Family sailing MSC Euribia from Southampton 22nd Dec

[Munki78]

Hi All,

 

My partner, our youngest daughter (7) and I are booked on the Northern Europe cruise on MSC Euribia leaving Southampton on 22nd Dec, and I thought I'd reach out in case there were any other families onboard that, like us also wanted to avoid cooking Christmas dinner and have a 'simpler' Christmas!?

 

A bit of background - This is the second time we're doing the Northern Europe cruise (the last time was in Feb on Virtuosa). I'll admit we weren't planning on doing this route again, but we really wanted to get away this Xmas and looked at all other options, pros, cons etc., and had such a good experience last time that we thought we'd go with something familiar.

 

Our daughter is currently being assessed for ADHD and ASD, and these should be completed by the time of the cruise. She's a lovely, energetic child who wants to be busy all the time, and the cruise in Feb was great as there was plenty to keep her entertained. However, she struggles with her emotional regulation, so would get overwhelmed in the Marketplace buffet, or doing group activities in kids club. That said, she coped very well compared with 'non-holiday' environments, and we even managed to have a couple of nights where she coped well in kids club and we were able to have a couple of hours to have a speciality restaurant meal and a couple of drinks in the adult only bar. We recently had a good experience during a holiday in Mallorca, where she made a new friend on the coach to the hotel and they were almost inseparable  the entire week. They would both keep each other entertained and encourage each other to do things they wouldn't otherwise have the courage or focus to do. So much so, that the evening entertainment, that would normally result in a meltdown after 10 mins and we'd have to leave, was instead hard to drag the two of them off the stage, with them dancing and playing until gone 12pm (I know, it's late, but it's holiday and quite frankly was lovely and quite emotional just seeing her coping and enjoying something like that for the first time). Sure, we paid for it with an over-tired, grumpy child within a couple of days, but it was worth it. She is always desperate to make new friends - particularly on holiday - but finds it hard when it's a big group and will become over-stimulated and overwhelmed, leading to meltdowns.

 

Which brings be to my post... I just wanted to reach out to any other families book on the same cruise that might may be going through similar situations (or not, we're friendly to anyone!), who maybe would like to meet up for a festive cocktail while our kids play, or freeze to death trying to use the waterpark in the middle of the ocean in the dead of winter!

 

Take care everyone,

 

Mike.

[Stocksy82]

Hi Mike, there is a roll call section on the forum and looks like your cruise is fairly active! Hope this link works 

 

[Munki78]

20 minutes ago, Stocksy82 said:

Hi Mike, there is a roll call section on the forum and looks like your cruise is fairly active! Hope this link works 

 

Hi,

 

Thank you! I hadn't realised! I'll go check now...

 

Regards,

 

Mike.

[Bozz282]

Thanks Stocksy,

 

Welcome Mike and family. Please, post away in the roll call! See you on board!

[beyondthepalace]

On 9/7/2023 at 5:48 AM, Munki78 said:

Hi All,

 

My partner, our youngest daughter (7) and I are booked on the Northern Europe cruise on MSC Euribia leaving Southampton on 22nd Dec, and I thought I'd reach out in case there were any other families onboard that, like us also wanted to avoid cooking Christmas dinner and have a 'simpler' Christmas!?

 

A bit of background - This is the second time we're doing the Northern Europe cruise (the last time was in Feb on Virtuosa). I'll admit we weren't planning on doing this route again, but we really wanted to get away this Xmas and looked at all other options, pros, cons etc., and had such a good experience last time that we thought we'd go with something familiar.

 

Our daughter is currently being assessed for ADHD and ASD, and these should be completed by the time of the cruise. She's a lovely, energetic child who wants to be busy all the time, and the cruise in Feb was great as there was plenty to keep her entertained. However, she struggles with her emotional regulation, so would get overwhelmed in the Marketplace buffet, or doing group activities in kids club. That said, she coped very well compared with 'non-holiday' environments, and we even managed to have a couple of nights where she coped well in kids club and we were able to have a couple of hours to have a speciality restaurant meal and a couple of drinks in the adult only bar. We recently had a good experience during a holiday in Mallorca, where she made a new friend on the coach to the hotel and they were almost inseparable  the entire week. They would both keep each other entertained and encourage each other to do things they wouldn't otherwise have the courage or focus to do. So much so, that the evening entertainment, that would normally result in a meltdown after 10 mins and we'd have to leave, was instead hard to drag the two of them off the stage, with them dancing and playing until gone 12pm (I know, it's late, but it's holiday and quite frankly was lovely and quite emotional just seeing her coping and enjoying something like that for the first time). Sure, we paid for it with an over-tired, grumpy child within a couple of days, but it was worth it. She is always desperate to make new friends - particularly on holiday - but finds it hard when it's a big group and will become over-stimulated and overwhelmed, leading to meltdowns.

 

Which brings be to my post... I just wanted to reach out to any other families book on the same cruise that might may be going through similar situations (or not, we're friendly to anyone!), who maybe would like to meet up for a festive cocktail while our kids play, or freeze to death trying to use the waterpark in the middle of the ocean in the dead of winter!

