I’m back on board the MSC Divina for a 7-night, Eastern Caribbean cruise with stops in St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, PR; and Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island) in the Bahamas. When Divina returned to Miami just a few weeks ago, she returned to sail from the port year-round, as opposed to seasonally as she did with her first few years here in the United States. With MSC Cruises’ plans to aggressively target North American cruisers, it makes sense to keep a ship here year-round. While right now she is the only MSC ship based in the US, in 2017 she will be joined by the first Seaside-class ship built by MSC, specifically for America, and will be here year-round as well.
When Divina first arrived in the US, she was met with mixed reviews by cruisers who felt the ship was “too European.” MSC is an Italian line and the European culture that Americans aren’t accustomed to was very prevalent on the ship. From food to entertainment to onboard programs, the ship felt very European, not “Americanized” like more familiar names such as Royal Caribbean or Carnival.
In an attempt to reintroduce itself to the market, Divina returned to Miami with a new captain (he’s still Italian), more than 300 replacement crew (mainly Filipino), retooled menus in all the restaurants, and six shows that are either brand new to the ship or have been re-tuned.
The purpose of my journey this week is to see what a difference a year makes. I’ll be looking at areas I thought needed improvements such as entertainment and food and seeing if Divina now truly is a ship American cruisers can embrace as one of their own.
It’s certainly going to be an interesting and exciting week!
I arrived at PortMiami at 1pm, dropped off my bags, and headed into the terminal where three lines were forming to passport/boarding pass checks. Many times the lines backed up as passengers did not have the proper version of their boarding pass to show with their passports. When the lines stopped, people yelled. In multiple languages. Not caring about who or what they were yelling at. They just wanted to get through the line and on the ship. One gregariously large security woman stopped her line and yelled right back at a passenger and told her, “You better stop yelling. Now!”
Go, girl!
From the first checkpoint, on to the next. The metal detectors. It’s here where a barrage of beeps and buzzers were going off as metal detectors picked up on hip implants, belts left on by mistake, and keys left in pockets. Hip implants seem to be the most common offender, as calls for “male assist” and “female assist” permeated the terminal. Yes, this sailing appears to be skewing toward an older demographic – as most cruises longer than 5 – 7 days do. There are families with kids, but I would say 55+ is the average age and many, many are European.
Once through the security checks, it was time to stand in a long line to reach the check-in desk where your picture is taken and you’re issued your stateroom key card. For those staying in the luxurious MSC Yacht Club, a ship-within-a-ship, there is a dedicated check-in area as well as a dedicated waiting lounge. They were boarding people by zones, much like they do on an aircraft, with numbers being called that match a boarding card you’re issued at check-in. By the time I was checked in, they were now boarding all passengers so there was no additional wait time.
The total wait time from curb to ship – is a little long – 45 minutes.
MSC is building a new terminal in Miami to accommodate MSC Seaside when she makes her debut, hopefully, the new terminal will improve the boarding process somewhat.
Once onboard, staterooms were not ready, however, a buffet lunch was being served. Since it was raining outside, the outside decks were empty except for those who braved the elements to have a cold, frozen drink by the pool. Under cover of course.
My first stop was to the Black Crab dining room to see whether or not my request for a table alone was accommodated. The line to see the maître d’ was long. Most of the people in line were looking to be changed from late seating (8:30pm) to early seating (5:45pm). After about 30 minutes, it was my turn. I was originally not assigned a table alone but was given one. Since the line behind me nearly tripled in size since I got there, I wasn’t going to belabor the poor guy any further by asking him to make my specialty dining reservations, I simply thanked him for making the table change and went on my way.
As I was walking away, the announcement was made that staterooms were ready, so I headed up to Deck 11 to check out Balcony Stateroom 11163. It is the same layout as my last stateroom on Deck 12, however, instead of gold and dark brown colors, this room was red and dark brown. Two “loving” swans were on my bed, as my stateroom attendant must have thought I was on my honeymoon. – even though I’m traveling solo.
