Sancho_proudfoot Posted January 29, 2023 #1 Share Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) We are Diamond on RCCL, and did a status match for a cruise that actually didn't happen, thanks to covid, but it did give us Diamond with the Voyagers Club. In recent years, we've done European cities for New Year (Tallinn, Krakow....). We were looking at Prague for New Year and it was a bit pricey. Then we looked at MSC cruises. Thanks to our lovely TA we got 7 nights ( The "Northern Pearls" cruise) including the Premium drinks package for less than we would have spent on Prague. Drove to Southampton the day before. Stayed at the Holiday Inn from where we could see the cruise terminal (found my wife stood at the window at 3.30am watching the ship dock). Had a boarding time of 1.00 o'clock. Took a chance, and drove the 5 minutes to the terminal at 11.30. Easiest check-in EVER. On board by 11.45. First impression was that the ship is gorgeous. Easily found a seat in the Virtuosa lounge at the end of the Galleria. First dinner onboard was a disaster. We'd asked for, and got, a large table but only 1 other couple at an 8-top. As the ship was sailing full, they squeezed in 3 dinner sittings. We were allocated 7.30. By 8.40, all we had had was a bread roll. Starters arrived at 9.05. While we were finally onto our desserts at 9.30, we were bring hustled out of the dining room so that they could get set up for the next sitting. Next day we got a note, changing our dining room. Service after that was fine. New Year's Eve (at sea) was great. We stayed in the Star Lounge ( no problems with finding seats). The ship was entering the Elbe estuary, and, boy, do the Germans know how to welcome in a New Year, the fireworks along the coast were fabulous . As Diamond members we got a complimentary speciality meal. We chose Butchers Cut, as we're steak lovers. Superb filet mignon and really good service. We took lunch a couple of times in the Pub, which was very quiet. The "Sir Burger" is excellent. We prebooked both Carousel shows, well worth the €9 price (although the free cocktails were a bit odd). The main theatre shows were good singing and dancing mainly, but very professional and enjoyable. Only one guest artiste, a singer from Liverpool who turned out to be the poorest show of them all. We booked an inside cabin - we wouldn't use a balcony in winter. We were pleasantly surprised at how spacious the room it was, and the bathroom was excellent. The room was so comfy and warm we overslept a couple of times. Only went ashore at Hamburg and Zeebrugge. Walked into the city in Hamburg about an hour each way. Very "industrial " area where the ship docks, so nothing much to see. We were there on New Year's Day, which was Sunday so all the main shops were closed but some stalls open on the Riverside. All in all a great introduction to MSC, so looking forward to being on Opera in October for a Suez canal transit. Edited January 29, 2023 by Sancho_proudfoot Typo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare elmsliebev Posted January 30, 2023 #2 Share Posted January 30, 2023 thanks for the review. We're on her in March and looking forward to our first MSC cruise. Can I ask what you did in Zeebrugge? We're thinking of going to Bruges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perakcruiser Posted January 30, 2023 #3 Share Posted January 30, 2023 21 hours ago, Sancho_proudfoot said: Walked into the city in Hamburg about an hour each way. You walked across the Elbe tunnel to the "real" city or just to the quarter of Hamburg that is nearest to the cruise port? The latter is more like visiting Istanbul, but unfortunately without interesting places to see 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Morgsmom Posted January 30, 2023 #4 Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, elmsliebev said: thanks for the review. We're on her in March and looking forward to our first MSC cruise. Can I ask what you did in Zeebrugge? We're thinking of going to Bruges. Absolutely go to Bruges - it's GORGEOUS!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showingdiva Posted January 30, 2023 #5 Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, perakcruiser said: 3 hours ago, elmsliebev said: thanks for the review. We're on her in March and looking forward to our first MSC cruise. Can I ask what you did in Zeebrugge? We're thinking of going to Bruges. Bruges is lovely. Not unlike York. However, don't discount Ghent or Blankenberge either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare elmsliebev Posted January 31, 2023 #6 Share Posted January 31, 2023 19 hours ago, showingdiva said: Bruges is lovely. Not unlike York. However, don't discount Ghent or Blankenberge either. thanks. I've been to Ghent, loved it. I think we might just wait and decide on the day before depending on the weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho_proudfoot Posted February 1, 2023 Author #7 Share Posted February 1, 2023 On 1/30/2023 at 12:34 PM, perakcruiser said: You walked across the Elbe tunnel to the "real" city or just to the quarter of Hamburg that is nearest to the cruise port? The latter is more like visiting Istanbul, but unfortunately without interesting places to see 😄 We walked through the warehouses and factories to the Alte Elbe tunnel, through the tunnel emerging in St Pauli District. As it was both Sunday AND New Year's Day no main shops were open, but we had a wander along the waterfront, and the food/ snack stalls and souvenir stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho_proudfoot Posted February 1, 2023 Author #8 Share Posted February 1, 2023 On 1/30/2023 at 10:59 AM, elmsliebev said: thanks for the review. We're on her in March and looking forward to our first MSC cruise. Can I ask what you did in Zeebrugge? We're thinking of going to Bruges. A bit ashamed to admit we didn't do much. DW wanted a few bits n bobs (including a big bottle of Curry Ketchup!) So we wandered ashore, on a cold, grey drizzly day to a Supermarket where we got what we were after. