elmsliebev

not, only sailed in her from Southampton. Sounds exciting though!

Is there a part of the Solarium that us poor Bella level folk can use (on Virtuosa). We have the alcohol free drinks package and I've been told ice cream is available any time in the Solarium as part of that package. Thanks.

Al Fresco! That's it, loved it in there, I was just trying to remember the name of the cafe on Oriana. My favourite P&O ship.

there were escargot and lobster in the main dining room on QE in July/August last year, post-pandemic. This was on the Alaska-Florida trip.

It's my very favourite museum, absolutely love it here. Been 3 times now and will go again. There's also another lovely small museum in the centre of town, the Museum of Crystal and Glass https://www.museovidrioycristalmalaga.com/

we're thinking of booking the ebikes tour to Brugges from the Virtuosa. We've used ebikes before but was just wondering if anyone has experience of MSC ebike tours? many thanks

we go in 2 weeks and paid £104pp for 4 restaurants (Butcher's Cut, Sushi, Hola & Indochine) and a Carousel show with cocktail.

we were on her in July for 4 weeks, having cruised with Cunard in the past. Food was good, I had one poor steak but everything else was good. They do something like an Indonesian or Chinese spicy chicken (can't remember the name) that was fabulous! We had late seating and it worked very well. The pool bar at the rear of the ship does great snacks including a special each day such as crab cakes or fried chicken. Didn't go to many of the shows but the guest speakers were excellent.

Lovely, that's great! We're in a deluxe balcony too. When we booked it was only £9 pp to upgrade (Black Friday) so it was a no-brainer!

Our etickets & luggage labels etc appeared in the MSC for Me app yesterday in the form of an email (but not on the webpage!). We go on the 3rd March.

we were on Cunard last year and have P&O booked for October. I'm sure we'll have a great time, we always do.

We booked a while ago (Black Friday!) and got our cabin straightaway. Have you cruised with MSC before? We haven't, so it will be a new experience. My husband is from Co Durham. Brought up in Chester-le-Street.

we go on 3rd March too - Virtuosa? I'm sure they'll be available any day. We booked through a TA and they said 10-14 days before we sail.

thanks, yes i've seen the info on the site. Was just wondering if you were going soon and the emails were being sent out in any order. No matter.

when do you go? We go in 3 weeks and haven't had an email yet.

this is the wording on the page relating to my Northern Europe cruise in early March. "Starting from February 12, 2023 Guests are no longer required to provide a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or test (all Guests arriving or in transit from China or Hong Kong, are requested to submit a negative Antigen/PCR test result performed within 48 hours before departure, in compliance with the regulation of landing country)."

Re Bay of Biscay: I've travelled throuh there a few times and ot's never been particularly rough. It's only the stretch when you're going directly across it that you would feel real motion. Staying closer to the land shou;dn't be a problem, but of course it depends on whether you're particualarly prone to seasickness.

we did a similar thing a few years ago, though we were overnight in port (not P&O) so went back in. We also spent some time in a couple of the bars near the port and had a gorgeous grilled chicken wrap!

our next trips are both after July, and the factsheet says only for trips before then. No doubt Carnival will be coming out with the next date soon. Hope you're both well. We're trying the new Queen Anne next year, and a P&O one later this year - Paul decided to retire after having 4 weeks on QE last year, so I've been busy booking holidays!

thanks both, good to hear.

we bought 100 shares in December, with a view claiming the shareholder benefit later this year. I'm aware we can't do that yet a we cuise in October, and again next June and they are only doing it up to July at present. The factsheet states "anyone cruising on a reduced-rate or complimentary basis are excluded" - what does that mean? If we've got a good deal from a TA or even direct, would we be excluded or is it some other thing like special rates for family members? many thanks

we had the Premium alcohol free package on QE last year and it included all the canned and bottled soft drinks as well as AF cocktails, coffees, hot chocolate etc. Ginger ale/ginger beer was only in bottles, not draught.

that sounds more like some of the P&O ships at the moment, judging from comments on the forum on here 🤣 We're on our first MSC trip on Virtuosa next month. We've been on Costa which is a more European line also and had a great time. It was livelier than previous P&O/Cunard cruises we've had but in a good way and was fun.

we were in the situation when we married that I couldn't apply for mine until my passport in my new name was valid! Our trip was our honeymoon but we had a week at home after the wedding before we flew to NYC for our TA. The helpful people at Homeland Security had suggested applying on the way to the airport....

we've done both. Last time I applied separately. As they run for 2 years I decided just in case one of us ended up going to the US on our own (unlikely) it would be easier if we had our own individual ESTA. My husband's came through immediately, mine took 24 hours so don't be concerned if that happens to you!