showingdiva

Sorry you don't like her. Just as well we are all different and like different things. Might be worth speaking to the post-cruise team at MSC UK with your concerns if things were really that bad. I'm sure they would want to improve on such a terrible experience. She's not perfect, but I must have got my way to Diamond voyager level on a different ship. I've spent many a night on Virtuosa since she arrived in the UK (ask my bank balance!) - and work with / on board an average of 150 cruise ships every year. Incidentally, standard balcony cabins on the vast majority of recently built cruise ships are 17m2, with a 6m2 balcony.

We have indeed. Last Tuesday was a momentous day for Leith and the provision to dock larger cruise ships. Carnival Legend had the privilege of being the first. Everything I listed leaving to / from Leith fits comfortably into our existing terminal. As for Ambassador ... I will report back after Wednesday (working with, possibly on board). Oooh ... Black Plague ... there's memories!

2025 from Leith / Rosyth on multiple departures... Balmoral, Star Legend, Azamara Journey, Seven Seas Navigator, Sirena and Star Pride. Ambassador Ambition from Dundee.

Teaspoons - they have them in the buffet, just like to hide them, and make you ask for them. They're at the dessert area in the middle that sits 90 degrees to the world cuisine. The same dessert area that has my new favourite of pear and Oreo crumble and custard.

You need to find the restaurant manager. His name will be on the cabin TV channel, but it's something like Vincenzo or thereabouts. He sorted a MDR issue for my friends, who were first time MSC passengers. He's usually standing in the door way of a restaurant on one of the two floors. The opera cake is lovely. Almost as good as the panna cotta! Do try the fish and chips in Masters. Very good.

Pleased to hear that you all seem to be enjoying my favourite Virtuosa. I agree, that Market Place for breakfast is the place to be, not least the vast array of bread, but also choosing daily omelette fillings. I like the food in the MDR, but prefer it at lunch compared to dinner - that is reserved for one of the specialty venues. I agree that some of the touches MSC have, like your macarons / chocolate / prosecco for your loyalty match and remembering your name given the size and turnover of the ship are really good. And Kyle continuing to enjoy his dining experiences.

It will convert it to GB pounds. Everything on Virtuosa while she is round trip cruising out of the UK (Southampton) in the summer months is UK currency.

Sailing a few weeks previously on Virtuosa, for the fourth time in 36 months - and being both fussy and pescatarian - I had a different experience. The buffet, like all huge ships, is something that needs careful thought. MSC pizza is very good, there's also a really nice spicy vegetarian fried rice dish (can't remember its name or nationality), and if someone lined me up a row of panna cotta, I'd be happy. As for the rest of the buffet - the bread variety is vast (the various focaccia deserve a special mention), and salad is, well .. salad. Hola is one of the nicest specialty restaurants I've been to, on any cruise ship, and fantastic value. The MDR fish dishes (I cannot comment on meat / chicken) are always good, as are both the pasta and vegetarian dishes. As for the other specialty restaurants, Kaito is an experience as much as a restaurant. The fish and chips in Masters of the Sea are most definitely worth the small surcharge. Everyone is entitled to their own subjective views. At the end of the day, they really want the extra revenue from specialty venues If I were to choose something I then didn't like, especially in the MDR, I wouldn't hesitate to have a quiet, polite word with either the waiter or his superior, and ask to change it.

Oh I don't know. I booked a round UK float on MSC Virtuosa in 2021, mainly thanks to a healthy NHS discount and her being one of the first operating post-lockdown. Here I am, less than three years and five cruises later, two more booked, still loving her craziness.

Embarkation - very slick. I went from getting out the taxi, dropping off luggage, through security, check in and air bridge, and on to the ship in 9 minutes. I did the online check in, and the actual check in desk only want to see your passport and boarding pass. Cruise cards are attached to the cabin door, where you can go first, drop off any hand luggage, use the safe, even if the room isn't fully ready and go get some lunch. I only ever do self-disembarkation, and I was off the ship without a queue.

