_tacocat_

pairings yes, grog walk no. rule of thumb is if you're "paying" at point of service in a restaurant or bar, it's bar tab/mega rockstar included, but if it's a ticketed event like grog walk/paint and sip, no. test kitchen gave us an issue at first when we tried to do the pairings as megas, so we pointed out the idiocy of that by ordering a full sized drink with every course to pair with our meal. the server then said that we could do the pairing included haha

you can also unofficially "buy" your friends rounds - safest way to do that is just get 2 drinks at a time, and they'll be waived off your bill. i'd personally use the bar tab to buy super premium stuff that i'd never get myself - fancy tequila/scotches, louis xiii, wines, etc.

we've made the mistake of doing the wake for dinner the first night too - such a romantic view hahahaha

yeah it's booked as any other onboard activity. it is only at 9am on sea days, and capacity is limited on each tour!

per person. i felt it was worth it, but i also had a ton of sailor loot to spend.

it's supposed to be just through the end of the month, but we'll see if they extend that promotion like they've extended pretty much everything else haha

this depends on the ship. scarlet has been on a master 3-day rotation since they introduced the second menu, so on a 5 nighter, you could have one menu the first night, the other menu for the next 3 nights, and the first night's menu on the 5th night. valiant is half and half (first half a, second half b), and i imagine resilient and brilliant are going to have some sort of master rotation like scarlet does, as those are mostly 7 nighters

this is an absolute first world problem, but my ridiculous experience last month was that they refused to allow walk-up ordering at the salad station because "there are too many passengers onboard and this makes it quicker." the servers have no clue what options are available because they change so frequently. i pointed out the absurdity, then brought a server to the station with me so i could dictate my order. she proceeded to write it down on a piece of paper (apparently incorrectly) because the options are also not available on the app, handed it to a person working the station, and i corrected it while in progress. the guy working said "no this is what was written," and was about to add things that i didn't want. they either need to go back to in-person ordering for build-your-own salads or provide order forms/pencils if someone is trying to do a custom salad.

this was 100% our experience on valiant in january; however, i'm pleased to report this was not the case on scarlet. not sure if it's just one of those tiny, annoying service differences between the ship or if the crew across both ships finally rolled it out properly, but on scarlet in february, we had free ketel one cocktails (not the vodka seltzer botanical spritzes - actual cocktails made by a bartender) during that happy hour. one of three specific cocktails or mocktails from the menu, no limit on the number you could get, and they were available at multiple bars (i think between 5-6, but could be 6-7 - can't recall exactly)

The Greek “mermaiden” voyage isn’t until May, so no firsthand experience from virgin passengers until then!

yep, the shortrib that comes in the combo entree + the wagyu are plain unseasoned meat. there is also a seasoned shortrib that probably has everything you don't want in that, so just make sure you tell them you want the unseasoned one. they ask everrrryyyyyyyy time you order food if you have any allergies, so just make your server aware!

i think i've just had too much moet in all my sailings. the last few, i've dreaded champagne hour haha then i realized you can just get mimosa/other mixers for your champagne!

they may, but they also may be sold out. there's a chance people cancel too. personally, i can think of 500 other ways i would like to spend $500, especially if you're a rockstar and have the vip area access.

yes, you can. a good rule of thumb is if you buy it at a bar or restaurant, you can use bar tab. if it's booked online (like grog walk) or bought in a store, you can't.

no feedback on the sunset cruise, but the sunset is great from richard's rooftop at bimini! there is a "dedicated" area for RS/MRS at bimini, but they've gotten pretty lackadaisical about enforcing that recently...

yup, just for megas. they don't like bringing food to the main pool because it draws attention to it (but we were able to get pizza delivered to us the in between afternoon on a back to back), and they won't bring food to the casino because they've apparently had "incidents" haha i can only imagine what that was - like pizza flopping on the craps table?

you generally want to get on as soon as you're able to (rockstars can start checking in around 12:30-1 and can usually get on the ship around 1:45). you can only get on the wifi once on the ship, and that's how you book all your activities/shows, make brunch reservations and move dinner reservations. if you're not there till 4, everything will likely be gone, plus that leaves little room for error if there's traffic getting to the port!

you can get your "roadie" aka your butler to bring you food from any restaurant or quick service place on the ship, as long as the place is open. they appreciate if you give them a heads up vs. trying to order a 4 course dinner from a restaurant during peak dinner time 🙂

oo i didn't realize you could do that! i was traveling as 2, and we met a few people onboard. at dinner one night, they sat the 2 of us at a larger table because that's all that was available. one of the solo people we met popped in - they were able to just add a place setting for them. we also ordered way too much food, so were able to share some of it. serendipitous!

but not doing the activities/buying espressos doesn't detract from the experience. i'd only been on one other cruise line - NCL - and it seemed you couldn't have a good vacation unless you ponied up more money. i did not and had a pretty garbage time. food in the MDR and buffet was borderline edible. you had to pay for the signature dining or whatever it's called to get good food. i basically ate pretzel rolls for a week. it was absolutely disgusting. want to do anything fun? oh, that'll be another $20 pp. oh wait, didn't spend any money onboard this week? here's a bill for daily gratuities when you check out. that is nickel and diming.

debatable haha - the wake will never be "great," and is the most underwhelming restaurant on the ship (still good, but not something i'm salivating over!) i think pink agave and extra virgin's steaks and the filet on the test kitchen menu if it's on that version run circles around the wake any day!

we did a cheeky corner on 11 and never had any breeze, so i imagine the aft would be even worse!

they ended the sailor loot referral 2/14. now i think they just give each cabin a bottle of champagne. do you see sailor loot in your booking?

Not a "restaurant" per se, but you can get snacks up there from i think 12-5, with some exceptions (not on embarkation day or bimini, maybe some other days - can't remember). they have some small sushi/sashimi plates (different than the galley sushi), sweet/spicy popcorn, plus the bao buns/poke bowls that they bring over from sun club. Nope. There's a site that has the daily lineups posted - i don't have it right now now, but if you search "spark" in this forum or FB/reddit, you'll find it. You only pay for drinks in bars/restaurants if they're above $25/drink (that's really hard to do! we had to get creative to maximize our value haha) or if you get bottles of wine above your limit (2 bottles per cabin per day up to $90 each). if you go over, you just get either 20 or 25% off the price - you do not get a $25 or $90 credit against the higher value.

nope, they're not set up for that, unless you're a mega rockstar. you have to sit down and order whatever from the wake or razzle dazzle. i guess the crew wouldn't physically stop you from leaving with a plate of food, but that would be a bit weird to do.