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MSC Virtuosa Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 6
Helpful Votes: 111

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
MSC Virtuosa

7 Night Northern Europe (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 18, 2024

Ship: MSC Virtuosa

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 months ago

Review summary

Relaxing and enjoyable with lovely ports and excursions.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
We were in Yacht Club so embarkation was seamless. Straight from the car to the YC tent, dropped off luggage and then escorted straight through security into the YC lounge upstairs. On the ship within minutes.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
We ate really well for the whole week, too well I’m guessing, thank goodness they don’t weigh you on the way out! Used the Top Sail lounge, The YC deck and buffet, the main YC restaurant and the marketplace buffet as well. We decided on the day and depending on the menu as to where we were eating. No complaints at all. Also dined at Indochine where the waiter was amazing took his time to explain everything and made sure constantly that we were ok and topped up our drinks.

Indochine Restaurant

5 out of 5

Super helpful waiter, great attentive service and lovely elegant dining area. Really well put together and we are already going to book to go again next year on our next cruise. Food was gorgeous.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Galleria Virtuosa

5 out of 5

Loved the galleria show and the shopping and gelato also

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Service in the Yacht Club was exemplary, our butler was there if you needed him, unfailingly helpful and a lovely person to boot. We were lucky to have him! We didn’t just stay in YC we went all over the ship and found all of the staff super helpful, engaging and smiling ! Even though at times they were obviously busy they were amazing to be honest.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Ship was incredibly clean, on other ships and companies we often saw plates, glasses, trays of rubbish outside cabin doors but on Virtuosa it was very rare. All the common areas were very clean indeed. How they manage to keep it so clean with the amount of passengers is beyond me. We had no trouble with the layout of the ship as had been on Euribia and it’s her sister ship so we found our feet straight away. The lifts are brilliant also, never waited long at all.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Lovely size, well equipped and loved the coffee machine so much that on arriving home we bought one! Bed was very comfortable and the air conditioning worked a treat ( we prefer to be on the cold side) especially as Norway was 24 degrees every day unexpectedly hot! Loved the fact MSC still offer nightly turn downs as so many other companies have ditched them - it’s lovely to come back to your cabin all ready to settle down for the night.

Ship tip

Book Excursions as early as you can as they can and will run out.

Ports of call

Haugesund

5 out of 5
Did the walking tour - be aware there are quite a few inclines and gradients on this tour but still enjoyable helped to burn off a fair few extra calories! Guide was lovely.

NORDFJORDEID, NORWAY

5 out of 5
Great port again ( referred to as Eid by the locals) we did an MSC excursion to the Glacier and then onto the museum which was very interesting and got to touch a piece of actual glacier! Great guide and driver and a very hot 24 degrees.

Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland

5 out of 5
We did the Northmavine excursion from MSC and loved it as we got to see a fair bit of the island and the guide Les was both entertaining and knowledgeable. He was also an extra in the Shetland series, Season 3 episode 1 and 3 minutes in, as he kept dropping it into the conversation! Seriously though great guide, full of knowledge, great sense of humour and also gave us poetry and a song !

Flaam, Norway

5 out of 5
Went on the fjord excursion which was very relaxing just sitting there watching the beauty of the fjords pass by. The boat had great facilities with a small cafe/shop onboard and was immaculate.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Again seamless. We chose to leave at 6:30am and our butler took the suitcase down for me from our cabin door to our car boot. Absolutely amazed that he did that for us, just expected him to wave us off the ship. We were out of the car park within minutes and on our way home (sadly!)

Traveler Photos

Cabin
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4 Comments

javawoody     5 months ago

Appreciate detailed feedback

AuntPinkie     5 months ago

Great itinerary. Appreciate your detailed and informative review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

HeavySeas     5 months ago

Awesome.......thanks for sharing and glad you enjoyed your cruise

cruising2004     5 months ago

Glad you had a wonderful cruise! Thank you for your detailed review.