singleflyer

I am sailing solo on the Nieuw Statendam in July.  I prefer to sit by myself for meals; is it possible to get a table for one in the Main Dining Room?  Or will I be placed at a larger table with other guests?  

Thanks (and sorry if this was already answered, I looked through and didn't find it). 

I called in, no problem adding it.  $50 a day ($350 total for 7 night cruise).  Hopefully It is worth it.

Anyone know what added "fresh juice" benefits?  Do they actually have fresh squeezed orange juice, for example, with the Plus package?  Looking at spending a week on Spirit and considering the upgrade for bottled water, Wifi, extra dining and fresh juice if it is really fresh squeezed.

1 hour ago, LOdragonmom said:

Great to hear! We have been watching your VV YouTube videos in preparation for our Dominican Daze trip on the Scarlet Lady in May. We are taking another couple who are sceptical of cruising and only agreed to go because I told them how Virgin is committed to doing things differently. I'm super excited and happy to see all the accolades and good reviews. Thank you sharing your experiences and keep them coming! 

I did Dominican Daze March 31-April 5 on Scarlet Lady.  Had an amazing time.  Had zero problems at all (well my cabin didn't have a laundry form but that was quickly fixed... literally the only glitch at all if you can call it that).  I ate at the Galley twice and always had staff ready to take my order before I even had a chance to view the menu.  

14 minutes ago, TwinMommyByGrace said:

My TA was able to add it to our cruise that we’re sailing under a casino offer. He said HAL told him when he called to add it on (I was also using gift cards for the purchase) there’s a ‘Have It All’ package and a HIA (which to me stands for ‘have it all’ 🤦‍♀️). The casino bookings can add the HIA package but not the Have It All package. Sounds odd to me but whatever they want to call it is fine with me as long as they added it. 

Thanks!  I don't have a TA but maybe I'll try calling in to Guest Services (or whatever it is called).

Has anyone had luck recently with this?  I keep getting an error saying my booking isn't eligible.  

I wish Norse Legends on Rotterdam worked for me (dates wise); but I think I'll go with it on the Nieuw Statendam.  It seems like the ships are similar enough that it shouldn't matter too much. 

20 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

We are on the 7 Day Norse Legends this May (next month). We've heard great things about the Rotterdam, especially about the food. So, this is a tough call for you! We chose the route because of the focus on the fjords, but once we decided, we are looking forward to the ship, also. Sorry if I'm only making the decision harder! Maybe the question is: how much better is the newer ship?

This is my dilemma.  Seems like the Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam are pretty similar.  But there is something that draws me to a new boat.  Not sure if there is actually much better about it.

I'm now debating the same for July 2023.  

Viking is on Rotterdam while Norse is on Nieuw Statendam.  

I like the Norse route better (I've already been to Flam).  But wondering if Rotterdam is better than Nieuw Statendam since it is a newer ship.  

Thoughts?

10 hours ago, Jessetfan said:

Definitely take it easy. On our sailing a couple weeks ago there was a medical emergency and we were in Miami at 10:30 PM (might have been earlier, I fell asleep) on Friday night after leaving Bimini at 6:30 PM (I think).

Interesting.  I imagine if they arrive in Miami early they have to shut down the casino and also start adding tax to the drinks.  

Just saw the "race" today on Scarlet Lady.  I thought I heard them say the prize was a free drink.  Nothing about a large sum of money.  Also, it was pretty boring.  Mostly The Artist just rolled dice and if she rolled your number your horse moved up one spot.  Then if you landed on a starfish you got to spin the wheel.  I'm hoping it wasn't for a large sum of money because one of the contestants jokingly moved the wheel to a better spot.  

3 hours ago, tbmrt said:

How does bingo work?  Usually one card per person? How  many games?  Cost/Can you use your ship loot?

