Alsmez

7 hours ago, KiRiMi said:

We will be on the Solstice

I haven't sailed a suite on Solstice so I can't comment on the rooms themselves - I would take a look at the room information spreadsheet linked at the top of this forum to find out more about the specific room you are considering. This goes for AQ as well - many AQ rooms are in undesirable locations (though the rooms themselves are nice). 

As other posters have noted, there are more perks to the suite life than just Luminae, but Luminae is the biggest one (IMO). Since you will be on an S-class ship, there are plenty of specialty restaurants to choose from and you can upgrade your dining experience with a specialty package for much less money than you would spend on a suite, so you should definitely weigh the cost of that and the value of the other suite perks against the overall price differential between AQ and a suite.

IMO the food and service in Luminae are head and shoulders above that in Blu, but so is the price. Which ship are you sailing? If S or E class, a regular room with a dining package allowing you to eat all of your meals in specialty restaurants might be a better value. We sailed Summit in an S2 a few years ago and even though the suite experience was nice, the room itself was terrible - not all rooms in all classes on all ships are created equal. Just something to weigh before choosing a suite!

13 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

believe the $400 difference is their double occupancy price.

Oh, I assumed that was for one - if it's for both, holy crap is that a great deal!

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

Maybe 5 nights in a Specialty for $400

If you buy a la carte, yes. But the packages bring the price down to around $40/night if you buy at least 5-6 nights.

$400 will buy you 10 nights in a specialty restaurant. I'd take that over AQ any day. Blu is nice enough but not nicer than Murano. 3 extra days is a bonus too!

Thanks for posting - this just saved me over $150 on an Alaska excursion!

8 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I've never seen it offered on X

X did offer it briefly - we had it on a Reflection cruise back in 2015 or 2016 - but they stopped offering it shortly thereafter and it hasn't returned, to my knowledge. It was an AMAZING deal on ships with the Porch available for lunch. 

2 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

We opted to purchase the remaining nights with the UDP

Is the ultimate dining package (covering all meals in specialty) back, or was that for dinners only? 

6 minutes ago, actuarian said:

bouillabaise and lobster tails

The Celebrity app is still showing that menu for our Eclipse cruise in May, but it sounds like it may not actually be available on all (or maybe any) sailings. Someone mentioned on a recent thread that they are also trying out a new menu on Summit. I agree that LPC is way less appealing without a luxury item like lobster as a lure.

Another long-time low carber here. Unfortunately, ships (at least IME) don't tend to have much in the way of sugar-free mixers outside of mainstream brands of diet soda, which I detest. I have never found diet tonic water. Now that hard seltzers are becoming more popular, you may find some of those aboard, but I would suggest bringing your own sugar free tonic syrup, or learning to love plain seltzer as a mixer. Personally I prefer gin and seltzer with a lime wedge to gin and tonic any day! 

42 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Does a price increase count?

LOL, yes - although the multi-night packages still seem to be a decent deal at under $40 pppd if you buy one for most nights as we do ($224 for 6 nights). We aren't fans of the MDR so we either choose a multi-night package or sail AQ (for Blu) or a suite. Upgrading to AQ over a regular balcony is around $250 at the moment on our particular sailing, so it would be a wash price-wise, but we much prefer Murano to Blu. Plus, we wanted an aft balcony for AK and there are no AQ aft balconies on Eclipse. 

We were in a suite on our last cruise (Summit) but prices have skyrocketed since then. While we enjoyed the suite experience and Luminae, we can't justify paying double what we'll pay for our aft balcony plus nightly specialty dining for Luminae and the Retreat.

Totally random question - does anyone know if Virgin stocks shirataki noodles on board? A lot of ramen places in my area offer them as a low-carb and gluten free alternative these days, so I thought they might have them at Noodle Around. TIA for your input!

We're finally getting back on board in May on Eclipse, after a 4-year cruising hiatus. It's been five years since our last S-class cruise, so I wanted to see if anything has changed at the specialty restaurants. We plan to eat most of our dinners in Murano, with a token trip to Tuscan. Sushi on 5 for lunch a time or two. We might try Petit Chef just for kicks, though I have to say neither the menu nor the concept interest me much. The menus on the X website look to be exactly the same as 2018 - any changes that haven't made it to the site yet? Thanks in advance!

