miaandmum Posted June 26 #1 Share Posted June 26 We are doing the irresistible med cruise on scarlet lady next month (First time on Virgin). Just asking about the free soft drinks - can someone advise what they are and are they the help yourself from freestyle machines or do you order them from the bar? We cant find any information on this - neither of us drink. To be honest Im beginning to wish we had not booked this cruise. We don’t embark until 4.30!!! all the best shore excursions are sold out, all restaurants are sold out and although we can probably book things once onboard I doubt we’ll be left with much (if anything) by the time we get onboard. I feel Ive made an expensive mistake booking this to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted June 26 #2 Share Posted June 26 There are freestyle like machines in the Galley (note they just serve the standard product). The pizza place also has a soda gun. Otherwise, some of the bars will give you a soda. Don't worry about the food. They don't allow all the slots to be prebooked. As long as you are a bit flexible, you will be able to eat in all of the restaurants. In terms of excursions, perhaps look for DIY? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted June 26 #3 Share Posted June 26 1 hour ago, miaandmum said: We are doing the irresistible med cruise on scarlet lady next month (First time on Virgin). Just asking about the free soft drinks - can someone advise what they are and are they the help yourself from freestyle machines or do you order them from the bar? We cant find any information on this - neither of us drink. The Galley food court has touchscreen soda fountains with Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta orange and Seagrams ginger as well as sparkling water. There is also self-service juice from concentrate (orange, apple, fruit punch, still lemonade, unsweetened iced tea). There is also free drip coffee and tea bags All bars and restaurants will serve soda for free and the juice from concentrate. No charge, no tip just ask any bartender for them. 1 hour ago, miaandmum said: We don’t embark until 4.30!!! all the best shore excursions are sold out, all restaurants are sold out and although we can probably book things once onboard I doubt we’ll be left with much (if anything) by the time we get onboard. They hold back over half the dining reservations to be booked onboard, you’ll be OK. Small group fitness classes (the bungee class only holds six people!) will book up but can try walk up for cancellations. Shows are first come now, just arrive half hour before showtime. Only the dinner show needs booking and paid for activities. In terms of the arrival time, you could probably arrive around 3pm and board earlier as they start running early in general. Then go to Razzle Dazzle or get on the app to make dinner reservations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miaandmum Posted June 26 Author #4 Share Posted June 26 Thank you both for replying, I feel slightly better about the cruise now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmedic Posted June 27 #5 Share Posted June 27 We want to book the dinner show. Do we go to Razzle Dazzle to book this or sailor services? App says it can only be booked on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmedic Posted June 27 #6 Share Posted June 27 32 minutes ago, madmedic said: We want to book the dinner show. Do we go to Razzle Dazzle to book this or sailor services? App says it can only be booked on board. Sorry wrong thread. Unable to delete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted June 27 #7 Share Posted June 27 53 minutes ago, madmedic said: We want to book the dinner show. Do we go to Razzle Dazzle to book this or sailor services? App says it can only be booked on board. Book it on the app is the best and quickest. Not certain where box office staff would be set up first day to assist but my guess is Chart Room (big red table on deck 7). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted June 27 #8 Share Posted June 27 OK, if I had a 4:30 terminal arrival time, I'd show up about 3. My experience has been that boarding is very crowded about 1:30 because so many have priority boarding, but it moves very quickly. Normally people with late times are able to board 60 -90 minutes early because the earlier times have finished everyone who has arrived. When you arrive early, you stand in a queue based on your scheduled time, but those are not the time the processing will start. If the 2:30 queue is finished, they will move to the 2:45 regardless of time, and continue thru the lines....to the point that late times get taken far earlier than planned. Worst case, you are kept standing till your time. A huge percentage of dining reservations are held back until after boarding. You can access them on the app as soon as you can log on to the ship's wifi (it is called "mermaid" something). Same for booking dinner show--on the app. It will not be Sailor Services on 5--they are dealing with app problems, room issues, etc. There will be a location for crew to help with reservations; normally dinner reservations are in Razzle Dazzle restaurant, but on our last cruise they had moved to Pink Agave. There will be many crew on deck 7 and deck 5 to direct and assist you. Excursions always fill very early, but VV has a generous cancelation policy so it never hurts to check back on the app and at the desk. Soft drinks are coke products. There are self serve devices in The Galley. Most bars have a "gun" system and will happily give you a glass of whatever they have available. A few bars and room service have cans available and will give you those. There is no charge at any location. Also restaurants will have it available. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miaandmum Posted June 27 Author #9 Share Posted June 27 11 minutes ago, cantgetin said: OK, if I had a 4:30 terminal arrival time, I'd show up about 3. My experience has been that boarding is very crowded about 1:30 because so many have priority boarding, but it moves very quickly. Normally people with late times are able to board 60 -90 minutes early because the earlier times have finished everyone who has arrived. When you arrive early, you stand in a queue based on your scheduled time, but those are not the time the processing will start. If the 2:30 queue is finished, they will move to the 2:45 regardless of time, and continue thru the lines....to the point that late times get taken far earlier than planned. Worst case, you are kept standing till your time. A huge percentage of dining reservations are held back until after boarding. You can access them on the app as soon as you can log on to the ship's wifi (it is called "mermaid" something). Same for booking dinner show--on the app. It will not be Sailor Services on 5--they are dealing with app problems, room issues, etc. There will be a l Thank you for taking the time to write this- its exactly what I was worrying about but this has me me feel more assured now. 