heatherb1958

Our first MSC cruise was B2B on Splendida out of Barcelona Feb 2017 , we loved the ship , every venue had live music even the coffee shop ! We had a balcony on deck 9 which was in a great location and a superb wait team in the dining room . No complaints at all with our first MSC experience and have sailed on several of their ships since

Hi Julie, yes Grandiosa has a bar just like Virtuosa, it is the restaurant that is different. On Virtuosa it is Indochine which is far superior in menu than L'Atelier bistro IMO. X

What time have you been eating in the YC at night? We like to eat early then enjoy the middle timed show then go for a drink afterwards at Masters of the sea outside on the mezzanine watching the goings on on the Galleria below.

Lovely photos . We have been to Palermo but haven't left the ships on our last couple of visits, must go for another explore . Looks like they are building a proper cruise terminal finally . Enjoy sail away, frosty and snowy here today .

Great review so far. Is the YC pool deck bar open at all ? What about the grill ? I imagine the answer will be no if it is too chilly . We have only ever cruised with MSC out of BCN in the Winter and have been blessed so far with sunny clear days and have managed to lay out in it . So long as you were out of the wind it was lovely. Keeping my fingers crossed our luck continues for 27th !

As Kernow confirmed passport always required cruising out of UK regardless of itinerary plus at least 6 months unexpired period is required . If you go onto the government website there is a calculator to help you work out if renewal is required.

Happy to see you have arrived safely in BCN. We will also be staying on Las Ramblas, 2 weeks today we will be leaving the hotel to join Grandiosa. We usually stay in the Gothic quarter just off the Ramblas as it is quieter and a bit cheaper but saw a deal for a room with a roof terrace at the Ramblas Hotel.. We are currently sitting on our balcony of P&O Azura in Tenerife watching the stores being loaded for next voyage, ship overnights here and boards passengers on both days , we leave tomorrow. We have enjoyed our time onboard but cannot wait to be on Grandiosa.

We sail on 27th Jan and have our tickets already , luggage labels etc. Have you tried updating something on your personal details and resaving ? Use a different browser , gadget ? I use Chrome on a Samsung tablet .

So now I am confused 😕. I went on to Manchester departures for NYE to see how many flights are going out in the morning from T2 and what the chances are of getting in a lounge using our free bank passes , our flight is listed as scheduled. I checked to see if it can be booked independently and it can . Blow me is it chartered or scheduled???? No matter , only 4 sleeps left 😴 😌 😁

Will be following with interest as we will be joining Grandiosa on 27th Jan . not long after you, also sailing in YC . We cruised on Grandiosa December 2019 and loved the ship. Thank you for taking the time to do a live report 👍

No I don't think I have 🙂. Will look for it now 😎.

We are also on this one for hubbies 70th . The itinerary doesn't include St. Petersburg on my online P&O account and didn't when I booked it . We have already been there anyway so if it had been dropped from the original scheduled itinerary it would not have been too disappointing.

We have walked it in the past , stopped off for coffee at Starbucks occasionally too if walking to Ocean Terminal but for the sake of a few quid I prefer Uber now.

We fly out to Tenerife from Manchester with Jet2 on NYE , our flight details notification email from P&O clearly show it is a charter flight. As per P&Os website check in is done at the airport for charters with Jet2 and you CAN NOT do the twilight bag drop the day before which is a shame as we have used that facility for holidays with Jet2 and it is brilliant . Screen shot from P&Os website in their FAQs section

I am always fascinated how Americans seem to send their underwear to the ship's laundry . Me ? Never , ever , ever , I value the elastic in my knickers to stay elastic and my white bras to stay white . I hand wash in the bathroom sink and hang on the line in the shower or use my hanger that has clothes pegs on it. Only ever used the ship's laundry once for tshirts and they were ruined , never again . Stuff dries overnight in the shower so long as you don't pack heavy thick tshirts . Heck I have even washed jeggings and they dried quickly .

You could pay your Dollars into the machine onboard used to register credit/debit cards/ depositing cash for cash accounts and it will convert into Euros for you on your seapass account albeit at a terrible rate.

Keep the waters slides on the ships I say !! I loved RCIs private island Coco Cay pre amusement arcade development, I haven't been since the changes but videos friends posted of the swim up bar with wall to wall bodies drinking in the pool reminded me of club 18-30s holidays in Magaluf ! Google it 😆.

Having cruised several times since start up with different lines nearly all of them were only doing cabin service once a day to reduce the amount of time your room steward spent in your cabin . You learn to work around it and ask for extra towels if required etc etc. It isn't the end of the world and we prefer it as we are the type of people who tidy the cabin up before the room steward comes in, now we only have to tidy up once 😆 🤣

We do not have small children but one thing I do make a point of noticing when ever on a ship is what the pool deck facilities are for them , we are mature adults and want the little ones onboard entertained 😉 😆. We have sailed several MSC ships and did our first P&O cruise last October on Britannia and have been on Ventura & Iona since . I noticed zero facilities pool wise for them except maybe a toddler splashpool . Virtuosa is phenomenal with a whole aft deck Aqua park which even a 3 year old would love . Time of year would be dependant if this deck could be enjoyed by your little ones but MSC always have an indoor pool open for all. They do have the kids clubs too for different ages , free and on Virtuosa an indoor sports deck where I saw young ones taking part in games . They have the virtual rides too for a fee through the purchase of a funpass. One thing we as adults enjoyed was the adult only bar , Sky lounge, ironically on the same deck as the kids clubs. I am sure there must have been a few parents in there having some downtime 😆

Similar issue happened last year , not a YC upgrade bid, but a friend received an e.mail to say her bid from inside to balcony was accepted on Virtuosa August 21, no change in documentation, she was billed for it. She spent hours onboard in the first couple of days trying to sort it . She never got an upgrade and ship wasn't even full !!!

Think I agree there . We made a hold booking online , sent them a message through the e.mail link on the hold confirmation requesting a call back and got a call within 30 mins . I had a voucher and my Voyager discount wasn't being accepted , lovely girl said there was a glitch in the system , redid the booking for me adding the discount . No problems.

We have been on Preziosa , she is a lovely ship, go for it . We also vote with our wallet when it comes to cruises now . Enjoy !

We have done 69 nights with MSC now , last one being on Virtuosa last August and we are going back on her this August . We tried P&O for the first time last October on Britannia then did Ventura followed by Iona in January this year. We find P&O a little staid, the entertainment lacking in the Theatre, we enjoyed the Limelight club , went twice on Britannia and once on Iona . The things that are the same with the cruise lines - gratuities are included . If you take the option of the included drinks package with MSC it is exceptional value , we only did PAYG with P&O for bottles of wine with dinner and took onboard the allowed litre spirits each for in cabin use . No self service laundry on MSC . We never starve on a cruise and find MSCs food very good , occasionally on P&O I found it hard to find something on the MDR I fancied though the desserts in the buffet were very good . If you are on Virtuosa she is a lovely ship, very glitzy with live music everywhere.