Just off Divina holiday cruise - how it compares to other lines

[jr72]

After about 25 Caribbean cruises on many different cruise lines, tried the Divina for Christmas. All in all a good cruise, with some positives and some negatives. Here is how I think it compares to other ships I have been on (X, NCL, RCCL, Princess, HAL, Disney and Carnival).

Where it excelled, beyond all other ships:

· Entertainment staff – Best staff I have seen on any ship, very involved and engaging, participating in many things such as the shows, the poolside games, the dance lessons and the theme parties – great job!

· Ship itself is most beautiful ship I have seen – all public areas were clean, well designed and very pleasant

· Pools – although falls into category of the ship design above, pools are worth mentioning specifically – at least 5 different pools, plus splash pools for toddlers, and many more hot tubs than normally found, on multiple decks – all laid out beautifully

· Pizza – best pizza on any ship, hands down

· Pasta – made fresh, always multiple pasta options at dinner, always good

· Desserts – all good

· Great for families – perhaps because it was a holiday cruise, or perhaps because kids were free, but cruise was very family friendly. Although lots of kids on board, they were all well behaved – no running in halls, not hanging around in elevators and stairways, no jumping in hot tubs.

Similar to other Caribbean ships:

· Food – Most meals were fine, but two times ordered fish it was inedible, knocking my rating of food down. For basis of comparison, I think X has best food, then group RCCL/Princess/Disney/HAL together, then NCL, then Carnival. For many meals I thought MSC was as good as X, but then the two fish dishes were worse than all.

· Quality of entertainers – Singers, dancers, acrobats, jugglers, magicians, etc. – similar quality to others (maybe even better in some ways, such as the opera singers). This does not necessarily mean shows were similar quality though, discussed later.

· Theme parties – I went to the white party, which was as good as those on other ships, perhaps better given the participation of the entertainment staff. There were 2 other parties (Italian night and 60s/70s) but I missed those as were on port nights and I was too tired. Which they had some on the nights when we were at sea the next day!

· Daytime activities – typical trivia, pool games, etc.

· Lounge singers and musicians – similar to other ships

Worse than other ships:

· Nighttime shows – Several criticisms of the shows:

o Most ships have some variety in their shows, e.g., perhaps 2 or 3 production shows, 1 comedy show, 1 magic show, 1 broadway singer, etc. Here, every night was a production show, so missing the variety.

o The production shows in some cases repeated songs. Two songs that were sung in the show the first night were also sung in the show the third night. Identical choreography appeared in two dances from two different shows a day or two apart.

o Some shows were really bad, in that they didn’t make any sense. An example – in one show, there was a number where one person sang a very dramatic, moving “You Raise Me Up”…while at the same time two people dressed as pirates walked through the audience scaring audience members, and another was chasing two wenches around the stage. The singing had absolutely nothing to do with what was going around on stage, extremely random and nonsensical. Another example – for one show, a dance number had all of the dancers wearing witches’ noses and chins, for no reason, as nothing else in the show had anything to do with witches (except the name of the show).

o Every show ends with the audience essentially forced to give a standing ovation and three rounds of applause.

· Cabin smelled like smoke. Perhaps the prior occupant smoked in the non-smoking cabin, perhaps it was because the cabin we stayed in was a floor below the smoking section of the pool deck (starboard side), not sure, but it reeked.

· Nighttime entertainment – Less nighttime options than other ships. There is a show every night, 3 theme parties for week, nightly dance lessons, a few karaoke nights and music in a number of lounges, so there are things going on, perhaps enough for some. But options found on other ships such as newlywed game, comedy show, “the quest”-type games, singing contest, game shows, name that tune, etc. do not exist. They had “majority rules” the first night, which seemed to work great, but nothing like that rest of the week. They had a “dancing with the stars” event, but while other ships do this in a fun way (pairing passengers who can’t dance with staff members who can’t dance, resulting in funny dances that the judges then comment on in a funny way), they took it too seriously (pairing passengers who are trying to dance with professional dancers judged by passengers who simply give scores without any comments), turning an event that can be lots of fun into something pretty boring.