Quick update - I spoke with Bethany at Ketchikan Adventurevue, the company that offers the ATV tour to Mahoney Lake. She was happy to offer a tour starting later that day to accommodate our 2pm arrival, so we are booked and ready for some off-roading! I'll report back after our trip, but I wanted to let anyone who might have the same timing issue know that you may be able to arrange a different start time to meet your needs.

2 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Luminae food/service really doesn't justify the prices they are asking for suites recently...

Agreed. We were in a suite on our last cruise (pre-Covid) on Summit, because the price was just a couple hundred dollars more than AQ and we wanted to try it. The price shot WAY up shortly after we booked (basically because X announced the Edgification schedule) and now suites are generally way more than we're willing to pay. Luminae was a very nice experience but not better than Murano/specialties, and the rest of the suite benefits are not worth the price of admission for us.

On 11/14/2022 at 1:19 PM, LB_NJ said:

Aqua over a regular Veranda.  To us the real difference is Blu and wondering how much better it is then the regular MDR

Blu is better than the MDR, without question. Whether you will like the menu in Blu more is totally subjective, but the actual quality of the food and preparation (cooked to order vs. banquet style) is absolutely higher in Blu. (How much better depends on a number of factors, including the crew doing the cooking and serving, number of pax, etc.)

That said, the specialty restaurants (some of them, anyway) are generally better than Blu, and can often be had for a lower price. Dining packages covering all of your dinners can usually be had for $50 pppd, whereas the upgrade to AQ from a regular balcony is frequently upwards of $100 pppd.

One caveat - which ship are you sailing? The M class doesn't have a big variety of specialties to choose from, so on those ships I'd probably do AQ. On the S class, specialty all the way - you can effectively make Murano (by far the best restaurant on board) your MDR if you want, or alternate with Tuscan, The Porch, etc if you prefer. We ate most of our meals there on our last S class cruise and got to know our servers for a very personalized experience. We haven't sailed E class yet but we would do specialty there over Blu as well.

8 minutes ago, minniemom2009 said:

he keeps saying he's fine with whatever, which should make it easier for me, but in some ways it makes it more stressful.

100%. My mother did this to me when I was planning our trip and it drive me nuts, particularly because I knew quite well they were NOT fine with whatever, if whatever involved any significant amount of physical activity. I had to be very explicit with them about the logistics of the land tour and the types of excursions we could expect before they finally, definitively said no land tour. The length of the flight to Anchorage was also a dissuasion. 😉

I haven't been to Alaska yet, but I planned a 2020 trip for myself and DH (40s and active/outdoorsy) my parents (late 70s and not very active/outdoorsy) that was canceled due to Covid. I found that there were plenty of options at every port to suit our differing activity levels. I planned a couple of lower-activity excursions for all of us (i.e. whale watching in Icy Strait Point, Totem Bight in Ketchikan), and split up when they wanted something more low key (i.e. they were booked on the White Pass train trip for Skagway while DH and I were planning to do flightseeing with a glacier hike). There really wasn't a single port that didn't offer something for everyone.

I will say that my parents were not up for a land tour of the interior, so we only considered itineraries that stayed in SE Alaska. DH and I really want to see the interior and will absolutely do a one-way with land tour someday. Since this is a bucket list trip for your dad, I would find out first and foremost whether he wants to see the interior - all of your other decisions will cascade from that. 

We're doing a round trip out of Vancouver on Celebrity Eclipse in late May/early June. ISP, Juneau and Ketchikan (plus Hubbard Glacier and the interior passage). We've got whale watching in ISP and helicopter/glacier in Juneau, but I am struggling with Ketchikan. Complicating matters is that our hours in port are short, just 2pm-8:30pm. I thought this trip to Mahoney Lake might be fun, but it starts at 1pm. https://alaskashoreexcursions.com/ketchikan/mahoney-lake-utv-off-road-safari?fbclid=IwAR27FV7aIN1HwlabqJs9Oy7U82oRWmYl9TqyYiTHydm0GRZq7lo312RpRUY

Has anyone done this Jeep and canoe safari? https://www.viator.com/tours/Ketchikan/Ketchikan-Shore-Excursion-Off-Road-Jeep-and-Canoe-Safari/d942-5474PRTKTNJEEP Or any other ideas? Thanks in advance!

