gordiej

Book for 2, with your friend Helen, who then will invariably fall ill a few days before the cruise. You'll get the taxes & port fees refunded.

Interesting reading. I haven't done a Celebrity cruise since late 2019, and only our first post-covid cruise last Xmas with Virgin. So hadn't realized that AQ was only all-inclusive until recently. Came across a great fare for AQ (marginally more than Concierge, itself marginally more than Veranda) for a 5-night on Summit over Xmas. Was a little pressured to book given TA was going away for the weekend (though we could have booked with someone else...) and we were worried the fare wouldn't last (it was gone the next day). But my main point is that we booked 4 cabins, all cruise-only, and for various reasons, AI didn't make sense for any of us: 1) One cabin is solo BIL and he doesn't drink alcohol at all. No need for AI, not to mention he'd be paying double since AQ GTY could only be booked for two pax. 2) One cabin is my elderly parents who don't drink all that much. 3) One is my young-30s SIL whose boyfriend may or may not be coming (he's booked for now...). They'd get value for sure if he comes, but if not it would be a waste to pay for 2x AI. 4) One is me and my husband - he doesn't drink very much, and while I drink more, I'm most interested in higher-quality wines. I'd have to upgrade to the premium package but even then probably wouldn't be happy with most of what's available by the glass. So, we'll all likely go a la carte (maybe a non-alc package for some of us, probably at least classic for SIL and/or her BF depending on any sales), we don't need much wifi (1 day in Key West, 1 day in Cozumel with free roaming, can mostly unplug on sea days), and we won't feel pressured to "get our money's worth" on the package (yes, I know that argument has been hashed over for decades!).

One of our party had an 11am from FLL, but he was off the ship by 8am and said it was pretty deserted in the terminal at that hour (the VV clientele seems to like to sleep in, same thing with pool chaises LOL). We had 11:30am from MIA, walked off the ship a little before 9am and were curbside for the Uber by maybe 9:20 at the latest, and had plenty of time at the airport. I think 11am is fine from MIA (we knew the FLL was a little risky) but of course if the ship is delayed then you could have a problem. I don't know how often that happens. We came from Bimini the evening before, and that's only like 60 miles away so we were probably docked by 4am or something. The other factor is whether you have status and can use priority bag-check lines and whether you have CLEAR and/or TSA to get through security faster.

One other thing to note for any roulette players, there's one European table and one American wheel (no idea if the table/numbers/payouts are different). Obviously you want to play the Euro one with only the single green (0).

A $350-400 bar tab (including bonus) for 2 on a 5-night cruise is $35-40/pp/day, or roughly 3-4 drinks. That's borderline binge drinking (I think 5/day) lol. But if you include specialty coffee, or mocktails, you could still get there, or alternatively a couple of nice ($75+) bottles of wine will do it as well. On a 7-day cruise this is obviously easier, as it's ~$28pp/day.

Craps on VL over Xmas was $10 min (and 3/4/5 max odds). BJ varied, I think there was one $10 table (the accessible one IIRC), one $15, and then a $50 one in the back.

Well of course it'll be different hosts. Saw it in late December on VL, it was silly but entertaining.

I mean public and private owners will both want to push for profitability. The main difference is that private owners can be more patient and maybe willing to let the company build up its brand. Surely that was part of the initial business plan, although the COVID delays may have changed that and it’s possible they’re itchy enough to try and make shorter-term moves to boost profits. Hard to really know without being in the board room! I would note that one of the big cutbacks from the legacy lines is elimination of turndown, which is already consistent with VV. I’d probably be most worried about food quality deterioration and/or growing ancillary fees (eg, more menu up-charges, higher beverage prices).

Very thorough review, and having gotten off Valiant Lady about a week ago, I agree with most. Two minor factual corrections: (1) While the main menu in The Galley is the same every day, there are daily specials at some of the stands. Almost always a burger special (which could be a fish or chicken sandwich), and sometimes others. There is also a rotating dinner option - was prime rib one day and roasted salmon another day. We never ate dinner there though. (2) There ARE jets in the main outdoor spa pool, both on the outer wall and the interior benches (but controlled separately). On the pool - I was worried about the size as well, and maybe with a 100% occupancy cruise (rumor had it we were ~2/3 full) it would be a problem. But the wading area around the actual (~5') pool is quite large, and many adults were content to sit on the edge with their feet in, sit in the wading area, or sit on the edge of the "deeper" pool. It never felt overcrowded (though I missed the Scarlet Night swim...). It was also December so not overly hot. I definitely agree they should consider a pool in the back where the cargo net is (I went on it while in port but it was physically painful to walk or even crawl on because of the plastic joints holding the netting together). One thing to mention - with the lack of families, you could still get a day bed on sea days at ~8:30am and chaises by the pool weren't full until maybe 11am or later (and would turn over over the course of the day so never that hard to get something). Away from the pool there was plenty of seating. Might be different on a full ship. Also, there is no policy against "reserving" the day beds or chaises (e.g., after 2 hours we remove your stuff). I generally HATE chair hogs, especially when there IS a policy that isn't enforced. But I just went with the flow here. We got a nice day bed + 2 chaises for 4 of us at 8:30am that we kept for the day, but there was almost always at least one person in the pool area all day except for maybe a 60-90m lunch. On seating - we were a party of 4, and the first night in Test Kitchen got the table in the photo above, and for our second (final) night we got a private booth further back in the restaurant upon request. I think we got "lucky" at Gunbae too as they didn't seat anyone else with us. I think you need at least 4 people at Gunbae to fully enjoy the experience. At Pink Agave we had a late rez and all they had was a high top by the tequila display area, with 4 of us at one end, and another party of 3-4 at the other, but with space in between so we didn't really need to interact much. And on food in general, I do think this was probably the best OVERALL food experience I've had in many years (would have to go back to late 1990s/early 2000s Celebrity for better). There was certainly a dish or two at at most restaurants that fell flat (the Bolognese at Extra Virgin tasted like Chef Boyardee -- literally) but there was almost always a stunner, and as I said, on the whole it was excellent. Sushi rolls were the best I've had at sea (nothing fancy, just spicy tuna, salmon/avo, and shrimp tempura, but good quality). Pizza was excellent, although (1) you may prefer to ask for it a little well done and (2) it's individual pies made to order so not great for a "quick fix" (usually only 10-15m wait).

