jcarter4551

the best is the guy with the weed that approaches the Key West police officer and says "hey, that's my little bag of weed...is that a problem." Officer: "yes its a problem" bro, don't turn yourself in...plead the 5th. LOL

I have gotten my comps 3 ways: 1) The casino host had me fill out a form in google docs that created a certificate. I still had to call the casino department; 2) The last cruise, the host told me to just call the casino department and gave me the number; and; 3) I received an email out of the blue from Virgin casino department offering me a free cruise out of Barcelona. I again had to call the casino department. I only play table games and no slots. My budget is $5k for a cruise, or 1k max per day. I play 25/hand/roll minimum up to several hundred. However, if I get up on their money, I will cash those chips in so it appears I am putting more cash in play. I don't know what their thresholds are, or what my average is, but I have received 5 free cruises from them. For perspective, my wife plays about 300/day and bets way lower than me (thankfully!). She has never been offered a free cruise though she benefits from my comps.

Thanks for background on Heartbeat. I didn't know that had a story behind it. I agree with you that Studio 72 is the last night and people are tired. But, I think if it was a different genre it may help with getting people to the club. I mean, you can off the ship at 10 a.m., unlike others that push you off at 730 am.

My wife and I have a VV cruise already booked in April (Turks) and then in Europe in July and just the other night - as we were up at midnight EST trying to ensure we got the restaurants/times we wanted for the April cruise- stated that she needed a break from VV for awhile. Even though we get comp cruises through the casino, I tend to agree. As you said, the shows are always the same thing, you can only do Scarlet Night so many times, and the hassle of setting up restaurants is annoying. I do love the vibe and crowd on the cruise ship, but that's all there really is to do for us - gamble, drink, party. I am hopeful they start adding different types of parties/shows onboard, ditch the 70s dance club night, switch up scarlet night, and stop interrupting the dance club vibe with the happenings cast. I was just on a RC ship and their club was more lit up than Virgin...which shouldn't be the case.

“Free” - you’ve probably saved yourself thousands in losses lol. I’ve been getting “free” cruises for years on Virgin and RCL and I think it’s cost me more in losses than paying for all those cruises. The upside is when you do lose in casino you don’t feel as bad because you chalk up the free cruise to the win.

If they want to compete with other cruise lines they will offer loyalty points. I know with Southwest when I use points for free flights I don’t earn points. But, the cruise lines operate differently, or at least NCL, RCL and Carnival give you points towards loyalty status. I guess for me as a gambler, I don’t care about loyalty so much as the perks offered (free drinks, free shows - not applicable to cruises, free upgrades, spa treatments, etc.)

I recently booked a casino comp cruise on Virgin and noticed that Deep Blue Extras wasn’t showing up. This will be my 5th VV cruise and 4th through the casino. I had DBE on each of the prior cruises despite being a casino “comp” cruise. After I inquired, I was told DBE no longer applies to casino comp cruises. Most interestingly, I was told the casino is rolling out their own loyalty program on Virgin cruises. I don’t have other information aside from this, but this sounds promising. When we sail RCL or other lines on casino comp cruises, our loyalty status is still recognized and the casino comp cruise counts towards loyalty points and reaching the next level. Thus, I was a little concerned that we weren’t building loyalty through virgin casino comp cruises. So, I was happy to hear it’s because they are rolling out their own loyalty program and benefits. Now, DBE is only nice for us for the priority boarding and extra bar tab, but it’s a nice gesture by Virgin.

I feel this 100%. In fact, my wife and I just completed our 4th VV sailing in December and we didn't even make it to Scarlet Night pool party even though we dressed up in scarlet. It was like, meh, I am more interested in the after party anyway. I like the PJ party because it is different and usually a good party. However, the same old Diva and happenings cast show gets old. Additionally, as much as the happenings cast was kind of cool the first sailing, I found them to be somewhat annoying in the dance club at night. They would come out at the time when the club started hopping and would totally kill the vibe the rest of the night. Thus, I agree that VV will need to do some different things to get repeat cruisers. The only reason I have some additional sailings on VV booked is due to the casino comps making it "free." Thanks for your reviews!

Thanks so much! This is what I was thinking would happen.

Thanks Walter. My wife and I are big virgin voyage cruisers as well so appreciate your advice there. I am hoping this Hideaway is a lot like Virgins private pool and beach party at Bimini. Is that accurate? I do love a good tractor pull but def not what my friends and I are about lol. appreciate the feedback everyone.

Hello CC community, I am doing a cruise with the bros next weekend on Freedom (3 night bender cruise). This will be my first time to Coco Cay since Hideaway Beach opened up. My buddies and I are torn on buying the Hideaway Beach excursion. Question for those who have been to Coco Cay since this adults only beach opened: Is it lit or not? We generally just go to the swim up bar that is in middle of Coco Cay. Have the normal party people at the swim up bar now gone to the Hideaway Beach? Any reviews or suggestions are much appreciated. BTW: It is $40 so I don't care, but my buddies are cheap as heck. They will spend 1000 gambling but refuse to spend on things like this unless its guarantee party. Thanks again.

I don't know what your dispute is, but on 2 separate cruises they charged me for the beach towel and I called their CS department and they quickly took care of it and refunded the charge. You can also dispute it with your credit card company even though the charge posted and cleared. But, I would try RC direct first.

I took an 11 am flight out of BCN to IAD (DC) and rushed off ship at 715ish and was to airport around 745. The United counter didn't open til 8 am or so and we stood around for a bit hungover. It was miserable. The customs at BCN is nonexistent and you legit just walk off ship. I didn't know they didn't check passports when you came off the ship. So, you can be off ship and to airport within 30 minutes. You will have no issue with a noon flight.

Hello VV cruisers, I am going on the Christmas Cruise on Scarlet and wondering if they show NFL games on CBS, NBC, FOX? I've been on a few VV cruises and know they have sports playing in the pub area and even saw tennis playing in the casino (which was cool), but hoping they have NBC for the NFL games on Dec 23. Thanks for any information. Going on Scarlet Lady btw.

Thanks everyone. I was thinking more for the arcade games and such…not to linger at bar and annoy other adults who are enjoying beverages haha.