Iluvcruising2

When is your flight? We are flying Turkish too, but in the middle of this year.

Since this thread is on Business class travel, I shall make a shameless plug for my national carrier - try flying Singapore Airlines!

Here is the A380 Business Class experience, flying from Singapore to London.

[YOUTUBE]r9ocU6H2bWc[/YOUTUBE]

Here is Business class on a retrofitted Boeing 777, flying from London to Singapore.

[YOUTUBE]UCSs8iQ3jOE[/YOUTUBE]

Will I fly Business class if I can afford it? Long-haul, definitely yes.

This is a video of Air Canada business class, from LHR to Ottawa. It was an older plane but I enjoyed the experience. Beats economy any time.

[YOUTUBE]zEOkHx0SnqU[/YOUTUBE]

We sailed on the MSC Yacht Club on the MSC Preziosa in Dec 2015 and had a fabulous time! I have been writing about my trip on the MSC Boards - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2288693

Here is a video of one of the seven dinners we had in the Yacht Club restaurant.

[YOUTUBE]2_DnkB_ubl0[/YOUTUBE]

And plenty more to eat & drink in the Top Sail Lounge for Yacht Club guests only.

[YOUTUBE]SzRgZHlWL9s[/YOUTUBE]

Now let me show you the fun we had with the mini-bar in the cabin. In the Yacht Club, you get everything in the mini-bar complimentary, and also get water. This video shows you the details.

[YOUTUBE]045HJuq15Z4[/YOUTUBE]

The complimentary mini bar was definitely very useful. Kids helped themselves to the drinks. Adults too. Well, the Top Sail lounge was nearby so we didn't use the minibar much though the water was very useful. Now here is the fun. I shan't write more. Watch this video.

[YOUTUBE]jVslSeyH9Ck[/YOUTUBE]

I miss the Yacht Club already. :):)

wow! Thank you for the video, I would love to take a trip out someday, hopefully soon!

Please come visit! :):)

Well, take note that the MSC Preziosa has many passengers and when many pax want to return the ship at more or less the same time, long lines will form. So, patience is required.

People seemed fine with the lines. Common sight by now.

In this video, I show you more of the lines to get back on board the ship.

[YOUTUBE]YGQHd-1hbzI[/YOUTUBE]

Since we had plenty of time, we decided to walk back to the pick-up point for the port shuttle to take the shuttle back. This was the sign outside the gate. Take note the days that the shuttle operated. Only Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Thursday.

It took a while for the bus to arrive. Meanwhile, the guard didn't let us into the waiting area and all of us were waiting outside. A crowd had formed.

The bus used was a long bendy-bus. So it was rather large. Still, it was full of passengers going back to the ship. Here is a picture of the crowd on board.

Another picture. Overall the ride was smooth. Well, it was free, so can't complain too much.

After we got off the bus, it was time to make the walk back to the ship.

Yes, this will be our first MSC cruise. We have previously cruised twice with NCL (Haven), 1 x silver seas & 7 x P & O cruises. So your review has been extremely helpful, a great insight in to what we can expect.

Have a great cruise!

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. Looks like your schedule may be different to ours, as the ship is scheduled to dock in Marseille at 1.00pm.

 

Your review is amazing. If I had not already booked the MSC yacht club for July 2016, I would be very tempted based on your comprehensive review, photos and videos. Thank You soooo much.

Thank you for your comment and I am glad you enjoyed this review. Will your upcoming sailing be your first on MSC Yacht Club?

In recent years, I have started to do more comprehensive reviews (words, pictures, videos) because I do enjoy re-living my travels through these reviews and I'm glad that other cruise critic members find it useful too!

Hi, do you happen remember what time you were able to get off the ship in Marseille. The reason I ask is that when we cruise in July in the Yacht Club, we start and end our cruise in Marseille. On the day we leave the ship we plan to travel to London via eurostar, the train leaves marseille at 3.22pm

 

Thanks in advance

The ship arrived at 9am. We got off shortly after 9am.

Exiting the ship in ports you can have a butler escort you off, we did in many of the ports because it was quicker. Coming back on its all you.

Yes, that's correct.

We spent about 45 minutes at the Cathedral and it was time to make our way back to the old port. When we got back to the carpark, the tram was about to leave. Just in time! Otherwise, we would have to wait for another 20 minutes.

The tram took a more direct route back to where we started, unlike the scenic route on the way up. The journey was faster, less than 15 minutes. Here is video of the tram ride going back to the old port.

[YOUTUBE]L-IEgGXF1F4[/YOUTUBE]

We were back to where we started. The tram looked to be very popular. More people buying tickets now.

Goodbye tram and have a good day!

I recall we did not do too much after that. It was very sunny and we don't really like hanging out in the sun. We did go to this sign to take a photo.

At the end of the ride, we were dropped off at the carpark, which looked like this. Come back here to take the tram back to the old town. The ticket covers both ways, so don't lose it!

As we headed to the cathedral, I spotted this sign. Yes, beware of pickpockets.

I saw a significant number of older looking tourists huffing and puffing as they scaled these steps. We didn't have to. I was wondering where they came from until I realised that most of them came from tour coaches. The tour coach stop is farther down hill (compared to the carpark where we alighted from), so the climb up was longer. Be prepared!

The views from up here were gorgeous. Look carefully and you can see somebody holding up a placard with the number 2. Cruise ship tour.

Climb all the way up to this lookout point for the best views of Marseilles.

In this video, you see some views of Marseilles from the look-out point, followed by scenes from inside the Cathedral.

[YOUTUBE]hIe2hHwRODw[/YOUTUBE]

In this video, a longer run-through of the place as I walk around. You can see many more steps in this video. Watching again, I realised that this place wasn't disabled friendly. Plenty of steps to climb, so be prepared.

