cantgetin

1400 in October--no problem with lines.  Big problem with people making reservations for shows and then not showing up (I didn't realize there was a standby line at first.)  We also had no problem with walk in brunch or dinner with one exception.

3 hours ago, angela12345 said:

 

The room service Nutella French Toast that I'm talking about ?  Or regular/plain french toast ?  I don't see it on the Razzle menu.

I don't recall french toast at Razzle, but we loved the waffles so maybe I just wasn't interested. They do have the "fairy toast."  The Wake has french toast and The Galley has french toast with berries.  You can get nutella on this if you ask.   And, of course, you know about the nutella french toast from room service.

3 hours ago, angela12345 said:

Any idea how far in advance they booked ?  How far in advance did you book ?  Just wondering if that has anything to do with it.  Maybe there's not time to have the bands custom printed and mailed if you book less than XX days in advance of the cruise ??  

I booked about 7 months in advance and was told that bands would be mailed.  In fact, they verified the address that we wanted them sent to.  And then, they weren't being mailed any more.  My guess is that there were too many people forgetting them or that they decided it cost too much to do them customized for each Sailor.  I would just plan on getting them at the port; if they happen to be mailed, you can be surprised.

The system for embarkation is very good.  We showed up at our designated time, and spent almost no time in line either for luggage drop or for check in.

23 minutes ago, MoonSurf said:

Very exciting to see this news.  We are also on the April24 TA to Lisbon as well as the one right before.  With @cantgetin caution am even more glad not to end in San Juan.  I guess if ever willing to spend the 3 hrs in customs line must remember not to book a flight too early in the day or stay extra days at the end not the beginning.

 

Not knowing much about the beginning days of cruise ships, what goes on over the next year before first official passengers board?

On our cruise that ended in San Juan, we had a 3pm flight, and I was beginning to worry about making it.  The cruise personnel were aware of the long lines, so we were kept on board till a bit after 10 (they served juice, coffee, pastries, etc.), and then stood in the Customs line till 1pm.  We did make our flight, but that was no way to end a cruise.  There were many unmanned stations standing empty, and the agents were taking regular breaks!  The people on the next cruise wrote all sorts of reports about their late boarding/departure too.

What happens to the ship from now till next year is that they finish building it.  They basically float out a "shell."  They will now do all the pretty, fun stuff.

On the 14 night cruise, I took half a suitcase full of more dressed up clothes for evening that never got worn.  We joked about how much we won't  be brining on our next cruise.

Having done a cruise that ended in San Juan, will never do that again.  The Customs "service" there was a joke and the line was over 3 hours long.

Well, someone posted that The Red Room holds 500+ persons depending on the configuration, which makes a lot more sense.  And there are plenty of great food pictures on YouTube.

Absolutely, you can.  A t-shirt and shorts can take you everywhere on the ship.  In fairness, you'll see some people a bit more dressed up and some a lot more dressed up, but there is no dress code and no dirty looks anywhere.

In October, they did it all at the terminal.  The luggage tags are more like airline tags than other cruise line tags, and they are not mailed.  The porters verify your name and cabin number and show it to you on the tag as they place the tags on the suitcases.   They showed up in our room about 10 minutes after we got there!   We were initially told that our wristbands would be mailed, but sometime over the months before our cruise, they quit mailing them.

All you need to do in advance is complete the on line check in on the app.  FWIW, luggage check in took under 5 minutes and we were in our cabin 5 minutes before our scheduled terminal arrival time.  We did follow the request and showed up exactly 30 minutes before that terminal arrival time (they ask you not to arrive more than 30 minutes before and explain that you will be asked to leave if you are earlier than that.)  They do have queue slots based on your scheduled arrival time; they can't force you to leave, but you will stand there and wait until a few minutes before your time.  

4 hours ago, jon81uk said:

 
But they won’t do normal housekeeping tasks twice a day unless asked.

Exactly.....if you ask for fresh towels, they will often do a bathroom refresh, but I think that depends more on who the evening on call person is than the policy.  They won't empty trash or fix beds if the request was for towels.

3 hours ago, angela12345 said:

 

 

Awesome to know about the Nutella french toast at Diner & Dash, yay.  Do you know if its the same as the room service one with the roasted bananas etc.

Never got it from room service, so I can't say whether it is the same or not.

Coffee comes in a carafe that is more like a thermos.  It holds about 2 cups.  I don't know what happens if you order more than one--bigger thermos or multiple small ones. Various kinds of French Toast are available in many places on board--Razzle Dazzle has "fairy toast," The Wake has French Toast, Diner and Dash has a variety as well as the French Toast burger.  In addition, Diner and Dash will make the Nutella french toast for you.  Most places in The Galley will make things to order, provided they have the ingredients at their station.  

