Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 30 Jul 21, 09:18 AM  
Link to this Post
#1
scottishnellie
VIP Dibber
 
Join Date: Apr 14
Location: Renfrewshire

scottishnellie's Reviews
DIBB Villa Reviews: 2
Scottishnellie does a UK cruise

So this will be a bit different to our usual trip reports but here goes….

We are the McNicols. We normally either spend at least 3 weeks in Florida with a mix of the parks and a few other places outside the parks (and all our previous trip reports are in my signature) or we do a luxury all inclusive in the lara beach / Belek area of Turkey. But obviously the pandemic has put a hold on all that. I’m sick to the back teeth of self catering, camping, glamping, packing mountains of stuff, cooking, cleaning. So in the interests of trying to find a holiday that actually feels like a holiday to me and not just ‘running after everyone but somewhere different’ I plumped for a cruise around the uk. None of us have ever set foot on a ship even though lots of people who know me have always said I would love one. We may not get the weather, but it’s all inclusive with a great drinks package (champagne anyone?) and entertainment. How bad can it be?



Me (Helen) 48. Took redundancy from my banking job of 28 years 3 years ago and haven’t looked back. I took a year off then had just started a wee job working on the foreign exchange desk in my local travel agent when COVID hit. After that I took NHS119 calls for 9 months, triaging Covid patients and transferring to nursing practitioners/999 or giving advice. Then I moved on to become a COVID19 Field Agent, which makes me sound like a coronavirus James Bond, but the best way to describe it is - you know when you hear them on the news talking about what the latest information from the ONS (office of National statistics) is telling us? Well I’m one of the folk out collecting that data. I visit houses that have agreed to regular testing and conduct surveys, collect swabs and bloods, upload the info and deliver the samples to a courier to go to the lab. I really enjoy it and have been doing it for 7 months now. Every day is different and you meet all sorts of interesting people. I still do a bit of dressmaking as a hobby and other than that at present my life apparently revolves around running Hannah here there and everywhere 🚘.



Kevin 49, been working from home for 16 months, still a combination of dayshift and nightshift, which can be interesting from home, but we’ve made it work. Other than that he doesn’t really have much time for anything else as he also looks after his elderly parents. Both had/have cancer and his dad has lost much of his mobility and his mum has dementia now. The past year has been an enormous challenge for us all. It would have been difficult anyway trying to get assessments/carers/cleaner to have sufficient supports in place plus kevin does all their shopping and household management stuff. We also had to buy them a new smaller house all on one level and move them into it before clearing out their old upstairs/downstairs house, which was stuffed to the gunells with 40 years of clutter, before we could sell it. Doing all that during COVID was a nightmare. And it feels like we no sooner get on top of things than the situation escalates in some way again and our arrangements aren’t sufficient any more. Kevin is constantly running back n forth or is on the phone for hours talking his mum back round when she gets very confused. It’s tough and I don’t think kevin even realises how much he needs this break.



Hannah 17 (18 next month!). Our wee pouty McPouty of all our previous trippies has suddenly grown into a young woman. She has now left school and will be starting Napier university in September studying mental health nursing. The last couple of ‘exam years’ have been a stressful nightmare for her with the way things in schools have been handled but she finally has her path forward. She also has a wee part time in McDonald’s thus all the driving her back n forth. She is currently learning to drive but that’s all been delayed too and the demand for theory tests/practical tests/ instructors far outweighs supply. She still loves clothes and makeup and is finally starting to get a bit of a social life again as a girl her age should.



Kieran 13, growing like a weed in the sun and now towers above me unless I’m in my tallest heels! Loves his rugby on a Sunday morning, enjoys climbing hills with his dad and they have recent started bagging Munro’s which is a good stress reliever for kevin when they can find the time. He also joins his Aunty Dianne regularly helping her with her dog walking business which he loves as he is doggy daft. He’s always on the go, still an early riser, bags of energy, although he’s not averse to a few hours on the Xbox either. He usually makes friends really quickly so I’m hoping being a teenager hasn’t changed that and he will hook up with some like minded teens on this cruise to keep him amused.



