BertieRulesOK

The buffet had juice in the mornings and water at all times, plus tea and coffee. It's a bargain cruise, so you pay for your drinks or buy a package.

My bad! Big apologies!

This is completely normal for a spa with different thermal experience rooms. Perhaps you are not appreciating that ppl are in swimwear? These are experience showers, not showers where you washing your bits and pieces!

I concur with nikoo, I wore cocktail dresses with leggings and a light cover-up and was warm. The thick knitted cardy was mostly left in the cabin as I was getting overly warm.

My first time on a P&O cruise. I normally like getting a week pass to the thermal room on cruise ships. So 2 questions. First, how do you rate the thermal area on Iona? Second, there are currently only 2 hour passes on sale. Do they do week passes and if so, do you know the approx price? Many thanks for any assistance with queries.

You have to book your spa sessions, so it seems unlikely you can simply take someone who is not entitled to enter. Just buy the week pass.

Just watch out for the beer on the Easy. It's Heineken only.

Glad to hear they finally got their ducks in a row!

I paid for the premium and didnt think it was worth it as there was not much difference between the premium and the easy plus. The easy (cheapest) was very restricted on beer. Heineken only, which would not have been good for me. If you just want wine and cocktails Easy would probably be ok. It's restricted but has some choice.

1. Use Google to direct you to the ferry. You can look on the route on Google maps at any time. Equally you can Google Hamburg ferries for maps of their routes. 2. You can buy a Hamburg Card online which includes all public transport, or a day card at the ferry landing for just the boats.. There is a ticket machine on the landing which takes Euros. It was €6-7 for the day. Bargain. But you can also buy single/rtn if you aren't going to use the ferries to sightsee. 3. Again Google maps should show you ferry times. It was about a 10 minute trip to the ferry hub from the stop nearest the port. 4. I then used the day pass to take several trips around the city waterways. The architecture on the shore was very interesting. There's even a beach! Which is odd considering the cargo port opposite it. I used this as a guide: https://www.helenonherholidays.com/hamburg-sightseeing-elbe-ferry/ 5.There are very good public transport connections at the ferry hub to get you around the city. 6. Ferry home. 10 min walk to ship.

The queues were caused by (1) immigration checks at Southampton - isn't Brexit a wonder?! And (2) getting the doors open. Nothing to do with Hamburg at all.

The Virtuosa spa is identical and I loved it! Best thing about the ship. One day passes were available on board, but they were about the same price as a week pass (bought in advance), so would have been a very bad deal. I loved having a proper swim (as pools on MSC are long enough) and then heading to the spa for some relaxation. It has a lot of different rooms to keep you interested and did wonders for my skin over a week of use. Virtuosa you had go book your session each day which means they were regulating numbers in the thermal area. It never felt overly busy and you could always choose a less popular slot if you were concerned. 5/5 stars. Would recommend.

MSC Virtuosa. Buffet was self serve. Each meal could be taken in the MDR if you preferred. Buffet was never overly busy, but I sailed non-school holidays. Heard some horror stories about buffet and the number of "darling children" running amuck in half term!

If you are doing a Virtuosa winter cruise, bear in mind that the view is generally of an industrial port when not at sea. Not exactly a view seekers cruise.

It's likely because the muster drill has to be completed before departure. So they want you on board and settled in before they start running the drills. My understanding is that only once drills are complete can the ship leave port.

They were checking boarding times at the door before letting ppl into the terminal. I'm not sure what priority boarding gets you, anytime boarding or just queue jump. NB. I was on the 10am booking group in Soton, but they didn't start boarding ppl until 11.30am. This is because of immigration checks at Soton meaning ppl aren't leaving the ship until 10-11am so they can't let new cruisers on. Obviously I can't predict if these delays will still be affecting ppl in Dec, but worth noting that a late boarding time may not be a bad thing as I imagine you'll get to skip these queues by then. Buffet was open all day and had free, tea (lots of varieties except green), coffee and filtered water(bring your refillable bottles). Whetnever buffet was open, this was available. So yes, breakfast included. Also a kettle in the room with tea and instant coffee. Can't comment on quality as it was ridiculously expensive and you had yo buy gor the entire cruise, so I didn't get it. Worth noting if you are a Brit that your mobile package (including data) should work whenever you are in port, which is the majority of the time you are awake (daytime). Therefore it's only sea days you will be out of contact. I decided this was sufficient for my needs. If you want to buy anything on the ship, do so beforehand as everything is more expensive when you get on board. I was the same before my trip, but I had a really great time. I also didnt meet anyone having a bad time. Evetyone onboard seemed really, really happy. Take a look at my posts for my fuller comments on the cruise. I think a lot of the bad reviews come from those who have not managed their expectations in advance of the cruise. As long as you go in with a positive mindset of, "it's a cheap cruise" - a break from cooking and cleaning - you should have a great time. Staff and ship were lovely. Food was a little hit or miss, but I didn't mind the misses as it meant I had the excuse to go to the buffet and have a slice of pizza! The pizza is very moreish! This is correct. You don't need one. Just proof of vaccination. I handed this over when checking in. Boarding is supposed to start at 10am, however see comments above. You don't need to check in baggage earlier than you personally check in. When disembarkjng, luggage had yo be outside the room the night before by 10-11pm ish. See comments on shuttles/transfers on my 15 Nov post above. No need to book a taxi for Bruges unless you prefer to travel that way. €20 coach return ticket from the cruise terminal.

The prices on board were still set out in £ as of 12 Nov, however we received communications before boarding that final bill payment was being changed to €. So it's a mix, but ultimately you pay in Euro so a good idea to ensure your card does not charge additional fees.

