and still have most of the night to enjoy. Well the people for the theme cruise took over the night clubs and some other activities which caused us to have nothing to do after dinner.
Overall the MSC Divina is starting to show wear and tear throughout the ship, which over time does happen but MSC really needs to think about getting her back into drydock in the next few years.
We did make the best we could have of this cruise. Our family that we traveled with really did help keep us entertained. We wish we could have showed them a better time on MSC Divina, but maybe next year we can do this again, but maybe on another line. I really don't think we will be sailing on MSC anytime soon. For now we don't have anything booked until next April (Carnival Sunshine), but that is as of now. Even though we didn't have a great time we already miss just being away from it all on a cruise. So we will probably end up booking something else later in the year. Trying not to repeat a ship again. Well we kinda are on Sunshine, because our 2nd was Destiny, but they ship was completely redone so we shouldn't even recognize it. Well enjoy our tour around the MSC Divina.
Here is a list of the complaints that people had from our October MSC Divina cruise and here is what we have to say about it now.
Food: Last time we really enjoyed the food and variety of the food, however it could have had more options at night. This time around the food is still cooked to what you want, but variety was lacking a lot. Still no options much at night leaving the night owls hungry and only a sandwich and a lacking room service menu.
Service: Last time service was pretty good with other times taking forever. Also special requests weren't happening on this trip. This time around it was pretty much the same with lunch and dinner taking forever. Breakfast wasn't too bad. But one afternoon we just went for coffee and dessert, it took about 45 minutes. 20 minutes waiting for coffee that was right behind us. Getting special things to your meal like replacing fries with a baked potato or instead of a regular cheesecake you wanted no sauce on it. They were able to do it and just about every request we had we got without any issues at all, very impressed with the turnaround on that. Our dinner team was amazing, lead by our waiter Win and his assistant (we forgot his name) they were outstanding. They did get hell from the two tables behind us but overall an amazing job from them both. Now this was a first in our 19 cruises. Our first night I (Patrick) would go through water like there was no tomorrow, where I would just tell them to fill up both glasses. So what do they do? They get me a large glass and every night of the cruise they had it waiting for me at the table. Now my brother enjoy's his bread and would take a few everynight. What do they do, they made sure our own basket of bread was at the table for him, yet still coming around to see if we wanted more. They really were amazing!
Language Barrier: Last time the language was a HUGE issue on the ship with guests and crew. This time it wasn't a huge deal. Like I said above the crew was more than helpful and they understood all of the requests people had. Our cruise was not full of European travelers like it was last time. This time we had many Americans and many from South America. We met some great people throughout the cruise and also met some real rude people. Very disgusted at some of the stuff we heard and saw from other guests.
Announcements: Last time and this time were the same, everything was in one language (English). Unless it was the Muster Drills or other important messages.
Slippery Decks: Last time we heard of people falling because of the pool decks were so slippery. We got on last time and proved that was wrong and it really wasn't too bad. This time around in the indoor pool they added some mats for a little extra protection. Still be cautious. Other than that this trip we can't being to count how many people we saw that tripped or fell around the ship because they didn't watch where they were walking. So be careful around the ship and "Watch Your Step!". Have to also say if it takes you 10 minutes to walk down the stairs in the show lounge, maybe you shouldn't be going down that far because people won't wait for to go back up without knocking you over. So let me quickly explain. This lady who had trouble walking and needed assistance getting down in the main show lounge wanted to sit at the front of the lounge. To get there you have to walk down a bit. So I watched her walk step by step by step down. Finally she get's to the place where the ship usually have someone telling you to watch your step. So I saw her and she didn't pay attention and fell. So I along with some others ran over to help her up. But people please don't force your body to do things you shouldn't be doing. A ship is large and you can get hurt very quickly if you don't pay attention. It's not that easy to get treated there, so just be careful.
