Cloud9 Bob

Has anyone successfully used a VPN while on the ships WiFi?

Just tried again and when I put in Friday the time only shows 12:00 AM and no other time choice. Very odd

I'm having the same experience. Have they blocked booking the last day or is it their way of telling us brunch is full??

Did you go to the cocktail party? If so, where was it and how was it? 🙂

Can you do the brunch reservations on the app once you are on ship wifi?

On my cruise last year brunch @ The Wake was a walk up thing. Now the information says "Brunch is available daily - please book onboard." Do they mean as soon as you arrive onboard and using the app or go directly to the restauraant (may not be open yet) and see someone at the podium, or Sailor Services or Razzle Dazzle? Anyone actually do this yet and can shed some light? Thanks!

If the primary has DBE and books a double occupancy cabin...I'd assume the secondary guest gets to embark early too? How about the premium wifi?

Punk wants to know if DBE will also extend to her? Fresh salmon filets on her pillow maybe? Tour of the minnow fisheries? Priority entrance to the Tuna Lounge? The possibilities are endless.

If they do restore the show reservation system at least it should prevent people from double and triple booking as it does with duplicate restaurant reservations on shorter cruises. Personally, I'm looking forward to trying the first come first served show thing. I hate being so locked in to everything. It also helps if you are a last minute cruise booker. I don't mind waiting in line for a bit.

I got it in June of 2023, so I'm good until the end of 2025. What do you think they will do after that? Maybe extend it another year or make it less than it is now? Will we be jumping for joy or remembering the "old days" when we had all those perks??

Interesting...are there any ill effects from that with sleep, mood etc? How was the weather....any rough sea days??

So I have Sea Rover status now and just booked what will be a 3rd VV cruise in 2024...so I get to experience DBE for that 3rd sailing...yay! My question stems from looking at the new Sailing Club categories VV is enacting. There is Sailing Club (1 voyage), Blue Extras (3-4 voyages), and Deep Blue Extras (5+ voyages). They also include a note under the Sailing Club DBE section that says DBE is "currently available to all Sea Blazers & Sea Rovers through the end of 2025." Does this mean that I have to cruise with Virgin this 3rd time and 2 more for a total of 5 cruises or I lose DBE perks (or whatever they will call it) as of January 1, 2026??

Never had any problem whatsoever.

I don't think it's always the app either. Sometimes it's the servers that Virgin uses, other times it seems to be the way certain aspects of the programs are coded. A third thing is the whether there are many people on the ship using the resources (ie. full capacity and sea day). That said, I have found it buggy and there is a big need for improvement for sure, but I can usually get it to "snap out of it" with a reboot of my phone a time or two. I've been frustrated with it, but never to the point where I had to miss a dinner, show or excursion booking. What does baffle me is the time VV has had to work on it and very little gets resolved. It should run as smooth as whale poo in an ice flow by now.

If it was between using the app or having a ruined cruise, then yes, it’s possible to get along without it… just certainly not ideal. You will have to go to try to make reservations for dinner when boarding and you will have to take what’s left or eat in the Galley. Shows and excursions are pretty much the same deal. It really depends on how open you are to compromise. For the right person, you can have a good time still. For others it’s no way. Maybe just upgrading your phone or app reboots would help?

Ive only seen it used once by a gal using some sort of boxing glove? Not sure if it was hers or not.

This is good to know...and to think all this time I was paying an employee to hang my dinner pants in the engine room!

Notice how she pauses and stalls and pretends she didn't hear correctly. All are classic deception techniques. She's trying to formulate her next lie and doing a rather poor job.

Be aware that it's two itineraries that each repeat once.

I cruised Scarlet Lady solo in June/2023. I'm not germ phobic, but I'm very careful. I never eat from a buffet. Sanitize or wash my hands before doing anything...like eating or scratching my nose etc. I still social distance somewhat. Wear a mask on a tour bus or airplane. I got what I believe was norovirus. I can't of course be sure, but my best guess was that it was from some really old looking salad items at that nights dinner in Razzle Dazzle. I also had a really ratty sprig of mint in a drink. The staff is generally great on VV, but we can't exclude an overworked, undertrained employee contaminating food during prep either. Especially salad items. Some passengers do act very strangely around food, but I can only imagine the same thing goes on in the back. Bottom line though is I enjoy cruising and for me, the pros still outweigh the cons.

I'm not a new cruiser, but my first experience wirh Virgin Voyages was a missing suitcase at 2PM that was eventually located at 6:45 PM. Almost 5 hours of stress that I'll never get back. But...we kissed and made up since then 😍

So sorry you were disappointed. Vacations are meant for fun and relaxation and I feel bad when either excursions or restaurant meals are sub par for the “vacation-ee.” One thing I’ve learned over the years is there’s always a bit of sales puffery in many travel related excursions. Don’t let that stop you in the future. A good example is the city cultural tour on the Dominican Daze itinerary. A few reviews I read were not great. Some hate shopping stops. I went anyway and yes, it did have some stops like that but they were still interesting in some ways. I always seem to strike up a conversation with the locals and learn things about life there. Then I was pleasantly surprised by a very interesting city tour, clean air conditioned bus with surprisingly fast WiFi , and a great local meal in a beautiful garden setting. I guess sometimes you have to kiss some frogs to get to the prince 😄

Zacapa Rum 23 MMMmmmmm

👋 Me me....I'll even write a review and provide a photo of myself wearing a red cape on scarlet night.

On my first Scarlet cruise my cabin was on deck 14 directly under the weight room. I read posts about that area being very noisy with weights being dropped on the floor at 6 AM. I decided to keep the room any way and see. Although I did hear one klunk one morning, that was it. The potentially bigger problem was the bass from the DJ at the deck parties. I can see it being a problem if you retire early and sleep lightly. I'm an iPhone surfer at night and stay up to about 3 AM before I doze. Deck parties wound down at midnight, so for me it was fine. I imagine The Manor would be pretty bassy and foot clumpy and go on much longer, so I'd probably avoid that if possible ....but a day of cruising beats a day at work...so if that were my only choice available I'd take it in a heartbeat 🙂