SeaSwirl66

Out of curiosity, how much did you bid on the wheel to get your upgrade? We sail next week and have had a bid in 'Strong' for the last month or so. Trying to decide when to just cancel the upgrade bid and buy drinks package.

Recent trip on Virtuosa as gold + black, very disappointed with voyagers club.

On embarkation and disembarkation there was zero priority, only priority for YC.

On embarkation day, spumante and macaroons plus small chocolate bar were delivered (no fruit bowl). This was the only recognition of status for the entire week. Had to go down to guest services on the penultimate day to ask about the thermal spa and speciality dinner - on all our previous cruises letters inviting us to these perks were left in the cabin.

This experience certainly left us considering if the 'loyalty' benefits were worth the loyalty..

(Hopefully this doesn't come off as snobby, we very much enjoyed the cruise, just disappointed not to receive benefits that we enjoyed on previous cruises. I'm assuming it's related to post-covid belt tightening on MSCs part)

Booked Bella balcony, was assigned Fantastica.. waiting to hear if YC upgrade request has been accepted...

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-and-safety-measures/northern-europe-and-cruises-from-uk

They've updated this page (and the same one for med cruises) and removed the line about self tests not being accepted. We'll be ordering two Randox tests and feeling a lot more confident now.

Thank you everyone for your replies, much appreciated. 

Thank you all! Erring towards just getting a couple of the Randox tests and bringing them with us. Will try and get to the port early, if they don't accept Randox certs there should be enough time to make a mad dash to a pharmacy.... If only the website was clearer!!

7 minutes ago, panamapd said:

Well, we were told something different by MSC UK! 

 

We are UK citizens and are all vaccinated.  We were told that the antigen tests don't have to be observed.  They just have to be UK/EU approved.  We were told verbally.  I have since sent an email asking the same question so I have the proof in writing!  (We are embarking Virtuosa, in Barcelona, on Monday).

Typical MSC! I may send them an email to get it in writing too then book a tele-health one like @mnpurple suggested.

This is what's confusing me from: https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-and-safety-measures/mediterranean

Due to depart from Barcelona on the Virtuosa in the next few weeks. Does anyone know where we can get our covid tests done? 

When we departed Naples last year basically every pharmacy offered testing for just €15. Going by the MSC website, self-tests are not accepted, does this include tele-health testing?

As a gold and diamond member, we've never received anything from MSC - probably because we're status match blow-ins from RC!

On 6/8/2022 at 10:52 AM, ScratchTheRat said:

DAY TWO: ROTTERDAM

 

This morning we woke up bright and early (albeit a little hungover) and headed to the Main Dining Room for breakfast as didn't fancy the buffet rush. We were too tired to get pictures of breakfast but we had a Create Your Own Omelette, some muesli, pastries and coffee of course!

 

Once we were done with breakfast we headed back to the cabin to grab our port day backpack and headed to deck 6 where the gangway allowed us off into the Rotterdam cruise terminal.

 

We had been to Rotterdam for an overnight port visit in December on P&O Iona so took the chance today to do a leisurely walk and explore rather than an excursion or specific goal in mind. So we set off in the direction of the Erasmus bridge and the City Centre, with one goal on my mind...the MARKTHALL!

 

For those who have not visited Rotterdam before, the whole city is incredibly walkable and for things further afield (such as the Zoo, or even other cities such as Amsterdam) there is a metro system that is easy to navigate and low cost. You can use this to get from the cruise terminal to Rotterdam Centraal station for onward trains to Amsterdam Centraal.

 

 

 

I've always loved how Rotterdam has this kind of Industrial Chic feel to it, the city feels alive with art and nature and I just love walking it.

 

 

We headed into the City Centre and walked around the shops before heading to the famous Markthall which is my favourite place in Rotterdam!

