cantgetin

Bar tab is good on beverages only--alcoholic or not. The only other thing it can be used for is the high tea at Sips, and that's because it is billed as a bar item You can't use it for "treat yourself" items. Those will come out of Loot though.

Ditto....we liked the Kalbi, but nothing else was all that great. Oh course, each person has an opinion on that. And the atmosphere is great if you are with the right group. We did it once with people from the FB group--no one I knew, but we are all unofficial friends from the group, so that worked.

I concur with the above. You WILL be at a 2 top except in Gunbae and possibly Test Kitchen. You can ask for one in Test Kitchen. You will be asked about allergies at each meal and snack. They are really good about allergies. Yes, a cabana includes $100 in alcohol regardless of any tab you have...I think $500 for a cabana is a waste, but that's personal opinion. Swim shoes also personal, not needed. DO you have loyalty on Royal? If you apply for status match, you can get Blue Extras for your cruise (NOT Deep Blue Extras, which is a higher status). Go to "loyalty" on the VV web page to apply. If you will use the champagne and the thermal suite, SOR is worth the cost. If those aren't big deals to you, it is rather expensive. Yes, shake for champagne works, but delivery speed varies based on how busy they are. SOR boards either right after suites or right after Deep Blue...we've seen it both ways. Bottom line, you would board between 1:30 and 2. We have usually been in our cabin before 2 with Deep Blue. SOR gives you a separate waiting area at the terminal. This is a great YouTube for more info...a little out of date in a few spots, but not much. Well done, detailed, and based on accuracy rather than "Look at me" or personal opinios,

I've had the bacon be great, but sometimes it is very peppery. I asked on the last cruise whether it could be made without the pepper--no problem. There are pastries in The Galley and The Grounds Club (7th floor). The ones in Grounds Club as especially good...but they do rotate so you may not see your favorite every day.

The Galley has fresh made to order omelets. Served with bacon, sausage, etc. Razzle Dazzle has eggs and bacon, but not omelets. The Wake had Benedict in several varieties. The Galley may have some alsol

In all fairness, I would not book any sort of balcony cabin without the hammock. Seriously the best feature in the rooms.

VV didn't do themselves any favors early on with their ads making the ships look like one big party for 20 somethings cruising on Daddy's money. I don't think the passengers they have coincided with those they thought they were going to have. We have enjoyed each of our VV cruises, and each has been somewhat different....a big menu change (not for the better in our opinion), people we met, quality of the same activities depending on who was in charge, etc. We don't find a party atmosphere, if by that you mean excessive alcohol. Yeah, it happens on any line, but as there are no drink packages, there are no people trying to max out their daily limit. Yeah, it does happen sometimes toward the end when people have a lot of bar tab left. I would call myself older and fairly conservative. Some of the Diva shows were hysterically funny (bingo, for instance) or really good (cabaret with Carlos)...well, anything with Carlos). Some Divas have been obviously better than others. Some of the shows have been a little crude for my taste, so I won't see them again. As you said, if a little innuendo is a problem, this isn't the line fo you. Most of the crew and Happenings Cast have been great....an occasional not so much. Some of the comedians were good, one I walked out of (we were at the back and not obvious). In general, there is nothing on VV that you won't see in an adult show on Disney other than the Diva stuff. And no passenger behavior in public areas that you won't also see on Disney (I've been shocked at some of what I saw there!) People are different. I was telling my friend about VV when she asked...she's an elderly, Bible Belt Baptist. Before I gave any details, I told her that she might not like some parts of it because....Her comment was along the lines of, "Do you think I never saw or experienced any of that? I was a theater major and half my friends in the department were gay. I just don't tell my friends at church about it." So yeah, if knowing that there are all kinds of people on VV and some of them may be different from you is a problem, it may not be your cruise line. On the other hand, if you can be decent toward someone over dinner and around the ship regardless of their appearance or life choices, you may find a new friend who is covered in tats or have a lovely dinner seated next to and chatting with a gay couple. Yes, you need a bit of an open mind to cruise VV....but not much more open than other lines.

There are a very lot of good things about VV, but some not so good. Public seating in many areas is about looking good in photos and not comfort. The Dock is especially bad--there are relatively few bar stool seats; the rest are those bed things and wooden seats a very small distance off the floor. When you hit my age, the rule is that you don't get on the floor unless you know how you are getting up again! In many locations the seating is too deep--if you sit all the way back so you have back support, you can't bend your knees. THey are just weird. There are a few places with comfortable seating, but that's not the overall ship. I only saw one unisex bathroom on the ship, and it was a one seat deal (not a room with multiple stalls). Most were clearly marked as to which sex. My complaint would be that they are often hard to find until you learn where to look. Best feature--the hammock.

As Jon said you can drop luggage early...starting at 10 or 11 and then go to lunch or whatever. Normally late boarding runs "early," so if you show up around 3, it is likely that you'll be able to board with little or no line. Hopefully if there is a problem with your early flight, there are later ones that can get you to BCN on time.

THe only thing I will say is that you were on the tour rather than the ship...I do get it that the tour was sponsored by VV, but all excursions are operated by outside companies. The tour guide should have shut it down right away

There is a lot more to a room than size. Layout is VERY important. Some ship cabins have a significant amount of wasted or unusable space while others are well designed.

