MSC Divina Cruise Review - July 23rd Caribbean Sailing

[macdon9876]

Before I start the review, a bit of context. This was our second cruise - our virgin cruise was last summer aboard Independence of the Seas (review here), and we fell in love with cruising. Last year's trip was a couples cruise for us - a getaway. This year we decided to cruise with our kids and my wife's parents. We took advantage of MSC's incredible BOGO balcony sale back in the winter, along with their kids sail free promo.

 

Overall, the value of this cruise was good. MSC offers a cruise product that compares fairly well against Royal Caribbean, in our opinion. It definitely has a different flair, but I don't think it is necessarily a negative thing. All else being equal we'd go back to Royal Caribbean (our hearts still belong to Indy), but with price as a compelling factor MSC provides good value. However, I don't think we'd sail on this line with our kids again (ironically, given their kids sail free promo). More details to follow.

 

Also, before I begin, I want to again say a huge thank you to the Cruise Critic community. So much of what we did on this (and last year's) cruise was based on recommendations and reviews on this site.

 

I've organized this review with appropriate headings. I welcome any questions/comments.

 

 

-- Embarkation --

 

We arrived at the cruise terminal at around noon, after we dropped off our rental car at MIA (Alamo offers a free transfer to the port). We had stayed in the Miami area for a few days before the cruise, which was a nice lead-up. The embarkation process was similar to our RCI experience last year. Finding our way through the port facilities was easy. Once we checked in and received our cruise cards, MSC uses a number system: guests receive a card with a boarding number, and you need to wait until this number is called before boarding. Our wait was around ten minutes. We were on the ship by 12:45. They let us through with various food items, as well as a few bottles of juice and pop we brought with us. These were in our carry-on, not hidden away.

 

 

-- First Impressions --

 

The ship is beautiful! We entered close to the grand atrium with the famous crystal staircases (there are four). We were welcomed aboard by a receiving line of staff - we don't remember this on Indy. Since we had kids we were immediately ushered to the desk for them to get their safety bracelets and info about the kids club, and then we went to the upper decks to look around. Our five-year-old got to meet Doremi, the MSC mascot. He was thrilled!

 

 

-- Buffet & Dining --

 

Last year on Indy my wife and I only ate at the buffet for one supper, and most breakfasts and lunches. This year, since we had our children in tow, we ate at the buffet for most meals. We dined in the MDR for only three supper meals.

 

The buffet had a fair amount of variety, but it doesn't change a lot through the week. It is like a maze, so when it is busy it tends to be a bit of a madhouse, but I suppose that is true of any cruise buffet. We often found it difficult to get around, and people thought nothing of cutting in front of us, or our kids, at the buffet counters. In general we found the clientele of this cruise to be a bit more... assertive, I guess is the polite term, than on Indy. Through the week we had to quickly learn how to be assertive ourselves.

 

There is pizza in the buffet, and it is good. The toppings are sometimes unusual but not bad, although they usually had a pepperoni pizza option. Definitely better than the free pizza on RCI.

 

We dined in the MDR three times, including the first formal night. The food was okay - I think Indy's MDR food was better, and my wife agrees, although she thinks Divina's buffet is better. The MDR food and service seemed to lack a certain finesse that we experienced on Indy. Sauces and other details of the meal were sometimes missing or wrong (e.g. horseradish sauce missing, plain baked potato advertised on menu as "loaded"), and the quality was a bit lacking (e.g. very fatty prime rib, overcooked pasta). Our main waiter was friendly and efficient, but there was a language barrier at times.

 

Finally, room service. We had the Fantastica experience, so room service for us was free - food and delivery (except overnight when a small fee applies). The selection of food was small, but quite tasty - cheese and fruit plates, a few salads and sandwiches, a couple of desserts. We ordered room service three times, and each time it arrived within twenty minutes (in fact, the first time we ordered, for lunch, it was at our cabin within ten minutes).

