I have missed the sea!

Being so close but unable to cross the Irish border to the Donegal beaches was pure torture, so it’s no surprise that I booked one of the first UK Seacation cruises on the brand new MSC Virtuosa

We received information in advance that we would need insurance with COVID & repatriation cover (travel agent needed this for booking) plus evidence of vaccinations or 2 clear tests. All guests would also be swab tested At Southampton – I used Cover for You for insurance

MSC give you the option to bid for an upgrade and I was seriously tempted to go for Yacht Club, but I had a drinks package already and the thermal suite wasn’t to be open so I decided it wasn’t worth the extra as we have an Aurea Spa cabin booked for next year anyway

Flew direct to Southampton the day before in an effort to make things easy for myself and booked into the Dolphin Hotel which was lovely It rained heavily both days so for convenience I took a taxi to the hotel then to the port

Arriving at my allocated 11am boarding time, it probably took about an hour and a quarter to get on board. The first big difference was there were no porters! Those lovely folk who magically whisk your luggage away as you get out of the car, for it to appear later at your cabin! Everyone was also temperature checked before entering the terminal and vaccinations and insurance checked before you could hand over your luggage.

After that it was the queue for COVID testing, gently in one nostril, group number allocated, and only after that could you collect your cruise card & wristband. My wristband worked for ordering drinks etc but steadfastly refused to open the cabin door, and I just never bothered to get that fixed as I always had my card anyway. Next stage was sit and wait in your group number while test results were collated. There were lots of seats and refreshments were provided. And that was it! Clear tests and onto the ship

Muster was simply a video watched in your cabin then a walk to your muster station where you beeped your wristband or card to show you’d been

MSC Virtuosa is a right big girl, and even with 4 full days onboard I’m not convinced I saw it all I didn’t even have to call at reception once as I magically managed not to lose my card and you just register your credit card at any of the machines dotted about, very easy. The ship was of course spectacular with the standard gorgeous MSC Atrium and sparkle stairs

MSC, in my opinion, don’t organise much for the solo traveller. Thankfully through our agent Passion for Cruises we had arranged to meet up in the afternoon and from this formed a ‘dining bubble’. I was really lucky that 4 of us hit it off like a house on fire and that made the cruise for me

Daytime activities were also fairly limited. There were quizzes, a few games, dance classes, exercise classes but no guest lecturers or art and craft classes both of which I love (and take myself) so I did miss these. I’d been told this was because of COVID legislation but understand other summer cruises will have lecturers etc onboard so possibly a MSC thing. All crew including the ‘guest acts’ were onboard for the season and weren’t allowed off in any ports

Another noticeable difference was the cabin was only serviced once a day, fine for a solo traveller, but more people in the cabin might have needed more dry towels etc. There was also no milk if you fancied a cuppa, just powdered creamer but there was a fridge and you could get a glass of milk from the buffet

The buffet was open, though not fully just due to the reduced numbers on board, 1000 passengers on a ship capable of carrying 6000. There were hand washing stations before entering and temperature was checked twice daily entering buffet or dining room. In the buffet lots of servers behind high glass screens passed you whatever food you requested

I’m nearly afraid to say this on a cruise review, those who know, know, but there was very little fresh pineapple available. I really enjoy fresh pineapple and also swear it fights off ‘cruise cough’ and I did come home with a cold, but could have been a packed flight home or torrential rain in Southampton station to blame

Food was good in both the buffet & MDR. The focaccia bread was divine and the pizza excellent as it always is on MSC but I missed the salad bar. It was open or freedom dining due to the reduced numbers, we met Manoj the waiter on night 2 and asked for him every night and he knew to keep us a table so in effect we created our own fixed dining. The dining room probably was quite empty, but we were a fun table, had a laugh together, fuelled by Manoj efficient wine pouring and really didn’t notice much else going on, we did hear Happy Birthday being sung a couple of times. Other than the waiters wore masks, dining was much the same, supervisors and Maitre D were also attentive, though they always are on a table they know has no complaints! We ended up with a full table of 8 and not one dish was complained about or returned, which is actually excellent for cruise dining, in my experience

