gumshoe958

2 hours ago, Sheffben79 said:

The app is still not working for me, I've deleted and reinstalled numerous times now and it still wont work.  Even trying to log on to my account via the web says there is a problem.  Tried to contact customer services, no response.  Unable to see details for the embarkation process, unable to make reservations.  Its pretty crap so far, I'm starting to wish I'd stuck with Celebrity.

App not working as in can’t log in, or won’t even let you get that far? I keep getting an error message when I try to log in with my email address but it works with Facebook. 
 

But yes, it’s very buggy and a definite problem given how much of the on board experience relies on it. 

Having just disembarked after the official maiden voyage I thought I’d share my thoughts.

As has been well documented, the pre-boarding testing process on Friday was horrendous. But I won’t dwell on that. VV know it went wrong, acknowledged they let us down and made a nice gesture by way of apology. I hope the tweaks they’ve made as of today make a difference.

As for the ship, the standout for me was the food. The restaurant concept works, and while I get that many traditional cruisers enjoy dressing up and eating in the same place with the same people every night, I never have. I ate dinner in The Wake, Pink Agave and Extra Virgin, and breakfast in Razzle Dazzle, and all four were superb. Imaginative menus and far better quality than the main dining rooms on other equivalent lines. The only disappointing thing food-wise was The Galley which I think is supposed to feel like a trendy food court but, for me, didn’t quite hit the spot (apart from the salad bar which is great).

The other standout was the crew. Without exception they were friendly, motivated and eager to please - above all they just seemed genuinely happy to finally be doing what they signed up for more than 18 months ago. I had a long chat with my waitress last night who said 85% of the crew who were on board pre-shutdown chose to come back, which seems impressively high.

So what needs attention: the app, firstly - as many have already experienced pre-cruise, it’s very buggy and given that your time on board revolves around it in terms of checking out the daily schedule and booking shows, restaurants etc, they need to sort it out urgently. 

Likewise the wifi - it’s fine in port but at sea it’s very, very slow. There was a note in the cabin explaining why (wrong type of satellite or something!) but for a line that makes much of trying to appeal to Generation Instagram, that’s another thing for the priority list.

Entertainment was an interesting one. What I saw, I liked: a guy called Tom Crosbie (The Performing Nerd) who I’ve seen before in Edinburgh and is right up my street but may be a bit too niche for a cruise ship. Duel Reality, the main show, is great - circus with attitude. The bingo with Abi the Hostess was a laugh and the band (Buster Shuffle) were excellent and went down very well. Again, VV have tried to be different so lovers of the traditional song & dance production show and covers bands will be disappointed. And a lot of the entertainment is meant to be spontaneous - you’ll be sitting having a drink and a magician will wander up or a couple will start singing on the stairs. But I felt there was too much emphasis on “adult” entertainment - yes I know it’s an adults only line but things like talks on how to incorporate play into your sex life and how to communicate erotically, and the sex-themed cabaret show just didn’t do it for me! But hey, maybe I’m just an old prude. Overall though, I thought they needed more crowd-pleaser entertainment and activities, while still keeping that Virgin difference.

So - would I return? Yes I would (and I am!) - I loved the chic, modern style of the ship, its laid back, relaxed vibe, the food and the crew. But I wouldn’t want to do more than 3, 4 or 5 nights - for me, there wasn’t enough to do for a week or longer. And they really need to sort out the tech, which is fundamental to the VV concept. But I admire them for daring to be different. Traditional cruisers who like what they like may find it’s not for them. But there’s no shortage of alternatives. This is an attempt to win a new crowd, and I really hope it works.

16 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

All good and generally no real issues. 

 

We arrived early with the intention of finding our way around. Seeing the park and ride and test spot as well as locating the car park.

 

As has been intimated. The park and ride is the go to location. You will be sent back if you go direct to W4. You are given an A4 sheet to get into the test site at the park and ride.

 

It literally took us 35 minutes from park and ride to leaving the test site. Time will tell as the day goes on. 

 

Inside the tent, there are 3 rows of 10 testers. I'd say it took about 10 minutes once I sat down. At that rate they could test 180 per hour. But I suspect there would be a bottle neck before that where you check in. 4 or 5 desks, but probably 5 mins per person.

 

You leave with your blue band and wearable.

 

So zero to complain about. Well done so far.

 

Getting to the car park was a little more challenging, but that was port staff.

 

Check in was fine, though the boarding room, they insisted you squashed in next to strangers. No social distancing at all. I guess once boarding starts people will go straight through to the x-ray machines.

 

Just been told we will board at 1.30 by VV president.

