Enjoyacruise Posted June 1, 2021 #401 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Thank you CaroleC and LifeonMars for your responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaroleC Posted June 1, 2021 #402 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Enjoyacruise said: I appreciate that in these Covid times they are not doing self disembarkation. Can anyone who has got off the Virtuosa in Southampton please give me an idea on timing (to book my return train!). The MSC help desk said it would probably be 9.30 but as the ship is due to dock 6.30 that seems later than I would expect. I’ve just found the Disembarkation Schedule for the 24th May sailing. Sorry it’s a bit scruffy but hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waju Posted June 2, 2021 #403 Share Posted June 2, 2021 10 hours ago, CaroleC said: I’ve just found the Disembarkation Schedule for the 24th May sailing. Sorry it’s a bit scruffy but hope it helps. It was the easiest disembarkation we've ever had! We left our suitcases in the cabin and went for breakfast at 7am, then at about 8pm we collected the cases and simply walked off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimming with spaniels Posted June 2, 2021 #404 Share Posted June 2, 2021 13 hours ago, Enjoyacruise said: Hello All I have booked the four day cruise Liverpool to Southampton on 13 July. Disembarking on 17th July. I have never been with MSC and looking forward to a new cruise line and ship. I appreciate that in these Covid times they are not doing self disembarkation. Can anyone who has got off the Virtuosa in Southampton please give me an idea on timing (to book my return train!). The MSC help desk said it would probably be 9.30 but as the ship is due to dock 6.30 that seems later than I would expect. thank you once you have been allocated your debark time - go to guest services and ask them to change you to what ever time it is you want... we did this as we wanted the latest time to leave (husband had a 3 hour drive to pick us up) You can DIY if you want to ( there was a note left in our cabin about what to do if that was your preference) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimming with spaniels Posted June 2, 2021 #405 Share Posted June 2, 2021 17 hours ago, kernow said: Today we've also been allocated a deck 11 cabin. Happy that we didn't get deck 14 with the big overhang, hoping 11 will be low enough to get some sun (if the weather stays nice next week). there's plenty of space on deck if your cabin is the wrong side to catch the sun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimming with spaniels Posted June 2, 2021 #406 Share Posted June 2, 2021 16 hours ago, the wandering two said: As a good few of you folks have already been onboard what's the live music like in any of the lounges? Frequency, duration etc. TIA The Soul Sisters were on twice a night (30 mins) in the Carousel Lounge - my daughter and I loved them. So wonderful to be experiencing live music after all this time. There was the strange musical theatre review (30 mins) in the main theatre - what a spectacle, but don't try and figure out what is happening, that way madness lies 🤣 There were other bands playing which i caught from a distance, one classical and one rock/pop i think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladyshopper23 Posted June 2, 2021 #407 Share Posted June 2, 2021 On 5/31/2021 at 3:03 PM, kernow said: Just starting to think about packing for Saturday's cruise. Can anyone who has been tell me what the temperature has been like onboard in places like the theatre, lounges etc. Will I need a wrap/ cardi or are bare arms comfortable. Thanks We've just got off the cruise yesterday, I didn't put anything over my arms the whole time we were onboard. Temperature very comfortable with bare arms. Had a fantastic cruise, and the weather was amazing, we were so lucky. I won't go over what others have said, but I will take about gluten free food, as I know there was a poster on here that was interested. We filled out the special needs form from MSC to let them know we were coeliac. We did as much research as we could beforehand in relation to gluten free food, and based on this took a load of snack on with us. This was a good decision! On Day 1 when you embark, if you get on after the main dining room is closed for lunch (at 1.30pm) you're a bit screwed, as you are told you cannot eat in the buffet or from room service (more about that later). You have to ask for the gluten free menu, and it was a little bit limited for that first lunch (especially for me as a vegetarian). However, I had a lovely vegetarian pakora as my main course, it was delicious. You are served by the head waiter, and you have to sign for your food afterwards (a way of keeping track of what is cooked in the allergy kitchen I think). At lunch