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare elmsliebev Posted February 1, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 1, 2023 19 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said: A bit ashamed to admit we didn't do much. DW wanted a few bits n bobs (including a big bottle of Curry Ketchup!) So we wandered ashore, on a cold, grey drizzly day to a Supermarket where we got what we were after. Fair enough, If it's horrid weather we might do the same! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokey01 Posted February 21, 2023 #10 Share Posted February 21, 2023 On 1/29/2023 at 2:57 PM, Sancho_proudfoot said: As Diamond members we got a complimentary speciality meal. We chose Butchers Cut, as we're steak lovers. Superb filet mignon and really good service. We took lunch a couple of times in the Pub, which was very quiet. The "Sir Burger" is excellent. We prebooked both Carousel shows, well worth the €9 price (although the free cocktails were a bit odd). Can you tell me what restaurants we have a choice of for our complimentary specialty meal? Like you I am also a ‘status matched’ diamond. Did you prefer one of the Carousel shows over the other? Are they significantly different shows? Do you have any idea of what the cocktail contained I.e. gin based/vodka based… Also currently we cannot pre book any shows, we go on May 12th, is this something that will become available closer to cruise time? What time is the show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkmdh Posted February 22, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 22, 2023 On 1/30/2023 at 2:59 AM, elmsliebev said: thanks for the review. We're on her in March and looking forward to our first MSC cruise. Can I ask what you did in Zeebrugge? We're thinking of going to Bruges. Which March cruise? We are going on the 10th and also looking to go to Bruges either via Cruise Express or public transit maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare elmsliebev Posted February 22, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 22, 2023 2 hours ago, kkmdh said: Which March cruise? We are going on the 10th and also looking to go to Bruges either via Cruise Express or public transit maybe... 3rd March. We're also looking at the cruise express option. I'll try and post what we did before you go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kernow Posted February 22, 2023 #13 Share Posted February 22, 2023 17 hours ago, smokey01 said: Can you tell me what restaurants we have a choice of for our complimentary specialty meal? Like you I am also a ‘status matched’ diamond. Did you prefer one of the Carousel shows over the other? Are they significantly different shows? Do you have any idea of what the cocktail contained I.e. gin based/vodka based… Also currently we cannot pre book any shows, we go on May 12th, is this something that will become available closer to cruise time? What time is the show? You can choose Butcher's Cut, Indochine or Kaito Sushi (not the teppanyaki) for the diamond meal. You get the set price menu included. I think the cocktail for the show was vodka based, we didn't think it was very good (the drink not the show). If you have a drink package you're probably better to get one from a nearby bar before you go in, the Carousel bar itself was not open when we went. We're also on the 12th May, think bookings will open soon, our final payment is in the next couple of weeks so maybe after that. You make the general booking online but choose the day and time once onboard, they have multiple show times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkmdh Posted February 23, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 23, 2023 15 hours ago, elmsliebev said: 3rd March. We're also looking at the cruise express option. I'll try and post what we did before you go! Thank you! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam7392 Posted February 23, 2023 #15 Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 1/29/2023 at 2:57 PM, Sancho_proudfoot said: All in all a great introduction to MSC, so looking forward to being on Opera in October for a Suez canal transit. We did our first MSC cruise on Virtuosa from Dubai in Feb 2022 and loved it so booked this Feb also from Dubai on MSC Opera, just back last week. Make sure you set your expectation for Opera appropriately, its a huge difference from Virtuosa to Opera in size, age, amenities, bling etc. We had a great time on the Opera and no great complaints other than the buffet being much smaller with limited options but we were expecting the differences. Service at bars was good, food in MDR was excellent and the shows were worth a visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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