Munki78

Ok thanks, that's not too much hassle. We may go for this, or perhaps pay about £30 more and stay at the Ibis Budget hotel overnight the night before, pay £10/night parking there and a few £ for an Uber to the terminal in the morning. Living in a household of ADHD'ers it might be worth making sure we get packed and there the night before, otherwise it may never happen (like our Cruse in February!) Thanks for the info! Mike.

Hi Mark, Oh ok, good! One thing we are concerned about is the amount of luggage, so the fact that they collected the main cases is good to hear. Thanks! Mike.

Hi Stokie, Many thanks, I'll check them out! Mike.

Hey there! That's great to hear! I read you're coming all the way from DFW. In terms of hotels, provided you don't have a car that you need to pay parking for, there are plenty of hotels dotted along West Key Road (don't let the name get you thinking of the Florida keys - think Ikea and a shopping mall lol) and around/in the city. There's an Ibis Budget down the road for about £42 a night, Premier Inn for £54, Holiday Inn for £78. All will be fairly basic but clean, well kept and just a few 100 yards from the cruise terminal. The city and the area around the cruise terminal isn't large, so any hotel will be fine as once you're in/around the city centre it should only cost a few £ to grab an Uber to the cruise terminal. We only live about 30 miles away, but because of my daughter's autism we can't risk taking a bus, then train, then taxi/uber as there's too much potential for meltdowns! So we will need to drive there and pay for parking/shuttle to/from the cruise terminal (between £90-150). In Feb we used Penguin Parking which cost £99, but it's now £149. They were good though - they are near the cruise terminal and offer a very personal service - they unload your car, load up your own mini bus, take you to the terminal, unload your bags into check in and look after your car, and do the same on the way back. It was worth the money at the time, but... £150 this time... eek, I'm not rushing to book it this time! Mike.

Hi, Thank you! I hadn't realised! I'll go check now... Regards, Mike.

Hi All, My partner, our youngest daughter (7) and I are booked on the Northern Europe cruise on MSC Euribia leaving Southampton on 22nd Dec, and I thought I'd reach out in case there were any other families onboard that, like us also wanted to avoid cooking Christmas dinner and have a 'simpler' Christmas!? A bit of background - This is the second time we're doing the Northern Europe cruise (the last time was in Feb on Virtuosa). I'll admit we weren't planning on doing this route again, but we really wanted to get away this Xmas and looked at all other options, pros, cons etc., and had such a good experience last time that we thought we'd go with something familiar. Our daughter is currently being assessed for ADHD and ASD, and these should be completed by the time of the cruise. She's a lovely, energetic child who wants to be busy all the time, and the cruise in Feb was great as there was plenty to keep her entertained. However, she struggles with her emotional regulation, so would get overwhelmed in the Marketplace buffet, or doing group activities in kids club. That said, she coped very well compared with 'non-holiday' environments, and we even managed to have a couple of nights where she coped well in kids club and we were able to have a couple of hours to have a speciality restaurant meal and a couple of drinks in the adult only bar. We recently had a good experience during a holiday in Mallorca, where she made a new friend on the coach to the hotel and they were almost inseparable the entire week. They would both keep each other entertained and encourage each other to do things they wouldn't otherwise have the courage or focus to do. So much so, that the evening entertainment, that would normally result in a meltdown after 10 mins and we'd have to leave, was instead hard to drag the two of them off the stage, with them dancing and playing until gone 12pm (I know, it's late, but it's holiday and quite frankly was lovely and quite emotional just seeing her coping and enjoying something like that for the first time). Sure, we paid for it with an over-tired, grumpy child within a couple of days, but it was worth it. She is always desperate to make new friends - particularly on holiday - but finds it hard when it's a big group and will become over-stimulated and overwhelmed, leading to meltdowns. Which brings be to my post... I just wanted to reach out to any other families book on the same cruise that might may be going through similar situations (or not, we're friendly to anyone!), who maybe would like to meet up for a festive cocktail while our kids play, or freeze to death trying to use the waterpark in the middle of the ocean in the dead of winter! Take care everyone, Mike.

Thanks everyone for their help. I did end up booking my daughter in for a PCR test at a pharmacy. I'll get one of the cheap home/email certificate packs as a backup, just in case the results get delayed (as Royal Mail is so reliable at the moment...) When I called MSC support they also confirmed what a few of you are saying - 48 hours means 2 days... they don't care about the time the test was taken or the time you embark.

