\n<\/p>\n
Maureen Pepper just couldn’t wait to get back on a cruise ship.<\/b><\/p>\n
She and her husband Richard have been going on cruising holidays for the past 25 years, to Australia, New York and the Caribbean, among many other destinations. And most recently, to Portland in Dorset.<\/p>\n
Their latest trip was a month ago, and saw them board the first cruise ship with passengers to depart from a UK port in more than a year.<\/p>\n
A brand new vessel – the giant 6,334-person capacity, 19-deck MSC Virtuosa – sailed on a four-day round trip from Southampton, with just one stop at Portland, some 70 miles along England’s south coast. A limited number of passengers – 1,000 – were onboard.<\/p>\n
Not exactly the cruise of a lifetime, but good enough, says Maureen, who is from Essex. “We were very happy to be onboard, and the ship was fabulous,” she says.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t all plain sailing though, she adds, as they had to wear masks everywhere, including while out on deck, which she says was “absolute madness”. You could only take your mask off when eating, drinking, or swimming.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n