jon81uk

I think they could offer Richard’s Roof top to a top tier, so something like ten cabins per sailing. The priority boarding needs sorting out, so reserve the first time for loyalty only, something like 1.30 for rockstars, 1.45 for high tier loyalty and 2pm for other loyalty. 2.15 maybe Splash of Romance. Then everyone else can select from slots starting at 2.30. That makes more sense than the current system where it isn’t clear what happens to those with status.

The one in the OP never went on sale.

Generally they are an hour. The major shows like Duel Reality, Ships in the Night, Miss Behave Show, Untitled Dance Party are all about 55-60 minutes. The Dinner Shows (It’s a A Ship Show or Another Rose) are 90-120 minutes. Smaller shows like the Hostess songs are about an hour too.

That could be due to changes in the GBP to USD exchange rate as its a Portsmouth based itinerary?

You only need one or the other, if you status match you’ll get the benefits on the next cruise no need to take two.

Yes there is the Sailing Club https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club currently you need to sail twice before 31 December 2023 to get the benefits on the third cruise. Or do a status match. How you can gain status in 2024 is currently unknown. There is a smoking room near the casino, the door is behind the casino cage desk. Also a smoking area on deck 16.

At least this one hasn’t been opened for booking, the posters went to TAs but that is all so far. I assume therefore it wasn’t planned to be a charter (whereas the 2024 Athens to Barcelona and to Portsmouth are) but last minute they are in negotiations. Better tot pause last minute and work out what to do instead of like you say take it back out to turn it into a charter.

You can still get a bottle of sparkling wine if you link your booking to a friends.

I don’t think this one ever made it on sale, the itinerary posters went to TAs but there are a couple of 2025 itineraries which didn’t appear on the VV website

Sounds like you got a terrible server, when they supplied food for the table they gave a set of sauces per person or per couple, rice dishes per couple and some things like the seafood pancake the server shared a slice to each person. When passing round cooked meats he passed tongs round with it. Sharing with my husband isn’t a problem to me, but if they tried to give just one set of sauces to the table that would be weird! Unless you were a solo person and the server assumed you were part of a couple? Did you ask for some for yourself when they laid them out to share?

A schedule will appear in the app at 45 days when restaurants can be booked, but it changes a lot and several things only appear in the last week, particularly guest acts like the live music. So you will have an idea when the big shows like Duel Reality are (usually 7 or 8pm and 10pm) but other stuff fills in later.

Technically NSA was replaced with the festival stage acts on all ships, but yes nothing replaced phantom folktales. Although there has been a slight increase in daytime activity I think like Zumba, there has also been an increase in paid for stuff like Loteria.

I don’t think that would count for Loteria as there are no cash prizes, you are paying for the drinks really. But yes it’s possible that bingo can only be done in international waters, although it is an odd game that doesn’t count as “gambling” in the same way casino games like roulette/poker do.

I enjoyed the pork when it is cooked well, I think that’s the issue too. They probably should go back to allowing guests to have their own tongs and remove the meat when they think it’s ready.

Generally things that normally only happen on sea days like the VHS workout and Loteria will only happen on the one or two sea days. Things like bingo can get scheduled in the evening though.

The beef is marinated but the pork isn’t so you need to use the dipping sauces with the pork. That and cook it until it’s crispy and the fat renders a little.

Generally they will serve the starters/appetisers first, then rice and then grilled items. You can order more appetisers to come out later if you wish but if you want apps as your main you’ll need to make that clear with the server. Most of the time the server does “take control” and order for the table serving to share if everyone eats meat/seafood as it simplifies things, I also find some of the portion sizes (like the seafood pancake) is better for sharing as you can have one slice and share the rest amongst the table.

Scarlet Lady will be in dry dock November 2024 before doing a Rome to Miami transatlantic in December.

Whereas with the menu change this summer Razzle Dazzle went from not that great and style over substance to now being good modern American food. Nothing on the old dinner menu was must do for me but there are several nice things on the current after dark dinner menu, especially dessert.

Virgin Voyages ships have a dedicated sealed smoking room near the casino and an outdoor one on deck 16, those are the only places smoking is permitted. Restaurants operate like on land the staff come to your table and take the order. In the Galley food hall (VV doesn’t have a buffet) you can either go to counters like a food hall or flag down a server to take the order to have some hot items bussed to you. The pool area on sea days can be crowded but the interior of the ship rarely feels busy as crowds spread out between multiple bars and the shows/nightclub and casino.

The main thing is because there is only 78 suites on the ship the demand outstrips supply, they don’t need to discount the suites as they sell well enough anyway.

Yep I was comparing prices for the May 2025 transatlantic and a similar cruise was a similar price with Celebrity once tips are included.

The April 2024 transatlantic seems to be a weird outlier where the price went to crazy in the last few months. May 2025 transatlantic is more expensive than previous cruises but not outrageous at £4716 for sea terrace. So a significant increase on previous transatlantic but at £314 a night it doesn’t seem terrible value, but not cheap either.

Yesterday there was nothing for June 2025 and now there is.

No, the only forward area is Richards rooftop which is for suite guests only. But there is a decent amount of space across deck 16 to see the sights.