Live from the MSC Virtuosa 4/7

[Lena11033]

There was someone from France I was talking to this cruise and he had been told (before they confirmed where we were going) if they had to go to Amsterdam he’d have to stay onboard an extra night so instead of getting off on Thursday he’d have to depart the Friday. I think they will try to stay as close to France as possible for ease for everyone 

[Horn Blast]

3 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

There was someone from France I was talking to this cruise and he had been told (before they confirmed where we were going) if they had to go to Amsterdam he’d have to stay onboard an extra night so instead of getting off on Thursday he’d have to depart the Friday. I think they will try to stay as close to France as possible for ease for everyone 

Yes I agree.

 

Meaning the only realistic option is Belgium, ie: back to Zeebrugge.

 

 

[Guest Cable3232]

35 minutes ago, Horn Blast said:

Yes I agree.

 

Meaning the only realistic option is Belgium, ie: back to Zeebrugge.

 

 

Not much between the two, 4.5 or 7 hours to Le Havre by road (keeping in mind EU road services stops are not that bad, they not US good). And it more preferable than Southampton to France. 

 

If it was me and I couldnt do the extra day, I would get off earlier than later. Either way it is going to be a phaf. 

[Horn Blast]

11 minutes ago, Cable3232 said:

Not much between the two, 4.5 or 7 hours to Le Havre by road (keeping in mind EU road services stops are not that bad, they not US good). And it more preferable than Southampton to France. 

 

If it was me and I couldnt do the extra day, I would get off earlier than later. Either way it is going to be a phaf. 

So...

 

Hamburg

Sea day

Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge (instead of Cherbourg)

Zeebrugge (instead of Le Havre)

Southampton.

 

[insidecabin]

12 hours ago, Horn Blast said:

So...

 

Hamburg

Sea day

Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge (instead of Cherbourg)

Zeebrugge (instead of Le Havre)

Southampton.

 

AIDAprima is in the Zeebrugge berth on the 19th Cherbourg day.

 

I think Rotterdam is available

 

Amsterdam has 2 ships in

 

No passenger changes  on the Cherbourg day.

[Horn Blast]

7 hours ago, insidecabin said:

AIDAprima is in the Zeebrugge berth on the 19th Cherbourg day.

 

I think Rotterdam is available

 

Amsterdam has 2 ships in

 

No passenger changes  on the Cherbourg day.

Thanks for the info.

 

Is it fed able to depart Rotterdam in the evening and arrive Southampton the following morning though?

 

 

[insidecabin]

30 minutes ago, Horn Blast said:

Thanks for the info.

 

Is it fed able to depart Rotterdam in the evening and arrive Southampton the following morning though?

 

 

They only need to do 19th in Rotterdam they can move back to Zeebrugge for the 20th and then onto Southampton for the 21st.

 

 

MOst the of 

[Horn Blast]

4 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

They only need to do 19th in Rotterdam they can move back to Zeebrugge for the 20th and then onto Southampton for the 21st.

 

 

MOst the of 

I see. I can understand that I guess. Although it maybe a bit boring to go back to Zeebrugge, perhaps it would be better to have a sea day on the penultimate days.

 

[insidecabin]

12 minutes ago, Horn Blast said:

I see. I can understand that I guess. Although it maybe a bit boring to go back to Zeebrugge, perhaps it would be better to have a sea day on the penultimate days.

 

You don't have to get off, we do lots of virtual sea days where we stay on the ship.

there are day activities in the program port days. 

[Horn Blast]

27 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

You don't have to get off, we do lots of virtual sea days where we stay on the ship.

there are day activities in the program port days. 

Yes you are correct of course.

[Lena11033]

That’s what I did for Hamburg. 
 

I haven’t forgotten to update the other days I’ve been really busy but will update when I have time. Husband sent me on a mission for the last night on the ship 🙃

[ConnieTact]

5 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

That’s what I did for Hamburg. 
 

I haven’t forgotten to update the other days I’ve been really busy but will update when I have time. Husband sent me on a mission for the last night on the ship 🙃

I wonder what that mission is? 🤔

[bunzini]

I would love to hear your overall impression of MSC.

[L1211]

On 3/29/2023 at 2:54 PM, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Hope you have a great time. We get off on the day you get on. Our first ever msc cruise starts this Friday. Looking foward to it, maybe not the strikes and the weather, but still will be an experience. 

Hey @FamilyCruiserUK how was the cruise?? Hope it was magical. 

[Lena11033]

Days four and five were sea days. 
 

day four I started with breakfast before heading to the spa for a massage. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep at some point so I was nice and relaxed. She asked if I wanted to upgrade the session but wasn’t pushy which I liked as on Celebrity they are really pushy with selling products. 
 

after I came back to shower and went to take part is some of the activities on the ship before lunch. After I just took it easy in the lounge with a few drinks before my French friend joined me and decided to have lunch and dinner together.
 

later around 4pm the weather started to change and you could feel the ship swaying. Dinner time not so bad but by the time I went to the theatre for the show you could really feel it and hear banging.
By the time I headed to bed I had to take a sea sickness pill. I didn’t feel like being sick but my stomach wasn’t great either.

Next day woke up to some swaying but not terrible. Although you could see water coming up out of the pool at the back of the ship not like the day before which was worse

 

Most of day five was spent either reading, going for walks and people watching or chatting with the Frenchman.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Lena11033

[Lena11033]

Day 6 was the stop in Rotterdam, I booked a ‘Amsterdam at your own pace’. 
The excursion I had to be ready to leave for 7:45 and I didn’t get time to have breakfast only coffee so no one do my mistake. 
 

