cantgetin

Interesting.....we have never received two $100 bar tabs despite both qualifying for DBE. Previously, we showed up at 1 to check in at 1:30. Note, VV never issued a "boarding time." The time selected was called a "terminal arrival time." For our next cruise, long before the cruise, we were assigned 2pm. When I called VV, I was told that the earliest time was changed to 2. When we arrived at 12:45 in Barcelona, with a 1:30 arrival time, we were sent to the plaza adjacent to the terminal area and asked to return at 1 or later.

Go on line to the VV site or phone VV. I know there are "solo insiders." You'll find them on line under "inside" cabins. Another great way to book VV as a solo is to watch for "no single supplement" sales that appear periodically. THen you can book a 2 person balcony for half of the normal rate. Find yourself a good TA who is gold tier with VV, and they can totally take care of you and should know all the ins and outs of booking.

VV shows their inclusivity from the very beginning, in the design on fhe ships. THey have a good number of solo cabins, not just a few to fill extra spaces. They have about twice as many accessible cabins as other ships their size. If you want to put 4 friends in what amounts to a dorm room--yeah, they have a cabin for that. The list could go on, but you get the idea.

I tried that, set up a case and got a message that they were "swamped" and asked me to contact them later. Phone waited 45 minutes while I did other things, then decided to let TA earn her commission and take care of it.

And if you value the differences, you'll have an amazing cruise! If you are going to be grumpy because some people wear shorts and t-shirts to all restaurants, you're on the wrong ship. You are welcome to dress up as much as you want and will not be out of place, but it is almost a "no rules" environment. There are a few issues of safety and decency, but not a lot!

Since you are a rockstar, have you contacted Red Glove Service to see if they can help?

My TA texted that she will be going thru all existing 2024 bookings to be sure it has been added.....mine hasn't yet.

Shorter cruises out of Miami tend to be a little younger and a little wilder, longer cruises and cruises in the Med a bit older, or at least that's been my experience. The initial average age put out by VV was 43 for 2022. I recently saw a TA who released some stats with an average age of 48, but did not specify time frame or anything about cruise types. I was 68 on my first VV cruise and got off the ship with 3 more booked. THe key is a bit of "young at heart," and if you aren't into partying till 2 (I wasn't), go back to your cabin and sleep. There is plenty to do on board, the food is amazing, and the sailors are open and friendly. And the NO KIDS is the absolute best part,

I can't tell you about it...but if you were assigned this cabin thru an on line booking, call VV or a good VV travel agent and have them move you to a "normal" cabin. If you were assigned this as either a bid on upgrade or a "let them choose the cabin" situation, you can always ask to be moved, but are likely stuck...but think of the money you saved.

My logic is that there is no downside to using a TA from the beginning. I booked my first VV cruise on line myself because my TA was not available and I didn't want to risk the deal I've found from filling up or whatever. I didn't need to have worried at that time. But there were some issues with the on line booking and I needed to call sailor services. I can certainly book on my own and I know what I want....but I don't see the point in doing the work myself and then transferring to a TA. They are getting a commission; I'll let them deal with VV from the beginning. THey have separate phone numbers and portals that we can't access, letting them get things done more efficiently. And, when sailing a new line or new ship (admittedly the ship issue means less on VV as all the ships are essentially the same), a TA who knows the product is a great value in making sure you have the right line and right ship for your preferences. I don't choose to keep track of all the various "classes" of ships on some of the lines, but very much know what I want in a ship.

My DBE for 2023 cruises is on the on line "my account" section on the laptop, but will not load onto the app till the first night on board. My 2024 booking does not show DBE yet. I'm taking the approach that I have plenty of time before the 2024 cruise and that if it doesn't show up by the beginning of January, I'll ask my travel agent to deal with it.

Obviously each person is different. We're in the final stages of editing our YouTube on the features of the various cabins, but likely will not release it till after our next cruise as we want a little more footage. I didn't find need to "bend over" in the bathroom. The counter/sink is a little lower than the ambulatory and standard cabins, but not so much that it is a problem. You will not be able to fit an electric wheelchair thru the door of anything other than the accessible cabin, The door is extra wide to allow you to get devices thru. The extra large cabin mostly adds space in the bathroom, and you get that with the accessible also. You also would lose the safety bars and shower seat in a standard XL cabin, Another feature is that the beds in the accessible cabin divide into the "normal" 2 bed side by side configuration rather than the L in the standard cabins. We find this makes a lot more sense for us. You DO lose some storage space in the accessible cabin--there is no shelf under the sink in the bathroom, so we bring an "over the door" hanger to hold various things that might be wanted in the bathroom as well as relieve clutter from the desk. You also don't have the big drawer that is part of the normal bed set up, but if bending over is a problem, you likely couldn't use that drawer anyhow. We've done 15 night cruise on Valiant and had sufficient storage. Also, in the accessible cabin, you get a second hanging rod that can be reached from a wheelchair. A standard cabin will have a step up of about 6" from the cabin into the bathroom and another 2" step to get into the shower; an accessible cabin will be flat from the hallway into the cabin, the bathroom, and the shower so you can roll a chair or other device. There is a ramp to allow access to the balcony. My logic would be that if you need an electric chair, you need the accessible cabin...but again, I don't pretend to know your physical limitations. Unless you have a very narrow model, you will not be able to get an electric chair thru the door of a standard cabin. I'm at 49 cruises on multiple lines, and would not attempt to do anything but an accessible cabin with a manual or electric chair. The cabins are designed for people who need to use the chair, and trying to "get by" with another room just won't give you the features you might need.

