Balcony

Inside

Suite

Outside

MSC Cruises

Family Cruises

Gay & Lesbian Cruises

Romantic Cruises

Singles Cruises

Cruises for the Disabled

Senior Cruises

Fitness Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Miami

Port Canaveral (Orlando)

Venice

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Genoa

Barcelona

Valencia

Marseille

Palermo (Sicily)

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Istanbul

Nassau

Palma de Mallorca (Majorca)

Rio de Janeiro

Malta (Valletta)

St. Maarten

Bari

Lisbon

Caribbean - All

U.S.A.

Caribbean - Eastern

Caribbean - Western

Mexico - All

Bahamas

Jamaica

Caribbean - Southern

Panama Canal & Central America

France

Panama

Europe - All

Mediterranean

Costa Rica

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Spain

Italy

Belize

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Bermuda

Portugal

Transatlantic

Europe - British Isles & Western

Europe River

Douro River

USVI

Netherlands

Africa

Dominican Republic

Morocco

South America

Canary Islands

Cruise to Nowhere

Mexican Riviera

Trans-Ocean

Excellent

Very Good

Average

Poor

Terrible

MSC Divina

MSC Seaside

MSC Meraviglia

MSC Sinfonia

MSC Musica

MSC Poesia

MSC Fantasia

MSC Orchestra

MSC Armonia

MSC Preziosa

MSC Splendida

MSC Magnifica

MSC Opera

MSC Lirica

MSC Virtuosa

MSC Seaview

MSC Seascape

MSC Bellissima

MSC Seashore

MSC Grandiosa

MSC World Europa

MSC Euribia

Nice cruise, Good food, Great crew

Saint-Tropez

The reviews had me very nervous about MSC Divina, but the naysayers were wrong. We had a very good experience on this ship and found the staff, food, and overall experience to be way above what others have said.

First, the most common complaints are about things beyond MSC’s control.  The cruise line can’t control the rudeness of guests, nor can they control the way the Greek government runs the cable car, tender service, or number of ships in port on any given day in Santorini.

Embarkation at Civitavecchia was flawless!  We’ve never had a better boarding experience. Lines to drop luggage were quick and efficient, and security continued opening lanes as the crowd grew. Although debarkation was still taking place at 10am, new passengers were onboard within minutes of MSC opening the desks. The ship was clean, and lunch was available in the buffet.  Yes, it was busy, but isn’t every buffet on day one?

We ported in Siracusa, Malta, Santorini, and Mykonos and all were lovely.  We had gorgeous weather and chose to beat the crowds by being off the ship early each day. As others have mentioned, getting to the cable car in Santorini, when many ships are in, can be daunting.  I waited almost 2 hours and blame those cutting the line.  Some in our group took the 588 steps down, but this is not for everyone. At the tender dock, MSC had staff handing out group numbers for boats, and the wait was not long at all. In Mykonos, we tendered as well, but the process was quick and easy.  If you plan to go ashore the first night in Mykonos, buy the boat pass from MSC. Otherwise, you can buy tickets, for €4 each way, at the dock.

The MDR food was better than expected, and Butchers Cut was excellent as always.  The buffet was varied and food choices were good.  On Day Two, our sea day, the buffet was overwhelming with nowhere to sit and people shoving others.  The staff responded by queuing people at the door and waiting for the crowd to lessen before letting others in.

Our cabin attendant was friendly and efficient and solved issues quickly.  Others say they had no washcloths, but we had them each day after requesting them.

Overall, this was a good cruise.  We had family members with us, and everyone had a great time.  Our granddaughter enjoyed the kids program, but we were surprised it wasn’t open on a sea day. Also, they did not offer the dinner pick up from the MDR, but we didn’t mind.

Don’t be afraid to try this ship based on the reviews of others.  Divina doesn’t have all the “bells and whistles” of more modern ships, but she is clean, well staffed, and is priced well in the Mediterranean.

Surprisingly good after reading reviews

Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo

We chose to cruise with MSC because the route (Valletta, Santorini, Mykonos, Civitavecchia, and Syracuse) was very appealing to us. And each port was absolutely stunning and offers a great deal of variety and character to please everybody.

