cantgetin

I brought embroidery scissors. People don't fight on VV.

Some reservations are held back and open up only when you are connected to the ship's wifi. We try to book something in advance, but know that we can move our choices after boarding or do walk ups....and we've done both successfully.

You cannot book shows until you are on board. As above, if you can't get a reservation, try the standby line--there are always "no shows." A significant number of reservations are held back until after boarding. I do like to have something booked "just in case" but we've made changes and done walk ups with waits no longer than 10 minutes. Google "Virgin voyages restaurant menus" and select the one by "EatSleepCruise." She had good photos of all the menus; there have been some very minor changes since the last time I looked, but you will get a very good idea. There were no BAD restaurants. Some that I thought would be our favorites were "just OK" while others that I didn't expect to like were stand outs, but the next person will tell you something different. We each have our own tastes. I don't know how long your cruise is. If I had to skip one, it would be Test Kitchen. Brunch reservations are only available after boarding--this is another chance to try The Wake and Razzle Dazzle if your cruise is not long enough to hit each restaurant. We all tend to stress...and it is way easier than it sounds.

Does it matter what we think? What really matters is whether they do it or not. Currently Sea Rovers get the $100 bonus with a $300 purchase for 2 years. My guess is that they will come up with the $100 bonus some time after the current "free" offer disappears. It will all depend on how well they are filling ships and how sales of things like bar tabs are going. The bar tab $50 or $100 doesn't really cost them much because there is already a significant profit on drinks. So if they give you $100 extra on the package, if you use every penny, they gave you 25% off but their profit margin is more than 50%.

In the normal Sea Terrace (balcony) cabins, when you enter the room the bed will be set up as one large bed. Your cabin host can rotate one half so there is the L configuration--you decide whether you want your heads or your feet near each other. Each bed, when separated, is a standard twin size bed. You can have the beds left in this configuration or changed back to a large bed each day, but most people choose to leave it in whatever set up they want. There are photos on You Tube and other places. I just googled "Photo of Virgin Voyages L shape bed set up" and got 20+ photos showing it both made up as beds and as the couch. The beds are not hard...they are totally wonderfully comfortable. You could choose to bring along an egg crate topper if you are concerned. Another alternative is to book a cabin that holds 3 people even though there are only 2 of you. One person can take the big bed and the other can use the "third person" bed. A room that holds 3 but it booked by 2 is the same cost as a room that holds 2...but you'll find it easier to do thru a travel agent. Booking on line will only give you the number you need with no ability to select rooms and communication with the shoreside agents by phone can be challenging.

We got that perfect seat on our first night on our first VV cruise...BUT it was sort of because I messed up. We made 6pm dinner reservations thinking that we might miss lunch between leaving hotel, boarding times, etc. We thought The Galley closed at 2 (actually 3), and didn't realize the other venues that would have food available. And the view was lovely. We had people coming over during our dinner to look out the windows (awkward). We've eaten at The Wake several times since without the best view in the house. I wouldn't say that it really made a big difference.

The shopping area is Bayside. I don't know. that it is available after the cruise, but used to be available before on cruises from Miami. I don't know the answer to the rest of your question--the idea is to prevent people from congregating at the port too early, so it gives them something to do. Why would you want to drag your luggage around a shopping area? And how would you know the bus drop off/pick up area.

A s above, the $600 in value refers to the gratuitites , basic bevvies, and wifi that is included on each VV cruise. THe gratuities alone would be over $200 per person on any other cruise line on a 14/15 night TA. The $300/600 bar tab and various loot offers are in addition to the $600 value.

As far as I know, tables are assigned according to what is next available for your party size without regard to whether your band is black, red, or purple. If you want a specific seat, ask if it is available. No, I've never seen anyone bribe a host or hostess to get a "better" seat. We have asked for a specific TYPE of chair in some dining rooms in order to comfortably seat my family member with a physical disability. For example, in Test Kitchen, she can't sit at the bar stool type seats; needs a chair with a back.

