This is our first MSC cruise. I so wanted tonlove it but I just cannot. The ship its self is really lovely andthe cabin with balcony is spacious and comfortable. The food is adequate. Nothing special but not bad either. It does not compare to the likes of NCL or RCCL. The cabin steward is friendly andcthecwaiters we had in the main diningvroom were nice. However re the bar staff I generally feel that they are doing you a favour and prefer each others vompsny. Mot much happy service from them. Thd spa is one of the worst we have been in at sea. Small rooms and not even kept tidy. I acyually asked for a refund . After some back and forth with the guest relations supervisor we did get it back as I had no intention of using the space agsin. The worst is the entertainment. Not much hsppening in thd day and thevnighttime shows were poor quality . I felf like We had gone back to the 1980's. The cruise director was not very visible and a bit over the hill hence the old fashioned vibe of shows possibly. Overall the ship is nice but just has not much atmoshere ehich is a shame . It is a bit hit and miss on everything. I guess you get whag you pay for. Even on formal night most guests were not even dressed up which added to the lacklustre ferling. Will prob not go agsin with MSC. Just not for us ! Read Less

I made the mistake of checking the reviews a few days before we departed. They were not good, and as this was our 1st cruise i did wonder what we had let ourselves in for. I want to write this review to put a different view on all the negative comments. Plus points 1. Extremely efficient embarking and disembarcation process. Very smooth. Be aware that you may have to wait a few hours before your case is delivered to your cabin 2. We were upgraded, no charge, to a cabin with a balcony. 3. Restaurant- we had the 1st sitting at 7pm. Dinner lasted until 8.45pm. Although at first i thought it would be too early, it was fine. It meant we could finish dinner then have a drink before visiting the show. 4. The 3 course meals were of good quality, plenty of choice, but a little on the small side, and limited veg. 5. We were on an all inclusive package. Wine was served by the glass, no limit. 6. The staff were very friendly and work hard, with a smile. Nothing too much trouble. I have nothing but praise for all of them. Our waiters were amazing. 7. Entertainment in the theatre was excellent especially the singers. 8. Plenty of other musical entertainment in the many bars. Again, very enjoyable. And you have lots of choice. 9. There is an adults only infinity pool and garden bar on deck 16. 10. All drinks were included in the all inclusive package including cocktails. Negatives Not really any, other than the buffet was a bit of a bun fight. Very busy especially at breakfast time. Difficult to find a table, very noisy and busy unless you go about 10am. But plenty of choice and good quality. We didn't eat lunch here as we were off ship. Some reviews i read complain about the rude and noisy Italians, French and Spanish. Well, you also get rude Brits! For me, the multi nationality add to the atmosphere. Its lively and fun. The Mediterranean people are different to the moany, stuffy Brits but that isn't a negative! Overall we had a great first experience of cruising, and would use MSC again. Do your research, you don't have to use expensive MSC shuttle bus, just walk out of port and catch the local bus for a fraction of the cost. Read Less

We booked this cruse very last minute, and snapped up a reasonable deal on a YC1 cabin in the famous MSC Yacht Club, first things first, the Yacht Club is a wonderful experience and really does set a bar for service, unfortunately there are still so many small niggles that stop it being the luxury experience they sell. The constant sell sell sell from all staff, photos, speciality dining, spa etc it’s just constant and really grates after a while. Embarkation: we boarded in Rome, luggage was taken immediately on our arrival and we was led into the waiting room in Rome, as we arrived at 1.30 we was sat down while the butler checked us in, within 10 mins he was walking us into Yacht Club Top Sail Lounge, this is a very relaxed lounge for YC guests. Cabin: we had a YC1 which is for all intense purposes a Mini Suite cabin with a bathtub, the room was a nice size for two people and serviced daily by the cabin attendant. Lots and lots of storage. Dining and Lounge: the Top Sail Lounge was a quiet and comfortable area you can visit anytime of the day, we ate breakfast there everyday and it was more than enough, pastries and fruit etc, you are sat for dining in Le Muse, this was where it all went wrong, a basic requirement should be to dine when you want, we was told on the first day between 7.30-8.30pm the restaurant was very busy, we tried to come earlier or later to fit this but felt very out of the experience we expected from YC. Entertainment: you don’t come on a MSC cruise for entertainment , bad Tina Turner act, terrible acrobatics show and awful witches show, NCL or Princess excel here and MSC struggle with the language issues. Disembarkation: have never felt so unwanted on a ship on the final day, we was asked three times what time was was getting off, in the end we just left ourselves, a really sour end to a average to good cruise. Read Less

US: We are a couple in mid-fourties with an 8 year old daughter. First time cruising on a bigger ship, so YC was to us the only way to go... We boarded in Genova, it was the or one of the last Med cruises of the season, but the service all over was not hurt by the ending contracts. Due to an extremely intense professional time I needed first and most of all relaxation and recuperation. And I got even more than hoped or anticipated. The very check-in experience (11am already!) was flawless from th the valet parking to being taken by our butler into the check-in area and first bubblies... There were apparently only three cabins boarding with us und everything went as smooth as it was possible. No hassle, no sweat (that’s difficult to me) no worries. The cabin was the “square” cabin so we had more than enough space for the following 8 days. I will not go into details about the cabin as this has been described many many times. First we went to explore the ship, while not too crowded yet and made of course the mandatory buffet stop, which was to be our last one as the catering in YC was superb. It also was one of the few strolls outside the enclave as the amount of people in the outside was too much for me; and surprisingly for my wife as well, surprisingly because she is not as quickly overwhelmed by crowds as I am. Our butler was Franco (Tien Wing) and we hit the jackpot as he and his service were impeccable, as was the cabin stewards, Anthony. We only took a short shopping stroll in Palermo, a horrible excursion in Majorca, which was the only negative of the cruise, so i cant really rate the excursions side. What I can talk about though are the fabulous people going over the top to fulfill every wish and craving. ie when the kids wanted pizza and fries, one of the bar people went to fetch it from the buffet, another time in the top sail lounge a butler suggested a chocolate milkshake that he had to go and get at venchi (5 min walk minimum). We were accompanied everywhere, because Franco always insisted on doing so. My daughter “fell in love” with Michelle, working in TSL, she actually became almost her personal assistant for the week, as the love was mutual. Drink service was quick and we even got the best of service when we started “partying” every night until 2-4 am on the one pool deck (5 out of six in our group of fellow travelers were smokers) even though the outside bar closed around 1030pm. I don’t think i ever drank as good a White Russian as I had on the Divina. We never heard a no, we never had to wait for any sitting or order, we never felt that things could get better. Demarcation was a breeze with franco assisting 8pm to the trunk of our car (which was waiting just outside the ship) and so.... ....booked a cruise of 12 days departing Miami on the 28th of February on YC of course....... that should say it all——-144 days more to wait....... Read Less

