CruisingWalter

Oh my, the Old Fashioned is my litmus test of any cruise ship. Honestly I loved the Old Fashioned at On the Rocks and the one I got in Test Kitchen might be the best one I've ever had. I couldn't stop talking about it in my food review. 🙂 Overall I found the bars among the better ones at sea. World Class Bar on Celebrity is still my absolute favorite, the Disney bars are really good too, but I really enjoyed the drinks on Virgin. Even the pool bar made some great cocktails which is rare on a cruise ship. If you're interested in the food tour, Where's Walter Travel on YouTube, we have a 5 part Scarlet Lady vlog with one of them titled "Scarlet Lady Food, Good or Hype?" CC doesn't appreciate it when we link to our own videos or I would put a link here for you. 🙂 I also have a tour of our Cheeky Corner Suite and an overall review of the ship.

1000% agree. Although the ports are nice because the lines for the attractions should be shorter since some folks will leave the ship. 🙂 It's a shame U.S. based ports can't offer the cruise to nowhere though making a single stop at CocoCay would essentially be that for Icon if it did that.

EVERY cruise is about the personal experience. Doesn't matter which ship, which cruise line, no matter how many bells and whistles any ship has, it's all about the personal experience. If you don't personally have a good experience on a ship, you're not going back. The bells and whistles might lure you onto the ship, but if you don't enjoy it on a personal level, you're not going back.

On the Disney Fantasy, which is the ship I mentioned, you have Palo and Remy as specialty restaurants, adult only. No casino on Disney is no problem for us because as someone who used to work in one of the largest casinos in the world, I can tell you the worst odds are in ship casinos. We never play in a ship casino. As for the quiet dinner, we have sailed Royal during the Holidays and will be doing so again in a few weeks. The MDR is not quiet when you have 1000+ children on the big ships. 🙂

Absolutely given the amount of attention to detail and the quality of the food and service that is Disney Cruise Line. My post was in response to someone saying how 'outrageous' Disney pricing is, and as you can see, ICON is priced above Disney prices in many categories.

In the case of Icon vs. Disney, Disney Fantasy is cheaper. Both ships out of Miami on a non holiday week, Ocean View Balconies for comparison because Disney does not have an equivalent to Central Park Balcony. This is the full balcony for about $100 less than Icon and you can get a Porthole Balcony for about $400 less on the Fantasy. And your soft drinks are included with the Disney price. Disney's pricing can be high compared to older ships, but as this is a thread about the Icon, RCCL's pricing on this ship is much higher than the rest of their fleet.

That's one of the main reasons to have a travel agent. Yes it does cut into the commission, but the job is never about one commission. It's about building relationships with clients so they come back to you time and again. Squeezing everything out of every single commission is going to lead a shorter career in the long run. We've used TAs almost 20 years and don't plan to stop anytime soon so long as they keep taking care of us. 🙂

That's not correct. The step by step guide shows the same steps as the public. The TAs must pay in full at the time of booking if this offer is selected, same as the public.

Actually they just messed up the ordering system. Having to flag down a server is silly for a ship with so much 'tech.' Place the ordering system in our phones so we can place the orders and the servers just have to bring the food to our table. Just type in the table number (or scan the code at the table), place the order and done. Just like NCL with their Food Republic restaurants, though they have a touchpad at each table. It works brilliantly on NCL.

It's on their website as Item 2.5 in the terms and Conditions of "Book Early, Save More." 2.5. If a Book Early, Save More discounted voyage is canceled Virgin Voyages normal cancellation policies apply. These terms and/or eligible voyages are subject to change with or without notice. Please note all discounts will be reflected as one lump discount on your confirmation email.

Did you work with a travel agent or directly through VV? When we book through an agent we always get the adjusted price, even if it's just $50. We've not paid in full up front to get the discount like VV advertises, but all 8 cruise lines we've booked with, if the price drops after we book, our TA would get our rates adjusted. The cruise line will rarely, if ever, adjust the price for a customer via the standard public call center, whether you paid in full or not.

Well except for the Resilient Lady's 2022 season being cancelled after cruises were already sold. And those three or four weeks of Valiant Lady cruises being cancelled, in some cases just days before sailing so ABC could charter the ship and film The Bachelorette. Those two things, especially the Valiant Lady fiasco, still resonate with me. It's one thing to charter a ship 6 months or more out from a sailing to bump guests off a ship when there is plenty of time to make alternate arrangements. But to do it just days before sailing for that first group was pretty cold.

Disney is FANTASTIC for adults. Excellent food, great bars and the adult only sections of the ship are fun. Plus there is something so fun about seeing the characters on the ship that makes it a little more magical. Seeing Donald Duck in a tuxedo for formal night was my favorite. And to this day, still the best mixology class I've taken on any ship. We actually got in and made seven, yes seven, cocktails. They were half cocktails but still packed a punch for a 45 minute class. 🙂

You know, New Year's Eve as an even BIGGER Scarlet Night event would be amazeballs. 🙂

