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LIVE- Valiant Lady- 1/14/23-1/22/23

MeganGC1983

By MeganGC1983,
in Virgin Voyages

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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LauraS
This post was recognized by LauraS!

"Another from MeganGC1983! Thank you for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic!"

MeganGC1983 was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' and 5 points.

Ahoy cruisers! It’s almost time for my highly anticipated 8 night cruise on Valiant Lady. I hope you’ll join me as we fly to Miami (Friday) and set sail to Puerto Plata, San Juan, St. Croix and Bimini. I previously sailed on Scarlet Lady in November, but this is a group cruise with several brand new sailors and one “Carnival only” sailor. We are excited to visit a few new ports (St. Croix is new for me) and hopefully have several catch the “cruising bug”. 
The reservations have been made. Bags are almost packed. Mail hold submitted. The kids disgruntled, but tell that to Sir Richard Branson 😆. We can’t wait to eat all the food, drink all the cocktails and bring you along for every moment. 

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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A little back story about this cruise:

This cruise started out as my sister’s honeymoon cruise. She got married during Covid, but the actually wedding wasn’t until this summer. They wanted to celebrate everything, and for lots of us to go, so here we are, 8 cabins deep. 
This cruise was originally booked out of Puerto Rico on Resilient Lady in March 2022. Sadly, VV had to push RL, so we switched to Valiant. Hopefully they will all enjoy this sailing so much, we will do the southern route next time. 
This group consists of everything from a young couple to a couple in their 70’s, and everyone has at least a sea terrace, so hammocks for everyone. 

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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Just now, Hogladyrider said:

All signed up to follow.

 

I thought DH was not a fan of Virgin, glad he's giving it a second look.

He’ll try anything twice. 😆 He’s glad this time he can hang out with “the guys” and I can go with my sister to Test Kitchen and the Diva show without him. 

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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As a group planning a cruise, you find out a lot about people. Some are planners, some aren’t, some can’t get the app to function. 😆 But everyone is excited. Christmas gifts all included cruising gifts from snorkels and fins to sea bands. We also all got a “shore thing” for Puerto Plata. So we will be catamaran-ing it up from Souza Beach. DH and I did this excursion last November on our Mardi Gras cruise, yet he doesn’t remember. Sooo it’ll be new to almost everyone. 🙄 I actually didn’t snorkel last time because the water seemed too choppy. Hopefully this time will be different. I actually opened the open bar and took pictures with the captain 🤷🏼‍♀️ This time should be fun! 

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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Port schedule looks great! I can’t wait for all the time in San Juan. Everyone is going to do their own thing there and just meet up at Raices for dinner. DH and I are going to head up to Calle San Sebastián to the market we’ve never been to and try to take in some La SanSe. 
In Bimini, we have a 6 person golf cart reserved to go to all our favorites. After last time when our cart broke down, we are hoping our luck is better this time. But again, shout out to Humpy who saved us quickly. 

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mkcurran

mkcurran

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33 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

A little back story about this cruise:

This cruise started out as my sister’s honeymoon cruise. She got married during Covid, but the actually wedding wasn’t until this summer. They wanted to celebrate everything, and for lots of us to go, so here we are, 8 cabins deep. 
This cruise was originally booked out of Puerto Rico on Resilient Lady in March 2022. Sadly, VV had to push RL, so we switched to Valiant. Hopefully they will all enjoy this sailing so much, we will do the southern route next time. 
This group consists of everything from a young couple to a couple in their 70’s, and everyone has at least a sea terrace, so hammocks for everyone. 

Virgin is going to sail out of Puerto Rico.....we may need to have a chat.

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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Add ons: 

of course we have bar tab with a $50 bonus. 
Also, Deep Blue Extras matching our Platinum status on Carnival which includes priority embarkation, laundry services, $100 bar tab bonus, exclusive sailor services line, $10/day specialty coffee budget, cocktail party, and premium wifi. 
I also grabbed a Splash of Romance package to try out the spa and shake for champagne. I’ve gone back and forth if this is really needed, but I decided might as well try it once. 
I also have an additional $125 in Sailor’s Loot. 
I did bid on a suite or two… Seriously Suite and a Sweet aft Suite. Deciding factor on that was one, a bigger bathroom. Two, the champagne hours on Richard’s Rooftop. If you’re new here, I drink a lot of champagne. I felt that in the time given, I could definitely make it worth the money. Still awaiting word on the suites. I’m not getting my hopes up, but in my Dumb and Dumber voice “so you’re telling me there’s a chance”! 😉

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MeganGC1983 "Live from...." Rare

MeganGC1983

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My Scarlet Lady sailing in November was short. 4 nights just wasn’t enough to experience the true Virgin way. Over the last few weeks, I’ve gone over what I missed and decided a few things that I need to pencil in on this sailing. 
- a workout class- with only one sea day last sailing, I need to not prioritize brunch and move my butt. And what a fun way to do so. 
- The Dock House- We had one cocktail there after Bimini, but didn’t try the Mezz cart. Definitely gonna try that this time. 
- The Social club- hot dogs and wings, I’m there. 
- Duel Reality/NSA- didn’t get reservations last time and didn’t try to do the waitlist thing. Changing that this time! 

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BarbieGee

BarbieGee

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54 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

 If you’re new here, I drink a lot of champagne.

 

You are the one who turned me on to the "French Kiss" .... lovely!
I am all signed for your LIVE posts!

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