Boarding the MSC Divina at Valletta was very easy and well managed. I can only assume they left these members of staff in Malta because from that point on chaos ensued.  Leaving the ship via tender is as you would expect, even though with some of the clientele you need to keep your elbows particularly sharp.  Boarding at the end of your time in port is mayhem, whether it's a queue for a bus, tender or water taxi swimming back to ship routinely feels the preferable option.

The MSC Divina is a very well equipped ship having last been refurbished in 2017/18 I believe. It has a very good variety of bars and entertainment. The entertainment started a bit late for us but I can understand this suits MSC's customers.  The bars succeed in setting each other apart with attractive themes and decor.  Deck 14 around the pool was a bit too loud for our taste but I can appreciate everyone will feel differently about that. It was always possible to find quiet areas to relax and sunbathe.

The food.  School dinners, aeroplane meals, microwave meals and takeaways at 3am are all examples of better food I've had than the buffet and main restaurant on Divina. This was by far the most disappointing aspect of the cruise experience. The bottom line is if you want to enjoy your food on this ship you have to pay.

Overall as an English speaking passenger on the Divina you will feel outnumbered. On holidays in the past this has never been an issue but on this ship there are certain passengers and that seem to go out their way to be rude to fellow cruisers and staff.  You can take people being dismissive on the ship and wanting to stick to their group but when you regularly witness staff being shouted and and ordered about in Italian it's hard to ignore the fact they are just plain rude.

To summarise the MSC Divina is a very well equipped ship. We were very happy to have booked a cabin with a balcony and this offered a very peaceful retreat from what at times can feel a very chaotic ship. The route was fantastic and enjoying an evening drink in some of the quieter bars made for a great experience. Just be prepared to pay for decent food and witness your fair share of rude behaviour.

Enjoyable cruising, let down by awful food.

Very good 7 days  would love to do it again. First class . Looking forward to my next cruise. The service in the restaurant was amazing and I and my family just loved it, you could have as you could eat a d the selection was amazing. The intertainment was great but not outstanding,the only point I would make is that the lifts were very slow and for the amount of people trying to get into the lift as shocking.I would say there was a lot to do to pass the time on the ship but the best was you could go on the top deck and there was a Pugh sun loungers to lie in the sun,I brought my three daughters and son inlaw for this cruise and they all enjoyed the cruise and they agreed that they would be going on another cruise in the future as I will too.

Very good all round 

My husband and I took the European cruise from Civitavechia Italy to Syracuse,Malta, Santorini,Mikonos then back to Civitavechia  from 9/8/23 to 9/15/23 and want to tell you about our bad experience. However, there are personnel on the ship that stood out above the bad moments we had and made us feel better and welcomed. Thank you Gede assistant waiter, Wayan waiter, Luis assistant Bartender and Nicholas Bartender for being so kind, courteous, friendly and truly understanding what great customer service is. We truly hope MSC values your hard work as you all stood out among every other worker on the ship (and there are hundreds of them) for the great work you do.  Now let us tell you our nightmare experience on this ship: first as we boarded the ship and went to the buffet to get a bite to eat… we saw two men about to get into a fist fight! Not understanding what was going on soon we began to notice people’s behavior… Shoving, pushing, yelling, screaming children at the buffet line or any line. It felt like people had never seen a buffet and thought food was going to run out!!! Never seen this and we have taken some weekend cruises from Miami that were very low in price and never saw nor experienced this type of behavior from people on the ship. Meanwhile as people were about to get into fights the staff at the buffet did nothing! And were just watching and some laughing, I asked one of them to call security and he said “I don’t know”There is no security staff, it felt so unsafe. We witnessed 3 fight incidents. In general, the people this ship brings are people who have absolutely NO manners, they walk through you if they could, they will shove you to get into elevators, get a drink, go down or up the stairs, get a beach chair by the pool etc… at first we thought maybe it’s just us? But soon we met other couples from the Netherlands and Americans who were experiencing the same… some on their honeymoon!! :(  thankfully we all stuck together and made the best we could out of this cruise experience. So happy to have met them…. To continue, the MSC excursions were not great.. Noto wasn’t good, they took us to a main street showed us a couple of churches and that was it! Not worth the money! Santorini is beautiful but we were left to take a cable transport that was impossible to take. there was a massive line of people yelling and screaming to get in so we ended up taking the 600 stairs down which we weren’t prepared for… as the tour guide said taking the cable cart is so easy! Stairs are dangerous and full of poop! outside of the animal cruelty you see with the donkeys that are put through taking people up and down those stairs in that heat… I wanted to cry :_(   They looked so sad.  The disembark was also chaotic, they got everyone out of the rooms at 8am and getting a bite to eat at buffet was almost impossible. We saw our friends getting kicked out of chairs by other people…so upsetting as they were on their honeymoon (we felt so sad for them) Overall the experience was upsetting and we were glad to be off the ship. Also it seemed to us and our cruise friends MSC caters to Italian speaking passengers as English speaking customers seemed not to be a priority.

