cantgetin

The app stinks.  When our booking window on the 14 night TA opened, the app would only allow me to book the first night.  I called Sailor Services and booked the entire cruise.  In fairness, we changed several of the reservations during the cruise, but Sailor Services encouraged me to book something for each night as they "might" fill up.  

3 hours ago, Roel94 said:

How did you rate getting invited to bridge or other party. Vaguely heard of a party but was never invited ,then forgot about them.

Suite guests and/or those who have cruised the most get invited to the bridge tour.  Those who have qualified for Deep Blue Extras (loyalty program) get invited to a cocktail party which amounted to a guy playing guitar and some free drinks.  Suite guests are invited to a champagne "party" from 6-7:30 nightly at Richard's Rooftop.

Full size bottle

Go to the VV web site and click on loyalty.  There you will find three ways to get "Deep blue extras," so you click on status match.  That will take you to a page where you submit proof of your status on another cruise line or even some airlines--there is a list of what you can use.  I did a screen shot of my dashboard from the other line's loyalty program and uploaded it to the VV site.  If you have a cruise booked with VV, you also enter the reservation number.  In a few days, you'll get an email that either says your Deep Blue Extras have been added to your reservation or that you qualify for the match and encouraging you to make a reservation.  Totally simple, and we did enjoy the perks on our recent cruise.

Great review.  We were on the 14 night TA. and I totally agree with your summary review.  For the rest, obviously we had different ports, different food preferences, different activities.

One thing I will take issue with--at Razzle Dazzle, I'm guessing that you did not go to the "secret" or the "naughty" menu.  We found the "secret steak" to be the best steak on the ship...better than The Wake!  This item doesn't appear anywhere on the menu; your server must tell you about it or you ask for it.  The salmon there was also very good.  THe Wake has a more upscale vibe with great views, but the steak at Razzle was better!  

3 hours ago, angela12345 said:

I haven't cruised yet, but I've read there are several opportunities to get free drinks as well.  Free champagne at sailaway on a certain deck ??  The Korean bbq starts with a shot of soju (spelling? correct word? haha).  Can some folks who have sailed comment on free/cheap drink opportunities ?

 

I agree with posters above that one bar package sounds like it will be plenty for you guys.  Roughly doing the math, you guys might spend $50-90 per day, combined.  How long is your cruise ?  At $50 per day $300/50=6 day cruise, $300/60=5 day cruise, $300/75=4 day cruise.  Including the extra $100 bonus money puts it at $400/50=8 day cruise, $400/80= 5 day cruise, $400/100=4 day cruise.

 

low end 55
him: 5 coffee 5 coffee 5 beer 10 scotch 10 wine = 35

her: 5 coffee 5 coffee 10 mojito or wine = 20

 

mid 80

him: 6 coffee 6 coffee 8 beer 12 scotch 13 wine = 45

her: 6 coffee 6 coffee 13 mojito 10 wine = 35

 

high end 90

him:5 coffee 5 coffee 10 beer 15 scotch 15 wine = 50

her: 5 coffee 5 coffee 15 mojito 15 wine = 40

I was on the 14 night TA, so things for us might have been "different."  THere was free champagne on decks 15 and 16 for sail away (unlimited and easy to obtain.)  If you qualify for Deep Blue Extras, there is a crowded cocktail party on deck 16 with a couple of drink choices, again unlimited.  If you are in a suite, there is nightly champagne on Richard's Rooftop (90 minute "party.")  Also, if you qualify for deep blue, you have $10 per day credit in The Grounds Club good on any beverage served there (coffee, tea, hot chocolate with or without alcohol added)  There are many promotions that include a bottle of Moet, but no matter how many promos you qualify for, you are limited to one free bottle. You can also bring 2 bottles of wine on board. 

Each of the sit down restaurants had a small "welcome" drink each night of our cruise.  It varied by night and by restaurant.  Gumbae had this in addition to that provided for the drinking game.  When I say "small," I am talking about an ounce or less.  This is what I don't know whether it was special for our cruise or if it happens routinely.  My travel partner tried to order one of these the next night in a "regular" size (one she'd had the night before), and after they checked, was told they had used up one of the ingredients; they offered to make her something similar.

You don't need a bar tab to purchase drinks.  THe advantage to the bar tab is the "bonus," which is currently $100...that's a 25% discount on drinks if you use the whole tab.  You can buy drinks with Sailor's Loot or with the credit card you put down at the beginning of the cruise.  They are priced cheaper than some other lines AND the price includes the gratuity.  We figured that the best way to purchase anything was to use all the"prepaid"  or free stuff we had, and go a little over.  The obvious disadvantage to the bar tab  comes into play if you don't spend at least the $300; if you don't spend the entire bonus, you aren't really out anything as it was a freebie.  BUT you can always find a way to max out the bar tab.  Buy a round for your new friends or buy a bottle of wine from a bar to take back to your cabin during the cruise or take home.  This will cost more than buying it at the duty free shop (where you can't use your bar tab), but the point is to not waste the tab!

1 hour ago, 3rdCoastFan said:

Speaking of sharing a bar tab, I'd like to hop in and ask this - how does sharing a bar tab work, exactly? That is, if I get the bar tab on my account and I'm not physically with my wife, can she still put any drinks on "my tab"? Before the end of the cruise, can we ask someone in guest relations to simply move her drinks to my account? If anyone can share specifics of how it works to share a tab that would be much appreciated! 

 

I imagine I could give her my bracelet but then I couldn't order any drinks - solve one problem and create another!