We have booked 7 nights on the MSC Virtuosa, leaving from Liverpool on Tuesday 3rd august. We originally booked for 6th July and went with MSC as at that time they accepted non fully vaccinated passengers on proof of negative tests. Kevin and I had only had our first jabs, and the kids hadn’t had any, so this suited us. Then, to cut a very long story short, the goalposts were all changed by MSC when Boris didn’t lift restrictions in June. They decided to only allow fully vaccinated adults so they could carry higher numbers. Neither of us would be double vaccinated in time so we had to move the date. Thankfully MSC did allow this without paying any extra. That’s not the only curveball I’ve been chucked. A combination of COVID and brexit have made this holiday the most stressful and complicated I’ve ever booked! And yes, I include the 3 and half week florida bonanzas with multiple accommodations transport/Park tickets/excursions!

Insurance for example. You have to have European insurance not uk. And you have to have it endorsed for cruise cover/ repatriation. And you need to have COVID cover. Then you need to check whether that Covid cover extends to one of you getting pinged to isolate right before the holiday (as not many do) as well as any of you actually testing positive yourself.



Then I almost got caught out with the whole ‘passport expiry is not your real passport expiry’ shenanigans due to Brexit. My old passport. Expires august 2022 right? Wrong! It expired for European travel in May 2021! Due to Brexit, Europe no longer accepts the ‘extra’ expiry time we always got when we renewed our passports early. So - my passport being issued nov 2011 means it actually now expires exactly 10 years from issue. And since you must also have a full 6 months left by your holiday return date, my passport expired for European travel in May 2021! So if you know anyone planning to holiday in Europe for the love of god get them to check!

gov.uk/check-a-passport-travel-europe

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe everyone else already knew this. But for me it resulted in a frantic online application for the princely sum of £177 and an appointment at glasgow passport office to collect the new one last week. I can only be grateful we had in fact moved the dates, or I’d have rocked up in Liverpool in July none the wiser and been denied boarding. And - no insurance would cover that you didn’t check you had a valid passport. That’s your problem.

Then there’s the Covid testing. Stress of stress. Anyway - more on that later. Well, actually let’s hope not. Let’s hope it passes so uneventfully I don’t need to tell you about it!



Clothing. Oh man. I’m ok with planning the nighttime outfits as I’m looking forward to an excuse to dress up a bit. MSC have 2 elegant nights, a white night and a flower night in our 7 days. So me being me, and never doing anything by halves, I have painstakingly chosen/bought stuff accordingly for kieran and I. I’ve tried to direct kevin to coordinate (although previous readers will know he struggles with choosing clothing in advance. I can’t pretend to understand this) and I know better than to control Hannah’s choices these days but I think I can rely on her to choose well given she knows the themes. I hope! I’ve even bought kieran a full tux for one of the elegant nights. Apparently MSC are much more relaxed about the dress code and nobody has to adhere but I’m happy to. And kieran feels like James Bond in his tux, so why on earth not? From what I’m reading there will be a real mix of dressed up and casual so I’m fine with that. But daytime? Or Lordy Lordy what do I take for daytime? What will the weather be like? How dressy are folk daytime? Will I even step outside if it’s not sunny anyway? Do I always need a swimsuit underneath incase I pass an empty hot tub? But then in/on ship it doesn’t get any less complex. Regular readers know my thermostat is busted. I’m always freezing. My heart sinks when I read that the ship has ‘good aircon’. Aircon is the work of the devil. When I arrive in florida accommodation the first thing I do is turn it off. Aircon means I need to dress like I’m off to Antarctica. Aircon means I’ve got all these lovely nighttime outfits that will need to be covered up by something warm. And don’t be suggesting to me ‘a nice wrap’. I see other women in these looking glam. For some reason when I try to wear a wrap I look like a bag of yesterday’s washing. So I currently have about 20 daytime outfits laid out trying to whittle them down. I’m trying to think layers without ending up looking like the Michelin man. And - I’ve been warned due to the size of this massive ship there’s a lot more walking than you might think. So heels at night might need to be swapped to flats later? Thank god there’s not really a luggage allowance.