 

Our first stop was a cute chocolate shop and cafe called CHCO where we indulged in a Hot Chocolate and a Cannoli!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Markthall, we stopped for some snacks, such as a Stroopwaffle and a Corn dog made with squid ink! Then after we were done, we decided to head back to the ship early to make use of the empty ship while others would be out and about.

 

We headed to the Masters of the Sea British Pub onboard to try one of their "Beertails" but we found that they weren't to our taste, still, we ticked it off our to-do list!

 

 

We then went to one of our two favourite bars onboard. L'Atelier d'arts. I had a glass of Red Wine and Hue had a latte as he was feeling a bit sleepy!

 

 

 

Soon enough it was time for dinner in the Main Dining Room and tonights Menu was specifically a Mediterranean Theme.

 

 

We ordered the TAPAS to share for a starter, followed by the Seafood Mixed Grill for Hue and the Hunter's Chicken for me. Dessert we shared the Tiramisu, the Baklava and the Pineapple and Coconut.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, a very tasty dinner! 

 

After food, we headed to the Sky Lounge and had more drinks looking out at the main pool deck, watching the sun fade and the stars appear as we tried some of the tapas style snacks/canapes.

 

 

Bed awaited us! Tomorrow we would be arriving into Cherbourg in Normandy France, a port neither of us had been to before so we were looking forward to this.

Great write up! Will you be posting a video on your YouTube of this trip?

Were the tapas in the sky lounge included/free?

On 10/31/2021 at 7:17 AM, Beamafar said:

With the log-in issues, it’s been difficult to have any flow throughout this report.  Now that we’re home and rested a little, after a lot of late nights (great entertainment) and early rises (ridiculous MDR breakfast times), I hope to share some thoughts and snippets about the cruise.

 

As the ship has finished its Med season, I didn’t post dailies or menus as these will be irrelevant when she goes Stateside.  Same with bar menus.  Drinks packages are also changing, so not a lot left to discuss on those subjects. 

Hi Bea, hope you had an enjoyable week. We were in YC from Naples to Genoa last week, the tone definitely changed after the stop in Barcelona!

The ship was flooded with new guests currently on the BCN-GOA-BCN loop with 2 stops in Marseille. Weather was awful which didn't help with the indoor crowds!

Expect a free pen and you'll never be disappointed! 

I've heard of the odd hat or bag being delivered, sometimes nothing. To be honest, it's not worth the walk to guest services if you don't get anything!

Nearly had a heart attack when I seen this just came through on my emails! (nothing new of any concern)

SUBJECT: Important Notice: UPDATE - Guest Embarkation requirements for the Mediterranean

DEPARTURE DATE: XX-Oct-21

REFERENCE: XXXXXXX

Dear XXXX XXXXX,

Thank you for choosing MSC Cruises for your upcoming sailing departing on 25-Oct-21

Please be aware of the recent change to our travel requirements for all guests embarking our fleet in the Mediterranean.

New information can be found on our website

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-and-safety-measures/mediterranean

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDITERRANEAN CRUISES

For all sailings in the upcoming months till 31^st March 2022, please note that all Guests will need to follow all of these requirements to be allowed on board: 

• All Guests (2 years old and over) need to provide a certificate of a negative antigen or RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours before embarkation
• All Guests (12 years old and over) must be fully vaccinated (i.e full set of vaccine shots received more than 14 days before the start of the cruise, with an approved Covid-19 vaccine: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson)

The original test results certificate or vaccination certificate must be presented at the terminal (paper or electronic format) and must be in one of the following languages: English, Italian, German, French, or Spanish.  The COVID 19 test certificate must contain: guest’s personal data (verifiable with the other travel documents), date of the test, identification / contact details of the centre that performed the analysis, technique used and negative test result.

Insurance

It is mandatory for all guests embarking a MSC cruise ship to have a comprehensive Covid insurance policy, which includes COVID-19 related risks such as cancellation, repatriation expenses, quarantine, medical assistance and expenses, and hospitalisation.
 

