Title says it all. Price of this cruise was unbelievable. Ship was gorgeous. Balcony room at the rear of the ship was Fabulous. Food & service at our table in the black crab dining room was TERRIBLE! Take the cruise & eat at the buffet. Service at Eataly was terrible and extremely SLOW so we went up to the pizza buffet & ate the exact same thing. The staff didn’t look like they enjoyed working on this ship. It was just a boring job to most. They need more Karaoke . They offered it only 3 times and each night it didn’t start until 10:30 or 11:00 PM which is way too late and then it only went for one hour. Many people signed up to sing but we’re not able to do so because of the time element. Incorporate Carnival’s use of Karaoke & do it everyday/ & 2-3 times a day at decent hours so everyone gets a chance. Read Less

Same food at buffet everyday which consists of roast chicken, vegetables, some awful tasting rice, hamburgers, French fries, and hotdogs for lunch and dinner. The same shows as 2 years ago with all the same performerd. There was a very small TV in room like a computer monitor that didn’t always work. Thanks The food in the restaurant was bad as well. The only food we liked was the pizza and the gelato. The price was reasonable but the food service for breakfast was lousy and I had to ask for orange juice 3 times before I got any. It started for the very beginning when we didn’t get the drink package we ordered and had to wait in line for an hour and then they scheduled us for Dining time. I don’t think we’ll go back on MSC again. The music they had onboard was just jazz and nothing very good. Read Less

2nd time cruising on MSCDivina. The first was wonderful, this time, horrible. We had several encounters in the dining room where we didn't get what we ordered, our party of 6 didn't get served at the same time where some were done eating while others hadn't been served. Too many inexperienced servers and assistants. Lots of not so tasty food too. The buffet was better, but nothing to write home about. Pool service was almost non-existent, more like get your own. The assistant manager of the jewelry department was downright rude and should look for a job where she doesn't interact with the public, as should several other staff members. Too many inexperienced servers and staff. On the other hand, Maria from excursions should be given a massive raise and train some of the other staff how to be courteous and provide spot on customer service. Take advantage of the free facial on deck 5. Read Less

I choose this cruise because of the great rate we received. We travelled with no children. Balcony cabin room 11224...BTW HUGE BALCONY Now, we have that out thw way let me begin. The MSC Divina beautiful well maintained ship, staff is curtious. The specialty dining like most ships on the Divina you are VERY limlited. 1 is Italian and the other is the Galaxy restaurant. Which I highly recommend. The Italian I will not do it again the food was not worth the money. The food was cold and the waiter said what not to eat just because he was looking out for us. The Galaxy is highly recommended on tje list. We tried the main dining what a mess. Unless you like phesant and duck. The main dining room was almost empty by day 4. They all went buffet which was sad. We spoke to the chef, he said they were working on it. Entertainment was ok. No comedy, Queen and Opera, Frank Sinatra. All the reviews I heard was it was ok. Or my husband fell asleep. You never hear from the Captain of the boat. Let me explain, nothing about what ialand what time to get off the boat or return. So please read your daily paper. We did do excursions..we went to see the waterfalls Guadeloupe ww were very excited about this. Yes there ia walking about. Bring your own water because thw ship supplies you with none on the excursions. Embark and disembark with no issues. Drinks on us..is not what you think. They nickle and dime you. Every drink is 15% every one you get. You can upgrade only once abourd ship. Its expensive but..you can't just purchase one. If you have 2 in the cabin even if they don't drink your paying. Most importantly there ia no ATM on board. Casino money is charged right to your room So don't ne surprised at the end of the cruise. So if you want thia experience on MSC Divina please do, but be prepared to wait for your drinks. Happy cruising. Read Less

Really needed to get out of town and see some more of the world got a real bargain on this cruise. Nice ship, clean and well kept. Wife has a hard time walking and we had all the help we needed, picked her up curb side and taken to the cabin where we had a rented walker from a company we were told of by cruise. Had the same service on leaving. Dining was fine though the buffet was lacking in variety, seemed to be the same every day. I found it interesting that there was sure a range of people on the cruise from many other countries. Did not go on but 2 shore excursions due to wife not able to get around much but on those they were well managed and easy to attend. Entertainment was fine tho we did not go every much, I seemed to spend a lot of time in the casino and enjoyed. Read Less

