jon81uk

Pretty sure the need to turn is just because VV’s Terminal V is right at the end of the port and the ship needs to turn to get out. 

In terms of the workshops to avoid, there is one on posture that is an insoles sales scam and one on nutrition pushing supplements. Might be others but some are obvious, like the watches one is in the watch store!

29 minutes ago, BeachyGirl64 said:

What if you are not married and sharing a cabin.  The bar tab and sailor loot are under my name - is there a way for my friend to use the bar tab without adding him to my account?

Doesn’t matter if married or not, when doing check in on the app you and your cabin mate can select if one person is paying everything or if paying for own expenses. Only way to share a bar tab is for all charges to go to that person. You can also go see sailor services on the ship and get them combined, but still any charges over and above bar tab will go to that one person. Otherwise you could ask onboard for individual transactions to be moved between people or just ensure that it’s always your band tapped so charges go to you.

2 minutes ago, Maisyboo said:

Question about upgrade bidding from newbie to VV . When you are given a chance to bid does the offer/ system show you exactly what cabin room  number the bid is for ?. 

No you just bid on a type/category of room and can be allocated any room within that category if the bid is successful.

also to answer the original question, we went from limited view terrace to central terrace for around £100.

If you select in the app during check in that one person is paying then all charges will go on that persons account and come from any bar tab or loot they have on their account. Once bar tab is depleted then loot is used and once that is gone then the credit card is charged on the last night.

Of those on Resilient Lady I’d say all of them except Lola’s Library are great.

Persephone is probably the best, it’s quite full on with lots of circus and acrobatics with live singing.

Miss Behave Show is a lot of fun and very interactive. Will have most people singing and laughing along.

Another Rose is a good dinner show with an Indian inspired menu as well as plenty of cocktails and sparkling rose. There is a slightly confusing three way romance plot but lots of good live singing, dancing and circus.

Mind Mangler is from the same company who did The Play That Goes Wrong and is a good farce with a little actual magic. It’s a great show and again very funny. 
 

Lola’s Library I just found it tried too hard to be risqué or double entendres and although it some performers are good, the show seemed drawn out. But I think it’s changed since I saw it a year ago to tighten up the running time.

32 minutes ago, Liao said:

I don’t drink alcohol at all.  I do drink a lot of premium coffee, iced lattes, cappuccino, 5 or 6 day, that’s why I purchased the VV beverage package.  I think that will be enough.  

I think that will be enough on VV, but you listed the $13k price for Celebrity as including the premium drinks package. I think that is worth $100+ a night so is a big part of the reason that cruise is more expensive.

1 hour ago, cantgetin said:

We ended up with $900 free bar tab on 14 night cruise, and only used about half of it.  Everyone is different. 

And therefore that $13k celebrity price that includes the drinks package would probably be even less relevant to your needs!

Big difference between those is the drink package on Celebrity of course, I think that adds over $100 a day plus tip. Not sure how much you drink but we’ve got through over $1000 between two people on a transatlantic on VV. While that isn’t as much as the package would have cost, if you aren’t drinking at least that much you wouldn’t need the package on Celebrity anyway.

24 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

The Galley is never going to feel upscale - are you talking about the one dinner special per night? Every cruise line I've been on does that in the buffet. 

If you want to eat upscale every night then sail on Cunard. But they now have 2-4 dinner specials each night and on my last sailing they had a section of the Galley with a host stand and tables laid out to give a slightly more upscale feel to the space for those that did want that experience. For me I was happy to walk up to the counter and get a third serving of butter chicken curry.

But pretty much there are plenty of different cruise lines, there are those who offer upscale dining every night, there are some with  the MDR experience where everyone gets bland and there is Virgin offering multiple different experiences from experimental six course menus, to dinner shows and so on.

44 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

I'm talking about an actual solution like making Razzle Dazzle more upscale, ditching Test Kitchen for every night of the cruise and only offer it a couple of nights and the other nights it becomes a traditional dining room with similar menu as the Wake.... things that will actually help. 

They have added place mats to darken the tables and changed the dinner menu at Razzle Dazzle a year ago to make dinner feel a little more upscale.
 

I don’t think removing the more unique offering of Test Kitchen is a solution though. Those who want a more traditional menu can now go to the Galley in the evening though, they have made one section there more upscale and added the traditional dinner items as specials. 

