_tacocat_

13 minutes ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I drink a lot of bottled water too so I'm assuming that the charge for that is deducted from the $600 bar tab?  Thanks again for your help

There’s no bottled water onboard- they sustainably filter their own and provide it in rooms in carafes and around the ship at water bottle refill stations vs selling you single use plastic bottles at an exorbitant markup.

Their filtered water quality is better than anything you can get in a bottle! 

11 minutes ago, Geebeeau said:

VV sent RL passengers on the April 25th 2024 Dubai to Athens repositioning cruise the news that in order for us to enjoy the ships facilities, they would cut short our stay in Dubai by 24 hours. This means that we move from 5 days at sea in a row to 6 days. I am not happy about this. 

I’m honestly surprised they’re even stopping in Dubai, given how incongruent that culture is with VV’s…

14 hours ago, cantgetin said:

An emergency passport is the same cost as a standard passport, but it good for only one admission to the US.  After that, it can be exchanged for a standard passport good 10 years from date of issue of the emergency document.

i was actually wondering what this process was as soon as they announced the no passport.  i have  basically had a passport since i was evicted from the womb, so i've never had to worry about it. 

i thought you had to find your embassy wherever you were and get someone to basically bring you across the border hahah.  i never knew an emergency passport existed - i learned something new today!

https://spark-aws.virginvoyages.com/api/v1/ext/ddp/5a3193a0af8e4c3fb714386b/2023-06-22#events

this is a link to scarlet's current daily.  if you go back in the calendar, you can get a feel for what happens on a voyage.  valiant is kicking around too, but i don't have that on the top of my browsing history 😉  if you search "spark" here or in any VV FB group, you'll find it!

2 hours ago, TeresaJ said:

Are you saying the party crowd doesn't carry a passport? I'm confused.

Not the OP, but I think it’s pretty common on say, Carnival, to have people sailing on just a birth cert and license, and Carnival is widely known for basically being cheap booze cruises.
 

On the same FB thread i mentioned before, the always-a-birth-cert people were snapping at others who told them that it would be a good idea to have a passport because “why should 2 people pay an extra few hundred dollars on top of the cruise fare when I don’t actually need to spend that money” 🤦‍♀️ 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

So yes, the party crowd has a reputation (deserved or not) as the “cheapo” crowd, and therefore the no passport crowd.

1 hour ago, AdoraBelle said:

Hope this doesn't bring in the more obnoxious segment of the party crowd.

lol you read my mind.  i saw a post on FB that said "good, now they're in line with the mainstream lines," and had to delete my reply before i submitted it twice to maintain any semblance of civility hahaha 

44 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

I wouldn't want to have to work thru them for any problems with air

i had always heard if you booked your air through the cruise line and something happened, they'd either get you on a different flight that would get you there in time for departure or get you to the cruise in progress if things went totally awry. 

i've read horror story after horror story over the past year or so from people who had booked air via the cruise line (mostly NCL).  you're forced to take whatever flights they give you, which seem to be all day-of arrivals, or you have to pay a bunch extra to get there the day before.  there have obviously been a ton of delays or cancellations over the last year, and the cruise line basically have told these people to go pound sand and "hope you have good travel insurance!" vs. rebooking them.

i have top status with my preferred airline, so i will 100% of the time book my own air, solely so i can be in control of my own destiny with scheduling and have first crack at rerouting/rebooking if things go wrong.

1 hour ago, sfspider said:

I'm looking forward to the "excessive" mini-bar in our first cruise as rockstars. How many 375 bottles are included?  Did you try swapping anything or just keep what was provided? Also, what time was the champagne hour on Richards rooftop? Thanks for any help you can give.

5 half bottles of liquor, 3 half bottles of wine (red, white, rose) and a half bottle of moet.

you also get some beers and premium mixers like ginger beer.

you may be able to swap bottles- some agents are great about this, others have flat out said no, and further, some are super weird about it, almost like they’re going out of their way and will get in trouble 🤷‍♀️ 

IIRC, moet hour is 6-7.  In inclement weather, it moves to sip!