I will start this review with my feeling that there really is no BAD cruise, but some are better than others. I sailed on MSC SEASIDE in May and was for the most part, very impressed, as that was my first time on MSC. The promotion that tempted me for this trip was just too good to pass up, so we decided to give Divina shot. Regrets, no. Bad cruise, no…Others were better, however. My experience on MSC Divina was enjoyable however there are some things that future cruisers should keep in mind. This is a very nice, large (a little older) ship. In my opinion, it was very confusing to get around. It took me several days to begin to get some bearing. There are MANY elevators and some of what I referred to as secret elevators. You really need to study the layout and explore this ship to get around effectively. You WILL probably get lost in the beginning. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. That being said, I did not experience long waits for elevators throughout the week, as I had expected. They were pretty fast. It just took time to get from point a to point b as some of the public decks do not connect with each other. (and I dare you to try to find the jogging track!) Initially, I felt the ship very confusing, due to the above reasons… after a few days, I felt it to be more annoying! This was due to the fact that the majority of the 3600 passengers were from all over the world and very few were from USA (maybe 20% on this trip, I was told). That made for communication and some cultural differences, which are tolerable, but the people were just many times rude! Cutting in line, pushy, bumping into you without an acknowledgment or excuse me…and no concern what so ever, mostly just stopping where ever they happen to be at the time, to have a conversation….even if it is in the middle of the buffet traffic flow, which happened everyday!. The same rudeness was experienced with the elevators. There is no consideration for anyone getting off, when the doors opened…all just piled in and did not yield to people exiting, and if you try to get on and people were already in there, they would just not move. I had to “weave around” then to find a space near the back or sides, instead of the person standing in the middle just moving! So annoying. The next most annoying feature on this trip though is the chair HOGS…not savers, because mostly they just NEVER showed up……but towels were out on ALL available chairs by 7:30 AM on sea days……every time, even when the weather was not good! The worst part is that I literally saw these chars empty for most of the day. It’s Just plain rude and pointless. There are plenty of chairs and spaces on the ship, and people come and go. I do not understand the “entitlement” of some people. There was NO enforcement of their lax policy of not doing this on this ship. These are the things that I could not “get past” on this trip, because they don’t need to be…. That being said, I am on vacation and not going to sweat the small stuff. If this behavior bothers you, think carefully before booking on Divina. Would I book Divina again? NO Would I book Seaside again YES. Divina is clearly still a European ship, alternating with Med and Caribbean seasons; while the Seaside which has been built for US market, and year round Caribbean “gets it” more. This was a longer trip for me; 11 days over Thanksgiving holiday. The demographic was all ages, mostly older and we had a good itinerary to break it up. I love cruising, but for me, even with the excursions and diversions, I was getting kind of bored towards the end…not so much of being on the ship for too long, but mostly because it seemed to be the same thing (on board) day after day. The cruise staff was energetic and tried to engage people, but on this ship, the variety of languages is and will remain their biggest downfall. Crew and staff speaking, trying to engage and get involvement; and passengers just not listening or understanding…… So, not much staff could do about it. I would think with today's technology that it could be a simple fix of an app on your phone with a translator and head phones….it seems to work at UN and would be a great improvement on a multi cultural ship like this one. Mostly though, it seemed to be the same thing every day…..Even and especially with the show at night. . I was really looking forward to the shows because on SEASIDE they were fantastic, every night. On Divina; not so much. The singers and dancers were very talented and worked hard but every night it was the same thing……singing with some back up dancers (weird and distracting choreography) and ZERO sets. For 10 nights we saw stairs on the stage. That is all; just stairs. Finally, the pirate show…which was great. It was a show, not just song fest, and it is what I would have expected for each night, or at least a couple. I skipped the Opera and walked out on a couple of others…just got bored. The “ pre show” however was very entertaining. Go early, it’s the best part of the show. Cukoo! The entertainment around the ship through out the evening was plentiful….La Luna Piano Bar (never saw the piano beinge played on time the whole trip) but an nice duo each night. The Golden Jazz Club (never was any jazz in there) but high energy Latin music each night, The piazza had piano and dance music nightly. Lots of venues throughout the ship. Many Theme nights and typical trivia and karaoke. I do miss the comedy shows. I imagine it is impossible with the language diversity. (that could be a great comedy show in itself!) With spent time (and money) in the casino. Actually won a little in the long run. BlackJack , slots, roulette but sadly NO CRAPS on MSC. I really miss that. The food and service was good. Food plentiful…but again boring . The buffet, although HUGE; was literally the same thing every day. Lots of food and variety, same each day. Period…..The dining room was nice and service was very good, food was ok too. The pizza was GREAT! (People were annoying….no flow of traffic, stopping in the middle of lines to talk WITH strollers!) Oblivious. Ports were good. We did two excursions and only one complaint. The tour was supposed to be English; There was a 2nd one of the same for multilingual, however, out tour guide instructed us that there were many Germans and she was told to be bi lingual. So there was constant translating and not enough “tour info” Actually much was spoken in German and I found myself tuning out. That was disappointing and my complaint fell on deaf ears. We received chocolate dipped strawberries for our inconvenience! I thought maybe partial credit would have been more appropriate and I would NOT have booked this had I known about the language. All in all, the ship is pretty and clean. The cabin in nice and spacious, and clean. The staff is nice, efficient and friendly. The price was right and we enjoyed our vacation. Would I sail Divina again, probably not. There are too many other ships to experience. Read Less

