MSC Divina, June 18-25, an NCL fan perspective

Since there are so many NCL regulars looking to branch out right now, I thought I'd give my perspective, as an NCL regular myself. My husband and I are Gold level currently on NCL, and not too terribly far from Platinum. We've sailed Sky, Breakaway, Getaway, and Escape. We prefer big ships for the variety of activities, but also like interesting itineraries and are looking to branch out a bit. We got a killer deal on MSC, and decided to take the plunge.

Pre-cruise- Stayed at the Hyatt Place Miami Airport. Very nice room, good breakfast choices. Had a first floor room near the breakfast area, so it was super easy to grab food and head back to the room to eat and have a leisurely morning before the shuttle pickup. Doral Transport was the shuttle, they also do a return. Very reasonable rates, $12 per person.

Day 1, Embarkation- Embarkation is very easy and quick. We got to the port on the shuttle around 11:15 or 11:30 and were onboard a little after noon. We were told that we didn't have to register a credit card yet, so we didn't until Day 2. This was our exploring day. Very confusing layout, there are just too many places where you can't go where you think you need to go, and need to either switch sides or go up/down a level. Got seated at a coveted table for two at our early seating, probably due to my food allergies. Very much appreciated though. Very sweet waiters; we have three, as opposed to the usual two. I get a special head waiter just for me, Ketut, who is awesome. The show was ok, decent singers, good dancers, minus one girl and one guy who just weren't at the same level as the rest. We were shocked at how empty the ship seemed. We couldn't figure out where everyone was! The bars weren't crowded, the dining room took a long time to fill, and the pools were relatively deserted.

Day 2, Sea Day- We went to the buffet for breakfast. Found everyone! What a madhouse! We nicknamed it the Thunderdome. It took eons to get anything, so once you did, the food was cold when you tried to eat it. Good luck finding somewhere to sit too. We ended up outside, which became our go-to plan. We decided the dining room was probably the better way to go, and went there for lunch. The wait staff didn't know what malt vinegar was, as the poor girl we were seated with found out when she ordered some to go with her fish and chips. She was long done with her lunch by the time they found it in the buffet. Tonight was formal night, and most people did dress up. Those that didn't looked very out of place! We went to the CC meetup, and met some very nice guys (Hi Brian and Kevin!). The crew member who met us at the beginning said that they were trying to make the CC meetups more like how Royal Caribbean does them. They want feedback of 3 good things and 1 thing they can improve on. He was very insistent that they didn't want a rant, just constructive criticism. I got the feeling they've been reading the negative reviews on CC, which are indeed quite rant-y. I got an Aurea Del Mara massage (heated shells) this afternoon, which was quite relaxing. Like a hot stone massage, but without the heft of the stones. I think I still prefer hot stones, but the shells were a nice change of pace, and at half price, similar in price to a comparable time for a plain massage at my regular hometown spa. Dinner was surf and turf, very tasty! The show was The Amazing Mask, which I admit I didn't have high hopes for. It was a lot better than I expected! They didn't try to hold to the movie plot, which I think saved it. We went to the Black and White Lounge to watch the dancing after that. The dance competition was cute, somewhat different from the NCL version, a little more on the serious side, but just as fun to watch.

Day 3, Sea Day- Another very relaxing day. We braved the Thunderdome for breakfast, then hit the pool deck. We timed the buffet lunch very poorly. From about 11:30-12, there's the dregs of breakfast, but lunch isn't available yet. If you want anything besides fruit and pastries, you have to wait until noon when they take away the plastic covering everything. At 1 we had a couples massage, which was lovely. We were invited to hang out with the LGBT folks by Brian and Kevin, and met some great people there, who we tended to run into/hang out with the rest of the cruise. Dinner was prime rib, very tasty! We finished early, which is probably due to our easy table for two. We caught the first showing of the Voices show, which was good. Our problem then though, is that our timing was thrown off for the rest of the night. Every time we went to a bar to listen to the musicians, they went on break. We bounced from one to another, and each time, the musicians left within a few minutes. We decided that we shouldn't do the first showing again. It just threw off everything else. We stayed for the beginning of the Flower Glory party. It was flower power themed, but 70's and 80's music, which of course isn't really the flower power era. It was a little weird.

