4/15-4/22 Divina

Just returned from the 4/15 Eastern Caribbean Divina cruise. A little background...we have cruised Carnival once, 1999, and it was fun. I didn’t think I ever needed to cruise again, but in 2003 we tried DCL for the first time, and cruised with them 8 times, the last in November of 2016. We have sailed on the Magic, Wonder, and Fantasy, including several 7 days, one 4 day, an Alaska, a Med, and the first EB Panama cruise in 2005, so quite a bit of experience w/ the Mouse. We’re Gold on DCL which translated to Gold on MSC. Much prefer MSC’s loyalty program which rewards days at sea plus onboard spending. We did an additional Alaska in 2013 on HA...did not enjoy that one.

We travel with DS, 26 and autistic, and my 76 year old mom. We always book two cabins, this time two Aurea suites. We had cabin 9010...oh my! If you can book one of these corner suites do so. We have one on the Meraviglia, cannot wait!

Beautiful cabins, great room attendant. As many have said the rooms are cleaned promptly and well. On DCL you could leave the room, be gone several hours, return and the room still not clean. This after explaining to the room attendant that my DS sometimes doesn’t like to leave the room and that if possible it would be great if it could be cleaned when we put the sign on the door...no go and one of the reasons we tried MSC. And yes, I always tip extra for good service. This time a first...our guy said we gave him too much! He deserved every cent and more.

Embarkation: We arrived about 12:30, used South Florida Shuttle. Not great. I requested and paid for a private shuttle...DS...shuttle w/ additional passengers. I’ll be calling on that in the next few days. SFS did step up to the plate on the trip from the port to FLL though. Private shuttle as requested, clean, and right on time.

On arrival there were two lines we could have chosen, special needs or Aurea...neither had anyone else there. We went to Aurea and had cruise cards very quickly. Short wait to get on the ship, no problems. Went to the Sports Bar for drinks and lunch, excellent. We actually ordered fries and drinks, not lunch, and this was a good choice.

Ship and cabins: Beautiful ship and so clean. Absolutely loved our cabin, and all the different areas on the ship. Linens and towels high quality and sparkling white. Bed so comfortable...I’ve never slept that well on a cruise. Sleep is a huge issue for me, and I haven’t felt this well rested in years.

Food: I know, very subjective, but I really have to wonder what the negative reviewers eat at home. We cook from scratch, organic as much as possible. I favor high flavor ingredients such as dark meats, anchovies, capers, that type of thing. I adore good bread, pastry, and seafood.

Buffet: A ton of choices, and as I like meat with lots of flavor I really appreciated the different roasts and dark meat poultry. Breakfast was wonderful, with great sandwiches and lots of fish and cold cut choices. Fresh fruit salad very tasty, and they obviously spend quite a bit on their raw products because the fruit tasted like fruit, not like sweet water. I haven’t bought watermelon in years because it doesn’t taste like anything...I actually had good watermelon several times on this cruise. Children’s section had lots of choices for pickier eaters...my DS for one. Loved this option. Buffet pizza, super yummy.

MDR: Excellent breakfasts, 3/7 days. Dinners 5/7. All options good, especially the seafood apps. Servings are large, so if you get the calamari or mixed seafood you will want to think about if you really need an entree. Apps and entrees enough for 2.5-3 servings...don’t really know what is up w/ that, perhaps MSC trying to improve their rep w/ American market?

One iffy entree was a pasta dish the first night. Not very hot...I wasn’t hungry so didn’t order anything else, even though the waiter was attentive and offered to get me something else. Water offered immediately and throughout the meal.

Specialty restaurants: We tried the pizza and steakhouse. As others have said absolutely wonderful and a good value. Meat cooked to order...we eat steaks rare and hard to get that way on a cruise ship. Pasta and fish soup at the steakhouse were to die for. Do not miss these.

Coffee: So good! I loved the drink package for lots of reasons, but one of the biggies was the coffee. I usually drink w/ cream but loved the room service coffee black. Would return to the ship for the coffee w/ milk from the bars alone...that good.

Excursions: My DH did the rainforest hike in San Juan and loved it. A normal ship excursion.

Entertainment: Great as others have said. We really loved the different areas of the ship w/ lots of choices for varying music styles. I’m usually in bed by 9 p.m., and actually enjoyed the nightlife on this ship.

Negatives: Our drink cards were messed up the first day. Guest relations couldn’t fix w/o getting permission from Miami, which was so annoying!!! Thank-you CC for advising me to have a printout of my package...it was fixed after a few hours but MSC needs to give their frontline staff permission to fix errors w/o contacting port office. We were sent a large plate of chocolate strawberries later on during the cruise, I’m assuming to make up for the trouble. By that time I’d embraced the Italian atmosphere of the ship so all good.

Daily Programs sometimes not representative of what will actually take place...again I’m assuming a more European cruise experience. I will say though that after the first day or so this was pretty much corrected.

