ScratchTheRat

8 hours ago, Raj.K said:

Is the Fit to Fly Lateral Flow Test at Home from Lloyds Pharmacy (£12.99) acceptable please? I have not had a holiday requiring any Covid testing so not sure how this works. Any insights please?

For MSC, yes, for other lines, please check! I am sailing Carnival on Friday and they require a monitored/proctored test.

Let's all just remember the key thing, that we all have a right to vacation the way we want to. Not everyone goes on a cruise to be social, a lot of us go to spend time with our loved ones in a different setting.

Not everyone drinks, not everyone likes dressing up for elegant night, not everyone likes the ports. Respect goes a long way and it's seemingly becoming more and more of an afterthought.

Spread Kindness, not COVID 😉

41 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

So glad you are doing this review.  We will be on the same cruise in June 2023.  I have been following your roll calls here and on the other site and have gotten a wealth of knowledge.  I will be sure to check out your you tube videos.

Thanks Ellie and glad to hear the videos and posts have helped you!

Hello everyone!

This will be my first live Carnival trip report after just writing one for the MSC Virtuosa.

For those who know me, hello! For those who don't, a bit of background.

This cruise will be my 13th and I am also booked on the Carnival Celebration's 14 day Transatlantic Inaugural in November.

You may know me from YouTube where I host a weekly Vlog series called Kascapades (www.YouTube.com/kascapades).

I am Kas, I am from the UK, Cardiff in Wales specifically and I am in my 30's. I travel as much as I can on cruises and caught the bug in 2010 when I was taken on a cruise by my family. I thought I'd hate it and I couldn't imagine anything worse than being stuck on a boat, but boy was I wrong and I got hooked! 

This will be my final GOLD cruise on Carnival as I will turn Platinum after and ready for the TA! I'm really looking forward to seeing how things go and what things I love/hate. 

So let's talk about this trip and what led to the booking. Back in 2020, we were due to do this cruise on the Legend, then rebooked for 2021 which again got cancelled and so third time's the charm! We'd always wanted to do the Fjords and we love Carnival so it seemed a no brainer!

The ship will be sailing out of Dover on the 10th June 2022 and the night before we will be driving from our home in Cardiff Wales, staying at a hotel an hour away (just to remove the stress of cruise morning traffic issues!) then driving to Dover in the morning with a cruise boarding time of 11am.

We are having our COVID tests done at a Cardiff clinic with DAM Health on the morning of the 9th so we have plenty of time to get our results. We used the same clinic last year for our Norwegian Getaway cruise and they were great.

This cruise will be a 9 day cruise with 6 port stops, 2 sea days and fjord sailing evenings. The itinerary is as below:

We do not have any excursions booked as we're keen to explore on our own but we may change our mind onboard and book something if we feel like it. For those interested in the ports, I've made a series of videos on my youtube channel for each of them!

We had originally booked an Interior cabin but since we're celebrating a birthday, when I got a call offering an upgrade I took it and got an extended balcony - perfect for views of this beautiful landscape.

We're not party types or big drinkers so we didn't opt for the CHEERS package and only really take drinks packages if they are bundled in as a deal or there's a discount. Instead, we will each take a bottle of wine onboard and have 1-2 drinks a day from the bar, likely a cocktail from Alchemy Bar and a glass of wine at dinner.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the trip and feel free to ask any questions! 🙂

EMBARKATION DAY:

We arrived into Southampton Central train bang on time (a rarity for British trains) and thought it was cute to see the station decorated with flags to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee this week. 

The weather was incredible which is unexpected for the UK, so with some time to kill, we crossed the road to sit at Costa Coffee for an iced drink before we set off for the terminal.

Once we walked to the terminal, we saw the lovely MSC Virtuosa waiting for us beyond Dock Gate 10 of the Cruise Port at MSC's Horizon Terminal.

Once we got to the terminal, we dropped off our bags outside with the luggage people and headed inside where we joined the line to go through port security. We took off hats, bags, watches and glasses etc and proceeded through, much like an airport before grabbing our belongings and heading into the main departure area. Here, we were given a boarding number and asked to sit down and wait to be called to join the line for check in.

This took around 25-30 minutes and as you can see behind me, there was a very long snaking line to check in which was very cramped and once we were in the line it did take quite a long time.

So, a bit of info here, the night before, MSC had some kind of IT meltdown that reassigned everyones cabins (whether you paid for a specific room or not) and there was a bit of chaos as nobody had the right luggage tags or knew what room they would end up in, thus some cruise cards were having to be reprinted on the fly and such.

Soon enough though, we'd got our cards and got onto the ship. Our first stop was the Blue Danube Restaurant (for Bella guests) on Deck 5, where the Maitre'D helped us change our dining to be earlier and a private table of 2 (we were assigned 9:30pm dining originally!) and we now had a table at Opera dining room on Deck 6 and a lovely 2-top! Thanks Maitre'D!