Day 4, St. Maarten- We did the Orient Beach Break through the ship, which included transport, beach chairs, drinks, and lunch. The beach was lovely, though stormy. The wind would kick up, then it would rain super hard, then the sun would come back out. The water was great, lots of waves to play in. We got a little too much sun, but overall, it was a fantastic excursion. The Divina was all alone in port today, which meant nothing was crowded at all, and our beach had really just people from our own ship. We met a fascinating family from Brazil and had lunch with them. We came back and took a nap and nursed our sunburns. After drinks with our friends, we had a nice dinner and went to the early show again, in hopes of catching the soccer game at 9. No soccer though, they didn't get that channel. We finally got a chance to bowl, but one lane was broken, and stayed that way the entire cruise. We took in some music at karaoke and at the Divina bar. Then the White Party that night. The party is quite a bit different from NCL's version. Nearly everyone on the ship wore white, or partially white, and the music was a dance lesson really, with group dances from around the world. There was even a bonus performance by the singers and dancers from the theatre. Nicely done!

Day 5, San Juan, Puerto Rico- We woke up early and had our walking tour excursion. We visited two forts, El Morro and San Cristobal, and walked around Old San Juan, which is actually a separate island of its own. It's absolutely beautiful, and of course the views from the forts are stunning. I have to say though, if you're going to sign up for a walking tour, be sure you can actually handle the walking! There were a number of people who clearly couldn't deal with the amount of walking, and our poor tour guide was clearly annoyed. Seriously people, it's a walking tour of Old San Juan. It's A LOT of walking. Don't spend the money if you can't hack it! We came back and had lunch in the dining room, then napped and hung out on the balcony. Our neighbors were awful, which was unfortunate. Loud and obnoxious. Not even sure they were drunk, just obnoxious. So much unnecessary yelling! They drove us nuts the entire week. We had a good dinner at Italian Night. We noticed that not as many people dressed in the recommended red, white, and green as they did the white yesterday. Everyone participated yesterday, but today had probably more people not participating than there were actually participating. (We did dress in appropriate Italian colors.) The show was pretty good, not terrific, but not bad.

Day 6, Sea Day- A relaxing day today. We woke up late, had breakfast in the buffet, and headed to La Sirene, the indoor pool, to hang out without the sun. It's a bit loud, since it has a cover and echoes, but the shade was much appreciated. Had lunch, then just went back to hang out on the balcony for a while. The afternoon was the opera and a massage before dinner. The opera was solid. It was a portion of La Traviata, which I've seen before. Solid performances, and the two principals did a good job of acting the songs, and connecting with the emotion of the story. (My biggest pet peeve in opera is "park and bark", or just standing there singing the song without acting it at all.) The massages were great as always. We probably got just as many massages as we would have with one of the pre-purchase packages, but we used their daily specials instead, which were just as good price-wise, and we got only the specific types we wanted. There were such great daily specials every day, it seemed a shame not to take them up on it! The half off shell massage the other day was probably the steal of the week. Dinner was lobster, and it was cooked perfectly. The evening's show, Treasure Island, was probably my favorite so far. Pirates! Lots of great acrobatics and strength moves. Hit up the casino after for a while, and Galaxy briefly (see below). Then just back to the balcony.

Day 7, Nassau- We've been to Nassau many times, and have pretty much done what we wanted to do there, so we usually just stay on the ship now and use the day as an extra sea day. I wish this could have been a private island day instead, especially knowing that MSC uses NCL's private island, Great Stirrup Cay, until their own is complete. We stayed onboard, hanging out at the nearly empty infinity pool deck, and on our balcony. There were three large ships in port, so it was pretty crazy out there, and we were glad we stayed onboard instead of dealing with the crowd. We had dinner, and shortly after, there was an announcement that we were turning around and heading back to Nassau for a medical emergency evacuation. At the time, they said it shouldn't affect us too badly getting off in Miami. Saw the Michael Jackson show and it was quite good. Mostly dancing of course, and the lead did a great impersonation. Took some time to walk the decks and hang out on the balcony again for the last time before heading home.

Day 8, Disembarkation- The medical emergency set us back longer than they thought it would, so we were told at around 7:30 not to go to our disembarkation meeting places until 45 minutes after scheduled. Too bad our meeting time was 7:00 and we were already there. Oh well. Our flight wasn't until noon, so we had plenty of time for the delay. Other people I'm sure weren't as lucky. We waited around, either in the casino meeting place or in line at the Piazza Del Doge to disembark for 3 hours past our original meeting time to finally get off the ship. We got to the airport shortly after 10:30 and had enough time to make it through security and grab a quick lunch before we boarded. It definitely reiterated the old advice though. Don't even think about booking a flight before noon on disembarkation day! When everything goes well, you'll sit around the airport for a while, but if even the tiniest thing goes wrong, you could be screwed.

