Hamburg to SouthHampton in Nov? worth it?

[mousefan73]

Hello, 

I have an opportunity to do a 6 night round trip from Hamburg to Southhamptonon on the MSC Virtuosa. We have never sailed MSC. Itinerary is Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Le Havre Southampton and back. 2 sea days. 

 

Sailing is Nov 8th... 

 

Ok I am not a fan of the itinerary except Southampton, maybe Zeebrugge and the experience of sailing from Hamburg ( a short 3 hr train ride from our house). The timing is also, eh a bit crapper as November in Northern  EU sucks. 

 

The reason is I have to take vacation this week, it's easy to get to, We can try another cruiseline, and it's soooooo cheap.... 

I am just wondering what sailing in November is gonna be like? 

It's my mom and I. It's really just get away easy and cheap...

 

Any tips on what to do in ports for EU folks, where these destinations honestly as a european are very non-exciting.  Le Havre ( no we will NOT go to Paris) I hear, Brugge is nice. We are not active, mom has mobility issues, so we just walk it slow and take park bench rests, cafes and a bit of people watching, seeing etc.. 

Thanks!

[hallasm]

1 minute ago, mousefan73 said:

The reason is I have to take vacation this week, it's easy to get to, We can try another cruiseline, and it's soooooo cheap....

Might be a reason for the cruise being cheap. Neither the itinerary or the cruise line is appealing to me - I’ll suggest a Mediterranean cruise and probably a different cruise line.

[Maria63]

If the price is right I´d say why not go for it? Even though MSC gets mixed reviews at best, you can have a nice cruise if you have realistic expectations and avoid the peak school holidays - so Nov should be a good time for this company. We've done several cruises on MSC, both in the "exclusive" Yacht Club and in ordinary balcony and, even though it's far from our preferred cruise line, all our MSC-cruises have been quite enjoyable over all. Virtuosa is a brand new ship and the thermal spa seems very nice (there are videos on youtube), so esp. if your mum has mobility issues, you could for instance spend money on spa-access instead of pricey excursions, and generally enjoy the ship and its offerings on port days as well instead of going ashore if the port doesn't seem appealing.

[John Bull]

The cruise line is far better than its English-language reviews suggest - check out the reviews in Italian .

And it has the youngest, best-maintained and fashionable fleet in the business

 

Unsurprisingly it offers an Italian experience but that seems to dismay those Brits and particularly Americans who were expecting the same experience as their home-country cruise lines.

Don't go with American expectations, expect lots of pasta, lots of good-natured jostling (Italians don't do standing in line), lots of languages in tannoy announcements - go with the flow and you'll enjoy.

We'll be sailing with them again in November - but in much warmer climes.

 

Yes, Bruges is pleasant & historic, well worth visiting.

Le Havre - reasonably convenient for the D-Day beaches, though public transport wont do the job - it needs either

- a tour ( https://www.overlordtour.com/tours-from-cruise-ports-9/ gets rave reviews but there are others)

- or renting a car - mebbe finding others on your cruise to share costs - and plan your own tour. Navigation and driving are easy - no city driving, its mainly A29 & A13 dual carriageways with no tolls other than the "Pont de Normandie" bridge over the Seine estuary,  and rural & coastal lanes. At almost all of the sights the parking is free & easy, English-speaking staff, plenty of informative signage. Tell us your interests - American or Canadian or British or German, day-of-the-week and the hours in port (Le Havre is usually a mid-evening departure) and we can help with a route.

Or if D-Day doesn't appeal, the little fishing & tourist harbour of Honfleur is just half-an-hour from the port for an easy and lazy day.

Southampton. Well, I'm a local and can suggest what's to see in the city, or plenty of cities etc within an inexpensive and direct 30 minute to 90 minute train ride. 

 

But the big reservation, which hallasm's touched on and you're surely aware of, is the weather in November.

Usually not as cold as your base somewhere near Hamburg, but often wet and miserably grey altho you might be lucky and get clear skies at the expense of colder weather. 

Because November's a risky month for storms, we've never cruised out of Southampton in winter, and if we visit mainland Europe by road we use the Channel Tunnel rather than ferries except in summer.

When we take a 7-day break from Southampton in the winter we fly to Spain's Costa del Sol (best winter weather in mainland Europe) or fly to the Canaries (for land-based stay or cruise). Or the Red Sea is good in winter - Luxor or Cairo or a Nile cruise for history, or Sharm el Sheikh which is an unashamed modern vacation resort with desert buggies, excellent snorkelling, etc.