1 hour ago, kchiumento said:

I am only Gold with NCL.  It looks like VV only matches on Sapphire and above.

Try it anyway. They supposedly only match Elite and above for Celebrity, but I tried using my Select status and it was accepted. I put in Elite on the dropdown menu, but my uploaded screenshot of my card showed Select.

BTW, I just received an email that mine was accepted (less than 24 hours after I submitted):

Thank you for submitting your Loyalty Proof of Status Form. 

Congratulations on securing that sweet Sea-Rover status for sailing in 2022 – which we’ve already added to your account. However, our new Deep Blue Perks are only applicable to sailings within 2022. 

As a Sea-Rover, you can unlock these perks by booking a third voyage within 2022. Deep Blue Extras will then be added automatically to your voyage, plus you’ll open access to the perks associated with our Red Hot Booking Bonus Months. 

Outside of this, as a Sea-Rover, you’ll get a $100 bonus for Bar Tab purchases through 2024.

I can't actually see my status or anything about the loyalty club in my account, but I did find $200 in sailor loot in my account for my upcoming booking, presumably my bonus for booking during a Red Hot Booking month as a Sea-Rover.

5 minutes ago, FFMilesJunkie said:

The Virgin sales reps sent TA's a step by step guide on how to do it.  They may change the policy in the future and make it only at the time of booking, but for now a TA can do it anytime outside the 6 month window.

I think they may have closed the loophole, at least officially. From their "firstmates" website: https://www.firstmates.com/fmdc/s/offers

PAY IN FULL DISCOUNT

A simple way to score 10% off.

Seal the deal with your Sailor by sharing that voyages paid in full at the time of booking receive 10% off voyage fare. For a booking to be eligible for the 10% Pay in Full Discount, it must be: 

Made 180 days out from sailing
Fully paid - the entire invoice amount including voyage fare plus taxes and fees - within two hours of starting the reservation. (For paid in full bookings, the Sailor will not receive a hold email.)

6 minutes ago, FFMilesJunkie said:

 And while good travel agents will see the benefit of having happy customers who appreciate the fight for lower prices, it can be a bit demoralizing to be on the phone for a couple hours to do a reprice which is in essence, lowering your commission.

I'm sure that's true. My TA has always been great about getting price drops for us, which is one reason we stick with him! It is kind of silly for VV not to honor them given that as you said, you can just cancel and rebook, but whatever - they probably weed out some less tenacious pennypinchers by making that their official party line. 

2 hours ago, kchiumento said:

I am unable to locate on teh VV Website any info on a Loyalty program.

I couldn't find it from their main site either - I had to go here: https://www.virginvoyages.com/sites/sailing-club

2 minutes ago, FFMilesJunkie said:

They may change that policy in the future, but for now if you are more than 6 months out from your cruise, you can pay in full and get the discount, even if you booked it months ago.

Interesting - on the website it says you have to pay in full within 2 hours of booking to get the discount. Maybe TAs have a special back door power? Here's the text from the site:

I take that to mean that 20% is refunded as FFC and the remainder to original payment method if canceled more than 120 days out, in which case there's really no risk other than not being able to grab a price drop. It sounds as though a TA would be able to get a price drop for you in any case, though. Perhaps I'll email my TA and see if they have any other info on the Pay in Full thing - if they can get the discount applied 180 days out that would really be the best of all possible worlds. 

1 hour ago, WheresWalter said:

It's on their website as Item 2.5 in the terms and Conditions of "Book Early, Save More."

Thanks - I saw that bit on their website, but I'm not sure it applies to Pay in Full since Book Early, Save More appears to be a different promotion. The section on Pay in Full doesn't address it directly. 

We ended up booking at the regular rate so it's a moot point for this sailing, but hopefully we'll get a definitive answer before we think about booking the next one. 😁