We were to meet 2 couples from another country and have a celebration sail. First the bad... Unhelpful call center Had a complication pre-cruise. 10-15 calls (on hold 30-50 minutes each time) to courteous but unhelpful call center. Was told continuously to call back and ask for supervisor. I did to no avail. Dysfunctional website Tried solving via email online. Process online had a dead link. So no go. Tried checking in on website. Link inoperable Now the good... Received an email 2 weeks later resolving the main issue (charged $1900 for change in reservation that never happened). Received an email 2 days prior to sailing saying that we had been upgraded to yacht club status with a suite to die for. When we boarded we were amazed. Priority boarding and elevator usage. A butler met us and escorted us to our private yacht club area room. Concierge was exceptionally available and helpful. Lounge area and bar were convenient. Pool area was lovely. Private dining room was beautiful. Food was exceptional. Wait staff friendly and efficient. Would only recommend this line if you can secure yacht club status. Otherwise, public areas and dining areas were very crowded. Many languages spoken so hard to converse with new acquaintances, etc. Don’t know how we got so lucky, but now we’re spoiled! Read Less

The ship is stunning, the crew was very attentive and friendly, the food was magnificent....fresh pasta, homemade gelato...everything was amazing. I loved it so much w3 are sailing on msc again in October. The only con was some of the rude passengers, but I guess that is because Europeans culture is different form American. The shows were beautiful, just the right amount of time, not too long. Debarkation was very easy , just as quick and easy as embarkation. Luggage was brought to our room promptly. The main dining room was lovely, our wit staff brought us whatever we wanted. Drinks were inexpensive, surprisingly. The bars around the ship each had different music, something to satisfy everyone. The staff was very friendly, the only con was when you had a question, you had to wait on a long line at guest services. All in all, I wouldn’t travel on any other cruise line.. Msc was a nice surprise. The Read Less

We choose this cruise as we live in Rome and leaving from Civitaveccia is easy. Smooth embarking and cabin ready at 12.30. Aurea Suite which was with good space and nice view. I liked the beds and pillows. I did not like the linnen as it was not a pure cotton. They do not win the first price for cleaning. Many finger marks on doors and walls. On the first day I had to ask for the bathrobes, slippers and diffuser which come with the Aurea Suite package. Cabin steward very kind. Food is like in any 3 star resort. In other words below standard. Self service restaurant is terrible, service in bars is slow and not always friendly. In general staff is not interested. A simple question is too much. Not efficient at all. Staff not well trained to serve huge numbers of people. 7 days and 6 ports. Disembarking and embarking guests in all 6 ports. Confusion, luggage, safety drills and certain areas blocked every day. Day 6 "man over board" at 6 am. Alarm in all cabins, confusion and hundreds of people with life vests moving around the ship. Confusion because at the safety drill they only explain the genetal alert which is different from "man over board" alert. Information only given after 30 minutes. Fortunate they saved the "jumper". I guess this would also have been the case if they would not have woken up 3500 people. All in one, a huge factory! Not hell but far from heaven. Read Less

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If you want to have a quiet drink, enjoy the entertainment, relax by the pool or enjoy fine dining, this cruise is NOT for you. We have been on many cruises and chose MSC because we incorrectly thought it was a level of luxury and service about the average - WRONG!! This was the worst cruise we have ever been on, avoid this cruise ship. NOISE: Our biggest issue was the extreme level of noise constantly in all areas of the ship. All announcements are made extremely loudly in about 6 languages, some are very lengthy, this drove us crazy. Some “important” announcements come directly into your cabin. The passengers were mainly Italian, French and Spanish. Having travelled in all three countries several times, we understand these nationalities are traditionally loud but the level of noise through the entire cruise was excessive and very unpleasant. Also most of these passengers were very rude, pushing and shoving with no consideration towards other passengers. Regularly when the elevators stopped and the doors commenced to open, someone inside would push the “close door” button preventing other passengers from entering the elevator. There were always very long waits for the elevators. This ship has passengers disembarking and embarking at every port. This makes the boarding procedure efficient, we were pleasantly surprised our cabin was available around 1.00pm. The DOWN SIDE, there is a safety drill every afternoon for those who have embarked that day, the announcements for the safety drill come into the cabin and throughout the ship repeated 6 times or so in different languages, one hour before, 15 minutes before and 5 minutes before. More excessive noise!! One afternoon these was a test of the “evacuate the ship” highest level alarm, with no notice to passengers, which also was broadcast into our cabin. DINING: There are two huge dining rooms and both are VERY overcrowded, the tables are very close together, there is a limited number of small tables for 2 or 4 persons and these are mixed with the very large tables and the noise is unbearable. We had fixed dining at the second sitting that commenced at 9.30pm, we did not sit at the same table twice. On checking regarding our dining we were advised that we were at a table with 3 ladies, we requested to be moved as my husband did not wish to sit every night at a table of four ladies. Night 1 – we were sat at a table for 8. There was 6 at the table that night. Night 2 – we received a note in our cabin during the day that we had been allocated a table for 2. Hoping for a table in a quieter area of the restaurant and there were no large tables nearby, we headed off to dinner. Our table was sandwiched between 2 very large tables, one with around 12 to 14 young adults, at the other there was approx 15 very young children. We were horrified, the noise level was unbelievable, adults there to party, the unsupervised children going wild. We made comment to the waiter, his response “I have been putting up with this for days now”!! Night 3 – was open restaurant night and you could go to either of the restaurants. We decided to try the other restaurant. We got a table for 2 near a busy workstation, waiters rushing close by us with trays of food and dirty dishes flying over our heads. The dinner capped off with the weekly marching, shouting, singing of the restaurant staff through the restaurant. Night 4 – we returned to our table for 2 hoping the family groups had disembarked the ship. They were still there and we were not prepared to sit between them again. We went to our table for 6 from night one thinking we may be able to sit there. 6 people were sitting at this table, we attempted to squeeze onto the bench seat but could not fit. We politely excused ourselves and went to the restaurant front desk, to request a table and we were told to go to the end of the queue of about 30 people. Our response was “NO”. A head waiter came to my wife, hooked his arm through her arm and showed us to a table for 2. We sat down, and again we were next to a tables of 12 young children going absolutely crazy. One little one in a highchair, about 15cms from my chair, vigorously stirring a fork around in a long stemmed wine glass, another swinging 2 flashing baubles on a piece of string and others attempting to grab them off her, the behaviour was appalling, each time there was a meltdown two mothers came from their adjoining adult party table on the opposite side of the children to us, spoke with the little ones to no avail. There were 2 other tables nearby one of 5 and one of 8, both family groups with grown up children and they, like us, were also disgusted at the goings on. Night 5 – we thought we would try the buffet, it was a little later and thought the crowd may have slowed down. We sat at a table at the extremity of the area still open. We had to get up and request the table be cleared and wiped, had to get up again to request a drinks menu, get up again to ask someone to take a drink order as all the buffet restaurant staff had disappeared. The drinks did not arrive until after we had finished eating, around 30 minutes after they were ordered. Night 6 – we went to one of the pay restaurants “Butchers Cut”, when we made the booking we requested a quiet table. The restaurant is like a Concrete and Laminex café, no atmosphere, the lamb dish was nice, the steak ordered medium was raw and still mooing, we could have sent it back however by this time we had totally given up on the dining. DINING ROOM FOOD. Disgusting, bordering on inedible. Tasteless, bland, overcooked mush. Very small serves and limited choices. These comments apply to all 3 courses. YUK. BUFFET RESTAURANTS. Overall the food in the buffet was very good, fresh vegetables, salads and fruits, recognisable protein products not over battered or overcooked. Interesting deserts. The atmosphere is noisy, pushing and shoving resembling a feeding frenzy at the zoo. RECEPTION – Always long waits at reception. The telephone from the cabin was not answered. It would ring, a message would advise how important you are, it would ring again and then cut out. Overall the reception staff did no more than they really had to. On night 5, after our unpleasant meal in the buffet restaurant and wandering around trying to find a pleasant area to sit, where the music was not blaring out and the crowds going wild, we went to our room just before midnight. The cabin door would not open with our key card. We went to reception and waited in the queue, the somewhat rude girl told us we had “maxed out our credit card” we responded NO, she checked the computer system and advised “no we had not done that, we had put our cards next to our mobile phones and it had affected the magnetic strip” we advised we had not done that either. She produced new cards, we returned to our cabin and these did not work either. With repeated many times with great patience, we eventually opened the door. This process took over one hour. No apologies, no one cares. STATEROOM. This was clean, well appointed except for the very small wardrobe space. STATEROOM ATTENDANT. He was very disinterested, useless, never around, we continually had to request missing bath towels and on 2 occasions had to request toilet paper. Unreliable timing for servicing the cabin each day. MSC no longer provide tissues, “green policy”, but they don’t have any problem leaving 6 or so pieces of paper on the bed each night promoting the Spa, Shopping, Specialty dining, etc. GRATUITIES/TIPPING – MSC has compulsory gratuities/tipping added to your onboard account. When any contact staff, Stateroom attendants, Bar staff, Restaurant staff, know they are going to be automatically rewarded there is no incentive for them to provide good service. The compulsory tipping amounts are very high therefore it is unlikely guests are going to pay further tips. THEATRE SHOWS - These were excellent, the best we have ever seen on any of our cruises. Unfortunately, at the commencement of the show the theatre was around half full, by the end of the show it was full. Hundreds of people walked in late, tripping downstairs, standing throughout the theatre waving their arms, articles of clothing, to their family and friends to join them where they have decided to sit. Extremely inconsiderate to other passengers and more so to the performers. SWIMMING POOLS.- We did not use these as they were overcrowded, extremely noisy and very unpleasant places to be. SHORE EXCURSIONS – There are ridiculously expensive. SHORE TRANSFERS – At some ports the ships docks a long way from the town. The ship has shuttle bus transfers and these are also ridiculously expensive, unfortunately MSC know the ship transfer is the only practical option so MSC charge outrageously. Do NOT cruise with MSC, unless you are a large noisy European family/group with no consideration or thought for others. Never again for us. Read Less

