!!! DIVINA !!! Eastern Caribbean ^_^ The Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide

[gambee]

Day 6, Sea Day.

 

I have not talked much about my mom's hand after the accident. To be honest, I think I avoided the topic, because it really did make me feel bad. The day her hand was feeling better. Or so she tells me. She tends to lie to me with things like this, so I won’t get worried. I did see some swelling in the hand, but I guess that's normal for someone falling with the entire body weight on the hand.

 

On the other hand, I was already really happy that day, I had rescued all my data and I could look forward to share it.

 

By the way I am not sure you noticed, but so far not one towel animal in the room. I am not quite sure if this is an MSC thing or a European thing. While towel animals don’t break a cruise, I will say that I did miss them. I guess you never know how much you miss something until it's gone. I am sure my uncle would have enjoyed them very much if we had them on that voyage. My mom specifically told me she missed them dearly.

 

I also forgot to mention the fact that the day before my mom’s safe broke and locked everything inside. We had to go to guest services so they could send someone to fix. The fix was fast, and after that there were no issues with it. I guess we could have used the phone to ask for help. I am not sure why we went down. I reckon it might have been to also ask for the account statement. Oh about that.

 

The account statements are only available on the TV system 24 hours before disembarking. What is that about? They obviously have the capabilities and the system to make it work on the tv, so why is it that it is only accessible right before getting off the ship. I never understood that.

 

Anyway, let get this day started.

 

You will notice on this map that the paths that the cruise has sailed in the past stay in the map. I enjoy it much better when the ship resets the path each time you board.

 

 

It looked like another fantastic day aboard MSC Divina.

 

 

 

You always see people working around the ship. Maintenance seems to be a #1 priority for them. That is great to know!

 

 

[gambee]

We decided to go up to the buffet. Initially we had planned to go to the MDR, but since we were going to do both lunch and dinner there, we felt it was too much.

 

You will notice two of the drink stations in the buffet are badly placed. They are inside a no-end area that is also the entrance the for the crew into the food area. It gets clogged often and it has very poor circulation. I also noticed that there are a few lines in the buffet. I mainly this is due to the lack of options. The lines do move quite fast, so that is not an issue.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is mine.

 

 

[gambee]

 

We really did not have any plans for that day, personally I was looking into relaxing as much as possible. Port days tend to use up a lot of my energy, and relaxing on the Lido deck sounded just right. We all went down to guest services to ask for the account statement, after noting that everything was in order we headed up to the room to get changed.

 

My family usually takes a long time while getting changed, so I relaxed for a little while and watched some TV. I noticed that the office was on. So I relaxed on the bed and enjoyed the episode. I am a big fan of the office. What a shame it was when Steve Carell left the show, and that led to the cancelling of the show. Then again it was getting kind of old.

 

 

Soon enough they were knocking on my door, and we took the elevator to the Lido deck.

 

 

It was a bright and hot day. I used a bunch of sunblock at that point.

 

 

Here you have one of the activities that they hold for the kids outside of the club.

 

 

[gambee]

We went to the Jacuzzi and noticed that it was empty, maybe it had something to do with the temperature that day. I am not sure if I had mentioned this before, but the temperature of the water in the Jacuzzis is the warmest that I have experienced from all my cruises. Oh, I forgot, the jets are incurably powerful! On one occasion, someone told us “welcome to the Jacuzzi on steroids!”, they were incredibly powerful.

 

I enjoyed myself for a little while, but the sun was too much to tolerate. I moved one of the lounges against the wall to try to get some shade.

 

 

 

The rest of my family pretty much did the same a few minutes later.

 

 

 

[gambee]

I actually took a short nap there and then I was awakened by some loud Spanish music coming from nearby. He actually had some really cool songs, and my uncle and aunt ended singing to the songs together with 10 other people. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying themselves.

 

 

Some time must have passed and we decided to head to the aft pool for a little while. They play really nice music in that area. It is a really nice environment to relax and enjoy yourself.

 

 

 

The pool was packed!

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

I got a few drinks, and we enjoyed them pool side. I believe that my uncle left at some point to do one of his famous walks :D. Getting a drink at the bar is very quick. I believe that there was a total of 4 bartenders, at that bar. For the most part, the bar staff is very friendly. We always tipped them an extra $1 per drink. BTW, I’ve been told that MSC discourages from tipping? I am not sure if that is true. I never saw anything that stated that anywhere.

 

We also tipped our room steward extra as we always do in all our cruises. In this, one in particular, she deserved extra because of all the bed moving from one stateroom to the other stateroom.