NCL differences- Dining is of course the major difference. While I do prefer getting to come and go as I please on NCL, I have to admit that having one set of waiters all the time who can watch out for my dietary needs is wonderful. They even called me to Reception to check on me halfway through the cruise to make sure everything was ok. They do a fantastic job with my allergies, and I commend them. It's also really nice not to have to preorder dinner like I do on NCL. I just get a whole separate menu each meal, with the normal meals that can be made GF. It makes you feel less oddball. Sure, my choices are more limited, but just the fact that I can go in, order off a menu that has actual choices, and eat, without any question about ingredients, is truly wonderful. I know "normal" folks won't really care, or even understand, but anyone with a major food allergy will understand how rare that is. Thanks Ketut for being an amazing waiter!

I like the pool setup better on Divina than the -Away ships. It's much easier to get a chair too. The balconies are bigger on Divina as well. Not huge, but not as crazy tiny as Getaway/Breakaway. The cabin itself seemed slightly larger too.

The premium drink package is fabulous! We could get whatever we wanted, wherever we wanted, including the minibar in the cabin, which we used, plus gelato and specialty coffee. We got receipts, so I'll have to total them to see how we made out. I'm pretty sure we made the right call, though I think we probably could have done just as well with the Classic package too. We got many glasses of the excluded-from-Classic wines, and a few top shelf drinks, but we could have stuck with the Classic stuff if we had to. Having the minibar available is a great addition, as is having a large bottle of sparkling water to share at dinner.

Random other thoughts- Language seems to be a barrier for many of the crew. Sometimes it can be tough to get what you want if you can't ask for it in another language or point to a menu item. Even then, sometimes it can be tough! (Malt vinegar!) Much of the crew and passengers are so multi lingual, finding the right match is sometimes hard. I ended up with an Italian gluten free menu 3 times over the week. I can read enough French to figure it out, and asked for the English one when necessary, but still. You'd think that asking for a special menu in English would be enough to get the English menu delivered, but it isn't always.

We got the $60 entertainment pass for the bowling, 4D theatre and F1 simulator. As long as you do at least one thing a day for two people, you should break even. We felt it was a good purchase. With one lane down for bowling though, it was tough to play sometimes.

The itinerary is amazing. Also rare. They said at the CC meetup that this cruise had a higher than usual amount of Americans, thanks to the unique itinerary and having so many sea days. We chose it for the ports of St. Maarten and Puerto Rico, but the sea days are awesome and we did indeed like having so many.

The shows are good, but the lighting is terrible. They rely too much on spotlights and ignore regular front light, so you can't see anyone if they aren't being spotlighted. Tough when there are multiple featured performers. Oddly, we noticed that during the final show, there was front light being used with no problem. Maybe that one had a different lighting designer? My husband and I are both in the theatre industry, so we notice things like that, so it might not bug others as much as it did us. We really wanted to see the dancers more clearly.

It's definitely a quieter cruise, with less go go go. With no massive sports deck/ropes course/etc., there's more emphasis on hearing musicians at night and hanging out in the lounges. Not that that's a bad thing, on the contrary, it's great, just different.

The casino is ridiculously tight in terms of the slots. Yikes! There are a couple machines where you can play for a while with tiny gains, but it eats everything in the end without any major payouts. I didn't wind up spending all of my gambling money that I'd set aside. It just wasn't fun anymore.

Kids were everywhere! We normally cruise in January or May, when most are still in school. There are kids around, but fewer. This time, it seemed that every time we tried to go to a dance party or club or something, there were little kids and strollers. I don't have kids, don't plan to ever have kids, and don't really like kids much. I can deal with them when I have to, I just prefer to be places I don't have to deal with them. Going to a club past 11 PM I would assume would fit into that category, but apparently not. We went to Galaxy one night past 11 and there were parents pushing strollers for goodness sake! We left and spent the evening on our balcony instead. I definitely prefer NCL's rules of no kids in certain places after a specific time.

There are mirrors everywhere. Sometimes we would walk down a hallway and think there was a turn, or people, but it was just ourselves in the mirror. Amusing, but at the same time, disorienting. The ship is completely stunning though. Easily the prettiest ship we've ever sailed. The artwork inside is beautiful. (And very helpful as landmarks!)

