Wildcatllamas

I have to fully agree about the mattresses in the regular cabins. They are worse then awful if you have any joint issues.

I have points on United but they are outrageous to do a flight from Colorado to Heathrow. I ended up doing British Air in Business class going over and originally in Economy coming back for less then what United was offering. I wasn't going to waste that many points. Then British Air made a snafu and when I called they were very apologetic and offered to move me to Premium Economy on my flight home for all the trouble. I wasn't going to turn that offer down. If VV decides to move Resilient to the Caribbean leaving out of Portsmouth and hitting the ports I'm on currently I would definitely consider that. My boss - mmm not so much. Guidelines have been 16 days max. Guess I could always say it was a sudden change mid-ocean and I had no other option.

I'm booked on the Portsmouth to Barcelona next September. Air is already booked so I'm hoping it isn't changed around to bad. They could actually depart Barcelona and go to Cape Town. So I am hoping if they have to avoid the Red Sea this will be the option.

I've actually been in there as early as 6:45 am when I was planning on doing the yoga and morning meditation. I liked doing breakfast there and then doing the Wake or RD for brunch later on. I have never had an issue with them being busy and with all the tables on the deck outside with staff to cover them it's been easy.

And they have gluten free bagels for those of us who have to go that route.

I will be watching closely since I am booked on this cruise as well. I also have a friend and his son who have now booked. He added his son this morning and there were no problems.

Wow, the couple next to me he had the cocktail pairing and she and I had the wine. Our wines were about half a serving but his drinks were pretty close to a full drink. He was definitely getting toasty but the time dinner was done.

I definitely respect your opinion. And the portions are smaller then a meal in one of the other restaurants. I know that everyone here at some time has had poor experiences with any one of the restaurant venues on our different sailings. It happens. If this was a norm then there are problems there but I think that as you can see most of us have had good experiences there. Now a perfect example of a change in experience - I have eaten the rib steak at Pink Agave 3 times. The first two is was one of the best rib steaks I have ever had. This last time the taste was wonderful but there was a line of gristle in it. Very unlike the other two times. This is usually found in the last couple of cuts on the smaller end and sometimes these will be labeled as Delmonico cuts. If that had been my first experience, being a steak lover, I would have been a bit turned off by it. So I can fully understand where you are coming from.

Definitely the cliffhanger drama was a laugh. Working in a casino I do understand the drama that a "highroller" can come up with if things in their hotel room are the least little bit off. Imagine getting upset because the end of the toilet paper wasn't folded in a perfect triangle.

I have to agree with Walter. I have done it 3 times and each time I have enjoyed it. I would agree with a 7 rating. I was born and raised in Denver - or as it was referred to back in the early 60s a "cow town" by those from back East. But I have traveled all over this country and eaten at some of the very high end fine dining and steakhouses across the country. With that being said - I will never judge a cruise lines food by some very exclusive restaurant anywhere in this country. Unlike a land based restaurant there are so many variables that a cruise line must factor in for their dining experiences that making a head to head comparison is difficult. Some cruise lines definitely come close. But to say the steak was "thimble sized" is a gross exaggeration of the portion size. It was a tenderloin medallion that was about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. So with that being said this is the second "restauranteur" from the Big Apple to come here and blast the food.

I think it gave a pretty decent preview of what to expect. I've been on Scarlet three times now. Twice on a B2B right after sailing began and then just back in December.

@rj59 I've been talking to a couple of economists who follow cruising. They are thinking that we may see in 18 months a down turn due to the number of cabins/ships exceeding the demand. It's a possibility if anything causes a ripple in the economy and people back off from cruising to vacation closer to home. Of course I have yet to meet anyone whose crystal ball actually worked.🙂

Well!!! Pen to paper for an 11 night NCL Prima in the solo balcony with the packages and their 50% off sale and my 10% off military is $4311 versus $6805 on Virgin. That is before deposits and with Virgin is the $300 off the price. That is a huge difference and one not to scoff at for a solo cruiser. I'm going to reach out to the friend who is going with her husband and see what she might come up with on NCL and we may just jump over.

Years ago, right after I lost my husband, NCL created their solo cabins. NCL was the groundbreaking leader at that time. But when I looked at them, and dinky is a mild description, and there is no frig I reached out to NCL numerous times saying there are those of us who now cruise solo and love balconies or suites. What about smaller, but still comfortable, cabins in those areas for solo sailors. Yesterday I was looking to see if they had anything comparable to my cruise in 2025 and they now have solo balconies on Prima. They are a decent size and look pretty nice. If it wasn't for MNVV that I used on the Virgin cruise I would possibly consider jumping over to that one. I'm going to have to sit and crunch number to see if it would be worth my while to test out that new cabin on NCL.

