Live Virtuosa 12/5/23 7 night Fjord cruise

[kernow]

1 hour ago, FozzyBear85 said:

Thank you so much for posting about your trip. I’ve just boarded the MSC Virtuosa for the same cruise departing today. I am in a Fantastica Balcony Cabin so I am sure I will have a very different experience to your YC luxury! 

Ooh, let us know what you think. Back home now and sorting out the washing, I'll give final thoughts shortly.

 

Missing all the YC staff, had to make our own dinner😂.

[kernow]

We had a relaxed breakfast this morning and left the ship around 9.30 am. One of my favourite things about YC is that the departure is flexible and not rushed. You just get ready to leave when you want and one of the butlers will take you down, it can be a bit embarrassing as they take you straight to the front of the line. This morning us and another couple were taken together and a group who the butler cut in front of started shouting at him and us. We told him just to let them go as none of us wanted a scene. I really wish they would open a separate exit for YC guests so it doesn't affect other passengers. 

We were a bit later getting off than we thought. Someone who had already left the ship posted on the FB group that they had left their child's necklace in their cabin. I asked the concierge if anyone could possibly have a look for it and luckily they found it and bought it up to me (I've promised to post it to the family). The concierge staff were amazing as they went out of their way to locate it.

 

We were through the terminal and in our car in no time and we're now back home and already missing the ship

 

 

Overall we had a great week, after the first day or two the service in YC seemed smoother. As I've already mentioned they do seem short staffed over the whole ship. On the sea day yesterday we had arranged to meet up with my cousin for a farewell drink in the afternoon. We said we'd meet at 4pm at L'Atelier bar. When we arrived it was closed (apparently opening at 5.30) so we walked along to the Champagne bar only to find it also closed. The one bartender behind the bar told us we would have to go to the Casino (smoking) bar. How crazy to have two of the main bars closed on a sea day afternoon! 

 

The ship is still beautiful, very clean and well kept. All the food we had was good and we had fun. We met a few people who were moaning (mostly about queues and lack of seats) but most people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

All I can say is I wish I was still onboard😀.

 

 

[OmegaSeamaster]

Very good review, well done and thank you. 

[mackfam]

Thank you for a very informative and interesting review! I took the plunge and booked the same cruise for September 2nd, alas in steerage, not YC but hopefully we will survive!

[kernow]

16 minutes ago, mackfam said:

Thank you for a very informative and interesting review! I took the plunge and booked the same cruise for September 2nd, alas in steerage, not YC but hopefully we will survive!

Hope you have a great time, I'm sure you will.

[victory2020]

How was the internet on the trip? Could you text?

[kernow]

19 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

How was the internet on the trip? Could you text?

The internet was great everywhere except the day when we were in Olden when it was unavailable the whole time we were docked, came back a few minutes after sailaway. 

I didn't try text but was able to facetime and WhatsApp without any problem.

[ConnieTact]

Just caught up with your whole report. You were away at the same time as us! We went on NCL Star around Ireland from 11-21 May so I didn’t notice you had a live report going too!

We arrived a little later after midday at Horizon and our Uber driver told us it was crowded earlier. Now I know why!

Great report. We can’t wait to board Virtuosa again in October and your report has made me look forward to it all the more! 👍

[kernow]

16 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Just caught up with your whole report. You were away at the same time as us! We went on NCL Star around Ireland from 11-21 May so I didn’t notice you had a live report going too!

We arrived a little later after midday at Horizon and our Uber driver told us it was crowded earlier. Now I know why!

Great report. We can’t wait to board Virtuosa again in October and your report has made me look forward to it all the more! 👍

I actually saw your Star report last week as I ventured onto the NCL board for the first time in years. We're thinking of a South Africa cruise in 2025(Mark has a big birthday 😀) and NCL Dawn is one we are considering. Only been on NCL once years ago so don't know much about them.

[dexddd]

26 minutes ago, kernow said:

I actually saw your Star report last week as I ventured onto the NCL board for the first time in years. We're thinking of a South Africa cruise in 2025(Mark has a big birthday 😀) and NCL Dawn is one we are considering. Only been on NCL once years ago so don't know much about them.

Be very careful booking NCL.  If you are around much and see the trends, not good.  And despite the .... some posts all cruise lines doing it..., not like NCL.

 

We sailed Dawn once and Star twice, sister ship, vintage 2002, the ships are pretty nice.  Dawn had a big refurb early 2021 and another planned 2023.  If you are booking a suite ask away.l

[ConnieTact]

36 minutes ago, kernow said:

I actually saw your Star report last week as I ventured onto the NCL board for the first time in years. We're thinking of a South Africa cruise in 2025(Mark has a big birthday 😀) and NCL Dawn is one we are considering. Only been on NCL once years ago so don't know much about them.

We fancy the south Africa itinerary too! 👍

[kernow]

23 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Be very careful booking NCL.  If you are around much and see the trends, not good.  And despite the .... some posts all cruise lines doing it..., not like NCL.