Pros
Cons
- Lack of activities for guests. We found more enjoyment playing uno in the sports lounge than anything that the ship had to offer. I get most people get off the ship but people do stay on, it would be nice to have something available to do for them. Also sea days get some more demos in the mix.
Aqua Park (Tritone & Poseidon Bars)
This is the main pool on the MSC Divina. Forward you will find the Indoor Pool and aft you will find the Infinity Pool. The pools did get crowded at times, other times empty. Also be aware of the chair hogs!
Atrium
Below is the main part of any ship, the atrium. This one is very beautiful with it's crystal staircase, great for photos! Did I mention you have a bar near by?
Black & White Lounge
I'm thinking MSC needs to get some comedy onboard it's Caribbean sailings and this lounge would be the perfect place to do it. It was used for tons of other events and is very large with a bar.
Caffe Italia
Here is one of the cafes on board the MSC Divina. The other being in the Piazza, which also has shakes available. This one is located near the atrium is perfect on a quiet sea day.
Calumet & Manitiou Buffet
Buffet was never the shining aspects of the Divina. It may be one of the largest at sea but might also have the least amount of options. Not impressed with the selection at all, pretty bad that the only thing that satisfied us was hour cold hot dogs. Now we got them hot they just tasted better cold. Also the pizza wasn't as good this time around, but still better than Carnival. Now since I mentioned Carnival, they might want to make the pizza's bigger like MSC, just so it's not one pizza per person and people leave half of it uneaten. This one they have it perfect with the portions. Also another problem I have with this massive buffet, it should be open longer. I can't tell you how many times we went down and most of it was closed in one area or another. Also get some more late night options available would be nice. They have pizza till 11pm or so and make your own sandwich until 2am but when my selection is 3 cheeses, tomatoes, lettuce, salami and mortadella I'm not a fan of that. Especially when I can't even make the damn thing myself, when it clearly states in the daily guide "MAKE YOUR OWN SANDWICH".
Casino Veneziano
The casino wasn't as busy as most of the other lines, pretty empty for the most part. My brother did win at the blackjack table which was good.
Cozumel, Mexico
Our one and only port this trip. Which was our second time in this location (numerous in Cozumel). Again once you get off the ship and take the long walk (below) or give the bike guys $5 and have them take you down. Once you get past that you come into the mall area which has a ton of shops to check out. We headed past Senor Frogs and Hooters down the road and checked out more shops. Overall the area is fine, tons of people around. Most of the ship we think got off and enjoyed Cozumel. Come to think about it we really didn't see too many excursions going out. We were offered besides the usual weed and tequila, tours and scooter rentals which we almost took them up on. No not the drugs and drinks but the tour. We will save that for next time. We also did have perfect weather here on this day, which is really funny because when we got home back to Florida it was record breaking heat and made Cozumel feel like Canada! I do tell a lot of people that Cozumel is much like Nassau. You have tons of shopping and the locals aren't too bad, most part friendly. So enjoy your time here if coming soon!
Divina Reception & Guest Services
Pending Review
Duty Free Shops
Shops were alright, didn't see too many deals here. Finally did get the model ship after last time not getting one. Only one missing is Disney Dream. Anyone going let us know!?!? :)
Eataly Steakhouse & Italia Ristorante
As you may remember last time, food wasn't the best here. This time we might have been better off eating here, however we did not get a chance to. Never checked to see if they serve water yet.
Excursion Office
Want to take an excursion? Here's the place to check them out.
Golden Jazz Bar
One of the many bars and lounges around the MSC Divina.
La Cantina di Bacco, Eataly Pizza & Wine Bar
Once again we have yet to see anyone actually getting pizza here. We did see a lot of people at night getting wine, they also have a wine making class which we heard a lot of great things about.
La Luna Piano Bar
Here is the piano bar on the ship which never really had people actually playing piano. Did have a great turnout for trivia. Maybe they should do it more often, heard they give out really good prizes.