 

Take care everyone,

 

Mike.

Hey Mike! Wife and I will be on board with a 13yr old son and 8yr daughter!

[Munki78]

11 minutes ago, beyondthepalace said:

Hey Mike! Wife and I will be on board with a 13yr old son and 8yr daughter!

 

Hey there! That's great to hear! I read you're coming all the way from DFW. In terms of hotels, provided you don't have a car that you need to pay parking for, there are plenty of hotels dotted along West Key Road (don't let the name get you thinking of the Florida keys - think Ikea and a shopping mall lol) and around/in the city. There's an Ibis Budget down the road for about £42 a night, Premier Inn for £54, Holiday Inn for £78. All will be fairly basic but clean, well kept and just a few 100 yards from the cruise terminal. The city and the area around the cruise terminal isn't large, so any hotel will be fine as once you're in/around the city centre it should only cost a few £ to grab an Uber to the cruise terminal.

 

We only live about 30 miles away, but because of my daughter's autism we can't risk taking a bus, then train, then taxi/uber as there's too much potential for meltdowns! So we will need to drive there and pay for parking/shuttle to/from the cruise terminal (between £90-150). In Feb we used Penguin Parking which cost £99, but it's now £149. They were good though - they are near the cruise terminal and offer a very personal service - they unload your car, load up your own mini bus, take you to the terminal, unload your bags into check in and look after your car, and do the same on the way back. It was worth the money at the time, but... £150 this time... eek, I'm not rushing to book it this time!

 

Mike.

[Stokie33]

We are on the cruise before you, using the code off here ABP want £96.40 per week for parking at horizon terminal, we’ve parked there before with no issues

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, Stokie33 said:

We are on the cruise before you, using the code off here ABP want £96.40 per week for parking at horizon terminal, we’ve parked there before with no issues

Same here, with ABP last time we went from Southampton we parked within walking distance of the terminal building, they collected our cases as we took them out of the car and we just walked to the terminal with our carry-on. 

 

Perfect.

[Munki78]

On 9/8/2023 at 10:19 PM, Stokie33 said:

We are on the cruise before you, using the code off here ABP want £96.40 per week for parking at horizon terminal, we’ve parked there before with no issues

Hi Stokie,

 

Many thanks, I'll check them out!

 

Mike.

[Munki78]

On 9/8/2023 at 11:35 PM, Mark_T said:

Same here, with ABP last time we went from Southampton we parked within walking distance of the terminal building, they collected our cases as we took them out of the car and we just walked to the terminal with our carry-on. 

 

Perfect.

Hi Mark,

 

Oh ok, good! One thing we are concerned about is the amount of luggage, so the fact that they collected the main cases is good to hear. Thanks!

 

Mike.

[sollyman]

If you decide to go down the ABP, route luggage is only taken off you and loaded onto vans for Celebrity cruises. For MSC its down to you to get your bags to the luggage drop off point at the terminal. There are trollies provided.  MSC will not paythe port for a collection service.

[Munki78]

1 hour ago, sollyman said:

If you decide to go down the ABP, route luggage is only taken off you and loaded onto vans for Celebrity cruises. For MSC its down to you to get your bags to the luggage drop off point at the terminal. There are trollies provided.  MSC will not paythe port for a collection service.

 

Ok thanks, that's not too much hassle. We may go for this, or perhaps pay about £30 more and stay at the Ibis Budget hotel overnight the night before, pay £10/night parking there and a few £ for an Uber to the terminal in the morning. Living in a household of ADHD'ers it might be worth making sure we get packed and there the night before, otherwise it may never happen (like our Cruse in February!)

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Mike.

[beyondthepalace]

On 9/8/2023 at 11:51 AM, Munki78 said:

 

Hey there! That's great to hear! I read you're coming all the way from DFW. In terms of hotels, provided you don't have a car that you need to pay parking for, there are plenty of hotels dotted along West Key Road (don't let the name get you thinking of the Florida keys - think Ikea and a shopping mall lol) and around/in the city. There's an Ibis Budget down the road for about £42 a night, Premier Inn for £54, Holiday Inn for £78. All will be fairly basic but clean, well kept and just a few 100 yards from the cruise terminal. The city and the area around the cruise terminal isn't large, so any hotel will be fine as once you're in/around the city centre it should only cost a few £ to grab an Uber to the cruise terminal.

 

We only live about 30 miles away, but because of my daughter's autism we can't risk taking a bus, then train, then taxi/uber as there's too much potential for meltdowns! So we will need to drive there and pay for parking/shuttle to/from the cruise terminal (between £90-150). In Feb we used Penguin Parking which cost £99, but it's now £149. They were good though - they are near the cruise terminal and offer a very personal service - they unload your car, load up your own mini bus, take you to the terminal, unload your bags into check in and look after your car, and do the same on the way back. It was worth the money at the time, but... £150 this time... eek, I'm not rushing to book it this time!

 

Mike.

We originally were going to stay near the port but as our vacation expanded, we decided that we will just get transportation the day of from London.