MSC Divina Review- All About the Ship & Activities

The Divina is an elegant and amazingly beautiful ship. Many long time cruisers say the Divina is the classiest ship they have sailed on and to date I would agree. The theater (pictured above) is a stand out venue for the thoroughly entertaining shows offered. When we arrived on embarkation day there were several musical performers in the large open space near the Divina Bar. The musicians were quite talented. The public areas for guests consist of several lounges- such as the Black and White Lounge, multiple pools (waterslide too) and relaxation areas, basketball/soccer court. arcade, casino, a grand theater, a kids club, mini bowling,a teen club, a Galaxy disco, bars, a humongous buffet, two main dining rooms and several specialty dining rooms (paid), a spa, fitness center, simulator ride, 4 D theater and many artsy areas to relax around the ship.

I was impressed with the number of pools and hot tubs available, with one pool/hot tub area being in a covered solarium so if the weather was bad guests could still enjoy the water. The Divina is definitely not an adventurous ship however, and you will not find rock walls, ropes courses, mini golf or a Flow Rider. You will find plenty of space to relax and enjoy the sun and water, as well as many calming and quiet areas around the ship to decompress. As for the kids and teens activities there is a program, but it is not nearly as robust as the other mainstream cruiselines. The "Junior" clubs had some fun craft activities and games, as well as a parade around the ship. Legos and Smurfs are the main themes for the younger crew, and all the kiddos we saw seemed to be having fun. I thought it was great that when I stopped by the kids club and asked if I could take some photos for my blog the gals in charge told me sure but I was not allowed to take any pictures of the children-just the empty areas. I appreciate that they are careful and take the safety of the littlest passengers seriously. :) The teen club was open in the evenings and my son did enjoy hanging out with the others teens, ages 13-17. They did a few games, a little dancing and mostly hanging out and playing foosball and such. There was no sign up required and the teens came and went as they pleased- so be aware that if your teen, whether they are 13 or 17, will have freedom to come and go unaccounted for. This was pretty much the case on NCL and Carnival too, although adults needed to sign up their teens for the O2 and Entorouge Teen Clubs prior to them entering the clubs. 
We were a bit disappointed in the lack of activities offered during the day on the Divina. Granted, two port days took over the majority of time but more than one activity every hour or so should have been offered in my opinion. We did enjoy a few dance lessons (although one did not occur due to lack of participants), several trivia games (which were actually really hard!:) ), a "White, Blue and Red" Deck Party (yes- oddly worded for the fourth of July:) ),
and we enjoyed various musicians around the ship. The pool was cooler than the outdoor temperature and all the hot tubs but one were hot. The shows were a highlight for us and we really loved the Starwalker show, which was a Michael Jackson themed show with an incredibly talented MJ lookalike. The Mask was another unique, fun and festive show, as well as the Italian Night performance. The singers are extremely talented and we all enjoyed the cultural glimpse into Italian music. We are really looking forward to the Opera on the seven day cruise on the Divina we are taking in December, as well as the other exciting shows they offer. 
Our room was very nice and well appointed. We had cabin 11011, which was as far forward as you could get. Our legs got a workout- which was needed after all of our indulgence anyhow! :) The room seemed bigger than any other balcony room we have had on Carnival and Norwegian, and the outdoor balcony was definitely larger than the standard Norwegian and Carnival balconies. My son got a pull out sofa bed which was a queen, and he was very comfortable. Our steward, Adi, was super nice and made the bed back into a couch every morning after we went to breakfast. I say this because on Norwegian and Carnival the stewards left the couch turned into bed like that all week, thus making the couch unusable. There was lots of closet space, a flat screen television and Adi kept our ice bucket filled. The bathroom was decent sized, although the fold in shower doors were odd. 

The photo directly above is of our balcony view. We had a steel hull, meaning if we sat back we could not see through plexiglass. We could lift our heads and view the vast ocean, but if we wanted a more direct view we needed to stand. This was our first time with a steel hull balcony and while it was still nice we are glad our room for December has a plexiglass railing. The one nice thing about being under a steel hull roof and more expansive balcony was that when it rained we were covered and still fine to sit outside. 
The Divina is a gorgeous, new ship with many enjoyable amenities. I will report back after our December voyage about a full week's worth of activities, which will hopefully be more plentiful and varied. Look for Divina Hints and Tips coming next, as well as a review of The Embassy Suites Miami port hotel and Watlings Distillery in Nassau! :)