First MSC Cruise (Divina to Bahamas) review

[1kaper]

I thought I'd put together my thoughts on my recent MSC cruise.  I found there isn't as much info on here as other cruise lines so just in case someone else is looking in the future. 

This was my first cruise with MSC.  And my 5th cruise overall.  We have sailed with Carnival in the past.  My husband gets pretty great casino deals, plus we travel with our 7yo.  Our last cruise was the end of March of this year. 

 

About 2 weeks out my friend suggested we do a short cruise.  She had found the deal for a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas on MSC Divina.  At the time I actually had some $30 balcony deals with Drinks on Us in the casino for Carnival (I played in the casino on our last cruise).  

Our options were an aft balcony on Carnival or an inside on MSC with internet and drinks.  Both went to Nassau and a private island.  MSC was overnight on the island. Once we added the drink package on Carnival, it was essentially the same price.  The downside - Carnival stopped at Half Moon Cay (their private island which I loved) but the drink package isn't included there.  This really irritated me on our last trip there.  You use your sail and sign card, you buy their liquor with no other options but it isn't included in the drink package.  Since it was a short cruise, my friend didn't want to buy the drink package if we weren't going to be able to use it on the island.  I hate the idea of buying my drinks individually, I start worrying about how much I'm spending and don't enjoy it. I'd rather have it paid for upfront. 
Because of this, we chose MSC. 

 

Several days before sailing, we got the option to bid on an upgrade.  We opted to bid the lowest amount we could on a balcony and were successful.  We were assigned an aft balcony (found out about 4 days prior to cruise)

 

I also applied to have a status match and just before the cruise was given Silver status on MSC.  Even though I entered my MSC number on our reservation it was not added.  

I found the website was and check in was difficult to figure out.  I don't think I ended up being fully checked in before we went.  By the time I figured out where to link my credit card, it was too close to cruise time and it wouldn't let me.  Linking my credit card on board was pretty easy though.  They have machines all over. 

We flew into MCO, rented a car and stayed in a hotel in Cocoa Beach area.  We returned the rental near the port and took their shuttle to port.  It was very easy, the shuttle driver was awesome. 

Embarkation

 

Embarkation was a breeze.  We sailed right through.  There were several stops we had to make to show various things, vaccination documents, negative test, passport, etc.  We never waited for a moment.  A very nice contrast to boarding in Galveston the month before when we waited in a huge line.  It took forever to board. But to be fair, our Carnival cruise was closer to capacity.  I heard around 1100 on our Divina sailing.  

 

I had asked a question here before about insurance.  Being Canadian they said we were required to have COVID 19 insurance.  There were a lot of questions about what was required and how strict.  They never asked to see proof of coverage or even asked if we had it. 

 

The first impression of the ship was nice.  The Swarovski crystal stair case was gorgeous.  I disliked that people going around trying to sell drink packages or dining upgrades.  Nothing against the staff doing it, I realize it is their job. 

We grabbed a mimosa and relaxed for a few minutes, got some assistance with hooking up the wifi (the primary has to create their account first) and then went to check out the cabin. 

 

TBC...

[1kaper]

Room

We were deck 11 aft.  We had a lot of difficulty trying to figure out how to get to our room.  You could not walk all the way through deck 11 and it wasn't clear from the plans near the elevators which floors you could.  We ended up going up to deck 12, walking through the buffet and then down. 
Eventually some of the doors opened and sometimes you were able to walk the length of deck 11.  Sometimes you couldn't. 

The room was about the same as any other ship I've been on.  It was clean.  I did find the bed and bedding wasn't as comfortable as my last ship.  It was definitely a firmer mattress.  

 

I did enjoy the aft balcony.  I had read some reviews ahead of time that it could get hot - it does.  There is not much breeze.  The other thing I found was when we arrived on Ocean Cay around 6 or 7, there was a lot of rumbling.  It lasted for a long time and made it difficult to sleep. It was cool to watch them throw the line to the tugboat (and the tugboat have to try to pull it out of the water) so the tug could pull us backwards into the dock. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by 1kaper

[1kaper]

[KKB]

Just got an offer for a free Balcony on Divinia via URComped. 

Have never sailed MSC & know little about it...so following!!

[AnA4ever]

We are heading out on the Divina on the 26th of May this will be our 2nd trip on MSC in just over 90 days. We took the MSC Meraviglia back in February.

For this trip we are also on Deck 11 on the port side just a few balconies forward of the stern. 

We enjoy the cruise line. It is budget so please keep that in mind. But saying that we enjoyed almost all the food (the Pizzas on the buffet are great!) We plan on doing more cruises and we will try some of the other cruise lines in the future.  Hopefully we can meet up with some other like minded people along the way.

