Do you like the way Virgin Voyages does this?

[raphael360]

48 minutes ago, _tacocat_ said:

plain unseasoned meat

Sometimes it’s hard to explain what I’m asking for but I like the way you would ask. Plain unseasoned meat. Simply stated. 

Thanks!

[CruisingWalter]

14 hours ago, mfs2k said:

My last cruise was a 9 night on Celebrity. We had a large OBC and used it for Specialty Dining for about 7 nights. We were in a suite and ate in Luminae for breakfast.  I was very happy with the food and service. 

Specialty dining is always going to be better than the 'included' dining. Especially on Celebrity, Princess and NCL. We had a ton of OBC on the Symphony OTS this past December and did specialty dining every night but one. That was great food, but only because we paid for it. But for included food from a mainstream cruise line, nobody can touch VV. 

[CruisingWalter]

13 hours ago, cantgetin said:

And the great quality food on VV is almost all included.  We did indulge in trying the waygu beef at gunbae, but decided that it was silly to do so.  There was more than enough excellent food without the "treat yourself," and it was no better than the free food.  I've heard good things about the tomahawk steak at The Wake, but don't see why I'd pay when there is so much good stuff included.

 

The Wagyu in Gunbae does seem like a waste just because it's so thin an the way they prepare it, you're not really going to notice the difference.

 

But that Tomahawk steak... If you have extra Sailor Loot when you visit The Wake, I will say that is one thing that was amazing. We were there on our final night of the sailing and our friends still had over $100 in Sailor Loot, so the husband ordered it. It was amazeballs. Now should you spend money on it, like you said no need to spend a dime on those ships. But if you have extra Sailor Loot and you're looking to treat yourself, that is a worthy treat. 

[Jessetfan]

I just got back from my first cruise on VV, and I ended up loving the restaurants, and it really was easy to make changes if we needed to. We ended up having to make several changes to our reservations because we enjoyed the trivia and mind benders, so our strategy was usually to go to the restaurant where we had reservations at opening and ask if we could eat early. We were never told no, and on our last night they were even able to turn our reservation for two into a reservation for four when we asked some new friends if they wanted to join us. I think one of the keys is to be polite and take no for an answer if they can't do it. 

 

We were able to change a show reservation without a problem and even get into a couple of performances that the app said were sold out without any problem. We thought it was great.

 

The food was also fantastic. The only place we weren't big fans of was Razzle Dazzle, and only specifically for breakfast. I'd give them a try at lunch on our next voyage and try the chicken sandwich, but everything else we had was great. There was so much variety, and we definitely didn't get to try everything. We didn't spend a dime on any of the "Treat Yourself" options, and I don't feel like we missed out on anything. Since everything was included it was a great time to try new things, some of which I enjoyed and others that weren't to my taste. 

 

Overall, I feel like they have a great concept, and I loved the idea of breakfast dessert, which we took advantage of a couple times.

[HBCcruiser]

7 minutes ago, Jessetfan said:

The only place we weren't big fans of was Razzle Dazzle, and only specifically for breakfast

What specifically did you not like about the Razzle Dazzle breakfast and where do you recommend eating breakfast? 

[cantgetin]

Razzle Dazzle was our favorite for breakfast!  LOVED the buttermilk waffles and bacon, but tried many of the other things.  I wasn't a big fan of the "impossible" stuff. The watermelon berry thing was enough to serve 3 people.  It was good but not great.   The Wake breakfast/brunch was good, but it is "fancy food" like eggs benedict.  The Galley also has good breakfast with lots of options.  And if you just want a croissant or muffin, there are good pastries at Grounds Club (the drinks there have a charge, the food does not).

[Jessetfan]

4 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

What specifically did you not like about the Razzle Dazzle breakfast and where do you recommend eating breakfast? 

I tried the goat cheese frittata, and it wasn't to my taste. My friend had their "Razzle Dazzle breakfast" and didn't care for that much either. He preferred the scrambled eggs in The Galley. I loved breakfast in The Wake, although my friend didn't have a ton of options there; he did like the French toast. We both liked The Galley and room service. 

[Metsbill]

Just now, Jessetfan said:

I tried the goat cheese frittata, and it wasn't to my taste. My friend had their "Razzle Dazzle breakfast" and didn't care for that much either. He preferred the scrambled eggs in The Galley. I loved breakfast in The Wake, although my friend didn't have a ton of options there; he did like the French toast. We both liked The Galley and room service. 

Is room service free?

[Jessetfan]

Just now, Metsbill said:

Is room service free?

It's a $7 delivery charge, waived if you order anything with a cost attached like specialty coffee, fresh OJ, or alcohol. We paid the fee and were happy to do so. It was one of my things on the must do list, breakfast in bed at least once.

