Reservations...?

[sollan]

We have been on Celebrity and Azamara several times and have never (except for speciality dinners) had to book restaurants or shows. As I understand it we HAVE to make reservations for everything in advance which makes me quite 🤔...

 

Have never cruised VV before and not sure what to expect and adding to that I'm supposed to know in beforehand which restaurants and shows I vant to see. Apperantly I have to do this even before we get onboard or else we will have to take whatever seating times nobody else want..?.

 

We like to take as we go without stress, choosing restaurants and what to do in the evenings depending on the mood.

I'm getting a bit stressed over this booking thing, having to plan every evening.. 😱

 

 

[TYCruise]

I just got off from an 8 night on the Valiant Lady that I booked only 10 days before the trip.  I, like you was stressed as the only reservations that were available for restaurants were after 9:00pm, which according to the schedule would be during the nightly shows.  After getting onboard everything changed.  Many more reservations opened up and the daily schedule changed COMPLETELY.  It took ten minutes to sort everything out and the rest of my trip was ultimate relaxation.  I was able to book the times for dinners and shows for everything I wanted and the flexibility remained throughout the trip (8 nights).

 

The only thing that I was not able to get reserve was "Shot for Shot" mixology class.  I have heard that this is the first thing to sell out on every sailing.

 

To be honest, we probably could have walked into any show or restaurant without reservations as there were only 1500 sailors on board.  Just book something as a place holder for now and when you get on you can make adjustments.

[sollan]

5 minutes ago, TYCruise said:

I just got off from an 8 night on the Valiant Lady that I booked only 10 days before the trip.  I, like you was stressed as the only reservations that were available for restaurants were after 9:00pm, which according to the schedule would be during the nightly shows.  After getting onboard everything changed.  Many more reservations opened up and the daily schedule changed COMPLETELY.  It took ten minutes to sort everything out and the rest of my trip was ultimate relaxation.  I was able to book the times for dinners and shows for everything I wanted and the flexibility remained throughout the trip (8 nights).

 

The only thing that I was not able to get reserve was "Shot for Shot" mixology class.  I have heard that this is the first thing to sell out on every sailing.

 

To be honest, we probably could have walked into any show or restaurant without reservations as there were only 1500 sailors on board.  Just book something as a place holder for now and when you get on you can make adjustments.

 

Thanks! 🌻 It feels a lot better now!

Did you make reservations for every/any evening before boarding that you changed on a daily basis if needed? 

[TYCruise]

2 hours ago, sollan said:

 

Thanks! 🌻 It feels a lot better now!

Did you make reservations for every/any evening before boarding that you changed on a daily basis if needed? 

Yep!  I made a reservation for each night at the times were available and then once on board I adjusted the times to earlier.  It's also once you get onboard that you can make brunch reservations at Razzle Dazzle and the Wake.  Honestly though, we probably could have just walked in.  It might depend on how many sailors are on your cruise.

[neverendingcruising]

Entertainment can't be booked in advance yet so that's all onboard, but the shows and events always have a standby line where you can usually get in last minute. 

[cantgetin]

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.

[sollan]

I have a stupid Q: During daytime. Do we have to make reservations to have lunch? Or are there places where we can just walk in? For example sit outside on the Dock or having a burger or pizza? I do understand that we have to make reservations for the more fancier places.

[jon81uk]

1 hour ago, sollan said:

I have a stupid Q: During daytime. Do we have to make reservations to have lunch? Or are there places where we can just walk in? For example sit outside on the Dock or having a burger or pizza? I do understand that we have to make reservations for the more fancier places.

Lunch is walk in only in the Galley(12-3.30), pizza place, sun club cafe and dock.

Razzle Dazzle and The Wake do brunch through to 1pm and you can reserve them, particularly if you want a popular time. 

[cantgetin]

We were turned away from brunch at The Wake once as they were full.  They did offer us a reservation for the next day.  In addition to the above places, The Social Club hsd hot dogs, wings, pretzels, and stuff in the afternoons.  Each location has different hours--check the app.