In our case, the accounts were tied to the cabin.  When I did the on line check in, I agreed to be responsible for all charges to the cabin.  That way, anything charged to the bar tab or the "loot" could be done with either bracelet, and we did use them both.  THe app has the ability to separate who mades the charges, but in our case it didn't matter as we had the same pay source.  If you are buying drinks for someone not in your cabin, your bracelet needs to be present.

I guess the easy way to explain it is that the "tab" didn't belong to me, it belonged to the cabin.

2 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

I have not found out who runs the spas on VV yet, but most of the major cruise lines have one of two companies that run all of the spas. Hard upsell is a major part of both of those companies, even in the barber shop. The cruise lines minimize their liability factor with the spas by contracting out all the services. 

Absolutely no upsell on the October Valiant Lady TA.  And the spa personnel turn down offered tips by politely saying that their tip is already included in the cost of the service.  Yes, we've had the upsell on other cruise lines, not of VV so far.

41 minutes ago, garycarla said:

Don't get too hung up on buying bar tab. After all, you can just buy and pay onboard.

 

By buying and getting bonus, you get a 25% discount.

If you do not use it, you pay extra.

Exactly!  And VV drinks a la carte are cheaper than many other lines.  Prices posted include grats.

36 minutes ago, garycarla said:

One of the perks is checkin priority on the pier or something like that.  How do they even know if yo qualify for it?

They ask when you show up if you have VIP status.  If you say that you don't know, they look it up in their computer.  On our cruise, the app on board was accurate.  Neither the app or the website "account" prior to boarding was right!

Unfortunately, storms affect any cruise ship that has been cruising very long.  You seem to have a great attitude toward the changes. I've seen some ugliness on another ship when the cruise couldn't go as scheduled.  Enjoy Key West.

We found the movie options to be quite good, very similar to the Amazon Prime free offerings.

I agree that one bar tab will likely be enough for you to share.  After the current special expires on 11/15, there will be another special.  This is the second $100 bar tab bonus I've seen this year, each lasting a few months.  Between those, the bonus was $50.  While there are no guarantees, I think the chances of another $100 bonus between now and 2024 are very high.  Another consideration is that some people have been told that if they cancel a cruise, their bar tab pre-payment will be refunded as "future cruise credit," not as a refund to their credit card.

10 minutes ago, publicidentity said:

I'm on this sailing. Can the loot be added after booking?

yes

On an 8 night, you can book up to 3 dinners in each restaurant in advance of boarding.  The Wake dinners can be booked in advance, brunch cannot be booked until you arrive at the terminal.

On 11/5/2022 at 8:53 AM, c-boy said:

mizLORInj, how did the bed/bunk thing work ? 

In normal cabins, the beds can be arranged as two twins together (making one large bed) or in the L configuration.  

1 hour ago, angela12345 said:

I was looking at my account online.  Is there anywhere it shows your loyalty status if you don't currently have a cruise booked ?  Where does it show ?  Or am I just blind and I'm missing it ?

The only place I can find it is under "add ons" when I do have another cruise booked.  And that's not right about half the time!

Carry ons come in different sizes and airlines have different regulations regarding size.  I appreciated this on our TA when my daughter's carry on was much larger than mine!  DO check the size and weight regulations for your airline, especially in Europe.  

Lots of missed marketing opportunities on VV.  They didn't have any merchandise made especially for the October Valiant Lady TA....and this was the first TA with sailors on board.  They were selling Bimini stuff, and we didn't even stop there!  THey are playing the little game of collectible plastic octopi (?) in multiple colors--red on Scarlet Lady, purple on Valiant, and I suspect we'll see other colors on the other ships.

3 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

There actually is, but they do a good job of not advertising hah- the perch on deck 17 only on sea days

I thought of going up and checking that out (didn't know it was topless)....but never made it that far.

1 hour ago, conandrob240 said:

The final answer was that I am not eligible for the Red Hot $200 bonus because I used some sort of credit from a previous cancelled sailing.

 

 

I hit that sort of thing as well....I'd done a previous "future cruise credit" that I purchased.  But I got it on my new booking.

55 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

you also get some pressing and dry cleaning - i think it was 2 garments for each of those, but only took advantage of getting 2 things pressed

Correct...I couldn't remember the details as we didn't use this part of the service.  There are other perks as well....

4 hours ago, silversneakers said:

Nice review.  What was the age span of the passengers?  It seems geared more to younger people rather than seniors.  Any topless areas on the ship?  

Not OP, but got off less than a week ago.  There are no "topless" areas on the ship, other than perhaps your balcony.
VV's CEO did a recording where he said that the average age on VV cruises as of that recording date was 47 with a range of 18-90s.  50% of cruisers are married couples.  That said, the age on any given sailing will vary.  In general, cruises longer than a week tend to skew a bit older while 4-5 night cruises tend to be a younger crowd.  On our recent trip, I'd guess that the average age was somewhere in the 50s, likely due to our voyage being 14 nights.

It is also worth noting that VV did bring on additional entertainment and activities for the longer sailing.

13 hours ago, angela12345 said:

Does Sailor Loot work if we all are booking thru a travel agent ?

Yes, and your TA can do all the work for you.  They need the booking code and name of the person you are referring/being referred by, and they can deal with VV.  

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

With Deep Blue Perks, you do get at least one bag of free laundry, and it was ready the very next day, not the 3-5 days it would take on Princess!

Deep Blue Extras includes ONE bag of laundry per cabin at no charge with the "next day" return.  You can pay for more bags and you can pay for same day return.  Not sure where the "at least" came from; the perk is one bag.
That said, it is a HUGE bag, not the tiny things you'll see on some other lines.  It is about the size of a standard pillow case and has a drawstring at the top.  We were on a 14 night cruise, and sent laundry on day 9.  We got ALL of our laundry into the bag including what we had worn to travel and what we wore on the ship.