mfs2k

I have Deep Blue Extras for my cruise this week which supposedly comes with priority boarding. But my time on the app hasn’t changed from 230. How do they handle priority boarding with DBE?

My last cruise was a 9 night on Celebrity. We had a large OBC and used it for Specialty Dining for about 7 nights. We were in a suite and ate in Luminae for breakfast. I was very happy with the food and service.

Too soon to know. I’m just writing about my pre cruise experience. When my cruise is over in 10 days I’ll know enough to decide if I want to book another on VV or go back to Celebrity.

I dont mind "nickel and diming" as long as I know upfront what's included and what's not. It's no different when I go to a hotel and I see a fully stocked minibar in my room. I expect to be charged if I eat or drink something. Sure, some hotels include the minibar, but, believe me, they make up the revenue in other ways. In the end, the cruise lines are in business to make a profit, and people spend what they are willing to. Pick the cruiseline that you can afford, that gives you what you want.

I know Virgin Voyages takes pride in doing things differently from other cruise lines but the dining reservations process seems overly stressful to me. In the good old days on mainstream cruise lines, you'd be assigned an early or late seating for dinner, and you'd show up to your dining room at the expected time and eat dinner with the people at the table the Maitre D' assigned you to. If you didn't like your assigned table or dining time, the Maitre D' would try to accommodate you and switch to a new time or table. Then cruise lines started offering alternative premium Specialty Restaurants you could reserve for an extra fee. There wasn't overwhelming demand since most people didn't want to pay extra, so you could usually get a reservation when you wanted. Then some cruise lines offered "freestyle" dining, and you could go to various themed restaurants when you wanted to and wait on line to get in to the ones with high demand. Other cruise lines offered "Premium" dining rooms for upgraded or suite guests. Virgin now offers numerous premium dining rooms included, but if you want to get into the ones you want, you have to make reservations in advance, and if the sailing is booked up, it's really impossible to get advance reservations to the restaurants you want a few days after the booking window opens up. I know a percentage of reservations open up after you board but.... The whole process is STRESSFUL if you have booked a cruise and you want to eat in a different premium dining room each night of your 4 night cruise when there are NO reservations available. The four of us traveling on Scarlet Lady in a few weeks are frustrated we cant get dinner reservations and we have to be anxious we won't get reservations when we board because we're not in the first group. This process is NOT an improvement. I will not be happy if I have to eat in the non buffet/buffet every night because we cant get into the steakhouse, italian restaurant and/or the Mexican restaurant. Razzle Dazzle and the Test Kitchen don't look appealing to us for dinner. The idea of booking a cruise then having this stupid anxiety over dinner isn't my favorite way to anticipate a vacation. Obviously many people don't sweat the small stuff and apparently im in the class that does. But I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. The idea that the Virgin V. way is more carefree and preferable seems like false advertising as I approach my sailing date. PS: If you're an enthusiastic VV supporter, I get you'll have strong opinions supporting the cruise line.

I suspect the RPP experience might have had even more value for $99 pp per day, on one of the newer ships with larger retreat areas. We sailed on Beyond a few months ago in a suite and rarely left the retreat deck or lounge during the day because they met most of our needs.

It's a credit applied to your bill which can be used for bar purchases (alcoholic beverages, mocktails, specialty coffees and fresh pressed juices) Use it or lose it. If you spend more than the bar tab, you'll be charged for the difference at the end of the cruise. You can prepay for additional bar tabs in $300 increments and get a bonus $50 added on for each $300 you buy. Bar Tabs may be purchased up to 11:59:59 p.m. the day before the voyage sets sail.

For storage, is there anywhere to hang an "over the door" shoe holder for holding miscellaneous things? I brought this on a recent Celebrity cruise and it worked great. I assume the walls are magnetic so magnets should be useful, yes?

We have a large suitcase that opens up flat. I wonder if it will fit under the bed if the suitcase is left opened. Does anyone know what the actual distance is from the floor to the bed frame? Is there added space if you lift up the frame and slide the suitcase under the bed then lower the bed?

Can I order a bottle of bourbon from Virgin and have it set up in my cabin with glassware? If so, is there a bottled liquor price list available somewhere?

I sailed on Beyond from Bayonne on 10/26/22. Repostioning cruise to Bermuda and ABC's and ending in FLL. Weather was not good. Rainy all but the last 2 days.

I did an upgrade bid for an XL Sea Terrace and I’m wondering if there are bad ones with undesirable locations or limited views I may get “upgraded” to.

Seems to me, if one is concerned about food quality and healthy ingredients, Coca Cola products might want to be avoided.

If I saw a cow on a cruise ship I’d stop to photograph it.

Original poster (OP) here. You guys reassured me a bit. I booked Scarlet Lady.

My wife and I are thinking about booking the Scarlet lady for a four night cruise from Miami. We have sailed many Carnival cruises, and two Celebrity cruises recently. i’ve watched numerous reviews of Virgin cruises on YouTube and I’ve read many posts. My concern about booking this cruise is seating. Personally, I think chairs are very important and in every video I’ve seen, the chairs in lounges, outdoor bars, public spaces and the Galley look like IKEA furniture. They look uncomfortable, hard and made of plastic or aluminum. They look like cheap budget furniture. Maybe Celebrity spoiled me. The lounge chairs on the pool deck and above the pool deck look uncomfortable and unpadded. These look much more uncomfortable than the lounge chairs I’ve recently experienced on celebrity. Also, there seems to be very little seating around a very small pool. I’m concerned about a full ship, and being unable to find an outdoor chair on our sea days close to the pool. There are no more suites available so the Richard something deck is unavailable to us. is my perception right or am I wrong? Chairs matter.

never seen on any cruise guests being offered food from the crew mess.

good luck making it!

I don't think there are enough people like you who are willing to pay $25,000 to $40,000 for two for a 10-11 night vacation on a mainstream cruise line, to keep Celebrity in business. Thats why there are only about 8 EV's on Beyond. (maybe 4? 6? 10?) and thousands of standard sized cabins for the rest of us.

Thats the definition of Click-bait. You have to click the headline to get to the first line of the post.

I paid $5,400 for a 9 night Sky Suite, all included, on Beyond in October (2 ppl). We got to experience the Edge Villa for a day andI didn't really like the duplex layout. It felt small. I did love the verandah plungepool/hot tub though.

click-bait.

i like it for breakfast.

I think that's likely across all cruise lines.. I think it's due to inflationary pressures, a decrease in cruising demand due to Covid and company layoffs, and the amount cruise lines have spent to refund covid positive guests and refunded deposits. Cruising will be/is definitely more expensive than it's been and there will be noticable cost cutting in guest facing areas and behind the scenes areas. I think it's something everyone will have to accept or will have to reduce vacation costs in other ways.

I'm ok with very good dinner experiences when I am on vacation, but I am willing to pay extra for excellent dinner experiences with premium service and food in specialty restaurants. Cruise lines have a daily food budget per guest for included restaurants. If you want more, you have to pay extra for it.