 

Confusingly, there were prices listed for room service food on the interactive TV in our cabin, but the booklet indicated that the food was free, and the slip I had to sign confirmed that there was no cost. We opted to tip each time.

 

 

-- Drinks --

 

We aren't heavy drinkers so a drink package doesn't make sense for us. Last year we went à la carte and ended up drinking about $400 worth between us - about the price of one drink package on RCI.

 

We decided to buy the vouchers for this cruise (More for Less Escape Package) - 18 vouchers for $84. These were good for any cocktail up to $8, which covered most of the menu items and any mixed drinks we asked for (e.g. peach schnapps and OJ). This was perfect for us - we shared the coupons and still had three left on the last day, which we used up that evening. On a cruise without kids and/or with more sea days, we'd probably order two packs of vouchers (i.e. 36 vouchers total) to share.

 

We ordered these drink coupons online before the cruise, and picked them up in the casino after we embarked. Since we ordered online we saved the 18% gratuity charge, so we made the decision to tip $1 per drink like we would do ashore. There was only one instance where we didn't tip - the server was very rude and took a long time to get us our drinks. In general, though, we found the wait staff to be very friendly and present. Others have commented that they found it hard to get drinks - it was never a problem for us. Usually we would be approached within minutes of sitting down.

 

 

-- Service / Staff --

 

As mentioned earlier, we found most of the staff to be very friendly. In particular, I had to deal with guest services three times (including a $30 error on my bill at 6am on disembarkation morning), and they were very pleasant. Our steward was decent. As with the waiter in the MDR, there was a bit of a language barrier but nothing too severe.

 

There were a few minor maintenance issues that were annoying, but not to the point of being a major nuisance. For instance, our sink soap dispenser didn't work - the pump was broken. We had to reach into the shower for soap to wash our hands. Our steward assured us that it would be fixed, but it never was. Our cabin phone stopped working midway through the week - it was a faulty cord, apparently (this was fixed quickly). One of the elevators had a faulty door where it would open and close repeatedly before finally closing (this was reported, but never fixed during the week). Small things, but surprising given the apparent attention to detail on this ship.

 

 

-- Ports & Excursions --

 

We visited four ports: Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, and Nassau. We again decided to go with off-ship excursions based on the advice in this forum.

 

In Ocho Rios we used Peat Taylor Tours. This tour was for Dunn River Falls and Turtle River Gardens. The falls were really cool - my wife, her parents, and our older son climbed, while I waited with our younger son on the adjacent boardwalks. It was busy!! Peat Taylor Tours claims to get cruise passengers to the falls before it gets busy. If this is actually true, I'd hate to see the place when it's really busy!!

 

Due to a misunderstanding we didn't end up at the Turtle River Gardens, but rather Turtle River Park, a small park near the port. It wasn't anything special, but the guide (who stayed with us) brought us to a local authentic jerk restaurant (called the Jerk Centre) across the street for lunch, which was excellent. We ate jerk chicken, pork and sausage.

 

Georgetown and Nassau were both beach days - we used taxis we found onshore.

 

In Cozumel we used Tours Plaza to hire a driver for the day. Over five hours he took us all around the island, including a short city tour, the chocolate factory, ruins, the undeveloped, rustic "back side" of Cozumel, and a beach stop. Great tour - highly recommended!

 

Of these ports, Cozumel was the one we enjoyed most. Nassau was the one we felt most uneasy in, and Georgetown felt the most commercial.

 

 

-- Activities / Shows --

 

A lot has been mentioned about the high quality of the theatre shows, and there is no question that the dancing and acrobatics is top-notch. The best way I can think how to describe it is perhaps to compare it to Cirque du Soleil "lite" -- every night there was amazing dancing and acrobatics to a different theme. One night it was "The Mask", another night it was about pirates, then witches, etc. Unfortunately we did not have the chance to see the Michael Jackson tribute show.

