This is a VERY kid unfriendly ship. Of the 3 pools we had access to we could only go in 1 which was typically freezing. We also saw a midfle school aged kid get kicked out of the gym when he was running next to his dad on s treadmill, causing no trouble. We paid extra for the Yacht club, which is a must with this line otherwise you will be waiting awhile just for the buffet. With this "exclusive club" you also got 24 h access to a butler. However literally every time we ordered room service it was wrong. It was fantastic service in the dinning room and club. We asked for milk in the room several times before they then stocked out mini fridge with a card board box that you need heavy scissors to open, which we didn't have. We also requested a crib. I called and contacted MSC numerous times prior to the cruise and I was assured it would be there, it wasn't. Contacting MSC was also a mess. We booked 11 people through Tim Bronson, the agent from MSC. He was not only not helpful, but impossible to reach. Our 4 rooms were all over the ship and not even on the same floor together. 2 of our reservations got cancelled a few weeks before the trip. Luckily no one booked those rooms in the mean time. We have cruised multiple times and this was the worst food I have had on a ship. We did multiple excursions which were not organized well and the guides were lackluster at best. The one guide refused to use the headset pieces in Rome because he "has been doing this since 1975 and didn't need it". Read Less

We did three cruises with MSC: Our first, only and last. Our ticket said food and drinks included. Yes if you "dined" at the chaotic Bistro on deck 14, and kept to iced water and coffee out of a bucket. Our balcony cabin had no sea-view as the "glass" fence to the ocean was a 1 inch steel-plate. Ocean-view only if standing up. We dined at our assigned restaurant and table, and were presented with menu with no prices -and next day we could see we had been charged with 60 EUR for a mediocre dinner. The ship docks between 3 and 10 miles off the cities, except in Palermo, and they charge you 10-15 EUR for the shuttle-bus. Any decent hotel offers that for free, i.e. included in the price of the room. We had the pleasure of many Italian families with children, and to say they are noisy is an understatement. In the pool-area talking was impossible, shouting was the only means of communication. The ship itself was fine, meticulously clean and very stylish, and the navigators showed some remarkable ship-handling when entering and leaving ports, very impressive from an ex-pro. One night we had a force-9 gale directly on the side, and rolling was maximum 2 degrees. Ship is OK, the rest is not. Read Less

Went for our friend's birthday,we were a group of 15 people on board. This was our first Mediterranean cruise. The services were excellent, very friendly staff. The entertainment was awesome, The shows were great no less then any broadway show. The Michael Jackson show totally nailed it. The service on bars by pool was great. The pool side party was a delite. It was an excellent experience, excellent services. Excellent buffet. The pizza bar chief made us some awesome pizza, we totally relished on. Our everyday dinner experience had the best food prepared by Chef Milind Patil. The bar attenders by the poolside Manish & Sachin were very courteous, they took care of our likes. The house keeper took care of all our needs whenever we needed anything he was always there to help us meet our expectation. The services at the Blackcrab dinner was excellent, where we dinned every night. The parties at the Black & white was rocking. Overall an excellent cruise and wonderful vacation.I would always recommend my friends. Read Less

The cabin was nice and clean but the buffet was extremely crowded and dirty. Very difficult to find a place near the pool. The shore excursions were the worst, we were running to check the points of interest with guides telling a story on fast forward. The “culinary tour” in Palermo means 2 rice balls on a plastic plate in a dirty crowded market and 2 small cannolis( worst we ever had) on the run. Going to Portofino means waiting to disembark for 1/2 hour, waiting to embark another ship 1/2 hour, 1 1/2 on the way and 1 hour in Portofino, exhausting and worthless. The winery tour in Sardegna was filled with wrong information and just some marketing for the factory. At the embarkation their only concern was to sell us drink packages so we got lost on the ship trying to find our cabin. That was our first and last cruise, we spent a lot of money and waste our time. Read Less

