MSC Divina Reviews

Just been reading some of the reviews on this ship, and out of the first 10, 3 of the reviews are below average, but yet the reviews either claiming or giving the impression that they have cruised before...BUT

they only have ONE review...!!

Why choose to rate this cruise poorly? I cannot see where else they have cruised or what they are basing the review on... what about your other cruises ??

I do disregard these type of reviews as I can see through them. Surly as well as a helpful vote, a thumbs down or unhelpful can also bee awarded for what the reviewer posts ...

I sailed Divina back in 2014 in a regular balcony cabin. We thought the cabin was elegant, the bed very comfortable. Food is subjective but we thought it was really, really good. A voucher packet made the already reasonable drinks even more so. Lots and lots of venues to dance or listen to music. Beautiful ship! Extremely friendly staff. We sailed in the Yacht Club for the first time in August. OMG!! What a fantastic experience!! Have several more booked.

It seems Divina is a more European feel and way of doing things....and that rubs some people the wrong way. There will be a more diverse group of passengers; there will be announcements in many languages. I don't find that a problem either.

I have commented before that people seem more likely to write a review when something went wrong instead of reviewing a cruise when you had no problems. I'm guilty here myself! Not that I've written a complaining review....just not written any reviews really because I don't have pictures or menus to post and I'm not really into that. I do make a point of commenting on threads however. Whenever I mentioned this before I got jumped on and people pointed out the forum's name was Cruise Critic. Well, the definition of critic is:

a person who expresses an unfavorable opinion of something.

"critics say many schools are not prepared to handle the influx of foreign students"

synonyms: detractor, attacker, fault-finder, backseat driver, gadfly

"critics of the government"

2.

a person who judges the merits of literary, artistic, or musical works, especially one who does so professionally.

"a film critic"

synonyms: reviewer, commentator, evaluator, analyst, judge, pundit

"a literary critic"

That being the case, it does seem the point often of reviews is to be negative. I wish the name were more like TripAdvisor.

Regardless, we loved Divina!!

GaznPaula, I think that MSC is a great cruise and I think that some here are trying to keep that a secret because the prices are very, very low. JMO.

Hi

One thing you should consider about reviews is that they are just literary efforts and like all literary efforts, some are presented better than others.

A sure sign that a review won't be helpful is where you get broad generalizations, such as "The food was terrible, there was nothing that I could eat except for the hamburgers". I have seen this particular statement made more than once. It tells me nothing except that the person likes hamburgers.

People writing reviews really need to be specific, because they have to realize that something that isn't to their taste, might be exactly what someone else is looking for.

Some forget that the purpose of a review is convey information and not just a place to complain. The "complaint" review is for some, only a method for them to vent and usually their misfortune is specific to them, and unlikely to affect anyone else. Sometimes something bothered them early and every little thing will reinforce that feeling. Another statement I have seen in various forms " The cabin steward didn't do their job, I put a crumpled piece of paper on the vanity and he never threw it away!!!"

I am also surprised how often people are suggesting that the cruise line somehow are responsible for things not in their control. Amazing. The reality is that some reviews are bogus, bad or good by people who haven't used a product.

You can't question these people. That's the anonymity of the internet. Imagine small businesses that are affected by some disgruntled customer, fair or not posting negative reviews.

That is why you have to read between the lines and on this site for instance you can go to the MSC threads and ask specific questions that others who have recently sailed on a ship can confirm or deny.

Like a bell curve, throw out the best and worst reviews and reality will be somewhere in the middle.

have a great day

Ditto that!! I priced Yacht Club against a Celebrity suite (no private pool for suites) and NCL's Haven....$1500 and $1700 more respectively for the same week. Shhhh....

The ability to cruise is the ability to explore...Part of exploring is seeing new things, meeting new people and eating new things...

If you want the same as back home then why move, and then complain about say, too many foreigners ?? Different type of food...or even different nationalities...lol

As I say, why cannot there be a negative or thumbs down ?

If the people can take time to critique...then they can be criticized ...

I am on TA and we can get unfair reviews , reviewed, ...and espicially from 'one review wonders' lol

Hi

 

One thing you should consider about reviews is that they are just literary efforts and like all literary efforts, some are presented better than others.

 

A sure sign that a review won't be helpful is where you get broad generalizations, such as "The food was terrible, there was nothing that I could eat except for the hamburgers". I have seen this particular statement made more than once. It tells me nothing except that the person likes hamburgers.

 

People writing reviews really need to be specific, because they have to realize that something that isn't to their taste, might be exactly what someone else is looking for.

 

Some forget that the purpose of a review is convey information and not just a place to complain. The "complaint" review is for some, only a method for them to vent and usually their misfortune is specific to them, and unlikely to affect anyone else. Sometimes something bothered them early and every little thing will reinforce that feeling. Another statement I have seen in various forms " The cabin steward didn't do their job, I put a crumpled piece of paper on the vanity and he never threw it away!!!"

 

I am also surprised how often people are suggesting that the cruise line somehow are responsible for things not in their control. Amazing. The reality is that some reviews are bogus, bad or good by people who haven't used a product.

 

You can't question these people. That's the anonymity of the internet. Imagine small businesses that are affected by some disgruntled customer, fair or not posting negative reviews.

 

That is why you have to read between the lines and on this site for instance you can go to the MSC threads and ask specific questions that others who have recently sailed on a ship can confirm or deny.

 

Like a bell curve, throw out the best and worst reviews and reality will be somewhere in the middle.

 

have a great day

Yet a reviewer can have quite a few 'forum posts' ..and just one review, and that review brings down the overall standing of the ship...

Yet a reviewer can have quite a few 'forum posts' ..and just one review, and that review brings down the overall standing of the ship...

Hi GaznPaula

I agree that this is unfair, but it isn't going to "hurt" the ship or the cruise line. That is why I brought up looking at the same issue for a small business and how it is totally different. I have seen on TripAdvisor how owners have responded to unfavorable reviews that they just didn't feel were fair. They are sometimes just pleading for some sense of reason, where they obviously know the reviewer when they were a client and trying to point out how the person is not presenting the facts (admittedly from his point of view) with any effort for objectivity. How often have we seen on this site people where people are possibly making complaints just to see if they can get something for free.

We at least can use our own judgement in reading these reviews but for that business owner, they feel helpless if someone isn't reasonable. Sad to say, there are many out there who fall into that category.

nic

Hurt it will not do, but it will give people who look at ratings a false impression..As I have stated, if you could then 'critic' the critic, it would give a bit of a redress even with a 'thumbs down ' option...

If people only choose to be vague, as above, 'the food was not good' or 'it was full of Europeans'...the reviews like that dont deserve to affect the rating of a ship or business