The ship itself looks lovely although it’s not like I have anything to compare it to. There water slides and a high ropes course. There’s an arcade with some sort of VR and simulator things. I found a Facebook group for the ship then another for our specific dates so through these have found a lot more info than I normally would have. It’s also had a wee spin off in that kieran is now part of a Snapchat group with other teens going on our dates, and Hannah has started chatting to another girl her age about meeting up (and no doubt how to sneak cocktails somehow). We have booked 2 cabins as the thought of the 4 of sharing 1 cabin and 1 bathroom for a week was unbearable! At the time of writing this we have 2 balcony cabins on either side of the ship but not too far from each other. I say ‘at the time of writing this’ as MSC appear to have a habit of playing musical room numbers on their app and every time you log in your rooms have changed, your embarkation time has changed, you purchased extras have disappeared/ reappeared. Not good for a planner like me. I currently have trains and a hotel reserved for Monday incase we have to go down for an overnight, as well as trains reserved for Tuesday incase we have a late enough embarkation to go down on the day. You can laugh, but in the past 4 weeks our embarkation time has changed from 11:00 to 12:20 to 14:00 to 10:00 to 12:00 to 15:00 to 15:36 just last night. Whatever it says on Sunday is what I’m rolling with and will cancel the Monday reservations at that point if needs be.

Then there’s the biggest stress of all. Getting there all COVID free. Kevin and I are now double vaccinated so we have to show proof of that then also test negative at the dock right before boarding. The kids being unvaccinated need to prove a negative test within 72 hours of embarkation, then again test negative at the dock before boarding. If any of us test positive then of course all 4 of us are denied boarding and it’s an insurance claim. I honestly think it would break my heart at this point. When I’m doing ‘planning things’ I get all excited but then I try to stop myself and the disappointment would just be so much worse if we fall at that last hurdle.



The ship docked at Greenock the other day and since that’s only a half hr drive from us I popped down with my parents to see it. I could not believe the size of it. It’s so huge. So seeing that got me all excited again and had me doing my own internal tug of war.
‘Oh I’m so excited!’
‘No - stop it. You’re not on yet’
‘The water slides look fab for kieran’
‘You’ve still COVID tests to pass’
‘I could see the champagne bar!’
‘Stop it!’

I struggled with whether to do a trippie for this or not as I’ve no idea what it will be like, but I do enjoy having them to look back on so decided just to do it anyway. I also wondered if a pre-trippy would jinx the final Covid testing. Overthinking much? But we’re here and I’ve typed it now so fingers crossed all goes well for us. We are lateral flow testing twice a week (as per Scottish government guidelines) so positive vibes needed to keep em negative so this trip does actually happen! Will also need to remember to put this report it in ‘other’ trip reports and not Florida!

4 sleeps to go…….wish us luck 🤞

Edited at 09:39 PM.
scottishnellie is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 09:22 AM  
Link to this Post
#2
Gryff
Imagineer

 
Gryff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 14
Looking forward to reading this
Gryff is online now Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 09:30 AM  
Link to this Post
#3
Magic Mouse
Imagineer
 
Magic Mouse's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 07
Mobile

Ooh, how exciting! Hope you have an amazing time and I can’t wait for your trip report x
__________________
Ridgewood Lakes - May 05 Southern Dunes - May 07
Emerald Island - Oct 08 Bahama Bay - Mar 10
Bahama Bay - Mar 12 Oak Island Harbor - Aug 13
Orlando/Indian Shores - Aug 14 Emerald Island/RPR - Aug 16
Emerald Island/RPR - Aug 18
Magic Mouse is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 09:43 AM  
Link to this Post
#4
JudeB
Imagineer
 
JudeB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 06

JudeB's Reviews
DIBB Villa Reviews: 3
Hi Helen, great to read another trip report of yours. Hard to believe this time two years ago you were giving me advice about what to expect at Randy's villa! How the world has changed since then.
Really hope you enjoy the cruise. We did an MSC one in January 19 round the Med and loved it.
__________________
JudeB is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 09:49 AM  
Link to this Post
#5
Manyin
Apprentice Imagineer
 