Le Sirene Covered Pool
Here is the indoor pool that we been talking about. Also some game tables upstairs. The pool did have people but never too many. Kinda upset that none of the fountains were running, nor was the ones in the atrium either.
MSC Sports Arena
Sea days this place got packed, port days empty. They didn't have any balls available during the port days at the arena itself. I'm sure somewhere had the balls!
Pantheon Theatre
Squeaky chairs and great entertainment sum up this massive theatre. All though it is pretty large it has great viewing areas. Not too friendly for any person who may be handicap. Also people be careful walking in and out of here, I can't tell you how many people we saw that fell. The theme (60s & 70s) band Mellow Yellow (or Mountain Dew), or whatever they are called had two performances here on two nights of the cruise. Didn't affect us since they were both at 10:45 at night. Our shows that we had were good, missed some of the singers that were on the October sailing but the one singer that was still around was Enriquo (hopefully that's how his name is spelled), guy has a great voice and can adapt to any song and any language, very impressive. Below we have the available shows for this sailing and our thoughts.
Pirates: Spectacular acrobatic set in a world of Pirates.
Our cruise started off with Pirates, it is probably one of the most entertaining shows that MSC had to offer along with any other show on any other line. It was one of our favorites and a MUST SEE! Don't miss the show and even go twice and skip dinner.
The Witches of Paris: Fantastic choreography and amazing acrobatics including the Cancan. French Variety at its best.
This was another show, it was good very enjoyable.
Simply Italian: A modern representation of the most popular Italian songs.
The opera singers were different and the singing did not have the same presence here from them. They were good, but the ones from our last cruise were great. It was a great ending to our sailing. All the shows on MSC you have to check out each with it's own unique style.
Starwalker: A tribute to Michael Jackson. An energetic performance of Michael Jackson's most popular hits.
This time the show wasn't as good as the first time. Same songs but different singer. He was good, but like the opera singers the other one was great. If you're a Michael Jackson fan come and check it out.
Photo Shop
Take as many as you want, they will either end up here or or in someone else's home. Just kidding, that would be weird.
Piazza Del Doge
If you want coffee, ice cream or pastries this is the place for you. You will find that along with the surrounding shops all around you. Almost a mini Piazza within a ship concept.
Silver Lounge & Bar
One of the other bars around the ship.
Solarium
On one afternoon I went up here and not a single person was here. You will notice not many lounge chairs by the pools, but here are all of them. Also tons of hottubs. No one was even downstairs, I just walked on up and could have sat in anyone of the clamshell chairs that usually you have to pay for.
Sports Bar
Again, bowling useless and too expensive. Food did look good. Unless you're like us who spent about 4 hours playing uno and just brought your own food down from the buffet. Great place to come and relax. Also got our CD Andre and his assistant cutting a commercial during the day.
Stateroom 10253 (Interior)
Our room was an interior but a great size. Not small at all. Plenty of space for everything. I would have likes to see a few spots to hang our lanyards and a ottoman that opened up for dirty clothes. We did also get a bottle of wine our first day and took at and drank half I put it back in the room and the room steward must have took it for himself cause we never got the other half of that bottle. Speaking of him, he was usually always around. Wasn't the best. Also had a wet blanket one day and had them replace it. I don't even think it was him who did it. Also we did leave a drink ticket in the cabin for the transatlantic sailing so if you got it let us know and we hope you enjoyed your first drink on us. Hopefully the ticket isn't sitting with the other half of our bottle.
The Cigar Lounge
Smokers central. Kinda funny, no matter what time of day or night someone would always be in here.
The Garden Bar & Infinity Pool
Forgot that the infinity pool was much larger in the picture then in real life. Once you're in it's fine and won't even notice the size. It's perfect if you just want to stand up vs the main pool where you have to float around.
Video Arcade
Next to the adults casino here is the child-friendly version!