I asked to see the dinner menu, and there is definitely flexibility around what you can have if you don't like anything. Bread wise they have pre-packaged schar bread, which they microwave for you in the packet (so they're a bit soggy!). On the first day at lunch be prepared to be offered normal bread about a million times, as obviously the servers don't know you are gluten free at that point! Gluten free food is cooked from scratch in the allergy kitchen, so it can take quite a while longer than normal food. However, the upside of that is it is always piping hot, and we found the portions to be very generous (a common complaint I've read from people is that portion sizes on the standard menu are tiny). Lunch in the main dining room is between 12-1.30pm. Dinner is 6-8.30pm (they seem to have gone for any time dining on these UK cruises, or at least for the first few). When we went to dinner we were sat somewhere different from lunch, but after that day we always requested to sit with the same team. After lunch on our first day we headed up to the buffet to see what the deal was. We spoke to one of the head waiters in there, and were basically told we couldn't eat in the buffet, as they couldn't guarantee that anything was free from cross contamination. However, the chap we spoke to did say they had pre-packaged bread available, and at breakfast there was pre-packed muffins and cookies, and he did say omlettes were a possibility (I guess they could clean the pan out, we never went to the buffet after that though so don't know). Later on in the afternoon we got a call in our cabin as they were obviously aware we were coeliac from the special needs form. This phone call basically told us to eat only in the main dining room, as nowhere else could be guaranteed to be gluten free. For dinner on our first night we again had Schar bread (a different type of roll but still soggy!). Order taken by head waiter. I'll try and put some menus up at the end. Food was very hot and very nice. Dessert wise there is a dessert of the day, this is a dessert that is bought in rather than made on the ship, so is defrosted (if you're lucky!). We had a chocolate tart kind of thing with toasted hazelnuts on top. Other days it was a meringue cake or tiramisu. For breakfast (served between 7.30-9am) there isn't a separate menu, but the head waiter tells you what is safe to order. Unfortunately the hash browns were not gluten free, and there were no vegetarian sausages at all on offer. Husband had bacon and sausages, no idea if the black pudding is gluten free but I suspect not. You could also have any kind of eggs, baked beans, potatoes, mushrooms and tomatoes. You are offered the obligatory bread, and there are also pre-packed croissants (horrible and dry), and really nice chocolate hazelnut filled croissant (we got given this on day 2, requested it on day 3 but apparently none available, then had one found for us on the last day) and also a croissant with a marmalade type filling (which again was really dry). On the last day we were also offered pre-packaged chocolate chip muffins, unfortunately these didn't come out until our cooked food did (40 minutes after ordering!) so didn't try it. We did go and have a chat with guest services on the first proper day, expressing our concern about the flexibility (or lack of) for people who need to be gluten free. The lady we spoke to was lovely and totally understood where we were coming from, and said she would pass our concerns on. When we went back to our cabin at bedtime there was a huge bag of gluten free goodies (cakes and crackers) which we thought was a really sweet gesture. We had made sure to tell her that the food and service was great, it's just that sometimes, you really want something like a plate of fries at a time when the main dining room isn't open, and it was impossible for us to get them. We did chat to our head waiter in the main restaurant, and he was able to get us a plate of fries with lunch/dinner if we wanted it, and they would have been able to cook different things to that on the menu with notice, so definitely worth looking at the menu the day before. We also took a bottle of the GF lager into lunch one day and asked if they were able to get it for us and they were more than happy to send someone out to the pub to get us bottles as required (why they don't keep some in the restaurant I don't know!) On our last full day we did talk about not going to the main dining room, and we went up to the buffet around 4.45pm (it closed at 5) to see if we could get anything at all, even if it was just a plate of cheese slices to go with our crackers we had. The buffet was almost empty, and they got a head waiter to speak to us, and he kindly arranged a plate of cheese and a bowl of fries (they didn't have any fries out so they would have been cooked specially