 

My wife and I left our kids with the grandparents one evening and went to enjoy the ship. To our surprise, there didn't seem to be very much going on. There was live entertainment in several places, but nobody was dancing and the lounges weren't very busy at all. We sat and enjoyed a couple of drinks in the Golden bar, listening to a very good jazz combo. We ventured to another lounge (Black & White) where there was an upbeat cover band playing, but perhaps half-a-dozen people were in the large space. This was at 10:30 pm! The pool deck was a bit busier, but the disco at the top of the ship was deserted.

 

Daily programming included the usual triva, scavenger hunts, sports, etc., although the selection seemed a bit more limited than on Indy last year.

 

 

-- Kids --

 

MSC had a kids sail free promo for this cruise, and as I understand this is something MSC is known for.

 

We were disappointed to find that there wasn't a whole lot to do, activities-wise, for our kids (ages five and seven) outside of the kids' clubs. We did sign them up for the clubs and they went a few times, and enjoyed themselves. On Indy last year there was a specific area of the pools for kids (H2O Zone) - not so on Divina. They were too young for the waterslide. There were arcade areas which they enjoyed now and then, but we didn't cruise just for them to play video games all week. Overall this was a big disappointment for us, and if we cruise again with our kids we'd definitely go with a ship that had more to do for kids outside of the clubs.

 

The clubs themselves were well organized, and the staff seemed to be very friendly, energetic, attentive, and caring. Our oldest enjoyed the clubs more than our younger son, who is a bit shy.

 

One neat aspect of MSC is Doremi Chef, where the kids get to cook. On the menu? Gnocchi, of all things! This perhaps highlights the European nature of this ship. This isn't a criticism, just an observation. Our kids love cooking and help us often, but they had puzzled looks on their faces as they rolled their dough into tiny balls as directed - they've never tried gnocchi, as it isn't a common menu item at local family restaurants in Nova Scotia! It was good for them to have the opportunity. :)

 

In terms of other kids: at one point a crew member mentioned that we had over 800 children onboard. Children were well behaved for the most part, and the ship didn't seem to be overun with kids.

 

 

-- Disembarkation / Customs / FLL Airport --

 

Full disclosure: We cruised from Miami, but flew through FLL since the cost of our flight was drastically lower than flying from MIA. The FLL flight home was at 11:00 am. I had asked in a thread months ago about opinions on this, and the answers were varied, from "no problem" to "are you crazy?".

 

We made the decision to fly home through FLL knowing full well that we might miss the flight. The slightest thing could mess up our plans - an accident on the freeway, late arrival of the ship, customs issues, etc. It was a gamble, and for us it paid off. YMMV.

 

We opted to self-disembark. On Divina you need to fill out a form and return it guest services by a certain date - they say the spots for self-disembarkation are limited. We received tags for the first slot - 6:45 am.

 

The only wrinkle of the morning was a $30 error on our bill (which arrived overnight) - I called guest services to ask about it, but they said I had to deal with it in person. I ran down at 5:50 am to find a line thirty-deep! While I spent the next half-hour in line, my family ate breakfast and finished last-minute packing. I had the chance to sprint to the buffet at 6:20 for a banana, yogurt and OJ.

 

We arrived at the casino - our waiting area - at 6:45. Within minutes we were called to disembark. Perhaps forty other passengers were in our group - very little waiting.

 

We arrived at customs and had, perhaps, a five minute wait. After a brief chat with the officer we were on our way. In the end, we were standing outside of the MSC pier at 7:05 am. Amazing!

 

We called our pre-arranged shuttle (Quality Limo Services - QLS) and the driver arrived within minutes. We were on our way, and arrived at FLL, standing in front of the empty WestJet baggage counter, at 7:45 am. For those counting: from the casino on the ship to FLL was one hour flat, or a full 3h15m early for our flight!

 

Would I recommend it? I don't know. It all depends on the type of person you are, your ability to deal with the stress of the gamble, and your ability to pay if you need to re-book a flight. For us it worked out. I might not tempt fate twice, but in this case it saved us hundreds of dollars versus flying from MIA (or even a later flight from FLL).

