CruisingWalter

Call a Travel Advisor who can help you with the cabins. Or go to Virgin Voyages website. Set the number of Sailors to 1. Search for the sailing of your choice and you'll now see the Solo Insider and Solo Sea View cabins. They only show up in your search if the number of Sailors is set to 1.

There are ways for Sailors to invite others to sail and you can get Sailor Loot, VV's term for onboard credit. It's cash to spend however you want on the ship. If you have the offer, it should show up in your invoice when you first purchased the cruise. You received an email from Virgin Voyages that included "Sailor Loot." If you're due sailor loot on the ship it would most likely show up there. If you don't see it, call Sailor Services, if the Sailor Loot is due to you, they'll see it.

Basically if you're young at heart and you love to cruise, you'll have an amazing time on VV. It's the most open and inviting cruise line out there where all are welcome. If you look at their updated marketing you'll notice they finally started leaning into all demographics with their imagery. People over 50 started showing up! 🤣 We are 57, have sailed VV twice so far, we'll be on Valiant for 8 nights for Thanksgiving and have another cruise booked in June 2024. The only negative for us, and this is just us, is the tiny pools. If they had a decent sized pool VV would be perfect for us. But it seems most people who cruise on VV don't care about the tiny pools. If it helps, I have a food tour from Scarlet Lady on YouTube here. https://youtu.be/pBolzKvXjMU And an overall review of VV here. https://youtu.be/-R0imB73ajg The full Scarlet Lady playlist is here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8wFV2tZMxXq3Lbmd6VbXJdMNQEzc8SqH We're all anxiously awaiting the new 2024-2025 itineraries to be released supposedly today (Sept 7). The only new thing I've seen so far is the Brilliant Lady TA from Portugal to Miami in October/November 2024. It isn't for sale yet, but that's the only new thing we've heard about if it holds.

There will be some shorts for sure. Most people seem to make an effort to look nice for dinner even though there's no dress code. I'm usually in nice jeans and a button down shirt or a T-Shirt.

Yes, Yes and YES. I only ate one...... at a time. 🤣

I do hope they keep the natural charm of the island. Beyond the dredging to get the channel ready for World America we did hear some folks talking on the Seaside in May that the Y/C area is going to get some upgraded facilities and possibly turning that into a sandy beach, vs. the rocky shore. Personally I love the rocky shores and the natural feel of the island. It was so fun to have the overnight and then on day 2 discover the rock sculpture garden. I think that was one of my favorite finds on the island. Another big tip if you have not been yet, skip lunch on the island and walk back to the ship. The lines were very long for the island food hall (I understand they are building a second one soon) and the food was kinda boring and uninspiring. It literally took us 5 minutes to walk from the island food hall back to the ship. A few minutes later we were in the Marketplace Buffet where the food was much more fresh than what we saw on the island. After lunch we just went back out to our spots on the island. Unlike CocoCay and Castaway Cay, the ship is right there alongside island instead of being out at the end of a long pier, so it's really convenient to go back to the ship for lunch.

As others have noted, it'll be the buffet and MDR early for breakfast and that is pretty much it. Breakfast on the Seaside was basically the same every day, but then breakfast is usually the same every day on all cruise ships. I will say one of the omelette stations in the buffet had a chef that made particularly good omelettes. Then I usually added some sliced rotisserie ham, salami and provolone to make a breakfast sandwich. 🙂 If you're interested in the overall food game onboard the "Sea" ships, I did just post a food review from the Seaside, we sailed this past May. I hope it's helpful. https://youtu.be/8DNLLqRyCiA

Celebrity has Solo Infinit Balcony cabins on the Edge Class. Royal Caribbean has over 200 solo cabins, including real balconies across their fleet. You have to look for them or find a TA who has done the research and knows where they are. VV and NCL have a lot of solo cabins. As others have noted, MSC, and other cruise lines, can close down solo sales if it looks like the ship is headed to a sell-out. This is not unique to MSC, we've seen this happen on other cruise lines as well.

That's the bit I've never understood. Putting so many suites directly under the pools and the gym. We avoid those at all costs. The best cabins on the entire ship, in my humble opinion, are the Cheeky Corner Suites from Deck 10 up. The OP said the suites are out of their price range, but Cheeky Corners are worth putting an upgrade bid in if they are available for your sailing.

Typically we love those kick out balconies because they tend to be a little bit larger than the rest. Based on the deck plan it does appear to be a little smaller, but as others have noted, VV's deck plan is not the most accurate and it doesn't display the balcony vs. the cabin.

Cantegin has answered most of your questions, this is not a Labor Day sale. The current promotion runs through all bookings made through Sept. 28. Your TA can apply this promo right up until 180 days prior to sailing. You can either pay in full at the time of booking and get this promo or simply pay the Deposit now and have your TA apply the promo prior to final payment, so long as it's 180 days before your sail date.

Actually, as with everything else VV, they do the TA transfer differently as well. You can transfer your VV booking to a TA right up until Final Payment. Doing so allows you take advantage of any extra Sailor Loot or whatever else the TA can offer.

I could be wrong, but I believe in the U.S. once you're onboard for embarkation day, you have to stay onboard. If you're on a Back to Back you can enjoy the day because it is a true port day for you. Those guests are disembarked together prior to the embarkation process. But if you're starting the cruise in the U.S. I believe you have to stay onboard once checked on to the ship. I don't believe they allow you to disembark anywhere.