for us). We were really grateful they he'd been able to do this, I have no idea if they would normally be able to though with a full ship or at busy times. As it turns out, this did just end up being a snack, as we went to the show, then decided to go for dinner afterwards as we were feeling peckish! Drinks wise they serve the gluten free Estrella Daura Damm in the pub on deck 7, and the Sports Bar on deck 16. they also have a gluten free drinks menu at the sports bar, which is interesting. Behind the counter is some gluten free snacks, but you have to pay for them, which I think is a bit off really considering the lack of flexible food options for gluten free people. I didn't ask how much they were. We did also check out the syrups used in cocktails (asked to see the bottle) and they were gluten free. I managed to find a few bar staff who were willing to amend the frozen BBC to basically a mudslide (I don't like pineapple or banana!) and they were very nice! We had paid the £13pppd to upgrade to the premium plus drinks package, which includes your mini bar and room service. We did phone room service on our last day and asked if there was anything at all we could have that was gluten free, they basically said no and that we could only eat food from the main dining room! The snacks in the mini bar are all a may contain, so again, nothing in there suitable for coeliacs. As I said previously, we took a load of snacks, and although didn't need as many as we took, it was definitely useful to have them. In summary, the food we were given in the main dining room was hot, well cooked and tasty. It took quite a long time to get food, so meals take longer than you expect. We did really miss having any kind of flexibility as to where to eat and being stuck with rigid main dining room times, sometimes when you're lying round the pool you just want the flexibility to go and grab a plate of food from the buffet rather than get change and spend an hours and a half in the main dining room. All the dining room staff were lovely and tried to be as helpful, and the head waiter did apologise lots of times for the fact we could only eat in the main dining room. For a 4 day cruise it was fine, we were very well fed (as our scales will agree!!), but I'm not sure I'd want to do a weeks cruise with having to eat in the main dining room every single meal. When we got off the ship yesterday we waited 40 minutes from ordering our breakfast to it arriving, and it wasn't even busy in there! We had no problem taking food on, we did take our special needs forms with us just in case we had any questions at the port as technically you're not supposed to take any food on. I hope that helps anyone who is coeliac or needs to be gluten free for any reason. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notts1964 Posted June 2, 2021 #408 Share Posted June 2, 2021 We are booked on the 17 July Virtuosa cruise, and have just got the embarkation time of 3pm. We have booked the ABP port parking on site. Our journey should take around 3 hours, but we’ll give ourselves plenty of time, say set off at 10.30am, just in case of traffic problems. Does anyone know whether we could check in early, if we get there early, or will we have to park the car give in our cases, and just hang around or have a walk into town until 3pm? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimming with spaniels Posted June 2, 2021 #409 Share Posted June 2, 2021 38 minutes ago, Notts1964 said: We are booked on the 17 July Virtuosa cruise, and have just got the embarkation time of 3pm. We have booked the ABP port parking on site. Our journey should take around 3 hours, but we’ll give ourselves plenty of time, say set off at 10.30am, just in case of traffic problems. Does anyone know whether we could check in early, if we get there early, or will we have to park the car give in our cases, and just hang around or have a walk into town until 3pm? Thanks Oh you're going to love it! So jealous 🤣 We travelled about 2.5 hours and left in good time in case of traffic so we stopped at Cowherds in Southampton for a cuppa first. When we checked in at about 3.10 there was no queue, straight through, so i think it wouldn't be too much of an issue if you were a little early. You do keep your cases and take them into the terminal with you (i guess they don't load them on the ship until they no your are covid free) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeine_demon Posted June 2, 2021 #410 Share Posted June 2, 2021 21 hours ago, the wandering two said: As a good few of you folks have already been onboard what's the live music like in any of the lounges? Frequency, duration etc. TIA As well as the twice nightly soul sisters shows - there are also a variety of acts in the atrium area, and the sky lounge (and one or 2 other bars) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigRoger Posted June 2, 2021 #411 Share Posted June 2, 2021 12 minutes ago, caffeine_demon said: As well as the twice nightly soul sisters shows - there are also a variety of acts in the atrium area, and the sky lounge (and one or 2 other bars) Yep Pub is acoustic guitar singer….. sky lounge jazz trio….. Virtuosa lounge is a pop(ish) band…. I suspect you might find the comedian singing somewhere too…. He has to do something because telling jokes is clearly not his forte……………. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare little britain Posted June 2, 2021 #412 Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, BigRoger said: Yep Pub is acoustic guitar singer….. sky lounge jazz trio….. Virtuosa lounge is a pop(ish) band…. I suspect you might find the comedian singing somewhere too…. He has to do something because telling jokes is clearly not his forte……………. PMSL !!! Edited June 2, 2021 by little britain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swoopy2110 Posted June 3, 2021 #413 Share Posted June 3, 2021 On 6/1/2021 at 9:30 PM, Enjoyacruise said: Hello All I have booked the four day cruise Liverpool to Southampton on 13 July. Disembarking on 17th July. I have never been with MSC and looking forward to a new cruise line and ship. I appreciate that in these Covid times they are not doing self disembarkation. Can anyone who has got off the Virtuosa in Southampton please give me an idea on timing (to book my return train!). The MSC help desk said it would probably be 9.30 but as the ship is due to dock 6.30 that seems later than I would expect. thank you Me too. Do you keep getting daily emails with your e-docs on as well? 😀Every morning when I wake up I've got a new email with my e-docs / luggage tag on again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Huntingdon1701 Posted June 3, 2021 #414 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Yes, MSC believe in multiple emails. About half a dozen duplicate confirmations when you book, and then a round dozen e-doc emails before you sail. 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kernow Posted June 3, 2021 #415 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Just had confirmation of a successful bid on YC interior for Saturday's cruise.😄 Very excited to try YC (although slightly nervous about being in an interior cabin for 7 nights). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedgeh Posted June 3, 2021 #416 Share Posted June 3, 2021 6 minutes ago, kernow said: Just had confirmation of a successful bid on YC interior for Saturday's cruise.😄 Very excited to try YC (although slightly nervous about being in an interior cabin for 7 nights). Fantastic! Mind giving an indication of how much you bid - I'm hoping for the same on a following cruise. We often cruise insides (though currently have a balcony on our sailing), so that part of it doesn't worry us too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeonMars Posted June 3, 2021 #417 Share Posted June 3, 2021 38 minutes ago, kernow said: Just had confirmation of a successful bid on YC interior for Saturday's cruise.😄 Very excited to try YC (although slightly nervous about being in an interior cabin for 7 nights). Having an Inside may be slightly annoying especially as there is/was no Bow Webcam available on the TV as most other cruise ships usually have . They did have the weather forecast and position of ship however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted June 3, 2021 #418 Share Posted June 3, 2021 50 minutes ago, kernow said: Just had confirmation of a successful bid on YC interior for Saturday's cruise.😄 Very excited to try YC (although slightly nervous about being in an interior cabin for 7 nights). Well done ! And 7 nights too ! Have you been in an inside on one of the other ships in the class? , we have. From pictures I have seen of the YC ones the only difference is there are two easy armchairs and a table. You don’t get any seating for regular insides . There is very little drawer storage , only 2 deep ones in the wardrobe plus a couple of shelves. We are currently in a Bella balcony for our cruise and if I get the bid up e.mail like you would be very tempted to try for it as it would probably be the only time ever to try YC. Have a great time . P.S. could you reveal how much you bid to give me a ball park as our cruise is 7 nights too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trixie21 Posted June 3, 2021 #419 Share Posted June 3, 2021 22 hours ago, Ladyshopper23 said: We've just got off the cruise yesterday, I didn't put anything over my arms the whole time we were onboard. Temperature very comfortable with bare arms. Had a fantastic cruise, and the weather was amazing, we were so lucky. I won't go over what others have said, but I will take about gluten free food, as I know there