Very dissappointed!

The ship is nice and room was lovely, however we had problems with the shower, every time we used the shower the bathroom flooded which apart from being a hazard it was an inconvenience. The ship was full and there were queues everywhere especially at the buffet, pools were always crowded, most of the staff were not helpful maybe because of the overload of work due to many people being on board. We opted for first seating for dinner but they shifted us to the 2nd seating at 10 which for us is late, after discussing this with the manager he told us that we could come in the first seating only to find that we had to share the table with other people, for us this was not an option, so we had to go the buffet everyday, food is nothing special and everyday is almost the same. Excursions were a nightmare especially the one at Santorini. Everywhere we went was overcrowded, it was even a problem to use the lifts and we had to use the stairs most of the time. I would definitely not go again with MSC since it is not worth the money we have spent. Entertainment was ok.

Ship was overcrowded queues everywhere

We joined 400 dancers on the cruise for Dance Academy Tour.

It was our first cruise, and I must say that the service was exquisite. We lost our cruise card multiple times, yet we could ask for a new one at the desk at any moment in time. Our room was cleaned twice a day, everything worked perfectly and the staff was polite all the time. We had the same person cleaning our room each day and it was just fun to see him wandering through the hallway and greeting him every time.

Moreover, the buffet was great, with lots of choices and freshly made food. The dinner at 'the black crab restaurant' was even better and the waiters really spoiled us there. I need to give credits here to our personal waiter Allen. The way he greeted us with a smile each day made my heart melt. There is nothing bad to say about his service and it was just delightful and an utter joy to dine at this restaurant and be spoiled by him and the other waiters.

Even though the boat was an older model, we couldn't ask for more and the service was just perfect!

Great service

We chose MSC Davina as we were hoping for a memorable experience, however our expectations were shattered due to several issues. Firstly we were disappointed with how overcrowded the cruise was it was completely oversold. Throughout our time on board we struggled to find anywhere to sit or access to the pools. This made it challenging to relax and unwind or to fully enjoy the amenities advertised as part of our cruise experience.  One of the reasons we chose this cruise was to visit Santorini  but after we had paid for the cruise we were informed that we would not be stopping in Santorini. We also found that this cruise was very much organised with the Italian passengers in mind and not the English passengers. We had entrusted our special holiday to MSC but were very disappointed we had anticipated a memorable holiday but unfortunately this was not the case.

Very overcrowded 

Wellington

Wow!  We spent a fortune sailing in the Yacht Club.  Expected it to be like Norwegian Haven or Celebrity Retreat.  The service was excellent in the YC but the entertainment and staff outside of Yacht Club is horrible.  I honestly think they dislike Americans (but love our $$).  Worst entertainment of any cruise line I have traveled and we have been on over 40 cruises.  Boring Sea days-no enrichment talks, very few activities.  If you want a super cheap cruise (outside of  Yacht Club) then I guess it’s ok but I would much rather do Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.  Too few things to do on this line and the shows are pathetic. Food is very average.  Specialty restaurants are terrible. Gym is small and overcrowded.  Had to wait every day mire than 30 minutes for a cardio machine.  Cabins are small and this ship really needs an update.  Lots of things were broken (including glass panels at the YC pool), carpets in the cabins were stained and disgusting.  Lots of rust around doors and on outside of ship.

Try Another Cruise Line

We booked this cruise because it was going to stop a few places we hadn't been before on our way to europe.  we booked a superior balcony cabin so my husband could sit and watch the ocean.

