Anyone going on the Christmas cruise?

[AZDivers]

We are considering giving Virgin a shot for Xmas since we don't have plans.

 

5 day bimini and I believe Puerto Plata.

 

It seems the food is at a higher quality on Virgin than most, our main gripe on cruises is always food and we are long time cruisers usually RC, Celebrity and Norwegian. Celebrity is our fave. Those who have been on Virgin and Celebrity im curious how it measures up?

 

 

[drewdawg199]

I’ve been on all 3 lines you mentioned.  Virgin has by far the best food, as long as you aren’t looking for boring vanilla stuff all the time.  Will never go on another mainline cruise after Virgin.

[xerenthar]

xmas and nye back-to-back let's goooo

[Nap3025]

Please see my response to the post asking about previous RC cruisers.  We are celebrity cruisers and Virgin is definitely not for us.  Yes the food was good but that isn’t enough to take us away from the comfort and luxurious ness of celebrity.  Certainly the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are as good and based on the price we paid for Virgin, we could have taken a celebrity cruise for less money and eaten in a specialty restaurant each night and had alcoholic drinks included.

[gcoolie]

On 12/9/2021 at 2:21 PM, xerenthar said:

xmas and nye back-to-back let's goooo

Have you seen any plans for a NYE's celebration? We are on the 29th sailing.

[Mousy]

Yes, we are on the Christmas cruise!

[AZDivers]

On 12/9/2021 at 6:52 PM, Nap3025 said:

Please see my response to the post asking about previous RC cruisers.  We are celebrity cruisers and Virgin is definitely not for us.  Yes the food was good but that isn’t enough to take us away from the comfort and luxurious ness of celebrity.  Certainly the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are as good and based on the price we paid for Virgin, we could have taken a celebrity cruise for less money and eaten in a specialty restaurant each night and had alcoholic drinks included.

 What do you mean by the comfort? What was the issue? The food and dining are our main joys on cruises outside of the ports. The bars onboard are also important to us. Entertainment we can take or leave. We dont care much for the buffets.

[AZDivers]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:24 AM, drewdawg199 said:

I’ve been on all 3 lines you mentioned.  Virgin has by far the best food, as long as you aren’t looking for boring vanilla stuff all the time.  Will never go on another mainline cruise after Virgin.

How do you feel about the entertainment and bars?

[drewdawg199]

On 12/9/2021 at 3:52 PM, Nap3025 said:

Please see my response to the post asking about previous RC cruisers.  We are celebrity cruisers and Virgin is definitely not for us.  Yes the food was good but that isn’t enough to take us away from the comfort and luxurious ness of celebrity.  Certainly the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are as good and based on the price we paid for Virgin, we could have taken a celebrity cruise for less money and eaten in a specialty restaurant each night and had alcoholic drinks included.

If you are used to the typical cruise experience where everyone tells you where to go and what to do, than yes you won’t like VV.  VV is all about finding your own way, meeting some interesting people etc.  It’s really what you make of it.

[drewdawg199]

1 hour ago, AZDivers said:

How do you feel about the entertainment and bars?

There were so many different bars for whatever vibe you are looking for.  On the Rocks had a great blues band multiple times, a folksy band (guitars and a banjo) at the Dock House.  The pool bar drinks were not that exciting but I think they are going for the Rose all day and IPA crowd.

[Nap3025]

Comfort … the bed for us was not

comfortable.  Worse tho were

the hard metal chairs on the balcony.  No joy sitting out there at all as only one person can get in the hammock.  Uncomfortable seating throughout

the ship. For example the coffee bar is more like Starbucks with metal

tables …very different to the comfy relaxing space of Al Bacio on Celebrity Cruises.  At the dock restaurant, wooden chairs low to the floor… we watched as people sat down and weren’t able to get up again!   Very limited chairs in the shade.  The entire ship has a “loft” feel to it rather than luxury and comfort.

The cabins look like dorm rooms.  Yes, the food is good …in our opinion…not

great. Had many a barely warm dish served to me.  Even had a waiter at one restaurant want me to keep

my dirty appetizer silver ware for the next course.  Asked for ice cream with the apple pie/crumb dessert in one restaurant and was told they don’t keep

icecream in that particular restaurant.  Not even a “let me see if we

can get some for you”.  We couldn’t get a second reservation at any time in the Italian restaurant so options are

limited with no

main dining room.  The music

throughout the ship

was way too loud. We saw many people leave the pool area when the band started playing.   We found it very difficult to find a quiet relaxing comfortable space anywhere on the ship. We booked a celebrity cruise for Christmas

[Back to school]

10 hours ago, Nap3025 said:

Comfort … the bed for us was not

comfortable.  Worse tho were

the hard metal chairs on the balcony.  No joy sitting out there at all as only one person can get in the hammock.  Uncomfortable seating throughout

the ship. For example the coffee bar is more like Starbucks with metal

tables …very different to the comfy relaxing space of Al Bacio on Celebrity Cruises.  At the dock restaurant, wooden chairs low to the floor… we watched as people sat down and weren’t able to get up again!   Very limited chairs in the shade.  The entire ship has a “loft” feel to it rather than luxury and comfort.

