LIVE! Virtuosa 27th May 2022 - 3 Night Northern Europe!

[ScratchTheRat]

Hello everyone!

 

This will be my first of many LIVE report and review posts. For those who know me, hello! For those who don't, a bit of background.

 

This cruise will be my 12th and I have another 2 booked for this year thus far.

 

You may know me from YouTube where I host a weekly Vlog series called Kascapades (www.YouTube.com/kascapades).

 

I am Kas, I am from the UK, Cardiff in Wales specifically and I am in my 30's. I travel as much as I can on cruises and caught the bug in 2010 when I was taken on a cruise by my family. I thought I'd hate it and I couldn't imagine anything worse than being stuck on a boat, but boy was I wrong and I got hooked! 

 

This will be my first cruise on MSC and I'm really looking forward to seeing how things go and what things I love/hate. 

 

So let's talk about this trip and what led to the booking. I am starting a new job soon and so I have some time off between roles and on a whim, I thought, hmmm... me and my travelling partner (and vlog executive producer!) Hue, were both free this coming weekend. A quick google search found an amazing deal on MSC Virtuosa. 3 Nights with a free balcony upgrade, gratuities included and the premium extra package, all for the price I'd usually expect for a basic interior. Needless to say I snapped it up so fast, I hadn't even looked at the itinerary.

 

The ship will be sailing out of Southampton on Friday 27th May at 4pm and we will be arriving by train, with just a cabin style case and backpack each. The train was really good value, £75 return for the two of us and it's direct so we can walk right to the pier upon arrival.

 

MSC require evidence of negative covid test and vaccination. Here in the UK, we can log on to the health service website and download pdf of our vaccine status, or we can download digital copies to the phone. I've done both just in case. I also bought 2x COVID antigen tests from Randox health. These tests are done from home with your results uploaded in the app to get results and a digital certificate within 2 hours.

 

Our cruise will have no sea days and will visit two ports: Rotterdam (For Amsterdam), Netherlands and Cherbourg, France. We did a two day overnight port visit to Rotterdam on Iona just this past December but Cherbourg is new to us both so we're excited for that.

 

In Rotterdam we are not sure yet if we are going to just have a simple walk round the city or head to Amsterdam. We have limited time so may just do a short walk round Rotterdam and then spend the rest of the time enjoying the beautiful ship and our drinks package! 

 

For Cherbourg, I think we will go off on our own with a backpack and the camera and go explore. I am keen to try some of the local food, including a visit to the famous cheese cellar! Any tips for this port would be amazing if you've been!

 

We're staying in a Deluxe Balcony with obstructed view of lifeboats on Deck 8 which looks amazing. It will be our first Balcony cabin as thus far we've only sailed in Inside cabins. 

 

As mentioned we have the Premium Extra drinks package so there will be muchos wine and cocktails! We're also choosing not to dine at any specialty restaurants for dinner as with a 3 night cruise, we just want to focus on the core offering, though we may pop to Hola for lunch! We're keen to try as many locations as we can for drinks to really get our moneys worth and we will even be paying extra to get a drink from Rob the Robot Bartender!

 

Stay tuned for updates throughout the trip 🙂

[HipHipOnAShip]

How Fun!  Let us know how your are liking it!

 

[bigblue1952]

Have a great cruise.  Looking forward to your trip report.

[ScratchTheRat]

COVID tests in an hour! The nerves are real 😄

[adam7392]

Are you doing a self test - if so you might not be allowed to board.  I think you need to have someone either doing the test for you (antigen or PCR) or have the test where you logon to a website and someone watches you do the test (i.e proctored).  If you are just self testing then uploading a photo of the test then I fear you will be turned away (I've done similar Randox tests before like this).  Taken directly from MSC website (https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Travel-Requirements-Northern-Europe.aspx) is following quote:

'To note: Antigen self-test is not accepted for embarkation.'

[defbref]

10 minutes ago, adam7392 said:

Are you doing a self test - if so you might not be allowed to board.  I think you need to have someone either doing the test for you (antigen or PCR) or have the test where you logon to a website and someone watches you do the test (i.e proctored).  If you are just self testing then uploading a photo of the test then I fear you will be turned away (I've done similar Randox tests before like this).  Taken directly from MSC website (https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Travel-Requirements-Northern-Europe.aspx) is following quote:

'To note: Antigen self-test is not accepted for embarkation.'

