Don't believe the bad reviews! Davina 4 Night 8/14/22

[tampacruiser]

I went into this cruise with skepticism! This was my 14th cruise. Have sailed Royal, NCL, HAL, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess and after spending some time on these pages I thought I made a huge mistake! I will keep this short and sweet but here are my thoughts.

Embarkation: Smooth and quick. Have your paperwork ready and you will fly through...be organized people!

Ship: Clean, elegant, yes it's older but it looks great.

Room: Great, typical of most balcony cabins except small TV but I am not there to watch TV

 

Staff: Amazing. Friendly, attentive, knowledgeable, best dining room team I have had in a long time

 

Overall Customer Service: Great! We spoke with a few officers with some minor suggestions and immediately they pulled a little pad out of their pocket and took notes. I believe they are trying to learn and improve!

 

Entertainment: Main theater shows could be a bit better, however the quality of the singers themselves surpassed most other lines ( I am a musician and toured professionally so I am a bit critical in this area). The other entertainers around the ship were great (bands, ensembles, etc)

 

Food: Very good exceeded my expectations. Did no specialty locations just used MDR, Buffett and Piazza Del Doge and all were good, and selection was adequate. Totally blew away the slop and lack of choice on the Carnival Panorama that I sailed in April!

 

Private Island Ocean Cay: one word...AMAZING! best beaches, multiple to choose from. No theme park atmosphere like some islands. Food on island was actually really good, yet another surprise and if you have a drink package and WIFI it works on the island as well!

 

Ship was clean, rooms were clean. Cruise staff made game time fun (trivia, name that tune, etc)

I typically do not cruises less than 7 days but this was a last minute decision and a gift to my daughter who is about to graduate college. We were very much surprised with MSC and will now include them in our future decisions!

HAL and Celebrity are our favorites, Carnival and NCL are at the bottom of our list and Royal and Princess were just ok in our opinion. MSC will now jump into our top 3 based on our Davina experience last week.

I think this company had a rough start breaking into the US market, but it is apparent they are learning, and they are putting a great product out there at a great price with some new amazing ships under construction! I say if you are on the fence give it a try. We were pleasantly surprised! 

[publicpersona]

Enjoyed reading your perspective, and I agree with just about everything you say. I continue to sail MSC for the value proposition.

 

Since you are a professional musician and that leads you to be critical in that area, I'm surprised you didn't mention the canned music for the production shows. I prefer Royal/Celebrity in this regard because they historically have made sure they had live musicians for their production shows (that, unfortunately, is no longer the case for some of their newer shows).

[styles27]

I agree about Divina. She is my favorite ship of all time to this point and I’ve been cruising for almost 40 yrs. For us it’s the perfect size ship. 
We will be on her for the 3rd time for the New Years Eve 14 day sailing and we cannot wait. 
 

So glad you enjoyed your cruise!

[edeco]

thanks for the review. 
 

Sailed MSC Meraviglia inJanuary. Enjoyed the cruise but with only about 500 passengers on board did not get full experience.  Limited shows, etc. 

 

crew and service was great. Sailing 4 days on the Divinia inSept and really looking forward to it. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

How timely your review is!  We are embarking on Seashore on Saturday for our first MSC cruise.  The Seashore doesn't get a lot of love in the review department but we are eager to see for ourselves.  This will be our first cruise since March, 2020!  Thank you for posting!

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, tampacruiser said:

I think this company had a rough start breaking into the US market, but it is apparent they are learning, and they are putting a great product out there at a great price

 

Accurate, I think.  When MSC began US sailings, the reviews were very mixed and tended towards the negative.  Spoke with some guests from MSC Orchestra when we were waiting for an elevator in the Port Everglades Mid-Port Parking Garage and they really enjoyed their cruise.  That's when I began to put MSC on my "radar".  Certainly glad that I did.  "A great product....at a great price" applies to my Yacht Club experience.  

[Seadweller001]

So glad the word is spreading positively about MSC cruises in the USA.  

 

A great product for a reasonable price.

[deliver42]

Been on 3 MSC cruises with a 4th booked for next year.

[blueslily]

7 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

How timely your review is!  We are embarking on Seashore on Saturday for our first MSC cruise.  The Seashore doesn't get a lot of love in the review department but we are eager to see for ourselves.  This will be our first cruise since March, 2020!  Thank you for posting!

I love the Seashore. Sailed on her in February for my birthday. I'm really not sure what's up with people and all their negativity. Have a great time. Enjoy the great views from this ship. 

[flahagan]

14 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Been on 3 MSC cruises with a 4th booked for next year.

Same here.  First was on Divina when it started sailing out of the U.S. 8 years ago, loved it!  Have since sailed twice on Meraviglia and just booked a 25 nt transatlantic on the Divina for next May.  I love MSC!

[deliver42]

We fullyt enjoyed the Seashore last May, and booked our 3rd Divina cruise for next May.

[LatinaInTexas]

On 8/23/2022 at 4:22 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

How timely your review is!  We are embarking on Seashore on Saturday for our first MSC cruise.  The Seashore doesn't get a lot of love in the review department but we are eager to see for ourselves.  This will be our first cruise since March, 2020!  Thank you for posting!

Just off the Seashore last weekend, was my first MSC cruise. I only have one complaint and that's how they do muster. It's a chaotic drawn out process because everyone is doing it at the same time😲

[Georgia_Peaches]

36 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Just off the Seashore last weekend, was my first MSC cruise. I only have one complaint and that's how they do muster. It's a chaotic drawn out process because everyone is doing it at the same time😲

You’re not the first to make this observation. Apparently you watch a video in the cabin then all proceed to the assigned muster station at the same time?  Kind of a head scratcher if the goal was to avoid large crowds. Guess we will grin and bear it. 