We chose the Divina because it fit our schedule, and also because of the price. We did have some concerns about our first MSC cruise, and were advised by our travel agent to “keep an open mind” – something that we soon came to understand. But despite some minor irritants, the overall cruise experience was nevertheless enjoyable. Embarkation in Marseilles: We chose to take the city bus to the port gate, and then rolled our suitcases to the dock. Although the route is straightforward, it might not be the best choice for the mobility-challenged, as it is a bit of a hike. Because MSC allows passengers to begin their cruise at a number of different Mediterranean ports, there are fewer people to process at each stop. The two-step check-in was painless – we were able to hand over our bags directly to be loaded onto a conveyor belt, then sat in the waiting area for a brief time before our number was called. Once we boarded, though, we had to run a gauntlet of staff members eager to “up sell” passengers with the usual drink, restaurant and spa offers – a practice that continued for the first few days of the cruise. Meals: I realize that food is subjective, and having taken almost a dozen cruises so far, we are usually quite satisfied with the on-board offerings. In terms of variety, quality, and presentation, we felt that the Divina fell short of expectations – although the meals in the main dining room did improve as the week progressed. For example, where other cruise lines offer “made-to-order” egg stations at breakfast, the choice on MSC seems to be from a tray of cooked eggs that looked less than appealing. And after witnessing the chaos in the buffet, we retreated to the Black Crab dining room where both buffet and à la carte breakfast is available during limited hours. We discovered – too late for us, alas – that hamburgers and similar fare are available in the sports bar at lunch. Stateroom: Our 11th deck stateroom (11084) was the highlight of the cruise, mainly because of the deep balcony complete with a lounger. The storage is adequate and the bed is comfortable; about the only quibble would be the small TV; however, we were delighted to discover that CNN was one of the available channels. Service: This is another area where MSC does not seem quite up to par. We did not meet our cabin attendant until the one and only time, half-way through the cruise, when he came to turn down the bed. There was no means to contact him with specific requests. When our toilet tissue supply ran dangerously low and our repeated calls to room service were met with a busy signal, we finally had to take matters into our own hands and proceed to raid a service cart near the other end of the hallway! I am not faulting the housekeeping staff as it appears to be a management issue. And as one other reviewer has mentioned, MSC seems to have done away with facial tissues in the bathroom – not a biggie, but an indication of either cost-cutting or lack of attention to detail. Front desk: I won’t go into detail here, other than to say that the folks at the front desk resolved to our satisfaction an issue relating to a group of young passengers who were the subject of a number of complaints. Itinerary: This cruise was port-intensive, with no sea days, which was just as well considering the number of passengers and their often loutish behavior. The ship was forced to skip Valencia because of an impending storm; when the captain announced - at dinner time – that the closing of the port meant a detour to Barcelona, a loud cheer resounded through the dining room (at least among the English speaking passengers – leaving others with puzzled looks until the announcement was read in one of the three or four remaining languages). Debarkation: This is an area where MSC really shines and a first for us. Passengers were provided with a briefing on the entire process, including how to fill out and attach luggage tags. Upon arrival at the port of Marseilles, passengers were divided into groups according to colors that corresponded to the luggage tags, then escorted to the exit by a crew member at the appropriate time. All things being equal, the cruise was a success. Would we sail MSC again? It will depend on a number of factors, but I think we might consider a different ship and itinerary, as the cruise line does provide good value – as long as one keeps an “open Read Less

We chose this cruise because we thought MSC will be a good choice. What a disappointment ,so much so that we wanted to get off earlier. There is no service. The staff is unfriendly and not prepared to help. The food is the worst ever. We even lost weight. That was a first! on our previous trips(not MSC)we each gained 6 kilo's. Food choices are very limited and not at all tasty. For my yogurt (thinned) I had to ask for honey, and then got the tiniest amount imaginable. For lunch I took a hamburger. It was a plain dry piece of pattie without anything else. When I said that there's no trimmings on , the server told me: so what? Evenings were even worse! Dirty overlays on the tables small portions, and no cream with our puddings. Pathetic. Our cabin was not serviced every day.We had to ask for it and then,had to commit to a scheduled time on OUR holiday ! Very little is included in the price. Not even tissues. To get from the harbor to town you have to pay.. Also a first. This was a horrible horrible experience and we wouldn't recommend it for anybody . If this was our first cruise, we wouldn't ever have done it again. Read Less

