cantgetin

This! VV set out to be different, not the same. Agree with avoiding RD breakfast on Bimini day. The Galley has many good breakfast choices. If anyone is going hungry on VV, that was their choice. There are plenty of food options at all standard meal times and many in between. The only question is whether you are getting what you want in the setting and at the time you want. We got into a bad habit of going to the salad place about 10 (they close at 10:30) and getting a "to go" for middle of the night snacks. You can also get more limited salad choices at The Pizza Place.

Blue Extras will give each person with that status one free beverage daily at The Grounds Club.

We ended up with $900 free bar tab on 14 night cruise, and only used about half of it. Everyone is different.

I'm not an agent and I can't swear that I remember all the rules, but I believe you have 30 days after the deposit is paid to transfer to an agent. Look for a gold tier agent. Wish we could recommend, but site rule here prohibit it.

Sorry you couldn't get a travel agent who had some of the MNVV with the $600 loot tab left. Your Sky Suite would have been larger, but you wouldn't have the hammock (which I love) If you haven't already done so, sign up for the status match. You'll get the Blue Extras package which isn't much, but every little bit helps, right? And on the 15 nights, you'll definitely appreciate the laundry. The match and the benefits are per person, not per cabin....so be sure that both of you sign up.

You are right that The Galley won't feel upscale, but in the same way that Princess took a section of the buffet seating and made it a seafood location on a couple nights, VV has taken a section of The Galley, printed up a decent menu listing the specials and on site alcohol available, and reserved it for people who wanted sit down service. The on table condiments and flag things are gone and there are some placemats. OK, not a lot of fancy, but it is an attempt. And on Princess, that seafood thing had a fee; on VV of course, it is included. On our cruise, there were usually 2 main dish specials each night served with the trimmings typical for those dishes. Of course, the other areas of The Galley were also available, as were some of the lunch specials like the burger of the day. And, of course, The Galley specials were available on a serve yourself walk up or sit in the other areas. No, not a huge improvement, but definitely making an effort. And it was appreciated on our 14 night sailing when we were rather getting tired of the three restaurants we liked. We've become difficult, I guess. The new RD menu was a "one and done," Gunbae was a one time during the cruise, and Test Kitchen was one trip for A menu only.

The nightly dinner specials in THe Galley started a bit over a year ago. They have always had sit down service available. They also began listing the dinner special in the daily activities. There is a seating section in the evening with a bit more upscale decor and service. They have added a dinner show; depending on the ship, this may be included or have a cost. On our last cruise it was full each night except when the ship was staying late in port. I have no way to obtain any numbers on how many this might remove from the other restaurants each night, OK, I don't like the new Razzle Dazzle dinner menu, but others feel it is a great improvement. They removed my 3 favorite mains. The aim of the new menu was supposedly to make it more upscale. Test Kitchen has supposedly added a new third menu; will have to see how that works and whether it is permanent. I can think of several things that might be done with Gunbae. One idea might be a different type of Asian cuisine each night or some sort of a rotation of three or 4 menus. For us, it is good for one time on each sailing and only if we are into noise. Actually, I'm with Jon on the improvements. Having Pink Agave available each morning as a place to change or make reservations was helpful. We had good luck with the waitlist system as well; only one night did it not work, and we were advised in advance that it likely wouldn't, Especially on log cruises, we tend to change plans despite having booked in advance. As to people who book their cruise less than 45 days in advance and find all reservations filled until boarding, that's a downside to late booking, While they might not get their preferred restaurant each night, they will be able to get seating and won't go hungry. Yes, it is a pain to have to deal with that right after boarding. Our last cruise was the most full VV sailing we've been on. I don't think I want to see one where the ship is totally full although my family member who was on one booked another VV sailing while on board, so it couldn't have been too awful. As the airlines say, "We know that you have many choices when you travel." If you don't like VV, try another line.

The Beef Wellington in The Galley was excellent as well.

We attended an event thrown on that suite blacony.....the rockstar agent had supplied a ton of soft drinks and some munchies at no charge. In fact, the invitation said that if you wanted alcohol, please get it on the way, but there would be plenty of soft drinks, water and snacks. The person in the suite was a regular person, not a VV employee, travel agent, or anything.

I've done a total of 6 lines with significant loyalty on 3. Celebrity is the closest to VV of any that I've seen but I haven't been on the ship you are considering. Virgin is different, and in many ways is better. It used to be a lot cheaper than similar cruises on other lines, but 2024 and 2025 prices reflect the popularity of the line, I guess. I absolutely love the hammock on Virgin. I dob't like that they don't have a library or lending bookshelf, but we have dealt with that thru book swap groups on FB. There are many good features and food options on VV. I don't think Virgin is the line that the creators envisioned. It is not the clientele that was shown in the early ads (I called them 20 somethings spending daddy's money). The average age on most sailings is 40s-50s with shorter sailings skewing younger. We were told on our last transatlantic that the average on the ship was 53. That is a bit younger than we found on Celebrity, but not much. We like VV better, but I can't say it is a total apples to apples comparison. As you noted, we are comparing an older Celebrity ship and a sailing a few years ago to brand new Virgin ships with multiple sailings over the last 20 months. I guess the best thing I can say is that we got off our first VV sailing with 3 more booked.

When we were on the Scarlet in May, they were using C and D to refer to the vegetarian and vegan menus. And yes, A and B were 4 nights on one and 3 on the other. C and D also rotated the same way. The only way we found to know for sure is to ask at the desk at Test Kitchen. When we found that we had 2 bookings for B, they were able to change us to A for the second one. DO NOT believe what shoreside sailor services might tell you--they are the ones who hooked us up for the same menu twice.