We booked this cruise because friends of ours were taking this cruise and suggested it might be fun if we joined them - so our group of 4 consisted of 2 couples age 65+ and no children. Our port of embarkation was Valencia, Spain and that was the beginning of a wonderful week aboard MSC Divina. Embarkation went smoothly, but disembarkation at the end of our week was a bit confusing. Due to an early flight out of Valencia, it was necessary for us to leave the ship earlier than our assigned disembarkation group, and we had some trouble finding the correct location to exit the ship. This ship is the largest we have ever cruised on, and it is beautiful. Considering that there are several thousand passengers aboard at all times, we also found it to be amazingly clean. We chose a balcony cabin on deck 11 at the aft of the ship, which turned out to be the ideal location to enjoy the views at several ports on our itinerary. Our cabin was tastefully decorated, not too small, storage was adequate, bed and pillows were comfortable (an option was available to switch to more comfortable pillows, but the ones in the room suited us just fine), the bathroom was well-designed and efficient, and - best of all - our cabin attendant GERRY took great care of our room, and always greeted us with a smile. When we found out we would not be dining until the second seating at 9:45 we were a bit concerned that would just be too late. The time turned out to be just fine. We were able to enjoy all of the early shows in the theater (and they were all GREAT!) and have leisurely dinners in the dining room. Our waiters, KIKIT and JAMES, were fabulous - always smiling, polite, friendly, and professional. They were just the BEST! Our meals in the dining room were always good - often great - and items were always served at-or near-the appropriate temperature (We NEVER had a warm dish served cold!). We did not eat at any specialty restaurants. During breakfast, lunch, and late afternoon "snack" time, the buffet areas were usually busy, but we were always able to find something good to eat, and there were usually places to sit near the back of the ship. In the dining room, we had breakfast twice and lunch once, and each time we were able to meet passengers from other countries. Knowing minimal Spanish, German, French, etc. attempting to communicate was sometimes challenging, but the people we shared tables with did their best to speak to us in English - and in one case our conversation with a family from Madrid went fairly smoothly thanks to Google Translate. It was fun and educational for us! Prior to leaving home, we booked only one excursion - a day in Rome. After we boarded the ship, we were informed that excursion had been canceled due to lack of participation. We then booked a different Rome excursion through the ship excursion desk. The bookkeeping was handled properly. Prior to disembarkation, our on-board account (viewable on the TV in our room) showed the correct charges and credits for our excursion - and we enjoyed our day in Rome very much. Waldo, our tour guide in Rome, was great! The other days, we chose to explore the ports on our own schedule. Our friends booked several excursions through the ship, and each evening we got to hear about their day trips. They seemed to enjoy all of their excursions. As a group or individually, we did not really use the casino, pools, fitness, or spa services. We usually met at a bar each evening to discuss the activities of the day. Unfortunately, we found that after about 7:00 p.m. each evening, nearly every public place on the ship became extremely LOUD. We enjoyed listening to the music in several bars on board - but it was always loud. The buffet areas were always loud. The dining rooms were loud. The only quiet place that we found in the evenings was sitting in the theater waiting for the shows to begin. It would have been nice to find a public space with some QUIET background music. Maybe there was a more quiet area - we just never found it. We did experience a bit of confusion a couple of times regarding when and where we could use our drink vouchers, but it wasn't a big problem. Our itinerary included only Mediterranean ports. Because the passengers aboard the ship came from many different countries, most announcements were made in several different languages. As far as we could tell, the information was presented as quickly and efficiently as possible, and we didn't find it to be a problem at all. We were amazed at how many crew members greeted us in English - almost always with a smile. It's highly likely that they also had some knowledge of Spanish, Italian, French, German, etc. - very impressive. This was our 5th cruise, our first with MSC, and our best one so far. Unfortunately, we did have one experience that was very disappointing. On our final night, the dining room schedule was changed from designated seating times to "open" seating. We arrived at the dining room about 8:00 p.m. and hoped that we would be able to have our usual wait staff - KIKIT and JAMES - for our final night. Although we requested our usual table - 860 - we were informed by the gentleman who seated us that the night was open seating, and he made no attempt to honor our request. As we passed our usual table, we noted that it was open, and there seemed to be no good reason for us to sit at a different table than we had become accustomed to. Luckily, we were seated near KIKIT and JAMES, and they were able to stop by and briefly say hello and goodbye to us. Perhaps someone in our group should have demanded - rather than requested - that we be able to sit at our usual table. Unfortunately, the situation left all 4 of us feeling a little sad on our last night on the ship. All things considered - with the exception of our dining room experience on our last night - we were extremely happy with our cruise, and we would be happy to cruise again with MSC. Read Less