You will be required to provide evidence of your insurance policy and this should include the details of the insurer, the insured amounts and full details of the COVID-19 coverage such as cancellation, interruption, repatriation expenses, quarantine, medical assistance and expenses, and hospitalization.

The proof of the insurance policy (e.g. certificate, schedule, policy summary) which must be in English, Italian, German, French or Spanish - clearly showing the COVID-19 coverage - must be presented at embarkation. Passengers failing to provide this documentation will be denied boarding.

A COVID-19 test, or Passenger locator form (PLF) may still be necessary for national or international mobility requirement. It is every guest’s responsibility to verify this requirement before departure. For more information, it is recommended to check your country’s competent authorities’ official channels.

Kind Regards,

Charlotte Jones

Head of Contact Centre UK and Ireland

Hat tip to our friends from another popular travel forum (famous for reviews, in case I'm not allowed to name it..). Should be useful for anyone looking an antigen prior to boarding from Italy!

See attached and below post:

The Italian Government has stipulated an accord with participating pharmacies to provide a Covid ANTIGEN (quick) test for a fixed cost of 15 Euros for adults and 8 Euros for children between ages 12 and 18. (The Government pays pharmacies a subsidy of 7 Euros for tests to minors).

Over 50% of Italian pharmacies have adhered to this plan, and the list is growing. The accord gets extended from time to time.

Tourists may need to have an antigen test performed in order to take certain public transportation in Italy, or dine in INDOOR restaurants, or enter museums or many other cultural or entertainment sites, or to return to their home countries (make sure that a molecular test is not required in the latter case).

Here is a list of participating pharmacies, current as of 23 September 2021:

23092021DGC_Elenco_Farmacie_Aderenti.pdf

3 hours ago, heathstockton4 said:

Quick update from MSC Grandiosa

 

No issues whatsoever with an Antigen Test, so can confirm that certainly for any UK passengers you are fine with an Antigen Test done within 48 hours of embarkation time, they did check the time on the certificate but other than that no questions asked

 

In all it took just over 2 hours to get through all the various checks to stepping on the ship, not too bad really and it was busy with lots of new passengers joining, i presume Rome is one of the busier starting ports on this itinerary.

 

One think i would take note of, they are very thorough with the insurance cover, we used the MSC top up insurance and even that they wanted the full policy details, i'd only printed the confirmation email. No problems though once showed them the full policy.

 

Off now to enjoy the cruise

 

Arrivederci

Thank you very much for reporting back! We already had cruise and covid cover on our policy but I've just purchased the extra cover from Europ (only 44 GBP...), just in case it isn't sufficient!!!

Have a great trip!!

25 minutes ago, The_0neuk said:

if it was me i would be having a PCR test and nothing else

 

That way your getting onboard imagine have an antigen and then an argument at the port about what website and emails say etc etc

 

PCR - Save yourself hassle

We'll find out today how heathstockton4 got on with their Antigen test, boarding in Rome. The problem many passengers would have is getting a PCR test within the 48hr window - not the 72hrs that used to be allotted.

I'm assuming everyone with an upcoming booking just got the email from MSC with the following!

Just called up MSC myself (to query an online check-in issue) and asked the agent if they had any updates on the tests required. They sounded like they'd been asked that question a hundred times today.. lateral flow is accepted, and they confirmed if it was acceptable to get past the Italian border at the airport, it would be acceptable for to board the cruise.

6 minutes ago, The_0neuk said:

I got back from MSC Grandiosa out of Barcelona Saturday just gone MSC will not accept antigens for cruise passengers from the UK you must have a PCR

 

Lots of people had to head into town and pay for an express 2 hour PCR test

It appears that this was an incredibly fast moving situation last week though reports in the last few days seem to state Antigen is sufficient now, MSC UK staff have been advised of this - you'd have expected MSC staff on the quay side would also be aware by now too.

