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On 11/15/2022 at 4:15 PM, BertieRulesOK said:

Horizon terminal.  At least it was last week.  Your embarkation form will confirm nearer the time.

 

 Hamburg - yes, although you don't need it and it was pay extra per person.  You can walk off the shop and it's 10min walk to the ferries.  Hamburg by ferry was great fun!  Have a Google.

 

Zebrugge - yes, but only to centre of Zeebrugge, and again, pay extra.  If you want Bruges, take the FREE shuttle yo the cruise terminal laid on by the port (not MSC) and there is a €20 coach (return) to take you to Bruges.  Journey took about 20mins and was very easy.

 

Rotterdam - unfortunately this stop was removed from the itinery.

 

Le Harve - yes, again extra €€.  I decided to stay on ship.  Apparently walking was easy though if you don't mind a 20-30min walk.

 

Prices of shuttles were around €10-15pp.  I thought it was a rip off.  But plenty were taking them.

 

Seemed to be whatever you fancied.  On night was "elegant" and there was the odd ballgown.  But most were just dress/shirt.  I had nice dresses for the evenings (cocktails mostly) and felt absolutely comfortable.  But others in jeans, t-shirts were equally so.  

 

Every night was a different themed party with a dress suggestion, but the only one ppl seemed to go in for (except elegant) was the White party.  I was wholly bemused by this.  How people owned so much white and then chose to bring that highly impractical colour on a cruise!  I didn't know it was a thing.  Laughed my head off when the chef suggested meal that night was tagelllatelli - I wonder how many ppl were less white by the end of dinner!  Anyway, lots wore white, but equally (like me) many didn't.  Took great fun wearing black and walking through the party!

 

Enjoy your cruise of the industrial ports of Europe.  I did.  Seriously consider getting the thermal pass if your into that sort of thing.  It was seriously good!

Really, really helpful thank you!!  I've noted everything you have said especially wef port transport, I don't own anything white so won't be partaking in that either.

On 11/10/2022 at 5:31 PM, Cruiseforever11 said:

The Virtuosa leaves from the Horizon Terminal in Southampton and is clearly signposted from the main road posted as gate 9/10. The car park is run by ABPARKING which you can pre book online. The car park is literally opposite and there are no shuttles needed here. 

 

When we went last year msc did a bus into Hamburg centre. Nothing was open as it was a Sunday except for a couple of Xmas markets. 

 

They normally have a white night a formal night and themed nights. Themed nights can range from flower power 60/70/80 disco type of thing, Italian/med, tropical etc but you never know till your on board. White night and formal has always happened on 5night plus cruises I've been on.

You don't have to do any of these it's not compulsory. 

 

I say in the evening if not wanting to join in smart casual. 

Thank you this was extremely helpful

Hello

We are travelling on Virtuosa on 2/12/22, it's a last minute booking for us and our 1st time on an MSC ship.   Does anyone know which terminal in Southampton it leaves from?

Do they have shuttle buses available when in port?  We are visiting Hamburg, Zebrugge, Rotterdam and Le Havre and just want to trot into the towns/cities under our own steam.

Could anyone advise on dress code ? the website seemed to give generic information on the possibility of a "white" evening and the possibility of other themed nights, but not specific to this cruise.

Any information would be most gratefully received, thank you

Hi Swanseaboy, I know you are right, i guess it creates a sense of urgency and marketing people know that works, however, that said it seems a bit "short-term-ist" in that I for one would be more likely to give repeat custom to a company who dealt with me with fairness, now I'm feeling rather wary and very pleased and thankful that there are forums like this.

Brilliant advice thank you very much

Thanks, I thought that would be the case, just a little bit miffed that the agent was really pushing us to book a week ago - this is a very popular cruise and is selling out fast... and yet here we are, just a few days on and it has been discounted further, plus there still seem to be many free cabins. I have worked in sales myself and have always found that honesty is the best policy if customer service is your remit, therefore seriously considering booking through a different company.

We have recently suffered a disappointment and to cheer ourselves up are thinking of booking a cruise with P&O in the near future. I started looking just over a week ago and note that the holiday we were most interested in last week is £100 cheaper this week... this is only our 2nd cruise, our first was booked months in advance and we were happy to pay the then going rate to get the cabin we wanted etc.

Can anyone advise whether the prices continue to reduce as the date of the cruise looms and if it is worth waiting to see "the whites of their eyes"...?

too true Jocap (ref our service numbers)!! Empowered by everyones responses I have been in touch with P&O and received email confirmation that our enhanced OBC has been confirmed. 7 weeks to go to our 1st cruise so getting rather excited.

hi there everyone I have been away and out of email contact so sorry for not responding sooner but many many thanks for the informative and helpful responses, we are Brits and are sailing with P&O (first cruise) this August. My husband (and actually I too) is retired RAF.

Thank you so much everyone for your helpful and informative responses, the TA wasn't terribly helpful and I was too embarrassed to ask a second time. Armed with the information you have provided I will send in his military details and see where that takes us.

Many months ago my brother read somewhere that military/retired military personnel might be eligible for an enhanced onboard spend and indeed when I contacted our travel agent to inquire our onboard spend was verbally increased. We have now received our travel documents but they show only our original onboard spend amount. I can't find any information about this any where and wondered if anyone had any information or knew the procedure to claim this offer?