· Service – had some bad experiences…perhaps just got unlucky with the people we dealt with…

o I asked the Guest Services desk for change for a $50 bill so I can have change for tips, etc., when going ashore, and they told me no, they can’t do that. I never heard of a ship refusing to give change.

o Then I asked if I can get change for $20 instead, and they said OK but have to wait until they handle the next passenger. The next passenger was paying a bill of some sort…with 5 $10 bills. So they clearly had the change right in front of them to give me what I asked for…but they didn’t.

o Wait staff in dining room was friendly, but simply the worst I have ever seen. Rarely refilled water. Impossible to get attention even when I stand up and wave my arms. Once brought main course for 2 of the 4 people and forgot the other 2. Once forgot the wine, once brought over wrong wine, once forgot the sour cream, served some people appetizers but not others, etc.

· Tenders – worst tendering experiences ever. In Great Stirrup Cay, tried to leave the ship at 10:30, but had to get tender ticket then wait in lounge over 90 minutes until our group was called, did not actually make it to the island until 12:30. Have tendered many times on other cruises, it never takes 2 hours to get off the ship! There should be another tender coming in to board as soon as one tender leaves, but that was not happening. Either not enough tenders or not efficient in their use or both.

Can’t comment on things I didn’t use: Yacht club, youth center, shops, shore excursions, specialty restaurants, bingo, art auction.

So some good and some bad. If you are looking for action packed nightlife with parties every night and show variety, this may not be the ship for you. If you prefer opera, ballet and European culture to Broadway and comedians, or just want to enjoy a beautiful ship, then book it.

[sidari]

You make some interesting points many of which have been made by other passengers.

 

you have to understand that the Italian`s are not the best at organisation in general and especially where tendering is involved as you found out.

 

With regard to the shows most if not all have pre recorded music and the singers mime and do not sing! not sure about the opera stuff because we never go to those shows.

 

You mentioned that there were no game shows! on our previous trips prior to the Divina TA they used to do these things but it seems that a certain individual from Princess may have had a hand in that having brought in dancing everywhere on the ship instead during the daytime and evening. Our recent Orchestra cruise had gone the same way.

 

As per MSC they appear to have gone from one extreme to the other in this regard.

[MsTabbyKats]

You make some interesting points many of which have been made by other passengers.

 

you have to understand that the Italian`s are not the best at organisation in general and especially where tendering is involved as you found out.

 

With regard to the shows most if not all have pre recorded music and the singers mime and do not sing! not sure about the opera stuff because we never go to those shows.

 

You mentioned that there were no game shows! on our previous trips prior to the Divina TA they used to do these things but it seems that a certain individual from Princess may have had a hand in that having brought in dancing everywhere on the ship instead during the daytime and evening. Our recent Orchestra cruise had gone the same way.

 

As per MSC they appear to have gone from one extreme to the other in this regard.

 

Singers were miming? They sure fooled me. I sat in the first row for every show....and I could swear it was live.

 

They had the best entertainment of any ship I was on. As far as "the repetition"....the same cast was used, but the acts were different. MSC really knew how to take advantage of an extremely talented group of entertainers.

 

BTW....nobody was forced to give standing ovations. Everybody wanted to.

 

ETA-Some of the singers showed up in the lounges for "special events"....and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they were singing....with unmistakably the same voices that were on stage.

Edited January 3, 2015 by MsTabbyKats

[Skier52]

You make some interesting points many of which have been made by other passengers.

 

you have to understand that the Italian`s are not the best at organisation in general and especially where tendering is involved as you found out.

 

With regard to the shows most if not all have pre recorded music and the singers mime and do not sing! not sure about the opera stuff because we never go to those shows.

 

You mentioned that there were no game shows! on our previous trips prior to the Divina TA they used to do these things but it seems that a certain individual from Princess may have had a hand in that having brought in dancing everywhere on the ship instead during the daytime and evening. Our recent Orchestra cruise had gone the same way.

 

As per MSC they appear to have gone from one extreme to the other in this regard.

 

Never seen a singer mime on an MSC ship. Seen, and heard some awful singers on MSC ships

 

Have seen an Operatic show (on MSC Opera funily enough) where the singers didn't use mics. they had particularly powerful voices in a quite small theatre.

 

 

 

· Cabin smelled like smoke. Perhaps the prior occupant smoked in the non-smoking cabin, perhaps it was because the cabin we stayed in was a floor below the smoking section of the pool deck (starboard side), not sure, but it reeked.