[YOUTUBE]LuDwwAjUOd0[/YOUTUBE]

Some food videos. This was at a Vietnamese eatery called So Pho, in a shopping mall. Gets quite busy during office lunch hours.

[YOUTUBE]49m-toW0OiY[/YOUTUBE]

At a small Japanese restaurant, having some very raw fish for lunch.

[YOUTUBE]B5D3o4iAIfY[/YOUTUBE]

It was a very bright and sunny day, though the temperature was not warm at all, probably in the low 10s (referring to degrees celsius). Spotted the petite train. We wanted to take that today.

They had many trams waiting. Wonder when we will depart. Anyway, we got our tickets (8Euros per adult and 4 Euros per child) and it was time to board the tram.

Here is a video of the tram ride to the parking lot of Notre-Dame de la Garde. It was a very scenic ride which took about 20 minutes. We got to see some parts of the shoreline from higher up. The long tram had to navigate narrow streets and that was quite cool to watch.

[YOUTUBE]MA8S85GXq6Y[/YOUTUBE]

Back to the Adventure of the Seas. This video was of the casino.

[YOUTUBE]Z4PyofZn-LI[/YOUTUBE]

Oh how could I forget. The flight that we took from Singapore to London, before transferring to Southampton to board the cruise ship. Singapore Airlines in Economy, flight SQ 308.

[YOUTUBE]rBr4A0a1WaA[/YOUTUBE]

Earlier in the thread, there was some discussion on premium cabins on Singapore Airlines. So here is my shameless plug for my national carrier. Fly Business (or First!) if you can.

Two videos of my flights. Business Class on the A380, Singapore to London.

[YOUTUBE]r9ocU6H2bWc[/YOUTUBE]

Business Class on a retrofitted Boeing 777 - London to Singapore.

[YOUTUBE]UCSs8iQ3jOE[/YOUTUBE]

I have never flown on Singapore Airlines First Class before. Hopefully I get the chance in the future.

The bus was crowded. If you watch the video, you will see that we just made it and were the last passengers to board the bus before it left. Otherwise, it would probably have been a 20 minute wait. After a 15 minute or so ride on the bus, we alighted at the port gates.

This is what the area immediately outside the port gate after we alight from the free bus looked like.

And we started our walk towards the old port. It would take us about 20 minutes of moderate paced walking.

Spotted this tiny car parked.

A short video taken only Rue de la Republicque, Marseilles.

[YOUTUBE]5YDHegDXpSw[/YOUTUBE]

Interesting, was the pyramids ice cream the YC's version of the baked Alaska from the MDR? Or was baked alaska offered as an option another day?

 

Also, do you mind telling me if people dressed up on the YC for the gala nights and if you spotted any solo's on YC?

 

Thanks for the great review!

Hi, thanks for your questions. I think the pyramids ice cream was the YC's version of baked alaska. I did not remember having the choice of baked alaska on another evening (we dined at YC restaurant for all evenings of this cruise).

For gala nights, I would say about 50% were dressed up - i.e. at least jacket ties for men and evening dresses for ladies. The rest were dressed casually. Some in jeans.

No, I did not spot any solos.

More photos of the walk. We weren't the only ones walking.

Flat ground. Bright and sunny.

The MSC Preziosa. Notice the taxis. Plenty of them available. They knew that a ship was in port, so they drove in to join the line to pick up passengers.

These signs popped up once in a while. Gave me the assurance that I was headed in the correct direction. Well, there was only one direction to head towards anyway.

And we exited the port gates.

On board the Adventure of the Seas, here is the Diamond Lounge.

Early in the morning. Not many passengers were up yet. I was still suffering from jet lag, so was up early.

[YOUTUBE]6wuTqtNWv1w[/YOUTUBE]

The lounge again, this time during evening cocktail hours. Lively atmosphere!

[YOUTUBE]C0XiSD6V6kU[/YOUTUBE]

Looking back at this review, I realised that this was done before I learnt how to embed videos on the cruise critic forum. So let me start embedding some of the more useful videos, to facilitate reading.

For pre-cruise, we stayed at the Premier Inn West Quay, which was a very convenient place to get to the ship, and to walk to the Southampton city center. Here is a video of the Family Room and breakfast.

[YOUTUBE]NFUtrUcYPZs[/YOUTUBE]

Thank you for a great review. Found it today. Will be going to Norway May 2016. Serenade of the Seas with stops in Stavanger, Bergen, Alesund & Geiranger. Return from Copenhagen.

Heather.

Thank you for your comment. Guess what? We are also going on the Serenade in May 2016! But I think our cruise is after yours. Our sailing is on 29 May 2016 and we will start from Copenhagen and head to Stockholm, Tallin, St Petersburg, Helsinki and back to Copenhagen.

Hope you have a great cruise and we are certainly looking forward to ours.

Alright, after breakfast, it was time to get off the ship. Looking over. No, the way to get off is not to jump. Please remember that

As usual, I will be using my smartphone maps to guide the walking. I use an app called CityMaps2Go, which doesn't require a data connection.

We are off the ship and on the pier. I look up, and spotted this.

We were in Terminal A. The plan was to follow the signs and walk to the complimentary port shuttle stop. Here is one such sign.

Turned out to be a fairly long walk, though the ground was flat. Here is a video of the walk. Hope it is a useful reference.

[YOUTUBE]o6kf_QSX7JQ[/YOUTUBE]

I would gladly give Oasis and Ovation for Voyager and Mariner!

That's interesting. So you like the Voyager class vessels much better? Are those the sweet spot in terms of size?

For me, the largest RCI ship I have been on is the Voyager.