cantgetin

Upgrads are not announced until a few days before embarkation. For now, the app is correct. If you don't get the upgrade bid and still want to try to upgrade, there is a desk at the terminal where you can see specific cabins and how much it will cost you to upgrade at that time (so you KNOW what you're getting, not just what category). You guys are worrying WAY too much about luggage tags. Problems are very rare, the tags are quite sturdy. Sorry that I don't have a pic from 10 days ago; I removed the ship's tags for the airline tags. KEYS--watch the porter write the numbers and make sure they are right. Attach something else with at least you name on it. Never had a luggage tag come off, but if it does, VV can locate your cabin with just your name.

It is the boarding time automatically moved to 1:30 regardless of what the app time says. You arrive at the terminal any time after 1 and get in the "Sailor Club" line outside the terminal to get a ribbon bracelet, This lets you into the terminal immediately at 1 and into a special boarding line of just DBE people. Boarding will start at 1:30 or a few minutes before. First will be Rockstar suites (78 cabins max), then Splash of Romance (75 cabins max), then DBE. We have always been in our cabin within 15 minutes of start time. We've had DBE for each of our cruises, and this is the way it has worked for us....sometimes with more or less hassle depending on the person at the Sailing Club desk (my fav was the one who insisted that my cabin mate had it but I didn't, despite me having an email to prove that I did!). I wasn't on HER list. Then the check in lady in the terminal wanted to know why only one of us had a bracelet....and promptly fixed the problem. ONCE we have entered the terminal, things have gone well. outside.....anybody's guess depending on personnel. You can remove the bracelet after boarding--it isn't needed for any of the other perks. The app lists available times/assigns times based on when you did your on line check in and went to the "boarding time" page. It is designed only to spread people out and has no recognition of status or perks that may give better times.

Not a bad idea. I leave my airline luggage tags on when i go to the cruise port. That way, my name is on the bag in multiple ways--the personal, hard plastic tag, the airline tag, and then the tag with the cain number that the porter applies (no name there. My logic is that if somehow the cabin number is incorrect, there is are at leat 2 tags with my correct name on the outside of the bag. And yes, the video was the same guy.

I got the notification from my TA; I've never heard anything directly from VV on this matter. although they certainly have no difficulty contacting me to say that I owe 3 cents on a booking that I already have a PIF confirmation for! I can't address the legality of changing terms on an already made booking--I'd imagine that what they need is somewhere in the fine print,

On the other hand, if your order is a chicken caesar without croutons, that's easy to do with a server or by standing in the line. And the salad bar is typically one of the longest lines.

Must pay by tomorrow

And that guy is the only one I've ever heard of who had a lost bag....I also had many questions about that video, starting with why was he checking luggage for a 3 night cruise. Hint--air tag. Never needed them at the cruise line, but it could help. When I left my cabin and went on deck, it told me I was separated from my luggage and where the luggage was! Secondly, the longest it has ever taken for my bags to arrive at the room was about 25 minutes after I arrived....normally before 2pm! I would not wait till anywhere near sail away time to become concerned. Our bags have sometimes been there by the time we entered room, used facility, dropped carry on, and turned around to go to lunch. If I got back from lunch and my bag wasn't there, I'd be accessing my air tag and talking with both my host and sailor services.

There were 2 of us, and 6 months ago we took a Lyft from our FLL hotel to port of Miami. The hotel said it would be about $150, but internet said way less....it was about $50 and took under an hour. At that price, it was the cheapest and most direct form of public transportation I could find and it worked well. As to the benches.....flip a coin. We've typically found the area around terminal V on embarkation day to be a MESS. BCN is much better!

The tags survived being shoved under the bed for 14 days, etc. with no problem. Yes, they are like the airline tags. We were told bags out by 10 most recently, but knew that they were taken within minutes of placing them out at about 9. People worry way too much about the tags on their first VV cruise. It is one part of the system that really works well. As above, it is easiest if you know your cabin number, but if not, the porters have a paper list. If you remove your tags and then put your bags out, your stateroom host will retag them.

So now we each have a choice....walk up or order with server, whichever is better for you!

If you want to wear a wet piece of fabric around your wrist, have fun with that. As above, they drag into food, etc. If you wash them, they take time to dryl. There is NO reason to wear them after you are on board (they signify that you have priority boarding). The included juices are in your account; if by any chance you are charged, Sailor Services can fix it. They have a tablet with list of people for the cocktail party--bracelet not needed. Have them put it on loosely so you can remove it easily after boarding and save it to put back on if you somehow feel the need to do so. We find the DBE bracelets to be a similar pain and either remove intact or cut off right after boarding.

If I was going alone for a single item at lunch, I'd often go to the walk up station. When we were together, we'd usually do a "divide and conquer." I'd tell my cruise partner what I wanted to eat. She'd sit and put up the flag to order while I went to get our drinks. Yes, I know we could order the drinks from the server, but getting them on the way in was easy and then we'd have them for the few minutes while we waited for food. It worked well for us,

Lots of seating generally up on deck 16 around the hot tubs, the net, etc.