I'm 68, and in April 2022, to celebrate the end of Covid and metastatic cancer, I did 14 nights on the Valiant Lady. It is my "new favorite" cruise line. I have done a total of 45 or 46 cruises on Disney, Celebrity, Princess, Premier, etc. The average age on VV in the first 6 months of operation was 47 with a range of 18-90s. I believe that the trans Atlantic was older than the VV norm. As with any other ship, there is plenty of room for what YOU want to do, Best points on VV--best food on any line. There are isolated dishes that I've loved on other lines, but the food was consistently top notch; to get this level on any other line, you either do a suite that has a restaurant limited to suites or you pay for specialty dining. The closest recent thing to the food quality is Blu on Celebrity. We had tons of extra activities due to the longer cruise. Of the normal activities, some I liked, some were a bit over the top for me. But NOTHING requires me to go to a late night event and then the after party. I love that there are no basically unlimited alcohol packages. On VV, you can purchase a "bar tab" for $300 and VV will sweeten that with $50-$125 depending on the current deal. If you book before 3/31 and cruise during 2023, there is a free bar tab based on the length of the cruise. Your bar tab can be shared with ANYONE. You can set it up se another person in your cabin can use it, and you can treat your "new best friends." It is NOT refundable, but you can also buy a bottle of anything you wish FROM A BAR to take home with you. If you buy from the duty free shop, it is charged to onboard credit; bought at a bar it is charged to the bar tab. You can also purchase drinks a la carte, and the price on the menu is the price you pay. On VV, ALL tips are included in the cruise fare, as is wifi, almost all food, all exercise classes, etc. By almost all food, I mean that some restaurants have one or two items with an extra charge, but there is plenty of good, included stuff. There is a lot of stuff that is "different," If you want Broadway style shows, ice skating, water slides, rock climbing walls, etc. go elsewhere. If you want the friendliest crew I've encountered on any ship, VV is it. The most telling thing I can say is that we got off the ship with 3 more cruise booked.

Currently the bar tab is good on cruises booked by March 31 and sailed by the end of 2023. Shorter cruises get $300 bar tab, 7 nights and longer get $600 bar tab. So yes, I'll see you in October

Spend some time on YouTube looking at VV trip reviews. Since you are going to Key West, if you forget any essentials, there is a CVS about a 2 block walk from the port. Go to the end of the port area and turn left. Prices are the same as any US CVS, not ship prices! There are FB groups for most cruises--search and see if you want to chat with any fellow cruisers in advance.

Yeah, we departed from Barcelona so that wasn't available....which is why I forgot about it. That perk was only good on Miami departures.

Since you mentioned Resilient you should be aware that how a B2B works is up to Customs in the port where the transition occurs. We have had this change from one year to the next on the same cruise line, same port. US ports have always required us to disembark and reboard. Whether or not this was handled as a group depended on how many cabins were doing B2B. On one sailing, we were the only cabin doing B2b. We were given an authorization letter to show in the terminal which allowed us to reboard quickly. In Barcelona on DCL, one year we got off as a group of 125 cabins with an escort. We went thru Customs and sat in a room for about an hour until they decided we could re-board. The next year we were able to pick up our new KTTW cards at Guest Services and did not need to get off the ship at all (that was nice). In Dover, we got off and sat for quite a while. They had chairs lined up for reboarding, and the B2B people were allowed to reboard first, but it wasn't a fast turn around at all. We sat for well over an hour! In Japan we met with their immigration people in a room on the ship and didn't have to get off at all...but we did have to get our passports stamped again and get updated in their computer system. Japan was very strict--as we had one port in Koren, we had to meet with the Customs officials both before and after that port. Princess did make the process as painless as possible. Yes, you can book B2Bs at the same time or you can add the additional leg at any time. If you call the cruise line or your travel agent, they will try to put you in the same cabin for both legs (makes things easier as you don't have to pack up. I've even seen people schedule the second leg as a booking on board during the first leg!