Right off the bat, we were unhappy beause the balcony had a bunker-like appearance with the metal coming up to where a railing should be.  in other words, you had to stand up to see out.  after 2 hours in line (lots of other upset people), we were told to come back tomorrow and for $100+ dollars we woud be assigned another cabin.  the next day i again waited in line for over an hour to receive a new cabin; had to wait over another hour for someone to escort me to the "new cabin" which was just an ordinary balcony cabin.  a lot of wasted time standing in lines instead of enjoying what we had paid for.

We had booked a table for 2, early seating, and were assigned a table for 8.  another hour waiting to attempt to change this.  now we weren't really assigned a table for 2, we had to wait in line each night to be sent to a table, sometimes on one side of the ship and then on the other side.  the food in the dining room could only be described as "adequate", while the food at the buffet was plentiful, just not very tasty.  

On the 8th day of the cruise, we started feeling quite ill, which lasted through the rest of the cruise.  we didn't have the room steward clean the room for several days, and when we did, she was sick and told us that many of the crew in all departments (food handlers, etc) were quite sick but were told to continue working and to not wear a mask so as to not upset any of the passengers.  we had been wearing a mask the entire time as we are both considered at high risk.  many of the other guests were sick as well; probably because of the fact that the staff were forced to work sick and not wear a mask.  also, on the 9th day the captain turned the ship around to return to fort du france because of a"medical emergency", however, the patient died so we turned around again and headed for the next port.  never said what he died from!

Prior to the day of disembarkation, i again stood in line on 2 separate occasions to ensure that we would have a wheelchair from our cabin to leave the ship.  on the actual day, there was no wheelchair, wouldn't be sending a wheelchair, and to make our own way to a meeting point where we could wait for a wheelchair.  we managed to do this and after a long waid, we finally were assigned a wheelchair to get off the ship.  as soon as we were taken off the ship, we were on our own to find someone to manage our bags.

The  male staff at the passenger relations desk were mostly quite rude, and  they acted very superior; also, it seemed like they just made things up to get you to go away, such as the business with the wheelchair, etc.

On the positive side, the captain did a very good job of avoiding any rough seas.

We have taken more than 20 cruises throughout the years, and this was the absolute worst cruise we have ever been on.

We will never take another msc cruise and will be advising our friends to avoid the line as well.

The cruise from hell

The MSC Divina is an older ship, but very well maintained and beautiful.

We decided to splurge on the Yacht Club on the MSC Divina. We are so glad we did. From the check in to debarkation we were treated like VIP's, but not in an uncomfortable way. Every crew member in the Yacht Club greeted us warmly each and every time we saw them and were always offering ways to make our cruise an enjoyable experience. Our suite was comfortable and clean and our butler, Ganesh restocked our fridge daily with our favorite beverages. Since we don't particularly like the entertainment in the theater, it was nice to have live music in the lounge each evening, where we could enjoy an after dinner drink and chat with new friends. Michaelangelo, a frequent waiter, (who I believe is a Butler in training) was always friendly and attentive.

The pool area was large enough that we never felt crowded. The pool was large enough for the area and the 2 hot tubs were roomy and comfortable. The food offered in the One Pool area was convenient and what you would expect at an outside bar. The bartenders and servers were all outstanding, especially Andre and Wilkims. Andre would make a great butler and hope he gets the opportunity for promotion.

The private restaurant, LeMuse was lovely. Our waiter, Dominic and assistant waiter, were professional, friendly, and attentive. They remembered what we liked and how we liked it each and every night. We had many conversations with them and joked around in a way that made them feel more like friends. The menu was extensive and varied and since I'm a picky eater, Dominic always had a suggestion for me or offered to make changes to accomodate me. Raul, the Maitre de, was also very attentive. He often jumped in to clear or set up a table so that guests never had to wait to be seated. The restaurant was cozy, yet spacious, so that table conversation was easy to maintain even when the restaurant was full.

Our concierge, Rodrigo was a gem! Always cheerful and helpful and always seemed genuinely happy to see us.

When we compare the quiet, peaceful, and luxury accomodations in the Yacht Club to the rest of ship which was noisy, crowded and chaotic, it was worth every penny. We are hooked on the Yacht Club!

Best Cruise Ever

Filters

1-10 of 1,890