Msc divina review----

[MiamiSpartan]

28 Cruises, FIRST REVIEW!! :D

We were also on the October 25th sailing and I have read so many things about the Divina, so I thought I would share my thoughts....Currently updating my iPhoto, so pics will have to come in later posts...

I was with Rodney, my partner of 23 years, who has been on 50 cruises....

 

Some random thoughts: The ship is gorgeous! Probably one of the best looking ships we have ever been on...! Lots of great touches throughout the ship....no bells and whistles like a roller coaster, glass inclosed walkway, etc on the deck, but it doesn't need that stuff.....

 

Embarkation was very smooth...We got to the port at around 1130 am.....It was our first time utilizing the new tunnel, and it was a MUCH quicker way to get to the port vs fighting all of the traffic lights in downtown Miami.....

They are utilizing the RCI terminal, since RCI doesn't use it much currently...(Their bigger ships are out of Ft Lauderdale)...

 

ROOM----We were in 9255, which is a veranda room near the back of the ship....Nice location since it was only about 5 rooms from the rear elevator lobby....We normally go for inside cabins to save money, since we are usually never in the room that much and would rather spend in the bar, spa, and premium dining, but we took advantage of the upgrade...We enjoyed it! We actually spent more time in the cabin than usual just to take advantage of it....Ample storage in the room....6 decent sized drawers and two shelves in the closet, and a lot of hanging space...Pillows are strange as others have said, but frankly it didn't stop me from getting 8-10 hours of sleep a night and I am a notoriously light sleeper....We had the Best. Room. Steward. Ever. First of all, shortly after getting on the ship, we ran into him in another section of the ship and he remembered us by name and cabin number....after just one meeting..! Throughout the entire trip, overtime we left the cabin--no matter what time of day it was--we would return to an immaculate room....! We have had other good ones over the years, but he was exceptional!

 

LOBBY--It is gorgeous....loved the stairwell....! Looks amazing at night.....Loved the classical trio playing there each evening.....In fact, I really liked the choice of music playing around the ship....I know I'm getting old, but it was nice music that set the mood, but didn't overpower.....

I would only question why they chose to play "There's Got To Be a Morning After" within the first 2 hours of boarding....!

:eek: Really?? LOL! If they had played "Nearer My God To Thee", I would have been out of there!!!

 

 

DINING--Buffet is decent...some good choices....Possibly not as extensive as some other cruises we have been on, but decent enough choices.....Pasta is always cooked perfectly, which one would expect from an Italian line, but the fact that they are able to do it in the buffet as well as the MDR is pretty impressive none the less.....I would have expected more fish options for breakfast given the large number of Int'l guests.....

 

MDR had good options. As I mentioned, pasta never disappointed. Lobster was also cooked perfectly, as it can often be overcooked in these situations....Striploin was a good choice...Great table service...! Waiter was great and the head waiter was much more involved in his area than I have ever experienced on other lines.

 

EATALY---Very good! We went the first night....15% discount offered, because most people don't go there the first night.....Well worth the extra money spent...I had the rack of lamb, and Rodney got the prime rib....He's a big steak lover since he spent 7 years in Argentina when he was a kid....both were great....

EATALY also has a pizza and wine bar, which we tried on day 5...Very good pizza! We ordered the white pizza with arugula, buffalo mozzarella, and prosciutto.....They offer wine tastings there as well, which we didn't get a chance to try....

 

GALAXY Restaurant--located on the 16th floor along with a dance club, meeting space/library, etc....We went for brunch on one of the sea days and were impressed....Was not able to look at the dinner menu, but this whole area seems to be under utilized.....We are not late nighters by any stretch, but I never did see anyone in the in the dance club, and the restaurant never seemed that busy....great views from up there......

 

Time to check on my iPhoto update.....more later...hopefully with some pics.....

[skyking]

Great review so far, sorry we never got to meet up, we were in the disco past midnight on a few occasions and the place was packed. I got some great video, sometimes you couldn't even get on the dance floor.

[MiamiSpartan]

Great review so far, sorry we never got to meet up, we were in the disco past midnight on a few occasions and the place was packed. I got some great video, sometimes you couldn't even get on the dance floor.

 

 

Good to hear!

[CTBob]

Thanks, enjoyed your review so far. I'm looking forward to your photos!

 

Bob

[I&J Cruisers]

Enjoying your review. Can't wait for the rest.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MiamiSpartan]

Let's see if this works.....

 

Not sure how to put these in the body of the post.....

First pic is the theater...gorgeous!