We were looking for a cruise that fit our schedule in mid July as we would be in Geneva. We chose MSC cruise out of Marseille as it seemed like a good way to introduce my husband to the cruise experience, with a new city each day. We stayed in Marseille for a couple of days prior to embarkation. City is “gritty” and “edgy” as the reviewers have said, but it also made us a little anxious. We did however, visit some museums which were excellent, and also spent a day in Aix en Provence which was brilliant. The trip from Marseille (downtown) to the cruise port was about 25 minutes in taxi and no trouble getting there. The MSC staff was helpful and there were very few people, so boarding was very fast. We boarded and were able to access our room immediately. Let’s start with all the good things we found about this particular MSC cruise: 1. The food was excellent. Wherever we ate - the cafeterias, the dining room, the other eateries on the ship- the food was all top quality. We had absolutely no complaints about the quality of the food. We had bought a drinks package prior to boarding, and this I found reduced the annoyance of having to pay for each drink, or the service charges. You should know that NO beverages other than coffee,tea and plain water (not bottled) are included in the all-inclusive so you should get some sort of package if you want to enjoy your cruise. Our drinks package allowed for glasses of wine almost anywhere except our room, all alcoholic beverages, juice (except freshly squeezed we learned on the first day), and canned drinks and mineral or bottled water. It also included specialty coffees and gelato. For us this was great. 2. The cabin was large, clean, and comfortable. No complaints about the cabin itself. Good choice for us but the aft is noisy with the wake of the ship so if you don’t like that noise than it won’t be for you. 3. Itinerary. This cruise has a great itinerary and is interesting for those who like history. It goes to Genoa, Rome, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia. We left from Marseille but you can choose other cities for departure. People seemed to get on and off at different sites. Mostly you are sailing at night - you get wonderful views of the ports as you sail off in the early evenings, and again views when you arrive in the mornings. Quite lovely. We did not book excursions with the cruise line because all of them left too early in the mornings for our taste (9 am or so). We did a little homework and for those cities where the ports were close we just disembarked and made our own arrangements. 4. Entertainment. It was all very good including the shows at night. The piano bar had some wonderful singers and a piano player. Very enjoyable. Some other considerations you might find helpful from our experience. 1. Check with the reception desk at the very beginning of the cruise to determine what is included with your card and to make sure that if you pre-ordered anything, it is included on your card. You need the card for everything, including getting off the ship so keep it safe We found the staff to be relatively nice but not particularly helpful or forthcoming with information. We did a lot of “asking questions” at the reception desk because we just didn’t know about certain things - like at the beginning of the cruise “how does the drinks package work? What is included”? We weren’t provided with much information - we eventually found someone who offered us a map of the ship - on day 5, which would have been most helpful on day 1! 2. The “steward” definition on this cruise seems different from my experience on Carnival, where the Steward helped you figure things out and was there to help. In our case we barely saw the Steward, he didn’t introduce himself and when we did ask questions he was unable to answer them. This could be a cultural thing so I wouldn’t put too much into it as it didn’t ruin the cruise or anything - it would just have been nice. 3. There was no concept of line-ups, for lunch, for disembarkation, for waiting for the elevators. This could be a little annoying when we were trying to get back to our room after an excursion, or when the restaurants were busy, but again, we just assumed it was different customs so we did our best. 4. The night prior to arrival in two of the ports - Valencia and Mallorca - we received a notification in our room that if we wanted to go into the city on our own we had to pay a 12 Euro fee for a shuttle. There was no option. We didn’t know this. Had we known, we might have booked an excursion where we wouldn’t have to pay the 12 Euros (each). This information should have been given to us earlier. 5. This is a big ship. It is complicated to get around and there is not always staff to help you figure things out. A little exploring should help, but it is definitely a challenge! This isn’t good or bad - just something I wanted to share. 6. The seated dining experience was not something I enjoyed. The tables were packed together as close as possible - and I mean just barely enough room between some of them to squeeze by. We were a couple, and were assigned to a table of six. I don’t know if you can ask for your own table but I would have preferred this. Even so, the fact that we were so many people packed in together was not a good experience. The service was not especially great either, and people did not seem to dress up for the occasion. We subsequently chose to only use seated dining three times out of the seven nights. It was also very disagreeable that staff were coming around to your table to “sell” you drink packages, or dinner packages. This is something that should not be done. 7. A few last thoughts - the cabins have both North American and European outlets. There aren’t that many though so an extension or extra outlet comes in handy. The shower has a cord for hanging wet clothes. There is a hair dryer that works well. There is a mini bar/fridge you can use with space for a few things. In the mornings I would go for my coffee (a quick trip with no fighting for elevators) and bring it to the room to sit on the balcony. Very lovely to watch the ship arriving. The decoration of this ship is themed on the Italian movie times of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Interesting posters everywhere to see. Read Less

