We attended the Cruise Lines International Association conference which featured visits to three amazing ships, MSC Cruises’ Virtuosa, P&O Cruises’ Iona and Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas.
Day 1: MSC Virtuosa
On the first day, we had a fantastic, guided tour around MSC Virtuosa followed by a lovely lunch in one of the 5 main dining restaurants, Purple Crab where we were greeted by very smiley waiters/waitresses and the restaurant itself was lively, bright, and airy with a perfect amount of minimalistic decorations. The food here was amazing and I had the best pasta dish that I have ever tried at sea. The service in this restaurant was perfect, the waiters were so attentive and never needed to be asked for anything as they were already on it before you asked them.
We started off our tour at the Galleria Virtuosa which has the longest Led Dome at sea and you can’t miss it, I thought this was a great addition to this area as it makes it very light and airy and love the fact it shows the flag of whichever country you are in. The Galleria features the largest shopping area at sea and the area includes a variety of different delicious restaurants, bars, and shops.
What stood out most for me in the galleria was the amazing Chocolate café onboard called Jean Philippe which includes all sorts of handmade chocolates, truffles, macaroons, cakes, and breath-taking life-size chocolate sculptures all made on board. I loved the architecture of the shops as they all had their own unique designs on the outside as well as inside each shop.
The English pub-type bar, Masters Of The Sea was another great venue that seemed very popular with guests as it was very busy and the venue shows sport on TV’s situated around the pub. The décor inside this bar was very much what you would find in a typical English pub, they also had a wide selection of popular beers in the UK on tap such as IPA, Stella, Heineken, Newcastle Brown Ale, and many more.
We then headed into the Marketplace buffet where we were greeted by a huge cake in the shape of MSC Virtuosa which was there to celebrate the ship’s first birthday. As we headed on through the buffet all sections of the buffet were named clearly on a banner above the counter so you could easily find what type of food you were looking for. The food in this venue looked very well presented and smelt very delicious. There was a whole section in the buffet solely for pizzas where the chefs use the handmade mozzarella and dough made fresh onboard.
Our tour then went on to the kids club where we looked around all 5 kids clubs starting with the Chicco baby club for 1-3-year-olds packed with plenty of age-appropriate toys safe for the little ones to play with. We then went into the Mini Club which is for kids aged 3-6 years old, this room is filled with loads of Duplo Lego and imaginative play, the toddlers will never get bored in this room. Then it was the Junior Club fit for the 7-11-year-olds this club features fun-filled great quality learning experiences for the kids to let off some steam. This room includes lots of storytelling and a magic wall, it also has a flat-screen TV PlayStation area.
Last to visit was the teens clubs which consist of The Young Club for ages 12-14 years old and The Teens Club for 15-17-year-olds. The Young Club has a great sea view from inside the room and offers plenty of spaces for different games such as table tennis, vibrant gaming pods with all gaming consoles, board games, and lots of sports activities available. The Teens Club has a huge space available to them which becomes a disco at night with their own private bar and a cinema/ hang out area during the day with a gaming area. This room is all about the Teens being able to feel grown up and independent.
We also visited the ships brand new Teens Lab which is an inviting immersive area, tech-filled with modern games consoles, virtual reality, and much more. There’s also the games room which has loads of computers and interactive games for all kids to use. Each kids club has its own quirks and bright, vibrant coloured designs and cartoons on the walls as well as lots of different areas for the children to sit and play or just hang out and socialize if they are older. The clubs have so many great facilities and enticing designs that all kids would want to be a part of. The kids clubs all have set timetables of daily activities that are hosted by the kids club staff which include things such as arts and crafts, games, karaoke nights, and much more.
Not only does MSC Virtuosa include all of these facilities but we also saw that the ship had an exciting aqua park filled with 3 different twisting water slides and a fun splash zone. There was a sports area, chill-out zones, and for the older children and adults there’s a huge arcade full of virtual reality experiences including the formula One simulator where you can step into the seat of a F1 racing car, play a round of bowling or take a visit to the XD interactive cinema, there’s also the Himalayan Bridge high ropes course on deck 19, an astonishing 80 meters above the ocean so the kids and adults definitely won’t get bored on this ship ever!
The ship’s best feature in my opinion is the Swarovski Crystal staircase in the atrium area, this is just unbeatable and adds a beautiful touch to one of the main areas of the ship.
The ships’ facilities have everything that you could ask for starting from an impressive robotic bar the MSC Starship Club where a humanoid bartender Rob will serve up cocktails and jokes, to a carousel lounge where guests can enjoy fantastic shows on the round 360-degree stage as well as beautiful sea views. Not to mention the many swimming pool areas that the ship has including indoor areas and outdoor areas, there is not much more that you could ask for from a ship!
My overall impressions on MSC Virtuosa were that the ship is perfect for families with children as the kids club on this ship is definitely one of the best at sea. The ship has so many exciting facilities onboard for both kids and adults alike. The ship’s Atrium is beautiful, nothing can beat the Swarovski crystal staircases and the décor of the ship is nothing less than spectacular, every part of the ship has its own personality.
The galleria is my favourite part of the ship as it has so many different places to explore and seemed to be a really nice area to have pre-dinner or after-dinner drinks in or to people watch throughout the day. The food on board was another highlight for me, the main dining restaurant’s food was a lovely 4-course menu including a course solely for pasta! I did not get to try the Marketplace buffet, however, we did look around it and the food looked impressive, especially the pizza station.