2nd pic is our room....

3rd pic is me celebrating yet another MSU win over Michigan as we were leaving Miami....! :)

Edited November 3, 2014 by MiamiSpartan

[MiamiSpartan]

BARS & LOUNGES:

Great selections on board....Each of them got packed each evening, so there was something for everyone....

 

As I mentioned previously, the Divina Bar in the main lobby on 5 offered wonderful classical music each night, which could be heard in the Silver Lounge on 6 and Cafe Italia on 7....I really liked the set-up of the Silver Lounge.....smaller seating arrangements, very contemporary lighting and decor.....The future cruise desk was also located here....

I have read on other posts that people had issues finding upscale alcohol in each bar, but we had no issues finding Grey Goose in any of the bars...All locations seemed to be adequately stocked of all the major brands....

Cafe Italia features Segafredo Coffee and I have to say it is probably the best coffee I've had on any ship.....I can't drink regular coffee since it would probably keep me awake for days.....I will usually order a decaf soy late in the coffee bars, and they are usually just OK.....The ones I ordered here were amazing......plus they give you little piece of dark chocolate with probably 80% cocoa....not very sweet.....just very tasty...!! The also offer several chocolate drinks that I never had the opportunity to try, but they all looked pretty amazing...

They also have a coffee bar in the shopping area on 6...plus gelato as well....23 espresso machines on board, so you are always close to a good cup of coffee.....

 

We really liked the Luna Bar....for an extra $2.75, you can get your martini in a nice souvenir MSC martini glass.....We brought several of those home for our friends.....:D

The Golden Jazz bar was always crowded.....most lounges had live music throughout the evening.....Sports bar was never that crowded.....They showed the World Series and if there was an NFL game, it was featured.....Fortunately for me, they were playing the Michigan-Michigan State game as we were leaving....GO GREEN!, but usually it was soccer....Premier League, La Liga, Bundesleaga, Serie A, etc....

[MiamiSpartan]

Lounge pics.....

2nd pic is the souvenir glasses offered......3rd pic is the 2nd coffee bar by all of the shops....4th pic is a martini flight.....last pic is in the Golden Jazz bar.....and no we didn't buy a drink package....we average only one to two cocktails each night, so it wouldn't pay for us to do it....

Edited November 3, 2014 by MiamiSpartan

[Mrs. Squirrel]

I see by your cruise signature that you've already booked Divina for next year, so you must have had a good time!

[MiamiSpartan]

Yes! We booked a two nighter on Jan 11th...!

GYM--

For those of you that like to get your workouts in while on vacation, the gym is clean and well organized....Not to the level of the larger RCI ships, or the NCL Epic, but nice none the less...They have approx 30 cardio machines and a full circuit of weight machines from FitnessTech.....Would like to see the addition of some HammerStrength items.....

 

SPA--

OK...Where to begin...?

Overall, I was very impressed with the Aurea Spa....

I've always liked the Elemis Spas on most of the other ships we have been on, but this one seems to take it up a notch in terms of service and general ambiance....It is an Asian themed spa...which I mention, because things are done a bit differently there....

I will try to put this as delicately as possible...: :p

When I got into the room, my masseuse handed me a very small envelope and told me to put this on when she left the room.....I opened it, and it was about a 2" by 4" piece of black fabric with elastic attached.....So I NATURALLY assume it was some kind of eye patch thingie.......After a couple of attempts to figure out how I was supposed to wear it, I discovered my first guess had been REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY incorrect...... :eek:

Just know that you can't be really modest.....

 

OK...back to the subject.....They offer 30% spa discounts when the ship is in port and offered 50% discounts when the ship was in the private island...They also have chair massages by one of the pools....10 minutes for $10....I ended up with two Balanese Massages and a Facial....All were amazing....! They have by far the largest selection of treatments I have ever seen.....

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your report.

[MiamiSpartan]

Three pools on board:

 

A larger pool in the center of the ship....more activity....A quiet more adult oriented serenity pool with a retractable roof....and a smaller pool at the back of the ship that almost can seem like an infinity edge pool at times.....

One water slide for kids.....

I keep reading about how crowded the pool decks are....yes they're crowded, but I frankly can't recall being on a ship where the pool deck aren't crowded! They are no more crowded than any other ship.....not sure what the problem is....There is a deck at the top of the ship that is available for a fee....We didn't pay, but it seems pretty nice....We always have to watch out for too much sun, since my partner has had a few bouts of skin cancer....We were able to find those spots in the serenity pool, so we were pretty happy....

