Cruise Itinerary: Miami – At Sea – Cozumel – At Sea – Miami

I recently returned from a familiarization opportunity on MSC’s Divina.  This was my second time seeing the ship, with the first being a 2 night inaugural last April.  I found the additional length to be necessary to truly experience all that the ship has to offer and would like to share with you my experience and opinions of the ship and cruise line, particularly in our area of corporate and incentives and special events.

The ship itself is quite impressive at just over 139,000 tons and over 1700 staterooms.  This is a mega ship capable of holding over 4300 guests at full capacity.  The aesthetic is pleasing with a classic white hull and dark blue smokestack.  Upon boarding the ship, I immediately noticed that the décor was elegant and rich and very contemporary.  As with many ships built in France, there are wonderful marble, elegant color schemes and bright and well lit throughout.  Of the many ships that have debuted at this size over the past few years, the Divina stands out to me in that it truly feels like a cruise ship.  Many of the new megaliners are very hotel-like, with the only public ocean views being found on the pool deck.  This is not the case on Divina, with several windows on main public decks as well as a classic promenade.  

The main atrium is just three decks tall and is a central hub of the vessel, housing the front office, shore excursion desk on the lowest levels and bars and lounges on the higher decks.  The highlight of the atrium is the Swarovski crystal staircases.  They definitely stand out!

The ship is laid out smartly with the majority of the public areas located on Decks 5, 6, and 7 and then again on the upper decks 11 and above.  The main thoroughfares of the ship are decks 6 and 7 which feature most of the signature locations including main theater , several bars and restaurants. 

I was in a balcony stateroom on deck 10.  The staterooms are well appointed with in room safe, ship to shore telephones, interactive televisions, and mini bars.   The décor was very contemporary with dark woods, and light brown and brown highlights.  There is plenty of closet space and the bathroom features a full sink-top and innovative shower doors that collapse into the shower when not in use for even more space.  I would estimate my stateroom to be about 180 to 190 square feet and my balcony about 40 square feet.  The staterooms were very comfortable with modern plush mattresses and a very accurate thermostat.

Highlights of the public areas to me were the Piazza Del Doge on Deck 6 which is a wonderful café and gelateria, the Golden Jazz Bar on deck 7 and both main lounges – the Pantheon Theater and The Black and White Lounge.

There are also several other bars and lounges including the Casino Veneziano, The Cigar Bar, The La Luna Piano Bar, The Sports Bar (with mini bowling alleys), and Caffe Italia.  For the upper decks, the highlights to me were the Disarono Bar and infinity pool aft on deck 15 and the main pool area midship on Deck 14.

Now for the dining experiences….

Our group was lucky enough to experience most of the dining options on MSC Divina.  Our first night, we ate in one of the main restaurants, The Black Crab.  The menu was extensive with 3 to 4 choices in each course as well as an “available daily” section which were chicken, steak and salmon variations.  The food and service was good.  What stood out was that the wine lists were extensive and the Italian wines were plentiful and a very good value.  We enjoyed a nice Barbera this evening for just around $35.  The wine attendants were helpful and knowledgeable 

For a main dining room food quality, I would say that it is much improved over my previous experience.  The pasta dishes were the best and the overall taste and quality were better than several mass market competitors.

For our second day, we started with lunch in Eataly Steakhouse.  Created by the famous chefs Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Joe Bastianich, Eataly is an Italian specialty deli/supermarket and restaurant all in one. Similar in concept to the restaurant on land of the same name with locations in Italy, Japan, Dubai, Istanbul, Chicago and New York.  Our lunch was excellent.  We shared antipasti and cheeses to start and then onto cooked to order ribeye and perfectly al dente pasta.  We complimented this lunch with another nice Italian wine.    Eataly is an ala carte restaurant with appetizers ranging from $5 to $12, pastas from $8 to $10 and steaks from $12 - $25.  It is open for lunch and dinner with the same menu.  We affectionately called this lunch “first dinner”.

