jon81uk

No tip is expected. When we arrived at cruise terminal A three weeks ago you queued for a counter outside, showed your passport and they check if you are eligible for DBE or Splash of romance and looked up your cabin number. They issued wristbands if you do have expedited boarding and tagged the bags. Then you go inside and do hand luggage security before going to check in.

But if you are staffed for 70% then service will suffer if you get 100% of guests turn up. Not comparing a ma and pa restaurant, but other big operators like Disney who are very fixated on their margin and not over staffing. Also it’s said that if you get a bad experience you will tell 15 people but get a good experience and you only tell one or two. Therefore it is good business sense to focus on giving a great experience to a small number of people who will come back and bring friends with them, instead of a crappy experience which will then be shared and put people off. If my first cruise was terrible I wouldn’t have booked again, but I’ve now done six. So great service to smaller numbers is a great way to start a business and then once the good reviews start flowing (which they are judging by the number of awards VV have) you can then focus on getting more and more customers coming in and ensuring existing ones return.

It’s common sense and it’s done by restaurants across the world. If you don’t have enough waitstaff then you don’t take the reservations. I’ve sat in many restaurants that were half empty because although they had enough chairs and table to accommodate more diners they didn’t have enough staff to serve any extra tables. But once word gets out the place is good they then have enough seating and can start hiring more staff and filling all the tables.

Although ensuring you offer a good quality product will get people to return in the long-term. If they know that they can’t offer the level of service they wish when occupancy is above a certain level it makes sense to cap it slightly until they get the right number of staff. Also for costs it doesn’t make sense to have enough staff to serve 2700 people when most sailings have around 2000 on them, better to save staff costs slightly and aim to get 2200 on every sailing than some with 2700.

It’s never taken more than two hours for us, last two cruises it was about 90 minutes. It’s Agua Fresca (Mexican drink made with fruit sugar and water) spiked with your choice of liquor. the cheese topped steak is good and my favourite is the side of sweetcorn (esquites). I think the Gym & Tonic bar next to the jacuzzi pool also offers fresh juice and smoothies and the Dock bar should as well. Some menus here. https://profcruise.com/virgin-bar-menus-2023/#gym https://profcruise.com/virgin-bar-menus-2023/#dock

I’ve always sorted our own or got travel agent to do it. Don’t think there is a huge benefit in VV doing it. VV only book two hotels in each homeport anyway and they are relatively expensive.

Both small and medium size hotels I’ve stayed at in Europe generally didn’t have porters and we just went to the front desk for help with baggage, there was no expectation of a tip. We are British and there we don’t go in wanting to tip, but in twenty years or travelling in Europe I’ve never felt like we needed to tip in a hotel.

Of the waiter service restaurants only The Wake and Razzle Dazzle are open for brunch/lunch. For Razzle Dazzle I think last reservation is 12noon and The Wake is 1pm. The Galley food court is open for breakfast to 11am, then limited items 11-12 and lunch 12-3pm. Then there are other casual service places from around noon such as the Dock, Social Club, Sun Club Cafe then pizza place opens 2pm to 2am.

As far as I know any bonus given by a TA (so not from MNVV or DBE) will only be added last minute, only credit given by VV shows on the booking/app, but anything from the TA should show on their invoice.

It’s a club night with a gold or fancy theme, the cast will come out every 10-15 minutes and do a number then the DJ starts back up. A majority of people don’t wear gold, or dress up. It’s pretty much just a club night with the extra theme.

If you just need luggage storage and not late checkout there is no charge. Every time we’ve been in Barcelona we just took our bags to the front desk around 9 or 10am (after breakfast) and they held them. We went for a wander then got back to the hotel at 1pm to collect bags and get a taxi to the port. Unlike the USA you don’t even need to tip, no charge to store bags at most hotels.

The main difference is it’s not easily walkable from the city to the cruise terminal, but it is to WTC.

We sailed on Valiant Lady two weeks ago and got an app notification the day before stating the ship was leaving from cruise terminal A. The email still stated World Trade Center so at least they’ve improved that as it was a bit confusing the email said one thing and the notification said another. No idea why they’ve had to change but it seems they’ve been using the cruise port for a few weeks now. There is a small cafe and a duty free shop inside the terminal but it’s after security checks and I’m not sure how VV are managing the time slots as we have DBE so went straight through the priority line anyway. I think they were allowing everyone to drop luggage and go through security regardless of the arrival time selected and then there was people sat waiting near check in. taxi from cruise terminal A to the airport was flat fee of €39.

