shopaholic6

15 minutes ago, chrislo said:

I understand that many have had their cruises on Virtuosa cancelled.  This cruise is still showing as available on the website.  Has anyone heard for sure when it will be back in Southampton?

 

 

I'm on the 22nd April sailing from Southampton, which has been moved to 23rd April due to the previous cruise from Dubai to Southampton being cancelled (Red Sea issues) but haven’t heard of any others being cancelled.

Gratuities of the Seas 🤣🤣🤣

38 minutes ago, swoopy2110 said:

London is certainly not the norm for the rest of the UK.

 

I have myself noticed that many restaurants are now adding 10% tip automatically to the bill though (but you can remove it if you wish). I'd usually tip 10% in a restaurant, but I can't think of any other place I tip anyone in the UK.

I bought a top from an online shop (in the UK) and at checkout it asked if I wanted to leave a tip 🤣🤣🤣🤣

16 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

As far as I know, MSC is the unique mainstream lines that hasn't reduced the 2 per day service, at least yet. Either way, if for certain reason you don't want the evening service done, tell them.

That’s great thank you 😊 

19 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

It has not been reduced or wasn't on the Meraviglia this past Feb. It was twice a day.

Oh thank you - that’s interesting to know!!! 😎😎

Hi everyone,

Next year I will be on my first MSC cruise on the Virtuosa, having done a few Royal Caribbean, P&O and one Costa cruise in the past. Can someone let me know if you are allowed to pick morning or evening cabin service (assuming it has gone down to once a day) or do you just get it when they get round to it each day and don’t get a choice?

thanks 😎

5 hours ago, compman9 said:

Was talking to DW. Okay, I say talking, I mean debating. Okay, I say talking, I mean arguing, LOL.

We appear to have conflicting views on where we have been and some of the countries we have visited.

 

I contacted RCI to ask for previous cruise history info, but they don't have it going back as far as I would like.

Is there any way I can find out where I have been on past cruises?

If you can remember the ship and dates you can look on Shipmate - go to ‘Explore’, then ‘Ships’ and pick your cruise line, ship, then click ‘Itineraries’ and sailing date, it will tell you the itinerary. 😎 not sure how far it goes back though

The Pilgrim Inn in Marchwood, just across Southampton Water, is lovely, and only a short drive in the morning to the port ☺️

55 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

About blinking time but 2 years late in my book. We have been cruising with RCI for over 20 years and since 2008 out of Southampton, have been on Anthem 3 times and so done with the same old same old entertainment , how many times can you sit through We Will Rock you and Spectres wots it's name ?? Then you have the repeats of the headliner entertainment , rarely changes there. 

I do like the adults only Solarium,  our free wifi perk and the cabin storage . Speciality restaurants are now way overpriced on RCI unless you purchase a dining package . 

We are not flying anywhere at the moment so currently our money is being spent elsewhere and getting better value for money to boot . 

If a good deal comes up on Odyssey then we will book for the change in entertainment but you can keep Anthem .

P.S. we did some of those winter Indie 18 nighters , £669 for an inside cabin, they were losing money left right and centre !! 

 

I agree! I did Anthem out of Southampton in 2015 which I loved, but when I looked at it again for this year it still has ALL the same entertainment! 8 years later! Not for me! 🤣

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

My stars were the Wales children, all three of them.  Behaving beautifully for a long time.  And Penny Mordaunt, having done nothing but look sullen on the front bench in the House of Commons, she put in a terrific performance, plus carrying what is apparently a pretty heavy weight for all that time.

 

I did think the service was too long, but there were bits which were quite  moving, like seeing Charles in just a white shirt about to be anointed, and William giving him a kiss on the cheek.

 

I did wonder if the congregation  had to sit, some of them from 8 a.m. until after 1,  without being able to spend a penny.   Surely not.  Does anyone know?

Apparently there were ‘limited’ toilet facilities in the Abbey, but they were closed from 10.30 until 1pm. ☺️

On 4/2/2023 at 11:53 AM, 2Ccruisers said:

You’re so welcome! I didn’t have a camera while snorkeling but my husband got some great dive photos. Our tour guide took us to two different locations- Koh Bida Nok is a Krabi island and also Phi Phi Leh. Not sure if this short video will post but I wanted to try because it’s one of the two sharks they saw 🤪 

 

 

Amazing pictures!!  👏👏👏👏

5 minutes ago, laurieal said:

Thank you! It looks right up my alley and I see you have an orange cat in your profile picture, so I trust your judgment 100% 😉 

Lol that’s Roly 😺😺

loving your review - you have such a brilliant style of writing 😁😁

Sorry, TOM not Tim! 🤣

4 minutes ago, laurieal said:

I’m afraid I’m almost done reading the last book I had downloaded for this trip. Of course, I could re-read the Harry Potter or Song of Ice and Fire series in order to do better at trivia next time, but if anyone has any books recommendations I’d be happy to check them out and buy them digitally. 
 

