MSC Divina W.Caribbean Cruise 05/03/16 with 3 days pre cruise stay Miami review

[sandpiper35]

Stuart, amazing cruise. Excellent value. We're going again.

 

Review Divina April 9th through the 16th.

Miami - Bermuda - Nassau - Miami

 

I will try to make this as brief as possible and just mention items that may help other travellers.

 

Booking:

 

We do not use a Travel Agent we called an MSC agent and used MSC's web page directly.

The web page or perhaps the connection to the web page needs some work even the MSC agent had problem.

It is not the most intuitive webpage, and found it out of service for maintenace several times,

but with patience we were able to complete our booking and buy all pre sale offers, such as drink

coupond etc. By the way the coupons worked out great, it works out to less than $5 per drink.

 

At the port:

Arrived at noon, were on board by 12:20. Effortless, treated like kings. We just happened to become

Black Label throught matching program.

 

First things on board:

Spa pass 1 person $89, used it all week. It is $119 for two, wife not interested. Both plus 15% gratuity.

That puzzles me a bit as no one really help me at the spa, other than the counter person handing out the

locker keys.

 

Credit cards are not handled at embarcation desk, which begs the question, Why?, you are already there with

all your doc's, etc, etc. We had to stop by a kiosk on board to activate credit card. This was efforless,

inspite that many people had trouble with that, and had to stand in lines, we just went about our business

till the rush died out and took three minutes as we walked towards the casino.

 

Cabin:

Ready at 2:00pm as promissed. Super clean. Wife likes to wipe cabin before using it, she showed me the

wipes she used, absolutely clean. This does not happen often, in any cruise line. No obstructed view.

I read several people complaining about obstructed view, cruise line should disclose this, travellers

should check before booking. Our balcony cabin was a bit on the small side, it had no sofa area.

 

Food:

The food is better then "ALL" other cruiselines in the price range. Notice I say "in the price range".

I read some describe the food as "grub", then the food in other lines in the same price range

must be described as inedible. They did do some unspeakable things to the prime rib. They sliced it very thin.

Some things are just not done to primerib chef, you should know that. If the prices do not allow you

to serve a proper cut, just do not serve it. A good burguer would be best in that case. But best food in the

caribbean over all. I will not get into other individual items, well we did get lobster, small, but lobster

nontheless. Other cruise lines are skipping lobster altogether. We were lucky in the dinning room. We got a

tornado for a waiter that was always on time with the food and drink. Super service. I read lots of commplaints

from others, we feel lucky.

 

The shows:

The shows are the best I have seen in a long time, in any cruise line. Kudos to MSC and their entertainment

squead. Some complaint about lip syncking. Well it was well done and appreciated. They did have some

fabulous voices and dancers. Thank you for wonderful shows.

 

Ports of call:

The only ship calling on Bermuda from Miami. Excellent itinerary although I could have used more time in Bermuda.

 

The ship:

Very well appointed, fabulous set of stairs. The elevators, well, when a high percentage of the passegers

depend on them, due to physical condition, one cannot design enough elevators anywhere. Most passengers had

to use elevators even for one floor trips. This sometimes caused delays, as when at embar-and debarcation.

Like the road sign say "Expect Delays Ahead". Be extra careful on the theater stairs, there is no hand rail,

and the floor ligths even though they marked the stairs edge very well, they blinded us as we decended the stairs.

The pool, I hope you like cold , water. Although perfect for Olympic swimmers, way too cold for us.

 

Debarcation:

Way too early for regular passengers, 7AM. We did not mind as we like to get on the way erly. We got Yeloow tickets,

that allow you to get off the ship as soon as you are ready. Be warned, just because you have yellow priority

tickets, it does not mean you'r baggage will be at the carrousel waiting for you, it hust means, "You" can get

off the ship early. We had to wait 55 minutes by the carrousel for our luggage to arrive off the ship.

 

 

Overall:

A fantastic experience for the price. If you can, try the Galaxy restaurant. If you are a Black Label, even better, you get a free

5 course dinner of meat fish and fowl served by excellent service, and a beautiful ocean view, if you go

when there is still daylight. We liked it so much, we are returning to the Divina experience May 7, this time

to St. Thomas and Puerto Rico.

 

Good luck and Bon Voyage.

[kikki21]

Thanks for the review. It's great to read an MSC review from a British point of view!

We got a good look at the Divina in Miami & she looks a great ship inside & out.

 

We have booked Meraviglia for our first MSC cruise next year. We are in one of the Corner Balcony Suites which is an Aurea experience so I'm looking forward to that!

 

I agree about Miami airport. When I was there in 2010, there were rebuilding stuff in & all around the airport so I thought it would be different but in America or at least in Miami, all the good stuff is before you through security & passport control.

I don't think where we flew from had actually changed at all, it was also a Virgin flight back on an A340.

Ah well, we will know for next time! [emoji4]

[stuart2468]

LOVED reading your review. Brought back a lot of memories for me...especially your review of the Falls in Jamaica...I did those, let's just say 20 years ago lol...I don't think I have the stamina or strength to do those today, but it looks like you had a blast.

 

I also enjoy your writing style and the nuances of your English as opposed to our American English...for example "sun beds" whereas we call them loungers. It's pretty interesting to read.:D

 

I will be cruising on MSC for this first time this June, but on the Orchestra...I hope it's as beautiful as the Divina!

 

Thank you. I'm sure the ship is beautiful. I haven't done the Musica class of ships, but Lirica, which is older than Orchestra, was lovely too. Have fun!

[stuart2468]

Thanks for the review. It's great to read an MSC review from a British point of view!

We got a good look at the Divina in Miami & she looks a great ship inside & out.

 

We have booked Meraviglia for our first MSC cruise next year. We are in one of the Corner Balcony Suites which is an Aurea experience so I'm looking forward to that!

 

I agree about Miami airport. When I was there in 2010, there were rebuilding stuff in & all around the airport so I thought it would be different but in America or at least in Miami, all the good stuff is before you through security & passport control.

I don't think where we flew from had actually changed at all, it was also a Virgin flight back on an A340.

Ah well, we will know for next time! [emoji4]

 

I'm sooooo jealous. I want to get a week on Meraviglia next year and hoping i can fit it in with a week i have planned in Malta. I have my sights set on a duplex suite of the corner suite with balcony hot tub. Is this what you have?

 

As for the airport. If it were my local airport i'd be embarrassed. I expected so much more! I'm also a bit of a aviation geek so find the flying experience just as much fun as the holiday itself.