On Board Scarlet Lady right now - not impressed so far... Questions welcome.

[TripsYouMustDo]

Hi all,

 

First time sailing with VV after many cruises with Royal, MSC, Carnival and NCL. My wife and I were pretty excited about this cruise. 3/26/23 to Cozumel and Bimini. Unfortunately not a VV fanboy so far... Where do I start. So many things are not done well. From dinner reservations being impossible to book via the app, to the app being plain simply wrong.

 

Just came back from waiting for a trivia (Salty Trivia) that was supposed to be in one bar (Loose Cannon). It turned out they moved it to a different bar (The Dock) without updating the app. Waiting for 20 minutes till a staff member told us about it being elsewhere. She was very nice and apologetic, though it was clearly not her fault. We were not amused though. That was our way of finding out that the app is useless. 

 

Good thing we found the daily paper (whatever cutesy name they give it) as it turned out the comedian we were booked to see at 10:30pm via the app in Red Room will start at 10pm instead. If we didn't check the paper, we would've been half hour late. 

 

Dinners were all booked up until 9pm by the time we got onboard. Boarded a bit after 3pm. Had to run around the ship to talk to the individual restaurant hosts to book our reservations. The app is completely useless. It shows as nothing is ever available. 

 

Ate at Test Kitchen last night. Interesting concept. 6-course dinner, "experimental" dishes that they tell you about in detail when they bring each course. Some was good, some not so much, some uneatable. Got seated there after coming up at 8pm and asking if we could get in. The hostess was frowning telling us  how very busy they are and how hard it is to find something, but got over herself and seated us. The host walking us to the table was exact opposite, pleasant and friendly. Both my wife and I thought diet coke was tastiest part of the meal. I think of myself as a foodie, my wife is self-professed meat and potatoes girl. 

 

Ships in the Night show afterwards was excellent. Barely made to 10pm show  because dinner took 2 hours. Was surprised to get front row seats. I know not everyone likes those, but still. Very nice contemporary dance, some good singing, some sort of a backstory. 

 

Brunch at the Wake today was just OK. Mostly several different kinds of eggs benedict. Steak in steak and eggs was excellent though. 

 

Most exercise classes were completely booked up by the time I looked at them. So much for them being included. Got in into an abs class at 5pm. It was OK, nothing I couldn't have done by myself (or even just in my room). Talked to a few other people in the class that were equally disappointed in how quickly all exercise classes were snapped up. 

 

The Ship Show tonight was completely booked up by the time we got on the ship. Went stand-by, got lucky to get a good table. Everyone in stand-by line got in. Some got better seats than others. The show was decent with a few excellent acts and a few OK. Variety show with a few America's Got Talent participants. The food was OK. You had an option of not ordering it and eating elsewhere. Both my wife and I found main courses (chicken and bass) pretty tasty, though not amazing. I guess we ate too slow as we never got to the desert. 

 

Will (hopefully) see the comedian tonight. Booked our tickets via the app, which shows one time and the paper schedule shows another... Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Just called "Sailor Services" to have daily paper delivered to the room. Was told rather rudely "we don't do that". Wow, what a premium cruise line. I can get this even on Carnival, but not on amazing Virgin Voyages. Considering their app is worthless, the least they could do is deliver the paper to each and every person every day.

 

Anyway, somewhat frustrated and disappointed so far with occasional pleasant surprises. Having to book everything and having everything booked up is annoying and stressful and inconvenient. One of the crew members told me they are at 2100 passanges out of 2700, and yet it still feels like they are above capacity. Showed up for the "espresso" game show this afternoon 15 minutes early, there was already standing room only. It wasn't that great anyway, but still. That same crew member said it was complete mad house when they had 2600 out of 2700 onboard.

VV might be great if the ship is half empty. Being at 80% capacity it is stretched very thin. Service is very uneven contrary to what we've heard from all the paid youtubers and influencers. Though we did meet several extremely pleasant and helpful crew. It's just very uneven. 

 

That's all I have to share so far. Ask questions, will do my best to answer. And will give *honest* answers without any sugarcoating. Definitely not a Virgin fanboy. Good thing we booked this on points. Cabin *is* nice, balcony, cute, modern, hammock, etc. Still glad didn't spend my hard earned cash on this cruise.

Edited March 28, 2023 by TripsYouMustDo
typo

[_tacocat_]

for the paper vs. app thing, generally trust the app.  if things are moved, they're typically reflected in the app -- obviously a piece of paper won't update. your experience with trivia was an unfortunate outlier.

