Yes, the ship is as gorgeous as others have reported. But that's the same as putting lipstick on a pig because what really counts, like service, passenger flow, entertainment and dining made this the worst of 91 cruises I have taken. I travel on many cruise lines so I have a good idea as to what makes a good cruise ship.

First and foremost is service and the MSC Divina is horrible in that area, especially when it comes to the wait staff in the buffet where you hardly get a smile from anyone and no one seems to be accommodating. I asked for walnuts at the oatmeal station (where they were placed on previous mornings) and you would have thought I asked for plutonium. One morning in the dining room (before I gave up on going there) I asked for a glass of water (which is usually offered at every meal) and it took 10 minutes before it was brought to me. You will also notice that at the dining room breakfast (Villa Rossa Restaurant) it is like a beehive of waiters who don't seem to have much to do except walk around. Dinner was a horrible event which I loathed having to return to. Service was so slow. And yet, a nasty assistant maître d' came over to us and asked us to leave the dining room because they needed to set up for the next seating and we had just been served our desserts. In fact, every evening the lights would be brightened to give us the "bum's rush" whilst many diners had yet to complete their meals. The menu did have some good offerings but the "always available" selections were not on the men on gala nights and the gala nights did not seem to be anything special. Lobster tails were miniscule. I also noticed that they offered similar dishes at dinner that would be on a lunch menu on Princess. Also, the tables were very tight. When I mentioned to the matire d' on the first evening that I wasn't happy with my assigned table because my seat was practically up against the table behind me, I received a surly reply and he refused to change my table, claiming they were all full (despite a lot of tables remaining empty throughout the cruise). At one dining room lunch I was seated at a table where I was wedged in and another couple were seated right on top of me. When I left I noticed a lot of large tables with just 2 diners so there would have been plenty of better tables to place me. MSC needs larger dining rooms but the space was sacrificed to make room for the pay restaurants on board.

Now let's talk about the staterooms. I was "upgraded" due to a price drop to an ocean view stateroom. When I walked in I could not believe my eyes. It was smaller than a Carnival inside stateroom and did not have the same layout as the photo and blue plan MSC displays on their website. Those show room for a table and love seat. There was no room for that. You only got a small box shaped divan placed under the desk to sit on, aside from sitting on the bed. There was only one functional closet with 10 oversized hangers making it difficult to get all of your clothes hung. The adjoining closet houses the mini-bar on the bottom and then the safe above that. On top is the shelf for the life jackets. This leaves a small hanging space which could only accommodate baby clothes. There was a set of drawers next to the bathroom which were small (the width was about the length of my size 9 1/2 shoe (men's)! That's it folks, except for some more drawer space at the desk and the night stands. How a couple can manage is beyond me. Obviously MSC was more interested in getting more passengers on the ship than it really should have and sacrificed passenger comfort in the bargain. This is also apparent in the passenger flow of the ship. I already mentioned how crowded the dining room was. The pool areas were a zoo and people were having a difficult time getting a lounger. In the evening, the public spaces, like the photo gallery and the corridors leading to the loungers were virtually impassable. Read more