MeiFong

Ships dock near the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam https://www.cruiseportrotterdam.nl/directions/

Rotterdam itself is a nice place to visit with a lot of modern architecture (for example cube houses), bridges, the Euromast, the Market hall, lots of musea, etc.

Gouda is very different from Rotterdam, smaller, but also a nice place to visit. It has a very nice market area with many old buildings. The actual cheese market is only in summer (and very touristy). More info about Gouda can be found at https://welcometogouda.com/

Apart from cheese Gouda has also given its name to 'Goudse Stroofwafels' (sirop wafels). Be sure to buy some when in the Netherlands (any supermarket sells them, but the freshly prepared ones at special bakeries are of course nicer and usually bigger).

Today I received a mail from MSC Customer Care Benelux about the change in ship. Several options are given:

- go on the cruise

- change to another cruise (no charges for the change, but at current prices of the other cruise, so if that's more expensive additional charges apply)

- a future cruise certificate, new booking needs to be made by 31-12-2022

- full refund (this part is a bit unclear, it seems that you first need to ask for the future cruise certificate and then ask a refund).

I guess we'll stick with our cruise and will enjoy Virtuosa.

I hope others have also received more info by now.

21 hours ago, tweakes said:

Looks like our 7 November cruise was canceled and my reservation was automatically switched to 14 November. Just noticed in my profile now, no communication yet. 

It is possible for you to change to another week? For me, with work and everything, that would mean I would need to cancel. I hope that is not the case for you. And it you do need to cancel that you get at least a full refund.

Today I received a new booking confirmation. The mail is very generic with nothing about the change in ship, but the booking confirmation that is attached indeed mentions Virtuosa and a new cabin. The accompanying mail says to check that the information is correct and to contact MSC in case of any inaccuracies. I wonder how many mails they will be getting from confused passengers 😉.

1 hour ago, tweakes said:

Well this would mean the November 7 one on Preziosa I'm on from Hamburg would be canceled. It is supposed to dock in Rotterdam on November 9, but it is not showing on this schedule. 

That would be a shame if your cruise is cancelled. I hope things are soon clarified by MSC.

7 hours ago, LifeonMars said:

Looking at the Southampton cruise  arrival schedule for 8/15/21/29  Oct and 5th November  MSC Prezosia is shown.  Although the schedule  can change, it has already been updated with the Virtuosa as sailing on 12th November and  30th December.  

 

During October MSC Virtuosa is cruising  from Southampton, Spain and Canary Islands whilst Prezosia is cruising from Southampton.  Hamburg/Rotterdam/Zeebrugge  and Le Harve  

 

It looks like Prezosia will visit until the last sailing on 5th November,  when Virtuosa takes over on 12th November

 

 

https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

 

 

The Rotterdam schedule seems to agree with the Southampton scheulde, so in the second week of November, Virtuosa will take over from Preziosa.

https://www.cruiseportrotterdam.nl/cruise-calls/

Several months ago I  booked a cruise to Northern/Western Europe on the Preziosa coming November. Through CruiseCritic I learned that last Monday MSC issued a statement that the European cruises this autumn/winter will be on Virtuosa as Preziosa will be based in Brazil. I looked at the websites of the different ports (Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre and Southampton) and they are expecting Virtuosa on the dates of our cruise, except for Hamburg which states Preziosa. When I log in on the MSC website, Preziosa is still mentioned. And the cruise is also still being sold as if it will be on Preziosa.

Any idea when I can 'officially' expect to be informed about the ship change?

Is anybody else cruising Northern/Western Europe coming October/November/December/January/February and have you received any info from MSC about the change in ship?

I guess I should be happy with the ship change as Virtuosa is a much newer ship. I just have to convince my husband that it is no too big. He is not a fan of the big ships (he didn't like Meraviglia that much because of its size and Virtuosa is the same size - maybe I just don't tell him 😉).

During the run-up to our cruise (which was the last week of August) I checked MarineTraffic for several weeks and the ship always arrived before 11 in Naples all those Mondays.

For those on board now: you can skip the show tonight, the 'magician', but make sure to go to all other shows!

I'm also interested. We've only recently found out that DH is gluten sensitive. It will be risotto but no pasta or pizza for him, something he's still coming to terms with.

It would already be great if MSC had gluten free bread.

I've replied on a couple of her threads about her writing 'Latest Seabourn news'. She doesn't seem to follow up. I also spoke with Adam Coulter, the senior editor in UK, who was on Meraviglia at the same as we were, about Laura always saying latest Seabourn news. He said he'd mention it to her. However, it still continues. :confused:

I know it's a minor thing but it also really bugs me that she always does this.

Is this just for the USA or is it Europe as well?

 

Will it include existing bookings or just new ones?

 

 

Pete

I doubt it will include existing booking.

It's currently still different across Europe. For example, in Belgium it is 30 days out, while in the Netherlands it is 42 days out. But in Belgium you pay 30% deposit and in the Netherlands 20%. So all these general conditions, for different countries and in different languages would need to be changed. Since deposits are non-refundable in Europe it is less essential for MSC to have full payment so early.