 

We sailed Dawn once and Star twice, sister ship, vintage 2002, the ships are pretty nice.  Dawn had a big refurb early 2021 and another planned 2023.  If you are booking a suite ask away.l

Sadly not a suite, just a balcony. The trip will be pretty expensive as we want to stay over at both ends of the cruise and sightsee so the budget doesn't stretch that far.

The other option we are looking at is Azamara, surprisingly not too much more expensive but not such a nice itinerary and we are a bit worried about such a small ship. We assume that will be much better food and service so it's just deciding what we want😀.

 

Do you think NCL has a lot more cutbacks than the other lines?

[dexddd]

7 minutes ago, kernow said:

Sadly not a suite, just a balcony. The trip will be pretty expensive as we want to stay over at both ends of the cruise and sightsee so the budget doesn't stretch that far.

The other option we are looking at is Azamara, surprisingly not too much more expensive but not such a nice itinerary and we are a bit worried about such a small ship. We assume that will be much better food and service so it's just deciding what we want😀.

 

Do you think NCL has a lot more cutbacks than the other lines?

I really only follow NCL and MSC.  I see some cutbacks on MSC but nothing big.  NCL, at every turn, everywhere.

[taylortime05]

On 5/16/2023 at 11:31 AM, kernow said:

Just getting ready to sail away from Flam, looks like we are waiting for a late excursion.

 

The weather today has been lovely, the odd cloudy but mostly sunny. We did the train last year and had no plans this time so decided to go for a walk to the main village a mile or so away.

 

Wow, that’s an amazing story.  It made me smile.   We just booked our first cruise on MSC on the EURIBIA.  Below is the itinerary.   A couple of people have recommended the Flam Railway as a must do.  Did you take the 2 1/2 hour excursion  (SCENIC FLAM RAILWAY)  or the 6 hour excursion (AMAZING NATURE VIEWS ON THE FAMOUS FLAM RAILWAY) 

 

[kernow]

6 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

 

Wow, that’s an amazing story.  It made me smile.   We just booked our first cruise on MSC on the EURIBIA.  Below is the itinerary.   A couple of people have recommended the Flam Railway as a must do.  Did you take the 2 1/2 hour excursion  (SCENIC FLAM RAILWAY)  or the 6 hour excursion (AMAZING NATURE VIEWS ON THE FAMOUS FLAM RAILWAY) 

 

We didnt book an MSC excursion, we booked the return train journey on the Norways Best website (just google it), it's half the price of the MSC excursion. The station is right at the dockside so just a 2 minute walk. I think the longer MSC excursion is a longer scenic coach ride up to Myrdal station and then a one way train trip down. We talked to people who did it onboard and it also included a nice lunch before they got to the station. If you just want the return train journey book it yourself.

Either way the scenery is breathtaking.

[nikoo.s]

8 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

 

Wow, that’s an amazing story.  It made me smile.   We just booked our first cruise on MSC on the EURIBIA.  Below is the itinerary.   A couple of people have recommended the Flam Railway as a must do.  Did you take the 2 1/2 hour excursion  (SCENIC FLAM RAILWAY)  or the 6 hour excursion (AMAZING NATURE VIEWS ON THE FAMOUS FLAM RAILWAY) 

 

We did Flåm a few weeks ago on Virtuosa and would highly recommend the following: 

Book the railway one way separately from the cruise excursions, and take it all the way to Vatnehalsen (which is one stop before the end) , get off there and do the Flåm zipline if you're feeling brave! From the bottom of the zipline you can also take bikes which means you can take a beautiful cycle down the mountain back to the ship (takes about an hour with no stops). Make sure to tell them at the top of the zipline you want to take bikes as well as you pay for it all in one go. Honestly such a brilliant experience! Does require some bravery for the zipline though but 100% worth it! 

Edited June 15, 2023 by nikoo.s

[taylortime05]

6 hours ago, kernow said:

We didnt book an MSC excursion, we booked the return train journey on the Norways Best website (just google it), it's half the price of the MSC excursion. The station is right at the dockside so just a 2 minute walk. I think the longer MSC excursion is a longer scenic coach ride up to Myrdal station and then a one way train trip down. We talked to people who did it onboard and it also included a nice lunch before they got to the station. If you just want the return train journey book it yourself.

Either way the scenery is breathtaking.

Thank you!  I will check out Norways Best website.  

[taylortime05]

4 hours ago, nikoo.s said:

We did Flåm a few weeks ago on Virtuosa and would highly recommend the following: 

Book the railway one way separately from the cruise excursions, and take it all the way to Vatnehalsen (which is one stop before the end) , get off there and do the Flåm zipline if you're feeling brave! From the bottom of the zipline you can also take bikes which means you can take a beautiful cycle down the mountain back to the ship (takes about an hour with no stops). Make sure to tell them at the top of the zipline you want to take bikes as well as you pay for it all in one go. Honestly such a brilliant experience! Does require some bravery for the zipline though but 100% worth it! 

Thank you!  I’m not brave enough to biplane but the rest sounds wonderful!