defbref

2 hours ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

Yes thats right the same with Diamond we started after security. Yc which I will experience in a couple of weeks starts from dropping the luggage off.

Yes I did YC at Southampton back in May and doing it again in October. Look for the white tent outside to drop your bags off, then you will be escorted thru security to the upstairs area where you will be offered a drink while they check you in. Then Butler escort to the Topsail for a welcome cocktail. 

Process took 20 minutes from leaving car to cocktail in Topsail back in May. 

If your leaving from Southampton's Horizon Terminal (MSC usual terminal), then I believe the AUREA line doesn't start until after security, so you still have to queue with everybody else initially. YC do get escorted to front of queue for security and they then also have a separate area for check in up the stairs.

Its buried in the FAQ under what documents do I need to bring:

At terminal check-in guests must provide proof of a negative medically observed viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken before or at embarkation.

CruiseHealth™ FAQ: Sailings from the the United Kingdom - Princess Cruises

I had to read every single thing on the website to find this. If its that hard to find, I don't blame people getting confused

Rail carriages are labelled on the outside, however depending on your ticket you may not have a seat reservation. Open tickets (where you can use any train) by necessity don't have a reservation for example.

And don't worry we don't bite, asking somebody at the station can go a long way to help you board.

There's no check in or airport like security for trains in UK. You just turn up at the station with your ticket at the appropriate time (no need to arrive hours before like airport) find the platform for your train and then board the train when it arrives. At Kings Cross and Euston, you will have to show your ticket at a gate to the platform, other stations there's no check of tickets until your on the train and the conductor checks.

Also its down to you to deal with your luggage, there's no porters. You can book porters if you have a disability or other pressing need for help, but for fit passengers your on your own. Each carriage will usually have space for luggage, but it is limited, so if the train is full it may be difficult to find space for it. First Class doesn't generally have this problem as its rarely full. 

Note there's various types of tickets you can get, buying advance tickets is usually cheaper, especially if you buy for a specific train to travel on rather than an open ticket. 

Its basically a choice between the west coast and east coast lines.

West Coast served by Avanti, leaves from London Euston, more stops and takes longer (about 5 and half hours)

East Coast served by LNER and Lumo, Leaves from London Kings Cross, fewer stops and takes about 4 and half hours.

Note Euston and Kings Cross are very near to each other.

Having travelled on both Avanti and LNER their isn't really much difference. Livery will be different but the service supplied is pretty much the same. Reliability is similar as well. Lumo is fairly new and I haven't tried it so can't comment on that.

Having just had a quick look at prices and they also don't really favour one provider over another.

Sorry I haven't really narrowed your choices, but hope you have some more info to make a choice.

17 hours ago, ferretktf said:

in actuality, it is more like 40-55% dependent on the itinerary.

 

3600 on the current voyage which, apart from the 3 day stag and hen booze cruises, is the highest of the summer.  With a capacity of 6334, that is 54%

I see this a lot for all cruise ships, but I very much doubt any cruise ship will hit 100% capacity. The capacity is based on every single berth in every single cabin being filled, as most cabins can take 3 or 4 and most people book cabins with a occupancy of 2, its never going to happen. Yes there will be 3's and 4's but also singles only, and I still believe the most common occupancy will be 2. I have no proof to back this up! However I would say the true capacity is about 2/3rds of the actual capacity and is what the cruise line will base its staffing level upon. I guess school holidays would be the time when more cabins are filled to capacity but every single one? surely a rare occurrence.

HaHa people are gonna be disappointed when they realise what your title actually means!

MSC do offer testing on board, whether that's free I'm not sure.

Technically that's not a B2B (that's same ship in succession), Side 2 Side (S2S, different ships in succession) is what your doing.

The British Isles doesn't really have a tipping culture, its neither expected or needed.

But I know the Americans will still want to tip, so a fiver (£5) for each trip would be what I would say.

Was on the Grandiosa around the western Med , from 3rd of April for a week, we could get off on our own, as restrictions were lifted on the 1st of April

41 minutes ago, loveapug said:

I'm tagging onto this discussion with a specific question: Is a tip expected by the luggage handlers at the cruise port?  Typically in the US we tip a few dollars for each bag to the luggage handler at the cruise port. We will be sailing out of Southhampton.  Thank you all for the responses above as they are helpful in planning!