[alexkrn46]

thanks for your review and pictures!

[pseudochicken]

I was on this same cruise with my SO and we very much enjoyed it. We loved the classical music in the main lobby as well.

 

As you mentioned, the pool decks weren't any more crowded than any other cruise ship pool deck I've been on. Even in the middle of the day at sea we could find some available loungers.

 

I hope to get a short, single-post review out sometime this week too.

Edited November 6, 2014 by pseudochicken

[KuffMUp]

Their bigger ships are out of Ft Lauderdale)...

 

I would only question why they chose to play "There's Got To Be a Morning After" within the first 2 hours of boarding....!

:eek: Really?? LOL! If they had played "Nearer My God To Thee", I would have been out of there!!!

 

[MiamiSpartan]

A few more pics.....

[suechaz]

Thanks so much for this awesome review!

Would you happen to know what the policy is for bringing water, soda, or bottles of wine on board?

[cruisingcanadian]

Thanks so much for this awesome review!

Would you happen to know what the policy is for bringing water, soda, or bottles of wine on board?

 

The policy is "none of it".

[TipsyT]

Thanks so much for this awesome review!

Would you happen to know what the policy is for bringing water, soda, or bottles of wine on board?

 

Last week on the Divina...

 

We just slapped a luggage tag on the side of a case of bottled water and handed it to the porter. It was delivered to the room with the rest of our luggage. No problemo!

 

Also, hubby brought back two bottles of rum from St Marten and they didn't even blink. Just let him on with them. Never said a word.

 

Trish

[oreosmile]

A few more pics.....

 

You look so happy - thanks for the review!

[Thompsolonian]

This is a great review!

 

My wife and I are boarding in February, I took the recommendation of a couple of friends of mine (they are in their 60's, my wife and I are in our late 20's) and th eship look sgeorgeous.

 

Did you see any Military uniforms during the formal nights? I am planning on bringing my AF blues set up in the Semi-Formal dress code; white shirt under the jacket, no hat or name tag.

 

I am currently in the desert somewhere (can't be too specific) this cruise will be a gift to the wife and myself for yet another deployment done!

 

Seeing your photos and review is putting me more at ease. Most the other review were a little scary, but when you look into them, most start with, "We are a Platinum/Diamond/Elite/UberVIP on X line." SO I learned to take them with a whole shaker of salt.

 

Do you have any pointers about the ship?

Edited November 12, 2014 by Thompsolonian

[CTBob]

This is a great review!

 

My wife and I are boarding in February, I took the recommendation of a couple of friends of mine (they are in their 60's, my wife and I are in our late 20's) and th eship look sgeorgeous.

 

Did you see any Military uniforms during the formal nights? I am planning on bringing my AF blues set up in the Semi-Formal dress code; white shirt under the jacket, no hat or name tag.

 

I am currently in the desert somewhere (can't be too specific) this cruise will be a gift to the wife and myself for yet another deployment done!

 

Seeing your photos and review is putting me more at ease. Most the other review were a little scary, but when you look into them, most start with, "We are a Platinum/Diamond/Elite/UberVIP on X line." SO I learned to take them with a whole shaker of salt.

 

Do you have any pointers about the ship?

Thank you for your service. I'm cruising for a couple of weeks soon and will be glad to answer any questions when I return. I always like seeing servicemen in their uniforms on board and they look very sharp to me. Check out my website for some of the Divina tips I have found. Bob Edited November 12, 2014 by CTBob

[MiamiSpartan]

Thank-you for your service! Stay safe!

Did not see any uniforms while on board, but that is a great formal look....better than any penguin suits imo......

The biggest tip I have is that the Spa runs big discounts while the ship is in port....Well worth staying on the ship to take advantage of....The gym is always empty in the afternoon, whether the ship is in port or on sea days....

[CTBob]

....The gym is always empty in the afternoon, whether the ship is in port or on sea days....

Thanks for this tip. I usually head to the gym in the morning but have no problem delaying my exercise as long as possible. By looking at the deck plans it looks like you go through the spa to get to the gym, is this correct? Also, are there any lockers at the gym or did you just wear your gym clothes there and back? Bob Edited November 15, 2014 by CTBob

[camofwilliamsburg]

The pool area that is for a fee is an area for Yacht Club only. You cannot enter on a per day per pay basis. It is an upscale area where you have private area for dining, lounging and many other nice perks.

 

We also loved our MSC Divina cruise. Been on her 4 times this year! The shows never get old, can see them again and again....surely the best ever seen on any cruise!!