Yesterday on Scarlet Lady it was $30 for one sheet (each sheet had 3 boards for each game and 4 games total), $45 for 2, and $55 for 3.  It seemed like the $55 was the best value so I bought it.  I didn't understand I'd be playing 9 boards for each game and that they call the numbers pretty fast!  Plus you have to punch out the numbers on the game sheet -- no blotters.  It was fun but hectic!  I'd suggest just buying the $30 unless you are really into bingo.  

Four total games.  First game prize was about $300.  Second game was $700.  Third game was $1100.  Fourth game was $1400.  

Lady behind me won the $1400.  She said last time she was on VV she played and also won the final round.  She is doing something right!

You can absolutely go in without playing.  Our Diva is a "Woman Named Carlos" and she is fantastic.  Not mean like I've heard some other Divas can be.  Just fun (and of course a bit dirty but not mean).  

Not sure about using Loot, but it is definitely charge to your account (not cash like the casino).  

On Scarlet Lady right now.  Last night was Ships in the Night -- I thought it was really good!  Just finished Bingo with the Diva; which felt like a show too (and a lot of fun... the prizes were pretty big -- the last two games were over $1k).

I'm planning tonight to do Extra Virgin for dinner and then the later showing of Ship Show and just not eat.  I've heard the food isn't great plus with only a five night cruise wanted to try all the restaurants.  

On Scarlet Lady right now.  I have a Sea Terrace with the bed by the window/balcony.  I can't imagine it the other way; this just seems to make sense to me but maybe that's because it is all I know!

1 hour ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Good thing we booked this on points. Cabin *is* nice, balcony, cute, modern, hammock, etc. Still glad didn't spend my hard earned cash on this cruise.

Did you do the 80k/100k booking with Virgin Red points?  I'm going on a 5 night sailing later this week.

49 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

You can reserve restaurants 45 days in advance, shows not till you are on board.  Scarlet Night really doesn't start till about 9pm, so you'll be finishing/finished dinner by then.  PJ party is about 11.  I was on a longer cruise, so can't tell you about times on your cruise....but I'd suggest making 7:30 dinner reservations if that is what you want and then changing them after boarding if they don't fit with the show schedule.  You DO want to see Dual Reality, a Cirque du Soleil type show based on Romeo and Juliet.  Ship Show depends on the entertainers on board--some are always excellent, but the audience participation stuff was just dumb.

As to where to dine, remember that you can do brunch at The Wake and Razzle Dazzle, but can't book brunch in advance.  Thus, you can eat al each of the restaurants.  Some of the places i really thought I'd like were "ok but not great" and places I thought would be "meh" ended up being our favorites.  We'd had Korean BBQ in Tokyo, so sort of knew what to expect.  It was excellent. The marinated beef was excellent.  We ordered the Waygu as a treat; I wouldn't spend the money on it again.  It was OK, but the regular beef was better.  The first time we went, we played the "bring us the favorites" game.  After that, we knew that was way too much food, so we ordered what we knew we would like.  The chicken is good and they will serve it with sauce on the side.  There will be plenty for you to eat without shellfish or pork....but that's your choice.

If I had to skip one, it would be The Wake.  First, I can do brunch there and have their filet for brunch if I wish.  Secondly, I can go to a good steakhouse in any major city.   I'd try the more "different" options on the ship.  Test Kitchen has at least 3 menus, and I've been told 4 (2 different vege menus).  You can substitute the vegan/vegetarian for any course on the main menu that you can't/don't eat.  Again, as a foodie, you might want to try both the A and B menu; if you can only do one, we strongly prefer A.  The vegetarian chocolate/coconut dessert on A night is AMAZING.  I had just one bite of our tablemate's  and that was plenty.  Very rich and unbelievable.

We surprisingly liked Razzle Dazzle and it has plenty on the naughty menu and secret menu for those of us who like meat.  Extra Virgin was great and Pink Agave was a surprise--we really liked it.  IF you do brunch at RD, the buttermilk waffles are very good.

