Ok, the Divina wasn't good…….it was GREAT!!!

[houstoncruisers2001]

First off, my wife hurt her knee in Miami and we thought about returning to Texas. A late night run to Walmart to purchase a walker saved the day.

 

Boarding the ship was very easy as we got through check in just as they announced it was time to board. Needing assistance we were one of the first ones on the ship. The cabin was not ready so we headed straight up to the buffet. While waiting for the cabin, I went down to the Black Crab to check our seating assignment which was a table for six. With my wife being in pain and not really wanted to socialize I switched it to a table for two. I then ran off to the casino bar to pick up my drink coupons. After a while we went to our cabin in the aft.

 

Our cabin was beautiful with a large aft balcony located right over the wake. It was hard to maneuver the walker in the cabin and I know we banged the wall a few times. i know our neighbors must have thought a herd of loud elephants were in our cabin. Sorry for that, neighbors. We thought the shower set-up was strange and we liked the shower doors on Royal Caribbean better. Our room guy kept the room clean, but we hardly ever saw him. Bed was fine, pillows were underwhelming, but we slept well every night.

 

As I stated, we had a table for two in the Black Crab, table 489 with Adiana & Marcella as our servers. They did a good job and the food was great. From the prime rib to the lobster to the grilled chicken off the alternative menu, all were good in my book. Even had the lamb the first night. All the veggies were cooked well too. The 2nd formal night was switched to the last night because of our port change. We got dressed up as did many of our fellow cruisers. That was nice to see considering it was the last night. We had late dining that started at 8:45pm and on most nights we were out of the MDR by 10pm. The buffet was sometimes crowded, but as stated before on Cruise Critic, way less crowded towards the aft. Some of the drink stations were not set up well and tended to bottleneck. Decent selection of food and we never left the buffet hungry.

 

The ship itself was beautiful. The lounges were some of the nicest we've seen on any cruise ship. The theater was stunning. We saw almost all the shows and I'd recommend them. Went to see an opera at 4pm on a sea day. The public areas had a nice decor and the only place that got real crowded was the photo gallery. You had to go through the photo gallery to go from the aft area to the atrium area on deck 7. Outside on deck 7 the view is mainly blocked by lifeboats. Of course, the crystal staircases in the atrium were something to see. The ship's flow could be a little better, but it reminded us of the Princess ship we cruised on. It was funny to see bingo being played outside in the heat. The lounges had good entertainment, but the couple in the Golden Lounge liked to talk as much as they liked to sing. La Luna had a nice husband & wife team too. The Galaxy Disco was hit & miss as far as music went and we spent time in there as well as the Black & White Lounge on most evenings. The Galaxy is a nice quiet place to relax during the day too. The atrium was a great place to listen to classical music with a nice coffee bar overlooking the atrium.

 

We used various hot tubs and went in two of the three pools. Loved the aft pool though it could get crowded at times. The indoor/outdoor pool was nice too and less crowded. Most days the pools felt warm and not freezing cold like on some ships. We could always find a chair to put our stuff on too. The ladder steps were steep entering/exiting the pools and we wished there were walk in steps instead, but that's just an age thing on our part.

 

The crew was very friendly. I might have seen one person in a bar area that seemed unfriendly. The entertainment staff did a great job interacting with cruisers especially in the lounges. Even on the last night at 1am in the Black & White Lounge the staff was still working to please the guests. On most cruises the ship is dead by that point.

 

We didn't get off in St. Maarten because of my wife's injury. Been there twice before. We enjoyed the empty pools and hot tubs. In San Juan we did leave the ship, but only to hire a cab to drive us around the old & new city. No way we could have walked around as planned. We were going to stay on the ship in Great Stirrup Cay because a walker with wheels and sand do not mix, so we were very happy about being diverted to Grand Turk. We walked in a couple of shops, but then made a beeline to Margaritaville. This was the nicest Margaritaville i have ever seen. It had a resort style pool and a swim up bar. We had a great time there.

 

They wanted us out of the cabin by 7am. We were running a little late considering we went to bed near 2am. Getting off the ship was a breeze. Nice and quiet and very orderly. Yellow 3 was scheduled to get off at 9:15am and we got off at 9:15am. Customs was painless, unlike Galveston, Texas which is our home port. Galveston could learn a few things, both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale do great jobs in their terminals.

 

Overall, we'd do Divina again in a heartbeat. I had read all the bad reviews about the service and the food. We have no complaints with either. Heard a lot of different languages and it felt different being an American, but it was a good kind of different. It was our 14th cruise and I'd rate this cruise near the top of all our cruises with only Oasis of the Seas edging out Divina based on all the bells & whistles onboard Oasis. That's with my wife using a walker and being in pain all week. For the value of the money we spent, since Oasis is way more expensive, you can't beat the Divina.

Edited October 13, 2014 by houstoncruisers2001

[CTBob]

Hi Tom, thanks for your review. We also have an aft balcony for our upcoming cruise. I will remember to try the Galaxy area during the day if I am looking for a quiet spot. Hope your wife is feeling better. Bob

[riclop]

Thanks for your review it was very well written and I agree with your points.

[Janet&Carl]

Lovely to hear a review that doesnt sweat the small stuff.

 

I'm glad you had a fantastic holiday and loved reading your review.

 

Thanks:D

[Mikesa1721]

Nice review and glad to hear you had a great time Houston!!! Sorry to hear about your wife though, luckily you were still able to enjoy yourselves!!!:)

[oreosmile]

Thanks for taking time to write your review. Glad you had a great vacation and hope your wife is healing

[American Bear]

Great to hear you were able to enjoy your cruise after your wife's accident, hope she is feeling better!:)

Also, hope you'll recover from Texan's loss to Cowboys!:D

[houstoncruisers2001]

Great to hear you were able to enjoy your cruise after your wife's accident, hope she is feeling better!:)

Also, hope you'll recover from Texan's loss to Cowboys!:D

 

Thanks to you all, she's doing better.

 

Um, AmericanBear, geez thanks for reminding me about the Cowboys. Glad I missed it since i was on the ship.