Cruise Review: MSC DIVINA Eastern Mediterranean

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Reviewed By:	Gerry Gaughran on 25 Aug 2013, 21:08
Destination:	Mediterranean
Cruise Line:	MSC
Ship:	MSC Divina
Sail Date:	Apr 2013
Times Cruised Before:	0

The Cruise began in the planning: Davidk in ETravel was of fantastic assistance! As we counted down to the Cruise, we had queries and David had the answers ans advice!
Later we decided on the drinks package - includes coffees, water, wine, coctails. It was great value about 22 euro per person. It was so handy ie we took bottled water with us on trips or to have in the cabin at night. We enjoyed a coctail & an ice-cream or two!!
We booked a cabin with balcony. This was a real treat. We could sit on our balcony and view the ports as we entered or left. Leaving port the music to "O Sole Mia" was played, so it was a bit of fun, waving from the balcony & those on land or on yachts waving in turn! The interior cabins seemed really nice also, by placement of mirrors etc seemed more spacious. It's a good idea to have your cabin near to the lifts & stairs, as it makes it much easier to find your way! We were told that cabins to the aft/rear are larger but might be noisier. We were on deck 11, it's a multi-storey ship.
We shared a evening dining table with other people in the Black Crab Restaurant. I can only compare this experience to being at a wedding. In hind sight we were lucky, as we liked the people with whom we were seated, they were good conversationalists and fun. For breakfast and lunch we went to the Villa Rossa. This was so fab! I thought our breakfast & lunch food was of better quality than the dinners!
We choose the early sitting. After dinner we went to the shows. These were entertaining, similar to what one experiences in a theme park, good quality and entertaining.
The staff on worked sooo hard & so professional! We had such a great holiday!
At all ports we disembarked and did our own thing. Only at Kataklon did we pre-book the bus to the site of the Olympics. There is a little greek village at Kataklon, the olympic site is 40 mins drive away. It's possibly a good idea to book in Istanbul as it's such a busy tourist destination and long queques to get into the blue mosque etc. Bari & Ismir, Dubrovnik & Venice - you can easily organise yourself (walking or by bus from these small ports). because we had our bottled water, dined on the ship etc, we spent very little in the ports. However, in those few hours we saw everything we needed or wanted to see!
WiFi and mobile phone connections are unreliable once out at sea. This seems obivious, but I'd not considered this in advance, so don't promise to phone home at a specific time!
This was our first cruise. We hope to do it again next year! It's very sociable but you have plenty of time and space for yourself and to relax & to do your own thing. It's a real treat. A bit like "disney" for adults - lovely cabins, lovely dining experiences, a bit of theatre, and different ports to explore on a daily basis!
By day, though a bit breezy you could do a bit of sunbating or have a drink by the pool! By night, there were plenty of bars, you could choose to dance or listen to music. Or simply walk the deck by moonlight and enjoy a coffee in the buffet/canteen area at top of the ship.
24 hours prior to leaving the ship, ensure that your disembarkation slot is early enough and co-ordinated with your taxi and flight times. If you have a morning flight, make sure you are included in the first batch to disembark.
The cruise is european in culture, alot of italians and other europeans. It's style is not english/americanised.
All in all, a great holiday. Recommend It! Thanks to Davidk & Colleagues at etravel.

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