We normally do brunch at the Wake with a 9am reservation aiming to disembark 10-10.30. It’s not usually that busy and can relax with waiter service for coffee, juice and pasties rather than dealing with finding your own table and stuff at the Galley.

The free ones are usually American Twinings envelope tea bags. Speciality is loose leaf Jojo tea.

Bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, beans, omelette are available 24/7 from the diner counter in the Galley food court. Burgers are available until midnight. Ramen noodles and salads are until 10pm. Toasted sandwiches and tacos are only until 3pm. There are hot dogs and wings until 10pm in the social club. The pizza place is usually open to 2am (note the pizza place is a separate location on deck 7, it’s not in the Galley). This is most people’s choice of late night food. The parties in the Manor night club generally start at 11pm and run through to 2am, 3am or longer depending how busy. On the Rocks bar will have live music until around 1am and then close, the casino and its bar will also be open until 2am or later. Most other bars close 10pm, 11pm or midnight. Some venues like the Dockhouse will be quiet in the evenings before closing at 10pm, but On the Rocks where there is music will be busier. Then after midnight it’s normally only the Manor and the casino that are busy. It does depend on the type of people onboard and how busy the ship is, some areas like the Dockhouse will be empty even at 8pm (most people are at dinner or in a show) but generally On the Rocks and the Manor will be busy. There is generally something going on to 10pm like trivia or karaoke, then it’s just the band or nightclub. Except the overnight in Ibiza when there is nothing happening on the ship, the Manor nightclub stays closed as most people go out in town. Im happy with the firm bed as it’s what we have at home, on Valiant last week there was a thin mattress protector sewn into the fitted sheet but no topper.

At $4 for a latte or cappuccino all the coffee is under the $7 delivery fee. They do have pour-over drip coffee at the Grounds Club if you want to pay for drip, but yes if you want it for free you need to go to the Galley (or order it with brunch at Razzle or the Wake).

I think you’ve kind of answered why they don’t put robes in the regular rooms, it’s something that many guests steal so they’ve just decided it’s too much for housekeeping to monitor and therefore easier not to bother with them. The ones in the suites are nothing special, they are the same as the spa, just standard waffle texture.

I think you’ve kind of answered why they don’t put robes in the regular rooms, it’s something that many guests steal so they’ve just decided it’s too much for housekeeping to monitor and therefore easier not to bother with them. The ones in the suites are nothing special, they are the same as the spa, just standard waffle texture.

On Valiant Lady last week bar soap was provided and it’s not black, think they got rid of that last year or longer ago. On the first screen of the app there is a share and add your mates option, use that to link up and book dining for each other. I’ve read reviews from others that got the balcony divider opened when they knew the person next door. Be aware the aircon needs the balcony door to be closed and locked to turn on, so you can’t leave the door unlocked to go between each others rooms and get it cooled. i was on Valiant Lady last week so in Mediterranean not Caribbean and was occasionally a little cold at dinner as I wore shorts to restaurants. On deck it was cool but was fine to dance at Scarlet night with other people around. It’s usually warmer in Caribbean though so should be fine.

Almost all coffee chains use some form of powdered chocolate mixed with milk, that doesn’t mean it isn’t “real” chocolate. I’ve not ordered hot chocolate onboard VV but for a mocha they were using Monin chocolate syrup which looked similar to Starbucks.

Me too, but when I wanted shade I just used the hammock on the balcony. There’s not a lot of shade next to the pool on deck 15 either really so I didn’t bother trying when I wanted shade and just went out when I wanted sun.

The area on deck 15 near the pool is always busy, but there is almost always space on deck 16, either on loungers above the pool or at the athletic club at the aft. I’ve been onboard with 1300ish and they didn’t even bother getting all the loungers out on deck 16 as they weren’t needed.

Pretty similar on Valiant last week too, apparently 2200 onboard but the only time it felt crowded was afternoons on sea days when basically every lounger was taken. It was still possible to find seats outside, just not loungers. There was no issues getting food and the one very busy breakfast we were offered seating in Gunbae but chose to sit outside.

No, if items are reduced it’s just on the Virgin Voyages branded stuff really and it’s seasonal not per journey.