cantgetin

Yes, I'm onboard now on the TA to Miami. We lost streaming ability as we left Funchal.

I'm on Valiant Lady right now. Yes, we have experienced a few minor inconsistencies, but it is overall great. It has been several years since we cruised Celebrity, but I would definitely rank Virgin above what we experienced on Celebrity. In fact, we have 3 more cruises on Virgin booked. There is no right line or ship for everyone. We know that we like the medium size ships; about 2500 or a bit more is perfect for us. We love the "no kids" on VV, although Celebrity had very few kids when we cruised. They did have some supply issues in Europe and we are still feeling some of that. Honestly, out biggest concern has been the inconsistency among the restaurants. Some have ice tea and diet coke readily available, others don't. Some have sweetener or lemon, others don't. Some don't have salt and pepper on the tables. I've taken to bringing my tea to dinner to be sure I have it. OK, silly, but it is a thing. On the positive side, VV is listening to comment cards and making changes. They are a very good line, and with a few minor, inexpensive changes, could be really great.

Absolutely, unless you are cruising solo, the cruise line transportation is rarely the way to go.

Lyft, Uber. Taxis are on a fixed fare, so no gouging there. There is also the brightline, but I'm not sure of the details of how that works...and definitely best if you are able to handle stairs and all your own luggage. If coming in the day before, there are hotels that offer complimentary transportation to/from the airport or to/from the cruise port. I'm not aware of any that offer both at Miami, but there might be some that others can suggest.

I've watched several things on your channel. They are very well done. We are on Valiant now, and according to a person claiming to work in IT, they have blocked all the video and streaming channels....we could get them for the first 4 of 5 days, but as soon as we left Funchal, we lost a lot of wifi function in the blink of an eye. This guy says he did the necessary trouble shooting and found that the issue was a blocking by the ship. Oh well, more to watch when I get home.....

Right--people can't see into the cabanas as they walk by, but they are just behind the back wall of the cabana. Richard's rooftop is a lot more like the restricted areas on other ships. In our 10 nights, I don't think I've seen a rented cabana in use. We trie the Waygu beef in Gumbae. It was OK, but certainly not worth $45 again. Still, my sailing buddy wanted to try it and we had plenty of Loot.

Thanks...I'm on the October 2023 as well, so if you want to join forces to get the $50 referral credit, let me know. (one of us can refer the other)

I'm on board Valiant right now. Frankly, I don't know why anyone would pay for the cabanas. They are a place to sit or stretch out with beverage service. I've seen them, but never anyone using them. The red numbered covered seats are available at no charge and provide a bit of a wind block (the white, paid cabanas would also partially block the wind) There is all kinds of seating on the open decks. Today is a PERFECT pool day, and there is still seating available around the pool and the hot tubs as well as in every space I visited on my "deck walk." Unless you need privacy for some reason (in which case, use your balcony instead of a public deck), I don't know why you'd want a cabana with a fee.

It is more of an "every other night" thing. We got a schedule in our cabin near the beginning of the cruise specifying which night would have the time changes. On the day of the change, they post it on the app and in the elevators. There was one night of change on the sea day before Funchal (the last port before the crossing). Never 2 nights in a row. Also, when you open the app, it shows "ship time" each day so you can correct devices if needed. Today is a perfect pool day. It is warm and sunny with a nice breeze, but not horribly hot. Amazingly, there are chairs available around the pool and the hot tubs. My other crossings have been quite smooth, but we had a rough sea day before Funchal. It has been getting better each day since then. We are at about 50% capacity.

Each menu indicates "GF" foods. At each restaurant, including The Galley, we are asked about "allergies or dietary restrictions" both on entering and before ordering.

Every trip, I think I am seriously thinning the load, and STILL pack too much!

Your facial on Princess started at the same base price, but had a gratuity of at least 18% added (some lines add 20%; we haven't been on Princess since before covid, so I'm not sure where they are now). On Virgin, the price listed is the price you pay for spa services, alcohol, etc. So not only was the service better, the final price on VV was less! There is a lot different on VV. I'm currently on Valiant. The 14 night cruise has more of us "older people" than usual, and added lots of activities. It's a great cruise. The crew on VV is better than I've experienced anywhere else!

If you know anyone on board right now, the onboard rebooking offer is $600 OBC + $300 off cruise fare and IS transferrable...and will stack on the offer above! Translation: if someone on board has your info, they can book it for you now, or can buy it in their name and change it to your name when they get back.

A good comparison to Princess by WildCatllamas. Totally agree with everything! I'm on VV now, and there have been some significant improvements in storage, etc. from a year ago. THey ARE listening to feedback. When there is a problem, the crew is encouraging us to "tell corporate." Crew knows where the remaining issues are, but the solutions are beyond their pay grade. We were at Extra Virgin tonight--you are right, it makes Sabatini's look like Olive Garden. We've seen decreasing quality from Princess over the years to the point that I'm only considering them if I want a location that other lines don't do. I also really like the pricing structure at VV. No, it isn't an "all inclusive," but what is included is the stuff that I want included.

