Fogcityca13

Sadly no, considering the efficacy of the boarding process I was surprised at the low tech disembarkation. We left around 9:15 so hardly anyone was at customs.

We could not contact our agent until we were on board. We asked for bourbon replacement of Jack Daniels when we meet our agent. We were Mega and asked for bitters and simple syrup as well. They did a great job in keeping those stocked. It would be really nice if they reached out before hand to set up the bar. I’m sure it’s easier to turn the room over with a standard restock.

I made some luggage tags and used the plastic tag holders we’ve used on other cruise lines. The porters didn’t bother with retagging.

We set dinner for 7 on the first night and enjoyed part of the sail away party, easily made the 9pm grog walk, and ended up at the PJ party. Next trip I’m going to try for 7:15 or 7:30, no way I’m going to miss a sail away from Athens. Other nights we ate at 6 or 6:30. I’m not a fan of dinner then right into a sit down show. In 6 nights we saw all the shows except for Ship Show.

In the process of booking in July. Going to spend some time post cruise sightseeing. This will be our first Med cruise.

The ship WiFi was not reachable in the terminal we were there last month. They have definitely made a change. I was right next to the ship in the Rockstar area and could see lots of other SSID’s, but not the ships. The photo of were I tried.

We only had 1,100 sailors in November, so we were able last minute book brunch around 12 a few days. Once at The Wake and twice at Razzle. They’ve made some changes to the ships WiFi and I could not see it from the terminal. I was in the rockstar lounge and walked over to the windows right next to the ship and did not see the ship WiFi.

Definitely odd, maybe they used Makers Mark or only used a little simple syrup? We mostly hung out in On the Rocks and they were using Buffalo Trace.

We were on Valiant Nov 13-19, and had lots of wind leaving Costa Maya heading to Bimini. One sea day to get to Bimini and we couldn’t navigate the channel to dock at Bimini due to the winds. We were on deck 15 forward. Definitely felt the ship moving for two days. Not as bad as leaving San Francisco on the Grand Princess in a storm.

You can call and purchase sailor loot for them. Sailor loot can be used for almost anything on the ship. If they used a travel agent, the TA can help you out.

I definitely think VV makes the best old fashioned compared to RCCL or Princess. I prefer rye in my old fashioned and VV’s was perfect when ordered with rye. The Test Kitchen bar tender on Valiant, is a hidden gem. We ordered the cocktail and nonalcoholic cocktail pairing. He brought out some of our cocktails and asked how we were enjoying the nonalcoholic version. It was very obvious they take a lot of pride in their mixology. The nonalcoholic cocktails they put together were outstanding.

The spa manager did ask us to schedule times slots at the thermal suits as mega, mega does get daily access. She said they want to manage the number of people in the spa so it’s not over crowded. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the facility.

Thanks for the heads up on long customs lines. Think we’ll probably plan on staying the night on disembarkation day or a late flight with an overnight layover. I really like the itineraries, but those are some long flights the San Juan.

The app should redirect you to the website to make the purchase. You can call and have them add it or if you use a travel agent they can add it as well. We have limoncello at EV last week. Valiant Lady.

Here’s some form Valiant. Was a very cool event!

They’ll put the info in your sailor information. Seems hit and miss if someone notices it. We had someone at Pink Agave congregate us on our anniversary on day 3. Not even our roadie mentioned it. It does seem our experience is not the norm, and I would be more direct once on board with requests.

I admire the folks that can travel with just a carry on, I’m definitely a chronic over packer.

It definitely sounds like Valiant has had some issues in the med. Hopefully they get it straightened out when she returns. The distributors VV uses in Miami seem to be handling Scarlet pretty well.

It’s definitely odd, our trip is really sparse with info in the app. Maybe related to Valiant repositioning Miami? You could try emailing or calling sailor services. I did get an email for setting up our arrival/departure details a few weeks ago. We are mega rockstar though.

My RS agent said VV made some update to the app last week. I emailed them because my dinning times some but the restaurant they are booked too are blank. I got the same error when I clicked on book dinning. My reservations are correct in their system. You might try calling to see if they can book times for you. VV’s app group really needs to QC updates end to end.

Fun fact about SF fog, the bay was discovered by a Spanish land expedition in 1769. The mouth of the bay was always fogged in when ships sailed past. Also the seas are pretty nasty due to a confluence of strong currents just off the coast. We usually have great weather in September/October. Glad you got to enjoy some of their flights.

We were just on Navigator in May. Not a bad upgrade, the rooms are still really dated. The SF port is so underutilized, LA would probably draw more of a crowd though. It’s so nice just talking a car to the port.

Not to hijack the thread, but I have probably been lucky and also enjoyed over planning my travels. Also my first experience with a TA was pretty bad. The hotel was supposed to be a two bedroom that we would share with my mom the night before our honeymoon cruise. It was not, so the wife got the couch and I got the floor. Then she booked adjoining with good old mom for us. Happily found a good TA and so far so good.

I think this is the only thing I’m concerned about. I get the want for the drink packages, it’s really nice having everything paid for up front. It really helps me budget multiple trips. I can mostly do that with the bar tab. We always were close to the break even cost on RCCL and Princess.

Definitely using a TA from here on out with VV. I’ve seen some TA’s organize group events successfully. Maybe something they will improve on as time goes on, but my experience with other cruise lines is about the same. I’ve spent a lot of time on hold this year.