 

if a show or class appears booked full, show up a little early and see if there are noshows/standbys.  in 11 times onboard (and at least 10 spin classes across those), i have never seen at least 1 standby person be able to get in.  hangovers happen, and while the $10 no show fee is enough motivation to get my ass out of bed, others are clearly not as cheap as me and just pay the $10 to sleep in haha.

 

hope your experience turns around!  make sure to check out the dock/dock house for appetizers (i think noon to 5 or 6pm).  so tasty!

[singleflyer]

1 hour ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Good thing we booked this on points. Cabin *is* nice, balcony, cute, modern, hammock, etc. Still glad didn't spend my hard earned cash on this cruise.

 

Did you do the 80k/100k booking with Virgin Red points?  I'm going on a 5 night sailing later this week.

[CruisingWalter]

2 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Just called "Sailor Services" to have daily paper delivered to the room. Was told rather rudely "we don't do that". Wow, what a premium cruise line. I can get this even on Carnival, but not on amazing Virgin Voyages. Considering their app is worthless, the least they could do is deliver the paper to each and every person every day.

 

No, they don't do that. You can get the paper version at the Coffee Ground shop. It's part of not wasting unnecessary paper.

 

Did you book any dinners prior to the cruise? We book ours when the window opens. That's the best way to ensure you get the dinners you want. Otherwise go standby or go much later in the evening. 

 

As for the exercise classes, as many have noted here, if you simply walk up to the one you want to participate in, there is often room for some extra people. 

 

Test Kitchen is an interesting dinner for sure. We really enjoyed our time there and then went and got a pizza after the show. It was honestly a perfect way to handle that meal. We're back on the ship in two weeks. 

 

 

[Cloud9 Bob]

Sorry to hear your experience was less than stellar. Test Kitchen was my favorite. So much so that I had dinner there twice in five days. Tried the regular and the alternate menu. Service was top notch too. I hate to hear anyone didn't enjoy their vacation. 😔

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

k

[jon81uk]

Check the touchscreen near the lift too, I’ve always got a notification of a major show moved venue so I expect the app and screen to be more accurate than the paper guide. Although the app does completely change when you connect to ship WiFi compared to before the cruise, so if you made notes from the agenda before boarding then disregard them and use the live agenda. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

9 hours ago, singleflyer said:

 

Did you do the 80k/100k booking with Virgin Red points?  I'm going on a 5 night sailing later this week.

Yes, transferred from Capital One Venture X card to Virgin Red when they had 30% bonus. Booked last October. Points transferred instantly, ordered "the key" to book the cruise, got "the key" a few hours later (overnight), booked the cruise the next day. Instructions told me to call them up on the phone to make sure all is well afterwards. Followed the instructions. Pleasant lady on the phone said everything looked good and there was nothing for her to do. A multi-step process but all worked out well. I thought it was a great redemption offer.

 

Not sure if I'm allowed to link to other sites, but if you follow Doctor of Credit (www.doctorofcredit.com) posts, he announces when different credit card companies (e.g. Amex, Citi, etc.) have transfer bonuses to Virgin. Seems to happen on a regular basis.

[TripsYouMustDo]

3 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Check the touchscreen near the lift too, I’ve always got a notification of a major show moved venue so I expect the app and screen to be more accurate than the paper guide. Although the app does completely change when you connect to ship WiFi compared to before the cruise, so if you made notes from the agenda before boarding then disregard them and use the live agenda. 

Thanks! I expected the app to be more accurate than paper. Sadly it wasn't the case yesterday. The young lady that helped my wife and I to find the right bar ("The Dock") had the paper in her hand, not the app. That's how she knew where to go. I know, it's completely counterintuitive that printed paper would be more accurate than the app. BTW, by the time we did find the right bar, it was standing room only. My wife is disabled, so we just left. After having showed up early and waited for 20 minutes, knowing the small venue would probably get full quick.

 

I noticed the pre-cruise app schedule was completely different from what you see onboard. That's frustrating. I did try to plan before the cruise, had to re-do everything once I got into my cabin. Got on the phone immediately and was frantically trying to book things. 

Edited March 28, 2023 by TripsYouMustDo

[mfs2k]

I was on the cruise before yours and I didn't experience any of the app issues you are encountering.  I mostly used the app for dining, shows requiring reservations, and music locations/times, The app seemed accurate for us and I didn't notice any scheduling changes.  Perhaps there's someone new handling scheduling this week . 