[1kaper]

Embarkation day 

 

After getting settled in we grabbed some food at the buffet.  I have to say, I was impressed.  I liked almost everything I tried but the pizza...the pizza was beyond good.  Probably my favourite thing on the ship.  

 

My friend tried one of every dessert (she was on vacation) and enjoyed them all.  I'm not a dessert person but did try a pastry and it was excellent.  
I hate to compare but having recently been on Carnival - their buffet was awful and desserts were not great.  I had read a review where someone had complained about their cake being dry.  I had one on my cruise that was so bad I laughed.  It was so dry and tasteless.  Even the "good" stuff wasn't nearly as good as MSC.  

 

 

One thing I noticed was on previous cruises we were always met by our cabin steward almost immediately.  On this cruise we were not.  I realized now that it was on his off time that we arrived.  I also didn't see him as often as I did with our last, but that didn't matter to me. My friend was a bit disappointed.  She had sailed Norweigan and talked often about the relationship they had with their room steward.  My only issue was they had the bed together (didn't have the option to choose 2 singles as I did on Carnival) and we couldn't find anyone to separate them.  My friend ended up tracking someone down and it was done that evening. 

 

We signed up for early supper.  I don't remember what we had, I asked my friend to take pictures because I didn't have my phone.  We wandered around for a bit then headed to the show - ABBA.  She loves ABBA and was thrilled, it was not my thing.  I snuck out and headed to the casino. 

 

The casino is smoke free which was a huge plus for me.  Carnival had a smoke free casino along with a regular smoking casino but the smoke free one was much smaller and just didn't have everything I wanted.  

 

I had a lot of luck and quickly doubled my money (which wasn't much) and moved on to some slots. That was about all the luck I had on this cruise. 
You can charge your room from the machine but when you get a payout, you get a slip.  I didn't love that feature.  I ended the night with an .18 cent voucher.  At the end, I had a bunch of slips I just played at the end of the cruise.  

Edited May 18, 2022 by 1kaper

[1kaper]

Day 2 - Nassau

 

We didn't arrive in Nassau until about 12 pm.  We got up rather early (for me).  My friend went to the gym, I decided to skip working out that day and ordered coffee to the room.  She was disappointed in the gym.  I didn't look but the equipment is older and didn't have the selection she had on another ship.  And no rower.  

 

I did not love the coffee and didn't order it again for the rest of the cruise.  One day I did go looking for another option. I ordered an americano at the bar in the buffet but got a small cup of coffee that wasn't much better.  I took it to the drink area, had them put it in a bigger cup and add hot water.  It was fine but I didn't love it.  

I hadn't planned on eating breakfast (I was saving room for pizza) but walking through the buffet there were so many things that caught my eye I did pick some stuff to try.  I didn't like the sausage and eggs on a buffet are never good but the rest was pretty decent (you can get eggs cooked to order too, I didn't).  My friend loved her "carb" breakfasts of pastries and french toast.  

 

Also, I thought we were going on a small ship.  I had no idea how big it was.  Here we are next to Carnival Mardi Gras in Nassau (MG carries more passengers though and they were full.  I chatted with a guy who said it was a long wait for food anywhere, not the case for us on MSC)

 

By this time we were able to disembark.  We really didn't have plans.  Both of us have been to Nassau and it's not a favourite stop.  When I was there in March with my family, we booked a day pass at Margaritaville.  The three of us enjoyed it but it wasn't something my friend and I were interested in.  I mostly got off to buy my mother a souvenir fridge magnet she wanted.  Since we were off the ship I thought I'd walk to John Watlings Distillery as rumour has it (Cruisecritic rumour that is) they have an amazing pina colada.  We opted to walk.  

 

It was HOT.  And I sweat easily due to medication.  And there is a good steep uphill section to get there.  I was a mess when we got there.  We had no issues with walking other than the heat.  
The pina colada was, in fact, very good.  

 

 

 

We did the free tour (10minutes), had another drink and headed back to the dock. 
Along the way I saw a brewery and decided to pop in to try a beer.  It was pricey but I did enjoy it. 

 

 

On our walk back (it was much easier on the way back)

 

After the beer and buying a magnet, we got back on board and headed to the Garden Pool.  I quickly learned the first day you are not allowed in the pool with a drink, even in a covered cup.  They did allow us in the Garden Pool that day for some reason but a couple days later I was told no.  I do enjoy just sitting in the water with a drink but we didn't have a whole sea day so it wasn't so much of an issue. 