 

So far happy bunny. I'd rather a stress free experience than a few free beers and some OBC 

 

20 mins to go. 👍

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the update. Sounds like they’ve got their act together although it’s still early. I don’t think there were as many as 30 testers there on Friday.

Yes, once you’ve checked in at the port and sat down in the holding area you’ll be called in batches to go through security. Then it’s a short bus ride to the ship and you’re on!

Out of interest, what time did you arrive at the Park & Ride? And was there any evidence of people being told to wait if they were too early?

1 hour ago, johnnylikely said:

All eyes on VV for today's embarkation lol

Indeed! Anyone boarding today please let us know how it goes.

I’m pleased to say disembarkation today was very smooth. I heartily approve of not having to vacate your cabin by 8am as on most lines - you can stay until after 10 if you want.

I left bang on 10 and walked straight off.

13 hours ago, janbear said:

Can you please tell me if there are any video poker machines in the casino? When I have asked before they told me there were some in the designated smoking area in the casino but I am hoping there are some outside of that room!  Thank you! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn’t see any - just normal slots. Unless I missed them.

The casino is not large by, say, Royal Caribbean standards.

2 hours ago, les37b said:

Let's hope your charge doesn't run out or drop your phone!

There are lots of USB ports - several in each cabin and also at many of the tables in the Galley (food court) which is a nice touch.

The wifi, however, is horribly slow.

Yes, that’s new. The Park & Ride is on the other side of the motorway junction, about a 5 minute walk to the testing centre.

The big question is: have they addressed the fundamental problem which, as far as I could see, was not enough testing capacity?

If not, all they’ve done is shifted the problem elsewhere. The wait won’t be any shorter, it’ll just be in another location, presumably in your own car rather than standing in a long queue. Which presumably doesn’t look as bad on Instagram …

1 hour ago, johnnylikely said:

What's the general vibe on board like? Are peeps happier and things running smoother?

From what I’ve seen people seem very chilled out, relaxed and happy to be back on a ship after so long. 

I’ve no doubt there were many complaints last night but I suspect the free drinks and extra OBC helped calm people down - and you’d hope that even the most ardent complainer would appreciate that yesterday’s fiasco wasn’t the fault of anyone on board. 

4 hours ago, Exvirginstaff said:

It was horrendous, definite not the Virgin service that all Virgin Companies pride themselves on.

 

We arrived on time not early and still was 6 hours from arriving until we got onboard.

 

Once aboard there was a PA from Tom Mcalpin though and we all got free drinks for that one night only!

My sympathies - 6 hours is appalling. I took just under 3, which felt quite long enough.

Let’s not pretend, though, that the rest of the Virgin empire is flawless. The way Virgin Atlantic handled refunds for the first few months of the pandemic was equally appalling. I’m sure there were reasons for it - furloughed staff, cashflow issues etc - but it’s cost them a lot of goodwill and potentially future ticket sales.

All businesses get things wrong. Particularly new ones that don’t have years of experience to draw on. That’s life. What counts is how they resolve them and learn from them to ensure they get things right in the future.

2 hours ago, ChipLondon said:

Sorry you had a poor experience, but to say “everyone” is simply not correct, my experience has been awesome. Yes I accept there were problems at the Testing Centre, but that is run by and outside company not VV, once people got onboard the staff fell over backwards to deliver service to all. Hate the way complainers dont even mention that the company management accepted things could have been better and offered bot free Wine and Beer as well as OBC for everyone. Thanks Scarlet Lady you are a great ship that presents Cruising with a difference.

@ChipLondonI agree.

Look, there’s no two ways about it: the testing process yesterday was a disaster. From what the CEO said last night their outsourced testing provider had staffing issues, and I see no reason to disbelieve him: very few UK businesses haven’t been impacted by the “pingdemic” in the last few weeks.

But rather than put their head in the sand and go on the defensive, VV have promptly acknowledged that they let us down and sought to make amends with free drinks and extra OBC. For me, that was a sincere and welcome gesture although I guess there’ll be some who will demand more.

Having said all that, clearly VV must learn lessons and I’d hope and assume that management are spending the weekend drawing up contingency plans to ensure there’s no repeat as it simply can’t be allowed to happen again.

I’m not a poker player but I just asked a dealer and he showed me an electronic table where you play against each other, if that’s of any use.

Otherwise it’s three card poker, baccarat, blackjack, American roulette and craps I think.

1 minute ago, johnnylikely said:

Wow, sounds fab! Are you happy with the onboard experience? V reassuring! The wake is probably my fave venue

Yes, more than happy. What @ChipLondonsaid - the crew are clearly delighted to finally be doing what they signed up for.