8 hours ago, acecase2021 said:

We have decided to use the PCR tests we bought from Randox as if MSC change their minds and go back to needing a PCR test then this will be very hard to obtain at short notice, whereas a last minute antigen test if all else fails would be a possibility.

 

It appears that if we dropbox to Randox the day before we fly to Barcelona we should have the results by 23:59 the following day which is the day before we embark. Previous reports from Reddit users said their results were published late at 01:30am, 03:30am and in one case at 12:30pm, but all of these results would still be in time for our embarkation in Barcelona, though admittedly if there was no result by the time we woke up on embarkation day I think we would try for an early morning antigen test.

 

I'm hoping that the PCR testing should be quieter now and the timeframes in line with the Randox target of 23:59 on the day they receive a dropboxed sample, considering that fewer tests are required now compared with the more restrictive travel a couple of months ago. The reports on Reddit were all from 3 months ago when travel was only just starting and PCR tests were required for all. 

 

Does anyone know when we receive the results would we need to print them or are MSC happy to see the copy on our phone screen? 

 

 

From MSC ie website, I assume UK is the same:

"The original test results certificate or vaccination certificate must be presented at the terminal (paper or electronic format) and must be in one of the following languages: English, Italian, German, French or Spanish. The COVID 19 test certificate must contain: guest’s personal data (verifiable with the other travel documents), date of the test, identification / contact details of the centre that performed the analysis, technique used and negative test result."

14 minutes ago, L and M UK said:

We’ve ‘booked’ Collinson unsupervised antigen tests which we’ll take with us and complete on the Sunday (in our hotel) 2 days before we embark @ 10am on the Tuesday (26th Oct). We’ve used before (on return to the UK) and they’re easy to use and the certificates contain all the required info. We’re also using these as our fit to fly (to Italy) tests and we’ve ordered a spare just in case! They’re £23 (using code ejh2021). 
Let’s hope there are no changes in the next 2 weeks. 

Thanks for the code! Just to check, when you used them before did their certs have this info? "The COVID 19 test certificate must contain: guest’s personal data (verifiable with the other travel documents), date of the test, identification / contact details of the centre that performed the analysis, technique used and negative test result."

As a related question... Anyone any preferred supplier of tests which the Italian border authorities will accept for arrivals from UK? Preferably home tests!

We'll have been in the UK within 48hrs of arriving in Italy so they require a pre-departure test.

3 minutes ago, 8420PR said:

I've used the Italian red cross testing at train stations (including Genoa) 3 times in the last 6 months.  You can just turn up, get your details registered, take the test and 20 minutes later you have a certificate.  It was quick, easy and free.

 

https://cri.it/tamponi-rapidi-gratuiti/

 

 

Is this service allowed to be used for travel purposes by foreigners? Or is this the Italian national testing system?

9 minutes ago, L and M UK said:

100% agree but ultimately at some point we’ve got to make a decision and book our tests. I do agree that a PCR within 48hrs covers all bases but……We land at Naples airport on a Sat lunchtime and board at 10am on a Tuesday - this was perfect for a 72hr PCR at the Airport but I don’t fancy travelling back to the airport on the Sunday to do the test (within the new 48 hr window). I’m going to sleep on it (or not as the case maybe!).

Also assuming the testing site is open on Sundays... We've also got this issue with Naples but we board on the Monday so is looking like a Saturday afternoon test may be all we can manage!

"MSC Cruises tweaks shore excursion policy for winter cruises | Travel Weekly" https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/msc-cruises-tweaks-shore-excursion-policy-for-winter-cruises

This should be were the changes to UK testing are coming from, appears to be specific to northern Europe, can't find confirmation of press release on MSCs own website.

"UK and Ireland passengers on Mediterranean cruises will either need to have a negative antigen or PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure or be fully vaccinated in order to embark."

3 minutes ago, corballypaudie said:

its 89 euro  but its also says on the site coming to dublin airport soon.,,,so may nor be available yet.

Cheers, I must be going blind!