We sailed the Mediterranean for the second time and selected the MSC Divina because of the great itinerary. We loved the ports which included Genova, Palermo Sicily, Sardinia, Valencia, Rome, Marseille and Palma. The entertainment was great and the auditorium was comfortable and huge. We had no trouble finding seats. The cabin was big and there was lots of closet space. The only real complaint we had was that the food was not as good as we would have expected for a major cruise line. The pizza that was available at sll hours was fabulous and was our favourite. The seafood pasta served at dinner required a magnifying glass to find the seafood. The other draw back was that the free coffee provided in the dinning room and at the buffet was terrible!! It tasted burnt which was surprising and upsetting. This forced us to buy specialty coffee. Overall it was a pleasant cruise and if the itinerary was right we would probably use MSC again. Read Less

Our first MSC cruise and won't be our last. Chosen for the itinerary. Would have given it a 4 but for the disappointing dining experience. Ship is immaculate and although the ship was full it was kept spotless at all times. Was a real cosmopolitan mix on board dominated by Spanish and not many English on board which wasn't a problem for us. We booked a balcony cabin and were allocared a corner berth at the back of the ship on deck 11, which was fabulous with lots of space and the biggest balcony we have ever had (this was our 10th cruise). The service levels were good overall but did vary on a bar by bar basis. The only let down for us was the evening meal, which is a big part of our cruising experience. The restaurants were rammed with lots of young family groups and hence very noisy even on the late sitting, which surprised us given this was at 9.45pm. The menu was ok if a little plain as was the food. The best meal we had was in the Sushi restaurant which was fabulous. The wine choices were also a little limited even with the premium drinks package. That said we would still book another MSC cruise based on the overall experience Read Less

The dining room experience was amazing Alejandro Jefferson Blando and his companion were so helpful and nothing was too much trouble. We loved the shows which were so professional. We will definitely be sailing with MSC again The embarkation procedure was slick and stress free The food portions and quality was amvic The reception staff were efficient and professional We were booked on the second sitting for dinner which was 9.30pm which was a little to late but we still enjoyed it. The buffet was too crowded and the staff were not very efficient so we choose to dine at lunch times in the Black Crab restaurant and have the a la carte which was superd and beyond our expectations as last year we cruised with Princess cruises and there was no such option to do this MSC go all out to make you trip a great experience Read Less