 

 

My uncle reappeared at some point, it must of been lunch time by then. I think he said he was playing with the ship cameras. We decided to go get changed and head down to the MDR to eat lunch.

 

 

[gambee]

It was a busy day.

 

 

 

I love the vivid colors in this picture.

 

 

 

We got to the MDR and were told to follow a server with the menus. We did so, next thing I know he was attempting at sitting us with a group that had 3 children! NO WAY!!! I told him we wanted to be seated alone, and he said no problem. They sat us near the aft of the ship with a great view of the wake.

 

 

[gambee]

Here is the lunch menu for that day.

 

 

 

For the first course we all had the coconut shrimp, it was to die for! Very nice and crispy!

 

 

For the second course I had prosciutto and mozzarella. It was really good, I seemed to be hitting all the good stuff that day.

 

 

They all ordered a salad…

 

 

[gambee]

For lunch I picked the Cobb salad. It was ok I guess, nothing to write home about. Then again, here I am writing about it :D

 

 

They all had the Cioppino, it was really, really good!!! But it was tinny!!! Personally, I thought it could have used a lot less peas, and so did my uncle.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

The strawberry cake. I am not sure who got it. I think it was mom. I tried it, and it was just ok I guess. A little dry.

 

 

Two of them got the Key lime pie, they said it was to die for. I thought it was just ok.

 

 

I got the Paris Brest. It was the winner of the day!!! Like my uncle says EXCELLENTE!!! :D

 

I shared most of the dessert, they all wanted it ;)

 

 

Service that day was again very slow, unlike the other lunch we had. Initially I had high hopes that it was going to be quick and efficient. But if I recall correctly, it took us 1:30 to eat lunch that day.

 

[gambee]

Here is our view.

 

 

 

We headed up to the room for a little while to let the dinner settle down a little.

 

 

I have never seen this before. Thought it was funny!

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

You can see my room is starting to take place :D

 

 

I relaxed for a little while. My guess is that they did the same. Later I decided to switch to the fisheye lens, and get some pictures of the ship with that lens. On this cruise I failed to take a lot of video, mainly it was due to the lack of memory cards and I feared running out of space. I guess technically I could’ve bought a card on the ship before the one I bought in St. Maarten. But I was panicking half of the time over space and a possible failure.

 

So I swapped lenses and we went out to tour the ship with that lens.

 

 

 

[gambee]

I really love this lens.

 

 

 

 

They had some kind of trivia going on here.

 

 

 

That night’s show was Michael Jackson, we were looking forward to it.

 

 

[gambee]

When we got into the theater, they had the meet the captain event going on. I took some note of what was discussed there.

 

 

My uncle sat in the front because he wanted to ask a question. His question you ask? He was obsessed with the fact that no one in the ship knew where a picture of Sophia Loren (the Godmother) was located, other than in the Sophia Loren suite. And you know what, he did have a point, especially considering that everywhere in the ship there are pictures of celebrities of the era. Kind of odd, don’t you think? And trust me he tried, he must of asked over 30 people during the course of the cruise. He did not get to ask his question to the captain, and he had his hand up the entire time. I told him they did not select him because they saw him fooling around with the ship cameras all the time :D, oh well.

 

Anyway, here are some of the Q & A from that day

 

One person in the audience was an aspiring captain and about to start his education to get there. He was a US citizen and was concerned with the lack of US captains. In the past this was something that I considered, but after some deliberation, I realized that there was no day I could do that job. The captain told him that RCCL had a couple of US captains in their fleet. He also told him that while it was not common, he should go ahead and accomplish his dreams, nothing should be holding him back. That said, he suggested that he looked instead into becoming a pilot. He said the pay was very good, and most of his fellow officers' friends have taken that route in the recent years.

 

Someone in the back of the theater in a wheelchair was concerned by how inaccessible the ship was for handicap people. To tell you the truth this is something that I had noticed already. For example, to get to the aft Jacuzzis is nearly impossible on a wheel chair. He was also forced to stay at the far end of the theater because of the lack of a ramp. Understandably so he was not a happy camper. The captain started by telling him how sorry he was about this, and that he wishes he could do something to fix that for this voyage. He kept on going and told him that he has already brought this concern to upper management and that they plan to something about it. But my main concern about this, is that the only way that I can see this being solved is during dry dock. Am I wrong? Are all their ships built this way? MSC is not a new company for this to be an issue that they are just figuring out.

