Just booked Virtuosa, new to MSC, couple of questions

[elmsliebev]

Hi

we've just booked Virtuosa for a week from Southampton in March 2023. We've sailed on several lines (Cunard, P&O, Costa, Marella, CMV) but this is our first MSC cruise, and the biggest ship so far. 

Are there any sample menus and drinks price list we could have a look at?

Does the ship serve lactose free milk? My husband is lactose-intolerant especially with milk so it would be useful if they cater for him. 

We've booked a guarentee balcony cabin, presumably it will be the lowest category - will it have a fridge in the cabin - if there's no lactofeee milk we could bring out own as it's a no-fly cruise! 

Anyone tried Indochine or the sushi/teppanyaki resaurants? 

I'm sure I'll have more questions as we get nearer to sailing date.

What's the currency on board? Euros?

many thanks

Edited November 24, 2022 by elmsliebev

[BertieRulesOK]

I can't answer the majority of your questions as they are very specific.  Btw, there are menus and drinks posted on this forum if you search for them.  Drinks ranged between around £6 for pint or house wine up to £8-£15 cocktails.  There were happy hours at certain of the bars with 241.

 

51 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

will it have a fridge in the cabin

 Yes.  But it is full of mini bar stuff.  I was able to fit in my medication, but there is not a lot of space as you are not supposed to bring on your own drinks and food = no need for fridge space.  No idea how this will work with non- milk milk, hopefully someone else can answer this or maybe have a good look at the website?

 

53 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

What's the currency on board? Euros?

Yes, Euros

 

[ferretktf]

Re. Fridge

 

you can empty the fridge …I leave the contents on the top shelf above the fridge ( will make sense when you are in the cabin) and put it back on the final day.

n.b. Put it back at lunchtime on the final day as the fridge is checked and locked late afternoon (so that final bills can be generated)

 

Currency for Southampton itineraries this year was GBP, but it’s pretty much a cashless boat, everything gets booked to your cabin card and you settle up on the card you registered when you came on board..

 

can’t answer re lactose free milk or speciality restaurants, but I have spent 5 weeks onboard Virtuosa this summer. (May, July, September) so can help with other questions as they arise .

[showingdiva]

You won't be able to carry on lactose free milk on board, as even on a no-fly from Southampton, MSC do not allow you to carry on any liquid (although intermittently some people have been successful).  I'm sure your cabin steward will be able to supply some soya milk for the fridge.

 

The Hola! Mexican restaurant is great.  There's a supplement of £17pp (last time I was on board) for all you can eat is well worth the money.

 

As said above, the ship is cashless.   

 

 

[elmsliebev]

thanks all

yes, I know the ship is cashless, just wondered which currency is used for settling our bill eg Cunard is US $, P&O is £. 

 

I'll contact them about lactofree milk, he's not a fan of soya milk, Cunard has all sorts of other milks (lactose-free, soya, almond, oat) so maybe we were spoiled earlier this year!

 

Will have a look at the Mexican, thanks.

  

 

[Saab4444]

14 hours ago, ferretktf said:

Re. Fridge

 

you can empty the fridge …I leave the contents on the top shelf above the fridge ( will make sense when you are in the cabin) and put it back on the final day.

n.b. Put it back at lunchtime on the final day as the fridge is checked and locked late afternoon (so that final bills can be generated)

 

Currency for Southampton itineraries this year was GBP, but it’s pretty much a cashless boat, everything gets booked to your cabin card and you settle up on the card you registered when you came on board..

 

can’t answer re lactose free milk or speciality restaurants, but I have spent 5 weeks onboard Virtuosa this summer. (May, July, September) so can help with other questions as they arise .

The winter cruises on Virtuosa are not just Southampton based, they embark and disembark guests in all ports (Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre as well).  

[BertieRulesOK]

16 hours ago, ferretktf said:

Currency for Southampton itineraries this year was GBP,

The prices on board were still set out in £ as of 12 Nov, however we received communications before boarding that final bill payment was being changed to €.  So it's a mix, but ultimately you pay in Euro so a good idea to ensure your card does not charge additional fees.

Edited November 25, 2022 by BertieRulesOK

[Cruiseforever11]

Currency onboard between November 2022 & April 2023 will be Euros as the official starting point is Hamburg.

Between April 2023 and November 2023 it will be GBP as official starting point is Southampton.

[Eglesbrech]

10 hours ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

Currency onboard between November 2022 & April 2023 will be Euros as the official starting point is Hamburg.

Between April 2023 and November 2023 it will be GBP as official starting point is Southampton.

Could you report back about disembarkation please?  There have been reports of very long queues for passport checks at disembarkation but this may just have been teething issues for the first couple of cruises where Hamburg is the official embarkation. Thanks

[Eglesbrech]

We ate at Indochine on our last cruise in September and it was frankly dreadful. Four of us dined there and none of us would go back there again.
The service was slow, the food was bland and served cool and some of it was very fatty. The dessert was inedible imo and there is not much I can’t eat.

 

We have also tried the Butchers Cut and the steaks there were excellent with lovely sauces and nice pudding to follow. The Taco place is also very good.

 

I haven’t actually eaten at the Tepenyaki  but on passing the food looked fresh and well cooked, to order. You can see for your self when you board as the restaurant is visible from the walkway.

[Cruiseforever11]

38 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Could you report back about disembarkation please?  There have been reports of very long queues for passport checks at disembarkation but this may just have been teething issues for the first couple of cruises where Hamburg is the official embarkation. Thanks

I can do but not the ship till 16th Dec. 

[BertieRulesOK]

5 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Could you report back about disembarkation please?  There have been reports of very long queues for passport checks at disembarkation but this may just have been teething issues for the first couple of cruises where Hamburg is the official embarkation. Thanks

The queues were caused by (1) immigration checks at Southampton - isn't Brexit a wonder?! And (2) getting the doors open.  Nothing to do with Hamburg at all.