We were looking forward to our first cruise but disappointed by our experience. When we embarked no one was interested in telling us the process. There appeared to a drive to sell the drinks package and when we said we didn't want one they were not interested in helping us. Customer service was inconsistent throughout. Some staff were very good but mostly staff presented as 'can't be bothered'. We paid gratuities upfront but were charged 15% on top of every purchase/service on top of that. When we brought it to the attention of admin they said it was a tax and not a service charge as it was described on their literature. The cabin itself was nice and bigger than we expected. Also very clean. There are plenty of bars with entertainment etc. However, the ship was very busy and over run by children and pushchairs and it wasn't possible to have a child free evening even in what appeared to be night club atmosphere. The only 'child free' area was a smoking zone but as we don't smoke this was not an option for us. We have since been told that MSC offer free child places and that explains why there were so many. We have nothing against children and families but if we had known we would not have chosen this cruise. It was a bit of a bun fight trying to get food and secure a table in the informal dining. Even the formal dining was noisy and service was very slow. We took advantage of a cut price pedicure. Reduced to a bargain price of 45 euro (plus the 15%). To say it was average is an understatement . Throughout the cruise there was a 'hard sell' of excursions, drinks packages and services that was not pleasant. The pool areas were chaos and there were no quiet areas. A bit like Butlins at Sea! This cruise might be good for families . But if you want to have a quiet drink, enjoy the entertainment, relax by the pool or enjoy fine dining this cruise is not for you. Read Less

This was our 4th cruise in Yacht Club. Although it still is a good experience we felt that it was not that good as before. The embarkation in Civitavecchia went smoothly as always. We were in the terminal already before 10 and had to wait until 10.30 that they opened the “lounge”. This is quite understandable. We were among the first to embark the ship but our luggage came first after 4 pm. The security drill is quite a torture in MSC as not all the people now it is mandatory or they time management is rather poor and they arrive almost 30 minutes late and everybody else need to wait for them. The cabin was good and the butler made all the changes we needed. That was actually all we needed her during the cruise. We are quite capable of walking alone to the restaurant or to the theatre or do not need to make us look important by walking around with the butler. By the week we noticed that it not the butler who takes care for your room but another person who is supposed to be invisible. The poor lady was almost scared to death when we managed to surprise her. She was still very lovely and polite always when we saw her afterwards. The butler herself was one day bringing something to the minibar and just entered the cabin without knocking with her key. That was a bit disturbing. The dinner in Le Muse was a bit chaotic. It was quite hard to get the table we wanted and although complaint the Maitre d´seemed to ignore us all the cruise. So no points for him. The food in Le Muse is very mediocre and the selection was not to our tastes every night. The waiters do their best but some of them seemed to be rather stressed and running and dropping things constantly. They serve each day couple of open wines, but quite often it was still too difficult for the waiter to now which wine you have been drinking. In the lunch time the selection by the YC pool is limited but beats the MSC public buffet which should be avoided by all means. The lunch is also served in Le Muse but we did not make but the first day. The own pool area is the real advantage of YC. In the older ships, like Divina, the layout is much better than for example in Seaview. The public pool seemed to be extremely crowded all the time. In Palma there is a dinner under the stars. That means just tables by the pool and a small buffet serving the same dishes they have served there for lunch. We hade the last table which meant that waiters did not find us to refill the wine glass. When we complaint it, the whole bottle was leaven in the table and we never saw them again. The captains cocktail party was this time a joke while the captain never made it. The officers and staff stood there for 15 minutes and disappeared like they were denied to speak if the captain is not present. No explanations given. For excursion the staff escorted you to the bus. In Palermo this worked and we were the first to enter the bus but in Marseilles it failed and we were the last to enter. The entertainment shows are very Italian. They really had no idea at all but the singers were exceptionally good and the dancers did their best with the strange costumes. We are still getting a bit bored with the standard acrobatic numbers which seem to be mandatory on every cruise. Yacht club has its own seating in the upper balcony with a staff member guarding it. We only used it once while the seats are not that good and there are always available seats in the theatre. The Yacht Club is still one of the best possibilities to enjoy some luxury for reasonable prices and we have already booked our next YC cruise. Without YC experience we would not recommend a MSC cruise. Our main wish for MSC is though that they would improve the kitchen in YC dinner restaurant. Read Less

I have been on royal caribean ,celebrity ,azamara princess and carnival . This is my first review here .Divina is a little too busy for me lots of non english speakers which is not a problem for me but it does make for a different experience.food was ok buffet a bit manic pool area very busy it takes a little longer to get served at some of the bars .our room was pretty good at the back of the ship nice big balcony .room cleaning was just ok again not a big problem but no turn down fyi.Most of the staff were great,but didn't seem as friendly as other cruises but i think maybe it's because they don't know where you are from so are not sure how to greet you? .The ports were all good palermo cagliari palma valencia marseille genoa cittevetchia and a reasonable price too.If you don't like too busy a balcony is a must.not my best cruise but would do MSC again if the itenary was right .Entertainment a little cheesy for me seen better but i cruise for the stops . Read Less

The service on board is ok as long as you are not requesting anything. If you are not in the yatch club or apeeding a lot of $$$$ on extra you will not recieve anything. Here are some example: - my daughter found a metal tack in her chicken, their only reaction was to replace the chicken lno other excuse, letter of excuse - the bar by the pool is often out of cold draft beer, if you want a beer you need to buy bottle more expensive - the buffer is only offering water and coffee, juice is only available during the breakfast - restaurant and bar often out of sodas - have to wait to get out of the ship (docked) because only one exit is open or because the decide to put everyone on hold the exist excursion using the same exit at the same time This cruise was my u in e yeard and 3 rd with msc.... MSC never again Karl Read Less

We choose this cruise based on 1. Itinerary, 2. date, 3. expense. Meet all our requirements. Compare with other cruise line such as Royal Caribbean, Princess or Carnival, the food choices with MSC is limited, but with the money you saved, you can eat whatever you are missing on the shore and even better. The cabin is spacious and clean, there is always dancing class going on, the gym is one of the largest I have seen on the cruise ship. One thing to note about Marseille port, it's a LONG walk to the free shuttle bus, and it's not very enjoyable walk, so take the taxi or cruise ship shuttle out. The embarkment process is the best I have ever been to, everything moves swiftly, we were boarded at no time. The disembarkation process has little glitch, two people from our party were stopped at the exit, apparently computer has flagged them for balance not cleared, even we paid the night before. I find this strange, even if there is a balance, they should charge us the balance using the card on record, not stopping us. This actually caused us to missed the train. Read Less