This was my wife and my honeymoon and we were really looking forward to good food and lots of dancing. Following are our thoughts on each category. Hope this helps anyone looking to have an enjoyable vacation. Ship The ship is beautiful other than the dining rooms which I believe are poorly designed compared to other ships I've been on. The staff is excellent and accommodating and always willing to assist. The only other real complaint I have is that the elevators are in an offset configuration which means you have to stand way back from them to see all the indicators and then the doors close so quickly, it's difficult to get to the elevator before they close. Itinerary They could have and should have chosen any port other than Jamaica which is just a rip-off no matter how you slice it. The Jamicans seem to have only one interest, your money and have no interest in making you want to come back to Jamaica. Cartagena, Columbia was very nice. See the old town and for food there is a little restaurant right across from the McDonalds and Burger King I'd highly recommend.They serve fresh fish and the food was excellent and inexpensive. In Panama, the city of Colon is basically a sxxx hole. It was so filthy, my wife and I just wanted to leave. Some of our travelling companions said that Panama City, about 90 minutes away was beautiful and had a nice old town as well as much to see and that it was clean. Limon, Costa Rica is beautiful and I'd recommend just taking a taxi to the beach and spend some time there eating and drinking the time away. Costa Maya was fantastic! The port was beautiful in every way. Great shopping, a dolphin sanctuary, beautiful pools, and great little shows. We took a party bus excursion that left you half drunk by the time you reached the beach where we were provided all the food, drink, beach chairs umbrellas, tables and a beautiful pool to relax in as well. The food was good but not great. The service was great and the drinks just kept coming.Such a contrast between there and dirty Jamaica. It was obvious the Mexicans wanted you to remember your time there and want to come back. Cozumel, which I've been to multiple times was very nice as well but one warning, if you're going to rent a car or scooters, do it online ahead of time with a reputable agency, otherwise, you may get a broken down piece of junk for the same price. If you rent a car or scooters, you can go see the sights and then go relax at one of the beach clubs like Carlos and Charlies where the food is excellent, San Francisco Beach or Paradise Beach Club. You'll have a great time on the beach there and it's only about 20 minutes from the cruise ports. The shopping is very good at the port as well but kind of expensive. The days at sea were quite nice. Lost of games and activities on deck. Dining This is where this cruise left both my wife and I and many many other passengers disappointed. I've been on about ten cruises prior to this one, including the MSC Lirica back in 2005, and this is by far, the worst food I've ever experienced on a cruise ship. The food in the main dining room many nights was barely edible. Cream soups with no cream, lasagna on the Italian night that was truthfully not fit to serve to a dog. I'm not exaggerating just being truthful. The buffet was no better. The best and most consistent item of all the food in both the dining room and the buffet was the breads and some of the pastries. The coffee was the absolute worst coffee I have ever had. Many times I believe they reused old burnt coffee as that's what it tasted like and I love coffee! Another issue that plagued me ever meal in the dining room was that the salt was also wet and would not come out of the shakers. I had to open them every meal, pour salt onto a plate and finger season my food. Has anyone ever heard of a little rice in the shaker to absorb moisture? The buffet is laid out so oddly that you literally would have to walk the entire buffet, approximately 8-10 serving stations to determine what was available. The most consistent items on the buffet were hamburgers and hot dogs. Much of the fruit wasn't ripe, the desserts were few and far between that were really tasty and the Hollandaise sauce for the Eggs Benedict was marginal at best...not much flavor. Cream of Asparagas soup with tapioca in it...very strange and as I said before, no heavy cream. Believe me, I kept looking for something that was really tasty and the items were few and far between. We're not high society passengers and aren't that picky but the food just wasn't tasty and most of all it was poorly cooked or executed. Cream of Asparagus soup with tapioca in it...very strange and as I said before, no heavy cream. I would give the Executive Chef on this ship an EPIC FAIL!!!!! There is no way they could have been tasting the food being served in their dining rooms or buffet because they wouldn't have served it that way. Drink Package As one other review put it, the drink package was very limited. So much so that even a Bloody Mary which is basically just a Bloody Mary mix and vodka wasn't part of the package. I did manage to find a decent drink in a gin and tonic with a little lime cordial and a wedge of lime so I did enjoy those. I would have upgraded to the higher package but it would have been another $26 per day each for a total of an additional $572 which would have meant an addition $5-$10 each per day in gratuities making it near $1,000 to upgrade...no thank you! Entertainment The entertainment was overall good especially the poolside games and activities. My wife and I had been looking forward to dancing the night away at the disco but we found that the DJ was only catering to a Latin crowd and the volume was so loud it made our ears hurt. Don't get me wrong, I was a professional musician and like it pretty loud but this was over the top. The music the DJ played was as if he was in Miami playing for a latino crowd only and after we participated in the Karaoke on multiple nights after which the DJ would take over we could see others that wanted to dance too but the volume and lack of any variance in the music would drive them away. One night we were waiting and waiting wanting to dance and finally left after the DJ played 10+ latin songs that we didn't even recognize while blasting the volume to unreasonable levels. I understand and desire a mix so that everyone can enjoy and relate to the music being played. No...not looking for Glen Miller just maybe some Michael Jackson, NEO, Nelly, Sean Paul, Brittany Spears, Back Street Boys AC/DC, Aerosmith, Westlife, Coldplay etc but nothing...just boom boom boom latin music. I wanted to slap the DJ upside the head as this really took away something we were looking forward to on our cruise. Final Thoughts In all good conscience, I could not recommend this cruiseline to anyone because of the food. Everything else was within standards for a cruise ship and some things were even exceptional but the food was so sub-standard that I'd have to tell someone to pick another cruiseline and this wasn't only my thoughts but the thoughts of some German, Russian and New Zealand passengers that we had conversations with on the ship as well. We're not high society passengers and aren't that picky but the food just wasn't tasty and most of all it was poorly cooked or executed and there were a lot of little things like the salt shakers that were a continuous aggravation. The food along with the late night entertainment issues left me sorely disappointed and wanting for a better experience...especially for our honeymoon! Read Less

