cruisehabits

I am in as well :D

After some initial trouble actually receiving my confirmation number, I was able to reach out to Virgin Voyages customer service!

I look forward to all that will come with the new build and experiences leading up to her setting sail.

My booking # is 2062.

Safe travels to all! :)

Update......

It seems there was a glitch with their computer system and that was the reason the confirmation was not received initially. It never did come into my email or spam.

After 3 emails and 2 phone calls to their customer service.....all is now well....and I received my confirmation number today!

Looking forward to all that will come of this new build and experience

Safe travels to all! :)

Hello all ~

As many before me have been ....I too was very excited to place my $500 future sailor deposit with Virgin Voyages.

Unfortunately it has not been as smooth of a process as many of you before me. It certainly has not been the experience I had hoped for or anticipated thus far.

I realize they are new in the "biz" so to speak, however; Virgin is not new to the business world and I would have expected much better customer service at this point.

Here's my current issue.

On Tuesday, December 26, 2017, I placed my future sailor deposit on line as many of you have before me. I received the "we are trending message" that some of you received and was informed via that message that the confirmation would be emailed shortly.

Well shortly passed (at least to me) so on Wednesday, December 27 I emailed help@virginvoyages.com to inquire regarding my email confirmation. I promptly received a automated email letting me know they received my email and would be in contact shortly.

.

So today is Friday, December 29, 2017 and again I question the definition of shortly?

The $500 deposit has completely gone through as a charge on my credit card. It is no longer in pending charge status.

I have checked my SPAM email to assure no responses have gone there and have continued to do so since Tuesday.

So today I emailed (again) help@virginvoyages.com and cc'd ahoy@virginvoyages.com as these are the two emails found on the main website page. However when I emailed today I did not even get the automated response email.

I was very much looking forward to this experience and hype that others of you have enjoyed. I was looking forward to going on line, placing my deposit and being confirmed.

Much to my dismay and disappointment it has been a bit of a cat chase to get any type of response. I realize we are amidst the holidays, etc., but I'm not exactly thrilled that my money can be so easily accepted and I get nothing in return. No confirmation, no email responses, nothing whatsoever.

I realize at this point I have gone on quite some so I will wrap it up. I totally expected more from a company that has provided such great service in other areas of the business world. I truly hope my experience thus far is isolated and that others won't feel like they are jumping through hoops to follow up.

I am interested to know if any other "future sailors" have had the same or similar experience thus far.

Kind regards and safe travels to all! :)

Thank you to all that replied to me!

I slept on it last night and this morning I decided I would make the call and book an unobstructed veranda stateroom.

To my pleasant surprise.....the upgrade wound up costing me a total of $198 overall. Not sure what happened to the $460 they quoted me yesterday......but I was very happy with the outcome today.

So as it stands I am booked on deck 7, Sunrise Deck ~ portside forward :D :D

Safe travels to all and thank you again for your input! :)

The cruise is 12+ months away......January 2019.

Hi linderr6!

Thank you for your response!

Certainly something to consider and thank you again. Honestly it was rather spur of the moment for me to check on pricing and I didn't do any research in consideration to the obstructed view.

I was kinda counting on my fellow Cruise Critic friends to help point me in the right direction. :D

I am currently booked on the Equinox in an outside stateroom overlooking the bow (directly facing forward) of the ship on deck 8.

I can switch my booking to a 50% obstructed view verandah stateroom on deck 6 for a total of $360 OR I can switch to an unobstructed verandah stateroom for a total of $460.

This will be my very first cruise with Celebrity.

Please offer your opinion considering whether the upgrade would be worth the price difference.

Thank you in advance!......safe travels to all! :)

The vodka, soda and lime gets a vote from me too! :D

Depending on how much of a vodka pour is actually in the drink the calorie count will fluctuate. Generally one vodka, soda & lime cocktail is under 100 calories and can be as low as 64 calories with a one ounce shot. :eek::D

Here's a link if you'd like to read more:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/313890-how-many-calories-in-a-vodka-soda/

Enjoy your cruise! Happy 25th anniversary!! Safe travels to all! :)

There are no fleetwide wine packages anymore, and thus no way to pre-purchase. However, there may be a wine package that the ship might sell onboard. If you don't see it for sale,speak to your dining room waiter.

Thanks Bob! I was kind of hoping / figuring I might be lucky enough to get a quick and correct response from you! ;)

I appreciate it!

A question regarding wine bottle packages.

Other than the select, premium and ultimate beverage packages offered......do they offer wine bottle packages like they did in the past? (6, 8, 12 bottles, etc.) I see they are not offered on line any longer. I was wondering if they were available on the ship.

Thank you in advance for your response.

