MSC Virtuosa Cruise Review - 12 Nights Canary Islands May 2023

I enjoyed my MSC Virtuosa cruise in 2022 so much, I signed up for another cruise with them - this time 12 nights to and from the Canary Islands. And the experience was great - indeed I think it was even better than the previous cruise as some of the shortcomings I'd noticed last year seemed to have been addressed.

In this video I'll review that cruise and share how I think MSC is getting even better...

And I enjoyed it so much, I signed up for another cruise later this year!

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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
2:23 - Boarding
5:02 - My Cabin
7:36 - Food
12:04 - Entertainment
14:20 - The Back Show
15:49 - Party Time
16:40 - Little People
17:57 - It was Unique!
19:30 - Big Finish!

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[johnstringer]

Love your videos. Info on gluten free dining options would be very helpful.
Cheers and happy cruising.

[WendyHansford-yf]

Great insight. May I ask does your mum use a mobility scooter on the ship and if so can you use one for getting on and off the ship. I'm sailing October 24 on Virtuosa for the first time however have recently damaged my knee

[Ladioz]

Cant wait to get on the Virtuosa in 2 months. All i want to do is eat at the buffet and drink every kind of cocktail i can get my hands on.... sit by the pool... by the deck... enjoy a couple of sunsets and see a few port cities. I went the extra mile to try the Easy Plus package this time. I hope it will be good

[steve-marsh]

I'd definitely be keen to give MSC a go after your videos, really liked the finalle too :) I'll just remember like you say to avoid school holidays!

[GWJUK]

I’ve not been in a cruise and I’m not keen but I still watch the videos!

[imsbvs]

Great to watch, have recently booked to cruise on this ship later in the year. Will be first cruise since 2018, owing to ill health I had to spend 2 years locked away with face masks etc so am very pleased to be getting back to normal life again.

[franklinrwful]

We have holidayed on MSC twice. I highly recommend the Aurea Experience which has priority boarding and disembarkation, anytime dining in a dedicated restaurant or main restaurant area, excellent waiter and room service, complementary access to the spa area and special sundeck, free room service, cabins with the best views, right to chose your cabin before the trip. Aurea is also a lot cheaper than Yacht Club.

[retepyam]

Hi Matt, I was on the same cruise and would agree they have upped their game since my previous cruise to Norway with them last year.
I have to say though at 4200 passengers it was full enough for me and would not want to be on board at full capacity.
The food was very good and as one of our party didn't like mushrooms and onions they always found a nice meal to eat and the service was very good.
The entertainment, as you say has improved, with some really good acts and whilst Arkymea was very good, saw it last year, we also watched the other show which wasn't particularly good.
I did find disembarkation at some of the destinations was also a bit slow to the point where you could not board the coach at time for your excursion so would have been cut a bit short.
Funchal would agree Madeira was fab and did the toboggan run which was great fun.
We tried Hola and thouroughly enjoyed it and thought it excellent value for money and you can choose your spice level. Kind regards

[nmanthey]

We ate at The Butchers Cut. The food and service were fantastic. As for the additional paid for shows, they are cheaper if bought before the cruise, £9 as opposed to £15 onboard. When we were in the MDR, all the waiters did a little bit of singing and not just the female waiters.

[MH_---]

Booked a 2 night taster to Bruges next year, how easy is it to request the room made with twin beds? Thanks!

[maracavicchia]

Hello Matt,

Thank you for your informative Virtuosa cruise videos. Your honest, unbiased approach really stands out, and I find your channel uniquely helpful. I have sent you an email through your blog if you don't mind with some questions I have about my upcoming trip on the Virtuosa. I would really appreciate it if you would find the time to read it and reply. Thank you!

[alangauld]

We are booked for 2 weeks on Virtuosa in October - our first time with MSC and cost was the big factor. Your review was really useful, thanks. We normally use the speciality restaurants but based on your experience I don't think we'll buy a package but take a look once we are on board! One thing nobody ever mentions is the library, do MSC have one? It's usually my favourite quiet space on busy ships but a few lines seem to have stopped doing them - is kindle to blame maybe?

[craigmorrow]

Surely the muster drill is supposed to resemble what a real emergency would be like? No good doing it leisurely it doesn't prepare you at all.

[HollyBisson]

Great video but I would respectfully disagree with you on the muster drill - by having everyone descend at the same time, it gives an idea of how it busy would be in an emergency situation when things wouldn’t be staggered (albeit done without the panic!)

We had a great time when we did Iceland & Norway on MSC Virtuosa and found the crew superb and food fantastic!

[Radishhead]

I’ll be on this ship next August going to fjords. I’ve heard it gets very busy - do you have any tips in terms of which bars are quieter, or times of day I’d be more likely to get a seat?

[susanhall]

4 oʻf us are going in may then me and my sister in june went last may so we are getting used to ship

[Sirius__]

We went on the Virtuosa last year on a Northern Europe Cruise and had a great time! Only issues we had was the lack of seating in some of the bar areas, other than that we couldn't fault it

[TonyLon]

Interesting to see a really positive review of MSC as of all the cruise lines they do seem to attract the most flak from all the YouTube reviewers.
Still not sure its for me though. The ships are just too big. I think as I get older smaller is better and i’d be wary about travelling on anything 2000+ now.
Interesting to hear that the shows are now 30 - 40 mins. As I thought that even the 45 min length they have generally been in my experience often feels a bit rushed & short..
And as for a 5.30 dinner!! I can only think Is this an option carried over from American sailings where ridiculously early meal times are the norm.
And finally - how did you find the sea days as I know they’ve been a bête noire of yours previously?

[gavinonline]

Matt, completely agree with you. We'd a wonderful time on the same cruise as you and the same disembarkation chaos; it took us 2 1/2 hours to get a taxi from the Horizon Cruise Terminal! (We even had the same experience of being pushed aside by a Yacht Club Butler who, I am pretty sure one of these days will get a resounding punch on the nose for his rudeness from a less tolerant passenger!) Really love MSC Cruises and that was number 10 with them! Horizon Cruise Terminal in Southampton, however, is another matter; it's very poorly managed and swamped by traffic. I would have serious doubts about repeating that, especially as I had a disabled passenger with me.

[PaulK]

Hi Matt. I'm sailing on the Virtuoso to Spain & France this month, and your videos have been helpful. I'm considering the Canaries in August, but am concerned about the number of sea days. Do you think the Canaries is a good itinerary & do they offer good deals for those booking on board? Thanks.