[TripsYouMustDo]

5 hours ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

Sorry to hear your experience was less than stellar. Test Kitchen was my favorite. So much so that I had dinner there twice in five days. Tried the regular and the alternate menu. Service was top notch too. I hate to hear anyone didn't enjoy their vacation. 😔

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

k

Thanks Bob. We are trying 🙂 I hate to sound so negative, I am pretty frustrated mostly due to the booking issues. The lady that was bringing the food at Test Kitchen and explaining the dishes sounded very passionate about it. We did like the venison/beef they served as the main course (topped with chocolate and gravy). It was excellent. The multi-layer potato bar the served on the side looked interesting but tasted exactly like hashbrowns. The blue cheese cake was very interesting and fresh tasting. However the scallops in salty base with seaweed... I barely chocked them down, my wife barely touched them. Like I said, it wasn't all bad. The mushroom souffle tasted nice, but very similar to cold thick Campbell mushroom soup, even though they said it was blended from four different kinds of mushrooms. And then it was shaped as a mushroom, even though it was souffle. So it was interesting. We just weren't blown away.

 

I think our expectations were waaay too high based on all the buzz and the fact this is the first "premium" cruise line we are cruising on. I can't help comparing this cruise with the $500 (for both of us, after all fees and taxes) 4-day cruise on MSC Meragvillia we took in December (this VV cruise would've cost us $2500 for both of us if we paid with cash, at least back in December). Right now VV is not a clear winner as I expected it would've been. Even the shows were better on MSC (at least the "paid" shows on MSC, where for a price of a $12 drink you got in to see a circus show or a magic show). The food is better on VV of course, just a lot more hoops to jump through. We really appreciate the simplicity of just showing up in the MDR and ordering. It doesn't have to be different venue every day for us, just different food.

 

E.g. yesterday at the Wake for brunch. We had 12:45pm reservation. We showed up on time. We were told to sit in "the lounge" and wait. Basically a waiting area. There were four couples in front of us. Took us 15 minutes to get a table, even though they weren't that busy, we had a reservation, and we showed up on time. As opposed to MSC, where we showed up when the dining room opened, and sat down immediately. Are we too demanding?

Edited March 28, 2023 by TripsYouMustDo

[TripsYouMustDo]

6 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

I was on the cruise before yours and I didn't experience any of the app issues you are encountering.  I mostly used the app for dining, shows requiring reservations, and music locations/times, The app seemed accurate for us and I didn't notice any scheduling changes.  Perhaps there's someone new handling scheduling this week . 

It *seemed* accurate until two fiascos last night. As I mentioned, the crew member helping us to the right place had paper schedule in her hand, not the app. Thus my impression the app is not to be trusted. Also impossible to book dinners. As someone else recommended here on CC, walking up to the restaurant host the day before and asking for reservation is the way to go. Not booking it via an app (in our experience anyway).

 

Sounds like you had a great cruise, which is good to hear! It's only our third day, so I hope it turns around. 

 

BTW, do you have iPhone or Android? I heard iPhone app is much better.

 

Also connecting to WiFi on Android... I had to enter my DOB. Through their Calendar widget. Couldn't type it in. Could select a year in the Widget. Ended up having to click on an arrow to go back month-by-month. We are both in our 50s. So it's 12 month * 50 years = 600 clicks to enter our birthday to connect to the ship Wifi.

 

Anyone else on Android? Is this really this silly? Or did we not figure out a secret way to enter your date of birth without clicking on the calendar 600-some times? 

[jon81uk]

I’m on iPhone and therefore it does sound like many of the issues you are having are to do with Android. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

8 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

No, they don't do that. You can get the paper version at the Coffee Ground shop. It's part of not wasting unnecessary paper.

 

Did you book any dinners prior to the cruise? We book ours when the window opens. That's the best way to ensure you get the dinners you want. Otherwise go standby or go much later in the evening. 

 

As for the exercise classes, as many have noted here, if you simply walk up to the one you want to participate in, there is often room for some extra people. 

 

Test Kitchen is an interesting dinner for sure. We really enjoyed our time there and then went and got a pizza after the show. It was honestly a perfect way to handle that meal. We're back on the ship in two weeks. 

 

 

It would be wasting unnecessary paper if they kept the schedule in the app accurate. They don't. The crew member was using paper schedule, not the app. Sorry, your remark is completely off here. They should either make sure the app is accurate or deliver paper schedule to everyone if that's the one to be trusted. 

 

Going to everything stand-by is one way of handling it, but I value my vacation time and I don't want to get up at 7am to try to get into a class, knowing I might or might not. Same with everything else. 

 

We did try to book dinners prior to the cruise. When I looked in the app pre-cruise, only Razzle Dazzle was available and only at 9pm. All other venues were completely booked. Even at 9pm. I didn't realize I needed to book everything on the day the check-in opened. VV never sent me an email to tell me when I was able to check in, so I was probably a few days late to check in. 

