We sailed on the MSC Divina in September 2017. Our cruise was interrupted by Hurricane Irma so we decided to take the generous discount MSC gave us and try our first European cruise. Prior to having to leave the ship in September we loved our cruise. We were in the the Yacht Club so we booked the Yacht Club again. We embarked in Rome and everything was going well until later that evening when we went into the topside lounge for a pre dinner drink: the lounge was full of smoke. We were never told that in Europe you can smoke in almost the whole ship. When we asked about it we were told that they were only smoking in part of the lounge and they had a right to smoke - Unfortunately smoke doesn't stay in one spot. There were several times on the cruise we could not go into the lounge as the smoke and smoke smell was very strong. As we went to dinner we found out that smoking is allowed in all of the bars. Being that I am allergic to smoke that left out most of the evening activities except for the main theater. Other that that we loved our cruise. The dining room for the Yacht club we wonderful and the food and service outstanding. The hostess was still on the ship and remember us from September. We loved breakfast and lunch at the one pool. Everyone we encountered from MSC was warm and friendly. The only issue we had was a excursion left without us; they couldn't fix it but tried to make us comfortable with a bottle of wine. All of our excursions were with MSC and we loved them. Other that the smoking issued (which was a big issue for us) we will sail with MSC again, but be sure to ask about the smoking policy prior to booking. Read Less

We were looking to do something different. Family & friends kept on about cruising, then we saw a cruise TV programme with Jane Macdonald raving about MSC. It looked amazing and as it embarks at valencia just 50 minutes from us, we thought great. We booked a wellness package for 1 week. Cabin with balcony not far from lifts,as my husband has dementia so less likely to get lost. Day we thought was smooth until we saw the state of our shower with mildew, soap and dispenser not working, hairs in basin, filthy carpet, stains on sofa and bed linen...stained with sweat marks! It took 3 visits to reception to get this matter resolved. They offered us complimentary shuttle bus tickets to Marseilles, which we didn't want to visit. Pizza soggy and inedible in Eatily and,as explained, 3 different coloured peppers does not constitute a vegetable pizza! Buffet always overcrowded, more like,a rugby scrum. Never once managed to get I to black crab for breakfast. Food lukewarm. Lifts overcrowded. Our room was on cupid deck, 13. The floor above is the buffet and terrace which we're not aware of at booking. Furniture being dragged and moved overhead at night, then the disco would start at midnight until 2/2.30am. Relax or rest? How??? I was surviving on little sleep. Excursion always early start and chaotic in deck 6 or 7 where you assemble. Portofino the best trip but not long enough to appreciate it. Stuff too busy chatting. Customer service poor. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was a back to back cruise with the Poesia. We were with a group of 6. We were transferred by coach from Venice to Genoa which took about 5 hours. Only about 12 people on the coach. Good trip. Because we arrived at Genoa at about 15.30 embarkation was easy and fast - straight through, baggage arrived at cabin the same time as we did. Balcony cabin was big and neat and tidy.Much bigger than Poesia. The tiles in the Shower recess floor were loose and water leaked onto floor outside shower. Dining was below average. Wait Staff in dining room were good but it was obvious they were under pressure 'from up above'. Servings in the dining room were small and the menu was exactly the same as the ship which we just came off. No variation at all - very disappointing. Breakfast and lunch in the buffet was total chaos. Too many people pushing and shoving and the noise level was very loud. Menu's were not very appealing at all. Service in the dining room for breakfast was slow. One morning I waited 20 minutes before being served. Most Bar staff were very slow and it appeared that it was a chore to serve you. Prices on drinks menu did not include a service charge of 15%. So when you ordered a beer for EUR4.95 the bill come in at EUR5.69. Some times we would order a drink from the list and after about 20 minutes the waiter returned to say they didn't have it or they ran out. The drinks included red wine Cabernet Sauv, Cognac, Cocktail of the Day, Strongbow Cider etc. You had to keep an eye on your onboard account as I was charged twice for items I did not purchase. The onboard account on the TV screen listed your transactions but did not include the total of the bill - you had to work that out yourself. Entertainment was good but it was mainly performed by the onboard production crew, mainly dancing and singing. The Cruise Director did not appear to get too involved in day to day activities. the only time we saw him was at the evening show where he introduced the show in about five different languages. Imagine if they featured a comedy act, the comedian would have to tell the joke several times in different. How good would that be?? We did not do any Shore excursions from the ship because we thought the cost was excessive. They provided paid shuttles into town, which were also expensive, then we done our own thing. Disembarkation was good and well organised, bit different than the chaotic Poesia. The ship was beautiful, very Italian with plenty of marble and glass, plenty seating in the lounges, but the standard of service and dining experiences really let it down. Read Less