Was just on the recent 7-night VL X-mas cruise, we were in San Juan from 8am to 5:30pm ship time (EST), FWIW. I don't know what the original schedule was because they do NOT make it easy to find that information.

We left $40 in the stateroom upon disembarkation just as a small token of appreciation. I don't feel bad about doing it.

We had no (real) issue with the porters on arrival via Uber at the V Terminal. They come over, you tell them your room number and they tag your bags and take them. Then you give them $5/bag. It’s just a cost of cruising. That said, make sure they write the correct room number (ours transposed 2 digits initially). I don’t anticipate using a porter for disembarkation.

Damn, my last 2 trips to Vegas and Mohegan Sun I've been lucky to find $15 craps, it was mostly $25 (your money can go REAL fast if the table is cold). Looking forward to $5, although I wouldn't be surprised if it's only 3-4-5 odds. (Though I'm also surprised it's 3:2 BJ, so who knows...) But still, $5 pass with full odds is decent for play (but won't get any comps lol)

Yes, I'm aware, that's not what I asked. I'm also well aware of how travel insurance works . I am specifically trying to understand what VV's policy is if one of us were to test positive for COVID and thus they wouldn't let that passenger board.

Hi all, I see VV has a "policy" regarding if you test positive for COVID within 10 days of sailing, or at the terminal, you won't be able to sail, but you'll get a full future voyage credit. I can't find any fine print though. Does anyone have the formal policy? I'm mainly wondering if, say, I test positive, whether (1) my cabin mates, and/or (2) other traveling companions booked in other cabins will also be eligible for the FVC. Trying to assess this policy against travel insurance, which does cover illness of travel companions.

But just to be clear - the referral link only works if one party hasn't yet booked their cruise, right? I'm already booked, and if we want to share some booty with a stranger, it's going to connect us in the app, and then all hell can break loose? Not sure it's worth it... As it is, the VV app & website is atrocious. I'm trying to manage 3 cabins for family, and it only lets me show one at a time in either the app or the website. If I link one of the other cabins, that becomes the "Default" and it even changes my profile pic in the app! What a mess.

Hmm, is this really legit? Or is this why we can't have nice things? 😄 So I see a couple of posts matching the cruise I'm taking with some family. Sounds like one party needs to give the other party the Booking # and Sailor names (one or both if double-occupancy?), and the second party contacts VV (or their TA) to connect the reservations. How much damage can someone do with that info? Like can they cancel my cruise or change my cabin?? 😬 This doesn't connect anything in the app, right? That's a separate process I think...

I'm all about looking nice for dinner, but cargo pants?!? Seriously? Is it 1999? 😆

It sounds to me like some sort of pub crawl (hence you're paying for the booze), but I don't know why they don't just call it that as it's already British, lol. Or maybe I'm wrong. 🙂

Thanks, I was able to eventually get the others we're traveling with signed up on the App and connected to us. Wasn't easy lol. At that point I was able to make the reservations with all of us.

Are there ATMs? I assume the fees are fairly steep (IIRC ~$9 on other ships in the past), but many banks will reimburse.

Do all of these have restrooms and chairs to rent?

Well to be fair the chair is only to throw clothes over! 🤣 So maybe the ottoman will be fine as long as it doesn’t take up too much floor space. I think we really need the bigger bathroom in the XL though vs downgrading to regular sea terrace. Relatively late booking so not too many choices left…

Based on the deck plans, none of the XL's have pullmans, only the ottoman ("extra lower bed") that seems to jut out from the bed. There are two of us and the only XL cabins left are these "Sleeps 3". I'm a little weary it will take up extra space and not crazy about hearing that we lose the chair...

Well, OP didn't really have to deal with the insurer as they didn't file a claim ultimately. None of what an insurer's customer service agent tells you *really* matters until the claim is filed and reviewed and then approved or denied. It sounds like it probably would have been straightforward though.