The ICON class is going to be unapologetically a family ship with a massive waterpark on the top deck. It's not made for everybody. But if you have a family or a group of families who want to travel together on a ship that literally has 'everything' this would be it. And with over 80% of the cabins able to hold 3 or more passengers it will be FULL of kids. If this ship is not for you, that's perfectly fine, RCCL has about 30 other ships you can sail on. And I think that's exactly their mindset. Not every new ship is made for every passenger and I can see a lot of adults who have no kids avoiding this ship. And that's not a problem for RCCL, you can sail one of their other ships or maybe their other lines like Celebrity. The Oasis Class has been far and away their most profitable class of ship and this builds on that. Will I sail on it as a 57-58 year old at the time it comes out? You betcha because the ship looks outrageous and I really want to see that indoor AquaTheater. Will I sail on it twice? Maybe, let's see how the first sailing goes. As someone who has sailed on 8 cruise lines (hopefully 10 by the end of 2023) I don't have the need to complain when a cruise line comes out with a specific type of ship that may or may not appeal to me. Cruise lines have to appeal to many markets and RCCL is in direct competition with Disney, NCL, and Carnival for the family market. Putting a full waterpark on the top of a ship is truly brilliant and will draw many more families than a single AquaMouse waterslide or a roller coaster that costs $15 to ride. I'm going to be real curious to see how many of these they build. My guess would be three.

Do you a link to your source? I can't find any reference to the timeline being pushed back. Only the original announcements from RCCL.

I'm not an Elon fan but Starlink has 'promised' to have gaps and coverage fully updated by the end of Q1 2023. The same time RCCL expects to have all of their ships converted. It was even noted when all of this was announced that Starlink still had gaps in their coverage and was planning to have that addressed by Q1 2023. In this case, it's too soon to say the company has overpromised. https://paxex.aero/starlink-inter-satellite-links/

RCCL has said all the ships will be converted by the end of the first quarter 2023 which coincides with the planned deployment of thousands more Starlink satellites to improve the coverage and fill in the wide gaps in their coverage right now. https://paxex.aero/starlink-inter-satellite-links/ I know in Europe their coverage is not as good as the Caribbean yet.. It's interesting to hear Celebrity is offering Basic and Premium internet options. On our Symphony of the Seas sailing in a few weeks, there's only one option, Voom + Surf. They've eliminated the 'basic' option and the price of the Voom+Surf has not changed.

Lots and lots of construction. Getting floated out is a major milestone. Now the work shifts to the inside of the ship with all the finishing work. They're basically going to be finishing out a resort hotel for the next year. Then comes the sea trials. This takes place when the ship is fully maritime operational. The inside is not completed yet, but the ship can fully function in the water. The shipyard will take it out on a series of tests to check the overall operation and stability of the ship. Speed, emergency stop, vibrations and the like. The Captain of the ship is given one hour to do whatever they want with the ship. But for the rest of the time, the Captain and any other VV Officers are merely observers. Captain Kate documented all of this during the build of the Celebrity Beyond. Once the sea trials are completed successfully, the interior of the ship is completed, including any adjustments necessary to dampen vibrations discovered during the sea trials. Again, Captain Kate has some great behind the scenes TikToks on the team that tests the vibrations, it's pretty cool to see how it's done. When the ship is officially finished, ownership of the ship is transferred to Virgin Voyages, usually with a big signing ceremony. Prior to that, the ship is owned and controlled by the shipyard. At that point, VV gets the crew onboard, they get up to speed, more than likely they take the ship out for a 'test drive' and then she proceeds to her first homeport to get ready for the TA crossing.

San Juan is getting a $425M cruise port makeover with a new pier, new terminal and renovation of the original terminal and pier. That should help to solve that issue with a modernization of the operations.

It was announced in August that San Juan is getting a brand new pier and Terminal along with improvements to the original pier. They will be able to homeport up to 8 cruise ships when the renovations are completed. I would assume this has something to do with VV's decision to homeport there. https://cruiseradio.net/puerto-rico-san-juan-cruise-port-receive-425-million-dollar-upgrade/

@CineGraphic I sincerely hope those cruises happen. We never book nor recommend booking the first cruises on any ship. Even before the pandemic, a ship successfully sailing on her first scheduled date was a 50/50 proposition. Since the pandemic I think the Carnival Celebration might be the first ship to actually sail on her originally scheduled first date. If we want to go early on a ship, we tend to book at least 2-3 months after the scheduled maiden voyage. Usually they won't miss that deadline and it gives the crew some time to shake down the ship and get everything working efficiently. But I really hope it works out for you guys!

We booked three years in advance, in 2019. 🙂 We were going to be on one of the original Scarlet Lady cruises when all hell broke loose. The cruise was rebooked three times.

As others have mentioned, no luggage tags sent in advance. The porter will put them on your bag. And unlike other cruise lines, LEAVE the tags on your bag as they will also be used for disembarkation. Wrist bands may or may not show up in advance. For our July sailing we had a Cheeky Corner Suite as did our friends. They got the sea bands in advance with their names personalized on them, we did not. We were given generic bands at the terminal. My only advice is to make sure you have the VV app up and running on your phone before you enter the terminal. As with any other terminal, it's a steel building and there can be issues connecting. Once inside, connect to the Ship's WiFi and you can start making reservations onboard.

And then there were four. All four ladyships are now officially in the water as Brilliant Lady was floated out at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. She's scheduled to enter service towards the end of 2023 and will homeport in San Juan. That should give her some really interesting itineraries going further south in the Caribbean. https://www.cruisehive.com/fourth-virgin-voyages-cruise-ship-floats-out-at-shipyard/88850