kernow

We've done Norway cruises both this year and last year on MSC and loved it. I think RCL Diamond now only gets MSC Gold so only a few benefits but better than nothing. If you have any loyalty status with hotels you might do better, MSC Diamond is the one with the best perks (although no free drinks). The MSC drink package is much cheaper to buy though.

When I first saw the title I immediately thought of you😁

Definitely won't be doing the Sky bridges since I am scared of heights😁. We've been to Puerto Limon before and did an excursion to the Tortuguero canal which we enjoyed. Thought the Tarcoles river might be similar.

If you get a chance when you leave the ship in Puntarenas would you mind looking if there are many people offering tours. We'd like to do a trip to the Tarcoles river, all the ship excursions are sold out and someone on the roll call said we should be able to pick one up at the pier. Thanks.

Thanks for pointing this out, we'll look out for it too.

Thanks for all the great pics, looking forward to doing it with you in real life in a couple of weeks time!

Thanks for all the updates so far. Can I ask is all the ongoing work for the World Cruise impacting on your enjoyment of the cruise or not? Just trying to set our expectations for when we board in LA. Thanks.

Dubai, right in the city, close to the airport, very well run and easy for embarkation. Also a great place for a pre or post cruise stay. Also Southampton as it's the only one we can drive to, always nice to not have to worry about how much I can pack.

Following as we will be on the second leg from LA back to Miami with you. Look forward to hearing about any updates but hope you will post about the actual cruise too so we know what we've got to look forward too😁.

We're doing it on Serenade in 5 weeks time, counting down the days now. Years ago we did a partial transit on Celebrity and then took an excursion where we went on a small ferry through the rest of the canal to the Pacific, it was interesting going through so close to the water.

Yes, nowadays RCL always use dollars on the ship wherever they sail in the world. Something in the back of my mind tells me that years ago when Legend sailed from Southampton they used GBP but I may be imagining that 😁. The only cruise line that seem to change to GBP from Southampton are MSC (as far as I know).

Sounds like it's a problem with payment as others have said, can you keep trying the payment page as suggested or try on the website. I did ours last week on the website for a cruise in 6 weeks time and both came through in an hour, had a friend once who left it until the last minute and it took a few days so always do it in plenty of time. Hope it all works out for you.

I think this was because Radiance was originally supposed to be in Australia for winter 22/23, we were booked on a b2b from Sydney on Oct/Nov 22 on Radiance but a few months before RCL pulled the ship and we had to change to Ovation. These few cruises were added as part of the repositioning of Radiance.

We've been on Virtuosa 3 times all in YC, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The only time we had wristbands was in 2021 when all the covid restrictions were in place, never seen them since.

I love the roll calls and always create/join them but they seem to be dying out these days on all the cruise lines.

3 different trips on Virtuosa we've had NF, Lanson and Jacquart.

Yes but only one brand which can vary according to ship/itinerary. It is also available at some bars outside of YC with your included package.

If you are number 2 but not ready to leave at 8.10 you don't have to go to the location, just leave your cabin with your carry on and go to breakfast. If your number has already been called when you've finished breakfast just join the general line for disembarkation. If your number has not yet been called because they are running late go to the lounge and wait. If you don't want to leave the ship until the very last call for anyone to leave just find a seat somewhere and wait. The disembarkation group numbers are really just the earliest times to leave (which most people want) not the latest.

DH has always been a cider drinker, he rarely drinks any kind of beer always prefers pints of cider when he is out. I remember the first time we visited the US back in the 80s he looked for cider everywhere we went but never found it. Nowadays it seems to be a bit more common but still not much choice compared to the UK and other European countries.

I have sets of both types of the metal loving cups and pairs of both types of martini glasses.

I'd like a completely separate exit to disembark, I hate it when the butler takes us to the front of the queue and pushes in front of everyone, always lots of snide comments and nasty looks. I write this on the post cruise survey every time. I'd also like more consistency with the butlers, we've had ones no better than a good cabin steward and others who are amazing.

I think they do. I know when I did a live review the YC director had been told to read it because he told me so.

We've been going in YC where the food is really good, probably better than CK on RCL. The whole ship has a more Mediterranean style of food, less red meat and lots of fish and seafood. We've eaten in the main buffet which I think is similar or even slightly better than RCL and also done the MDR for lunch just to try it and enjoyed it. There are no restrictions on how many dishes you can order. We think the desserts are fabulous all over the ship. The one thing they don't have is the included snack type outlets like Park Cafe and Sorrentos, there is one snack place by the main pool which is open in nice weather but apart from that it is only the buffet outside of YC. We've found the service all over the ship very good, drink package is excellent(some amazing cocktails) and still twice a day cabin service for all rooms. Still lots of moaning onboard though, mostly about crowded ships which seems to be a thing on all lines on cruises from Southampton.

Although we're from the UK, pre pandemic we only sailed from the UK occasionally usually preferring to fly somewhere with warmer weather and less moaning fellow Brits onboard😀. In 2021 we sailed both Virtuosa and Anthem as we couldn't fly anywhere. Anthem was OK, although not really a fan of Quantum class ships, even with a half empty ship it felt crowded at times so I can understand some of the OPs complaints. We loved Virtuosa and have been back onboard 3 times, if you want a cheap but enjoyable cruise book Bella, if you're happy to pay more book YC which is still cheaper than a suite on Anthem and a far superior experience. We haven't been back on Anthem because the prices seem very expensive for more (or less) of the same itineraries etc. Also love that MSC have really committed to the UK market and have ships here all year round now. We were on Ovation last Nov in Australia and the ship did seem to work better over there, more sunbeds, less crowded bars etc. I do think which ever ship it is, lots of Brits seem to like to all crowd together in the same place for some reason. Even then though we noticed a lot of cutbacks and from everything I read on these boards there are even more now, I guess we'll find out if it's one too many cutbacks for us on Serenade later this year.

There are 2 main elevator banks, one forward and one midship. There are also the panoramic lifts on each side and a lift within YC. The ones at the rear are crew only.