Live Virtuosa 12/5/23 7 night Fjord cruise

[kernow]

We board Virtuosa tomorrow in Southampton for a 7 night cruise to Norway with stops in Haugesund, Olden, Flaam and Kristiansand and one sea day at either end. Some of you may remember we did a very similar cruise last May (with a couple of different ports) and we loved the area so much we booked to go again. It will be our third trip on Virtuosa and we are staying in a YC balcony, loved this last year and excited to be going back.

 

The weather forecast for this trip looked terrible a week ago but has improved a bit now so have packed a real mix of clothes from hats and gloves to shorts and T shirts and everything in between, thank goodness we are driving to the port. 😄.

 

We live around three and a half hours away from Southampton and sometimes drive early in the morning on the day but there are train strikes tomorrow and apparently lots of ships boarding at the port so we are driving to Salisbury this afternoon (about a 30 minute drive from the port) and staying overnight at the Premier Inn. We plan to get to the port fairly early and avoid the worst of the traffic.

 

If anyone wants me to find out anything onboard let me know.

[showingdiva]

Just that you save me some panna cotta and those wonderful daiquiri zeros, as I get on for the same cruise as you get off   😊

 

Enjoy.

Edited May 11, 2023 by showingdiva

[SirJackDaniels]

Following as doing this cruise next week.

 

Hope you have a great holiday 😉

 

[clarky213]

I will be doing this cruise in September, so looking forward to picking up some advice & Tips.

[heatherb1958]

Have a wonderful time J and M.

We have friends joining you tomorrow,  not sure if you know them but Manxmiss on here . 

It is their first MSC cruise, they aren't with you in YC  😁 , I hope they enjoy it as much as we do but going to be strange as they have only ever sailed RCI and top tier with them 🍍. 

I love the Fjiords and for the first time in years we haven't got an itinerary booked to them this year 😪

Edited May 11, 2023 by heatherb1958

[kernow]

Arrived in Salisbury, let's get this holiday started.

[kernow]

3 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Have a wonderful time J and M.

We have friends joining you tomorrow,  not sure if you know them but Manxmiss on here . 

It is their first MSC cruise, they aren't with you in YC  😁 , I hope they enjoy it as much as we do but going to be strange as they have only ever sailed RCI and top tier with them 🍍. 

I love the Fjiords and for the first time in years we haven't got an itinerary booked to them this year 😪

Hi Heather, no don't think we know your friends, hope they enjoy MSC. I think they can give RCL a run for their money these days.

[kernow]

Absolute chaos at the port this morning. We are at the traffic lights waiting to  turn into dock gate 10 and haven't moved for an hour. Ship is late disembarking and AB parking are not letting anyone into the car park until it has cleared. Apparently Southampton is gridlocked.

[kernow]

Finally made it to the YC check in area, all is good.🙂

[heatherb1958]

I made a post on our May roll call about the traffic queue for Horizon terminal on 30th April when we were headed to Regal Princess , it was long queues then . This was at 10.25am ish . 

Thankfully there are 2 lanes as we got to the roundabout and our taxi could get past it . 

We will be arriving by taxi on 29th as the hotel is too far away to walk with the luggage ,  think we will arrive in the afternoon . This is where we love interporting as the whole ship is not trying to get off and on at the same time . I know M&L will be cursing in their car ... 😔.  

At least you are on now , can relax and enjoy YC. Xx

[EllieinNJ]

Looking forward to hearing about the ports.  We are going to Norway on another cruise line in June.

[kernow]

23 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

I made a post on our May roll call about the traffic queue for Horizon terminal on 30th April when we were headed to Regal Princess , it was long queues then . This was at 10.25am ish . 

Thankfully there are 2 lanes as we got to the roundabout and our taxi could get past it . 

We will be arriving by taxi on 29th as the hotel is too far away to walk with the luggage ,  think we will arrive in the afternoon . This is where we love interporting as the whole ship is not trying to get off and on at the same time . I know M&L will be cursing in their car ... 😔.  

At least you are on now , can relax and enjoy YC. Xx

We're onboard having lunch now but can see on the other group still lots still  stuck in traffic. People around us in the traffic jam were getting out of taxis and walking. Apparently customs came on the ship this morning and found lots of contraband which caused the delay.

[heatherb1958]

13 minutes ago, kernow said:

We're onboard having lunch now but can see on the other group still lots still  stuck in traffic. People around us in the traffic jam were getting out of taxis and walking. Apparently customs came on the ship this morning and found lots of contraband which caused the delay.