Villa Rossa & Black Crab Restaurant
Lunch usually took forever, seriously 45 minutes for a dessert and coffee, that was it. Also about 2 hours just for a regular lunch. Dinner did have a wait usually too but the two servers (Win and forgot the other guys name) were both amazing. They took extra special care of us. As you see in the below picture, a large glass of water and our own bread basket. There just about every night of the cruise because they know what we like! Never had that before. Food variety was lacking but everything was cooked perfectly. Sucks we were bumped into late dining due to the theme cruisers, but we lucked out with these two amazing waiters.
Water Slide
Slide on down! Looked like people were constantly getting stuck in the slide. Many had to crawl the last few feet to get out.
Daily Programs
Here are the Daily Programs from our trip on the MSC Diviva.
Well here we are again after our 2nd trip on the MSC Divina. As you remember from our last trip, the cruise was absolutely amazing, not much to complain about. It was by far one of our best cruises yet, this time around....not so much. We were pretty disappointed at our trip this time around for several reasons.
We booked this cruise a few months before sailing and made it a short family cruise. Now after a month or so we learned that our sailing was a 60s & 70s themed cruise. Which if we knew this at the time of booking we would have never choose this and would have went with our 2nd option on Regal Princess. Well instead of eating the amount we paid we decided to go.
Getting to the port was actually very quick and easy. Jumped on I95 south and in no time we were at the port. Getting through security was a breeze, and that is pretty much the best part of that experience. Once we got into the terminal area it was a complete nuthouse! We never seen so many people in the terminal at that time (11am). We went to the deck and checked in and got our cards where we noticed our first mistake, we had 2nd seating dining. The desk said go to the main dining room onboard and fix it there. Which is a story later on. We were also told that the rooms wouldn't be ready until 3pm later today. Now I don't ever remember our last sailing having to wait until that late nor any other sailing on any other line. So we then went from the check in deck to find a seat and wait until we were called. Now getting there was just a battle. No one was moving an inch and people were just getting annoyed. Past noon everyone was wondering why we still weren't boarding yet. They finally got the call to start boarding shortly after 12:30. At that point we ended up somehow someway taking the escalator upstairs to board the ship.
Once we got upstairs we were trying to find a spot after the escalator since MSC's photographers decided it was best to do photos right off the escalators causing lines to back up. Now we never take these photos and were getting really pissed off at the crew for making everyone who didn't want pictures taken to have to wait for everyone else. They blocked it off so you had to wait. So we we're pretty frustrated at this point. Then as I was saying outloud that we don't want to do pictures and we just want to get on already a woman turned around and gave me that lovely evil eye! Well my thought was to get to the photo shop early and buy her photos and shred them and place them in front of her cabin door, but I was nice. So when they getting ready to take their pictures we were simply going to walk right past, nope the photographers were getting rude and literary put their hands on me to tell us not to go anywhere until they were finished taking the picture. Causing me to tell them to screw off and I wasn't taking any picture. So yea all and all MSC you might want to rethink putting the photography in a bad spot and not allowing people to pass. I get people want to do that and that is perfectly fine, but people like me just want to get on the ship already and settle down.
Now finally we get on the ship and head down to Guest Services. For the dining situation they said to just head to the main dining room once they are open and they will try and fix it. Okay, not a big deal we will take care of it then. The other question we had was why was it going to take until 3pm for the rooms to be ready? Um, simple and fair question I think. Well she said that they always have done that. I said we were on last October and we didn't wait until 3pm, that is something I think we would have remembered. She replied rudely and said well I been here since October and yes they have always been at that time frame. So I laughed and we headed upstairs.
Onto the buffet, well this time the most crowded it got was near any of the drink machines. Around the buffet it really wasn't too bad. Could also have been the lack of selection of food options. So needless to say we didn't really eat much this cruise.
