Euribia YC 3/15 aka Amazing Adventures in Europe

[mnpurple]

Little did we know just over a year ago while on board Divina in the Caribbean, this week we would be embarking on one of our biggest adventures! We are a 50-something married couple (over 31 years), somewhat recently empty-nesters. Who knew this would evolve into a six-week journey starting with the cruise and traveling Europe? I guess me, because after another MSC in the Med in 2022, I hoped to return to Europe for a longer period of time, just maybe not intending six weeks!

 

Our adventure began in Minneapolis with two connections and a final destination in London. We'd fire our travel agent, but because "she" aka ME, used credit card points to book business class and chose comfort over flight duration, there will be no one fired. If it matters, we booked through Air France and flew the first long leg to Amsterdam on KLM, which was very pleasant and their flight crew lovely. Despite a lot of nerves, we made it to London tired, but without much drama.

 

We chose to Uber ($106) to our hotel in central London, Hyatt Regency Blackfriar. It is a lovely hotel and I booked it using points, which was even better! We also had a Hyatt award for club access, which includes breakfast and an afternoon canape and beverages. Breakfast has been higher quality than most standard American Hyatt’s we’ve been at and the social hour was better than expected. The canapes were presented on a butcher block and nicer than anticipated. Plus they had a self-service bar, which was a bonus because I should have expected it, but London prices are – wow! The hotel also offers as much bottled water as we’d like. It’s the little things!

 

With only one full day in London and dealing with jet-lag, we toured the area on the hop-on-hop-off bus.  I found this quite enjoyable because I could see the sights in relative comfort, but avoid the masses of people. If I need to see something up close, we’ll just have to return!  We planned to have dinner in a pub across from our hotel, but didn’t make reservations and that was a no-go. The next plan was an Indian restaurant down the street, but I never made it. We started walking and thankfully on a “quieter” street I caught a cobblestone and took a tumble. Fortunately, this out of shape and not so thin 50-something woman has taken her vitamins and must have pretty good bone health, just sore and bruised body/ego. A lovely Londoner helped and I headed for the safety of my room. In our normal life, I don’t go out in the evenings much, so considering it was dark at this point and I was still out, I should have known better, haha! My lovely husband saved the day and brought back the food and a few cans of Gin and tonic from the local convenience store.

 

Today we will travel via train to Southampton at 3PM. We have a late check out, compliments of the hotel status, so while I have a desire to get out and conquer more of London, we are moving slowly.

[mnpurple]

I’m not sure if there will be much interest in this trip as most travel is via US ports, I can continue if anyone wants to know what a Northern Europe itinerary is like and info associated with it. 
 

we managed to board our train to Southampton. 

[magnetique]

Go on, please! I will board Euribia next week.

[Mezqal]

pls proceed ☺️

[GPPhilly]

We board the Eurbia in April

[mnpurple]

We checked into the Leonardo Royal Southampton which is across the the port. It is a very nice room. We could probably walk to the port from here, but will grab an Uber because, bags. We found a fun pub, The Titanic and enjoyed a Guiness before dinner at The Red Lion pub on the main street. We tried fish and chips and a steak pie and it was all pretty good, but HUGE portions. Clientele was interesting and a bit drunk. I feel the same way about the conversation one gentleman wanted to have about politics as I am feeling about another happening on this board. Avoidance is a good thing sometimes! 

 

We will head to the port around 10 AM.  I am looking forward to a week of pampering and being not having to change hotels for awhile.

I'm trying to recall who on this board mentioned a "special" cruise coffee they like to order?  Something with Baileys and amaretto?  I'll have to search, but let me know if that sounds familiar.

[bigblue1952]

We will be on the Euribia in September so looking forward to your trip report

[Eaglestrike]

My wife and I just got off the MSC Euribia last Thursday. We were in the Yacht Club and the Ship is beautiful and the service in the YC exceptional as usual. 

 

Great itinerary and although cold the sea's were very calm. You will have a great time!

 

Happy Sailing.

[alserrod]

16 hours ago, mnpurple said:

I’m not sure if there will be much interest in this trip as most travel is via US ports, I can continue if anyone wants to know what a Northern Europe itinerary is like and info associated with it. 
 

we managed to board our train to Southampton. 

 

 

 

Hi, please, keep on.

 

I will sail on Seaview in a couple of months and there are a lot of niceties which are common to all MSC ships.

 

For instance...  when and where there is live music?. I bet on Atrium but... all the day?, all the evening only?. What kind of music.

Anywhere more?

 

In sports bar, can you choose what to see in tables or is it the same broadcast for the whole pub?

 

[mnpurple]

@alserrod We were on the Seaview in 2022 in the Med, also in YC. It was a beautiful ship.  We were so busy with all of the ports, we didn't explore the ship too much outside YC. That was our first MSC cruise and we loved it!

 

The view from our window. Euribia is waiting!

 

[alserrod]

Thank you

 

I will have quite different holiday plans. This year is my parents' "Golden wedding" (50 years after wedding" and we will be a 14 people group aged from my parents to my small nephew (3 yrs old).

