Home from our August 13, 2016 cruise on the Divina

Had a good time, will be posting videos and comments about our cruise. This was our first cruise with MSC, very different than what we normally have on NCL.

We liked the ship, very modern and beautiful, but a bit dark with the trim and paint colors. Also, a lot of mirrors and mirrored surfaces.

The cabin was very nice, good sized and the room steward did a great job maintaining for us.

Here is a video of our cabin:

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I'd love if you'd do some comparisons between MSC and NCL in your comments as I'm looking for something to entice me away from MSC. Celebrity didn't do it - maybe NCL might? Most of the comparisons on here tend to be MSC Yacht Club vs NCL Haven.

Thanks for the video.

Very nice!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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Hi Squidward,

Don't know if you remember us, but we sailed with you on the Pearl in Dec, 2014. We are sailing on the Divina in October and anxious to hear your thoughts on Divina. Still love NCL, but with the great prices on MSC, we decided to give it a try. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Hi Squidward,

 

Don't know if you remember us, but we sailed with you on the Pearl in Dec, 2014. We are sailing on the Divina in October and anxious to hear your thoughts on Divina. Still love NCL, but with the great prices on MSC, we decided to give it a try. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

My memory gets worse as I get older but your screen name looks familiar.

I will be posting more videos and text soon, trying to get it all together. The cabin video seems to have gotten a little messed up on the up load, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect with an inside cabin.

Looking forward to your review and videos!

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Enjoying the videos, thanks!

Thanks! Here is another one.

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Great mini videos!!

Great mini videos!!

Thanks!

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Love that room.

Loving the videos, keep them coming. We will see for ourselves in 6 weeks!

How would you compare the food with NCL? That seems to be one of the biggest complaints in many reviews of the Divina.

Loving the videos, keep them coming. We will see for ourselves in 6 weeks!

 

How would you compare the food with NCL? That seems to be one of the biggest complaints in many reviews of the Divina.

In the buffet on the Divina, while the food tasted good I would say that the selection was a little less. Hours were good, 20 out 24 hours. Off hours in the buffet were sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, fries, fruit and salad and almost exactly the same food each time. No great outdoors area like what we enjoy so much on the Pearl and Sun. On the Divina, there is a back “infinity pool” where the dining seating should be. No washy-washy greeting.

Our main dining room assignment was the Black Crab. We had the late seating. Pretty much everyone gathered at the entrance, once the door was opened (definitely no sooner and usually a little later than 8:30) we herded ourselves through and sat ourselves at our assigned table. The service was very good but it didn’t quite have the personal touch we have come to enjoy on NCL. We were very, very fortunate with our assigned table mates, a nice young couple that we enjoyed immensely. We had a table for four. Compared to NCL, the menu layout was very similar. The right side was the same throughout the cruise and the left side changed daily. Some portions seemed small. The food tasted great with the exception of a steak on the first night. I may be biased after enjoying steaks at Le Bistro and Cagney’s on the Pearl.

Due to the fact that MSC status matched our NCL Platinum level to their equivalent Black level, we were awarded two specialty restaurant dinners. Both were tasting dinners, we weren’t given the actual restaurant menu to select from.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the Eataly dinner very much. They kindly accommodated my wife’s gluten-free diet by substituting a salad for the pasta course and providing a gluten-free dessert. Before sailing, we had read that the Eataly décor is casual and that it is, but roomy and quiet. I would definitely recommend this restaurant according to our experience.

A few nights later, we had our tasting dinner at the Galaxy Disco restaurant. I think it is named so due to the fact that the space serves a dual (or more) purpose, late at night the tables are moved and it becomes the ship’s disco. This meal we did not enjoy so much, it started with sea bass tartare. Maybe if we had the regular menu it would have been better.

We are able to count only four specialty restaurants on the Divina. There may not be many more specialty restaurants on the NCL Pearl however it feels like there is more and they make us feel more special!

I feel NCL is better in service, atmosphere, and especially food. I hear MSC has better prices on sale, but I have not found this to be true on the dates I am going. The spa on the DIVINA is superior to any cruise ship spa. I went every day and tried various treatments with Siti and I will book with her on my cruise this winter. I also like the gym better on MSC.

I feel NCL is better in service, atmosphere, and especially food. I hear MSC has better prices on sale, but I have not found this to be true on the dates I am going. The spa on the DIVINA is superior to any cruise ship spa. I went every day and tried various treatments with Siti and I will book with her on my cruise this winter. I also like the gym better on MSC.

I agree, the Spa is a very nice spa!

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Hey Neighbor!

We were in room 12256 that same week :) It was a decent cruise indeed. Very relaxing I must say. First time I've been on MSC.

Hey Neighbor!

 

We were in room 12256 that same week :) It was a decent cruise indeed. Very relaxing I must say. First time I've been on MSC.

Hello! We had a very smooth sailing cruise, just one night a little bit of wave action. Funny, but I prefer a little wave action, I sleep so well those nights. It was our first MSC cruise also.

Thanks for your thoughts on Divina dining. We were also able to match our NCL Platinum status to Divina Black status. I was not aware that the meals would be a set menu. I wonder if we will be able to each take a separate guest from a different cabin? We are traveling with 3 other families and have our reservations linked, so hopefully will all be sitting together in the main dining room. It's been a long time since we have had assigned dining, not sure how we will like that.

Looking forward to more of your videos!