The only official numbers I've seen from VV were for 2022...they said the average age on board was 43 with a range of 18-90s. I have some data on the specific cruises I was on related to age. I honestly never felt that any of it mattered, and doubt that they collect anything other than that which is government required (age and sex). There will be about 2000 people on board. Some of them will be like you in some ways. Some will not be like you. If that matters to you, look at a different line.

True that there is no nightly turn down service BUT if you need anything at any time, you can request it thru the tablet in the room, thru the app, or with a phone call. If it is something you want regularly, let your host know and they will take care of it. There is an "on call" team at all times and a partial team in the halls in the evening for those requests.

English is the language on the ship. Yes, many languages are spoken by the crew to the point that if someone couldn't handle English, they could find a crew member to help. The only public announcements on the ship after the muster drill are emergency announcements. IF there is an announcement, it will be an unscheduled "must inform everyone" thing, but any normal stuff is on the app, on posts at the gangway, and electronic signs in elevators and a few other locations on the ship. All guest facing crew speak English.

Age range on VV has been 18-90s. If you are willing to take a "You be you" attitude and not worry about what other people choose to do, you're fine. If you don't like drag, don't go to diva shows--there is plenty more to do. If crew with piercings or tats are going to offend you, this isn't your cruise line. As far as PDA, I haven't seen anything in our 2 months (broken up into weeks) of cruising on VV that I hadn't seen on Disney. Want to dress up--do it. Don't want to--wear shorts and ts anywhere on board. It isn't about age, it is about attitude.

Computer stuff--video games, AI, etc.

Our favorite is the Kalbi (marinate beef). You'll be offered a choice of ordering off the menu or having server bring you "the favorites." Do whatever suits you. This is NOT real Korean BBQ as we had in Asia, but is OK. It can get noisy. If you don't like eating with strangers, put together your own party of 6 with others you've met on the cruise. A lot depends on the mix at the table. Our first time, we were with a family group of 4. 3 did not speak English and one translated enough for the server. Lots of smiles and nods. The next time, we were with a person who shared my daughter's hobby and they hit it off great. Others have been good to great.

The April VV TA had 2348 sailors on board (capacity totally full is 2700). It was the most full VV sailing I've been on. although I do know that some shorter sailings have sold every available cabin. We've been on TAs on other lines that cruised full. People are learning that these are great cruises and good/great values.

There are no main dining rooms, no buffet. The food is fixed fresh when you order it. In The Galley (food court), you can go to the various stations and order yourself or have a seat and place your order with a server. There are 6 included restaurants which would be specialty dining on any other line. You can make reservations beginning 45 days before your cruise. They do take walk ups on a space available basis. Each restaurant has a different theme/type of cuisine. In addition, on each of our cruises The Galley has had a nightly dinner special as well as multiple lunch specials. There are other places around the ship to get small plates, snacks, pizza, wings, etc. Everyone has different tastes in food, but each restaurant had something we liked. There are many sites where you can see the menus on line. Daytime entertainment varies with length of cruise...music, trivia, games and fun in The Social Club, Sea Horse auction and race, lots more. And don't forget the marvelous hammock with a good book.

Earplugs are essential

You can do it on the app 45 days before embarkation. Your TA can do it for you thru their portal. or you can call Sailor Services and they can do it. You cannot do it on line. It is 60 days for suites. IF you don't get what you want, no worries--they open additional slots at embarkation.

VV's thing is to avoid "single use plastics." THey use many plastics on board; the containers for all the "to go" boxes are plastic. The difference is that they are not "single use" plastics. THey are cleaned and re-used. OK, I don't do ducks...I think they are rather silly and I don't need extra stuff in my luggage. But if ducks make some people happy, I don't see the harm in it for those who enjoy it. Not sure what all the fuss is about. One of the "themes" of Virgin seems to be "you be you." On one cruise over a year ago, we learned that there was a sort of contest where the crew managers were hiding marked ducks in obscure places. Crew members who found and turned in a duck got a small reward as this signified they were cleaning thoroughly. They were initially puzzled when unmarked ducks started showing up as passengers were hiding them. They ended the crew game. I can't claim this was true, but it was told to me by a crew member.

Many of the terminal people have tablets and they can look you up by your name. THey will ask you to show them the app because that 's easier....but if the app is being wonky or if you don't have your phone or whatever, they can look it up. They can also do this to verify DBE or other priority boarding status. When you are actually inside checking in, they need your passport. They can see everything else on their screen based on the passport name. FWIW, when the app is misbehaving, it becomes a lot better as soon as you log on thru the ship's wifi.

Interesting. The cruise where we saw 3 managers standing around we were seated and waited 45 minutes before anyone came to take our order. Dinner took 2 1/2 hours they were so slow. Interestingly there was a late middle aged may with a much younger woman at a table in the same cluster. For most of the night, there were 4 crew members around that table....large seafood tower, lots of alcohol. We didn't go back there for the rest of the cruise.

As of the beginning of May on Scarlet they were still doing the "first come, first served" system with lines. I did not like standing in line 45 minutes before an event to hope to get in.