Is MSC right for me? March 19,2016 cruise

[Homosassa]

On our cruise, I would say passenger demographics were as follows:

 

30-50% European or South Americans

 

5% Japanese

 

30-50 % North Americans (USA and Canada)

 

Yes, I know that doesn't add up to 100 but my estimates are soft data.

 

Because we were on a cruise the week before Easter, we had 800 children on board (the next week there were over a 1000 according to a entertainment staff member). Ages of the passengers skewed younger than other cruises I have been on (expected with some many adults of child bearing age traveling with children) but there were plenty of us old folks on board.

 

There was an active children's program on board and the children's staff was very skilled at wrangling their charges.

 

Something that was different was in the theater. Usually, there is a policy that no children under the age of 6-10 (depends on the line) are allowed in the first few tows of the theater. On MSC, a section right of front on the side were reserved for the children attending with the program staff.

[Homosassa]

There are frequent complaints on this forum that the Europeans are "rude."

 

Going back to my comments about tipping, I think this may be due to a lack of knowledge about other's customs. I did not find anyone group to be rude with two notable exceptions.

 

The ship is a confined area with some areas that become crowded at times. For someone who is not used to the adaptations necessary to move about this type of space, I am sure that they find the people "rude" who are familiar with behavior patterns in such a situation.

 

If one is going to amble through the buffet with frequent stops to scan for a table or stop the buffet line to peruse the serving platter for the perfect piece of whatever they might consider eating, they will have problems with the people who jostle them as they attempt to get around the log jam caused by such behavior.

 

Second, there was one European nationality on board who felt that stampeding the elevators when the doors opened or shoving people back in a full elevator so they could wedge themselves in was acceptable behavior. That was OK, I still have "subway" elbows to deal with such a situation.

[Homosassa]

Having the many different nationalities did affect how things were run on the ship.

 

Some announcements were repeated in English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish. What was truly amazing is that the same person seamlessly switched through all the languages to make the announcement.

 

I was impressed that the Entertainment Staff (the people who ran all the games and other entertainment on the ship) obviously spoke two or more languages.

 

Certain types of entertainment available on other cruise lines were not available

because of the variety of languages on board. For example, comedy can be very cultural specific and would be lost in the translation to another language or culture. MSC doesn't have comedians on board.

[xxHadleyxx]

This is a great review with what seems to be really balanced perspectives--thanks so much for taking the time to post it.

[scopewest]

Your review is great. As for food, I just had to laugh.

 

A few years ago, I was sent to Louisiana for a week. The first day I found the food so spicy I could barely eat it. By the end of the week I was used to it. I came home and made a recipe that I loved. I took one bite and thought this is so bland!

 

Someday I hope I can sail this ship and try it for myself.

[CTBob]

Having the many different nationalities did affect how things were run on the ship.

I was impressed that the Entertainment Staff (the people who ran all the games and other entertainment on the ship) obviously spoke two or more languages.

My wife and I loved the young people from all over the world that made up the entertainment staff. There were more games available on the Divina than any other ship we have been on. Even on port days you could find plenty of things to do. I hope that doesn't change. We went hoping to have a different cruise experience and were not disappointed. Bob

[Homosassa]

CTBob,

I agree with you about the games and activities. I plan to talk about tem in a post.

[Suzcruz57]

We have a sailing booked, and was on the fence, but because of your review, I think we'll go. Thanks[emoji924]

[Homosassa]

Entertainment.

 

Wow!

 

Many other posters have commented on the quality of the shows, so I will be brief on the show subject.

 

MSC obviously put money into hiring high caliber singers, dancers, acrobats and spends money on gorgeous costumes.

 

We went to the shows every night, and while they were all enjoyable, there is a certain sameness to them. First, the stage design does not change. Each show will use the steps (risers) that run the width of the stage which means staging will be pretty much the same from show to show.

 

Second, while the acrobats' feats will cause your jaw to drop the first time you see them, by the second night you realize you have seen the acts before, by the third and fourth nights, it's here we go again, and it doesn't become any newer from that point on.

