Back from Nov 23rd Divina Cruise

[mkazmer]

I will be posting a full and complete review once I have time to gather my thoughts. A few things--we are a retired couple who live in Florida and this was our 41st cruise - we have cruised with MSC twice before - once on the Lirica and once on the Poesia. We wanted to get away and relax over the Thanksgiving holiday and chose this cruise - new ship, great pricing.

 

The Great - Entertainment - spectacular - best at sea hands down. In 30 years of cruising, have never seen such great entertainment - shows and all over the ship.

 

The Good - Beautiful ship, artfully appointed - very contemporary. Extremely clean, excellent crew - everyone smiling -ports were good. Food was very good - and that had not been our experience previously.

 

The Not so Good (for us) - ship is not set up well for flow of people - felt crowded everywhere - outside decks, restaurants, getting to and from dining rooms, in the lido- noise level very high - especially in the lido. Since children sail free, lots of children - no place really for just adults and some peace and quiet that we could find and only could find two places that were really comfortable for relaxing and reading.

 

Quick sum up - great ship for families with kids wanting to enjoy a beautiful ship and have fun - this certainly is not the ship for us and probably not for those who want real relaxation and peace and quiet.

 

We did get off easily and on time - debarked at 8am-had a short walk to the parking garage and were home by 10:30am. Will let you all know when I post a review and lots of pictures.

[sidari]

Look forward to hearing what changes have been made since the transatlantic cruise.

[sharecruises]

Thanks for your review, I also thought the entertainment was wonderful

 

Thanksgiving would NOT be my choice cause I hear every cruiseline is full of kids, I do think Divina was a bargain tho compared to other lines that jack up the price

 

I look forward to more details :)

[cruisetrail]

 

The Not so Good (for us) - ship is not set up well for flow of people - felt crowded everywhere - outside decks, restaurants, getting to and from dining rooms, in the lido- noise level very high - especially in the lido. Since children sail free, lots of children - no place really for just adults and some peace and quiet that we could find and only could find two places that were really comfortable for relaxing and reading.

 

 

This has been determined by the ship design. MSC made some changes to food/service/entertainment to bring the product closer to cruise industry standards, but they cannot change this ship design.

 

A few questions on the Divina.

 

1. Do they still charge for the sun deck 18?

2. Was the aft pool area for adults only?

3. Do you have menus from the MDR and buffet?

 

Thank you.

Edited November 30, 2013 by cruisetrail

[mkazmer]

This has been determined by the ship design. MSC made some changes to food/service/entertainment to bring the product closer to cruise industry standards, but they cannot change this ship design.

 

A few questions on the Divina.

 

1. Do they still charge for the sun deck 18?

2. Was the aft pool area for adults only?

3. Do you have menus from the MDR and buffet?

 

Thank you.

Yes, they still charge for the sun deck on 18 -

The aft pool area should have been adults only, but we observed parents taking their small children in there

I do not have the menus - I do have a record of what we ordered - will put a good bit of that in the review -

[cruisetrail]

Yes, they still charge for the sun deck on 18 :mad:

The aft pool area should have been adults only, but we observed parents taking their small children in there:mad:

I do not have the menus - I do have a record of what we ordered - will put a good bit of that in the review -

 

Thank you for the answer.

 

Menus are very important...

I have an example of a gala dinner menu on the Divina from a Med. cruise.

It looks relatively limited (4 main courses).

Was it more extended on your Caribbean cruise (as far as you remember)?

How was lobster night?

Any free alternatives (at least pastries) other than the buffet?

 

Looking forward to your detailed review.:)

Edited November 30, 2013 by cruisetrail

[alexkrn46]

I am sorry I did not copy the menus. we had cruised once on the Fantasia and found the choices lacking, this cruise definitely had An Americanized menu.

only one night did I choose for the alternative menu. Also the pizza from eat ally was to die for.

[tbmrt]

Yes, they still charge for the sun deck on 18 -

The aft pool area should have been adults only, but we observed parents taking their small children in there

I do not have the menus - I do have a record of what we ordered - will put a good bit of that in the review -

 

Look forward to your review!

Barbara

[riclop]

Yes, they still charge for the sun deck on 18 -

The aft pool area should have been adults only, but we observed parents taking their small children in there

I do not have the menus - I do have a record of what we ordered - will put a good bit of that in the review -

Looking foward to it.

[mkazmer]

Looking foward to it.

 

I have submitted my review of the cruise to Cruise Critic - it usually takes them a few days to post it. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I will put up a link to pictures once they are sorted and labeled.