[CruisingWalter]

13 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

It would be wasting unnecessary paper if they kept the schedule in the app accurate. They don't. The crew member was using paper schedule, not the app. Sorry, your remark is completely off here. They should either make sure the app is accurate or deliver paper schedule to everyone if that's the one to be trusted. 

 

Sorry the app isn't accurate on your cruise. The app was quite good on our cruise as were the display screens throughout the ship. I'm not sure what the difficulty is in you grabbing a copy of the schedule in the morning at the Coffee Grounds. I did that a few times while waiting for my cappuccino. 

[jon81uk]

I’m guessing there must be something up with your version of the app. Whenever something changed time I got a notification on iPhone and the paper guide was frequently incorrect listing shows that got moved after it was printed to other nights due to weather issues. 
I used the paper sheet as a rough guide but kept double checking the app as they rescheduled a lot for us due to rough seas. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

Thanks folks, I'll keep checking both the app and paper schedule and will try to find a crew member if they disagree. Something to mention - I'm a software engineer with MS in Computer Science working for a major software company. I love technology. I love apps. I hated sailing on MSC Divina that doesn't have an app (didn't back in September 2022 anyway). In this particular case the app was wrong. Twice. I made sure latest version is installed. I looked at my notifications. There weren't any about rescheduling either event. I actually have a screenshot from my phone (will post when I do a complete cruise review). 

 

I also don't so much advocate for abandoning the app and reverting to paper schedule, but if I call Sailor Services/Guest Services and request that a paper schedule be delivered to me daily, I expect that to be done. I don't expect to be told "we don't do that" when a cruise line prides itself on its service. I cruised four times on Royal last year and three times on MSC. I was able to get daily paper delivered to my cabin on every cruise when I requested it. I prefer to be able to see everything at a glance when planning my day, though of course the app is more convenient on the ongoing basis throughout the day. To me the response I got from Sailor Services and the tone it was delivered was unacceptable and I stand by that. Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, and it's quite likely VV is for you all and not for me. It's OK. There are many other cruise lines to choose from. 

[TripsYouMustDo]

(enough about the app, lol 🙂 )

 

Singing comedian last night - Brian O'Sullivan, was pretty good. I had hard time understand some of the lyrics in his parody songs, but his jokes were funny and the improve was very good. It was in the Red Room and tickets had to be booked in advance. Fortunately didn't have any issues booking those. It was at 10pm as the paper schedule stated. Was able to get front row seats. He was a nice comedian that didn't pick on the audience members, so you are safe to sit in the front. He was amusing. My wife and I both enjoyed, though neither of us thought he was better than comics we saw on "budget" cruise lines (MSC, Royal, NCL, Carnival). 

 

Had late night snack at the Galley (buffet) after. Only Diner & Dash and Burger Bar were open, and the roast beef sando people on here were recommended wasn't available (we were told it's available until 10pm only, we were there at 11pm). It was nice the galley is open 24hrs/day. We both grabbed burgers (my wife asked for no bun and they accommodated her). I also got fries. Everything was tasty despite limited options. 

 

Stopped by the Heartbeat dance party at the Manor around 11:30pm (it started at 11pm). The dance troupe from their Ships in the Night show was there dancing on stage for till about 11:40pm. Not doing a show, just dancing in pretty red outfits. Around that time they pulled a big piece of fabric (parachute looking? - hole in the center of it) over the people on the dancer floor. Kinda fun. Kept it for a few minutes. I wanted to get under but couldn't - waay too crowded. I'm not the guy to go pushing through other folks on the dance floor. My wife is disabled so we don't really dance anyway. Around 11:45pm special happenings were over and it was just a regular dance party with a DJ afterwards. CO2 smoke events, lasers and strobes. Fun party atmosphere. Enjoyed it for a few minutes and left. 

 

My advice - get there shortly after the party start, just after 11pm. Before the party there was a long line waiting to get in. Which is why we went upstairs to grab a bite to eat first. 

 

Getting ready for Cozumel this morning. Docked at Punta Langosta. In at 9am ship time, out at midnight ship time. Ship time doesn't match shore time. It's an hour earlier on shore. Five ships in port today, will be busy. No big plans, which enjoy watching all prescription drugs being sold over the counter. Gotta love Mexico.

[jon81uk]

For food from 10pm to 1am Pizza is the best option. Also it’s on deck 7 so no need to go upstairs for it!

I just wish ice cream was also available late night. There are no sweet things to be found after 10pm 😞 

[scubagal44]

2 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Anyone else on Android? Is this really this silly? Or did we not figure out a secret way to enter your date of birth without clicking on the calendar 600-some times? 