 

The theater itself is beautiful and large enough to accommodate anyone who wishes to attend. What is a refreshing charge from other cruise lines is that there is no need to show up an hour ahead of time to get good seats. A half hour before the show has the majority of the seats still available with most people arriving about 15 minutes before and up to the start of the show (and some blocking views as they enter after the shows start :cool:).

 

There are no drinks served in the theater and as I didn't see anyone entering with a drink in hand, I am not sure bringing a drink into the theater is allowed.

[Homosassa]

Other entertainment around the ship:

 

There is a wide selection and choice of live music around the ship at night. The type of music, the performers, and the location are listed each day in the Daily Planner.

 

If you are not a member of the "Courting Melanoma Club," there are plenty of activities around the ship during the day. Port days are also full of activities.

 

CTBob touched in his above post on the games on board, a subject dear to my heart.

 

I came on board not expecting any Trivia or other games because of the multitude of languages among the passengers.

 

I was wrong and this is due to the large number of people on the Entertainment Staff. As I mentioned before, all seem to speak two or more languages.

 

The first night on board, my daughter and I went to a game called Majority Rulz (sic) Quiz. To play, the audience forms into teams, the emcee asks a question and each team writes down their answer. The answer is collected from each team and the answers are collected into groups for each identical answer. The same answer that is given by the most teams gives the teams that gave that answer a point.

 

What made the game interesting is that while the game was played in English, there were teams that spoke Spanish, German, French, Italian and Japanese in the room. Here is where the Entertainment Team showed their linguistic skills.

 

The audience was rearranged so that each language group other then English was seated in a certain area of the lounge. Each language group had a Entertainment Staff member to interpret for them.

 

It was interesting how sometime culture affected the answers. A case in point was the question on who the most beautiful woman in the world was. The Spanish speakers all gave a name that no body else knew recognized. Everybody else pretty much gave the same name (I am not revealing the winning name here in case some of you play the game in the future).

[Homosassa]

I admit my daughter and I love Trivia and other games that are played on board ship (Taboo and Pictionary are two other favorites). We had daily opportunities to play all three at least once a day.

 

Yes, we are good at the games and won a majority of the times we played. I mention this because of the type of prizes given on board ship and also for a story of MSC's charity work.

 

MSC gives good prizes. We won drawstring, beach bags, back packs, tee shirts, hats, lanyards and plates of chocolate covered strawberries which were sent to our cabin.

 

Our team consisted of my daughter and I, my husband and the boyfriend for some of the games, and anyone else who wished to play with us (limit of 6 per team).

 

Whoops - have to stop for a short time.

[maureencruiser]

Thanks for the review, good to know about the prizes. I plan on doing more of the games on my next cruise. I suppose scanning your CC onboard is better, since the less hands touching your card, the better. ;)

[Homosassa]

About the MSC 's philosophy and charity support. MSC believes that family is important and to that end, children have high priority. MSC's charity of choice is UNICEF.

 

Now how does that tie into Trivia and other game prizes?

 

Simple. The first time we won backpacks, we had four for our family group. When I commented we didn't need all the backpacks, my daughter told my husband and I to keep one as we didn't have a back pack and she would take the rest.

 

She is a second grade teacher at an elementary school that has a high student population at poverty and low income levels. The school has a program where businesses and others donate backpacks and school supplies. Any child that meets the need criteria will find a back pack with school supplies in their locker on the first day of school in the fall.

 

She would take the extra backpacks and donate to them to the school. The Entertainment Staff member who was running the games that day overheard her and commented that MSC would support a program of that nature. After that, if our team won a game. my family members received a back pack as a prize from that staff member

 

On another day, a different staff member was running the games had back packs for prizes. We won again and we were discussing how many back packs we had at that point. He commented on the number and my daughter then told him where the back packs were going to end up. He also commented that this was a program MSC would support.

 

He then left the lounge and we were waiting for him to return for the next game. He returned with a stack of back packs and handed them to my daughter for her school. Afraid that he would get in trouble for giving us the extra back packs, my daughter tried to refuse them. He told us the Entertainment Staff had a budget for prizes and discretion on what to give out and where the prizes went. Again, MSC supported programs for children.

 

My daughter asked if he and the other staff person would get in trouble if she noted their actions to MSC management. Again he told her, absolutely no problem.