So after lunch we said screw it and tried to go to our cabin. Our room was towards the back so take the elevators to deck 10 and get off and go to the port (left) side of the ship and our room was the first interior room. So we got there and as soon as we get to the cabin our room steward caught us. We asked if it was okay to go in and drop off our luggage, he said yes go right ahead. So we unpacked and hung out until the rest of our family got on board the ship. So once they did, they were two cabins down from us. Once we saw them we all went to the dining room to fix our dining reservation.
We got to the dining room and the maitre d's were unable to accommodate us. We said when we both booked in January we picked 1st seating. They said they cut it off in January. We call BS on that, didn't matter if we said last April they would have said it would have cut off then. So we later realized that the people on for the theme cruise took over first seating, screwing us up and having us not getting out of dinner until after 10pm. When we normally eat at 6pm on every single cruise. So yeah that was another bummer we encountered. It may not seem like much but when we have a show at 7pm and dinner at 8:45pm to 10:30pm that really kills the entire night of things we may have wanted to do. Normally we would eat at 6pm and then a show and still have most of the night to enjoy. Well the people for the theme cruise took over the night clubs and some other activities which caused us to have nothing to do after dinner.
Overall the MSC Divina is starting to show wear and tear throughout the ship, which over time does happen but MSC really needs to think about getting her back into drydock in the next few years.
We did make the best we could have of this cruise. Our family that we traveled with really did help keep us entertained. We wish we could have showed them a better time on MSC Divina, but maybe next year we can do this again, but maybe on another line. I really don't think we will be sailing on MSC anytime soon. For now we don't have anything booked until next April (Carnival Sunshine), but that is as of now. Even though we didn't have a great time we already miss just being away from it all on a cruise. So we will probably end up booking something else later in the year. Trying not to repeat a ship again. Well we kinda are on Sunshine, because our 2nd was Destiny, but they ship was completely redone so we shouldn't even recognize it. Well enjoy our tour around the MSC Divina.
Here is a list of the complaints that people had from our October MSC Divina cruise and here is what we have to say about it now.
Food: Last time we really enjoyed the food and variety of the food, however it could have had more options at night. This time around the food is still cooked to what you want, but variety was lacking a lot. Still no options much at night leaving the night owls hungry and only a sandwich and a lacking room service menu.
Service: Last time service was pretty good with other times taking forever. Also special requests weren't happening on this trip. This time around it was pretty much the same with lunch and dinner taking forever. Breakfast wasn't too bad. But one afternoon we just went for coffee and dessert, it took about 45 minutes. 20 minutes waiting for coffee that was right behind us. Getting special things to your meal like replacing fries with a baked potato or instead of a regular cheesecake you wanted no sauce on it. They were able to do it and just about every request we had we got without any issues at all, very impressed with the turnaround on that. Our dinner team was amazing, lead by our waiter Win and his assistant (we forgot his name) they were outstanding. They did get hell from the two tables behind us but overall an amazing job from them both. Now this was a first in our 19 cruises. Our first night I (Patrick) would go through water like there was no tomorrow, where I would just tell them to fill up both glasses. So what do they do? They get me a large glass and every night of the cruise they had it waiting for me at the table. Now my brother enjoy's his bread and would take a few everynight. What do they do, they made sure our own basket of bread was at the table for him, yet still coming around to see if we wanted more. They really were amazing!
Language Barrier: Last time the language was a HUGE issue on the ship with guests and crew. This time it wasn't a huge deal. Like I said above the crew was more than helpful and they understood all of the requests people had. Our cruise was not full of European travelers like it was last time. This time we had many Americans and many from South America. We met some great people throughout the cruise and also met some real rude people. Very disgusted at some of the stuff we heard and saw from other guests.
Announcements: Last time and this time were the same, everything was in one language (English). Unless it was the Muster Drills or other important messages.
