Wildcatllamas

Even though inflation has slowed, folks are still dealing with limited disposable income, unlike a couple of years ago. I have several friends who would cruise several times a year and with the current prices across all the lines they are now looking towards land tours. I got in on the England to Barcelona repo of Resilient Lady in September of 2024 when the Sea Terrace was going for $2600. It is over $4K now and there is now way I would do that. The one in 2025 is with MNVV amount off and a solo traveler, so not extra taxes/fees, I'm at $6800. If this didn't have many bucket list ports on it I wouldn't be doing it at that price. It is better then Celebrity and Princess and has the ports that I want and there is enough time in case there is any price lowering.

I just priced Princess for a 16 day itinerary that is close to the England and Iceland and with their Plus Package it comes to $6917. So Virgin is close on this one but the number of days differ. So as hard as it is to take these prices for the cruise I am booked on it is pretty comparable to the other similar cruise lines. I will definitely be watching for a price drop though.

The prices were with the gratuities. I wanted as much equal as possible.

I just priced out a Celebrity Cruise that is similar to the England to Iceland cruise in 2025. I had heart failure when I booked that 12 night cruise but Celebrity has an 11 night out of Rotterdam and for a balcony similar in size with Virgin (although with a better bed) and this is major sticker shock. Without any specialty restaurants but with all perks similar (Bar Tab on VV is $300 vs Celebrity's drink package(?) Virgin is $7484 and Celebrity is $9345. So Virgin is still a deal if you are looking for a specific itinerary. Anything on Viking that really isn't close on itinerary but similar is over $14000.

Amen to the rubbery chicken. I had to order gluten free and I had wanted to order the Lamb Shank. The waiter came back and said it wasn't gluten free but their "fried chicken" was gluten free if they left off the biscuit. This according to the chef. Two small pieces of chicken, one leg and I think, a thigh. It's not marked GF and I seriously don't think it was. I peeled the skin off and ate what little rubbery meat was there. Then went to the Galley for real food.

I had a steak in The Wake, Pink Agave and Extra Virgin on Scarlet Lady this last week. The filet in the Wake was excellent. Both the strip steak in Extra Virgin and the rib steak in Pink Agave had nice flavor and the meat was good but both had bands of gristle running through them. You couldn't even cut through it. I brought it to the attention of the maitre d of both restaurants. You shouldn't find gristle that bad in prime meat cuts. Razzle Dazzle was so underwhelming last night I will never consider them for dinner again. Poor service and not a great selection. Currently sitting in Dallas and flight home has been delayed by an hour. So it will be after 9pm before I get to Colorado Springs.

So sorry about your injury. That's going to be really rough. I know so many folks who either don't get insurance or only get the cruise line insurance and I warn them about things just like this. So glad you got insurance. Heal quickly and thoughts are with you.

I'll be buying MNVV this trip so some new itineraries will be great.

The cruise I have booked for next September is over double what I paid for a Sea Terrace. I haven't even checked the price on the one I leave on this weekend.

I'm keep hoping for 2025 to pop up. I will be on Scarlet on the 3rd and was going to buy a couple of MNVV but I want some different choices for cruises. Wave season last year had some great deals but I'm starting to think that it may not be very spectacular this year. This last little bit has been more about take away rather then what has made them so popular.

Someone said on my first cruise that there was a way to "trick" the lock into thinking it was locked. I will have to look at it this time around if I have issues. I like it cool at night but after the last few days of temps not getting above 10 degrees I may like the warm.

@CruisingWalter that steak looks amazing. Back in 2021 the steak I had in the Wake was very good so in a week I may be trying something different there and getting the excellent rib steak in Pink Agave and trying this steak in Extra Virgin. The friend who went with me in 2021 loved the meatballs but I'm gluten intolerant so I passed on those. I couldn't pass up the rolls in the Wake though. I actually ate 2 of them - I was so naughty.

