cantgetin

My most recent flight got me in 6 hours late after some "restructuring." This was not to a flight, and it was fine as, again, I had planned to arrive a day ahead of my appointments.

Yes and no. We have rarely had problems with doing a walk up at either restaurants or shows. You might wait a few minutes at restaurants. But we prefer longer cruises, so shows are often repeated. There are people who make reservations and don't show up, so stand by lines as shows often get in. My understanding is that the shorter the cruise, the less the flexibility....which makes sense as they have the same number of sailors trying to do things in fewer days.

Got it......I had Red Hot Savings on one booking, but there was a price reduction....and by giving up the Red Hot (which had ended by then), canceling and rebooking, I saved $400 + added a $600 bar tab free. The Red Hot deals come and go.

I'm not sure whether the 10% loyalty discount and the PIF discount are "stackable," as I've never managed to do it with the specials I've gotten....but the PIF is good up to 180 days before embarkation. You do NOT have to pay in full at booking. And your TA should be able to stack everything that can be applied.

There are evening sessions. I'm not sure if they end at 9 or 10.

The beds are twin size when separated. Tell your room host that you'd like to have a bed and couch if that is possible....they will do it if they can.

We've never been able to book spa services thru Sailor Services. Even on the first day, they have the spa people out making bookings. They do not do dinner bookings or changes either...so based on that, I think you'd have to contact the spa to book or change. Thanks, Jon. I was totally confused by the question about the SOR "sail away" party." You'll get written info about where and when it is located, but it is definitely not the first night. We've seen inside and outside locations used depending on winds. It doesn't have the happenings cast dancing and stuff like sail away does--there is usually a musical entertainer and choice of a bubbly and sangria. If outside, the drinks are pretty watered down as the ice melts quickly.

Similar issue--5 hammocks hanging on the wall, but none in stock to sell. They did give us a business card with the info for Yellow Leaf, and we ordered one when we got home (also available thru Amazon). But still, VV can't sell what they don't have in stock!

Valiant Lady improved greatly when they got the Starlink set up. It was quite awful in October 2022, MUCH improved in April 2023. We may have been satisfied with regular, but since we had premium as a perk, we enjoyed it.

If you are on one of the ships now, you obviously know what that ship has available IF you checked all of the beverage outlets in The Galley. I don't understand the statement that the bars didn't have it. And you are right that I was reporting on my experience of a couple months ago. Enjoy your cruising, however you prefer to do it.

The only nice thing about the current bed set up is the huge drawer. I don't see why they couldn't change the bed set up but retain that feature.

As above, the price of the Premium upgrade has always been $10 per day. We got a 2 device upgrade with DBE. Yes, I know the purchased upgrade is 3 devices, but Sailor Services clearly told us 2 which was fine. Had we desired, we could have logged out of one device and onto another--it was 2 at the same time. We didn't do this--we put the computers on the premium and kept the phones on the standard. Yes, the app is a pain. It worked a lot better on the ship than on land, but still crashed at times. It was especially bad when the crew app crashed! I agree that the TV selections are not extensive, but we had no problem with signal loss. The crew in the Social Club were very amenable to running sailor requests on the large screens there.

In our 29 nights on Valiant, The Galley had different options, and often varied daily. Also, the drink stations on each side had different options. On our most recent sailing (from Miami), Diet Coke was available every day from the self serve machine. On our previous sailing from Barcelona, the European version was available about 1/3 of the time. My cruise buddy is a Diet Coke purist, and the European variety was "ok" but not "right" in her book, she said it was a lot more like US Coke Zero. We were prepared for this as we'd experienced it on previous trips to Europe.

We had no problem doing everything we wanted to, including streaming, on Valiant with premium wifi. No problems with lag or unstable connections. This included the April TA crossing....worked well all the way across.

I have approximately 2 drinks per year...that's background. I don't know what ship you were on, but on Valiant Lady, where we have cruised 29 nights, every bar and restaurant had diet coke, either from a "gun" or in cans. Sip always was willing to give us a couple cans to take back to the stateroom. I made my own ice tea in The Galley as I don't like the stuff from syrup, and put it in my carry cup. Some restaurants had ice tea, but since I couldn't depend on that, I brought my own.

I've seen some clothing that was definitely more revealing than anything I would wear, but nothing that I would consider inappropriate. I've never seen anyone removed from any venue for wardrobe issues, and there is a lot of security around. Jon (above) gave good guidelines. I might add that if you question whether it is appropriate or not, it probably isn't.

As above, you can ask your host to prepare the beds so you will sleep foot to foot with heads at the opposite ends of the mattresses.

If you let your server know, they will use water in your cup for the drinking game.

Well, as long as you are going to do everything and you are the lead name on the booking, I guess it won't matter whether you have one or two accounts. We would always play a "divide and conquer" strategy after boarding while we waited for our lunch....one of us would do anything necessary with dining or fitness while the other would do whatever needed with on board activities, for example. With just one of you on, you can make any and all reservations for either or both of you, and if you are the lead name on the reservation and have said that you're responsible for all charged (when you do the on line check in prior to terminal arrival), you'll be able to see all charges, etc. But, as you noted, if he doesn't have the app, he won't be able to do any of that. If that's the way you are both comfortable functioning, no problem. If he wanted to schedule a treat for you at the spa or whatever, he could just go to the location and do that.

Prior to VV, we had been to Korean BBQ restaurants in Japan--twice for me, more for my travel companion. Honestly the food at those restaurants was better quality meat than at Gunbae. On the ships, we've had great and not so good experiences there, each for various reasons. The not so good was because the other 4 people spoke little or no English; one of them was translating their orders to the server. It was not unfriendly, just smiles and nods with no communication. Our last experience, the beef was very fatty and not good at all....to the point that the server recognized it and went back for another tray with better quality stuff on it. We ordered the Waygu once--honestly the normal marinated beef was better. The special order was served to just the two of us. If asked for my opinion...it isn't my favorite, but it isn't to the point that I wouldn't go there. Yes, I'd prefer an upscale Asian restaurant, but no one in power has asked my opinion.

There was a guy who looked more like Jack Sparrow than the CM playing Jack. A CM asked my daughter where she got her (traditional) Snow White costume. When told that I made it, he asked, "Really? That's better than anything we sell." I could have made some ugly comments, but just thanked him. Public notice....we will not be going "all out" for Halloween on VV. Too old, too much work. Simple costumes maybe. You do you!

I think their "target" audience during construction was different than the sailors they have on board. Initially, their ads, etc. all seemed geared toward a younger clientele. The average age of sailors in 2022 was 43, and I saw a statement from a TA that the first half of 2023 was 48. They've been making changes, almost since day 1, and at least some of these likely reflect the older audience.

All of our VV sailings have been as a twosome. Initially we both applied and were granted Sea Rover status thru the status match, but then magically, they can never locate mine. It hasn't mattered as benefits are per cabin, but is highly frustrating.

There are also two (or 1 1/2) vegetarian menus in Test Kitchen that can be substituted by course for things you may not like on the A and B menu. For example, I don't like mushrooms, so I substituted the gazpacho. The reason I said 1 1/2 is that there are some courses on the vegetarian menus which are the same regardless of night while other items vary.

We've done a 14 and a 15 night cruise with 2 in the cabin and had plenty of storage space. Many people are not aware of the large drawer that is under the bed in the L configuration or next to it in the double bed configuration. I agree that the cabins are basic compared to some other lines, but there was nothing that I needed and didn't have. Decor is a matter of preference--these are simple and easy to maintain. in addition, the outlets are plentiful, which I would expect on a new ship.