lovetravel1114

It has been a few months since you posted the questions but hopefully might be helpful. I have 2 children under 13 last time when I sailed and encountered same question. When you book a table you need to tell them number of the people that you are actually booking for regardless of the package. When you dine, they will give you a la carte or children's menu (if they have one) that you can choose, but as long as you are in the same group/table you can share your food. For us it actually worked out more expensive as my 12 yrs old had adult appetite and portion, and we wanted to buy the package but they couldn't provide the package for under 13 so we had to pay a la carte for her which was more expensive!

Hello, I am looking into 2025 summer Alaska sailing and was disappointed to find out MSC doesn't do Alaska cruise, and I wonder which cruise line & cruise ship I should choose if I like MSC?! I have done MSC, Celebrity, RCCL, NCL and some of small expedition cruises in the past and found MSC best suited to my family in recent years. For MSC I have done only on YC but even to compare with suite class experience with other liners I still prefer MSC as we felt it more diverse (not only focused on North America/British passengers in terms of food, entertainment, etc). And also it seems shore excursion was cheaper than other cruise line in general which I am expecting will be important factor in Alaska cruise! I've done Alaska cruise about 25 yrs ago with my parents on one of Celebrity ship and had great time, but can't compare the experience because I was a child just following my parents and this time it will be myself, husband & my two children age 9,14 and I am in charge of organising! Any comment/recommendation will be hugely appreciated!!

Lucky you 3 lobster tails!!!! 🤩 I would have requested to cook again if it was overcooked but unfortunately there was no escape for my lobster. We had 4 tails on our table for each of us that had exactly same status, broken and mushy like powders, which means it was frozen but not properly frozen/stored or defrosted. I addressed it to YC to warn them they might have bad supplier, and they knew about the situation but I guess there was nothing they could do!

Lobster on YC virtuosa on 2022 summer sailing in Europe was the worst lobster tail in my life and I raised the issue with YC at the time. It was barely suitable for stock use grade so something with supplier or shipboard storage must have gone wrong. I am not picky at all but couldn't eat, and my 2 children refused to eat at their first bite. We sailed last year again YC and had lobster in one of the night (think it was gala night) but not great, acceptable but would not pay to have it in the restaurant. It could be different depending on the region but don't have hight expectation!

Information for someone who hasn't booked - If you call them and say you're about to book your cruise and you want to have a club number, they can issue you a number straight away and you can book from there. You can also get additional discount if it is more than 9 (or 6?) month ahead. So if you're booking for the first time and have no voyagers club number, give MSC a call and get the number first before booking as it will save all the hassles for reissuing invoice.

They do book excursions but I doubt they book fun pass activities (bowling, simulators, etc) but could be different in different voyages so worth to check once you are on board.

I don't know where your embarkation port is but last time I arrived at Southampton 11am and this time will try to arrive by 10 or maybe little earlier counting the parking time. When I arrived at 11 last time, there was very very long queue for AB parking which we will be using this time.

Mark_T, sorry to hear that you had to have similar experience with specialty dining.It is more disappointing to know that it was even on different ship! I can't believe I have come to this but I think I am going to opt for the package again for upcoming sailing next month. It is 2 weeks voyage and I want to give some variety on the dining from YC/buffet menu.. I agree with your opinion on the steak house and only want to try 2 restaurants this time, Indochine and Mexican, but have to buy 4 restaurants package to cover these 2! I roughly calculated the cost and realized that there are not much difference btwn buying 4 restaurants dining package vs 2 restaurants paying everying full price (including 2 children who will eat adult food). Last time I was really annoyed that children were not allowed to buy dining package and having to pay full price for them when they refused to eat from children's menu..MSC should improve children's menu or allow to buy the package for them at least! There was no pizza restaurants in Virtuosa as far as I remember, only pizza corner in buffet or by the pool deck which was absoultely fantastic quality. We also had pizza delivered to the cabin at night...It was nice surprise that they even have insulated pizza carrier bag and crew member took out steaming hot pizzas out of the bag! 🙂

Hello, I am sailing on Virtuosa next month and wonder if I can purchase dining package for children. I have sailed on the same ship last year and purchased dining packages only for adults because the website didn't allowed me to buy one for children. Looking at the website just now, it still doesn't allow me to buy one for children. But reading another topic from last year which was US sailing, it seems MSC allowed children to buy the package with 50% discounted price. I am not sure if it is regional promotion or if I am missing anything. Does any one have experience with this issue?

