NEW TO MSC, QUESTIONS

[victory2020]

Hello, am looking at booking Virtuosa out of Southampton as a solo. What can anyone tell me about ship & port. Does MCS offer transfers to LHR? Can you bring a bottle of wine onboard? Do they have solo get togethers? What is the price range of excursions?  Are onboard purchases (& tips) in EU or Pounds or dollars? I have done status match so I am Diamond. I would appreciate tips, thanks

[Stockjock]

5 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Hello, am looking at booking Virtuosa out of Southampton as a solo. What can anyone tell me about ship & port. Does MCS offer transfers to LHR? Can you bring a bottle of wine onboard? Do they have solo get togethers? What is the price range of excursions?  Are onboard purchases (& tips) in EU or Pounds or dollars? I have done status match so I am Diamond. I would appreciate tips, thanks

1. I am not sure, but to my knowledge they don't offer transfers from LRT to Southampton.

2. No, you cannot bring alcohol onboard.  If you try to board with alcohol, they will confiscate it.  That said, once you have returned from your first port stop (after embarkation), MSC seems more forgiving than most in terms of not making a fuss if you bring something back with you.  No promises though, as the official policy is that you cannot bring booze aboard.

3. I just did 2 cruises that stopped at Southampton and we were billed in Euro.  I presume that it's the same situation for those embarking at Southampton.

4. Not sure about solo get-togethers, as I've not sailed solo.

5. Price ranges usually run around 100 to 150 Euro.  But I've seen excursions around 50 Euro or below and other excursions above 150 Euro.  But 100-150 Euro is a reasonable general range.

6. All onboard purchases should be in Euro.

7. Be sure to take advantage of the Diamond perks and especially the free Diamond specialty dinner.  Refer to the MSC benefit chart for more details.  In terms of the dinner, you call to book once onboard and tell them it is your complementary Diamond member dinner.  If you like beef, I recommend Butcher's Cut.  We also enjoyed Indochine.

Have fun!

The chart below is slightly dated, as they no longer offer the 5%+ up to 15% discount.

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/smart-ship-app/MSC-Voyagers-Club-Benefits.html

Edited April 2, 2023 by Stockjock

[victory2020]

39 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

1. I am not sure, but to my knowledge they don't offer transfers from LRT to Southampton.

2. No, you cannot bring alcohol onboard.  If you try to board with alcohol, they will confiscate it.  That said, once you have returned from your first port stop (after embarkation), MSC seems more forgiving than most in terms of not making a fuss if you bring something back with you.  No promises though, as the official policy is that you cannot bring booze aboard.

3. I just did 2 cruises that stopped at Southampton and we were billed in Euro.  I presume that it's the same situation for those embarking at Southampton.

4. Not sure about solo get-togethers, as I've not sailed solo.

5. Price ranges usually run around 100 to 150 Euro.  But I've seen excursions around 50 Euro or below and other excursions above 150 Euro.  But 100-150 Euro is a reasonable general range.

6. All onboard purchases should be in Euro.

7. Be sure to take advantage of the Diamond perks and especially the free Diamond specialty dinner.  Refer to the MSC benefit chart for more details.  In terms of the dinner, you call to book once onboard and tell them it is your complementary Diamond member dinner.  If you like beef, I recommend Butcher's Cut.  We also enjoyed Indochine.

Have fun!

The chart below is slightly dated, as they no longer offer the 5%+ up to 15% discount.

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/smart-ship-app/MSC-Voyagers-Club-Benefits.html

Thank you, this helps! Wondering about the 1 hour thermal session..........

[Stockjock]

2 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Thank you, this helps! Wondering about the 1 hour thermal session..........

My GF did it.  Wasn't thrilled, but I don't think thermal sessions were really her thing.  She said, "Basically, you just sit there and sweat".

[Cruiseforever11]

Any cruises leaving from Southampton on the Virtuosa April till beginning of Nov will be GBP on board. As now the summer season the official starting point is Southampton.

 

To confirm no transfers to LHR but there are trains from Southampton to London and then you will need to hop on to the underground to LHR and the tube line you need would be the Piccadilly line which takes you to all terminals at LHR. 

 

They did do some sort of solo get togethers when I was onboard in December.