Safe travels to all! :)

Hello all ~

I'm trying to put together some notes for our upcoming sailing on Oasis. We have My Time Dining (although have not made reservations yet :eek:)

My question is.....could you please tell me which deck and dining room My Time Dining is located.

Thank you in advance for your responses!

Safe travels to all! :)

......we are.....B2B on the Harmony for April 2018 :D

Anyone else booked that far in advance?

Safe travels to all! :)

Just a question regarding the new dates......will this be Caribbean March 2018 through summer of 2018?

I was interested in Harmony for April of 2018 but was not sure when that would come out. I called last week and the rep told me to expect September of this year.

Not sure if I'm confused or the rep was? :eek::D:p

On our last visit to St. Kitts we spent the late morning/afternoon @ Palms Court Garden. It's about a 15 mintue walk from the port/terminal. I think we paid $12 each which basically allows for a chair reservation. It is not an all inclusive but it is a very nice property. There have a great infinity pool that overlooks the harbour and you can see the ships parked in port. The property is very well maintained and also has a very nice small garden area to walk around in. There is not a beach at this location. They do have a bar/nice menu available and priced within reason. It was a recommendation that was given to me from a fellow CC member. They have really nice reviews on Trip Advisor. We emailed for confirmation ahead of time and did not have to pay until we arrived.

We have also done the train excursion "Scenic Rarilway Tour" that we booked from the ship. It was about $100 per person. It was nice and in my opinion worth doing once.

Good luck and enjoy St. Kitts!

Safe travels to all! :)

Just giving this thread a bump!

Time is getting closer...thought I would check back to see if anyone is on this sailing.

CRUISEBOY305....if you happen to read this.....thank you for the post you provided after your sailing on the Serenade. The pictures were great and the information was quite helpful!

We are really looking forward to this trip and visiting several new ports we haven't been to!

Safe travels to all! :)

Hello!

Visiting Aruba on 21 April 2016. We will be in port from 10a-8p.

Would any one happen to have any suggestions for lunch? We would like to hit a place within walking distance. We wanted to have a light lunch and maybe a cocktail before we head out on a Sunset Cruise.

We've looked @ Iguana Joe's. We realize it's geared toward tourists and are okay with that. However....if anyone happens to have any other suggestions or knows of a local place that is easy to get to and is not to miss...we are open to something else.

Thank you in advance for any insight/suggestions provided! :)

Safe travels to all! :)

Jungle Island and Perez Art Museum (PAMM) are a couple of other options.

Safe travels to all! :)

South Beach is always a nice option! As previoulsly mentioned, there is a lot more to see/do than the beach itself. There are restaurants and shopping abound!

A couple of other options that are actually even closer to the SeaPort are Jungle Island and the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). You could always google them for reviews on TripAdvisor for more information on them.

A concern regarding any of the above options is what to do with your luggage in the meantime. If you are flying out there are options to have your luggage sent directly to the airport. If you happen to be renting a car for the day...problem solved.:D

Have a great time!....safe travels to all! :)

Hello there!

If you'd care to try something different, I highly recommend Bali Cafe for Indonesian food. They have sushi as well. The food is great and always fresh.

There are plenty of choices and I'm sure you could find something that would appeal to the kids traveling with you as well. I tried to include a link but the computer isn't cooperating. Google "Bali Cafe Miami" and some links and reviews will come up for you. This restaurant is very close to the SeaPort and is often frequented by crew members; which is how I learned of it.

It is also walking distance from the InterContinental.

Enjoy!....and safe travels to all! :)

Thanks for sharing! :)

We will be in 1056 PS in April on the Serenade. Friends have 1558 on the SS of the ship.

Does anyone have any experiences in either of these staterooms? They are aft of the Centrum but seem to have a larger balcony.

Safe travels to all! :)

I haven't seen any on cruise critic, but if you search google for "serenade southern cruise compass" there is a RC blog that has them from the November 2, 2015 sailing.

 

I haven't figured out how to print, but they are viewable and downloadable.

TigerCruzin ~ thank you for the info!

I Google just about everything.....no clue as to why I didn't think of doing so.....:rolleyes:

Safe travels to all! :)

Same cruise but on 1/25/16 :(

Enjoy your cruise!

If you happen to be a cruise compass collector and have the ability to post them upon your return it would be nice to get a sneak peek of what lies ahead.

We've not sailed this ship yet and are very much looking forward to it and the itinerary as well.

Safe travels to all! :)

Hello all!

We are on this 11-night Southern Caribbean sailing.

Any others booked?

Hello all!

Going on the 11 night Southern Caribbean sailing on board Serenade in the Spring.

Does anyone have cruise compasses from this itinerary and if so would you be kind enough to post them!

Thanks in advance and safe travels to all! :)