was a poster on here that was interested. We filled out the special needs form from MSC to let them know we were coeliac. We did as much research as we could beforehand in relation to gluten free food, and based on this took a load of snack on with us. This was a good decision! On Day 1 when you embark, if you get on after the main dining room is closed for lunch (at 1.30pm) you're a bit screwed, as you are told you cannot eat in the buffet or from room service (more about that later). You have to ask for the gluten free menu, and it was a little bit limited for that first lunch (especially for me as a vegetarian). However, I had a lovely vegetarian pakora as my main course, it was delicious. You are served by the head waiter, and you have to sign for your food afterwards (a way of keeping track of what is cooked in the allergy kitchen I think). At lunch I asked to see the dinner menu, and there is definitely flexibility around what you can have if you don't like anything. Bread wise they have pre-packaged schar bread, which they microwave for you in the packet (so they're a bit soggy!). On the first day at lunch be prepared to be offered normal bread about a million times, as obviously the servers don't know you are gluten free at that point! Gluten free food is cooked from scratch in the allergy kitchen, so it can take quite a while longer than normal food. However, the upside of that is it is always piping hot, and we found the portions to be very generous (a common complaint I've read from people is that portion sizes on the standard menu are tiny). Lunch in the main dining room is between 12-1.30pm. Dinner is 6-8.30pm (they seem to have gone for any time dining on these UK cruises, or at least for the first few). When we went to dinner we were sat somewhere different from lunch, but after that day we always requested to sit with the same team. After lunch on our first day we headed up to the buffet to see what the deal was. We spoke to one of the head waiters in there, and were basically told we couldn't eat in the buffet, as they couldn't guarantee that anything was free from cross contamination. However, the chap we spoke to did say they had pre-packaged bread available, and at breakfast there was pre-packed muffins and cookies, and he did say omlettes were a possibility (I guess they could clean the pan out, we never went to the buffet after that though so don't know). Later on in the afternoon we got a call in our cabin as they were obviously aware we were coeliac from the special needs form. This phone call basically told us to eat only in the main dining room, as nowhere else could be guaranteed to be gluten free. For dinner on our first night we again had Schar bread (a different type of roll but still soggy!). Order taken by head waiter. I'll try and put some menus up at the end. Food was very hot and very nice. Dessert wise there is a dessert of the day, this is a dessert that is bought in rather than made on the ship, so is defrosted (if you're lucky!). We had a chocolate tart kind of thing with toasted hazelnuts on top. Other days it was a meringue cake or tiramisu. For breakfast (served between 7.30-9am) there isn't a separate menu, but the head waiter tells you what is safe to order. Unfortunately the hash browns were not gluten free, and there were no vegetarian sausages at all on offer. Husband had bacon and sausages, no idea if the black pudding is gluten free but I suspect not. You could also have any kind of eggs, baked beans, potatoes, mushrooms and tomatoes. You are offered the obligatory bread, and there are also pre-packed croissants (horrible and dry), and really nice chocolate hazelnut filled croissant (we got given this on day 2, requested it on day 3 but apparently none available, then had one found for us on the last day) and also a croissant with a marmalade type filling (which again was really dry). On the last day we were also offered pre-packaged chocolate chip muffins, unfortunately these didn't come out until our cooked food did (40 minutes after ordering!) so didn't try it. We did go and have a chat with guest services on the first proper day, expressing our concern about the flexibility (or lack of) for people who need to be gluten free. The lady we spoke to was lovely and totally understood where we were coming from, and said she would pass our concerns on. When we went back to our cabin at bedtime there was a huge bag of gluten free goodies (cakes and crackers) which we thought was a really sweet gesture. We had made sure to tell her that the food and service was great, it's just that sometimes, you really want something like a plate of fries at a time when the main dining room isn't open, and it was impossible for us to get them. We did chat to our head waiter in the main restaurant, and he was able to get us a plate of fries with lunch/dinner if