From Yacht Club back to Bella! Is there any going back?! Live review MSC Virtuosa 17-24th March.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

2 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Have a fantastic cruise @FamilyCruiserUK Are you going in YC- sorry if you have already told me! I’m still not feeling 100%! 
Whatever experience- I am sure you’ll enjoy the break. 
I hope you get to do the port stops you want to as well. 

No YC for us.  this is our first MSC cruise and wanted cheap and cheerful as a tester to see if we like MSC. We had an ocean view room but got a free upgrade to a deluxe balcony 👍. We usually sail with Royal Caribbean or P & O. Hope you feel better soon though 

[ConnieTact]

19 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

No YC for us.  this is our first MSC cruise and wanted cheap and cheerful as a tester to see if we like MSC. We had an ocean view room but got a free upgrade to a deluxe balcony 👍. We usually sail with Royal Caribbean or P & O. Hope you feel better soon though 

I’m sure you’ll love it. I heard of several guests getting free upgrades and we have been fortunate in the past too. Enjoy! 

[insidecabin]

3 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Oh great! We may meet up onboard one day if prices drop again. B2B sounds good. We would probably do a few ports with a few rest days too each week. As you indicated we could get two weeks for the price of one in YC if the deal was right! 

I think we may have cruised together before would have to check the history covid break lost track of everything, 

 

We had the Star and another Virtuosa on the very short list now Princess have throw cruises at us with big discounts we are having a rethink for the April-July window.

 

I think there is  an overcapacity issue coming up,  the cruise lines that priced high have had  their customers looking elsewhere and finding better options.

[heatherb1958]

On 3/23/2023 at 12:03 AM, BoundForSea said:

I really have come to a realization that the ‘Non YC’ experience is MUCH better when you get out of the MSC North American product. I really think the quality is 400% better.  What I see on posts here consistently out of EU and GB is so much better than what FL passengers (and soon to be NY) have to endure. After my last YC experience out of FL I really think we need to do a Balcony over the pond. I think that’s the answer. 

 

I always tell my UK cruise friends who are considering  MSC for the first time that cruising out of Europe is a completely different vibe and proper MSC experience than round trip out of  UK . So thankful we did start our MSC history out of Barcelona , UK sailings can be booze cruises with queues at all the bars because folks want to get their 'money's worth' and it is a British thing to queue 😆. 

We have never seen queues on the ships anywhere when sailing out of Barcelona and the service has always been excellent . 

 

[heatherb1958]

Another great trip report @ConnieTact. 👌 

[SirJackDaniels]

Thanks for taking the time to do the reporting @ConnieTact, it's always nice to hear other peoples views/experiences. Can't wait for our trip in May now to see the Fjords, last time on Virtuosa was down to the Canaries so this'll be a different sort of trip

[ConnieTact]

55 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

I always tell my UK cruise friends who are considering  MSC for the first time that cruising out of Europe is a completely different vibe and proper MSC experience than round trip out of  UK . So thankful we did start our MSC history out of Barcelona , UK sailings can be booze cruises with queues at all the bars because folks want to get their 'money's worth' and it is a British thing to queue 😆. 

We have never seen queues on the ships anywhere when sailing out of Barcelona and the service has always been excellent . 

 

We didn’t see any of this on this cruise. I know the shorter cruises from UK can attract those type of groups but this time it wasn’t like that in any bay we went too- all very civilised but fun too! 
I guess it’s the luck of the draw! 

Thanks for your kind words & for virtually sailing along with me!

[ConnieTact]

2 minutes ago, SirJackDaniels said:

Thanks for taking the time to do the reporting @ConnieTact, it's always nice to hear other peoples views/experiences. Can't wait for our trip in May now to see the Fjords, last time on Virtuosa was down to the Canaries so this'll be a different sort of trip

We did that one on Virtuosa last year- it was really good! I hope you enjoy it! 

[insidecabin]

6 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

I always tell my UK cruise friends who are considering  MSC for the first time that cruising out of Europe is a completely different vibe and proper MSC experience than round trip out of  UK . So thankful we did start our MSC history out of Barcelona , UK sailings can be booze cruises with queues at all the bars because folks want to get their 'money's worth' and it is a British thing to queue 😆. 

We have never seen queues on the ships anywhere when sailing out of Barcelona and the service has always been excellent . 

 

The winter cruises from Southampton from Nov to April are  home port Hamburg and very international passenger mix as they embark all ports

 

miss a school holiday and they have been running around 3500pax no queues most of the time, Virtuosa bar does get busy around Galleria parties.

 

We did the last Southampton homeport cruise  oct school holiday very busy with families we managed to get drinks without too much delay.

 

 

 

[ConnieTact]

12 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Since COVID, we are having more difficulties to accept the crowds that the non Yacht Club experience means. Tables too close to each other in the main dining room. Even on those cases in which the ship is not full, dining feels so crowded because MSC does not open up all areas in the restaurant. They keep us very close together. The only time we got COVID on a ship, was on MSC, sailing on a balcony cabin fantastica. Fortunately it was immediately after disembarking and not in the middle of the cruise.

