cantgetin

Losing the $100 from the TA was not the TAs doing. When a TA does a VV sponsored Zoom chat for their clients, VV kicks in the $100 (actually amount varies with type of cabin) for people who book within a limited time after the chat. Once the TAs date has passed, the extra loot goes away.

Call Sailor Services. They can make the reservations for you over the phone. The app is a pain. You should see a Book button after you select restaurant, time, number of people.

It is essentially the same as the written policy on any other line. Yes, we once encountered a crew member who tried to arrange for the older teens in our group to meet them at a specific location on shore (the mothers put a stop to that really quick without getting the crew member involved). There are always rumors and I don't doubt that some of them are true, but that doesn't make it OK with the cruise line. On the other hand, off duty crew are always required to assist passengers while on shore, etc. if needed. VV is far more flexible than other lines in allowing off duty crew to be in passenger areas, but the level of interaction is regulated. For instance, crew at some levels can join sailors for dinner if the sailor initiates the invitation. VV is the only line I know that allows this!

Right above the public areas which presents the possibility of noise. Cabins that are both above and below other cabins tend to be more quiet.

Please note...as one who travels with a mobility impaired relative, I highly agree with the above about not trying to book an accessible cabin if you don't require one. They do have extra space to allow for mobility equipment, but they also have things missing that are part of a normal cabin. For instance, there is no shelf under the sink in the bathroom. That might not seem like a big deal till you realize that there is absolutely NO storage in the bathroom. The sink is lower and a different design than a standard cabin. This means you may need to bend over slightly when brushing your teeth. These changes are to make it possible for a wheelchair to move up to the sink (legs under like a desk) and use the sink. As noted, there is a roll in shower with curtain and fold down shower chair. If you don't use this set up correctly, it can mean a wet bathroom floor and those are slippery. The ramp to the balcony needs to be FULLY extended so as not to present a tripping hazard to someone not using a chair or other device. And while the balcony is larger than standard, the ramp takes up abut 1/3 of it, making that portion not usable. If you need bars by the toilet/shower or a shower chair without the added features of the accessible cabin, you can get those items in an "ambulatory" cabin.

If you purchased a bar tab, that would be refunded (but not the bonus). If you received a bar tab as part of a promotion, that would not be refunded. If you transfer your "refund" to a new booking, you will get the promos associated with that new booking, not those from the one you canceled. A MNVV certificate can be transferred up to 2 times, While the quoted policy doesn't address this, you can make a good case to get the MNVV refunded as MNVV, then use it on a new booking.

Interesting....it never applied to me. Maybe I should apply again and attach the current cruise number. THe $100 bar tab was a replacement for the bottle of Moet in the original DBE, and supposedly shows up separately from DBE to meet accounting needs. Even that is odd as they have no trouble doing the accounting for Grounds Club within DBE.

This! Especially the funky math. A year ago, they were taking the percentage off whatever cruise fare portion of the ticket was left after any other discounts. That was supposedly fixed, so that they now take it off the original cruise fare, but don't count on it. When VV lists the accounting for a TA, it shows up differently than what the guests see, but the totals should be the same. For example, when they applied my 10% off, they just readjusted the cruise fare on the document they sent to me...but TA could see the original fare and then the discount. And the 10% is always off just the cruise fare portion of the ticket, not off the portion that is "taxes and government fees." You can see what the taxes are when you make a fake or real booking on line and in the TA accounting, but it doesn't show up on your confirmation. Example...you have a total cruise fare of $3000, about $300 is likely to be taxes. When they take the 10% off, it will be $270, which is 10% of the cruise fare portion. On the MNVV, if you paid a deposit and then later the balance, they show $300 applied to the deposit and then $300 off the cruise fare. When I did the whole booking at once with an MNVV, they discounted that fare by $300 over what the computer was showing as cruise cost and showed the $300 cost of the MNVV as having been paid for the cruise fare so I did end up with the total of $600 off what the computer said the cruise would cost....and that was on top of any other "deals." They did combine the MNVV discount with other discounts like "Book early, save more" and whatever the special was at that time, so I didn't see a separate $300 discount, but I could easily see that the cruise fare I was being charged reflected the discount. Using my same example above--cruise cost if you look on line is $3000 with $300 of that as taxes. Using MNVV, they will show a $300 discount as well as $300 credit for the MNVV, so your remaining cost would be $2400. From there, they used to calculate the 10% at $210 (removing the taxes from the $2400), but on my last cruise had corrected that so the 10% became $270 based on the cruise fare before discounts. Yes, I know that you have to be a numbers freak to follow VV's accounting. At least they did correct the discounts. My suggestion--as above posters suggested--ask the TA for a full accounting and make her explain where the $300 for MNVV went as well as the $300 discount and any other discounts you qualified for as well as the 10%. MNVV can only be applied on bookings of Sea Terrace or above, not on Lock It In rates. It is TOTALLY permitted for TAs to buy MNVVs when they cruise and "resell" them to their clients. In fact, VV encourages this as a marketing tool. They are limited in how many they can purchase. It isn't a gray area or somehow inappropriate, and the same MNVV rules apply as if you had purchased it on board.

