I've always wanted to, but have never been on a cruise myself.... So watching your content is like vicariously living out one of my dreams!! Definitely on my bucket list! Please keep up the great work, you really are doing an Awesome job at everything, filming, editing, and narrating! Thanks again for such superb content! 👌
MSC had to tippy toe on everything especially with EVERYONE watching. Great job on them taking every precaution and showing the world that we are ready to cruise again and great job to you our Cruise Ambassador :)
they do keep everything remarkably clean and have internal inspections every few days, the problem is the passengers and just how disgusting some people are when it comes to washing hands, personal hygiene etc. Especially in the buffet areas, ive seen people picking up food with their hands, licking their fingers and then touching tongs, cutlery, glasses and whatever else their dirty mits can get hold of
I agree that the one of best aspects of the cruise experience is the wonderful staff on board. I especially appreciate that many of them are away from their homes and families for long periods of time and yet they are so courteous, friendly and helpful and are models for the travel industry to aspire.
Kudos to Emma for actually having booked this cruise paying retail price as opposed to many cruise bloggers who seek out and accept cruises comped by the cruise line, a clear conflict of interest (and blatant abuse when not posting this information at the start of their blog post).
Emma you truly are a superb ambassador for the cruise ship industry. Thoroughly enjoyed your straight forward, honest commentary about this 4 day MSC cruise in the UK for British citizens. Very much looking forward to the day when others can once again join in on the wonderful world of cruising. Well done.
We’ve been running boat trips around the cruise ships anchored in Weymouth bay for the past year. It was lovely to come alongside on your way out of Portland Harbour and finally see some passengers onboard!
I love the idea of a QR code for the wine list. Because they are so long the crew generally take the wine list away after I order a glass, and I am someone who likes to switch up my wine along with the courses of food.
Part of the fun of trying a selection of wines onboard is finding an absolute winner and then buying a crate of it back onshore for a third of the price!
Maybe kind of silly but I do think it’s quite brave to do something like this. You can give me all the reassurances but I’d always be a little wary to be the “first.” It must have been so nice to go somewhere even if you didn’t leave the country and get to be with your friends though😊 Thanks for doing this and giving us all the info!
@@kristinaschmit8009 I had a very mild case of Covid and I'm old enough to be her mother. In the past, I battled cases of the flu that were way worse than Covid.
As an Indonesian myself glad you enjoyed Indonesian cuisine. Yes the foods here are really filling that's why here we usually don't have any starter or deserts, just a main dish. I'm not quite sure of what you've eaten but it is definitely part of the "salad with peanut sauce" series of food. The one thing you must tried though when you could is "Asinan". It's basically pickled fruits. The funny thing is, although the name literally translate to "salty food". In realty it is a bit spicy. I always introduce this when I have people from abroad visiting.
I personally like having everything on a wristband. I am bad about remembering my card when I leave the cabin. I am forever leaving it on the desk as I leave.
I wonder if P&O and Cunard will be dragged into the 21st century and get wristbands. Those are the lines we use, and compared to other lines I see on RU-vid, they seem a little technologically behind the rest (British understatement).
We sometimes say “fancy that” to mean “imagine that.” Very rarely it can be used to mean “want” - like “I’d fancy another round.” Great video! Very informative, I need to try MSC.
Example use of "fancy" (a) "Did you see that Mary's seeing John now?" "Ooh! Fancy that!" (b) "I fancy some of that gateau." (c) "She's well fit! I fancy her something rotten!"
I live in Weymouth, we saw the sail in and I said to my partner that you’d be on it. I’ve absolutely no idea how I ended up here but I find all this fascinating, we pop through the cruise ships in Weymouth bay on our way to our fishing spots, we’ve had them here for over a year now and we’ll miss them from the skyline once they’ve gone! We all think locally there would be a market for one moored up as a floating hotel!
One Crystal cruise I went on, I spoke to an executive of Crystal and he said - For our crew, We hire the personality and train the job. That made so much sense....