Slippery Decks: Last time we heard of people falling because of the pool decks were so slippery. We got on last time and proved that was wrong and it really wasn't too bad. This time around in the indoor pool they added some mats for a little extra protection. Still be cautious. Other than that this trip we can't being to count how many people we saw that tripped or fell around the ship because they didn't watch where they were walking. So be careful around the ship and "Watch Your Step!". Have to also say if it takes you 10 minutes to walk down the stairs in the show lounge, maybe you shouldn't be going down that far because people won't wait for to go back up without knocking you over. So let me quickly explain. This lady who had trouble walking and needed assistance getting down in the main show lounge wanted to sit at the front of the lounge. To get there you have to walk down a bit. So I watched her walk step by step by step down. Finally she get's to the place where the ship usually have someone telling you to watch your step. So I saw her and she didn't pay attention and fell. So I along with some others ran over to help her up. But people please don't force your body to do things you shouldn't be doing. A ship is large and you can get hurt very quickly if you don't pay attention. It's not that easy to get treated there, so just be careful.
Pros
- The last morning of the cruise we were had a set time to
get off and we were heading off exactly at that time. Off the ship and through
customs in no time at all.
- Our waiters were amazing. Never in all of our previous 18 cruises did they get to know what we liked for our meals. For example I drink water like a camel and my brother likes his bread. What do they do, they make sure a large full glass and a basket of bread is on the table before we get there every night also another glass and coming around with more bread. I don't care if they know my name I care about how they treat us and they treated us very well!
- Our room was very spacious for an interior, tons of space for everything.
- Our CD Andre was good, same as our last trip.
- The shows were amazing, some of the best by far. They are all a must see so make sure you go and check them out.Cons
- The terminal was insane. So many people all over the
place. No announcements were made for boarding.
- The photography staff in the terminal was set up in a
horrible spot and were very rude to people (like us) who just wanted to pass by
and not take pictures. They made us wait for everyone to go through one at a
time.
- The ship is starting to show many signs of wear and tear. Shouldn't be that bad this soon.
- Not much variety of food both in the dining room and at
the buffet.
- Loud neighbors, omg would they not shut the front door! We have about 3 or 4 cabins next to and across from us that wouldn't shut up. Day and night, between noises of sex, babies crying and doors slamming I just wanted to smack the people in the head. We were all just sick and tired of it.
- Rude guest services staff when asking questions. I asked why the cabins won't be ready until 3pm she said they always been like that. Our last trip I know we didn't wait until 3pm she insisted that since she's been on in October they have been. I said nope, we were here too and they were not.
- Dining Reservations got switched due to the theme cruisers. Really pissed us off, between that and them taking over the nightclub and theatre on some nights made us feel like we should have just stayed home.
- Didn't realize it was a theme cruise until after booking. Also a nudist group took over the Yacht Club (didn't even notice it), also a ton of swingers on this cruise. Which you got the feel of it while talking to people around the ship.
- Room steward took our half bottle and never returned it. We didn't care because we got the bottle for free but still. Something was up with that guy. He was fine one moment and snippy the next to others.
- Encountered tons of very rude passengers. When you're just standing in the way and I say excuse me because I'm trying to pass, please move over. Or you get moved.
- Saw a couple encounters between guests that almost got
physical. On the last night of the cruise my brother and myself were walking from the Casino to the main dining room and two guys were just yelling and screaming and ready to fight each other. I'll pass I'm not getting banned from cruising. Seemed like tons of people were testy on the ship.
- Didn't like that most of the activates at night catered to
the theme cruise. 60s and 70s this, that and the other. I didn't pay for that. If I knew that before booking we wouldn't have.- Lack of activities for guests. We found more enjoyment playing uno in the sports lounge than anything that the ship had to offer. I get most people get off the ship but people do stay on, it would be nice to have something available to do for them. Also sea days get some more demos in the mix.
Aqua Park (Tritone & Poseidon Bars)
This is the main pool on the MSC Divina. Forward you will find the Indoor Pool and aft you will find the Infinity Pool. The pools did get crowded at times, other times empty. Also be aware of the chair hogs!