Disembarkation is absurdly early. Having to be out of your cabin by 7 AM is painful! I think NCL at least gives you until 8 or 9 until they kick you out. One bonus though is (assuming everything goes as planned, unlike our experience) that if you carry your own bags, which we always do, you just grab your stuff and go, instead of having to sit and wait in a lounge until your color is called. Seems like a giant waste of time to be out of your cabin by 7, but have to sit in a random lounge with a ton of other people for two hours until you're allowed to leave.

Overall, we had a wonderful time, and we would absolutely consider another cruise with MSC. We'll have to check out Seaside next!

I think that's about it! I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has.

Thank you for your review.

Did you mention what category cabin you were in? I didn't see it.:confused:

OK, nevermind, I see it. Balcony, right?

Sounds like an excellent cruise, thank for sharing.:)

Aixia... sounds like you had a great week!

We leave next week for a short 4 night trip. Curious... what food was on your GF menu? My 3 y/o has a gluten sensitivity and i am a little nervous about what is available. He isn't very picky, which is a good thing.

Thanks.

We had a Fantastica balcony, a B1 I believe. We found it quite comfortable for the week.

GFamily, the food for kids might be quite different, I don't know. The gf pasta was quite good, it was clearly a blend and not plain rice pasta, which was definitely a plus. For dinner, I usually had on my menu two main entree options, and usually one or two appetizers, a single salad option, a pasta, a risotto, and dessert. Dessert options were fruit, cheese, or cake, and the cake changed each day. I thought the menus were quite varied actually (for gf), with lots of different fish, meat, and vegetarian choices throughout the week. Lunches were usually pasta or risotto for me, plus the salad. There is an always available side to the menu, which had very basic stuff like chicken breast and veggies. If your child isn't picky, you'll probably have no trouble finding something they can eat. Just don't walk by the pizza station in the buffet, it'll be depressing. No gf pizza. :-( The baguette style bread though is amazing. The sliced white bread is certainly fine, but get the baguette slices with dinner. Yum!

Thank you for your review, I think you are first with the ncl angle, did you do a status match?

Thanks very much for your comprehensive review, very enjoyable and easy to read. We've booked a B3 balcony (Aurea) on the Seaside and quite sure we'll be happy with it too.

Glad you had an enjoyable cruise even with all the little annoyances.

Aixia... thank you sooo much. Sounds like my kiddo will be just fine! Glad they have GF pasta and breads since i know my older son will be ordering lots of it and didnt want the little one to be sad about his options (it is not easy since he is too young to understand). I was a little upset that they dont have GF pizza though. But, from what you are saying, their options are much more plentiful than we have had in other places so i am excited. Thanks again!

Thanks for the review.

I was on the same cruise. I agree with most of your assessments and opinions.

There is no greater truth though to a few points you made - the buffet is so large and diverse you feel obligated to walk the whole thing, then your food is cold when you finally get to eat it. I gave up on scrambled eggs because no matter what I did they were cold at the table. The other right on point issue was the language barriers with the crew.

I feel like we had the same neighbors... Only ours smoked on their balcony, and despite the crew making a point to attempt to catch them, they just got better about sneaking around. Ugh!

My biggest problem was my stateroom host. I have only sailed with DCL, and we have always had our room hosts morph into adopted family by the end of the trip. This time, he skipped us several times and didn't make up the room til 2 (honestly why bother?), ignored maintenance issues (broken shower door), and never left us pool towels. I can count on one hand the number of times we interacted with him in the whole 8 days we were on board.

We didn't self-assist for disembark, and by the time we got off the ship and thru customs, it was 11:30. Was super glad to be driving home and not worried about flights. I felt they could have done a better job explaining to people that the color thing was not a crowd control measure, but rather the indicator that luggage would be removed from the ship. Impatient people in baggage made things very stressful.

My teenager, by the way, said she liked the Divina more than Disney. Shocked me, to be honest. But she knows her cruises....

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Thanks for taking the time to write a review! I am taking away several key points that will enhance my time on the Divina!

We were on the same cruise, and had some similar experiences. While I agree that the buffet was large and chaotic, we actually thought the food and selection were excellent! For me, it was the pizza that was always cold by the time I got back to my seat!

We thought that in some cases, the buffet food was better than the dining room food, especially the pastas. There were some excellent dining room meals (surf and turf, for one). The one food that was consistently excellent were the deserts...oh my goodness were they good!

We also never saw our room steward the whole week. The difference was that he did an excellent job and took care of all issues. (We would leave him a note if we needed something, and he took care of it.)

Overall, though, we loved the ship. There were some differences from the US mainstream lines, but nothing that was much of a deal breaker.

