cantgetin

It is allowed on The Perch. I've seen people try it on the pool deck and been asked to cover up.

Do not count on the tea water from room service to be tolerable. They use thermos type containers for the water and soup broth, and do not distinguish between containers used for coffee and those used for water. Most non-coffee drinkers realize that you can't ever get the coffee residue taste out of the hot water that is placed in a coffee container. We've had this happen on Scarlet and Valiant, Most of the time, the tea was delivered as leaves in the brewing pot with the water in the thermos; I could go to The Galley or Grounds Club to get good hot water. However, once they brewed the tea in some kitchen and placed the brewed tea in the thermos--it went down the sink as it was awful....as did all the water and the soup broth from the thermos on other occasions. However, I was only charged the $5 for the undrinkable tea in thermos rather than $7 had I not ordered a charged item. They don't care. I've commented on this in my review of every one of my VV cruises and it doesn't change.

Shows are generally 8 and 10 or 10:30....do a 6pm dinner can get you to either show. An 8pm show could get you to a 9:15 dinner or a few minutes late for 9:00. Or eat at 8 and go to late show,

Cans of soda are free. Sip usually has them and the Sun Club bar up top sometimes. THey can also be ordered from room service at no charge IF you order an item that has a charge,

I'm only thru the first episode. What on earth is going on with someone trashing the marble in the bathroom in a suite? Really?

You are very correct that Sailor Services on board does not do reservations. On day 1, there is a crew in Razzle Dazzle to help with reservations, and after that it is the hostess stand outside restaurants. I'm convinced that a lot has to do with who is at the stand. We had no trouble showing up at 6 and asking if they could get us in later that night.....and they often could at 8 or 8:30 or something....but if I'm hearing you right, they won't do that for you on this sailing. The Galley has a dinner special each night; the menu is listed on the daily paper schedule. Some of them were VERY good on our cruise. Not lovely atmosphere, but amazing food if you like the special item.

We have had DBE on all of our cruises. My TA suggested showing up an hour before boarding was to start. That was a bit early as no one was being allowed into the terminal until 30 minutes early (1pm). We dropped our luggage about 12:45 and were admitted to the terminal at 1....and checked in minutes after that. We then had to wait till 1:30 at which time the woman supervising the area excused herself to make a call as she had usually been notified to start boarding by then. She returned quickly and we boarded. Suites go first, then Splash of Romance, then Deep Blue. Bottom line, we were in our cabin by 1:45 with luggage delivered shortly after that. Bottom line, In Miami, you show up about 12:45 and go to the desk where they are handing out Sailor's Club wristbands. This will allow you into the terminal about 1, and you go thru the process from there. Barcelona was basically the same with small differences between the old and new BCN terminals.

There is always a chance--depending on what he has planned for after he leaves the ship and what might happen to the person who is to replace him. Example--if his replacement gets sick, will VV ask Carlos whether he can stick around for another sailing? Possibly. Do I think it is likely? No.

I've been on all 3 of the previous TAs and booked dining in advance. Shows were generally 8 and 10. We booked dinners for 6ish the first time and found that really didn't work with our biological clocks. After that, we went for 7:30-8. However, we found it very easy to move reservations--to change restaurants, times, or whatever. If the app didn't show what we wanted, we'd go to the restaurant about 6 and ask if they could work us in at about whatever time we wanted; it always worked. As 444 above noted, many people book in advance and are moving things around on the TAs. Also, many of the shows are repeated during the cruise.

That's unusual, but probably related to the festival. We've generally found Lyft to be cheapest, Uber a bit more, and taxis the highest although Uber and Lyft price based on driver availability. For instance, Uber or lyft from my home airport to my house is usually $20-25 while a taxi is $35. I used the app for Uber once evening and it came up at $85. I hopped in a taxi and realized that it was a big local celebration night, so Uber and Lyft were probably crazy busy while the taxis were on their standard meter. Miami may be the same.

Shorter cruises are definitely more "party" cruises than longer ones. Personally. I'd hold off for a cruise that I was more interested in and was longer. I also use the logic that if I'm using the cash and the hassle of travel to get to and from the port, I may as well cruise for a while.

A good rule, as Cine said, is to put yourself in a little box with guest cabins above, below, and on each side of you (unless you have a totally amazing balcony on one side). And if you can arrange a guest cabin across the hall, that can help as well. It doesn't guarantee quiet--in 50+ cruises, we had 2 episodes of horribly noise neighbors, but that can't be predicted. THe goal is to put space between yourself and any ship operating or entertainment noises. On Virgin, THe Manor would probably be the worst. Leave the potential noisy places to people who do gty cabins or who don't know better and take what they are assigned.

