_tacocat_

12 minutes ago, babalooo said:

I finally see they posted the daily schedule for the April 9-14 Scarlet Lady cruise and although they offer 2 Loteria Gigantes and a plethora of Festival Series Stage shows (and two Around the World in 80 Minutes shows), there's not one Bingo with the Diva. I was really looking forward to this and was wondering if anyone else's recent cruises didn't have the bingo event? And if anyone knows why not?

it'll change 100 times before you board, and sometimes even after hahah don't sweat it!

6 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Razzle Dazzle offers brunch but is closed for dinner that night, as their staff do the lunch service at the beach club.

that's how it had been the first few times we were on, but the last couple times we noticed that razzle was definitely open on bimini night!

4 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

Do you know if there is a difference in this procedure between Rockstar vs Mega suite guests?

for megas, you're supposed to go straight to your suite - your roadie meets you there, then you go through all the perks, what your preferences are and (for us at least) ask them a million questions - liquor swaps, "room service" from restaurants, etc. 

going to the manor would have been a total waste of time for us when we sailed mega, as our roadie was able to quickly do everything we needed (or find someone herself to get it done).  the manor serves st louis sparkling rose and has reps from the spa, box office (entertainment), and restaurant reservations floating around.  we just used that time to hit bars around the ship and get drinks that we actually wanted!

24 minutes ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

Blackout ANYTHING before 2pm on your schedule.  The ship is ALIVE after midnight.

 

i regularly regret booking the 8/9am spin classes on the first morning.  finally learned my lesson on my last voyage and opted to sleep in after PJ party 🙂

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

I've been told multiple times by the folks on the phone that it did not apply to MNVV offers because of the $600 Sailor Loot already given in the MNVV. 

For datapoints, I booked them via their call center with the MNVV last October.  Best advice is to hang up and call again until you get someone who knows what they’re talking about.  I think it shows up automatically anyway, so it doesn’t really matter what they say on the phone if the system pulls it automatically 

4 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

The Bar Tab promotion does not apply to MNVV bookings. 

Yes it does, I’ve been able to get it on 3 different bookings using MNVV offers

26 minutes ago, TYCruise said:

Interesting.  I was in an XL Sea Terrace and the layout is the opposite of this (Bed closer to the bathrooms).  I wonder why they made the change?

It’s the layout of the ship.  Every other room is generally one way, and the rooms in between are the other.  Like hotels, apartments, whatever, they try to do bathrooms in as much of a “stack” as possible, and this means having the bathrooms back to back between 2 rooms.

 That forces the bed to be on one wall or the other, and the beds only open into a L the one way, so some rooms end up with the stationary part towards the middle and others have it with that part towards the balcony

26 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

Oh well, I have an April 2024 booked, but it embarks after the 11th.  Such is life.

its for new bookings from april 1-11th.  i think it's valid thru 2024 voyages, but i'm sure it'd end up more expensive if you tried to cancel/rebook, given they usually increase base prices and decrease the % off with every sale!

2 hours ago, garycarla said:

Yes, I meant the long part of sofa.... which is really half of the king bed. (2 twins) turned sidewide.  A quick google shows that some rooms go one way, and some the other.

i like the "sticking out" part to be by the balcony.  i find that the beds with the part that rotates towards the center of the room give at least the illusion of more space.  i've been in cabins where the moving part of the bed opens towards the balcony, and it felt SUPER squishy. 

sounds stupid, but when they added the wood paneling thing behind the TV, that extra inch or whatever made it near impossible to walk between the stuck-out-in-the-middle-of-the-room bed without nailing your shoulder on the corner of the TV.

room service starts at 5am, so you can order them the night before for early delivery.  i want to say the pastry station in the galley opens at 6, but i've admittedly never been up that early haha

13 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

This may be controversial, but I find the beef sando at the Galley (available after 5pm) to be the best kept dinner secret on the ship. I request au jus for dipping the fries in. Delicious and not reservations required!

i want to submit a petition to get this as an all-day menu item.. SO tasty!!!

1 hour ago, LibratPDX said:

You can not only book your dining reservations 45 days ahead, but you can VIEW the line-up of shows as well, so you can get an idea of when you might want to book your dining.  More things will be added to the lineup a few days before your sailing.  Keep in mind that some shows include the meal, if it says SUPPER CLUB, take a look at the menu for that show if possible.

The caveat with that is that it 100% will change as soon as you board.  If you get attached to that lineup and plan all reservations around it, you’re going to have to redo everything as soon as

you get onboard!

On 3/28/2023 at 9:43 AM, scseas said:

Is there an ideal restaurant to eat at for Scarlet Night? I am thinking the Wake because it is the most formal restaurant from what I’ve read, but I’m open to suggestions.
 

Also, do you have a recommendation on when to eat at Test  Kitchen? I was thinking of eating there on the second and fifth nights so we can try both menus. Given the late lunch on the first night, I did not want a six course meal on sale away, but maybe I am wrong here.

 

Also, does anyone know what the latest happy hour schedule is and times? How big are the deals? I’m asking because this will affect whether we pre-pay a bar tab.