I was just reading an article regarding Celebrity now charging solo travelers 300% of the fare and Royal has been inching up past 200%. I can understand many lines make more off the onboard spending then they do off of cabin fares so those extra cabin mates are lost revenue. But you start making it hard for those of us to travel solo you will be losing us as well. I don't expect a complete give away, but in my mind 125% to 150% should give most lines enough towards that lost revenue versus nothing from me if I go elsewhere.

Yes it did. I always like to get as close a comparison as I can.

I'm booked on the England to Iceland in July of 2025. When I booked I thought the price was high at $6800 for a Sea Terrace with a MNVV. Today a friend asked me what the price was for a Sea Terrace on that cruise. It is now $8030. So I looked at one on NCL, with their current promo, that is close to that one and a balcony there with my 10% military would be just about $5000. It's going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out over the next year.

When I sailed NCL I would organize Meet & Greets and it doesn't matter how many sign up ahead of time you can usually figure that 1/3 to 1/2 will actually show up. People get busy enjoying their cruise and relaxing and time slips by. It just happens.

I love your description of some of the ones I have run into on my travels. It is a hoot!!

A few years back I was on a NCL cruise with a friend. We were sailing in one of their large suites that my late husband and I had booked before he passed. So instead of cancelling I took my friend. I was now a Platinum. We were seated with a woman and her daughter and the minute we set down she was bragging about being Platinum. I told her I was Platinum as well and she asked how many cruises. She got all bent out of shape when I told her that cruise was my 5th with NCL. She had sailed something like 30 times on short cruises on the West Coast in the cheapest interior and all of them were last minute bookings. With working I had to plan my time off so we would usually book a minimum of a year out and always in a suite. It was easy to earn the points needed to become Platinum with the way NCL did it. I would never begrudge a person who could fast track to a top tier if they can do it through planning. As much as I would love to cruise in a suite again - since it is just me most of the times a Sea Terrace works. If they had a mini-suite style, like what I usually do now on Princess, then that would be my option. But don't mess with my hammock! My next cruises are both 12 nights, although I haven't told my boss yet. Both are bucket list cruises. A coworker commented "what is she going to do, fire you? Who is crazy enough to take your management position." NCL was one point for each night you sailed, book 9 months or more out and you got an extra 1 point per night and stay in a suite it was an extra 1 point per night (and sometimes the promos were up to 3 extra points if you were in a suite). So a system like that takes in number of nights, advanced booking and giving credit to those in a suite. For those of us who are Sea Blazers and Sea Rovers maybe a couple of extra points to recognize us.

For the last 4 days I have been unable to log in to my account or open any possible dates and locations for cruises. I just get tossed to an empty screen. I have tried on my laptop, pc and my work pc. I have cleared cookies and everything I can think of. Tried chat with Virgin and got the "Oops - everyone is busy.". I would blame Mercury Retrograde but I'm thinking this is more a Virgin annoyance. Any suggestions from those who have had this happen?

When I was on Scarlet, earlier this month, there was a channel with a live view from the bridge. Since all was calm it was pretty boring on the open sea.

I don't see dropping a tier if you haven't sailed for awhile. We all know how life can bite your backside at times. I have Platinum with NCL and Elite with Princess. I don't remember my status with Celebrity but I have cruised with them 3 times and have earned Captain's point through surveys and other options. I like the ideas that @-The-True-North- has suggested for levels. But as a Sea Blazer, I think we should have at least a couple of extra perks. We were there and took the chances from the beginning. Maybe the coffee credit and the laundry or early check in. None of which would break the bank but would recognize those who were there from the beginning. As to how you would earn a tier I like the way that NCL has done theirs. Every cabin gets 1 point per night sailed. If you book a suite you earn extra points per night. That rewards those who spend more. I probably won't be sailing in a suite in the near future, but my late husband and I always sailed in suites and it was nice to earn those extra points for what we spent. It would be nice if Virgin Voyages does combine with Virgin Red is some capacity. I don't think it would be a good option to combine with Virgin Atlantic because that airline is so limited in it's service to the US. If it services more of the US then that might also be an option.

Wow, I was on Scarlet from December 3rd through the 8th and there were several folks who did walk ups that I know about. The table next to me when I went to Pink Agave hadn't been able to get a reservation to there once they boarded but did a walk up a 6 pm with no problem. I would think that Virgin has numbers down for how many in each restaurant versus how many on the ship. But then many folks may not want to do Razzle Dazzle for dinner any more since the food was mediocre at best so now you have a virtually empty restaurant the night I was there and all those folks trying to get in elsewhere.