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airportlimbo Posted July 13 #10 Share Posted July 13 Does anyone know what the sparkling water and tea options are onboard? Do they do tea lattes? Matcha drinks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverendingcruising Posted July 13 #11 Share Posted July 13 Still and sparkling water are made and poured onboard, there is no bottled water. Not sure about the others except that I have had loose lead tea from Grounds Club, I think it was called jasmine cloud. Not sure of the brand however. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_fh_mets Posted July 13 #12 Share Posted July 13 Grounds Club has a chai latte on the menu. They also have Jo Jo Loose Leaf tea, and I'm certain they can make you a tea latte using that. The Galley has a variety of free tea bags. For sparkling water, the majority is from a fountain and is available at any bar, with one interesting exception. You can even request a carafe of it in your cabin using the tablet or by talking to your steward. Some of the bars may have bottles of seltzer available, possibly London Essence brand, but I'm not actually sure. If they do, they may charge you $5 for a small bottle. However, Sip does not have a soda gun dispenser so all of their soft drinks/mixers are from a can/bottle and I recall that their seltzer mixer was from a small glass bottle. So if you'd like a bottle of sparkling water, Sip likely has one and also may not charge you for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 13 #13 Share Posted July 13 Jojo loose tea at Grounds Club in 5 or 6 varieties. The Galley has Lipton black tea and Twinnings in a variety of choices....all the normals and a few herbals. Most soft drinks are fountain service at bars or THe Galley but Sip, room service, and occasionally other bars have cans. There is never a charge. THey are a range of coke products. If you are a tea person, DO NOT order it from room service. The tea or hot water (we've had it done both ways) will come in a thermos that has been previously used for coffee. It will smell bad and taste worse. At least that has been my experience. The premium teas used to come in the brewing pot so I could get hot water at The Galley or Grounds Club (getting premium tea will waive the delivery charge), but I guess that too many of the brewing pots were being lost or broken. Now it comes pre-brewed in those nasty thermos things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_fh_mets Posted July 15 #14 Share Posted July 15 On 7/12/2024 at 9:30 PM, Airportlimbo said: Does anyone know what the sparkling water and tea options are onboard? Do they do tea lattes? Matcha drinks? @Essiesmom posted pictures today including one of Grounds Club Too's menu, confirming that both Matcha Lattes and Chai Lattes are indeed available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airportlimbo Posted July 15 #15 Share Posted July 15 So no Perrier or San Pellegrino. Good information on the tea and room service. That’s disappointing on the coffee flavored hot water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted July 15 #16 Share Posted July 15 16 minutes ago, Airportlimbo said: So no Perrier or San Pellegrino. There is no bottled water at all on VV. But sparkling water is readily available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travel-and-See Posted July 16 #17 Share Posted July 16 On 7/15/2024 at 2:10 PM, Airportlimbo said: So no Perrier or San Pellegrino. Correct. They offer "Sparkling Water" anywhere on the ship - it's often soda water from the soda fountains. Took me some getting used to - whenever I would ask for a "Club Soda" on my first cruise I would get very puzzled looks. Sparkling Water is the term - Ahoy! haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Wildcatllamas Posted July 16 #18 Share Posted July 16 I ordered Seltzer with lime and I got puzzled looks. So @Travel-and-See you weren't the only one. Sparkling water with lime just sounds odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 16 #19 Share Posted July 16 They also call regular water "still" water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted July 17 #20 Share Posted July 17 It’s pretty standard in Europe to be asked “still or sparkling water” when seated at a restaurant. In the UK I’ll usually just then say tap water please as I don’t want to pay for mineral. In Europe that’s not normally an option, can only get mineral. I like that on VV ships you don’t have to do that song and dance about not wanting to pay for bottled water, you just get the filtered water as standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travel-and-See Posted July 18 #21 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 21 hours ago, jon81uk said: I like that on VV ships you don’t have to do that song and dance about not wanting to pay for bottled water, you just get the filtered water as standard. There is no song and dance on other lines - just more options for the guests. Celebrity always brings me water right away and then asks if I would like anything else to drink - at that point I can can order a bottled sparkling water, club soda, or anything else on the menu. It would be nice if Virgin offered a sparkling mineral water. Edited July 18 by Travel-and-See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon81uk Posted July 18 #22 Share Posted July 18 1 hour ago, Travel-and-See said: There is no song and dance on other lines - just more options for the guests. Celebrity always brings me water right away and then asks if I would like anything else to drink - at that point I can can order a bottled sparkling water, club soda, or anything else on the menu. It would be nice if Virgin offered a sparkling mineral water. I was comparing to restaurants not other cruise lines. There are plenty of restaurants that have made it feel uncomfortable to have to ask for tap water. But the way you describe it is getting more common with restaurants serving tap water for free without being asked and there are places like VV where they don’t have bottled water available at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise47 Posted July 18 #23 Share Posted July 18 Can you bring your personal water bottle on VV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_fh_mets Posted July 18 #24 Share Posted July 18 2 minutes ago, cruise47 said: Can you bring your personal water bottle on VV? They encourage it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbaqueen1 Posted July 18 #25 Share Posted July 18 Okay, just for newbie clarification... 1. If you want diet coke for your room can you ask your cabin helper? or do you need to get it via room service (for a fee)? 2. Do they have small pots for holding hot water in the galley for tea? 3. Do they have nice size cups for coffee or tea in the Galley? 4. When you are "done" with your room service food, do you place it outside your door or leave in room for room helper to remove? Thanks again!!!! 82 days until we sail!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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