 

I am not sure if I have stated this before, if I did, my apologies. The first thing is that this ship is one of the most complicated ships that I have found out to navigate through. Usually I board the vessel and by the second day I know the ship pretty well. With Divina, I was still confused on the fifth day. I am not entirely sure what it is, but it just seems like the layout of the ship is partitioned too often. The second thing I would like to mention is that it is a true shame that MSC decided that since I am a non-Yacht Club paying passenger, my access to the bow of the ship is nearly impossible. The entire front Lido deck is only for the Yacht Club members, and the only way for you to enjoy the view of the bow of the ship is from the gym. I think this is the first time that I have experienced this on a cruise, and while this is not an area that I tend to frequent, I still like to have it available.

 

I cannot exactly recall what the next question was, but it involved pool talk. The pools are all salt water and they get drained daily. While the ships are at sea, the water is constantly circulating. During port day, the water has to be treated with chlorine at all times. As you can imagine the amount of chlorine is substantial and logs have to be kept to show to the authorities when the information is requested.

 

Someone asked the captain about his personal quarters. He said that since this ship was newer, he did have a balcony in his room. He stated to his room had an office that also worked as a living room and also a bedroom. He noted that it was nothing lavish, and that you have to keep in mind that this is done because elf the crew. It was noted that the crew’s sleeping quarters are tight. There cannot be a separation of classes. So, while he does have more space, the space is well utilized. I also want to note that our room steward was on-board the ship with her husband. He worked in the MDR. They both stay in the room, and she stated that since this was a newer ship her accommodations were nicer than some she has been in the past. The contract that they were serving on this particular cruise was for 8 months.

 

There were several other topics discussed during the event, but I got there a little late, so I missed half of the talk.

 

 

After it was over, we decided to leave and continue our walk around the ship. My uncle was a little bummed out that his question went unanswered.

 

 

[gambee]

that one takes the cake, gambee....why you're so much fun....i wanna go on the next excursion!

 

:d:d:d:d

Edited September 5, 2014 by gambee

[gambee]

HI there. Enjoying seeing all your pictures. Just a few comments if you do not mind.

San Juan: There are beautiful beaches a cab ride away, maybe 10-15 minutes.

Shows on board: They are full theatrical shows that interweave dance, song, incredible feats of magic, acrobatics, body contortionism, with the most talented singers and dancers we have ever seen on any cruise ship. The costumes and lighting on each show is wonderful. You will not have a 30 minute show with a acrobat, but the acrobat will come out in many of the shows and do something for 3 minutes or so.

 

BTW, most of the other cruise lines that we have sailed on in the last 5 years have gone to shorter 30-40 minute shows.

 

I am sorry you walked out on most of the shows. We found them to be amazing and very different from any other show on any other cruise ship.

 

On MSC the singers all can sing and the dancers all can dance on a much higher level than any other cruise line. Most others remind me of a high school musical ...but not on MSC! We watch Americas Got talent and for years Howie Mandel would say that he never saw an act like that. I would turn to my DH and we would smile, saying "We have, on MSC."

 

I am glad you enjoyed the shows, I have read that from a few other people. Shows are very subjective, just because we did not care for them it does not mean they are bad. They were bad and boring to us, I am sure many loved them. But as a reviewer, I have to take my and my family opinion and rate the shows. All 4 of us came to the same conclusion, so I go on that. Maybe cirque shows are not our thing, who knows.

[gambee]

Hola Gambee!! I have read all your reviews and have loved them all. As i am reading along and looking at your pictures in San Juan ... I notice my whole family is in alot of your pictures at the forts! 😱 We were on the Sunshine and really enjoyed San Juan!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

That's funny! I had this happened in the past with other people. I shoot a lot of pictures on a daily basis :)

 

Thank you for following along :)

[gambee]

Gambee,

 

I have truly enjoyed this on-going review as well as the many wonderful reviews on your comprehensive website!

 

After spending many many hours on your website, I decided to join CruiseCritic today and enjoy your on-going reviews and those of others that also tempt those of us that have not yet have had the pleasure of taking a cruise yet.

 

It is because of people like you and a few others that help people who would never dream of taking a cruise start to learn what the cruise experience could be like.

 

My wife has always been against cruising because she didn't know what cruising was really about and the joy of discovery and adventure that a cruise can provide.

 

Thanks again for sharing your cruise experiences! I also appreciate that you add to the reviews by allowing us to share your family fun times also. Your mother, aunt, and uncle sound like wonderful companions on a cruise.

 

The videos add a very interactive touch that actually makes one feel like they are beside you as you walk through the ship and furnishings.

 

Once again thank you for your efforts and the professional manner in which your reviews are put together. Just be sure to enjoy the cruises yourself and don't minimize your personal time off on the cruise for us. Your reviews are appreciated by many people and a lot of them haven't thanked you yet.

