neverendingcruising

Rockstars board first so just find a seat at On the Rocks and wait for your party (San Juan boards on deck 6 unlike Miami which is deck 7). 

Apparently we like Resilient too much as we are currently onboard It's $40 if you buy it for one day, $30/day if you buy it for the length of the voyage despite the message in the app that it was $25/day. 

First of all, I agree with you, this is ridiculous and Sailor Services should fix all of this for you. 
 

Serious question though, why didn't you have your travel agent fix the email address? 

Really digging the updated decor in Razzle Dazzle. Now about that new menu...

3 hours ago, Travel-and-See said:

Don't let the drink packages discourage you at all...  with not tips added and reasonable drink prices, the pre-paid bar tab promotion is basically a drink package and one of the benefits is there is no limitation or upcharges. Want to splurge on an expensive wine? go right ahead! 

 

The room layout is not great, there is lots of wasted space. And at times the vibe is exactly what you describe (trying too hard to be cool and edgy) but Virgin does quite a few things right and overall it's a fun time for sure. 

 

Grounds Club is the coffee bar - Americano or Latte is like $4 or $5 (compared to $7 on Celebrity) and they use Intelegista espresso -it's quite good and I'm a picky coffee snob.  The one downstairs on the 5th floor is much more consistent than the one upstairs by the Galley.  

 

You can always get free coffee at the Galley as well - 24/7.  Also, most of the restaurants have an espresso machine so you can order an americano with breakfast or for dessert, etc. 

 

They don't have a traditional buffet but the "Galley" is the buffet, it's in the same location as the buffet on other ships and it offers 24/7 food options and it's all you can eat. The difference is, it is set up like a food court with different stations (Taco, Burgers, Sushi, Breakfast, Salad, etc.) - you can either go to the station and order, or you can sit down and order with a waiter who will bring you the food.  

 

They also have a great Pizza place on the 5th floor that is open most of the time - they make pizzas to order and they are really good.  

 

There is also the "Dock House" which is on the 5th floor on the back of the ship - they offer great food in the afternoon including a Greek happy hour. 

 

Trust me... you won't go hungry on a Virgin cruise!!!! 

 

I sail with Celebrity as well and honestly, the two brands are pretty comparable - you'll have a great time and probably want to book more with Virgin in the future! 

Small correction, everything mentioned here as being on deck 5 is actually on 7. 

If you gamble enough the casino will cover your drinks, so maybe a win-win?

We find the Citizen M near the port to be both affordable and also good prep for the small size of cruise ship cabins. 😂

Funny how different people react to things, we saw it and thought it was awful!

On 11/15/2024 at 2:35 PM, CruisingWalter said:

That is highly unusual. We've been to Miami 5 times now and always received outstanding service. I would have been taking a photo of their name badge and passing it along. I don't know if VV is like everyone else down there where the terminal folks are actually employees of the Port Authority, not the cruise line. That's usually how it is at the cruise ports, the folks in the terminal work for local port authority and can be in different terminals on different days. 

Lookup Global Port Holdings and SMS Cruises, they are 2 of the largest players in the port operation market. It is quite common for the same people to work every cruise line that embarks at a particular port. 

The last few times we've sailed the DBE free WiFi was 2 devices. 

Just received an email that I can't book restaurant reservations for a couple of days. Hopefully this helps with the process, hearing good things about app updates in other threads. 

In non-suite cabins the TV is almost flush with the wall. Not saying it's impossible, but it would be very difficult to get anything plugged in. There is a remote so I think you could switch the input if you can get it plugged in. 

There are both ambulatory and accessible cabins on the Virgin ships, they have a page on their site with details. 
 

Some XL Sea Terraces have metal walls instead of glass and weird shapes as they approach the front of the ship. 

We had it last week and it was not memorable, quite bland in fact. I likely wouldn't get jt again. The polenta at the Dock is considerably better. 

I've had it, I don't remember it being remarkable or bad either. Sailing in a couple of weeks, if I get an opportunity and remember I will report back. 

Did "John Smith" work for Virgin or were they a travel agent? I only know of having a direct contact at Virgin if you have a casino connection. 

The answer to that depends on what country your passport is from and what countries you are visiting. Considering you have a US visa I'm presuming you are sailing out of Miami on a closed loop (returning to Miami). Most of the Caribbean islands are pretty easy going for cruise passengers. If you're concerned, find the entry requirements for each country for your nationality. 

Yep, this seems to new and specific to Miami. You have to talk to a person in the terminal, can't be done in the app. I think in a review here recently someone was complaining about the non-stop announcements for it in the terminal.  

I heard on another unnamed site that you can buy bar tabs in Miami at the port before boarding the ship so that might be an option now if you need to wait until last minute on an upgrade bid. 

Only Another Rose is extra ($50/person when we last sailed). That price includes several cocktails and essentially bottomless sparkling wine. Both Another Rose and Persephone are incredible and both include circus style acts. The live singing at Another Rose was fantastic.  

10 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

After the Ship Show we headed to the Red Room to see Duel Reality at 7:30pm, which is by far the best show on VV IMHO. It's only on Scarlet and Valiant. On Resilient it was replaced by extra-pay Another Rose.

Duel Reality was replaced by Persephone on Resilient Lady in the red room, Another Rose replaced Ship Show the Manor. Another Rose is a significantly better show than Ship Show and the menu is also much, much better. 

11 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

Not at all. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Disney, Princess and Carnival have great apps. VV is the worst of any of the cruise lines we've sailed so far.

Apparently you have not had the pleasure of using Princess' new app. 

The cabana bar tab and the purchased bar tab will be applied to your account when you get on the ship. If you burn through it before you get to your cabana then it's gone. In other words, the $100 isn't going to be held back until you get to your cabana. Same thing goes doe the $300. If you haven't used all of the purchased bar tab it will still apply in the cabana. 

In all of our sailings the ship has always been US currency. The casino did exchange Euro bank notes for chips when we sailed out of Barcelona but they said they only cash out in US. 

On 8/18/2024 at 11:58 AM, Cruise Gopher said:

I’m going on my first VV cruise in December. Which bar is most similar to a Martini bar on say Celebrity?

 

Also, does anyone know how much a Tito’s Dirty Martini would be? Or a grey goose dirty martini?

Never been on Celebrity but I would guess Sip as the closest to a martini bar.