In the UK no requirement to tip luggage handlers

2 hours ago, emmas gran said:

If you go to MSC webpage under Manage Booking you will find Voyagers Club

All levels and perks are listed there , just have a look

I'm sure the OP is aware of that, but it doesn't answer their question, they know they get a complimentary gift as listed where you say, they are asking what its likely to be which your post and the directions within doesn't help with.

Which port and where are you going, it can depend a lot on this. As US cruises can have different requirements to European

1 hour ago, ladysail2 said:

 

What do the people do who can’t get a credit card due to financial stress or other reasons?  

Debit cards, the pandemic basically accelerated the movement to contactless payment using either debit or credit card. Most transactions under a £100 in the UK are now conducted this way.

As for visitors, I'm not sure but in the UK its fairly easy to get credit or debit cards that have little to no charges for foreign transactions 

You'll need to upgrade, the included package in YC is only the browse package, you will need to get the stream package.

As to reliability, I will leave that to others as it depends on where you are in the world.

If its Horizon, it is a simple walk, you can walk right thru the car park in basically a straight line from the terminal to reach the roundabout at Dock Gate 10, its 10 minutes , at most, from there to the train station

Did this last September.

1 hour ago, Raj.K said:

Is the Fit to Fly Lateral Flow Test at Home from Lloyds Pharmacy (£12.99) acceptable please? I have not had a holiday requiring any Covid testing so not sure how this works. Any insights please?

Yes it will be fine as long as they give you a certificate (email is fine). You will do the test at home then upload the result and they will confirm the result and give you a certificate.

EDIT: Just to make it clear for others who read this, this test is ok for Sailing on MSC from the UK or Europe, I don't know the requirements for USA.

48 minutes ago, cellfree said:

JAGR, I realize this is not where I should ask this question but I believe you might be able to give me the quickest answer - I wanted to “like” (heart) your comment but the only choices i have are a trophy or face - how do I find the heart?

Just click the heart  when you hover over it, its giving you three options, the heart (like) is still an option as well as the other two popping out

1 hour ago, CCFC said:

How about out of Venice?

Always best to check here: https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-and-safety-measures/

So at moment yes ok for Venice.

2 minutes ago, Av8tor said:

What other MSC ships are in the Meraviglia class?

The Bellisima and then Grandiosa, Virtuosa and the new Euriba (launch next year) are Meraviglia plus, same layout just slightly bigger.

9 minutes ago, Choccielover said:

 

What testing are people doing?  I have been sent the randox one as a link from the travel agent but though it says it does give a certificate it isn’t a video test.  I know qured do a video call for the test (and i do think royal Caribbean ask for that) are MSC a little more relaxed? 

Randox is fine for the current sailings out of the UK. Self test antigen with certificate is what they want.

What is the actual itinerary ? And early/late October ?

I'm booked on a Virtuosa sailing out of the UK which is heading to France and Spain in October. Might be a better option ? Not saying it will be warm but more chance heading south than north to Germany/Holland/Scandinavia.

10 minutes ago, adam7392 said:

Are you doing a self test - if so you might not be allowed to board.  I think you need to have someone either doing the test for you (antigen or PCR) or have the test where you logon to a website and someone watches you do the test (i.e proctored).  If you are just self testing then uploading a photo of the test then I fear you will be turned away (I've done similar Randox tests before like this).  Taken directly from MSC website (https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Travel-Requirements-Northern-Europe.aspx) is following quote:

'To note: Antigen self-test is not accepted for embarkation.'

Nope Randox and others are fine :

Antigen self-tests are accepted as long as they’re accompanied by an official certificate/email (some of the suppliers that are accepted: Randox, Expresstest, Collinsons, ect.). NHS certificates not accepted.

From the uk website: Travel Requirements Northern Europe & cruises from UK | MSC Cruises

Plus can personally testify as used a self test with certificate for Boarding both the Virtuosa and the Grandiosa recently.

9 hours ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Can I also ask, are you on the drinks package? I can see drinks menus are in £ but the package says $15/€13 so just trying to work out what the price limit is for £

For the Premium drinks package its £13

I'm also on this cruise, may well see you in YC. Travelling Solo, bit of a trek for me to Southampton, so setting off shortly to stop overnight at Oxford, then finish the journey to the port in the morning.