 

The Ship docks at the Horizon Terminal dock gate 10 in Southampton. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Cruiseforever11

[Stockjock]

10 hours ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

Any cruises leaving from Southampton on the Virtuosa April till beginning of Nov will be GBP on board. As now the summer season the official starting point is Southampton.

 

To confirm no transfers to LHR but there are trains from Southampton to London and then you will need to hop on to the underground to LHR and the tube line you need would be the Piccadilly line which takes you to all terminals at LHR. 

 

They did do some sort of solo get togethers when I was onboard in December.

 

The Ship docks at the Horizon Terminal dock gate 10 in Southampton. 

Thanks for the clarification.  As mentioned, we did 2 recent cruises in the span of 6 months that stopped at Southampton (one out of Le Havre and another out of Copenhagen) and we were billed in Euro.  But it sounds as if they bill differently if the embarkation point is Southampton.

[defbref]

12 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Thanks for the clarification.  As mentioned, we did 2 recent cruises in the span of 6 months that stopped at Southampton (one out of Le Havre and another out of Copenhagen) and we were billed in Euro.  But it sounds as if they bill differently if the embarkation point is Southampton.

Just to be clear its not necessarily because of embarkation in Southampton, it has to be the ship is homeported in Southampton for that season. Its a subtle difference. Usually when the Virtuosa is homeported in Southampton then the itineraries are usually with the only embarkation point as Southampton and the ship switches to servicing more British clientele (kettles in room, Sunday roast, entertainment etc).

 

So in your example it sounds like the ship wasn't homeported at Southampton, but it was  just another embarking port so even embarking at Southampton would result in Euro billing.

[Stockjock]

24 minutes ago, defbref said:

Just to be clear its not necessarily because of embarkation in Southampton, it has to be the ship is homeported in Southampton for that season. Its a subtle difference. Usually when the Virtuosa is homeported in Southampton then the itineraries are usually with the only embarkation point as Southampton and the ship switches to servicing more British clientele (kettles in room, Sunday roast, entertainment etc).

 

So in your example it sounds like the ship wasn't homeported at Southampton, but it was  just another embarking port so even embarking at Southampton would result in Euro billing.

I could be wrong, but I think the ship was home-ported in Southampton.

Our sailing was MSC Virtuosa sailing (for us) out of Le Havre (first stop for us Southampton), December 29, 2022.  All billing in Euro.

[defbref]

Virtuosa I think only homeports in Southampton during the summer (April to September).

 

As I said it basically switches to GBP when the only embarkation point during the cruise is Southampton and so they expect the majority of guests to be British.

[Cruiseforever11]

The Virtuosa homeport will be Southampton from April till the end of October/November where it will be GBP.  Then the Euribia takes over where the homeport will be Hamburg and will be Euros till April 2024 and then the Virtuosa takes over and so on. I've been on the Virtuosa 6 times now all from Southampton and going again in 3weeks, i've been at different times of the year when it's been Euros and GBP. Hope that helps.

 

[victory2020]

On 4/3/2023 at 11:23 AM, Cruiseforever11 said:

The Virtuosa homeport will be Southampton from April till the end of October/November where it will be GBP.  Then the Euribia takes over where the homeport will be Hamburg and will be Euros till April 2024 and then the Virtuosa takes over and so on. I've been on the Virtuosa 6 times now all from Southampton and going again in 3weeks, i've been at different times of the year when it's been Euros and GBP. Hope that helps.

 

What basic hotel would you recommend in Southampton for the night before the cruise? I'm not picky, just a bed within (hopefully walking distance. Had my eye on the Star - it looked interesting but don't know about location

[Cruiseforever11]

4 hours ago, victory2020 said:

What basic hotel would you recommend in Southampton for the night before the cruise? I'm not picky, just a bed within (hopefully walking distance. Had my eye on the Star - it looked interesting but don't know about location

Hi we stay in a Premier Inn when cruising from Southampton but we have the car and stay slightly out of Southampton but there are premier inns in Central Southampton too. There is ibis budget hotel between the cruise terminal and railway station which is approximately 8 - 10 mins walk to the cruise terminal and 5 mins to the Railway station. There is also the Novotel which is in the same area near enough next to each other. Hope that helps.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn,  a few hundred yards from the Horizon  terminal.