As noted, the bulk are available as soon as you can log onto the ship's wifi. This normally required you to be on the ship, but some people have reported being able to access it from the terminal Additional reservations may become available at any time during the cruise as people do cancel. You can also "wait list" at the individual restaurants by going to the check in desk and asking to wait list. If the restaurant has a cancelation or no show, they will send you a notification.

Medium is fine. My parents believed that that only way to cook a steak was well done....I was shocked when I learned that there were nicer ways to serve the meat. 🙂

They will prepare your steak per your instructions. I think medium well is ruined anywhere, so can't address that it would be any different at Pink Agave.

Provided the restaurant has the ingredients needed for the substitution, yes. Most of the food is cooked to order, so unless it involves something like a sauce that is made in advance, no problem. In that case, you can skip the sauce or possibly substitute a different sort of sauce. Another hint--you can swap pastas and sauces in Extra Virgin. For example, the sauce on te gnocchi is exceptional while the pasta is often overcooked and mushy. Just choose a different pasta and ask for the sauce from the gnocchi. It is odd as the gnocchi at The Galley is usually quite good. You can almost always leave something off. Adding or substituting is usually possible.

We've had great and not good steaks at The Wake. Our fav used to be the secret steak at Razzle Dazzle, but that doesn't exist any more (boo hiss). Now....Pink Agave or Extra Virgin. Both are consistently good, so it becomes a matter of personal taste. The Wake on a good night or good cruise is excellent. On an off night, you'll get a better steak at Texas Roadhouse.

I gave up. I have a great TA, and it is her job to know all the current regs. I used to know them all, but no way now. I know what I have booked and if something looks like it might give me a better deal, I shoot her a text.

Worth noting that the benefits are per person, not per cabin. Yeah the Blue Extras aren't much, but then you aren't paying for them. People have usually paid for their status benefits. It took a lot of cruises and a lot of money to qualify for that top tier on whatever line.

Bottom line is that the rules keep changing. You are right that the "old" MNVVs gave $300 off cruise fare + $600 Loot. My mistake, my bar tab was a booking bonus that VV was giving + $100 from Deep Blue Extras + $100 from my travel agent. The old MNVVs used to be able to be changed twice, I think, but then the rule changed to once. It is totally possible that the $100 TA bonus can no longer be combined with MNVV--I believe I read that somewhere. On my last sailing I ended up with more loot and bar tab than I could figure out. I knew I got $100 loot from TA but ended up confirming with her that I also got an extra $100 bar tab. I'm OK as long as my on line account shows everything that I know I'm supposed to have; if some extra shows up, that's nice. We didn't even nearly spend the bar tab the last time! Bottom line, VV changes their rules and specials frequently. There were a lot of changes in early 2024, The most recent I've seen is that their Fl res discount increased to 15% (from 5%) and can be layered on top of "most" other discounts. That was as of 2 days ago, And we have the new bar tab bonuses available that began July 17 (I think).

I would highly recommend a gold tier agent, or even one in the top 10 on VV's list....unfortunately we are not allowed to recommend here. OK, there are agents who have some MNVVs that were purchased under the best perks deal. THese are transferable so your agent can sell you one at cost. This will get you $300 off the cruise fare as well as a complimentary bar tab...but when they are gone, they are gone and the new ones aren't as good. In addition, when agents do a marketing Zoon thru VV, they have a deal for a couple weeks where new bookings get an additional $100 in loot (onboard credit) or alcohol. On my last cruise, my agent had more than 10 cabins booked, so we each got an additional $100 bar tab--this deal may no longer exist. I'm not an agent, so I can't/don't keep track of everything. What I do know is that my agent will get me the best deal possible and that she computer tracks all her bookings. When new specials come out, she runs them to see which, if any, will benefit from the new deal and contacts those people who could benefit. It is then up to them whether they want to cancel and rebook or just keep what they have. There is a small chance that you can lose your cabin number during the rebook process as for a few minutes it will return to inventory.

We have had comedians, magicians, etc. on longer cruises, as well as the shows above. Shows on Resilient are a little different tha on Valiant or Scarlet, and there have been a few changes on all ships since the very beginning. I'm surprised that you are finding the other lines costing less when you add in the things that are included on VV. Still, that is a matter of which sailings you choose and VV prices have increased. My daughter is booked for 7 nights on another line with a package that includes tips, limited wifi, limited specialty dining, and unlimited drinks. They are paying almost double for 7 nights what we paid for 14 nights on VV with unlimited wifi, all dining, all fitness classes, and we booked during a time when we got more bar tab than we spent. And we had a balcony on VV while they are in an inside on the other line.

People matching as of 2024 get Blue Extras. Those who matched or earned the Deep Blue Extras prior to 2024 will continue to receive those benefits.

In most cases, you would have to cancel and rebook. There have been a few exceptions thru the years. There have been a few exceptions thru the years. but very few. BUT, you can cancel and rebook but will lose any perks or benefits associated with the original booking. THe new package may be better or not so good.

That's not the way it works. For a couple years, anyone who had status on one of the lines they were matching got Deep Blue Extras. Now if you apply for match, you get Blue Extras. They have never matched the perks of other lines--that would be really difficult with so many other lines and so many levels on each line. You either matched into the VV loyalty program or you did not....and you got the perks of the match being offered at that tiem. People who either earned or were awarded Deep Blue Extras will continue to get those benefits. Those who matched as of 2024 will get the lesser "blue extra" benefits.

He has several on Virgin. Here is a link to one. There is another totally on food and some more recent updates.