Great info, thanks. I'm happy to know that we can go straight to the cruise terminal in Naples, after checking out from our B&B. Also good to know we can have a leisurely morning on the last day.

Thanks for all the info Stealthy. I hope you are enjoying the rest of your Europe trip.

DH and I will be in the exact same cabin in less than 2 months. The cabin looks quite a lot like what I expected, apart from the lack of chairs. But to be honest, I do not have chairs in my bedroom at home either, so am used to sitting on the bed, when putting on shoes etc. I don't expect us to spend much time in the cabin anyway.

Can you describe embarkation and debarkation in Naples? What time were you able to board? Is there a YC tent? What time did you have to vacate you cabin?

Just a quick thank you, Beamafar, for answering all the questions and taking the time to share your holiday with us. I can't wait to be on Meraviglia in August.

Have great craic the rest of the cruise.

Check out the latest Seabourn news from Cruise Critic:

 

MSC Meraviglia Will Homeport Year-Round in Miami Starting 2019

Hi Laura, thanks for the link, but why do you start the tread with 'Check out the latest Seabourn news from Cruise Critic'? Shouldn't that be 'Check out the latest MSC news from Cruise Critic'? I've noticed it several times now when a tread is started linking to MSC news on the main CC site.

I've done both (not on MSC) and they are very different.

The fjords route is about nature and I think a cruise is the best way to see the fjords and waterfalls. Much better than doing this route by land. A balcony is a good choice in that case to be able to watch the fjords go by in privacy.

The Baltics is all about culture such as museums, palaces and churches. Twelve hours in St. Petersburg is definitely not enough. Also realise that you either have to get a visa (probably not worth it for 12 hours) or book an excursion beforehand (doesn't need to be with the cruise line) to be allowed to leave the ship in St. Petersburg.

I enjoyed both cruises, but with the choice you're mentioning (less than one day in St. Petersburg) I would choose the fjords and with Copenhagen, Warnemunde and Bergen you can still get the 'culture' part as well.

My TA told me that show A is performed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while show B is performed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So no show on Thursday, the sea day. I wonder how different the two shows will be and if it is worth it to go to both.

Thongs is the word used in Australia for Flip Flops, so the translation isn't wrong. :)

Glad to read that there are still plenty of Lego models available on board and for a reasonable price, thanks for the info. I hope they will also sell them on the Meraviglia itself this summer.

I was just planning to buy one as a souvenir, but with the prices on Ebay it almost seems like a worthwhile investment. ;):)

See Meraviglia being build in two time-lapse videos on the MSC fans page (I guess the issues between Kevin and MSC have been resolved):

http://www.mscfans.it/classe-meraviglia/msc-meraviglia-work-in-progress/

According to the rules and regulations of the MSC USA promotion the LEGO ship has a value of approx. 20 dollars. But I imagine they sell it for more on board. I just hope they keep selling them for a while since I had to cancel my upcoming cruise in September and the next one isn't scheduled for another year. In the meantime I'll just keep an eye on eBay and hope prizes go down. ;)

Thanks Pete, I had found the brickowl link as well and that prize seemed ridiculously high to me. The other links you provided have some better prizes, but still expensive. Of course I do realise it is a limited edition and it's real LEGO so it is always going to come at a prize. Knowing if they are indeed sold on the ships and at what prize would help in deciding if I really want to buy one (either on board or online).

Because of a link Beamafar gave on the Meraviglia thread I learned that a LEGO version of the still being build Meraviglia exists. After some googling I found out that the LEGO box is only available for sale on the MSC ships. Some reports mention that it is sold on the Preziosa and the Fantasia, other links mention the box is sold on all ships. Has anybody seen this box, LEGO set 40227 - MSC Meraviglia, being sold on the ships? And if so what is the price? Thanks for any replies.

'Bedankt' for your great review. I did a similar itinerary last year, so it brings back good memories and at the same time it is good preparation for my cruise on Fantasia coming September.

Yep, very excited to have booked another YC experience on the New Meraviglia. We have gone for the inside cabin (16012) and am interested in checking it out.

 

Leaving Naples on 19th June 2017. The earlier couple of cruises should have ironed out any problems I would have thought ;)

We are booked for the same itinerary and cabin in August 2017. I wonder if embarking en disembarking in the afternoon will make the cruise feel longer. I hope we all come back with wonderful stories, unfortunately it's still quite a while away.

On the Dutch MSC site the following is mentioned for Med cruises of up to 8 nights:

Winter 2015/2016: 8.50 Euro a night

Summer 2016: 9.00 Euro a night

Summer 2017 and winter 2017/2018: 10 Euro a night

You can see the whole list with longer cruises and other destinations here:

http://www.msccruises.nl/nl_nl/Cruise-Geboekt/Faq.aspx

It's all in Dutch, but I think you can get the gist of it.