On 20th May 2021 the brand new MSC Virtuosa set off on her inaugural cruise, sailing from Southampton for a 4 night voyage to Portland and back. With a passenger capacity of 6300 the Virtuosa will initially be sailing her first few cruises with only 1000 passengers in order to comply with UK government guidance.  Having made our booking only a couple of weeks before sailing we booked onto her maiden voyage in a standard balcony cabin which included a premium drinks package and included gratuities.

We arrived at City terminal, Southampton at our allocated embarkation time of 11am. Unfortunately the weather in Southampton was not up to usual May standards with a strong northerly wind making the short queue outside the terminal building a bit uncomfortable. However, we only queued for about 15 minutes before we were inside the building where there were approximately a dozen tables set out to check that all passengers had the necessary documentation and paperwork in place in order to travel. This included checking our passports, tickets, vaccine/lateral flow test result, health questionnaire and travel insurance. Make sure you have a print out of your travel insurance which clearly shows COVID cover, ours son’s policy confirmation documents didn’t show this so it took a phone call to his insurance company to get them to send an email confirming this before we were allowed to progress any further.

After this initial check we then went through security before joining a short queue to have a lateral flow test. Whilst waiting for the lateral flow to process we moved to the check-in desk to get our cruise cards and track and trace wristbands which all passengers are required to wear at all times. At this point we were asked to wait half an hour for the swab test result to come through before being allowed to board the ship. All told this took us just over an hour and a half and we were on board in time for lunch.

The health and safety protocols require all passengers to have a temperature check at least once a day and every time they go to the buffet or a restaurant. Staff are also posted outside the buffet to make sure that all passengers wash their hands before entering. The buffet is a little different to how we remember it, but personally I preferred it. All of the food is on view but behind screens and the crew are on hand to pass you whatever you ask for. The only problem we found with this was sometimes our trays became a little overloaded with small plates and bowls, but maybe we just need to eat less!

Once inside any of the bars or restaurants the seating is all labelled up to ensure social distancing and all of the bar and food menus are now available via a QR code on your phone, although there are still paper menus available upon request. Only once you are seated with a drink or food in front of you can you remove your mask, otherwise masks are required any time you are moving around the ship, and there are announcements made over the ships tannoys to remind you of these rules at least 3 times a day. During any of the shows or performances in the Grand Theatre or the Carousel Line guests are required to wear their masks unless they are having a drink. All areas of the ship are open and fully functioning, except for the thermal spa which is closed in order to comply with COVID health and safety.

One of the other main differences to previous cruises is the way in which muster is undertaken. The muster drill is now shown on the TV in your cabin, with a number given out at the end of the drill for all passengers to call to show they have ‘attended’. After this guests are invited to make their way to their muster station where everybody’s cruise card is scanned to show that they have been there. This all went relatively smoothly although making everyone go to the station at the same time did create some crowding and congestion which could have been avoided if they had perhaps done this on a deck by deck basis. 

Although we didn’t get off of the ship there are organised tours for guests to go on and for the time being this is the only way passengers can get off of the ship when its docked. Again, all temperatures are taken before guests board the coaches and again before they board the ship upon return. As well as passenger checks all of the crew wear masks at all times and have a lateral flow test undertaken every 3 days.

We have to say that we felt extremely safe on board and as far as we were aware there were no positive tests. Most passengers complied with the rules and the crew were very vigilant in asking people to adhere to the rules if they noticed any non-compliance (and lets face we almost all forget to put on our mask every time we get up at some point).

As the only large company offering cruises for non-vaccinated passengers, MSC are now on their second UK cruise and things seem to be going well. They have invested heavily in taking health and safety advise and ensuring all passengers and crew are tested before boarding and during the cruise as necessary. They are setting the standard for other cruise lines to follow and hopefully this investment will result in the permanent resumption of cruising. Although some of the passenger experiences are different none of them are too onerous and hopefully things will slowly return to normal. We were just glad to be back on the high seas and are grateful to MSC for stepping up to the plate and taking the risk to cruise from the UK again - bravo!

For a guide to some of the fun things to do on MSC Virtuosa click here.

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