mackfam

I was on the Virtuosa on the September 2nd sailing. We had a check in time of noon. When we arrived at 11:50am it looked like every other passenger was also there. The lines were huge and it took a full hour to get to the luggage drop off point. They did not appear to be checking anybody’s listed check in time.

Thank you both for your replies!

Just starting to do research for a possible South American cruise for winter 2025. Currently looking at the Sapphire Princess or HAL Oosterdam both of which seem to have similar itineraries going from Buenos Aries to Santiago or vice versa. I realize that there are probably great options available on the more exclusive premium lines but sticking with the mainstream lines for price reasons. Looking for any recommendations regarding ship, direction of travel, best month, must see ports. We are an active couple who will be in our early 60’s at the time of travel. We enjoy outdoorsy type activities such as hiking and biking, as well as cultural type excursions. We have cruised on all the mainstream cruise lines and realize that HAL often attracts an older demographic.

DH and I have been cruising for almost 20 years. We have been on almost all mainstream cruise lines, favoring Celebrity in the years immediately pre-Covid until the YC came onto my radar after learning about it here on cruise critic. This was our fourth cruise with MSC. Our previous cruises were on the Seaview in the Med and twice on the Meraviglia, once from Port Canaveral and once from Brooklyn. We booked YINs on those cruises but upgraded onboard on one to a deluxe suite. This was our first time NOT in the YC so we had some trepidation going in, but I couldn’t justify the price difference between a regular balcony and YC on this cruise as no YINs available. We flew in from Canada two days early, stayed overnight at the Ibis Styles hotel at Heathrow the first night then took the coach to Southampton the next day and stayed at the Premier Inn Cumberland Place. On embarkation day we took an Uber from the hotel to the port arriving at our scheduled time of noon along with what looked like every other passenger. The line to drop off your luggage was huge, it wound back and fore at least four times in front of the terminal building and also all around the side of the car park for those who were parking at the port. We stared longingly at the YC tent and those people being whisked away out of the line and directly inside. It took around an hour to get to the luggage drop off point then once inside the terminal probably another 15 minutes until we got on board. Once onboard we decided to brave the buffet and were pleasantly surprised to find seats quite easily. There seemed to be plenty of variety of food to choose from, can’t imagine anyone not being able to find something they like. After lunch the staterooms were ready so we made our way to our cabin on deck 8 where our bags were waiting. We had an obstructed view balcony which turned out to be quite adequate. I’m not a fan of the closet doors as the way they open make it difficult to access what’s inside, but we had ample storage for the two of us between the hanging space and the drawers, definitely more than we had in a YIN. The balcony was extra deep and quite sheltered due to the large overhang. Dining We ate in the MDR every night. We had the early seating which was at 5:30pm in the Danube dining room and were assigned to a table for 8. Our table mates were pleasant and we enjoyed their company. DH and I are relatively easy to please food wise, I tend to like healthier options and try to avoid anything fried or super greasy. I was surprised at the difference in MDR menus between European cruises and those from N. America (unless those have changed recently). I had looked at the MDR menus that @Jamielogical posted from the Mera and quite honestly, they were almost as good as the YC menus we had on our last cruise. The always available selections were plentiful. Not so on this sailing, no chicken breast or grilled salmon on the always available menu- in fact only 3 choices. While I always found something to eat, it was usually mediocre. Salmon was on the menu only one night and very little chicken. Very few vegetables if any accompanied the main though I tried to remember to request steamed vegetables which was one of the ‘always available’ selections. The dining room staff did their jobs but did not enquire if the meal was okay, no coffee or tea was offered and at 6:50pm the dining room lights were raised and we were told we needed to leave so they could get ready for the next sitting. This was a full sailing so I realize this was not their fault but quite different from our YC dining experiences. This was also the first time I have ever left the dining room on a cruise still hungry (or at least not stuffed). Entertainment We went to both the Carousel Shows which were excellent and better than those on the Mera. We saw most of the main theatre shows, most were okay though not especially memorable. The comedian was poor though we did not go to his late night show. The Abba Songbook show was excellent. In general the female singers were stronger than the male ones in the main theatre. Getting seats in the various lounges was a challenge as they were all packed after dinner. The singer in Masters of the Sea was not great and the time we saw Oceans Five in the Virtuosa lounge they seemed to be just going through the motions and appeared bored. There was good entertainment in the Sky Lounge if you could get a seat. All the parties were held in the Galleria which is much too small a space for a ship that holds 6000+ passengers. Everyone is on top of each other and no room to dance. Bar service for the most part was good though could be a little slow. We were lucky to have great weather and calm seas for almost the entire week and the scenery in Norway was fantastic. Getting off and on the ship at ports was not a problem. I was dreading disembarkation as I remember the lines of people our butler had marched us past on our last two cruises, but there were no appreciable lines getting off. It was all very quick and orderly and we were outside and in a taxi in no time. We adjusted to being in ‘steerage’ and the cruise was fine. We did find the indoor areas very crowded on sea days and in the evenings. Prior to experiencing the YC we would have loved it but unfortunately the YC does spoil you for anything else. We missed being able to escape back to the calm of the Topsail Lounge where you could always get a seat and the more relaxed dining experience in the YC restaurant. I’m not sure I would book another cruise outside of YC on a ship that has YC. We do have a Baltic cruise booked next year on the Poesia which I think we will keep as I’m hoping that being a smaller ship it will be less busy and crowded on board. Luckily we have another YC cruise coming up in November back on the Mera so we will get our YC “fix”!