Ah we are set for an 11am check in too, but won't be able to get there until about 3pm, as I need to pick my daughter up from school at 1 and my partner finishes work the same time. I might give them a call to let them know we will be later, but I did speak to MSC support and they said it doesn't matter, it just may be busier if you turn up later than your assigned time. Apparently as long as we are embarked by 5pm it's fine. Hope you have better luck this time! I suspect it'll be a hot pot for covid & flu to be honest! We've both had covid and the flu over Christmas time - yeah why they haven't offered boosters to everyone, I don't know! But hopefully that'll keep us clear for the cruise 😉

Thank you 🙂 I really appreciate your help 🙂 I may end up going down that route then. I'm just a bit worried that their guidance changed at the end of the year, and that they are specifically asking for lab certified tests and that 'self-tests' are not valid. The email certificate services say they are valid for travel, but are essentially a rapid antigen self-test with an official certificate sent to you to reflect that result, as far as I can tell. Even some of the supervised (healthcare professional in person or via video) ones are still only rapid antigen tests I think. If I take their guidance by the book, I would have interpreted it as needing to be a test taken via a swab, either by yourself (or possibly supervised) or by a healthcare professional, and sent away to a lab for either a full PCR test or an antigen test. But I'm not convinced that MSC will even notice or care the difference between that and the certificated antigen tests that you're recommending (probably not!) It would be interesting to hear from someone who has been on this same trip earlier this year (since they made the guidance changes) and had to provide a certificate due to not being vaccinated, and what type they chose. Thanks again! Mike.

Thank you, that's really helpful! I never thought of doing the antigen test through a pharmacy. The do also say: "Tests must be laboratory certified. A rapid antigen self-test is not valid for travel purposes. " So provided they are considered 'laboratory certified' then maybe that's an option. I have a Lloyds just across the road from me, so I may pop in at lunchtime and ask them. Thanks, yes hopefully someone who has recently been through the same will provide their experiences. Hope you have a good trip in March. Mike.

Hi, Sorry in advance, as this ended up turning into a bit of a rant! This is our first cruise and thought we'd test the waters with our youngest daughter (6 years) to see if it struck a balance on keeping her entertained while we are on board travelling, enough for her to forgive us focussing our shore days with slightly more cultural theme 😉 (although I'm sure she'll still enjoy some sight seeing!) Ok, back on topic: MSC's Covid requirements... We are both fully vaccinated (well, all main shots and boosters that we've been able to get so far, given our ages). So I think we are fine. Unfortunately, our daughter was unable to have her vaccine when they were doing them at school as she has ASD and had a meltdown - so we didn't push the issue at the time (needed to pick our battles!) However, this may come back to haunt us, as we now need to get a RT-PCR or antigen test done for her 4 hours prior to embarkation. So I have a few questions, if anyone may be able to help, please? We are traveling on the Friday 10th Feb, and apparently embarking at 11am (although I guess we can later if we want?) So is the 48 hours from the time the lab actually got around to test it? Or from the time we physically do the test? Which services have people used that were quick and reliable? Presumably this involves going somewhere, doing a supervised test and it being sent off to the lab? Will this be done in plenty of time? I'm guessing there are services that offer a guaranteed time for testing(?) I've searched online and there are mostly results for high-cost labs that look like they are out to skin you! Ok and just a little rant regarding MSC's wording on their website, which is ambiguous at best, and doesn't offer any sort of guidance on how to go about getting tests. i.e., they state this first: "Departures to Northern Europe from Southampton:Antigen self-tests are accepted for embarkation ONLY if guests show evidence of negative test results on an official certificate." ... Ok, I'm taking that as we can embark as long as the negative results are recorded in the NHS app where you can generate a certificate (?) Is this just for people travelling from Southampton? Does this supersede all the other statements that follow it (see below)? As then they go on and discuss vaccination requirements (or lack of), starting with the statement: "All Guests are strongly encouraged, but not required, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19." Ok, so it clearly states there that vaccination is not required (personally I wouldn't feel comfortable about that, but I'm focussing on semantics here). Ultimately this statement seems to overrule the previous statement. But a few lines later they say: "For vaccinated Guests it’s not required (but strongly recommended) to present a negative test.Unvaccinated guests, guests without a vaccine certificate, or guests who have recovered from COVID-19, ages 5 and older are required to present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR or Antigen test taken 48 hours prior to embarkation.Tests must be laboratory certified. A rapid antigen self-test is not valid for travel purposes." [taken from their website today: https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-and-safety-measures/northern-europe-and-cruises-from-uk ] So now they are talking about vaccinated guests being recommended to present a negative test (presumably as per the first statement), but that 'unvaccinated guests [...] ages 5 and older are required to present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR...', contradicting their second statement. Make your mind up, MSC! 🙄 I'm no lawyer, but I can imagine MSC could land themselves in a bit of hot water if someone was denied embarkation based on that 'advice'. They were also unable to suggest any test suppliers and simply suggested I checked online. So I'm hoping someone may have experiences they can share that worked for them! Thank you in advance! 🙂 Mike.