 

I have an Android and don't remember this being an issue when I sailed on Valiant. I can't recall how it worked, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember being as annoyed as you if I had to click that much. 

[Travel-and-See]

14 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said:

Service is very uneven contrary to what we've heard from all the paid youtubers and influencers. Though we did meet several extremely pleasant and helpful crew. It's just very uneven. 

I've been on both Virgin Ships in 2023 and I agree - service is VERY uneven. On Celebrity Ships you can't walk by an employee without a friendly greeting, on VV it is common for employees to completely ignore you.  But then other VV employees are the nicest ever and are super genuine.

 

Tip to the Original Poster - make sure to see Duel Reality - it's the best thing I've ever seen on Cruise Ship by far. It was produced by the same company that produced Ships in the Night.  

2 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

I'm not sure what the difficulty is in you grabbing a copy of the schedule in the morning at the Coffee Grounds.

I'm not sure what the difficulty is in you understanding that a simple request should be honored by a "Luxury" cruise line.  I would also prefer the papers be delivered to my room the night before like on Celebrity.  It's a very simple and logical request.  

[jon81uk]

5 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

'm not sure what the difficulty is in you understanding that a simple request should be honored by a "Luxury" cruise line.  I would also prefer the papers be delivered to my room the night before like on Celebrity.  It's a very simple and logical request.  

Personally I don’t see Virgin Voyages as a luxury cruise line. They just do things differently compared to some others. 
Whereas other lines do sell themselves as luxury or premium and insist on guests wearing formal wear and other similar rules. 

[Travel-and-See]

8 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

Personally I don’t see Virgin Voyages as a luxury cruise line. They just do things differently compared to some others. 
Whereas other lines do sell themselves as luxury or premium and insist on guests wearing formal wear and other similar rules. 

Virgin uses the word Luxury in many of its ads.   Forcing guests to wear certain clothes is the opposite of luxury to me. 

 

But I do agree, the end product is not really a "Luxury" cruise line. 

[jon81uk]

6 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Virgin uses the word Luxury in many of its ads.   Forcing guests to wear certain clothes is the opposite of luxury to me. 

 

But I do agree, the end product is not really a "Luxury" cruise line. 

Oh I agree forced dress code is the opposite of luxury and premium to me, but the lines who call themselves premium are more likely to insist on it. 
 

I’ve not really noticed Virgin use luxury, although I just looked and they do say “casually luxe” in the Instagram bio text. That’s a pretty reasonable description, they are very casual but offer some experiences that feel more luxe rather than mainstream. But overall the emphasis is on casual I think. 

[LibratPDX]

It's unfortunate that you're having to deal with so many brick walls, ugh.  I understand they are about conservation, but I don't think it's a big deal if a pax specifically asks for a paper schedule, it's a request that should be granted.  I would suggest asking the room steward for it though maybe?  I have heard they can be/have been accommodating for this specific thing!  

You're clearly tech savvy, but one of the key things I was told is to make sure I have ZERO other apps running on my phone when using the app.  To be fair, my sailings were no where near as full as yours is, so that may be part of the issue as well.  For as tech forward as VV likes to be, it's odd that their app is often glitchy.

You can't turn back the clock, but if you sail with VV again, definitely book your dinners as soon as you can (45 days before the cruise).  And while they show full on the app, many have stated they can be booked upon boarding with Sailor Services. 

One of the bummers for us regular folk is that rock stars get on the ship and are able to book everything first, with limited space in the fitness classes, they fill up quickly.  But as others have said, if you show up at the time of the class, they may have no-shows and you could still get in, same as shows that are showing as fully booked.  AND if shows are fully booked, check again the day of, sometimes people cancel.  I was able to book and not have to be in the standby line for a show that had been fully booked on my last VV cruise.  

If you haven't tried it yet, the Ship Eats are great and the $7 delivery fee is waived if you order something there is a charge for 🙂 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[cantgetin]

There are many places you can get copies of the paper schedule....There is a stack at each Grounds Club, the big red table on deck 7, and Sailor Services on deck 5.  They do run out sometimes, but deck 5 always has some or they can print one for you!  You don't need to wait or ask anyone at any of these spots, just find the tray holding them and pick up one.

Schedules can change for many reasons....if the sea is rough, some of the shows are not performed for the safety of the performers.  If a key performer is ill, there may not be an understudy, etc.  Same for some classes, although there is generally more back up available in those circumstances.  The app is the most up to date info.

Edited March 29, 2023 by cantgetin