MSC Cruises, MSC Virtuosa, Northern Europe Review

The boat was 2 hours getting in and a consequence we sat at traffic lights in Southampton for 2 hours, only no-one came to tell us all what was going on, so thousands of us were worried we'd missed our embarkation slot. The booking in process was long and drawn out although ground crew were friendly. We paid for an upgraded room which was horrible and it took hours to get a different one. There were so many guests upset that the rooms they booked weren't provided, more than any other cruise I'd been on. Only choice if early or late dinner unless you paid extra, and the free restaurant food was not to my liking at all. The buffet was the best I've had on any boat, apart from the desserts. Breakfast had great sweet pastries and cakes, tea time had ice cream but every lunch and dinner was a variety of bread and butter pudding and it was vile. The little cakes were not much better, very disappointing. I didn't think much of the choice or variety of entertainment through the day, and not many shows, mainly comics etc, not to my taste. There was always live music in the reception which made speaking to reception incredibly difficult and not very well thought out. Not the cruises fault that the weather was so bad we missed Sweden. I and my whole family caught Covid, as did a large portion of the ship, but I guess this couldn't be helped. Probably the worst holiday I've been on in many years, but buffet was wonderful.