Sea Rover check in for us was no different than normal check in since we had a 1:30 pm arrival time. We got to port about 1 and were second in line for check in at the desk we were directed to. We had our stuff all done on the app, so no trip to the "if you didn't do it or need help" area. Check in done, we were seated in a designated area to wait till 1:30. At 1:30 the suites boarded, and the crew person in charge of us made a quick call to her supervisor as she hadn't received permission to board us yet. She was back in 1-2 minutes and we boarded...went straight to our cabin to drop carry ons, and room host appeared for an introduction...then to lunch. All very quick and easy. If you have a later arrival time, there is a special sea rover line which will take you right away rather than waiting for your time. The Deep Blue was nice. As above we liked the laundry on the TA (that I would have paid for had it not been free.). We got the extra loot on a future booking...maybe. It isn't on my account, but is on my email. We tried the hot chocolate (made from powder...not great) and the specialty tea (also not great)...got the "Shake for Champagne" just because it was part of the deal; wouldn't do it again. THe $100 bar tab would be nice--can be used on cold pressed juices smoothies, virgin cocktails, as well as alcohol. Other than that, the stuff was "fluff." Priority boarding, but we already had 1:30. Cocktail party--another excuse for free drinks. The red stuff was better than the bubbly they served at sail away. Special desk at Sailor Services--there was never a line anyhow. Still, it is a nice gesture.

The time you are assigned is called a terminal arrival time, although you are told that you can arrive no more than 30 minutes before that time. On our last cruise, we had a 1:30 time. We showed up at 1:00 and were checked in right away. We were then seated. At 1:30 promptly they boarded the suites, We had "priority boarding" thru Deep Blue, so we boarded next. Bottom line, we were in our cabin by 1:45. If you are a non-suite passenger and show up more than 30 minutes before your scheduled arrival time, you will be offered a shuttle bus ride to a nearby shopping area or you can stand in lines based on your scheduled time. You will not be allowed into the terminal until all people who are scheduled prior to your time and have arrived are checked in and boarded. Yes, if you have a 3pm time, you might get in a little earlier than that, but it depends on whether others with earlier times show up on time. For suites, there is no point in showing up before 1:00. It takes very little time to check in, and you will be boarded at 1:30.

That's the current info, but we weren't notified until the end of December that they were being extended thru March and the "Shake for Champagne" was changed to a $100 bar tab. It would only take a one line announcement to extend them again.

Again, fingers crossed, Deep Blue on my next sailing would be lovely. I haven't done enough sailings on VV to qualify for any of the high end benefits that I have on other lines....even though I do plan on being on lots more.

Several of the bars have cans of diet drinks, and they can also be obtained from Ship Eats. I'm not remembering the names of the bars, but there is one by the Poki Bowl place, one by the Social Club, and Sip that usually had cans available. As above, get 3 or 4 and keep them in your refrigerator. The sodas available in The Galley are spotty, and often are different between the two stations.

My daughter got an email in a couple days, mine took a week. My "Deep Blue Extras" never did show up, but it didn't matter since it is "per cabin," not "per person." Sea Rover earned from 2 cruises in 2022 is good for the $100 bonus on purchased bar tabs thru 2024. The status match was listed as "sea rover status with deep blue extra benefits" and did not include the additional bar tab bonus....and currently is only good on cruises thru 3/31. I believe the cruise has to end by that date, but not sure about that part. In any event, fingers cross, we can hope.....

I used the match on my October cruise--the benefits were quite nice. So far, no one knows what is happening after 3/31. The match program was supposed to have ended on 12/31/2022, but was extended. There is no question that VV is developing their own loyalty program, but the only info they have announced is that it will be based on the price you pay for your cruises as well as onboard spending. And they have "badges" for certain things you may have done on VV, but no one knows what the badges mean or what perks they confer other than Sea Rover and Sea Ranger status. Some day we will learn what is being developed.

Same in October. I don't remember the exact price, but was close to the $22 you quoted. We were told the arrival time was 9 minutes; he arrived in about 5.

I googled Shuttle Port of Miami to MIA and got at least 4 companies that offer shared shuttles, others that offer private shuttles. There is also the Brightline train. The stop is just outside the port area. There are YouTube videos that show how these systems work. Shared shuttles start at about $20 per person.

Correct--both VV shoreside phone reps and your travel agent MAY have options available that don't show up on the app. Their availability can also fill, leaving only on call reservations available, but it is another possibility.

There is NO outlet in the bathroom; we were told this was a safety issue. There were 3 outlets with a US and 2 usb--one on each side of the bed and one on the desk. There is an European outlet on the desk. There are no UK outlets. There is a decent hairdryer in the cabin (not one of the weak ones like some other lines have.).