The fact that you even got a response is remarkable in itself. I don't know how many communications Tom's office receives daily, but for the most part you're lucky just to get a response from the executive offices of any cruise line, or any major corporation. I worked for one of the largest casinos in the world for a few years in the marketing dept. and it was mind boggling how many letters came in each day to our department with "I have a suggestion for you....." So it's not that the people around Tom are doing a poor job, it's just they have a method to get through the communications as quickly as possible and if they feel something is worth passing on to the engineering and design team, they will. If not, you get a stock answer. What happened to Donovan was very public. He was wrongly thrown off one of their ships, and when something that public happens, a good company is going to take the time to listen and figure out how they can do better. It's not that Donavan caught their attention to become an advocate, it was by circumstance his voice is now being heard. I applaud Virgin Voyages for doing more than just making it up to him with a free cruise or 2.

With Scarlet Lady going across the pond in April to get ready for her planned dry dock that seems to make sense to have her on that schedule. Those will be nice additional ports to have in the itinerary.

1000% Probably. 🙂 There are a few things that are restricted from being combined but for the most part, you can combine offers. Such as the Gold Certified First Mates who can offer you $100 Sailor Loot, that will be combined with your MNVV. Just reach out to the TA you intend to use and ask. If all is good to go, you simply need to reach out to VV and request the MNVV be transferred to that agent. We've been cruising nearly 20 years and have always used a TA. A really good TA is worth their weight in gold. Happy cruising!

A nice recap from Richard Branson (or whoever wrote this for him) on the Virgin Celebration Cruise that's wrapping up today I believe. I didn't realize they corrected their mistake with Donovan Tildesley and it's great to read he is now consulting with VV on accessibility improvements. And I do love the idea of remote working from cruise ships, I actually do this every time I'm on a ship, but I think 41 Voyages on VV would be a bit much for me. I need to mix it up and try out new ships. 🙂 Here's the full article from Virgin's website.

One thing I will amend from my previous statement. There is a possibility VV could do Alaska as part of a repositioning itinerary. Those always have unique ports that they don't otherwise visit as part of the enticement to book. They very well could do LA to Alaska to Hawaii. Then from Hawaii down to the south Pacific. The Carnival Luminosa and NCL Spirit make similar journeys. That NCL Spirit Hawaii/Alaska itinerary is amazing. Or possibly LA to Alaska and then through the Panama Canal back to the Caribbean. So Alaska could be a possibility as part of a repositioning cruise.

It usually takes about an hour-ish for the booking engines to release a cabin. I don't know why but I've seen the same thing on other cruise lines as well. You can have better luck sometimes with your TA or calling directly to VV. They have ways of holding cabins while they cancel/rebook.

They will be coming to LA sooner than later. Brilliant Lady was modified to go through the Panama Canal. The lifeboats are configured differently and they modified the aft of the ship so she can go through. You only make those modifications if you're going to send the ship through the Panama Canal to the West Coast. I expect the BL to go to LA either late 2024 or in 2025. Most likely offering their own version of a Mexican Riviera with at least one overnight stop. And a version of LA to Hawaii roundtrips, again with at least one overnight stop. As for Alaska, that will probably never happen. There's honestly no reason for it because it's such a crowded market already, upwards of 60 ships this year and last, and more coming in 2025. As a VV rep said on a recent YouTube livestream, "Other cruise lines have been doing Alaska for a long time and they do it really well." Basically implying VV would have no reason to go to Alaska. When you only have four ships, you don't have the flexibility of the other cruise lines. If you're going to Alaska, Princess and Holland America are the two premier cruise lines. For LA, there's a lot that VV can bring to the party, it's just a matter of when, not if Brilliant Lady comes to the west coast.

Those purchases are good for coffee, mocktails, cocktails, beer, fresh pressed juice, basically any drinks you have to pay for. Also keep in mind you can purchase drinks for other people, none of that 'drink package jail' from the other cruise lines. And if they have enough stock, you can purchase bottles of liquor from the bars to take home on the last night of the cruise. They don't always have the stock to allow this, but if they do, that's also an option.

The Bar Tab was not available all sailings after April 2024 for the entire previous promo. This new promo extends it through the end of 2024. So if you purchased a cruise sailing after April 2024 you did not get an included bar tab, unless you purchased starting yesterday. VV does not add new promotional items to previously booked cruises. You can cancel your cruise and rebook to get the bar tab if you're not past final payment yet.

So the new promo started today, August 28, with Up to $900 Off and the return of the Bar Tab. It looks like the Rock Star and Mega Rockstar pricing is unchanged for the most part, but I'm seeing some legit $100 to $400 price drops on other categories on some sailings. XL Sea Terrace on down to the Insider. I don't know that I have ever seen the price actually drop from one month to the next. VV doesn't really like to make rate adjustments, but if you have not made final payment, might be worth looking at your current cruise fare compared to what you paid. If you're working with a TA, they can also check for you. Obviously any ships that are past 50% full probably will not have any impact and may have gone up. It's so rare for VV to actually drop the bottom line price I wanted to pass this along to everyone.

The first part of the answer is yes the MNVV is tied to the original TA and it is automatically assigned to their bookings. The second part of the answer is yes, you can call Virgin Voyages on the phone and ask that they remove the MNVV from the travel agent. You can either just keep it independent or you can have it transferred to another TA. As Cantegin mentions above, look for TAs with a Virgin Voyages Gold Certificate. That means they've completed all the VV First Mate Training. Those are the good ones. 🙂

Per the Cruise Hive article mentioned, the North Pier primarily supports the smaller ships such as Regent, Oceania, Seabourn and the like. That's the one to close in October. The southern pier is the one for the larger ships and that will remain open past October. If need be, VV will have to port into the Southern Pier, provided there is room, or they will have to ask special permission to dock at the North pier. It will be interesting to see if Barcelona closes it's port to cruise traffic altogether in 2024 after the new port opens up an hour away.