Nope Randox and others are fine :

 

Antigen self-tests are accepted as long as they’re accompanied by an official certificate/email (some of the suppliers that are accepted: Randox, Expresstest, Collinsons, ect.). NHS certificates not accepted.

 

From the uk website: Travel Requirements Northern Europe & cruises from UK | MSC Cruises

 

Plus can personally testify as used a self test with certificate for Boarding both the Virtuosa and the Grandiosa recently.

[annarack]

Thanks, really looking forward to your review, especially any info regarding the cabin as we also have deck 8 obstructed balcony booked for August.  If you find out where the quarantine cabins currently are on Virtuosa please could you include this in your review.  Happy travels and many thanks.

[ScratchTheRat]

30 minutes ago, adam7392 said:

Are you doing a self test - if so you might not be allowed to board.  I think you need to have someone either doing the test for you (antigen or PCR) or have the test where you logon to a website and someone watches you do the test (i.e proctored).  If you are just self testing then uploading a photo of the test then I fear you will be turned away (I've done similar Randox tests before like this).  Taken directly from MSC website (https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Travel-Requirements-Northern-Europe.aspx) is following quote:

'To note: Antigen self-test is not accepted for embarkation.'

Not for MSC. A home test with fit to fly is fine 🙂

[ScratchTheRat]

9 minutes ago, annarack said:

Thanks, really looking forward to your review, especially any info regarding the cabin as we also have deck 8 obstructed balcony booked for August.  If you find out where the quarantine cabins currently are on Virtuosa please could you include this in your review.  Happy travels and many thanks.

Will do and I'll be posting a full 4K cabin tour of the cabin on my Youtube channel

[ScratchTheRat]

COVID tests negative, bags are packed and documents all printed and in a lovely pink binder 😄

 

I already have a matching binder with all the documents for the other cruise a week after (Carnival Pride!) so stay tuned for that one too!

 

First thing in the morning (5am) I will be logging on to Carnival's website to check in for the Pride cruise, then coffee time before the short trip to the train station.

 

There, we get a train to Southampton to join the ship!

[johnnylincoln]

14 hours ago, ScratchTheRat said:

COVID tests negative, bags are packed and documents all printed and in a lovely pink binder 😄

 

I already have a matching binder with all the documents for the other cruise a week after (Carnival Pride!) so stay tuned for that one too!

 

First thing in the morning (5am) I will be logging on to Carnival's website to check in for the Pride cruise, then coffee time before the short trip to the train station.

 

There, we get a train to Southampton to join the ship!

 

Have a wonderful time. We are on her in June after two cruises on her last year from Southampton. 

 

Looking forward to following along with your cruise! 

[ScratchTheRat]

On the train now from Cardiff Central to Southampton where the beautiful Virtuosa is waiting for us.

 

last minute craziness last night as it seems that almost everyone on the cruise randomly had their cabin assignment changed! Luckily we were moved just a few doors away so nothing too drastic.

 

The train journey is 2.5 hours and then it’s a short 15 minute walk to the terminal but we will likely go for a coffee first!

[ziggyuk]

Is everything OK, did you get onboard OK?

I think you leave the ship in the morning.

[ScratchTheRat]

21 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

Is everything OK, did you get onboard OK?

I think you leave the ship in the morning.

All good yeah, just had poor tech issues so will start writing things up tonight 😄

[ScratchTheRat]

EMBARKATION DAY:

 

We arrived into Southampton Central train bang on time (a rarity for British trains) and thought it was cute to see the station decorated with flags to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee this week. 

 

 

The weather was incredible which is unexpected for the UK, so with some time to kill, we crossed the road to sit at Costa Coffee for an iced drink before we set off for the terminal.

 

 

 

Once we walked to the terminal, we saw the lovely MSC Virtuosa waiting for us beyond Dock Gate 10 of the Cruise Port at MSC's Horizon Terminal.

 

 

Once we got to the terminal, we dropped off our bags outside with the luggage people and headed inside where we joined the line to go through port security. We took off hats, bags, watches and glasses etc and proceeded through, much like an airport before grabbing our belongings and heading into the main departure area. Here, we were given a boarding number and asked to sit down and wait to be called to join the line for check in.