Menus were available by scanning the QR code on your phone but paper menus were available in the Mdr. Photocopy single use sheets only, no menu holders

This is the most I’ve written on a blog post, but I want the review to be just one post so bear with me…

Entertainment was pretty good. The show team put on fast moving, very visual shows with lots of dancing and some illusions. We had actually seen the lead singer previously on Fantasia, and he is excellent, however on Fantasia the Italian crowd really loved the music and knew the classic Italian songs in the first show, so I did think a little atmosphere was lost. Catering for the UK market the singers did struggle occasionally to fit the English words to the music, but that’s actually me being unfairly picky as the shows were well done

The costumes were amazing and the dancing great, they loved their magic tricks, some did find the shows a bit samey, and the last one was a little weird at times but they were well done. I did hear a complaint about songs being sung in a foreign language, in my opinion it’s fair to expect a classic Italian show to be sung mostly in Italian…

These shows all had to be pre booked on the app, it was easy to do and I think you could also use the onboard screens to book as well

The Soul Sisters were the guest act, and we loved them! We were front row groupies every night, well presented in sparkly costumes with 3 well rehearsed acts, I’d make a point of seeing them again if ever on another ship. The comedian was right up there with the worst of them, he just wasn’t to our taste so we only went to one show, he did put on 4 or 5 though

Cruise Director Gene wasn’t the most visible, didn’t see him or chat to him once, his assistant Francesco was much more evident, a lovely chap, and that accent….

Quizzes were very visual as they generally are on MSC as it’s normally multi lingual, they had been tailored to the UK market though. We did a couple, won one – there was no prize, not even a key ring Line dancing & dance classes were good, all were done socially distanced and without partners. Masks were worn while dancing

One bar at the end of the main walkway had music and dancing every night. I imagine on a full cruise dancing would be in the main walkway but the little dance floor sufficed and the band were quite good Normal mix of cruise dance songs, nothing exceptional. One of the restaurants along ‘the main drag’ does boast 7 Roy Lichtenstein large limited edition prints, so I had to take a quick snap

Rob the Robot bar tender is a Virtuosa attraction. His cocktails or mocktails were £18 each and not included in the drinks packages. One family were horrified to have paid £18 for a ‘glass of Orange juice’ and certainly made themselves heard. Coffee there was superb however, we loved the funky cups and waiters!

Another favourite was the ‘sky bar’ that might not be the right name for it, but you know the one at the top, a lot of ships have. I always like those anyway. The indoor pool area was great but busy and you had to book the hot tub here with the life guard. MSC have lifeguards in all pool areas. Outside there were no restrictions on the huge hot tubs and the waiters would even bring you a cocktail there!

There were kids and teen clubs, enormous gym, huge games area, bowling, water park, a massive casino, none of which I used. We did intend to blow £5 each in the casino one night, I’ve never tried, so might give it a go sometime in another group, but the space bar was calling…

We had one port, Portland, I stayed onboard though as I didn’t fancy a coach trip. They were pretty good value at £43 and guests stayed within their coach group at the short stops

Disembarking was pretty standard and very efficient. Cases were left out the night before and quickly made it to terminal building. Cabins had to be vacated by a respectable 8am and full breakfast was available. A few people had failed to register their credit cards and had to do a walk of shame back to reception with security

It was great to be back at sea and I can’t wait to do it again! This isn’t a pro blog, so there are no affiliated links, just what I chose to use and do and I just booked as a regular passenger on the ship. If you like cruise blogs Emma Cruises, Cruise Monkeys, Cruise Mummy and Shipmonk are all ones I like! I’ll never make a cruise blogger, I always make up my own names for the bars, but this is just a fun port blog anyway!