 

He also gave us the tip that one MSC backpack could easily hold five folded backpacks. This was put to good use on debarkation day when we all left with a backpack on our back.

 

Currently, those back packs and the rest that were in suitcases to get them off the ship are sitting in my spare bedroom. Because my daughter and the boyfriend were flying home, we will drive them to her house when we visit in the summer.

 

If her school agrees, she hopes to take a photo of the kids wearing their MSC backpacks (and the children size tee shirts that I haven't mentioned) and send the photo in to MSC with a thank you note. She realizes that the kids will probably need to be photographed from the rear to protect their identity.

[Suzcruz57]

Wonderful idea!

[xxHadleyxx]

The backpack story is the best thing yet in the review--I love companies who care, and who empower their employees.

[Homosassa]

Dress code

 

MSC has not abandon the idea of a dress code and, best of all, it is enforced and followed by (almost all) passengers.

 

There is one rule that is across the board for all the indoor restaurants and the buffet: Tank tops, bikini, bathrobes, and bare feet are not permitted at any time. No shorts in restaurants for dinner.

 

I noted that dinner in the Main Dining Room is a much smarter dress affair than on other mass market lines that have given up hope on making cruise dining a special time of the day.

 

I don't know if it is due to the number of Europeans on board or just a majority of more sophisticated cruisers.

 

Formal night had men in Tuxs or at least suits [i loved the one gentleman I saw in his kilt with a sgian dubh in his stocking (I asked, he has a special dull edged one for traveling)]. Women wore long gowns, short formal dresses and evening pants with sparkly tops. Some of the Japanese women wore beautiful silk kimonos. The children were done up in party dresses for girls and suits or at least dress shirts and ties for boys.

 

Other nights, most wore what could be described as country club smart casual or were dressier.

 

Except for embarkation night when not everyone had their luggage, no shorts were allowed in the dining room at dinner.

 

We did ride up on the elevator one morning on our way to the buffet for breakfast with a gentleman who was extremely angry that he was not allowed to eat breakfast before he hit the gym and was muttering that he never had this problem on Carnival. :rolleyes:

 

When he left the elevator with a few more snarky comments, I asked his wife why he couldn't eat breakfast. She told me he had been refused entrance to both the buffet and the dining room due to his dress. He was wearing a gym type tank top, work out shorts and had a towel for sweat elegantly draped around his neck. Oh! Guess he didn't read the dress code restrictions in the daily planner.

[Homosassa]

My husband has been reading this review and told me I haven't said anything about the ship design and decor.

 

He is right. I haven't because there are many posts about the beauty and the outstanding attention to the ship being clean.

 

The one thing I haven't seen is a comment on how the ship may have been modified for the North American market.

 

The only indication I have noticed that the ship is intended for the North American market is the name and decor of the buffet.

 

The buffet is called Calumet which is a Native American peace pipe. The decor consists of a very stylized Native American symbol. I am not sure if it is suppose to be a symbol for a vector. Hopefully, the use of the red and black is just a design choice and does not intend the symbolism of these colors in Native American culture.

 

The overall theme of the ship as befitting a ship named for Sophia Loren is memorabilia of the film and theater industry. Listen closely to the music playing in the hallways of the cabin areas. The music is all from films and the theater.

[SuiteTraveler]

Just wanted to mention that you are right about the Neapolitan food onboard MSC - the founder Gianluigi Aponte was born in Sant'Agnello (just outside of Sorrento) and founded MSC in Naples in 1970, hence the Neapolitan cuisine of Campania is ever present on MSC.

[yogialf]

We went to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary and needless to say there were only 4 good things about this cruise. Embarkation took less than 30 minutes, weather was awesome, debarkation took less than 30 minutes, and it was good to get away. With the exception of our room steward, who was amazing and friendly everything else was terrible. We ate in the dining room 3 times (breakfast, lunch, dinner - 3 different days) and everything was cold! So we went to the buffet, again cold. Didn't matter if we were one of the 1st in line, middle or end, food was still cold. We basically ate salads, fruit, cereal the entire crew until be got on land in ports. Value was way more than what we have paid on cruise lines. Decor was OK. Nothing to rave about. I think this is the 1st ship we have ever been on where there was not 1 deck you could walk around the entire ship (unless we didn't find it). This was our 1st cruise on an MSC line and we will not be back! Just my opinion. There are so many positive (and negative) comments, I just had to voice ours.