I have Starlink for my home and it is surprising to hear that you have had trouble using the internet for wifi calls. Of course my house isn't tossing around like a cork in a tub of water but I have excellent wifi calling on my cell phone. So I wonder if Virgin has something set up to throttle it down. I went with Starlink a little over a year ago and was able to stream tv programs while working on my laptop and also placing calls. Prior to then I had Dish and none of that was possible.

I would figure out if you are a center of the bed sleeper or edge of the bed. For me I'm an edge of the bed and will usually sleep on the wall side so if I have to get up at night I don't have to walk around the bed. On one cruise I had kicked the comforter off and almost tripped on it that night. Then place the mattress where you think you will sleep. In the drawers under the cabinet they usually keep the bedding when doing twins and you can then grab the comforter from there. If that isn't enough ask them to bring you another one so you can build a topper for yourself. I actually had my steward on a Princess cruise bring me lots of extra pillows and used those.

I stripped the bed down and even tried to see if it could be moved since we had the beds in the L configuration. They can't be moved to a normal two twins parallel. I really think the camp mattress might help, especially considering weight. I am taking an inflatable camp mattress just to see how it does. It weights 3.3 lbs. Since on this go around the bed will be in a traditional lay out I figured I could snag the extra comforter and put it on the side or even add it to the top.

How well do they learn it? I use Excel all the time. One time I had a question at work about something I was trying to do in Excel and our IT folks had no idea what I was talking about. So glad for Google at times.

I had to laugh about the 3 cents because I got notice a week ago that owed $2 on my cruise in 12 days. It just suddenly showed up after being PIF for months. I finally heard from a TA friend that the Florida and Book Early end 12/13 and anyone who has a booking done by midnight tonight will be grandfathered in for the pay early save 10%. This has been just a bit bizarre.

You would think that those of us who have voyages booked would have gotten an email by now if they are to be paid in full by midnight tonight. This is very strange.

I just heard from the shuttle service that I use to get from Fort Lauderdale to POM that I was the only one going at noon so I have the option of going at 11 or finding another way. So if I go at 11 I am thinking I will be at Terminal V by noon. Ugh, because my boarding time is 1:30. So those concrete benches - do you think they would be all taken by noon. I'm content to sit and read but standing for an hour and a half - not so much.

I have used MJS to go from POM to FLL and next month I have them picking me up at my hotel in FLL and taking me to POM. It is $20 per person one way.

When I was on, back in 2021, even then the concept of sit at a table and order seemed foreign to so many of the folks. On our first visit to the Galley one of the servers came by and told us to go have a seat and she would be right over. We were like wow!!! We became friends with her over the 9 days. She said that servers were trying to tell folks that they could sit and order from the menu with a server or look around and if they saw something then just let their server know. Some folks jumped on it and others looked at them like they were crazy and still stood in line. She even knew that when we set down for breakfast she would put in an order for two mochas and a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon. My friend would always switch around breakfast but I am a creature of habit. We loved the idea and it is why on my last two cruises, when I did Princess, going to the buffet was just not something I could do. And the one time I did, it was after lunch, and food looked dried up and unappealing.

Are they there at the port or do you have to call them?

It's hard to say about the Super Bowl but I know how responsive VV was back in 2021 about American football. I was doing a B2B in December on Scarlet and many were upset that there wasn't any football on. By the end of that cruise and before our second half they had a game on the cabin tvs and it was either Monday night or a Thursday night game. By the second half of the cruise they were already planning on convert this one bar into their idea of a sports bar that would have football games on. So when I am on in December I will let them know folks are wanting Super Bowl happenings.

So here is something I was told many years ago by a very seasoned traveler. Check in online and then when you get to the airport do the kiosk or what ever is available to check in and print that boarding pass. This now lets them know that you are in the airport. So if it is getting close to shutting the plane doors they will also page you. Maybe not if you just did online check in. Then a few years ago I saw this on a Johnny Jet stream. So I do it all the time. A back up is always nice.

@jcarter4551thank you.