nikoo.s

I had no issue getting 2 at a time with one card on Virtuosa. Only issue I had the entire trip was when I was sent to get 4 drinks and only took one card, and even then they still gave me the drinks when I apologised for forgetting the other card (can't imagine that would happen every time but it was late at night and not busy). So generally you should be OK grabbing two based on my experience, just make sure for any more than that you take at least 2 cards 🙂

22 minutes ago, Cruise5life said:

I’ve been in the music and production industry my entire life.    
so  I think my review of the shows are spot on in my opinion of course.   
 

I would have walked out if I wasn’t front row center.    Didn’t want to hurt any one’s feeling by walking out.  Lolol.   

You said it yourself by saying "in my opinion"...my opinion is just as valid as yours sweetie 

Plenty of Indian food options in the buffet too (on Virtuosa)

I actually think the pay to see shows are pretty good (based on MSC Virtuosa Carousel at Sea shows). Of course this is subjective so what one person may enjoy, another person may not. The free shows in the main theatre are a little more hit and miss but still fun and the performers themselves are good! Also we didn't experience any long lines (it was a November northern Europe cruise so that probably made a difference).

Makes sense, thank you!

Hey all,

Apologies if this has already been answered, but having previously travelled Bella, I currently have 2 more MSC Cruises booked, one fantastica and one aurea, and noticed this in the benefits listed:

" 24-hour room service (delivery for free), breakfast in cabin (delivery for free)"

The question I have, and forgive me if it's a stupid question(!), is the food at no extra cost? Or just delivery to the room is free and we would have to pay for any food delivered via room service minus delivery cost? 

Thanks!

I'm impressed they're offering 50% refunds. Usually missed ports are dealt with by travel insurance if you have it, no? 

The paid shows are definitely worth it! Otherwise as previous poster has said, main theatre has free shows multiple times per day 🙂

3 minutes ago, NMsunset said:

Hi Rascal-

MSC is not comparable to "other lines" nor should it be.

 

McD's, Taco Bell, Five Guys, Chilis, fast and or fast casual chain this and that in the USA...many like it...we do not ever eat at these types of places.

Food is sooooo subjective...

For us:

Example on Seascape the buffet had wonderful selection during "normal" MDR times. Indian dishes to include butter chicken and various curry dishes.

Lamb chops two different ways two different days

Multiple fish options

Shrimp

Pre-made salads

Caesar salads with chicken or shrimp

Build your own salads

great Italian pizza...

If you like food at non-USA chains in Europe, you will probably be happy

 

On the other hand, if you only like USA chain/comfort food/typical home cooking...you will probably be not so happy.

 

If you want the same/similar experience as the "other lines", then book those.

 

Another example for us on 5 different MSC ships in the last 12 months.

Breakfast on MSC, biscuits and gravy is Horrible!

But MSC has:

Crusty bread, some heavy with seeds

Great European cheeses and salamis/cold cuts

Smoked salmon 

Poached eggs

Roasted tomatoes

 

So choose what you want in your cruise experience.

 

Cheers and enjoy your cruise!

 

 

 

 

100% agree with this. Most if not all of the negativity I see around the food on MSC is usually from Americans who aren't used to a more European selection (and thats totally fine, but go with a US cruise line in that case rather than complain after booking an Italian cruise line 🤣). We enjoyed all the food we had on MSC. Was it Michelin Star? No. But was it good? Yes, especially the pizza, pasta, and breads! 

To follow up my previous point, we actually got to the buffet very late on elegant night (around 10pm) so it may have also been reduced because of the time. We still found enough to eat though 🙂

On elegant night the buffet was very reduced (still had pizza and salad and a few other bits though like cheeses, some meats, fries etc), but every other evening it was pretty good as normal with plenty of choice 🙂

It's great that Disney do this. I have no desire to be anywhere near children, but still enjoy all things Disney. I'm from the UK and would not expect to see kids running around if I went to a bar after 9pm. The whole idea behind this thread just screams "entitled parent"...

We had a great time in November and are going on again in May. Negative reviews that I saw seemed to focus mainly on service (which we thought was great - everyone was so nice and friendly and even went above and beyond on my birthday to make it extra special), and food (which we thought was fine - the pizza was great! The main dining room didn't blow my mind but it was perfectly fine and there was nothing I ate that I felt was bad. We didnt try speciality dining this time round but might try Hola tacos next time).

Late night entertainment was a lot of fun, we very much enjoyed the spa most days, I managed to win a prize at one of the music quizzes, and I highly recommend the Carousel at Sea shows! Didnt feel too crowded but we were outside of school holidays. The buffet only felt crowded on the final morning when everyone disembarking in Southampton was trying to get breakfast at the same time. The indoor jaccuzis did get a little busy at times on sea days but wasnt too bad. Plenty of fun things to do (ropes course, water slides, 4d cinema, VR etc).