 

I hope to take my first cruise some day soon.

Onkel_Ken

 

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment, and welcome to CC. Hopefully you will soon get to cruise and get addicted just like the rest of us :).

 

I truly appreciate everything you wrote, I do everything for the love of cruising and helping others with their planning needs. :)

[lorenzod]

When we got into the theater, they had the meet the captain event going on. I took some note of what was discussed there.

 

 

My uncle sat in the front because he wanted to ask a question. His question you ask? He was obsessed with the fact that no one in the ship knew where a picture of Sophia Loren (the Godmother) was located, other than in the Sophia Loren suite. And you know what, he did have a point, especially considering that everywhere in the ship there are pictures of celebrities of the era. Kind of odd, don’t you think? And trust me he tried, he must of asked over 30 people during the course of the cruise. He did not get to ask his question to the captain, and he had his hand up the entire time. I told him they did not select him because they saw him fooling around with the ship cameras all the time :D, oh well.

 

Anyway, here are some of the Q & A from that day

 

One person in the audience was an aspiring captain and about to start his education to get there. He was a US citizen and was concerned with the lack of US captains. In the past this was something that I considered, but after some deliberation, I realized that there was no day I could do that job. The captain told him that RCCL had a couple of US captains in their fleet. He also told him that while it was not common, he should go ahead and accomplish his dreams, nothing should be holding him back. That said, he suggested that he looked instead into becoming a pilot. He said the pay was very good, and most of his fellow officers' friends have taken that route in the recent years.

 

Someone in the back of the theater in a wheelchair was concerned by how inaccessible the ship was for handicap people. To tell you the truth this is something that I had noticed already. For example, to get to the aft Jacuzzis is nearly impossible on a wheel chair. He was also forced to stay at the far end of the theater because of the lack of a ramp. Understandably so he was not a happy camper. The captain started by telling him how sorry he was about this, and that he wishes he could do something to fix that for this voyage. He kept on going and told him that he has already brought this concern to upper management and that they plan to something about it. But my main concern about this, is that the only way that I can see this being solved is during dry dock. Am I wrong? Are all their ships built this way? MSC is not a new company for this to be an issue that they are just figuring out.

 

I am not sure if I have stated this before, if I did, my apologies. The first thing is that this ship is one of the most complicated ships that I have found out to navigate through. Usually I board the vessel and by the second day I know the ship pretty well. With Divina, I was still confused on the fifth day. I am not entirely sure what it is, but it just seems like the layout of the ship is partitioned too often. The second thing I would like to mention is that it is a true shame that MSC decided that since I am a non-Yacht Club paying passenger, my access to the bow of the ship is nearly impossible. The entire front Lido deck is only for the Yacht Club members, and the only way for you to enjoy the view of the bow of the ship is from the gym. I think this is the first time that I have experienced this on a cruise, and while this is not an area that I tend to frequent, I still like to have it available.

 

I cannot exactly recall what the next question was, but it involved pool talk. The pools are all salt water and they get drained daily. While the ships are at sea, the water is constantly circulating. During port day, the water has to be treated with chlorine at all times. As you can imagine the amount of chlorine is substantial and logs have to be kept to show to the authorities when the information is requested.

 

Someone asked the captain about his personal quarters. He said that since this ship was newer, he did have a balcony in his room. He stated to his room had an office that also worked as a living room and also a bedroom. He noted that it was nothing lavish, and that you have to keep in mind that this is done because elf the crew. It was noted that the crew’s sleeping quarters are tight. There cannot be a separation of classes. So, while he does have more space, the space is well utilized. I also want to note that our room steward was on-board the ship with her husband. He worked in the MDR. They both stay in the room, and she stated that since this was a newer ship her accommodations were nicer than some she has been in the past. The contract that they were serving on this particular cruise was for 8 months.

 

There were several other topics discussed during the event, but I got there a little late, so I missed half of the talk.

 

 

After it was over, we decided to leave and continue our walk around the ship. My uncle was a little bummed out that his question went unanswered.

 

 

I totally agree with you in regard to how the Divina is not for handicapped people of which I am a member at this time(I broke a vertebrae in my back). I have been on 3 different MSC ships and the theaters are al the same. Steps everywhere. They will have to fix this in dry dock. I even suggested that the last row of seats should have more breaks in the row so if you need to get in or out of the row it is easier for the handicapped person to get out. Also when were checking in the first day the handicapped line is the furthest line rather than the first line and no one was manning it and all the handicapped people were just stuck waiting until my husband showed up and he got action. Also even though we had requested help posing my wheelchair aboard no one from the ship helped. We had to rely on the passengers behind us to gang push me up the ramps. Also in the public handicapped bathrooms they did not have an alarm button for the handicapped person to push in case of emergency. These complaints were brought to the ship's attention in my cruise critic review. Other than these problems and the 5 hour delay to board because of a gas leak in the port our cruise was marvelous. I will attach my review. Have enjoyed reading yours especially the illustrative photos are a blast.