Cabin was very nice, adequate cabinet and cupboard space. Mattress was very hard with 2 different thicknesses. We didn’t have an issue with the room or the room steward. My appointment was with the organization of details. We boarded an headed directly to the buffet as we had been traveling for the past 24 hrs and were very hungry and thirsty.. Our cruise cards were incorrectly coded as we had paid for the ‘easy drink’ package well in advance.. We were served with beverage charges as our drinks were being served. We were advised by the beverage manager we would have to go to customer service and have our cards properly coded.. The lineup took approximately 30 minutes to have this issue corrected.. Next issue, we go to enter our cabin.. cruise cards would not open our room, back to customer service and another 20 min wait.. All fixed again.. We wanted to disembark for a few hours In Civitavecchia.. to our disbelief, we were denied.. Card was still improperly coded, and for the third time back to customer service. This all happened within the first 2 hours of boarding.. Not a good start.. That evening our dinner seating was 7 pm.. we arrived slightly after 7 to once again have an issue with the maitre d, he was very rude and abrupt saying we would have to come back for the 9:45 seating.. My wife is very persistent and eventually we were seated.. We were not happy with the customer service and it would be very difficult for us to recommend MSC to anyone. Read Less

We were visiting from Illinois and chose this cruise because it fit our schedule and the price seemed reasonable. We did spend additional money on entertainment and drinks, but in the end it was still a good value, especially with kids. Weather was great! Pluses: Nice looking ship with a variety of live entertainment, shops, bars, and activities. Great itinerary with interesting ports. Wide stairways made it easy to skip the elevator wait. Getting on and off the boat was generally smooth. The kids loved the mini-bowling. The cabin had adequate room even with the sofabed opened up. Beds were comfy. Minuses: Quite a few maintenance issues. Among the things which did not function for most or all of our cruise were one of the bowling alleys, the racecar simulator, some of the indoor hot tubs, several treadmills, and the air hockey games. The cabin bathroom was rusting in parts and smelled faintly of sewage. The pools tended to be overcrowded. There is a lack of public toilets, mainly due to poor design (one toilet stall covers a ridiculously large amount of area, even with a full sink inside!). Mixed: - The food. Breakfast was fine but repetitive. The buffet was OK but seafood and fresh fruit tended to disappoint. Snacks and desserts were often the best items. Main dining meals were slow to arrive and not consistently high quality, although they were sometimes good. We got the Fantastica package which offers free bottled water in the main dining room. When in Europe we are used to paying for water, Americans who complain about that forget that even a 15% tip is now considered stingy stateside. - The ship design. It takes some getting used to, although there are maps everywhere. Lots of zigs and zags. Among the more confusing areas are the buffet, the virtual world, and Deck 5 (where you have to wander among cabins to find the reception). Service: We found all the staff friendly and polite, and room service was very prompt. However, the customer service procedures were often baffling. I sometimes was bounced around between places to get charges dropped, and it would usually take about 5 minutes of a staff person pecking away at their keyboard to get even simple account changes made. Communication with guests could certainly be improved. I suspect one reason the lines are reception are long is that the onboard systems are poorly integrated. Ports: We did not do any excursions, and avoided the paid shuttles. Going independent did make things a bit harder, especially when the port was in an industrial wasteland, but when the official bus costs more than a taxi it doesn't make much sense to use the bus. We encountered a number of MSC-organized tours, and given the large group sizes and lack of English we don't feel we missed much. It's definitely worth buying an internet package if you're going independent, you will need to do a lot of searching and mapping. Passengers: Mostly Italians, but a fair number of French and Germans too. It's Europe so people smoke on the balcony. Lack of a common language made it harder to strike up casual conversations, and we didn't really get to know anyone the entire time. I can imagine this could be a drawback for the kids club, though to be honest our kids tend to shy away from kids clubs anyway. Read Less

Where to start: First, we have sailed nineteen times and experienced an array of American AND European cruise products from RCCL, Princess, Costa, P&O, NCL, Holland America etc. The experiences of these diverse products have collectively informed my opinion of our MSC experience. MSC is NOT for the American market share rather, this European line is clearly after the sustainability of the European market share. American products by and large, do not charge a consistently high price for the cruise and then, charge clients for water while on board. Yes... MSC does this. Not even Costa does this. We paid over 3k for our cruise (similar and consistent to what we have paid for with other products like RCCL, Costa, Princess etc.) but while on board the MSC product we were charged for water.... we were amazed, perplexed and terribly disappointed. Its also important to note -what MSC USA sold us was not what we experienced onboard. When we pointed out the discrepancies on board we were told to take it up with MSC USA when we got home. We did, they did nothing to satisfy or settle our issue. We purchased the Fantastica experience, were told drink packages were included - then they somehow were not included. When we argued they were - we were told we had to buy a drink package which we did for our two children (non alcoholic package) and 1 adult alcoholic package. Only to get on board and be told we shouldn't have done that in fact it was included in our package and when we asked to have the initial prepaid packages we purchased refunded they said - sorry it wasn't included... The only thing which we felt was consistent was the inconsistency between what was sold and what we expected to what we actually experienced onboard. Other things we felt were important to note. The excursions - expensive but of little to no substance; again, representing to us an imbalance between what we paid for and what we actually experienced. We purchased several excursions through MSC - and quickly spent MORE TIME transiting to the excursions than we actually did enjoying the place we were visiting. This happend to us in both Arles France and Portofino. In Arles, we spent 3 hours on a bus to experience the town for only an hour. While in Portofino, same things - we paid a fortune to go to Portofino and spent three hours transiting there only to spend an hour IN Portofino... Very little value for money. Similarly, MSC twice docked at a port which they charged a fee to go from the Port facility to the town.... We were left shaking our heads and again, having the experience of other lines, this was an anomaly we felt was important to note for others who are considering this line. The ship itself was clean, comparatively clean to other lines and with cabins which were much larger than the typical stateroom found on other lines. That was about the only two bonuses on this line. Our experience of the ship was in one word -- exhausting. Terribly overcrowded and with clearly overwhelmed staff who continually treated us with discourtesy and disregard. The staff appeared as exhausted of the overcrowded conditions as we were. This was consistent from the bar staff to the dinning staff -- totally overwhelmed and continually discourteous and seemed exhausted..... The common centers on the ship were jammed daily elbow to elbow with people and loud music - wasn't a quiet spot on the ship to be found... ever. The smoking is an experience not commonly found with American products, on European lines - smoking is everywhere and something we found terribly intrusive and distasteful. Imagine placing the ONLY soft serve ice cream station for kids on the ship in the smoking section of the ship... kids actually have to endure cigarette smoke while waiting for their ice cream (which was eventually closed down due to being broken). This careless disregard for children - alone, made us not want to return to this product... ever. We have sailed many ships (19 cruises to date) and several of those other European products. First time we were ever on a ship and product we couldn't wait to leave... first time. The cost of this product comparatively is similar to other lines - RCCL, Princess Holland America - but what you get for your money is wholly inconsistent and as a result, we could not in good conscience recommend this product, especially for families. While MSC is trying desperately to break into the American marketshare, we believe this is going to be extremely difficult as people with experiences such as ours, share our impressions with others. This was an honest and unbiased account of our experience. We hope it is taken seriously so the product may be improved for others going forward. For us, we will not use or recommend this product in the future. Read Less