[Eglesbrech]

41 minutes ago, BertieRulesOK said:

The queues were caused by (1) immigration checks at Southampton - isn't Brexit a wonder?! And (2) getting the doors open.  Nothing to do with Hamburg at all.

Thanks but I was on Virtuosa in September and again in October this year when Southampton was the official and only embarkation and there were no immigration or passport checks at all. 
 

What I have read, which may be wrong, is that as the official embarkation port is now Hamburg obviously in the EU (and the currency onboard now euros rather then pounds as it was) they have implemented checks which are causing almighty queues. I don’t get it as the only people disembarking will be Brits so we are being inconvenienced by our own immigration which seems absolutely crazy. That’s why I was asking and why the change to Hamburg as the official embarkation seems to have changed things.

[RICHARD@SEA]

Just to throw in more info:

 

I booked the Virtuosa for 21 days RT Southampton. in January 2023.  I'm an American citizen travelling to London for 6 days & then down to Southampton to board Virtuosa.  

as I understand it MSC has several embark ports along the way, Hamburg being another embark port.  

I have sailed in MSC for several years - out of US ports so it should be interesting to see the difference in the Euro cruise.  I've sailed on cruises since the 1970's & find MSC a nice modern product that suits me.  I have a Fantastica Balcony cabin & usually eat late.

 

this is also my first post covid cruise(I booked QM2 back in July & cancelled the nite before due to covid onboard the ship - per a Cunard notice sent to myself & TA).

 

should be interesting.....so there will be at least one Amerocan onboard.

 

[elmsliebev]

thanks all. We have a credit card that we use specifically for holidays which doesn't charge a fee for using it abroad so that'll do us. 

We've also booked a coach connection (Eavesway) as it was cheaper and frankly easier than relying on trains or driving down in early March. So even though we are shown as a 11am embarkation it will be whenever the coach gets there! The holiday starts when my case gets put on the coach. 

Starting to think about things to do now at the ports of call. 

 

[dodger1964]

Just off virtuoso in Southampton. During a sea day all passengers that embarked in southampton had to go to the gym and show passports to immigration (line took long time. Maybe 30 minutes…interview took 10 seconds). At end of cruise, We walked off ship at 830am with “Self disembarkation“ and line was about 3 minutes!

[Cruiseforever11]

15 minutes ago, dodger1964 said:

Just off virtuoso in Southampton. During a sea day all passengers that embarked in southampton had to go to the gym and show passports to immigration (line took long time. Maybe 30 minutes…interview took 10 seconds). At end of cruise, We walked off ship at 830am with “Self disembarkation“ and line was about 3 minutes!

Thank you for this info. To be honest that sounds better doing that during a sea day rather than at the end of the cruise just when you want to get off as they did beginning of November. 

What time were you all called up to the gym? 

I'm going on the 16th Dec so not long now 😊 

[BertieRulesOK]

8 hours ago, dodger1964 said:

Just off virtuoso in Southampton. During a sea day all passengers that embarked in southampton had to go to the gym and show passports to immigration (line took long time. Maybe 30 minutes…interview took 10 seconds). At end of cruise, We walked off ship at 830am with “Self disembarkation“ and line was about 3 minutes!

Glad to hear they finally got their ducks in a row!

[emmas gran]

March 2023 I would travel down the day before --there can be snow in March especially in the North.

[elmsliebev]

12 hours ago, emmas gran said:

March 2023 I would travel down the day before --there can be snow in March especially in the North.

we're on a coach connection so it will be the same day. We've used them before and the ship has waited in the past if the coaches were delayed. Had we been travelling under our own steam we'd have come down the day before. 

[nikoo.s]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:11 AM, Eglesbrech said:

Could you report back about disembarkation please?  There have been reports of very long queues for passport checks at disembarkation but this may just have been teething issues for the first couple of cruises where Hamburg is the official embarkation. Thanks

From my recent experience on Virtuosa a couple of weeks ago, we had to queue for about 20 minutes a during the 2nd sea day for a face to face check. They called passengers to the sportsplex floor by floor to try and minimise queue time. When it came to disembarking in Southampton it was instant. We just had breakfast and then walked off the ship no issues at all. 

[elmsliebev]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:58 PM, nikoo.s said:

From my recent experience on Virtuosa a couple of weeks ago, we had to queue for about 20 minutes a during the 2nd sea day for a face to face check. They called passengers to the sportsplex floor by floor to try and minimise queue time. When it came to disembarking in Southampton it was instant. We just had breakfast and then walked off the ship no issues at all. 

we've had to do that with Cunard on a transatlantic. It all seemed to work fine, and as you say, straight off the ship at Southampton. 

[mlashae]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:43 AM, RICHARD@SEA said:

Just to throw in more info:

 

I booked the Virtuosa for 21 days RT Southampton. in January 2023.  I'm an American citizen travelling to London for 6 days & then down to Southampton to board Virtuosa.  

as I understand it MSC has several embark ports along the way, Hamburg being another embark port.  

I have sailed in MSC for several years - out of US ports so it should be interesting to see the difference in the Euro cruise.  I've sailed on cruises since the 1970's & find MSC a nice modern product that suits me.  I have a Fantastica Balcony cabin & usually eat late.

 

this is also my first post covid cruise(I booked QM2 back in July & cancelled the nite before due to covid onboard the ship - per a Cunard notice sent to myself & TA).

 

should be interesting.....so there will be at least one Amerocan onboard.

 

I’ll be joining this cruise out of Hamburg! There are several others from the US joining on your embarkation day out of Southampton. Guessing you have arrived in London now, have a great time, see you around the ship!