Bungee class--good luck. VHS often has a standby line that gets in; advise booking if you want to be sure you get in. Game On --not sure what this is.

I'm sure someone has, but I'm not that someone

It existed in late 2023 and went to Bayside. It basically does a loop, so how often it runs depends in part on the traffic involved in getting back into the terminal area. THat can be 2 minutes or 20 minutes, making the "run" 15 or 35. If it doesn't appear after a reasonable wait when you want to get back, take an Uber or Lyft and complain at Sailor Services. They have been known to issue a credit for the ride.

My experience is Miami and Barcelona. At each location, we were allowed into the terminal 30 minutes before our assigned time....but in fairness, since we had priority boarding, our assigned time was the earliest available. Compared to other lines, 3pm seems late, but remember that VV boarding doesn't start till 1:30 normally, sometimes a bit later. If you show up too early, you get to stand outside in the crowds, lined up by time. Boarding goes quickly when it starts. Have all your info completed on the app before you show up. If I were in your position, I'd show up about 2:15. That way, you'll have a short outside wait (if any) and be moving on quickly.

And adds a lot of cost as well as hassle. On our next cruise, our plane fare was more than the cruise....and I'm glad I got it months ago because it is unbelievable now.

I think that a year ago, many people were still in the world of "they are a new cruise line with some kinks to be worked out" and the prices were great. At least those that I chose were about half of a similar cruise on another line with the best "apples to apples" comparison I could make. The price factor overcame a lot of the frustration. Now we are at a spot where some of the problems still remain--IT problems and customer service prior to the cruise, to name a couple of big ones. OK, shoreside sailor services has improved, but isn't great, And prices have gone thru the roof. I understand that they were initially underpriced and things couldn't stay where they were, but if I'm going to be paying top dollar, I expect everything to be top tier.

I agree--VV is a good product, but not necessarily the best value. On the other hand, most lines have greatly increased prices recently.

My agent periodically posts on FB and send notifications to clients of any "lower than the current norm" of sailings available, Also, anyone who has already booked at the lower rates and then can't cruise for whatever reason can "sell" their reservation to someone else with all the perks intact except DBE. Again, I've seen these advertised on FB and also thru my TA when it is one of her clients who can't cruise, As to random searches on the web, VV comes out with new "sale" prices every couple of months, but the deals rarely vary much in total. It is more a matter of how they do the sale--one month it is 70% off second person, the next month it might be 35% off all cruises. One time we were able to do a cancel and rebook with a $400 savings and another time turn a "bottle of bubbly" into a $130 cruise fare savings, but never anything HUGE.

And remember that if for any reason you are still hungry, many Galley stations are open until 10:30 (we've sometimes gone up at 10:15 to get a custom made salad for later), there is 24 hour breakfast, Pizza (salads pre-made there as well) till ?2am (later than I'm up), and Sailor Eats. Deal on sailor eats--order ANY item with a charge and there is no delivery fee.....so you can get a specialty coffee or tea, bottle of beer, etc. for $5 and avoid the $7 delivery fee. It also applies to alcoholic drinks.

The vendor may be able to add more boats (and bus or anything else needed on this or other excursions). Also check other third party vendors. Viator and Shore Excursions Group are reputable and work on a "you won't be charged if your ship can't dock" and guarantee we'll get you back on time basis. Shore Excursions Group claims that they've never failed to have anyone back on time, and if they do, they will get you to the next port, cover all your expenses in the interim (hotel, food, etc) and give you $1000 cash,

You can never predict. Since excursions are operated by third party vendors, vv will contact the vendors to see whether they can offer additional spots, In addition, people do cancel. Part of the problem is that people will sometimes book whatever they might be interested in, knowing that if they cancel early enough, they can get their money back to their credit card. This gives a mentality of "better grab it now, we can always change our minds later," All you can do is to keep checking back, both before and after boarding,

Barcelona, at 2 different terminals, was as much like Miami as they could make it. No beautiful terminal, but very similar layout.

Nothing provided at check in. Email, reservation number (which you already have from booking), password, your date of birth. Hypothetically, you only need to do this once and it should last the whole cruise....but don't count on that. If you are lucky and have the app from pre-cruise, they system will recognize that and you only have to log on thru the ship's internet which is something about mermaid.