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We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on a 12 day sailing from Portsmouth to Barcelona in a Sweet Aft Suite, for $200 per person per day.

They cost more, but include more. These are the only cruises we’ve been on where we haven’t had a balance due when disembarking. The food is also on an entirely different level, with no specialty dining charges.

The original status match program for which we qualified is more generous than the new current one, but for Princess, Platinum and Elite qualify. Details and the levels they match for other lines can be found here; https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club

This is probably the only similarity, Virgin has “The Band”. The red ones are for “sailors” and the black ones are for “Rock Stars”. They are made from recycled plastic from the sea, and you are encouraged to drop them off when disembarking for further recycling.

Thanks to their status match program, every time we sail with Virgin, Pam and I each get $100, free specialty coffees daily, free laundry, upgraded wifi, early boarding. and an invite to a champagne reception. $50 is a joke.

The demographic you see advertised is quite different from reality. We’ve yet to smell any weed while on board Virgin. So far only Princess potheads 😁

Food is cooked to order, no announcements, no art auctions, no cruise director, unique shows, no Effy, and the happiest crew at sea who get paid the same no matter if the ship is empty or full. There is even a health and happiness office on board for the crew. On this sailing we’ll have two crew members join us for dinner as it’s their last sailing of their contracts.

Thank you for your kind words. We used to be such cheerleaders for Princess, and always imagined we’d be on a Princess ship, in a suite for our 25th anniversary. We cancelled all of our remaining Princess bookings while still on our first Virgin sailing. There’s literally no comparison. Tomorrow we sail as “Mega Rockstars” with complimentary private transportation to and from the port, a bottomless in-room bar, and all other sorts of wonderful freebies. There’s not a single hint of John Padgett and his nonsense anywhere on the ship.

Pathetic is a good word too 😁

Our last sailings with Princess were b2b sailings on the Ruby out of San Francisco in April of 2022. These were the worst cruises we’ve ever taken. Among other things, they were taking reservations for both specialty dining rooms but only opening 1 each night. We were served a partially eaten appetizer from another table in Sabatinis, and they did nothing about the pot smokers on board, despite the posted policy. Since then, we’ve been very happy sailing with Virgin Voyages, in fact we’re sitting in a hotel in Miami at this very moment as we are boarding the Valiant Lady tomorrow for our 6th sailing with Virgin since October of 2022. I just received an email from Alvin Stokes, the new head of customer support for Princess in which he apologizes for the delay (2 years) and as an offer to win me back, he’s offered us $50 OBC. 🤣 Needless to say, I think we’ll pass. So glad we unloaded our CCL stock too. I hope they put that $50 to good use instead of digging a bigger hole for themselves.

Anyone booked on deck 13 post drydock have been reassigned elsewhere. Make of that what you will.

The Mega Rock Star offer sold out quickly....even without an itinerary!

Pam and I booked the Canada to Miami leg.....back in 2017 we did a north-bound version of this itinerary on another line and loved it. Our friends wanted to join us, but they always sail as Rock Stars and balked at the price. I was surprised to see that the 16 day PC sailing is $1K less for a sea terrace than the 13 day Canada -Miami sailing. I thought the canal tolls would make the price higher.

Another reason why it pays to have an agent. I was up at midnight Eastern Standard Time and at first, only the 3 Mermaidens were available, then around 1AM we were able to see the other sailings.

No announcements, no cruise director, no art auctions, and no EFFY! Food in the dining rooms is cooked ala' minute, instead of being cooked hours ahead of time and held in a food warmer.