Here is some info about me: I'm 48. Live in USA. have cruised 51 days with Carnival, 14 days with princes, and now 7 with MSC. Have cruised a lot of Caribbean, one Norway, one Alaska, and now one Mediterranean. We started and ended our cruise in Genoa. Before the cruise, I registered myself and my husband for the status match program. NOT user friendly, i must say. Make sure your photo that you upload with your other cruise-line info is a small data file. It took me several tries, but i finally got it done. we got silver level by providing our carnival info. Other than a bowl with 4 pieces of fruit in our cabin, not sure we noticed much difference. I was the one in our group of 16 friends/family that did the research and planned most of our trip. i went into the cruise having read MANY reviews. Having read the reviews, i would say that i agree with many of them. 1. very nice ship. clean inside. nicely decorated. clean. 2. entertainment above average. they had 3 lead singers who sang to a prerecorded soundtrack. they sang well. the dancers danced well. there were a couple of songs that they had one of the dancers (very obviously) lip-sync. I would have preferred that they did not do that. they were far better at dancing than lip-syncing. Just let the dancers dance!! 3. food....... a. dining room. Although our wait staff was very friendly, i did not feel the same level of personal involvement or level of attentiveness with them as i have felt with previous cruises. They just didn't seem to "have it all pulled together". some in our 2 tables of 8 did not get things that they ordered and it did seem to take a long time for one of our tables, who had a different waiter. as far as the food goes, well...... as many other reviewers have said, the selection is lacking compared to other cruise lines. maybe 5 options for starters (soups, salad, etc). another 5 for main dishes. then maybe 4 or 5 desert choices. they did have something like 3 items that are on the menu every night, but i can't say that i looked at them more than once. they did not seem very interesting. the food was NOT awful as some in my group claimed and some reviewers have claimed. Yes, i have had better. I think if they had more selection, the complainers in my group might have been happier. Maybe if the food had been catered to Americans, maybe they would have been happier.....i just don't know. Maybe i just had low expectations because of the reviews i read before the cruise, but MAYBE I had more realistic expectations since I have been to Europe many times and know to expect things to be a little different than in a cruise that caters to Americans. The fact is that on this cruise you can expect to be surrounded by lots of french, german, spanish, and italians. English speakers were by far in the minority. Not a problem, but something to be aware of. Of note, we went to the dining room the first 3 nights, then never went back. we found that the food on deck 14 was just as good and a lot quicker. we had 7pm dining. if we ate in the dining room, we had to go to the 945 show. a little late for me. b. informal dining......breakfast and lunch were perfectly adequate. lots to choose from. they did a good job trying to have selections that cater to different cultures. they had the bacon (actual bacon, not British bacon that is actually ham), but the link sausages were more British than American. lots of pastries, different types of eggs (scrambled, etc), pan cakes, etc. I very much enjoy experiencing what other cultures eat. some in my group are not what i would call cultured. they just thought some of the items were bad....in reality, the food items were that way, not because they were bad, but because that's the way other cultures eat them. Of note, as other reviewers have said, the pizza was very much above average for cruise pizza. it was nice to not have to wait in a long line for mediocre pizza like you do on carnival. Of note, I expected the dinner in the casual dining to be at least a small step up from what you get in there for lunch, but i did not find that to be the case. 4. Drink packages...... most in our group chose to purchase drink packages. my husband got the $10 per drink max package for $39 per day. I got the $19 non alcoholic package, and my son got the $14 per day non alcoholic kids drink package. Of note, i only got mine because i had to have a package for my son and husband to have one. I think they might have gotten their money's worth, but i'm not sure that i did. I don't like to drink a lof of sugary drinks or ones with artificial sweeteners. Large bottles of mineral water were like 2.50, so not crazy bad without the package. It was nice that I was able to go to the bar and order 2 cappuccinos and a mineral water at the same time and not have to wait or come back for the others. I think you have to wait 15 min between the alcoholic drinks. You could also get soft serve ice cream with the non alcoholic packages, but not with the alcoholic packages. Had i not gotten a package, the free drink selections would have been fine with me. Of note, no decaf coffee that i could see for free.....i found that strange. lots of different flavors of tea bags to choose from. 5. staff members.....including the dining room staff, i found the staff to be very friendly. they were very good about making eye contact and greeting you. most of them that I encountered, spoke a good amount of english. I was pleasantly surprised by that. 6. excursions...... we did not choose to book any excursions through the cruiseline, although a couple in our group did. My mom was pleased with the cave trip and another tour she and her friend took. What we did pay for was 3 transfers! No tendering with free shuttle for this cruise line. we paid $12.99 per person for 2 of them and like $16 for Marseille. I did read about the other options (hop on hop off close to port, free shuttles, and city buses), but we decided that our time and lower amounts of frustration from having to find where to go made it worth it for us to just fork out the dough. We just weren't up for the adventure of all of that. 16 people is a lot to have to wrangle up. 7. transfers. we used a company called www.airportstaxitransfers.com to get us from the genoa airport to the hotel in genoa, hotel to ship, ship to milan, then hotel in milan to airport in milan. highly recommend them. extremely punctual, we had not hitches with any of the four segments. with our number of travelers it was very cost effective. something like 50 euros total each for all 4 segments. door to door service. Of note, we spoke to an Australian couple who were on the last of 3 consecutive msc cruises. they nearly missed the ship because the transfer that was arranged through the ship didnt work out. they had been told a later time for it and so they missed it. it cost them 1000 euros to take a cab from venice and made it there with 1 hour to spare. the cruise line was going to reimburse them for the 1000 euros and the ship's employees were very apologetic to them and seemed to be very interested in making it right for them. I would have written that bad experience off as a 1-off, but we got word that the cruiseline had also messed up their transfer at the end of our cruise. they had them going to germany, instead of to the airport. Not sure how that all came out, but im sure it was frustrating for them, considering the other snafu...... Not saying dont use the cruiseline for transfers, but just make sure that you check all of the details very carefully. 8. nickel and diming..... Yes, it did seem that they charged extra for A LOT of things. We heard one passenger wondering if they were going to be charged extra for toilet paper! What I would say about that, though, is that you get what you pay for. This was, by far one of the least expensive 7 day Mediterranean cruises that i could find. If we had booked with one of the others, maybe some of those things would have been included....maybe not... Maybe the food would have been better, probably so. But if you are doing well to just get yourself in the door of this ship (financially speaking) and you need the lower price, then you may have to just understand that some things won't be included in the base price. At least they give you the option of having a less expensive trip if you are willing to not use the things that cost extra. 9. I do want to tell you about an excursion that we booked on our own in Cagliari. we booked it through www.sardiniadreamtours.com before the cruise. you can find them on youtube and instagram. highly recommend this company. This tour was the highlight of our cruise. we got in 4x4 landrovers and went off-roading to some awesome lookout points in the mountains, then spent time at two beaches (chia was one of them). it cost us about 60 euros each and it lasted the whole time we were in port. they even took us on a quick trip through the historic area just before returning us to the ship. Francesco was awesome! They all went above and beyond. 10. The fact that each of the stops can be your start/end of your cruise. .....as i mentioned, we started and ended in Genoa. we were told that about 900 passengers boarded and disembarked with us. we found it to be pretty stress free, having done the same with 3000 passengers on other cruises where you feel like cattle. we carried our luggage on and off, and it was pretty easy. prior to cruising, i wondered if it would be a pain in the butt having them do a safety drill every day. i have to say that i hardly noticed it, other than the announcement and a few people around the ship with live preservers in their hands. Of note, once you board on your embarkation day, you cannot leave the ship until the next day. If you want to spend more time in that city, do it before you get on. we chose to spend that day in Genoa and board at around 3:30 instead of earlier in the day since we wanted to have a little more time in genoa. we breezed right through the boarding process, since most everyone had already boarded for the day. Our room was ready, we walked right in. Also of note, they put your key in the room and the door will be open when you get there. *****Be sure to go register your form of payment of on-board purchases. they have kiosks by the reception desk that make it pretty easy. you do not have to wait in line at the reception desk to get that done (lines ALWAYS long at the reception desk) 10. would I do it again if I had the choice? I would say yes. some in my group might say no. again with the unrealistic expectations...... I would just tell the nay Sayers to just fork out the big bucks for the other cruise lines next time if you want better food, etc. If they can't afford more, then maybe consider a land vacation or a Caribbean cruise. Just my 2 cents worth..... Hope that this helps you in some way, Cathy Read Less