Love the shot of you with your embarkation glass of champagne. The price was really very good for the four nights, your budget cruising wins out on this one for sure. I do use "fancy that" and never really thought about it being a Britishism, I muct have picked up from some of my Brit friends. I really like the new way that the buffet is being done. Easy peasy. Love that you got to go into the Yacht Club and have dinner there, that was nice of MSC. Excellent recap of your cruise, thanks for sharing.
@@EmmaCruises : South Today is the BBC regional evening news programme for the south-coast, including Portsmouth & Southampton. The first cruise from Soton was big news locally.
Tomorrow is never promised, so do what you want now...explore the world....meet new people...be with your love ones...no more work work work,,,,just ENJOY life,because when our time comes..then that's it.....thoughts to live by during this pandemic.
Wonderful to see you working onboard Emma! We loved it EXCEPT IT TOOK US 2 1/2 HOURS TOGET ONBOARD - WE WAITED OVER AN HOUR OUTSIDE IN A FREEZING WIND AND IT GOT WORSE AFTER! They didn't update their details after we had upgraded to balcony - and they told us to go to another building where we waited 45 minutes while they sorted it out! Then we were in the back of the queue for testing and the waiting room after was the first chance to sit down 2 hours after arriving smack on our right time!! Being over 70 it almost made us go home before boarding! But we were glad we didn't- once on board it was exactly as you said!Everything was SUPERB! But they'll need to sort the boarding out! The evening shows were absolutely as good as anything we've seen anywhere - and the food. Was wonderful! Best wishes Anne and Gerry hobbs
Hi Gerald, I think being the first ever cruise for them to have the new boarding process it’s understandable for them to have a few teething issues and was to be expected.
Loved seeing you onboard again and seeing the new changes involved with current day cruising... and now I'm even more excited for our upcoming cruise in September. Thank you for sharing!
Hi! Just found your channel as I’m attempting my very first cruise to the Baltic in the Summer. It’s interesting to see how they are managing things, nowadays with the pandemic and restrictions. I do hope some things regarding sanitation and social distancing etc. remain when I go, but it’d be nice to not have to worry about some things that we are currently expected to do.
Sounds like the Buffet is being run like the cruise I went on that had a Norovirus outbreak. Instead of self serve you would just ask for what you wanted and they would hand it to you. Of course my cruise was full of Americans who couldn't follow rules and the entire cruise was canceled early and we all got refunds. It was actually a great prep trip for eventual covid because we all understood that a LOT of people only care about themselves
I had to laugh when you said it "felt like they put it up in my brain" haha, first time my wife got one I had gotten one previously, so the nurse and I were joking, I got mine first, she made my wife put her head against the wall because she could tell she would pull back. Not fun getting those tests, gladly we have our vax now and are ready for our Oct 9 sailing onboard Freedom. Fitting!
I have never had to take a life jacket to a muster drill and have still not seen any of the drama that people complain about related to the muster drill. What I like about the muster drill is meeting people from the area the ship where I'm staying. I'm glad that at least they're making people check in at the location so they know where to go If there was an emergency.
As usual Emma a great vlog on your cruise, looks like you had a great time, Rob didn't chat you up like normal barman do then! with all that food even only 4 days did you put on any weight it's the one time seem to, heres to that next cruise. ,
Thank you for the informative video. You mentioned Indochine is an Indonesian restaurant. Many people mistake Indochine as Indonesian. It refers to Indochina, mainly, but not exclusively, Vietnam. MSC's press release on Indochine said, "Indochine is a new original concept that will offer guests “Vietnamese classics with a French twist, combining two delicious culinary heritages,” MSC said. Its menu will include various vegetarian and vegan options, as well as a “multitude of tasty options that can be served family style, to share amongst friends.”
I can't believe how used you are to wearing a mask! In NZ I've worn a mask maybe a couple times - both on flights. And I think once on a local train. I hate and loath them, and wouldn't go on holiday anywhere that I'd have to use them
It’s like a soda/flavored beverages person learning to drink room temperature plain water! Your body will adapt if your wear long and enough times it’ll feel normal. So you don’t stress about it when you go out! Especially get the mask that it doesn’t touch your mouth and it’ll be fine! The body is adaptable
@@Iceyfire12 Smokers say the same thing but if you force someone to smoke it is attempted murder/ manslaughter. Makes no difference if is a private business or if you argue it is optional when it is a condition of entry/ employment. The law doesn''t recognise such 'loopholes'. It is called attempted murder.