 

 

-- Final Thoughts --

 

* If you sail on Divina and want a quiet place, try walking all the way aft on decks 7 through 15. There are external staircases on both sides of the ship, but they aren't well-known or used. At the landing on each deck there is a space to stand and watch the back end of the ship. It is quite peaceful, especially at night. You can go as far down as deck 6, but don't open the unmarked steel door - it is a fire exit from one of the dining rooms. Don't ask me how I know.

 

* Divina, despite being such a lovely ship, is a hard one to navigate. Dead-ends and odd corridor choices are everywhere. Often you'll run into a sign asking you to use the other side of the ship - for instance, when a band is playing in the Golden bar, the corridor takes passengers straight across the stage area! Another oddity: if you are dining in Villa Rosa MDR (deck 6), you can only access it from deck 7. Signs will direct you.

 

* On this point, decks 7 and 14 (lido) are the best decks to run nearly the full length of the ship. We also used the cabin corridors more on this ship than on Indy, since they, too, run the full length of the ship. Usually we'd do this on our own deck since our cabin was near the front of the ship.

 

* Although I probably shouldn't say this since it may annoy the Yacht Club guests, you can go through the glass doors that say Yacht Club on deck 15 (I think) to use the elevators/stair bank. The doors are not locked, but they seem designed to discourage general use.

 

* The promenade deck is disappointing: the lifeboats are at deck level, and not elevated as on other ships. There are only a few spots along the promenade to watch the sea, and no chairs at all.

 

* Smoking is permitted on one side of the ship, including the lido deck.

 

* There is a limited drink menu in the buffet, mostly beer and wine. My father-in-law was declined when he asked for a simple cocktail (vodka and OJ).

 

* As others have said, when entering the buffet go towards the back - often there is more seating and some stations open farther back. Having said this, sometimes they completely close off the aft section of the buffet (including shutting the doors). There is an elevator/stair bank between the forward and aft sections of the buffet, so you don't need to enter from the pool area. It is often less busy if you enter through the elevator area.

 

 

Thanks for reading. I hope this review has provided some insights to those considering or going on a Divina cruise. I said earlier that we were generally pleased. It's sometimes hard not to compare, especially since our first cruise on Indy was so memorable. Still, my wife and I would definitely consider Divina and/or MSC again for a couples cruise, but not with our kids.

 

We are already talking about next summer, and whether we'll sail again for a couples cruise. We're looking at Alaska as one possibility, so we'll continue to read the informative and enjoyable threads on Cruise Critic. Thanks again!

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[plucasana]

great review, love the details. thank you for taki g the time to share!!!!

[maureencruiser]

Thanks for the review, I need to check out these aft staircases I keep hearing about.

[Beamafar]

 

Confusingly, there were prices listed for room service food on the interactive TV in our cabin, but the booklet indicated that the food was free, and the slip I had to sign confirmed that there was no cost. We opted to tip each time.

 

 

The room service items are only free with Fantastica "Experience" on Divina. In the Med there is no charge for delivery - again with Fantastica. Delivery incurs a charge with Bella. Each item is priced at €3 or two for €5 (last time I looked!) unless you have the Premium Allegrissimo drinks package, which, in that case, room service items are included.

[Beamafar]

........ I need to check out these aft staircases I keep hearing about.

 

They're a perfect spot for sailaways - or just to watch the wake if you don't have an aft cabin.

[Beamafar]

I've just completed reading your review. Thank you for posting it with comparisons to your previous RC cruise. I'm always interested to hear how MSC compares with other lines as I search for reasons to choose alternatives to MSC. A very fair and balanced review overall.

[TheSoccerCoach]

Great review! Thanks for sharing! Your review has prompted some questions for me.

 

Mainly the drink packages, room service, and tipping.

 

We were on the July 5th sailing. We paid for our gratuities in advance and also bought two of the More For Less drink packages. My understanding, I could be wrong, is that the bar staff are paid a gratuity per each package purchased prior to the cruise.

 

Also, the literature online and on board strongly discouraged cash tipping. We tipped our casino dealer's, with chips now and again. But, we did not cash tip.

