Back from the Divina Dec 6 2014

[anamarieus]

We had the most wonderful time! The ship is absolutely STUNNING and the staff is beyond amazing. The staff of the Divina made our cruise.

 

We could not tender at Great Stirrup Cay, so we got to spend the day on this beautiful ship. Im still swaying back n forth ha ha got seasick first night.

 

I will write a full review this week as I kept a diary. I met fabulous people, swam in the absolutely beautiful pools, ate good food and sailed under a full moon on a flat glass sea going about 1 to 2 knots on the way home as we had an extra sea day.

 

dont listen to bad reviews about this ship. The ship and esp the staff are Ah Mazing. I want to live on the Divina. Best kept secret at sea. The shows were fabulous. Whomever said do not miss them were spot on.

 

I will miss her. I already do. We were the last ones off. They shut the doors after we left!! :o

[jazmic]

Looking forward to it! :)

[CruisinGirl777]

Sounds great! Can't wait to read your full review. Hope you have some pics too.

[shelling4life]

So glad you had a great trip on the Divina...post some pics...we are going next Nov.

[anamarieus]

Hi cruisinGirl777 I have tons of pics I made sure to get really good pics of the pools. But I have lots of other pics. I tried to get all of the pictures of the found film that they developed and presented aboard. There are pics of cary grant sophia loren james dean there are so many movie stars in these found pictures. Go to the Manitou and Calumet Buffet and u will see them. There are about 100 or more of them.

 

they have a plaque that explains all of the other pictures on plaques scattered throughout.

 

keep your camera phone ready and charged because this ship is a visual orgas m

[anamarieus]

You know what... I think I am going to write word for word my diary here lol I had so much fun on this ship. The disco is awesome. They had latin dance lessons. The staff is so friendly and welcoming and sweet. I can tell they are tight knit.

 

aft infinity pool at night with drink in hand is the place to be also thr disco rocks and the secret deck is 5 or is it 7 its where the lifeboats are. No one is ever out there. I saw 3 hot crewmen out there smoking.

 

you can see the waves so close it is so zen like. I dont want to go back to reality!! DIVINA SAVE ME!! This ship is so beautiful and has a really cool feel. Afrodite Deck Aft is where its at.

 

I love cruising with Europeans. Im jealous I cant cruise again on her back to back.

 

LEMONCELLO!

Edited December 6, 2014 by anamarieus

[riclop]

You know what... I think I am going to write word for word my diary here lol I had so much fun on this ship. The disco is awesome. They had latin dance lessons. The staff is so friendly and welcoming and sweet. I can tell they are tight knit.

 

aft infinity pool at night with drink in hand is the place to be also thr disco rocks and the secret deck is 5 or is it 7 its where the lifeboats are. No one is ever out there. I saw 3 hot crewmen out there smoking.

 

you can see the waves so close it is so zen like. I dont want to go back to reality!! DIVINA SAVE ME!! This ship is so beautiful and has a really cool feel. Afrodite Deck Aft is where its at.

 

I love cruising with Europeans. Im jealous I cant cruise again on her back to back.

 

LEMONCELLO!

I'm glad you loved your cruise, cant wait to read your review.

[JohnLocke2012]

Great to hear! Only 6 days and 20 hours til I set sail! That sucks you guys didn't get to visit Great Stirrup though!

[VenusLady]

Looking forward to reading your diary and seeing the pictures.

 

I am so looking forward to spending 14 nights on her in Feb! :)

[anamarieus]

Great to hear! Only 6 days and 20 hours til I set sail! That sucks you guys didn't get to visit Great Stirrup though!

 

Yeah, we were really bummed. We were ready to snorkel. But staying onboard wasnt so bad. Most everybody hung out at the pool. They have nice shaded areas on either side.

 

I really miss those beautiful pools. Also word to the wise, dont jump in the infinity pool aft. Its only 4 feet deep.

[anamarieus]

Looking forward to reading your diary and seeing the pictures.

 

I am so looking forward to spending 14 nights on her in Feb! :)

 

Be sure to pack your hair conditioner! Are you doing western or eastern? You will have a lot of fun .

 

if u are prone to seasickness u might want to change to a lower deck. We were on deck 12 and we were swaying real bad. Im still swaying right now.also the front desk has free seasickness medication. I didnt know that I went to the medical center.

[FTLcruisers]

My husband and I have completed more than 60 cruises - majority of them on ?Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. We went on the Divina with friends and had read a lot of not-so-great reviews beforehand. Those folks couldn't have been more wrong. We absolutely loved the Divina. We liked that the activities staff were so involved - every night there was at least one of them in each lounge dancing with guests. And there were multiple lounges available - not just a piano bar and disco like on RCL. Maybe it's because we like Italian food, but we enjoyed the food in both the MDR and buffet. We also really enjoyed the shows - much different than what we are used to. Bottom line, we liked the Divina so much that we are sailing on her Grand Voyage in April - 20 nights - from Miami to Europe - can't wait!

