Hooray... UK cruising has started...

[AndyMichelle]

Fantastic to see MSC Virtuoso sailing out from Southampton today, let's hope all goes smoothly and everyone onboard has a great time... 

One major change seems to be no actual menu's. 

Free WiFi enables you to view the menu on the app before ordering with your waiter. 

Apparently, if you do not have a smart phone, the waiter will 'show' you a menu? 

I wonder if P&O will follow suit? 

Andy 

[yorkshirephil]

6 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Fantastic to see MSC Virtuoso sailing out from Southampton today, let's hope all goes smoothly and everyone onboard has a great time... 

One major change seems to be no actual menu's. 

Free WiFi enables you to view the menu on the app before ordering with your waiter. 

Apparently, if you do not have a smart phone, the waiter will 'show' you a menu? 

I wonder if P&O will follow suit? 

Andy 

Yes lets hope all goes well, another small step for mankind, oh and womankind of course, lol

[Vampiress88]

9 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Fantastic to see MSC Virtuoso sailing out from Southampton today, let's hope all goes smoothly and everyone onboard has a great time... 

One major change seems to be no actual menu's. 

Free WiFi enables you to view the menu on the app before ordering with your waiter. 

Apparently, if you do not have a smart phone, the waiter will 'show' you a menu? 

I wonder if P&O will follow suit? 

Andy 

i don’t like menus on my phone. 
ive just been to local pub and had to do that and actually didn’t like it. 

but I would be happy for the free wifi for whole and also if we could have the menu more in advance than before. 

[Eddie99]

There’s a bit of vid here.  
Looks very MSC & very glitzy (and very cold!)

 

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2021-05-20/first-cruise-ship-with-passengers-since-covid-to-set-sail-from-southampton

[Selbourne]

I think they are in for a very bumpy ride! 60mph wind and gusts far in excess of that, with very rough seas forecast for their first 24 hours. Hope they all have Stugeron with them! We are due to cross the Solent to the Isle of Wight tomorrow and have received a text tonight telling us to check on the service status tomorrow before we leave home as they are anticipating disruption. 

[Pink-belle]

I went down to Southampton to see her sail past Iona, my the wind was dreadful, I said the same about Stugeron! She needed 3 tugs and was allowed to exceed port limits to prevent drift to get out of the dock.

 

far to windy to stand outside of the car, I felt that the wind was preventing me being able to breath.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Pink-belle

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Fantastic to see MSC Virtuoso sailing out from Southampton today, let's hope all goes smoothly and everyone onboard has a great time... 

One major change seems to be no actual menu's. 

Free WiFi enables you to view the menu on the app before ordering with your waiter. 

Apparently, if you do not have a smart phone, the waiter will 'show' you a menu? 

I wonder if P&O will follow suit? 

Andy 

Nice to see you starting a thread again Andy.

I saw the MSC ship on GMB this morning and it looked very nice.

Apparently only 1000 passengers so hopefully everything goes well.

Graham.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Pink-belle said:

I went down to Southampton to see her sail past Iona, my the wind was dreadful, I said the same about Stugeron! She needed 3 tugs and was allowed to exceed port limits to prevent drift to get out of the dock.

 

far to windy to stand outside of the car, I felt that the wind was preventing me being able to breath.

Big ships. V little ships. I know which I would prefer to be on tonight.🛳️🤔

[wowzz]

31 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Big ships. V little ships. I know which I would prefer to be on tonight.🛳️🤔

I'd prefer to be on the ship best designed to handle rough seas, regardless of size !

Given the size of Virtuoso's superstructure, I think I'd prefer a smaller ship! 

[jaydee6969]

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Fantastic to see MSC Virtuoso sailing out from Southampton today, let's hope all goes smoothly and everyone onboard has a great time... 

 

Nice to see your posts again Andy.

We said the same thing as we watched the live stream as she was assisted off the quayside.  Good luck and have a bloody good time - cruising is back!!! 

Not that I am counting or anything, but only 58 days till we board Britannia and 79 till we take Iona for a spin.

 

[AndyMichelle]

6 hours ago, jaydee6969 said:

Nice to see your posts again Andy.

We said the same thing as we watched the live stream as she was assisted off the quayside.  Good luck and have a bloody good time - cruising is back!!! 

Not that I am counting or anything, but only 58 days till we board Britannia and 79 till we take Iona for a spin.

 

Very exciting, I'm sure you will have a fantastic time. 

 

I knew I would come back when we had some positive cruising stories to talk about, but it seems I have inadvertently started off the big ship! little ship debate again... 

Thanks a bunch Wowzz and Zapp... 😊

Andy 

[Purdey16]

There is a guy on msc board blogging about his trip and what was checked and how long the process took if anyone interested ? 😁

[terrierjohn]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

I'd prefer to be on the ship best designed to handle rough seas, regardless of size !

Given the size of Virtuoso's superstructure, I think I'd prefer a smaller ship! 

We found independence of the seas handled bad weather and rough seas far better than Ventura or Aurora, and she is a big ship.

[Beckett]

In " 78 sleeps" I will be on Virtuosa with my granddaughters. I have to say I'm glad not to be on the trip that left yesterday because the wind and high seas would not be very pleasant I'm sure. My eldest, who I've cruised with many times, is absolutely fine in rough seas but the youngest, who is 12, gets a bit anxious that we're going to "tip over" when the sea is rough.