It was a good deal in Australian newspapers. But, you get what you pay for... Ports were all fine, ship was clean, but food was so very disappointing. Not inviting at all, either in dining room or buffet. In fact, I felt quite ill, to try and select food in buffet. So very noisy and full of people. Announcements all made in many languages, and sometimes this came into your cabin. Including daily safety drill, due to oncoming passengers. The ship appears to be a bus, picking up and dropping off passengers at every port. Being sick onboard, due to "change of diet", it was 80 euros to see Dr to get medical certificate, in order for us to cancel an excursion due to illness ( I am not criticising the Dr, here..he was superb.)..staff made it very difficult to do this. One Shore Excursion was cancelled by cruise ship "due to not enough people"..over 3,000 passengers?? Verandah cabin had no sofa, and very small. Then, the settling of final account was very unusual. Due to them cancelling a tour, and us cancelling another, we had a credit..this credit HAD to be taken as Euros in cash on settling of account..if you did not go and get this, you lost it! A bit odd? As we paid in Australian dollars, we did not want Euros in cash at the end of a holiday! Not a good policy..all other cruise ships we have travelled with, have completed transactions on credit card automatically. Anyway, we will never cruise with MSC Cruises again, and would not recommend them to anyone. Read Less

This was our 7th MSC Cruise, 6 travelling in Yacht Club. We embarked on MSC Divina in Rome. As part of the Yacht Club experience we were taken to an area and offered drinks and snacks whilst we were checked in. Before we could finish our drinks check in was complete. We were taken aboard the ship to our room, which was immaculate. House keeping come twice a day and should you need anything additional you just call the butler and he will bring it to you. We dined in the main restaurant every evening and the service was excellent. I can be a fussy eater but they never made me feel awkward and were always happy to bring me something that wasn’t on the menu. The staff could not have been more friendly and attentive. We went to a couple of shows and the casino and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. As we were tired we decided we would stay on board and didn’t get off all week! The ship was fantastic, service was amazing, we loved every minute, so much so we have 4 more booked with MSC. I see the negative reviews and can’t understand how our experience is so different, possibly the Yacht Club makes a difference. We both work in customer service and have high expectations, we have never been disappointed. Read Less

Because on this ship everybody can board/disembark at every port there was no queue when we embarked. When we got on we weren't told anything apart from the fact our key card will be in the room. We then felt a bit lost. We went to our room where we got our cruise news info. We had a balcony cabin at the rear which was quite roomy. Our cabin attendant was friendly. Bathroom was a decent size and no wet shower curtain, it was a door. The attention to detail on this ship is amazing. It looks very stylish. Lots of bars on board, all with their own different personality. Even the buffet looks stylish. Reasonable amount of choice. A Pasta station, Pizza station, regular buffet, Vegetarian and an "Ethnic" station but I think they mean more Asian food. The main restaurant is efficient. Portions are quite small, European size but very tasty. We had a table for 6 but managed to get this changed after 2 days for a table of 2. They don't have very many tables of 2. We used the gym most days and it was very big and had excellent equipment. The entertainment is fantastic. They do a theatre show every night with amazing singing and dancing. One night is an opera singing night too. The official language on board is Italian but they also do the announcements in French, English, Spanish & German. We did the behind the scenes tour which was reasonably priced compared to other companies. It was such an interesting tour, we really enjoyed it. This is our first time with MSC and would definitely use them again. Read Less