Thanks, I’ve just realized that it’s actually going to be Sunday, not Monday that we get back. I was forgetting that this is only a 6 night cruise.

Looking for an idea of travel time from Brooklyn cruise port to EWR on a Monday morning in November. We will have priority debarkation. We did this in June on a weekend and were at the airport in no time but I realize a weekday with rush hour traffic is going to be a different kettle of fish.

We also had a sewer odor in our YC inside cabin on Mera in June. We didn’t notice it until about day 3 then brought it to the attention of our butler. He had maintenance check but couldn’t find the source- it did not appear to be from within the bathroom, more from the vents. After two days of asking if they had a solution, the concierge gave us some story about the filter in the vent needed to be changed but they couldn’t do it until after our cruise ended. The YC was full so they couldn’t move us to another cabin. It was an annoyance, but we really didn’t spend any appreciable time in our cabin other to sleep, so we let it go, especially as our poor butler was quite upset by the situation and was crawling around on his hands and knees trying to locate where the smell was coming from. When we checked our account on the last day they had given us $100 OBC for the inconvenience. I didn’t realize that this was an ongoing problem on the Mera. I’m hoping it’s not repeated on our cruise on her this November.

I received an offer yesterday for a cruise that leaves on Sept 2nd. I was surprised as when I try to do a mock booking only 2 cabins appear to be available on the whole ship, and non in YC which was what I ended up bidding on

I’m not considering cancelling because of the lack of the Seafood Extravaganza but rather because of the other issues that have been reported on this ship. The complaints of rude passengers on Miami sailings, interlopers, and seemingly disinterested officers, plus the fact that I now have a previously unplanned 11 day cruise booked to much more interesting ports in April are why I’m considering cancelling. Unlike you, we unfortunately have to fly to the port, and as we are still part of the working masses, vacations are not unlimited.

This is disappointing to hear, I was looking forward to experiencing the Seafood Extravaganza on our Seascape sailing next January. It does seem like a rather lame excuse though. I’m sure the Seafood Extravaganza is way more costly and time consuming than preparing a suckling pig so maybe just a convenient reason to get rid of an expensive extra. After seeing your pictures of cones holding open various gates into the YC, it seems like some of the problems with interlopers” could be dealt with quite easily if they wanted to. I’m seriously considering cancelling this cruise even if it means losing my deposit. I’m not loving what I hear and we recently snagged a great deal on one of the extended Mera sailings next April and basically got 11 nights in YC for the price of 7.

You had me really worried, just checked my Seascape booking for next year and thankfully we're in 16039 which has cabins above it. 😅

Does anyone have any recent dailies from Virtuosa sailings to Norway?

I live in Canada but have booked through the US site using an online TA.

Does anyone know if there are any scheduled times for pickleball on the Virtuosa? I realize that it’s not as popular outside N. America but I enjoyed playing a few times on our recent Meraviglia cruise and was hoping to do so on our upcoming Virtuosa one.

Thanks for the help.

Thanks, I tried that and it’s working now. Do you know if you can view more than one cruise on the app at a time?

When I try to open the app I get a message saying “sorry, can not contact server, please try again”. I originally thought the app was only useable on board but I see that other people are able to view their upcoming cruises on their app. What am I doing wrong? The app is up to date on my iPhone.

Oh no, we’re embarking on our first non YC cruise on Virtuosa in September. I thought it would be safe as kids should be back in school, but on the FB group it seems like a lot families with kids are still going.

And no smoking

Thank you, just the information I was looking for!

Lately I have booked most of mine through a U.S. online travel agent. The price is the same as on the MSC website but they throw in some on board credit usually amounting to between 5 and 10% of the cruise fare. The downside is having to pay in $US but now that I have a no foreign transaction fee credit card, the extra OBC is worth it. Unfortunately I have yet to find any Canadian TAs who give OBC. (My first MSC cruise was booked through the MSC Canada website and I must say I did find their customer service to be much more helpful and easier to deal with than that of MSC USA.)

I brought both on the Mera with no problem.

Voyagersclub@msccruises.ca

After emailing the voyagers club USA address twice to no avail I tried the Canadian one yesterday, got a response back same day and my points have been added!

I never expected to. I was just interested in what level of gambling does get you one.