Longing to get a piece of what I crowned the “Best Pizza at Sea” last December on Divina, I headed up to the ship’s buffet to grab a slice or two. For embarkation day, the buffet was not that busy. There were still plenty of available tables and servers were bustling to clear ones that were vacated. As noted on my last sailing on Divina, the buffet features an incredible variety of food at every turn. That has not changed. If you’re one to rate buffet variety on a scale of 1 – 5, this would have to come in at a 6. There simply is an incredible variety, and not just the same food repeated at every station along the line. It’s all different with repeats by side, not by station.
The pizza was being hand-tossed and hand-made, as opposed to frozen and baked off, and as quickly as the pizza bakers were laying out fresh pies, slices were disappearing. There were about five varieties of pizza to choose from, all looking absolutely delicious. I went traditional (in the American sense of the word) and grabbed a slice of plain cheese and a slice of pepperoni. Slices were huge and foldable, with a thin, crust and a taste that would rival any of your best New York joints. After all, with this being an Italian ship, I would expect two things – excellent pizza and excellent pasta.
As I sat enjoying my two slices of heaven, I heard a crash followed by loud screaming. I looked around and just a few feet away from me a woman was flat on her back having fallen while talking through the buffet. As she screamed for help, the crew came over to assist, while passengers carrying trays of food walked by as if nothing was happening. Armchair doctors and nurses were hollering to “get ice,” “raise her head,” “don’t move her,” and “don’t touch her neck,” while the crew summoned the medical team to come to assess. After about ten minutes two nurses arrived with a wheelchair, got the woman up to her feet, and as if it were a Christmas miracle, put her in the wheelchair and she was wheeling herself around. I can only assume she declined medical attention.
Next up was the selection of the beverage package. Instead of buying an all-you-can-drink package this time around, I opted for a coupon book with coupons that are good for just about any drink onboard – soft or hard, even ice cream. The “More or Less Escape Pass” includes 18 vouchers for $84. Other packages are available for both adults and children. Beverage packages are available for sale all around the ship, you won’t have a hard time finding a place to buy yours.
I have to stay, stepping onboard Divina today was like coming home. Several crew members, from bar staff to the photographer who last year took my photo which is my profile picture on my social media channels, recognized me and welcomed me back. How they can remember people when they encounter four thousand new people a week, is beyond me. But hey, it felt good to be recognized.
Around the ship, the crew from all departments were working hard to put up the ship’s Christmas decorations and sounds of the season could be heard throughout the ship.
5:00pm rolled around quickly and it was time for the obligatory muster drill. On MSC Divina, the muster drill is done with life jackets, a departure from other cruise lines where you do not need to bring or don your floaties. As the signal called us to muster, staircases quickly filled with people lugging their life vests, straps dragging behind them, bouncing off the steps as one pays careful attention not to step on a dangling strap causing a chain reaction of stair-falling.
Once at muster, instructions were given on how to don the life jacket in five different languages. The muster took about 20 minutes, mainly due to it being done five times. Throughout the whole drill, passengers did not heed instructions to remain quiet. Talking over the announcements and not paying attention was the name of the game here. It’s unfortunate. Although the chances of an incident at sea happening where you will be called to muster are fairly low, it can happen, and if you don’t pay attention during the drill and know what to do or where to go, well…. just pay attention.
Back at my stateroom, my luggage was delivered. The clothes I took care to pack so they would not get wrinkled were, of course, damp and wrinkled. One can only assume with the rain in Miami, the bags sat outside and got wet. Nothing that a quick hang in a steamy shower won’t fix, I guess.
As the rain came down, I sat outside on my balcony watching the parade of ships pass by the Divina, turn around in the port’s turning basin, and pass by the Divina again making their way to the open ocean. It was a great few hours for ship-watching! Finally, our 7pm appointed departure time came, and with the lines drawn and the bow thrusters pushing the Divina away from the dock, we began our own trek out to sea.