Scarlet night, I like to do pink agave or razzle dazzle around 7.  Test kitchen and Gunbae take upwards of 2 hours and extra virgin and wake can be hit or miss with respect to timing.  
 

test kitchen, I’d recommend doing a reservation on the early side (7 or earlier) because it takes so freaking long!

happy hour isn’t a real thing onboard.  They currently have a ketel one sponsored happy hour every night at several bars, offering choices of 3 cocktails and 3 mocktails, but that is supposed to end on Friday.  The only other “deals” they have onboard if $25 bottomless brunch drinks at razzle and wake and discounts if you get buckets of cans of beer by the pool.

for the paper vs. app thing, generally trust the app.  if things are moved, they're typically reflected in the app -- obviously a piece of paper won't update. your experience with trivia was an unfortunate outlier.

if a show or class appears booked full, show up a little early and see if there are noshows/standbys.  in 11 times onboard (and at least 10 spin classes across those), i have never seen at least 1 standby person be able to get in.  hangovers happen, and while the $10 no show fee is enough motivation to get my ass out of bed, others are clearly not as cheap as me and just pay the $10 to sleep in haha.

hope your experience turns around!  make sure to check out the dock/dock house for appetizers (i think noon to 5 or 6pm).  so tasty!

47 minutes ago, moomoocow said:

Anyone got a recent price list for manicures and pedicures please? Wondering if I should get my nails did on the first morning in Bimini (Sunday) or at home before I fly out (Wednesday) 

there are a couple services that are not listed - pretty much an express mani/express pedi.  i want to say it was like $45 and $55 but can't recall 100%.  then there are 2 versions each of manis and pedis that are i believe $89 and $99 for the pedicure (not sure about manicure).  i sprung for the top pedicure last time.  it was awesome, but i'd say unless you have a ton of loot to burn, it's better to just get them done at home.  the time to get them done eats into your limited time on the ship/in port!

43 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

I assume you can use Sailor's Loot to pay?

 

yup, you can use sailor loot to pay for anything onboard - spa, shopping, tattoos, gambling, whatever.  bar tab is the limited-use pool of credit, which can only be used for drinks at bars/restaurants.

28 minutes ago, nimbex1970 said:

can I use the spa, without booking services for free?

no - $39 port days/$59 sea days for a 3-hour thermal suite pass for everyone, unless you're a mega rockstar, have splash of romance package, or book one of the big spa packages that gives you access.

1 hour ago, Jessetfan said:

It was six for us last week. We had the unfortunate experience of being seated with two grumpy couples, most of whom spent the meal buried in their phones. The food was great, but the meal was extremely long. I would recommend against booking on the night of embarkation.

My experience has been totally different hah- the first time we were on, we went to Gunbae after our Cozumel port day.  Everrrrryyyyone had a garbage time in port because, well, it was Cozumel.  Everyone at our table was so grumpy because it was hot, there was too much walking, we got ripped off by xyz vendor, my excursion sucked, etc., so conversation was not great to start.  Then one of the other couples at our table dove head first into an unprompted politics/second amendment debate. We quickly excused ourselves as soon as we finished the meat course because "we had a show to catch."

Flash forward to the next voyage, and we went embarkation day - everyone was still in a great mood, and most of the conversation centered around how cool the ship was, what VV was like, and travel in general.  It does take forever, so we typically try to book around 6:30-7 if we're doing it the first night.

lol i wish they would either rip the bandaid and release the loyalty program (or at least give a real date!).  this is starting to sound like their 2020 launch (your voyage definitely won't be cancelled - richard's bday bash is just too important to push.  oh wait, yeah we're not going.  oh and your 2021 voyage on our second ship is cancelled too.) or their constantly "ending this week" sales 🙄

3 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

My wife isn't thrilled about it.  Obviously concerned some rich and powerful woman will try to steal me away. 😉  Or maybe that's a motivation for her to go....not sure which!

hahahahahaha stay safe 😆 hopefully the events kind of stay to themselves!  we had a big virtuoso  TA networking trip/conference on one of our recent voyages, and that was just plain old weird because they were all wearing business attire and conference badges/lanyards on the world's most casual ship.  i go on vacay to get away from the crap i have to do on land, not to be smack in the middle of it!

1 hour ago, CruisinShips said:

How do we know that?  Curious how to tell how full a ship is in advance of the cruise.  Thanks

unofficially, you can search for your voyage, and see if rooms are still available in most categories.  if rooms are available in almost all the categories, you're likely looking at an undersold voyage.

TAs also have access to be able to see sold/unsold cabins.

my guess they added the limitless thing + the extra limitless package that gives guaranteed entry to the speakers to boost occupancy.  (but as a woman, if my voyage turned into this, i would be so turned off and probably reschedule my trip)

1 hour ago, raphael360 said:

I’m onboard Scarlet now. Confirmed the new sailors program will be announced the end of March. 

wow - that is good to hear!

4 minutes ago, Wallys_World said:

Has the premium internet worked well for you? We board SL next Friday and my husband just found out he has an important work Zoom call while we are at sea on Monday. Hope you're enjoying your cruise!

the premium internet usually works pretty well; however, it's heavily affected by bad weather.  i've had random issues on either my phone or my computer, but one way or the other, i've been able to work and take calls.  he might have the best luck if he can stay off video and just do voice on zoom.

2 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

the question is more about whether the usual activities and shows for the masses will be altered or different than a regular voyage.

my guess is most of the event-specific programming will be during the day, and not interfere with the business as usual programming.  i was on for the richard's birthday bash voyage last year, and there were a bunch of panels w/ virgin group execs in the manor, but they were at like 10 or 11am on sea days.

5 minutes ago, karmamule said:

Another nice thing about the in-room bar for mega rockstars is they will get in touch with you a few weeks before the cruise and ask if you want to customize it with specific liquors or brands. 

that must be new - i sailed as mega twice last summer, and we had no communication ahead of time besides the transportation logistics.  we met with our roadie in our suite when we boarded and went through our preferences.  bar setup was adjusted by the time we got back from dinner on night 1.