My wife has just returned from a 7 day cruise around the UK on the MSC Virtuosa. The cost was £1500 for the "all-inclusive" package, plus, they also upgraded to a premium drinks package that also included tray charge and in cabin mini-bar. All in all, it was very disappointing experience (it was her first cruise).

I'd just like to hear whether her complaints are normal / justified. This is a summary of what she told me :-

1. Very few staff. And what staff were there only had a basic grasp of English. Probably not helped with the number of different UK accents that would cause an issue.
2. Very difficult to get served. It was table service only in the bars, and it could be up to an hour before they got served. Plus then a long wait for the drinks.
3. Despite having the premium drinks package, the staff had no clue what this meant. So, asking for a glass of premium wine got nowhere. Eventually, they just gave up and ordered the standard drinks.
4. Only allowed to order 1 drink at a time, so it all became pretty pointless in the end. As there were 3 of them, they asked if they could just get a bottle of wine to share at their leisure - no dice.
5. The in-cabin mini-bar contained 2 bottles of beer. No wine.
6. Chaos in the restaurants. 30 minute wait for breakfast - and then an hour before getting food. When ordering tea, a teabag would be delivered, followed later by hot water, and then later still, some milk (by which time the hot water was not hot!). They all gave up on tea and switched to coffee.
7. Nowhere to sit in the bars. They just had to wait around until somebody left and hope they got to the seats before anybody else (no formal queueing system).
8. Initially, breakfast was a buffet, but half way through the cruise they switched to table service. This coincided with tannoy announcements requesting people go for Covid tests. My wife and her friends went for a test - but said the tester barely touched her nose, so she believes the tests were not done correctly. I noticed this report earlier :- Pensioner couple split up on MSC Virtuosa as covid cases found on cruise ship - Liverpool Echo

All in all, not the most enjoyable 7 days. If it was an airline, I'd probably complain, and get a £100 voucher. Would the above warrant a complaint, or was she expecting too much?

Thanks