thehungryhobbit

Thanks folks, once we know how time frames are going on the paperwork (i.e. passport wait times) I will give Oceania a call. Hopefully it can happen for them. I'm sure it's going to be a great anniversary! Can't believe it's been 20 years already really. It looks to be a beautiful cruise, with great food, and fabulous shore excursions. All we can ask for really! We've not done a penthouse before, we decided to splurge on this one, so we are excited to be living it up on this one.

We are trying to figure out if we need to wait to change the passport until after the cruise. If Oceania won't change the booking name then we will wait to change the passport.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with what is involved with changing the name and gender of a passenger after final payment. The passenger is still the same person, they are currently in the process of changing their info. At the time of booking it was unknown if a name and gender marker change was going to happen but it definitely is. They really don't want to travel under the dead name. There will be a name change certificate. Extra fees are fine but I'm really hoping Oceania doesn't make us rebook, I'm happy with the deal we got. I asked our travel agent, they seemed to think it was more trouble than it was worth. Sadly, traveling under the dead name/gender is not going to be good for their mental health. This is for a 20th anniversary cruise so I want both of us to have a good time.

That is definitely food for thought (regarding several of you pointing out that it's weird that my TA doesn't work with Virgin and should work for me). I have approached her about both Holland America and Virgin. She shot down Holland America because she felt it was too old for us and told us that Virgin is a party/booze cruise. What I've been looking at tells me that Virgin might be our people though. We are in our 40s. We are plant based (kind of like vegans but we do it because of a dairy intolerance and I have a condition that makes eating meat and eggs a monumentally painful experience) We are geeks (boardgames, gaming, movies, learning about cultures are our jam) We do not drink alcohol We are a part of the LGBTQ alphabet We are kid free (we went the stereotypical dog parent route) Love a good theatrical show. We are looking for a fun but relaxing time for our 20th wedding anniversary next year. Everything I've researched so far says Virgin is a match, especially the food. Get my partner a plant burger or tasty not too fancy plant dish and that is a happy happy partner. I'm less picky but a well fed partner makes a happy cruise so it's a priority. So, colour me surprised when I found these great options just to be told by the TA that we would hate them and should look at Celebrity, who from what I can see is no where near as accommodating. I could be wrong though, we have only sailed NCL (hated, never going back), Princess (meh), and Oceannia (nice but not much entertainment and a bit difficult to get some to understand that dairy and meat is a no go. they had some great plant based dishes for me but my partner had to fight hard to get that precious plant burger, only available through room service.) From what I'm seeing it doesn't seem like many Canadian agents work with Virgin. Can a Canadian work with an American agent or is it best to go with the limited choices we have?

Thanks for the answers! We love a good latte in the morning and evening but can't have dairy either. Loved the tip about keeping a tumbler of plant milk in the room too. Definitely a great idea for early morning cereal for those early shore excursion days.

Does anyone know what plant based milks, if any are offered at the coffee place or with cereal at either the "buffet" or room service?

My current travel agent does not book with Virgin and is really hesitant to work with me on this (she keeps pushing me to go for celebrity, but it just doesn't have what I want). Otherwise working with this travel agent has been great and I would use her for other cruise lines. I'm looking for opinions, is it worth trying to find a new travel agent to work with for my virgin cruise or just book it myself directly and work the rest out on my own. I've done it before so it's not daunting, but I do want to hopefully snag the best deal I can...as we all do. Also, does anyone know when the best time is to hopefully get the best booking deal? We are looking for a cruise late in 2024 so we have time.

The cruise I'm eyeing is in 2024 and I haven't booked yet. I'm still weighing if we want this, we sailed Nautica last time and my husband complained that there weren't enough fun things to do on the ship that actually interested us. Trying to prove that cranky man wrong 😉 Thanks for the link for a sneak peak!

Does anyone have a list of typical classes they offer? My husband and I are plant based but love to cook and I'm wondering if there are any we would be able to participate in. Especially since they do have such tasty plant based dishes on board.

Do they have the plant based milk options for the onboard starbucks? Like soy, almond, or coconut like the regular stores?