Marsha:)

[lorenzod]

To Gambee

Here is a copy of my review from the Divina on August 2,2014

Smooth Sailing on the most beautiful ship ever

We had a very enjoyable cruise on the MSC Divina despite a very difficult embarkation. We had been told by MSC that we could board the ship at noon so we arrived at the port of Miami at 11 AM. We had requested a wheel chair and someone to assist us boarding when we booked the cruise since I had recently suffered a compression fracture of my back. Unfortunately when we asked where to get the wheel chair they told us to go to the second floor. We took the elevator up only to find the building was being evacuated and we had to go back outside. No one knew what was going on and we finally heard that there was a gas leak and we were told to walk to the next building. That building was locked and no one around to tell us what to do. It was very hot outside that day and the walk was difficult for my husband(who has a heart condition and a bad back) and for me as we still did not have a wheel chair. After one hour someone from the port appeared with a wheel chair. What a relief to sit down. It took 4 more hours before we boarded the ship. We really felt the Port of Miami should have supplied water to the waiting passengers as well as making some kind of announcement about what was happening. We never were able to get someone from MSC to help push the wheel chair aboard the ship and my husband had to rely on the help of other cruisers to push me aboard. Port of Miami really dropped the ball on this potential disaster and should have handled it better, PA announcements should have been made and a more orderly boarding occur where the people waiting the longest should have been boarding first as well as those who were handicapped or diabetic. Fire Rescue(EMS) had to be called because one of our friends blood pressure rose so high she became faint and almost missed going on the cruise.

 

Finally at 5PM we made our way to our balcony cabin and headed to the buffet for a long awaited lunch. We found both the cabin and the ship to be elegant. The ship was so smooth we never noticed when we left the port. We had a Meet and Greet Party for our Cruise Critic Group which I had arranged for the first sea day. We were pleased that the Captain Scala, as well as the Cruise Director Andre and the Events Coordinator R. Torres attended. It was held in the Silver Lounge which was just beautiful. We were told about what had occurred the previous day and heard the whole story which the rest of the passengers had never heard. Part of the problem was about 4000 passengers from Brazil had to disembark that morning and customs officials had decided it was necessary to finger print and photograph all 4000 of them before being allowed off the ship. Then the ship was being refueled and somehow the fumes were sucked into the Port of Miami building causing the evacuation. MSC wanted to send food and water out to the passengers waiting to board but customs officials would not allow this to occur. They needed the building evacuated for the safety of the passengers. It would have been nice if the awaiting passengers were told not to smoke during this crisis to prevent another problem. Can you believe there were passengers smoking even though there was a strong smell of gas. Also, the police and port staff who were very visible should have been enforcing a NON SMOKING situation.

 

The entertainment aboard was excellent. Every night there was another show in the theater that was fantastic. The shows were on par with ones you would see in Las Vegas for over $100 a ticket. The Michael Jackson Tribute, The Simply Italian Show and The Witches of Paris are not to be missed. The entertainment team aboard helped to create laughs prior to showtime If you did not want to go to the theater there were many other areas that had music or even a movie outside under the stars. At 10:30PM back in the Black and White Lounge the entertainment team continued their funny antics with the Little Italy Party. The entertainment team is also responsible for arts and crafts as well as trivia. We loved the trivia games which were held at least twice a day. They had really nice prizes for the winners unlike some other cruise lines who have really cut corners. Makes no sense for the cruise lines not to take advantage of getting free publicity by giving out prizes with their logo on it that passengers will continue to wear once off the ship. The only problem we had with the entertainment area was the timeliness of the personnel arriving to start the trivia games.