 

Supper that evening was Caribbean themed.  I had a Caribbean stew with fried plantains and enjoyed it.  Hot days and early supper wore me out so I needed an espresso martini (excellent).  My friend got the apple.  She headed to the show, I headed to the casino. 

 

[GonzoWCS]

Great read thanks. 
 

Cheers

[Nunagoras]

Wonderful well balanced and even better documented review. Congrats!...

 

I believe the Divina to be very underrated on these boards, especially considering the itineraries it is currently deployed to. Surely there are some newer ships doing occasional short cruises. But a less than middle aged cruise ship of this calibre almost fully deployed to short cruises is rare to see, so it surprises me it's not becoming more popular with the times being. I've cruised one of the Divina's sisters, so I know in first person what those ships can provide. Top notch 2022 mainstream cruising standards for a week or even longer cruise!... I understand some of the cultural barriers expressed here and there between the American market and an Italian business, and some even popped out nicely on your review. But, again: If one doesn't want to over complain on little nothings, one should do their homework before booking and act accordingly, like you apparently so well did. Again; congrats!...

 

Hope you have a very nice sailing, surely it seems it won't be the last one!...

 

While I have never gone with Carnival, the Mardi Grass seems to represent such a changing point on their cruising strategy... Well: Let us to leave that as it is to not go out of topic!...

 

Have a nice day!...

[perakcruiser]

14 hours ago, 1kaper said:

One thing I noticed was on previous cruises we were always met by our cabin steward almost immediately.  On this cruise we were not.  I realized now that it was on his off time that we arrived.  I also didn't see him as often as I did with our last, but that didn't matter to me.

That is normal because Europeans and Asians prefer the room steward to be invisible and doing his job discreet when they are out of the ship or eating. And also some staff prefers it in this way and for this reason prefer to work on MSC ships. Others like the "American way". 

 

Very nice review, I am enjoying to read.

[skings]

Great info. Thinking of booking transatlantic for next May and there isnt enough info on MSC Davina.

[1kaper]

5 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

That is normal because Europeans and Asians prefer the room steward to be invisible and doing his job discreet when they are out of the ship or eating. And also some staff prefers it in this way and for this reason prefer to work on MSC ships. Others like the "American way". 

 

Very nice review, I am enjoying to read.

That makes sense.  I liked it too.  

[Elkins45]

Thanks for the review. Divina is the only cruise ship I’ve been on twice. I really enjoy it.

[1kaper]

Day 3 Ocean Cay

 

As I mentioned earlier we were awoken around 7? 7:30?  by the rumbling of the ship idling I suppose.  It lasted a long time.  It didn't bother me much as we were getting up not long after that anyway.  I also noticed I didn't feel or hear it on other parts of the ship so I assume it had to do with being in an aft balcony. 

 

Also as mentioned I did go out and watch the process of the tug boat getting ahold of us and pulling us backwards into the berth.  

 

My friend headed back to the gym.  I opted to run on deck.  We did call about doing the spin class but at almost $20 a person, it was too pricey. (my friend noted only one person taking part the day before). 

 

It took me a bit to find the "jogging track" on deck 14.  And when I did, I started to wonder if I got it wrong so I asked an employee. Nope.  I was in the right spot. 

The jogging track is not marked.  Not sure of the distance. And it goes through the Garden Pool and Bar, which is also the smoking area.  It was also a fairly busy deck, particularly with people watching as we pulling into Ocean Cay.  You run through deck chairs and on one side it is much narrower as that is where the waterslide ends.  Plus you have to dodge through the glass wind breakers (I assume that is what they are).  You can see that in this picture (along with people watching us arrive at Ocean Cay)

 

 

The upside to running past the Garden Bar is it is convenient to stop and get a mimosa when you are done.  

That was another big upside to MSC.  On Carnival you get 15 drinks per day.   They give you mimosa in a tiny champagne glass.  It's barely quarter of a regular drink.  MSC did give in champagne glasses some places but would put it in a wine glass if you asked.  The Garden Bar just did wine glasses. They also had the friendliest bartenders (or maybe I was just a regular there). 