Service in The Galley is actually good on my current cruise. Very little waiting after being seated, and I'm not seeing servers standing around. Unfortunately, the beverage selection has ranged from minimal to crummy (started with nothing in the juice dispensers and only Fanta and regular Coke in the soda machines). Now we have juice, lemonade, and tea in the dispenser and they have added ginger ale to the soda machines. Other things--Diet Coke, Coke Zero, etc. are available at restaurants and bars and some choices from servers in THe Galley.

Wifi in the Caribbean is supposedly good. Wifi in the Barcelona area was good, but in Funchal and nearby was so-so, and crossing the Atlantic is pretty minimal. I can get emails but no photos, videos, or such.

45 in regular cabins, 30 in Rockstar suites. We've had no problem with altering reservations on the ship when we've changed our minds about something or found a conflict with various shows. The problem with booking in advance is that you can't see the show schedule that early....so grab the restaurants you want and know you can change. You can book on the app or by calling VV

On the TA on Valiant right now. They are "out" of lots of things. We kept hearing that they'd be restocking at our various ports before we headed out to sea, but there is no evidence that anything changed. It certainly wasn't like "we're out of X" and 2 days later they had it!

True that Virgin's suites don't give you much. There is no "ship within a ship" concept. Basically, you get more space and some complimentary alcohol; how much depends on the level of suite you choose. Best thing about Virgin is no kids.

On Valiant now. What I'd like is consistency in many little things. For example, I like ice tea with lemon and splenda. Some of the sit down restaurants have tea with no "fixings," others have exactly what I want, Razzle Dazzle has tea with lemon but no sweetener, etc. Some restaurants have salt on the tables, others do not. My friend loved the margarita in Pink Agave, so tried to order it at a regular bar. THe response was that it was only available in that restaurant. After the first week's book club, some sailors were allowed to pass on the book to other interested people with a promise that it would be returned to Sailor Services, while others were told that it had to be turned in on that day. It is less that there is a right or wrong answer to any of these little things as much as it is that the response/availability seems to differ based on who or where you ask.

Not to discourage anyone, but this cruise is already quite heavily booked. If you want a choice of cabin type, you might want to jump in quickly.

On the food blackout.....today is the first of our 8 consecutive sea days on the TA crossing. Closing time for all The Galley outlets which normally close at 2 has been extended to 3pm. This was planned in advance as it is in the printed daily schedule as well as in the app. I have no idea whether this time change will continue, but at 2 today, it was quite full.

On Valiant this week--the cruise immediately following OP's. There is NO diet coke on board. Even the bar supplies from the "guns" seem to have run out and we are getting coke zero almost everywhere. They began telling us that they would be restocking at each port, but today was our last port. We did get 2 cans of diet coke early on in the cruise, and initially could get it at most bars. There has never been any in the machines in The Galley. My biggest concern is the inconsistency. I drink ice tea with lemon and splenda. I've taken to carrying splenda in my pocket as some restaurants have none, some have only lime (ok, I can deal with that), and Test Kitchen supposedly doesn't serve tea. Very strange. They've been doing 8 night Med cruises all summer, so I'm hoping that they have sufficient supplies to make it to Miami with all the "essentials." The crew has been lovely and they have added a lot of sea day activities for us. Passenger load is 1400. Per spa manager, 300 new crew boarded in Barcelona--totally new to VV, not returning from vacation between contracts, and another 300 new will board in Miami for the first time. She said she was trying to get people fully trained because Richard Branson will be on the next cruise and the passenger load is 2200. Ouch! Crew member in Pizza Place late night shift told us that she'll be getting off in Miami, but likes VV much better than her previous cruise line because contracts are more reasonable, working conditions are better, and she can keep in touch with family when the wifi is working.

We have it scheduled for next week. It is called "Ship Show." Will follow up. B menu in Test Kitchen tonight. THe seat at the bar type area was terribly uncomfortable....and we went to deck 15 immediately afterward. That probably says it all. While there, the couples seated on either side of us showed up. So....6 of 6 ended up in The Galley after Test Kitchen. The main course was "shrimp pasta." It consisted of 3 noodles rolled up with 3 pieces of shrimp in the middle.. At every other restaurant, I felt the servings were too big for me. At this one, it was more like "where is the food?" The corn course was good, as was the white stuff that came with the asparagus sorbet. We're going back next week to try the A menu (main course choice of venison or beef). I wouldn't do the B menu again--first time a restaurant has disappointed.

I was able to book it on my transatlantic cruise well in advance of embarkation--don't remember the exact date. Don't know why it would be different. Are you trying under the "shore things" tab in the app? That's where I found it. As above, they are not strict about disembarkation times.