MSC Divina Review
Rating by category
Additional details
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!).
Cabin Review
Balcony Stateroom
Well-located cabin, good climate controls, some issues with the bathroom (mainly the unpleasant odor), TV a little hard to operate.
Port Reviews
Rome (Civitavecchia)
Embarked here. From the train station it's quite a distance to the old port, from which the free buses leave for the ship. The city runs a 2-euro bus from the train station to the port. Trains to Rome are rather infrequent and thus overcrowded on disembarkation.
Palermo (Sicily)
Norman Palace is impressive but a fair distance from the port, about 30-40 minutes walk. We took the red tourist train and instantly regretted it because it was slow and infrequent. A hop-on hop-off bus might be better.
Sardinia
Beautiful place, enjoyed Poetto Beach though not all buses take cash. Unfortunately a lot of hawkers roam the beaches and it gets annoying.
Palma de Mallorca (Majorca)
Nice touristy town, with lots to see and do.
Valencia
Taxi fares are quite reasonable. When we learned that the cruise provided shuttle would not stop at the City of Arts and Sciences we decided to use taxis. Unfortunately our time onshore was too brief. Definitely visit the central market.
Marseille
Big city, ended up taking the free bus but it's some distance from the ship.
Genoa
Very walkable from the ship. Enjoyed Via Garibaldi, the aquarium was a bit of a disappointment given the price.