I haven't been on Arcadia post-covid, but prior to that enjoyed a lot of cruises on her of varying lengths, including her maiden. She's still my favourite ship in their fleet, and despite having since left P&O for numerous reasons, I will always have a soft spot for her. However .. whilst I certainly don't look at any ship with rose coloured spectacles, I don't understand the buffet being ram packed, let alone closed. In fact, I always felt that even at full passenger numbers, she was a ship where it was never difficult to get a seat, get a drink, have a meal without carrying a pager, standing in a queue etc. So, what has happened?

On board a few weeks previously, and I am both fussy and pescatarian (so can't comment on any type of meat, including chicken, being served). I thought the food was good. It's certainly not Michelin star, but doesn't claim to be. But every fish or pasta dish I ate was lovely. Pasta, in particular, can be tricky in any restaurant conditions, as it goes cold fairly rapidly. Presumably, you mentioned it to the head waiter and asked for something else as a replacement.

Unfortunately, the way all major cruise lines are going, they want the up-sell of drink packages, specialty dining etc. Of course there will always be a MDR and buffet, but the chasm between them and specialty dining will continue to grow, irrespective of the size of the ship and who owns them. I can't get my head around how spending was kept at £89. At the very least, I would have dehydrated (and possibly lamented the daily gelato). Between getting to Southampton, a hotel / dinner / breakfast and drink package, I've spent around £450 before even seeing the ship. Worth it though!

Indeed my colleagues did. It was a very squeaky moment under the bridges. I can only dream of working on the tugs, but in fairness, I have been on board the entire fleet for a mooch around over the years. It's cruise ships I get to go on regularly. Next one, Norwegian Dawn on Saturday.

I could lend you one of mine. Craigleith. She's currently on charter to Svitzer at Southampton / Fawley. She's a mighty beast, well used to hauling the carriers in and out of Rosyth dockyard.

Not really. It's been a bit grey in Edinburgh. Not too bad first thing this morning. I've been working on Azamara Quest here for the last three days. Passengers have been able to get out and about, both locally and into Edinburgh itself. Wednesday looking the best day of the week (Seven Seas Voyager's visit) compared to the visits of Viking Sky and Norwegian Dawn later in the week.

In comparison to the cabin a couple of doors down two weeks ago, standing on their balcony bemoaning they had had a bottle of wine and what perhaps was being described as some sort of juice being confiscated. Luck of the draw probably, not the norm. Enjoy your cruise.

Yes, there are still shuttles to Blankenberge (certainly with Cunard anyway - not been on P&O for quite a few years), but I have also been on set down shuttles to / from the port gate (I know this because I once took one on a round trip just to take a photo of the ship (the driver laughed).

Zeebrugge (Bruges) - everyone is bussed from the gangway to the port gate, through customs. No walking on the dock side. La Rochelle - same as above.

Yes but you must be back in time to watch the mandatory drill on the TV, phone in that you have watched it, then go to muster.

Yes. Everything on Virtuosa while she is sailing out of Southampton is in Sterling.

Never had any problems this past week. Lovely waiters, cabin steward etc. Ate in Minuetto (MDR), Marketplace, Hola! and Masters of the Sea. Saw Ajedrez in the Carousel Lounge. The ship was at full capacity. No-one leapt out to sell anything. Yes, the photographers do try to encourage a photo stop but are not in the least offended if you say no thanks.

As a pescatarian, I would be annoyed if anyone tried to do that, cruise ship or otherwise. I'm just home from Virtuosa, and without going looking for the other thread about drink packages ... juice is available 24/7 in the Marketplace, but only grapefruit, pineapple and ACE (which I love). You have to ask / pay for orange or apple.

My favourite is the daiquiri zero, with the dirty banana in close second (although I'm starting to see that more as a breakfast milkshake 🤣). I had a Toblerone way back, but as you say, it's not so easy to get a bartender to make one without alcohol. I do like the pink grapefruit one that appears as the non-alcoholic offering at the carousel shows (but can't recall its name).

Last day tomorrow unfortunately. Been great, if a little too hot at times for this pale Scot - but have managed to compensate by making my way up and down the mocktail list numerous times 😊