The cabins look like dorm rooms.  Yes, the food is good …in our opinion…not

great. Had many a barely warm dish served to me.  Even had a waiter at one restaurant want me to keep

my dirty appetizer silver ware for the next course.  Asked for ice cream with the apple pie/crumb dessert in one restaurant and was told they don’t keep

icecream in that particular restaurant.  Not even a “let me see if we

can get some for you”.  We couldn’t get a second reservation at any time in the Italian restaurant so options are

limited with no

main dining room.  The music

throughout the ship

was way too loud. We saw many people leave the pool area when the band started playing.   We found it very difficult to find a quiet relaxing comfortable space anywhere on the ship. We booked a celebrity cruise for Christmas

 

[Back to school]

“At the dock restaurant, wooden chairs low to the floor… we watched as people sat down and weren’t able to get up again! “. LOL, VV not like for you!

[_tacocat_]

21 hours ago, Nap3025 said:

The music

throughout the ship

was way too loud. We saw many people leave the pool area when the band started playing.   We found it very difficult to find a quiet relaxing comfortable space anywhere on the ship. We booked a celebrity cruise for Christmas

From what I saw on the12/5 voyage, the pool was only really loud during sail away with their house band and during a couple late-afternoon DJ sets.  Yes, there was music playing throughout the ship, including some pop music playing in the elevators and cabin hallways at a very very low volume, but I didn't find the music anywhere loud or annoying. For reference, I'm pretty sensitive to loud noise; I wear earplugs anytime I'm at concerts and music fests and can't stand noisy hotels.

 

Re: comfort, we found THE most comfortable place to hang on the last night: the daybeds at the Dock.  Great to kick back and watch the stars at night from there!

[benjaminnicholas]

First VV cruise on this iten.  I'm a Viking Oceans kinda guy who's wanting some younger fun.

 

40 here.  I was always one of the youngest ones on Viking.  Happy that won't be the case on VV.

[benjaminnicholas]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:24 PM, Nap3025 said:

Comfort … the bed for us was not

comfortable.  Worse tho were

the hard metal chairs on the balcony.  No joy sitting out there at all as only one person can get in the hammock.  Uncomfortable seating throughout

the ship. For example the coffee bar is more like Starbucks with metal

tables …very different to the comfy relaxing space of Al Bacio on Celebrity Cruises.  At the dock restaurant, wooden chairs low to the floor… we watched as people sat down and weren’t able to get up again!   Very limited chairs in the shade.  The entire ship has a “loft” feel to it rather than luxury and comfort.

The cabins look like dorm rooms.  Yes, the food is good …in our opinion…not

great. Had many a barely warm dish served to me.  Even had a waiter at one restaurant want me to keep

my dirty appetizer silver ware for the next course.  Asked for ice cream with the apple pie/crumb dessert in one restaurant and was told they don’t keep

icecream in that particular restaurant.  Not even a “let me see if we

can get some for you”.  We couldn’t get a second reservation at any time in the Italian restaurant so options are

limited with no

main dining room.  The music

throughout the ship

was way too loud. We saw many people leave the pool area when the band started playing.   We found it very difficult to find a quiet relaxing comfortable space anywhere on the ship. We booked a celebrity cruise for Christmas

 

I mean, VV isn't priced as luxe, so why expect it?  

 

This isn't Viking and doesn't try to be.  I like that.

 

Celebrity is nice for a massive ship, but not my style at all.

[xerenthar]

this COVID testing wait is agonizing. 

[bucfan2]

On 12/24/2021 at 2:49 PM, xerenthar said:

this COVID testing wait is agonizing. 

Understand that...but if it's helping to keep it mask-free onboard, we're all for it.  We just moved from RC to VV; it'll be our first VV cruise.  After cruising X mask-free, we realized how important that 'perk' is for us.

Edited December 29, 2021 by bucfan2

[xerenthar]

3 hours ago, bucfan2 said:

Understand that...but if it's helping to keep it mask-free onboard, we're all for it.  We just moved from RC to VV; it'll be our first VV cruise.  After cruising X mask-free, we realized how important that 'perk' is for us.

masks now required on NYE sailing 

[bucfan2]

28 minutes ago, xerenthar said:

masks now required on NYE sailing 

Thanks….that’s depressing. We’ll hope for ‘a change for the better’ in the next couple weeks.