Great video Emma and yes we did see you on the One show item. Looks like a great ship but I do have a query, if everyone is tested just before boarding and assuming nobody does a port excursion why does everyone need to wear a mask? Is it over cautious? I know there will be comments about infection but if everyone is tested and there are not port stops are masks needed.
Just because you tested negative on one day doesn't mean you don't have it. If you had gotten infected on Thursday and then were tested on Friday, it wouldn't show up. The cruise lines have to be far more circumspect because the public mentality is that the Diamond Princess was the start of the pandemic. It wasn't, but that doesn't change mass public opinion. They have to be more careful than any other business, even if it doesn't necessarily make sense.
I usually get the inside stateroom as well. Only use it for sleeping 🛌 mostly anyway. Thank you for the inside look at what cruising will look like. Glad you had a good time and a safe journey! I’m sure Hudson was glad to see you! Have a great weekend Emmma !
I totally get the sentiment here. It'd be like being able to have one bottle of wine a year (maybe two), but you're only allowed to drink it if it's watered down.
Great to see how post pandemic cruising works. We are on a 3 nighter in July and your video gives a good and reassuring impression of what we might expect. I haved missed the friendly staff as much as any other aspect of cruising. As you say, they all seem to go out of their way to make you feel good about yout time on board. Definitely looking forward now.
I’m an Er and icu nurse. The best COVID test are the ones that go all the way to the pharyngeal area where the nose and moth come together. It’s quite uncomfortable but it’s most accurate
Like locusts, watching people eat nonstop from the constant new buffet setups 24 hrs, on decks was a chief riotous entertainment of my companions and I. Tall cold ones in hand, on lounge chairs, we laughed ourselves silly !!
Nice informative video. Just a remark: you are getting too excited about how the pandemic measures are enforced, but keep in mind that cruise liners which are sailing now are loosing big money on keeping sailing. They do that just to keep the people eager for cruising. MSC is spending about half million Euro each 7 days cruise (in Mediterranean cruises) only for implementing the testing and other health safety protocols. Add to that about a million Euro for fuel. Then calculate an average of 1000 Euro * 1000 guests of income, and you will easily see that is far to be profitable. And having crew attending the buffet it might be fun for guests, but that increase crew numbers a lot. As a former crew member I can say even before the F&B crew was working about 10h/day, so you need more crew to attend the buffet. If people want to continue with social distancing for ever, they should say bye bye to cruise industry, or they will pay 3-4 times more than before, and cruising will go back to what were 30-40 years ago, only for luxury travels, not for mass tourism like now. A ship like Virtuosa has about 1500 crew members. How profitable can be to have 1.5 crew member for each guest? :-)
Great video, fantastic to see it through your eyes, I enjoyed what I saw and could tell by your enthusiasm that you enjoyed it too. I think the biggest thing about the video is being reminded how lovely the crew are. I also forgot and it's great being reminded and knowing it's this like that and that they take the additional complications fine and make it as easy for the guests as possible.
Fair enough, good thing about British isles cruises is it wouldn’t take more than a day to get back to port to disembark everybody. Nobody will be quarantined at sea like at the start of the pandemic 😀👏🏼
LOL especially with an inside cabin! If I remember correctly, I think there were some people found on a Mein Schiff ship with C19 and that was all handled with minimal fuss: track'n'trace was used, people were re-tested and/or taken off the ship, the situation was managed and the cruise carried on.
Yep I bet it hurt... The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective semipermeable border of endothelial cells that prevents solutes in the circulating blood from non-selectively crossing into the extracellular fluid of the central nervous system where neurons reside.
It’s like a budget flyer, someone can fly every day for a year but fly on a budget. An inside cabin on a cruise - flying without allocating a seat or with only hand luggage.
