lovetravel1114

It has been a few months since you posted the questions but hopefully might be helpful. I have 2 children under 13 last time when I sailed and encountered same question. When you book a table you need to tell them number of the people that you are actually booking for regardless of the package. When you dine, they will give you a la carte or children's menu (if they have one) that you can choose, but as long as you are in the same group/table you can share your food. For us it actually worked out more expensive as my 12 yrs old had adult appetite and portion, and we wanted to buy the package but they couldn't provide the package for under 13 so we had to pay a la carte for her which was more expensive!

Hello, I am looking into 2025 summer Alaska sailing and was disappointed to find out MSC doesn't do Alaska cruise, and I wonder which cruise line & cruise ship I should choose if I like MSC?! I have done MSC, Celebrity, RCCL, NCL and some of small expedition cruises in the past and found MSC best suited to my family in recent years. For MSC I have done only on YC but even to compare with suite class experience with other liners I still prefer MSC as we felt it more diverse (not only focused on North America/British passengers in terms of food, entertainment, etc). And also it seems shore excursion was cheaper than other cruise line in general which I am expecting will be important factor in Alaska cruise! I've done Alaska cruise about 25 yrs ago with my parents on one of Celebrity ship and had great time, but can't compare the experience because I was a child just following my parents and this time it will be myself, husband & my two children age 9,14 and I am in charge of organising! Any comment/recommendation will be hugely appreciated!!

Lucky you 3 lobster tails!!!! 🤩 I would have requested to cook again if it was overcooked but unfortunately there was no escape for my lobster. We had 4 tails on our table for each of us that had exactly same status, broken and mushy like powders, which means it was frozen but not properly frozen/stored or defrosted. I addressed it to YC to warn them they might have bad supplier, and they knew about the situation but I guess there was nothing they could do!

Lobster on YC virtuosa on 2022 summer sailing in Europe was the worst lobster tail in my life and I raised the issue with YC at the time. It was barely suitable for stock use grade so something with supplier or shipboard storage must have gone wrong. I am not picky at all but couldn't eat, and my 2 children refused to eat at their first bite. We sailed last year again YC and had lobster in one of the night (think it was gala night) but not great, acceptable but would not pay to have it in the restaurant. It could be different depending on the region but don't have hight expectation!

Information for someone who hasn't booked - If you call them and say you're about to book your cruise and you want to have a club number, they can issue you a number straight away and you can book from there. You can also get additional discount if it is more than 9 (or 6?) month ahead. So if you're booking for the first time and have no voyagers club number, give MSC a call and get the number first before booking as it will save all the hassles for reissuing invoice.

They do book excursions but I doubt they book fun pass activities (bowling, simulators, etc) but could be different in different voyages so worth to check once you are on board.

I don't know where your embarkation port is but last time I arrived at Southampton 11am and this time will try to arrive by 10 or maybe little earlier counting the parking time. When I arrived at 11 last time, there was very very long queue for AB parking which we will be using this time.

Mark_T, sorry to hear that you had to have similar experience with specialty dining.It is more disappointing to know that it was even on different ship! I can't believe I have come to this but I think I am going to opt for the package again for upcoming sailing next month. It is 2 weeks voyage and I want to give some variety on the dining from YC/buffet menu.. I agree with your opinion on the steak house and only want to try 2 restaurants this time, Indochine and Mexican, but have to buy 4 restaurants package to cover these 2! I roughly calculated the cost and realized that there are not much difference btwn buying 4 restaurants dining package vs 2 restaurants paying everying full price (including 2 children who will eat adult food). Last time I was really annoyed that children were not allowed to buy dining package and having to pay full price for them when they refused to eat from children's menu..MSC should improve children's menu or allow to buy the package for them at least! There was no pizza restaurants in Virtuosa as far as I remember, only pizza corner in buffet or by the pool deck which was absoultely fantastic quality. We also had pizza delivered to the cabin at night...It was nice surprise that they even have insulated pizza carrier bag and crew member took out steaming hot pizzas out of the bag! 🙂

Hello, I am sailing on Virtuosa next month and wonder if I can purchase dining package for children. I have sailed on the same ship last year and purchased dining packages only for adults because the website didn't allowed me to buy one for children. Looking at the website just now, it still doesn't allow me to buy one for children. But reading another topic from last year which was US sailing, it seems MSC allowed children to buy the package with 50% discounted price. I am not sure if it is regional promotion or if I am missing anything. Does any one have experience with this issue?

Some of the YC dinner menus from MSC Virtuosa, October 2022

MSC website/app is my least favourite and there are so many glitch in them and between them! Last time I couldn't check-in via website and had to do manually over the phone for 4 people. Eventhough family were all checked in over the phone, app still showed we were not checked in making me nervous...! But at least App, I think it gets better once you are connected to ships wi-fi and for me luckily everything was correctly loaded. Hope everything is sorted out well for you and have fun cruising!

I had no problem using prepaid products. photos, internet and game credit. It was all correctly loaded. Re photos, I was asked for the cruise card. But if you take a photo as a group you could just give the card of the cabin that has package on? I am not sure if msc has 'face recognition' system that rccl use. When I was on rccl, I had package and my parents in different cabin didn't, and rccl automatically varified people per cabin with their face recognition system, so the photos taken only by my parents was not covered by the package that I bought under my cabin.

One more thing! If you like 'cirque du soleil' type of performance, you must try 2 carousel productions on board. They are like mini version of cirque du soleil. Both are quite similar to each other but I watched both and like them all. Each show was about 15 pounds if you book on board, and 9 pounds if you pre purchase. This is the only show that you need to pay.

I sailed on virtuosa YC last October and will sail again on 15th July which is I guess right after your sailing! Our October sailing was first MSC cruise and we liked it so booked this July sailing while on board. My impression about MSC is unique, more european feeling which caters international non-English spoken passangers (more shows that doesn't require language) as well as English speakers. Food also more European compare to american line or english line. I can't compare with cunard or princess, but I prefer to P&O and celebrity and par with Rccl. We are faimily with 2 children so requirement might be slightly different to you, but you are in YC so you will always have calm place to chill out, away from crowd. YC concierge desk with multiple staffs and having own butler is also helpful. I found it much better than one concierge handling suite guests. Only thing my family didn't like was speciality dining, limited set menu if you buy the dining package, and the food quality was not impressive except for Mexican (especially Japanese restaurant was far below than supermarket sushi). Hope you enjoy your sailing!

I was only on Virtuosa but there were more types of massages on board, pretty much everything you have in other spas. They give discount if you have multiple massage sessions, and also they have daily special at discounted price. I am sailing on Virtuosa again next month and will have some massages but will not book in advance. In the website I also only see 2 types as well - same as what you see- and I don't think I paid more than this on board. (website says 30% discounted and the price is still 94 pounds for 50 mins)