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@CatLadyFemmehope all is well with you. We boarded MSC Virtuosa this morning and are currently docked next to Anthem so can see that you all arrived this morning. Hope you come back at some time to update and enjoy England.

We're onboard having lunch now but can see on the other group still lots still stuck in traffic. People around us in the traffic jam were getting out of taxis and walking. Apparently customs came on the ship this morning and found lots of contraband which caused the delay.

Finally made it to the YC check in area, all is good.🙂

Absolute chaos at the port this morning. We are at the traffic lights waiting to turn into dock gate 10 and haven't moved for an hour. Ship is late disembarking and AB parking are not letting anyone into the car park until it has cleared. Apparently Southampton is gridlocked.

Hi Heather, no don't think we know your friends, hope they enjoy MSC. I think they can give RCL a run for their money these days.

Arrived in Salisbury, let's get this holiday started.

We board Virtuosa tomorrow in Southampton for a 7 night cruise to Norway with stops in Haugesund, Olden, Flaam and Kristiansand and one sea day at either end. Some of you may remember we did a very similar cruise last May (with a couple of different ports) and we loved the area so much we booked to go again. It will be our third trip on Virtuosa and we are staying in a YC balcony, loved this last year and excited to be going back. The weather forecast for this trip looked terrible a week ago but has improved a bit now so have packed a real mix of clothes from hats and gloves to shorts and T shirts and everything in between, thank goodness we are driving to the port. 😄. We live around three and a half hours away from Southampton and sometimes drive early in the morning on the day but there are train strikes tomorrow and apparently lots of ships boarding at the port so we are driving to Salisbury this afternoon (about a 30 minute drive from the port) and staying overnight at the Premier Inn. We plan to get to the port fairly early and avoid the worst of the traffic. If anyone wants me to find out anything onboard let me know.

That certainly works then😁

I'm not techie at all but someone else on another live I was reading said if you are in the cabin it sometimes works better if you open the door. No idea if it will work though.

Last year on Virtuosa I think it was played at the farewell show when they have all the crew on stage. Going again on Friday so will listen out for it.

Definitely, both the roll call and the other group seem very quiet.

Thanks, didn't realise you could pre book, that might be good. I know about the star rating as Luke and Katie use Uber and Katie is always proud to tell us she is 5* too😁. Thanks to both you and @twangster for all the updates and pics. As always I've enjoyed following along and it's made me even more excited for our transit in Nov. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Yes, that's the one😀.

We will need to get from airport hotel at LAX to the port for our cruise in Nov. Sorry if this sounds stupid but never used Lyft or Uber (don't have them where we live in the UK) but are those prices plus tip and if so how do you add it?

Country, they are included in UK bookings these days.

I'll probably post when we are onboard, I usually do. We booked last summer and the YC prices only seem to have increased since then, from what I've seen even those who bid for upgrades have still ended up paying similar to what we did originally.

Look forward to hearing all about your trip. I sometimes do a live and even though I travel with my husband I enjoy having others along too on here. Sorry to hear about your wife and well done for getting out there.

Just caught up on this thread. Before I got to your post I saw Twangster's post about the C&A trivia and I said to Mark 'LB will win that'😁. Had to laugh when I saw you did.

We're on Virtuosa next week, it will be our third time in YC but never received this before. It asks for preferences for pillows, newspaper and bottle of wine/spirits, before we've always been asked this once we have boarded. Both DH and I have received separate emails but from previous experience the bottle of spirits and newspaper are per cabin not per person. Has this changed or will they just pick one of our choices? If it's still just one we will both pick the same to get something we both like.

As you say most English schools go back that week so probably will not be too bad although there will always be some who will take kids out of school. We are on Virtuosa next Friday 12th and our cruise and the following one has been deeply discounted by a couple of big cruise agents in the UK for the last few weeks so expecting a fairly busy ship. Imagine they will offer discounts all year if they have lots of availability. We are in YC and I have noticed several people in the FB group saying their upgrade bids for YC have been accepted today so imagine even that will be fairly full. From what I've read in the group it seems to be only the short cruises and the ones in peak school holidays that get the real complaints though.

I love this 😄. Would be great to quote to some of the moaners on the Virtuosa forum on the 'other' site but don't think I'd dare.

Fair enough. Still love RCL but Yacht Club honestly has the best service we've ever experienced on a cruise and most people seem to say the same.

Thanks for another great review, you always manage to bring everything to life so well. I much prefer the laid back atmosphere on the small and medium size ships too, Oasis class is just too big for me. We are going on Serenade later this year and looking forward to it, a bit apprehensive about the new menus though. As you are thinking of other cruise lines I just wondered if you've ever considered Yacht Club on MSC? I think of it like a smaller ship experience on a big ship with upgraded food and fantastic service. It's become our new favourite. Look forward to reading about it wherever you go.

Looking forward to reading, I always enjoy your reviews. We love TAs, all the sea days are so relaxing, they seem to pass so quickly. So sorry about your mother, I lost mine last summer and know how hard it is, have a fab time.

Thanks, I think we'll book it.