I'll begin by listing the cruise ships I've sailed on so far: Celebrity Equinox P&O Ventura Carnival Vista Royal Princess and now... MSC Divina. Overview: This cruise line is quite different from most others in that it's very European, with a minority English-speaking clientele. Approx 10% of our fellow passengers were English, around the same again were American. The majority were Spanish, Italian and various others, making for a unique ambience. To cope with the many languages, the entire cruise is designed around multilingualism. Everything from the menus in the main dining rooms to the Cruise Director's opening speech every night before the show involved five or more languages. It's the only way they can offer a cruise to so many nationalities but for me it absolutely doesn't work. Having to wait for your language and listen to many you can't understand is just a waste of time, and it happened again and again, from ship announcements to even excursions. Oh, and get ready to leave your room at 7am on the last day (more about that later). Staff: Anther big difference for me was the staff. Firstly, for a ship of this size, there just didn't seem to be enough crew to cope. Bar queues took over five minutes on a regular basis, and drinks orders would be delivered in 10-20 mins. Customer Service queues regularly exceeded 15 people, queues for the ice cream took as long as ten minutes. These don't sound like catastrophic waits, but when you add this up each day, it somewhat spoils the cruise. And perhaps because they were overworked, they just can across rude in general. We had some exceptions (some friendly, jokey evening waiters made a much better impressions), but in general, staff rarely smiled and quite often made you move out of the way for them. Several times in fact we were told by staff in buffet when we ordered hot drinks that we could make them ourselves. And the cruise director was the worst I've ever seen. He was barely present, merely an announcer at evening shows, rattling off five or six language spiels and promoting the latest drinks offer etc. They should take a leaf from Carnival here, where the cruise directors are bright and omnipresent characters, welding the cruise experience together into a complete package. The Ship: The ship was a nice vessel in all fairness. It's large but not overwhelmingly so, and has some very attractive spaces including the Art Deco bar, the indoor pool area and a rather lovely Swarovski-enhanced atrium. But for the size of the vessel there just wasn't enough leisure space. Compared to the Carnival Vista and the Royal Princess (both almost equal in length and passenger numbers) the ship felt crowded. There wasn't much to do on days at rest, with all deck games requiring you to ask for equipment. The sunbeds went fast, and you'd regularly see crowds traipsing around, looking in vain for a sunbed or two. The pools suffered most, with fifty-five people counted in the rear pool area at one time. It just felt like there wasn't enough space to stretch out. The Carnival Vista made great use of the level 7 Promenade Decks, with loungers and bars - something this ship could dearly do with. I also felt there could have been more going on - there wasn't much live music, and we rarely saw pool activities except for a morning fitness class. Dining: Everyone's biggest worry turned out to be a non-event. Food was fine. It wasn't excellent, and at time was just plain average, but it certainly wasn't bad. The buffet was hue and had fair choice, although later diners would have to face a fifty-person queue to get in. The MDR offered a three-course evening meal, with smallish portions but some nice variation (eg Mediterranean night). We had an All-Inclusive drinks package included and I will say it was pretty good - we could enjoy cocktails, spirits, coffees, ice cream, beer, sparkling wine and much more. Excursions: Excursions were noticeably cheaper than other cruise lines, and generally were quite good. We did have a few small issues such as non-English excursions staff but in general trips flowed well. The Cabin Our balcony room was actually very nice. The nicest cabin I've yet experienced at sea in all honesty. It was modern and felt spacious, with a seating area and a bathroom with a plastic shower door rather than a flimsy curtain. Charging ports were few and far between though and the TV rather small. Summary: 5/10 In all, it was a decent cruise. If I hadn't experienced other cruise lines, I'd probably be giving it an 8/10. But seeing how things are done elsewhere, it just makes me realise that MSC cuts corners and just isn't the same polished product I'm used to. It wasn't bad by a long stretch, but I don't think I would sail with MSC again. The end of our cruise was a good summary of the experience. After an evening in Palma (ship departed at 12 midnight from the port) we discovered that we had to vacate our cabin at 7am - information that was only given to us that evening, hence we returned to find the info sheet on our beds and couldn't believe what we saw. After speaking to customer services, we were told by one staff member that the rooms took three hours to clean - a complete and utter lie. There was no budging, so the alarms were set for 6:30 on our final day. Not the best way to end a cruise! Read Less