We chose the MSC Divina cruise in the Mediterranean because of its unique itinerary for a seven night cruise and because of the opportunity to have a choice of ports from which to embark. Both of these were different from the other cruise line's offerings and paid it off. Also, since we were flying from Los Angeles to Europe, we wanted to see as much as we could each day, so no days at sea was exactly what I was looking for. We chose to board in Marseille since my husband wanted to spend a couple days in Paris prior to the cruise. As for the cabin, we paid for an inside guarantee with the "Fantastica" experience and were very surprised to be upgraded to a mid-ship balcony. Although the ship is a bit dated, it was very clean, the service was excellent across the board and the balcony cabin was very roomy. Our cabin attendant - I Putu Kertajaya, was excellent, and honored our requests. The itinerary included Marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia (for Rome), Palermo, Cagliari, Palma de Mallorca, and Valencia. We were fortunate weather-wise with only two days of rain and good weather for the rest of the ports at the end of May, and to have calm seas. Previously having sailed many times with Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Disney, and Carnival, I was curious about what differences would exist with MSC, so I read many Cruise Critic reviews. I learned that there would be differences from the above mentioned cruise-lines in the food and entertainment offerings so I was not surprised to find this to be the case. Both the buffet and the dining room menus have less entree options. Also, our "Fantastica" level of service included water bottles at meals in the dining room, (we found out late into the cruise) all who had not paid for this had to purchase water at lunch and dinner in the dining room just to get a glass of water with the meal. We were accustomed to being served free water at lunch and dinner in the dining rooms prior to this experience, so this was an unusual difference for us. Also, the entertainment in the theatre was not innovative or inspired and had the nightly repetition of the same talent, unlike others we have sailed with, but I was aware this would be the case from the reviews I had read. A variety of styles of music and dancing could be found in the lounges for those who enjoy that. The ports were all very pleasing and we explored most of them on our own taking trains and buses with the exception of two ship's excursions. Since people were embarking and debarking each day on this itinerary, it was hard to get a Cruise Critic meeting or Meet & Mingle party together. Also, with no days at sea, time was limited. We received a note in our cabin that the meeting date was cancelled, but then rescheduled for dinner in the Asian Fusion (new) Galaxy lounge/restaurant. This was a delightful sushi dinner with two ship's officers and just four of us Cruise Critic members. It was a very special evening for us on the ship and the two officers were extremely friendly and personable. This was one of the highlights. We had a really good week with the knowledge that this experience would be different in terms of food and entertainment. If you are accustomed to the cruise-lines mentioned above or the luxury lines, you will have a good time IF you are aware of differences and change your expectations...it's all in the expectations and this was a great daily itinerary. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and because we wanted to try a European line after having cruised over 25 times on the mainstream American lines. Here goes: First: this itinerary allows passengers to start and end the cruise in any of the 7 ports. So the embarkation process was quick since we didn't have to deal with all 4200 people getting on at the same time. Second: the ship is absolutely gorgeous! Real marble, beautiful lighting, every nook and cranny was more attractive than the next! Stateroom: we had a rear-facing balcony . The room had so much storage space and was very well appointed. But, no robes unless you asked for it and, they wanted to charge us for them. As for the balcony, it was huge and contained both chairs and lounges. Problem was, we hardly sat outside because the fellow passengers were smoking on their balconies and the smoke wafted into ours. That was horrible . We made several calls to the concierge but they were evidently powerless to do anything. Food: very good in the main dining room. Beautifully prepared and very tasty. The portions were small which was fine with us, and you could always ask for more. By the way, they do not have iced tea so we resorted to ordering a bucket of ice and hot tea and made our own. Entertainment: the production shows were the best we have ever seen on any cruise line. The performers were unbelievably talented . The choreography, lighting and costumes were better than first rate. The orchestra was also fabulous! There was always music in the public areas and lounges so anywhere you went, you were entertained. Staff: everyone we encountered was well-trained, accommodating and eager to help. We are not demanding passengers but we witnessed several rude, demanding passengers who were handled with patience and finesse by the staff. Now, for the bad: this cruise line allows children to travel free. We have nothing against children. But, the parents left the children unattended to run around, pushed them in strollers into passengers who were trying to walk in public areas, and it was absolute chaos to get from one place to the next. There was an absolute disregard for fellow passengers. I even witnessed a baby crawling on the floor in the buffet, who was about to be trampled by people with full plates of food. I swooped him up and handed him to his mother to avert what could have been a tragedy. . . The mother didn't seem to care! Yes, not MSC's fault but, if the "children travel free" policy remains, we will never travel with MSC again. In addition, they definitely need to make sure that passengers don't smoke on the balconies. At least, put up " no smoking signs" ON each balcony .. and then enforce it. Read Less