This was our first MSC cruise, we have done about 20 cruises most others on ncl, Celebrity and HAL. We enjoy trying new experiences and saw a great deal for a balcony cabin with drinks, we even upgraded the drinks package and the cost per day was still under $200. We used their status match to gain black status under the MSC program, this enabled us to use priority check in, the line for check in was so short that it didn’t help but we were allowed to board the ship earlier. The ship is gorgeous both outside and internally, with the magnificent staircase the showpiece. We had just disembarked the NCL epic and despite being similar sizes this ship felt far more spacious. The internal public areas stretched over 3 floors on the lower levels plus the upper floor buffet, disco and spa. The outdoor areas were also spacious with several hidden sun areas. There were loads of bars and cafes and the theatre is huge. I loved that it was easy to see the ocean from so many different locations (except forward). Our cabin was a “Bella” on deck 9 it was larger than expected with a full sofa. Storage was good and the balcony was a reasonable size. The bathroom is a little smaller than other ships but functioned fine with only one person at a time. There is a stark lack of amenities in the bathroom. The bed was comfortable. The tv had basic channels but more than on other mainline ships we have tried. We enjoyed using our balcony although the smoke and ash from smokers on the promenade and those flaunting the rules occasionally marred the experience. Dining - this was the major disappointment with the cruise. Things appeared great on embarkation with a huge buffet spread including amazing cheeses and cold cuts, fabulous pizza and salads but this turned out to be the only highlight. There are 2 mdr but you are assigned to fixed dining and shared tables. We begged for and received one of the few 2 tops but it was adjacent to the front door and was an uncomfortable position. Service was efficient but the food was simply terrible. Easily the worst food I have experienced on a cruise ship. The pasta was an embarrassment to an Italian line. On a normal cruise we would never dine in the buffet for dinner but on this cruise we had to give up on the mdr. The buffet wasn’t much better with only half the stations open, the meat was very poor quality. By the end we limited ourselves to pizza and salad. We tried the Italian specialty restaurant as we had a free meal there under our status. We were given a table next to a tv with sports playing, a bag of torn stale bread (I thought it was to feed fish with), an incredibly limited option of courses we could choose. The main food was good, the service was aloof. I would not pay the high prices they were demanding otherwise but I understand given how bad the food in the mdr was why people would pay. Entertainment- The cruise director was the worst we have come across. He rarely made an appearance and when he did he spoke in such a cockney accent that even myself as an Australian struggled to understand him. the nightly shows were basic song and dance numbers using the same cast, in a couple of shows acrobatic performers were incorporated which helped improve the standard. It was such a shame to see such an amazing theatre and stage so under-utilised with next to no stage production. The audience receptions were very muted. There were a couple of opera performances which was a nice change. There was a large activities staff with a lot of activities but generally poor in comparison to NCL. There was a lot of dance classes which were lots of fun. There was one water slide. 3 pools was an upside. The formula one car was fun but was regularly broken (most noticeably when they offered it as a prize for trivia games hmmm). Service - average overall. Bar staff were very mixed but the problem was the drinks packages were confusing, the upgrade offerings onboard were different to those offered via the internet and this led to a lot of confusion. We finally requested a meeting with management who simply denied there was a problem, to their credit though they must have marked our card as from that moment onward we were given almost anything we liked. However wine was still regularly poured into tumblers. The beer and wine offerings were very inconsistent between locations. The quality of cocktails was the worst we have encountered. The good points were that they would simply leave the whole bottle of wine on the table in the mdr. The coffee was the best we have had at sea. There were 2 great coffee bars and the gelato was also great. Guest relations was probably the best we have encountered, still average but better than normal, with questions able to be answered, problems followed up, and the telephone actually answered. The gym was great, open and airy with loads of equipment. The spa was terrible, the staff were statutes. The thermal area had his and her steam rooms and saunas but no jacuzzi or spa. A very small resting area with no drinks or easy towel access. The change rooms had no amenities at all ... completely ridiculous. We did one shore excursion which simple reiterated my long held belief to never do the, again. We were treated like children forced to stand in lines and yelled at as if we could not understand basic instructions. The snorkeling trip was promised as 3 reef locations of National Geographic style, it was a beginners style experience with life jackets enforced, the 3 locations were within 100 metres of each other clearly on the same reef next to another cruise ship in jelly fish infested waters that my wife is now suffering scars from. I still believe I should sue both companies for how bad this experience was. I am not sure we would cruise with MSC again despite loving our cabin and the public areas, the food and dining experiences were simply too poor. There was a lack of interest by senior officers and management and it just led to a feeling of chaos. We were regularly informed that there had been a large staff turnover just 10 days prior but good management should overcome this. Read Less

