Lustate

Hey, so whos on them? whats happening and what has made the events even better than a standard voyage? best wishes!

Gun Wharf Quays is a short taxi away, and it's a shopping outlet centre. You could also go up the Spinnaker Tower. I would have a look about rather than head straight to ship myself. Plus can get a few steps in and some air.

The main bed cannot be split, but depending on the suite, there is also a sofa bed as well.

I was also on this voyage (but as a rockstar). Embarkation day - This is classic of people NOT following simple guidance. Priority is clearly explained that at your BOOKED ARRIVAL time, you should arrive at the terminal, and you will be put into the priority boarding line for your slot. If there is no one there, you literally walk straight on. When people ALL turn up, ignoring booking slots, it ruins it for everyone as you have (or whatever) all claiming they should be first on the ship as a "priority". App - has been bad for years but is getting better every journey. Something "back of house" happened on this voyage to a lot of peoples bookings, but everyone got to eat in every place they wanted, just maybe not in the first choice of slot. Funchal - Yer getting back on the ship was an issue. The technical reason for this was the gangplank. VV explained that due to low tide, they can only have one until the level comes up, as the level 4 entry is below the portside. As soon as the ship was high enough, they deployed the second gang plank and it moved faster. A lot of people also did wait till the very end of the boarding time to head back so we did not help with that issue. Disembarkation - This was very much a mess up, half sailor's fault, half VV. A lot of people did not book slots or ignored them. This created a bottle neck to leave the ship. A fair few people also had not cleared the bill on board, so they had to step aside to guest services. This line should not have happened at all, and I am sure VV have apologies for this one-off instance which did not meet their standards. Rockstars - As a rockstar we could line jump just about anything. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn't. On the way back to the ship at Funchal we stood and waited with everyone else, as it seemed a bit wrong to be pulled from the line and walked to the front. For some shows people made this drama about them wanting to be over prepaired. If people followed the guidance of turning up 15 minutes before door opening, then the line would not have formed as along. But as soon as someome turns up at 30 minutes to go people stand behind, then the next show does thst 35 mins before and it grows. Madness of crowds.

I'm not a fan of it (ie. won't ever be doing it myself), but as long as it does not get in the way, people should have their fun. That said, on the door magnets, do add some sticky felt on the back so it does not scratch the door surface. I think that's when VV have taken them down, as they can see it cutting, scratching or damaging the door surface. On the last voyage we had a couple a few doors along with a balloon on the door. Was a nice little bread crumb to follow on a late night back from the Manor lol

Not the only change coming with them either. Not valid with circles for the bonus loot either. Going forward could mean much fewer group bookings for TA. I mean the perk for having a circle and setting them up is basically not there.

Maybe a lounge at the front by combining the spaces at the front of deck 13 below the bridge? Looking at the current layouts its just empty space (maybe storage). So option one could be to use that space better. Of course the IV bar never opened, so the other option could be there, but in real terms would people want that space, as its so low in the ship its far from the other rockstar facilities?

100% back this view up on the rooftop. As soon as a breeze picks up (something the rest of the ship would not even notice) the rooftop becomes a wind tunnel. Two simple "I bar" steels and awnings, and they could have a covered frontage and more wind defence right around to the "bouncy" type beds. Our rockstar agent was amazing (hi Mel if you read this!), and her, the sunset hour, and the in room bar are the only suite things I want. If i could buy an XL and an "upgrade" to a "rockstar on tour" etc we would drop another £250 a night on a standard Xl without thinking.

It has been rumoured for a while now that a new suite type is coming out so maybe they have not released them yet, and will be more coming down the line when they confirm them on scarlet after the dry dock and on brilliant? The other options is less favourable, and I really think VV should be stepping in on this. Sadly some agents go in and hold as many suites as they can. This blocks people who want to book direct getting suites, and forces people to book via an agent who will gain 16% commission per cabin or suite.

And thats if you COULD buy them. We tried to buy a suite, and in less than ten minutes, all sold out in every cabin type. Turns out agents had early access and had them before people at home who wanted to buy them directly could even open the site.

Not that I could see. In fact (and I know I sound a bit snobby), upping the prices and reducing some of the offers has made the voyages more enjoyable. Some people were doing a "try it for the price" and not the people you would expect on a VV, ie They were pretty closed-minded, refused even to consider eating anything other than steak, chicken, and fries, and thought the entertainment was too "liberal." Since the price hike, the numbers on board have been stable, people who want and like the product have come on board, and there are fewer party animals, with very, very few people drinking to excess. Quality has not dropped at all from what I can see.

The app back in 2021, before the first sailings, was really bad, but they have tried and made both the pre-sailing and onboard app much better. Yes there are issues when people try and all bounce to book dining at the same time, but that is just like when people all try and book concert tickets at the same time. stuff goes down and its just a fact of life.

Its also worth noting a bookings types wont qualify...

In the Massive suite, i dont think an agent would DARE say no to taking a bottle off the ship at the end of the voyage lol, I will try in 2025 and report back lol

Sea you on board!

Rockstars have an arranged tour of the bridge, which is generally offered to them on VV. Megas also get a few things on top, such as blowing the horn on departure from a port I have saw offered to people in the Massive Suite.

Hi all, Anyone on board or recently been on the ship tour behind the scenes? How much was it, and where did you go?

Also booked the San Juan to Barcelona. I mean the prices were much better than we had booked on the Miami to Med just a few weeks later. Back to living the Suite Life lol

Could it be a move to San Diago or Long Beach?

No one on the six voyages we have done wore sexy. Its more "fun sleep over" type vibe and cheesy pop music rather than anything more.

You mean you want ANOTHER door between the room and the WC and Shower? it would be like running through one of them hall of mirrors lol Nah on a serious note, the sinks are tucked away behind a wall and from that you do have doors into the WC and Shower so its not like they are "open to the room" really.

Thats when i get back on board, swoosh along to the Dock, and order some nibbles, and a nice cocktail, then along the deck to get an ice cream and sit outside late afternoon resting my feet.

It gets worse lol I mean its all fake drama. The ship was still all shiny and new, and i imagine it was a "settling" problem for the tile, but it was swapped out and sailors would never have known. I would not be to shocked if the second season was canned either due to rating or at VV request lol In a show on Netflix about (of all things) mermaids, VV is featured a lot in the final episode to do with a competition. Much more honest as you can just see people getting along in the background and enjoying the ship.

On this, a friend on VV also had a different experience as well. There is a structural beam through a section now and again that works like a tuning fork. So base or loud music was amplified up through the side of the cabin they were in towards the front of the deck. They were in deck 9 around cabin 350.

I must have said this a thousand times by now lol It's still cheaper on VV than you can get on land for the same services. The friendliness, openness and generally crew, who all want to help rather than being paid to smile make the place my ideal go-to holiday.