we wanted it, and they would have been able to cook different things to that on the menu with notice, so definitely worth looking at the menu the day before. We also took a bottle of the GF lager into lunch one day and asked if they were able to get it for us and they were more than happy to send someone out to the pub to get us bottles as required (why they don't keep some in the restaurant I don't know!) On our last full day we did talk about not going to the main dining room, and we went up to the buffet around 4.45pm (it closed at 5) to see if we could get anything at all, even if it was just a plate of cheese slices to go with our crackers we had. The buffet was almost empty, and they got a head waiter to speak to us, and he kindly arranged a plate of cheese and a bowl of fries (they didn't have any fries out so they would have been cooked specially for us). We were really grateful they he'd been able to do this, I have no idea if they would normally be able to though with a full ship or at busy times. As it turns out, this did just end up being a snack, as we went to the show, then decided to go for dinner afterwards as we were feeling peckish! Drinks wise they serve the gluten free Estrella Daura Damm in the pub on deck 7, and the Sports Bar on deck 16. they also have a gluten free drinks menu at the sports bar, which is interesting. Behind the counter is some gluten free snacks, but you have to pay for them, which I think is a bit off really considering the lack of flexible food options for gluten free people. I didn't ask how much they were. We did also check out the syrups used in cocktails (asked to see the bottle) and they were gluten free. I managed to find a few bar staff who were willing to amend the frozen BBC to basically a mudslide (I don't like pineapple or banana!) and they were very nice! We had paid the £13pppd to upgrade to the premium plus drinks package, which includes your mini bar and room service. We did phone room service on our last day and asked if there was anything at all we could have that was gluten free, they basically said no and that we could only eat food from the main dining room! The snacks in the mini bar are all a may contain, so again, nothing in there suitable for coeliacs. As I said previously, we took a load of snacks, and although didn't need as many as we took, it was definitely useful to have them. In summary, the food we were given in the main dining room was hot, well cooked and tasty. It took quite a long time to get food, so meals take longer than you expect. We did really miss having any kind of flexibility as to where to eat and being stuck with rigid main dining room times, sometimes when you're lying round the pool you just want the flexibility to go and grab a plate of food from the buffet rather than get change and spend an hours and a half in the main dining room. All the dining room staff were lovely and tried to be as helpful, and the head waiter did apologise lots of times for the fact we could only eat in the main dining room. For a 4 day cruise it was fine, we were very well fed (as our scales will agree!!), but I'm not sure I'd want to do a weeks cruise with having to eat in the main dining room every single meal. When we got off the ship yesterday we waited 40 minutes from ordering our breakfast to it arriving, and it wasn't even busy in there! We had no problem taking food on, we did take our special needs forms with us just in case we had any questions at the port as technically you're not supposed to take any food on. I hope that helps anyone who is coeliac or needs to be gluten free for any reason. Thank you so much for this information on the glutennfree situation. Unfortunately it kind of rules us out trying MSC at the moment, if all the ships are like this. From what you have described I know my wife would be thoroughly miserable - it would be a constant battle trying to find something to eat. While we usually eat breakfast and dinner in the main dining room anyway , we have always been able to pop into the buffet or pizza place for a snack , and have always been able to get something without any issue. The food always takes longer to come- we are well used to that, and that is no issue. The ship looks amazing , and I hope you enjoyed your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kernow Posted June 3, 2021 #420 Share Posted June 3, 2021 We were in a Bella balcony, minimum bid was £175, we bid £195 which still seemed like a good deal. We've had insides a couple of times on RCL Voyager/Freedom ships on short cruises so have an idea of what it's like. The upside is that I always sleep really well in them. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted June 3, 2021 #421 Share Posted June 3, 2021 3 minutes ago, kernow said: We were in a Bella balcony, minimum bid was £175, we bid £195 which still seemed like a good deal. We've had insides a couple of times on RCL Voyager/Freedom ships on short cruises so have an idea of what it's like. The upside is that I always sleep really well in them. Thanks J . I was debating whether to upgrade the drinks package but think I will save that money and put towards any e.mail upgrade bid we might get. John loves insides for his sleeping so I know I will win that battle about giving up a balcony 😆. Looks like you are going to have great weather , you and M have a fabulous time enjoying the YC sundeck and bar !! X 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladyshopper23 Posted June 3, 2021 #422 Share Posted June 3, 2021 26 minutes ago, Trixie21 said: Thank you so much for this information on the glutennfree situation. Unfortunately it kind of rules us out trying MSC at the moment, if all the ships are like this. From what you have described I know my wife would be thoroughly miserable - it would be a constant battle trying to find something to eat. While we usually eat breakfast and dinner in the main dining room anyway , we have always been able to pop into the buffet or pizza place for a snack , and have always been able to get something without any issue. The food always takes longer to come- we are well used to that, and that is no issue. The ship looks amazing , and I hope you enjoyed your cruise! I'm glad it helped, even if it has made you rule MSC out. The ship is incredible and we had a wonderful cruise thank you. For us, we would definitely consider a shorter cruise on MSC as the food situation felt manageable, but I don't think we'd choose to do a week or any longer. We have a P&O staycation cruise booked in July, so will be interesting to see how they differ. From what I've read, they seem to deal with gluten free very well and so we're hoping we'll be able to have the flexibility of eating in the buffet or elsewhere on the ship. We'll still take some snacks, just in case!! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trixie21 Posted June 3, 2021 #423 Share Posted June 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Ladyshopper23 said: I'm glad it helped, even if it has made you rule MSC out. The ship is incredible and we had a wonderful cruise thank you. For us, we would definitely consider a shorter cruise on MSC as the food situation felt manageable, but I don't think we'd choose to do a week or any longer. We have a P&O staycation cruise booked in July, so will be interesting to see how they differ. From what I've read, they seem to deal with gluten free very well and so we're hoping we'll be able to have the flexibility of eating in the buffet or elsewhere on the ship. We'll still take some snacks, just in case!! 😁 We usually cruise on Royal Caribbean and have a UK cruise booked with them for August. They deal with gluten free really well , and it is the primary reason we haven't tried any other lines recently - for fear of a food disaster! (We are also happy with the overall package on Royal at present , however their pricing is becoming quite expensive). Otherwise I would have jumped at the chance to try Virtuoso. Hope you enjoy P&O - I have read that they also deal very well with gluten free and would probably be the only line we would seriously consider as an alternative to Royal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurions Posted June 3, 2021 #424 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Hello all. Many thanks to all who have previously posted. We're booked on 29th June departing Liverpool and are excited to cruise again especially from Liverpool as the terminal only 30 minutes from home on (free for us) public transport...Woo Hoo... Our question, to those who have been onboard, is about the casino... Are the tables operating normally with regard to social distancing? Are all the blackjack and roulette tables in use? And would we be correct in assuming that the currency used at the tables is pounds sterling? Thanks in anticipation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaroleC Posted June 3, 2021 #425 Share Posted June 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Centurions said: Are the tables operating normally with regard to social distancing? Are all the blackjack and roulette tables in use? And would we be correct in assuming that the currency used at the tables is pounds sterling? My husband spent a fair bit of time in the casino on our recent sailing lol. Not every table was open, however, I would assume that was due to the reduced pax capacity. Alternate seats at the blackjack tables were closed, as was every other slot machine. The roulette tables were quite busy however. Sterling is used on the UK sailings. Have a great cruise, don’t lose too much money! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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