Correct that if you book on your own, you have 30 days to transfer to a TA....but I'd suggest you just use a TA from the beginning. Look for a TA who has a gold rating with VV, meaning they have the highest level of training, and I won't deal with a TA who hasn't cruised at least one of the ships. If you are a first timer, your TA may have MNVV certificates that can be transferred to you as well as having some special programs that may give you extra loot. In addition, my TA rechecks all of her bookings when new specials come out to see if a cancel and rebook can benefit any of her clients. Reaching VV Sailor Serices by phone can be a pain--let the TA wait on hold to meet your needs.

1. Many TAs purchase "My Next Virgin Voyage" certificates at the time of booking and sell these to their clients. This gets you $300 off the price of the cruise plus $600 in "loot" (onboard credit) and the $300 that the certificate costs goes toward the deposit on the cruise. In addition, based on timing and cruise selections, some TAs can add another bit of loot if they have recently hosted a zoom event with marketing or have at least 10cabins booked for your sail date. These layer on top of any other available discounts or perks. We are not allowed to name TAs here, but look for one who has gold status with VV or has ranked in the top 10 VV agents in their region, 2. 10% off the cruise fare applies to cruises paid at least 180 days in advance and shows up at the end of the booking price on line. 3. The DBE program is per cabin, not per person. Yes, you book a cruise first, then apply for the status match. The booking confirmation is part of the info you submit for the match. You don't do anything before booking. All bar tabs can be shared with the cabin, so it makes no difference which cabin member has the DBE (if only one does). When you have the needed status, you can apply...and you will both be Sea Rovers, but you will still only get one DBE package per cabin, 5. Since no VV ship has sailed from San Juan yet, no one knows for sure what time boarding will start or end. From all other ports, the earliest terminal arrival time had become 2pm and the latest is something like 4 for a 6pm departure. It is about 20 minutes from the airport to the cruise terminal in San Juan, Do you really want to fly in on the day of the cruise? What if your flight is delayed or canceled? 6. All restaurants are included in cruise fare and are booked 45 days in advance. A very few menu items have an upcharge for just that item. Don't bother with the waygu beef--the regular beef in that restaurant is better. Shows are booked after boarding by using the app. 7. See my response to #1. These ARE transferrable and that is how many TAs are getting you these perks. You can buy the certificate from anyone who has one for sale---a friend who is cruising, your TA, or buy for yourself when you cruise. Good only on Sea Terrace and above. 8. Watch YouTube videos about VV on https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=where's+walter+travel for a fully honest and accurate view of cruising on virgin. If my link doesn't work, go to YouTube and search Where's Walter Travels and kook for his virgin videos. No hype, just good accurate info.

There are lots of possibilities. Inventory could be playing with things again. They could have a large business group interested in booking a lot of cabins or considering chartering the whole ship. They could be holding it back from any more sales until something is finalized. Or it could be as full as they want it with the number of crew they are anticipating being able to contract. There is absolutely no way to know...and I can almost promise that Sailor Services shoreside won't give you a straight answer, It may surprise you and open up later, or you might consider moving to a different date so your friends can cruise with you.

thanks

They also have a very active sales team. I've gotten snail mail, email, and a voice message on my phone starting with "Since you have expressed interest in a Princess cruise,,," Trust me, I have not expressed interest in a Princess cruise in MANY years and based on current changes, will likely never again.

Shows and fitness classes have always been "book on board." Depending on length of cruise, shows are sometimes repeated. We had no problem changing dinner times when they interfered with a show we wanted to reserve....or just because we changed our mind about where or when we wanted dinner.

That's interesting,..I've only contacted the head office of a company twice before, and in the other two instances, long before email was a big thing, I received a personal reply. One said it was from an aide to X and addressed my suggestion and why they legally couldn't accept suggestions from outside the companies for legal reasons. It was nice, but had I not gotten a response I wouldn't have been surprised. The other was to DCL following the maiden voyage of the Disney Magic 25 years ago. I sent.a 4 page letter saying that if they just wanted to know they had an unhappy customer, they could stop reading after the first paragraph, but I was taking the approach that if I didn't tell them where the problems were, they couldn't fix them...and went into detail. I received a letter supposedly signed by the head of the cruise line thanking me and saying that my letter was being taken to their executive committee at the next meeting, and included a coupon/certificate good for a significant discount on any cruise in the next 18 months. A week or so later, I got a large box of DCL and Disney merch--my daughter was delighted. FWIW, we waited almost the 18 months to use the coupon. While I didn't walk around with a list, everything the we rememvered as a problem had been fixed. and DCL was our then favorite cruise line....until we grew up and switched to VV.

Correct...what you are seeing is the DBE, the $100 bar tab that is part of DBE but listed separately, and the $300 bar tab that was a perk for your booking.

Interesting......when I sent a snail mail to Tom McAlpin concerning an accessibility improvement that would not require any construction, I received an email 4 months later with a copy of their disability policies/features. Not even a "thank you for your concern." While I doubt that Tom ever saw the letter, the people he seems to surround himself with did a very poor job!

As Walter said, almost all offers on VV can be combines, but there are a few that cannot. We have always been able to combine MNVV with whatever the TA was offering....usually a bit more loot from a variety of incentives.

We cruise in late October and got the big email about a week ago.

As above,. about 3 days before embarkation is pretty normal. Some people don't even find out till they check in.

Yes it is on your first voyage. On your on line account, go to "add ons" and be sure to check for each of the sailors in your party. You should see DBE and $100 bar tab. if not, call VV.