With multiple VV cruises, we've had great Divas and one that....well, if she had been the first I'd seen, I might not have bothered with a second. Carlos is definitely the best of the best. The only negative thing about Carlos is that he sets the bar crazy high for anyone else! With any role, some people are better than others, due to training, experience, natural ability, or whatever. Sometimes it is personal preference on the part of the guest. One thing on VV is that the Happenings Cast tend to get known as themselves rather than "the person playing the role on that cruise." That's likely good for their career if they are good. It also shows up poorly for those who are "also rans." If I have praise, I try to make it public as well as sharing by name with VV. If I have serious criticism, I'll save it for the long VV follow up survey and hope that they take it seriously. An aside--if you had a room host, server, or whoever who went above and beyond for you, DO mention them in your comments as it can affect everything from raises and promotions to a little extra time off on a port day. If you loved a particular entertainer, let VV know--it might influence getting them back for additional contracts,

When we got off Valiant earlier this month, a crew member commented that the cruise boarding that day had 2600 on board. I expressed my sympathy to the crew.n. They are the ones who are most impacted by high numbers of sailors as what they are allowed to do in guest areas during their "off time" is determined by then number of sailors on board.

If you live in the port city and everything is easy for you, a short cruise can't hurt. My logic is that with the time, effort, and cost of flying to the port, I may as well stay a while after I get there! Obviously on short cruises, the top rated activities are featured. One bad thing about that is everyone is trying to do the same thing at the same time, while on a longer cruise, passengers can be spread out better.

It varies with the cruise. We had bingo with the Diva and bingo with the Hostess (different sessions). Both of these are technically members of the Happenings Cast. My guess is that when they haven't finalized who will be doing it, they list it as "cast" and can then present whoever.

Just off Valiant. Like Scarlet, you can choose to sit and be served or go to the stations yourself. People CAN be educated. No one "understood" Scarlet Night either at the beginning. I think the ability to go to the stations yourself is a nice addition. We never saw lines or people waiting standing around the stations. When it got busy, they'd bring out a crew member who would do nothing but take orders for that station; at more quiet times, the regular number of crew would be there taking orders and preparing food I would hope that they will continue with both options. There are people who can't carry their food or can't handle more than about one item at a time. The table service gives them a nice option. We did it both ways depending on time, preference, etc,

Another reason to always use a Gold Tier First Mate to deal with VV. Sailor Services stinks, and there is no excuse for them reassigning your room (unless you agreed to a gty)

When departing VV for MIA, we found a privately run shuttle, VIP Shuttle, that was operating between just those 2 locations. Cost was $10 per person. Vehicles held 12-15 passengers, Service was quick. Bottom line, for 2 of us, a few pennies less than lyft or uber and no waiting for them to arrive. I'd use them again. We had 8 people on our vehicle making stops at 3 different airline departure points.

We have been unable to get a seat at The Dock at times, but so what? We could choose to go inside to The Dock House or go to a different outside venue. Not a big deal. As to waiting for service--yup, happens sometimes....on every line I've ever cruise.

Fair....we've had various people of various quality on different cruises.....in many different positions.

NEW thing I learned on this trip--there is a private shuttle company that operates from the VV terminal to MIA for $10 per person. No reservations needed. No wait for Uber or Lyft. VIP Shuttle Services 786-487-5234 was on the side of the vehicle (I took a photo so I'd remember). The porter told us about it. Worked great for us. We had probably 8 people in the vehicle that held about 12; we were the second of 3 airline drop offs in our load.

Exactly as above. What we like--the "almost all inclusive" concept. Tipping is all done, including spa, bars, etc. No one ON BOARD has their hand out, ever. That doesn't mean you can't give something extra in cash, but it is neither required or expected. One VV crew member told us she makes three times as much on VV with no tipping as she did on her previous line with tipping! With very rare exceptions, all food included, exercise classes, and most activities (the exceptions involve either gambling or alcohol). NO KIDS....No kids running the halls, pressing every elevator button, etc. We liked to pick up a paper copy of the daily schedule (at deck 7 desk, Grounds club and GS Too, Guest Services. THe app lists everything when it works, but it can be a pain. There are multiple, simultaneous activities around the ship--some are walk ins, others take pre-registration and have stand by lines. If you want Broadway style theatre productions, this isn't it. VV is different by design. I think they wanted to get rid of.a lot of the frustrations of other lines, but sometimes they are different just to be different. Most of the time it works, occasionally it doesn't. It is still, and might always be, a work in progress. What I didn't like--similar activities at the same time.....like "book club" and "mind benders" (both activities that involve more intellectual people) held repeatedly at the same time, and then nothing later in the day. Alcohol is a personal choice, but there are a lot of alcohol related things on board (you can always participate but request a non-alcholic alternative. I put more than a few suggestions in my eval, but they were not "make it or break it" things. Some of the activities were not run by the best person or a person who knew what she was doing.....guess that was a personal thing with one less than ideal crew member, so I shouldn't point her out publically.