 

 

This took around 25-30 minutes and as you can see behind me, there was a very long snaking line to check in which was very cramped and once we were in the line it did take quite a long time.

 

So, a bit of info here, the night before, MSC had some kind of IT meltdown that reassigned everyones cabins (whether you paid for a specific room or not) and there was a bit of chaos as nobody had the right luggage tags or knew what room they would end up in, thus some cruise cards were having to be reprinted on the fly and such.

 

Soon enough though, we'd got our cards and got onto the ship. Our first stop was the Blue Danube Restaurant (for Bella guests) on Deck 5, where the Maitre'D helped us change our dining to be earlier and a private table of 2 (we were assigned 9:30pm dining originally!) and we now had a table at Opera dining room on Deck 6 and a lovely 2-top! Thanks Maitre'D!

 

 

With that done, we used one of the handy cruise card terminals to register a credit card to our account and then headed to the cabin to do the e-muster!

 

 

After this, we headed to the buffet to get some well deserved lunch!

 

 

I had a Cobb Salad, some fish, ham and cheese and a slice of veggie omelette, whereas Hue had some BBQ beef and some stuffed Ravioli.

 

 

We spent the rest of the Afternoon walking around the ship and getting acquainted with where things were (making our ship tour vlog filming easier in the coming days) and also checking out the bars and offerings aboard this huge ship.

 

Our first stop after lunch was the pool bar to grab our first drink. A frozen Daiquiri, and then to jump into our first hot tub of the cruise, enjoying the sun and our first booze, though sadly we found the frozen drinks to be very weak and watery so we didn't order these again!

 

Soon enough it was time for dinner so we got changed into dinner clothes (shirt and trousers, rather than casual wear, though there was no dress code!)

 

 

Tonight's dinner menu was nice and varied and I felt it had a very good selection. As we're European, the Mediterranean and European style of food on board was very familiar and to our tastes more so than some of the US lines and so we were happy to see the offerings. 

 

 

To start, I opted for the White Fish Ceviche, whereas Hue had the Matured Cheese Fritters. We also shared a Nordic side salad.

 

 

Presentation was nice and we both tend to try each others food so I can say I feel I won starters with my Ceviche (I am aware in the US "starters" are appetisers and "Main Courses" are Entrees!)

 

Speaking of Mains/Entrees, I selected the Breaded Chicken Kiev whereas Hue opted for the fish again, (a recurring and somehow accidental theme this cruise!) with the Pasta.

 

 

 

For Dessert, we had the cheese plate, some fruit and the Coconut Pistachio Dacquoise.

 

 

 

One amazing thing we enjoyed at dinner was that because we had the drinks package, the waiters kept filling our glasses with wine and we never had to look for service or ask, they were incredibly attentive at every opportunity which was great.

Sadly, the same could not be said about the bar staff around the ship. Often, we would stand at a bar for 20-30 minutes without anyone even looking up to acknowledge us, as they were busy preparing drinks for the bar waiters to take to tables. We could have been served quicker if we'd been sat in a bar, but often we just wanted to grab a drink to take back and enjoy on our balcony.

 

Tune in for next update for our first full day and visit to Rotterdam.

 

 

[P&O SUE]

Thanks for this review, I’ve just seen the same cruise for next year so I’m interested to read the rest of your blog.

[ziggyuk]

Thanks for sharing, it looks great.

Edited June 2, 2022 by ziggyuk

[Raj.K]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:00 PM, ScratchTheRat said:

Not for MSC. A home test with fit to fly is fine 🙂

Is the Fit to Fly Lateral Flow Test at Home from Lloyds Pharmacy (£12.99) acceptable please? I have not had a holiday requiring any Covid testing so not sure how this works. Any insights please?

[defbref]

1 hour ago, Raj.K said:

Is the Fit to Fly Lateral Flow Test at Home from Lloyds Pharmacy (£12.99) acceptable please? I have not had a holiday requiring any Covid testing so not sure how this works. Any insights please?

Yes it will be fine as long as they give you a certificate (email is fine). You will do the test at home then upload the result and they will confirm the result and give you a certificate.