Manyin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 08
Looking forward to reading along
__________________

DLRP 1995, 2001,05,08
Rodeway Inn 2000, Ramada 2002, Hawthorn Suites 2007,09,10,11
Sheraton Vistana 2013,15 & 19 RI@ Pointe 14/16/17/19/22/23/23 LBV 18/22
LV Mandalay Bay 2011 - MGM 14, - Caesars 15, Luxor 16,17,18(x2), 19
Manyin is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 09:59 AM  
Link to this Post
#6
BevS97
VIP Dibber
 
BevS97's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 02

BevS97's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 7

theDIBB Guidebook
Pages Created: 9
Guidebook Photos: 18
Guidebook Reviews: 7
Oh I can relate to every word of this! Right from the choosing a cruise because it feels like a real holiday to worrying what to pack and the constantly worrying one of us will test positive.

Fingers crossed we both get to have our much needed holidays.

I am looking forward to reading your report.

Edited at 12:53 PM.
BevS97 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 10:01 AM  
Link to this Post
#7
Floridarules
VIP Dibber
 
Floridarules's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 13
How exciting, thanks for taking the time to put this together😀
__________________
Marriott Motel, IDrive 1991, Davenport 2009, Windsor Palms 2010, 2012, Windsor Palms/RPR 2014, Windsor Palms, RPR, HRH 2016, Anna Maria, RPR, HRH & Windsor Palms 2018, Miami, Orlando, Anna Maria & Naples 2019. Orlando/HRH Easter 2022 & Miami/Orlando/RPR/Anna Maria/Naples 2022, Orlando 2023, Exploring Tampa 2024, Family relaxation at Anna Maria 2024
Floridarules is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 10:41 AM  
Link to this Post
#8
Beth_Disney
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Nov 14
Location: West Midlands
How exciting. And it's great to read a trip report, I've missed them so much!

We were on the MSC Virtuosa at the start of June and had a great time. So much so that we're doing 2 more staycation cruises this summer. Trying 2 different cruise companies though for variety.

I know what you mean about the build up being stressful and MSC don't make it easy - we also had musical cabins and multiple changes to embarkation time. Then the mountains of paperwork that needed printing and a problem onboard to do with pre-booked and paid for treat package that we didn't receive and they couldn't sort out. All of that aside, there's no stress when you're sitting in the champagne bar! We liked the indoor solarium too when the weather wasn't great. We found a quiet corner and sat and read (and drank frozen cocktails!)

Have a brilliant time
Beth_Disney is online now Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 11:01 AM  
Link to this Post
#9
Stardust5
Imagineer
 
Stardust5's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 13
Brilliant, I love reading your trip reports! Looking forward to seeing what you make of the cruise, we have never done a cruise so always like to see what people enjoy or not like about cruising.
Have a wonderful time, it’s so lovely to see families enjoying themselves on holiday again.
Stardust5 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Jul 21, 11:15 AM  
Link to this Post
#10
mrsdjh
Imagineer
 
mrsdjh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 13
Nice to catch up with what you’ve all been up to. I can relate to wanting what I call a proper holiday - we’ve had a couple of short breaks but a week or more here doesn’t relax or excite me like time abroad.

I hope all the stress with the holiday admin is forgotten as soon as you get on board. Look forward to hearing what you all think about cruising - I get a big no way from my teenage daughters when I suggest it!

Thanks for the info re the passports - I didn’t know that so off to check as I know we have one that needs renewing early next year.
mrsdjh is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:03 PM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2368
CaxtonFX  $1.2317
Covent Garden FX  $1.2439
FAIRFX  $1.2350
John Lewis  $1.2380
M&S  $1.2178
Sainsburys  $1.2357
TESCO  $1.2364
Travelex  $1.2353
Updated: 16:00 28/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1447
CaxtonFX  €1.1402
Covent Garden FX  €1.1503
FAIRFX  €1.1432
John Lewis  €1.1457
M&S  €1.1263
Sainsburys  €1.1440
TESCO  €1.1445
Travelex  €1.1435
Updated: 16:00 28/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X