Royal Caribbean International (RCL), Carnival Cruise Line (CCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) dominate the family-friendly mid-tier cruise market. Walt Disney (DIS), of course, has made its mark in that space, but it's generally a higher price point and a relatively small cruise line.
In the Florida market, sailing mostly to the Caribbean, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian are the big players, with Royal Caribbean -- specifically its largest Oasis-class ships -- being my personal favorite. MSC, a cruise line founded in Italy that made its mark in Europe, has been stepping up its offerings out of Florida.
MSC has sailed in the U.S. since the 1990s and now uses both Miami and Port Canaveral as homeports. It sails MSC Divina, a mid-size ship that accommodates a little over 4,300 passengers at full capacity, on Caribbean itineraries from Port Canaveral.
Essentially, Divina compares in size/passenger count to the Royal Caribbean Voyager and Freedom-class ships sailing Caribbean itineraries from multiple Florida ports. MSC Divina, in fact, often sits docked nearby Mariner of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship sailing similar itineraries.
MSC vs. Royal Caribbean: Getting Onboard
Royal Caribbean has a more polished pre-cruise system than MSC. Divina passengers, for example, can't attach a credit card to their account until they're onboard. The MSC website, however, does not say that and has a sport where you appear to be able to add a card, but you can't actually do it.
That creates a bit of a logjam at the onboard kiosks where you can link a card to your account. Aside from that, however, the MSC boarding process flows very smoothly with a near army of people ready to check you in and make sure you have either a vaccine card or a negative covid test.
Aside from that, both cruise lines have people both selling and offering technical help for their internet packages. There's also lots of opportunities to buy a drink package (and plenty of bars open where you can use said package).
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
MSC vs. Royal Caribbean: The Ships
Divina has more of a closed-off feel with no large open central area like the Royal Promenade (a deck-long series of shops, bars, and eateries on the fifth floor of Voyager and Freedom-class ships). Instead, Divina has a central area with winding staircases spanning multiple floors as its central area, a design similar to some older Royal Caribbean ships.
Instead of an open thoroughfare dotted with venues, Divina often requires you to pass through one venue to get to another. In some ways, that makes the MSC ship seem more intimate than many of Royal's larger ships, and it creates a more relaxed atmosphere.
The sort of closed-off nature of Divina, however, was a positive when it came to making friends onboard. Since you walkthrough venues to get to other venues, you stand a better chance of bumping into friends than if you're in a crowded, wide-open area like Royal Caribbean's Promenade.
Divina shines on its upper decks where it offers a covered pool area with a retractable roof, the main pool, and a hidden gem of an adults-only pool tucked away at the back of the ship (with a stunning view of its wake). The main pool has the requisite movie screen (though no movies were shown on my sailing) and hot tubs are dotted seemingly everywhere on the top three decks.
There's no shortage of pool chairs although the main pool can get very crowded on both lines. Divina has a fourth pool for its Yacht Club (suites) passengers, which is a feature Royal Caribbean only offers on its latest, largest ships.
Royal Caribbean's pool decks generally have brighter designs and the all-ages areas often have a lot of kids. MSC appears to attract fewer families (but my sailing was Sunday through Thursday during the school year, so it may not be fully representative.
MSC vs. Royal Caribbean: The Food
Royal Caribbean has a wider variety of for-free dining venue options, a buffet with more choices, and much larger dinner menus. It also offers more specialty restaurants (enough so you could skip the main dining room entirely on a 4-night cruise).
Main dining room dinners on Divina were adequate, but really just that, while Royal Caribbean varies from adequate to quite good. The best choices seemed to be the stock menu items (salmon, chicken, steak) that were offered every night, and, for a cruise line with Italian heritage, the pasta bordered on subpar.
That's not to say MSC failed in all its dining choices. Its free buffet pizza is much better than Royal Caribbean's onboard "Sorrento's" pizza place. And, the slightly added-fee pizza was quite good while the two gelato shops onboard offered interesting flavors for just a few dollars. Divina also had superior (added fee) coffee and pastries that beat out Royal Caribbean's comparable offering.