 

Were we the anomaly?

 

Do most of you tip in cash on board, even though it is discouraged?

 

Thanks!

[Beamafar]

Do most of you tip in cash on board, even though it is discouraged?

 

We nearly always give the cabin steward (or butler and concierge when in YC) and waiter an extra tip. We've only had one poor cabin attendant, one mediocre waiter and one MIA butler - not on the same cruise - who we didn't tip. We've never reduced or removed the daily service charge despite this. We usually give the room service person a small tip, too, when we have the change.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Beamafar

[BethV114]

Thank you for the review!

 

You mentioned that your 5 and 7 year-olds were too young for the waterslide. Do you recall what the minimum age was? Or whether there was a minimum height requirement?

 

We will be sailing with our daughter on Divina in the spring and I know she would be sad if she could not use the slide. She will be 7.5 by then and is already on the taller side for her age and over 4 feet. She is able to go on all types of rides a carnivals and amusement parks.

 

Thanks!

[twinsaj]

How do the balcony cabins compare to Royal??? What kind of furniture was on the balcony?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[macdon9876]

We were on the July 5th sailing. We paid for our gratuities in advance and also bought two of the More For Less drink packages. My understanding, I could be wrong, is that the bar staff are paid a gratuity per each package purchased prior to the cruise.

 

...

 

Do most of you tip in cash on board, even though it is discouraged?

 

The rationale we used was that, if we had purchased the vouchers onboard, we would have been charged the auto 18% gratuity (so $84 + $15.12 = $99.12). Since we purchased online in advance, we were not charged that auto gratuity - just $84.

 

I didn't notice much tipping happening, no. For us it's a personal choice and we felt that the $1 per drink was reasonable.

 

I was surprised about MSC's suggestion not to tip individual crew. Perhaps it is their attempt to level the playing field for all crew, but for us, we wanted to recognize the good service provided to us by individual people who interacted with us.

 

We didn't tip nearly as much on this cruise as last year - we went a bit crazy on our rookie cruise. On that one, we bought all of our drinks without any package or vouchers, so there was an auto tip on each purchase, and we were STILL adding $1 per drink, so the tip was much higher than we'd tip on land. RCI has a space on the receipt to add an additional tip (over and above the 18%), whereas MSC doesn't have that on their slips.

 

The only other crew we tipped were the cabin steward and the room service servers. We didn't end up tipping our waiter in the MDR since we only ate there three times, although I thought about going down. Last year we did tip our two waiter in the MDR, but we ate most of our suppers there and we got to know them a bit (and they were excellent).

[Clarea]

Excellent report, thanks!

[macdon9876]

You mentioned that your 5 and 7 year-olds were too young for the waterslide. Do you recall what the minimum age was? Or whether there was a minimum height requirement?

 

We will be sailing with our daughter on Divina in the spring and I know she would be sad if she could not use the slide. She will be 7.5 by then and is already on the taller side for her age and over 4 feet. She is able to go on all types of rides a carnivals and amusement parks.

 

 

They say ages nine and up.

 

Our seven-year-old is tall for his age as well - he, too, can go on most any amusement park rides, and he loves the waterslides at the waterparks we've gone to.

 

When my wife tried to see if they'd exempt him, they were firm about the age requirement - you need to get a special bracelet or something for the slide and they verify the age at that point.

[Beamafar]

...... if we had purchased the vouchers onboard, we would have been charged the auto 18% gratuity (so $84 + $15.12 = $99.12).

 

Has the auto gratuity increased? It's been 15% on MSC up 'til now at least :confused:

[macdon9876]

How do the balcony cabins compare to Royal??? What kind of furniture was on the balcony?

 

I feel that both the cabin and balcony were smaller on Divina than on Indy, but the balcony was still adequate.

 

We ended up having the steward open the divider between our balcony and my wife's parents' balcony next door, so that gave us more room.