With that done, we used one of the handy cruise card terminals to register a credit card to our account and then headed to the cabin to do the e-muster!

After this, we headed to the buffet to get some well deserved lunch!

I had a Cobb Salad, some fish, ham and cheese and a slice of veggie omelette, whereas Hue had some BBQ beef and some stuffed Ravioli.

We spent the rest of the Afternoon walking around the ship and getting acquainted with where things were (making our ship tour vlog filming easier in the coming days) and also checking out the bars and offerings aboard this huge ship.

Our first stop after lunch was the pool bar to grab our first drink. A frozen Daiquiri, and then to jump into our first hot tub of the cruise, enjoying the sun and our first booze, though sadly we found the frozen drinks to be very weak and watery so we didn't order these again!

Soon enough it was time for dinner so we got changed into dinner clothes (shirt and trousers, rather than casual wear, though there was no dress code!)

Tonight's dinner menu was nice and varied and I felt it had a very good selection. As we're European, the Mediterranean and European style of food on board was very familiar and to our tastes more so than some of the US lines and so we were happy to see the offerings. 

To start, I opted for the White Fish Ceviche, whereas Hue had the Matured Cheese Fritters. We also shared a Nordic side salad.

Presentation was nice and we both tend to try each others food so I can say I feel I won starters with my Ceviche (I am aware in the US "starters" are appetisers and "Main Courses" are Entrees!)

Speaking of Mains/Entrees, I selected the Breaded Chicken Kiev whereas Hue opted for the fish again, (a recurring and somehow accidental theme this cruise!) with the Pasta.

For Dessert, we had the cheese plate, some fruit and the Coconut Pistachio Dacquoise.

One amazing thing we enjoyed at dinner was that because we had the drinks package, the waiters kept filling our glasses with wine and we never had to look for service or ask, they were incredibly attentive at every opportunity which was great.

Sadly, the same could not be said about the bar staff around the ship. Often, we would stand at a bar for 20-30 minutes without anyone even looking up to acknowledge us, as they were busy preparing drinks for the bar waiters to take to tables. We could have been served quicker if we'd been sat in a bar, but often we just wanted to grab a drink to take back and enjoy on our balcony.

Tune in for next update for our first full day and visit to Rotterdam.

21 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

Is everything OK, did you get onboard OK?

I think you leave the ship in the morning.

All good yeah, just had poor tech issues so will start writing things up tonight 😄

On the train now from Cardiff Central to Southampton where the beautiful Virtuosa is waiting for us.

last minute craziness last night as it seems that almost everyone on the cruise randomly had their cabin assignment changed! Luckily we were moved just a few doors away so nothing too drastic.

The train journey is 2.5 hours and then it’s a short 15 minute walk to the terminal but we will likely go for a coffee first!

48 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

@ScratchTheRat Did you cabin category change ?  Were you upgraded?  Give us the ship name and pre/post cabin # and we will  help.

Hi! It’s Virtuosa tomorrow and the cabin category didn’t change, just went from 8229 to 8107 

Randomly logged in to MSC to check my details and the cabin number has changed? It now doesn't match my luggage tags or my cruise ticket! What's going on? Any idea?

COVID tests negative, bags are packed and documents all printed and in a lovely pink binder 😄

I already have a matching binder with all the documents for the other cruise a week after (Carnival Pride!) so stay tuned for that one too!

First thing in the morning (5am) I will be logging on to Carnival's website to check in for the Pride cruise, then coffee time before the short trip to the train station.

There, we get a train to Southampton to join the ship!

9 minutes ago, annarack said:

Thanks, really looking forward to your review, especially any info regarding the cabin as we also have deck 8 obstructed balcony booked for August.  If you find out where the quarantine cabins currently are on Virtuosa please could you include this in your review.  Happy travels and many thanks.

Will do and I'll be posting a full 4K cabin tour of the cabin on my Youtube channel

30 minutes ago, adam7392 said:

Are you doing a self test - if so you might not be allowed to board.  I think you need to have someone either doing the test for you (antigen or PCR) or have the test where you logon to a website and someone watches you do the test (i.e proctored).  If you are just self testing then uploading a photo of the test then I fear you will be turned away (I've done similar Randox tests before like this).  Taken directly from MSC website (https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Travel-Requirements-Northern-Europe.aspx) is following quote:

'To note: Antigen self-test is not accepted for embarkation.'

Not for MSC. A home test with fit to fly is fine 🙂

11 minutes ago, HipHipOnAShip said:

Just to clarify, there will be a Maitre D' (or Asst) who will be at one of the MDRs on the first day at specified times (around lunch) to help with seating questions. The MDR is not open for lunch on the first day.

Thankyou. How will I know which one? Or just trial and error? Should I do this immediately on embarking?

COVID tests in an hour! The nerves are real 😄

Hello everyone!

This will be my first of many LIVE report and review posts. For those who know me, hello! For those who don't, a bit of background.