 

View from the ship

 

Grabbed some breakfast, showered and then headed to check out Ocean Cay.  I had rented umbrellas for us for both days.  My friend wanted to find a hat so we browsed the shops on our way to pick up the umbrella.  We didn't realize at the time there was a trolley to take you around but it wasn't a long walk.  We grabbed the umbrella and then tried to figure out where to set up.  We knew not all the beaches were open because of the small number of people but weren't sure which ones were. I had also brought my snorkelling stuff hoping to see something.  We first opted for Sunset Beach which is not covered by a life guard but we were literally the only people there and the bar wasn't open.  So we moved on to Lighthouse Bay.  We ended up finding umbrellas already set up.  I asked and was told we could use them.  They had bean bag loungers and regular chairs.  There were a few different set ups.  I assume first come first serve.  I quite like the bean bag loungers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1kaper]

The bay was pretty sheltered so I didn't expect much in the way of snorkelling but while I was out swimming I noticed some tiger fish.  So I grabbed my snorkel set and camera and went for a swim. 

There wasn't a ton but I did get to see some different fish.  I am also spoiled after a snorkelling trip I took in Freeport last month that was spectacular.  

 

The rest of the time I spent just relaxing with a drink or swimming.  

Ocean Cay is beautiful.  The water was clear and warm.  The downside is the deep sand is a little rougher and it killed me walking to the bar to grab a drink.  While the vast majority of staff I encountered on this trip were amazing, the ones at the Lighthouse Bay bar were not.  There was one decidedly unfriendly one.  It was also confusing because I would order from a bartender and be directed to order from the server who was also standing at the bar.  Apparently the server rings it in but they did not appear to come around and take orders.  Note to self to sit closer to the bar next time. 

They do offer a free buffet on the island, along with "food trucks" parked in several locations. Most of the food trucks are free and offer hamburgers and fries.  The extra cost ones off more, like lobster rolls.  The one by us only had hamburgers, fries and something for dessert I can't recall.  We decided to go to the buffet.  There was a line but it wasn't too bad. 

They had bread, some salads, hamburgers (with and without cheese, some had lettuce tomato and onions), fries, ribs, jerk chicken, coconut rice fried plantains and probably a couple other things I forgot. 

The jerk chicken was good.  Not spicy but flavourful.  The rest was ok to terrible.  It was definitely the worst meal of the trip.  The hamburger was a hockey puck.  I heard from others the ones at the food truck near us was good.  I did see someone with a burger with pink it in so I assume they cook them fresh at the truck.  My mistake. (I do like my burgers well done but not to the point of being a puck). 

 

My friend, true to form, tried all the desserts and liked none. 

 

I headed back to the ship around 3 to hit casino happy hour.  $5 minimums at the tables. 

Supper that evening was Italian night.  I had heard it was the best night for food.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had the lasagna.  I generally do not like lasagna but I like one with good bolognese and béchamel.  Theirs was delicious.  The tiramisu and cappuccino for dessert were also excellent. 

 

 

 

 

We headed back out after supper for the 8pm light show.  It was a perfect night, not too warm but comfortable.  They had bonfires going on the beach and lots of places to sit.  

 

 

They had a DJ playing and people were dancing but we were far too tired to stay.  We headed back to the boat and early night in bed.  

[quattrohead]

Divina docked at Ocean Cay has to be one of the most beautiful shipping sights in the world.

[quattrohead]

17 hours ago, quattrohead said:

Divina docked at Ocean Cay has to be one of the most beautiful shipping sights in the world.

 

[GonzoWCS]

Nice photos thanks 

 

Cheers

[1kaper]

4th day  Ocean Cay

 

The best part of staying overnight is you can get off first thing the next day (8am). 
 

My friend opted to run the island. I decided to swim some laps. I asked some workers and I’m not sure they understood what I meant and suggested Lighthouse Bay. Later on I went to the lagoon and think they probably would have been better. 
 

my morning swimming pool 

 

I went to the bar after to get a mimosa but they had no champagne. So I went back to the Garden Bar. It was a bit chilly so I was going to head to a hot tub but ended up chatting with someone. 
 

As we talked we noticed the rain coming towards us. 

 

before we knew it, it was on top of us. And it poured.  The bar itself is covered and luckily the wind wasn’t blowing the water towards us. 
so I stayed for more mimosas. 
 

 

 

I grabbed some breakfast and went down to my balcony since it was covered. 


 

[1kaper]

It passed fairly quickly. My friend headed to the beach. I took a quick nap and then joined her. We opted for the North Beach. I brought my snorkelling gear again. I chatted with the life guards and was told there is a resident loggerhead turtle that lives in there and likes to hang around the rocks. They said with the water today it would probably be hard to see. 
i did swim around for quite awhile and didn’t see much other than a sea urchin and a big fish. I also found someone’s key card. 
 

I swam over to the other side of the lagoon to check out Bimini Beach but it is not life guarded and no one was around. There were red flags that looked like no swimming. I did notice jet skis out there. After going back one of the life guards told me I could snorkel there and those jet skis are there patrolling. But the water was a bit wild and I didn’t 100% believe him because of the red flags. 
 