Some of the YC dinner menus from MSC Virtuosa, October 2022

MSC website/app is my least favourite and there are so many glitch in them and between them! Last time I couldn't check-in via website and had to do manually over the phone for 4 people. Eventhough family were all checked in over the phone, app still showed we were not checked in making me nervous...! But at least App, I think it gets better once you are connected to ships wi-fi and for me luckily everything was correctly loaded. Hope everything is sorted out well for you and have fun cruising!

I had no problem using prepaid products. photos, internet and game credit. It was all correctly loaded. Re photos, I was asked for the cruise card. But if you take a photo as a group you could just give the card of the cabin that has package on? I am not sure if msc has 'face recognition' system that rccl use. When I was on rccl, I had package and my parents in different cabin didn't, and rccl automatically varified people per cabin with their face recognition system, so the photos taken only by my parents was not covered by the package that I bought under my cabin.

One more thing! If you like 'cirque du soleil' type of performance, you must try 2 carousel productions on board. They are like mini version of cirque du soleil. Both are quite similar to each other but I watched both and like them all. Each show was about 15 pounds if you book on board, and 9 pounds if you pre purchase. This is the only show that you need to pay.

I sailed on virtuosa YC last October and will sail again on 15th July which is I guess right after your sailing! Our October sailing was first MSC cruise and we liked it so booked this July sailing while on board. My impression about MSC is unique, more european feeling which caters international non-English spoken passangers (more shows that doesn't require language) as well as English speakers. Food also more European compare to american line or english line. I can't compare with cunard or princess, but I prefer to P&O and celebrity and par with Rccl. We are faimily with 2 children so requirement might be slightly different to you, but you are in YC so you will always have calm place to chill out, away from crowd. YC concierge desk with multiple staffs and having own butler is also helpful. I found it much better than one concierge handling suite guests. Only thing my family didn't like was speciality dining, limited set menu if you buy the dining package, and the food quality was not impressive except for Mexican (especially Japanese restaurant was far below than supermarket sushi). Hope you enjoy your sailing!

I was only on Virtuosa but there were more types of massages on board, pretty much everything you have in other spas. They give discount if you have multiple massage sessions, and also they have daily special at discounted price. I am sailing on Virtuosa again next month and will have some massages but will not book in advance. In the website I also only see 2 types as well - same as what you see- and I don't think I paid more than this on board. (website says 30% discounted and the price is still 94 pounds for 50 mins)

I was in YC last October with assigned embarkation time around 3:00 sailing from Southhampton. I asked here and was told to go anytime as in YC which I did around 11:00 . I am sailing again in YC this July and will try to get on board even earlier. For me, white tent was indiciation for where to queue for YC check in. I was escorted to the dedicated space in the terminal where you can sit down for drinks/snacks while your check in is actually taking place.

It worked for me today for July sailing! Thank you!

One of my problems that I had with my 1st msc cruise just finished yesterday. I even couldnt see my cruise on the schedule( thought they canceled it) and ended up having to do check in through call center! On their website Even same menu sometimes works and sometime doesnt. If you call them there is internet problem support team and they are probably the best bet.. For your ref, their app and website is not well connected and could show you different information!

Just got off virtuosa. I purchased 75(?) and it was double credit an arcade games including bowling, f1,virtual cinema, etc. So if you puchased 80 for one person, depends on tnc that person will have 160 on their sea pass, but you will be able to share as long as you book through that person’s sea pass. There is discount rates on board but pre boarding price is cheaper. Each game is quite expensive and short, i think its better to purchase in advance.