[Seadweller001]

It is a very simple organized process.

 

Watch the short video.

 

Dial a 4 digit #

 

Walk the stairway to Deck 7 (depending on ship)

 

Get cruise card scanned

 

Free to walk around.

 

took no longer than 10 mins.  Very simple process.

[tampacruiser]

17 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Just off the Seashore last weekend, was my first MSC cruise. I only have one complaint and that's how they do muster. It's a chaotic drawn out process because everyone is doing it at the same time😲

I did not find it chaotic at all.   We watched a short video in our cabin at 4:15. Once done dialed a 4 digit code in our phone.   Walked to our Muster Station.  Scanned our  card with the crew and were on our way.   I would say once the video was done the process was about 5 minutes

[publicpersona]

6 hours ago, Seadweller001 said:

Very simple process.

 

Compared to the days when you had to stand in the hot sun with a life jacket on for 30 minutes, just about anything is simple. I think maybe @LatinaInTexaswas just opining that it could be just a little bit simpler if you could complete the video at your leisure (once at the port) and scan during some two hour window, as it is done on some other lines.

 

But perhaps MSC has figured out that compliance goes way up if everybody does it at the same time, and if so, good on them for figuring that out. The people who fail to do anything at all are going to spoil it for everybody.

[Georgia_Peaches]

6 hours ago, Seadweller001 said:

It is a very simple organized process.

 

Watch the short video.

 

Dial a 4 digit #

 

Walk the stairway to Deck 7 (depending on ship)

 

Get cruise card scanned

 

Free to walk around.

 

took no longer than 10 mins.  Very simple process.

So is everyone heading to the muster station at the same time to get their cards scanned?  That's my impression.  From your description, it seems not to be the case.

[Seadweller001]

50 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

So is everyone heading to the muster station at the same time to get their cards scanned?  That's my impression.  From your description, it seems not to be the case.

They make the announcement to go to your stations for an hour.  We take the stairs.  Once you get to the entrance, card scanned and its over.

 

There are many Muster Stations on the floor and there is no stampede.

 

quick and easy.

[CruiserGrandma2]

Thanks for your review.  Our first MSC Divina cruise is Oct. 2.  We booked a family cruise on the MSC Seashore for July, 23, 2023.  We’ve been on quite a few cruise lines including Celebrity, Royal, Princess, Disney and HAL.  Looking forward to trying out MSC. 

[LatinaInTexas]

2 hours ago, Seadweller001 said:

They make the announcement to go to your stations for an hour.  We take the stairs.  Once you get to the entrance, card scanned and its over.

 

There are many Muster Stations on the floor and there is no stampede.

 

quick and easy.

Actually my experience was quite different. There was what I would call very close to a stampede. You were supposed to wait for your deck to be called before leaving your cabin but we all know people have a tendency to do what they want not what they are told.

All stairwells and elevators we tried were a crazy mass of people, some being quite aggressive pushing their way thru.

Then after finally getting ours scanned it was still a chore to get anywhere. All the bars and surrounding area were jam packed with disgruntled people wanting drinks but they were being told they had to wait until all was clear which didn't go over well.

I indeed was referring to Carnivals way of doing it. You board and at your leisure you can go to your station to watch an crew member put on a life jacket. That's it, 30 seconds of your time.

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

22 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Actually my experience was quite different. There was what I would call very close to a stampede. You were supposed to wait for your deck to be called before leaving your cabin but we all know people have a tendency to do what they want not what they are told.

All stairwells and elevators we tried were a crazy mass of people, some being quite aggressive pushing their way thru.

Then after finally getting ours scanned it was still a chore to get anywhere. All the bars and surrounding area were jam packed with disgruntled people wanting drinks but they were being told they had to wait until all was clear which didn't go over well.

I indeed was referring to Carnivals way of doing it. You board and at your leisure you can go to your station to watch an crew member put on a life jacket. That's it, 30 seconds of your time.

 

Wait..so are you saying there is no bar service until everyone has had their cards scanned?

[LatinaInTexas]

1 minute ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Wait..so are you saying there is no bar service until everyone has had their cards scanned?

I'm not sure what determines when bar service resumes but by the time we got scanned and slowly made our way to a bar once we got there it was a good 15 minutes maybe until drinks started being served but then it took forever for them to catch up with the demand of waiting people.

[rkacruiser]

On 8/25/2022 at 6:27 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Wait..so are you saying there is no bar service until everyone has had their cards scanned?

 

Pre-Covid, it was SOP that all guest services stopped during the time the Muster Drill was taking place.  That has been on every ship on which I have sailed.  

 

On 8/25/2022 at 6:05 PM, LatinaInTexas said:

You were supposed to wait for your deck to be called before leaving your cabin

 

That surprises me a bit because in a real emergency, I doubt that would/could happen.  It's not a realistic scenario for a real emergency when a Muster must be held.  

[LatinaInTexas]

6 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Pre-Covid, it was SOP that all guest services stopped during the time the Muster Drill was taking place.  That has been on every ship on which I have sailed.  

 

 

That surprises me a bit because in a real emergency, I doubt that would/could happen.  It's not a realistic scenario for a real emergency when a Muster must be held.  

Well they weren't called one by one but they were called 3 decks at a time about every 5 minutes or so if I remember. I can only imagine what a crazy scenario it would be if they called all decks at once, that would have been over 5000 people😬