 

That's surprising, as ALL the MSC ships I've been on (seven in total, including Divina [in the Med.]) have the PORT side of the pool deck as the designated smoking side.

 

i suspect it was the previous cabin occupants, although they risk setting off the smoke detectors.

 

Pete

Edited January 3, 2015 by Skier52

[AmoMondo]

I've also never encountered a singer miming that is on 19 cruises and 8 different ships. There have been a few when I wished they were though! The Opera singers absolutely don't mime and are invariably extremely talented. I'd be happy to buy a ticket to see some of them at home.

[jr72]

That's surprising, as ALL the MSC ships I've been on (seven in total, including Divina [in the Med.]) have the PORT side of the pool deck as the designated smoking side.

 

i suspect it was the previous cabin occupants, although they risk setting off the smoke detectors.

 

Pete

 

Well this cruise for this ship the smoking side was definitely the starboard side of the pool deck, and we were on that side on the deck directly below. Maybe it was the previous cabin occupants. We had two (adjoining) cabins and both had the same problem, although one seemed worse than the other.

[jr72]

They had the best entertainment of any ship I was on.

Well entertainment is certainly subjective. I think the best entertainment I have seen at sea would include:

- Disney Dreams on Disney (really all the Disney shows are great)

- Blue Man Group on NCL

- Ice skating shows on RCCL

- Second City on NCL

- Silhouette on X

- Broadway shows on several RCCL and NCL ships

- Cirque Dreams on NCL

I don’t think anything on Divina compares to those. All of these are cohesive, well thought-out shows that have a consistent theme well presented. I think the closest on Divina were the Michael Jackson tribute show (perhaps that is what someone meant by “miming”? Obviously in this show they didn’t sing but just mouthed the words, but that was the intention of this show) and the Paris show. I enjoyed both of those shows a lot and thought they were really well done (except for having the dancers wear witch noses and chins for no reason in the opening act of the Paris show). But I thought some other shows on Divina were pretty bad, as they just seemed to be random (talented) acts thrown together (at the end of the Pirates show, when they said “…and now you know the tale of Billy Bones” I laughed out loud as there was no tale told at all!).

As far as "the repetition"....the same cast was used, but the acts were different. MSC really knew how to take advantage of an extremely talented group of entertainers.

Well, there was two levels of “repetition”.

First, the fact that every single show was a “production” show. I imagine there are some people who like that and therefore would enjoy the entertainment on this ship a lot. Personally I would prefer to have maybe 3 productions shows, 1 comedian, 1 magician, 1 broadway singer, 1 hypnotist, etc. But that is personal preference.

Second, they did repeat specific acts. This I think is really a bad thing and should be fixed. Some specific examples:

- Lead male singer sang “That’s Amore” twice, once during the Frank Sinatra show and once during the Italian show. Both cases using identical hand movements (with his hands hitting his eyes like big pizza pies). Just 2 nights apart.

- Lead male singer sang “Quando Quando Quando” twice, again during the Frank Sinatra and Italian shows, two nights apart.

- One specific dance routine was danced twice by the production dancers, in two different shows

- The Zimboys did an identical trick, where one balanced upside down vertically on the other neck-to-neck, in two different shows.

There may have been some others – I think the Mongolian girls also repeated some trick, for example. But this is the type of thing that can easily be remedied – don’t sing the same song in two different shows!

MSC really knew how to take advantage of an extremely talented group of entertainers.

I agree they have talented group of entertainers, but disagree that they knew how to take advantage. I go back to the example I gave in my first post. They had a great singer singing “You Raise Me Up”. And they had great dancers playing the parts of pirates, some engaging the audience and others chasing each other around on stage. Individually they were great. Putting them together so that they are running through the audience scaring passengers at the same time as the singer is singing simply makes no sense. They need a better director for their talent.

BTW....nobody was forced to give standing ovations. Everybody wanted to.

This statement is factually incorrect. I am sure that some wanted to. But some did not want to but did anyway because it seemed to be what was expected of them.