Ivi

I think ships can get crowded on sea days and if the weather is inclement and guests stay inside. So this would vary depending on how many guests, what time of year and the itinerary. This time, there always seemed to be somewhere to go to even when busy.

Our experience in both the YC restaurant and Main dining rooms has been tables that are close together. There has been no difference, This is on the Virtuosa and Grandiosa. Maybe it’s different on other ships?

We both came away with coughs, and there was quite a lot of coughing onboard throughout the week. We tested, and continue to test, negative for Covid though. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

46 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

I think ships can get crowded on sea days and if the weather is inclement and guests stay inside. So this would vary depending on how many guests, what time of year and the itinerary. This time, there always seemed to be somewhere to go to even when busy.

Our experience in both the YC restaurant and Main dining rooms has been tables that are close together. There has been no difference, This is on the Virtuosa and Grandiosa. Maybe it’s different on other ships?

We both came away with coughs, and there was quite a lot of coughing onboard throughout the week. We tested, and continue to test, negative for Covid though. 

I am beginning to believe all the big ships have just too many passengers to individual space and crew. This is highlighted more when ships at full occupancy with queues at bars and buffet. However that said after doing a smaller ship, granted was a royal ship id only ever do large ships, unless the itinerary was really good. 

[insidecabin]

15 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Oh great! We may meet up onboard one day if prices drop again. B2B sounds good. We would probably do a few ports with a few rest days too each week. As you indicated we could get two weeks for the price of one in YC if the deal was right! 

Drop the drink package and it 3 weeks(+ spends) we tried a no package trip, it came out under £40pd for both of us(package was £60), we did more port time and drinking only started in the evening which we are fine with on some trips.
 

[insidecabin]

13 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

No YC for us.  this is our first MSC cruise and wanted cheap and cheerful as a tester to see if we like MSC. We had an ocean view room but got a free upgrade to a deluxe balcony 👍. We usually sail with Royal Caribbean or P & O. Hope you feel better soon though 

I notice this, I think they have a strategy that new cruisers get the free upgrades to help trap them into cruising,  even though loads of free cabins we got nothing twice.

[insidecabin]

16 hours ago, MAsquared said:

Enjoying your report!  When something like this happens, does the cruise

line cover any difference in fare?

the 10-17 March got hit by the strikes and did the Amsterdam call(which is probably more expensive in fees).

 

We got €50pp non refundable OBC, this may have been for the late return to Southampton rather than the port change.

 

UK and EU bookings would be covered by package regulations(even as a cruise only) under these circumstances no compensation is required.

 

Where appropriate adjustments/refunds should be made(eg. if a cruise was cut short) in this case a substitute port is OK, a sea day would still be a minor change refund of port fees is probably best you can expect.

 

The spa & shops got busy as loads of people had money to burn. .  

[8420PR]

1 hour ago, insidecabin said:

I notice this, I think they have a strategy that new cruisers get the free upgrades to help trap them into cruising,  even though loads of free cabins we got nothing twice.

My experience:  Last minute "bella inside" bookings get the upgrades.  This is because MSC has sold all inside cabins but wants to still offer a low price-point.  You can try and identify when this will happen, as for last minute cruises you will see availability for bella inside, bella oceanview, bella balcony and fantastica balcony - in these cases I have booked bella inside and ended up in a balcony (though I would have been happy in an inside cabin).

[insidecabin]

2 hours ago, 8420PR said:

My experience:  Last minute "bella inside" bookings get the upgrades.  This is because MSC has sold all inside cabins but wants to still offer a low price-point.  You can try and identify when this will happen, as for last minute cruises you will see availability for bella inside, bella oceanview, bella balcony and fantastica balcony - in these cases I have booked bella inside and ended up in a balcony (though I would have been happy in an inside cabin).

These Virtuosa they have been dropping the Bella options while the others are still available.

We have had aft and forward inside much prefer forward the aft section can leave you a long way from elevators.

 

[bunny76]

On 3/19/2023 at 3:39 PM, ConnieTact said:

It’s a cruise tradition for me! I always pick some fresh flowers up and bring onboard. It cheers up any room & me too! 🌸

I didn't know you were allowed to bring flowers on board! Thank you for that information :). 

[ConnieTact]

1 hour ago, bunny76 said:

I didn't know you were allowed to bring flowers on board! Thank you for that information :). 

Don’t forget to bring a pop up vase or something to put them in! I have sometimes brought an arrangement on but alto own a plastic pop up vase I bought on one of my holidays. 

[bunny76]

3 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Don’t forget to bring a pop up vase or something to put them in! I have sometimes brought an arrangement on but alto own a plastic pop up vase I bought on one of my holidays. 

Ah yes- that's a good idea - so I've just bought one on ebay. 🙂

Edited April 15, 2023 by bunny76