 

Next on the agenda is the dining room. We were fortunate enough to know the restaurant manager from a previous MSC Cruise and he gave us a beautifully located table, close to a window. We had first seating which we prefer and a waiter and an assistant waiter who gave us the best service we have ever had in our history of cruising(over 60 cruises). Their names were Sugiana and Andy from Indonesia. They must have been hand picked my Mauricio(restaurant manager). They remembered everything we liked and always had it on our table before we arrived. They smiled as they performed their duties. Very friendly and easy to understand. The food was excellent. I got to try dishes I had never had before and almost every night I would tell the waiter to tell the chef how wonderful the food was. On the second formal night our waiter served us lobster tail and without even asking he gave each of us a double portion of lobster. It was so tender and delicious. Best of all was the parade of waiters carrying flaming Baked Alaska. It was the best Baked Alaska I have ever had. Instead of the traditional vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream filling it had pistachio and coffee ice cream. The only improvement that I might suggest is their coffee. Not very good. I suggest having hot tea. I would avoid the buffet. The buffet food that should be hot was always luke warm. About the only thing I would recommend is the pizza if you got it right after it came out of the oven. They do not have a made to order omelet station. We never took advantage of the room service menu because breakfast only included cold continental breakfast. So we skipped breakfast and had brunch instead.

 

Now to the pools. Never really got to try the pool since it was very crowded on sea days. On days when we were in port my husband went into the pool and said it was very nice, warm and was filled with salt water. However, entry for me with my bad back was not possible. They did not have chairs to lower the handicapped into a pool. In fact I found the ship was not really designed to handle the handicapped. In the theater there is only one row of seats that a handicapped person can access. The seats should have been arranged so the wheel chairs could fit beside each seat. Very difficult to get in and out. Need ramps on both sides of theater for front row access. Steps make i impossible to reach any other row but the last row of seats. In the public bathrooms for the handicapped there were no alarm buttons or phones for a person to call for help if something happened while in the bathroom to ask for assistance. Even if they had a phone in the bathroom it would not have helped because whenever you would call Guest Services for any problem the phone would ring and ring until finally you got a recording telling you that" everyone was busy but your call is very important and someone would be with you shortly" which would soon follow by the line going dead.

 

The elevators on the ship were beautiful but relatively small. It would be helpful if, inside the elevator, there was a list of what was located on each floor. It was really nice that the elevator banks were linked together so you only needed to press one button to summon any of the elevators in that bank. You had to be fast to grab an elevator because the elevators close very quickly.

 

Our cabin steward, Donna, was excellent. Our room was always made up quickly. Whenever we needed anything she took care of it. The bed was large and very comfortable. The bathroom in our handicapped cabin was huge and the shower was powerful. Flushing the toilet was an art but we finally adapted to the light touch that was required. The balcony was very nice. The only suggestion I have is that 2 chaise lounges would be nicer that upright chairs. They have a nice remote control TV with a sleep timer. Also the TV is interactive so you can see the daily program on the TV as well as your bill. The TV guide in the room was of no help because the channels did not match what was on the screen. You could either see news or sports and maybe a movie. I am a very light sleeper and am not sure why the ship found it necessary to have music in the corridors at night time that was so loud it came into our cabin and kept me awake. I finally called to complain about it when the music that was playing was stuck playing the same notes over and over again. They did nothing to fix it so I took a sleeping pill. Same thing happened the next 2 nights. I complained again and finally on the last night they turned it off but immediately turned it back on at 6 AM. Time to go home. You must vacate your cabin by 7 AM. Breakfast in the main dining room was good. I had the most delicious warm chocolate chip muffin. It's a shame I'm not a morning person or I would have had breakfast in the main dining room too every day. Their chocolate croissants are also delicious. Debarkation went really well. We met in the Silver lounge. Someone was there to push me in a wheel chair all the way down to our luggage. They helped find and lift the luggage. Then the porter from the Port of Miami took over and carried our luggage through the VIP line. That was the best thing about being handicapped was having my own line and someone attending to the handicapped to get them out quickly unlike our embarkation where the wheel chair assistance line was unmanned and the last line in the room.

 

The survey form MSC gives you the last night of the cruise needs adequate space for recognition of all the staff who made the cruise special.

 

 

Overall we enjoyed our time on the Divina and would recommend it .

 

Hope you enjoyed my long review of our wonderful cruise.

Marsha:)

[camofwilliamsburg]

Gambee: I meant no disrespect, just pointing out that you missed a lot of very unique things happening within each show. Of course shows as food is very subjective. I also agree with you about the coconut shrimp. I recall ordering one order at lunch and thinking it was so good that I asked for another helping and told them to forget my entree. It was that good and it came with a great dip with fresh fruit salsa which was a great pairing.

 

When they do it right, it is really wonderful. I enjoy most of their italian entrees. I also LOVED their baked Alaska. The best of any cruise line. Also, they have many different flavors, so ask your waiter if you would like another flavor. We had rum raisin and coconut and on the other cruise we had butter pecan and a pistacio. Fabulous!! They are one of the few that really light them on fire......