 

With these purposes plans will be strongly different. First cruise for all kids and some adults (not me) and.... I bet cabin only for sleeping and dreams (and teens and young adults surely "late night sleeping").

 

But... I am surfing for any kind of information I could use. Some of questions I do are posted by my brother or sister, issues I do not matter but they requested me to ask for.

 

 

for that reason I try to read all live broadcast everyone writes, never mind the ship nor the itinerary.

thank you for comments!

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Please keep going. 

 

I do love hearing Americans thoughts and reviews on Europe and European cruise lines. Enjoying the  culture and History.

 

Even for us in the UK "London prices" are ridiculous and to top that off more and more automatic Graturites or services charges are appearing on bills (cheques).

 

We are travelling in our 2nd MSC ship in 21 days, World Europa out of Barcelona cant wait tbh. 

 

Hopefully you will have calm seas and good weather heading to the MED. 

 

 

[mnpurple]

NOTE- Sorry I am wordy!

We made it to check in around 10 AM and were on board in the lounge in less than an hour. Super easy, we used our app for boarding passes and there was no health questionnaire. While in the waiting area to board we met the YC Director. This was the first time I have experienced this and he personally put on my wrist band and we had a nice conversation as he is from Germany and we plan to travel there in a few weeks. We have had more attention and information on this ship than any other.  We explored quite a lot and it is beautiful!

 

We stopped at the Sky Club (I think) lounge for a drink and it was a bit longer wait than I hoped, but a surprise dessert plate was served with our drinks. I was shocked at how many hot tubs we found. Four in the jungle pool area, two on the deck above the mid-ship pool and at least one in the stern area. At least five of them were on the outer deck area with a sea/ocean view.  The ship was relatively quiet because many people were probably on excursions, so it would have been a great time to use pools and spas.  The YC pool/deck area was pretty desolate as it is cool and rainy. We sat there for a bit and I had a delicious cappuccino with Bailey's. The poor staff who are not used to colder weather are bundled up! I rather like it being from a cold weather state.

 

We had lunch in the YC restaurant and it was quite busy as many people also embarked this AM. The parma ham with mozzarella was so good and I also had the pasta with a veal sauce that is one of the better dishes I've had on MSC. Dessert was fair. Disclaimer - I drink boxed wine at home. I am not a wine snob, but hope for a little better quality here.  We met the Sommelier and he had me try 3 different wines. The one I went with is probably $10/bottle.  I believe he felt restricted by limitations put on him, but was happy to try to work with what he was able to.

 

I don't believe I mentioned that we are in an inside room.  It is cozy! It would be great if the bathroom were just a bit roomier and maybe another closet.  The AC also does not seem to be working and for a middle-aged heavy-set woman, I'm hoping that can be resolved.  It's almost 3 and we haven't gotten luggage, which is a surprise. Great start overall though!

 

   

[mnpurple]

@FamilyCruiserUK I'm glad we had a lounge pass at our hotel. They did try to charge us for breakfast the first morning and it would have been around $40 for one person and I also noticed a service fee would have been added. One of the things I enjoyed before about European travel was not worrying about gratuities. I think we'll need to pay close attention wherever we go though. Don't get me started, but the US has gotten a bit out of control regarding tipping culture, but I don't want this to be a tipping conversation.

[heatherb1958]

Enjoy Euribia , we disembarked on 8th March , our 15th MSC cruise ,  been on all the sister ships plus others .   Don't miss the Carousel lounge big band experience , absolutely fantastic new use of the space compared to her sisters. There is singing , dancing  and of course the big band playing different genres. Check the planner .

We ate in the Le Grill. Fab meal. Disappointingly on Euribia the Sky lounge   is not adults only like her sisters so consequently there were screaming kids at night in there on our trip.... love the free chocolate in there though so that made up for it 😆. 

Look forward to the rest of your report .

 

Edited March 15 by heatherb1958

[Preziosa]

We will board Euribia the 31. Of March in Hamburg. It Will Be Our third Cruise on Euribia in an inside Yacht Club. Can t wait to Be back.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

12 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

 

We are travelling in our 2nd MSC ship in 21 days, World Europa out of Barcelona cant wait tbh. 

 

 

We just moved out our World Europa cruise out of Barcelona from this summer to next, but very much look forward to it. I hope you will post a review. 

[Best Cat Mom]

Hi mnp -- I believe we were with you once on Divina last year in YC. Looking forward to reading about your latest cruise on Euribia. We had read that Onel, our wonderful gold tie server on Divina, was on Euribia now. If he is, we can recommend him -- he was absolutely wonderful! Enjoy your time and please share when you can. Buon viaggio!

[mnpurple]

Day one of the cruise was fantastic! Dinner service was a bit slow, but we didn't mind. We had interesting conversation with some of the couples sitting around us and ended up skipping the show we had planned to go to. One couple had been on over 300 cruises!

 

My husband had the escargot, which was the best we've tried on the ships. I tried a cider onion soup which was a bit sweet for my liking. I also had the octopus carpaccio, which also was not my favorite.  We each had the angus steak medallions with crab and they were so delicious! We finished with a chocolate cake and pistachio ice cream, yum!

