FFMilesJunkie

1 hour ago, Meggo said:

Has anyone sailed while pregnant? Looking at a Caribbean itinerary. I would be cruising before the 24 week cutoff. 

 

Is it a real party atmosphere that would be uncomfortable for a pregnant woman? Do they have non-alcoholic drink selections (like Heineken 0 for example). 

 

Appreciate the feedback. We are trying to decide between this and an all-inclusive. We normally do Royal Carribean cruises but want to go somewhere kid-free before welcoming baby #2. 

They had Heineken 0 available at most of the bars. Plus they can make mocktails at any of the bars.  There are also plenty of chill places to hang out during the day and night if you aren't into the party scene. There's plenty to do for everyone.  

4 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Does this mean I'll get some kind of "status" now with my back to back sailing in May/ June?...

Yes, you will have Sea Rover status which gets you $100 bar tab on sailings through 2024 and some really sweet benefits if you sail again this year. If you sail again this year, looks like you’ll get a free bottle of Moët, rock star agent on board, premium Wi-Fi upgrade, free bag of laundry, and $10 daily coffee perk. 

Still not a lot of details out, but there are some great new incentives, especially if you have a higher tier of status on another cruise line. 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sites/sailing-club

We were on a 5 nighter in June that had the PJ party on the first night.  Do they still have the PJ party on the 4 night cruises and do they have them on the European cruises? 

We just boarded the Apex in Amsterdam with a Cert of Recovery from MDAnywhere. No test required. The checkin person was a little confused but got a supervisor who didn’t blink and said it’s fine. No test needed. Our positives were at the beginning of June. 

50 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

You fill out a lot of forms, including a selfie, id, test results.  They also ask a lot of medical questions.  I answered no to all, since I wasn't looking for a dr. appointment for anything.  Then you pay, and wait a couple of hours.  I think that was it.

that was our experience also. The hardest part for us was finding the positive confirmations from CVS that we could screenshot and upload. But that was on our side. Their site was pretty intuitive and easy to use. I was surprised how easy it was. I will report back if I have any issues in Amsterdam while boarding the Apex in a few days. 

31 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Always possible --- mine stayed positive until the 4th test.     MdAnywhere looks good. 

Another positive vote for MDAnywhere. I filled out the online form the other night and had the COR less than 2 hours later. This was around 10pm EDT. We are going to use it next week on the Apex out of Amsterdam. 

15 hours ago, sunpsyche said:

Thank you for posting your experience. We leave in two days for Europe and board on August 1 for a 19 day b2b. We’re aware of the risks and feel positive about it, but your experience is very helpful to know. We appreciate the grace and honesty in your post. 

I can confirm that the Apex is still using Deck 3 ocean view cabins for quarantine. We are scheduled to join some friends on the Apex next week (Aug 1). They are on a B2B2B but one of them just tested positive and was sent packing to deck 3. The other person will be tested for the next 3 days. She has to mask around the ship during this time but no other restrictions. We are seriously considering canceling the cruise. Getting Covid and missing your vacation is bad enough, but being sent to a 250 sq foot room with no fresh air for up to 10 days would be unimaginable. 

The current promo is $100 deposit per person and you can book the exact cruise you want on board or have 90 days to choose  your cruise.  The OBC ranges from $50-$500 depending on length of cruise and cabin category.  

Another issue in Europe right now is lost luggage. A friend of mine was on a Regent cruise out of Copenhagen a few weeks ago where 40 out of 350 passengers never got their checked luggage for the full 2+ week cruise!  They had to wear whatever they had in their carry on and what they could purchase in ports. The main dining room was lenient with their dress code that sailing. 

I called yesterday to upgrade Wi-Fi on our upcoming 12 night Apex cruise. The cost with the new pre-cruise discount stacked with the enhanced Elite+ discount was right around $8 per day (per person). 

We also will sometimes ask for a main to be downsized to an appetizer portion to share.  This is nice when it's a pasta but you don't want a whole plate of it. We will order 1 appetizer each, a pasta to share and then our mains. 

A mother/daughter pair want to join us on a VV cruise but they don't want to share a bed.  I understand the bed can't be separated to 2 twins, so wondering if they can bring in a cot for the daughter? 

Delayed to May 2023.  MerMaiden voyage now May 14, 2023 (Greek Island Glow). 

A few pics from the PJ Party. It was packed and a a lot of fun. We merely observed and drank our Apperol Sprtiz. Oops. Just checked and none of my photos are appropriate for uploading. 😳
 

*
 

I’m on board Scarlet  now. There is an excellent solo guitarist that rotates venues in the evening before and after dinner. She was on team Blake on The Voice a few years ago. 
 