Many of those options need 7 or 8 days, eg out on saturday, back the next saturday. 

 

All just MHO as always

 

JB 🙂

[mousefan73]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

The cruise line is far better than its English-language reviews suggest - check out the reviews in Italian .

And it has the youngest, best-maintained and fashionable fleet in the business

 

Unsurprisingly it offers an Italian experience but that seems to dismay those Brits and particularly Americans who were expecting the same experience as their home-country cruise lines.

Don't go with American expectations, expect lots of pasta, lots of good-natured jostling (Italians don't do standing in line), lots of languages in tannoy announcements - go with the flow and you'll enjoy.

We'll be sailing with them again in November - but in much warmer climes.

 

Yes, Bruges is pleasant & historic, well worth visiting.

Le Havre - reasonably convenient for the D-Day beaches, though public transport wont do the job - it needs either

- a tour ( https://www.overlordtour.com/tours-from-cruise-ports-9/ gets rave reviews but there are others)

- or renting a car - mebbe finding others on your cruise to share costs - and plan your own tour. Navigation and driving are easy - no city driving, its mainly A29 & A13 dual carriageways with no tolls other than the "Pont de Normandie" bridge over the Seine estuary,  and rural & coastal lanes. At almost all of the sights the parking is free & easy, English-speaking staff, plenty of informative signage. Tell us your interests - American or Canadian or British or German, day-of-the-week and the hours in port (Le Havre is usually a mid-evening departure) and we can help with a route.

Or if D-Day doesn't appeal, the little fishing & tourist harbour of Honfleur is just half-an-hour from the port for an easy and lazy day.

Southampton. Well, I'm a local and can suggest what's to see in the city, or plenty of cities etc within an inexpensive and direct 30 minute to 90 minute train ride. 

 

But the big reservation, which hallasm's touched on and you're surely aware of, is the weather in November.

Usually not as cold as your base somewhere near Hamburg, but often wet and miserably grey altho you might be lucky and get clear skies at the expense of colder weather. 

Because November's a risky month for storms, we've never cruised out of Southampton in winter, and if we visit mainland Europe by road we use the Channel Tunnel rather than ferries except in summer.

When we take a 7-day break from Southampton in the winter we fly to Spain's Costa del Sol (best winter weather in mainland Europe) or fly to the Canaries (for land-based stay or cruise). Or the Red Sea is good in winter - Luxor or Cairo or a Nile cruise for history, or Sharm el Sheikh which is an unashamed modern vacation resort with desert buggies, excellent snorkelling, etc.

Many of those options need 7 or 8 days, eg out on saturday, back the next saturday. 

 

All just MHO as always

 

JB 🙂

Thanks for the great insight.. Yes weather is meh.. Which we are aware of.  We are a German-American family and as long as we dont have a german culture feeling we are good. So bring dolce Vita on. that is why we dont do Aida/Meinschiff. We are regular disne customers so we definately need to manage our expectations on what to expect.. Will definatley be a different vibe without all that "Magic" lol..

We are making a decision this weekend, but if we do I will get back on some tips on Southampton. I need to check that spa area out. 

thanks

 

Last year we did a last minute Dec. cruse from Miami on Disne weather was perfect. But one of the main drives is simply getting in an ICE train day of to port and we both really want the sail out experience from Hamburg.. We had looked at the Queen Mary oneway from there to Southampton, but the timing was never right. this cruise is RT so even better. 

Edited September 30, 2022 by mousefan73
more infos

[John Bull]

46 minutes ago, mousefan73 said:

Thanks for the great insight.. Yes weather is meh.. Which we are aware of.  We are a German-American family and as long as we dont have a german culture feeling we are good. So bring dolce Vita on. that is why we dont do Aida/Meinschiff. We are regular disne customers so we definately need to manage our expectations on what to expect.. Will definatley be a different vibe without all that "Magic" lol..

We are making a decision this weekend, but if we do I will get back on some tips on Southampton. I need to check that spa area out. 

thanks

 

Last year we did a last minute Dec. cruse from Miami on Disne weather was perfect. But one of the main drives is simply getting in an ICE train day of to port and we both really want the sail out experience from Hamburg.. We had looked at the Queen Mary oneway from there to Southampton, but the timing was never right. this cruise is RT so even better. 