[cantgetin]

I would typically order a specialty tea with room service and save it till I wanted it...then get hot water from The Galley or Grounds Club.    Anything with a charge gets free delivery of the entire order...so specialty coffee, tea, alcohol, cold pressed juice, hot chocolate......I don't know if they can do smoothies.

[garycarla]

RESULTS?

 

Based on a very unscientific review of the responses here,

 

folks like how Virgin does meals, by a WIDE MARGIN.

 

[tinkr2]

Seems great to me.  It's just something new . I hated all the work of Oasis class when they first started with reservations. But that quickly became the norm . I do specialty dining on most nights on all cruises so I'm used to reservations. 

[tinkr2]

On 3/14/2023 at 10:47 AM, CruiseScrooge said:

I haven't been on VV yet but it seems the dining system and specialty restaurants isn't very forgiving to solos or people in a group like a singles group who don't know if they might meet someone while on the cruise to have dinner with and so much is already booked when they try several days into the cruise.

It was super easy to change reservations. There were some group dining nights set up .

[Travel-and-See]

On 3/26/2023 at 12:04 PM, HBCcruiser said:

What specifically did you not like about the Razzle Dazzle breakfast and where do you recommend eating breakfast? 

Razzle Dazzle has some pretty creative and bold flavors... it can be a bit much for breakfast if you just want a basic breakfast. You can customize the dishes a bit, or order stuff ala carte to get a more plain breakfast there. 

 

The Wake is very nice, but really more of a brunch menu than breakfast imho. 

 

And that leaves the Galley - they have everything you want. It can just be a little busy at breakfast. 

 

I do wish that the Wake or Razzle would serve omelets. (I don't think either of them do?). 

[Taterace]

Hi There. We would appreciate if you would add us to the Resilient Lady roll call

We are first time cruisers on a ship of this size, I read with interest your post re Dining. Sounds cumbersome

cheers Taterace

[Rhea98]

2 hours ago, Taterace said:

Hi There. We would appreciate if you would add us to the Resilient Lady roll call

We are first time cruisers on a ship of this size, I read with interest your post re Dining. Sounds cumbersome

cheers Taterace

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2615-resilient-lady-roll-calls/

Find your sailing and sign up. If it's not listed, you can start the roll call.

[mfs2k]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:04 PM, Travel-and-See said:

Razzle Dazzle has some pretty creative and bold flavors... it can be a bit much for breakfast if you just want a basic breakfast. You can customize the dishes a bit, or order stuff ala carte to get a more plain breakfast there. 

 

I like Razzle Dazzle.  I had a muffin, plain scrambled eggs, hash browned potatos and amazing bacon.  And a Bloody Mary.  Can't forget the Bloody Mary. 

[cantgetin]

Loved the waffles in RD

 

[RollWave]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:04 PM, Travel-and-See said:

Razzle Dazzle has some pretty creative and bold flavors... it can be a bit much for breakfast if you just want a basic breakfast. You can customize the dishes a bit, or order stuff ala carte to get a more plain breakfast there. 

 

The Wake is very nice, but really more of a brunch menu than breakfast imho. 

 

And that leaves the Galley - they have everything you want. It can just be a little busy at breakfast. 

 

I do wish that the Wake or Razzle would serve omelets. (I don't think either of them do?). 

Razzle Dazzle bacon is amazing! Their Cobb Salad (on dinner and breakfast menu) is also very good. The French toast encased in multicolored sprinkles was not good.

 

We are just off Scarlet Lady with very mixed feelings about the experience. 

It seems the place to get an omelet at any time is The Galley.

Overall, we felt breakfast was a weak spot in the food lineup.

 

Best meal we had was dinner at The Wake. We considered it the best meal we have ever had on a cruise ship and it rivaled meals at high-end land-based steak houses. 

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, RollWave said:

Razzle Dazzle bacon is amazing! Their Cobb Salad (on dinner and breakfast menu) is also very good. The French toast encased in multicolored sprinkles was not good.

 

We are just off Scarlet Lady with very mixed feelings about the experience. 

It seems the place to get an omelet at any time is The Galley.

Overall, we felt breakfast was a weak spot in the food lineup.

 

Best meal we had was dinner at The Wake. We considered it the best meal we have ever had on a cruise ship and it rivaled meals at high-end land-based steak houses. 

To each his own...we loved breakfast in RD.  The "fairy toast" was weird; I thought it was a VV thing, but later learned that it is a very common dish in Australia!

We expected The Wake to be our favorite, but ended up preferring Extra Virgin and Pink Agave for dinner....but in fairness, each place other than Test Kitchen was good.  On the other hand, there are people who love Test Kitchen......wish I could get the coconut desert without having to do the dinner!