 

Damn those Duty free Canary Islands 😆.  Enjoy your lunch, hope your cruise is quieter than last week's,  apparently YC was full and busy. Friends got off this morning and messaged me . Xx

[heatherb1958]

40 minutes ago, kernow said:

We're onboard having lunch now but can see on the other group still lots still  stuck in traffic. People around us in the traffic jam were getting out of taxis and walking. Apparently customs came on the ship this morning and found lots of contraband which caused the delay.

 

Got another message, apparently Border Force stopped and started disembarking 3 times , full on checking for contraband with the sniffer dogs. 

[1trainer1]

We are going on this cruise Next week, cant wait

 

we might take some hot chocolate sachets with us as we like a hot chocolate before we go to sleep

[defbref]

Enjoy the cruise, hope you get the same weather as we did last year!

 

I spoke briefly to you in the YC pool deck last year in the burning sun, I was the solo.

 

[mackfam]

Looking forward to hearing about the ports. Thinking about  booking this cruise for September.

[kernow]

13 hours ago, defbref said:

Enjoy the cruise, hope you get the same weather as we did last year!

 

I spoke briefly to you in the YC pool deck last year in the burning sun, I was the solo.

 

Hi, we remember you😎. Unfortunately I don't think we'll get weather like that this year. It's foggy out at the moment, the fog horn has been going all morning.

[kernow]

Sorry I didn't post much yesterday, I've had problems with the Internet and app. After we boarded my phone connected to the Internet but no one could get my app to work onboard. After a couple of tries by the concierge she called the internet guy. He came up to YC and spent a while playing with my phone, then he tried my details on his phone but nothing would work. Eventually he said he would go back to his office and reset my Internet. Later on I went to use my phone and couldn't connect to anything. Internet is now working but still no app.😮. I'll try the concierge again later.

 

Anyway, everything yesterday was a bit hectic onboard. I think everyone had been delayed boarding, and all the staff onboard seemed behind. Not really MSCs fault but some people were blaming them. We sailed away only slightly late, weather was dull and I don't think they had a sailaway event, certainly nothing in YC.

 

Dinner was good and after we went to the 9.45 pm show, 'Wake Up' (or something like that). It was very good, theatre was full but no reservations needed for YC.

 

The ship seems busy, waiter has just told me 199 in YC.

 

Sorry I forgot pics yesterday but will do better today😂.

 

Clocks went forward an hour overnight.

 

[kernow]

A couple of food pics from breakfast (I know everyone one likes food pics).

Mark said Eggs Benedict were excellent, my salmon was not so good, they had no bagels or cream cheese so substituted with English muffin and goats cheese🤔.

[ExpatBride]

13 minutes ago, kernow said:

they had no bagels or cream cheese so substituted with English muffin and goats cheese🤔.

 

 That's an interesting approach 😳

[heatherb1958]

We only made it to YC breakfast once 😂.

Keep photos coming when you can 😎. 

[kernow]

42 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

We only made it to YC breakfast once 😂.

Keep photos coming when you can 😎. 

Only just made it this morning, with the clocks going forward we didn't wake until after 9 and YC restaurant closed at 9.30. Been for a walk around the ship this morning and outside of YC it's heaving, never seen it this busy before. I know what people mean now about no seating. We retreated back to Top Sail for a hot chocolate.

[kernow]

Unfortunately the weather has remained foggy, windy and cold all day. 

We had lunch in the YC restaurant  pics below, then went to watch 'Love Me' in the theatre.It's an adapted version of the opera La Traviata.  I'm certainly no opera buff, I even had to Google the story😄, but the singers and dancers were very talented and we enjoyed it.

 

We felt like we'd been couped up inside all day so we donned hats and coats( well I did, Mark is much hardier) and went out to walk a few laps of the track.

Now back inside and about to get ready for Elegant night.

[mackfam]

5 hours ago, kernow said:

Been for a walk around the ship this morning and outside of YC it's heaving, never seen it this busy before. I know what people mean now about no seating.

Oh no, that’s what I’m worried about in contemplating a non YC cruise. Is it just the atrium area that’s packed or is it everywhere inside? I’m not sure what the equivalent of the Sky Lounge is on the Virtuosa, but on the Mera it was quiet during the day, of course this was in the Caribbean and it was hot and sunny out.