I can't answer the majority of your questions as they are very specific. Btw, there are menus and drinks posted on this forum if you search for them. Drinks ranged between around £6 for pint or house wine up to £8-£15 cocktails. There were happy hours at certain of the bars with 241. Yes. But it is full of mini bar stuff. I was able to fit in my medication, but there is not a lot of space as you are not supposed to bring on your own drinks and food = no need for fridge space. No idea how this will work with non- milk milk, hopefully someone else can answer this or maybe have a good look at the website? Yes, Euros

The Virtuosa had board games in a lounge from 11-3 most days on the itinery, so you may be lucky. Cant comment on their quality as I was never free at these times to try them out.

Funny, I did the roundtrip from Southampton on 4th November and I think I may have been on a different cruise. Food, staff and ship were 10/10. I had an absolutely fantastic time and I'm already looking to book to go again. I'm not sure how to explain your experience other than we may have had very different expectations and attitude towards the cruise. It was a very cheap cruise and so I was not expecting "fireworks". The food was hot and tasty (and most importantly i didnt have to cook it), but was not going to win any awards... But that was what I was expecting. In fact it was probably better than expectations given some of the moaning on these forums. The ship is fabulous. Pools you can do a decent length in, a fabulous thermal area, loads of interesting spaces to explore. I could have easily done another week all at sea, as long as I had my book! Staff were really lovely! Every interaction was brilliant. Cocktail lists were explored and wheat beer was on tap! 10/10! I would agree that a few more quizzes would have been good, but then I chose to do things instead too, such as sit in the jacuzzis! Disembarkation was a complete mismanaged shambles and was a very sour note at the end of a great cruise. I chose to go sit in a lounge instead of queue to leave the ship and continue to exploit my drinks package for a few hours. I am not going to let this monumental f up of queue management colour my opinion on what otherwise was a fantastic trip however. Felt this needed to be said. I find too many people posting on these forums review of cruises skew towards the negative and moany. It made me really anxious about my cruise in the run up which was not at all helpful to someone going solo first time with anxiety issues. So please consider my post to be the necessary "balance". Not one person I spoke to on-board was having a bad time (until the queues). So I think matey above is likely to be in the small minority! Enjoy your cruise and just don't have urgent plans for disembarkation in Southampton. If there's queues, go elsewhere and come back later.

Well, I think it might have been a bit rich to give 1 of the only 2 members of Border Force doing passport checks to the Yacht Club to deal with only 50 passengers as opposed to 2000? I get YC ppl are paying for entitlement, but there are limits...

Not for UK cruises. Gratuities are thankfully included in the cost of the cruise. I'm sorry but I didn't look to see what the price of the drinks package was on board. It was unlikely to be £200 more expensive though...

I was on the same cruise. It was around 2000 ish from Southampton, starting the new Northern Europe itinery. More then got on when we stopped in France, Germany and Belgium, but not massive amounts. English was the main nationality. Lots of Chinese too. The boat, food and staff were fabulous. 10/10. I wasn't Yacht Club and not sure it would have enhanced my trip. There was lots of space everywhere to sit. Sky Lounge was wonderful and peaceful at any time of the day and evening entertainment was good (sounds like the same as in the YC, likely just switching night). Yes, the food wasn't comparable to that I'd had on Disney ship, but for an MSC cruise which was 25% of the cost, i did not expect that. It was hot, tasty and I didn't have to cook it. Lots of fish and seafood if you are that way inclined. The one night with a main I didn't like, I was secretly delighted for an excuse to go to the buffet and have pizza afterwards. The pizza is very good. I love the pools - it was possible to swim a decent length and actually have some exercise. Outdoor pool was heated to a good temperature for swimming (warm but cool enough to swim) and I mostly had it to myself. The on deck Jacuzzis were very warm and I enjoyed sitting there whilst we sailed out of port. The thermal area in the spa is very, very good. I was stunned there were so many different steam rooms, saunas, experience showers, bubble pools and relaxation areas on a cruise ship (outshines chamoneys). Like a section of the aqua sana at centre parks. So if you are into spa stuff, definately invest in the week pass. Disembarkation at Southampton was a complete and utter shambles. Badly mismanaged by both Border Force and MSC. I queued for near 2 hours for immigration check (only two members of Border Force doing the checks). There were serious issues with ppl (non-YC) trying to talk their way into a queue jumping. People were getting very stressed. I'm honestly not surprised that issues were encountered for anyone trying to queue jump. By 2hrs in we had bonded with those around us in the queue and British rules of queuing and fair play were in full force. I was shocked MSC was not actively managing the queue. There was a complete lack of adequate communication. The same disaster had happened only 8 days prior when we boarded (the real reason boarding was late, not "technical reasons" excuse laddy above was fed and swallowed), so they knew it was coming. 8 days to plan a better system. Complete fail by ship operations. Where was the live music to entertain the queue, maybe a drinks trolley? Where was the support of those who were physically unable to queue for 2 hours? Honestly, a book of raffle tickets to number the queue and send everyone away to queue "virtually" would have been an easy and bare minimum effort. But no... there was nothing. It was a very sour note to end what had been a fabulous cruise. Sort yourself out MSC and shame on all queue jumping! Nuff said.

Yes. Pre-purchasing is much cheaper than on ship. Only wait to by on board if you (1) have on board ship credit, or (2) if you don't want the packages for the entire length of the cruise - MSC Virtuosa was offering ppl to buy them midway through the cruise, although obv can't guarantee this.

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!