There was only one performance scheduled for this evening and it was the welcome aboard show. Andre, the same cruise director from last year, welcomed us, told the same jokes all cruise directors tell, and introduced us to his entertainment staff as well as some “Baseball Legends” who are on this cruise. Unbeknownst to me, this is a “Baseball Legends” cruise and the following players are on board:
- Juan Marichal: Hall-of-Famer with 243 wins.
- Amos Otis: Kansas City Royals Center Fielder.
- John Castino: 1979 American League Rookie of the Year from the Chicago Twins
- Gorman Thomas: 2 time American League Home Run King
- Stan Bahnsen: the event host and former New York Yankee Rookie of the Year and won 21 games with the Chicago White Sox.
They will be putting on clinics, hosting movie screenings, and having a free autograph session during the cruise.
For showtime, the evening’s production was “Swing.” Returning to the stage were some very familiar faces from my last cruise. The main male vocalist is back along with several of the same dancers from last year. While Divina does not have a live orchestra, the acoustics in the ship’s Pantheon Theater is incredible. The theater itself is gorgeous, with silver walls and plush, red velvet chairs, it’s the largest showroom at sea, seating 1,632 people.
The room was packed as the ship’s cast sang a variety of songs from the Great American Songbook and even The Beatles. The performance ended with a large video screen descending from the ceiling and strains of Sinatra’s “My Way” began to fill the auditorium. As the lead vocalist began to sing, clips of Sinatra over the years played behind him, as the two sang the song as a duet. As a huge Sinatra fan, this was an incredible way to end the show.
While the set was minimal, this was just the teaser performance, but for a teaser, it was a good performance overall. Some of the other vocalists had very pronounced accents which stood out when they sang. Although odd to hear a Beatles tune with an accent, it didn’t detract, it made it a little more enjoyable actually.
One thing I did take note of during the entire show, people kept walking in! Not five minutes in, not ten, not 20, some were still walking in at the very end of the show climbing over others to grab what few seats were left. Plain rude. I would have preferred to see the ship’s crew on hand to shut down the theater ten minutes after the start of the show to avoid walk-ins from disturbing others already seated and enjoying the performance.
Walking from the theater to the main dining room for dinner was interesting. While none of us seemed to notice the rocking and rolling of the ship during the show, it was well evidenced on the way out as many of us, myself included, were stumbling and reaching for walls as the ship tossed around like a bunch of drunks stumbling back from the bar. The motion continued through dinner and it was smooth sailing for the rest of the night once we left the rainy, windy weather of Miami behind us.
Speaking of dinner. I arrived in the Villa Rosa dining room for the 8:30pm seating. The server who escorted me to my table had a hard time finding table 970. We made several rounds around the restaurant as if we were on a tour before finally finding the table at the back of the ship next to the windows overlooking the stern – a good view during the day, but a dark one at night. I was presented with a menu, water poured, and a selection of bread presented for selection, and my server, Blasio from India, came over to introduce himself and asked if I wanted a drink.
I told him I’d like a bottle of San Pellegrino water and a martini. He said he would get a bar server to come over and take my drink order, as he could only take a soft drink, beer, and wine orders. That was at 8:38pm. He came over several times between then and 9pm when the bar server never came over. I then asked him to cancel the bar server and bring me a glass of wine, which he did very quickly.
I’ll give a martini order another shot at dinner this evening, but I have a feeling beer, wine, and soft drinks are about the only thing you’re going to get quickly in the main dining room. We shall see.
As I was sitting taking in the room around me, Liviu, one of the head waiters, and Mario the maitre ‘d recognized me and came over to chat and see how things were going. We discussed some of the changes to the ship, especially the food and some of the dining room staff that had been swapped out for Divina’s return to America.
First up was a Shrimp Cocktail. There were five very (very) small, bay shrimp covered in cocktail sauce served in a bowl with their tails on. While the cocktail sauce had a good taste and was spicy enough, the shrimp were way too small to enjoy as a shrimp cocktail, and the fact that their tails were still on, made for a sloppy mess trying to eat what little bit of shrimp remained.