 

It's a bit hard to compare, since we had our kids this year, so the cabin felt MUCH smaller (especially when the sofa bed was set up). Just a few more inches between the sofa bed and the desk would make the difference - we knocked our knees on the metal frame of the sofa bed more often that we can count. My wife thinks there was less storage in the Divina cabin.

 

There were two upright chairs and a footstool / table on the balcony. You'd be hard pressed to fit a lounger on the balcony - you could do it at an angle or sideways, but that would be about all!

[macdon9876]

Has the auto gratuity increased? It's been 15% on MSC up 'til now at least :confused:

 

 

Oops - my mistake, sorry. It is 15%, not 18%. I checked the receipts of some of the items we purchased.

[Beamafar]

Oops - my mistake, sorry. It is 15%, not 18%. I checked the receipts of some of the items we purchased.

 

Thanks for that. The way things are going, it wouldn't have surprised me if it had increased. These things are never announced and often we only find out through mention in reviews on the boards here!

[BethV114]

They say ages nine and up.

 

Our seven-year-old is tall for his age as well - he, too, can go on most any amusement park rides, and he loves the waterslides at the waterparks we've gone to.

 

When my wife tried to see if they'd exempt him, they were firm about the age requirement - you need to get a special bracelet or something for the slide and they verify the age at that point.

 

If this is accurate, both my daughter and her friend whose family we are sailing with are going to be sorely disappointed. They are both over 48 inches tall, but will only be 7.5 and 8.5, respectively, at the time of our sailing next year. :(

[houseofduck]

They say ages nine and up.

 

Our seven-year-old is tall for his age as well - he, too, can go on most any amusement park rides, and he loves the waterslides at the waterparks we've gone to.

 

When my wife tried to see if they'd exempt him, they were firm about the age requirement - you need to get a special bracelet or something for the slide and they verify the age at that point.

 

Yikes! That age limit is gong to be a big problem for us! Why would the age limit be so high? Did they offer an explanation?

Edited August 1, 2016 by houseofduck

[macdon9876]

Re: Waterslide Age

 

 

We had asked our TA about the requirement. He called MSC and reported back that they said it was a minimum height or age, which our son easily met. This was back in April sometime.

 

I suspect it may be one of those things that depends on who is running the waterslide on a particular day or cruise... different interpretations of the rules. Whoever my wife spoke to insisted that the minimum age was nine, regardless of height. She told my wife that they'd need to have proof of age before our son was issued his bracelet (presumably from the cruise card?).

 

Whenever we walked past the waterslide area, the lineup seemed to have only older kids and teens (and a few adults), FWIW.

 

Perhaps you two will have better luck - I hope so!

[ARoseNC]

Re: Waterslide Age

 

 

We had asked our TA about the requirement. He called MSC and reported back that they said it was a minimum height or age, which our son easily met. This was back in April sometime.

 

I suspect it may be one of those things that depends on who is running the waterslide on a particular day or cruise... different interpretations of the rules. Whoever my wife spoke to insisted that the minimum age was nine, regardless of height. She told my wife that they'd need to have proof of age before our son was issued his bracelet (presumably from the cruise card?).

 

Whenever we walked past the waterslide area, the lineup seemed to have only older kids and teens (and a few adults), FWIW.

 

Perhaps you two will have better luck - I hope so!

 

I think you are right about depending on who is there that day...

 

There is a thread on this board about the waterslide age/height requirements from January. Someone had asked directly on the MSC Facebook page and they stated it was EIGHT years old OR 47 Inches. So who knows... either way, I will have one or 2 disappointed kiddos come April. My 7 year old is 48 inches, but the daredevil 5 year old is not :(

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Crzyfrk62]

Great review... Thanks!!

I'm a tipper. I have only been in the YC and know they don't like extra tipping. At the end of the cruise we do tip our butler, and a few others. We definately give the bartender(s) a tip because we spend a lot of time at the bar. By day 2 they know what we are drinking and they keep them coming!

[GRANNYOFSIX]

Thank you for an awesome review!!! Very informative!