Fogcityca13

Only a guess but sometime after Virgin officially takes possession of the ship.

The one reservation I’m happy to grad in advance is disembarkation day. The Galley was pretty busy last cruise and it would be nice to have a nice leisurely meal before leaving at 10:30.

I’m still not sure it was an intended change. Folks on the virgin subreddit were able to schedule successfully. Kind of a neat idea, but we never had an issue walking up for brunch without a reservation.

Going into the Check In section on the app and selecting your arrival time asap is the best way to try and snag an early slot. They’ve been pretty consistent in letting Deep Blue Extras and Splash of Romance folks arrive early. Your agent is correct that these groups get expedited boarding not early boarding, and who knows if or when VV will make folks stick to their time slots. My opinion is they’ll continue to allow it until there a negative impact on the check in process or when they finalize the new Sailing Club perks.

Mention it to their or your room steward and to the host of the restaurant you’ll be celebrating at. They do flag your account but some don’t see that notification. The host at Pink Agave was the first to notice it a few days past the date, it’s possible shore side flagged the wrong date. This was a few months ago.

The lack of soaking options is definitely an issue. The setup worked really well for me because I loved the hot steam room and dry sauna, don’t think I went into the mud room. The large pool’s temp was perfect for cooling back down, but the smaller hot tub would have been a better idea for a cool down pool.

Can’t wait to try the cauliflower. Secret burger sounds tempting though

The time difference is crazy, I just finished my pour of whiskey and calling it a night. Have a fun day!

I’m hoping we’ll get to walk over to Imerovigli, looks like lots of opportunities to stop and get a cool drink. July is going to be hot, so the hike from Oia to Fira is off the table.

We booked that tour for our July 9th trip for those exact reasons. The day we are in port, 3 ships will be arriving within an hour of each other. Due to the timing I feared the cable cars and water taxis to Oia would be packed. You might want to check cruise mapper and see what other ships will be in port with you. @_tacocat_ did the excursion have you use the public bus to get back to Fira? I head the water taxi’s have a private bus.

Awesome review! Thanks! Going to be interesting getting through $1,200 in loot and bar tab. We might check out Another Rose even though I’m not too keen on the mandatory up charge. It would make more sense if they changed for VIP seating. Safe travels back.

One issue with bidding on suites is availability, they’ll offer the bidding even if all the suites are booked. For my December and March trips all the suites are booked, this July’s trip still has suites available. There is a minimum bid you can put in, that’s the from amount they have listed. In order to bid on the Sweet Aft, your minimum bid would be $1,400. I sent in a bid a few hundred over the minimum on a the sweet aft and seriously suite. We’ll find out 48hrs before we sail. The best way to get a suite is to book as soon as the sailing becomes available, after that the price goes up really fast.

Yep, our hotel for a few days post cruise is right around the corner from the square. Debating on leaving early and seeing if the hotel will hold our bags so we can catch the changing of the guard. So much planning compared to the Caribbean.

Sorry to hear about the flight, nightmare fuel on these long flights to Europe. I’ll finally relax when the first leg is complete and I’m drinking a nice cold German beer. Is 10:30am still the latest available disembarkation time slot?

Nice find! Definitely some differences. Exciting to see my cabin for my March trip.

Sounds like a decent deal for a prearranged driver. Been seeing reports of long taxi queues, not something I would be in the mood for. Have to say I’m pretty concerned about jet lag as well.

Interesting info on the shops. I saw that Lucy from cruising as crew, ended her contract early and will be leaving Virgin. I’m interested to hear how the embarkation and disembarkation process is. Debating on getting a cab form the ship to our hotel or arranging a car with welcome pickups.

Looking forward to it! We leave in 41 days.

JoJo’s World and Jthenomad (The Shiplife) both did some great vlogs on the mermaidin voyage. They do have video of the new shows including the up charged show Another Rose. There are a few regular folks that post here that have upcoming trips planned. I won’t be on until July.

From this article it sounds like they have modified the life boat arrangement and the aft overhang so she can pass through the canal. No clue what they mean by aft overhang, maybe the dock’s side overhangs? I do hope they decide if Brilliant will sail some of the Northern Europe routes soon. I’ve been looking at Celebrity as a backup. https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/virgin-voyages-building-a-brand/

We had lots of fun, meet some people we are still connected with. The cocktails weren’t really my type favorite type of cocktail. Nice way to explore the ship.

We never got ours. I need to take more photos next time.

The nice thing about Virgin is your room is ready when you board, so you can swing by the cabin and drop off you carry on.

Hookah’s are on the list of prohibited items, so no enjoying shisha. That’s a lot of gear to pack too.

Interesting, was the PJ party in the Manor? They used to end it the Athletic Club bar, and the PJ party was at that bar.