cantgetin

I would rather have used loot, but they didn't have any remaining on my cruise....fortunately I had some gift card money on amazon

Deep Blue is scheduled to end on 4/30, but the $100 bonus on purchased bar tabs booked at normal rates (not casino, TA rates, or whatever) is supposed to continue thru 2024 for Sea Rovers. Guess we'll see what they do.

Oh yeah, we didn't buy it from VV after the fact...We found the price was the same thru the company (yellow leaf?) or thru Amazon, but Amazon had shipping included......

No bonus added to free bar tabs. Good wishes on getting the DBE extended.....it has already been extended twice, so who knows?

Ditto, supposedly they sell them on the ship, but they were out of stock on our cruise; they gave us a card with the ordering info. We ordered one as soon as we got home. FYI, they come in may colors and at least 2 sizes (one and two person)

To each his own. Our next 2 cruises are booked full ( not selling any more cabins), so they are definitely growing. You can sit in The Galley and choose from a variety of sandwiches, salads, etc. Each meal does not need to be a hot, big meal. But if VV isn't the line for you, best wishes for finding the one that is right.

Just curious, did you try the karyoke?

The food, the relaxation.....so many things.

If you are a Sea Rover, you should get the $100 bonus on all sailings thru 2024, and this should show up on your add ons. Call them and have that bonus corrected, even if you have to cancel the bar tab and rebook it, In addition, if you are embarking prior to 4/30/2023, you should get Deep Blue Extras which includes a $100 free bar tab (no purchase required). This will not show up on the add ons, it will be under the deep blue extras benefits after boarding.

I either start with my travel agent or place a hold and then contact my agent. They can select a specific room ( as can VV on the phone if you call), but agents often have extra perks in addition to what VV offers directly.....and a good agent may have suggestions from their own experiences on the ship. As above, the XLs on 14 are under the Rockstar suites, so not normally a problem (you aren't under the pool), but get the room on whatever floor you wish! I wouldn't take 14 if I had any other options just to be safe! Yes, the Beach Club at Bimini is basically an extension of the ship and your bar tab is good...food is included, etc. just as on the ship. If you leave the Beach Club area, you are on your own unless you have booked an excursion that specifically includes food or drinks.

My one way to BCN in 2022 was almost exactly the same price as round trip in 2023. Yes, for domestic flights, we do one way bookings as prices are largely the same 2 one way = 1 round trip, but flexibility is greater.

Is there any consistency as to day of week or time of day that it is takings a long time? For example, are there delays on weekdays but not weekends? Is it a problem for 1:30 arrival times but not 3:30? I'm just trying to make sense out of reports of no delays vs long delays.

Unlimited Dance Party may be gone. On some ships, it has been replaces with Mis Behaving. Yes, Around the World should be booked in advance but there is a walk in line. There is no charge for any entertainment except when alcohol is served (like Grog Walk, mixology stuff, the "ow to photograph food," etc). The schedule you see on the app a month in advance will not be the schedule when you cruise....and as you noted, anything can be canceled. I am surprised at the above comment....our bands were scanned each time we entered a show.

They do close for cleaning, but I've never seen official hours listed.

I've never seen it less than $50. I have heard of people being able to cancel it and rebook it if the bonus goes up. Is this your first cruise? Because if you have done 2 cruises from 1/1/22 to 4/30/24, you are a "Sea Rover" and get a $100 bonus thru 2024. One absolutely never knows what the next "special" will be but many cruises right now have a $600 "free" bar tab for 7 days and longer, $300 for 6 days and fewer.

This is a good idea unless you have people with a 4pm boarding time who still need to do the muster check in before sail away. Another thing, which doesn't happen often but is happening on our next cruise, is that VV has notified us of delayed boarding. Everyone has had their boarding time changed....so we had to change our FB meet and greet as well. We think the sail away party will still be at 6, but the ship won't be leaving port until 9.

Our local news did a thing last night claiming that the average US domestic round trip ticket was "up to " $250. Uh... I haven't seen a round trip in the US for anyplace I go at that price for years!

Really your choice. If you do The Dock, there will be lots of other people there, but it is outside and if weather is bad you can move into Dock House. The Social Club is a good area as there will be fewer people hanging out and you can move into the adjacent bar space if you need to. Depending on your plans, a specific location on an upper deck could work....like the Sun Club Cafe area, This won't be good if you plan ti make announcements as people won't be able to hear, but if the idea is just to identify each other, that works well. Timing...First day is rather busy as people have all different boarding times, and then sail away. You could do it 1/2 hour into sail away; in that case Sun Club bar is good as they will still be handing out free bubbly. The problem with earlier is not everyone is on board and people need to go to muster stations. Also, VV holds a singles meet and greet right before sail away. Another good choice is on the first sea day--you can pick a lunch place and do it over lunch or whatever. Again, Dock/Dock House, an area of The Galley. In that case, do something like 1pm.

Gumbae is GREAT. The first time they offer to bring you an assortment of the most popular items (you can get more of anything you want. On repeat visits we knew what we wanted and ordered only those items. We've had great and not so great seating groups...nothing bad, but 2 of us were seated with a group of non-English speakers. One member of the group acted as a translator for the server, the others never spoke a word. We exchanged smiles and made it work. The marinated beef is amazing!

Essentially as above...We were advised to show up at 1:00. We got there about 12:45, they looked us up on their tablet and told us to come back at 1. At 1:01, the same man tried to turn us away, but a supervisor overruled him. We got our bracelets and proceeded to check in. Then we were seated in an area for Sailor's Club (separate from the suite peeps). At about 1:25 the Rockstars were taken to start boarding (they have a different boarding line) and at 1:30, we were taken to board. Smooth, slick, and easy. I would recommend following their instructions to not show up more than 30 minutes before your assigned time. Everyone with DBE has a time of 1:30, no matter what it says on your app. Hanging around outside did nothing to speed up the process. And our boarding the ship would have been at the same time whether we showed up at 1 or 1:15. The process is essentially the same in Barcelona except that there you will have a plaza you can sit in and a coffee shop just on the other side of the plaza....so it isn't just standing around by the door.

Thanks for the info, Yes, I have heard that the "alternative crew rules" start at 2000 Sailors, but can't verify that. Glad you had a great time. And yes, I do realize that there is a difference between entertainers and regular crew.

I've done it a couple of times...just be careful of your dates and you'll be good to go. It really helps with costs.

Ah, but from the US, we can schedule the other TA in 6 months and book a round trip. I'm doing April and October 2023, so booked BCN to LAX and then the reverse in October. The domestic flights are easy to book, although fares out of Miami on cruise days are ridiculous. I can book a 6am flight for $150, but an afternoon flight is $350 or more. We just try to book as soon as possible after the schedule is released.

Was your cruise full? I'm curious about crew eating in guest restaurants, which has been restricted on most full or near full cruises.

Ditto, I have a cruise booked and was encouraging a friend to book the same sailing. She was excited about bringing her adult daughter (as I do), etc.....but she decided to wait to book it. The price is up by more than $1K over what I paid, and that is before looking at air. And I got my Premium Economy air round trip BCN for $1100 per person. I don't expect it will go any lower this summer. The last time I looked, it was up to $3K