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garymfreedman

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    The Good, The Bad, and hopefully Awesome - Live Updates from Oct 15th Sailing

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    56 minutes ago, bortzct said:

    Sorry for the late night post - my phone won't let me post pictures so I had to wait until I headed back to the cabin for the night so I could post from my laptop.

    Oh where to start on describing the day.... First the BAD, Ugly, and overall not ideal start to the cruise - Embarkation.

    Definitely pack your patience when you come to the port.  We got to the port at 1:45 which was the time Virgin told us,  They had the red signs for the diff boarding groups but it was still chaotic with a lines wrapping every which way. Note that on your app it will say you have to fill out a Health form the day of your cruise. The form is not in your app but instead it is a QR code that you will scan at the port which you complete and then it lets you book your test appt. The employees trying to control the lines will have a placard with the QR code for you to sign (again not the most efficient method). It took an hour just to get into the building where the testing was done,  The test itself was pretty quick and thank god it was not the version where the cram the swab to your brain, After the test then you walk to another terminal to wait for your results. This is where things went really bad, Test results were taking a crazy amount of time to come back, I heard that the system went down so emails were not getting sent,  After another hour my results came in (Negative!) but my husbands did not so we had to wait another 45 minutes for his to show up. There were a lot of unhappy people stuck in the holding room not knowing what was going on. Once we got both results then we got to go to another line were we officially checked in. This is where they give you your bands and check your passport and vaccination card,  Then we got to officially board the boat at 5:15! There were still a bunch of people waiting so I was not surprised when we were not able to depart until 7:30. The ship is supposedly only at 50% capacity right now - I can not imagine the chaos it would have been, Virgin really needs to continue to fine tune their processes,  Luckily it did not rain on all the people waiting outside.

     

    We had 6pm reservations at Gunbae so we had enough time to drop some stuff off at the cabin and head there. Our wrist bands did not work to open the cabin door so we had to have Security let us in and then after dinner we had to go get new bands. The meal at Gunbae was fantastic and highly recommend. The two waiters/cooks were fantastic and we had fun tablemates. We played a drinking game with shots that did not take me long to lose - but I lasted longer than the hubby, so that is a win in my book!

    The sail away from Miami at nighttime is fantastic - we watched from the outside on 15 Aft.  I also did pay the $50 to upgrade to the premium wifi which covers 2 devices. It is the best wifi I have ever had on a cruise ship before.

    Be sure to book your shows as soon as you come on board. In the rush to get to dinner on time, when I tried to book the "Untitled Dance Show Partything", it was already sold out.  Instead we went to the casino to try our luck until the PJ deck party at 11pm. The Casino is really small in my opinion and only has traditional penny machines. I did find the 4 video poker games hidden away in the smoking room which also had a wall of some really fun games that they don't have in the main casino. The machines are very tight and they have lowered the line payouts so it really is a disappointment. I will take my big casinos on NCL or Royal any day over this, They did have some table games but overall was not very busy, The casino did give me a little purple tassle that lets the bar staff to know that my hubby and I get free drinks in the casino, which is very nice, I will be sure to make use of that on my way to shows or dinner.

    The PJ party was scheduled at 11pm, and I got up there at 11;30 and there was NO ONE there, Kind of a bummer, not sure what happened - maybe no one showed up?

    The crew have all been very friendly and what little food I have tried has been great. My last picture is a little food porn to end this post on,

    Sea day tomorrow!

     

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    Thank you so much for your post, and the warniing/heads up. I have no patience, so knowing that I will need to be patient helps-I will have to download some soothing music to listen to while tooling away the hours waiting to board...

    The Good, The Bad, and hopefully Awesome - Live Updates from Oct 15th Sailing

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    13 hours ago, bortzct said:

    We made it to Ft Lauderdale!!  Good ol'Southwest was back to business as normal and got us here on time and no lost luggage (thank goodness).  Trust me you would not want to see me after a week in the same clothes and no make up - yikes!

    We are staying at my fav pre-cruise hotel in Dania Beach, Springhill Suites.  It is my go to hotel anytime we cruise out of FLL or Miami.  We use their airport shuttle and then just Uber to the port.

