Live from the MSC Virtuosa 3 nights 31st July

[Nunagoras]

Great review!... Congrats and have a nice time!...

 

Permit me a question? Are they returning the buffet to old times with pax picking their food or is the crew serving you? Your posts suggest the old times model... Not sure if it's good or not these days...

 

Have a nice day and a nice return. Time goes fast!...

[nikkiw60]

12 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Great review!... Congrats and have a nice time!...

 

Permit me a question? Are they returning the buffet to old times with pax picking their food or is the crew serving you? Your posts suggest the old times model... Not sure if it's good or not these days...

 

Have a nice day and a nice return. Time goes fast!...

It’s back to serving yourselves in the buffet. The queueing is interesting though. Previously on MSC ships you have just gone to the are for what you fancy eg pastries omelette etc, on this ship you form a long queue and work your way down the line!

[ConnieTact]

Good morning Nikki!

We were on Virtuosa for 3rd July sailing and saw the amazing show ‘Ajedrez’ in Carosel Lounge. 
We are back on September 3rd and see that there is another show added called ‘Arkymea’. Have you been to the latter? I think we’ll just book it anyway as although a paid for show it was worth every pound! 
if we book before we go it’s £9 and £15 onboard.lid highly recommended the show if you are thinking of it!

[nikkiw60]

2 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Good morning Nikki!

We were on Virtuosa for 3rd July sailing and saw the amazing show ‘Ajedrez’ in Carosel Lounge. 
We are back on September 3rd and see that there is another show added called ‘Arkymea’. Have you been to the latter? I think we’ll just book it anyway as although a paid for show it was worth every pound! 
if we book before we go it’s £9 and £15 onboard.lid highly recommended the show if you are thinking of it!

Hi Connie, we are only on till tomorrow so will not be doing any of the paid shows. We do plan on seeing a regular one tonight though. Thank you for your suggestion though.

[ConnieTact]

Have you been to any shows so far? Is the ‘David Copperfield’ guy still on there? Heard he wasn’t great by a few people so didn’t see him. 
Also we narrowly missed a fab group ‘Soul Brothers’ who left the day we boarded 🤪and another English comedian Andrew Fleming who is fab. I don’t suppose soul Brothers or Sisters are back?

1 minute ago, nikkiw60 said:

Hi Connie, we are only on till tomorrow so will not be doing any of the paid shows. We do plan on seeing a regular one tonight though. Thank you for your suggestion though.

[nikkiw60]

1 hour ago, ConnieTact said:

Have you been to any shows so far? Is the ‘David Copperfield’ guy still on there? Heard he wasn’t great by a few people so didn’t see him. 
Also we narrowly missed a fab group ‘Soul Brothers’ who left the day we boarded 🤪and another English comedian Andrew Fleming who is fab. I don’t suppose soul Brothers or Sisters are back?

Not seen any of these names anywhere.

[ConnieTact]

16 minutes ago, nikkiw60 said:

Not seen any of these names anywhere.

I’ll be interested to know what the entertainment is like then. Is there anyone like a comedian onboard? Also any band? Thanks

[wirral36]

2 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Good morning Nikki!

We were on Virtuosa for 3rd July sailing and saw the amazing show ‘Ajedrez’ in Carosel Lounge. 
We are back on September 3rd and see that there is another show added called ‘Arkymea’. Have you been to the latter? I think we’ll just book it anyway as although a paid for show it was worth every pound! 
if we book before we go it’s £9 and £15 onboard.lid highly recommended the show if you are thinking of it!

I’ve tried to book this but the app won’t let me. Can I watch the show without the drink ? I’m livid I’ll have to pay extra onboard just because the apps not working again. 

[ConnieTact]

27 minutes ago, wirral36 said:

I’ve tried to book this but the app won’t let me. Can I watch the show without the drink ? I’m livid I’ll have to pay extra onboard just because the apps not working again. 

You choose which drink on the way in. There is a non alcohol one and a couple of other cocktails. You pay the same with or without a drink. 
MSC’s IT often doesn’t work so you can either wait and try again or contact them.

maybe email better than hanging on the phone.

If you booked through a TA maybe they can sort for you.

One strange thing when I went to book both shows was there is a drop down menu and it gives every date and early and late show times for both shows. This cannot be right (as both using same stage!) so maybe when they know the proper dates/show times it will work!

I think the cruise is such good value I don’t mind paying extra for shows even if I pay extra onboard. I loved Ajedrez and look forward to seeing the show again.

[wirral36]

1 hour ago, ConnieTact said:

You choose which drink on the way in. There is a non alcohol one and a couple of other cocktails. You pay the same with or without a drink. 
MSC’s IT often doesn’t work so you can either wait and try again or contact them.

maybe email better than hanging on the phone.