16 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Dinner Reservations - it's the most annoying part of the Virgin Cruise experience. You seem to defend everything they do, so I'm guessing you will say it's not actually a problem even though myself and many others on this board are very annoyed with it. 

 

The OP was asking about when the reservations that can’t be booked before boarding become available, hence me asking what the problem you were looking for a solution to is because the OPs question is answered, can do it as soon as onboard and the app is on the ship WiFi or go to see the dining team in person.

If what you mean is the fact the reservations get booked up

too quick and it’s hard to get into some places, then VV have implemented some solutions (although the quality of the solution is for others to decide).

One solution VV added is now offering several dinner special in the Galley, typically at least one roast meat type dish and at least one Asian dish. When I was on Scarlet Lady they also set up one section of the Galley with a host stand and full waited service if you want that.

Another solution is having a dedicated dining help desk space to make or change reservations, last time I was on Scarlet Lady they did this on Pink Agave every day. 
 

They also seemed to have a more robust waitlist system and would message people back if they have a no-show and space becomes available.

Whether you view these as solutions is up to you, but it did seem like they were trying to accommodate more people.

1 minute ago, Travel-and-See said:

I wonder what the solution is to this? I'm surprised Virgin hasn't tried something, this has to be the biggest complaint they get. 

 

 

Solution to what?

It’s once you are onboard and on the ship WiFi, so as soon as you are aboard. You can either book yourself on the app or go to see the dining reservation team. The dinner show and other activities will also be available to book in the app as soon as you are onboard.

Some small group fitness classes though won’t in the event line up and available to be booked until later in the day, sometime around 3-5pm.

I think the most accurate way is to ask at the host stand once onboard what the menu rotation will be. VV Insider knew the dates for the food festival month but don’t think they permanently find that information. For seven night cruises on the last it’s one menu for four days and the other for three days so I assume that continues.

5 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

I was out in plenty of time for the Untitled Danceshowpartything.  In the Red Room.  It was not what I expected/hoped.  Last night one of the cast was singing at the Roundabout so I thought there would be singing.  Nope.  A lot of dancing around.  The theater is on two levels and the lower level stands throughout and sometimes becomes part of the show.  There are a few seats upstairs but not full view.  I left halfway through

The singer is the finale of the show, about the last 15minutes after the solo slow dance.

6 hours ago, zumbaqueen1 said:

Okay, just for newbie clarification...

1. If you want diet coke for your room can you ask your cabin helper? or do you need to get it via room service (for a fee)?

2. Do they have small pots for holding hot water in the galley for tea? 

3. Do they have nice size cups for coffee or tea in the Galley?

4. When you are "done" with your room service food, do you place it outside your door or leave in room for room helper to remove?

 

Thanks again!!!!  

82 days until we sail!!!

1. You’ll need to order from room service. Get a paid thing such as wine, beer, or barista coffee and you pay for that item but the delivery is free. If you only order the free soda it’s a $10 charge, so a $5 coffee or $7 beer is better deal.

2. only if you pay for the loose leaf tea. Otherwise for teabags you make it in the mug.

3. they are fairly standard size mugs. Not huge but not tiny. It’s about the coffee size I drink at home.

4. Some people leave it out but I prefer to leave in the room and press the needs cleaning button for them to get it. But most of the room service we have has been breakfast.

Virgin Voyages currently only matches to the lower tier. They have too many people on the high tier on some cruises now so status match to Deep Blue ended at the end of 2023 and you need four cruises to get those benefits on the fifth if you didn’t already earn them or match in 2023.

All the details are on the website 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club#status-match

Yep, status match will get you a free barista-made coffee a day, a bag of laundry and a drinks party.

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club#status-match

38 minutes ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi all,

 

We are an older couple - 60s+ and considering our first ever Mediterranean Greece cruise.  We are debating between Virgin, Celebrity and Princess.

 

Virgin is significantly more expensive when comparing the inclusion of tips/wifi on all (the other 2 lines also include drinks at our cheaper price point).

 

I'm wondering about entertainment - the shows seem like they are very unique and different (we were not impressed by what we saw on the inaugural Scarlett lady cruise) at all.  We were also very, very disappointed that there were no variety acts (comedians, magicians, etc.) and that there was very, very little live music - just 1 mere band.