41 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

Virgin is not have an issue selling the Rockstar cabins. 

The problem is TAs grab them in their “circles,” but don’t end up booking them, so they get released, then scooped up quickly by another circle.  There were a ton of people on my January/February voyages on valiant and scarlet who got cheap upgrades at the end because a ton of suites ended up back in inventory, after having been “sold out” for months.

VV could sell them outright for more than they’re getting via bids (demand is clearly there!!), so I’m not sure why they let those TA games continue.

22 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

He said some TAs are putting together Circles (Groups) to hold blocks of cabins as soon as the sailings come up. They can do that for 30 days. When those 30 days are up, if 10 cabins have not been sold in the Circle, the unsold cabins get released back into the inventory. This can include the Rockstar Suites so it's possible that's why that suite popped up for you. 

This is pretty annoying, and it’s been going on for quite some time.  I’ve had a few voyages where all suites were “sold out” for months, only to flood inventory a few weeks before the voyage.  I can’t imagine it helps VV in the long run either, as there are people who would be willing to book the suite up front at a higher all-in rate than the upgrade bidders.

Circles should need names associated with the rooms to book an actual cabin, or they should only allow the placeholder rooms to be sea terrace (largest quantity of rooms in that category!) by default if there is no specific guest associated, then allow the booking of another category once a guest is identified.

36 minutes ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I'll be on Valiant Lady in October and I'm a first time Virgin cruiser; Pinnacle on RC.  I would assume the same above recommendations and suggestions are true for this ship too?  I also like to eat early, 5:30pm or so; is it difficult to obtain reservations for dinner at that time?  Thanks all for your insider tips.

All restaurants open at 6, but I’d say the 6pm reservations are easier to get than like 7-8:30.  If you go to dinners this early, you’ll have no issues fitting shows/evening activities in, but you may miss some daytime fun and daylight in general!

The $600 is just sailor loot (can be used for anything onboard or at the beach club in Bimini), so no split.  You also get $300 off the fare with that discount.

That is weird about the bar tab, though!

1 hour ago, 1025cruise said:

Just thought of another couple of questions.

1. How is muster handled? Is it "traditional" where you go when the buzzers ring to your station, or is it a case of watching a video and checking in at your station?

2. Are there any formal nights?

you watch a video in your cabin or on your phone, then report to your designated muster station at your leisure for a quick brief and demo.

there are no formal nights, but there are a few theme nights - the biggest are scarlet night (wear something red) and PJ party (anything from sexy to onesies)

3 hours ago, cantgetin said:

On each of the menus, you can substitute the same course from the vegetarian menu if desired.  THe chocolate/coconut dessert on the vegetarian A menu is really good.

two of my favorite dishes on the ship are the tomato gazpacho from veg menu A and the pumpkin barley risotto from veg menu b!!!

1 minute ago, aimee0715 said:

We were on Resilient Lady for 2 weeks and I think I heard 3 announcements from the captain the whole trip. 

This is 2 more than usual haha - usually it's just the "welcome aboard, thanks for being good sports, here are some bubbles and let's sail" announcement at the beginning.

After being subjected to neighboring MSC and RC ships' endless morning (pre 7am!!!!) and pre-departure announcements on some of my previous voyages, I'll take the silent captain any day.

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

the only bad one was the s’mores dessert. 

hah glad i skipped that one!  i had already eaten a smores jar in the galley at lunch that day, so passed on dinner smores.

yep, but i've never actually seen or heard of anyone playing.  i popped over to investigate once, and it wasn't a "proctored" activity either, so people were just playing halfcourt basketball with the net set up.

1 hour ago, CanadianCruiser21 said:

Woah. I thought it would be 1 year from the original sail date. 

that's what it was when we got cancelled - it may be different in reality (and in the cancel-ee's account) vs. what sailor services tells them too.  it was in my experience!

no and no - they may get a bottle of champagne/sparkling wine and some extra attention at one dinner, but no flowers onboard other than the ones they have decorating certain venues, and no balloons, as they're super bad for the environment.