Atrium
Below is the main part of any ship, the atrium. This one is very beautiful with it's crystal staircase, great for photos! Did I mention you have a bar near by?
Black & White Lounge
I'm thinking MSC needs to get some comedy onboard it's Caribbean sailings and this lounge would be the perfect place to do it. It was used for tons of other events and is very large with a bar.
Caffe Italia
Here is one of the cafes on board the MSC Divina. The other being in the Piazza, which also has shakes available. This one is located near the atrium is perfect on a quiet sea day.
Calumet & Manitiou Buffet
Buffet was never the shining aspects of the Divina. It may be one of the largest at sea but might also have the least amount of options. Not impressed with the selection at all, pretty bad that the only thing that satisfied us was hour cold hot dogs. Now we got them hot they just tasted better cold. Also the pizza wasn't as good this time around, but still better than Carnival. Now since I mentioned Carnival, they might want to make the pizza's bigger like MSC, just so it's not one pizza per person and people leave half of it uneaten. This one they have it perfect with the portions. Also another problem I have with this massive buffet, it should be open longer. I can't tell you how many times we went down and most of it was closed in one area or another. Also get some more late night options available would be nice. They have pizza till 11pm or so and make your own sandwich until 2am but when my selection is 3 cheeses, tomatoes, lettuce, salami and mortadella I'm not a fan of that. Especially when I can't even make the damn thing myself, when it clearly states in the daily guide "MAKE YOUR OWN SANDWICH".
Casino Veneziano
The casino wasn't as busy as most of the other lines, pretty empty for the most part. My brother did win at the blackjack table which was good.
Cozumel, Mexico
Our one and only port this trip. Which was our second time in this location (numerous in Cozumel). Again once you get off the ship and take the long walk (below) or give the bike guys $5 and have them take you down. Once you get past that you come into the mall area which has a ton of shops to check out. We headed past Senor Frogs and Hooters down the road and checked out more shops. Overall the area is fine, tons of people around. Most of the ship we think got off and enjoyed Cozumel. Come to think about it we really didn't see too many excursions going out. We were offered besides the usual weed and tequila, tours and scooter rentals which we almost took them up on. No not the drugs and drinks but the tour. We will save that for next time. We also did have perfect weather here on this day, which is really funny because when we got home back to Florida it was record breaking heat and made Cozumel feel like Canada! I do tell a lot of people that Cozumel is much like Nassau. You have tons of shopping and the locals aren't too bad, most part friendly. So enjoy your time here if coming soon!
Cruise Consultant
Book your next cruise here, not too much information available.
Divina Reception & Guest Services
Pending Review
Duty Free Shops
Shops were alright, didn't see too many deals here. Finally did get the model ship after last time not getting one. Only one missing is Disney Dream. Anyone going let us know!?!? :)
Eataly Steakhouse & Italia Ristorante
As you may remember last time, food wasn't the best here. This time we might have been better off eating here, however we did not get a chance to. Never checked to see if they serve water yet.
Excursion Office
Want to take an excursion? Here's the place to check them out.
Golden Jazz Bar
One of the many bars and lounges around the MSC Divina.
La Cantina di Bacco, Eataly Pizza & Wine Bar
Once again we have yet to see anyone actually getting pizza here. We did see a lot of people at night getting wine, they also have a wine making class which we heard a lot of great things about.
La Luna Piano Bar
Here is the piano bar on the ship which never really had people actually playing piano. Did have a great turnout for trivia. Maybe they should do it more often, heard they give out really good prizes.
Le Sirene Covered Pool
Here is the indoor pool that we been talking about. Also some game tables upstairs. The pool did have people but never too many. Kinda upset that none of the fountains were running, nor was the ones in the atrium either.
MSC Sports Arena
Sea days this place got packed, port days empty. They didn't have any balls available during the port days at the arena itself. I'm sure somewhere had the balls!