I prefer fiction and tend to enjoy a good mystery while on vacation. Bonus points of you know any good books that take place on a cruise ship. 

 
A Fatal Crossing by Tim Hindle is a good one! It’s set on a cruise ship in the 1920s and has a lot of characters to keep track of, but if you like a mystery, it’s a cracker!

1 minute ago, BecciBoo said:

Just gotta love that ignore button😉

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Just now, BecciBoo said:

Not at all, because we happen to love the whole fleet and don't mind repeating...what is your problem?  You do you, I'm not criticizing you, just saying I wouldn't drop RCCL for such a silly reason, IMO

yep and you do you 🤣 enjoy your hurricanes and pastel coloured buildings 🤣. Again.

Just now, BecciBoo said:

Yes, I know, I've sailed them..............................But I'd never drop a cruise line on account of that.  We consider the Caribbean our second home.  Have done 27 cruises so far most in the C. and  Alaska. Multiple times on the same ships.

 What - on account of only one ship sailing from the place you want to sail from? That’s your decision. I like to visit interesting places, the Caribbean is not one.

3 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Wow!  That's the only reason you'll never sail RCCL again?  Seriously!  Because you saw something put out by Michael Bailey 2 years before the ship even debuts? Again... WOW  I hope you find one.......

Like I said, I’ve sailed on the Anthem and cruises round the Caribbean don’t interest me in the slightest. Plus I don’t like flying. So yes, I would look for another cruise line because I don’t want to keep sailing on the Anthem. Not sure why that would seem strange to you? MSC have some cruises from Southampton next year on two different ships, so yes I would probably try that. Believe it or not, there are other cruise lines! 🤣

Just now, Biker19 said:

Perhaps you don't understand how marketing works - kinda like bidding on Royal Up when there's no inventory.

Obviously I don’t.

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

He never said it would.  He only said it would debut there for a couple of trade event sailings.

No but that’s the impression I (and others) got. Clearly I was wrong. Still disappointing. Not much point bringing it here for trade sailings if it’s not going to actually sail here 🤷🏼‍♀️

2 minutes ago, Plum Happy said:

Some of you all are so dramatic because the ship is not sailing out of Britain.  We all know what happened to delay the building of the ship and the current ongoing issues with supplies.  

 

Put your big girl/boy drawers on and stop whining about things that are out of their control.  You know very well that ship can't sail in the winter in Britain.

Yes I mean, why WOULD people expect it to come to the UK? You know, after MB said it would? 🙄🙄 and I don’t think anyone is ‘whining’ - it would just be nice to have a different ship from the UK for a change, rather than 75% of itineraries being ‘western or eastern Caribbean’. 

32 minutes ago, little britain said:

Yes, Mr B “promised” that Southampton would be her first stop.  Shouldn’t make promises you won’t or can’t keep!! 
 

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/new-royal-caribbean-ship-icon-of-the-seas-to-debut-in-the-uk-in-2023-33617

Unfortunately I think after that statement from Michael Bayley, rightly or wrongly a lot of people assumed the Icon would be sailing from Southampton and therefore planned to sail on her for their holiday in 2023. I certainly did.  Unfortunately as Royal have only given us the Anthem, and I’ve already sailed on her, I’m going to have to look for a new cruise line I think 😢

The Southampton Harbour Hotel & Spa in Ocean Village is lovely - it’s close enough to walk into the centre of Southampton but just a little bit away from all the traffic of a city centre. There are some lovely places to eat in Ocean Village too.

16 hours ago, matj2000 said:

The first photo is an Emerald Baggage handler.  

 

The second is a Diamond Plus Baggage handler...

 

 

 

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yes I stayed at the Harbour Hotel in January before my last cruise - it is absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. We didn’t eat or drink there so I can’t comment on the food or drink but the rooms are lovely and the whole area it is situated in is really nice.