[skyking]

Great review, we loved the Divina and cant wait to go back, the shows are top notch, and we never ate any bad food the whole week or cold for that matter.

[Homosassa]

Just wanted to mention that you are right about the Neapolitan food onboard MSC - the founder Gianluigi Aponte was born in Sant'Agnello (just outside of Sorrento) and founded MSC in Naples in 1970, hence the Neapolitan cuisine of Campania is ever present on MSC.

 

My father's side of the family came from Naples and that is the style of Italian cooking I grew up with.

 

Everything I had on the Divina that was Italian just seemed "just like home."

 

People with my last name are still clustered in Italy in the Naples area. One of the servers who was bring me a drink noticed my last name on my card and asked if I was napoletana.

[Skier52]

Tipping

 

Tipping has been the topic of many posts on the MSC forum. Here is my take on the situation:

 

Therefore, MSC has a mandatory Hotel Service Charge used to reward the staff for their service. It can not be deleted from the on board account.

 

The Daily Planner on embarkation day explains the daily service charge and has the following sentence: We do not recommend tipping individual staff members."

 

 

Not quite correct. Here are the Ts & Cs from the current online UK brochure (2016- 2017).

Unless it's different in the US

..

 

Pete

 

 

[Mikesa1721]

Not quite correct. Here are the Ts & Cs from the current online UK brochure (2016- 2017).

Unless it's different in the US

..

 

Pete

 

 

 

Same here in the states Pete:

 

[Homosassa]

And this was changed from what I read when booking my cruise last summer. The sentence about removing the charge was added after I read the information.

 

In any case, during one of our Trivia games at the start of the cruise I played with a woman on her first MSC cruise, but she had a black card due to a status match.

 

We were discussing the service charge and she told me she planned to remove the service charge because she liked to hand the tips directly to the people.

 

Fast forward to the last full day of the cruise. Once again we were at a Trivia game in the afternoon and the same woman was there. I asked her how she liked her cruise.

 

She informed me she would never take MSC again. When I asked her why, she complained about the lack of towel animals and pillow chocolates (not the first person I heard on the cruise worked up about the lack of towel animals and pillow chocolates) and the fact that she was not allowed to remove the service charge just because she wanted to. The service desk wanted specifics on the bad service that was causing her to remove the tips. When she said her service was good and she just wanted to personally give the money out, she was told the service charge would remain on her account.

 

I dropped the subject because I had nothing positive to add to her complaint.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Homosassa

[Homosassa]

Drink Packages

 

My daughter and the boyfriend pre-ordered the unlimited drink package (not the Premium) and my husband and I ended up with a 12 drink package (which turned out to be a package each on board) because of a computer glitch on MSC's end.

 

I do not know how much the package would have cost for a seven night Caribbean cruise.

 

Because my husband and I are occasional social drinkers (and we usually share a drink), we had to work at using the coupons. I ended up ordering a glass of wine at dinner (5 nights) and had one mojito, my husband had two rum and cokes and a pina colada. Otherwise, we used the coupons for cappuccino and gelato. I added up all the receipts and they totaled $114.50 for the week.

 

I am pretty sure we would have lost money on the package if we had paid for it.

 

I am sure we would never buy a drink package. I would have been very happy without the cappuccino and gelato and neither of us would have missed the wine or cocktails.

 

My daughter and the boyfriend also added up their receipts and told me they broke even. They both drank several cocktails a day, she had wine and bottled water at dinner, had coffee drinks at the coffee bar, gelato, and shared a few bottles of water and sodas with her parents.

 

She says if the boyfriend had boarded in Miami and not Jamaica, she would have come out ahead of the package price.

 

Just a side note to the packages and drinking. While it seemed that many people on board had packages, none of us saw any Carnival style drunks.

 

On the whole, the atmosphere was one of people having a good time without needing to be carried to their cabins in a drunken stupor.