[sollan]

17 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Lunch is walk in only in the Galley(12-3.30), pizza place, sun club cafe and dock.

Razzle Dazzle and The Wake do brunch through to 1pm and you can reserve them, particularly if you want a popular time. 

Ooops, not much freedom there.... I was hoping that we could try at least a couple of places without having to make reservations....

[neverendingcruising]

Generally breakfast and lunch reservations for the Wake and Razzle Dazzle are easy to come by as they can only be made on board. They will take walk-ins as well if available. I think some of the best food on the ship is at Sun Club and the Dock which do not take reservations. 

[cantgetin]

Maybe I wasn't clear in my response above.....we did walk ins at both The Wake and Razzle Dazzle, but one time were turned away at The Wake.  RD was our favorite breakfast spot, and we have often had brunch there as a walk up.  The Galley is always "walk in, sit down, etc." and we never had a problem with seats there for breakfast or lunch.  The Wake was the only place we were ever turned away--that was brunch on a sea day, so no surprise that they were busy.

[jon81uk]

5 hours ago, sollan said:

Ooops, not much freedom there.... I was hoping that we could try at least a couple of places without having to make reservations....

There are only two full service places open for brunch, as others have said they do tend to be okay for walk ups for brunch depending on the time. I wouldn’t worry about “freedom” we did a transatlantic cruise and still had breakfast/lunch in the Galley food court most of the time, I didn’t feel the need to have the waiter service brunch much. 

[chefchick]

The dock for tapas is my go to for embarkation day lunch (and frankly almost any day) 😜. And don’t sleep on the pizza place….I’m not even a pizza person but that white pie was definitely pretty fly.

[garycarla]

1 hour ago, chefchick said:

The dock for tapas is my go to for embarkation day lunch (and frankly almost any day) 😜. And don’t sleep on the pizza place….I’m not even a pizza person but that white pie was definitely pretty fly.

I guess I am too old, as I have no idea if the pizza is good or bad based on the comment above.

 

[jon81uk]

15 minutes ago, garycarla said:

I guess I am too old, as I have no idea if the pizza is good or bad based on the comment above.

 

The name of the white pizza is a pun based on the 1998 song by The Offspring Pretty Fly (for a white guy). The reference is almost 25 years old! 

[cantgetin]

Bottom line, the pizza is good.  Not the best pizza I've ever had (that was in Florence, Italy about a block off the tourist track at a place where local workmen were lined up at the door!)....but quite good.

 

[Wildcatllamas]

On the cruise I was on, back in December 2021, one of the football (American football) games was on. My friend and I ordered the white pizza then went over to the little bar, just down from the pizza place, ordered a couple of beers and proceeded to watch the game with another couple on their tablet. Great pizza and company. Remember, the pizza and ice cream are free. Way better ice cream then the gelato that Princess sells for a premium price.

[sollan]

On 3/13/2023 at 4:55 PM, jon81uk said:

There are only two full service places open for brunch, as others have said they do tend to be okay for walk ups for brunch depending on the time. I wouldn’t worry about “freedom” we did a transatlantic cruise and still had breakfast/lunch in the Galley food court most of the time, I didn’t feel the need to have the waiter service brunch much. 

Thanks, I just have to get used to (and understand) how it works... 🙂 Was the TA good?

[cantgetin]

I loved the TA.  THey brought on several additional entertainers, as well as people who gave lectures, ran projects, etc.  There was plenty to do....or do nothing and hang out in your hammock.

[jon81uk]

2 hours ago, sollan said:

Thanks, I just have to get used to (and understand) how it works... 🙂 Was the TA good?

As cantgetin has said it was good. They had three extra entertainers (comedy/magic) as well as the usual shows, there was a sewing project and a lecture from a former Virgin Galactic executive. As expected on a TA the general crowd was older, so the dance party events in the Manor often started at 10pm instead of 11pm and the club wasn’t open every night, so a few nights there wasn’t much going on late night and the same band got a little repetitive.

But daytime was great with enough to do and they had daily specials in the Galley most lunchtimes including slow cooked carved beef and special burgers.

[cantgetin]

We also had an active FB group which organized activities.