YC was nice for getting off the ship because the line to leave was long and we skipped most of it walking right past everyone (although we got some looks for this). 
The bus drive was packed and took 2 hours due to the traffic. We were dropped off in the city centre to do our own thing to be picked up at 2:30 so we had about 4 hours. 
I headed off one to find a bathroom there aren’t many about and you have to pay so make sure to have change. Then I went for the canal tour, they offered this but when I was booking excursions from the ship it was sold out. But I just walked down and found an hour long tour for 13 Euros. By this point it was 12 so went to look for one of the stalls for a herring snack then to wander around the main area and do some shopping then headed over to the red light district to look about. By this point I had about an hour left and everything was going to take too long to get food so I just grabbed a coffee and walked back to the pick up point.
 

one thing interesting ALL the other buses said to be there for 2 except ours. But some people on our bus were told 2-2:30.
I found this out when another family sitting where I was having coffee said they had to be there for 2. So between 2 and 2:30 all the other buses came and went and we were still waiting. Our bus turned up at 2:45 (yet we were told if not on time we wouldn’t make it on the ship lol)

 

Going back it took an hour and a half. When we got to the port there were a lot of people lining up to get back on board. Interestingly enough one family from YC decided to walk around the line thinking they didn’t need to wait in the security line - the port person told them they had to get in line. The family then proceeded to argue saying they didn’t need to wait because they were YC and they were going to complain 😕

 I’ve watched enough custom and security shows (husband also works with customs) to know that’s never going to go well. They ended up going to the back of the long line but don’t think they were happy lol

Once on board I needed sugar so tried the gelato (I needed that boost until dinner). Again that night I sat with the Frenchman comparing stories for the day. I can’t remember dinner I forgot photos. The night before was the gala night though. 
 

That night we were hit with the storm. I work for a weather station so I’ve included the picture I took leaving Rotterdam of where we were and the storm coming as we were on the way to Belgium. I noticed next day people who didn’t feel it were inside but I was on floor 18 so I think I got everything as I didn’t get to sleep until after midnight and when I looked at my Apple Watch the next day it said I had less than four hours of sleep 😅

 

 

[rocklinmom]

Reading this because my sister and mother are on the cruise after you on April 14th...hoping you docked on time in Southampton today. Any updates about the French strike situation for next week on the 19th and 20th? Wondering if they will have any itinerary changes and if they will make it back to Southampton on time for their flight home next Friday the 21st. They didn't get an international data plan so I can't check with them directly. Any info appreciated! EDITED TO ADD: I just found someone who is posting live from their April 14th cruise, so will follow that as well 🙂

Edited April 14, 2023 by rocklinmom

[missnd]

On 3/30/2023 at 7:24 PM, Lena11033 said:

I booked the train from London to Southampton but not the other way. I just figured with the possibilities of delays it wasn't worth risking it or being stressed out. I figured I should be able to just get a ticket once I know when I'm getting off the ship.

@Lena11033  I was wondering how it went with your train back to London?  What time train did you end up making?  How expensive was it to book the day of?  Thanks!

[Lena11033]

Just now, missnd said:

@Lena11033  I was wondering how it went with your train back to London?  What time train did you end up making?  How expensive was it to book the day of?  Thanks!

Sorry I'm a little behind because I ran into some personal issues while on board, nothing to do with the ship just my credit card was hacked while away which was not how anyone wants to end a trip lol

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. Ship got in at 7am and I think around 7:30 people were able to start walk off, I had a note in my cabin for being in the YC lounge for 7:45am. I made it for 7:50am as I had breakfast first, I had one of the butlers walk me down with a group of others.

Bag was waiting for me, walked out grabbed a cab (little more expensive than Uber but was already there) and made it to the station for 8:20am. I made the 8:30am train to Waterloo.

 

Prices of the train was extortion - next time I would see if there is a way to do a ticket in advance to save money as the train I needed was Southwest train and the cheapest ticket it was offering was £32 which wouldn't work for Southwest trains so I had to pay £50. Personally I'd rather wait somewhere for an hour for the train to save money because that was WAY more than what I paid for getting to Southampton where I booked in advance (I paid maybe 1/3 of that). I think the only reason I didn't book in advance was because I didn't know what time we'd get off the ship. I mean we could have been held up by immigration or if we had gone to Amsterdam instead of Zeebruge that would have impacted the train too.

[missnd]

Thank you so much for the reply!  I'm sorry to hear about your credit card hack.  That is never any fun.

 

I really appreciate the feedback on the train times and ticket prices.  I think I will heed your advice and book something in advance a little later to be safe and save some money.

[Lena11033]

No problem, yeah with the Canadian conversion I think the ticket worked out at $86 where as going cost me like $25

 

Maybe look for an open return ticket, I think there are some that may be valid for travel within a month so that could work and buying in advance would save money especially if multiple people traveling because that price was just me

[ConnieTact]

The open return tickets are often on sale 12 weeks before the date of first journey. Having said that, I bought a single already for my forthcoming October cruise for Southampton. I only needed a single because we will fly home to London. We are on the Virtuosa from Southampton to Barcelona that time. 
The return was almost cheaper than the single I bought! 
 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/Train_Tickets.aspx

It is very handy being able to catch the train to the port as it is so near the port and always Ubers and taxis available. 
Getting a flexible ‘off peak’ return means you can use any service that is not before 9.30am.

It is also worth noting in YC, you can usually stay onboard a little later if you speak to your butler and let them know your train is later. 

[victory2020]

Did you use your credit card in the ports? Is that where it got hacked?