The ship is stylish, the food’s great and the service excellent. Not all the entertainment and activities are up my street but no-one’s forcing you to go to anything and what I’ve seen so far I’ve enjoyed.

My biggest gripe is with the wifi - it’s very, very slow, but they’ve acknowledged that with a note in each cabin explaining why. Normally they’d sell an upgraded premium wifi package apparently, but not on these UK cruises.

6 hours ago, johnnylikely said:

IKR, sounds like madness, I guess it's their first for everything- and you never know how things are going to go until you get the best past of 2k people....

I'm now interested to see what the onboard experience is like- can they deal with all the dining venues etc

On board, so far, AFAIK there have been none of the issues experienced at the testing centre.

Just had brunch in The Galley (buffet). Busy, but easy to find a table. It’s table service, my order was taken promptly and my food arrived within 5-10 minutes.

Last night at The Wake I had an 8.30 booking, again I was seated promptly with only a couple of people in front of me, and the service and food were excellent.

The weather this morning is pretty grim so everyone’s inside but the ship doesn’t feel crowded at all. My hunch is that there are around 1,000 people on board.

1 hour ago, peteukmcr said:

We are staying at Gun Wharf Quays the day before sailing and are a little disappointed to find out that we have get a cab roughly 2.8 miles to the testing area but if there is a shuttle bus from the port that would be useful. 

The buses exist, as obviously they have to return from the port having dropped people off after being tested.

The issue, I think, is that they don’t want tested and untested people using the same vehicles. But I did overhear a couple of drivers talking about a “dirty” bus and a “clean” bus so it’s conceivable they’re operating both ways. Don’t quote me on it though.

This, by the way, is “The Band”, which serves as your cabin door key and on board charge card. 
 

And, for the record, I like The Wake very much. Lovely steak.
 

Just had an update from the captain. Everyone’s finally on board and departure is scheduled for 9.30pm, so 2.5 hours late. The engines are firing up as I type.

Also another apology from CEO Tom. “We were not at our best today”, he says. He’s blaming staffing issues at the testing company. As an apology, as well as the previously announced free drinks tonight, everyone will get (another) $100 OBC. That went down well here in The Wake!

Clearly, the testing process has been an unmitigated disaster. For the sake of all future UK sailors, I hope they sort it out very quickly.

But they clearly know they’ve screwed up today, and they’ve done their best to make amends. For that, I give them credit. Things go wrong sometimes. That’s life. What matters is how it’s resolved.

5 minutes ago, dippyblond said:

Any tips for people arriving by car please (we sail Monday) - Park car first and walk to test centre or go straight to test centre in car as advised??

No idea how long walk between parking and test centre are ...... and if its raining 😡

The port and the test centre are quite a distance apart. You are meant to drive to the test centre, park there while you get tested, then drive to the port, park, check in and board.

The problem is there are probably only around 60 spaces at the test centre and once they’re full you have to wait for someone to leave. Which would be fine if the process only took a few minutes, but it was taking 3+ hours so there were massive queues just to get in as no-one was leaving but lots were arriving.

The sensible thing, IMHO, would be to park at the port and get the foot passenger shuttle bus to and from the testing centre. But I don’t know if they’ll let you do that.

The casino and The Manor (live music venue):

Basketball, trampolines and love seats on the sun deck …

Definitely aimed at Generation Instagram …

The Red Room (aka theatre). Every third seat is out of use to allow social distancing.

Here are a few pictures to whet the appetite.

First, the much debated pool. It didn’t feel that small …

5 minutes ago, johnnylikely said:

I'll be arriving on foot too - when u say foot as in taxi to the venue? or you walked from portsmouth town to the testing site?

As in all the way from Portsmouth Harbour.

But that’s just me - I’m a walking nut.

If getting a cab and the traffic’s queueing to get in the testing centre, I’d ask the driver to drop you off on the roundabout just off the motorway then walk - no more than 5 mins.

The VV CEO Tom McAlpin just did a PA apologising for the horrendous waits for testing.

As an apology beer, wine and sparkling wine are free for everyone all night.

31 minutes ago, johnnylikely said:

Wow, thanks! Let us know how queuing for meals and food, hopefully it's not as chaotic as boarding, or as Iona haha

 

Any hints or tips let us know!

It’s certainly unlike any cruise ship I’ve been on before, in that at 6pm on embarkation day it still feels very, very quiet. No queues for anything. I fear a lot of people are still not on board due to the horrendous waits for testing.

As you can see, I think I’ll just about find a table in the Galley (which is basically a buffet, no matter how hard VV try to insist they’re too cool for buffets!)