 

Marianne

[skyking]

My husband and I have completed more than 60 cruises - majority of them on ?Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. We went on the Divina with friends and had read a lot of not-so-great reviews beforehand. Those folks couldn't have been more wrong. We absolutely loved the Divina. We liked that the activities staff were so involved - every night there was at least one of them in each lounge dancing with guests. And there were multiple lounges available - not just a piano bar and disco like on RCL. Maybe it's because we like Italian food, but we enjoyed the food in both the MDR and buffet. We also really enjoyed the shows - much different than what we are used to. Bottom line, we liked the Divina so much that we are sailing on her Grand Voyage in April - 20 nights - from Miami to Europe - can't wait!

 

Marianne

 

Super glad you loved the Divina like we did. My parents will be on that Grand Voyage with you:) I wish we could make it!

[anamarieus]

ok you all im going to post my diary. I have to take my iphone tmrw to work to have a friend help me upload the pictures. I dont have a desktop computer, but I promise I will try to post them.

 

ok here is the play by play. I always go buy a black and white composition book from walgreens and collage the front and back covers and that is my diary. I kept this diary on the bed with a pen and tried to write each experience.

 

be forewarned, I had a lot of drinks on this cruise!! The MSC Divina is a very beautiful ship, so have your phones charged and I would suggest bringing a couple of waterproof and disposible cameras, as u might run out of pic space on your phones. This ship is visually stunning.

 

more later I promise.

[anamarieus]

My husband and I have completed more than 60 cruises - majority of them on ?Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. We went on the Divina with friends and had read a lot of not-so-great reviews beforehand. Those folks couldn't have been more wrong. We absolutely loved the Divina. We liked that the activities staff were so involved - every night there was at least one of them in each lounge dancing with guests. And there were multiple lounges available - not just a piano bar and disco like on RCL. Maybe it's because we like Italian food, but we enjoyed the food in both the MDR and buffet. We also really enjoyed the shows - much different than what we are used to. Bottom line, we liked the Divina so much that we are sailing on her Grand Voyage in April - 20 nights - from Miami to Europe - can't wait!

 

Marianne

 

My fav lounge was The Black and White Lounge. I think that was the lounge where u could see the sea and the waves through portholes when the curtains werent drawn. I may be wrong. There was a lounge like this.

 

Wow I miss her so much.

[anamarieus]

Free drinks Decks 5 6 7 during Captians Welcome Party. yes they are strong. At least the rum sours were.

 

go to Villa Rossa embarkation day filet is on menu

 

go 20 mins b4 show 2 get good seat

 

last formal nite is lobster and flaming baked alaska

 

have breakfast in the Black Crab

[DENIE]

We couldn't agree with you more! We were on the 10-night sailing that returned on 11/22 (Columbia/Panama/Costa Rica), and we did NOT want to get off!!! The ship truly is stunning. I'm glad, too, that we ignored all the bad reviews, as we really did not experience any of the negatives that were written about. Would love to sail her again!

[VenusLady]

I'm not really sure? I think I'm doing eastern and Western, as it is 2 weeks that I am doing, and the ship goes to many places. Bahamas, Peuerto Rico, St Marteen, Caymen Islands, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cozumel.

May have forgotten one.

 

I'm lucky I don't suffer from seasickness, but I guess there is always a first time. I've been told it's not too bad in March, as it will be first too weeks when I go.

 

Looking forward to your recommendations on trips! And seeing your pictures of the Davina.

[FTLcruisers]

My fav lounge was The Black and White Lounge. I think that was the lounge where u could see the sea and the waves through portholes when the curtains werent drawn. I may be wrong. There was a lounge like this.

 

Wow I miss her so much.

 

The Black and White lounge was reserved for a private jazz group during our cruise - we were able to get into it one night when they had a session that was open to the public.

 

Marianne

[anamarieus]

i guess i have to upload the pictures to photobucket or something. Let me do that first.

[anamarieus]

The Black and White lounge was reserved for a private jazz group during our cruise - we were able to get into it one night when they had a session that was open to the public.

 

Marianne

 

at least you got to see it :) Man i miss being on vacation!! work sucks!!!!

[anamarieus]

[/url]

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Guy is in the MSC Divina "Happy" Video on youtube. He cleans the pools.

 

 

[anamarieus]

sorry my pictures are so small

 

 

 

[anamarieus]

 

 

Edited December 9, 2014 by anamarieus

[flahagan]

I am convinced there's some sort of sabotage going on against MSC in the U.S. We also had an incredible time on the Divina, it's our favorite cruise out of over 15 so far and we can't wait to be back on her.

And yet, there are these ridiculously skewed reviews of her on this site. How in the world is it possible for a ship to get 5 stars and then 1, 5 stars and then 1 over and over. The extremes are just incredible.

Take the latest review written by "oceanflower." You can tell that this person is not a native English speaker, yet complains that there were too many "non-English speaking" people on board. The review is simply incredulous. When I did a search for this reviewer on cruisecritic, the ONLY post that showed up was his/her review of the Divina. He/she never posted on the MSC forum, the RCL forum or the NCL forum. Strange, to say the least.

 

If I were the execs of MSC, I'd be looking into this a lot deeper, as I feel the "established" cruiselines are downright afraid of this competition on "their" turf and will go to any lengths to send MSC back to Europe.