Next up was a Fire Roasted Tomato Cream Soup that arrived hot, was flavorful, and was an overall good choice.
I asked for a pasta course, which wasn’t part of the menu, however, I was accommodated. I asked Blasio for his recommendation for pasta and he suggested the Maccheroni Alla Boscaiola (tomato sauce, ham, mushroom, and green peas, served with fresh pasta made on board). The pasta arrived hot, he topped it with some freshly grated cheese and it was simply delicious. It was cooked a perfect al dente and the sauce had a wonderful flavor that wasn’t too sweet or acidic. This dish quickly became the shining star of the meal. Again, Italian ship – excellent pasta is to be expected.
For the main, I chose the Dijon & Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb (with rosemary reduction, roast potatoes, and French ratatouille). Here’s where disappointment set in. There were three double-cut chops, two of them were cooked well done, and the third was cooked rare. All were very small, fatty, and tough. The crust had a good flavor as did the sauce. If the chops were cooked a proper temperature and were a bit larger, it would have been a good meal. The French ratatouille was delicious as well, although a bit on the salty side.
For dessert, I chose the no-sugar-added Apple Crumb with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For a sugar-free dessert, it wasn’t bad.
After dinner, Mario and Liviu returned to see how things were. When I told them I had the lamb chops, they both said, “they weren’t good tonight were they?” I appreciate the fact that they acknowledged the lamb was not up to par. We discussed the rest of my dinner plans for the cruise and told them where I would be dining. At that point, I was not going to be back in the main dining room until Wednesday. “Please come tomorrow, it’s the Gala Dinner and we will do our best for you,” Liviu said.
He brought me over the menu for the Gala Dinner and asked what I would probably be having. I expressed interest in the surf and turf and he said, “we will make it right for you.” I agreed to have them cancel my reservation at Eataly Steakhouse (I was scheduled to be there for two nights) and have dinner in the dining room for the formal night big affair.
After dinner, I made my rounds around the ship and out onto the outer decks where it was still a bit rainy. Having been a long day, I retired early, got into bed, and went online to buy an Internet package. I kept trying to order (3 times) and each order was marked “pending” and would not go through. I called Guest Relations and after an extended amount of time on hold, was told to try again and it should work. It didn’t.
I got out of bed, got dressed, and headed down to the Guest Services desk to see what was wrong. Apparently, the credit card I gave at check-in to have on file for my onboard purchases, didn’t register and they did not have one on file for me, so no purchases were going through. After re-adding it, I was good to go.
There are several different Internet packages available on this cruise and they are all discounted:
- 1 hour – $14.95
- 1.4 hours – $22.45
- 5 hours – $49.95
- 8 hours – $74.95
- 24 hours – $149.95
There are no unlimited options and you must log in and out after each session so you don’t blow through minutes unexpectedly.
The speed was very good. I was able to FaceTime without any connection or video issues.
This morning we are at sea and will be again tomorrow with our first port-of-call not until Tuesday. The seas are calm, the sun is out and there are several other cruise ships sailing with us along the route. I’m doing today’s entry from the ship’s buffet which was very busy for breakfast. Buffet breakfast is served until 10am, and I got here around 9:30am. I had a bit of a hard time finding a table but was able to secure one aft of the ship along the glass windows that provide a spectacular view of the ship’s wake. Half of the buffet line was being shut down when I arrived as it was getting cleaned and prepared for lunch service which starts at 11.
P.S. – I forgot to pack toothpaste. I just went to the shops onboard and guess what. They don’t sell sundries. Ummm…. I need to get creative.
Personal Day-By-Day MSC Divina Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the MSC Divina:
Photography is a key aspect of preserving vacation memories, and my recent voyage aboard the MSC Divina was no exception. From the ship’s striking interior design and inviting swimming pools to my own cozy cabin, I captured numerous photos that showcase the highlights of my journey. If you’d like to take a look at my snapshots, feel free to check out the MSC Divina Photo Tour or browse the daily cruise review by clicking on the links provided above.