I think VV as made a mistake, but don't tell them! You are supposed to be limited to one DBE per cabin, not per person. My daughter and I each qualify, but as we always cruise together, we get one set of extras, including the $100 free bar tab, per cabin. Your wife having status would benefit her if she cruised without you during the time the match is in effect, and you're both earning whatever they are counting toward their future loyalty program (hinted that it may be dollars spent, but no one really knows).

My sis applied for status match yesterday, got approval email today! Good processing time.

Ouch! We make a point of buying tickets to or from Miami as soon as the dates are released. We paid $450 each direction last time, got them on release date for $275 for our next cruise (LA to MIA). The flight we have booked has gone up to over $700. It is usually a lot cheaper flying TO MIA as we come in at least a day early. Those flights home are pricey. It is really irritating to look at the prices for the day before or after what I need--prices are about half of the day the cruise ships come in.

On my last departure from BCN, they were very strict. If you showed up more than 30 minutes early, you were politely turned away and they suggested that you could wait at the plaza or the coffee shop adjacent to the terminal. However, at our appropriate time, we were admitted immediately and were in our cabin within 15 minutes of our scheduled arrival time. There was little waiting space inside the terminal, and not nearly as comfortable as in Miami....but we've never had to wait inside in Miami for more than a few minutes.

THey'll come to the west coast when we move......,

And thie is at least the second time VV has ended a promotion and then. a week later they reinstated it, Different promotion, same "break" between specials.

Some "first mates" buy the max number of MNVV each time they cruise and then sell them to clients--totally permitted--so check with your agent!

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to name TAs here as cruise critic is a travel agency, I don't know if a google search will do it, but that's a place to start. And ask any travel agent you talk to what certificated they have from VV (if they don't answer "gold" or explain that they rated top 10 in their region, keep looking. Walter may know a way to locate top agents! Tootles,

It is worth checking.....but with the new "deal," one of my upcoming cruises has almost doubled in price and the other has more than doubled!

As long as you have the MNVV nimber, amy TA can book the cruise for you or you can do it directly thru VV. Sending the info to the TA is just a way to have someone else keeping track of the number. The TA will never be notified if you use the certificate by booking with someone else (or at least mine wasn't). My suggestion--use a TA who is "gold" rated by VV and ranks in the top 10 in their region or nationally. These are people who book enough VV to KNOW what they are doing. A bad TA is just a pain.

Another reason I use a TA--she makes sure I get everything I'm eligible for.

True.

As far as I know, there is no benefit to PIF now. You will get 10% off the cruise fare portion of cost if you PIF before 180 days, but you still have a bit of time to get there. Just for safety, I normally do the PIF a couple weeks before the 180 days, just to be sure the processing went thru, etc. Your "first mate" should take care of that for you. So yes, PIF by middle of October, but no advantage to doing it now vs. a month from now, and you MIGHT have more info if you wait just a bit.

With only 8 months to go, definitive info should have been available months ago. I think you are doing the right thing to have alternative plans.

Exactly--we once spent a week in London and a night in Dover before a cruise departure from there. I guess we were bad guys because I found that a bus would get us to Dover for 1/10 the price of cruise line transfers and let us see a bit of the countryside. But if I'm flying to a location just for a cruise/overnight stay before cruise, I really don't want to deal with travel of an hour or more to get to a cruise terminal. That's why, if I want to go to Rome, I'll fly there....not take a cruise which docks more than an hour away and take an overpriced excursion. Fortunately, we did a lot of travel in the "olden days" when ships could dock i Venice and other locations that we wanted to visit. If ships are not allowed to depart from Barcelona, it would seriously impact my decision about whether or not to do a Med cruise. I guess cities are deciding that they don't want cruisers and show it in many ways. For instance, on our first cruise that stopped in Barcelona (not an embarkation), either the city or the cruise line offered complimentary bus transfers to the WTC hotel area. The next trip, these were $5 per person each way. Same thing in Japan--on our first cruise there, each location seemed to have no cost transportation from the cruise port to the town. The next time, there was a charge for that if you were not on an excursion. On the other hand, at a stop in St. Croix, we were welcomed by people from the visitor's committee who offered us a t-shirt and invited us to a parade that was being held that afternoon, and explained the significance of the parade. We went--and while it was nothing fancy, it was fun! Don't port charges generate enough to be significant to various locations?

You are correct that the letter should (and usually does) appear in all solo cabins and any two person cabins booked by only one person. Anyone on board is welcome to attend the events. There are often people who consider themselves "solo" but may be sharing a cabin with someone,,,,sort of a roommate situation....or even people who keep very different time schedules or sorts of activities. Anyone is welcome at the solo events.

Prices are definitely increasing.....we have 2 sailings booked and the current prices are double what we paid...but still lower than other lines and have much more included.