Just my thoughts...everyone has different tastes, You can view most of the menus by googling "virgin voyages menus."  My preferred site is the one by eatsleepcruise.

What's the secret menu and how do you access it?

6 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

I just got 350 , 300 in beverages, 50 for loot, for signing up on their sail special

Can you explain?  Is this the Purchase $300 bar tab, get $50 bar tab on us?

9 hours ago, cantgetin said:

What is at the cold drink stations can vary widely.  My travel buddy drinks Diet Coke--it was never available at the drink stations during our cruise but was available at other locations around the ship.  The ice tea from the dispenser, IF they have it, is the awful stuff made from syrup.  That's my drink of choice, so I made my own by brewing a strong cup and pouring it over a cup of ice in my drink mug.  We never went without our chosen beverages, but we often couldn't get them at the drink stations in The Galley.  We're hoping this has changed by our upcoming cruise and that "the standards" are readily available there as well as elsewhere on the ship.  We usually played the game of keeping a couple cans of Diet Coke in our fridge since we knew it wouldn't be in The Galley.  However, the servers would always get some for us.

Could you do room service and order just a large quantity of canned sodas to keep in your room?  

Also, do you know if they have canned club soda (or other type of sparkling water)?  

6 hours ago, desiro said:

Hi - Did it take a long time for BlueChip to respond to your email?  We have a cruise booked in April with BlueChip and our OBC hasn't shown up yet. I emailed them so we will see...

Yes, it took a couple weeks.

How do you make reservations for brunch?

41 minutes ago, taylortime05 said:

I'm sorry I can’t help you with your questions.   Who did you send your email to?   I’m MGM Gold but only through status matching.  Did you earn the MGM Gold at the casino?  

bluechipclub@celebrity.com

My Gold status was through status match but I've played a good amount at MGM properties.  

Hello,

I am new to cruising but know that Celebrity has a relationship with MGM Rewards.  I am a Gold member so I emailed to ask about any offers.  Here is what I was told:

I confirmed that you are a Gold member with MGM and qualify for a Casino 50 offer with perks plus $125 USD of OBC, this offer is applicable to any ship except the Celebrity Beyond for this one the offer would only be a Casino 20. The book by date for this offer is January 31, 2024 and sail by April 30, 2024.

Does anyone know what "Casino 50 offer" means?  Is it 50% off the base price?  Or something else completely?  Thanks!

On 1/18/2023 at 12:58 PM, Drunken Crab said:

Hello-

 

Thought I’d jump in and answer all the questions that I could. I cruised on her about a year ago and I’m booked on the VL next month. 
 

Yes, the casino is small compared to a mega ship.  There is a smoking room that’s off the main floor with 6-10 slot machines and a few poker machines. Poker isn’t my jam, so didn’t make note of the number of machines.  The room is more of a smoking room that happens to have slot machines.  If that makes sense. 
 

When I sailed there were less that 500 passengers on board and the casino was rarely too busy. I was able to win 2 hand pays, which was nice. I was on a casino-comped cruise and they treated me very well.  Free drinks in the casino and some nice gifts. 
 

I’ll try to answer any other questions the best that I can!!

How do they track your play?  Do you have to get a loyalty card or does your bracelet tap to track the play?

Random question; but do they have bar soap still or just liquid pump soap?  I like bar soap for the shower.  

2 hours ago, cantgetin said:

THe time on the app will not change.  With Deep Blue, you can show up at 1:00 or any time thereafter.  They check the computer and see that you have the designation.You will be given a ribbon wristband that will designate you as Deep Blue and can go thru the check in process.  We were able to begin boarding a few. minutes after 1:30 (the woman in charge of us excused herself to contact her supervisor at about 1:31 saying that she was usually notified by then to start the process).  We were in our cabni by 1:45.

Is there a specific line for Deep Blue Extras?  Is it easy to find?  I have a 3:00pm boarding but have Deep Blue (non-suite); sounds like I should plan to arrive around 1pm.