The late disembarkation was a bit of a mess, although I think it was exaggerated by people generally not listening to instructions. I also wish MSC had explained the luggage situation, as well as maybe encouraged people that were concerned about missing flights to do the self-assist.

No real complaints...if the price is right, and the ship is going where I want to go, I'll book MSC again for sure!

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Thanks for the review, a great read! :D

Nice review. Will certainly consider MSC in future.

Thank you for your comparison review. Cannot wait until our first MSC cruise...we are actually thinking of squeezing one in, on the Divina.:) before our Seaside cruise.:)

I am a foodie . I been in too many good restaurants but I never heard about Malt vinegar. I had to google it. If you would mention gluten free vinegar probably your waiter would understand what you need .

Malt vinegar is a UK thing that you have on fish and chips!

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Wow Trish, you've been a busy beaver posting all of this. We've been so busy with other family obligations since we got back I'm trying to catch up on reading here. We enjoyed our cruise and pleasure meeting you two.

It's now Monday, Which way to the buffet?

:)

I feel like we had the same neighbors... Only ours smoked on their balcony, and despite the crew making a point to attempt to catch them, they just got better about sneaking around. Ugh!

 

My biggest problem was my stateroom host. I have only sailed with DCL, and we have always had our room hosts morph into adopted family by the end of the trip. This time, he skipped us several times and didn't make up the room til 2 (honestly why bother?), ignored maintenance issues (broken shower door), and never left us pool towels. I can count on one hand the number of times we interacted with him in the whole 8 days we were on board.

 

We didn't self-assist for disembark, and by the time we got off the ship and thru customs, it was 11:30. Was super glad to be driving home and not worried about flights. I felt they could have done a better job explaining to people that the color thing was not a crowd control measure, but rather the indicator that luggage would be removed from the ship. Impatient people in baggage made things very stressful.

Our neighbors didn't smoke, so at least we had that going for us. They were just LOUD. Leaning over the balcony and yelling "We're on a f***ing cruise!" Over and over. Every day. Guys, if you are just realizing you're on a cruise on Day 5, you're doing something seriously wrong. Day 1, sure, fine, be excited. After that, calm down. And leave the portable speaker in your cabin, I don't need to hear you coming down the hallway from the lounges.

As far as the stewards went, ours was fine. We barely saw him, but had everything taken care of every day with no problems. Sorry you ended up with such a dud!

I appreciated how few announcements there were over the speakers, nothing harping on you about bingo games or gold sales or things like that. However, disembarkation is a totally different story. Please Andre, tell people what's going on! It was a complete mess, and some direction could have helped a lot.

I am a foodie . I been in too many good restaurants but I never heard about Malt vinegar. I had to google it. If you would mention gluten free vinegar probably your waiter would understand what you need .

Oh, the malt vinegar wasn't for me. (Malt vinegar isn't gluten free anyway, it's actually about the only one with gluten.) It was for someone we were seated with at lunch. The menu even specified "fish and chips with tartar sauce and malt vinegar" but there was no malt vinegar to be found, and none of the wait staff had a clue what it was. Bizarre. It's an extremely common condiment, especially with true British fish and chips.

Is breakfast and lunch avail in the main dining rooms as well as the buffet?

How were the drink prices?

Thank you for your review, I think you are first with the ncl angle, did you do a status match?

I did do the status match. We ended up Silver level on MSC, from Gold on NCL. NCL gives extra status points for booking 9 months out or more, which we usually get. MSC didn't match the extra points, just the cruises, so that's why the difference.

Wow Trish, you've been a busy beaver posting all of this. We've been so busy with other family obligations since we got back I'm trying to catch up on reading here. We enjoyed our cruise and pleasure meeting you two.

 

It's now Monday, Which way to the buffet?

:)

Ha! I have to admit, I wrote virtually all of this while onboard, so all I had to do was a little editing and post. Much easier that way!

Is breakfast and lunch avail in the main dining rooms as well as the buffet?

 

How were the drink prices?

Yes, breakfast and lunch were available in the main dining rooms. We tended to get up too late for an MDR breakfast since they close at 9 AM, so we only ate there twice I think. Lunch we did pretty much every day in the MDR.

Drink prices were extremely reasonable I thought. Granted, we had the package, so we weren't price picky. Wines were between $5-11 a glass, and mixed drinks around $5-8, depending on the drink of course. Beers I think were around $5, but we only ever got ones from our (included) mini-bar, so I'm not sure what the range really is.

When we did status match we got a card in the room saying we could stay in the room until 9AM. I think we left the room around 830