 

EDIT: Just to make it clear for others who read this, this test is ok for Sailing on MSC from the UK or Europe, I don't know the requirements for USA.

Edited June 7, 2022 by defbref

[ScratchTheRat]

8 hours ago, Raj.K said:

Is the Fit to Fly Lateral Flow Test at Home from Lloyds Pharmacy (£12.99) acceptable please? I have not had a holiday requiring any Covid testing so not sure how this works. Any insights please?

For MSC, yes, for other lines, please check! I am sailing Carnival on Friday and they require a monitored/proctored test.

[ScratchTheRat]

DAY TWO: ROTTERDAM

 

This morning we woke up bright and early (albeit a little hungover) and headed to the Main Dining Room for breakfast as didn't fancy the buffet rush. We were too tired to get pictures of breakfast but we had a Create Your Own Omelette, some muesli, pastries and coffee of course!

 

Once we were done with breakfast we headed back to the cabin to grab our port day backpack and headed to deck 6 where the gangway allowed us off into the Rotterdam cruise terminal.

 

We had been to Rotterdam for an overnight port visit in December on P&O Iona so took the chance today to do a leisurely walk and explore rather than an excursion or specific goal in mind. So we set off in the direction of the Erasmus bridge and the City Centre, with one goal on my mind...the MARKTHALL!

 

For those who have not visited Rotterdam before, the whole city is incredibly walkable and for things further afield (such as the Zoo, or even other cities such as Amsterdam) there is a metro system that is easy to navigate and low cost. You can use this to get from the cruise terminal to Rotterdam Centraal station for onward trains to Amsterdam Centraal.

 

 

 

I've always loved how Rotterdam has this kind of Industrial Chic feel to it, the city feels alive with art and nature and I just love walking it.

 

 

We headed into the City Centre and walked around the shops before heading to the famous Markthall which is my favourite place in Rotterdam!

 

Our first stop was a cute chocolate shop and cafe called CHCO where we indulged in a Hot Chocolate and a Cannoli!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Markthall, we stopped for some snacks, such as a Stroopwaffle and a Corn dog made with squid ink! Then after we were done, we decided to head back to the ship early to make use of the empty ship while others would be out and about.

 

We headed to the Masters of the Sea British Pub onboard to try one of their "Beertails" but we found that they weren't to our taste, still, we ticked it off our to-do list!

 

 

We then went to one of our two favourite bars onboard. L'Atelier d'arts. I had a glass of Red Wine and Hue had a latte as he was feeling a bit sleepy!

 

 

 

Soon enough it was time for dinner in the Main Dining Room and tonights Menu was specifically a Mediterranean Theme.

 

 

We ordered the TAPAS to share for a starter, followed by the Seafood Mixed Grill for Hue and the Hunter's Chicken for me. Dessert we shared the Tiramisu, the Baklava and the Pineapple and Coconut.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, a very tasty dinner! 

 

After food, we headed to the Sky Lounge and had more drinks looking out at the main pool deck, watching the sun fade and the stars appear as we tried some of the tapas style snacks/canapes.

 

 

Bed awaited us! Tomorrow we would be arriving into Cherbourg in Normandy France, a port neither of us had been to before so we were looking forward to this.

[SeaSwirl66]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:52 AM, ScratchTheRat said:

DAY TWO: ROTTERDAM

 

This morning we woke up bright and early (albeit a little hungover) and headed to the Main Dining Room for breakfast as didn't fancy the buffet rush. We were too tired to get pictures of breakfast but we had a Create Your Own Omelette, some muesli, pastries and coffee of course!

 

Once we were done with breakfast we headed back to the cabin to grab our port day backpack and headed to deck 6 where the gangway allowed us off into the Rotterdam cruise terminal.

 

We had been to Rotterdam for an overnight port visit in December on P&O Iona so took the chance today to do a leisurely walk and explore rather than an excursion or specific goal in mind. So we set off in the direction of the Erasmus bridge and the City Centre, with one goal on my mind...the MARKTHALL!

 

For those who have not visited Rotterdam before, the whole city is incredibly walkable and for things further afield (such as the Zoo, or even other cities such as Amsterdam) there is a metro system that is easy to navigate and low cost. You can use this to get from the cruise terminal to Rotterdam Centraal station for onward trains to Amsterdam Centraal.

