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MSC Divina-The good, the bad & the ugly


jimmymed3
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So, my girlfriend and I went on the October 22nd sailing of the Divina and wanted to share our experience with you all. I'm not sure if I should post it here, but I just wanted to hit the main notes of what we thought as we have YouTube videos of our thoughts, as well as our daily vlogs.

I thought I would share our views on here as MSC seems to get quite the wide variety of opinions on CruiseCritic. I want to say that overall, we had a great time and would definitely cruise on MSC again. We honestly couldn't see why people have been slamming them so hard. Yes, they have a few areas where they need to improve, and they need to do it quickly. So, here are a few bullet points.

We broke it down into three categories.

The Good

-Italian style of cruising, including the food(pizza). It was different than what the US lines offer. We saw this as a plus.

-$2 gelato. And it was good.

-Free flavored water.

-$10 chair massages on sea days.

-Low low cost duty free including Cuban cigars and rum.

-CruiseCritic meet and greet. This was the best one we have attended on a cruise line. A lot of the senior officers showed up to chat, and caviar.

-Loyalty match program. They will bring you in at your current status of a competing cruise line.

-Best pizza at sea we've experienced.

-The drink voucher program. Why don't the other lines do this?!

Lots of free liquor. We each had six free drinks throughout the cruise.

-More entertainment staff than other lines and seemed more interactive.

The bad

The seating at the buffet was horrible. Not sure how they can improve. If you go at non peak times you can usually find a spot in the back.

-Portion size in the MDR was small. Like, way small. They could make the main entrée just a little bit bigger.

-Larger glasses in the buffet. As with most cruise lines, they love to have you get five shot glass cups of your beverage as opposed to the regular sized human glasses.

The ugly

These are thing that they just simply have to improve on to be successful.

-Speed of service in the dining room. Now I know that there was a large amount of new staff on the ship, but come on. Both lunch and dinner was slow. We were hoping this would have been improved somehow after the dry dock. We waited up to an hour and 35 minutes a few night for the three courses.

-Drinks. They need dedicated drink servers in the MDR. We literally waited 30 minutes one night for just water. I would have been uber pissed if we have the unlimited drinks with meals packages. With that said, the staff was working their tails off. It wasn't the staff, it was the planning by MSC. They seemed short staffed but it sounded like everyone made it in after the hurricane.

-The venues for the events like the newlywed and Quest games are too small. We found that most of the guests on the Divina stayed up later than the other lines that we cruised on(the Europeans?) and attended all of these events. There were quite a few people stuffed in those venues. It was so packed a few nights, we turned around, frustrated.

-Port of Miami embarkation waiting area needs to be bigger. It was too small of a room for a ship that size.

We have a more in depth review of the ship on our YouTube channel if you guys want to check it out.

 

 

http://www.chubbyandaway.com

 

All in all, we had a great time! I think the best thing, if you want to go on this ship, is to embrace the Italian/European way of cruising. We thought it was a cool way to visit Europe without leaving the US! #MSCDivina

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Thanks for the well balanced review, and agree with your points , the good and bad. We went the week after you and after the 2nd night we did not return to the MDR. Yes those drink glasses are ridiculously small so we bring our own. Did you enjoy the shows?

Edited by riclop
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Good review. Except as a European (still) we actually enjoy a leisurely meal. When we eat in regular restaurants in the States and especially in Florida we feel very rushed. For us we don't do the games type of entertainment or even all the shows the perfect evening is as I said a leisurely dinner then the different bars listening to all the different live entertainment.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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Hey thanks for the kind words everyone! The shows were amazing! I have to admit, some of it was a little repetitive at the end, but all in all we enjoyed it. Everyone said that the Michael Jackson show was great and and wanted to see for myself. It was downright amazing. They lip synced, but we didnt even care! We have a short clip in our video.

 

The chair massages were on the pool deck in a corner. I only remember seeing the the massages only the last three days. It was $10 for ten minute sessions. you could do two or three in a row if you wanted, it sounded. We have footage of this in our video, as well.