With such low numbers on the ship there was plenty of space in the beach. Lots of loungers without being on top of each other. Definitely a bonus. 


 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back to the ship. We did some hot tub and, of course, happy hour at the casino. 
After a tour of the ship.  Some random ship photos. 
 

 

 

 

 

[1kaper]

I opted to skip supper in the dining room and ate at the buffet. My friend has the mushroom risotto and it was disappointing. 
 

We met up for a drink, she went to the show, I played the last of my credits. And then we had a couple more drinks. 
 

Someone in the Facebook group kept talking about the wings on the ship so we tried them out.  They were fine. Nothing special. And we ordered a pizza from the restaurant (extra cost for both). It was only now that I realized that they had different beer in the pizza restaurant. 
 

My friend went to bed and I stay up a little bit more to soak up my last night on the ship. Boy did I regret it the next day. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

With the weather we had that day it wasn’t surprising that we had a rough night heading back. I didn’t mind it at all. It was actually kind of fun. 

[1kaper]

Disembarkation 

 

Celebrating my last night on board late and not packing wasn’t a great decision. 😂

 

We got up, packed up and headed for breakfast. And a last mimosa. Then disembarked. There was a line to get off but it wasn’t bad.
 

We only had carry on so we didn’t have to contend with that. Once we got to the terminal we basically just walked through until we were out.
 

My friend had arranged a shuttle to take us to the airport. We weren’t actually flying out but our hotel was closer to the airport so it would be cheaper to take a shuttle and Lyft instead of a Lyft the whole way. The bonus was I got to shop at the Harry Potter store for my kids that day instead of trying to get it the next morning with an early flight.
 

We had no room to buy anything else so our plan was to sit by the pool at our hotel for the day and enjoy our last beautiful day.
 

The next day we headed out and arrived home with no major incidents. I did get randomly selected for a Covid test (returning to Canada)  It’s been one week today and I still don’t have the results. Glad I almost missed my flight for it.  
 

 

[1kaper]

I never did include a picture of the Swarovski staircase!  
 

 

[1kaper]

Conclusion 

 

One of the guys I chatted with at the Blackjack table sails frequently and has done a number of lines numerous times.  This was his 3rd MSC.  He said he has found the food hit and miss on different trips and said you can’t compare any of the lines during Covid.  What it comes down to for him is the price (in his case, the offer he has gotten). 

I agree with him. I very much enjoyed this boat but with some of the offers my husband gets from Carnival it’s hard to pay more when I feel there are comparable. 
 

Every ship and line has their positive and negatives. I would definitely sail MSC again for the right price. If we get to the day where the Carnival offers dry up and it’s the same price, I might lean towards MSC. It’s tough.  
 

IMO this food was way better than Carnival.  But I liked the drinks better on Carnival. Specifically I didn’t care for the beer selection on MSC (although knowing other options in pizza shop would have helped). I like the Alchemy Bar on carnival. I’m a bourbon drinker and I like old fashioneds. Not only could I get the higher end bourbon with my package, they had the good cherries, no maraschino for my drink. I did ask for the better alcohol in my drink but found out you have to pay for the whole drink, not just the extra cost. 

I liked the cocktail options on Carnival better. I felt like I never knew what to drink on MSC. I also really don’t like the different levels of drink packages. I was never sure if I was ordering something that would be an extra charge.  I did find out later that they will be sure to tell you. 
But MSC did win for mimosas and espresso martinis.  Carnival won for the Lemon Drop martini and the Blue Hawaiian (the MSC version was bad) 
 

The rooms were basically the same except the bed was much softer on Carnival which I preferred but not everyone would. 
 

Staff was the same. Great. 
 

Definitely less waiting on MSC but sailing on a fuller ship might change that. 
 

My other big concern would be if it was enough for my kid to do. There were a few kids and they all seemed to have fun (I did talk to one). And they have kids club. 
 

I didn’t do the shows but my friend has a positive review for them. Except the magic show but she hates magic shows. 
 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by 1kaper

[1kaper]

Oh I forgot!  
 

Masks. We wore ours during embarkation and debarkation but were told we didn’t have to. No where else on the ship required masks that I was aware of. 
Staff were required to wear masks but they were lax. Wearing below. Removing to talk etc. that doesn’t bother me I just mentioned because everyone has different comfort levels when it comes to masking.  Whereas on my last cruise you never saw a staff member not wearing one correctly. 
 

in Nassau last month we stopped in a store and were asked to put one on.  But this time we weren’t asked at all.