If you booked through a TA maybe they can sort for you.

One strange thing when I went to book both shows was there is a drop down menu and it gives every date and early and late show times for both shows. This cannot be right (as both using same stage!) so maybe when they know the proper dates/show times it will work!

I think the cruise is such good value I don’t mind paying extra for shows even if I pay extra onboard. I loved Ajedrez and look forward to seeing the show again.

Thank you for this info. It doesn’t have the drop down boxes but says every slot is unavailable. It’s done that since the day the shows showed as an option. 
 

Have u been in yacht club ? 

[nikkiw60]

A nice surprise in our cabin this afternoon I wasn’t expecting any voyager club perks on a 3 night cruise, my dad was well impressed! 

[ConnieTact]

4 hours ago, wirral36 said:

Thank you for this info. It doesn’t have the drop down boxes but says every slot is unavailable. It’s done that since the day the shows showed as an option. 
 

Have u been in yacht club ? 

My guess is that it will either work closer to the date or you’ll still be able to book seats onboard.

Yes, we ‘won’ and upgrade last time and loved it so much booked it again for this time. Didn’t want to leave it to chance as it is like a little oasis of clam there! As the ship will be busier, we decided, for us, it is worth it.

[ConnieTact]

48 minutes ago, nikkiw60 said:

A nice surprise in our cabin this afternoon I wasn’t expecting any voyager club perks on a 3 night cruise, my dad was well impressed! 

Brilliant! I love the perks and it is impressive that you get them even on shorter trips. So you should also get the other perks! 

[ConnieTact]

Nikki, on my Roll Call thread for 4th September, someone is asking what facilities are open in the thermal suite in the Spa. Do you happen to know if the hot tubs and saunas are now open? 
In July they were closed so it would be good to know if the latest lifting of restrictions in England made a difference onboard?

I know you’re probably Just drinking that champagne but of you get a moment……!!! 🥂😂

cheers!! 

Edited August 2, 2021 by ConnieTact
Spello

[wirral36]

1 hour ago, ConnieTact said:

My guess is that it will either work closer to the date or you’ll still be able to book seats onboard.

Yes, we ‘won’ and upgrade last time and loved it so much booked it again for this time. Didn’t want to leave it to chance as it is like a little oasis of clam there! As the ship will be busier, we decided, for us, it is worth it.

We’re treating ourselves to yacht club. Not too sure what to expect as used to genie on royal which is amazing but I don’t think yc will be quite that.  Genies literally make availability happen fir you where there is none. According to others on board, yc doesn’t go thst far unfortunately 

[alyssamma]

55 minutes ago, wirral36 said:

We’re treating ourselves to yacht club. Not too sure what to expect as used to genie on royal which is amazing but I don’t think yc will be quite that.  Genies literally make availability happen fir you where there is none. According to others on board, yc doesn’t go thst far unfortunately 

Not sure if there is a difference between US and Europe, but in the US, the YC will be superior to RCCL.

[ConnieTact]

1 hour ago, wirral36 said:

We’re treating ourselves to yacht club. Not too sure what to expect as used to genie on royal which is amazing but I don’t think yc will be quite that.  Genies literally make availability happen fir you where there is none. According to others on board, yc doesn’t go thst far unfortunately 

It will be so interesting to see what you think. I heard from a guest in YC that usually travels on Cunard in a suite that the YC service was the best he had received. He also preferred the entertain YC saying it was more suited to his age ( he was in his 50s). He also said on Cunard you don’t get a whole separate area - just a separate dining room.

He was travelling alone and had some difficulty in getting around and was well looked out for by his butler who even came to find him when he came back from an excursion.

We haven’t been in a star suite on Royal so don’t know but you may be pleasantly surprised. 
I often prefer to have low expectations and then am delighted rather than expect a lot to have my hopes dashed! All I can say is when things go wrong in the YC things move fast to put them right but you have to say or they don’t know!

[ConnieTact]

3 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

My guess is that it will either work closer to the date or you’ll still be able to book seats onboard.

Yes, we ‘won’ and upgrade last time and loved it so much booked it again for this time. Didn’t want to leave it to chance as it is like a little oasis of clam there! As the ship will be busier, we decided, for us, it is worth it.

Just noticed my spelling error…..” a little oasis of clam!!!” I meant calm of course!!! 😊😂

I bet the YC hasn’t ever been called that before!! 

[wirral36]

9 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Just noticed my spelling error…..” a little oasis of clam!!!” I meant calm of course!!! 😊😂

I bet the YC hasn’t ever been called that before!! 