Our cabin (balcony on deck 12) was very comfortable. Ship was spotlessly clean at all times.

If I had a complaint it would be around excursions. We booked these before the cruise but didn't know what time in the day they would be happening until the night before the excursion took place. Makes it a bit harder if you like to plan ahead but not a massive problem overall.

Different strokes for different folks and all that, but we had a great week, especially considering the price we paid (£510pp which also included premium drinks)

Like you say, go with an open mind. Not every single person is going to enjoy every single cruise line, but I personally can't wait to sail with MSC again.

We were on Virtuosa recently which is a Meraviglia class ship and they had two Carousel at Sea shows available , which are cirque style (acrobatics, high flying, etc) separate from the free shows in the main theatre - I may be wrong but I think each Mera ship has two of these shows you can pick from. We saw Arkymea which was brilliant! Highly recommend. And we will be watching the other option (a chess themed one I forgot the name of) when we go back on the ship in May. So while the partnership with Cirque no longer exists, you can still see high quality shows in that style. I believe they had 2 showings of these each night , with the show itself rotating each day (meaning if you wanted to watch one of the two shows specifically, it was every 2 nights - again I may have this slightly wrong). These cost 15 euros when on the ship but we paid 9 euros by booking before the cruise online, and just went and booked the time we wanted when we boarded. 

Thanks for all the replies! Our cruise is May 19th to 26th so hopefully won't be too busy as we just miss the half term holiday, but we will see. We had originally booked this cruise for June 10th but it got moved when the ship changed from Grandiosa to Virtuosa.

1 hour ago, KarimaJ said:

I haven’t booked my cruise yet, but you are saying when searching for excursions they don’t list the time? I know on NCL and Celebrity they always have exact time listed so you can plan. 

Not that I could see for my last cruise, just the time the ship arrives and leaves port. I did book excursions before the cruise though through the website. It seems like when you're actually on the ship it's a little bit easier (but does cost more).

39 minutes ago, carlmm said:

If MSC cancels, one does get a refund.

Ahh good 🙂 my mistake!

22 hours ago, voyagerL said:

Despite being a loyal MSC passenger, their excursion setup does annoy me. At least once on every cruise, we have an excursion cancelled, normally given notice at 9/10pm the night before, leaving you empty handed if there isn't another you fancy. If we want to change plans however, a full 24hrs notice or the cancellation fee is 100% 😮 

That is annoying! You'd think they would at least offer a refund for a cancellation given the short notice?! 

I'll be going on a Med cruise on this beauty next year! Cannot wait! I've heard about the secret speakeasy and would love to know how easy it is to find / enter?

Thank you both for the replies 🙂

I guess this isn't just an issue with MSC but rather all cruises generally, so I certainly don't want to sound like I'm being negative towards MSC! I'll probably wait until I'm onboard next time to book any excursions in that case even if it does cost more than doing it before the cruise (Unless there's an excursion I know I will do regardless of what time it is!)

We went end of November and didn't really notice the cold indoors. I usually wore a jumper but no coat required unless going outside and was pretty comfortable. They regulate the temperature pretty well. 

Hey!

Just wondering if there is any way to know the timing of excursions before booking them (specifically before the cruise rather than while onboard as I assume on board you can check)? Reason I ask is on our recent Virtuosa cruise one of our excursions didn't start until 3pm and wasn't due to return until around 9pm - we were only told this quite late the night before and when it came to it we knew the weather was about to turn and it would soon be dark so ended up not going on that particular one, and lost out on that cost. We have another 2 cruises booked and one more we are considering and while we like the sound of some of the excursions we want to avoid wasting money if we can help it!

Not a massive issue, but just thought it would be easier to plan your day if they gave a rough time of planned excursions beforehand! Thanks 🙂

Here are the prices recently on Virtuosa if you don't get the fun pass. I imagine it's the same on Meraviglia as they are the same ship class 🙂 hope this helps!

These are from Virtuosa a couple of weeks ago (not Divina, sorry!) but hope they help! A mixture of daily programmes and daily highlights etc 🙂

Hey all,

Does anyone have any experience cruising the fjords around May time? On the Virtuosa is it likely to be busy on board (it's out of school time so I would assume it wouldn't be too bad)? Also it departs from Southampton and I assume wouldn't pick up many , if any, people in Norway so my guess is that the majority of passengers would be British? Would love to have a bit of a mix of nationalities but I assume it wouldn't be the case for this itinerary! 

Thanks 🙂