We choice this cruise because it departed from Valencia and we could easily drive there from our home in Alicante province. As first time cruisers we were a little apprehensive about everything. There was no need to be!! Everything was so simple. The parking was easy to find. We handed our luggage in, showed all our documents and we where away. A bus took us through the port and the first sight of MSC Davina was WOW!! She looked amazing. We boarded the ship and got a very warm welcome from the crew. We went to deck 14, the buffet deck, had a spot of lunch (had to try the amazing pizza). After lunch we had a wander round the ship, and found our cabin. It was a balcony cabin, which was an adequate size, with good storage and was spotlessly clean. Our luggage arrived quite quickly at our cabin, we unpacked and our first cruise began. We found our way to The Black Crab Restaurant for our evening meal. The food was lovely and the waiters very friendly and helpful. We would definitely recommend MSC to first time cruisers, it gives you a chance to sample cruising at a lower price than other cruise lines. But don't let the fact that it is cheap put you off, there is nothing cheap about the ship or the standards. Read Less

First and last time cruising with MSC! Embarkation quick and smooth, beautiful ship and good entertainment were the only good things about our cruise on MSC Divina! Problem with our shower cubicle and one of the drawers in wardrobe and it took 4 days to be resolved.Complete chaos at breakfast buffet, had to be there for 7am to try and get a seat, tables were not cleared quickly enough for the volume of people, so not a pleasant experience. Wet floor constantly at beverage station, so accidents waiting to happen! Food always lukewarm or cold in all restaurants. They do not dock close to cities and then charge 12-15 euros each for shuttle bus. Tour to last 4 hours, spent one hour each way on coach, then were allowed 1hr 10 mins in Portafino, the one place we were so looking forward to have it at least a few hours! MSC cannot manage crowds and have not got this right, staff just not trained to do the job properly, our stateroom attendant constantly moaned to us about being tired and about his work load, we also waitedover 10 mins for a waiter to return with our drinks as he was chatting to a colleague, service is too slow! They cancelled a transfer/tour we had pre-booked for disembarking and taking us to airport and could not offer us an alternative and they told us at 4 pm day before! Were able to get a transfer with the help of friends we met on ship but had to go to airport at 10am and our flight was not until 9pm! Spent a lot of money on this cruise, was not relaxing, just stressful and we were glad to leave this ship, do not book with MSC! Read Less

MSC in the Caribbean, as it has several competing companies, focuses on service and care. In Europe, as it has no competition, the mess is general. They exchange Coca Cola for Pepsi, exchange San Pellegrino and Panna water served in America by anyone, the attendance worsens noticeably, with bad prominence for the attendants of Venchi and the safety when returning to the ship. Calumet, which is the restaurant that serves 20 hours, falls a lot of quality, nothing resembles the cruises that MSC does in the United States. The buffet worsens and the replenishment is bad. The schedules provided in the booking are different. For example, FP5 should leave Rome, but FP7 left. Should arrive in Mallorca the 3PM but arrived at 1PM and should arrive in Genova at 9AM but arrived at 7,30AM. The ship is great and, at the Yacht Club, better still, but do not just cruise with the ship. The only positive caveat, though somewhat elitist, is that the Yacht Club staff, especially the Top Sail Lounge and the butlers who serve the cabins, are great and try to lessen the effects of the Italian Way. (Google Translator) Read Less

Well firstly the on board entertainment/activities was very poor from the last cruise I was on...the entertainment does not last long for people who don't do excursions...I got very bored on the ship...there is it enough music and dancing at the pool area....some scheduledscheduled activities didnt even take place...the entertainmet staff is not engaging enough... The casino system is very bad with the ticket system ...one would think that money would be loaded onto your card..and like myself who was could unaware lost 60 euros cause i didnt print a ticket....and the casino couldn't even tell me who then took the ticket out of the machine ...I'm sure the casino staff are very aware of this over site and has collected many unclaimed tickets for them selfs...this ship is just about marketing on board to make me money off passsagers and less worried about the passengers enjoyment....the rule that all passangers sharing the all inclusive drinks package is a total indecation of this...my cabin partner was not a drinker so why do both need to make the purchase, I find that totaly unaceptable and gready of MSC to make more money... .other than that the ship itself is very good and the food is great.....and the lack of staff understandings English is not a good thing Read Less