Pantheon Theatre
Squeaky chairs and great entertainment sum up this massive theatre. All though it is pretty large it has great viewing areas. Not too friendly for any person who may be handicap. Also people be careful walking in and out of here, I can't tell you how many people we saw that fell. The theme (60s & 70s) band Mellow Yellow (or Mountain Dew), or whatever they are called had two performances here on two nights of the cruise. Didn't affect us since they were both at 10:45 at night. Our shows that we had were good, missed some of the singers that were on the October sailing but the one singer that was still around was Enriquo (hopefully that's how his name is spelled), guy has a great voice and can adapt to any song and any language, very impressive. Below we have the available shows for this sailing and our thoughts.
Our cruise started off with Pirates, it is probably one of the most entertaining shows that MSC had to offer along with any other show on any other line. It was one of our favorites and a MUST SEE! Don't miss the show and even go twice and skip dinner.
This was another show, it was good very enjoyable.
The opera singers were different and the singing did not have the same presence here from them. They were good, but the ones from our last cruise were great. It was a great ending to our sailing. All the shows on MSC you have to check out each with it's own unique style.
This time the show wasn't as good as the first time. Same songs but different singer. He was good, but like the opera singers the other one was great. If you're a Michael Jackson fan come and check it out.
Photo Shop
Take as many as you want, they will either end up here or or in someone else's home. Just kidding, that would be weird.
Piazza Del Doge
If you want coffee, ice cream or pastries this is the place for you. You will find that along with the surrounding shops all around you. Almost a mini Piazza within a ship concept.
Silver Lounge & Bar
One of the other bars around the ship.
Solarium
On one afternoon I went up here and not a single person was here. You will notice not many lounge chairs by the pools, but here are all of them. Also tons of hottubs. No one was even downstairs, I just walked on up and could have sat in anyone of the clamshell chairs that usually you have to pay for.
Sports Bar
Again, bowling useless and too expensive. Food did look good. Unless you're like us who spent about 4 hours playing uno and just brought your own food down from the buffet. Great place to come and relax. Also got our CD Andre and his assistant cutting a commercial during the day.
Stateroom 10253 (Interior)
Our room was an interior but a great size. Not small at all. Plenty of space for everything. I would have likes to see a few spots to hang our lanyards and a ottoman that opened up for dirty clothes. We did also get a bottle of wine our first day and took at and drank half I put it back in the room and the room steward must have took it for himself cause we never got the other half of that bottle. Speaking of him, he was usually always around. Wasn't the best. Also had a wet blanket one day and had them replace it. I don't even think it was him who did it. Also we did leave a drink ticket in the cabin for the transatlantic sailing so if you got it let us know and we hope you enjoyed your first drink on us. Hopefully the ticket isn't sitting with the other half of our bottle.
The Cigar Lounge
Smokers central. Kinda funny, no matter what time of day or night someone would always be in here.
The Garden Bar & Infinity Pool
Forgot that the infinity pool was much larger in the picture then in real life. Once you're in it's fine and won't even notice the size. It's perfect if you just want to stand up vs the main pool where you have to float around.
Video Arcade
Next to the adults casino here is the child-friendly version!
Villa Rossa & Black Crab Restaurant
Lunch usually took forever, seriously 45 minutes for a dessert and coffee, that was it. Also about 2 hours just for a regular lunch. Dinner did have a wait usually too but the two servers (Win and forgot the other guys name) were both amazing. They took extra special care of us. As you see in the below picture, a large glass of water and our own bread basket. There just about every night of the cruise because they know what we like! Never had that before. Food variety was lacking but everything was cooked perfectly. Sucks we were bumped into late dining due to the theme cruisers, but we lucked out with these two amazing waiters.
Water Slide
Slide on down! Looked like people were constantly getting stuck in the slide. Many had to crawl the last few feet to get out.
Daily Programs
Here are the Daily Programs from our trip on the MSC Diviva.
(PROGRAMS COMING SOON)
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