JColtonMason

23 days boarding in Valencia, Spain visiting Tarragona, Toulon, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Malaga, Tenerife, Funchal, 6 days at sea, St. Maarten, Tortola, and Puerto Rico, ending in Miami. Skipped Palma de Mallorca due to winds and added overnight in Malaga instead. Switched Funchal and Tenerife dates due to pilot boat strikes in Funchal. Pretty fascinating watching the ship and service shift from catering to Europeans to catering to Americans. Buffet got worse(rear half was closed after Europe) but MDR food got better(steak and large shrimp started showing up) but added on a $5 surcharge for any additional entrees in the MDR(didn't apply to our sailing). Dining times were also pushed earlier. Good: -Atlantic ocean was sunny and hot and smooth as glass during our entire 6 day southernly crossing -Amazing warm sunny weather overall except for a bit of rain in France and on a sea day after Puerto Rico and overcast in Rome -Ship is clean and well maintained for its age so long as you ignore the minute details -Dirt cheap fare, reasonable hotel service charge gratuities($276 per person iirc) -We had an interior room, MSC randomly upgraded us to a balcony room in Malaga right before the crossing. I did not put in a request, only found a message asking us to call the front desk -Lots of seafood that you would never get on other cruise lines. Sea bass labeled as grilled fish for breakfast, big-headed shrimp, squid and octopus, kilos of fresh mussels -Room still serviced twice a day -Easy embarkation and disembarkation. We did have to disembark in puerto rico for passport checks and couldn't get back on the ship until all passengers cleared but that meant we walked straight off in Miami without any passport checks. In Miami they even let us off 15 minutes earlier than posted for express walk off at 7:15am and we managed to catch an earlier flight at MIA departing at 8:43am(TSA was a long mess though) Bad: -In European ports MSC always charges you additional for transport from port to city center(e.g. Tarragona spain, Toulon france, and Malaga). Do your homework -Entertainment was terrible, often one man acts during most evenings with only 3 production shows entire cruise which were great(Elvis, the circus one) -Every announcement was done in 5 languages which was really long and annoying -2 of the days our hallway smelled like strong gasoline -Food is fine for the price, but not that good. Some are too salty and steak skewers too tough to chew -No lobster, no escargot, no shrimp cocktail, no french onion soup entire cruise. Their signature royal cake only showed up once -Most of MSC's beef, steaks, and veal leave a bloody iron aftertaste -Pizza wasn't as good as I had remembered -Communication. I know some were peeved about Funchal and Tenerife switching dates, we received 0 notice. When we switched cabins(very grateful) our new steward was not notified. Their letter about puerto rico's passport check was so badly worded that some of us didn't realize we couldn't get back on the ship until the entire ship has been cleared -The gym could use more treadmills and one more bench and heavier dumbells and a cable machine Random observations: -First cruise I've experienced where at every single port, passengers were embarking and disembarking which made for a weird experience. I'd make friends my age only for them to disappear rest of cruise. When we boarded the ship was full at 3000+, at times it dipped to 900, ultimately with approx. 1500 people doing the crossing which made the ship feel very empty -During the European leg, the ship demographic consisted mostly of Italians, French, and spanish-speaking passengers. As the cruise went on, more Americans started showing up. I'd say ultimately for the crossing the passengers were mostly American, spanish-speaking, or a surprisingly large amount of Italians. -Europeans can be perceived as rude as they don't say "sorry" or "excuse me", cut in lines, and gestures at you. Doesn't bother me at all. You can spot a polite American easily -No free soft serve or gelato; the only way you can get free ice cream is at dine in for lunch or dinner -3 of the ports we docked next to the Viking Sea ship, even across the atlantic. Guess they were doing the transatlantic as well. Overall had a great experience given the price paid and would recommend, although the food, service, and entertainment was below what I've experienced on the Divina and Meraviglia. Keep in mind this is the ship that MSC uses for its world cruises. I've also come to realize that cruising isn't for me any more. The demographic is too old and the pace is too slow. Thanks for reading!

I visited both Cartagena and Colon in October on the Divina. For Cartagena if you stay within the old city walls or bocagrande you should be fine; plenty of tourists walking around en mass. After exiting the aviary complex(which is fantastic, don't miss the 2 walk-in bird enclosures), I found and paid $5 to share a shuttle bus with a bunch of czechs to old town, and paid $15 for a solo taxi back to the port. Very aggressive vendors. I was offered coke multiple times. Side note: a diabetic old man fell in the water between the ship and the pier there and was saved by the crew. For Colon, the immediate areas surrounding the port looked pretty dangerous and completely run down. Police closed two roads one block from the port while the ship was there. I saw about a dozen cruise passengers walking around in the "bad" area. The port has very little to offer(2 casinos, a couple of restaurants, a subway, and a few stores). I walked out of the port gates to the taxis parked opposite and paid $40 for a round trip to the new locks with 3 hours of wait time at the locks. Duty free shop guy said I got ripped off, meh doubt I can do better looking like a tourist. I tried a few words in spanish and the locks admissions lady gave me the locals discount. At the locks there's a free white van that takes visitors to the lower viewing platform and back up. The drive to and from the locks was not as bad as I was expecting, and felt safer than near the port. Driver also gave me a brief detour of driving across that canal crossing bridge and checking out some of the views.