[kkorman]

To Gambee

Here is a copy of my review from the Divina on August 2,2014

Smooth Sailing on the most beautiful ship ever

We had a very enjoyable cruise on the MSC Divina despite a very difficult embarkation. We had been told by MSC that we could board the ship at noon so we arrived at the port of Miami at 11 AM. We had requested a wheel chair and someone to assist us boarding when we booked the cruise since I had recently suffered a compression fracture of my back. Unfortunately when we asked where to get the wheel chair they told us to go to the second floor. We took the elevator up only to find the building was being evacuated and we had to go back outside. No one knew what was going on and we finally heard that there was a gas leak and we were told to walk to the next building. That building was locked and no one around to tell us what to do. It was very hot outside that day and the walk was difficult for my husband(who has a heart condition and a bad back) and for me as we still did not have a wheel chair. After one hour someone from the port appeared with a wheel chair. What a relief to sit down. It took 4 more hours before we boarded the ship. We really felt the Port of Miami should have supplied water to the waiting passengers as well as making some kind of announcement about what was happening. We never were able to get someone from MSC to help push the wheel chair aboard the ship and my husband had to rely on the help of other cruisers to push me aboard. Port of Miami really dropped the ball on this potential disaster and should have handled it better, PA announcements should have been made and a more orderly boarding occur where the people waiting the longest should have been boarding first as well as those who were handicapped or diabetic. Fire Rescue(EMS) had to be called because one of our friends blood pressure rose so high she became faint and almost missed going on the cruise.

 

Finally at 5PM we made our way to our balcony cabin and headed to the buffet for a long awaited lunch. We found both the cabin and the ship to be elegant. The ship was so smooth we never noticed when we left the port. We had a Meet and Greet Party for our Cruise Critic Group which I had arranged for the first sea day. We were pleased that the Captain Scala, as well as the Cruise Director Andre and the Events Coordinator R. Torres attended. It was held in the Silver Lounge which was just beautiful. We were told about what had occurred the previous day and heard the whole story which the rest of the passengers had never heard. Part of the problem was about 4000 passengers from Brazil had to disembark that morning and customs officials had decided it was necessary to finger print and photograph all 4000 of them before being allowed off the ship. Then the ship was being refueled and somehow the fumes were sucked into the Port of Miami building causing the evacuation. MSC wanted to send food and water out to the passengers waiting to board but customs officials would not allow this to occur. They needed the building evacuated for the safety of the passengers. It would have been nice if the awaiting passengers were told not to smoke during this crisis to prevent another problem. Can you believe there were passengers smoking even though there was a strong smell of gas. Also, the police and port staff who were very visible should have been enforcing a NON SMOKING situation.

 

The entertainment aboard was excellent. Every night there was another show in the theater that was fantastic. The shows were on par with ones you would see in Las Vegas for over $100 a ticket. The Michael Jackson Tribute, The Simply Italian Show and The Witches of Paris are not to be missed. The entertainment team aboard helped to create laughs prior to showtime If you did not want to go to the theater there were many other areas that had music or even a movie outside under the stars. At 10:30PM back in the Black and White Lounge the entertainment team continued their funny antics with the Little Italy Party. The entertainment team is also responsible for arts and crafts as well as trivia. We loved the trivia games which were held at least twice a day. They had really nice prizes for the winners unlike some other cruise lines who have really cut corners. Makes no sense for the cruise lines not to take advantage of getting free publicity by giving out prizes with their logo on it that passengers will continue to wear once off the ship. The only problem we had with the entertainment area was the timeliness of the personnel arriving to start the trivia games.

 

Next on the agenda is the dining room. We were fortunate enough to know the restaurant manager from a previous MSC Cruise and he gave us a beautifully located table, close to a window. We had first seating which we prefer and a waiter and an assistant waiter who gave us the best service we have ever had in our history of cruising(over 60 cruises). Their names were Sugiana and Andy from Indonesia. They must have been hand picked my Mauricio(restaurant manager). They remembered everything we liked and always had it on our table before we arrived. They smiled as they performed their duties. Very friendly and easy to understand. The food was excellent. I got to try dishes I had never had before and almost every night I would tell the waiter to tell the chef how wonderful the food was. On the second formal night our waiter served us lobster tail and without even asking he gave each of us a double portion of lobster. It was so tender and delicious. Best of all was the parade of waiters carrying flaming Baked Alaska. It was the best Baked Alaska I have ever had. Instead of the traditional vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream filling it had pistachio and coffee ice cream. The only improvement that I might suggest is their coffee. Not very good. I suggest having hot tea. I would avoid the buffet. The buffet food that should be hot was always luke warm. About the only thing I would recommend is the pizza if you got it right after it came out of the oven. They do not have a made to order omelet station. We never took advantage of the room service menu because breakfast only included cold continental breakfast. So we skipped breakfast and had brunch instead.

