I arrived in Southampton a day before cruise day to be sure I was there on time. I stayed at the Holiday Inn that was about 15 minutes from the port.

The cruise was on MSC’s Virtuosa for 8 days, which was my first time sailing with MSC. I’ve usually cruised with Carnival and a few times with Royal Caribbean. I stayed in a room with a balcony with was perfect. On my last cruise with a friend, we stayed in a room with a balcony and since then I have determined that there is no other way to cruise.

Our first port stop was Bilboa, Spain. I booked a shore excursion with a walking tour around the city. We were transported by bus from the port to the city center. Our tour guide gave us a lot of information about the city that I have forgotten. While I was taking pictures of my surroundings, I noticed a sign in the window stating… tourist go home.  This was not alarming because I’ve been aware that several European cities are fed up with the overflow of tourists.  This is interesting for Bilboa because the tour guide told us how the city decided to become a tourist city and made plans for that. I guess the resident with the sign wasn’t in agreement with this. One thing I will say is that only one ship is allowed in port each day. There have been times when our ship arrived there were already two other ships in port. So I understand being concerned with overcrowding.

The next port was La Rochelle, France. I booked the same type of excursion and enjoyed this stop as well. There were some beautiful photographic sites. One in particular, the pink umbrellas hung in air in honor of breast cancer awareness month. There was also a historic site of Toussaint Louverture (a Black leader of the Haitian Revolution). He fought for Haitian independence from French rule and is commemorated with a, which is situated in a building formerly owned by a family who profited from the slave trade.

Third port stop was Gijón, Spain with another walking tour. This was a coastal city with a nice boardwalk along the beach.

The fourth stop was Cherbourg, France. I didn’t schedule anything for this stop and I’m glad I didn’t. It was cold and rainy. None of the excursions seemed interesting.

Although I had a good time with the shore excursions, nightly entertainment, conversations with some good people, and good food, I don’t think I would cruise by myself again. But, if you’re thinking of cruising, consider MSC.