By midway through the cruise I’d relaxed and accepted that sometimes things wouldn’t happen exactly on schedule, and it was ok w/ me. MSC should probably be a little more on point with this though...not every traveler is 25 and healthy. Many cruisers have young children, or family members that are on a strict schedule for one reason or another. When you plan activities based around medication or activity schedules it is difficult or impossible to accept the more casual attitude.

Speaking of Attitude: I wished I’d spent more time sitting in the beautiful spaces enjoying a coffee or cocktail. I have the habit of getting the drink, then walking around looking for the next activity.

Dress: People were wearing shorts and athletic wear in the MDR at night, so if casual is your style no worries. There were a lot of beautifully dressed people though, and I for one have decided to improve my attire for the next cruise.

Other cruisers: We didn’t encounter rudeness from others. Children were great. As Chubbyandaway said lots of friendly cruisers who were open to conversation. We really enjoyed the interactions at the CC meet, trivia, and lounges. Lots of family groups playing cards, enjoying each other’s company.

Overall: We’ve found a new cruise line. I would recommend MSC to anyone.

Thanks for the review edspec. We are cruising on the Divina for the first time in November and we also have one of those corner aurea suites (11th deck) and I can't wait! Do you have any pics of the room you can post? It's my fifth cruise but my first in a suite.

I'm glad to hear the beds were really comfy. I assume the pillows were good too? I've read a few (older) reviews about how bad the pillows are.

It was nice to hear you enjoyed the food. I know food is subjective, and really I am not a picky eater, but it was nice to hear someone actually enjoyed the food. Honestly I am always happy just not to have to cook and clean up the kitchen!

I'm surprised there was an issue with the drink package since it's included with the Aurea Suite Experience. I'm curious, what kind of proof did you take with you for the drink package? Was it on your eDocs? I booked through a travel agent and my receipt doesn't show what's included--just that it's an S3 category. I want to make sure I have proof with me just in case :)

Thanks and I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

The fact that our cards said Aurea experience and that we still had problems was what was irritating. I printed out the e-docs that MSC sent which were about 16 pages long.

I didn't take pics of the room but DH did, I'll see if I can post some later. The walk in closet was great, so nice to have room to spread out shoes and bags. The pillows on the bed were very comfy, no worries there. You will have a great time. I truly felt as if I had two vacations in one...Caribbean cruise and visit to Italy.

What a wonderful review! Exactly my own feeling about Divina; a Caribbean cruise and a visit to Italy! I'm so glad you had a great experience.

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I rarely read Divina reviews as I'm unlikely to cruise on her from Miami (I've been on her a couple of times in the Med).

However, I read this one and enjoyed it thoroughly - thanks for sharing your experience. I can't believe, though, that you had problems with the drinks package! As you've pointed out, you were an Aurea Suite guest so the package is automatically included. Such a shame. But you have a great attitude and it seems like you took it in your stride and got on with enjoying your vacation - well done!

We had the same problem with the drinks package (Aurea-Package) and there were several other guests with the same problem.

The handling of this from the Guest Service was very disappointing and therefore we had a rather bad start into the cruise. We also cruised 4/15/2017 - 4/22/2017.

Thanks for your review - we are platinum on DCL, so enjoyed reading a review from a fellow DCL cruiser. We are looking forward to cruising Divina next month!

Loved your review ! Very informative and so positive (a rarity on these boards). Your ability to roll-with-the-punches made the cruise more enjoyable for you and your review more helpful for us ! Thank you for sharing !

Did you ever go to the Aurea Spa Bar? I have seen that they have smoothies (Enjoy the Color) and I was wondering if you know if these are included in the Aurea Experience drink package?

Did you ever go to the Aurea Spa Bar? I have seen that they have smoothies (Enjoy the Color) and I was wondering if you know if these are included in the Aurea Experience drink package?

The included drinks package is the basic one. It doesn't cover the smoothies from the Spa bar.

The included drinks package is the basic one. It doesn't cover the smoothies from the Spa bar.

Well shoot. I've started drinking green juice every morning and was hoping they were included. Oh well I'm on vacation. I guess if I really miss it, I can always pay for them :) Thanks Beamafar.

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We're back home now after this April 15-22 cruise on Divina which was on the whole one of the most enjoyable of the 16 assorted cruises we've taken.

Met many interesting and agreeable people. Leslie and her mother Joan being two of the loveliest fellow travelers!

Thank-you Fred and Lilly! We enjoyed your company too. Chubbyandaway were correct, this cruise line just seemed to attract congenial passengers.

Very enjoyable review, thanks!

Thanks for the review my first MSC after 16 in 6 years with NCL. Will be in Divina YC in July. Can't wait to compare our experience to NCL Haven.

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A belated thank you for your review!! So helpful for planning our first cruise with MSC.