 

 

 

I've always loved how Rotterdam has this kind of Industrial Chic feel to it, the city feels alive with art and nature and I just love walking it.

 

 

We headed into the City Centre and walked around the shops before heading to the famous Markthall which is my favourite place in Rotterdam!

 

Our first stop was a cute chocolate shop and cafe called CHCO where we indulged in a Hot Chocolate and a Cannoli!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Markthall, we stopped for some snacks, such as a Stroopwaffle and a Corn dog made with squid ink! Then after we were done, we decided to head back to the ship early to make use of the empty ship while others would be out and about.

 

We headed to the Masters of the Sea British Pub onboard to try one of their "Beertails" but we found that they weren't to our taste, still, we ticked it off our to-do list!

 

 

We then went to one of our two favourite bars onboard. L'Atelier d'arts. I had a glass of Red Wine and Hue had a latte as he was feeling a bit sleepy!

 

 

 

Soon enough it was time for dinner in the Main Dining Room and tonights Menu was specifically a Mediterranean Theme.

 

 

We ordered the TAPAS to share for a starter, followed by the Seafood Mixed Grill for Hue and the Hunter's Chicken for me. Dessert we shared the Tiramisu, the Baklava and the Pineapple and Coconut.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, a very tasty dinner! 

 

After food, we headed to the Sky Lounge and had more drinks looking out at the main pool deck, watching the sun fade and the stars appear as we tried some of the tapas style snacks/canapes.

 

 

Bed awaited us! Tomorrow we would be arriving into Cherbourg in Normandy France, a port neither of us had been to before so we were looking forward to this.

 

Great write up! Will you be posting a video on your YouTube of this trip?

 

Were the tapas in the sky lounge included/free?

[GonzoWCS]

Great review thanks!

 

Cheers

[ScratchTheRat]

On 6/11/2022 at 8:10 AM, SeaSwirl66 said:

 

Great write up! Will you be posting a video on your YouTube of this trip?

 

Were the tapas in the sky lounge included/free?

Yes full video tours, daily vlogs and such are in editing and will be online in the coming weeks 🙂

 

Tapas stuff was indeed free and delicious.

[ScratchTheRat]

DAY THREE: CHERBOURG, FRANCE

 

We arrived into Cherbourg at 12pm, a much later arrival than we were used to for a port and we knew sadly that no shops in Cherbourg opened on a Sunday, so with no excursions planned or any real desire to venture out, we chose to just have a casual explore of the town and see what it had to offer.

 

As we arrived in the afternoon, we took the opportunity to enjoy a lovely Main Dining Room Lunch while we waited for the lines for disembarkation to slow. The menu was rather good!

 

 

 

 

For starters, we ordered the Marinated Braesaola and the Country Salad.

 

 

 

For Main Course (Entree) we ordered the Hunter's Chicken (with no rice!) and the Seafood option. Both arrived at the right temperature and packed with flavour! Anyone who says MSC does bad food is clearly just not used to Mediterranean food as we had some amazing food this cruise.

 

 

 

We also had the Apple Crumble Pie and a Sundae for dessert. Why not? 😄

 

 

After lunch, we headed to the Promenade to disembark the ship with just a backpack with our camera equipment and a goal to find an open french bakery!

 

 

The port of Cherbourg was absolutely beautiful and we loved just seeing the sights and enjoying the beauty of the town.

 

 

On our walks beyond the port, we found a lovely public garden with a public greenhouse to visit and see some of the lovely plants nearby, the weather was beautiful and really made us feel welcome and excited to be in such a magnificent location.

 

 

 

 

 

We FINALLY found the local bakery and WOW what a selection! I was very proud of myself for ordering our cakes and drinks in fluent French (which was a bit rusty from my school days) but went super well and god the cake was delightful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon enough, it was time to head back to the ship for a final dinner before we headed full steam ahead back to Southampton. This was the first ever cruise we'd been on with ZERO sea days and though it felt busy, we loved every second.

 

When back onboard the buffet was offering Afternoon Tea! Don't mind if we do!

 

 

We had a lovely meal in the MDR for dinner but I forgot to take pictures as we were SO tired!

 

Before we knew it was time for bed and back to Southampton. 

 

Tune in for the final post on my final thoughts and review!