 

The main dining room. I did forget to mention that the European way of dining is alot more relaxed and is a bit longer. However, you could tell they were trying to cater to the majority of Americans on the ship to get us in and out. It just wasnt working. I think one thing that MSC could do, is to make it clear that you are on a European ship and want you to take your time to eat. Maybe a sign or something at the entrance. Those who dont know about this are being setup to be angry. I wouldnt mind waiting if that is what they are wanting you to do. Thanks for bringing up that point!

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OP, when you say you waited 1 hour 35 minutes for the 3 course, was that the total time for all 3 courses? Or that long until you got served the 1st course?

 

Assuming the total time, what would one recommend for ordering to make sure you didn't have to wait terribly long for at least a drink? I could at least get mildly intoxicated whilst waiting a bit for the 1st course. haha

 

Thanks!

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Ya know, I really didn't see too many mixed drinks in the MDR. I would definitely order wine as it would be the most readily accessible. Either way, plan on waiting or order two at a time.

The time I quoted was from the minute we sat down til the minute we received our dessert. I wish I could say it was when we finished dessert, but it wasn't.

 

 

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Hi Jimmymed3.....Thank you so much for the review and both videos were extremely informative and honest! We will be cruising on the Divina in January so I'm trying to read as much as I can and learn as much as possible.

 

We ordered the more for less escape drink package vouchers. Do you know if you can use those vouchers in the dining room (although I understand the wait will be long)

 

Also, my husband and I enjoy dancing to Motown, beach music, etc. Do they provide that type of music? If so, great, if not, what type of music is provided?

 

Your review was truly a wealth of information!! Thank you! :)

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The wait staff have to leave the Dining room and go to the bar outside in order to get drinks that is beyond wine, something to remember.

 

With regard to the time taken to serve the meals in the evening why do some people expect to be told everything rather than doing a little research about this subject ? why do they have to rush everything.

 

 

"All in all, we had a great time! I think the best thing, if you want to go on this ship, is to embrace the Italian/European way of cruising. We thought it was a cool way to visit Europe without leaving the US! #MSCDivina"

 

OP ... Good to hear you enjoyed the cruise and I do not wish to belittle your review but what you say in the above paragraph is a long way from how things are done in Europe on MSC ships.

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Agree with Sidari. In Italy no one has mixed drinks or even coffee with a meal. It's water and/or wine and nothing else, other than perhaps an aperitif with a flute of prosecco prior to the antipasti.

 

How does that saying go? When in Rome? So when in Miami, FL, USA ....

 

I don't think it's unreasonable to have different offerings that cater to the market one is actually serving in.

 

But good to know if I want a Cosmo and coffee with dinner that I should order it the minute I get in so that I can wait an hour or more for it to show up. Or apparently just accept that in Italy they do things differently even though I'm cruising from the US.

 

What else in Italy do they do that us American's don't?

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How does that saying go? When in Rome? So when in Miami, FL, USA ....

 

I don't think it's unreasonable to have different offerings that cater to the market one is actually serving in.

 

But good to know if I want a Cosmo and coffee with dinner that I should order it the minute I get in so that I can wait an hour or more for it to show up. Or apparently just accept that in Italy they do things differently even though I'm cruising from the US.

 

What else in Italy do they do that us American's don't they don't do FAST FOOOD?

 

The whole point is to offer a different experience not just more of the same US style cruising. Some of it comes from the isolationist views of the US unlike the European culture of travelling far and wide and experiencing different ways of doing things

 

 

Variety is the spice of life.

 

 

 

 

Pete

Edited by Skier52
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Fantastic review and videos. Really appreciate the time and effort you put into doing this.

 

We are looking forward to our cruise on the Divina in February. We love Italy and will surely love the Divina.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

We will be sailing the Divina Feb 25th! I am really looking forward to a different style of service, as I've only sailed on very American lines, previously!

 

Thanks OP, for your well balanced review! I'll be checking out your video shortly!

 

 

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