This cruise will be my 12th and I have another 2 booked for this year thus far.

You may know me from YouTube where I host a weekly Vlog series called Kascapades (www.YouTube.com/kascapades).

I am Kas, I am from the UK, Cardiff in Wales specifically and I am in my 30's. I travel as much as I can on cruises and caught the bug in 2010 when I was taken on a cruise by my family. I thought I'd hate it and I couldn't imagine anything worse than being stuck on a boat, but boy was I wrong and I got hooked! 

This will be my first cruise on MSC and I'm really looking forward to seeing how things go and what things I love/hate. 

So let's talk about this trip and what led to the booking. I am starting a new job soon and so I have some time off between roles and on a whim, I thought, hmmm... me and my travelling partner (and vlog executive producer!) Hue, were both free this coming weekend. A quick google search found an amazing deal on MSC Virtuosa. 3 Nights with a free balcony upgrade, gratuities included and the premium extra package, all for the price I'd usually expect for a basic interior. Needless to say I snapped it up so fast, I hadn't even looked at the itinerary.

The ship will be sailing out of Southampton on Friday 27th May at 4pm and we will be arriving by train, with just a cabin style case and backpack each. The train was really good value, £75 return for the two of us and it's direct so we can walk right to the pier upon arrival.

MSC require evidence of negative covid test and vaccination. Here in the UK, we can log on to the health service website and download pdf of our vaccine status, or we can download digital copies to the phone. I've done both just in case. I also bought 2x COVID antigen tests from Randox health. These tests are done from home with your results uploaded in the app to get results and a digital certificate within 2 hours.

Our cruise will have no sea days and will visit two ports: Rotterdam (For Amsterdam), Netherlands and Cherbourg, France. We did a two day overnight port visit to Rotterdam on Iona just this past December but Cherbourg is new to us both so we're excited for that.

In Rotterdam we are not sure yet if we are going to just have a simple walk round the city or head to Amsterdam. We have limited time so may just do a short walk round Rotterdam and then spend the rest of the time enjoying the beautiful ship and our drinks package! 

For Cherbourg, I think we will go off on our own with a backpack and the camera and go explore. I am keen to try some of the local food, including a visit to the famous cheese cellar! Any tips for this port would be amazing if you've been!

We're staying in a Deluxe Balcony with obstructed view of lifeboats on Deck 8 which looks amazing. It will be our first Balcony cabin as thus far we've only sailed in Inside cabins. 

As mentioned we have the Premium Extra drinks package so there will be muchos wine and cocktails! We're also choosing not to dine at any specialty restaurants for dinner as with a 3 night cruise, we just want to focus on the core offering, though we may pop to Hola for lunch! We're keen to try as many locations as we can for drinks to really get our moneys worth and we will even be paying extra to get a drink from Rob the Robot Bartender!

Stay tuned for updates throughout the trip 🙂

4 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

We applied to the Spanish site, I guess you did your application on the UK site, maybe that is the difference.

 

Good luck with it there are some bargains available at the moment so book first and then apply your membership number when you get it, the price will be adjusted accordingly 

 

See you on the Carnival Pride on 10th June 😎

Yeah we'll be on MSC Virtuosa on Friday, then Pride in 2 weeks so very excited.

3 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

I submitted my son's and had a response within the hour.

I am still waiting for a response after 2 days. 

Can you confirm what proof of your COVID test they asked to see at embarkation? 

Did they just scan the QR code of your certificate or something else?

33 minutes ago, kernow said:

Think you are looking at old (last year) menus, barely anything above £13 this year. If you like cocktails the best ones on the ship are in L'Atelier bar and cost £11. I can find menu if you want it.

Thanks! I was seeing these:

1 hour ago, defbref said:

 

For the Premium drinks package its £13

Aww typical! Most of the nice drinks are £14 lol

Only booked today so sent off my proof of status with Carnival to get matched on MSC today. Any idea how long it takes? Will it be okay for my sailing on Friday?

1 hour ago, ferretktf said:

Virtually the same every day ( the show differ of course)

 

here’s tomorrows

 

Can I also ask, are you on the drinks package? I can see drinks menus are in £ but the package says $15/€13 so just trying to work out what the price limit is for £

13 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

There will be one mdr open for lunch when you board. It might not be the restaurant that you are assigned to for the evening but you should still be able to get it sorted.

 

failing that, visit your restaurant about 15 mins before first sitting and speak to someone then.

Thankyou, that's so helpful. Nice to find helpful people.

9 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

Virtually the same every day ( the show differ of course)

 

here’s tomorrows

 

That is so helpful, thankyou.

I see very little during the day but LOADS at night!

1 minute ago, ferretktf said:

You can Google them …plenty of YouTube videos.

 

we didn’t go for it (on virtuosa right now) largely because when you are on a drinks package the free drink is not a benefit and so the shows seemed costly.

 

I would say that the main theatre shows (free) are excellent

Do you happen to have any pics of the daily schedules? 🙂