 

The YC is full! On the 3 sailings we've been on, this is definitely the most busy yacht club. I imagine because of cooler temps, people aren't outside at all.  Service has still be quite good.  They serve snacks/canapes on a tray and don't have a "buffet" style set up. I found a new favorite drink, a mango lime gin and tonic.  I may have enjoyed the first day too much with those!

 

We explored most of the ship and after muster (which wasn't all that bad), we also had a tour of the spa. It is nicer than Divina by a lot, but smaller than the Seaview spa. We booked a few hours today. It seemed very busy  yesterday, so I'm not sure if we'll stay long.

 

We also enjoyed a drink at the Masters of the Sea and met a great group of young men and chatted about differences of Britain and America.  My goal is always to try and enjoy things in the evening because we aren't night owls. We managed to watch some of the white party, which was fun and get a night cap in Topsail before retiring for the night. Our room was still a bit warm, but not as bad and the bed was comfortable. 

[mnpurple]

6 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Hi mnp -- I believe we were with you once on Divina last year in YC. Looking forward to reading about your latest cruise on Euribia. We had read that Onel, our wonderful gold tie server on Divina, was on Euribia now. If he is, we can recommend him -- he was absolutely wonderful! Enjoy your time and please share when you can. Buon viaggio!

 

Yes! I had a server named Onel come over to me last night and say he remembered me from Divina. I was a bit surprised and he looked familiar, but I don't recall he was ever our server.  It was nice to be remembered though and I am working hard to remember names. Both my husband and I are terrible with names!

 

Are you the one who has the special coffees made? The cappuccino's I've had so far have been very good.  I think I might have cruise euphoria and if they served me sludge I might be happy with it, LOL! 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Sounds like your having a great time. Good food and good company. I do love sitting down and having a great chat with people from different cultures and learning about different ways of life. 

 

Hope the weather being good and your looking forward to the ports 

[Morgsmom]

Oh fun!  We join the Euribia YC in a few weeks!  Looking forward to hearing more.

[guest4254]

On 3/14/2024 at 4:05 PM, mnpurple said:

We checked into the Leonardo Royal Southampton which is across the the port. It is a very nice room. We could probably walk to the port from here, but will grab an Uber because, bags. We found a fun pub, The Titanic and enjoyed a Guiness before dinner at The Red Lion pub on the main street. We tried fish and chips and a steak pie and it was all pretty good, but HUGE portions. Clientele was interesting and a bit drunk. I feel the same way about the conversation one gentleman wanted to have about politics as I am feeling about another happening on this board. Avoidance is a good thing sometimes! 

 

We will head to the port around 10 AM.  I am looking forward to a week of pampering and being not having to change hotels for awhile.

I'm trying to recall who on this board mentioned a "special" cruise coffee they like to order?  Something with Baileys and amaretto?  I'll have to search, but let me know if that sounds familiar.

On a cruise, a Bailey's and coffee for breakfast was a daily choice of mine (and only on a cruise, because I have the drink package, mind you). The key is to get a shot of Bailey's in the evening before bed and bring it back to your cabin, and in your fridge. Then take it with you to breakfast as most "bars" don't open til later, and it's not something I want to bother the waiter with....

As for a later in the day coffee drink (I used to be a bartender) 1oz creme de cacao, 1oz Tia Maria, 1oz Kahlua, coffee and whipped cream...Never had a complaint about that one!

 

Now, the real question...what to do in Southampton when Euribia stops there for the day?

[mnpurple]

Yesterday was a sea day. We are still adjusting to time changes and made it a more restful day, skipping breakfast. We were going to try Hola, but that kind of fell through since we didn't make reservations, so we ended up at the YC restaurant. They were making a fresh pasta dish with potatoes that hubs had and I had linguine with clams. Both very good. 

 

Before lunch we had booked the thermal spa. However, when we toured the day before and noticed how busy it was, we called to see if they were at capacity and because they were, we changed plans. Instead this crazy woman thought it might be a great idea to try the hot tub on the One Pool deck in the cold. It wasn't so bad until we jumped in and turned on the jets and with the wind, the water was spraying all over! The water could have been warmer and our ears and faces got quite cold. We got a great laugh though!  My husband thinks I'm nuts, haha!

 

So much excitement and a nap was needed mid- day. It was Mediterranean night for dinner  and we started with beef carpaccio to share, fried seafood (Naples style) and boullabaisse. DH had seafood paella, but didn't think it was great. I had Osso Bucco with mashed potatoes and enjoyed it. Baklava was the choice for dessert and I've enjoyed better. It just seemed a bit dry, but I was full anyway!

 

We went to the Big Band Orchestra and it was very, very good. The band was great and singers were very enjoyable!  I highly recommend anyone see that. 

 

We are now docked in Hamburg and have a ship excursion with a tour. Looking forward to that. I can see a bit of sun on our bridge cam in the room, so that makes me happy.    

[mnpurple]

I forgot to mention that all of the entertainers in the Topsail lounge were wonderful so far. I really  enjoyed a duo of a singer and guitarist.