Pizza works the same way--they have the varieties on the menu, but they will customize using any ingredients they have.

We did Razzle Dazzle several days as walk up. Never did a reservation there. The Wake, we did a walk up once, and as above were turned away once so made a reservation. The Galley wasn't bad....just wasn't always great.  Depending on what you want, Grounds Club had great muffins, croissants, etc. 

Note--premium wifi is only available in the Caribbean.  The wifi on Valiant in the Med was "just ok" and on the crossing decreased to almost non-existent. I qualified for free premium as well, but it was not available on Valiant.

30 minutes ago, Jessetfan said:

And Virgin has now cancelled the dolphin swim for the rest of the season, so we're back to square one. Going to look into booking with a third party, but we'll see.

There are some excellent third parties (which I suspect that I'm not allowed to name here).  Your travel agent can help with a referral to one that has a great reputation and will guarantee you'll be back at your ship on time.  In the US/Caribbean, they are often a little cheaper than going thru the ship, while in Europe, we found third party prices to be higher!

12 hours ago, Luminelle said:

 

 

 I’m excited for the cruise because I know it’ll be fun but we’re trying out all of the cruise lines to find our favorite and we’re thinking VV might not be for us. At least until we can regularly afford rockstar status since it seems like they have a different experience entirely.

Actually there is very little difference between the experience in a Rockstar suite and what you get in a regular cabin on VV.  That's what leads to the "is the suite worth it" posts.  MegaRockstars, at the top level get a lot of perks.  Otherwise, our experience in a sea terrace (not central, not XL, just plain sea terrace) was that we could get anything we needed or wanted with a push of a button on the app or tablet or by picking up the phone.  VV is absolutely not for everyone, but neither is any other line.  That's why we have lots of choices.  But there are many really good things about VV.  If you have status on any other line, you can qualify for "Deep Blue Extras" on VV, at least thru 2022.  Just go to their web site and click on "Loyalty programs" to sign up. This, in itself, will eliminate many of the complaints I've seen on social media sites like "I get free latte on Royal but had to pay for it on VV."  

When we did our first Princess cruise, I suggested to my travel companion that we not compare it to our favorite cruise line, but rather see what the good and less good about this line were.  And while we never rated Princess as our favorite line, we did find many good things about it and have sailed on several of their ships.

No, VV isn't perfect...for us, it was very good. 

If you purchase the upgraded "Premium" wifi, you might be able to stream it.

ATM fee is $5 per another report--no personal experience

Funny since I'm not on FB.....

There were times that the crew couldn't do their jobs on the app--things like being unable to take orders in The Galley on their phones.  I have an iphone 11, daughter has a 13 both updated before cruise to current iOS.  Mine worked better than hers, but my guess is that was because I shut off everything else while she sometimes had other things running.  We didn't have decent enough internet to try to run other things!

Supposedly The Social Club area has been adding games on TV, but can't say whether the one you want will be on.....

3 hours ago, DV8 said:

Do you have to wait for an offer/invite to bid? Or should it be accessible somewhere in your account?

I've only seen it as an offer about a month ahead of embarkation.

19 minutes ago, surfone said:

Thanks for the info.  I've been looking for travel coffee makers.  Yeah,  the $5 is a good deal though.....I'd do a few lattes.  We always tip for room service and I assume the same here as well even with delivery charge.

VV is a "no tipping" culture.  The crew members have reported that they earn about 3 times as much in salary as they made on other lines where they were tipped.  In the spa, the crew refused a tip when offered. She explained that they are very well paid and tipping was not permitted.  You can offer cash to the delivery person, but it is not expected and may be refused!  Yes, I normally tip on other lines.

It is very likely that the app is being squirrely.  It specializes in doing strange things.  Call VV in the morning and see what Sailor Services says.  I really don't believe they are sold out; we had the same thing happen on our cruise but it was an app glitch.

21 hours ago, surfone said:

Do they charge the $5 room service fee if only ordering coffee?  thanks

21 hours ago, surfone said:

Do they charge the $5 room service fee if only ordering coffee?  thanks

The $5 is a service charge on the delivery. It is waived if you order ANYTHING that has a cost.  So yes, if all you order is coffee, you'll see the $5 delivery fee.  On the other hand, you can order a premium coffee, tea, expresso, hot chocolate, or cold pressed juice and pay for the cost of the item. Or order a bottle of beer to put in the fridge for later!   Previous post is right--a $3 expresso or $4 hot chocolate waives the $5 delivery charge.

Just FYI, the hot chocolate is made from powder mix (think Swiss Miss), and mixed with milk.  My travel companion was NOT impressed with it.  The regular coffee in The Galley  (the free stuff) is made from coffee beans, not from syrup, and it is good. The ice tea is made from syrup....so I'd brew my own from a tea bag and then pour it over ice.