Had a great time on the Divina sailing to St. Maarten, San Juan and Nassau. The weather was gorgeous and I was able to have a couple nice beach days. The ship was going into dry dock the week after but showed very few signs of age. The MSC staff does a great job of keeping everything spic and span.
This was my first time sailing aboard a MSC ship and was a bit hesitant given some of the lukewarm and poor reviews. I had nothing to be afraid of. The service level was good as well as the food. This was my 8th cruise and was by far the easiest embarkation and debarkation that I've ever experienced. We were on the ship by noon and got off the ship by 6:30 AM the following week. We were back at Fort Lauderdale airport by 7:30.
The buffet was enormous with several different stations and plenty of seating. I enjoyed the pasta bar and pizza the most. The ethnic corner on the buffet was also very popular. The buffet reminded me of the offerings aboard the NCL Getaway. The breakfast offerings were adequate even though they never changed from day to day. For dinner, we at in the main dining room most nights but also did the buffet and even ate at the specialty restaurant, Eataly Steakhouse one night. The steakhouse was just OK and really was more of an Italian eatery. We would've much preferred a traditional steakhouse. In the dining room, portions were small but the wait staff were very accommodating and always offered to bring another course or entree if desired. I took them up on an extra lobster tail on the second formal night.
A standard balcony cabin. Had a connecting door, which was far from sound proof. Sometimes it sounds like the neighbors were in our room. I liked how the shower door pushed into the shower when not being used. This added some needed space in the bathroom. This is a good location, near the elevators/stairs and only cabins above and below. Was a pretty quiet location.
Took the water taxi to the beach. Go two chairs and an umbrella for $20 and beers were 5 for $10. There was also a bar nearby where we had lunch and got free Wifi. It was a beautiful day although people kept pestering us on the beach trying to sell their wares.
We spent the day at Junkanoo Beach near the pier. It was about a 10-15 minute walk. We got 2 beach chairs, umbrella and 6 drinks for $40. They were selling unlimited drinks and one chair for $30 per person also. There were a ton of people there but they had good specials and it was easy. We did some shopping on the way back to the ship too.
St. Maarten - Went to the beach via water taxi.
San Juan - Spent the day at Pamela's. Beach break was $45 for a chair, umbrella, lunch and six drinks. Best deal in town.
Nassau - Walked to Junkanoo Beach and had a great day.