2 hours ago, Geebeeau said:

Here is what sailor services said to me. Note I asked about whether we could just use the champagne as credit for bar tab. I am hoping that this will be the case. Our cruise is next year.

 

 

Pre-Voyage:

 

Enhanced Dedicated Check-In Experience

Special Wristband for Exclusive Access on Board

 

During Your Voyage:

 

(1) 3-Hour Thermal Spa day pass per Sailor

Aphrodisiac Food Cabin Drops (every other day)

Exclusive Sail Away Party

Morning Juice Pick-up (every day between 8 am -11 am at The Juice Bar which is located between The Dock House and The Dock)

(1) Shake for Champagne (only available on board, not at The Beach Club at Bimini

You can’t use the champagne as a bar tab- it’s just for the shake for champagne, unfortunately!

41 minutes ago, dazadelaide said:

We also would like to try the food in gunbae but just the thought of yelling gunbae gunbae gunbae during a meal is just too much for me! 

You “yell” Gunbae once- just during the game before dinner, and you can opt out entirely if you want.

49 minutes ago, Roel94 said:

I am going in July and I can see the show times that you can book on board..hat how I knew 7 and930. 

don't get too attached to that schedule, as it 100% will change in the weeks leading up to your voyage, as well as once you actually get on the ship!

29 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Didn't know there was a new menu coming out; perhaps they will rotate them to encourage more visits to this restaurant at night. 

they're supposedly piloting this one and it may make its way across the pond soon.

i think they scared people away with the OG menu by playing up it's veg-forwardness, even though there were plenty of meat options.  the new resilient menu is my new favorite dinner - i went for dinner one night, then went back for a pre-dinner snack when they opened the next day!  the desserts are also MUCH better!  creme brulee was delish.

41 minutes ago, Jasukkie said:

That's interesting. I think I would get bored hanging out there all day. Was it a party crowd? It was popular but low key in my experience. Like sip cocktails and have a nosh and take pix for the gram sort of a thing.

a few times i've been back there on a sea day, it's mostly chair hogs that put their crap their in the morning so they can get the good sun in the afternoon 😡 but if you want a kind of quiet spot, it's great for sunbathing on the beds, or you can put the umbrellas up or sit under the overhang if you want shade.

3 hours ago, Roneill76 said:

The ships tend to struggle anywhere over 1,500 passengers. That's been well documented by passengers as well as from the staff itself.

they don't though.  if you're referring to the one very vocal complainie janie on youtube, i was on the same voyage as he was.  i experienced almost no issues. 

events filled up the first day because people booked them, but all of the shows have standby lines - i've never seen them not let the standby line in.  fitness classes always fill up - doesn't matter how many people are on - yet, every single time, they've let standbys in because someone gets too hungover or sleeps in and misses the class.

to be fair, room service sucked the one time i tried to get breakfast, but that was because something apparently happened in the ship eats galley either with the printer or the actual line going down, and orders got mega backed up.  this "vlogger's" complaints were pretty unwarranted, and his whining made it even worse. 

also, i'm still waiting for NCL to acquire VV, as he said was IMMINENTLY occurring in his stupid vlog last year, straight from his "inside source" 🤣 🤣 🤣

anyway... i've been on 13 times with anywhere from 800 to 2,300, usually in the upper half of that range.  service at the wake sucks even if there are only 800 onboard. something is broken in their system there.  that's really the only major service issue i've encountered across the fleet so far, and that has nothing to do with passenger loads.

i prefer the higher load sailings, as they add more shows and activities.  if there are only 800 onboard, it doesn't make sense to have more than 2 showings of each of the shows, but with lots more people on, you have plenty of options and times to catch what you want to see.  case in point, i was on the same 8-night itinerary in january with about 800.  the manor was dark at least 3 nights, so there was literally nothing to do other than sit in bars those three nights.  in december, both the manor and on the rocks were popping almost every night.