There’s also a house band that plays different venues. Plenty of options between dinner and late night. 

2 negative eMed tests last night, so ready to head to Miami in the morning. See you on board! I'll look for the red shoes and say hello.

We are booked on this cruise also.  Taking the eMed test today so fingers crossed.  We only booked it 2 weeks ago, so no bracelets in the mail for us.  Really looking forward to checking out Virgin Voyages. I'm in the process of putting together a group cruise on VV next year (Greek Island Glow), so this will help me convince others to give it a try.  

By the way, we had no problem getting reservations for all 5 nights at our preferred dining time of 8pm.  Now it looks like a lot of the nightlife starts at 9 so might need to see if we can sneak into a couple dinner venues early and get out by 9 for some show, pub crawls, etc. 

6 hours ago, txhawk36 said:

My questions:

 

Am I going to be the only overweight/out of shape person on this cruise???

 

Is there a fridge in the room? I have an XL balcony.

 

Thanks!

When are you sailing?  We are sailing next weekend on Scarlett. If you are on that cruise, we can hang out in the out of shape section of the ship. 😎

Thank you for your “live from” review. The photos and commentary are great. You are getting us super excited for our first VV in just 11 days!!

This crew member is on the Valiant Lady.  Her YouTube channel talks about the benefits of being crew on VV over other lines.  Free WiFi, more single cabins and having a mess hall that is not separated by classes are the main benefits.  The people working in the underbelly of the ship get to eat with the officers every meal which really encourages camaraderie.  That will hopefully continue to exhibit itself in the attitude of the staff over time.

By the way, this itinerary change caused the price to go down by $48 probably due to port charges/taxes.  You need to call Virgin or your TA to have it repriced. They will not automatically adjust it. 

Just got notified that Greek Island Glow Itineraries from August 14, 2022 - October 8, 2023 have replaced Crete with Bodrum, Turkey.  Don't know much about Bodrum. Kusadasi tends to be the popular port for Med cruises.  Ephesus is normally the popular destination for Kusadasi, but it's 2+ hour drive from Bodrum.  Time to do some research.  

On 2/22/2022 at 9:38 PM, JFontaine said:

Literally and figuratively. 

 

Happy to be on board. Second time in a Villa and it is very nice. Retreat sundeck has been very busy, except this afternoon when it was too windy in the back. Luminae has been disappointing at lunch and dinner,  breakfast was fine. Had a good dinner in one of the main dining rooms - fairly empty, great service and good food. Also had a nice meal at the steakhouse tonight and a good lunch in the buffet. I was told 1300 and 1600 on board. Service throughout has been  perfect.  Staff could not be nicer, kinder, more professional.  Arrival was messy - despite my suite and having the Priority placard I was directed to regular checkin. When I said I should be in Retreat checkin I was told it doesn't matter, and then stood around as staff discussed who wanted to see a Villa suite and escort me on board. It was actually funny listening to this conversation,  but I finally gave up and walked on. I had everything on my phone other than passport and vaccine card, and it took a while to show them everything.  You stand on line, no desk. Messy. 

 

The figurative part. I knew that masks wouldn't be required but I thought some people would wear them. Very very few wear them.  I get that this is the new rule, but I didn't realize how after 2 years it would be so hard for me to be in unavoidable crowds with maskless people.  And that's the purpose of my thread. I wasn't mentally prepared for the elevators, the maskless children, the maskless people sitting next to me in the casino (despite the rules).  Also other hygiene reminders out the window - no person with hand sanitizer, no reminder to use it on boarding.  Saw one haz mat team cleaning a room and about 100 new hires who boarded in Fort Lauderdale on a familiarization tour of ship.  Mask wearing among staff very good with many double masked. 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to bump this older thread but a quick question about being escorted on the ship. A friend of mine just returned from the Apex in a Villa. He said the escort on the ship was a bit sloppy just like you described, but he also got pinged getting off the ship.  He was rushing off since the ship was delayed, but when he swiped his card, he got a "ding" and they said someone would be there to escort him off the ship.  They ended up waiting and finally someone showed up and escorted them to pick up a curling iron that was confiscated and then to the luggage area.  He said it felt a little awkward especially since they were in a hurry.  He couldn't tell if the escort was due to having the curling iron or because they were trying to treat him like a VIP.  Did you get escorted off the ship?