THE MOST INSANE EMBARKATION! MSC Virtuosa - Vlog 1: Embarkation day, Southampton #cruise #cruisevlog

Hello, and welcome to my new vlog series! In this series, I'm boarding MSC Virtuosa for a 7-night cruise to the 'Northern Cities' over New Year. This means we'll be leaving Southampton (England) and visiting Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Le Havre (Paris), so stay tuned to see what each of these ports can offer you on your travels!

In this episode, I've just driven south after spending Christmas in Glasgow, and it's time to board the ship at Southampton's new Horizon Cruise Terminal - I still can't believe the time it took to board...!

After getting on board, I'll walk you through MSC's muster drill process, and also give you a flavour to what life on 'day 1' on an MSC ship is really like - let's go!

If you're new to my channel, hello! I'm Fraser, and I'm hoping to use this channel to show you why I love the world of 'cruise' so much. So, for now, hit that subscribe button and let's go - I've got SO MUCH to show you!

Video chapters:
Introduction: 00:02
Horizon Cruise Terminal: 01:25
Boarding the ship: 03:00
Virtuosa's promenade/Galleria: 03:32
Top deck - first impressions: 03:58
First stop - the Buffet for pizza: 04:38
Digital screens: 08:44
Time for the Muster Drill: 09:24
Thermal Suite - first impressions: 13:17
First impressions, the plan for tonight & are MSC still good for solo travellers?!: 13:38

#cruise #cruisevlog #cruiseship #msccruises #msccrociere #mscvirtuosa #cruisevlogger #cruiseline #travelvlog #travelvlogger #travel #ship

[shawnryan]

So far looks beautiful stunning ship - looking forward to see “ This is the way” MSC way 😀 ty - for the take on things 👍

[tammy_oh_nevermind]

Beautiful ship! Bit of a strange muster. Can't wait for more! Thanks Fraser!

[travelwithjonnyandwill]

Hey Fraser. Thanks for the blog. We also found the new Horizon terminal so quick for embarkation. We love it

[janetparkin]

Lovely to see the ship again! I can’t believe that you didn’t mention your super solo dining companions ! I will have to look out for your next instalment
Jan

[susanskarratts]

Me and my friend have booked virtuosa end of may for 5 day cruise! Sooo excited!

[dimplestraveldiary]

Hi Fraser! MSC is on my list. I will be watching to see more of your experiences.

[LowVisionUKTerrysView]

Hey Fraser. Great to see your new vlog. I hope you did manage to sit with other solo travellers for dinner on that first evening?
We are back on Virtuosa on 10th March. Im so chuffed I came across you back end of last year, as its you that convinced me to go on an MSC Ship, and now this is my third time on Virtuosa too...just love it...Terry

[BritsAbroadTravelCruise]

We also found that same open deck area at the aft area outside the buffet, and had breakfast or coffee there each morning in quiet surroundings staring out to sea or port.

[stephenm]

Hi Fraser as ever, very impressed with the info and its presentation. Thank you. We did 4 cruises on Virtuosa over 2021 & 22. 3x in Yacht Club (when they were giving LARGE NHS discounts) and 1 in "Bella Experience." So we like the ship and MSC. The muster drills were slightly different each time, and the preparatory information wasn't terribly clear. But we are used to all cruiselines being somewhat imperfect, so not a real problem. The last 2 embarkations were fast, too. 10 mins, one a YC and the other Bella, indeed with our Voyagers Club status giving us Priority boarding for the Bella cruise, it turned out the longer 'Priority ' queue processed slower than the normal queue. So if we hadn't bothered with Priority it would have been 5 mins! Both times, the ship was near capacity.

[lesleyhackett]

look forward to seeing how the solo side of it worked out. Hope it was as good as you found on previous cruises.

[SoloSueTravels]

I agree, strange that they wanted to make you pick a set time for the thermal suite. That isn't usually how those passes work.

[annasutton]

Hi Jamie, just watched you on the TV for a change. Which terminal do P&O sail from?

[ceeabee]

Sounded like you said today is the 30th November & tomorrow is New Year [28 secs], maybe it's just the accent ... Long time since I have seen any of my Scottish relatives, so the ear isn't as tuned in as it once was.

[VikPaints]

Question: Hey Fraser, can I Can you check the menu in the MDR before hand. (On a large TV screen outside the restaurant as on Iona) or maybe on the MSC app? I'm going on Virtuosa soon and would be useful to know. Many thanks, Vik

[louiseboussobeine]

Great video never done MSC before what are the drink prices like ?

[lisalopez]

What’s the Thermal suite? Does it have a hot tub or hydrotherapy pool?

[kathtrevains]

Do you have to book to see shows and are they free?

[cruisecrazy]

Have you considered having fewer selfies. The video is supposed to be about the ship, and cruising, not YOU.

[perrikennedy]

Oh interesting, so MSC isn’t making everyone go to muster at the same time? NCL has reverted to the mass muster, not looking forward to that.

[apheenaroebuck-webb]

Nice video. Good content. Music is annoying.