We boarded MSC Divina on 30 December for a cruise around the Caribbean and Central America, the embarkation and disembarkation procedures were fabulous, we were on board within 17 minutes of arriving at the port. However, it stopped there! On our first night we had been allocated to the first sitting in the Black Crab restaurant on deck six. We ordered our evening meal and advised the waiting staff that we expected hot food and hot plates. Sadly this was not the case. Husband ordered French Onion soup, if that French Onion soup had even seen an onion we would have been surprised, it was not of a consomme type, indeed it had cream in it or even cornflour to thicken it up, it was disgusting. On New Years' Eve, we had a "special menu"! My husband ordered duck and I ordered the surf and turf, quite frankly it was inedible, my steak tasted of the fish and husband refused to eat the duck which was well overcooked. We left the restaurant immediately and did not return. Sadly this was indicative of the standard of food on the ship, which was never hot, never served on warm plates and for the most part inedible!

Of more concern was the lack of hygiene in the restaurants and buffet, there was absolutely no monitoring of hygiene in the restaurants and at some entry points there were no facilities for hand hygiene. Where there were gel machines, these inevitably were empty. Even after we had complained about this nothing was done, quite shameful really when you think of the number of passengers on the ship and the possibility of a noro virus outbreak.

Whilst on the ship I caught a cold, (I am convinced this was because of the appallingly poor hygiene standards) and tried to cancel my excursion which was due to take place in Colombia the next day. The excursion staff advised my husband, very rudely that I could not cancel without a medical certificate from the ship's doctor which would cost $95 - the trip itself cost $88 so I wasn't likely to pay more. He asked them whether they would rather I stayed in my cabin and kept the cold to myself or, as it would appear they would prefer i carried on the with excursion and infected the whole ship and anyone else I came into contact with. They, apparently just shrugged their shoulders in a "don't care" attitude, this was quite indicative of the senior staff on the ship. My excursion was eventually refunded but husband was expected to attend. Read more