My wife and I recently sailed on a 3-night voyage on the MSC Divina, and this special introductory cruise sailed from Miami to Port Canaveral, where we remained onboard due to the inclement weather, and then headed to Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian’s private beach island), where the stop had to be canceled due to high winds and rough seas.

As you may have seen or heard if you keep tabs on the happenings in the cruise industry, there was a tremendous amount of fanfare, and an extensive marketing effort by MSC, well in advance of the arrival of the Divina in the United States. Following a lengthy Trans-Atlantic voyage the ship, which is being heralded by MSC as “a Diva like no other,” sailed into Miami early on the morning of November 19th. A video of the ship’s arrival, where it was accompanied by a flotilla of Fiats that had actually been turned into zippy little motor boats, can be seen on MSC’s web site.

MSC really pulled out all of the stops for this celebratory voyage. There was a great seven-piece band from Miami playing on the pool deck on the day of departure, and prior to heading to sea we were treated to a fantastic fireworks show. Sticking to the Diva theme which has been established for the Divina, MSC also went to the expense of hiring about half a dozen models for the occasion. These lovely young ladies were dressed in slinky red dresses, high heels and beautiful hats, and they spent their time strolling around the ship and posing for pictures with the obviously overjoyed and excited guests. All of these pre-cruise activities, combined with the open bar and the wait staff freely distributing cocktails, created quite a level of excitement and anticipation as our beautiful ship headed out to sea. Read more