Emma, very nice of you to subject yourself to the world of upscale luxury of the Yacht Club on behalf of your viewers. It's your willingness to brave things only the wealthy usually can afford that shows your commitment to take one for the team.
Someone left the Yacht Club Door open at 01:30am... It would have been rude to decline such an inviting invitation 😅 So I did pop in and gave a quick look, and it does look lovely
I lived and worked in Weymouth and Portland for a number of years and in fact one of the sites I worked at was on the end of one arm of the harbour wall. We used to spend a lot of time wandering back and forth along them. I cannot imagine what a cruise ship of this size would look like in there. It must have been a spectacular sight!
So lucky! I’m glad you had a great time. I hope menus on our phones doesn’t stay. I don’t care for that, especially in nicer restaurants. I like to sit down and look at a real menu like a civilized person. 😁 We have a cruises booked for April 2022, so hopefully all will be well. 🤞🏻
Bit the bullet and booked a 7 night cruise around Scotland, leaving from Newcastle on marella explorer in August, 800 pound per person for an outside cabin, all inclusive! You would not get a self catering log cabin in august for that price Definitely looks like the cruise lines have this covered 👍
Great video chickie!!! Loved the insight, and wow...I felt the stakes of this first sailing. So glad you're back onboard. Making me want to set sail now. 🥰🥳😘🛳️
Thank you for sharing your experience on the MSC Virtuosa. Its nice to know what you went through so other can get prepared when they get to finally cruise this summer. We have not been on MSC yet but it on our (my) list. Thanks!
Brilliant video! I am brimming with hope for things to get back to normal and seeing so much 'normalcy' onboard is very reassuring. The ship really is beautiful and you showcased it very well. I wouldn't have popped that kind of money for Rob to make me a drink either! Will definitely check out the channels for your friends!
I really enjoy your commentaries. You are always so upbeat! That ship looks huge! Living in Western Canada, I've not had an opportunity to travel with MSC. I think my brother has and he enjoyed it. Thank you again for a very interesting tour of the ship and great commentary. And...you're so darn cute!
Many thanks Emma for posting this. I have been waiting for it to pop (? Another British-ism) into my You Tube page and I thoroughly enjoyed the 25 minutes I spent watching it. Well done and I look forward to hearing more from you later in the year. David T
Love MSC ships, the sleek design, the colour palette, everything. And the food is amazing. I am from South América so italian/european food is something we are used to... can't wait to go back!
Emma never been on a cruise and don't think I ever will (my wife hates the water) but I love watching your videos you really are a beautiful lady and so informative.
Really enjoyed hearing of your recent cruise experiences. I also use the budget cabin approach and spend a bit on a specialty dining package to make the evenings a little special. It seems that you were able to enjoy spending time together with friends on board which is my favorite part of getting away on a cruise. Cheers 🥂
Super! Great video! Glad you had a terrific time Emma! I'm happy for you. First, thanks for all the useful information! Looked really cold there at times! Love the pics of all your friends! Gorgeous Swarovski Crystal stairs. Also love that central street. She's a gorgeous ship! Glad you got to enjoy all the dining onboard! Thanks again Emma! I "fancy" your next video!😊Stay safe my dear friend! P.s. Love their wristband to charge everything! ❤❤😉
I saw that couple from (I assume) Northern Ireland posted their review of the MTS Virtuosa and refreshed this channel a few times that day waiting for yours. :D SO EXCITED TO WATCH! Congrats on cruising again!
Nice review. I have just got off the second 4 day cruise on Virtuosa and you have nailed pretty much everything. I liked that the drinks package also included proper coffee which you can get at pretty much every bar.
Emma, I so enjoyed your tour of MSC! I cruised back in Oct 2020 to Italy, France and Spain on MSC. I was not impressed with that ship compared to this beautifully appointed ship! The changes implemented now are certainly making me feel safe to cruise again. I now a new subscriber! Love your accent! My brother moved from the US to England 20 + years ago. My first trip to London and Dorset was amazing! He now lives in Whitley Bay. 😷🚢🍹🍻
