Spain, Tunisia, Italy & France from Barcelona with Stay, 3 October 2027 (9 nights)

The ship is amazing and all the crew go above and beyond to help you. MSC do everything to make sure your stay with them is perfect. The on board fertility are amazing and all the trips of the ship that are arranged by MSC are look after by MSC and are brilliant

Bigger isn't always better. Very crowded ship, if you want a seat in one of the bars better get there at 3pm and stay all night. Embarkation was easy at southampton but disembarkation was a shambles. Pools were ok, very long way from the waterslides to find they're closed - a sign in the pool area would be useful. Food in the buffet was ok. Cabin was well designed, but could have done with a deep clean, we found two pills on the floor, not good when travelling with children. The theatre shows were actually pretty good, the theatre is lovely and the entertainment team were talented, but there were lots of passengers who missed out since you have to book the minute you get on board. Substandard communication from bridge crew to the passengers, we sailed through rough seas without a word, two out of three ports were cancelled, and three days sailing around in circles in the english channel, the captain made a general announcement and didn't even know what day it was. You get more information from the captain on a short haul flight.

Very disappointing cruise, despite the weather causing us to miss Spain, the actual ship had so many issues. So many complaints.

Virtuosa is undoubtedly a beautiful ship. We found the staff to be friendly and attentive, whilst all was going well, and the food was generally very good. Unfortunately, senior staff let MSC down by their dreadful lack of communication with passengers and an inability to manage the hiccups that arose. Sadly, on our cruise (19th – 25th October) there were several hiccups, including (although not limited to) those mentioned here. Some 4,000 or 5,000 passengers probably went ashore at La Rochelle, all of whom needed to re-board later in the day. If security dictates that every passenger’s bag and coat are to be scanned when they re-board the ship, surely more than two scanners are necessary. The delays caused by MSC only operating two security scanners led to a three hour queue alongside the ship on what was a cold and blustery day. Whilst an explanation, apology or reassurances from MSC staff wouldn’t have alleviated the cold, it would have at least demonstrated an understanding of the frustration caused. What with both subsequent scheduled ports being cancelled, this issue didn’t arise in quite the same way again. The unscheduled visit to Falmouth required tenders to ferry passengers ashore. Probably because the visit was unscheduled, there were far too few tenders to match the timetable for going ashore, as published and repeatedly announced over the public address system. Consequently, as the morning progressed, chaos developed in the waiting areas, with passengers not knowing what tenders they were supposedly assigned to or when those tenders might depart. This problem was probably unavoidable, but better communication and better management would have eased the situation and (again) the frustration of passengers considerably. Sometime overnight on the last night of the cruise, the vast majority of the ship’s toilets and all cabin toilets were rendered out of action. There was no announcement about this at all, with most passengers discovering the toilets wouldn’t flush only after they had been used. In response to complaints by passengers, a staff member apparently suggested there was no announcement because there was no way of alleviating the problem. That may be true, but if two people are sharing a cabin and one has need to deposit more down the toilet than the other, then, with warning, they can decide who should use the toilet first, or maybe decide not to go at all. Most disappointingly was the cancellation of the scheduled visits to Bilbao and La Coruna in Spain, as a consequence of bad weather. Despite rumours circulating around the ship, fuelled by whispering members of staff, there was no formal announcement until about 7pm on the evening before the anticipated arrival in Bilbao and after the ship had sailed from La Rochelle. The Captain made a brief and factual announcement, informing passengers of a diversion to Falmouth. He repeated the same message half an hour later. A letter was delivered to every cabin overnight, containing little more information than explained by the Captain. In our view, the Captain or a senior member of crew could have made far more effort to explain the situation and to reassure passengers, some of whom were concerned about the severe gales the Captain alluded to. Having sailed several times with other cruise companies, we were surprised by the complete lack of communication from the Captain who, at the very least, usually welcomes passengers aboard and thanks them at the end of the cruise. Apart from those two brief messages the Captain of the Virtuosa, whoever he was, remained silent and unengaged with passengers throughout the voyage. It may have been symptomatic of the Captain’s attitude then, that members of staff seemed to shrug their shoulders whenever confronted by frustrated passengers. On a personal note, we purchased the Easy drinks package and found it not to be particularly easy at all. Some of the bars and restaurants onboard did not serve the drinks available in the package; consequently other bars were busier, but not necessarily better staffed. Overall, the ship was extremely crowded with many grumpy and dissatisfied passengers, most of whom were simply pleased (and relieved) to finally disembark at Southampton.