Myself and some girlfriends took a 7-night trip roundtrip from Venice to Venice on the MSC Divina. The ship was beautiful, with many impressive public spaces. The cabins (ours was a small (very small) cabin with a veranda), were nicely appointed but exceptionally small. The smallest cabin I have ever been in on a ship. We had room for 2 twin beds, 2 tiny bed stands and one table/desk which was just wide enough to fit a small cushion under. There was also a corner book shelf. It was too small for 2 people comfortably. The verandah was also small. So enough about the ship/rooms.

The food was never hot - this is a LARGE ship - 4,200 passengers I think, so I should not have been surprised to find that hot food was just not possible. At best it was warm. The food quality was acceptable, but not great. Most ships offer some food in the late evenings around midnight, which I like since we enjoy nights at the casino. When I went to find something all they had was luke-warm and old-looking pizza and sandwiches. Since I did not want a sandwich I asked just for a scoop of the tuna-fish salad. they said it was only for sandwiches. After an exasperating discussion, I finally told him to give me the tuna-fish salad sandwich, but that I would throw away the bread. Only then did he comply with a sour puss. How stupid is that???? I did throw away the bread, how very wasteful.

Then let's talk about the spa.....ooh boy. That staff is in great need of some training on how to deal with people, particularly the management. We had just finished a yoga class (which we paid for by the way) and wanted to use the spa restroom. We were told by the spa manager (male), that the restrooms were only for use by clients having a massage. We asked him to make "an exception" and he was firm - it was only for massage clients - did you ever hear of such a thing?? Further, during a subsequent facial, the woman giving the facial also gave me a neck/back massage (which I did not ask for and would have preferred a facial/scalp massage) which really hurt. I told her she was hurting me, and she just continued. I'm not sure she understood English at all. Read more