😂😂 I liked the oasis of clam. Made me smile 😊. The other thing that makes the difference is how you are as a person. I go out my way to be polite and interested in anyone who helps me and very grateful. I’ve seen a lot of nit so nice passengers who treat the cruise staff awfully. 

[wirral36]

2 minutes ago, wirral36 said:

😂😂 I liked the oasis of clam. Made me smile 😊. The other thing that makes the difference is how you are as a person. I go out my way to be polite and interested in anyone who helps me and very grateful. I’ve seen a lot of nit so nice passengers who treat the cruise staff awfully. 

 

2 minutes ago, wirral36 said:

😂😂 I liked the oasis of clam. Made me smile 😊. The other thing that makes the difference is how you are as a person. I go out my way to be polite and interested in anyone who helps me and very grateful. I’ve seen a lot of nit so nice passengers who treat the cruise staff awfully. 

When we were on royal last, the staff were visibly upset at saying goodbye to my children. Every morning as we walked past each room, my children would say hello to every room attendant they saw and every room attendant would say hello using their names and asking them how their day was. On the last day, the staff were so busy but all took the time to say goodbye to the children personally and gave them little gifts. There were approx 20 staff members who came out of the rooms to say goodbye. It made me cry to be honest. 
 

my son told our room attendant that he wanted to sail the ship when he got older and the next thing we know we have a free meet and greet with the captain at the bridge. 
 

I just really appreciate everything the staff do. Behind the scenes there’s a lot of work all hours for little pay 

[ConnieTact]

48 minutes ago, wirral36 said:

 

When we were on royal last, the staff were visibly upset at saying goodbye to my children. Every morning as we walked past each room, my children would say hello to every room attendant they saw and every room attendant would say hello using their names and asking them how their day was. On the last day, the staff were so busy but all took the time to say goodbye to the children personally and gave them little gifts. There were approx 20 staff members who came out of the rooms to say goodbye. It made me cry to be honest. 
 

my son told our room attendant that he wanted to sail the ship when he got older and the next thing we know we have a free meet and greet with the captain at the bridge. 
 

I just really appreciate everything the staff do. Behind the scenes there’s a lot of work all hours for little pay 

Wow! That’s an amazing story! What a fabulous experience for your children. 
I think a lot of staff miss their own families while away working and so particularly like little ones. 
Not sure that kind of thing can be repeated and must have set standards high!! 
I do believe you get back what you give and if you treat people well it goes a long way to brighten someone’s day. 
It’s awful and embarrassing to see some people treat staff badly and as you say, these people work so hard without breaks. As one guest leaves another arrives! 
 

[Cruiseforever11]

1 hour ago, ConnieTact said:

Just noticed my spelling error…..” a little oasis of clam!!!” I meant calm of course!!! 😊😂

I bet the YC hasn’t ever been called that before!! 

Teri it's just like the Spitz Hugo! 🤣🥂🤣

[ConnieTact]

Just now, Cruiseforever11 said:

Teri it's just like the Spitz Hugo! 🤣🥂🤣

Oh yes! Indeed! That old chestnut eh?!?! 😂🥂🤣

When onboard-I won’t be ordering an Oasis of Clam but will certainly be in the Champagne bar ordering a Spitz Hugo!! Or maybe the second would wash down the first nicely?! 🤔

A new speciality onboard maybe?

[Cruiseforever11]

Just now, ConnieTact said:

Oh yes! Indeed! That old chestnut eh?!?! 😂🥂🤣

When onboard-I won’t be ordering an Oasis of Clam but will certainly be in the Champagne bar ordering a Spitz Hugo!! Or maybe the second would wash down the first nicely?! 🤔

A new speciality onboard maybe?

I don't think I could look at a clam in the same way again! That did make me laugh 😅 I agree a new speciality maybe you need to mention this when you get back on board! So you manage to get back in YC for September....does Roco know that's it now Yc all the way from now on 😁 good on you but I am jealous! But I will join the YC ranks soon! 😎

[ConnieTact]

16 minutes ago, Cruiseforever11 said:So you manage to get back in YC for September....does Roco know that's it now Yc all the way from now on 😁 good on you but I am jealous! But I will join the YC ranks soon! 😎

Yes, Rocco has been converted too! The question now seems to be do we put in a bid for a balcony suite!?! 😅 

Yes, join us too! Once through those YC doors there’s no looking back though! 
Having said that I’m aware an Oasis of Clam isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Tea with clams in the afternoon…..speciality venue called the Clam-a-Tea?!?!

I’ll stop now……sorry! 😅