 

 

I guess your screen name should have told me of your cruise line preference 🙄

But to carry on the theme, MSC is no Mickey-Mouse cruise line. 😉

 

Not too sure how D-Day sights will go down with an American/German family.

The American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, about 90 miles / 1 hr 40 mins from Le Havre contrasts starkly with the sombre German cemetery at La Cambe, about 10 miles / 20 minutes further on. 

 

November & early December is generally the cheapest time of year to cruise - folk saving or planning / preparing for Christmas - which is why we often cruise then.

But that time of year we cruise the Caribbean or explore the southern hemisphere.

 

A good cruise in most respects, and I wish you good luck with the weather.

 

JB 🙂

[kaisatsu]

If it was cheap and convenient I would definitely consider it. We did a three-day twirl between Oslo and Hamburg once just to get away (cheaper than booking a hotel in town and dining out).

 

I would take a careful look at the deck plans to see how the ship will fare in colder weather. i.e. Are there sufficient indoor lounge spaces to accommodate everyone comfortably? I’ve done a lot of cool weather cruising, and I’ve found that some ships are simply not designed for it.

[edinburgher]

And you will be aware that daylight will be much shorter at that time, darkness setting in late afternoon, That might suit your mother better as you would be more likely to be back on board earlier.

 

Honfleur from le Havre would be easy by taxi (rather than public bus) and such a pretty little town to walk slowly around that you would both most likely find it charming. Join a Roll Call if there is one and perhaps others might want to share a taxi as Honfleur is such a popular destination.

 

We have sailed into and out of Hamburg (although your sail out time might be in darkness depending on the time) and it was actually much more interesting than we had expected it to be.

 

Sailing IN there were many homes, tiny beaches and wooded areas.  These neighbourhoods looked quite upmarket.Then came the dock area  which was enormous,( probably one of the biggest we ever saw, certainly in Europe).   When we visited, there were even ferry/boat tours of the docks/harbour  available as they are a bit of a tourist attraction in their own right.  There is more than one docking location. We were docked at the Altona facility. There is a ferry stop right next to that facility, literally a few steps away and we used it to get to and from the busy ferry terminal Landundbrucken (SP!?).Tthat would be super easy for your mother.After check-in, I would recommend you use this ferry route as it was a scenic ride along the waterfront and "Landunbrucken?!) is a busy transport hub and a good place to enjoy a coffee or beer and watch all the activity before taking the ferry back to the ship.

 

There should be reviews and photos online.

 

If cheap AND convenient, I would give it very serious consideration.

Edited October 2, 2022 by edinburgher

[mousefan73]

On 10/2/2022 at 11:35 AM, edinburgher said:

And you will be aware that daylight will be much shorter at that time, darkness setting in late afternoon, That might suit your mother better as you would be more likely to be back on board earlier.

 

Honfleur from le Havre would be easy by taxi (rather than public bus) and such a pretty little town to walk slowly around that you would both most likely find it charming. Join a Roll Call if there is one and perhaps others might want to share a taxi as Honfleur is such a popular destination.

 

We have sailed into and out of Hamburg (although your sail out time might be in darkness depending on the time) and it was actually much more interesting than we had expected it to be.

 

Sailing IN there were many homes, tiny beaches and wooded areas.  These neighbourhoods looked quite upmarket.Then came the dock area  which was enormous,( probably one of the biggest we ever saw, certainly in Europe).   When we visited, there were even ferry/boat tours of the docks/harbour  available as they are a bit of a tourist attraction in their own right.  There is more than one docking location. We were docked at the Altona facility. There is a ferry stop right next to that facility, literally a few steps away and we used it to get to and from the busy ferry terminal Landundbrucken (SP!?).Tthat would be super easy for your mother.After check-in, I would recommend you use this ferry route as it was a scenic ride along the waterfront and "Landunbrucken?!) is a busy transport hub and a good place to enjoy a coffee or beer and watch all the activity before taking the ferry back to the ship.

 

There should be reviews and photos online.

 

If cheap AND convenient, I would give it very serious consideration.

Unfortunately it will be dark. but we are familiar with Hamburg, there are some VERY expensive neighborhoods that line the way into port. We just booked this now about 2 hrs ago. so looking forward to just relaxing on a ship.. thx!