 

Has things changed on Virgin?  Is there now ample live entertainment and live music to justify the significantly higher price point, or are both still scarce with mostly a dj and nightclub scene/vibe?  If so, what can we expect aside from the 2-3 "unique" shows?

 

Thanks so much.

Generally all VV ships have one or two live guest bands and at least one busker-style solo or duo guest musician. On longer itineraries there might be more.

Right now Resileint Lady has Sons of James trio and Soulo Lyon trio as the bands plus Selkii as a soloist and  Akimbo duo.

They do seem to have increased slightly the number of guest live bands compared to a few years afo, but there is no house band on Resilient.

There will be a guest magician, comedian or variety act as the festival stage act onboard. Generally just one, but transatlantic and similar long trips get more.

Resilient Lady has completely different shows compared to Scarlet Lady, Persephone is a circus type retelling of the Greek legend, performed with a standing audience, I thought it was excellent, Mind Mangler is a comedy magic show from Mischief theatre (who made The Play That Goes Wrong), Miss Behave Show is a silly caberet game show with lots of ability for the audience joining in and is just great fun, Another Rose is a dinner show with live singing and circus/acrobatics plus drinks and good Indian inspired food and Lola’s Library is a cabaret show with singing and dancing. In my opinion they are all great shows except for Lola’s Library that is too badly written. 
VV Insider has a good summery https://vvinsider.com/events-on-resilient-lady/

there is also the official website

https://www.virginvoyages.com/cruise-entertainment#resilient-lady

I think RL in general has better entertainment than SL and VL.

1 hour ago, Travel-and-See said:

There is no song and dance on other lines - just more options for the guests. Celebrity always brings me water right away and then asks if I would like anything else to drink - at that point I can can order a bottled sparkling water, club soda, or anything else on the menu. 

 

It would be nice if Virgin offered a sparkling mineral water. 

I was comparing to restaurants not other cruise lines. There are plenty of restaurants that have made it feel uncomfortable to have to ask for tap water. But the way you describe it is getting more common with restaurants serving tap water for free without being asked and there are places like VV where they don’t have bottled water available at all.

It’s pretty standard in Europe to be asked “still or sparkling water” when seated at a restaurant. In the UK I’ll usually just then say tap water please as I don’t want to pay for mineral. In Europe that’s not normally an option, can only get mineral.

I like that on VV ships you don’t have to do that song and dance about not wanting to pay for bottled water, you just get the filtered water as standard.

3 hours ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

I've seen this on my last 3 cruises. Can't remember what they call it or where it's listed. Do they only do it once or twice on a 4 or 5 day cruise? Anyone ever do it? Heard you get to take your part home.

It’s called Live Life Colourfully. Talk to the artist hosting it about when they expect it to be completed and cut up, it can be 3-5 sessions I think. Then you can collect a piece when they cut it, but maybe not the bit you coloured.

38 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

Starting July 17 you'll have new options for Bar Tabs:

 

• Purchase $200 Bar Tab + $25 Extra for a total of $225 in drinks
• $300 Bar Tab + $50 Extra: $350
• $500 Bar Tab + $100 Extra: $600
• $750 Bar Tab + $175 Extra: $925
• $1000 Bar Tab + $250 Extra: $1250

 

If you think $1250 Bar Tab sounds crazy remember you can share the bar tab and buy anyone a drink. So groups of friends or Sailors can collectively buy one Bar Tab and one have one or two people responsible for buying the drinks. Especially with these longer itineraries, these bar tabs can really be cool among friends.  You'll be able to purchase these yourself or your TA can add them. 

Also on something like a transatlantic cruise for two weeks, we’ve spent around $1100 for two people’s drinks so that amount will work for those longer voyages even for a couple.

But we’ve got the Sea Blazer benefit for life of $125 bonus with $300, so we’d still get more from multiples of $300 ($900 would get $1275 for Sea Rovers).

22 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

This perk can be useful as long as you show up during their short hours of operation and you can cut the line by going to that desk.  VV is notorious for lack of signage, and they don't display anything to indicate that that desk is for DBE sailors or the hours.  As with lots of quirks about VV, you have to "hear" about it through other sailors.

I’ve had a letter in the cabin stating the benefits of Sailing Club and the hours for the dedicated support. Then the desk had a small Sailing Club sign on it when it was open.