    Our check in time tomorrow is 2:45 and were told to be at the port 1 hr prior for testing.   They even sent an email today telling us to not show up early as we will not get on the ship any faster.  So basically - cool your jets and accept that if you show up early you better have some sunscreen as you will be standing out in the Florida sun in the terminal parking lot.   Since I melt easily - I will be a good Sailor and show up when I am supposed.   

    Buckle up Buttercup - it is cruise time tomorrow!!

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    It is finally getting real for all of us!!!

    Tipping

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    1 hour ago, marcoigna said:

    Good day all.

     

    Excited about Virgin Voyages...

     

    Firstly, from the title, I am aware that gratuities are included - and very aware that tipping is very subjective, (just like food) - 

     

    However,  I am looking at sailors that have been on their ships to see if people are actually offering a gratuity at the bar / restaurant etc.... I have seen some reviews and read that there is NOT a gratuity line on the bar receipts.....

     

    I am not in favour of travelling around the ship (pool/bar/restaurants) with cash in my pocket, but I honestly would like to do the correct thing as well.

     

    We are travelling in a suite as well - so seeking advise if you tip your "Rockstar Agent" - and perhaps the amount!!!

     

    I don;t have an issue with room-service as I feel this is a given....

     

    But more curious as to what passengers are doing in these matters....

     

    Thanking you all in advance,

     

     

    As tipping is included, i will not tip as I normally would. But I will be tipping for super extra service, and going above and beyond.. If everyone tips on  VV then the purpose of the line including tipping in the fare is defeated..

    • Like 2

    Any NEWS on VV? Please post it here...

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    54 minutes ago, bortzct said:

    Just to let you know I am on the Oct 15th sailing and my personalized bands arrived Oct 9th along with luggage tags.  It does come in a cool box with the Virgin logo on top.

    Thanks. Mine is arriving the week before also, which is DUMB. I told them on October 1st I was traveling the week before, yet it is still shipped closed to sailing time.. Waste of fedex.. I'll have to pick up at port, and add that to my already long issue list with VV pre sailing..

    Activating your band

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, Phamer55 said:

    I received my band and just now went to activate it after seeing your post.  It allowed me to enter a PIN and it said it is now activated!

    @Phamer55 aside from the fact you are near me in WC, when is your cruise?  VV tells me mine will be at the port for 10/24 voyage..

    Band collected at the port

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    1 hour ago, twodjs said:

    Set the pin on the app and just chill or you're gonna have a heart attack before you ever get on the ship. If you don't get the band before you leave, they have plenty of them at the port and it takes about 10 seconds to assign it to you when you check in. We got ours there. Easy! I agree - glitchy app but the ship is amazing!

    You're right... I have ADHD....

    Band collected at the port

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    Just now, sid_9169 said:

    They also said mine would be picked up at the port, and then it arrived in my mailbox a few days before I left...

    @sid_9169I told them I was traveling the week before the voyage and would not be home before we board-They told me, don't worry, IF it does not arrive at your house in time, get it at the port-But the app says, PICK IT UP AT THE PORT, and it asked me to set a pin... AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

    Band collected at the port

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    Virgin is full of incompetent people!!.. After getting an email from them, after I asked about the band, and they said it should arrive before I leave-The app now says i will be collecting it at the port. AND THEY DID NOT EVEN COMMUNICATE THAT WITH ME.

    They are the most horrible company ever at communicating with their customers...

    • Like 1

    Anyone able to get onto the Virgin Voyages app?

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted · Edited by garymfreedman
    update

    Just got a new phone, which downloaded new apps, and the VV app STILL does not work!!- Worlds biggest piece of garbage.. Thankfully, @sid_9169says the voyage will be worth it!!!.

    I see the app has 2 stars in the IOS STORE-THAT IS TWO STARS TOO MANY.. And obviously VV does not care, otherwise they would have fixed the issues...

    I did delete and re-download the app again( for the umpteenth time since last year), it is working..

    • Like 1

    October 10th Sailing- Semi-Live

    in Virgin Voyages

    Posted

    11 minutes ago, drewdawg199 said:

    Hope nobody missed today’s voyage due to the Southwest meltdown!

    'hence one of the reasons you NEVER fly into a cruise the day of the cruise--I even looked at a redeye, leaving a few possible backups, but decided not to due to murphys law...

    • Like 1
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