Thank you so much for your review. My family's first MSC cruise is coming up this weekend and I was trying to find the difference from other cruise lines. A bit shocked that you have to pay full price for the drinks if it is not under your plan as I would imagine only need pay the difference. We are in YC and I don't know if it would be any different but I really wouldn't want to pay the full price for the drinks unless it is something special!

Thank you!!! So much looking forward to it!!

Thank you all, I booked Ezy parking. I am little concerned about their mixed reviews but all other places providing meet and greet was full! Spoke to some other parking places and all of them said they are so full on that day.. Anybody knows what time boarding starts and how strict it is for YC?

First time with MSC, we booked a cruise from Southampton departing this coming Sunday. We did exactly same route during this summer with RCCL on Anthem so just ship and weather is different.. Always wanted to try MSC cruises and it will be interesting to compare our experience! So far with MSC was not so great. We had problems with app and website as well, had to check in through call center (reading all those information for check in) and then tried to buy dining packages and other products but website keeps crashing...Even though we have been checked in and received documents, app is not updated and keep asking us to check in. Fingers crossed we won't have problem with boarding.. I tried to book AB parking at Southampton, it says it's full.. Other parking option recommendation please!! (we have 2 children) I had read about parking somewhere in the forum before but couldn't find it.. NCL sailing on the same date has space, MSC and RCCL on the day before and day after has space but only Virtuosa space is all sold out for some reason.. I had requested to be put on a waiting list at AB but does anybody know what is the chance I will have a space? Also how strict is the boarding time and what time does the boarding usually start? We are in YC and thought we would have flexible boarding time but it says 3pm and no option to choose from. Call center says they don't know what time boarding starts and can't do anything about boarding time... YC term clearly says priority boarding but I wonder what it means by! We live a few hours away and was planning to arrive early around 11, park at AB and have early boarding to explorer the ship and familiar with MSC, but it doesn't seem to go as planned. Your recommendation and sharing your previous experience will be really helpful!

Also just got off from Anthem and thought formal nights were ok to be formal. Ship seemed to be quite casual and we are the family like to dress up in formal night, so I was thinking maybe we would be over dressed but didn't feel that way. Many tuxes and gowns were seen, and not embarrassed to be either formal or casual. If you go down to deck 4 or 5, it is more formal, coming up to pool deck it is casual. 3 years ago we were in Independence for 2 weeks round trip from Southampton, ship's ambiance was more formal and crowd was more formal even though it was same departure port. I took my first cruise twenty something years ago with my parents in Alaska, and still vividly remember how formal it was. Captain's champagne reception, it was like movie scene. I think it is becoming more more casual in general. Took same NCL hawaiian cruise ship 13 years ago and 4 years ago again, I found the ambiance has become much more casual. I am planning to take my children to Alaska cruise in a few years time, but expect I won't have the same formal nights!

Just got off from Anthem on 22nd July and I booked future cruise on 21st July using future cruise desk. Later that evening on 21st, I was browsing the website for our future cruise again with excitement, and found that there is 550 usd dollar onboard credit promotion for the cabin I booked. I checked my e-mail confirmation but there was nothing other than 300 usd credit that was given for booking through future cruise desk, so checked the website again to find the cruise fare for the same cabin category was the exactly the same. On board credit for future cruise booking was supposed to be on the top of any other promotion, so I thought I could sort out when back home given it was busy evening for packing and enjoying last day of the family holiday that we didn't have for long. I spoke to the rccl over the phone today, they said the promotion only started from 22nd so couldn't have been applied for my booking on 21st. I responded, it can't be 22nd as I saw it in the evening on that day which was the last day on board (and was not up late for the next early morning departure) and asked to check maybe their system has different time setting and they think they posted it from 22nd but for me indeed it was 21st? They said it is negative, because it is targeted for UK market and asked I should provide evidence that it was on 21st, not 22nd. I should have had screen shot when I saw it but obviously too late!! More than the credit itself, what bothers me the most in this situation is that they are accusing me what I saw didn't exist. Does anybody have any similar experience and is there anything that I can do?