That evening we dined in the other specialty restaurant “Galaxy” which is located on deck 16 overlooking the ocean and the pool deck.  The Galaxy is also the ship’s disco but the restaurant area is separated with a velvet rope and seats about 55 guests.  The menu here is eclectic and orders are taken on a tablet.  There are 2 ways to order – either ala carte or there are 3 preset menus ranging from $29 per person to $59 per person.  Many of our group was still full from our “first dinner” but we pressed in sampled the Galaxy ala carte.   The food and service here was very good.  The risotto was excellent.

On our third night, we decided to go to the pizzeria and we ordered 2 specialty pizza ($12 each) and had a couple of bottles of a very nice wine recommended by our waiter after our selected bottle was off…twice.  His recommendation was excellent.  It was apparent to us that most waiters and servers knew their wines quite well.

Our final night on board, we were invited to dine with the Captain in the Black Crab restaurant.  Again, the main dining room delivered good food and we had excellent service as we had an abundance of servers being at this special table.  I was seated next to the Chief Engineer and he was very personable and I followed all of his suggestions on what to order which was a good move. 

Ok so those were our dinners.   I never had breakfast outside my stateroom.  Each night, I ordered from the room service menu which was limited to coffee, juices, yogurt, fruits, breads and pastries.   The European touch was especially noticeable here with steamed milk offered with coffee.  This was a great treat for me each morning.  How they keep it piping hot while delivering is still a mystery to me. 

The Calumet buffet is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night.  I only experienced this twice with one time being lunch and another late night.   The buffet featured several hot stations as well as salads and fruits.   There is also a pizza oven constantly putting out several varieties of pizza besides just pepperoni or cheese.  There were eggplant, olive, tomato toppings as well as several meats including sausage and prosciutto.  The pizzas here are complimentary and still very good but not as exotic as those available at additional cost in the pizzeria on deck 6.

The pastries and gelato available for purchase in Piazza Del Doge were excellent.  Cannoli was fantastic and the pistachio gelato was also a favorite.  Prices from $2 to $5. 

The Caffe Italia features Segafredo coffees and chocolates. Coffees from $3 to $8.  This Caffe was always busy as it’s very difficult to walk by without stopping in with that strong aroma in the air.

I would like to complete this report speaking about the experience and service on board MSC Divina.  As a primarily international cruise line, MSC does have some nuances that are different than we might expect as North American clientele.  First would be the languages.  English is the primary language but announcement are repeated in Spanish and Italian.  The menus in most restaurants and bars are printed in English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German.   As MSC is very popular in Europe, this is a necessity.  Secondly, the service is European.  What I mean by this is that servers are not aggressive and generally do not initiate with the client.   I found this to be refreshing at times such as when I was at the Caffe but also a bit frustrating at times like when I was at the pool.   I had a candid conversation with one of the excellent waiters in the specialty restaurant and he was very forthcoming in the differences in serving Europeans and Americans.  He conceded that it was a learning process for him as well as many crew with this being his second season in North America.   The analogy he gave me that I thought was particularly telling was when he spoke about learning to serve after dinner coffee to Americans…”In Europe, coffee is coffee.  In America, some drink decaf, some want cream, some milk, some sugar, some sweetener.” 

Overall, my experience on MSC’s Divina was positive.  The ship itself is still very new and is impressive.  The cabin product is very good.  The food and service have gotten significantly better than it was on our previous experiences. 

There is also the MSC Yacht Club, an exclusive 69 suite area of the ship that I was not able to experience as a group had “chartered” the Yacht Club.   The Yacht Club features key card access and has their own lobby, bar, pool and private restaurant.  This is an excellent way to really set apart your program.  Yacht Club benefits start at embarkation with butler service from check in direct to the suite.

For the C&I and Special Event market, I do feel MSC is a viable big ship option.   There are several lounges that work well for private events from 20 to 300.  There is also a conference room with ocean views which is nice for meetings of up to 35.  MSC also has a designated group coordinator that works exclusively with the C&I groups which is very helpful.  With Divina being deployed year round from Miami beginning this November, MSC immediately becomes a consideration especially in the summer and fall when there are fewer cruise lines in the Caribbean.