For every single show, the cruise director essentially told the audience to applaud three times (“come on, let’s bring them out one more time!”). This sort of thing happens to some extent on every ship, but here it was extreme, in that every single show appeared to demand three ovations. There were times the cast members seemed to stand on stage for a good ten seconds waiting for the clapping to get louder before finally bowing.

Having said all that, I still think it was a great cruise, and I noted many positives in my first post. I just think it would worthwhile for them to spend some time thinking about how to improve the overall quality of the shows.

[cruisingcanadian]

I can confirm that on the Divina there is the smoking area on the starboard side which was very surprising to me. As a non-smoker I am used to walk on starboard side of every ship to avoid smokers. Well,Divina was different.

[maureencruiser]

My understand from other posts in this forum is they don't do comedy shows, love and marriage type, etc because of all the different languages being spoken. On Royal or Carnival, you're getting mostly Americans, not so much on the Divina. Everybody can appreciate acrobats, etc, you don't need to know the language.

[sidari]

Hi Pete ... It was not just us who mentioned the miming on the Orchestra, our table mates who were sat in different parts of the theatre also mentioned it! so we know for sure it was not just us who thought they were.

[jr72]

My understand from other posts in this forum is they don't do comedy shows, love and marriage type, etc because of all the different languages being spoken. On Royal or Carnival, you're getting mostly Americans, not so much on the Divina. Everybody can appreciate acrobats, etc, you don't need to know the language.

 

I assumed that was the reason. But the fact is the first night they played "Majority Rules" (in English) and there was lots of participation and it was very well received, so I think they can do things that maybe they think they can't.

[AmoMondo]

I assumed that was the reason. But the fact is the first night they played "Majority Rules" (in English) and there was lots of participation and it was very well received, so I think they can do things that maybe they think they can't.

 

It all depends on where the ship is sailing. On cruises out of the US with a reasonable percentage of English speaking passengers onboard then they will make adjustments to suit them. On other ships, don't expect that. Sure they could but would hardly be fair to the 90% of other passengers who don't speak English as a first language. I've once been on a cruise with them where only 10 passengers spoke English as a first language.

[American Bear]

They don't mime on the Divina!

As can be seen from this thread, shows are to someone's personal tastes!

The Divina has a strict no smoking policy in their cabins, and on their balconies! I think you're correct, some smoke from an upper deck might be what you smelled!

Thanks for your review, and opinions!:)

[Iluvcruising2]

Thanks for the reviewing. I am also thinking about trying MSC cruise lines.

 

What about pricing? Does MSC charge less than Royal? (Prices of Royal Caribbean cruises are really high these days)

[jkgourmet]

They don't mime on the Divina!

As can be seen from this thread, shows are to someone's personal tastes!

The Divina has a strict no smoking policy in their cabins, and on their balconies! I think you're correct, some smoke from an upper deck might be what you smelled!

Thanks for your review, and opinions!:)

 

And thanks for ending every sentence you write in these forums with an explanation point! :banghead:

[AmoMondo]

And thanks for ending every sentence you write in these forums with an explanation point! :banghead:

 

Exclamation mark, since we are now commenting on punctuation,....anyone want to descend to debating the merits of the Oxford comma whilst we are on the subject?

[American Bear]

And thanks for ending every sentence you write in these forums with an explanation point! :banghead:

 

LOL, What's an explanation point?:D

[FTLcruisers]

strangely enough our cabin on the Divina also smelled like smoke - can't remember what side of the ship we were on. We assumed it was because our neighbor smoked out on his balcony (the first day we saw him so we assume other times when we didn't see him). Our cabin attendant sprayed something which helped but the smell never completely went away.

 

Marianne

[thraak]

Had to return to our favorite ship!!!

We were on the Divina for a W. Caribbean sailing on 04/12/2014. We decided to try the NCL Getaway E. Caribbean cruise on 09/27/2014. Within two hours, my wife and I were pulling out out new Iphones and showing pictures of the Divina to others that we met at the pool bar. To fulfill our BOGO offer, we then sailed the NCL Sky Bahamas cruise on 02/16/2015.

We always knew that we’d return to Capt. Scala’s Divina and just booked the 04/04/2015 E. Caribbean sailing!!! It's great to be back.....I think American Bear once said that he thought we would be back. He was right and we had a feeling that for our style of cruising, we would return again.

Edited February 28, 2015 by thraak