CineGraphic

32 minutes ago, mthomp5 said:

Only question I have is, is the ship very noisy with loud music playing throughout the ship? 

 

Virgin was a record label before anything else, so sound is very important to them, and the average ship with all of it's hard surfaces can become a large echo chamber. Virgin has spent a small fortune on acoustical engineering, and several members of the various bands we've heard on-board have stated that they've never sounded better.

P.S. We sent John Padgett a thank you note for making us look for another cruise line.

During our first Virgin sailing, we called our TA and had her cancel all of our future Princess bookings.  In the past year we've sailed with them 4 times and have 3 more on the books.

No kids. No photographers, No cruise director. No announcements to interfere with your day.

Great music. Great shows. Great crew, and they matched our loyalty status which entitled us to early boarding, free laundry, $10 daily for specialty coffee, $100 bar tab, and a private sail-away party.

The status-match program is currently on-hold, as repeat sales have been very strong.

Sometimes they use other colors.

35 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

The only reason we didn’t get the future cruise bonus was that we already have trips planned through 2026 and their program is very restrictive IMO.

Our sister-in-law wanted to book something which would have sailed 2 months after the expiration date. I hooked her up with our TA, who is one of the top 100 for VV, and they were able to get everything booked, despite the expiration date.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise!

I'm assuming that you've bought at least one MNVV for a future booking.

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

Note to Virgin: Im all for surprise man overboard drills. But maybe a PA announcement BEFORE the alarm activation. They hit the third tone and I was about to $&@# myself lol. 

We had an emergency drill during the October TA, but no warning was given and a few first-time cruisers panicked and showed up at their muster stations with their life preservers on, even though there were no horn blasts. The tabloid press tried to make a big deal of it.

There will be a letter in your cabin explaining everything.

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

We feel like we are barely moving.

The newer ships really do run smoothly compared to the older grand-class ships we were used to sailing on with Princess. Even when pulling into dock, and using the thrusters you don't experience any of the shuddering/vibrations of those older ships.

Look at this glass of wine shake on what ended up being our last Princess sailing.

55 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

I did some quick googling and found a place close to the port with good trip advisor reviews called Hemingways

Our place to go in Antigua is Limerz. They have a deal that includes lunch, 2 drinks, beach chairs and an umbrella, although I heard that they recently lost their beautiful beach to a storm. The food was local, and fresh. https://www.beachlimerz.com/

Edited to add: According to their Facebook page, the beach has come back.

https://www.facebook.com/BeachLimerZ/

These pics are from our 2017 visit.

3 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Everyone: why do you cruise so much?

 

When I was working backstage security, people used to ask me how I could put in an 18-21 hour day for a concert, and I'd say, "When I'm in the middle of the Caribbean, soaking up the fresh air and sunshine, and enjoying 3 meals a day with my wife aboard a beautiful ship, it's worth it".

57 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

This is an odd experience and I’m not sure that it’s designed for smaller parties.

We've spent 31 days on board in total last year, and Gunbae is the only place we haven't patronized, only because we live in a suburb of Atlanta that has hundreds of Korean restaurants, cafes and bakeries.

Sailings show up on San Juan's port schedule.

Since it's Spring Break, they are probably sold out.

https://sanjuancruiseportterminal.com/schedule/schedule-march-2024-san-juan-cruise-port-terminal/

6 minutes ago, Jamesv281117 said:

checked earlier on the day and before and there was still availability in multiple cabin categories so would be very strange if it had sold out that quickly.

In the past, on longer sailings they have chosen not to sail at 100%. "Sold out" in this case is just a term.

My TA is on the phone with the "displacement department" at this very moment.

This is what she just sent me, "they say so far it's going. Confirming it's sold out. First person I spoke to said it's cancelled but I was transferred to Displacement, and they say otherwise. Went to supervisor. Sailing not cancelled but ship is full."

18 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

I thought more recent cancellations had much worse offers, like you had a choice of only 3 replacement itineraries (one of which was only 7 days) or a full refund. 
 

(sorry, on mobile or I’d quote/provide links.)

All of the previous cancellations and offers are listed here:

https://www.virginvoyages.com/travel-advisories/stories

We scored a great deal on an aft suite for this one after having our Brilliant TA cancelled, and we've spent several grand on flights and hotels at this point.

1 hour ago, AlyssaJames said:

but I've been wondering since the day they tripled the prices whether they will try to nuke and re-sell these dates. 

I think this is a bit of a stretch. If they do end up cancelling, the offer will most likely be similar to what they offered us when the cancelled our TA on the Brilliant: Book any cruise, any length, same cabin category, at the exact same price.

34 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Virgin has the food portion down pat.

Pam and I have said many times, "We've never had anything this good on Princess"

Glad to see that you're enjoying everything.

33 minutes ago, csr10236 said:

What does DBE stand for? Never sailed VV. And status match from other cruise lines?

Deep Blue Extras. Currently the status match program is on hold, but here's a link with more info.

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club

7 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

No things about spending more etc.

It's all the "no's" like this that made us fans.

No kids. No announcements. No photographers. No cruise director. No cover charges. No art auctions, etc.......

Glad to see you're enjoying it

8 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

cool. Thanks! Wasn’t sure if we needed them for something else but I didn’t think there was anything we would need it for. 

It just occurred to me that on the transatlantic last fall, we were able to get into the Deep Blue party a lot quicker because we still had the blue band on, while others were lined up to see if their names were on the list. You do what works for you. There tends to be zero-judgement on board for the most part.

1 minute ago, Steelers0854 said:

anyone know if I need to keep this DBE band on for anything? Wasn’t sure if it was needed for anything other than boarding?

You can take them off if you wish. Some folks will leave them on for the entire cruise.

We've taken the fobs off of our bracelets and have been wearing them for over a year.

Glad things are off to a good start for you.

You will find that they do a great job with food allergies.

Miss Behave is a hoot...I hadn't laughed that hard in years.

On 2/8/2024 at 6:37 PM, Steelers0854 said:

Our favorite is still Princess

I thought I recognized your name....we've been on 4 Virgin sailings since leaving Princess.

Enjoy your cruise!

This is from a recent Australian sailing.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1184276376227662