Divina also has an added-fee steakhouse and Japanese restaurant that were perhaps a small step below their counterparts on Royal Caribbean.
MSC vs. Royal Caribbean: The Onboard Experience
A cabin on Divina felt an awful lot like a cabin on a Royal Caribbean Freedom or Voyager-class ship. The design touches were a little different, and aside from offering tiny TVs (with very few channels), on Divina, the cabin experience was very similar.
Both the MSC ship and its similar-sized Royal Caribbean counterparts make it very easy to get a drink. Divina's various bars, however, generally lacked the distinct concepts that Royal Caribbean's bars offer. The Schooner Bar on Mariner of the Seas has a different menu and entertainment lineup (a piano bar versus an acoustic guitarist).
Mariner, and its sister ships, generally have nearly every bar being a concept with a unique menu and a theme. On Divina, every bar offers the same selection (more or less) and while the venue may have a name or a theme, there's a sameness to all the venues except the directly-named "Sports Bar," which had a lot of TVs and a small bowling alley.
Royal Caribbean's "Playmakers" sports bar tends to be in more central locations (it varies by ship) and has a more distinct drink menu, but both cruise lines deliver a good way to watch whatever the game might be.
Both cruise lines offer fairly similar casinos with a mix of slots and table games. Royal Caribbean seems to run more promotions each night, but the differences are slight. MSC and Royal Caribbean also offer fairly similar theater shows on this size ship with a mix of music revues, comedians, singers, and variety acts.
Divina rotates a piano player and acoustic guitarist in its central area (essentially where customer service is). Both were competent but were more background music than the often rollicking, packed crowds for the pianists in Royal Caribbean's Schooner Bar and the dedicated following for the guitarists in the British Pub that tends to form on most sailings.
Royal Caribbean ships are all in the process of getting upgraded, Starlink internet. Currently, Freedom and Voyager-class ships offer internet service that varies from okay to barely passable. MSC Divina has similar packages and pricing to its rival, but the onboard internet ranges from barely works to doesn't work even in the areas where the help desk said had the best signal.
Divina did, however, have a clear advantage in alcoholic beverage packages. Royal Caribbean sells a single-price, all-inclusive package that can often top $75 a day. MSC offers three tiers based on drink prices that made it possible for passengers to decide whether they wanted, well, mid-tier, or top-shelf liquors along with expanded beer and wine options at the higher levels.
MSC vs. Royal Caribbean: The Private Island
Royal Caribbean's "Perfect Day at CocoCay" offers a bit of everything as it has tranquil beaches, a huge pool that starts tranquil and builds into a party atmosphere, an added waterpark, and an added-fee Beach Club. It's essentially a choose-your-own-adventure island.
MSC's Ocean Cay offers a more serene beach experience with a huge tranquil beach, and not much else. It's not a party scene (although alcohol flows freely), but if you want relaxing, clear water, and a lot of sun, Ocean Cay offers a marvelous experience.
In addition, some MSC Divina cruises do an overnight at Ocean Cay complete with nighttime party and a laser show. Rain scuttled those plans (mostly) on my trip, but getting to overnight at the island was a bonus.
Both companies offer similar free barbecue options on the islands with Royal Caribbean having a few free "Snack Shacks" offering burgers and mozzarella sticks while Ocean Cay has some added-fee food trucks offering higher-end fare.
MSC vs. Royal Caribbean: Loyalty
As a Diamond-plus member on Royal Caribbean, I get a number of meaningful perks. First, I get access to a dedicated lounge which has a fancy coffee maker, a concierge who can make dinner/show reservations, a light breakfast in the morning, and an early evening appetizer offering. And, in lieu of the former "happy hour," which offered unlimited drinks in the lounge for a couple of hours each night, Diamond members now get four drink "tickets" each day that can be used any time of day, at any venue on board, while Diamond+ members get five.
MSC matched my status to their equivalent so I was "Gold" in their system. That's a positive, on paper, but having Gold status seemed to mean very little. In addition, MSC does not seem to have a formal casino loyalty program whereas Royal Caribbean's would offer me free drinks in the casino and a variety of gifts sent to my room most nights.