 

I hope they all have a great time on Virtuosa  and there are no Covid scares. I'm looking forward to reading an actual cruise review very soon.

 

Happy Friday everyone. Best wishes. Jane. X

[Dermotsgirl]

There’s various photos of the ship on social media, and I think it looks nice.

 

I saw a photo of people in the theatre, waiting for the show. The theatre was very sparsely populated, but I was  surprised to see that quite a few weren’t wearing masks. 🤷‍♀️

[kruzseeka]

Looks as though Virtuoso is off Le Havre at the moment.  Was due to be in Portland at 07.00 but looks like the weather has different ideas!  It is wild down here!  Guess the folk on board will be enjoying themselves whatever and excited to be on board but what a pity she couldn't make her first port.  

Correction:  Sorry, that call at Portland is tomorrow 22nd.  Just assumed considering the distance it wouldn't take 2 days from Southampton to Portland 😄

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by kruzseeka

[Beckett]

9 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

There’s various photos of the ship on social media, and I think it looks nice.

 

I saw a photo of people in the theatre, waiting for the show. The theatre was very sparsely populated, but I was  surprised to see that quite a few weren’t wearing masks. 🤷‍♀️

That is a surprise Dermotsgirl -and a bit worrying for me. The ship looks very "bling" doesn't it - my girls will love that! I understand that 1,000 passengers are allowed on these cruises so I hope the fewer the better Covid-wise. Time will tell. Best wishes. Jane.x

[Eddie99]

7 minutes ago, Beckett said:

That is a surprise Dermotsgirl -and a bit worrying for me. The ship looks very "bling" doesn't it - my girls will love that! I understand that 1,000 passengers are allowed on these cruises so I hope the fewer the better Covid-wise. Time will tell. Best wishes. Jane.x

... but is it?

As per our discussion yesterday regarding caution, these “pioneers” are not the cautious types, not the ones who want to delay a little to ensure things are as close to 100% safe as they can practically be.  So, as they are among life’s less risk-averse, they feel safe.

 

Different strokes for different folks ...

Whether it is correct, or whether the cruise line should be policing more strictly is another question

 

 

Jane - I thought of you and the girls when I saw the TV broadcast.  So much bling!!!

You will be delighted at the general cleanliness of the ship too. MSC has stood out for me for their hygiene, tidiness and *sparkle* 

[MX-Drew]

Interesting that they accept the email or text from the home covid test then test again at the port. I hope P&O do a similar thing.

[kruzseeka]

There's just been a report on Rip Off Britain with Simon Calder on board Virtuoso - they are 'floating around the Channel' currently.   Due in Portland tomorrow he said but can't get off except on ship's excursions (didn't realise that would apply to ships with UK passengers, sailing from the UK to UK ports) and said it will cost him £43.  

[jaydee6969]

32 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

 

I saw a photo of people in the theatre, waiting for the show. The theatre was very sparsely populated, but I was  surprised to see that quite a few weren’t wearing masks. 🤷‍♀️

 

As in the UK, there are various reasons why they may not be wearing masks.  Are they exempt, did they have food or drink?  I certainly know that when I am in the theatre, I have had drinks from the waiter whilst waiting for the show to start.

[MX-Drew]

4 minutes ago, jaydee6969 said:

 

As in the UK, there are various reasons why they may not be wearing masks.  Are they exempt, did they have food or drink?  I certainly know that when I am in the theatre, I have had drinks from the waiter whilst waiting for the show to start.

Also on the news it was reported that the protocol was a mask should be worn when moving around the ship so it may be when seated a mask is not required.  

[Dermotsgirl]

14 minutes ago, jaydee6969 said:

 

As in the UK, there are various reasons why they may not be wearing masks.  Are they exempt, did they have food or drink?  I certainly know that when I am in the theatre, I have had drinks from the waiter whilst waiting for the show to start.

I counted about 50 people, of which 15 did not have masks o. Out of those 15, only 3 were obviously drinking.

 

what are the odds of some many exempt people being in the same place at the same time.🤷‍♀️

 

 

[Pink-belle]

18 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

There's just been a report on Rip Off Britain with Simon Calder on board Virtuoso - they are 'floating around the Channel' currently.   Due in Portland tomorrow he said but can't get off except on ship's excursions (didn't realise that would apply to ships with UK passengers, sailing from the UK to UK ports) and said it will cost him £43.  

Not seen the report but it still annoys me.  Those sailing knew the facts before they sailed, so why try to make it a bad news story?  After all it might be reassuring for those who live in the port towns/cities to know they aren’t getting an influx of cruise ship pax sharing germs around the town. 

[Dermotsgirl]

15 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Also on the news it was reported that the protocol was a mask should be worn when moving around the ship so it may be when seated a mask is not required.  

I’ve checked the protocol for U.K. cinemas and theatres. A mask is required at all times in the auditoriums unless actually eating or drinking. I’d have thought that the protocols on the ships would be at least as stringent, if not more, what with ships being closed communities. After all, it’s in everyone’s interests that there’s not an outbreak onboard