People often ask what was my worst cruise and I answer I've never had a bad one. I can still say that after my mediocre experience cruising the Mediterranean from Rome (Civitavecchia) last week on MSC Divina. Had it not been for the complimentary balcony upgrade I would have given them a "Poor" rating. Overall it is a nice ship and most of the staff friendly with good entertainment. Nice workout facility and plenty to do on board. Unfortunately the food was barely a step above your local buffet restaurants, that included the sit down dinners. Perhaps that is why they were constantly walking through promoting the specialty restaurants while you were in the main restaurant or buffet. Quite often the hand sanitizer machines were empty, though the ship was mostly clean. The boarding process seemed a little informal without giving you much direction on what to do next. We were sent to our room where the door was opened and only one key card on the bed. We had to go to the reception desk to request the other card. We had to visit guest services a few times because promotions offered to us weren't made clear without having to ask for them repeatedly. Also the bedding configuration wasn't as requested. They corrected that before bedtime. The destinations were great, though sometimes difficult for people with mobility issues. You could always catch free or low cost shuttles outside the ship if you're willing and able to walk. Otherwise you may want to consider purchasing the shuttles provided by the ship. I've actually sailed this exact ship before from Miami years ago. Perhaps that is the difference. Maybe it's the European culture where iced tea is not served. I'm okay with that. But finding out the only free beverages are small cups of water from the ice machine, coffee, or hot tea didn't go over well compared to other cruises. They do have free juice from machines at breakfast. Our first dinner in the Black Crab restaurant was a bad experience when we asked for water and tea and the waitress explained there was a cost for it since they only served bottled water and hot tea (though canned ice tea was also available for purchase). Turns out I had some kind of promotion that made the bottled water and hot tea free at lunch or dinner in the restaurant. So that was fine. But it got worse. The first course I discovered hair in the food. They were very apologetic, asked for my room number, and gave us free sodas and wine with lunch or dinner the rest of the trip. I realize the hair thing is likely an isolated incident. And the free water is minor in the whole scheme of things. Vacations cost money. I suspect if MSC spent more time trying to please the customer rather than saving themselves money, it would have been a more pleasant journey. I am used to cruise ships nickel and dining you, but this time they seem to go to far. Read Less

Having read the reviews prior to booking I was a bit apprehensive. No need to be. Embarkation in Civitavecchia was very easy and swift. Just be sure if you're travelling to the City by train to validate your train ticket, we accidentally didn't and were fined by a conductor. I imagine its a common revenue raiser. So we were in a bad mood due the train experience but were very pleased we could board the ship upon our arrival. The cabin was excellent, a lot larger than I expected (outside Bella cabin 5071). During our stay it was cleaned probably twice each day, we had a fantastic cleaner. The ship itself is excellent. We didn't find it too hard to get around and work "things" out. The elevators are often busy and easier if able to sometimes take the stairs. We quickly worked out that waiting in line for your turn musn't be a common European/Italian trait. This was most evident at the Ports queuing for hop on hop off buses. But it's something we got use to and just had to take in our stride (and nothing to do with the ship - they can't teach manners). We found the service on board was excellent. Only very minor things like asking for the price of a bourbon and coke at dinner was met with "I don't know" by the waiter. And she didn't find out -so saved me some money by not buying one. But again no big deal. The food in the Balck crab was great. We only ate there twice purely as we were often too busy to make the dining times and the buffet was more convenient. We didn't try any of the extra pay restaurants. We didn't take the drink packages as they were very expensive in Australian dollar terms. Particlularly as we had 4 in the cabin, my wife and a 4 and 9 year old that would all have had to take the package. Our children don't drink soft drink, my wife doesn't drink much. The sports bar was a favourite spot. You could order burgers, nuggets hot dogs etc. whilst watching world sporting events. The staff were exceptional. Whilst we cruised, there was a 10 beer for 25 Euro beer special. This was the best value/deal we could find for drinks on board by a long way. The theatre shows were excellent. We went every night and the kids also loved them. We played bingo a couple of times which again the kids loved, but I thought this was overpriced given the prize. I read some reviews abot the buffet. The whole family thought the range and quality was excellent. Though busy at times, you could always find a table. We rarely needed lunch on shore after the excellent breakfast. The access times to food on board should mean you'll never be hungry. Before cruising we probably had high expectations of the kids club. We didn't really give it a chance as when we signed the kids up, they basically seemed to be doing craft and drawings (it seemed a bit like baby sitting). My 9 year old and his friend pleaded with us not to stay as they basically wanted to play soccer on deck every spare moment. The kids that were there seemed very happy, just wasn't for our boys. The on deck soccer pitch was excellent. My son went on the waterslide, not sure why but it was too slow. He stopped in it a couple of times. Might have been water flow? Anyway he went on it a couple of times, but thought it average. The pools looked fantastic. We used the spas near the basketball court they were a bit quieter than the main ones. I tried the pool but it was a little too cold for me. We never did any of the cruise organised tours, made our own way on shore. Never used the boat shuttle as there was generally cheaper options at the port. It was greatly appreciated when on departure they waived the gratuity fee when requested. we preferred to tip direct and the gratuity fee is significant money in Australian dollar terms due the exchange rate. My wife gets very sea sick normally. This was a major concern and risk when we booked. Thankfully she was completely fine as were our kids with no ill effects whatsoever. Our friend unfortunately did and does suffer motion sickness so she spent some time in her cabin unwell. The boat and the ocean was very stable and smooth sailing. When organising our next holiday cruise, MSC would be my first choice based on value and quality. When booking this cruise part of the reason we chose MSC was the price so I was concerned the cheaper price would be reflected in service, quality or "somewhere", I was happy to find this not the case. I'd happily recommend the Divina to anybody looking for an excellent family cruise. Read Less

We purchased the fantastica package directly from the MSc website. On that site it states you get 12 free drinks. We didn’t read the fine print wherever that was that says it’s only for earlier sailings. Not sure why it was still on the website then? So we didn’t get any drinks. Also with that package came a free photo. No one tells you that that photo is only available on one night at a certain place. So we also didn’t get our photo. Customer service was terrible. Front dest did nothing. Basically said you have to read the fine print. I asked for a supervisor and they said no! Maybe it’s just a European thing but they don’t give you water or anything to drink at the dining room. You have to buy bottled water every night. Also they give you no information about ports. Our port in France they pushed a 16 euro per person bus ride from the ship to the city. Not telling anyone there is a free bus a block away from the ship that takes you to the same place. We felt like they really nickel and dime you wherever they can. Very disappointed and will never cruise on them again. I have been on carnival, Holland America, and Disney and all of those where much better. If you do cruise on MSc read everything because they will try to get over on you and the front desk will do nothing for you. The only thing from the fantastica package we where able to use was the room service that’s only available in the morning and only included coffee juice cereal and bread. Not much for room service compared to any other cruise I’ve been on. Long lines everywhere. Good luck getting into an elevator without having to push your way past other people. Crew and employees are rude. We had a officer and his family sit down in our dinning section 15 minutes after us. They treated them like royalty. We didn’t see the waiter for 15 minutes while they where getting there drinks apps and meal. It was the weirdest thing id ever seen. Never again on MSc of us. Read Less