Choose this crew based on the itinerary. Have sailed the MSC Divina 4 times before and this time the inconsistencies were evident but given the low price point, we still had fun. Was the cruise perfect? NO. There were plenty of 10's and Plenty's of 0's and stuff in between. First the 10's for us. Embarkation was perfect. The bars and bar staff on the middle of the ship were awesome. Casino and casino bar staff were awesome. The sports bar was fun and entertainment except when people bowled. why stick a bowling alley in an open air sports bar? SMH. Galaxy Shushi restaurant was awesome with food and staff. La Cantina di Bacco and the made to order brick oven pizza awesome. Go see Rosario for a great pie. Zero's - MDR food and staff at our table were horrible. Went 3 times at the beginning of the cruise only. Each time we waited over 1.5 hours for dinner and drinks were never replinshed. Food quality was really inconsistent. Service was so bad they comped a specialty restaurant. Never went back after that. The ship is 6 years old and it is starting to show its age. The staff does a great job of maintaining it clean but you can see wear and tear over the years. Entertainment was okay on the Divina. Nothing spectacular but nothing horrible although the tribute to Tina Turner was highly questionable. Overall an average cruise but again given the price point compared to other cruise lines, you can see where the difference is missing. Would we sail MSC cruises again? Not sure anymore. Read Less

Free beverage package which was very limited, great mattress, great attentive housekeeper for our cabin always ready to give us what we needed. Entertainment was ok a lot of singing and the music was so loud you really could not understand what they were singing. The Last night entertainment was very good, funny and the acrobats were so good. Wish they had one not of just a comedian instead of all the singing. Bartenders great very busy at times, but once they saw us they knew what we wanted, wait staff excellent. Inside cabin, nice size bathroom. Took one msc excursion and it was worth the money. We got cabs for our other touring. Lots of children on this ship I thought, but no impact on us. Would I go on MSC cruise again, maybe not prefer Princess, the need a new chef menu said one thing and most of the time it was not what we expected. Example we ordered the sea Scallop dinner it was bay scallops smaller than a dime and maybe three in this big dish of noodles with who knows what sauce, that went back along with the risotto terrible. We never went back for the final night, Mario the man in charge was funny and nice we finally had to tell him how bad the food was. Read Less