 

Now to the pools. Never really got to try the pool since it was very crowded on sea days. On days when we were in port my husband went into the pool and said it was very nice, warm and was filled with salt water. However, entry for me with my bad back was not possible. They did not have chairs to lower the handicapped into a pool. In fact I found the ship was not really designed to handle the handicapped. In the theater there is only one row of seats that a handicapped person can access. The seats should have been arranged so the wheel chairs could fit beside each seat. Very difficult to get in and out. Need ramps on both sides of theater for front row access. Steps make i impossible to reach any other row but the last row of seats. In the public bathrooms for the handicapped there were no alarm buttons or phones for a person to call for help if something happened while in the bathroom to ask for assistance. Even if they had a phone in the bathroom it would not have helped because whenever you would call Guest Services for any problem the phone would ring and ring until finally you got a recording telling you that" everyone was busy but your call is very important and someone would be with you shortly" which would soon follow by the line going dead.

 

The elevators on the ship were beautiful but relatively small. It would be helpful if, inside the elevator, there was a list of what was located on each floor. It was really nice that the elevator banks were linked together so you only needed to press one button to summon any of the elevators in that bank. You had to be fast to grab an elevator because the elevators close very quickly.

 

Our cabin steward, Donna, was excellent. Our room was always made up quickly. Whenever we needed anything she took care of it. The bed was large and very comfortable. The bathroom in our handicapped cabin was huge and the shower was powerful. Flushing the toilet was an art but we finally adapted to the light touch that was required. The balcony was very nice. The only suggestion I have is that 2 chaise lounges would be nicer that upright chairs. They have a nice remote control TV with a sleep timer. Also the TV is interactive so you can see the daily program on the TV as well as your bill. The TV guide in the room was of no help because the channels did not match what was on the screen. You could either see news or sports and maybe a movie. I am a very light sleeper and am not sure why the ship found it necessary to have music in the corridors at night time that was so loud it came into our cabin and kept me awake. I finally called to complain about it when the music that was playing was stuck playing the same notes over and over again. They did nothing to fix it so I took a sleeping pill. Same thing happened the next 2 nights. I complained again and finally on the last night they turned it off but immediately turned it back on at 6 AM. Time to go home. You must vacate your cabin by 7 AM. Breakfast in the main dining room was good. I had the most delicious warm chocolate chip muffin. It's a shame I'm not a morning person or I would have had breakfast in the main dining room too every day. Their chocolate croissants are also delicious. Debarkation went really well. We met in the Silver lounge. Someone was there to push me in a wheel chair all the way down to our luggage. They helped find and lift the luggage. Then the porter from the Port of Miami took over and carried our luggage through the VIP line. That was the best thing about being handicapped was having my own line and someone attending to the handicapped to get them out quickly unlike our embarkation where the wheel chair assistance line was unmanned and the last line in the room.

 

The survey form MSC gives you the last night of the cruise needs adequate space for recognition of all the staff who made the cruise special.

 

 

Overall we enjoyed our time on the Divina and would recommend it .

 

Hope you enjoyed my long review of our wonderful cruise.

Marsha:)

 

Why do you feel the need to hijack this tread with you review when we are interested in Gambees? Got it you like Divina... Others have not, including myself.

[paula2051]

Hey Gambee first of all I love ALL of your reviews. We will be on the Divina in less than a month and love having a few insights on what to expect. I noticed you were using your cell phones to communicate with each other. I don't know if you are aware, but hotel keys and sea pass key cards don't mix well with cell phones. The more often you put the two of them together in your pocket, the greater the chance the room keys will get compromised. In the future you may want to invest in a nice lanyard.:)

[American Bear]

Why do you feel the need to hijack this tread with you review when we are interested in Gambees? Got it you like Divina... Others have not, including myself.

 

And why did you find the need to hijack this thread with your opinion,,,,,,oh, maybe for the same reason!:eek:

Back to you Gambee, keep up the good work!

Edited September 5, 2014 by American Bear

[kkorman]

And why did you find the need to hijack this thread with your opinion,,,,,,oh, maybe for the same reason!:eek:

Back to you Gambee, keep up the good work!

 

There is a slight difference from inserting your ENTIRE review and saying I did not like the cruise. The only reason one inserts their review is to discredit the one currently being written.

 

Back to the star of the show... Gambee!:D